Like A Virus Like My Last Hope
She doesn't know whether to trust it, the quiet insistence in Tess' voice. But she gets up and they slip outside because it seems like this might be important.
"Where are we going?" she asks. Tess answers. Without thinking about it to much, she heads in the right direction.
They are about halfway to their intended destination, when the quiet becomes too thick, and they reach to press on the knob of the radio at the same time, fingers brushing till Liz grabs Tess' fingers, gasping in shock- seeing it happen: Fire. More of it, and destruction. Death. Waves of it, Tess among the casualties. Tess as the bringer.
Liz swerves the car off the road. "What is it?" Tess asks. They go on for half a mile, and then Liz kills the engine. She gets out of the car, and Tess does the same. She turns to Tess, wondering at the perfect curls. She wonders if the baby will be as beautiful as his mother, if he'll look like his father when grown, if any of them will be there to see it.
"You look like an angel, but you're a horrible, lying, murdering bitch and I hate you." Her voice is calm and even. Tess looks calmer, and shrugs.
She thinks of Alex, and green sparks begin to form at her fingertips. Tess narrows her eyes. She whispers in Tess' ear: "I want you to hit me." Tess strikes her across the face. A burst of force sends Tess flying, leaving five feet between them. Liz runs and closes the distance, sparks fizzing. She uses her own normal hand to give Tess a blow much like the one Tess had given. An energy force gently pushes Liz away and she fights it, diving against it and then she's straddling Tess on the ground, hands on Tess' throat-- she's pushing, and choking and angry and every so often Tess will buck under her and almost twist away. Then she realizes that really, Tess isn't putting up much of a fight.
Liz screams her anger into the night. She slaps Tess again, as hard as she can, splitting lip and seeing blood.
When Liz gets up, she decides that she feels good, and her extended hand is grabbed by Tess who gets up smoothly.
"You can hit me once if you want to," she offers.
Tess grabs her quickly, kisses her hard. There's the taste of dust and copper, and although resisting at first, Liz finds herself relaxing, deepening the kiss. She makes the moment last.
This will be the last kiss Tess will ever get to have, Liz thinks. I will survive her, and I will kiss Max, because Max and I will live and Tess will die.
She licks the blood away.