Roswelllostcause - Yeah, apologizing for kissing someone is not really a good thing. Goes right up to the top of the list along with saying "Thank You" when someone says they love you
Thank you for the feedback!
Eve (begonia9508)
They are in a death life situation - really dangerous - and Max has other things, to think about... their security being the first and most important one! And he certainly did not do it, to hurt her but in the urgency of the situation...
Very true. And Max was being a typical guy here; not realizing that how much the kiss might've affected Liz. Thank you for the feedback!
L-J-L 76
But Max should have never said sorry to Liz. That seemed to hurt her more then anything.
Yeah, the actual kissing was not really the problem. It was, as you said, that he apologized for doing it. It can easily be misinterpreted... You'll probably get the feel of what Liz felt post-kiss in the following chapter... Thank you for the feedback and the double bumps! It's what made me get my ass in gear and post tonight, when I'm really truly braindead
Carolyn (keepsmiling7) - Thank you
Natalie36 - They truly are
Thank you
Previously on "Lethal Whispers"...
In saving Liz in the midst of being assaulted by a work colleague, Max has revealed his alien status and Liz both figured out and was told of the human/alien status of the rest of the gang. Simultaneously, Tess contacted the gang, wanting to know how much they knew about their origins. While Tess placed surveillance equipment in Max's apartment, an agent from the FBI surveilled Tess. In conjunction with a rather odd witness account from Liz's assailant, concerning the night when Max rescued Liz, the agent started to get more confident that he's onto something.
The gang received a mysterious note, recommending them to stay put, only to later receive another note telling them to run. Liz went with them, due to the fact that Max's premonitions had started up again, revealing Liz being restrained in captivity.
The gang is now on the road, Maria and Michael are pregnant and in the previous chapter, Max kissed Liz. Fairly thoroughly. Rocked her world, really. But afterwards, Max apologized and explained that he had only kissed her to hide them in plain sight when seeing police in the mall they were visiting.
That's where we're at
CHAPTER 40
Max
“Max. Max. Max! Wake up.”
At her shake of his body, the fog of sleep lifted from his mind. He was usually not a heavy sleeper, but he had been having troubles sleeping lately and when he finally managed to fall asleep he slept deeply and completely. Now his eyes were blinking against the darkness of the night, a dim silhouette of his sister’s face above his.
“Isabel?” he croaked and automatically wet his sleep-dried lips.
“It’s Liz.”
That’s all it took for him to become 110% awake, adrenaline to pour out from his adrenal glands and cold sweat to nip at the edges of his hairline. He pushed the cover off him and stood up, hastily retrieving his shirt from the floor next to the motel bed. “What’s wrong?”
Isabel had taken a step back from the bed, her arms hugging her waist, her face looking white in the dim light from the street lamp outside the window. “She’s dreaming.”
Max felt his heart slow somewhat, a damper being put on his adrenaline. He had, naturally, feared the worst. The same thing he feared every time they came to wake him. That Liz had been taken, fulfilling the premonition at the hands of the federal government.
“Where is she?” he mumbled, pulling his arms through the sleeves of the shirt while he started for the door.
“Max,” Isabel said softly, putting a hand on his arm.
He paused, one hand on the door knob. “Iz…”
“I can’t do this anymore. None of us can. We need to sleep. I’m exhausted.”
Max closed his eyes, leaned his forehead tiredly against the closed front door and mumbled, “I know.”
It had been going on for over a week. Liz shared a room with Tess and Isabel. It was easiest that way; them all being girls and most importantly, avoiding the problem of anyone sleeping alone. Except for Max. Max had been sleeping alone, being the odd man out.
But it was now the eight night in the seventh motel that Liz had woken everyone up with a nightmare. No one, except for Max, had managed to pull Liz out of the nightmares. Which had contributed to not only the girls’ lack of sleep but also Max’s.
“Where is she?” Max asked again, softly and resigned.
Isabel’s reply matched his resignation. “In her bed.”
He ripped the door open and crossed the carpeted yellow lit hallway to the room opposite his. As he opened the door, he spotted Tess sitting in her bed to the left, bathed in the soft glow of one switched on bedside lamp. There were two single beds to the left side of the square room, perpendicularly positioned to the large windows which were hidden behind heavy dark green curtains. To the right was a couch, which had been pulled out into a bed, in which Liz was sleeping.
Although, ‘sleeping’ would be an inaccurate term.
Her arms were restlessly moving back and forth to flare up and down next, as if she was fighting an invisible creature. The blanket had been kicked to the floor and the T-shirt she was sleeping in had ridden up by her movements, exposing her pale stomach and back. Max could feel Tess’ eyes on him as he approached the makeshift bed.
“We can’t wake her up,” Tess informed, a sour sting to her voice.
He kneeled next to the couch, noticing the beads of sweat on Liz’s forehead, the restless mumbling of her lips, the tears down her cheeks and the whiteness of her knuckles as her hands fisted in her shirt.
“Liz,” he said softly, putting a hand to her forehead.
Her head jerked away from his touch and she twisted so that her back turned against him.
“You’re killing him,” she whispered brokenly and Max fought to not let her words pull him in. He had come to understand that her nightmares were frightening and vivid, which made him feel helpless.
He put his other hand against the lower part of her bare stomach, applying a gentle pressure to try and make her grow still.
“Liz, come back to me. Wake up.” His voice was soft, like he was trying to win over the trust of a wild animal while his right hand found its way back to her forehead.
Her eyes opened with a snap, much as they always did, seemingly catapulting her from the nightmare. Her eyes were moving in a rapid horizontal manner as Max watched the awareness slowly creep back into her body and felt her body relax beneath his touch. He slowly removed the hand from her bare stomach, trying not to think of the longing in that touch (he was having a hard time forgetting the feel of her lips against his), but kept his hand on her forehead, letting his thumb gently brush at the damp tresses of her hair that were stuck to her forehead.
“I’m sorry,” Liz breathed, her eyes connecting with his. Then she started crying and Max felt every sob tear painfully at his heart.
“It’s okay,” he mumbled and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
His lips touched her skin and as his eyes drifted closed at the taste of her, he felt her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into her. He placed another kiss at her temple, before leaning back while pulling her with him.
She gathered against him, her tears wetting through his shirt, his arms coming around her now shivering body. The floor felt relentless against his knees as they held him up, but he barely noticed.
He reached down to his left and retrieved the blanket. Letting go of her and letting some space in between them, her pulling her hands up between them to cover her face, he draped the blanket over her shoulders and pulled her close again, letting his arms hold the blanket to her body in an embrace.
*****
Tess
She was certain that Elizabeth Parker was making it all up.
Liz knew that Max would come to her rescue if she appeared to be in pain. She was playing on Max’s sympathy, on his empathic weaknesses. Why else could Liz not be roused to consciousness by neither Isabel nor Tess, only Max? There had to be a catch, a part of Liz’s agenda to win Max over. Tess had seen how Liz looked at Max. It was not hard to miss those lovesick puppy dog looks.
But Max Evans belonged to Theresa Harding. Max was an extraterrestrial. So was Tess. Liz was not. Max and Tess shared a similar origin, they were practically made for each other. Even though Tess didn’t have proof of this, she had her instincts, and they were telling her that Max and her were destined to be together. He was not destined for a
homo sapiens.
Tess felt darkness claim her, hot and searing, as the jealousy rolled through her. It was a foreign concept to her. She had always been able to take what she wanted when she wanted it. But Max was difficult. Max was not open to her regular methods of seduction. Or maybe it was just Elizabeth Parker that was standing in the way, confusing Max.
She watched as Liz clung onto Max’s body, desperately and pathetically, and felt like throwing up. In the doorway, Isabel had yet to close the door behind her, as if ambivalent about if she should enter or leave the room. The light of the hallway created a halo around Isabel, emphasizing her height and power.
Tess squinted at her thoughtfully; there was almost something regal about Isabel in her silence. Tess traced the direction of Isabel’s gaze back to Liz and Max and felt her hands tighten in fists. All this attention on this one tiny brunette. What was the deal with this girl? Surely, Isabel must be as fed up with Liz as Tess by now, since Liz had not let them sleep through a single night since they’d left Boston. What would it take for the gang to kick Liz to the curb? She was not one of them. What would it take to make them realize that?
“Maybe you should stay with her during the nights from now on,” Isabel said, her suggestion chilling Tess to the core.
Tess swung her head back to Isabel, seriously considering if Isabel had lost her mind.
“I don’t think that’s such-“ Tess started, but Max cut her off mid-sentence.
“Maybe I should,” Max answered. “You guys need to sleep.”
“You need your sleep too,” Tess objected, fearful of the direction in which the conversation was heading. Max was
not staying with Liz. No way. “Out of all of us, your control over your powers is the strongest. We need you alert and rested in case something would happen.”
“I’ll sleep alone,” Liz said behind Max, her voice muffled by her tears as she scooted up against the wall. Tess looked at the girl in surprise, expecting Liz to be the last person to agree with her.
“No,” Max said firmly.
“You
all need your sleep. I’ll be fine.”
“She’ll be fine, Max,” Tess interjected, watching Liz wipe the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand.
Max ignored her and returned his attention to Liz. To Tess’ annoyance, she had to watch Max take Liz’s hand and speak to her gently, “You’re in danger, Liz. It’s not safe to leave you alone.”
“Tess is right, Max,” Liz answered quietly. “I’m jeopardizing the well-being of this group. We have to be alert all the time, we can’t afford to be sleep-deprived.”
See, Tess wanted to say, but kept her mouth shut.
She couldn’t be too vocal about this. It might raise suspicions as to why she was so intent on keeping Max and Liz separated.
Instead she silently watched how Liz avoided Max’s eyes, pulling her hand out of his. Tess had reflected over this dance they seemed to be doing after each one of Liz’s episodes. When pulled from her nightmare, Liz appeared fearful and in the grave need of Max’s proximity.
But as soon as she had calmed down, Liz pulled away, as if Max’s touch was suddenly doing her more harm than good. Max didn’t show any signs if he’d noticed, but Tess wondered - every single time - what had happened between Max and Liz to cause that behavior.
She was a bit anxious of the answer; fearful that their behavior might mean that they had engaged in something intimate having caused awkwardness. But how that would even be practically possible was beyond Tess. Neither of them had been alone for more than five minutes since going on the run. Which meant that someone would have heard if they’d had a fight.
Still, it worried Tess. It would be much harder to put a wedge between Max and Liz if they had already crossed some lines and attached strings. Max’s voice brought her out of her pondering.
“I’m not backing down on this,” Max said. “Maybe we should take shifts, rotate people who stay with you.”
Tess could see irritation flash in Liz’s eyes. It was not a common emotion in Liz Parker’s repertoire, which only further emphasized to Tess that something had indeed happened between them.
“Really, Max,” Liz said tightly, “I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You’re not,” Max said evenly.
There was silence as Max and Liz seemed to have a silent dialogue that involved only their eyes. Tess refrained from rolling her eyes as she watched them and instead laid back, pulling the covers up her body. “Well, I’m going back to sleep.”
The voices around her grew hushed as they continued their conversation, but Tess couldn’t keep her eyes opened any longer. With a silent hope that Liz would win this one, Tess drifted off to sleep.
*****
Special FBI-Agent Joel Martin
His colleague threw a USB flash drive on Agent Martin’s desk. It skidded across the wooden surface, over the edge and came to rest in a fold of Joel’s black dress pants.
“Take a look,” the other agent encouraged, nodding towards the storage unit on Joel’s lap.
Joel grabbed the USB and plugged it into his Macintosh. Going through the usual folders, Joel double-clicked on a folder called “CC_100314”, which was the only folder on the drive. Inside it were several subfolders all named different titles running off the main folder’s name.
“What’s this?”
“Surveillance footage from Cornwall Centre in Regina,” the agent answered. “Look at the sequence called ‘CC_1003141614ee’ in that folder.” The agent pointed to one of the subfolders and Joel followed his instructions, clicking up a silent video file of a busy shopping mall.
“See anyone you recognize?” the agent hinted as Joel leaned closer to the screen, scanning the shoppers for familiar faces.
He was just about to shake his head, admitting that he didn’t see anything amiss, until he caught the sideway glance of a medium-height young man next to a red-haired short girl. The image was blurry and medium resolution at best, but there was something in the hurried and nervous look of that man that had Joel look closer.
“Is that…?” he mumbled, letting the question drift off as he narrowed his eyes at the girl. She seemed familiar.
“Wait for it,” his colleague said just as the young man in the recording leaned forward and kissed the girl.
“We have to be sure,” Joel said, staring at the screen, waiting for the confirmation that his colleague obviously had witnessed.
“Just wait…” the colleague said, trailing off as Joel saw what he meant.
The camera seemed to have picked up on some kind of static, turning three parts of the screen into three flickering horizontal blurred lines. Even though the interference was making it harder to see the couple, there appeared to be a faint light, almost like a glow, coming off the couple. It was faint, and possibly none of the people on-site would have noticed it.
“There it is,” the colleague said next to him as Joel felt his pulse speed up.
“It’s them,” Joel whispered. “It’s them.”
“Yeah,” the other agent confirmed without a hint of hesitation.
“Where? Regina?”
“Regina, Canada.”
Joel leaned back in his chair, staring unseeingly at the quote on the wall opposite.
The way to have power is to take it.
“They’re heading north,” Joel mused.
“North-west,” the agent filled in.
A smile spread across Joel’s face.
“They were at the mall yesterday, Agent,” his colleague added and Joel felt his cheeks stretch to accommodate the growing smile.
You can run, but you cannot hide.
TBC...
In this story, she hasn't been with Nasedo. Nasedo doesn't exist here. She's been (just like Michael) moving from foster home to foster home throughout her upbringing.