Roswelllostcause - The answer to your question is in this chapter
Thank you for the feedback!
L-J-L 76 - Some of your questions will be answered in the next part
Thank you for the feedback!
Eve (begonia9508) - Yeah, you're right. Max needs to man up a bit. Claim some space. But he's too used to being in the background. Too afraid to do something wrong and has a tendency to blame everything on himself. Which, like you mention, would be helped if he could just confide in his friends and let them help him. Thank you for the feedback!
Carolyn (keepsmiling7) - Because I have a tendency to mix stories up myself (if reading a couple at the same time), I wanted to help you out a bit by posting the "Previously on…"-comments. I'm glad that you're finding them useful
The agent is not to be trusted. Thank you for the feedback!
saori_1902 - Thank you
Previously on "Lethal Whispers"…
In the wake of David Perkins attack on Liz Parker, she was saved and healed by Max, and also let in on the secret to Max's background. Max did, however, not mention that there were others out there like him. This didn't mean that Liz couldn't figure out that at least Max's sister was the same as Max.
The group has met with Tess and they have exchanged the information they have gathered on their origins.
There's a FBI-agent on their trail and it doesn't look like he's giving up any time soon.
Meanwhile, Max thought that his premonitions of Liz being in danger would stop once she was saved from being assaulted by David Perkins, but he just had another one. Of Liz being strapped down on a metal chair in a white room. Just as the vision/dream/premonition/seizure ended, Max got a call from Liz.
CHAPTER 32
Liz
She had resorted to biting her nails. It was a first for her. But the stress was too much. Her dream had been too real. Even during her nightmares - which usually consisted of her crawling around in mud in the rain and suffering miscarriages - she had never doubted that it was actually a dream. They had that blurry and non-consistent feel about them.
But this one was different. It was clear and focused.
The strangest part was that she had suddenly felt Max there and when she had turned to look, there he had been, looking startled. As if he hadn’t expected her.
Which is why she had called him the second she had woken up. Because it hadn’t felt like a dream.
It seemed like forever before there was a knock on her front door. Automatically, she pushed her hair back from her face and straightened her over-sized sweatshirt. She probably looked like a disaster, but she hoped he wouldn’t notice - considering the circumstances.
He looked as bad as she felt.
“Hey,” he said softly as she opened the door. His face was all shadows, his eyes looking at her both wearily and concerned. As if trying to get a quick hold of the situation.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Liz replied and stepped to the side to let him in.
She had tried to give him directions to her apartment over the phone but he had interrupted her with an ‘I’m sure I can find my way’, which had reminded her that he had dropped her off - twice.
Now he had come to a stop in the hallway, looking uncomfortably out of place. His response to her gratitude was a fleeting, “Of course.”
He seemed lost, his mind somewhere else.
“Here,” Liz offered and gestured for his jacket, “Let me take that.”
“Thanks,” he replied politely and Liz almost grimaced. She’d hoped that they were past the polite state, but things were still a bit awkward and tentative between them. Maybe not so weird considering that she had found out that he was an alien not even a month ago and he was probably wondering how she felt about that. Not exactly your normal type of situation to end up in.
“Are you okay?” he asked as she walked past him.
“Not really,” she answered, deciding that for once she wouldn’t stick to her generic ‘I’m fine’, because she really wasn’t.
He followed her into the living area and she could feel his eyes following her every movement.
“Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? Coffee?”
He shook his head and sank down on the couch. “I’m fine, thank you.”
His presence in her apartment was overwhelming, making her nervous on top of the stress she was already feeling. She stopped herself just before bringing her nails to her mouth to resume her nervous habit.
Instead she exhaled an “Okay” and decided to take a seat next to him, rather than opposite, which would have been way over on the other side of the coffee-table. She couldn’t bear to be far away from him now, even though proximity to him made her legs shake, made her feel like a teenager sitting next to her high school crush - wishing that he would touch her.
“It was a dream?” Max said, obviously not beating around the bush.
Liz pulled her legs up underneath her to stop them from shaking and pulled a blanket over her, feeling cold to the core. His question tore her from her scrutiny of his profile and threw her straight back into what had happened in the dream. “I was in a white room, restrained to a chair.”
He didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help but notice how his face got paler with her every word. “It was the FBI-agent, Special Agent Martin, that was holding me captive.” She looked at him worriedly, wondering if he would pass out. And here she thought that she was stressed out. “He wanted me to reveal things about you, about Isabel. Things I hadn’t told him. And he was injecting me with something.”
“A serum,” Max whispered and Liz’s next words got stuck in her throat.
“Yes,” she whispered. “And you were there.” His head snapped to the side and his eyes, pupils blown out with only a thin ring of amber encircling them, caught onto hers. And she knew. “You were there.”
He pressed his lips tightly together. “Do you remember when I told you about my visions? That I could see that something was going to happen to you before it actually did? How I knew that David was going to attack you?”
Liz felt her mouth fall open. “It was a vision? A premonition? Not a dream?”
Max nodded, looking at her with caution, trying to gauge her reaction. Whatever her reaction was supposed to be to something like this.
“But how…” she cleared her throat around the sudden dryness. “Why did I have it too?”
Max leaned back against the couch and wiped his hands down his face. “I don’t know.”
“But…” Liz felt the fear escalate as she unseeingly looked at the back of his hands, covering his face. “But if this was not a dream, but a premonition… It’s going to happen? Just like with David?”
“No,” Max objected, shaking his head with his face hidden behind his hands. He removed them and met her gaze straight on.
His eyes were tired and filled with remorse. And guilt.
Is he holding himself responsible for this?
“No,” Max continued. “I won’t let that happen.”
Liz searched out his hand which was resting against the surface of the couch between them. “Max. This is not your fault.”
He seemed surprised at her change of topic and tried to pull his hand away, but Liz only tightened her grip.
“How could it not be?” he asked bitterly and averted his eyes. “If I had only saved you by not using my powers, which exposed me to the authorities, none of this would be happening. That agent wouldn’t be harassing you.”
“You saved me,” Liz objected. “I don’t care how. You saved me, Max.”
But he didn’t seem to be convinced of his noble act, only plagued by the reality he had put her in. “The others warned me that telling you the truth would put you in danger. I didn’t listen. I didn’t want to listen.”
Liz considered this. Had they been discussing her before the David incident?
“When did they discuss that with you?” Because it had been too late once he had rescued her.
Max looked up at her. “When I was having the premonitions. I felt like I needed to tell you about me, tell you the truth about my visions, in order to get you to listen to me and be careful. So that the attack wouldn’t happen.”
“But they wouldn’t let you,” Liz whispered contemplatively.
“No,” he said, “They wouldn’t.” He tightened his jaw. “And maybe they were right. Knowing about us, knowing us puts people in danger. That’s why we haven’t told anyone else. That’s why not even our parents know.”
This came as a surprise to Liz. “You haven’t told your parents?”
Max shook his head. “Too dangerous.”
Liz swallowed this knowledge and tried to truly grasp the life Max was leading. How lonely it seemed to be. Not being able to be yourself with anyone. Not truly. And she remembered Isabel’s surprise earlier that day at work, when she had told Max’s sister about the agent.
“You didn’t tell Isabel about me being questioned by an agent,” Liz stated, her gaze fixed on the side of his face. But he remained still, not disclosing anything. “Why?”
“I needed to figure it out on my own,” Max answered shortly and it hit Liz just how alone this man was. From what Liz had gathered, only three people in Max Evans’ life (herself excluded) knew who he really was and he barely shared information even with those three individuals.
“Wouldn’t they help you with those things?” Liz asked.
Max shook his head, exhaling and rubbing his eye in frustration. “We’re too different. We want different things. Michael would tell us to leave immediately. Pack up our things and leave Boston.”
Michael. The man she had yet to meet. But she had already figured that Michael had been the person Max had asked to hand in David to the police.
“And you don’t want that…?” Liz guessed.
“No,” Max shook his head and looked at her. She could feel the heat of his look all the way to her toes. “No.” She got the impression that she was the reason he wouldn’t leave, but almost laughed at herself for entertaining the thought. Why would he risk his life just to stay close to her?
“Especially not now,” he added softly and together their eyes fell to their interlaced hands as Max was interlocking and unlocking their fingers in a gentle and slow manner. Liz forced back a shaky sigh.
“Because of the premonition,” Liz breathed.
“Yeah,” Max whispered.
“Then take me with you.”
His fingers froze and his face snapped up to hers. “What do you mean?”
She bit her bottom lip, suddenly feeling very self-conscious and almost shy. “If you’re already planning to leave, take me with you. That way I would be safe from the agent-“
“He might find us.”
“He might.”
“It’s not safe.”
“It’s obviously not safe here either.”
“Liz…”
“Max…”
He looked at her regretfully. “You don’t know how much I would love that, but you have a life here-“
“Not if I’m being harassed by the FBI.”
“What about your father? Your friends? You might not be able to contact them…”
“Maybe we’ll just have to stay away until this blows over.”
“It won’t. We’ve been on their radar since the beginning. They never give up.” His eyes softened and he captured her other hand, holding both her hands in his. The feeling of his skin against hers was transfixing. “You barely know us. I can’t ask you to give your life up like that for some people you hardly know. Actually, it’s something short of a miracle that we haven’t been investigated sooner. We’ve managed to remain in Boston most of our lives without getting discovered. Besides, our departure would seem more suspicious if you were suddenly to disappear. You have too many connections to this place, to its people.”
“I’m going with you,” Liz stated simply. She’d made up her mind. True, she barely knew these people, but she already trusted them implicitly. Plus, she had a feeling that being separated from them - from Max - would be worse than following them.
Especially in light of the connection Max and she seemed to share.
“No, Liz,” Max shook his head.
“It’s not up for you to decide.”
He looked at her sadly. “Unfortunately it is. Well, it’s up to the group, but I’m pretty sure they’re with me on this.”
Liz couldn’t help but feel hurt. Of course he didn’t want her to tag along. He didn’t know her. “Even with the risk of the agent getting a hold of me?”
Max paled, inhaled deeply and leaned in to tenderly push a tendril of her dark hair behind her ear. She held her breath as his fingers brushed against her cheek.
“We won’t leave before then. No matter what.”
“What if it’s a year from now, two years?”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I’ll stay until I’m sure you’re safe.”
“How will you know when it will happen?”
“Maybe I won’t. But last time there were clues in the premonition that told of what day it was.”
“Right,” Liz nodded. “Clues…”
She squared her shoulders, tried to will herself to be strong. If Max didn’t want her on his ‘trip’, that was up to him. But she already feared the day he would leave, even more than the probable day she might be abducted by Special Agent Martin.
“So you wanted me to meet with the group, right?”
Max looked at her and released her hands, as if the subject became to impersonal to keep her close. “Especially now. I need to discuss this…’development’ with them.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow?”
Liz nodded. Better to get this over with. “Sure.”
He rose from his seat and looked towards the front door. Liz realized with a sinking heart that he was preparing to leave. But he looked reluctant to do so.
“You’re leaving?” Liz wondered.
He looked back at her, appearing unsure of himself. “It’s late.” 2.34 a.m. to be exact. “You probably want to get back to sleep.”
The request was out of her mouth before her brain had a chance to filter it. “Could you stay?”
He stilled, his eyes seemingly piercing her soul as he considered her request. Then he nodded. “Of course.”
She felt like she needed to explain herself and added, “I just don’t want to be alone tonight.”
He smiled vaguely and said softly, “I can understand that. Being a part of my world can be somewhat scary.” His reply was saturated with something (guilt?), but he also appeared relieved, which had Liz suspect that he was more than happy to stay as well, to appease his own worries.
“I’ll make up the couch for you,” Liz smiled tentatively and left him to his own devices while she went to get bed linens.
There was a flutter in her body that she couldn’t restrain. There was something thrilling about having Max Evans stay over.
She already felt much safer.
TBC...
) as team, they are better...
