Of Mice and Men
Part 1

By Prestor John

Disclaimer: All of the standard: Don't own 'em, just borrowing 'em.
Summary: Sequel to “Best Laid Plans”. My AU diverges when Max kisses Tess in Heart of Mine. Tess Left town, Liz told everyone about Future Max to explain why they have to find her, Liz and Max start reconciliation, and Isabelle dream walks Tess, but then can’t contact her causing the group to think Tess is dead.
Category: Other
Rating: R
Authors Note: The continuation of my first fiction. Today is 5/23/01. I started Best Laid Plans right after CYN. I started Of Mice and Men after OTM. Now that Departures has come and gone I’m rethinking the entire direction of this story. I’m going to try and tie the revelation from Departures into the story. Hope you like the way it flows. Many thanks to Fadre for reading and correcting my numerous grammatical mistakes.

“What are we waiting on? Lets go!” He stood up from the table Kyle and started to turn to the door.

“Kyle wait.” Said Isabelle grabbing his arm. “Sit down there’s more.” Once he had taken his seat again Isabelle continued. “When I dream walk someone, I either get right into their dream, or hit a kinda wall if they are blocking me or are awake.” Under the table she felt Alex’s hand find hers and give it a gentle squeeze. “I tried again this morning to dream walk Tess. I also tried during lunch. Both times the same thing: Nothing.”

“Nothing?” asked Liz not quite understanding what Isabelle was getting at.

“Nothing” replied Michael, realization hitting him “Like there was no more Tess. Like she’s dead.”

No one said anything as Isabelle’s head nodded agreement.

“No.” stated Kyle. “No, she’s not dead. She’s just hiding from you.”

Before anyone could try to argue with Kyle, his dad entered the Crashdown and made his way over to the group. Jim Valenti sat down and started in, “I’ve got some news: Hanson just told me that the Eddy County Sheriff found Tess; car abandoned about half way between Carlsbad Caverns and the Mexico border.”

“See!” exclaimed Kyle, “She’s not dead! Why would her car be abandoned…” he trailed off as all the possibilities came crashing down on his hopes.

“Dead?” questioned Jim, looking first at his son then Max. Max explained Isabelle’s dream walking and the implications of not being able to reach Tess’s mind today. “Well, no offense Isabelle” said Jim after Max was done speaking, “but that’s not proof that Tess is dead. What if she was in a coma? Could you reach her then?”

“I don’t know,” replied Isabelle sounding skeptical “I’ve never tried to reach anyone in a coma before…”

“And what about when Max was in New York?” asked Liz “You couldn’t reach him there. It took both of us to reach him. Maybe she’s just too far away for you to reach.”

“So all we do have is two things that point to the fact that Tess is, or was, down by Carlsbad,” reasoned the former sheriff. “I’ll head down there first thing tomorrow to get her car and take a look around.”

“I’m going too, Dad” stated Kyle. “Besides, you’ll need someone to drive Tess’s car back.” Max saw Jim begin to argue the point and decided to step in. “Sheriff,” began Max, “It might not be a bad idea to have some backup so to speak. Why not take Kyle and Michael with you. As Kyle said, you’ll need someone to drive Tess’s car, and it might not be a bad idea to have one of ‘us’” he emphasized glancing at Michael and Isabelle, “along just in case.”

After a moment of thought Jim relented. “Alright. Michael, we’ll pick you up at 8:00. I’ll make sure the school knows that you two will be out tomorrow.” With that he stood up, nodded to the group, and left the restaurant.

Later that night Max glanced worriedly at Liz walking next to him on their way back to the Crashdown after the movie. “What’s wrong Liz? You’ve been quite all night.” He finally asked as they neared the restaurant.

Liz glanced up saw the concern in Max’s face, and gave him a weak smile. “I’m sorry Max. I know I haven’t been good company tonight. I’m just worried about this whole Tess thing.”

“That’s nothing to apologize for,” responded Max, “I’m sure it’s occupying all of our thoughts, I know it is mine.” He halfway turned from Liz and looked down the street, his eyes glazing over. “I keep replaying prom in my head. Trying to figure out… everything. I mean I know I made some bad choices that night,” he saw Liz move out of the corner of his eye, and quickly shifted his gaze to her, “but I don’t know what else I could have done. Except not lead her on by kissing her.”

“Max,” said Liz, reaching out to let her hand gently rest on his arm. “reliving the past like this won’t solve anything. At least not until we figure out how to use the Granolith to time travel.” A smile creased her lips at her small attempt to lighten the mood.

“God! Don’t even joke about that!” Exclaimed Max, dislodging Liz’s hand by bringing his hands up in a hopeless gesture. “I’m half way tempted to go and wall that damn chamber up! First the destiny message, then future Max… seems like that place has brought nothing but trouble since we discovered it!”

Moving to stand directly in front of Max, so he’d have to look at her, Liz quietly spoke to him: “Max, some one once said that something easy is rarely worth the effort. Yes, the Granolith and Pod Chamber have created some… difficulties. But also without them… You wouldn’t know your past, you wouldn’t have been ready for the Skins, or for the gandarium.” Seeing that her words were having an effect on him, she continued. “One thing I learned from future Max was not to wish to be able to go back and change the past. No matter how much you think doing it will improve the present, you don’t know what effect your actions will have.”

Looking down on this beautiful creature, Max had to smile as he gently reached out and hooked a finger under her chin to bring her face up to his for a brief, chaste kiss since he had promised to go slow. “Thank you. Here I was trying to find out what was bothering you, so I could cheer you up, and you get me to open up and manage to cheer me up.” Seeing a tightening to Liz’s jaw and how she wasn’t meeting his gaze, Max thought to himself: Oh God! I shouldn’t have kissed her! It was too much, “Liz I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

One look at Max’s concerned face and she knew what he was thinking, “No Max, It’s not that, well it is – but not what you think.” Seeing the confusion on his face, she paused before continuing. “We said we were going to be completely honest with each other, well…” she said nodding over his shoulder. Max looked and could just make out a figure disappearing around the corner at the end of the block. “That was Sean, Maria’s cousin. He and I… well we were starting to… get close. He just saw you kiss me. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him since I saw him after prom.”

“Oh,” said Max “I’m sorry Liz. I didn’t know. If you want to go after him to explain, that’s fine.” He looked at her with an intensity that made her shiver Max continued, “But, don’t take that as meaning that I’m willing to step aside. I meant what I said about not giving up on getting you back.”

“No, I’ll talk to him some time tomorrow. But, I’d better go inside now. Goodnight Max. I had a good time.” Liz leaned out and drew Max into a hug. After a moment, she let go and walked toward the door of the Crashdown. She had just taken a few steps when she stopped. I know I said slow, Liz though, but I want this. Turning around, she saw that Max hadn’t moved and was still watching her. Feeling tears well up in her eyes she quickly closed the distance between them and pulled Max’s face down into her. As their lips met they both opened up and poured everything into that kiss. All the feeling that they had been denying for so long. That was all that was needed for the flashes to start.

Max saw the whole episode with future Max. He saw that entire day through Liz’s eyes. He felt the pain she felt when Liz had told him that she wouldn’t die for him. His heart felt like it was being wrenched out of his chest when he flashed to Liz’s bedroom and saw himself outside the window looking in and seeing Kyle and Liz in bed together. The pain and determination to save the future that had been all she felt when ever she saw him after that night. Until last night when he had made his declaration to her. She felt hope and happiness, Max still wanted her. The joy she had felt then and, now, in the depths of the kiss, was almost more than Max’s heart could hold.

For Liz she relived the same time period though Max’s eyes. The denial, that she wasn’t interested in him, the crushing numbness of seeing her and Kyle in bed, the confusion of remembering his past life’s feeling for Tess, and the kiss at prom. She felt his… the best way to describe it was a lack of feeling during that kiss. Liz relived the entire scene she had missed by leaving the school just moments before. Max’s realization of, his trying to explain to Tess why, the shock of her blow, and waking up in the pod chamber surrounded by everyone and the healing stone. She felt his fear when they thought she had gone missing, the relief when she was there the next morning, and the agony and hope when she had told them about future Max. The self-loathing that he felt when he realized what future him had done to her, followed immediately by the iron resolve to regain her love. For her to know that he still loved her, and that that love burned brighter than ever.

When they finally broke the kiss, they naturally fell into a hug that carried almost as much emotion as the kiss. “Wow.” Said Max at last with a catch in his voice. “I’ve missed that.”

“Yea,” replied Liz “me too.” They stood like that for several more minutes just coping with the flashes and all the overwhelming emotions, “I think,” said Liz pulling back a bit from the hug and looking into Max’s eyes “that I’d better go in now.”

“Alright.” Said Max softly, reaching up and brushing an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Goodnight Liz” he said leaning down and giving her a soulful kiss. “I love you.” he said, first through their connection, then vocally.

There was the briefest pause before Liz replied with the same three words then said “Goodnight, Max.” She turned and headed into the Crashdown.