Roswell Fanatics

Natalie36
L-J-L 76
Xmag
Katydid
Garcia88
Begonia 9508 let me know how you think I do with Izzy

I think all shy boys dream of being an alpha male with girls coming to them. The dreams might be really buried but I still think they are there. It is not a matter of pride maybe, more of desperation. Watching other guys finding girls so easily is a very lonely thing.

Maria is asking her true love to do something very difficult. She talks to him in this chapter. She really is asking him to stand in the middle of the highway. If he gets run over she will help him stand up, but she warns him that getting run over would not be a good idea.

If you really love someone you can accept their past or obsess over it. If you accept the past, when it returns you give support to your love so you can get through it.. If you obsess over it you can pretend forgiveness and create a hell that will pull you both down.

What Maria said before about Michael with another girl doesn’t count here. Maria will later explain the difference. She warns Michael, but she also offers her support. After all this her life long friend Liz, who she asking him to care for.

Everyone go read xmag’s comments. The third to last paragraph and the second to the last are the most important. She is exactly right. It is still hard on Michael.

Michael needs a place where he can let Liz be free and not wander off. This is the reason for an island. I knew of an island in Minnesota and not one closer to New Mexico

Quote from the first of story. “Michael was not just a man, he was a friend.”

Comment: When Max comes back to Liz and wants to make love to her, how is he going to separate himself from her clients??????? I got help there.

Author note

Purposely the story of Liz has been fragmented and not sequential. Her life like the ducks, who swim in circles or the ships that appear and disappear on the horizon. Clearly Michael is not the best to do what must be done. I strongly disagree that Max would be better. Liz does not need sympathy she does not need anything, but someone to listen to her. Strength will come from within her self. There will be a time when only Max can help. He must be prepared for that time.

Maria has a job. If Michael tried to do Maria’s job it would be the rounds of fist-fights, like when Max took back the “Royal Seal.” Maria hopes that she can handle Max without getting hurt. Maria thinks she knows how to handle men and probably she does.

Michael faces what every good, young, male teacher must face. In secondary Education we were given scores of lectures of our responsibility to our students. Even if, in this day, so many teachers seem to forget these lectures, a teacher must always respect their position with the students. A good teacher must also respect the fragile egos of the students as they disentangle themselves from their students. Yes, Michael must get Liz out of his lap, but he must do it in a way not to destroy her desire to share her emotions with someone, just not him.

It was remarked that Liz was seeing the parts of her life as just pieces of a puzzle. If she really looked at what the pieces meant she might again shut down.

A lot of planning of this story, I take from a psycharist friend long ago. This man was a friend because he always told me I didn’t have enough money to afford him professionally. He did tell me that all answers are found with in your self. You just have to learn to look for them them. This was the whole point of my story “The Christmas Gift”

Liz must find the answers within her self.


Chapter 12 Day 9

Michael had been keeping a journal. He hadn’t said anything to Liz about it, but they needed something to show Max when they attempted to draw him out of his depression and force him to take some responsibility. Either Max must attempt to take Liz back, this would of course, depend on what Liz ultimately wanted to do, or Max must move on and help Liz do the same. Max must figure out why he left Liz. He must justify what he allowed to happen to her.

For some reason, Michael didn’t mention the kiss on the cheek from last night in the journal. Michael was trying to keep the journal accurate and detailed, but this was only a kiss on the cheek and probably not important to mention to others. Privately, Michael was thinking, Liz was trying to find feelings of some kind. Trouble was, Michael didn’t want the feelings to be directed toward him. He would have to walk a fine line, to not squelch the beginnings of feelings in Liz, but not to get himself wrapped up in them.

Michael, when he called Maria that morning, also failed to mention it. He kept assuring himself that Liz didn’t mean anything by this action. It was just her experiencing feelings for someone.

Michael and Maria did talk about involving Isabel somewhere in the cure of Liz. They felt that a meeting between them, with no one else there, might result as beneficial to both women. Now, here again, would be two women who both loved Max and because their loves were so different, Isabel the sister and Liz his wife, they weren’t competing.

Michael had grown up with Isabel. Some might say, she could be the ice queen. He knew that most times her cold appearance was built from fear. He also knew that some people were just not demonstrative of their feelings. Michael had been busy worrying about Maria, at the time, but he had seen her ambivalent attention to Alex. Maria had told him that she thought Isabel was just playing with Alex. Even with all his attention on Maria, Michael still saw the longing in Isabel when she looked at Max and Liz. Then just when Michael thought Isabel was going to go to Alex, Alex was murdered.

Michael felt that he needed to finish the complete story of Liz and put it in order before they introduced any thing else in the equation. If then Isabel could be supportive Liz and Max would have a far stronger chance.

It was mid morning. Liz was sitting in her special spot. She was watching a ship as it approached the horizon. Instead of dropping off the end of the earth as they usually did, the ship made a right angle turn and for a time traveled right on the horizon.

Liz was in Redding, California. It was a small city of a little over 100,000 people. The city was on the Sacramento river. Liz, right now, couldn’t remember how she got there but the memories of the small city were clear. She had arrived on US highway 5. She remembered that. She had gone to a bar. That was strange, in itself, since Liz wasn’t known as a drinker. She nursed a glass of white wine. Liz remembered the clothes she was wearing that day. She had been wearing a black dress with a jacket to match. She had noticed that she was dressed better than any of the other women in the bar. Most of the women she saw were paired up, either with another woman or with a guy.

As Liz was sitting there at the bar, a nicely attired man approached her. “Hi, my name is James. What’s yours?” he asked.

Liz smiled the smile she had learned while working for Susie. The smile lit up her features, but if you studied it, you would see that the smile was not from the depths of her soul. The smile was like her makeup, just on the surface. “I am called Beth,” she answered.

“I haven’t seen you here before. I travel a lot and I stop here when I am in Redding. What do you do?” he inquired.

Liz didn’t know what he expected, but she answered, “Anything you want for a price.”

That sealed it. Liz had just labeled herself and informed those around her what her intentions were.”

James was a bit taken back. “You do not look like a professional woman,” he stated.

With a bit of rancor, Liz answered him, “What is a whore supposed to look like? I am a woman. Isn’t that enough?”

James’ voice and character changed. At first, he had approached the little woman because he thought she might be a lonesome housewife who was here trying to bring some excitement into her life. Liz had just told him that she was available, but she was a business-woman. Usually, James would have avoided a whore. They brought nothing, but trouble. There was something intriguing about this woman. James heard himself asking, “How much and what do you do?”

Liz finished off her glass of wine. She turned to James and said, “$100 for the night and I do whatever you want.”

The limited experience James had had with professional whores was that they were a lot less free with their favors and most of the time, more expensive. James just wondered what her story was. He smiled and offered her his arm. They left for his hotel room.

When Liz had arrived at Redding, she’d had no idea of what she was going to do.

That was where someone dropped her off. They traveled US 5 from somewhere. Now, where was that?

Anyway, when Liz arrived, she had just entered the bar to have a place to sit. She had left Susie’s with enough money to keep her going for a while.

Now, that was another thing Liz wasn’t clear about. Why did she leave Susie’s?

When asked what she did, what was she supposed to say? That she had been the consort of aliens, that she had been a lab rat in experiments trying to create a human-alien baby, or that she had appeared in films showing explicit sex. So she finally settled on the last thing she had done. Susie charged the men who went to Liz $100. Liz had been allowed to keep $50 of that. Now, there was no middle person so Liz just charged what she had gotten before. Now, she would get all of the money. “$100 and I do whatever you want.” She hadn’t yet run into a pervert who would have exploited that statement. So, as she took the arm of James, Liz had declared the way she was going to make her living while in Redding.

The very lack of professionalism was what struck James. He could have been back in high school having his first time with a cheerleader. The sweetness of Liz rivaled the best times James had had with his wife. He felt she was worth every penny of what she charged. James left and when he talked to friends, he always told them of the little lady he had picked up in a bar in Redding, California.

Liz would go to different bars when she wanted work. She instinctively knew that a prostitute working out of one certain bar would attract the attention of the law. She didn’t have to work every night. So, on the off nights, she could indulge herself as just a young lady. Soon, she was involved with the social life of the apartment complex where` she was living. At this time, she would rely on pickups. She had not given her phone number to anyone, even when they asked for it.

Liz had clothes of quality. Susie may have just worked at a truck stop, but she did have class in her nightlife. Susie had assisted Liz in building a small, but very stylish, wardrobe. By her dress and manner the other women at the complex figured Liz worked at some business or the other. They did wonder why she worked so many nights, but this was California. Like many woman, unless she wore a scarlet A on her dress she didn’t look like their concept of a prostitute. It wasn’t a problem until one of the women introduced her new boyfriend to her women friends. The man was one of Liz’s customers.

Neither the customer nor Liz wanted their relationship to be known. He was a man of the world and she was just a whore. So in the end, Liz had to quietly move.

This had hurt Liz a lot. She needed the company of the women, but in her profession, that would not be possible. In this new place, Liz kept to her self. That further fueled her depression. Then one night, the man she picked up was just crazy.

Liz always stated $100 for the night and I do whatever you want. This time what he wanted was bad. The minute Liz was taken to the hotel room, his manner changed. He handed her the $100 and, then, as soon as she put the money in her purse, he hit her. At first, his blows were just at her body. They hurt, but they weren’t dangerous. Then, he hit her in the face and she screamed. As he was beating her, there was a pounding on the door. This was ignored. Then she heard the sound of a key turning the lock. The night manager was a big old Texas boy. He had seen Liz come here before and figured she was a whore, but when he talked to her, she was so nice he said nothing about his suspicions. Now, he confronted a crazed man holding the small lady and hitting her. Her face was bloody.

“Hey, stop that! You can’t hit a lady like that,” the good old boy said.

The crazy man turned to him. “She is a bought and paid for whore. I paid $100 dollars for her and I want my money’s worth.,”

Tex took two fifties out of his pocket, “Not in my hotel, you don’t. Now get out of here before I, really, hurt you.” Tex was a big man. The crazed man look at Tex’s expression, measured the size of the interloper and Liz’s customer grabbed the bills from Tex’s hand and left.

Tex reached for Liz’s arms and said, “Come on, lets go get you cleaned up.” He led her to his room and, sitting her in a chair, he went to the bathroom. With warm wet washcloths, he cleaned her face and put antiseptic on her cuts.

While Tex was caring for her, Liz just passed out. It wasn’t from any of the beating. She had been going on adrenaline for sometime. Liz was just exhausted. Tex lifted her and put her on his bed. He removed her shoes and loosened her blouse. When he did this, Liz wasn’t wearing a slip. Tex saw the bruises on her body. She needed to see a doctor. Taking her to the hospital was out. Tex knew that they would ask questions that Liz couldn’t answer. He did know a doctor who owed him a favor. He called Dr. Metcalf.

John Metcalf still had his license, but it had been a close call. He had been called before the medical board. It was just that his accusers didn’t have enough real evidence that he got off with a reprimand. He was a good doctor, but you know, things sometimes happen.

Liz never woke up as he examined her. “She isn’t hurt too badly. She does need rest and to take care of her health a little better.”

Tex thanked him and softly closed the door.

When Liz woke up, she hurt all over. She was in a strange hotel room and visions of the man beating her were rushing back. There was a soft knock on the door and Liz looked up to see Tex carrying a tray of breakfast. “Eat up, the doctor said the only thing really wrong with you is your diet and that you were tired.”

Tex sat by the bed while Liz ate. Now that she was free to do so, she was a lot hungrier than she had thought. When she was through she looked at Tex. “You paid for me last night. I can’t do it now, but I intend to give you your money’s worth.”

Tex just smiled and said, “Little lady, I couldn’t see you hurt that way. Don’t worry about it.”

Liz went home and she rested for a week. At the end of the week, most of the bruises were gone and she was feeling much better. Liz had been thinking she wanted to put the west behind her, just like she had the southwest before. She wanted to be somewhere, she’d had never been. First she had a debt to pay.

Tex had almost forgotten the little lady. When he got off his shift that night, imagine his surprise seeing her patiently waiting for him in the hall in front of his room. She had such a pretty smile. “May I come in?” she asked.

Tex wasn’t about to be rude to such a nice lady. Once in and the door closed, Liz said, “the price was $100 and the promise was I would do anything you want. Just, please, do not hurt me.”

For a minute, Tex just looked at her. She stood like a china doll. Like one, which his grandma had on a shelf in her bedroom. Tex had never had a woman with this much class. As Liz slowly and innocently removed her clothes, then she helped him remove his, Tex’s mind was racing. Somehow, he just felt this was wrong. Also, he knew that he would never have a woman like this again in his life again.

When Liz was ready to go, Tex was asleep. He was also in love and this was something Liz did not want to happen. She had already made up her mind. She wanted to leave and she never wanted a man to love her again. She went home, packed her things and took a bus to New York. She didn’t even care where in New York. She just wanted to be where she knew no one. She ended up in Leiona, New Jersey.

Liz came out of her dreaming. The ship she had been watching was now almost over the horizon. She had just discovered another piece of her puzzle. She hurried back to tell Michael.

Michael was in front of the cabin. Liz came running up and threw her arms around his neck. “I found another piece,” she said with great excitement.

Michael untangled himself from Liz and sat as she told him all she had remembered this afternoon. When she was through, Michael thought all they needed now was how she got hooked up with tiny Williams and how and why she left the truck stop where Wanda worked. Then, there was the part where she’d left the situation she had with Susie. Her story was almost complete. As Michael sat and thought about how much they knew now, Liz was skipping like a schoolgirl. Finding these pieces of the story was like a treasure hunt. For the moment she didn’t see the terrible things the pieces represented. Liz, with her arms around Michael’s neck, sat in his lap. She kissed him. No matter how hard he tried to resist, Michael felt himself respond. Over and over he told himself, she isn’t in her right mind yet. He finally freed himself from her before either of them went too far.

Liz had already responded more than she had in a long time. This was a feeling that she wanted to share. Michael was the only man nearby to share with. The way she acted around him was the only way she knew to share with a man. There was starting, again, that burning sensation in her heart. Liz was beginning to care.

Michael would talk to Maria after Liz went to bed tonight. They needed to start the next step in their plan. Michael was both worried and guilty. Liz was completely vulnerable. She was both willing and she was available. Michael had been sent by Maria to seek out and talk to Liz. Michael wasn’t going to betray both his lover or his mission. Liz didn’t understand what she was doing. It was left to Michael to be strong and have reason.

Regardless of the seriousness of her story, Liz felt like a little girl when she threw herself at Michael. He was the one person that she wanted to please. He was the only person besides herself who was here. The joy she felt in bringing her story closer to conclusion, needed to be shared with someone and that was Michael. When he was untangling himself from her arms, Liz almost felt a disappointment. Didn’t he want her? That was the first time in a long time she had even cared about being wanted by a man. It was also the first time in a long time that she had the slightest hint of wanting a man herself.

Michael waited until he was sure Liz was asleep. He even went down to the dock before he called Maria. “We are getting close, but I do not know how much longer I can do this Maria. I have never needed you as much as I do tonight. Liz still isn’t herself, but she is starting to have more feelings. I am afraid that she may be turning to me to fulfill these feelings. She still isn’t ready to face Max, nor do I imagine, Max is ready to face her. I didn’t want them to get together until I finished the journal. Max needs to know all that happened to her.”

“Michael, do the best you can. No, Max is far from ready and I agree that he needs to read the journal as soon as you can finish it.” Then, Michael could hear her tone change, “Michael, if something happens, I forgive you as I hope you will forgive me if something happens that I can’t control. If you did go to Liz and she gets confused, it will greatly complicate things. She needs her first thought of love to be directed to Max. Then she can accept him or reject him.”

Michael was almost in tears, “Babe, it is just that I want you so badly. Anything I did with Liz would be so fake. It wouldn’t be right. She is still very weak so I must be strong. What about the next step? Do you think it would be right time to send Isabel. Having a third party might help anyway.”

Maria was silent for several seconds. “Yes, maybe, I can prepare Isabel to come to see you. I will give her the number of the man who owns the island and he can take her over. It will be a few days. I will call you when I am ready.”

The next 30 minutes of their conversation was endearments, promises and just plain phone sex. Michael was hoping he could last.
-------------------------------


If this was the only story i was working with right now i would be needing an island. Cowgirl Princess is a light hearted story about a girl from New York City meeting a group of cowboys and cowgirls.

Keepsmiling7
Xmag
Natalie36
Begonia9508
L-J-L 76


Romantic literature is full of the relationships between one’s friends and one’s lover.

I do not think Maria was ever giving Michael license to make love to Liz. My intention was that this was her way of acknowledging the possibility and giving him warning how much damage it could do. If something happened, in someway Maria was accepting to be partially at fault. It was she who put Michael in this position.

The same can be said for the choice between sister and friend. Isabel needs to clear the air with Liz over this question. It is necessary for Isabel to see the importance of Liz in the group and then to convey that idea back to Liz. They were pretty pathetic before Liz joined them. Michael’s only retort was let’s flee, Max’s “Let’s just act normal,” and Isabel’s pretense that things would just keep going the same and she could go on the date she already had next week. This comes from the pilot.

Michael is not the best person to care for Liz. He is the only one they have. It is necessary that Maria be back in Roswell to support Max. Michael and Max already have shown that it is too easy for them to get physical. “Who Died and made You King?” Granted the power of the seal was too heavy for Michael and that made him unstable. Through the series Michael was always loyal to Max but his very aversion to the “Touchy-Feely” part of friendship would have made it difficult for him to bring Max out of his depression.

Kyle would be far from able to do any of this. They just don’t teach nor encourage the skills needed to accomplish, the rebuilding of Liz, in the athletics department. Kyle also had some residual feeling to Liz, after all there was a time when getting her in the sack was his goal. (See the first part of the Pilot)

Is it easier for a man or a woman to tell Max about his wife’s indiscretions? My opinion is that Maria would have more sympathy for Liz and be able to convey it better than would a man. She demanding that Max will have support for Liz or else, to me, comes across better than if Michael said it.

“Having sex with someone or caring for someone.” Caregivers such as teachers, doctors and religious leaders, all have prohibitions against romantic attachments to those they work with. The number of times these prohibitions fail is huge. Incest is to protect children within the family and anyone who works with disturbed children will attest to the failure here.

“In place of (good) parents,” the caregiver, like the good parent is giving of themselves. They neither demand nor expect any return other than the pride and joy of seeing their wards grow and succeed.


Chapter 13 Day 10

Something was bothering Liz. Michael had no idea what it was and he was determined not to speculate. After breakfast, she took her pack and the lunch he had packed and left. Michael busied himself with the journal. Michael left a message for Jesse to call him sometime that afternoon when he had an hour free to talk. Michael heard the power boat. He went to the dock and had a real surprise. Tess was walking up the path toward the cabin. Michael immediately went on the defensive. As he could feel his body beginning to power up, he heard that voice he never hoped to hear. “Before you destroy me, you better hear who I am.”

Michael had matured a lot from the time when he was in high school and had little control of his powers. With his fingers crackling with sparks, he held himself. “Just who would you be except for that bitch who brought most of our trouble to us?” he asked.

“Why, Michael, have you forgotten so fast? I might say that approaching you is not easy. You know that you look just like Rath with a bath and a haircut. The last time I saw him, he was threatening to throw me under a subway train. I just have to trust that you are not him as you must trust, also,” she stated.

Michael lowered his crackling hands, “Ava, it that you?”

“The one and the same, I heard you and the Cornball were locked together on a deserted island. What does Maria think of this? Me thinks that if you mess up, Maria might make life pretty miserable for you.”

“Maria trusts me and she is helping me with helping Liz. We have several casualties from a recent encounter,” Michael informed her.

“Maria is mighty brave. What will she do if I choose to make a play for you?” Ava said laughingly.

“She would probably scratch your eyes out. Liz is her friend, but I do not know how she would take anyone else,” Michael had to chuckle.

“Oh well, settle down, Michael, I am only here to help the Cornball. She was nice to me when I needed it and, now, I understand she needs help. Besides, you can probably stand a chaperone. You are safe from me. We will see how safe you are from others.”

It was late when Liz finally returned. She had been thinking about what Michael meant to her. She found herself needing comfort for the first time since she had been taken to the “White Room.” She knew that Michael was pining for Maria, but was she, Liz, getting a thing for him?

When Liz walked into the cabin that night, she almost died. Tess, her most hated enemy, was sitting at their table talking to Michael. The last time Liz had been surprised by Tess, she had received a whole host of powers. The pain that Tess had caused made her life so intense. This wasn’t the Tess who was well dressed. This woman had patches on her clothes and her shoes were run down. She had a slightly different expression about herself.

“Hey, Cornball, heard you had a bit of a tussle in your life,” the blonde woman said.

Liz squinted, “Ava, is that you?”

“The one and the same, Cornball. If Michael doesn’t turn me into a pile of dust I would like to stay a while,” she said.

Liz walked over and took Ava’s hands in hers. “Michael, can she stay with out causing you trouble?” Liz was as a child asking for a friend to stay overnight.

Michael shrugged. Privately, he was tickled. This might end any problems of transference of Liz’s feeling to him. “Sure, if you want. It probably would do you good to have someone to talk to besides me.”

Liz quickly turned toward Michael, but before she could say anything, Michael stated, “No, Liz, I think it would be good for you.” Then, he turned to Ava, “put your things in Liz’s room and we will rig a cot for you.”

Late that night, Michael was talking to Maria, “Guess who showed up today.”

“Who, Michael? I thought that that location was secure.” Maria stated as she became worried.

“Ava, one of the dups, the one who you all knew. She looked like Tess.” Michael explained.

“Are you sure she is safe?” Maria became worried when something unplanned for happened and this was unplanned. Maria had been looking for Ava, but hadn’t found her. That Ava was doing what Maria was going to ask her to do was confounding.

“Yeah, I think so. This might take some of the pressure off of me in working with Liz. Maybe, Ava can bring out feelings in Liz without any of the problems I would have,” Michael informed Maria.

“Well, in about three days I am sending you Isabel. You better start making plans for how you are going to handle three women.” Maria stated.

“That is a man’s dream, isn’t it?” Michael replied with a chuckle.

“Look, Michael, I said I would forgive you if anything happened with Liz. Something happens with any of the other women I will hold you to rules so tight you can’t even enjoy hockey,” Maria told him.

That night, the two women lay on their separate beds. “How did it all happen, Cornball?” Ava asked.

“I was taken by the FBI to the white room,” Liz told her.

Ava made a face. “I wouldn’t wish that on Lonnie and if anyone deserved it, she would. What happened then?”

“Well, the things I endured in the white room were terrible. I was told that everyone had been killed and that it was my fault. It seems that the parents of the aliens got together and they were able to cancel the special unit for good. One day, I just walked out.”

“Wow, that is almost unbelievable. humans helping us that much. What then?” Ava asked.

Well I got into a lot of trouble. I, finally, ended up in prostitution. We are still trying to understand my story. I can’t remember a lot of it. Then, I do not know. We haven’t, yet, told Max. No one knows how he will take it. Michael thinks that I was trying to destroy myself so no one would want me,” Liz explained.

“I forgot how you all put so much onus on sex. Zan would never have cared who I slept with as long as I returned in a few days. He sure didn’t care how I thought about him. He even gave me to some of his friends one week end. To us, it just wasn’t a big deal. Max is too human for his own good and if he was so human he never should have left you for Tess. All Tess wanted was to be queen. She wouldn’t have cared how many women he had besides her.” Ava had to think how different the Roswell aliens were from the four of them living in New York. When they killed Zan, even then she didn’t have too much grief. They just thought differently. She also wondered how she would react if there was that certain someone in her life. Would she change?

L-J-L 76
Xmag
Begonia9508
Natalie36


Chapter 14 day 11

Michael fixed two lunches. As he had imagined, Liz took Ava to her secret place. Michael would work on the journals. If Liz could just remember a couple of times, the story would be complete, at least complete enough for them to know the fears and worries hidden within Liz. Then, they could concentrate on Max.

Maria and Isabel in Roswell

Max, as usual, went about the business of living, just barely. His parents had sent him to a doctor but now that they knew his story they understood that he couldn’t tell the doctor enough to really help him. Max couldn’t tell any doctor about that dark void. That place where his wife had resided ever since he had saved her. It was a darkness that influenced everything he did or thought. Constantly searching that darkness was responsible for his depression. He was in a black room. He felt that Liz should be there, but blindly fumbling around he just, hadn’t been able to find her.

Maria came by and asked Isabel to spend the day with her. Isabel was perplexed. Maria didn’t really seem to like her that much. Isabel knew that both Liz and Maria were disappointed that she went to Jesse so quickly after Alex’s death. Since she had left Jesse Isabel had, herself, searched her reasoning.

They went shopping, which meant they tried on a lot of clothes and bought little. Then, they went to lunch together, making small talk as women do and finally Maria drove to the park. They sat at a table some distance from anyone else. Maria had a box of crackers and they were entertaining themselves by throwing the crackers to the ducks who inhabited area around the pond.

Isabel knew that there was something going on. She, also, thought that it would be better to just let Maria take her own time in telling her.

“Isabel, some of this is going to get personal. If it makes you uncomfortable, just deal with it. Michael and I have been doing most of the things to secure all our safety. We accept that you, Max and Kyle have been so upset that there was little you could do. Your folks and Jim Valenti were the main ones leading the disbanding of the special unit, but they couldn’t have done it without the help of Jesse Ramirez. He has become a real power on the east coast. He directed Philip Evans and Jim to the right people to get rid of the unit. In fact, most of what we have done in the last two years could only have been done with his help.”

Isabel just sat there. She knew that Jesse had become successful, but she figured that he was glad to be rid of the alien influence. There was another thing that Maria had just said, “What other things have you been doing?” Isabel asked.

“For starters, we found Liz. We are a long way from knowing all that happened to her, but we are working on it,” Maria stated.

“Have you told Max? Shouldn’t he know?” Isabel inquired.

No and no. We haven’t told him because Liz isn’t ready to face him. He has no business knowing about her, until Liz wants him to,” Maria explained.

“What about Max? Isn’t what he wants important?” Isabel asked.

“In this case, no. Max never suffered nearly as much as Liz has. When the special unit captured Max, you all were there shortly to save him. Liz was with the unit for over a year. All the experiments they were threatening to do on Max, they did on Liz. Max saw that everyone was mobilizing to save him. Liz saw that she was abandoned. No one cared. They even told her that all of you were dead and it was her fault. In the last years, Max has been depressed and turned inward. He can’t get around the void, her loss created, in his life. Liz had been tortured and she had turned to self-destruction. Remember that you all have many alien powers and Liz had almost none. We are not sure that anything remains of her association with you. If Liz decides she doesn’t want to see Max he must be prevented from contacting her. She deserves that right and Max must be made to respect that. What we are doing here is not about the king. It is about a girl that he left behind,” Maria again explained.

“You mean when he rushed to save me, don’t you?” Isabel whispered. This was a weight that hung on her as much as the blank void hung on to Max.

“Yes and no. We don’t yet know, how Liz thinks. That is what Michael is doing now. We want to send you to them and see if you and Liz can reason out Max’s actions. Liz is a caring person and if confronted with you, she might mollify her feelings of abandonment. There are two more things,” Maria instructed. “First, before you can see Liz, you are going to have to read a journal that Michael is putting together. Then, sometime while you are back east, you are going to have to confront Jesse.”

At this the face of Isabel clouded up. “Don’t you think you are interfering in things that are not your concern,” she angrily demanded.

“No, you listen! Isabel, you are talking about a little girl who, at one time was loved by Max. We do have to understand how he will feel about her, now. You are talking about a little girl who loved Max more than anything else. Every mistake she made was in trying to do for Max. The whole royal thing you all had, would have ended in executions, if you had been allowed to leave with Tess. Liz had no real powers, but she put herself on the line many times for you guys. Humans are responsible for stopping the special unit, not aliens. You, Max, Kyle and Jesse need to get your shit straight and decide what to do. To best support Liz, you must have your relationship clear with Jesse. There are others involved, but the less said now, the better. You need to figure some of this out and facing Jesse is part of it. How Jesse looks at all of us is going to be important.” When the hurricane named DeLuca got aroused, winds blew everything before it.

Isabel just sat and listened this time. Yes, they all had to get their lives straight if they were ever going to go on. Liz must have suffered a lot if she was in the white room for over a year. Max was going to waste away if he didn’t get his life together. As much as she didn’t like being put into a position where she had no choice, Isabel knew that she had to do her part. She left for a small town in Minnesota to await the next step they would require of her. Isabel realized that she was doing this for herself as well as for Max and Liz.

Back on the island

Liz had spent the whole day talking to Ava. She told Ava what she could remember of the aftermath of the white room. Ave asked incisive questions and they discussed what Liz knew.

“Liz, I can try to use some mind techniques to hasten your memory if you want. We would have to go very slowly, but tomorrow, if that is all right with you, we can start,” Ava explained.

That afternoon when they came back, Liz didn’t have anything definite to tell Michael. She did explain that she and Ava were going to explore some memory techniques. They were just so close that maybe Liz could fill in the gaps.

Later that night when Michael talked to Maria, she sensed that there was less tension in his voice. Having Ava was helping him to not worry about his relationship with Liz.

“Michael, I have sent Isabel to the town nearest to your lake. Send her the journal as soon as it is complete. When she is finished, have her send it here. I am going to start working on Max. That is going to be the hardest. He must understand that it is not just him who needs help but that Liz needs it worse. Max needs to think about why their connection is broken. He is going to be like a blind man just taught Brail. He still can’t see but he is going to have information. He must think about what is the best for everyone, in what he does with this information. Until we all understand better, he is going to have to do what we say or he will mess it all up and Max is so stubborn. I am going to have to be hard on Max. When or if Liz stands before him, he has to be strong. I am not going to tell him anything about where Isabel has gone and where you are keeping Liz. For all his healing powers he doesn’t have powers to heal the heart.”

Maria was well on to her part of the plan. It wasn’t going to be easy. Max could usually be counted on to be difficult. Even though he agreed that he had given up the throne he deep down still believed he was king. Kings have two things, power and responsibility. Max never wanted the power. That had all been Tess. Max still had responsibility. That was in Max’s character even before Tess’s revelations. Max’s greatest strength and weakness was that he took responsibility for everyone around him. The strength made him a good leader, the weakness was that the responsibility weighed to heavily upon him.

The conversation ended with almost an hour of phone sex. That was not nearly enough, but that was all they had if they were going to help their friends. Michael, in his mind, stated that they were going to have a two months vacation, just Maria and himself. If they didn’t get out of bed the whole two months, that was okay also.

Xmag
Saavik60
Begonia9508
L-J-L 76

Yes, Maria carried out a one woman coup. She had with out apology just usurped the throne. She was going to use tough love on Max. I never liked that, but to Maria given the time constraints, that is what she determined was best. Don’t make the mistake of thinking Max was weak. He was blind. Max used his powers so much to keep track of those around him when they failed he became crippled. Michael was working with Maria and it was her ideas to follow every lead. If she had to anger Max to get him to listen that was all right. Maria always thought she could handle any man.

Get Max to only think about Liz. Later he could reason what happened to his connection. Get Max to react to what Liz had done and then get him to think, did she have any choice?

Maria knew that Max would probably break down, while they were talking about the girl he loved so much. She did not want him to feel shame about this. When he did break down, Maria was willing to baby Max, but she was equally ready to kick him in the butt other times to direct his thinking. With what she had Maria was doing the best she knew how. After all she was only a young girl herself, trying to hold her group of friends together.

Remember Jesse is the only one who has read the Lab journal. He still has a lot to do with the story. Jesse knows most about the special unit. There are many other things to happen.

Maybe I am not as hard on Isabel as others are. My own situation has sympathy for a young man, like Alex, to die with out knowing love. I always felt that Isabel was more afraid than arrogant. I had a student once who was a beautiful young lady. I thought she must have had a wonderful life, while in high school. Much later talking to her she told me of the loneliness she felt. She was mistrustful of the boys who wanted to date her and the boys she probably could have found comfort with were afraid of her assuming that she always had someone else.


Chapter 15 Day 12

Ava and Liz acted like they were both 16. They were giggling and laughing as they came in to breakfast. They both ate hearty meals. Michael had packed them good lunches with cheeses, crackers and sandwiches, along with two water bottles apiece.

They left like they were going to a picnic. As they left the cabin, Ava called out, “Bye, bye, Michael dear.”

Liz, giggling also, said in a sweet voice, “Yes, bye, bye Michael”

Once at Liz’s secret place, Ava decided that they should try to fill in the gap from when Liz was working as a waitress with Wanda and when she went to California to be in the movies.

Liz, sitting on a blanket, leaned back against a tree and closed her eyes. Ava began singing softly in a language that Liz had never heard of. The sounds were so pleasing that, soon, Liz was almost asleep.

Working with Wanda had been a pleasant experience, but Liz still heard about Roswell. Liz was still in the southwest and, from time to time, she would hear references to Roswell and aliens. Everytime she did, Liz would cry. Wanda asked why she was so upset. All Liz could do was explain that she had many unhappy experiences in New Mexico. Liz would try to do her work, but at times, it was hard. Truckers would be coming through and they would talk about Roswell for one reason or the other. It was just putting too much strain on Liz. She needed to get completely out of the southwest.

There was a movie set just outside the truck stop. The movie people had their own catering service but some of the people enjoyed coming to the truck stop, if for nothing else, the local color. Many of the crew would strike up conversations with the waitresses. There was one man who was paying special attention to Liz. Finally, one night he talked her into going out with him.

They went to a local nightclub where there was western dancing. This was the first time since Liz had been captured, that she really had fun. The evening ended up in his trailer. At first, Liz was hesitant. She didn’t want to be unfaithful to Max, but then it sank in, there was no more Max, no more Maria, no more Isabel and no more Michael. They all had been killed, just because she called her father that evening. In the young directors arms, Liz found solace. Yes, she had killed all that she loved, but the love she received that night was hers alone.

They dated several times and Wanda noticed that Liz, actually, seemed to be happy. When the movie set was struck down, it was moved to different places throughout New Mexico and Arizona. Liz went with them. This was all she had. These people were different from any that Liz had known. Her director would leave and return. He made no demands on Liz.

When they were located at a town for a time, Liz would work at the only thing she knew. As a waitress, she would, from time to time, go out with different men. Her director friend didn’t seem to care. He encouraged her to go out. When he would return, they would be a couple for a time, but Liz could sense that there was nothing forever in his vows. From time to time, she would try to call her father. Her mind was so confused that she never made any sense. Finally, the movie was over.

The company moved back to California. Liz was asked to accompany the director. That was her film debut. Unfortunately, he soon abandoned her in California for another new face. Liz did get a few acting jobs and, then, a few jobs as an extra. Some of the jobs required that she sleep with someone in authority, but she was resigned to this.

It had taken the whole day for Ava to tease this story out of Liz. When they finally had it, like schoolgirls, they ran back to Michael. Now, there was only one blank in what happened to her.

That night, Michael called Maria and told her to start on Max. She had been dreading this. The phone sex made up for some of her disquieted feelings.

Natalie36
Begonia9508
Xmag
L-J-L 76

As I look back in my life I see how many successful people seem to fall from grace. They fall into drugs, criminal activity and so forth. Woman have a lot of trouble in this because, unfortunately there are fewer avenues for them to rebuild themselves. I remember once years ago talking to a lady who was considering prostitution. Her life had just dropped to the level that she didn’t know of what else to do. I remember conversations with students who would joke about going into “porn films.” They just didn’t see the surrounding environment that would suck them into a one way path. I avoided Drugs of choice, with Liz because it would have taken a whole section to bring her out of that. Most of the women I met in occupations such as prostitution and adult movies were heavy into drugs. You see a lot of life as a cop, a lot that I can only exorcize in writing.


Chapter 16 Day 13

Maria and Max in Roswell

Maria had started on Max as soon as he was finished with breakfast. His parents were not home, so she just dropped by. Max was annoyed because when he saw her, he didn’t know where Isabel was to foist Maria off on her. “No, Max, today I am here to see you,” Maria explained.

All that Maria got from Max was a frown. “What about, Maria? I do not know why Michael is gone so much and I do not know where Isabel is. What more can I do to help you?” Max asked.

“Question, Max; did you really love Liz?” Maria asked.

The look on his face was frightening. “Yes, of course Maria. What does this have to do with anything.”

Maria was a bit intimidated, but this was her part of the plan. Max was a man and she wasn’t ever going to admit she couldn’t handle any man. “Well, you did abandon her when Isabel was hurt. Maybe, you should have had one hand on Liz as you scooped Isabel up on your shoulder?”

Max stood up, “I don’t have to listen to any of this, especially in my own home. Go home, Maria, leave me to what ever is my fate.”

“Yes, yes, the king; sometimes mortals like me forget. You better listen to me if you ever want a chance to see Liz, again.” Maria knew that this was going to precipitate a dangerous reaction. She had said the word king almost like a curse. She knew that many times Max thought of that phrase as a curse himself.

Max grabbed her, “You know where she is! Tell me, Maria, tell me before I hurt you!”

Maria was truly frightened, but she kept telling herself that Max was just a man, an alien man, but still a man, never the less. He thought with his dick and right now that dick had had little use for a long time. “Max, you can hurt me. You can hurt Liz. Max you can hurt everyone, or you can behave yourself and listen.”

That did get through to Max. He sat. Maria was probably the only person who could have talked to Max like that. At first, it was as if in a pout, but as she talked, Max settled down. “Max, Liz has been badly hurt. It is nothing that you can use your powers on. First, she partly blames you and partly blames herself. She has a lot to get over. Max, we all got you free of the white room right away. Liz spent over a year there. Everything they promised to do to you, they did do to Liz.” Maria was trying to explain that this was something that Max couldn’t fix. He had to depend on others and that was not easy for Max. The king might have advisors, but eventually he wanted find the solutions himself.

“Just tell me where she is, Maria. I want to go to her,” Max pleaded.

“No, Max; you abandoned her. She has to get past that. You do to.

Max sat down. Once again, for the millionth time, he saw everything. He had envisioned it so much, that he was starting to wonder if he was manufacturing some scenes in his mind. What was the real one and what had his mind added to what he saw. Michael and Maria were on the far side of the room. Kyle, as usual, was watching the Television. Max was beginning to be concerned about Kyle. Kyle and Isabel had no one to support them. Michael had Maria and he had Liz.

When Tess took off in the granolith, part of Kyle disappeared also. Maybe, even before. When Kyle had discovered that Tess had duped him, it had been a blow. A blow to his manhood as Kyle was getting a thing for Tess. Even when Tess was pregnant with Max’s child, Kyle knew that Max didn’t love her. Max was too gone over Liz. No matter what happened Kyle knew that Tess wasn’t going to replace Liz in Max’s heart.

Kyle had participated in the duplicity of Liz when she was pushing Max at Tess. Kyle was always to wonder about that. Even when Liz told them all the truth, Kyle stilled wondered. That was so not Liz.

The second blow was when Kyle helped Tess dispose of Alex’s body. Kyle could forgive Tess of many things, but to make Kyle a party to her crime, was way too much for the son of a sheriff. When Tess returned, having been rejected by Antar, Kyle hadn’t been able to have any good thoughts, about her.

Seeing Isabel married and Liz getting back to Max, left Kyle in limbo. Now Kyle had to be in the sexually charged atmosphere of Liz and Max, along with Michael and Maria. The only female he had access to was Isabel. Izzy was still married in both fact and law. Kyle didn’t sniff around another man’s place. He was just there, truly in limbo.

Max was also concerned with Isabel. At first he hadn’t liked Jesse. How much of that was, “No man is good enough for my sister,” which is normal for a brother? How much was truly, he never could trust Jesse?

The door had burst open. Probably blown open by a primacord charge. Primacord, that fast acting explosive used to blow up bridges or to blow entrances in dwellings and shock those inside. There was a blast of Nine millimeter bullets and Max saw and felt Isabel fall. Max in his mind thought he had consulted his connections with everyone. Kyle was already on the floor heading for the door. Kyle struck one man standing there. Max couldn’t exactly see what Kyle did. Max saw the Suit go down and he heard a scream. Liz was right behind Max. Michael and Maria were to the side. Max felt the surge of power as Michael, Maria over his shoulder like a sack of flour, blasted his way out the door taking a large part of the wall as he went. Alien hunters were thrown everywhere. Isabel had crumpled to the floor.

Max stepped forward to grab Isabel. Liz was no longer behind him. He must have felt her leave. Sometimes he wasn’t so sure. Max had to raise his shield. Bullets were smashing all around Isabel and himself. He didn’t look for Liz. She must have left with Kyle. Max was glad he wouldn’t want her in this hail of bullets, anyway. Max had no time to search for Liz. He had all he could do to get Isabel out. He knew Liz wasn’t near so he hoped she was safe.

Michael had already stolen a car and was traveling. Max made it to the car they had purchased yesterday and took off. He had no idea of how Kyle had gotten off. Thinking now, Max was sure there had been some feeling of Kyle making a safe get away. It was several hours before he had time to sit and concentrate. By that time there was no feeling of Liz. He extended his powers as much as he could, still no Liz. Max was sure Michael had gotten away. He had vague feelings that Kyle had made it, but for some reason he couldn’t find Liz.

That is what happened. Or was it? Max had been replaying the scenario every day for now two years, sometimes more than once a day. Max was sure at one time it had been clear but now he had to ask himself, was this the same story that ran through his mind yesterday or maybe last year. Max was no longer sure.

Now, Liz had been found.

Liz and Ava on the island

Ava and Liz proceeded to the secret place. Once again, Ava started to sing. Since she had already heard the song, Liz was more susceptible to the tones and rhythm. Soon, she was again in that in between land of sleep and awake.

Liz arrived at a town in New Jersey. It was a fairly upscale town. At first, it looked like a bedroom community for the City across the river. Liz found a small apartment that she could rent by the week. Next, she began to canvas the bars. Since she never hung out at any one bar, no one but the bar tenders noticed that she was a working girl. She began to pick up a few clients. They wanted to know how to contact her for a repeat performance. Liz always refused to tell them anything about where she lived or anything about her self personally. One night right after she got there, the man she was sleeping with touched her body and she flinched

“What happen to you? You seem to have been hurt recently,” he said.

I made a mistake and a man who I thought was all right decided to hurt me rather than use me. I will try to not make that mistake, again,” Liz told him.

You need a pimp,” he said.

Liz wrinkled up her nose. The word pimp sounded so evil, almost.

“Nah, you got it wrong. What you need is some one who will take calls for you. He would screen the weirdoes out and he would check out where you would meet the johns. He gave Liz a card. It read, “Tiny Williams, Companions with big hearts.”

Liz, now, had almost all the puzzle. Except for the one thing, that she didn’t even know. Tiny Williams was connected to the Mob. He wasn’t an important figure, but rather, the baby brother of the wife of one of the important mobsters. Tiny took it a great offense that Liz had been stolen from him. He didn’t know if she went willing or not and he didn’t care. He wanted her back.

When Ava and Liz returned that evening, Michael could complete his journal. There were still a few holes in her story but they knew mostly what had happened to her. Something inside of Michael told him that time was important. It was that faint feeling of disquiet that says trouble is coming. It didn’t seem to be alien. Michael couldn’t tell any more. Tomorrow, he would have the journal taken to Isabel. In a few days she would arrive and Michael would have the care of three women.

Begonia9508
Natalie36
L-J-L 76

The Mob or mafia who were not even admitted to be real in the earily 60s is like a nation. They have their own intelligence system just like other governments.

Chapter 17 Day 14 it now had been two weeks

Nothing much happened. Liz and Ava were inseparable. Ava was trying to understand the feeling] that the humans and even the Roswell aliens had about sex. Liz had done what was necessary to survive. Personally, Ava was proud of Liz. She understood that Liz had by-passed much of her childhood training to manage this survival. What Ava was investigating was the guilt. Guilt was foreign to her.

Chapter 18 Day 15

Isabel in a small town outside International Falls, Minnesota

Isabel had received the journal the day before. It took her the whole day to read it. Then, it took part of this day to read it again. Now, it was wrapped and addressed. She was waiting for the delivery truck to come by to pick it up. She would FedEx it overnight to Maria. Then, Maria would decide how to present it to Max. Personally, Isabel was glad it was Maria at home in Roswell and not her. Facing Liz would be preferable to facing the grief and stubbornness of Max.

Isabel started thinking of when they were all in high school. As a girl, she was maturing faster then either Max or Michael. Since it clearly wasn’t in the genes, this gave rise to the argument that society was largely responsible for girls growing up faster than boys. Well only half of her genes were alien, so maybe, the argument was half way true.

Isabel had, for years, bought fashion magazines. She had spent most of her allowance on make up, nail polish and such. Part of her anal personality was consumed in rearranging these items according to color, then, rearranging them to function or occasion. Isabel had a trained taste in clothes. As most mothers with daughters, Diane Evans, her mother, was delighted to take her daughter shopping. The Evans family had the where with-all to assure Isabel, that within reason, she could buy anything she wanted.

Her maturing body, suddenly blossoming when boys were just becoming aware of their infantile infatuation to girls breasts, made her an object of interest with many of the high school elite. Isabel had no shortage of dates. She, even, had several repeat dates, but the fact that though she would be free to an extent with her body, there were barriers she wouldn’t cross. Petting was allowed. Caressing through her clothes was okay. When buttons started to be undone or the hemline started to creep up, Isabel froze. This earned her the title of ice queen. You could heat her up all you wanted, but try to see under those clothes caused the great freeze. The challenge of thawing Isabel Evans had assured her many dates.

Max and Michael were still playing basketball looking at stolen copies of playboy and talking about the mythology of the female, when Max had crossed the line and saved Liz, which was understandable. But, when he informed Liz of all their secrets, Isabel became frightened.

It wasn’t morals that had protected her virtue, but rather fear. What would happen if Isabel actually let a person in to be close? What would happen if they were actually intimate? Could humans and aliens really mate? Would the off spring of such mating be monsters, negating the hiding in plain sight. Isabel was wrestling with this subject when she was confronted with her brother who, with no regard for consequences, went forward with Liz. Isabel was squeamish about asking about the sex life of her brother, but her active mind could run wild with what she could imagine.

No sooner did she try to come to some sort of reason about Max, than Michael started with Maria. Michael only worked on impulse. There was no telling what he would do. So as Michael made out in the eraser room and the store room of the Crashdown restaurant, and Max made clear his intention to just make Liz. Isabel was left with her life out of control.

Alex, one of the few boys who respected Isabel even though he assured her that he also lusted for her, made his appearance. Then he was made privy to their secret. Isabel was in a quandary. First, she teased him just to see what he would do. If he had attacked her, then she could easily have rid her self of him. Alex acted with maturity. Isabel, in panic, realized that as far as love could go in high school, Alex was in love with her. Isabel, alternately encouraged friendship and, then, pushed him away. She confused him as much as she confused herself.

The prom came. None of them wanted to open the group to anyone new. So, when Alex asked her to the prom, almost at her begging request, Isabel was ready to open her life, her heart and her buttons to Alex.

Tess killed Alex. True she did it by accident but in her selfishness to get what she wanted she blamed the death on everything else from another person, to suicide.

Michael and Maria were indulging themselves in World War Three. Max and Liz were trying to rebuild their relationship with the knowledge that Max had tasted sex. Isabel was almost in melt down. In desperation and stress, she opened herself to an older man. As she was fond of reminding him, she was barely legal and he was 26 or 28. She couldn’t even remember now. She expected him to make demands upon her so she could decide how to govern her future. But, to her surprise, he treated her with respect. She was the woman he wanted to marry.

The lives of both Max and Michael were turning into difficult messes. Max was estranged from the family of his love. Getting her thrown into jail, didn’t endure him to Liz’s father. Maria thought that this might be her last chance to become a star. Isabel started to find comfort in Jesse. That comfort developed into love. Then, she was confronted with the problem of informing him that she was not human.

The fact that they married, made love, and then, were confronted with danger put too much stress on Isabel. She didn’t understand that Jesse would have given up everything to stay with her. When they left Roswell, Jesse saw that they were just a bunch of kids traveling together. That threw him off. He didn’t make decisions like that. Jesse was a mature adult. As he was hesitating, in guilt Isabel drove him away.

Now she was faced with more guilt. Saving her life had cost Max the love of his life. Liz had suffered, without any alien powers to aid her, most terrible tortures. Isabel and Max, they were a family ridden with guilt. They were left with only Michael and Maria to be mature enough to attempt to bring the group back together. ‘’

There was the beep of a horn. Isabel took the package to the truck. She felt like she was mailing half of her heart along with the journal. Tomorrow, Isabel would cross to the island and face Liz. Isabel had no idea of what would happen from there.

Maria and Max in Roswell

Maria returned to Max’s home. Since his parents were home, this time, she suggested that he go with her to the park. They took a table at the far edge of the park near the duck pond. Just like they did up north with Liz, the ducks were swimming in circles. “How is she? How bad was she hurt? When can I see her?” These were questions from Max.

Maria just shook her head. “Physically, she is in fair condition. Michael says she hasn’t been taking care of herself very well, recently.”

To Max, the husband, it would seem that he should be the one to comfort and heal his wife, Liz. He had to ask himself what would he do if Liz couldn’t get over her feeling of abandonment. Max was a very intelligent man. He had realized that his conduct during the two years after he had met Tess was far from what he was proud of. Liz had told him before, that he had been controlling. He had badly hurt Isabel with his demands. Trying the same thing with Liz had split them when she was investigating the murder of Alex.

Now, what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t demand her to forgive him, nor could he expect her to follow any of his suggestions. Wouldn’t they all be looked upon as demands. It griped Max that Maria and Michael were essentially doing what he should be doing. How did they find Liz? Max had been using all of his powers, but even now, knowing she had been found Max had no connection to establish.

Maybe, she was so angry that she had been abandoned, it was Liz who was blocking him. Maria had told Max that she and Michael used plain old detective work. No alien magic. Just following up one lead after another. How did they get so smart?

Then Max thought, they had gotten smart, by rising to the need. Liz was Maria’s best and longest friend. Michael would rise to anything that Maria asked of him. Maria had no alien magic but she was, most of the time, very practical. Because she asked him, Michael would have followed any thing she said. Then it hit Max, Michael was also a friend of Liz. Liz, years after it had happened, had told Max about the journal that Michael had stolen, a journal that Max would have secretly loved to read, but Liz had asked him not to. At the time when Michael had returned the journal, Liz had referred to him as a good friend. Michael had also called Liz a friend of the aliens and said that it was good.

Max still demanded, “How come Michael gets to see and I don’t?”

“Because Michael has been busting his butt for two years, looking for her while you were just sitting on yours feeling sorry for yourself,” Maria angrily retorted. Maria knew that she was being extra hard on Max. She also knew that the loss of his connection with Liz had crippled him. She had to shock him out of what ever was holding him back.

There it was again. Maria was accusing him of not doing anything. What did she want him to do? Max had spent every part of every day trying to raise Liz with all the power he had. Then Max cooled down. Yes, he had spent his time with his alien powers and gotten nowhere. Maria had directed Michael to just use plain old shoe leather. Like any good human detectives, they had managed to track her down.

Maria knew that the men Michael had talked to who had known Liz wouldn’t have been receptive if Max had been along. You just don’t open up to the husband of a whore you just slept with. Maria would have to get this across to Max. Max had to see that it was important what she and Michael had done. They had done what he couldn’t. Max had to, now, find a way to approach Liz with full knowledge of every thing that had happened to her.

“Max when you gave up the responsibility of being a king you didn’t give up the responsibility of being a man, but you did make yourself full of guilt for things that none of us, yet, understand. You should have been actively looking for her from the day that you decided that Isabel was well enough to survive. You should have put aside your alien methods, which were not working. I know that you had no way of knowing where to start. Michael and I have just been striking out in all directions. We never had a gift of a connection. Maybe that helped. We used the only thing we knew, the old fashion way of searching.” For several minutes Maria was quiet. Then she asked, “Max, why do you never want to talk about your time in the white room?”

“It was just too horrible to think about. I try to drive it from my mind,” Max explained.

“Well, you damned well better be prepared to talk about it. Your one true love had to live it for over a year. I do not know all the particulars, but by tomorrow, we both will. Michael and Liz have prepared a journal of what happened to her in the past two years. We are going to read it together.”

Max hung his head. For so long, he had lived with the belief that he would never have to face that room, again. It was one thing to be there and facing what they wanted to do to him. He could fight that in his mind. He had been fighting it since the day Michael, Jim and Nasado had freed him. Now, he had to face what had actually happened to Liz. There would be nothing he could do. Again Max had to face something that already happened and all he could do was listen. The whole story, would play itself out. There is nothing as devastating to a man as having to watch as his true love suffers while knowing he, is/was helpless.

Maria turned again to Max, “Do you think you are responsible for all the things that you have done in the last several years?”

Max thought a minute, “Some of them were out of my control.”

“Well, you hold on to that thought. When we read that journal together you place one bit of blame on Liz for anything she did to survive, I will destroy the journal and you will never see Liz again. We will tell her that you are dead! If I really lose my temper that may well be a true fact.” Maria had made a declaration. Michael told her the journal was bad, but Liz was her closest and longest friend. Maria was going to support Liz, no matter what. Michael had told her to.

Begonia9508
Xmag
Natalie36
L-J-L 76

Maria has to get a rise out of Max. He can get mad at Liz or he can get mad at her, but he has to get mad. Then she has made it clear that he must channel this anger away from Liz. He must, also, get angry at himself. He must learn that this won’t be productive either. The anger and concern must be channeled into support. She is alive. Maybe, that is all that counts.

The connection was the most intimate thing they shared. It is to be very important what happened.

Michael and Maria are both driven and strong because of necessity. I was pleased how they turned out. This is the second story I have ever written where Maria has so much leadership.

Lizza your questions are an outline for the rest of the story. I hope I answere all of them. At least know that I plan to.


Chapter 19 Day 16

Isabel on her way to the island

Isabel, being from New Mexico, didn’t know much about boats. She did know that you didn’t stand in the boat. Isabel had decided you grabbed onto the seat of the boat and did not let go until they told you to get off back on dry land. The old man piloting the boat was laughing and the young man, his helper, was mildly hitting on her. They were both curious about what was going on at that island. First, a man and very frail woman had crossed. They ordered groceries every so often. They sent their laundry back to a commercial laundry to be done and, then, returned.

Then, the little hippy girl, she had flirted with everyone. The old man almost got angry, then, he remembered when he was young. His helper was almost ready to take her right there on the foredeck. They had arrived before this could occur. His helper had threatened to sneak back to the island, but the old man informed him that they had this job strictly because they were willing to not set foot on the island or get inquisitive about what they saw.

Now, here was a lady of quality. The tall brown eyed Blonde was not a lady to take lightly. She and her luggage were deposited on the dock and the boat left as were its orders.

Michael walked down the dock. Isabel greeted him with open arms. Then she saw a sight that she had hoped to never see again. Tess walked down the path. “What the Hell, Michael. Why are you keeping the gerbil here? I thought she was dead.”

“Yeah, and except for the fact that you take a bath regularly, I could say why is Lonnie allowed to walk among us? Lonnie wanted Rath to throw me under the subway train.”

Isabel frowned, “Ah… Ava, isn’t it?”

“Bravo, give the lady a cigar. Use your head Isabel. Tess is dead and I am not a shape shifter, so that is all that is left. I am just here to give the Cornball support. She has had a hard time and I am here to make sure none of you, and that includes your brother with his head up his butt, say anything to hurt her.” Ava was loyal to Liz because Liz had accepted her without any question years ago.

“Where is Liz?” Isabel asked.

“We sent her to her secret place to meditate until we got you squared away. She will wonder back in a few hours,” Michael replied.

Inside, seated at the quickly shrinking table, Michael turned to Isabel. “Well what do you think about what happened to Liz in the past two years?”

“I guess she did what she had to. Obviously, I don’t understand it. To fall so low to sell herself seems drastic to me,” Isabel stated.

“That is why I am here,” Ava said. “You need to understand what it is like to have nothing and not be ready to die. You need to stand naked and ask yourself what do you have to trade to live one more day?”

“But, she could have called anyone of us. We would have come for her,” Isabel said.

“Yes, except she was told you were all dead. Even if you weren’t dead what was done to her in the white room removed any respect she had for herself. She felt dirty and used. Can you bring this to the family of a husband who you felt responsibility for killing, whether or not you actually did?” Ava further explained.

Isabel was now in a quandary. True, she didn’t have any concept of being alone. She had always had Max and, also, her parents. That Max was there to save her in the raid, was evidence that she had always had support.

Ava continued, “Liz, also, felt deserted. Maria, Kyle and Liz were the humans of the group. When things happened. Michael did grab Maria, but there was no one to take Kyle and Max went to you, not thinking of Liz at all.”

Ava stood up and looked down at Isabel, “You weren’t kind to Liz when she first started going with Max. To Liz, now, you were free of the human you did not really like, anyway.”

Isabel started to protest, but to a gregarious girl like Liz, isabel hadn’t, been as friendly as she should have been. Liz had brought happiness to Max. She brought Max out of his shell, out from behind the tree. That Liz was so fearful of her value to the group had not made its way into Isabel’s thinking.

After a while Liz wandered into the cabin. When she saw Isabel, she stopped. First Michael, then Ava, and now, Isabel. Things were starting to get a bit too crowded for her mind to assimilate. If they had been on land Liz was sure she would have fled. As it was except for the grocery boat, which she had never met, there was no other way off the island.

Liz did catch herself, “Isabel, I am truly glad to see that you are okay. You are, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Liz, but the price of my safety was way too great. Your loss and what you have suffered, was way too high a price for any us to have paid,” Isabel told her.

Liz just shrugged, “Maybe better me than you. They couldn’t find anything foreign in me. No telling what they would have done to you.”

Isabel could feel that Liz had totally shut down. Isabel sensed no emotion at all from Liz. Her words were proper and logical in their context, but there was no feeling, no passion, no anger or anything in them. Isabel was going to have a talk with Liz, but not before all the others. Tonight, Isabel was going to do some serious dream walking.

After Dinner Liz pleaded fatigue. It had been a hard day and seeing Isabel was still something she was not sure she could deal with. Michael, Ava and Isabel were sitting at the table talking. “Why is she so shut down?” Isabel asked.

Before Michael could say anything, Ava answered, “She hasn’t been able to afford any feelings for over two years. She may have even forgotten how to have them.”

“I don’t know if she has completely forgotten. I have seen one or two times when she seemed to show feelings, but she may have suppressed them so much that it takes strong emotion to bring them out,’ Michael stated.

“Well, what is your plan?” Isabel asked.

Michael looked at Ava, “I don’t know. Ava was unplanned for, but she has helped a lot in bringing Liz out. Ava is an outsider who can afford to say what she pleases without concern about how it might be taken by any of the rest of us. We wanted you here, with complete knowledge of Liz’s life, to see if you are willing to accept Liz. Then, to try to get through some of her barriers. She is not sure she even wants to see Max. Maria and I think that is her call.”

As much as Isabel, loved and worried about her brother, she agreed with Michael to an extent. First, she had to make sure that there would be no chance that Liz might relent about seeing Max. Max needed Liz so much, even if he had to retrain himself, for her to accept him. Isabel wanted to leave no stone unturned to bring their reunion about. Maybe Liz could help Isabel decide what to do about Jesse. First Isabel had to see how Liz really felt about her.

They set up a cot in one of the back rooms. Michael apologized because it seemed that they were making her be alone. Isabel couldn’t be happier. She needed privacy to talk to Liz in her dreams.

Isabel had borrowed the picture from Michael. She was sitting in her favorite red pajamas. With her finger, she traced the features of Liz on the picture. Bubbles drifted by. Isabel saw one with Ava, but Ava was busy doing something. All Isabel could see was that Ava was not alone. Michael’s bubble drifted by and there were a dozen Marias crowding about him. He was trying to satisfy all of them. Finally a shriveled bubble came by and it was the bubble of Liz. Isabel entered.

Liz was naked standing by a bed. A large man was beating her. She was screaming, but no one was there to help. Isabel reached over and, touching the man, he just went poof.

Liz looked up and saw that it was Isabel. She reached over to the bed to pick up a robe to cover herself. She and Isabel sat facing each other on the bed.

“Did that happen often?” Isabel asked Liz in the dream.

“No, only once, but that was enough. I offered myself to him, as I usually did, and all he wanted to do was beat me,” Liz answered.

It must have been awfully hard to live this life.” Isabel stated.

“Not really. I had nothing but my body. I had nothing to save it for. I had very little reason to continuing living. You were all dead. It wasn’t as if, going to these men was all that different from what was done at the white room. In the white room, I was fed because they wanted to rape me on a regular basis. Here, I was paid to service men, but you know I had a little more choice here.” Liz explained.

This is not the reason I am here, anyway,” Isabel said.

In the dream Liz looked at Isabel, “Why are you here? Are you here to make a plea for Max? Convince me to come back to him if he will have me?”

“Screw, Max for a minute. I am here for myself. I am here to ask your forgiveness for never seeing how much you brought to our group,” Isabel stated.

“Yes, I brought so much to the group. I brought you sorrow by introducing you to Alex. I brought you pain by being in the way of Tess who should have been the true queen of Max. I brought the FBI down on you because I needed to call my father,” Liz sobbed.

“But, I did know briefly a boy who loved me without condition. You did bring Maria to Michael. You do not have much idea of what he was like before her. We really do not know why the FBI found us. They told you that it was your fault, to better control you. When you came to Max, Liz, we were just rag tag kids. You made us into a group. It was you who solved the murder of Alex and prevented the executions of all of us.” Isabel was sure that Liz had brought them a lot more good than bad.

“I was an innocent girl when I came to Max. He was going to be the only one who knew me intimately. Now, I have no idea of how many men I have known or what I have done with them. Isabel, I deliberately trashed my life so no one would want me, if I couldn’t have Max.” Liz had just been so sure all those she knew, had been killed by her fault.

“Ava says we place to much emphasis on the physical act of sex. Liz, I bet if we talk about how many times you have been in love, you are still almost a virgin, except for the marriage you had with Max.” Isabel was thinking she had been inside Liz’s mind for way too long. Liz needed her rest. “I will talk to you some more later.” Isabel withdrew and then she watched the bubble burst.

Begonia9508
Roswelllostcause
Natalie36
Ythaler
L-J-L 76

Chapter 20 Day 17

Maria and Max in Roswell

Maria and Max were sitting at their table near the duck pond. They had the journal sitting between them. Even though she had kept custody of the journal, Maria was determined that she was going experience it at the same time as Max. Maria wanted to make sure she could accept it herself. Michael had told her that it was a tough read. Michael had told her a lot of things when they were talking on the phone. Now, she would see it as it happened on paper.

Michael was no storywriter. He had endeavored to rewrite the document in chronological order. Sometimes he used the POV (point of view) of Liz and, sometimes, it was straight narrative.

Some of the things that were said about Liz and Maria’s relationship, made Maria raise her eyebrows. She had to remember these were just the way Michael saw them. Max was totally silent as she read what Michael had said about himself and Max and their ability to love when they were in high school. Maria agreed so much with Michael’s own analysis of himself, that she was giving great credence to what else, he said. When she got to the part where they were in the FBI raid, Max fell apart. Men do not like to cry but when they are faced with things where they feel helpless about, they cry much harder than women. Men are programmed to be the protector. They are not supposed to fail.

“I thought she would be right behind me. I thought that she was human and they wouldn’t hurt her. To think that she survived in the white room for over a year and I complain about being there less than a week. I, truly, did let her down.” Max kept sobbing until Maria finally closed the book and they walked back to her car. Max was holding onto her arm. His parents were not home that day so Max asked her to stay with him.

They sat the afternoon away. Max was sitting with his head resting against her breast and she had her arms around him, stroking his hair like she would a child. It wasn’t that Max was weak. He, actually, was very strong to still have kept up the hope he had. It was that he was faced with things that were under the control of someone else. Max was holding to Maria, because she was all he had, right now, of Liz. She was Liz’s best friend and she was the path he must take to see Liz again. Max wanted Liz back, but for Liz’s own good Maria said he must understand what Liz had lived through. Maria, right now, was the only path. for him to get to Liz.

Maria was dealing with this for only one day so far. She could see how it could be very sticky and difficult for Michael dealing with a distraught Liz for two weeks.

Back on the Island

That morning, Liz had expressed that she wanted to be alone. Michael packed her lunch and she went to her place. Ava and Isabel were left with Michael to talk.

“How did the dream walk go?” Ava asked. “I saw your bubble last night. You passed me by.”

“Yeah, I could see you were busy. Do you always have such erotic dreams?” Isabel asked.

Ava laughed. “Yes, I wanted a sexy night. Since Michael is the only man around and he only has eyes for Maria, conjuring one up was the best I could do.”

Michael blushed. Ava was so straight forward. She had said that they had much different views of physical sex. Michael was bothered by the fact that If he hadn’t grabbed Maria, she could have been subjected to the same experiences as Liz. It wasn’t a question of could Maria have taken it and survived as well as Liz. It was a statement that Michael didn’t want her to have to take it at all. He only wished, he had grabbed, Liz also. He guessed he expected Max to protect his own.

Ava turned to Isabel again, “Did you find out what she felt about Max?”

“No, I am going to work on how she feels about me. Max can come later. I now think Liz did a lot more for us than I had realized before. I am more worried how he will feel about her. Max can be very opinionated, even when he is dead wrong.” Isabel wanted to talk to Liz about several things that involved Liz and Isabel. She would investigate feelings about the rest of the group later.

It was late that afternoon that Liz finally came back. She went to Isabel. “Not tonight, tomorrow, I will take you to a place where we can talk plainly. I need to rest tonight.”

Isabel nodded. Clearly last night’s dream walk was too much for Liz. Isabel just wanted to make sure that Liz didn’t dismiss her until Isabel at least was able to say some things that should have been said years ago.

Liz, again, went to bed early. That afternoon, Ava had moved her cot in with Isabel. Liz needed time to think and figure what her next step would be.

Michael and the two women sat up late talking. “It is going to take some time before Liz is ready to face Max. What does Maria say about him? How is his therapy going under Doctor DeLuca?” Isabel was wondering whether Maria the best person to be working with Max? Then she thought, why not? Maria wouldn’t take any crap off of Max. Maria was the only one who had never bought into the royalty of the four. No, not even a little bit.

“Maria said Max just broke down when faced with what had happened to Liz. She says that Max has to quit feeling sorry for himself and realize that he had it easy compared to what happened to Liz. He has to also, get over his feeling of failure to protect her.” Michael had had a long call to Maria that afternoon. He took it down by the dock so their endearments and phone sex could remain private.

After they had all gone to bed, Isabel and Ava had a session of girl sleepover talk. Isabel knew that Ava had had a very hard time. First, the man who was to care for all of them, had run off and abandoned them to their own resources. Then, the boy who was supposed to be her eventual mate was killed by her other companions. By the way that Ava talked, their relationship was one of convenience anyway. Isabel sensed that Ava was upset, not about what Liz had gone through, but she was upset at the way Liz thought about what had happened to herself. The rapes in the white room were terrible, but what Liz had done to keep herself alive after she left the lab, Ava just couldn’t see as anything more than necessity. Now, when Ava saw the depression that Liz’s life had caused Liz, Ava truly was concerned.

“I am not sure Zan was capable of seeing me the way Max saw Liz. As we matured, I was the first one he had sex with, but after that Zan made it clear that he wanted more varied experiences,” Ava told Isabel.

“And, you, did you want more varied experiences?” Isabel inquired.

Ava laughed, “Until I was helping Cornball find Max when he was in New York, I just took what I was offered when it came by. Remember that when I was helping Liz, I was also in her mind. The way she felt about Max, even if he was with Tess, made me think for a long time. Yes, now, I think sometimes about having someone who would be there just for me. Of course, now thinking about Cornball, I can see that even having a true love doesn’t mean there is someone always there for you.”

“Yes, Max returned to his childhood feelings for me. You just shouldn’t have to make a choice between your lover and your sister. It just isn’t fair,” Isabel whispered.

Ava turned to Isabel, “What about your present true love? You are still separated from him. It has been a long time. Do you still love him or are you working on something else?”

“Isabel was stricken at first by the boldness of Ava, “No, I am not sure Jesse even cares about me anymore. We have been apart for so long. He has religious prohibitions against divorce, even though our wedding wasn’t in his church. We never even had sex before we were married. I guess our marriage was too much of a shock for him. Maybe, he is waiting for me to make the first move and file for the divorce, so he can finally be free without guilt.”

“I don’t know, Isabel, for a guy just wanting to get rid of a wife, he has sure dropped a bundle on you in the last few years,” Ava declared.

Isabel frowned, “What do you mean? Maria said something about him helping us, but I wasn’t that clear what she meant. I have hardly heard from Jesse since we first fled Roswell.

Ava looked at Isabel, “Hon, just who do you think has been bankrolling all these things that have been done for you? Yes, your dad put up a lot of money, but he was matched by Jesse. It was Jesse who financed the campaign to close down the special unit. He knew the people that your dad and Valenti needed to see. Jesse has financed most of Maria and Michael’s search for Liz and this island is owned by a client of the Ramirez law firm.”

“Why do you suppose he didn’t say anything about this to me?” Isabel was in shock. Jesse had been working with those who were trying to protect the aliens and she hadn’t understood this at all.

“Maybe, Jesse didn’t want you to think he was trying to buy you back. He might want you back because you want to be there. Don’t fault the boy because of the way he acted at first. You laid a real trip on him and he wasn’t ready for it. Maybe,\ you should schedule a little one on one time with him as soon as we get the Cornball fixed up.” Ava usually didn’t involve herself in the troubles of others, but these people were sort of her cousins.

That Rath had always called them defective, sometimes bothered Ava. Rath was one to talk. He had no allegiance to anyone except for himself. Either he or Lonnie would kill the other if they saw a reason to get ahead. Lonnie was Rath’s first lover and he hers. They still always came back together, but in between time they screwed every one and any one they got a chance to.

True, sex didn’t have the same meaning to the dups who, maybe, had more of the genes from the morally free aliens from Antar. Ava wouldn’t have ever physically hurt Zan and she didn’t believe he would have physically hurt her. That was not true of Rath and Lonnie. Ava asked herself how much of this was genes and how much was the way they learned to see their world?

They drifted off to sleep.

Isabel had never dreamed walked Jesse. She had always feared that too much knowledge of how he felt would be too much for her to know. When they first met and she first became interested in him, she had peeped into his mind. She had always done this to dates when she first took an interest in them. She was looking for alien traits and also connections to federal authorities. She completely missed the internship he had served with the FBI as a consultant. Max had picked up on this and that was part of what precipitated the fight at Jesse’s bachelor party.

Later, Isabel learned that Jesse considered his internship as just part of school. He was never part of the FBI. When he killed the agent threatening to take Isabel away from him, he was just protecting his family.

Old Hispanic tradition was full of stories of monsters and ghosts. In Roswell, these included aliens. When Jesse went to Harvard, he wanted to leave all that behind. Jesse loved much of his tradition, but the hokey part he would just as soon forget.

When the hokiest part of all was found to be true, that aliens did exist and he was married to one, Jesse had a lot of adjustment to make in his thinking. Things were just moving too fast. Isabel fled Roswell before he could completely reroute his thoughts.

Now, Isabel had to readjust her thinking. The man who she thought had rejected her was financing the rebuilding of the group of people who surrounded her whole life. That she was thinking of calling him and instigating the divorce proceedings needed a second thought.

Isabel was bravely taking a step she had always avoided. She was going to dream walk Jesse. Isabel didn’t need a picture. Every line in Jesse’s body was etched in her memory.

The bubbles went streaming by. Soon, they slowed. There was a bright one. Isabel could feel that it was Jesse. Once inside the bubble, she saw Jesse in his bathroom. He was only dressed in black boxers. He was brushing his teeth and splashing aftershave on his freshly shaven face.

Isabel frowned. Jesse always shaved before breakfast so he would be ready to face the day. She, also, was worried because she seldom entered space unless the person was asleep. Isabel stepped back. Yes, she could feel the regular rhythm of his breathing. He was dreaming. “Be there in a minute, hon,” he called out.

Isabel froze. Jesse wasn’t in his dream alone. She almost fled. Her curosity was just too strong. She had to see who he was dreaming about. It was as if Isabel was sitting on a dresser at the foot of his bed. Jesse came into the room. He climbed into bed and his body blocked her view of who was in bed with him. Isabel figured that it had been years since they had made love. She had no call to fret if Jesse was finding what he needed in another woman’s arms.

They were kissing. From her vantage point, all she could see was him all over whoever was in his bed. Isabel had always tried to be a little ethical in this gift. She felt she was above voyeurism, but still, she could not resist knowing to whom he had turned.

Jesse raised off the bed and pulled down his shorts. The dark brown body was one she was intimately familiar with. Jesse threw the bed clothes down exposing two naked legs which he climbed between.

That move was so familiar to Isabel that her heart almost stopped beating. As she continued watching, anchored to the spot, Isabel saw the naked legs first draw up in tension and, then, relax in release. Isabel had just watched her husband dreaming about screwing her replacement.

Isabel broke away from whatever held her. The dreaming Isabel was sobbing. She had waited too late. Jesse had found another lover. She would mail the divorce papers tomorrow. She owed it to him to free him. She had no one to flee to, but he did. She would let him fulfill his life without complications. Just before Isabel exited the dream bubble, she had to turn back for one more look at the man she had shared a bed with. The woman, now, was sitting up. The sheets all pulled down, the woman’s close cropped red-brown hair, like the hair Isabel had worn when she was with Jesse, was rumpled by his eager hands. Jesse pulled back. The woman was Isabel.

Isabel woke up with a start. She let out a yelp. Ava, sleepily opened her eyes. Isabel was sitting up in bed. Her face was in her hands trying to catch her breath. It was as if she had just attempted a marathon. Her heart was racing.

“What happened Isabel?” Ava asked.

Isabel could only shake her head, “I think I just found an answer.”

As Isabel didn’t seem to be forthcoming about an answer to what, Ava slipped back into a sound sleep. On Ava’s part, the many nights she spent on park benches, waking at the slightest sound ready to flee the slightest chance of someone accosting her, made the cabin like a rest resort. Ava couldn’t remember when she had felt so secure.

Isabel bounded out of her cot. She was pounding on Michael’s door. “Michael, wake up. I need the cell phone,” she called.

Michael, just dressed in his shorts, came to the door, “What do you want Isabel?” he asked.

“I need to call Jesse. I just learned something. I need to talk to him,” she exclaimed.

“Un-uh, nope, not this late, Isabel. You try to talk to Jesse this late and he isn’t gonna have a clear head and he won’t remember half what you say. Just wait until morning. Then you will be welcome to use the phone,” with that, he went back to bed.

Isabel turned, her initial disappointment gave way to the necessity that Michael was right. She should make the call tomorrow morning and she should be very careful what she said. Approached correctly, she and Jesse now had a chance. A careless misstep and she could loose all. She went back to her cot and, even though she couldn’t sleep for some time, she did plan what she would say to Jesse when they talked.

------------------------------------
Stories by Ken
Cowgirl Princess I find posting the story Liz come back very hard. It is a heavy story. the Cowgirl Princess is a light hearted story about college.

Xmag
Natalie36
Begonia9508
L-J-L 76
Ythaler
Roswelllostcause
Garcia88

The writers did the worst with the character of Jesse. They did show a few bright spots. But for the most part they just didn’t understand him very well. To strong Hispanics, of the southwest, family is everything. This was stated several times but not enough made of it. Jesse was an adult. The idea of a road trip was ludicrous. Children run off on romantic adventures, adults face their problems and if they are lawyers they fight in court.

There are a lot of things that bother me about the way that Michael and Maria are running the program of bringing Liz back to the group. Then I remember that they are young kids. They are doing the best they can with the education and experience they have. We have to forgive their mistakes.


Chapter 21 Day 18

Isabel was up right after she heard Michael stirring around. She was waiting impatiently at the breakfast table as he started to prepare breakfast. “Isabel, he is an hour ahead of us back in Boston. Give him time to get back in the office and be sure to ask for a good time to talk. Remember, he is working and if you interfere, he might have trouble understanding you,” Michael said.

“No, I want him to come here. I need to see him in person. There is not enough room here on the island, but we can get a room in town. I will stay with him for as long as he can be here. If things work out, I will be back to help you with Liz.” Isabel was just so excited. Michael hoped that she wouldn’t end up crushed.

Liz and Ava got up at about the same time. Michael had breakfast prepared. Isabel just wolfed her food down. Liz watched her, wondering why she wasn’t eating in her normal delicate manner. Michael leaned across the table and handed Isabel the cell phone. She went running down to the docks.

Ava had to laugh, “Let’s just hope that Jesse shows as much enthusiasm in hearing her, as she does in wanting to talk to him.”

Liz looked at Michael and Ava. “What do you suppose happened to Isabel last night?”

Ava stated, “It would be my guess she dream walked Jesse and saw something she liked.”

Michael look at the women, “I just hope things work out for her.”

Soon, Isabel came skipping back to the cabin. “He can be here in three days. He says that he can take a few days off so I will need a place to stay on the mainland. Michael, do you think you can arrange that?”

Michael just nodded. Isabel turned to Liz, “We have a gal’s day to catch up on, today.” Michael handed them the lunches he had prepared. They left Liz walking, but with Isabel, skipping like a school girl, it was hard for Liz to be somber.

Maria and Max still in Roswell.

Maria started with the white room. She read about the tests they ran on Liz. Max would shake his head. He had been there and done that. Knowing that Liz had been forced to suffer that, really upset him. When they got to the part where Liz was talking about the harvesting of her eggs, Max was holding his head in his hands. They were treating Liz like an animal. They were stealing her reproductive rights from her. That was just so wrong to Max.

There had been times when he had so hoped that his first child would be with Liz. He thought that with her looks and brains, the child would just be so perfect. Then, he had to mess it up. One night, feeling the hot body of Tess, feeling her pulsing blood as his hands held her tightly, then his hands crushing her breast as he plunged into her depths making himself now a man of the world. And then, finally, a teenage father, which took away, forever, that chance of the first child coming from Liz.

His sadness and disgust turned to anger when Maria started reading about the rapes. This was the little girl he had saved that day at the Crashdown. That the assaults were never ending and she was just enduring her fate with no hope for rescue or of anything beyond the days at the lab, made Max want to kill something. There had been times when he could have been as vicious as Nasado. Max had held back, telling himself that being part human demanded more than the vengeance of the alien. Now, he didn’t know. That his Liz had lived through such a terrible fate, was more than he could stand.

Maria stopped. Max’s fingers were sparking. Any more emotion would cause a situation where they all might be endangered again.

Maria sat holding the journal. Max reached for it. Maria shook her head. “Max, we do this my way. You are not important here. You have had a hard time, but you have suffered nothing to compare with Liz.” Maria continued. “Michael said that Liz told Isabel that if Isabel had of been captured, her fate would have been much worse. With Isabel, they would have wanted tissue samples and organ samples. She, in all probability, would have been dissected.

In school, Max had taken a class in beginning psychology. They had talked about choices. There was the usual one of fight or flight. You assessed which choice gave you the best chance for survival. They didn’t discuss the choice of sister and lover. Which did you make? The best choice would have been to grab both of them. They were both equal in value to Max. Maybe, lover was stronger, but sister was deeper. Max hadn’t made a choice. He just reacted. They did discuss about reaction where you just act, not making any conscious choice at all. How do you make a choice when you are at the center of gunfire?

Maria looked at the journal, “Do you want to call it quits for the day?”

Max shook his head. The journal was thick and the faster they finished, the sooner he could see if Liz would see him. They went to lunch. They walked for some time after lunch. Then, Maria led Max back to the spot in the park near where she had left the car.

Max frowned when Maria read about Liz leaving the laboratory. He nodded as she talked about the help that Wanda had given. Then, he frowned when Maria was telling about Liz finding the movie director and the fact that she was following him around New Mexico. When Maria read how Liz dated several different men, then finally, ended up back with the director, Max was very upset.

“Just what was she trying to do? Going with one man, I can see. She needed security, but why go with so many all the time stating none of them meant anything to her?” Max asked.

“Yes, she needed security. She wasn’t getting it from anyone. The movie director made it clear he wasn’t giving security. She was searching.” Maria answered.

Maria continued with her movie career when they got to the porn movies Max just came apart. “This isn’t her. I can’t believe Liz would stoop so low. She had to draw a line somewhere, a line that she wouldn’t cross.”

Maria closed the journal. “Max and isabel Evans, found by chance by the affluent Evans family. Never in their lives did they have to do without. Anything they would want, their parents just gave them. If not, then they could just wiggle their noses and whatever it was would drop out of the sky. Max, you have no concept of being alone. You and Isabel have a mental connection that, no matter how feeble, is still there. Liz had grown used to the connection she had with you. She had, some way, lost that connection. The shock of loosing that connection was just affirmation that you were dead.

You have always had a group for support. You now, have found that you have your family’s support. You have no idea of being alone and having not even anything to eat. You thought that Liz was lost and you were in depression. She thought that her actions had brought death to all of us. She had nothing. She could have just laid down and died. Is that what you would have preferred? You quit. You sat on your ass because you didn’t know what to do. Alien powers didn’t help. Michael and I, with the help of Jesse, yes Jesse, the man who you always mistrusted, we have been searching for Liz for two years.”

Maria continued, “Jesse financed Michael in bribe money and travel money so he could look for Liz. We didn’t tell you because all you were doing was feeling sorry for yourself and Michael was doing things, you as her husband couldn’t. Michael and I have had to spend more days apart than we ever did since we started going together.”

Maria was getting very mad at Max. She was afraid this would happen. Right now to Maria, Max was essentially a spoiled brat. “Max, stand up.”

Max complied.

“Now, take off your clothes and stand in the middle of the park.” Maria yelled.

Max shook his head, “Maria, you are crazy.”

“Yes, Max, I am crazy, but your love had only her naked body to make her way, so that is what she used. You wouldn’t stand up and be naked because of your pride. She didn’t have any pride left or any other feelings. They were all stolen in the white room where she was abandoned. Max when you left Liz for whatever reason and she was captured, she lost everything about her self. She lost her respect, her emotions and any feelings she could have for anyone. Remember, she was told that her curse was that she had been responsible for getting everything she believed in, killed.

Maria, without looking at Max, started reading. She got to the part about the shots being fired. Then she read about the truck driver taking Liz up state to where she met Susie.

Max was now pacing. “Why did the trucker take advantage of Liz? isn’t there any decency in the world?”

Maria kept her place with her finger. “Max, the trucker had no responsibility to Liz. He could have left her right there, where she might have been shot. He was breaking the rules and, as far as he was concerned, he wanted something worth taking this chance.

Max sat down.

Again Maria started about Susie. Max was about to stand and go into another tirade.

“Max, as far as Susie was concerned, she was being generous. As far as Liz was concerned for two years, she had been raped at regular intervals. At least here, she had some say and she was getting enough money to keep her going.

When Maria got to the part where Liz was working on her own and she was beat up, Max was pacing.

She should have known that doing things like this would, eventually, get her hurt. Why couldn’t she have found something else?

“What else, Max? She damaged her grade point average to be with you. She gave up a chance at college to chase an alien king across country risking life every day. Now, she is alone. She has no support. The alien king and all her friends are dead. Just what was she to do? Should she dig ditches, do a man’s manual labor and be raped on the job, for all that. No Max, Liz did what she had to, to survive.” Maria stood up. “Max, I will be back here at 10:00 tomorrow. At 10:30, I will be gone and I will finishe this journal by myself. If you want to know anything about Liz, you be here before that time.

Maria got in her car, leaving Max to walk home.

Isabel and Liz

Isabel and Liz, finally got to the special spot. Isabel could see why Liz liked this place. There were several stumps to sit on or lean against. The view of the lake was spectacular. For a time, they both just sat and watched the ships disappear over the horizon.

“I must say, you are in a good mood, Isabel. What happened?” Liz asked.

“I dream-walked Jesse last night. I saw him dreaming about having sex with a woman. That woman turned out to be me. He is going to meet me in town in three days. We are going to try to iron out our problems. I am through messing around. Remember, I let Alex die without giving him love. I am not going to let Jesse loose, if I can help it, without another chance at our marriage.

Liz had to smile. Isabel’s joy was very infectious. “I do hope things will work out for you, Isabel. I never really knew Jesse, but if you think he is right for you, who am I, to spoil things?” Liz leaned forward giving Isabel a hug.

“Liz, you and Maria were Alex’s best friend. I know you didn’t trust me any more than I trusted you when you started going with Max. I had always watched you from a distance, almost as much as my brother,” Isabel stated.

“Watched me, Isabel, why?” Liz asked.

“Because you were smart. You were liked and I wished I could be like you. I wanted to be liked for who I was and not as a status symbol or for my body. I saw you going with boys almost as soon as Max did. I tried to comfort Max that it was normal for girls to gain experience dating so they would know how to protect themselves. You never stayed with any boy until Kyle. Then, I lived through black days. Max was almost as bad as he is now. He wanted you to be happy and he didn’t think you could ever be with him.”

Isabel went on explaining her feelings to Liz. “When I first met Alex, I was afraid that you and Maria were against me. I did love him. I just wasn’t very good at giving myself. After Alex died, I made up my mind that if I were ever given another chance to find love, I would not let it get away. You all thought that I was rushing myself after Alex died. I was just afraid I would lose again.”

“We thought that you were not a serious person with anyone. We felt that Alex died because of you. It wasn’t until later that we learned that Alex died because we brought him into the alien conspiracy. Alex died because we introduced him to Tess,” Liz told Isabel.

The two women spent the rest of the day talking about their lives from the time when Max saved Liz to the time when Liz pounded on the rock cliff crying, “It was Tess. Tess killed Alex.”

Like most situations when they are about the relations between people, many of the problems in that time were caused by the inability to clearly talk to each other. Liz would always feel that Tess had been brought in the group to weaken Liz’s ties with Max. The three of them, for so many years, had resisted any intrusion into their midst. It wasn’t until Michael started to go to Maria, even with her foot dragging that senior year, that it became inevitable that there would have to be more than just the aliens. They needed to have humans with them to survive.

The aliens had developed a lot of paranoia. It was nothing to what Liz had developed over the time she had escaped the white room. Isabel, now, felt that she saw clearly the value in Liz, but Liz was still distrustful of her place in the, now, alien-human group. How could Isabel convince Liz that Liz was the glue that brought them all together?

They walked back to the cabin that evening.

Michael and Ava

Michael and Ava had spent the day together. Michael was always known as the person who trusted no one. “Did you ever think about the difference between you and Rath?” Ava asked.

“Beside the obvious difference of him having more alien genetic material?” Michael responded.

Ava shook her head, “That was a convenient fiction of Rath. Think about it Michael. You both have similar appearances. You had to have mostly the same human genes to produce that. You both were to carry on the skills and life force of the original Rath from Antar. Why are you so different?”

Michael sat and thought for several minutes. “There is still a lot of difference between us. I would never kill Max like Rath killed Zan. I have no wish to go to Isabel and my love interest is solely on Maria. How can we have so many different personality traits, if we are genetically almost identical?”

Look at the way you grew up, Michael. You had a raw deal. The foster system is the pits, but is to be preferred, to what we had. You always knew that there was something better somewhere. Your experiences with the Evans family showed that. You always hated the foster system, but you always believed that if you could just break free of it, there must be something like what Max and Isabel had, out there, just for you. Maria became that difference. Once you became fixated on her, getting out of the system would allow you to find that better life. The skin woman, Courtney, and others you met on the way, did not detour you or your dreams.”

Michael thought, the times he had fought with Maria. So many of those times when he went , he wished he had held his tongue. Let Maria rant and ignore that. There had been something in Michael. Maybe, the genes that propelled Rath, had pushed him into conflict.

Ava continued, “The four of us had nothing to look to. We all were in the same fix. We paired up as to our programming, but the pairing was of convenience. After our two couples had experienced sex, then we saw no reason to not investigate others. Rath took me one night. When Lonnie heard about it, she just laughed. I never knew if she and Zan had anything going. Remember they were not raised as brother and sister like your Max and Isabel. Did you ever wonder why Isabel was the last to be willing to take a partner? She didn’t even have a chance to consummate love with her choice. You and Max quickly found your interest, but Isabel resisted for so long until she decided that she needed someone because both of you seemed to be moving on.”

Michael looked at Ava. “What about Tess?”

“What about Tess? She wasn’t that much different from us. She had been raised by an alien. She didn’t have the training to be human. She just had a bath. She was cleaner than we were. Except for that, she was like the four of us. Remember, I have exactly the same genetic material as did she,” Ava answered.

Ava continued, “if plans had gone right, there would have been 8 beings, loosed on earth, who would have been much like Tess. We all would have had better alien training and, also, better skills to cope with either humans or aliens. Nasado only made that pact with Kivar when he feared that because of the crash, the original plan wouldn’t work. Later, he saw that one set of us had been abandoned to go wild without ‘any training.’ The other set had gone human without ‘proper alien training.’ It was a toss up which set was the most dangerous. Nasado held onto Tess. She could carry the seed of the king and that would let him return. The deal with Kivar, was to accept the one successful subject, Tess, and have her carry back the genes of the king, from Max. The rest of us were expendable. We were helping out by killing ourselves. You were dangerous because you had a lot of earth ideas. That wouldn’t do.

“What about you, Ava? Tess was deceitful and dangerous. You have the same genes as she. Are you dangerous, also?” Michael had been worrying about this since Ava had appeared at the island.

“Zan was removed from me. I never had the experience of alien training or direction. I have spent more time with humans than either of the other two in our group. I imitated the ‘so called’ Hippy life style, even though it died out years before I emerged from the pod because they accepted difference more easily. I do not believe I am a danger to you, but that is a decision you will have to make,” Ava answered.

With so much to think about, they all went to bed early. There were two more days until Isabel faced Jesse.
-------------------------------
Stories by Ken
for a lighter story Cowgirl Princess is about a girl meeting cowboys in college.

Uw51
Keepsmiling7
Garcia88
L-J-L 76
Begonia9508

Over all I think Maria is too hard on Max. She desperately needs Max to support Liz. We do not know how, Maria, with her background sees the Evans family. It is clear from some of the things she says that she see them as having everything. She believes they have a much easier life than she, Maria does. Maria does not want either Max or Isabel to ever look down on Liz. She beats this into Max over and over. At the first of the series Max put Liz on a pedestal, Maria wants him to feel that way again. She wants to be assured that Max feels that Liz is still someone special.

She beats him down with the thought that he is not important. Maybe in Maria’s mind she has to cripple Max’s pride and ego so he will come to Liz like he did at first. There is no way that Maria can know that this might not be necessary.

Maria has a problem because she can’t be sure of Max’s perception of himself and Liz. She solves this by not allowing Max to criticize anything that Liz has done. Liz’s choices were not all good ones. They were just what she did.

Perceptions of other people. Through the years I found girls who were tremendously popular envied girls who had more steady relationships. The girl who was the class brain sometimes would voice her envy of he girl who always seemed to have admirers. Isabel is very smart. I have never found yet a girl who endowed with a body to die for, who didn’t wish the guys she was dating would like her for something other than her assets. Except for a few comments from guys who wished they had the ability to attract girls like sports heroes, I never had guys open up. I think this, at least where I was, was a girl thing.

Is Max important? Of course he is. He can’t walk up to Liz and impress her though. He has to show her that he is offering support and she can find safety and redefine love in his arms. Liz worries will Max accept her. With mother Maria, Max will not be allow any other choice. Liz doesn’t see this yet but she must see in Max what she saw in her secret place. Somewhere she can seek what she needs. She needs to believe, the ships which disappeared, will return. Also like the ducks, which are mentioned several times, Liz must see in Max some signal when she must start caring for her own needs.

Chapter 22 Day 19

Maria and Max
Maria went to the park. It was 10:00 in the morning. No Max, could be seen. Well, she would give him until 10:30 as she promised. If he didn’t come by then, Maria was prepared to leave and let him simmer in his own bitterness.

10:30 and still no Max. Well, Maria had been afraid of this. Max still deep down had the king card. It just wasn’t going to work with her. Maria needed to know what had happened to Liz, but she had about had it with his majesty.

As Maria was unlocking her car, she heard a calling from a long distance. She looked up. There, running across the park was an almost exhausted Max. When he got to the car, he collapsed. “I over slept. I was so afraid that you wouldn’t wait for me. Maria, I need to hear the rest of the journal.” Max was out of breath. He had run the entire distance from his house to where he was crying for Maria to stop.

Maria did stop. She patiently waited for Max to catch his breath. “I take it that you didn’t have breakfast, yet.”

Max nodded, “I came as fast as I could.”

Maria opened the passenger side of her car. She and Max drove to the old Crashdown. It was still in business. Jeff and Nancy still worked in the restaurant, though, it was nominally now, run by José. Jeff had sold the restaurant to José with the proviso that they could stay upstairs and continue to work as long as they were able.

Maria hated to come into this restaurant because Jeff would always come over and ask if they had new leads on Liz. Maria always told him that they were not giving up, but for over two years, she had been saying the same things.

Max had eggs and bacon. Maria had juice and they both nursed a cup of coffee. Eventually, Jeff did come over. “Any news, Maria? Where has Michael been this last few weeks?” Jeff asked.

“Mr. P, we are doing every thing we can. If she calls, make sure you tell Jim and we will try to check it out. I’m sure if she is there, we will find her.” Maria answered as she always did. Jeff just went back to the kitchen.

Max looked at Maria “What do you intend to tell him?”

I hope Liz will be willing to see at least her folks,” Maria sighed.

“What about seeing me?” Max asked.

“Well, your majesty, you aren’t going to be allowed to, in any way, judge anything she did to keep alive. Whether you can see her or not is up to Liz. She hasn’t even agreed to see me, yet. I guess we both will have to wait.

Max leaned back, he closed his eyes and started talking, “I always had a crush on Liz. At first, it just seemed that with our pact that we would never let anyone in, made me keep a distance. When she was shot, I just didn’t think. Once Michael told me, that when he was thinking about you, that discussing with the rest of us just wasn’t his first inclination. I guess that is what happened when I saw her lying there. After, when she stopped me in the hall with questions, reason just left me. I had always wanted to tell her and I did, quickly, before reason returned. I did it quickly before I could think of all the reasons not to. I worried about giving her that responsibility. Later, I worried that if we did have enemies, I had just led them to Liz.”

Maria was watching Mr. Parker. When he saw the two deep in conversation, his attention was turned to them. Almost, as if he thought they might say something about his daughter. Maria put some money on the table and, taking Max by the hand, she led him outside.

Jeff watched them. He wished he believed them completely. They were the only ones that had supported him in his quest for Liz, but somehow he thought that they might not be telling him everything. Maria, taking Max’s hand, was not usual for her or Max. Even when Maria and Max had sort of been thrown together that summer, when Liz had gone to her aunt’s home in Florida, Jeff had never seen them hold hands. Since they had grown up, Maria had been totally dedicated to Michael. Now, she was holding hands with Max, his daughter’s husband. Well, there were many things that Jeff didn’t understand about young people today. Especially, how they could disappear and not let their parents know where they were. Those first few phone calls were so cryptic. The voice was Liz, but it was almost as if she was drugged or something. When they stopped, Jeff found he was loosing hope. Maria kept telling him they were trying to trace her down. Why was Liz running? Jim had assured him that they had closed down the FBI, who were persecuting the young people. Jeff was not completely sure why the FBI was the enemy.

Max looked down at Maria with a question in his eyes, “Mr. ‘P’ was watching us too much. It wouldn’t do to get his hopes up before we know more,” Maria told Max.

Maria drove them back to the park. Max sat down, still thinking about the Liz he knew. “I guess girls have the same rush when they are noticed by some guy. I was, as Topolski said, so far behind the tree that, I found it difficult to believe a girl like Liz would like me in a romantic way. I was scared. Boys who tell you that they are not scared when they first approach an intimate relationship are lying. Am I big enough? Will I last long enough? Has she seen or had someone that is better than me? If the time comes, will I be prepared? Even though it is only holding hands, there are those fears. For me, there was still the fear, what would it mean to have a coupling with an alien? Would it be physically safe to do? Would I in some way hurt her?”

Max hung his head, “I guess I did hurt her, didn’t I? I guess knowing me destroyed her life. What makes it even worse, I wasn’t there for her like she was for me.”

They were almost at the end of the journal. Michael had written how hard it was for him to hunt in and around New York. That place was just so foreign to him. Max frowned when he heard that Liz had gone to Tiny Williams. Why did she need a pimp? That made everything she was doing sound so cheap and dirty.

“Max, Tiny was the only insurance that Liz had to not get hurt again. He investigated, as far a he was able, the men he scheduled. Tiny allowed Liz that one more piece of insulation between herself and who she was going to.” Maria was also, in her mind, trying to get a hold on the situation Liz had found herself in.


Max, once I read a book on rape. Rape is not about sex. It is about power. In the white room, it wasn’t even about power. It was a tool of investigation into alien and human reproduction. Liz wasn’t allowed to make any choice about what happened to her there. After she left, sex still wasn’t anything about romance or love. She wasn’t being unfaithful to anyone, because all the ones she knew had been killed. Her one contact, that she maintained for a brief time, was the few calls she made to her father. Jeff said that they didn’t even make sense. She was reaching for someone and she had no idea of whom. Liz, soon, was just using her body. That was all she had to make a living. It paid better than being a waitress and it kept her going.

“Michael told me that the hardest thing he had to ever do was to hit Liz and stun her. He just had no other way. He still isn’t sure about the man who was pimping for her.” Maria ended her reading.

Now, they had to decide what to do with the journal. Should it be destroyed? Maria was sure that, sometime, it should.

Max was trying to analyze himself. It is given to a man to protect those who he loves. Is this in his genetic make up or is it drummed into little boys by society? “Daddy’s little man must stay home and protect mamma.” “Now, when you are walking down the street with your girl, make sure you walk on the outside so you can protect her.” “Daddy and mommy are going to be away. Make sure you take good care of your sister.”

All these things that were told as the parents tried to train their sons. No one told the son what to do, if circumstance completely prevented him from being the protector. Could she forgive his physical impotence at being her protector?

Isabel and Liz

Tomorrow, Jesse would come. This would be the last time for a few days that Isabel got to talk to Liz. Isabel wondered how much value she, Isabel, would have if things went badly with Jesse.

They sat at the same place Liz sat almost every day since she had come to the island. The ships and smaller boats were still going out to the ends of the earth and returning. Isabel started. “We had to organize ourselves to understand what you meant to Max. You were receiving flashes. We wanted to know what they . Where they came from? Were they from somewhere deep with in Max and you were bringing them out? Were they sent from some one like Nasado? If they were from him, what did he want?” Isabel explained.

Liz was holding her hands, “I was looking at the power of having secrets. The secret we shared was bringing Max and me together. The secret, that could just as easiy tear us apart. The secret, that built a barrier between Alex, my best friend and me. When Alex was brought into our group, I can, now, sometimes still say 'our group.’ Decisions were being made by all of us. That is what made us a group. Later, when Jim and Kyle were part of our conspiracy, we all seemed together. Tess came in almost like a cancer. She built further barriers between Kyle and me. I just wonder why he was so agreeable in partaking in the deception? Maybe, Tess was encouraging him. Max was so ambivalent toward me. He wanted me somewhere close, but it was Tess who was telling him things. Things that I would never know.” Liz was remembering that the beautiful relationship, she was looking for, all of a sudden, took a bitter turn.

“Ah, yes, Tess, I thought that she would bring sanity to you and Max. She would limit your time together and cool things down. Instead, Tess brought an obsession that you never had. If it could be done, you might say she almost raped Max’s attention. She stole his direction and filled him with that King shit. I wish I had never seen her. I do not guess it would have made any difference, because she would have pushed her way into our midst, anyway.” Isabel was thinking of the first time she thought that Tess was a girl who she could identify with. Then, she thought of what she brought to all of them. It was the fault of Nasado and his lack of ability, that Max was captured in the first place.

Isabel turned to Liz. “I am going to be gone after tomorrow morning for a few days. If things go bad, I do not know if I can come back. If they go well, I will be back in about three days. Liz, you have to see that, to us, you brought us together. You are the most important a person we have, and I don’t mean as the companion of Max. You, yourself, have been important to holding us together as a group. I can’t apologize enough for the many times I failed to see this. I would, also, be wrong if I didn’t say that you are the main strength of Max.

We will never know why you got left behind and were captured. We can’t make up for what was done to you, but we can ask for you to forgive us and, if you can find it in yourself, please comeback and take your rightful place with us.” Isabel leaned forward and hugged Liz. Liz could feel Isabel’s tears running down her back.

They stayed there, arm in arm until the sun in the west started to sink. They walked back to the cabin almost in the dark.