Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

NINETY-NINE

I think they let her out.

My heart chilled and I froze. Was Max right? Had they - our enemies - let a psychotic person out of her confinement? A person that seemed to have her eyes set on Max? A person that would not exactly be rooting for my involvement in Max's life?

What would this mean for the battle? For the rebellion? She was basically a loose cannon, from what I could gather.

"I might be wrong," Max said quietly, as he silently traced my line of thought.

I slowly shook my head, my thoughts miles away. "No... No..." It sounded right. If that girl hadn't been able to contact us - or at least Max - earlier, why was she suddenly able to contact us now? Even with our connection supposedly protecting us?

She was going to be used as a weapon by the opposition. It was perfect, really. Most likely, no one valued her life, since she was so messed up. Consequently, her eventual (accidental) death would not be a great loss. Nevertheless, she had the chance to do great damage before she died, serving our enemies in taking out some of our people.

Like letting a rabid tiger out of its cage to see how many individuals it would kill before it could be stopped.

Max's eyes were worried as he looked at me, his pupils dilated and dark. I could read his thoughts, feel his emotions, and we were reaching the same conclusions.

The addition of Tess Carter to the war would twist the battle into unpredictability. And that was dangerous.

My voice was breaking with tension when I asked, "Is there a way to find out for sure? If she's out or not?"

"I'm gonna talk to my father and Dresden about this."

I nodded, feeling the weight of my new reality hang heavily on my shoulders.

"Hey." The warm pad of his finger pressed underneath my chin, gently urging my eyes up to his. His light brown eyes spoke directly into my heart when he tenderly said, "This is why I've kept so much from you before." He let out a tired, although light, sigh. "My world is just too much. It's one thing after the other. It's extreme now, but it's always been something. Even before this rebellion."

He shook his head slowly, his eyes never diverting from my face. "I wanted to protect you from all of this crap. At least I'm born into this and have always expected the shit to the fan." He brushed the side of his thumb like a feather over my cheekbone. "But you weren't. The Antarians just granted themselves the right to rule over your life."

He slowly licked his lips, looking increasingly plagued. My eyes went to his well-detailed lips, focusing on my memories of how those lips felt against mine. How they tasted. How soft and warm they were. How they sent thrills right into every cell of my body.

"We have ruined your life to prepare our own people for a potential conflict."

I reached up and pressed a finger to those soft lips, fiercely shaking my head in negative. "Not you. Them." He dropped his eyes, but I continued, addressing the back of his eyelids, "You have always tried to shield me from that reality. To make my life normal."

He pulled his head backwards slightly, giving him the chance to protest, "And what good did that do?" The bitterness to his voice was clawing against the internal lining of my stomach. "You're in more danger than you have ever been. I've completely failed at protecting you. Instead I just brought you deeper."

I wasn't really prepared for this turn of the conversation. We had just been discussing the deranged girl that he was supposed to procreate with and spend his life with, and now he was quickly tumbling down this deep murky pit of self-loathing.