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Title<\/b>: Recurring Dream [Max\/Liz]
\nRating\/Warnings<\/b>: PG for Max being a big baby.
\nSummary<\/b>: Max is having nightmares, and they’re very familiar.
\nA\/N<\/b>: It’s very cliche, but I like it.<\/p>\n
Recurring Dream<\/b><\/p>\n
Max looked around the desert, noticing the alien symbols dotting the ground with a growing feeling of dread. He looked down to find himself dressed all in black, then his legs started carrying him towards the symbols, towards the four square symbol he knew would be in the middle.<\/p>\n
Soon he saw the others coming towards him, seeming also to be drawn against their will, also all in black. They all stopped at the side of the four-sided figure and reached for each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands. The square completed, Max struggled to break it, finally jerking his hand out of Isabel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and waking up in his bed, drenched in sweat. He took several deep breaths, trying to shake off the dream, blinking into the darkness with eyes that had been staring at blinding desert sands a moment ago.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Max?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz asked, beside him, rolling over and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, Max,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz sat up beside him and rubbed his back soothingly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The dream again?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Max nodded wordlessly, still gulping down air. Liz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cool hands calmed him to the point where he could speak again.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sorry for waking you up again, baby,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max said softly, the hitch in his breath reduced to an occasional hiccup.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Max, come here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz pulled Max to lay beside her, his head pillowed on her chest. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you want to talk about it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the same dream as before,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max shrugged lightly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The four of us are in the desert, standing around the symbol, I break away, and then I wake up.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max fought to keep the quaver out of his voice, but couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t suppress a shiver. Liz ran her hand through Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hair, smoothing it comfortingly.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What happens if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fight?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz asked.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max asked.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same dream every time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you do something different and see what happens. If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wake yourself up, what happens?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max shook his head slowly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel pretty stupid that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think of that sooner.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz whispered conspiratorily, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been sleeping much lately.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Max lay against Liz quietly, calmed by the steady rise and fall of her chest, thinking about this.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love you, Liz,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said randomly after awhile.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mm-hmm,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz responded sleepily. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Love you, too. Go back to sleep.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
* * * * * *<\/p>\n
Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heart was hammering as he realized he was back in the desert. He tried to calm it and started walking towards the signals before the compulsion forced him to. He reached the four square symbol before the others and watched them approaching, holding out his hands to Isabel and Tess and nodding at Michael in greeting.<\/p>\n
When all four had joined hands, Max looked around at them, all clad in black staring seriously at one another. He caught a flash of movement over Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shoulder, and watched patiently, waiting for it to come closer, bracing himself for whatever would happen next.<\/p>\n
He relaxed as he realized it was Liz, coming towards them with a bright smile. He looked over Isabel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shoulder to see Kyle heading towards Tess, and over Tess\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to see Alex. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to look over his own shoulder, he could tell Maria was coming towards Michael, just from the look on Michael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face.<\/p>\n
The humans slipped into the circle, each across from their alien. Max felt someone separate his hand from Isabel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, and he looked down to smile at Maria. Maria smiled brilliantly at him, and he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but smile in return.<\/p>\n
He realized that humans weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wearing black like the aliens, they were dressed in bright, vibrant colors.<\/p>\n
Kyle was wearing blue, deep and serene, like the ocean, like the sky, vast and of endless space, but full of life, and Max saw the happiness flow from Kyle to Tess through their gaze, and Tess laughed out loud.<\/p>\n
Maria was wearing a bright yellow sundress, the warm yellow of the sun waking up everything sleeping during winter into full summer, and she brought Michael to life the same way, basking in her brilliant glow.<\/p>\n
Alex was orange, loud and fun, a color that clashed with almost everything else, but did it so cheerfully you had to love it, had to stare at it until you could help but laugh too, just like Isabel was laughing now, hard, with her head thrown back to shake her hair off her face.<\/p>\n
Max looked finally at Liz, who was brilliant green, the earthy green of grass in childhood memories, the green of growing things and of healing, and her smile and warm brown eyes telling him that she loved him were healing Max, until he was laughing too, softly, but still heartfelt.<\/p>\n
He looked at the other three aliens again, realizing that their clothes were changing, the black leaching away to their own colors.<\/p>\n
Tess\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s black faded away fastest, leaving behind soft pink, the pink of roses and the pink her cheeks turned when she caught Kyle looking at her, pink with the strength of emotions of love and acceptance and family that Tess was feeling for the first time, and the others felt the wonder of those emotions through her just as strongly.<\/p>\n
Michael was red, passionate and fiery, maybe angry, but nothing if not alive. Michael burned, hot to the touch, and they all fed off his heat at one time or another.<\/p>\n
Isabel was rich purple, the color of royalty, caring about everything so much that she seemed to care about nothing, imperious and confidant, the master of the brave face when everything was falling apart, at times when the veneer of calm was all that was holding them together.<\/p>\n
Max looked down at his own clothes as they faded to deep indigo, the color of the night at the first hint of dawn, enigmatic but soothing and cool, and full of hope, a color that contained hints of all the other colors in its depths, just as pieces of all the others made up Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soul.<\/p>\n
The four of them had been lonely and lost before these humans had found them, missing crucial parts of themselves. Now they were whole.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the dream had been trying to tell him, Max realized as he looked into Liz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes and felt the others around him.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I knew that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max said out loud, wrinkling his brow.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know you did,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz answered. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sometimes, Max, a dream is just a dream. Even for you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
* * * * * *<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still sleeping, Iz,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz said, shifting the phone to her shoulder as she stirred pancake batter the next morning. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry it took so long, who knew you could fight so hard in a dream.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Max for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Isabel sighed on the other end of the phone. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What did you think about the color thing? Was it too much?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I liked it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz assured her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought it was a good metaphor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we ever have to do this to Maria, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to be scents instead of colors,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Isabel and Liz shared a laugh.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What was his original dream before you changed it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz asked. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mean if it was just the four of you in the desert, what was he so upset about?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Isabel tapping her fingers on the table was audible to Liz through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When Tess first showed up and everything went haywire, we all had that dream,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Isabel told Liz. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We thought it was our alien side trying to tell us something, but then it turned out just to be Tess. Near as I can figure out, Max just happened to have that dream, and the more he dwelt on it, the more it recurred.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stupid boys,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz said irritably. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If he would have just told me what was bothering me when all this started, we all would have gotten a lot more sleep this week.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Amen! I\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6hold on a sec.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Liz heard Isabel cover the mouthpiece of the phone with a hand and heard her talking to somebody.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Liz?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Isabel came back on. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alex wants to talk to you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Okay, put him on,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz shrugged, her lips quirking in a smile, wondering what her geeky friend wanted.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Elizabeth Evans!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Alex said imperiously, and Liz giggled at his use of her full name. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I trust that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the end of this nonsense! Having Isabel dreamwalk your tortured husband at all hours of the night!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, sir,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz answered happily.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good, keep it that way, Evans!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Alex said sharply, clearly teasing. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nobody should be keeping my beautiful wife up all night but me! In fact, we might have to spend all day in bed just to make up for lost time\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz smothered another giggle as she heard Isabel strike Alex and his answering grunt. Alex cleared his throat, trying to regain his dignity.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Seriously, kid,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d his tone sobered a tad, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153glad the fearless leader\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing all right now.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thank Isabel for that,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz shrugged. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Trust my husband to come unhinged over a dream that really is just a dream.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She heard Max stirring in the bedroom and glanced over her shoulder to make sure he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t overheard her. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to go, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s getting up. Tell Izzy thanks again, Alex.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alex Whitman-Evans, singing telegram at your service!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Alex announced, making Liz laugh again. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Later, Liz.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Liz hung up the phone just as Max padded into the kitchen, looking sleepy but not like he might keel over at any moment like he had for the last few days.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Morning, beautiful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max rumbled, his voice still thick with sleep, kissing Liz\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neck softly and dipping a finger in the pancake batter. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mmm, pancakes. You know what I like.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought it might be the only way to get you out of bed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz teased, slapping away his hand playfully. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How do you feel?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Better,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max said gratefully. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your suggestion worked. I guess I was making a big deal out of nothing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, you know what Kyle says,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz said lightly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own mind can do more harm to oneself than any enemy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have him teach me to meditate,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max said and Liz fought the smile that tried to break free when she imagined Max sitting in a lotus position with Kyle. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even if it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help, at least I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have a quote for every occasion.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Liz did laugh at that, given their friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s verbose serenity.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go on, get out of here, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in my way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz nudged Max out of their small kitchen. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153By the time you shower and get dressed, the pancakes will be done.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153All right, all right,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max headed for the bathroom. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he called back over his shoulder, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tell Isabel thanks for me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Damn!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Liz laughed, sticking out her tongue at her husband\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s back, knowing she should know better than to try to keep secrets from her alien spouse in the first place.<\/p>\n