PART FIVE

Liz sat in the back seat with Max as he silently stared at the landscape rushing past his window in the dark. Jeffrey was going to be planted in the ground somewhere out here. Max's last few years had been filled with Jeffrey and Pierce's sadistic tortures. Max had withstood them stoically, with a proud glare until it became so bad his glare turned to a scream. Jeffrey had wanted to break him, but he hadn't done it.

When he was small, he remembered a man they called "The Professor". He was a scientist like the rest of them, but where they only wanted to perform their atrocities on him, the Professor brought him books, wanting to study how his mind developed in comparison to a normal human brain. The Professor was not necessarily a kind man, none of them were, but the books gave Max something to do.

One day the Professor never showed up, and he never came back after that, so Max's books were taken away.

And so began the years of complete hell.

After years of lock-up, Hoping for a slip-up, any breach in security, he finally got his opportunity, and he was almost too incoherent to take advantage of it. Almost.

He knew he had been drugged, and the others must have been drugged as well. He was injected with a huge amount of chemicals for their latest experiment, and he could feel vague, confusing emotions coming from them. And then one of them faded completely. There was a state of emergency through the cell-block, and Jeffrey rushed out of his cell in a rush. Alarms were sounding, and suddenly, the door to his cell swooshed open.

In a panic, he froze for a moment, unsure of what to do.

The fight or flight instinct had taken over, and without contemplating, he chose flight. Actually he didn't choose it. It was his only choice. With the inhibitor chip embedded in his chest, he would have been no match for the agents.

He stepped into the hall, his heart racing with terror. The walls, desks, lighting were all a stark white, blinding to him after being in the dim cell he had been used to for so long. Occasionally, they moved him through an adjacent door into a lab/examination room, which was just as blinding.

He blinked furiously, hearing his breath coming in frightened gasps. He remembered standing in the hall, and there were doors that stood open.

He couldn't remember clearly how he got out.

The next thing he remembered was being in the desert, and it was cold, so cold. He'd escaped, but he'd left the others behind, the only ones that were like him.

He remembered the terror of his first two days outside the compound, away from the base. He'd been so heavily drugged this time that he barely remembered who he was. When they filled him with the chemicals, he didn't remember where he was, who his captors were, what he was. He just knew confusion and fear.

In a rage, he tore at the chip on his chest, trying to get it off of his body. But every time he clawed at it, pulled at it, an electrical-like shock ran through his body, and there was so much blood. Each time he pulled it a little out of the skin, the shock became greater. He pounded on it with rocks that he picked up in the desert, but it seemed impermeable. After what seemed like hours of doing that, a small spark ran through the chip.

Things started to come back to him in the days that followed. He struggled on through the heat and sand, wondering if he was going to die. He'd had no water and no food.

And then the third night, he'd come to a road, and he followed it at a distance from it, so as not to be seen. He'd come into a place called Roswell. He probably should have stuck to the desert, but he had to get water, or he would collapse. He knew they were tracking him, and that he would have to keep moving.

And now he was with these humans. He wouldn't stay near them long. He just had to make sure that Jeffrey went into the ground, that he was really gone.

Alex suddenly pulled off the main road onto a dirt road.

Max looked at Liz with trepidation.

"It's ok. We're just going to make sure that we bury him where he won't be found," she said.

He turned back to the window, as the Jetta veered off the road and drove across the packed sand and stone, bumping along.

A few moments later, Alex slowed the car, and it rolled to a bumpy stop.

"This is it," he said to Liz. "No turning back after we do this."

Maria put her hand to her eyes.

"Dios mio, we're all gonna be accomplices in this," she said in a half-panicked voice.

"Maria, do you want to see Liz go to jail? Because that's what will happen if we don't do this," Alex said.

"I *still* don't understand her reasoning," he said, looking back at Liz pointedly, "but we can't change what happened."

"I'm not saying that I want to call the police Alex," Maria said angrily. "I just think we really need to understand exactly what it is we're doing. We are burying a guy that our best friend murdered."

"A guy who was going to murder someone else," Liz interjected. "He planned on killing Max. I didn't want to kill him, I just wanted to knock him out."

"But again it all comes down to you effectively ruining your life for someone you don't even know," Alex said.

Max listened to all of this with his head lowered. He was still bewildered as well as to why Liz had done what she'd done. No one had ever given him a second look at the compound while they did those unthinkable things to him. He had just assumed all humans were that way, but she had proven that theory wrong.

"Alex, don't talk about him like he's not sitting right next to me listening to you. You weren't there. You didn't see how vicious this guy was. I couldn't stand by and just let him kill Max, or anyone for that matter! And I think you would have done the same thing if you were in my place," Liz said.

"We'll never know, will we?" Alex said quietly. "Come on, let's get this done."

He got out of the car and Maria followed.

Liz sat a moment and looked over at Max.

"Are you ok?" she asked, concerned.

He nodded without looking up.

"He....;*did* things to you didn't he? Bad things," she said, staring out the window.

He turned toward her, the compassion in her voice surprising. Why did she care what had been done to him?

He looked at her, his eyes conveying everything, his mouth not speaking the words.

"It's all right, you don't have to talk about it," she said. "I just....;know. I could see it in your face when you saw him. He'll never hurt you again. We'll get you to a bus station and you can go somewhere else to start a new life....;"

"No, I can't," he said hoarsely. "They'll find me."

"Not if you hide," she said.

"There isn't anywhere I can hide," he said. "There is nowhere I can go where I will be safe. I thought I could break the chip," he mumbled, "but if I do it will kill me."

"What are you talking about Max?" Liz asked confused. "This country is huge. There's got to be someplace you can hide-"

"No, there isn't," he said angrily. "I will run and try to be free for as long as I can, but I'll kill myself before I let them take me back there."

Liz looked at him shocked.

"I still don't understand Max. At least if you leave the state, you might have a chance," she started.

His lips tightened and he looked at her angrily.

"No you don't understand," he said, pulling at the collar of his t-shirt until it tore, exposing the upper part of his chest.

First she noticed the heavy rise and fall of his breathing as he tried to control his anger, and then she saw the dried blood and mangled skin, a black bruise ringing it.

"Do you see this?" he said, pointing to something silver glinting amid the torn flesh.

"This means I will *never* be free. I can't take it out. I tried, but each time I do the pain gets worse. If I take it out, I die. And as long as it's in me, they can track me. Which means if I am with you, they can track you too. I have to move on, stay in the shadows. Now do you understand?" he said heavily.

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the butchered mess of his chest.

Tentatively, she reached out and lightly touched the purple bruising and he flinched. She quickly drew her hand back.

"Did you do that?" she asked.

He nodded tightly.

"How?" she asked quietly.

"Rocks," he said.

He must have been so desperate to get the device off, she thought. She couldn't imagine what events had occurred in his life to make mutilating his body an attractive option.

"Alex!" she shouted out the window.

"What?" she heard coming from the back of the car.

"Get over here," she said.

She heard his shuffling footsteps and then his head was in her window.

"What?" he said, and then his eyes widened as he caught site of what Liz had just seen.

"Shit," he breathed.

"Your Uncle. We have to go see your Uncle after this," she said.

Alex hesitated before answering.

"Liz, you know I hate going over there," he said.

"I don't care. We need him to take a look at this, and I know we can trust him," Liz said. "Don't tell me you still believe it was Max doing something wrong. Not after looking at this."

Alex felt Max's eyes boring into him intensely.

"No," he said finally, still trying to come to grips with what he was looking at. Whatever they'd implanted in this guy was like nothing he'd ever seen. This wasn't an ordinary run-of-the-mill murderer. He was starting to think that maybe Liz was right. There was more to this story than met the eye. But that didn't mean that he didn't resent that he'd involved Liz, even involuntarily.

"Ok, we'll go over to see him when we're done here," he said. "I want to get this over with."

He walked away from the window, and Liz turned back to Max.

"Alex's Uncle will be able to help. He can tell us what that is, what exactly we're dealing with. Will you see him?" she asked.

Max thought about it. He had nothing to lose.

He nodded.

"Good," Liz said.

"We should help," he said weakly, motioning to the back of the car.

Liz nodded, and they got out of the car.

Alex had taken the flashlights and the shovel out of the Jetta.

He handed a flashlight to Max, who looked at it confused.

"Hit the button on the side," Alex said, seeing he didn't know what to do with it.

Carefully Max hit the button and a beam of light poured from it's mouth.

"Just point it at the ground over there," Alex said, and Max turned the beam to the ground.

Liz walked over to Maria who had her hand over her mouth.

"I'm sorry that I dragged you into this ‘Ria," she said quietly, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Maria nodded.

"I just hope all this is worth it," Maria said.

"I know I'm right," Liz said with conviction. "He's not a bad person Maria."

Maria looked over at Max, seeing his uncertain stance, and the fear that was still reflected in his face, as if he was haunted.

"I believe you Chica," she said.

"Can you help me get the guy out of the trunk?" Liz asked.

"Now that's asking a lot," Maria said shuddering.

"Please," Liz said.

"Ok, ok," Maria answered with a sigh.

They walked to the trunk and Liz glanced in at the corpse. The grim reality of what she'd done hit her again with force.

Biting back tears, she took the head, knowing that there was no way Maria would do it. Anyway, she should be the one to do it. She killed him.

"Ready?" Liz asked, and Maria nodded, grabbing Jeffrey's legs, keeping her face diverted, a smirk of distaste plastered on her face.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Maria muttered as they hoisted the body with effort. "Liz you owe me a *vat* of cedar oil for this." Liz nodded as they struggled with the body, dumping it down next to the hole Alex was digging.

A somber silence settling over the group, broken only by the metal ringing of the shovel as it dug into the sand.

Finally, Alex was satisfied that the whole was deep enough.

Liz moved to help Alex push the body over the edge into the hole, and Max stopped her.

"Let me," he said with quiet intensity.

Alex and Liz stepped back, and Max stood a moment not saying a word. He was thinking instead.

Thinking about the fact that there was one less cruel person in the world. One less person chasing him. He hoped this man didn't have a family, because he could not imagine Jeffrey being a different person than he was at the compound when he was at home. If he did have a family, he supposed he felt sorry for them, but he loathed this man too much to wish away the mistake Liz had made.

With quiet deliberateness, he put his foot against Jeffrey's back, and gave it a fierce shove. The body rolled over and toppled into the hole with a dull thump against the ground at the bottom.

Liz watched this in silence, wondering what Max was going through in this moment. She'd seen the fear this man had inspired in him, and hated to think what had inspired it.

Alex looked at her questioningly. He and Maria constantly called her the "bleeding heart", and perhaps they were right, but she felt a completely solid compassion for Max. She couldn't explain why.

Something in his eyes had called out to her, had made her believe that he did not deserve this. She might be a bleeding heart, but she wasn't a fool, she could spot dishonesty a mile away. She'd sensed it in Jeffrey, which is why she hadn't called him the first time she'd stumbled upon Max in the Crashdown.

There was so much she didn't know, so much she'd probably never know about him, but she was compelled to help. She had been from the beginning, looking up the story that the FBI had concocted in the Albuquerque papers.

There was something distinctly pure and beautiful about him, mixed in with all of the pain and terror that seemed to be etched in his eyes.

She shook those thoughts out of her head. Ridiculous, she thought. She shouldn't be thinking along those lines. Soon enough, he'd be gone. Soon enough, her life might turn back to some semblance of normal, though the shadow of what she'd done tonight would loom over her forever.

He turned and looked at her, and she felt her throat constrict because she could see that he was afraid of what she was thinking about the ferocity in which he'd pushed Jeffrey into his resting place.

She looked at him with quiet reassurance and nodded her head, communicating that she understood, that he was entitled because of what had been done to him.

He held her gaze for a moment, and then broke it, looking at the ground.

"Alex," Liz said softly, "I think we should get to your Uncle's. That....;thing on his chest is a tracking device."

"What?" Alex said, looking at her sharply.

"It's a tracking device," she repeated.

"That's perfect," he said dryly. "So they probably know where we are by now. Why didn't he say anything earlier? We probably just wasted our time. We should have just stood in the shed and waited for them to come to get the body."

"This was a waste," he said disgusted.

"No, I think Max may have damaged it somehow," Liz said. "If it was working correctly, they would have been here by now. We've been here an hour."

"But we don't know that for sure," Alex said.

"https://majestysfanfic.tripod.com/ficnsmain.htm"No," Liz admitted.

"Let's just go then," Alex said. "The sooner we get rid of this guy, the better."

"Fine with me," Maria muttered.

Liz looked at her friends in exasperation, and then checked herself. They'd been great so far, and she'd asked a lot. She'd gotten them involved with something that was dangerous to all of them, and she knew it was a lot to ask, so she kept silent. But she felt badly that she knew Max had heard every word they'd said.

They all got into the car. Alex started it in silence, and it remained that way as they drove for the next 20 minutes.

Liz occasionally glanced over at Max surreptitiously when she knew he wasn't looking her way.

He looked so tired, she thought to herself.

Alex picked up his cell-phone and dialed his Uncle.

"Hey Uncle John, it's Alex," he said. "I know it's late, but we need your help. Can you meet us at your office?" he asked.

"Great, see you in ten minutes," he said, and hit the power button.

Liz knew they could trust John, as she had come to call him. She'd known him since she was small, and she loved him as if he were her own Uncle.

John had been helping illegal workers who had come from Mexico for work for years. He knew he could get into trouble, but to him, helping people and possibly saving their lives was a worthy risk he had to take. Countless times Liz and Alex had stood by, handing him what he needed as he treated a sick child or person.

John had always encouraged her in science. He was brilliant, with a degree in engineering and electronics, as well as his PHd in medicine. He would sit with her for hours, helping her with minor experiments, and she credited him with her continued interest in science.

Before she knew it, they were at his Uncle's office. Or his home, whichever you wanted to call it, as his office was an addition to the side of his residence.

She felt the tension in Max as he sat up straighter as the car came to a halt.

As they got out of the car, an electric eye light flashed on, illuminating the driveway.

No words were spoken between any of them as they walked to the door and Alex rang the buzzer.

The door opened immediately and John was in the doorway, smiling.

"Alex," he said smiling, grabbing him into a bear hug. "Figures you never get out her anymore unless it's an emergency," he joked.

Liz glanced over at Max, who was eyeing him warily.

"Lizzie and the Pixie," John said, as he hugged first Liz and then Maria.

Then he glanced at Max.

"Who is this?" he asked curiously.

"This is Max," Alex said flatly. "He's the reason we're here."

Nice to meet you Max," he said, offering his hand. Max looked at
it, confused. Liz backed away from John to stand in front of Max.

John glanced at Alex questioningly, and Alex shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, what can I help you with Max? Not feeling well?" he asked.

"This is kind of complicated," Liz said quietly.

"Ok then," John said slowly.

"Why don't you all come in and we can talk about it?" he said.

He walked into the hall and Alex and Maria followed. Liz started after them and then turned. Max will still standing on the porch, his feet rooted to the spot.

Liz stepped back outside.

"You can trust him Max, I swear," she said. "He isn't going to tell anyone, and he might be able to help."

Max peered into the hallway cautiously, and then nodded. For some reason, he trusted her. She'd done nothing but help him, and he had no reason to think she'd be doing any different now. But an illogical fear persisted in his mind. He shoved it down and forced himself to follow her in. The lights were on at the reception desk and they were waiting for them to come in.

"Why don't you all wait here? Max you can come with me and we'll take a look at you," John said.

Panic began to rise in Max's throat. He didn't want to go anywhere alone with this man.

"I'll go with him, if that's all right," Liz said quietly, sensing Max's distress.

"That's fine," John said, shrugging.

"Uncle John, there's something you have to know," Alex said. "This is kind of a touchy situation. No one can know we were here."

John looked at him questioningly.

"Just trust me on this, you'll see why in a minute," Alex said.

"Ok," John said, a little confused.

"Come with me," he motioned to Liz and Max.

Liz led Max down the hall after John.

A short moment later, he turned into a room on the left snapping on the lights.

Max gasped as he saw the bright white room and the florescent lights, with silver trays lining the counters in the room. Terror clouded his eyes and he started to back away. Liz could hear Max's panicked breathing and turned to him confused, not comprehending for a second. Then she knew. Max had been in a similar room wherever he'd been.

"Max," she said, as he continued to back away.

"Give us a minute," she said quickly to John and went out into the hall.

"Max," she said again. "It is going to be ok. He's just going to look at you. Nothing is going to happen. He won't hurt you, I promise," she said. "I am going to be here, and I won't let anything bad happen. Ok?" she said, trying to will him some reassurance.

"Please, this is your only chance at getting away from them. You have to take it. He might be able to help you," she finished.

Max tried to calm his rapid breathing and get control of himself. In the outside world offices like this meant getting well. But in the compound, it meant fear and pain.

She tentatively reached out slowly and took his hand, squeezing it gently.

"Come," she said softly. "I'll be right there with you. If you don't like what's happening, we'll leave, I promise."

He nodded and allowed her to lead him back into the room.

"Why don't you have a seat Max," John said.

Max cautiously sat in the examination table, never letting go of Liz's hand. She stood before him as she couldn't go anywhere else.

"Where did all this blood come from?" he asked, looking at Max's torn t-shirt, which was flapped closed.

No answer greeted him as Liz quietly squeezed Max's hand again, looking reassuringly into his frightened eyes.

John walked over to the counter, getting his stethoscope. He too could sense Max's fear.

"Max," he said gently. I just want to have a listen to your heart and lungs. How about taking that shirt off?"

Max looked at Liz, and she gave him a small smile.

John stood behind him, waiting to put the stethoscope on Max's back after he removed his shirt.

Max slowly raised his shirt over his head, and Liz's throat tightened as John's eyes widened as Max's back was exposed. His head snapped up and he looked at Liz with a million questions.

She did not know what he saw, but she let out a small gasp at what was revealed to her own eyes as Max pulled the shirt off.

Her free hand flew to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears.

Max lowered his head, looking at the floor.

"Oh Max," she said in a strangled voice.

She'd caught glimpses in the dark of welts and burn marks, but nothing had prepared her for the horror before her bathed in the harsh glow of the florescent lights. Everywhere on his chest there were cauterizations, scars, fresh cuts and slices. On his inner arms, his veins had broken down from too many IV's. The bruising around the chip appeared almost black, and his chest was fairly smeared with his own blood. The skin surrounding the chip looked like raw flesh. What had those monsters done to him?

"Ok," she breathed. "Ok, we'll fix this," she whispered, looking at John.

"Max, you're going to feel something cold on your back. I am just going to have a listen," John said, and Max nodded without looking up. He was used to the stethoscope and knew that it wouldn't hurt.

John listened intently for a moment.

"He sounds ok, let me check the front," he said, and Liz moved to the side, still holding Max's hand.

"What the hell is that?" John said, looking at his chest.

"*That* is what we came to see you about," Liz said.

"Christ," John whispered.

"It was put there by the FBI," Liz said. "Every time Max tried to take get it off it did something to him. He said it did something to him when he tried to get it out."

"What is this Max?" John asked.

"It's a tracking chip, among other things," Max said.

"We need to get it off him John," Liz said.

"Why is he being tracked?" John asked.

"He's telekinetic," Liz said. "They've kept him against his will. They did things to him, as you can see," she said, motioning to Max.

"He managed to get away, but they'll find him if we don't get this thing off him," she said.

John shook his head.

John was silent a long moment.

"Max would you be all right with me taking an X-ray so we can see what we're dealing with?" he asked finally.

Max thought a moment. As long as they didn't take any blood, he would be safe. He was the same as them in every way except for his blood.

He nodded.

"Come with me then. We're just going to go down the hall," John said.

Max stood up as John left the room, but did not let go of Liz's hand.

Without a word, Liz let Max lead her by the hand down the hall. John had turned on another light and Max looked at the gray machine over the exam table.

"Liz won't be able to stay in her with you," John said, and Max nodded.

Max lay on the table and John placed the lead pads over his legs and abdomen, and positioned the machine above his chest.

"This will just take a minute Max," John said, and went into the little control room adjacent to the x-ray room. Liz paused next to the table and gently touched Max's arm.

"I'll be right inside," she said, and Max nodded.

He heard the door click shut as she left the room, and he stared up at the ceiling, wanting this to be over. It reminded him too much of where he'd been.

Little clicks sounded from the machine, and a moment later, it was over.

Liz came back into the room with John.

"It'll only take a few minutes," John said. "Why don't you go back to the exam room and get cleaned up a bit? I'll bring the film when it's ready."

Liz nodded, and Max sat up.