A Peace Restored
by MistressKitty [formerly Josephine]
Answer to the CzechFanfic weekly challenge for May 8-15
Specifications were:
1. All couples
2. Rating what ever you choose
3. A lot of turmoil between the group
4.The group has to start off with it being split aliens humans but max and liz are secretly seeing each other behind everyone’s back
5. M/L end up making love some how. Doesn’t have to be detailed you can just say they did or whatever
6. Something happens that brings them together i.e. Liz gets pregnant ::wink wink::
7. Has to end on a happy note!
Note: I started this after The White Room, and it holds true as if Destiny never happened.
Rating: PG (for suggestions and language)


Part One

"Telling Valenti is out of the question!" Michael's face was red with anger. Liz, Maria and Alex looked nervously between each other.
"Exactly. We can't risk it." Isabel caught Alex's glance and frowned. "What aren't you telling us?"
The group was standing three to a side, the aliens facing the humans. Nasedo and Tess had split after rescuing Max. No one knew about Valenti aside from Max (who had seen him) and Maria, Liz and Alex.
Maria looked down at her arms folded across her chest. Alex shuffled his feet in the desert sand where they had gathered near the cave.
Liz looked up with dewy eyes and licked her lips.
"Damnit Liz!" Michael pursed his lips and walked away.
"Michael, you don't understand! If-"
"I understand plenty- you went against our decision."
"You have done the same thing before." Max quietly offered his position.
"But I wasn't telling Valenti!"
"I couldn't just sit there and let Max die! I-"
"I know, I know, you couldn't just not do anything. Here's an idea Liz: screw off!"
"Michael." Maria admonished.
"You too, DeLuca. I'm sick of you all."
"Michael, I wouldn't have gotten out alive if it weren't for Valenti." Max rubbed the phantom pain of the incision in his chest.
"He's right, Michael."
"Shit." Michael threw up his hands in exasperation and walked off.
Isabel sent an 'I'm sorry' look mixed with a glare towards Alex, but then followed Michael calling his name.
"I'd better go." Max said, his gaze lingering a moment on Liz.
"You'd better." They all turned their ways and went home.
-
"God, I can't stand him." Maria took a whif of cedar oil after her shift.
"Who?" Liz asked adjusting her antennae.
"Michael. And Isabel is so ungrateful. And Max, well, Max is one of them."
"I can't believe you Maria." Liz frowned and went to work.
-
"-And he thought I was Nasedo." Max sat in his desk chair, while Michael paced and Isabel lay on his bed.
"I can shape shift a tiny bit." Michael's voice revealed a touch of pride, but his face didn't give anything away. "That's how we got you out."
"But Pierce was following us, and Valenti shot him. That's the only reason we got out alive."
"Do we have to talk about this now, Max?" Isabel sighed and sat up.
Michael's face tightened. "We don't know that Maxwell. You're the only one who saw, and you were drugged."
Max closed his eyes for a moment. "I have to go."
"Where?"
"Library."
"With whom?"
"Michael, when did you become my keeper? I just need a book for school." Max walked out the door with the keys to the Jeep in his hand.
"He's going to see Liz."
"He wouldn't- we agreed not to."
"He would." Michael's mouth was set in a line.
-
"Hey Liz, where's Maria?" Alex asked as he entered the Crashdown.
"I think she went home. Her shift ended about an hour ago. We're closing soon."
"Alright, well I guess I should just say this now, then."
"What?"
"I don't think we should see any... Czechleslovokians until- at least until- they all cool off."
Liz crossed her fingers under the dish towel she was wiping tables with. "Sounds good. Meanwhile, I've gotta close and split."
"Where?"
"Library."
"With whom?"
"Just me, Alex. I need a book for school."
"Oh, okay."
But as soon as Liz left the Crashdown, Alex was following her.
-
Isabel and Michael followed Max as far as they could, but wuth him in the Jeep, they couldn't keep up. He was heading out toward the desert.
-
"Maria, can I borrow your car?"
"Sure." She tossed the keys at Liz. "Where're ya going?"
"Library."
Maria crossed her eyes. "Have fun."
When Liz drove off and Maria was about to close the door, Alex lept up from the bushes. "We have to follow her!"
-
As soon as the red Jetta pulled up beside the Jeep, Max hopped out and lent his arm to the figure emerging.
"Liz." He fervently whispered. "Wait here just a moment." He approached the dark cave entrance and waved his hand over it. A faint flickering light then glowed from within. Liz went up on tiptoe and kissed Max on the forehead.
"I didn't know you could do that."
"I can do lots of things that you don't know about."
-
Michael and Isabel hovered behind a rock, and every few minutes Michael would peak out and look with his binoculars.
"The cave." he whispered to Isabel.
-
"Max, this is amazing..."
Max hugged Liz to his side and they sat down to a candlelit picnic.
-
Maria and Alex stumbled along, following the car tracks. Then they saw the Jetta- next to Max's Jeep.
"I knew it! She met Max." Alex spat.
"How dare she leave my car out here where-"
Alex slapped his hand over her mouth. "Quiet!" He whispered harshly.
-
Dinner was over and Max and Liz were completely absorbed in each other.
-
The sun rose and Isabel kicked Michael in the side to wake him up.
"Wha- Hey!"
"They left. We slept through it."
-


Part Two
Two weeks from the ending of Part One
Liz Parker woke up feeling groggy. She wrapped herself up in her robe and opened the door to the stairway leading downstairs.
A whif of food caught her nose. Suddenly her stomach rumbled and she had to dash for the bathroom. She felt so sick.
After fifteen minutes stuck in the bathroom, Liz dropped back onto her bed. "Mom, I'm sick- can't go to school."
Nancy Parker rushed in and felt her daughter's forehead. "No fever..."
"Mom-" Liz cleared her throat. "I just threw up five times."
"Oh my. You get some rest. I'll bring up some juice and crackers later."
Just the thought made Liz's stomach churn, but she closed her eyes and nodded.
-
About noon, Liz woke up, and feeling better she decided to get dressed. When her mom came upstairs with food, Liz tried to eat some but it didn't taste right. After a few minutes, she snuck into the store room and grabbed a few bottles of different sauces.
She'd gone through ketchup, mustard and the usual, and all that was left was tobasco.
What the heck, Liz thought as she stuffed the cracker into her mouth. It was perfect!
-
"Hi, Liz, your mom told me you were sick." Maria said as she entered the room.
"Yeah, but I feel better now."
Maria notice the empty bottle of tobasco on Liz's bedside table. "Have you been seeing Max?" Maria's whole face frowned.
"No." Liz was quick to say.
"Liz- Alex and I know about that night a while ago. In the cave."
"Oh." Liz reddened. "What exactly do you know?"
"Just that you spent most of the night there."
"Oh." Liz said again.
"What's the 'sauce for?" Maria felt like being rude because Liz wasn't going to supply more information.
"I discovered I like it." She ate another cracker with tobasco.
Maria licked a bit on her fingers and made a face. "I don't know how you stand it."
"It's good."
Maria put a hand to Liz's forehead, pretending to check for a temperature.
The connection was instant.
Flash! Maria's first day of school.
Flash! Maria, Liz and Alex playing.
Flash! Maria's first glance of Michael.
Flash! It was over.
"What the hell was that?" Liz gasped.
-
"What the hell was that?" Michael stood up. "I felt someone using power."
"It wasn't me."
"Or me..." Isabel rubbed her forehead.
"Nasedo? Tess?" Max asked.
"Who knows lately."
-
Liz jerked her hand back and stared at it in disbelief. "Maria, what happened?"
"I don't know Liz, the connection, the tobasco sauce..."
"What are you saying?" Liz asked cautiously.
"You have been spending time with Max- maybe these are like side-effects."
"We've spent time with them a lot before, why now? If that's even the case..."
"I don't know. How am I supposed to know?"
"I should ask Max."
"Whatever. I'll go with you." So, I can protect you, Maria thought.
"Why are you going to protect me? Max would never hurt me."
"I'm not trying to- How did you know that?"
"I don't know, didn't you say it?"
"No, Liz. What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I don't know." Liz whispered.
-
The doorbell rang as Max, Michael and Isabel were still in Max's room. "I'll get it." Max said.
"Did you feel that power burst a few seconds ago, Izzy?" Michael rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah. I can't figure out who it is-" she dropped off when she saw Liz and Maria at the door. "What are they doing here?" Isabel mouthed to Michael.
"Got me." he mouthed back.
"I need to tell you all something. Something is happening to me."
"What do you mean?" Max asked, his voice shaky with concern.
"She likes tobasco sauce, and she made a connection with me. She can also read thoughts." Maria burst in.
The burst of power, Max thought.
"You could feel it?" Liz asked, to the shock of the alien trio.
"Yeah..." Isabel answered quietly, looking with new eyes on Liz.
"Can you control it at all?" Max asked, his eyes showing worry.
"That's the scary thing, it just happens. I could try to use it." Liz focused on a spot on the wall and tried to spread it apart. Nothing happened. "Nothing."
"Maybe something easier..." Isabel glanced quickly around the room. She handed Liz a piece of notebook paper. "Change the color."
"I'll try." Liz placed her hand on the surface, but again, nothing happened. "Crap."
Michael leaned the back of his head against the wall and said "Well, the way I figure it, this is your problem."
"My problem?" Liz looked at him strangely, and he felt a buzz in the back of his mind.
"Yeah-"
Suddenly Michael's feel weren't on the floor, he was flying backwards across the room and flung into the opposite wall. When Michael collasped, so did Liz, like something was releasing her.
-
This was harder than he'd thought it would be- Liz's emotions were getting in the way. But he wasn't worried.
When he felt that Max and Liz had had- physical contact- he knew the time had come to try.
And he was succeeding.
-
Michael recovered first. "Damnit Liz! Why the hell'd you do that?" He rose to his feel and crossed the room. Max and Maria were still working to revive Liz, but she wasn't coming to.
"What the hell." Michael spat.
"Michael, she never would have done that on purpose. She said she couldn't control the powers." Max said, shaking Liz's shoulders, connecting to her to try and ger her awake.
At first he saw her bright thoughts, but they got hazy and blurred, and slowly faded to black and white. Now he just felt rage.
He broke the connection. Liz was awake.
"What's wrong?" She asked naively in response to his strange look.
"What's wrong? You threw me across the frigging room with your powers, that's what's wrong. Don't play dumb with me." Michael glared at her.
"I don't remember anything. I got mad, and them blacked out.
"Bu-ll." Isabel said in a singsong voice.
"Maria, why don't you take her home and get some rest." Max helped Liz up, and the two left.
As Max shut the door he said- "That's not Liz."
-
Part Three
Next Day
The alien called Nasedo closed his eyes and searched his memory for the sound of Liz's soul. He reached it and took it in his hands, pressing it to him, until something connected, and he was in.
He opened his eyes and saw the washcloth in her hand running across the table. Forget this, where was the action?
He turned her around, looking through the restaurant he recognized as the Crashdown. Ah ha! There were Michael and Max sitting at a booth nearby.
Time for some fun.
-
Max smiled as he saw Liz approach. "Just play along, Michael." He muttered under his breath.
"Hi, Liz. What's up?"
"Not much, Max. Can I get you guys something?" That was the signal for Isabel to go into Max's brain and receive the images so they could attack as soon as possible.
Max grabbed her hand and forced the connection. The rush of images he got were dark and colorless.
He sifted through the shifting shapes and images, and saw a vacant parking lot, and a building looming up on the horizon. The old soap factory!
he broke the connection, and flashed the images to Isabel with his caption, and a good luck message.
"Max, what's going on?" Liz pulled away.
-
Nasedo felt the probe of his mind, but didn't stop it right away, he was curious about Max, and the rush of images he got from him were very enlightening.
Liz would need to be eliminated to make room fro his Tess. And possibly Alex, and Maria too, to ensure that all destinies would be fulfilled.
-
Isabel was driving the Jeep, and Alex and Maria were sitting in the back, not too happy. As much as they disliked working with the Czechleslovokians, they were doing it for Liz.
They stopped at the old soap factory.
"This brings back memories." Alex said dryly.
"Let's go. Max could be in danger."
"We're doing it for Liz." Maria insisted.
"Whatever, we don't have much time."
They rushed inside, and began peaking in doors for Nasedo, to begin the plan.
-
"We have to keep him here." Michael muttered, then said louder, "So Liz, you know about that time you saw Tess..." he murmured the rest so it was unintelligble.
"What?" Liz asked, a little too forcefully.
"You know, in front of all those people."
"Oh, right. What about it?" Michael could tell Liz/Nasedo was confused, and wanted to figure it out. Perfect.
"Nothing, just a random thought."
"No, seriously, why'd you bring it up? I mean, there has to be a rea-" Liz fell forward and Max caught her shoulder before she hit the table.
"They got him."
-
The next morning
It was Saturday morning and Max and Isabel were picking everyone up in the Jeep.
"So, I was just standing there, helpless, and then Alex leapt out and hit Nasedo with a plank. Then you all got there, and we killed him. I can't believe we killed him."
"It's okay, Izzy." Max hugged her to his side and sighed. This was the third time today she'd told the plank story with that smile on her face.
"Hey! You just passed Alex's house!"
"We're going to Liz's first."
"No way! Alex!" Isabel pressed the brake with her mind and the Jeep stopped. "Alex." she said firmly.
-
The door bell rang. "Who is it?" Maria called.
"Your alien wrestler."
The door opened. "Michael." Maria sighed. He had brought her flowers.
"You ready to go? We're meeting at the pod chamber in fifteen minutes."
"Sure. Let me put those in water first."
"Oh yeah, these are for you."
"Thank you." She took the bundle and busied herself in the kitchen. She heard a slight mumbling behind her. "What's that?"
"I'm still mad about telling Valenti." he voice had lost all force.
Maria emerged from the hallway. "I love you Michael Guerin."
"And I, you, Maria DeLuca."
-
Back at the pod chamber, Isabel and Alex were making themselves comfortable, sitting against the rock. Max and Liz were standing just outside the entrance, their hands firmly intertwined, and Liz's head resting on Max's shoulder.
"Max, do you regret what we did? It is the only reason that Nasedo was able to get inside me. He told me so."
"I never regret anything we ever did, my Liz. Do you?"
"No, I don't. And I won't regret saying this either- I love you."
"I love you too, Liz."
-
THE END
-