#6 You Broke It, You Fix It (M/L) --
Taken by Christmasnazi
Link: You Broke It, You Fix It
Challenge – Write the story that follows this prologue.
Prologue
Max is at the observatory looking at the stars when Tess walks up, “I thought I'd find you here.”
Max states, “My whole life I've wanted to be this person, this normal person. Human. My whole life I've been thinking that this alien side of me was this bad thing. This thing that made me a freak. This monster. I realize that I haven't just been hiding from the government and the law all this time. I've been hiding from myself. I don't know what's going on anymore. I thought I knew but I don't. I've lost everyone.”
Tess responds, “I'll be here for eternity.”
Max looks at her and laughs, “So? Liz, Isabel, and Michael are my world. Antar isn’t my home; neither is earth. Liz, Isabel, and Michael are my family, my home. And I’ve lost them. Michael will barely speak to me. I had to blackmail Isabel to stay in Roswell and Liz just renounced our friendship so she can go hunt whatever alien she believes killed Alex. My world is gone and you couldn’t begin to replace it.”
Tess sees red; she closes her eyes and concentrates on making him sleep with her. Max fights her and she increases her assault on his mind. Max keeps fighting her ever strengthening assault until his brain hemorrhages and he collapses to the ground.
Tess panics. The deal Nasedo made with Khivar was that she would be spared if and only if she bore Max’s heir and delivered both Max and the heir to Khivar. If she was going to live, Max had to survive long enough to impregnate her. She bent down and forced a connection to Max. She used what little healing abilities she possessed to try and heal Max.
She poured more and more energy into it until she was completely drained. Max still wasn’t healed, but she had done enough that his own healing abilities would eventually finish the job.
As she fell back to rest her mind began to process the flashes she’d received while she was healing Max.
She felt his love and joy coming back from finding the orb with Liz.
Tell me, Max...what's my destiny?
I only know the part I'm hoping for.
She felt his repulsion at the mindwarps she had tried to seduce him with.
She felt his revulsion the first time she’d forced him to kiss her.
She experienced the torment he went through in the white room.
She felt the aguish he felt when he saw the virtual reality image of Liz dead.
She felt the peace he found in her arms after his escape.
Max, the day that you saved my life, your life just ended.
No, that was the day my life began. Liz, when I was in that room, and they did what they did to me. You're what kept me alive. The thought of you. The way your eyes look into mine. Your smile. The touch of your skin. Your lips. Knowing you has made me human. Whether I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same: it's you. I want to be with you, Liz. I love you.
She felt his agony as Liz walked away from him in the cave.
She felt his heart shatter when he saw Liz in bed with Kyle.
She felt him forgive that and decide that prom was going to be a new beginning for the two of them.
She felt his pain when she gave him the “just friends” speech.
She felt the revulsion he’d felt after she’d planted the false memory of Zan and Ava’s first kiss and mind warped him into reliving it.
She felt his guilt when he took Liz’s accusations of Alex’s murder personally.
She felt his pain when Liz chose to pursue Alex’s murder over their friendship.
She felt his refusal to betray his heart that still belonged to Liz as she tried to seduce him moments ago.
As she finished processing the flashes she knew she would never be able to complete her mission. That even now with Max’s life in shambles and his relationship with Liz as broken as it’s ever going to get; he would still choose death over giving himself to another.
Khivar would kill her for her failure. Her best chance for survival now was to help Max win. She once again went over to Max, this time she removed all her influence on his mind. When he awoke he would remember everything.
He would remember both what he wanted to do and what his real memories were; as well as what she made him do and the fake memories she’d planted. And he would know which was which. He would be aware of everything she’d done to him.
Max awoke hours later to find Tess sitting in front of him. His mind reeled with the knowledge of all that she’d done to him. He shouted, “What do you want from me? You’ve already taken away everything that matters!!!”
Tess cried, “I was just doing what I was told. I’m sorry. I had to connect to you to heal you. I didn’t know how much I was hurting you. What can I do to make it up to you?”
Max glared at her, not sure whether to believe her or not. Finally he said, “I’m not sure if you can make it up to me. I can’t think clearly right now. But I know if there is a way what your down payment will be.”
Tess looked up at him questioningly, “What?”
Max answered, “My life is in ruins. You broke it, you fix it. Get Michael and Isabel to be family that I can count on again, and get Liz back in my arms, then I’ll be in a position to determine if you’ll ever be able to make it up to me.”
Tess nodded and began to leave when Max called out to her, “And Tess no mindwarping, unless they come back to me of their own free will, it will be worthless to me.”
Tess nodded again, as she turned to leave Max slumped to the floor and curled up in the fetal position and started to cry. Tess glanced back at him as she left.
She knew that her only chance for survival was Max. He was the only one in the universe who could defeat Khivar. She also knew that Max was in no position to do that now. She knew that there was only one person in the universe that could give him back the strength he’d need.
That made one of Max’s demands more important than the rest. Tess knew she’d have to do that one first. She had to find Liz and convince her to take Max back.
-- If you want to change the prologue a little feel free just PM the new version.
Note: This is the origional Prologue. It was indeed edited and improved by Christmasnazi before she posted it in the story.