Banner made by the AMAZING Ella1022
Author : M14, Kella or you can call me Michie.
Couples :Max and Liz
Rating : TEEN to MATURE for Violence and slight nudity.
Summary : Set after Busted when Liz's parents are killed. Max and Liz go on a quest to find the murderers and bring justice to the small town of Roswell. Might be about 5 or 6 parts. Just a short story based on an idea I had.
Disclaimer : The idea is mine. Everything before the episode Busted is not. It belongs to Jason Katims and Melinda Metz. But thank you to the cast and crew of Roswell for the inspiration.
AN : Italics are thoughts. Enjoy, Feedback isn't necessary. It just brings my confidence level up.
<center>Game-Set- And Match</center>
The trees rustled from right outside her window. Liz was writing in her diary. This entry was a little more detailed and heart-wrenching for her. She wasn’t allowed to see the love of her life. What was worse was that the day before she had been released from jail.
Liz Parker, daughter of Jeff and Nancy Parker, straight-A- student at West Roswell High, had been to jail. She could hardly believe what she had gone through for Max Evans. The guy had led her down so many unusual paths. Ones that involved romance and gifts. Others with thrilling danger and adventure. Everything months earlier had been just as messed up. When she had suspected Leanna of Alex’s death things had been harsh.
Liz let out a long sigh as she recalled her harmful accusation of aliens being involved.
“I know what I know and I am going to find out the truth... I owe that, to my friend.”
She had been harsh with her judgement and quick to judge. But things had been fine when Tess left. She was to help him find his son. She would stay close to him no matter what. Nothing could get between them again. Yet something had. Something always had. Only this time it was her father. Her own father refused to let her see Max. Max the love of her life. Max the king of Antar. Max the man that had slept with Tess, the enemy who had killed Alex. Why was it that real life could end up more confusing than soap operas when you least expected it?
Liz jotted down her feelings quickly from the spot on her balcony. The candles lit around her were dancing in the breeze and she heard squealing tires from the street below. Liz found it hard to keep the curiosity from overcoming her; she looked out at the street leading to the entrance of the Café where her father was cleaning up after a long dinner shift. It had been busy and she was off duty for the rest of the night. He thought she was doing homework but she couldn’t trust him anymore. Not him and not her mom. They were conspiring against her. All she wanted was to be with Max. She loved him more than anything. He was the world to her and they took it away. What else was there for her?
A black van sped down the street, horn blasting into the silent night. She watched, fixated on that only movement in her small town. What was going on down there? She had never seen that van before. And as quickly as it had come, a man jumped out in a suit and tie, hair perfectly combed, and the van sped off. She watched him disappear through the front door of the Café and decided against going downstairs. If he was another man trying to contact her about the gas station hold-up then she definitely did not want to go downstairs and answer any questions. Best to let her father take care of him.
“Nancy!” She heard her father call from the bottom of the stairs. The man must want to speak with the both of them, she thought before retreating to her bathroom. A long bubble bath might ease her mind and her heart about Max.
* * * *
Max revved up the engine of his blue corvette and drove towards the desert aimlessly. He had nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat. Abandoned by his own father and forced away from Liz. Life without Liz was empty. Meaningless. But he would get through it. He had important things to accomplish. If he couldn’t be with Liz he would have to find his son on his own. There was no way in hell he would let Tess take his son and let him grow up on Antar with the likes of Kivar.
He couldn’t help but think of Liz as he drove along. Passing stores with her face in the windows. Her smile, the way her head tilted towards him as she would laugh. He sighed, he would never be able to get over here. But then again, how could he get past Jeff Parker? The man hated him. And with good reason. Max had gotten Liz put in jail. He had risked her life again and again. He hated himself for it. He shouldn’t be putting his heart before his head. His love before her life. Being away from her would be better for her. They could deal with this. Mr. Parker couldn’t keep them apart forever. Right?
He groaned and stopped the car. Maybe he could crash at Michael’s later on. Of course he would want something in return. That was typical Michael. Never do anything for others unless there is something to gain. Although, maybe he could rope Maria into it. Just for a little while; until he got a place of his own. He needed somewhere to cool off. Somewhere to collect his thoughts. And Michael was the only one of his friends that had his own place. Besides, Michael was like his brother. They were close. Not as close as him and Isabel but she was off on her own these days. Ever since she had finished with High School things had felt different. Like maybe she could really go off on her own. It was like she was leading a secret life. Weird.
Doing a one-eighty from Isabel he saw Liz’s face again. Her with her brown hair floating in his face as she leaned over him, showing him the picture of the diamond a month ago. Things were so great then. How had they gotten so messed up? He remembered being her lab partner. Of course Mr. Parker would make different arrangements now. They weren’t even allowed to see each other in the hallways with all of those damned teachers constantly watching.
He just needed to see her, just for a few seconds, or minutes. He would give anything to hold her tightly in his arms and lay with her on her bed. Not do anything of course, just breathe in her scent and soothe her nerves. She had looked so frightened the other day in the courtroom. But she had never once confirmed it. She tried to keep her cool always. Something he knew that Isabel admired about her. Of course Isabel wouldn’t admit it either.
He started the engine for the second time that night and drove off towards the café. With his luck lately she would be sleeping already. But maybe Mister and Mrs. Parker would be asleep also. He only wanted one look. One touch to last him through the night. Maybe a soft kiss on her sweet lips...
* * * *
Liz wrapped her bathrobe around her body and tiptoed down the back stairs to the break rom below. She didn’t hear any voices. Her footsteps leading a wet trail down the wooden floor she pushed open the door to the restaurant. It was so creepy the way everything was still. No movement. No car horns. No late night discussions between her mom and dad. Where was everyone?
Then she spotted them. Sitting at the booth in the corner. But wait.. Why was her father sitting at such an odd angle? His back was towards her and he was hunched over the table. Had he fallen asleep after talking with her mom? And where exactly was her mother?
Liz walked quickly over to them, determined to find out what was going on. Who was that man that had stopped by before her bath? What did he want?
She stopped next to the table and poked her father’s arm gently. He didn’t stir. Usually he was such a light sleeper. What was he doing here anyways? She glanced towards the door and noticed it was slightly ajar. There was no breeze coming through, the bell wasn’t jingling from atop the wooden door. Something wasn’t right. The door was open, not locked, and her father was laying in the booth?
“Dad, Dad, wake up!” she instructed him. He didn’t react to her loud command. She went to reach out and grab him when she spotted something red next to him. Looking down she felt her jaw drop open. Her feet instinctively stepped backwards. Her eyes were widened and she could feel her heart racing. Liz had never seen anything like it. Liz felt the tears brimming in her eyes before she even had the chance to admit that what she was seeing was real. That she wasn’t dreaming, and that something very serious had happened here in the Crashdown tonight.
“The phone,” she murmured, racing to the counter where the phone was placed underneath. She ran around the side and bumped into something hard on the floor. Before looking down she knew what it was. She knew that her eyes would force her to see it. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to face it. And she crumpled to the floor crying. Never dialing the phone. Never touching the body again.
* * * *
Max parked his car on the curb and stared at the door to the restaurant where Liz worked. The door was open slightly. A cool night like this would bring a little chill to the relatively warm café. He stepped onto the sidewalk, standing cooly before the door. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Perhaps he should turn around and head off to her balcony. After all her father hated him. But something in him made him stand there and stay there. He had to sort this mess out. Her father couldn’t go on hating him for all of eternity. He would have to accept his daughter’s love sooner or later. And Max was determined to talk with him tonight. He wouldn’t leave until they had sorted it all out and a reasonable solution was reached. So with sweating palms he opened the door and heard the unmistakable bell ring as he stepped inside. Then with a gasp he saw Jeff Parker’s body laying in the booth. His hair messed up, his face down onto the cool table top and his body slightly crooked, leaning over.
Sobbing came from the opposite side where the counter was. Where he used to sit and watch Liz prepare drinks from behind the marble top. What he heard now sounded almost like her. Was she crying? And what was Mr. Parker doing laying there like that? Max stepped over there, determined to answer one question at a time.
She was in the fetal position with her head between her knees. Her soft brown hair spilled over her face and her arms and legs shaking with sobs.
“Liz?” he asked, tentatively. Her head rose a little. He made a sudden move towards her as she rose her hand and pointed behind her, shaking. His heart stopped cold and he was sure his breathing had gone with it. There was Nancy Parker, laying on the ground right behind Liz. A few round bullet sized holes in the back of her blouse that were spewing blood rapidly. He stood there with his mouth agape for several seconds before side stepping around her and reaching for the phone. With severe determination he reached the police and made his way calmly through the conversation that he never thought he would have. First Grant, Alex, Tess, Ms. Topolsky.. Agent Pierce, Nasedo. Faces and images blurred into his mind as he eyes the certainly dead body of Liz’s father. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening even as he put the phone on it’s hook and comforted Liz. His arms wrapped around her and she cried onto his shoulder painfully. He felt her warmth heat him up. His anger fueled with a spark of violence. A girl like her should not have to deal with something like this. Liz didn’t deserve this.
Whoever had done this would pay, Max Evans silently vowed to himself.
<center> Ready. Set. Go! </center>
Just a little motivation and you can set your mind to anything. Max tried reassuring himself from where he stood at the back of the Crashdown. Liz was off to his right, stone-faced and seated alone at a small table. There were many police officers roaming around the small restaurant. Even the small jokes between officers and the foolish decorations refused to lighten the mood. Of course what could be cheerful about a double homicide in the middle of a quaint town out in the desert?
“Are you a,” the officer read off a notepad, “Max Evans?” Max nodded, doubtful that this would be small talk. The man was around his thirties and beneath his local sheriff’s department cowboy hat had an undoubtedly balding head. His face was plump and round with beady blue eyes staring out from the childish features. The man was dressed like one of Roswell’s finest from the head wear to the boots. Only his pot belly and smaller stature set him apart.
“And that’s the daughter? Liz Parker?” he asked. Another nod. Whipping out his pen the man, Officer Riley, began blurting out a series of questions.
“What time did you arrive here? What were the reasons of your visit? Were you alone? Did you touch the bodies? Did you see anyone else around the Crashdown? Anything suspicious or out of the ordinary?”
Max tried to answer as honestly as he could but his gaze kept drifting to the past. Things that had revolved around his true form. What if this was connected? If it was then he would have to talk to Liz before Mr. Riley. That way they could discuss anything strange that had happened. He would never be able to forgive himself if he was the reason her parents had been killed.
“Around eleven or eleven-thirty. I wanted to see Liz. Yes I was alone. No, not once. I was the only one on the street. Such as what?” Max asked.
“Anything ransacked? Was there a note of any kind? Valuables or money from the cash register missing?” Officer Riley inquired.
“Hmm, I didn’t see a note. I came in and touched nothing but the phone to call the police,” Max answered, making his way to the back room. From there he made his way back into the main room and stood before the cash register.
It dinged open to reveal crisp dollar bills lined in individual slots. It was all there, even the two fifties that Mr. Parker kept for emergencies.
“Not a robbery chief!” the officer called out. It had already looked to be a personal homicide. Up close and vulnerable. Mister and Mrs. Parker still were wearing their wedding bands and Nancy was zipped into the body bag with her pearl necklace.
“Liz,” Max said, sitting down across from her. “Would you like to talk to me or Officer Riley?” He was afraid that she would shut herself off. This would be a rough time for her. Max might be furious with his father right now but he couldn’t imagine life without him or his mom.
“I can speak to him, it’s fine,” she said, mustering up the strength to look the officer in the eye.
“Alright, we’ll take it slow young lady. Just tell me what happened here tonight. What did you see or hear?”
Carefully and in a low voice she told him her view of the events, leaving out the black van and the man in the suit. Slowly she told him about the door being slightly ajar and her father sprawled unusually in the booth.
While he jotted down notes Max checked around the Crashdown. Somehow he had a feeling that Liz was holding something back. He watched the Forensics department dust for fingerprints, overheard the muttering that a restaurant was the perfect crime scene. Fingerprints were too hard to place.
It took over an hour for him to get the whole story down. Officer Riley looked frightened about the lack of evidence and that Liz hadn’t seen anything important. Max waited by her side as the police team packed up and headed out into the silent morning. By then it was nearing one and Liz still hadn’t gotten any sleep. She locked the door behind them and turned to face Max. That was the moment his heart felt like it had shattered into a million pieces.
Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, tendrils falling into her face. But beneath those few strands of hair lay a scared expression that Max had never seen on Liz before. Her eyes were wide, puffy and red from crying. Complete with dark circles from the lack of sleep made her look like she was that same girl he had saved from that deadly bullet nearly two years before. And then he realized with a shiver that he had been sitting at that same booth that Mr. Parker had died in.
“Stay with me tonight?” Liz asked him, biting her lip nervously. The sheriff had combed the Crashdown and the apartment or any signs that the killer was still there and it had turned up negative. Social Services would talk with Liz during the next few days since she legally wasn’t of age. There was a patrol car staking out the Café incase the killer wanted to return to the scene of the crime. Yet Liz only felt safe with Max there.
“Yeah, come here,” he said, pulling her close to him. His hands wrapped around her back, smoothing down the cotton bathrobe she was still wearing. Underneath she had on her duck pajamas that he had gotten her last Christmas.
“I’m here,” Max told her, kissing the top of her head gently.
“Max.” she said, her voice muffled from his shirt, “I have to tell you something.”
“What is it?” he asked. He ran his hand down the length of her hair, still placing soft kisses on her face. Comforting her they headed to the break room. When they were finally seated at the couch, Max leaning against the cushions on the right and Liz as close to him as possible with her hands laced with his, she spoke again.
“I didn’t actually tell the police everything. I saw someone,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his.
“Maybe I should call the group together,” he suggested, after she had told him about the black van and the man coming into the restaurant.
“No!” she exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and the warmth of his body against her’s. “They’re all sleeping anyways.”
“Well what do you want to do with this information?” he asked her, cautiously, hoping beyond hope that she wouldn’t say what he thought she would. But she did.
“I want to find him. Whoever he is. And I want you to help me. Just like before,” she added.
“Liz, we got arrested before,” I remind her.
“We’ll be more careful this time,” she says, her hands already spinning the lock on her red waitress locker. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a red tank top and slipped them on as he turned away.
“Besides, we won’t be dealing with guns this time,” she told him, pulling the shirt over her head. “And if you don’t want to help me then I’ll just find him by myself.” She turned, eyeing him carefully. His back was still turned as she stepped over to him and planted a kiss on his neck.
“Okay,” he said, not wanting her to put herself in a dangerous situation if he wasn’t there, “where do we start?”
“Let’s go for a drive.” Liz grabbed his hand and they went up the stairs to her room. From there they made their way to the fire escape that led to the alley at the back of the diner. Together they ran to Max’s car unsupervised; the officer on duty was busy snoring away at the front of the Crashdown.
“Hey Max,” Liz called out, from the passenger’s seat as they sped through town. “Remember when you came to try to break me out of jail yesterday?”
“Yeah, two days ago,” he corrected her, glancing at his watch.
“And I said that I wasn’t ready to give up my home or my family to be on the run for the rest of our lives?” He nodded, smiling faintly at how he and his dad had been able to get her out anyway.
“I just realized that now I’ve lost them. Max, I’m scared,” she said, while looking out the side of his Corvette. The top was down and somehow even with her hair flying all over and those wishful eyes she had captured his heart all over again.
“You’ll never lose me,” he said to her. And she smiled at him as his hand grasped her’s. Together they drove through Roswell, one street at a time, looking for that elusive van.
* * * *
“I want my money!” the mysterious assailant said.
“You’ll get it when the girl is dead too,” Morton told him. “I can’t believe you left before the job was finished.” His voice was rough, the same as his clothing. He wore an old dirty pair of jeans that were about two sizes too big and a large red hunting vest over an oversized black t-shirt. His scruffy chin with orange-red stubble matched the rusty color of his trucker hat. For a large man he was tough and dangerous, armed with a rifle in the back of his black van and a small shotgun in the waistband of his jeans.
“You’re the one that couldn’t even take care of her two years ago,” the man reminded him. “It’s a good thing that your probation’s over.”
“Yeah, and now that it is I want her dead!”
“Alright, alright,” he surrendered. They stood in front of a local motel.
“No witnesses,” Morton muttered, waving his hand over the van. Immediately the color changed to a lighter shade of green and then the van crunched together. The shrieking metal noise faint as a white light aired around his palm. Then in a flash it was dark again as they headed towards their double room. Leaving the green Jetta behind as they entered the door.
<center> Every dog has his day </center>
Liz awoke silently. It was about five in the morning, the flashing red light of the alarm clock revealed to her. Yet, as she pulled the covers off of her slender frame, she couldn’t get her mind to travel back into a sleep mood.
Her night had been filled with miserable images of the dried blood on her murdered parents’ bodies. There was no escaping it. The torture of what she had seen would suffocate her into nightmares that encompassed the few hours of sleep that she had left. Liz summoned herself out of the bed and stared longingly at the muscular build of Max’s body beneath the blankets.
He hadn’t been able to cheer her up the day before, although every attempt that he had made was completely foolproof. Foolproof if alien invasions didn’t affect every outcome of her life.
She could feel the cool edge of bitter resentment coursing up her spine and felt the need to let it surface itself. Could she really regret having lived that day? The cool metal of the bullet pierced through her skin and she crumpled to the floor. Anger and dread, sparkling through the deepest fear that she had ever felt, were making their way towards every inch of her body. She couldn’t die like this, she couldn’t leave everyone this way.
With a gasp Liz felt herself shift back to this motel room, this reality, this time when she didn’t have a gaping hole streaming blood through her stomach.
It was ironic how she kept feeling her thoughts push towards her near-death shooting now that her parents had been killed in the same location. Could she blame the same man that had shot her? Was there a possible connection?
I don’t know, she thought, but I have to find out.
“Max!” she hissed, “Max, wake up!” His built figure rolled onto its side and she grabbed one of his hands, managing to pull him halfway up before she lost her strength and fell on top of him.
“Hmm.., that’s a new way to get me up,” he murmured against her forehead, “but don’t let my mom test it out.” She gave into a smile, pressed against his chest, as he wrapped his right arm around her waist.
“What’s going on?” he asked, once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness and settled on that same red light.
Just by looking at Liz he could tell that something was troubling her more than her parents’ death, more than Alex’s death, and more than their recent trip to jail. He had felt this close with Liz after he had connected with her the day of the healing. It was like their souls had been fused together and he could feel what she was feeling in intense moments of emotional passion.
“I have a plan,” she confessed, her eyes lighting up at the mere thought of the organization and strategy that would be involved. She recalled faintly the way she had felt when she had begun to piece together the clues of Alex’s death. she had been so determined to prove that it wasn’t a suicide that she had ignored her friends and excluded the aliens from her mission, in order to prove that if they hadn’t been involved in her life, none of this would have happened.
It was a wrong judgment to make, she realized, thinking back over it. And there wasn’t a way she could change the fact that Tess had betrayed the lot of them and mind warped Alex into a state of chaos and jumble in his brain. She had transformed her best friend into a walking, talking robot and he had died as a sacrifice to a mission for another world, a world of Antar, that none of them knew a thing about.
But her parents had suffered also. Liz couldn’t see her life turn out this way. She had to do something. And if that meant sacrificing her own life in return, then so be it. She would never just lie around in this dinky, confined motel room waiting for Max to save her and comfort her. It was difficult learning to take charge of your own life, but she had to di it; it was, after all, for her parents.
When Liz finished telling Max the plan, she watched him, breathlessly and impatiently waiting for the moment when he would tell her that she was crazy; her plan could never work out perfectly. They were, together, a half-human and a mutated human. How could they possibly uncover a crime together?
“It’s inventive,” Max said, at last.
“Inventive?” Liz asked, careful to keep her tone in line. She jumped up and paced the floor. Max was stretching his arms out above his head and gave a low, morning-like grunt.
“I’m not sure that we can pull it off,” he told her-noting the sharp turn in her facial features to sadness- he added quickly, “by ourselves. Maybe if we have Isabel, or even Michael, help us..”
“No!” Liz interrupted. “No one else. If you can’t help me Max, I’ll just do it myself.”
Her boyfriend knew that she was speaking the truth; Liz could be stubborn when she wanted to be.
Standing together, he gently held his hand over her arm, causing her to stop the pacing, and told her he would help, as best that he could. Silently, Max made a vow to call Isabel at their parents’ house, where she still lived, although her high school career was over, and explain what was going on. As much as he wished to respect Liz’s wishes, he still could not allow her to put herself into any kind of danger. He knew fully well that if anything happened t Liz that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Liz was everything to him.
Her and your son, Max reminded himself. He still hadn’t fully adopted the idea that he was a father to a lost little boy on another planet. Tess had stolen his son away from him and there was nothing that he could do to keep her evil self away from their child.
Frightened, Liz took a step away from Max, and away from his hand. Just one touch and she could feel herself dive into the depths of his mind and uncover millions of images; some that she wanted to see, and others that she wished to turn away from.
“What is it?” Max could see Tess’ face slowly fading away when Liz had stepped back. Now, as he gazed st her hurt face, he wondered what she had seen, or felt.
“I know you loved her, Max,” Liz started, holding up her hand to stop him from interrupting. “Even I though that somehow the logic and the clues had fit together wrong. Like it was some sort of warped jigsaw puzzle.” Max felt his body stiffen at the mention of warps and refused to admit to himself that one thing he didn’t want to face; maybe, possibly, he had been mind warped too. After all, how could he have loved someone so evil that they would trick three members of the royal family into returning to their home planet, only to be killed?
“You trusted her. You let her into our group, and she betrayed us. I know you have to find your son. But somehow the ship has disappeared,” she reminded him. “And I need you here.”
He looked up suddenly, their eyes met and he knew she was right. His son could wait. She needed him. And Liz had risked her life countless times for his. He could do this one thing for her. It was kismet; they were both on missions, helping each other, yet breaking the law.
“Like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde,” he joked.
* * * *
Joe Morton glanced up from his spot at the table in the back of the secluded café. The owner, a middle-aged man with a small beer gut and badly cut toupee, was glaring at him from behind the counter. Although it was a slow day, this still wasn’t France; Morton had been seated at that same table for over an hour and had only ordered a small cup of decaf.
The key to his whole setup was location. Location, location, location, he had stressed to his partner again and again.
But Morton was concerned. No one had ever escaped Billy before. Billy was a supreme hit man; he always got the job done and never caused any suspicion onto himself. However, this time they hadn’t been so lucky. Liz was the only member left.
Liz Parker, Joe growled to himself. She was the remaining member of the Parker clan and then they would finally have justice. But she had escaped so easily.
How had she dodged that bullet? He asked himself, worriedly. If he, a supernaturally empowered man, couldn’t kill her, and a hit man from the mob had left the job incomplete, maybe there wasn’t hope left for Morton.
My life is at stake here, Morton thought, I need this girl dead.
He watched silently, thinking carefully over his options again, as a green Jetta pulled up in front of the café. Throwing a quarter on the table, and sipping the last drop out of the large mug, Morton headed to the door. As the jingle went off from the bell overhanging the entrance, he braced himself for what was store, the bitter taste of the cold coffee still clinging to the roof of his mouth.
* * * *
“Max! Get down!” Liz cried out, as she lost her balance and went falling to the ground behind the dumpster. The smell intoxicated her as Max took the place next to her, their heads lined up together over the side of the garbage bin.
“Is that....?” Max asked her, his eyes wide and in shock.
She nodded, unable to speak. That man was the man that had shot her two years before. He was standing right there, getting into a small Green vehicle. There was another man behind the wheel and from where they were crouched low, she could tell that the other man wasn’t quite as big as the burly one from the Crashdown. However, she couldn’t be sure if it was the same man that had been arguing with him that day.
Her hands shook violently as she watched him enter the car and drive off, slowly, down the avenue. Their motel was a couple buildings down from the café where Max had suggested a morning bagel before they set off on their mission.
Forget that, Liz’s mind screamed to her, I have to follow them!
“Let’s go,” she told Max, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto the sidewalk.
“What are the chances of this happening? What is he doing here?” Liz continued.
“The same man?
“I would never forget that face,” Liz answered, still reliving the moment that the gun had been swerved towards her face and the bullet had aimed straight towards her. She hadn’t been able to duck, hadn’t been able to move, just stared at it, in slow motion, as it made its way towards her abdominal.
“Alright,” Max replied, leading the way back to the corvette.