xmag, 
no, you're right about "what the hell was Daniel thinking that he got brain cancer?" You're not the only one wondering that, but that's one or two chapters ahead, still
Langley is busy
Meka, awwwnnn thank you girl! I love being back in my Roswell universe as well
Also thankful there are still readers who want to be here, too!
There are several things happening at the same time, so the following chapters are more or less going to be in parallel. Also, I have more gaps to fill, so it might take a few more days to post... As a fun story, the last part of this chapter was written as four different scenes, editing that part was
hard
Part 36: Vanishing Act
November 2nd, 2011 - New York
1 : Isabel
The shapeshifter who walked with her was tall, broad, and intimidating all around. He wouldn’t look misplaced in a boxing ring or as a bouncer at some fancy bar. He moved with the agility of someone who knew how to fight, and she had serious doubts about how skilled she was if she had to fight him.
Ahead of them, Jake talked about biochemistry and drugs and timing. She understood half of it, but her heart beating in her ears did little to help her listen to what the man was saying.
Max was going to die.
She’d seen Max dying once already, when he’d transferred himself to an old man’s body, a feat that even Max wasn’t sure who he’d managed. He’d basically rewired or recloned himself into that man’s body, effectively escaping death.
Now though, now there was nowhere to go.
Vilandra had never known Zan had been killed. Her last memory was knowing Khivar had lied to her as his rebellion invaded the capital city and entered the palace with a triumphant shout of victory.
She’d seen him, from a window in the palace, where they had exchanged glances, one with glee and the other with horror.
You promised! she had told him with her eyes.
And you believed me? he had answered back.
That was the last memory she had. Michael had told her once that she’d been the first to fall. His own last memory was about running to protect Max, ordering someone to go find the queen. He had already known Vilandra had fallen by that point and had little doubt about how Khivar had bridged the palace.
But Max didn’t remember the day, the same way he didn’t remember transferring to that man’s body, the same way he didn’t remember much of what had happened at the hands of the FBI. Max’s mind masterfully knew how to hide trauma from him, and for that she was thankful.
She’d always loved Max fiercely because she’d always sensed the world was not going to be kind to him, not to his kindness, and his shyness, and that awful way he would bottle things up. She was constantly worried about Michael, where he was sleeping, if he had eaten that night or not? But Michael knew how to blow stuff up, how to defend himself, how to stand in front of the world and not be afraid.
And yet it was Max who was going to die.
It should’ve been me, she thought, as if there was a way to make a deal with Khivar, her life for his, and let’s be over with the whole thing. Kyle had asked her what it would take to redeem her, and impossible as it was, trading places with her brother would feel just right.
If she failed, though, if Max died in this place in a one last effort to outrun Khivar, she knew she wouldn’t be far from joining his fate. And she was okay with it. Yet nothing could prepare her to see Max sitting in that gurney as the shapeshifter doctor was attaching the electrodes to his chest and Liz was explaining something to him. She froze, even if nobody noticed her at all.
The shapeshifter who’d escorted her melted to the wall and Jake talked to the doctor, but she remained frozen in place. The hands that had opened that door a lifetime ago were going to be the ones to keep Max’s heart beating.
She didn’t know if that was irony or destiny or both.
One looked at her, though, and Max knew. He gave her one of his small smiles, like a secret shared between siblings that no one else understood. Liz turned to talk with Jake and Rose, and Max extended his hand for Isabel to come.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Max said, lying down and getting comfortable on the bed.
“You do know this is insane, right?” she said, trying to smile, trying not to cry, trying to be reasonable.
“You remember when were little and we would spend hours wondering what kind of things we could do? Whispering under the bedsheets so our parents wouldn’t hear us?”
She nodded, moving some wires so he wouldn’t detach anything already in place.
“We never thought about this…” he said, giving her a wide smile.
She smiled back, but it was forced.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, holding her hand. “I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I was resigned that I wouldn’t be able to outwit Khivar, and Jake has told me there’s no guarantee I will wake up, so this might just be for nothing.”
“Don’t. Don’t even think about it, Max. You’re going to be just
fine, you hear me?”
“I know, I hope so…” he trailed off, as Jake, Liz and Rose were getting ready. “There is a good chance I won’t wake up, Iz. And I know how much Vilandra is haunting you…but if we believe for a moment that you are her and that I am him, now would be the perfect moment to tell Zan whatever you want.”
“Max…” she said, tears springing to her eyes.
“Go ahead. If we were both reborn, knowing what we know now…” he trailed off, giving her the opening she needed.
“I’m so,
so sorry,” she said, gripping his hand. “Sorry for not believing in your vision for our kingdom. Sorry for siding with Khivar because it was convenient. Sorry for opening that door, for being part of our downfall, for believing—for believing he was better than you,” she choked for a moment. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, brother, nor do I have any hope of ever gaining it, but for what is worth, I do believe in you now. Maybe I’m a lifetime too late, and maybe neither of us will survive today, but I’ll be always grateful that I got a chance to be your sister again, and that I can thank you for trusting your life into my hands once more.”
2 : Max
He stared up, the circular lights above him mercifully turned off. He could hear his heartbeat on the monitor beside him, beep-beep-beep as it anticipated his own mortality. And induced coma was far gentler than Khivar actually killing him, but this was not a sure thing.
Above him, Jake and Rose argued about something or other, most likely because neither of them knew how his hybrid biology would react. Beside him, Isabel held his hand.
“If you slip away, I’ll catch you,” she said with a smile full of tears.
Outside, the faint sounds of explosions reached them, a reminder that this was but one of two main problems they had to deal with.
“I trust you,” he said, as Jake finished attaching the last electrodes to his calp.
“This will make you drowsy for a moment,” Rose said, though Max didn’t feel when the needle went into his vein.
“See you on the other side, little brother,” Isabel said, holding his hand tighter as Max’s grip faltered. He felt drowsy all right, but if it was the drugs or Khivar’s puppet machine was anyone’s guess.
Beep… beep… beep…
His eyes closed without any further prompt, and faintly, he heard Jake telling Isabel to go slow. She would cool him down first, and through their linked hands, he briefly got a flash from her: she was looking at Max, walking down the road where their parents would find them, naked and cold, yet not lost because they had each other.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
He opened his eyes, for a moment thinking the whole thing was over. He was standing in the clinic, not feeling cold or hot, while the entire room was silent to an eerie point.
“Liz?” he said, though it sounded hollow, as if an echo had filled the air between them. She sat on the edge of a plastic chair, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped, leaning her forehead as she looked at the floor.
Confused, Max turned to look back. And sure enough, Jake, Rose, and Isabel were there, the three looking intently at—
him?
His phantom heart accelerated, but in the real world, his heart flattened for a long moment. The EEG that followed his brain waves started to flatten as well.
I’m dying, he thought, but it was more curiosity than fear that invaded him. Maybe he was truly not going to make it, but he’d done everything in his power to try.
I’m sorry, he thought, getting down to Liz’s level.
I’m sorry if I do end up leaving you.
He felt himself drifting, truly lightheaded, when Liz’s eyes stared right into his. “You promised me you would come back to me,” she whispered with all the protectiveness in the world, “so you better come back, Max. You better come back.”
And then, he vanished.
3 : Jade
Watching Max dying was like having the air sucked out of the room. No one was left unaffected. For too many years, all five Royal Guards had stood with him, listened to him, be a part of his complicated waltz between being Zan and Max.
Jade had always been by Liz’s side, and this was no different, even if he was part of the ceiling right now.
We’re bearing witness to Zan’s greatest sacrifice, Jade thought with trepidation as Max’s heartbeat slowed down.
Even if he survives, it wouldn’t diminish the risk he’s taking.
All five of them were needed somewhere else, to defend Van, to defend the base, to defend the last hope of the Rebellion—yet not one of them moved. Jade could sense them around him, all wanting to protect Max from something none of them could do anything about. Max was out of their reach, despite being right there, in front of them.
“Okay, Isabel, nice and easy,” Jake instructed as the heartbeat monitor flatlined. She placed her hand over Max’s chest, and a faint glow irradiated from her fingers into Max’s body.
When the monitor beeped once more, everyone exhaled.
He’s not out of the woods, yet, Jade thought, aching to reach for Liz’s clasped hands. She’d been whispering something just a moment ago, a plea for Max to come back. He looked back at Jake, the man who’d come up with this plan to begin with, and the glowing hand that kept His Majesty’s heart beating, and thought about how fragile the whole thing was. How fragile the whole rebellion really was.
How fragile their dreams of freedom were.
Rose nodded once, the sign for shifters to leave and inform Van and Luke of what was happening. He felt the others leaving a moment after, not even shadows passing through the walls, and knew he had to follow.
In the hall, only Violet and Ash reformed. Jet had left to bring the news, and Shade was still in Guard mode, invisibly protecting His Majesty not two feet from the door.
“We need to protect this place,” Ash said as Jade took human form. “We’re outnumbered. Soon, we’re going to become sitting ducks here.”
“We need to find a way out before they start a siege,” Violet said.
“We cannot move Max right now,” Jade said, the obvious problem they had. Shifters could move anywhere in this world undetected, but they were only a handful against their human enemies.
“We could infiltrate their ranks, dispose of their men, saw chaos and confusion,” Ash said.
“Jake said he had enough to keep Max under for four hours. Let’s bring this idea to Luke and see what he wants to do.”
“I’m staying here with Shade,” Jade said, turning to look at the door behind. “If worst comes to worst, the Queen will need to be moved, and she won’t be in any state to walk herself out.”
Violet’s eyes softened. “Jade, if worst comes to worst and Zan truly dies, she won’t be the queen anymore. You know that.”
“The General would still be himself. His wife wouldn’t leave her friend here. If Max falls, he wouldn’t want the rest of them to fall with him.”
“Let him be here,” Ash said as Violet was about to protest. “Guard that man’s heart with your whole being, Jade. If any of us knows how to, that’s you.”
The three of them vanished into the walls. It wasn’t until a minute later that Jade wondered if Ash was talking about Max’s literal heart—or about one Liz Parker.
4 : Michael
He felt it when Max died.
It was more like an absence of something, really. The world tilted for a moment, and it lost some colors in the process. His chest ached, more a reaction of what it meant than an actual indication of Max’s death. Yet he felt it all the same, and through him, Maria did as well.
Although she was with Van somewhere else, he could picture her placing her hand on her mouth and her eyes filling with tears. They weren’t
pretending Max was dead. This was real. If the Seal had not gone to Van, Michael would be sporting a nice five-dotted V on his chest right now.
He’s going to come back, this is going to work, he told himself as he had a new problem in his hands: priorities.
“We need to protect Zan,” Violet argued. Max was not ten minutes into his induced coma, and already this was creating a problem.
“The Royal Seal of Antar resides within Van, so he’s the ruler right now,” Luke argued back. “If Zan lives or dies is irrelevant. Van is our priority.”
“They both are,” Michael said, with all the authority of his general persona. “We need to keep the Unit at bay so Max has a chance of waking up. If the Seal resides in him or not, that’s not the point here. We cannot abandon a king of Antar, no matter on whose forehead the Seal is shining on.”
“It shines?” Violet asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Michael answered. “We need to be prepared to defend the clinic until he wakes up.”
“We’re more than capable of defending him,” Violet said, sounding offended.
“It’s not only defending him, it’s getting him out as well. All of us,” Michael pointed out.
“We also need to think what we should do in case Zan is—unwell,” Luke said. Of course, if Max died, that would be the end of it. Taking Max’s body would be a nice to have, but honestly? He wouldn’t be a priority anymore.
“Van would never abandon Zan, not even if he has the Royal Seal,” Violet said, clashing with Luke yet again. These divided loyalties were going to get them killed.
“Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” Michael said instead, his plate getting too full, too fast. “The Unit will dig through the main entrance soon. We still have no definitive answer on how to get out.”
On the table, the hologram detailing the entire blueprint of the base showed where everyone inside was. Shapeshifter were colored in blue, humans in red, and Max and Van in green. He loved how organized these people were.
“We haven't settled the portal question,” Ray pressed. “Can you open it from here to somewhere else on Earth?”
“No, not at all,” Luke said. “Those portals have one point in this world and one point on Antar. You can go back and forth, but not from Earth to Earth.”
“But it can be opened here,” Ray said.
Luke turned to look at Violet, and then to Michael. “Yes, if your intention is to go to Antar.”
Michael froze at the implication.
Violet shook her head. “You might end up arriving at an ambush if you’re not careful. We secure the entry and exit points days if not weeks before the traveling is done.”
“We only need it as a connection point,” Ray said. “Get there, and then get back to Earth. That’s how it works, right? We humans would be okay?”
“Yes, but the amount of energy that would require, though…” Luke said, frowning. “It wouldn’t be an immediate thing, either. It would take a couple of hours to have the portals operating again for your travel back.”
“And the more people cross,” Violet said, “the more energy it will require. The energy consumption would glow red on Khivar’s own maps.”
“Then we leave in groups,” Ray said, turning to Michael. “What do you say, General? Human bullets or potential Antarian bullets?”
All eyes in the room turned to him. “Let’s find a secondary way to leave…but if everything else fails, then that’s our escape route.”
with Roswell even in 2025, lol.
