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Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/10/2010

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:58 am
by greywolf
“It was my fault,” said Jim, drawing Donovan's eyes back to him as he did so,”...Hell, Tiny, you know about my dad. He talked about this all of his life – working with the special unit. He really thought they were something special – something noble - and in reality.....”

“Your father is an old man, Jim. Let him have his dreams in the time he has left. He didn't know what the crazy bastards were really up to...”

“Maybe people need to know what kind of things our government is capable of, Tiny. Maybe that's the only way we prevent it from happening again. Just because you work for the government shouldn't blind you to their misconduct – or justify you covering it up.”

“Blind me to the misconduct of the federal government? Hell, Jim, my mother sang songs to me in Tsalagi about the Trail of tears when I was so young I was still sucking on her tit. Hell, I went into the Marine Corps rather than the Army because if I'd gotten assigned to a Cavalry unit half of my relatives would have never spoken to me again. Don't you even suggest that I don't know the government can screw up or even do evil things – and this isn't about covering for the government either – or at least not entirely.”

“Well, those are public records. I can get a freedom of information act request to you...”

“And if you do, I will no doubt give you those records...”

“Hidden in a few million other records – where I'll never be able to find them?”

“Probably,” agreed Donovan with a smile.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you covering for them?”

“Jim, most of this occurred a long time. Sometimes you just have to let it go. Ever here of an island called Chi Chi Jima? It's in the Pacific - north of Iwo Jima. One of a lot of islands that we skipped during WWII so we wouldn't lose troops killing every Japanese on the island. We did fly over it though, and some planes got shot down and airmen taken prisoner. I had a second or third cousin get his Corsair shot down there. He was captured unhurt. The bastards not only killed him, but they ate him. But you know what? I own a Toyota. A lot of shit went down in the past – on all sides – and you can't hold grudges forever. Sometimes shit just happens.

“FDR is still a hero to a lot of people. Maybe if he'd actually planned to die of a massive stroke, he would have told Truman about the secret presidential findings he issued allowing the special unit to do crap like that to those that they believed to be enemy aliens – and their human allies. Hell, if he'd have survived the war, probably he would have canceled all that shit – like they did the Japanese-American internments. If Truman had known about it, he'd have done something, no doubt... or Eisenhower or....,” Tiny shrugged his rather broad shoulders, “ but no one knew anything about the authority they'd been given for all those years. When we found out … well, the letters they had were still in effect for everything – at least everything that hadn't been superseded by the Civil Rights Act. We punished them – as much as we could – under the provisions of that act, but the things they were doing back in the Fifties when your dad knew them - they walked on those charges – the ones that were still alive anyway. But if you think that you are getting copies of those papers to put in your little tourist museum of alien lore up in Roswell, well you've got another think coming, Jim.”

“I didn't actually plan on making them public - but that's why you won't release the papers? To cover up for FDR?”

“No, Jim, that's A reason but not the real reason. Believe me, we had quite a meeting – about thirty very senior people debating whether or not the US Government should release official documents that verified that we aren't alone in the universe – that alien life really does exist. We were pretty well convinced by a couple of sociologists that it wasn't a good idea. Of course, nobody wanted to actually destroy the records either – not in a post Watergate world. So the decision was made to store them here – out in the hinterlands so to speak – and if anyone ever did ask for them to release them with so much other crap that they'd be lost in data dump.”


“If you aren't covering up for the government, what ARE you doing?”

“Did you know, Jim, that 5% of people aren't able to fly – at least without being sedated? I didn't – but
15% have some fear of flying and for one person in twenty it's completely uncontrollable. Well, it turns out that a lot of people have strong feelings about extraterrestrial life too. Xenophobia, it's called. Ten percent are scared of the idea that aliens might exist. Worse, one person in a million is so frightened of aliens that they can't live in a world that has aliens in it - they'd rather suicide first. Sure that's just one in a million – but it's three hundred in the US alone. And you got any idea how many religions either deny the possible existence of extraterrestrial life or believe that they must be demons or something if they do exist?

“Maybe someday those ETs will come back again and we'll HAVE to deal with all those issues. No one wants to deal with them now. That's why you aren't getting those documents. You don't need them, and you aren't going to get them.”

“You're wrong, Tiny. I do need them,” said Jim, handing him a small box.

Donovan opened the box. Inside was a diamond ring – an engagement ring.

“Well Jimmy-boy, we been friends for fifteen years but you'll pardon me if I hope you are attempting to bribe a federal official rather than actually proposing to me....”

Jaimie Sanchez covered his chuckle with a quick cough. Jim Valenti just shook his head.

“Tiny, you can be such a dork sometimes – anyone ever tell you that??”

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/12/2010

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:19 am
by greywolf
Tiny looked at Jim Valenti and chuckled. "Actually, Conchita has been telling me that for thirty years, Jim. I think the kids say it about me too - at least behind my back," Tiny sighed deeply and handed the box back to Valenti. "So what IS the ring about then?"

"Well, it so happens that this weekend I'm going to be asking a young lady if she'll marry me..."

"And about damn time, too. I hope for your sake that she's stupid enough to do it too. I gotta admit that Conchita and I have both been worried about you going off the deep end when Kyle goes off to college. I always thought you could use a keeper."

"Well, this young lady also has a child - about Kyle's age and ..... well, I might as well start at the beginning I guess.

"You know, until Jaimie here told my the truth I'd always kind of believed my dad's stories about the special unit - how wonderful they were - how working with them was the highlight of his law enforcement career...."

"Yeah, well like I say, let the old guy keep his illusions. It doesn't cost anything, and everything that's going to be done to punish those bastards - or to compensate their victims - has already been done."

"Yeah, but for most of my career I've been on the lookout for suspicious people - just like the Special Unit told my dad to be on the lookout. Twelve years ago I spotted two. Two kids who were found naked along a roadside. They didn't speak English - hell, didn't speak any language at all. It was like they had never seen or spoken to a soul before the day they were found on the road. The kids were fostered out and eventually adopted - raised as brother and sister. In a couple years they were going to school - same class as Kyle - and I kept watching them and making notes.

"The two kids were - well not antisocial - more asocial. They kept to themselves as much as possible. Sure, they had classmates, but they never really formed close friendships even with their classmates. I thought - well, what the hell, whatever they'd been through in their first six years of life - maybe the trauma was such that they could only identify with each other. Maybe they both came from some crazy cult or something. I just kept watching... and making notes.

"In fifth grade there was another new kid in the class and - despite never really getting all that close to most of the peers - suddenly the two kids were pals with the third kid and on the face of it, they had nothing in common. Two kids who were the children of a couple of prominent and reasonably well off lawyers associating in their non-school time almost exclusively with a kid from the wrong side of the tracks. One who lived in a trailer with an old drunk. When I found out that the old drunk was the kid's FOSTER parent I looked in to it closer and found out that the third kid had been found in an adjacent county - naked and not speaking any language - five days after the first two had been found near Roswell..."

"Near Roswell.... by the Evanses, I assume you are going to say..." said Tiny.

Jim nodded. "I kept watching them - never quite convincing myself that they were unusual enough to call the Special Unit. Heck - I told myself - could be they just heard that the other kid was a foster kid - could be they felt guilty that they got such good parents while the other kid got the shaft from child protective services - could be just one big coincidence. Oh a half a dozen times I was tempted to call the Special Unit - thinking they were the be all and end all of law enforcement like my dad thought - but never quite came to the threshold of doing that."

"Which was probably just as well," said Tiny nodding his head, "... because if the Special Unit had actually believed you, they probably would have worked those kids over pretty good."

"Maybe yes, maybe no," said Jim Valenti. "Maybe they'd have only tried..... but the point is, when Liz Parker had her accident things changed. A lot of things changed.

Max Evans had been a lab partner to Liz Parker and - as far as anyone but his sister was aware - never anything more than that. But apparently there HAD been something that Max the loner had never really shown. Max wasn't the cold, detached, and aloof guy he'd always pretended to be. When Liz Parker got hurt he really went off the rails and - well, Liz Parker's accident seemed to change everything.

I figured that all those years that those three were not interacting with their peers were one of two things - either they really were....different - or they were just bonding together because they had been through the same sort of trauma - like growing up in a cult. I'd almost convinced myself it was the former before Liz Parker's accident. But like I said, that changed everything. Max certainly wasn't being cautious about being low key anymore - or out of the spotlight. And his sister - who'd probably done as much as anyone to keep Max from getting close to Liz Parker - now couldn't do enough to make up for it - both for Liz and for Liz's two best friends. And somehow Liz's best friend - now that Liz was in a coma - found her own comfort in the company of the Evans kids ... and their friend. That particular young lady - I hope - is soon going to be my step-daughter, so as you can see I have a slight conflict of interest here.

"You know, the very way they acted after the accident was so concerned and so very ...human .... that - well, I didn't actually forget about my suspicions - but it became obvious to me that these three kids were as human as anyone else. I mean, what happened was what you sort of expected with teenagers. Max got himself in all sorts of trouble because he was in love with a girl, Isabel's assistance in the care of Liz won her the gratitude of a nice young man and - well, the other two I think found consolation for their pain and fears in each other's arms. Sure, I thought Max went crazy with the kidnapping but that was how I actually thought it would come out. Max not guilty by reason of insanity ... turned out it was a little more complicated than that. You see, Tiny, this morning I made a huge mistake - one that could easily have cost me my job and a whole lot more, hell, my whole life even. That's when I learned that I hadn't been wrong about all those suspicions for all those years after all.

"I got a call from Mrs. Parker - turned out Liz's dad had been tracking Isabel's jeep. I was afraid that she had lead him to Max and I wanted desperately to get the kid's location from her, not to crack the case even, because like I said, with both parents being lawyers and Max already having a psych record over his feelings toward Liz, I'd pretty well figured that the end game was going to be Max Evans in a rubber room somewhere for a few years. What I was afraid of though was that Jeff Parker was going to track him down - do something both stupid and lethal - and that Nancy Parker would end up with not only the tragic loss of her daughter but a husband serving life in prison as well. So when we cornered the girl - finally - I told Jaime to go take a walk..."

"Let me guess... Good cop, Bad cop?"

"Actually we never got past the bad cop part, but unfortunately I didn't realize that Liz's friend who had now become Isabel Evans' boyfriend was due to meet up with her. I was wearing this jumpsuit and a helmet. The kid never saw my badge, but he did see my service automatic. While I was trying to scare the young lady - not easy to do it turned out - he thought I was some thug assaulting her and jumped me - unarmed. He stripped my service automatic away from me as he banged me into a wall. I was stunned but it was all reflex after that...I'd been attacked - lost my primary gun - it was closer to him than it was to me - so I went for my backup. Before I knew what I was doing I had my hold gun on him and squeezed the trigger - dead on his center of mass - from about five or six feet..."

"Jim, you probably don't want to say another word - not until you talk to a lawyer..."

"Tiny, I swear to God, the bullet VAPORIZED on the way to the kid's chest......."

"Vaporized, Jim??? I find that a little difficult to believe."

"No shit. So did I! So did HE! Isabel admitted she had done it - that she and her brother - and by extension the young man who will probably wind up my son-in-law - were 'not from around here..."

"Jim, there has to be a more reasonable explanation..."

"Well Tiny, why don't you tell me what it is?" asked Jim Valenti as he laid the backup gun with the distorted barrel in front of the senior Agent. "It was obvious the young man hadn't known. She claimed that her parents didn't know either. She said that her brother and Liz Parker were now married and he was somewhere trying to figure out how to use what sounded like alien equipment to keep her alive long enough to save her. She asked ... well insisted really ... that we let her explain to her parents and the young man - said she'd be at her home this afternoon after she was done with that and would come quietly.

"But Tiny, that's not going to happen. I've watched these kids grow up. They are good kids. OK, they may be different but they can't help that. They've finally really become human and they care for people. It's not just that Isabel Evans kept me from making the mistake of my life.... these kids deserve a chance at happiness. Max Evans deserves a chance to try to save his wife. Isabel deserves a chance to try to find happiness with the young man whose life she saved this morning... and my soon-to-be stepdaughter deserves a chance to find happiness with her boyfriend as well. That's why I need these papers... to make SURE that Washington doesn't change its mind."

"So what you are proposing is EXTORTION? Against the federal government? Giving the paperwork to the Evans kids mom - the one that screwed over the people from that Health Insurance Company - to unload on Department if they should decide to go after the kids?"

"Guilty as charged, Tiny," said Jim.

Tiny picked up the handgun with the bent barrel, shook his head and smiled. "Not sure if that's legal, actually, Jim, but it sure sound like a hell of a good idea to me."

He handed the gun back to Jim Valenti and shoved the papers back across the desk.

"Take them.... I've got the originals. I'll put more copies in the files later. Give me a call after you've talked to the young lady and her mother - let me know how it plays out. I actually don't think it's necessary but - who knows - different administrations come and go. Probably won't hurt those three to have a little insurance. And if that other young lady SHOULD be foolish enough to accept your proposal, I am going to get an invite I hope?"

Jim nodded his head. "Wouldn't have you or Conchita miss it."

"Good - she's been saying for ten years that you needed to get back on the horse. You wouldn't believe the women she wanted to line you up with if I'd have allowed it."

"Thanks, Tiny."

"Hell, what are friends for. But I think the two of you need to get back - talk to Miss Evans and her parents - and try to calm down Jeff Parker before there is a tragedy."

Jim nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm not sure if breaking this news to Jeff Parker be the safe thing to do. I mean, I guess I have more insight into his situation than anybody else, but telling someone 'your daughter is married to an alien,' isn't something that is necessarily going to calm the man down. Somehow we have to get a handle on this .... and I don't imagine it will be easy...."

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/12/2010

Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:35 pm
by greywolf
It was a little over three hours later in the dimly lit podchamber:

She'd actually been awake for a half hour - spooned up against him and feeling the stubble on his chin gently rasping against the back of her neck. It was 'Heavenly...' she'd decided and opted to stay put right where she was. If the abyss had been purgatory, this really was heaven - OK, an underground and dimly lit heaven perhaps, but heaven wasn't a place - it was a state of mind.

Max didn't snore - quite. Oh, he made some noise, but it wasn't really unpleasant. In fact, the sound of him breathing next to her was both comforting and fulfilling. He had been physically spent - poor dear - even before she had further pushed him to exhaustion. But what she had done had had the desired effect. She'd felt that through the connection - her feeling his reaction to her passion and need for him. The doubts that had tormented their relationship - the doubts that had tormented Max his whole life - had been pretty much resolved.

Unfortunately - nice as this was - she was going to have to get up. If Isabel truly was coming she needed to make herself a little more presentable - not that she really minded being sticky with the remains of their passion. If they weren't expecting company she would have likely gotten up only briefly and then slithered right back into the arms of her sleeping husband - but she really DID need to get up. It was an issue of hydraulic pressure. So get up she would - doing her best to let Max - poor dear - have a little more badly needed rest. After all, she'd slept for most of eighteen months, while she doubted that he'd gotten four hours of sleep a night in the last couple weeks.

Disentangling herself from her sleeping husband without waking him turned out not to be all that difficult. Carefully rolling off the aerobed onto the podchamber floor accomplished that. Standing took a little more doing. Her joints were in surprisingly good shape - due no doubt to the many hours a day that Max had done physical therapy on her - but the muscles were more of a problem. They hadn't contracted - the physical therapy had seen to that - but they had atrophied. They'd be alright, Liz was sure, after about six weeks of gradually increasing physical exercise - her face smiled briefly as she remembered the physical exercise of last night - but her bladder wasn't going to put up with any six week delay.

She crawled to the wall and used that to steady her - then had a brilliant idea. She used telekinesis to augment the strength of her muscles as she gradually worked her way up the wall to an upright position. A few tentative steps told her that the telekinesis would work for balance too. It was a sort of funny sensation - part walking and part being a marionette with her mind pulling the strings - but it allowed her to walk with reasonable steadiness to what in the podchamber passed for the bathroom.

The room hadn't been part of the original podchamber. It was about eight foot square - '...make that eight foot cubed', she thought...carved out of the Precambrian granite by Max and Michael using their powers of molecular manipulation back in their pre-teen years, when they were still paranoid about being discovered and had envisioned making the podchamber their three person hideout if they had needed to run off and hide. Isabel had insisted on a separate room for such things and it had required most of a summer of surreptitious work for the two guys.

The item for which Liz had the most urgent need in the small chamber was the chemical toilet - salvaged from the remains of a trailer in the local junkyard. The owner of the trailer - height at the time 9 feet 3 inches - had driven at a high rate of speed under an old railroad trestle that had a sign which had clearly indicated a clearance of only seven and a half feet. Fortunately there had been no one in the trailer when the top had been completely peeled off it. Judged a total wreck the trailer had wound up in the junkyard and the chemical toilet had wound up here.... 'Fortunately.....,' thought Liz as she sat down on it.

Once the hydraulic emergency was resolved, Liz had the time and inclination to look around the small room. Max and Michael had also installed a rain barrel that they would fill with a rubber bucket from the water that would run in the arroyos after a thunderstorm. In the big rain barrel it was treated with a scoop of chlorine beach. It wasn't for drinking - except in an emergency - but it served as the supply of water for any laundry and showering that was needed. With the prospect of Isabel showing up soon, Liz figured she could probably use a shower right now.

She filled the shower bag and hung it on the hook over the large basin and opened the valve.

"Uhhnn!"

The sound escaped from her mouth and she looked quickly into the other room afraid she'd awakened Max. No chance - he was still sleeping. She rapidly turned off the water - which was the same 62 degrees that the rest of the podchamber was. As an air temperature it wasn't bad. As a water temperature - immediately after crawling out of a bed where she'd been warmed quite nicely by her husband - it felt freezing. She shivered briefly in her cold and wet nakedness before remembering a long ago conversation with Max back in the abyss.

'How did Max say he did this?' she asked herself.

Liz put her hand on the bag - let her mind go into the bag - listened to - felt - the molecules of water there. She used her telekinesis on the water - not to move it - the molecules were already moving and oscillating against each other - but more to just speed up - heat up - those molecules. It was more difficult - and more tiring - than she had thought it would be, but she felt the bag warm. When it got up to about 90 degrees she stopped and hung the bag back on its hook.

She turned it back on and let the water trickle over her. It felt pretty good.

'It ought to. First shower you've had in a year and a half...' she thought, her eyes looking back through the door to the sleeping figure on the aerobed. She wondered how many bed baths he'd given her in the last six months - how many times he'd shampooed her hair..., '...and I slept right through them,' she thought, shaking her head in annoyance. Well, that was the past and you couldn't undo the past. 'All you can do,' she thought to herself,'... is to build the future....'

She turned off the water and soaped herself well. Then turned it back on and rinsed. Her eyes never left - not for very long at least - the sleeping young man. And the loving smile never left her face.

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/13/2010

Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:34 am
by greywolf
'Damn it all....' thought Michael Guerin as he pulled the motorcycle off to the side of the road.

He was on his way back from Carlsbad where he'd talked the local EMT team out of another couple liters of expired IV solutions. The Ensure and other supplies that Max needed for Liz were commercially available and easy to find. Unless you were a doctor - or an approved EMT service - you couldn't actually just buy IV solutions. They required a physician's prescription. Of course the IV bags in his pack weren't needed right now. Unless there had been a problem, Isabel had delivered quite a few IV bags to Max early this morning.

Of course - the last thing Michael had wanted to do was to attract the attention of the police. Of course, he hadn't KNOWN that the strange police vehicle that had pulled him over actually WAS a police vehicle - at least not until the lights had come on the thing. The damnable thing was that Michael had actually been reassured as the strange police car - it looked like an over powered dune buggy - had come up behind him. He'd actually increased his own speed - reasoning that if any police WERE around they'd go after the two guys in the jump suits and helmets in the dune buggy.

But that comforting illusion had been spoiled by the flashing blue and red strobe lights.. The cops had him dead to rights - doing twenty miles an hour over the speed limit - and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He looked back once more in the rear view mirror where he saw not one but both cops getting out of the vehicle and walking up toward him. He briefly considered taking off over the desert but doubted that even his motorcycle would be able to outrun THAT machine in the desert. Besides, when you were part alien you really couldn't afford to do things that attracted attention to yourself.

'Which is why,' he told himself - not for the first time,'...that you need to break it off with Maria, too . You have no choice but to live with the risk of discovery and capture - but it's unfair to ask that of her.'

He was constantly telling himself that. It had worked enough to keep him from doing what he really wanted to do - tell her he wanted to marry her - but it hadn't worked well enough to allow him to actually break it off. He knew he'd always love her - but could he actually ask her to share the risk of being with him - considering what he was?

"Well, well, Mr. Guerin," said Jim Valenti.

Michael winced. First of all, Jim Valenti had always been the bogey-man for all three of the podlings. Secondly, what was more embarrassing than getting a ticket from your girlfriend's mothers boyfriend?

"Uh, Sheriff Valenti...uh...nice wheels. I didn't recognize them."

"Obviously not," said the Sheriff. Jaimie was doing his best to keep a straight face - but it was a struggle.

"So tell me, Michael.... what are you doing down here?"

"Uh, just out for a little ride, Sheriff," Michael said, hoping that the Sheriff wouldn't find some reason to look in his backpack.

"Going kind of fast, weren't you Michael?"

Michael looked back at the dune buggy and then at Valenti, smiling and shrugging his shoulders.

"Uh, you were overtaking me, sir. You must have been moving along pretty well yourself."

"Well, I was in a hurry too, I guess. I was coming back from El Paso where I was talking to the senior FBI agent. Can you keep a secret, Michael?"

Michael was not sure where this was going - but thought he'd better play along.

"Sure Sheriff, I can keep a secret."

"Well, good, because I have a number of them. You can't tell anyone but - well, aliens are real son. The FBI has files on them - and files about three alien-human hybrid embryos that came from the 1947 saucer. This morning I found out that Isabel Evans and Max Evans are both alien human hybrids. Apparently they were incubated in some pods of some sort."

"Really??" Michael was able to choke out.

"Really. Now the other alien-human hybrid, well, we don't have a hundred percent certainty of who that is, but I've got a pretty good idea. But I've got an even bigger secret - if you can keep it?"

"Sure thing, Sheriff...." said Michael, just managing to avoid panicking.

"Well, the second secret is that I'm about to propose to Amy. I have every reason to believe that she's going to accept. That would make Maria my step-daughter. You have, I believe, been seeing quite a bit of Maria. Quite a bit..."

"Uhhh-huhh...," said Michael.

"So before I go get myself all upset that some alien-human hybrid might be toying with the affections of my soon-to-be stepdaughter, can you tell me exactly WHAT your intentions are toward Maria? Because I'd really like to think that they are honorable....."

"Uh....it's sort of complicated, Sheriff."

"Not after I get these records to Diane Evans. Once I do that Isabel and Max ought to be pretty much immune to any risk from the government's. So will the other foundling child who they used to chum around with - the one who is currently - I believe the term is 'escorting' my future step-daughter. I'm a reasonably tolerant guy, Michael, but I think if I became convinced that someone was simply toying with the affections of Maria, I'm not sure what I'd do. Most likely I'd go get my shotgun - since Isabel has already used her powers to melt the barrel of my pistol...."

Michael's mouth seemed to make some gasping sort of movements sort of like a fish out of water - but as he saw the friendly smiles start to turn to laughter on the faces of Jaime and Jim he started smiling himself.

"If I thought for a moment that it would be safe for Maria, Sheriff, there's nothing in this world...," Michael found himself grinning suddenly, "... nothing in ANY world, that would keep me from asking her to marry me."

"Well, son," said the Sheriff, "... I'll be dropping by the Evans house in about two hours. Why don't you drop by too, maybe with Maria, and see what Diane and Phil think they can do with the paperwork I've got for them. My guess is that they are going to tell you that the government isn't going to want to interfere with you and Maria living your lives. As long as you take good care of her - and I'm sure you will - I think Amy would be glad to have you in the family. I know I would," he finished, patting Michael on the shoulder.

"I think I'll just do that, Sheriff," said Michael, putting his helmet back on and getting back on his motorcycle. "But just in case you are right, I'd better get going - I might want to stop by a jewelry store before then...."

Michael kick-started his motorcycle and rode off to the north. He smiled as he heard Jim Valenti scream after him.

"Future son-in-law or not, if you get a speeding ticket when you get to Chaves County, don't expect me to do anything about it...."

Michael smiled a little at the thought of that, but as he left the Sheriff and Jaimie in the dust by the side of the road, he thought of Maria in a wedding dress and a veil standing before an altar, Jim Valenti placing her hand in his. Then he really smiled...

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/16/2010

Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 1:08 am
by greywolf
The Jeep turned off the asphalt and plunged onto the gravel shoulder – then worked its way down into the arroyo. It was on a mission – a mission to return two missing loved ones to the family fold. But for the two people in the Jeep, there was a lot more going on than just the mission.

It was, Alex knew, the most wonderful day of his life – at least his life so far. The fact that Liz was out of her coma by itself would have made it a great day, but it was far more than that. He glanced again at the driver and again felt the warmth suffuse him. Isabel was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Of course Isabel wasn't wearing her Ice Princess persona today. Simple Levis and a white blouse – her hair gathered back in a simple pony tail – she certainly wasn't dressed as the high fashion diva. Alex liked her better this way. It wasn't that he didn't like her dressed the way she'd dressed all those years, she was gorgeous that way too, but he preferred her this way because he – perhaps more so than any other person – knew that this was the real Isabel.

Alex watched Isabel's face as she drove the jeep – bouncing heavily – down the arroyo, watching her pony tail bounce as she concentrated on the difficult trail to the podchamber several miles ahead.

'She is so incredibly beautiful,'
he thought, '... and you are so incredibly lucky.'

Isabel had talked to him – long and heartfelt – about the dreamwalking. He'd thought she was kidding at first. Only after she'd mentioned the dream about the twins had he really totally understood. Isabel had been in love with him as long as he'd been in love with his dream-girl Izzy. Even back when he'd believed that she was an Ice Princess who would never look twice at him, he'd been in love with her – and she with him. He just hadn't known it. And as much as Isabel had loved him and he her– she'd never let on and he'd never let on. But it was all out in the open now, the alien thing, his love for her, and – miraculously – her love for him. To his great surprise, he was even starting to believe it was real.

They had made some tentative plans for when this was all over. Diane and Philip had assured them both – Alex hoped correctly – that they could and would successfully fight the federal government and anyone else who tried to interfere with Isabel living her life the way she'd wanted and Isabel had smiled and told them that what she wanted most out of life was him. She'd smiled at him when she had told them that – while nervously intertwining her fingers in his – just the way she always did in their dreams. He'd signed them up for married student housing in the Fall. They were going ring-looking tomorrow. In one short day his entire world had changed so much....

He looked over at her again – unable to take his eyes off her beauty. She spotted him out of the corner of her eye – her right hand reached over and placed itself over his left hand then intertwined her fingers in his – and then she moved his hand back to rest upon her upper leg – as if she couldn't get him close enough to her.

'You,' he said to himself for about the twentieth time in the last ten minutes, '...are SO lucky.'


It was, Isabel knew, the most wonderful day of her life – at least her life so far. The fact that Liz was out of her coma – that she and Max would soon be returned to them – that alone would have made it a pretty great day. And she was going to be an aunt – an AUNT – which of course was awesome. But there was so much more. After all those years – those years of doubt and fear – she'd finally told her parents. She looked surreptitiously at the young man beside her. Without Alex's support, she wasn't sure she would have ever found the courage.

Knowing he loved her let her take the risk of their rejection – not that THAT had happened. It wasn't just that they accepted her – they had in fact apologized to her for never figuring out that something was wrong – never giving her the reassurance that would have made her whole childhood so much easier – not that that was their fault. And they'd reassured her – just as somehow her parents had always been able t reassure her – that they would be her protectors – that no matter what Jim Valenti or the FBI decided, they'd stand beside her and make sure that she lived the life she wanted to life. Which again brought her eyes to the young man beside her.

'You are so lucky,' she told herself.

She'd been saying that to herself quite a lot the last several hours. As the arroyo straightened out momentarily she sneaked another look at the lanky young man sitting in the passenger seat – and caught him looking at her. She reached down and placed her hand on his and intertwined fingers – then picked it up and placed it on her upper leg – pushing down to feel his hand against the front of her thigh. The thought occurred to her as she felt him against her that they hadn't even gotten to second base. She chucked inwardly. If nothing else, tonight's dreamwalk was going to be considerably racier than what they were used to – that was for sure.

'I wonder if I can marry the two of us,'
she thought. '...then we wouldn't even have to wait until June. Probably not legally – conflict of interest or something,' she chuckled softly. 'He is so handsome - and he is such a good person and I'll bet he makes a wonderful father...'

Of course, what she was doing was instinctive – not really thought out. But the subconscious message was being sent nonetheless.

Antar was a tough place – at times vicious – and Antarean males weren't necessarily saints either. The dreamwalking ability had evolved most strongly in females and back in junior high school Isabel had considered it a blessing and a curse. A curse because she'd seen some truly horrible things in the minds of some of the boys in her class – dreams of uncaring sexual exploitation and even sexual sadism and – all too often – she'd been the focus of those dreams. She'd seen guys who wanted her – not for who she was and certainly not as a partner – but simply as a disposable plaything. But it had been a blessing too – a blessing that had enabled her to see the goodness in someone like Alex – someone not as flashy as the 'pretty people' that were the Ice Princesses male counterparts – but someone who was less flashy but far better where it counted. A guy who was a partner who you could really go the distance with – until death do you part and all that.

Of course she didn't realize that there was more to dreamwalking than just that. She didn't realize that those years of shared dreams weren't just reassuring her that he was that sort of guy. They had affected both of them. Hundreds of shared dreams had molded the two of them – harmonized them to fashion them into a couple that – even if they hadn't been all that compatible once – sure were now.

No, this love was going to go the distance alright. It was no accident that they wanted the same things – each other – a home - marriage and children. Your subconscious minds can make a lot of plans in a few hundred dreamwalks.

Which of course was what the hand on her thigh was all about. In all those dreamwalks the closeness had always been in dances. Alex had never really intruded into her personal space - and there certainly hadn't been any actual sex. Oh, the dream about the twins certainly implied that he'd wanted to that he could imagine having done so. But she'd been there for the dream-births, not the dream-conceptions. Both of them had been shy in the dreams about the physical stuff – and that's what the hand placed on her thigh was all about.

Alex had never violated her personal space – not even in a dream - and now he knew he never would. It was, her subconscious was telling his – now their space and no amount of closeness would be a violation. It wasn't a violation if it was welcome. That was the message her subconscious was sending his. Of course, their conscious minds would figure that out themselves soon enough....

The jeep bumped down the arroyo another mile and then climbed up the embankment and finally stopped at the base of the cliff. They got out and her hand quickly found his again as she lead him up to the hidden opening.

"Well," she said, "...the ancestral manse. Now you can see where it really all started. Not too late to back out if you are having second thoughts....?" she said with a smile. She was smiling because she knew better.

"Not going to happen," he said as he pulled her nearer and hugged. His lips found hers and for the next thirty seconds nobody breathed.

"Wow," she said, "... I think we just lost our amateur status."

"Yeah, well, that's a start," he said.

"Well, you better let go of me so I can wake up Max and Liz .... before we lose something else."

"I suppose...."

The second kiss was on his cheek.

"I want that too, Alex, and it won't be long."

"In my dreams, maybe..."

"For the next few months in your dreams certainly," she said, "...but if you don't want to wait..."

"Go get Liz and Max, Isabel. Some things are worth waiting for...."

'Yes," she said, pulling him toward her and kissing his lips softly, "...yes they are."

She placed her hand on the rock and an opening appeared suddenly on the face of the cliff six feet away.

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/16/2010

Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 12:22 am
by greywolf
Liz wasn't exactly startled by the opening of the door – she'd bben expecting Isabel to show up shortly – but she hadn't actually – until the door did appear – actually known its location. She'd done some prowling around after her shower but her bridal trousseau had been rather limited. She was now wearing her OTHER hospital gown besides the one she'd been wearing this morning when she had first awakened -one Isabel had colored a pastel sort of pink. As she saw Isabel step in to the entrance she couldn't help but smile.

“Liz...” said Isabel, rushing to hug her, and Liz's own smile was beaming as she hugged her sister-in-law back. Isabel quickly pushed her back and looked down at her abdomen – then back to her face. “Are you OK? I mean – are you having any morning sickness or anything?”

“Kind of hard to tell, since I've only HAD the one morning. But considering how long I've been down, it feels great just to be up – even wearing a hospital gown that doesn't seem to want to fasten in any way that will reliably keep my butt concealed.”

“I brought you some of your clothes – some for Max too. So how is my sleeping beauty brother?” asked Isabel nodding toward the young man collapsed on the bed covered only by a sheet.

“Pretty tired. Let me get dressed and then I'll wake him. He's uh – not really dressed for company.”

“Hey, you worry about you. I'll have you know that the young man waiting outside is my fiance' and iff anyone is going to wiggle an unadorned posterior at him it's going to be me. Besides, the first memory I have is seeing Max pretty much where he is now. He was buck-naked then too. You just put these on,” said Isabel, handing Liz her clothes, “...and I'll take care of my brother....”

Liz ducked behind the two upright pods and started putting on her clothes while talking to Isabel over her shoulder.

“Fiance' huh? Any lanky musician I know?” said a smiling Liz. It was funny really. Prior to her accident she wasn't sure that she'd ever spoken this many words to Isabel – ever. Somehow in the abyss, they'd become the best of friends.

“He asked me this morning. I tried to say no,” said Isabel, filling the bucket with water from the rain barrel. “....but he wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally I told him – well, I'd only say yes if I discovered that human-alien pregnancies were possible – that I'd room with him in college but unless well you know – we'd have to go our separate ways after that,”Isabel finished using her molecular manipulation on the bucket of water. It wasn't just warming water you could do. She was gradually getting the water down to about 33 degrees Fahrenheit.

“That was stupid,” said Liz, now in her bra and panties and struggling in to her blouse. “...if you love him and he loves you – that should be all that counts...”

“Yeah, well fortunately your father showed up about then and – well I'd kind of trapped myself with what I had promised him. So I'm not only overjoyed for you and Max, but pretty happy myself too,” said Isabel, throwing the bucket of ice water at her sleeping brother.

“Aaaauuuughhh!” screamed Max. He looked around wide eyed and spotted his sister. “Izzy?? What did you do THAT for? And where's Liz.”

“Right here, Max,” said Liz, stepping from behind the pods and hopping on one foot as she finished puling her pants on.

“THAT,” said a smiling Isabel, “... is for knowing that I was going to become an aunt for three months without letting me know. Not only do I have a niece or nephew to get ready for but I could have been engaged three months ago...”

“Engaged?”

“Yeah, engaged. Why don't you get your naked butt in and take a shower while Liz and I bring Alex in here and show him around. He might as well know what he's getting in to. Then we have to go see Mom and Dad so you can explain to them why you never wanted to tell them the truth...”

“Me??? That was you and your crazy 'sacred vow,' not me...”

Liz finished dressing, giggling at the interchange between the brother and sister. Finally – as her husband headed for the showers – she went out with Isabel to greet Alex. She hadn't spoken to him in eighteen months.

“Alex...I hear congratulations are in order.”

“You too, I guess,” said Alex, tears filling his eyes as he hugged her, “...how are you feeling?”

“I've honestly never felt better, Alex.”

“Me neither, Liz,” said Alex, hugging a smiling Isabel who seemed like anything but an Ice Princess right now, “....me neither.”

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/17/2010

Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:09 pm
by greywolf
As the jeep carrying the four teenagers turned the final corner, Max saw his house for the first time in six months.

It had never been that easy for him – calling this place home while concealing from his parents what he really was and where he came from. It had never really felt like a home - but then – he'd never really understood just what a home was until recently. He did now – as he put his arm around Liz and felt her head nestle against his shoulder. Home was where you loved and were loved and he'd been a fool most of his life. Home now was Liz – but more than ever before – home was also the two parents that were waiting for him in that house. Isabel said they knew everything and still loved both of their children. He felt ashamed of all the years he'd doubted them.

“It will be OK, Max,” the whisper at his ear reassured him. He looked down into twinkling eyes. “If you survive what my mom has to say about getting me pregnant, apologizing to your folks ought to be easy to handle. After all, Mom's the one that never wanted me to grow up – or have sex – or ever stop being her baby. ”

“Thanks for cheering me up,” he said, rolling his eyes skyward.

“That's what a wife is for, dear,” she replied with a grin, “...among other things.”

Max wasn't sure how the next half hour was going to go – but as long as he had Liz at his side, he figured he'd probably survive it.


The somewhat underpowered engine of the old jeep was easy for Diane to identify and as she heard it she quickly stepped to the window – Nancy at her side. “Thank goodness, there they are,” said Diane, as Isabel drove the car into the driveway and braked it to a stop.

“I think Liz has lost weight,” said Nancy, "...and I'm not sure either of them has seen the sun in six months … but my baby is awake and walking...,” she choked with emotion briefly and then continued,”... I'd almost given up hope of ever seeing that again. Thank you Diane – for having such a wonderful son.... and Isabel too, thank you so much for what they've done for Liz...”

“You aren't concerned...?”

“About their being ...different? Piffle. It sounds like Liz is a little different too now. That's not going to affect how much I love her.”

“I meant the pregnancy...”

“Surprisingly, no. Oh, I have to admit this is earlier than I would have wanted had things been different, but things weren't different. From what Jeff said Liz talked Max into this for the best of all possible reasons – because she loved him – and he did it because he loved her. That's a whole lot different than a couple of irresponsible teenagers accidentally conceiving a child out of carelessness or stupidity.”

“You mean it's better because they did it with actual intent? With - well, malice aforethought?”

“Not malice certainly, just the opposite I guess. Each wanted to give something to the other - something the other needed very badly. Something that the person they loved most in the world needed. If they love each other as much as they apparently do ... how can you criticize them for that, even if they didn't know at the time that it would be Liz's salvation. I guess that's how I feel about it. How do you feel about it?”

Diane sighed deeply. “You have no idea how many nights I have lain awake over the years worrying if that boy would ever really feel comfortable enough to to really love someone.” Diane looked out the window where Max was helping Liz – who was still a little unsteady on her feet, even with her own telekinetic assistance – and smiled. “I won't say that Max hasn't been a wonderful kid – he has. But your daughter did something that somehow no one else has been able to do. She made him more … human, I guess, strange as that sounds. He's always been Mr. Responsibility. Finally he's got someone he can be responsible for. I really didn't understand just how much Max loved Liz before this all happened, but in the end I think Liz was right. If he'd lost her – and not had her child to care for – I think we'd have lost Max forever. It is so ironic – Liz trying to save his life ….”

“....and in the process he saved hers,” finished Nancy. She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I'm happy enough about the result that I won't gripe about the 'process.' Besides, Jeff is giddy about having the two of them - or I perhaps that would be the three of them – living with us while they finish high school. I'm kind of looking forward to that myself, to tell you the truth.”

“Well you are going to have to share,” said Diane.

“Of course. Jeff and I always wanted a bigger family. Now we'll have one. Not just Max and the baby, but you and Phil – Isabel and Alex. Of course, the next half hour is going to be interesting. From what Jeff said, Max was feeling pretty guilty about the whole thing...”

“Well, from the smile on the blushing bride, and the way they are holding hands, I think your daughter's plan to – uh, reassure - Max has achieved some degree of success.”

“I think so too,” said a smiling Nancy. “I suppose it would be best if we tried to reassure both of them that we were comfortable with their new status.”

“Are we?”

“Surprisingly, I'm getting that way,” said Nancy, "...how about you?"

Diane nodded. "When I see the love in their eyes when they look at each other," said Diane, nodding, "...I couldn't be happier for either of them...."


“We're back...,”
said Isabel, opening the back door.

With that Diane and Nancy joined their husbands in the living room to go greet their children.

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/22/2010

Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:54 am
by greywolf
The next scene had a number of parallel interactions - interactions occurring simultaneously and in overlapping fashion. For the sake of limiting the near chaos that occurred when four parents interacted with two children they hadn't seen in some time - and in some cases had had doubts they would ever see again - these interactions will be sort of teased apart as if they weren't happening simultaneously.

It had been six months since Nancy had seen her daughter but it had been three times that long since she'd seen those eyes open and looking out at her and it had been almost two years - back on the day that her daughter had gotten her driver's license - that she had uttered those fateful words, that Liz should never grow up, never have sex, never stop being her baby.

For the last eighteen months she'd been grieving those very things - that her daughter never would really become an adult - never would experience the joys of her own romantic love and family - that her daughter would live out the rest of her life as a dependent husk of a person - scarcely alive at all. The original statement had been a stupid one although benign in intention. Just the simple lamentation of a mom that her little girl seemed to be growing up so quickly.

Nancy had never really meant that she wanted the process to stop and when it had she had been devastated. But she'd carried the guilt of that memory for eighteen months now, and only seeing the sparkle of her daughter's eyes and the smile on her face as Liz half-dragged the wonderful young man whose actions were the source of her salvation into the room had finally allowed Nancy to forgive herself for actually having said that to her daughter.

Of course even that forgiveness was incomplete. Before Nancy could really face her own conscience, it would require her to do something to expiate her sin. Of course it was something she wanted to do anyway - to make the young man feel welcome to the family and to make Liz understand that she - Nancy - very much wanted her daughter to have that adult life.

Nancy hugged Liz to her tearfully and then pushed her to arm's length, stepping back and turning her head to look at the young man her daughter was holding with tears of happiness streaking her cheeks and regarding him admiringly, then turning back to her daughter and smiling. "Some young women will do anything - even scare their parents half to death - to get a young man. I guess that's understandable if the young man is nice enough. Well, Max seems to be an exceptionally nice young man. I suppose he's worth it."

"He's worth it, Mom," Liz said, watching as her husbands parents own two parents mobbed him.

"I know he is, dear. You should have seen him that first year after your accident. He worked so hard getting you the best care - even after the Albuquerque police arrested him for what they thought was hovering a little too close to your comatose body.....," Nancy shook her head,"...it was obvious to anyone how much he did care. He fought to find you the best care and to get the insurance company to send you there. It was obvious how very much he did care. I used to wish so hard that somehow it would turn out like this. That someday I'd see the two of you holding each others hands like this - so obviously in love - married..."

"And pregnant?" Liz said, directing her eyes to her lower torso.

"And pregnant too," said a smiling Nancy. "This is perhaps a little earlier in the whole process for THAT than I'd have dreamed - but given the circumstances - and knowing how much this fine young man does love you - I'm actually kind of looking forward to being a grandmother.

I want you to finish your schooling of course, but that has got to be your decision - your decision and your husbands. Your father and I will be glad to help you and Max with that, but the truth is that your young man has shown himself to be responsible and caring. We couldn't ask for a better son-in-law, and we've already seen the lengths he's willing to go to to care for you. I don't know what the future holds - whether or not Diane and Philip will be able to keep the FBI and others at bay like they think they will, but certainly I don't worry about whether Max will take care of you and the baby. If anyone in the world doesn't need to prove his devotion to our daughter, it's Max. I have no doubt he'll be just as good at taking care of our grandchild."

The tears in Liz's eyes were tears of joy as she hugged her mother without ever letting go of her husband's hand, Jeff joining in a three way hug with Nancy and his daughter.

"I love you two so much....," she said, "... and you both are going to love Max."

"We already do," said Jeff, smiling at his daughter and looking at his son-in-law, "... we already do...."


Of course simultaneously at the other end of those intertwined hands - about four foot away - the Evanses were huddling with their child and talking to him as well.

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/24/2010

Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:18 pm
by greywolf
Of course if we trace down Liz's arm and across the hand she was grasping to her husband, another scene is unfolding at approximately the same time.


As his parents came toward him Max's anxiety level started to increase precipitously. In fact, if not for the strength he drew from the hand he was already holding he might have already run the other way. It was a scene he'd been dreading for most of his life - a scene that he had played over time again in his mind as a scene of rejection and pain as the only parents he'd ever known had - in his dreams - expressed shock and revulsion once they knew the truth about him. But it took less than seconds for him to realize that wasn't the way that things really were.

Diane and Philip embraced their son tightly - tears streaking his mother's cheeks as she said, "Oh Max, we were so frightened for you."

"Frightened FOR me?" Max squeaked out, with the little breath that his mother's bear hug had left in his lungs.

""Of course frightened for you. Somehow we'd been idiots for all those years and not realized that we hadn't understood nearly as much about you as we thought we had. We'd missed your feelings for Liz," said Diane," ...and we'd missed the fact that there was a reason you'd never felt entirely at home here. Maybe it was because Isabel hid it better than you did and we really didn't suspect her fears that we thought it was something about you - that you were different - and didn't realize that we really didn't understand the problem."

"But the problem wasn't you...? I was different... I AM different."

"Son," said Philip, shaking his head, "...we are all different from one another, one way or another. That doesn't mean we aren't a family.."

"But I'm REALLY different."

"Max, look at Liz and her folks," said Diane, kissing her son on the cheek," .... according to Jeff, Liz is now 'different' too. It certainly doesn't appear to be stopping her folks from caring about her..."

"But....," Max started as he looked from within the sandwich his parents had made of him to the sandwich that Liz's folks had made around her.

'Mom's right,'
he told himself, '...Liz's mom is overjoyed to see her - so is her father - and they both know she's 'different' too now. You were an idiot - your entire life - thinking it would make a difference to them. You should have told them. You should have told them years ago....'

Max looked at his parents and swallowed several times. Even with his powers he couldn't seem to get the lump out of his throat. "Mom...Dad... I'm so sorry. I should have known better. I've been such an idiot..."

"Max, it was just a mistake. We all make them. You are only human - after all - no matter if you are a little bit different," said Max's father, Diane nodding in agreement.

"I love you guys so much...." Max whispered, the tears trickling down his cheek as his parents hugged him and he hugged back.

By this time pretty much the same thing was happening down in the Parker end of this six-some. Eventually the hugs eased up - allowing the eyes of the parents to go from their own offspring to their offspring's spouse. Suddenly the tears started flowing again as they realized there was a new member of the family to welcome to the fold. Nancy Parker was the quickest to realize this, her gratitude toward Max for the salvation of her daughter almost overwhelming her....

"Max, come here and let me hug you," she said, grabbing him and kissing him on the cheek,"...I'm sorry but that's the deal. You don't get just Liz, you know. You are now part of the whole family."

Nancy finally let him loose, but only long enough for Jeff Parker to pat him on the back indulgently. "Thanks Max for everything you did for Liz," Jeff said," Will you ever forgive me for what I thought about you?"

Max didn't quite know what to say. Liz had told him - after the fact - that she'd told her father before he left the podchamber that she had every intention of - well - 'exhausting him' this morning - which she had certainly done. So here Jeff Parker was - the guy who'd come to kill him this morning - BEFORE he'd known that he was; a. different, b. the guy who'd been sleeping next to his daughter for the last six months, c. the guy who'd gotten her pregnant three months ago, and d. the reason she was now 'different. '...and on top of that he knows we had sex until I passed out from fatigue...,' thought Max, '..and he doesn't even seem upset...'

Before he could really comprehend what was going on both of the Parkers were hugging on him - just as his own parents had.....


Of course, by this time Max's folks had already started on Liz.....

"Thank you Liz," said Diane, "... for taking such good care of our little boy."

"That's really not the way it was, Mrs. Evans..."

"Diane, Liz, please. Or mom would be better yet, if your own mother doesn't mind."

"Diane ... or mom, if you'd prefer, .... I think you have it all wrong. It was Max that was taking care of me - working his tail off to do it too I might add."

"Max has always been a hard worker, Liz. But he's always sort of had trouble understanding the concept of 'family.' He understands that now. I think we have you to thank for that."

"Well, Max and Isabel saved my sanity in the abyss. Then Max - well I guess Max gave me something to live for. Eventually," she said with a smile as her eyes went to the small swelling visible in her lower abdomens, ".... I decided to return the favor. After that.... well - it seems like it was just sort of destiny. I guess where ever Max comes from - well families must be pretty important."

"They are important to us, too, " said Philip, "... and you are part of ours now."

"With all the rights, privileges, responsibilities, ...," smiled Diane as she hugged her new daughter-in-law, "...and love that goes with it," she finished. "Welcome to the family, Liz..."

"...and speaking of welcome, Diane and Nancy have been cooking lasagna and chili for the last three hours. Let's all set down - you and Alex too, Isabel - and have something to eat and we can talk all about just what happened and where we go from here," said Philip.

"Lasagna AND chili?" asked Liz. "Your son has been taking very good care of me - I know that - but it occurs to me that I've only had one solid meal in the last year and a half," said a smiling Liz Evans, "...and that one was war surplus ham and cheese, and I think the war was the French and Indian war. A home-cooked meal would be great."

"Are you sure you should have a heavy meal?" asked Diane.

Liz nodded. "Are you kidding? You forget, I'm eating for two now..."

All four parents smiled approvingly. "We'd never forget the baby," said Diane.

Nancy nodded her head in agreement. "That's right. The baby is a hero too, just like the baby's father..."

"...and mother, too," said Philip with a smile.

As everyone assembled at the dining room table - extended with the table brought in from the kitchen to now seat eight - Diane turned to her son and new daughter-in-law.

"With all deference to our new minister," she said, causing an ex-Ice Princess to laugh at her new fiance', "perhaps Liz and Max would lead us in saying Grace. It seems to me that we all have an awful lot to be thankful for today. Not just the food, but for an ever growing family, and an ever growing love. Liz...? Max...? If you please...?""

Re: Informed consent AU M/L ADULT 06/24/2010

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 1:45 am
by greywolf
It was sixty-five minutes later and stomachs were stuffed and anxieties were - for the most part - calmed. Sure, they still had the police and FBI to worry about, but they were a family - a larger and stronger family than they'd been previously. If Max's love could somehow bring Liz back from Purgatory, a little problem like law enforcement didn't seem insurmountable.

"I just wish I could have been there," said Nancy, "... when you two got married."

"It was beautiful," said Liz. "Of course, I didn't believe it was real at the time, ... but Max knew it was real ... and so did Isabel."

"I think," said Isabel, "... that if we all held hands, Max and I might be able to make the connection... to show you what you missed."

The eight people joined their hands together and Isabel looked at her parents and the Parkers and started the connection - her mind flowing first into Alex's ... and then around the circle.


  • "You're sure about this?" asked Liz nervously...

    "More certain than I've ever been about anything in my whole life, Liz," said Max.

    Liz looked up at Isabel and shrugged her shoulders, a sad little smile on her lips. Isabel looked down on her with obvious approval...and more than a little regret that she hadn't gotten to know the girl years ago....hadn't understood her as well as she had come to understand her these last eight months. More than anything else, she regretted the near-decade she'd been trying her best to keep these two apart.

    Isabel looked at Max, then back at Liz, and with a smile not too different from Liz's started to intone. "Repeat after me.....I, Elizabeth Parker..."

    "I, Elizabeth Parker..."

    "..take thee, Maxwell Evans, as my wedded husband,.."

    "..take thee, Maxwell Evans, as my wedded husband..."


    ".... to love, comfort, honor and keep you Maxwell... For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. And forsaking all others," repeated Liz.


    "until death do us part...," finished Liz, with a shy smile.


    "Repeat after me: I, Maxwell Evans...", said Isabel

    “I, Maxwell Evans..”

    “Take thee, Liz Parker….”

    “Take thee, Liz Parker,” Max repeated.

    "...as my wedded wife," intoned Isabel.

    “...As my wedded wife,” repeated Max, a soft smile on his lips as he gazed into the eyes of his bride.


The connection continued through the entire marriage ceremony - and held all four parents spellbound - but it wasn't simply the words that the parents and Alex heard, they also felt the feelings.

The feelings that Isabel had felt as she'd intoned the words - feelings of love and concern for both Liz and Max ... and particularly the feelings that Max had felt as he'd said his vows. His feeling that the vows were more than just a means to an end - permitting him to sleep with Liz without dishonoring her - but that the words themselves had been sacred to Max. That he meant everything he said - even if he didn't really expect Liz to go along with the marriage if she ever really learned the truth.

But somehow in the circle - as they all experienced those memories of that time - all eight of them now also felt the feelings going through Max and Liz today - the knowledge that the love mentioned in that marriage that both had at the time doubted had somehow become very real.

By the time the ceremony was done Diane and Nancy were both leaking tears - mothers have been known to do that at a wedding - and Liz was cuddling up to Max tightly. If she hadn't believed the vows were real when she'd said them, she certainly intended to be bound by them now.

"Well, informed consent or silly dreamer, we certainly are a family now," said Liz, sliding Max's hand which was around her waist down to rest on her lower abdomen as she sensed the small aura growing there.

Max's eyes flickered at both sets of parents - but saw nothing but approval. Isabel's marriage ceremony had -in their eyes - apparently taken. What God - and Isabel Evans - had joined, it was clear to the newlyweds that no one present wanted to put asunder. It was clear - even to Max - that everyone present approved of their union and that two sets of proud grandparents-to-be would soon be saying to their friends, 'this is my grandchild, (insert grandchild's name), and these other two are my 'grandchild's name's' mommy and daddy,' as if the elder two couples were perhaps forgetting that their son and daughter even had names - as long as they fulfilled their roles to provide their families with the next generation. That the grandkids might be a little 'different', obviously bothered the folks not a bit.

"Yes, you certainly are," agreed a smiling Jeff Parker. Of course, the smile faded from his lips as he saw the Sheriff's car pull up outside.