Re: AWA: Journey of Discovery (SV,XO,Mature,UC)AN p5 7/4/13
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 5:04 pm
Note: Hello everyone. Long time no update. So I finished with the Max/Michael and Nasedo/Royal Four sections. For the next chapter I’ll work on the Clark/Liz and their gang just relaxing part and Nasedo/Cara section. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 36
Max’s Jeep
“We shouldn’t have left so soon.” Michael told Max once they were a few miles away from the Quarry.
Max nodded. “You’re right we shouldn’t have.”
Michael froze for a moment, Max actually agreed with him for once. He took a quick look around at his surroundings. Nope, still summer hot Roswell, no signs of freezing anywhere.
“There was still a lot we could have asked them. Like why would the others believe Khivar when he killed us in our former lives? Doesn’t that say he’s a bad guy?”
“Not necessarily.” Max turned a corner and continued to follow Nasedo’s SUV.
Michael, at first, didn’t pick up where Max was going with his comment but he quickly figured it out. “Ok, so he might not be a bad guy but he’s definitely our enemy. How can they explain their trust in him?”
“There has got to be something their not telling us.” Max spoke distractedly.
Michael scratched his eyebrow. “Try a lot of somethings. While they told us some, Liz and the others are still keeping a lot close to the vest. We’ve got to figure out a way to get them to tell us.”
Max stared straight ahead, not speaking, hardly blinking, and barely listening. “Hmm-mm”
“Ok, let me guess...” Michael sighed, irritated at Max’s one track mind.
“Even with everything we shared…I realize that I don’t know Liz at all. She admitted she’d kill me or have Clark kill me and not care. How does that mesh with the sweet, innocent girl I dated?” Max asked his brother and friend.
“She didn’t say she’d kill you. She said she’d kill Isabel, Tess, and Maria if they went after Clark. Clark is the one that’s going to kill you if you go after her.” Michael pointed out in a semi-joking manner. He had to find humor in this whole situation.
“Great.” Max mumbled.
“Why are you getting so uptight about this anyway, you are dating Tess, who in case you haven’t noticed is smokin’ hot, so as long as you stay away from her and Clark you’ll be fine. Right? You are planning on staying away?”
Max kept quite for a second then exhaled softly. “Yes but I can’t stop loving her right away, it’s not a switch.”
“Well for your sake and the sake of your spine you better start losing that love. No good can come from you pursuing her.”
Max stayed silent. For a moment Michael thought he was being ignored but then Max said two words that nearly caused not only Roswell but the whole Earth to freeze. “You’re right.”
“Excuse me?” He had to have heard wrong. Since when did Max agree he was right on matters of his and Liz’s relationship?
“You are right. Liz and I…we’re not…clearly if she…and Tess.”
“Ok you went from making sense to semi-incoherent babbling.”
Max sighed. “As much as I love her, I fell in love with a lie or at least not the true version of her. I don’t know how to wrap my head around that. And as you pointed out, Clark would bend my spine in different directions if I pursued her. My spine’s rather important to me.” He turned into the parking lot of Michael’s apartment building. Tess, Isabel, and Nasedo were there waiting for them.
“Let’s find out what our lying protector wants.” Michael hopped out of the jeep, Max did the same and the two walked over to the other three.
Michael opened the door to his apartment only to have Nasedo push passed him, moving too slowly for his taste.
“Yes, please come on in.” Michael glared at the protector.
“This is no time for human niceties. That was Khivar, why didn’t any of you call me?” Nasedo shouted.
Tess shut the door behind her. Max started to answer but she put her hand up in a universal gesture of ‘wait, let me talk first’. “Why have you been lying to us?”
Nasedo whirled around. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Khivar told us that he wasn’t here to hurt us. Plus he told us interesting tidbits on our past lives. Much of which doesn’t quite gel with what you told us.” Tess stood only a couple feet from her protector and pseudo father looking closely at his face. There was the twitch. That small little jump of a nerve that sometimes shot up when he lied. It wasn’t obvious to anyone who didn’t know what to look for but she’d lived with him for the majority of her post hatched life and she could notice his minor tells.
Nasedo stared at her incredulously, “You can’t be so naïve. He’s lying to you.”
The nerve jumped again. “No he wasn’t.” Tess closed her eyes, sad that the man she trusted, despite some of the issues they’ve had over the years, hadn’t told her the truth on so many things.
“How can you trust the man who killed you in your past life?” He demanded to know.
Tess shook her head. “I don’t trust him. But I trust my eyes. You’re nervous and that nerve, right there,” She touched the middle of his eyebrow. “It twitches when you start lying. It’s been twitching a lot during this conversation.” She turned away, ashamed at the faith she placed in him.
“Don’t be a fool Tess. This is not the time to question loyalties.” Nasedo shouted.
She whirled around. “But it’s perfectly acceptable for you to question ours? It takes trust to get trust back.”
Max put his hands on her shoulders comforting her as best he could. “How can we trust you now?” He asked the man who was supposed to look out for all of them.
“Everything I have done has been in your best interest. You four needed to be together, united as one to have any shot at surviving the Kryptonian interlopers. They will destroy you if you’re not a unit.”
Isabel crossed her arms angry at Nasedo’s accusations. “You should have been honest with us. We still would have been united. Max, Michael and I are family, always will be and Tess is one of us so no matter what and we have welcomed her with open arms. You should have told us the truth. Had more faith in us.”
“I couldn’t take that chance. In your former life you were in love with Khivar’s father and Krenic supported the Kryptonians living on Antar. The same species that murdered three members of the Royal Family and if my information is correct the Kryptonians living on Antar have helped Khivar take over as the ruling King of Antar. We are looking at a possible war children, I didn’t have the luxury of hoping you’d come around. Who knows what Khivar has planned now that he’s here and has connected with more Kryptonians here. God and we don’t even know what rank Parker, Valenti and the other guy hold. If we’re lucky they will be low ranking but if Khivar’s here protecting them…they can’t be of low rank. That is not good for us and you stupid children keep thinking of them as your friends when they are the enemy.”
The group was silent at the end of Nasedo’s speech. Frustrated with their “protector” Michael stepped forward. “You need to leave my apartment, now.”
“Excuse me?” Nasedo was trying really hard not to strangle the second in command. He just revealed massive amounts of threats on the horizon and Michael’s solution was to ask him to leave?
“Michael’s right.” Max stated. “You need to leave. The four of us, we need to talk alone, we’ll call you when we know where we stand.” In that moment he was every bit the King of Antar that he was destined to be, that he was born to be. Firm but diplomatic, caring about his family and friends but not completely pushing Nasedo away.
Nasedo breathed out through his nose clearly frustrated. “Fine but don’t come crying to me if you make the wrong choice and end up bowing to a murderous race or worse end up dead at their feet.” With that final parting shot Nasedo stormed out of Michael’s apartment.
TBC
Chapter 36
Max’s Jeep
“We shouldn’t have left so soon.” Michael told Max once they were a few miles away from the Quarry.
Max nodded. “You’re right we shouldn’t have.”
Michael froze for a moment, Max actually agreed with him for once. He took a quick look around at his surroundings. Nope, still summer hot Roswell, no signs of freezing anywhere.
“There was still a lot we could have asked them. Like why would the others believe Khivar when he killed us in our former lives? Doesn’t that say he’s a bad guy?”
“Not necessarily.” Max turned a corner and continued to follow Nasedo’s SUV.
Michael, at first, didn’t pick up where Max was going with his comment but he quickly figured it out. “Ok, so he might not be a bad guy but he’s definitely our enemy. How can they explain their trust in him?”
“There has got to be something their not telling us.” Max spoke distractedly.
Michael scratched his eyebrow. “Try a lot of somethings. While they told us some, Liz and the others are still keeping a lot close to the vest. We’ve got to figure out a way to get them to tell us.”
Max stared straight ahead, not speaking, hardly blinking, and barely listening. “Hmm-mm”
“Ok, let me guess...” Michael sighed, irritated at Max’s one track mind.
“Even with everything we shared…I realize that I don’t know Liz at all. She admitted she’d kill me or have Clark kill me and not care. How does that mesh with the sweet, innocent girl I dated?” Max asked his brother and friend.
“She didn’t say she’d kill you. She said she’d kill Isabel, Tess, and Maria if they went after Clark. Clark is the one that’s going to kill you if you go after her.” Michael pointed out in a semi-joking manner. He had to find humor in this whole situation.
“Great.” Max mumbled.
“Why are you getting so uptight about this anyway, you are dating Tess, who in case you haven’t noticed is smokin’ hot, so as long as you stay away from her and Clark you’ll be fine. Right? You are planning on staying away?”
Max kept quite for a second then exhaled softly. “Yes but I can’t stop loving her right away, it’s not a switch.”
“Well for your sake and the sake of your spine you better start losing that love. No good can come from you pursuing her.”
Max stayed silent. For a moment Michael thought he was being ignored but then Max said two words that nearly caused not only Roswell but the whole Earth to freeze. “You’re right.”
“Excuse me?” He had to have heard wrong. Since when did Max agree he was right on matters of his and Liz’s relationship?
“You are right. Liz and I…we’re not…clearly if she…and Tess.”
“Ok you went from making sense to semi-incoherent babbling.”
Max sighed. “As much as I love her, I fell in love with a lie or at least not the true version of her. I don’t know how to wrap my head around that. And as you pointed out, Clark would bend my spine in different directions if I pursued her. My spine’s rather important to me.” He turned into the parking lot of Michael’s apartment building. Tess, Isabel, and Nasedo were there waiting for them.
“Let’s find out what our lying protector wants.” Michael hopped out of the jeep, Max did the same and the two walked over to the other three.
Michael opened the door to his apartment only to have Nasedo push passed him, moving too slowly for his taste.
“Yes, please come on in.” Michael glared at the protector.
“This is no time for human niceties. That was Khivar, why didn’t any of you call me?” Nasedo shouted.
Tess shut the door behind her. Max started to answer but she put her hand up in a universal gesture of ‘wait, let me talk first’. “Why have you been lying to us?”
Nasedo whirled around. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Khivar told us that he wasn’t here to hurt us. Plus he told us interesting tidbits on our past lives. Much of which doesn’t quite gel with what you told us.” Tess stood only a couple feet from her protector and pseudo father looking closely at his face. There was the twitch. That small little jump of a nerve that sometimes shot up when he lied. It wasn’t obvious to anyone who didn’t know what to look for but she’d lived with him for the majority of her post hatched life and she could notice his minor tells.
Nasedo stared at her incredulously, “You can’t be so naïve. He’s lying to you.”
The nerve jumped again. “No he wasn’t.” Tess closed her eyes, sad that the man she trusted, despite some of the issues they’ve had over the years, hadn’t told her the truth on so many things.
“How can you trust the man who killed you in your past life?” He demanded to know.
Tess shook her head. “I don’t trust him. But I trust my eyes. You’re nervous and that nerve, right there,” She touched the middle of his eyebrow. “It twitches when you start lying. It’s been twitching a lot during this conversation.” She turned away, ashamed at the faith she placed in him.
“Don’t be a fool Tess. This is not the time to question loyalties.” Nasedo shouted.
She whirled around. “But it’s perfectly acceptable for you to question ours? It takes trust to get trust back.”
Max put his hands on her shoulders comforting her as best he could. “How can we trust you now?” He asked the man who was supposed to look out for all of them.
“Everything I have done has been in your best interest. You four needed to be together, united as one to have any shot at surviving the Kryptonian interlopers. They will destroy you if you’re not a unit.”
Isabel crossed her arms angry at Nasedo’s accusations. “You should have been honest with us. We still would have been united. Max, Michael and I are family, always will be and Tess is one of us so no matter what and we have welcomed her with open arms. You should have told us the truth. Had more faith in us.”
“I couldn’t take that chance. In your former life you were in love with Khivar’s father and Krenic supported the Kryptonians living on Antar. The same species that murdered three members of the Royal Family and if my information is correct the Kryptonians living on Antar have helped Khivar take over as the ruling King of Antar. We are looking at a possible war children, I didn’t have the luxury of hoping you’d come around. Who knows what Khivar has planned now that he’s here and has connected with more Kryptonians here. God and we don’t even know what rank Parker, Valenti and the other guy hold. If we’re lucky they will be low ranking but if Khivar’s here protecting them…they can’t be of low rank. That is not good for us and you stupid children keep thinking of them as your friends when they are the enemy.”
The group was silent at the end of Nasedo’s speech. Frustrated with their “protector” Michael stepped forward. “You need to leave my apartment, now.”
“Excuse me?” Nasedo was trying really hard not to strangle the second in command. He just revealed massive amounts of threats on the horizon and Michael’s solution was to ask him to leave?
“Michael’s right.” Max stated. “You need to leave. The four of us, we need to talk alone, we’ll call you when we know where we stand.” In that moment he was every bit the King of Antar that he was destined to be, that he was born to be. Firm but diplomatic, caring about his family and friends but not completely pushing Nasedo away.
Nasedo breathed out through his nose clearly frustrated. “Fine but don’t come crying to me if you make the wrong choice and end up bowing to a murderous race or worse end up dead at their feet.” With that final parting shot Nasedo stormed out of Michael’s apartment.
TBC