An Altered Existance(M/L,Adult)[COMPLETE]

[Shadowlynxbehr]

Epilogue
*Two Months Later*

Liz let herself out of the apartment and locked the door behind her. She glanced at the apartment next door, but wasn’t surprised to see it completely darkened. Forcing the pain from welling up again, she turned away from the apartments and made her way down to the bus stop. When the bus arrived, she climbed on and took a seat allowing her thoughts to drift.

It hadn’t taken long after the mansion incident for the dust to settle. The evidence that Tess had managed to walk out with had been enough for the authorities to claim that it had been an arsonist job. Apparently too many people wanted that place to go down.

Still the evidence Tess had gathered, including the two discs she’d pocketed, had also contained enough information to put away several high profile people from city officials and lawyers to self-made billionaires.

It hadn’t mattered that the mission had all been arranged by Max’s stepmother in an attempt to lure him into a trap. The evidence had been put to good use by everyone involved as a way to pay tribute to Max for his sacrifice.

It should have been enough to ease all of their grief over losing Max, but for Liz it would never be. Even when everything was said and done and there was only a little rubble left to cart away from the site, Liz couldn’t feel any closure from it.

All around her, others were moving on with their lives. Michael had just announced that the government was allowing him to officially retire from active duty so that he could enjoy married life with Maria and the baby she was now carrying. Even Maria had decided to give up her job as part of the feline assassin team in lieu of becoming a librarian again.

Since the government Team B was now missing a couple of members, Tess had been asked to step in as one replacement. She had been glad to do so since that would allow both her and Kyle to work together again. The government had allowed that even though they knew that Tess and Kyle were currently making plans for their wedding.

That announcement had taken everyone by surprise since most of them had known how hesitant Tess had been to get involved with Kyle in the beginning. However, after the prostitution mission, she and Kyle apparently had a long talk and at the end of it Tess had been the one to propose to Kyle. Needless to say, Kyle hadn’t hesitated in the least to say yes.

Alex was still a member of Team B also, but Isabel had decided to forego being an assassin anymore which was perfectly fine by Alex. Instead she was now working as the manager of one of her uncle’s car shops which still satisfied her need for speed and allowed her to have access to any parts Alex or any of the other team members needed for their vehicles.

Then, two days ago she and Alex and given Liz the news. They’d both been a little hesitant to do so because they knew Liz was still grieving, but Liz had dragged it out of them.

Isabel and Alex were now engaged, but they had yet to set a wedding date. They were also moving in together despite not planning a wedding yet. They said that for now, they wanted to get their lives back together before they focused on a wedding. Besides they also had Tess and Kyle’s wedding to deal with in the meantime.

The others had asked Liz if she also wanted to join Team B, but she had declined. She’d told them that she was better off working for independent contractors the way she’d done in the past.

None of them had pushed the issue, thinking Liz would come around on her own. The real reason Liz didn’t want to be a part of the team was because of the memories. She knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to their headquarters where everything would remind her of Max.

It had been two months since she’d last seen him and it was still too soon for her heart to mend. As she got off of the bus and made her way down the street to the cemetery entrance, she didn’t think there would ever be a time when her heart would be whole again.

All she could see every time she closed her eyes was the way he’d looked at her right after he’d given her that soul kiss and told her he’d always loved her. After all of that time, those had been the words she’d been waiting to hear from him and now she knew she would never hear them again. Not when his body lay beneath the soil of the cemetery.

There had barely even been a body left to bury as it was. After the debris had been moved away and the bodies had begun to be taken out, Liz and the others had waited with baited breath for Max’s body to be identified.

However, the authorities had a hell of a time identifying the bodies that had literally been burned to a crisp. The ones in the basement and the ones on the first floor that had been the closest to the spot where Max had last been seen were too burned to get identification from them.

Not even dental records had helped. Still, the government had sent people in as well as Alex and Michael to see if they could find clues about Max. In the end, they had discovered that there was a circle of bodies not too far from the foyer. And in the center of those bodies had been one more body which had clearly been singled out.

It was that body that everyone had finally agreed had to have been Max’s. They had deduced that if he’d been surrounded, he’d probably have let loose that huge ball of fire in order to take everyone down at once. And if his powers were still too new to him, he might not have been able to control the fire the way he’d wanted.

So, Max’s body had been identified and taken out to be prepared for burial. The funeral itself hadn’t been all that big, but every member of Team B and their significant others had been there. There had also been representatives from the government offices where Michael was now working. This had been the governments way of paying tribute to one of their fallen soldiers, so to speak.

They had allowed Liz to act as next of kin since they knew Max didn’t have any other living relatives. At the cemetery, she had been surrounded by Isabel and Alex on one side and Maria and Michael on the other side. Tess and Kyle had sat in the row behind them with the others from the government.

While most of the ones who’d known Max the longest had shed tears, only Liz had remained dry eyed. She’d shed her tears the day Alex had dragged her abused body away from the burning mansion and hadn’t stopped until she had gotten word that they’d identified his body.

At that point, not only had she been empty of tears, but she’d been empty of everything else too. When they’d told her the news, it was as if everything inside her had finally died the way it should have when she’d been strapped to that table.

Ever since the day of the funeral, Liz had continued to go back to the cemetery at least once a week, if not more. It was the only place she ever felt a small spark of life flare inside of her anymore. It was the only place where she could find a modicum of peace from having to pretend to be happy and smile as everyone else found happiness in their lives.

Sighing, she moved among the headstones heading to the one that marked Max’s grave. She’d sit there like she had all those other times and just think of the times they’d had together. Sometimes she’d talk to him as if he were there listening to her. But no matter what, she’d stay there until they chased her out or one of her friends came to find her.

As she approached the headstone that only had his name, Max Evans, and the date of his death on it she noticed a small box sitting on top of it. Frowning, she saw that there was nothing special about the box other that it was about the size of her hand and there was a card taped to the top of it.

Thinking someone left it there by accident, she walked over and looked down at it. Her eyes went wide when she saw that the card only had one thing written on it.

Liz.

Curious, she reached out and took the box in her hand. She flipped the card over but there was nothing else written on it. Wondering if it was even a good idea to open the box, she decided that she had nothing else to lose and lifted the cover to look inside.

This time, there was an envelope there. She pulled the envelope out and set the box back on the headstone without another look before opening the envelope and taking the folded note out to read it.

“Liz, I need you to know that I love you more than I think I could ever show you. You’re the only one who has ever made me want to live again. I no longer want to just exist. So, will you help me change that? Will you wear this ring? Will you marry me? --- Max”

Liz stared at the note in disbelief, until she glanced at the box once more. That was when she saw the smaller velvet box at the bottom of it. Her eyes growing wide, she reached in and pulled it out.

With trembling hands, she flipped the top open to see the engagement ring winking up at her. Unable to believe this was happening, she began to look wildly around the cemetery.

And then she saw him. He was standing beneath a cluster of trees near the edge of the cemetery dressed in black slacks, a black turtleneck with a black trench coat over them. The ends of the trench coat fluttered around his ankles the same way his long hair fluttered around his shoulders in the breeze.

Even from this distance, she could see his face, but most of all she could see his eyes. And they were staring right at her, a question clearly visible in them.

As the tears began to form in her eyes, she pulled the ring out and slid it on her finger. Gripping the box and note in her hands, she ran to him as a sob escaped her lips.

He had been waiting for her with open arms. Arms that now crushed her to him as his lips claimed hers after two lonely months away from each other. In the next few moments, their lips tried to play catch up with the time they’d missed before Liz finally pulled away to look up into his eyes.

He reached up to cup her cheek as he whispered her name, “Liz?”

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she whispered back to him. “Yes. Yes I will, Max.”

She watched the smile blossom over his lips and chase the emptiness from his eyes.

“I love you Liz,” he breathed, right before he took her lips into his again.

Max knew he could spend the rest of his life telling her that. A life he could now claim as his own. A life he only had to share with her and her alone. Because as far as the rest of the world knew, the assassin known as Akita, aka Max Evans, had ceased to exist.

THE END