Roswell Fanatics

Thanks for your fb, everyone

To clear up the time issue - S3 never happened. S2 did happen, but without the baby storyline. Tess is just gone...because I don't want to write her


Part Ten

Michael flipped lazily through a magazine that he’d found on Liz’s coffee table; it was some girlie mag that talked about hair and how to have the best possible orgasm. One corner of his mouth lifted upward in what amounted to Michael’s biggest smile possible as he imagined Liz showing the magazine to Max and explaining to him how it was done. Then he shuddered – so something he didn’t want to think about.

Heaving a bored sigh, he tossed the magazine back onto the table and stretched. He’d had a busy day – after Isabel had phoned the night before, he’d been nothing but Marathon Man, picking up groceries, straightening the apartment, checking in with Valenti every now and then to see if he’d managed to finagle the police report from the motel fire out of the Colorado Springs PD.

His brow furrowed as he realized that the strange happenings in Colorado were troubling him the most. Sure, he cared about Liz in a sister-in-law kind of way and he hoped she’d get better soon, but the possibility that there might be some other alien out there was somewhat troublesome.

It didn’t really make sense. The skins had long been destroyed. Tess had been gone for over two years. In the meantime, there had been no alien activity whatsoever. It was almost as though the galaxies had shrugged and looked the other way.

Until now.

A soft dinging noise from the kitchen drew Michael’s attention away from his inner thoughts. While he’d been awaiting his friends’ arrival, he’d managed to whip together something new he’d learned in culinary school before the summer break – a quiche.

As he walked to the oven to check on his creation, he mused that real men didn’t eat quiche. Yeah, and real men didn’t need a magazine to tell them out to get their girlfriends off, either. He snorted to himself and popped open the oven door. The quiche was just about done and the wonderful smells drifted up to his nose. As his mouth watered, he found he was hungrier than he’d realized. He hoped they’d get home soon or he was going to have to cut into that pie without them.

As though his mere thought could invoke their presence, Michael heard footsteps on the stairs outside of Liz’s apartment. He straightened, shutting the oven door, and waited while he heard someone fumbling with the lock. Keys. They were using keys. Which meant that there was the possibility that Liz didn’t know about the whole alien conspiracy.

Eventually the door swung open and he was greeted by the sight of Isabel first. Michael had to smile – he’d missed his sister. They’d taken up residence together, but only as siblings, and he’d grown to somewhat pine for her while she’d been gone.

Obviously, she’d missed him as much – she dropped her bag by the door and stepped in to greet him, hugging him tightly and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I missed you so much, Michael!” she spouted, wiping a lipstick smudge from his face.

He nodded. “Likewise.” That was as much raw feeling as she was going to get from him.

They both turned and watched Max gently urge Liz through the door. Michael had expected her to be different, but now that he was seeing her for real he was somewhat taken aback. She seemed so small, so frail. And what had happened to all of her hair?

She looked at him with big doe eyes and he was instantly reminded of a frightened animal.

Clearing his throat, he disentangled himself from Isabel and offered Liz a hand to shake. “I’m Michael,” he said.

Liz looked down at his hand and then back into his face and seemed to recoil backward into Max, until she noticed how close Max was and then moved away from him.

She’s like a pinball, Michael mused as he slowly dropped his hand.
“Welcome home,” he offered in place of the physical contact.

She continued to stare at him, glued to one spot on the floor safely spaced between the three aliens.

Michael’s brow furrowed in curiosity. Did she sense there was something different about him? About all of them?

Isabel quickly stepped forward and Michael had the impression she’d been the peacekeeper. She took Liz gently by the arm and pulled her away from the boys and into the tiny living room.

“This is your home,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Liz looked around at some of the furnishings, at her massive collection of books that Max had carried up the stairs without a word of complaint, and appeared to recognize none of it.

“I made something for dinner,” Michael said, struggling to help, but realizing he was pretty much helpless.

“I thought I smelled something good,” Max said, trying to infuse some positive energy into his voice.

Liz looked silently at Michael, but didn’t respond as to whether she was ready to eat or not.

Isabel reached over and smoothed Liz’s hair, being careful of her healing head wound. “It’s been a long day,” she said soothingly. “Let’s go relax for awhile, okay?”

Liz nodded slightly and Isabel led her down the hallway to her bedroom.

After they were gone, Michael let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. He looked at Max and his expression said it all – Holy shit.

Max nodded in silent agreement and dropped his bag on top of Isabel’s.

“Dude,” Michael said slowly, “I had no idea.”

“Yeah, well you should have seen her yesterday. She was about one pill short of drooling on herself.” He shook his head as he reached into the cupboard for some plates; he took three, knowing that Liz wouldn’t eat.

Michael was still staring down the hallway as Max opened the oven and pulled out the quiche. It looked good, but he raised an eyebrow in Michael’s direction.

“Quiche?” he said curiously.

Michael broke away from his hallway vigil, then replied, “I think there’s a magazine Liz wanted you to read over there on the coffee table.”

Liz never emerged from her bedroom that evening. Eventually Isabel came out, exhausted and had a slice of quiche with her brothers. After they were finished, they sat around the kitchenette table and talked in hushed tones about what to do next.

“Valenti says he might have the report by tomorrow,” Michael informed them. “Or maybe the day after.”

Max nodded. “Good. I just hope it gives us something to go on.”

“Me, too,” Isabel said, yawning. She reached over and patted Michael’s arm. “Take me home, Michael – I’m pooped.”

Michael raised his eyebrows slightly. “You guys aren’t leaving her here alone, are you?”

Max shook his head. “No, I’m going to stay.” On the couch, but he didn’t feel he needed to add that.

Michael checked the clock above the stove. “We should go, Iz. Maria’s taking the red eye tonight and if I’m not at the airport in an hour to get her, she’ll kick my ass.” He snorted. “That would be like her – I haven’t seen her in two years and the first thing she does is kick my ass.”

Isabel snorted a laugh, partly because it was funny but mostly because she realized that Michael was a little nervous about seeing Maria again. She pushed herself up, kissed Max on the cheek and went to the door to retrieve her bag.

Max watched them leave, then turned to look down the hallway. Liz’s door was still open and he could see that her light was on. He never thought that being alone with her would be such a lonely, foreign feeling.

*********

The hum of the airplane’s engines was finally starting to grate on Maria’s nerves. She felt like she’d been flying forever – first across the ocean, and now across the country. She couldn’t take any more bad food or the smell of stale coffee. It seemed a mystery to her that once upon a time airlines let people smoke on the planes – the effect had to have been suffocating.

Trying to humor herself during her last hour of flight, she pressed her face against the window and looked toward the ground far below. She could see neat little squares of land, outlined with streetlights, then nothing. Soon she would see another patch of squares as they flew over another city and she had to wonder just where they were. Was Roswell one of those little blobs of lights far below? She lifted one corner of her mouth in a snicker – if they’d been over Roswell, they would have had a UFO escort.

Bored with the scenery, she popped open her purse and pulled out a mirror. She reapplied some lipstick, then paused to look at her reflection. Maybe she should have changed a few things before she’d come home – maybe she should have dyed her hair back to its original color and lost the stud she now wore in her nose. A moment of dread spread throughout her body. What if the change was too drastic?

What if Liz didn’t recognize her?

********

Max picked up the magazine Michael had been referring to – a fashion magazine. Liz liked to look at them to see the latest trends in makeup and clothes, even though she rarely indulged in either. His eyes settled on the bold headline about having better orgasms and he snorted – Michael thought he was so funny.

It was late and Max was exhausted from driving all day, but he’d been unable to get any rest. He could still hear Liz thumping around in her bedroom and he couldn’t let himself sleep without knowing she was asleep first. If he’d had his way, he’d lock her in her room so she couldn’t sneak out on him.

Sighing, he got up from the couch and went to the cupboard. As he was stretching to take out the little wooden box Liz kept her tea bags in, he felt something grind into his thigh. He put the box on the counter and reached into his pocket – it was Liz’s ring. He frowned, wishing it was on her finger, then remembered that Dr. Lewis said Liz found the ring upsetting. Pushing away the pain of that realization, he dropped the ring into the bottom of the box for safe keeping.

Glancing down the hall to make sure he didn’t have an audience, Max heated two cups of water with his powers, then dunked a tea bag into each. He made his way quietly down the hallway and peeked into the room from a distance before he made his presence known. Liz was moving about the room, opening and closing drawers and doors. It was only natural that she should be curious about her “home.”

“Hi, Liz,” he said softly from her doorway.

She glanced up quickly, then went back to her snooping.

“Isabel and Michael are gone,” he said, wondering if Michael’s presence was the reason she’d been in her room for the last hour and a half.

Liz stood up quickly, looking a little cornered. “Isabel left?”

Max nodded.

“Are you staying?”

He nodded again.

She met his eyes for a long moment, then resumed her drawer opening.

“I brought you some tea,” Max said.

She looked up from the dresser where she was stooped. “Thank you,” she said.

He set the cup on her nightstand. “What are you looking for?” he asked, watching her pull out and push in one drawer after another.

“Something to sleep in,” she said.

Max eyed the smaller dresser on the other side of the room. Dare he tip his hand and let her know he knew where she kept her nighties? No, that would definitely be too much trauma. She didn’t even know they were involved – how would she take the fact that he knew where she kept her underwear?

But he couldn’t help the little smile that came to his face as he watched Liz pull a T-shirt from the drawer and hold it up appraisingly. It was a West Roswell High Athletic Department T-shirt – from Max’s one and only venture into organized sports. He’d always wanted to play, but the chance of getting hurt and getting unwanted medical attention had kept him from joining. But one summer he’d decided to try wrestling and the shirt was his one and only trophy. Watching her examine it, Max wondered if she had some recollection of the day she’d pulled it from his body, eager to touch him.

Liz touched the letters on the front of the shirt with her fingertips and murmured a word. Just one word.

Max felt his heart drop to his knees. “What did you say?”

She looked up, startled, and shook her head in denial, “Nothing.”

He eyed her cautiously, his urge to vomit close to the surface. She looked so terrified, like he was going to lash out at her or something. He forced himself to blow it off. “Okay, I just thought I heard you say something. If you need anything during the night, I’ll be right out in the living room.”

She nodded silently, her face a mask of riddled emotions.

“Good night,” he said, then turned quickly and left her room, closing the door behind himself.

He hadn’t taken but two steps when he realized his thoughts of having to lock Liz up might have been premature – it sounded like she flipped the lock as soon as he closed the door. He hesitated, realizing she wasn’t locking herself in, but rather locking him out.

Despondent, he walked back to the couch and tried to convince himself that it wasn’t the door lock he’d heard. But even if he couldn’t be sure he’d heard the lock just now, he could be sure he’d heard the word she’d spoken before that.

It had sounded an awful lot like “Kyle.”

tbc

Feedback on feedback will follow

Part Eleven

Liz exited her bedroom the following morning with more than a little trepidation. The apartment seemed empty and for one agonizing moment she thought maybe she was alone. But as she made her way down the hallway, she could smell food cooking and knew that her overnight guest was still there.

Stopping in the doorway of the kitchen, she hesitated just long enough for him to catch sight of her. He gave her a smile and gestured toward the table.

“Sit,” Max said. “I made breakfast.”

He turned back to the stove, wanting so desperately for her to feel comfortable enough to sit down with him, and yet still giving her the opportunity to flee. After a few moments, she approached the table and sat down, her eyes following every one of his movements.

Max grabbed a plate from the cupboard and loaded it up, then set it down gently before her. “Eggs, sausage, hash browns and toast,” he announced. “The heart attack special.”

He grinned and when she didn’t return it, he realized that she didn’t recall their running joke on Max’s breakfast habits. Refusing to let that fact get him down, he returned to the stove and made his own plate, then sat down across from her at the small table.

They ate in silence for awhile, Liz picking at her food, nibbling here and there. Max, out of nervousness, wolfed his down in record time. When he realized he’d finished way ahead of her, he started picking at the crumbs on his plate, not wanting to stare at her.

Finally, he looked up and cleared his throat. There was something he needed to ask her. “Liz, do you remember Kyle?”

She stopped, startled, her dark eyes meeting his. She looked down slowly at the shirt she’d chosen to sleep in.

“It’s okay if you do,” Max added. “I was just curious.”

She nodded, her eyes still downcast. “Maybe.”

“What does he look like?”

She lifted her head. “Brown hair,” she said slowly. Her eyes drifted over Max’s nearly-black hair. “Lighter than yours. Blue eyes.”

Max gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s right. Do you know who he is?”

Liz reached back in her limited memory, but she could only conjure images of Kyle in the shirt she was wearing. She touched it with her fingers. “Is this his shirt?”

Max looked at it somewhat bittersweetly, and shook his head. “No, but he had one like it. Do you know who he is?”

Feeling a little cornered, Liz shook her head, her expression showing a hint of nervousness.

“It’s okay,” Max said soothingly. “It’s alright if you don’t remember everything. You remembered Kyle and that’s a big thing.” He gave her another smile, then his glee seemed to dissolve. “I only want to help you, Liz.”

She looked down into her lap, away from his caring eyes.

“I just want you to get better, to remember. Anything I can do to help you, I will.” He couldn’t resist the urge to reach across the table and run the back of his hand down her smooth cheek. He felt her tense immediately and withdrew his hand. “But I get the feeling you’re afraid of me.”

She continued to stare into her lap.

“Please, Liz,” he begged, his voice barely above a whisper. “Please trust me. Don’t shut me out.”

Max waited for a response and got none. Liz picked up the hem of the shirt and started playing with it nervously. He sat back, let out a sigh and was about to apologize for putting her on the spot when there was a light knock on the door.

Max got to his feet and opened the door to find Michael and Maria there. He was somewhat taken aback by Maria’s appearance – her hair had once again been lopped short and was dyed a red hue not found in nature…at least not the nature of this planet. Inserted into the side of her nose was a small stud.

“Hey!” she said when she saw him, throwing her arms around him.

He hugged her tightly, glad to be seeing her again after so much time had passed. “Welcome home,” he said.

When they parted, Maria’s eyes settled on Liz, who was sitting like a tiny wounded bird at the table. Before she could speak, though, Liz’s face showed more expression than it had since Max and Isabel had found her at the hospital. Tears welled up in her eyes and she let out a little cry as she jumped to her feet. Fearing she was trying to flee, Michael blocked the doorway with his body.

But Liz wasn’t trying to get away. Instead, she ran straight for Maria and threw herself into her arms, crying.

Max and Michael exchanged a disbelieving glance. Apparently Liz remembered Maria.

******

“I don’t get it,” Max said in a whisper as he looked down the hallway toward Liz’s bedroom. He could hear Liz and Maria talking excitedly.

Michael was standing by the stove, picking the remnants of the hash browns from their dish and popping them into his mouth. “I do.”

Max looked at him from his position at the table. “You do?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah. Maria’s human.”

Max’s brow furrowed. “Why does that matter?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know why it matters. I don’t know if it means anything at all. All I do know is that Maria is the first person she’s remembered – and she’s also the first human she’s been in contact with from her past. Quite the coincidence, if you ask me.”

Max silently turned his attention back to the bedroom. It was true that Liz had been more than a little freaked when she’d met both Max and Michael. But it didn’t explain why she’d been fine with Isabel, even if she hadn’t recognized her.

“Michael, why do you think Liz is afraid of us but fine with Isabel and Maria?”

Michael stopped picking at the leftovers and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, thinking. “I don’t know – maybe this personality likes girls?”

Max snorted and shook his head. Michael was hopeless.

Michael rounded the counter, stuffing the last of the hash browns into his mouth. “I say it’s a good thing and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“What do you mean?”

“Valenti is emailing me the crime scene report from Colorado this morning. We can use Maria as Liz’s babysitter while you come back to my place so we can all check it out.”

Max sighed. “I don’t know, Michael. I hate to leave Liz –“

“Maxwell. The girl hasn’t really spoken to anyone – can you hear her in there now? I’m sure Maria can handle her.”

Max fell silent, knowing that what Michael was saying was logical. Still, there was a warning going off in his head, telling him that was the wrong move to make.

“I take your silence as agreement,” Michael said, wiping his greasy fingers on his pants. “Put your shoes on – I’ll go get the car.”

*********

“Where have you been?” Liz asked, her eyes never leaving Maria as she sat down on the bed beside her.

“Where haven’t I been?” Maria corrected her with a laugh. She knew that Liz knew all of the places she’d been because she’d sent her a postcard or an email from every one of them. But this Liz didn’t remember any of that. “I just got back from London last night.”

“London!” Liz breathed.

Maria nodded. “Yeah, we thought we could make it there, but…”

Liz’s brow furrowed. “Who is ‘we’?”

Maria waved her hand. “Oh, the Whits. Do you remember them?”

She thought for a moment, but couldn’t come up with it. She shook her head sadly.

“Well, unfortunately neither does anyone else,” Maria laughed. “It was just a band some friends threw together.”

“Oh.” Liz wondered what would make her friend decide to front a band and travel across the ocean. Had to have been important to her. “I need coffee,” she said, putting voice to the thought as soon as she had it. “Do you want coffee?”

“After that flight last night? Hell yes!”

The girls went out to the kitchen; Maria grabbed a seat at the table and Liz started to look through the cupboards for coffee. She hoped there was some in there, but the more she looked the more she realized that might not be the case.

“I don’t think there is any coffee,” she said over her shoulder to Maria. Her fingers touched a small wooden box and she pulled it from the cupboard. “Looks like I have tea, though. Do you want tea?”

Maria waved her hand. “As long as we jack it up with sugar, it will do the trick.”

Liz smiled slightly as she reached for the tea kettle. She filled it with water and put it on the burner, then set about fixing their cups – she placed a spoon in each, then reached for the box. Her fingers bumped the edge of it and she didn’t get a good grasp on it. The box flipped out of her hand and fell upside-down on the floor.

Liz sighed and squatted to corral the tea bags. As she swiped them up, something shiny caught her eye. Curious, she brushed the bags away from the object, then picked it up between her forefinger and thumb. It looked like a ring.

Stabbing pains shot through Liz’s temples and her eyes rolled back in her head as her hand clamped around the jewel. She didn’t even register Maria’s startled cry coming from the table – all she could hear were the voices pounding in her head, one over the other so that she couldn’t discern one voice at a time –

How is it that I can be the happiest that I’ve ever been in my entire life…and now the saddest all at one time?

Whether I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same – It’s you. I want to be with you, Liz. I love you.

What’s so great about normal?

Liz! You have to look at me!

Oh, okay, fine. They’re Canucks!

I’m Teflon, babe.

Well, I’m not from around here…

I’m Liz Parker, and five days ago I died.

Unable to control the rush of images and the sounds of the voices that accompanied them, Liz fell to her knees on the kitchen floor and let out a scream that could be heard out onto the street.

*******

“Here it is,” Michael said, downloading the document the sheriff had sent him.

In a few moments, the printer began to whir and Max grabbed the first sheet from it. Isabel leaned over his shoulder, reading with him. The first page was just logistics –address, date, time, etc. Max heaved an impatient sigh and waited for the next sheet. Once they were all printed – five in total – they took the report to Michael and Isabel’s living room and sat down to review it.

Max read a page, then handed it to Isabel, who would read it and pass it to Michael. In a few moments they were done…and speechless.

“There’s nothing there,” Michael said.

Max shook his head.

Isabel gathered the sheets into a neat pile. “What were you expecting – ‘an alien started this fire’ in black and white?”

Michael pondered that. “Actually, yeah.”

She snorted. “We’re not trying hard enough.” She glanced over the sheets. “It says that the fire started in room 212.” She flipped to another page. “They identified that room as being leased to Liz Parker.” She raised an eyebrow at her brothers – did they still think there was nothing there?

“And they also said they couldn’t determine the cause,” Max added, trying to pop a hole in her theory.

Isabel shrugged. “Don’t you find that odd? I mean, they could pinpoint the room, but nothing else? No bad wiring? No accelerants?”

“Sounds like alien mischief to me,” Michael said casually. “Between that and the handprint in the alley, it would seem like it, wouldn’t it?”

Max and Isabel thought about it, then agreed.

Max’s agreement was only momentary, however. “I don’t understand why an alien would burn down a motel to get to Liz, chase her down an alley – and then just let her get away.”

“To get to us?” Isabel offered.

Michael shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it. If that alien had wanted to get to you, he would have had plenty of time while you were there. In a sense, he had you.”

She sighed in frustration. “You’re right. God, nothing makes sense. What do we do now?”

They fell silent, each feeling the frustration mounting.

“I’m going to Colorado Springs,” Michael announced.

“What?” Max and Isabel said in unison, the tone of their voices identical.

“Maybe you guys missed something,” Michael explained. “Not that I’m saying you did – but you were concentrating on getting Liz out of there at the time. Maybe there’s another piece of evidence waiting to be discovered.”

Max finally nodded. “Okay, but I’m not sure I like the idea of you going alone.”

Michael shrugged. “I’m a big boy, Maxwell.”

“Yeah, a big boy who makes quiche,” Max mumbled, joking.

“What was that?”

Before Max could answer, the phone rang. Michael leaned back and picked it up from the receiver. On the other end was Maria, her voice frantic, and all of the color drained from his face.

“Michael, you have to get over here – NOW!”

**********

The alien trio pounded up the stairs to Liz’s apartment, panicked. Max could feel his heart pounding so hard in his chest that he feared it would break free of his skin entirely. He knew it was a bad idea to leave them alone – he knew it and yet he’d done it anyway.

Michael quickly shoved open the door and the group spilled inside, coming to a sudden halt. The only sound in the room was the rapid intake of air as they struggled to catch their breath…and a constant, scraping, whirling sound.

On the kitchen floor sat Liz Parker, rocking back and forth as if in an autistic state. Clutched in her hand was a teaspoon, its handle pointed downward. She was moving the handle of the spoon over the tiled floor, repeating the same motions like a child scribbling a circle with a crayon.

Cautiously, heeding Maria’s wary expression, the group leaned forward to look at the design Liz was drawing on the floor. Slowly, all of their mouths dropped open as they recognized a symbol familiar to them alone – the Whirlwind Galaxy.

“Maxwell,” Michael gulped.

“Yeah?” Max answered, his eyes never leaving the groove Liz was carving in the floor.

“I’m not going to need to go to Colorado Springs to look for that alien after all.”

“No?”

Michael shook his head. “Nope. I think I’ve already found her.”

tbc

~~~~~~~~
*Dialogue borrowed from "The Balance", "Destiny", "Blind Date", "The Pilot", and "Heatwave"

Thanks everyone! Will chat later - have to get ready for the trick-or-treaters!


Part Twelve

“What are you talking about?” Max asked, his brow furrowed in annoyance.

“That’s not normal human behavior,” Michael said, nodding toward Liz, who was still crouched on the floor, scribbling with the spoon handle.

Max snorted, not believing what his friend was trying to tell him. “Michael, Liz isn’t an alien.” He took a step forward and Michael grabbed his arm.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Michael warned.

Max scowled at him. “What are you doing? Let go of me.”

“Look at her, Maxwell – doesn’t it all make sense to you now? The handprint, the fire, the strange behavior?”

Max shook his head, blocking out his friend’s words. All he knew was that something had happened to Liz, that she was using a spoon to carve an alien symbol into the floor tile – ceramic tile, nonetheless. He jerked his arm away from Michael and walked cautiously over to where Liz was sitting, rocking back and forth, her eyes fixed on the floor.

“Liz?” Max said carefully, but she didn’t even flinch as if she’d heard him.

A few drops of blood fell to the floor and splattered on the Whirlwind symbol, and he realized that she had worn the palm of her hand raw. Biting back his fear for her, he squatted behind her, reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder.

“Li –“

Liz spun quickly, releasing a loud, animal cry. Her bloody hand shot up and a bolt of energy caught Max in the chest, sending him skidding across the floor and banging into the cupboards. Instantaneously, he shook the ringing from his ears and raised his own hand in self defense.

“MAX! NO!” Maria screamed, fearing he would pulverize her friend.

Instead, Max produced the green shield, protecting his body while he quickly assessed himself for broken bones. The fact that Liz had just sent him sprawling was somewhat lost on him – there had to be some mistake.

But looking up through the green distortion, Max saw that she was more than a little unhappy to be trapped between the counter and his shield - she was practically snarling at him. She gave another, less-startled screech and emitted a smaller, weaker energy bolt that bounced harmlessly off the shield. Then she wavered on her feet, her eyes rolled back and she slumped toward the floor.

Quickly, with super-human reflexes, Max dropped the shield and caught her by the shoulders before her head struck the hard tiles.

The room was suddenly eerily silent, the scraping noise of Liz’s carving ceased. Everyone was motionless, holding their breath, fearing to move a muscle.

Maria could feel her heart throbbing in her temples, in her throat and painfully in her chest. She couldn’t remember ever being so terrified.

“Oh, God,” Isabel finally said, her voice coming out in a breathless whisper.

“I warned him,” Michael mumbled, then noticed Maria trembling. Silently, he placed his arm around her shoulders.

Max looked down into Liz’s unconscious face. He didn’t understand. Liz was human. She couldn’t possibly do what she’d just done. His body was aching from her attack, his muscles and bones protesting their rude treatment. And how had she found the strength to carve through ceramic tile – with a spoon?

Isabel approached her brother and his fallen mate cautiously. She squatted beside them, her eyes traveling first from Max then to Liz. Max was a mess, she could see that much, and Liz was out cold. Isabel watched for a few seconds, making sure she could still see Liz breathing.

Tears of fear and frustration started to well in Max’s eyes. He tore his gaze away from Liz’s face and looked down at her hand. He picked it up and cringed when he saw that the skin had been rubbed away from her palm, leaving it raw and bleeding; the bloody spoon lay nearby.

“What happened?” Michael asked Maria.

She shook her head and swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure. “I don’t know,” she managed. “She was making tea and then she just…” Maria made a gesture toward the marred flooring.

Tea.

Max’s eyes drifted to the wooden box lying half under the counter and felt guilt drop like a lead ball into his stomach. How could he be so stupid? His eyes sought out Liz’s left hand and he found it clenched tightly in a fist. Gently he pried her fingers apart and the ring fell to the floor with a soft clang of metal. Grief ripping thought him, he picked up the jewel – it had been crushed, twisted into a mass of gold and diamonds. He turned over Liz’s hand and saw that her palm had burn marks on it.

Ignoring Isabel’s prior warning, Max dropped Liz’s less-injured hand and picked up the one that was bleeding. Closing his fingers around her hand and closing his eyes against the intrusions of the outside world, he concentrated on making a connection with her, on healing her self-inflicted wounds.

In a surge that almost took his breath away, Max felt himself being propelled into Liz’s subconscious – and it was a horrifying trip. At first he felt so much love coming from her, so much wonder at the perfect thing they had together. But then he felt something negative imposing on her thoughts, on her well-being.

He saw Liz sitting in her usual spot behind the coffee table, working furiously on her homework. Normally a patient learner, this day she was anxious, impatient, livid that she couldn’t get the calculations right. She ripped page after page out of her notebook until she destroyed in completely, flinging the book across the living room floor and into the kitchen. Furious, she decided she hated that book more than anything – and then in burst into flames.

Max cringed as he felt Liz’s horror at having the book spontaneously combust, but then the images came quickly – images of other items she’d destroyed while unable to control her emotions. Max saw a washing machine in the apartment complex’s laundry room sputter and start to smoke after Liz became pissed that it had eaten one of her quarters. He saw Liz standing on her tiptoes, trying to reach a vase on a high self, becoming irritated that she couldn’t get to it. Moments later, the vase crashed to the floor untouched, glass scattering across the tile.

And each time he felt her pain, her terror that this was happening to her. But of all of the things she’d destroyed, there was only one thought running through her mind –

What if I hurt Max?

Max felt an unbearable urge to flee, as though his flight instinct had kicked into high gear. Run, run as fast as he could. Then he remembered those were Liz’s thoughts – to run, to flee, to get as far away from her problem as she could.

He saw a pretty motel room but felt only ugly emotions. He felt Liz’s control slipping away as she sat on the bed, rocking back and forth, trying to make the feelings go away. He saw the room suddenly flare from every side, spontaneously combusting like the book had. He felt her terror and heard her scream as she fled the room in a panic, but not before a piece of crown molding broke itself free and struck her in the back of the head.

Then there was a dark alley and staggered, dizzy steps, blood trailing behind. The energy hadn’t been spent – the remainder leaving a glowing, silver handprint on the brick wall of the gym.

And it was at that point when Liz realized running physically wouldn’t solve her problem. So she ran mentally, retracting as far into her subconscious as she could, shutting out all that was familiar to her.

Realizing what was happening, Max quickly started to break the connection between him and Liz before her memories could drag him down with her. Although, he wouldn’t have minded being wherever Liz was. Who cared what reality they were in – as long as they were together?

Before he broke away entirely, he sought out her injury with his mind, commanding his powers to make her whole again. Confusion flooded his mind as he felt something strange – Liz’s molecules weren’t quite like they used to be. They were more like his now. He pushed the thought away and healed her hand wound.

Max released a gasp as he opened his eyes – both literally and figuratively. Tears shone in his eyes as he pulled Liz closer to him, rocking her small body.

“Max?” Isabel said, laying her hand on his back. “What did you see?”

He could still smell the smoke on Liz’s clothes, feel the singed ends of her hair, as though he was standing in that room as it burned. Deep in his chest, he could still feel her fear twisting her insides as she realized she didn’t know what to do, or what disaster awaited her next.

To his onlookers, it appeared as though Max had retracted into himself much as Liz had.

Maria turned worried eyes to Michael, pleading silently with him to do something. He pursed his lips, then stepped forward and attempted to take Max by the arm.

“Come on, Max,” he said. “We don’t know how long she’ll be out. And if she wakes up like she was –“

“She won’t,” Max answered, sniffing back his tears.

Maria gulped. “She won’t what? She won’t wake up scribbling with a kitchen utensil or she won’t wake up at all?”

Max gave her a brief glance and she withdrew at the sorrow in his eyes. “She won’t wake up that way – I won’t let her.” He looked to Isabel, whose eyes were round with worry. “Liz is back with us, Isabel. She’s just different than she was before she left.”

“What do you mean?” Maria asked, her hand going to her necklace in her characteristic nervous fidget.

“What did you see?” Isabel asked, being more specific than their shell-shocked friend.

He’d seen too much to relay all of it to her. He’d seen too much to easily put into words. He resorted to meeting Michael’s eyes. “You might be right.”

Michael swallowed visibly.

Maria crinkled up her nose. “Right about what? I don’t understand.” There was just a hint of tears in her voice and Michael tightened the grip he had on his shoulders.

Max’s mind raced. How had this started? Why was this happening to Liz? Even though he tried to deny the obvious, his rationale always came back to the same thing – it was because of him.

Something - whether it be his saving her life or her being intimate with him or some other reason he hadn’t thought of yet – something had spawned this transformation in her. He could argue that everyone went through changes – but most peoples’ changes didn’t include the mutation of their molecules.

Biting back his urge to sob, Max pushed himself to his feet and hoisted Liz upward. Then he carried her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed, sliding in beside her and cradling her against his body.

Why couldn’t you tell me? he thought as the tears spilled onto his cheeks and he pulled her closer. Why did you hide this from me?

tbc

Thanks, everyone

In this part, Max grows some balls and Michael discovers he doesn't know everything about women


Part Thirteen


“Liz, why are you crying?”

Her only reply was to sniffle.

“Please, Liz…tell me. Let me help you.”

“You can’t help me, Max. No one can.”

Boredom had driven Michael to pick up the fashion magazine again, this time flipping to the article in question. Not that he felt he needed help pleasing a woman – he was just reading it for the entertainment value. At least that’s what he told himself. In reality, he was secretly hoping there was some little tip in there he’d yet to discover for himself. Not that he thought he was a sub-par lover. Not at all. But if he could find something to make himself a better lover, then he’d have so many women he’d have to beat them off with a boat oar.

Beside him, Maria was looking rather ill, the color still absent from her face. Isabel sat anxiously in the chair beside the couch, her eyes turning in the direction of Liz’s bedroom periodically. It had been an hour since Max had disappeared in there with his fiancée. Not a sound had been heard, nothing to affirm to the group that all was okay.

Michael’s eyebrows went up sharply at something he’d read. He reread it, then held the magazine out to Maria, his finger marking the spot. “Is that true?” he asked.

Maria read the words by his finger, then looked up to read the title of the article. She released a disgusted sigh and shifted her body away from him. “Jesus Christ, Michael,” she breathed.

“What?” he asked, innocently. “I was just asking.”

“Has it escaped you what happened here a little while ago? How can you be asking me about that when we don’t know what’s going on down the hall?”

He withdrew a bit, feeling the anger coming off her in waves. But his question still hadn’t been answered. His eyes settled on Isabel and he held out the magazine. “Iz, is that true?”

She gave him a glare and he retracted the magazine before she had the chance to flatten him.

In the bedroom, Max’s eyes hadn’t left Liz’s face in the hour they’d been in there. He kept waiting for some sign that she was starting to wake up. He needed to be ready, in case he needed to defend himself. But so far there hadn’t been even the slightest hint of her awakening. Occasionally, he place his hand on her chest, checking her out physically, making sure her health wasn’t being compromised.

Max’s eyebrows lifted slightly when he saw the tiniest of twitches in her expression. He tensed, waiting, the anticipation killing him. Slowly, she drew in a deeper breath, then her eyes slowly opened, her eyelids fluttering a couple of times. She stared sightlessly up at the ceiling for a few moments, then she drew in a quicker breath and pushed herself up to a sitting position.

Max moved with her, holding her wrists in his hands, pointing hers down toward the bed in case she released another energy bolt. He saw fear and panic in her dark eyes as she glanced quickly around the room.

“Where am I?” she cried. “How did I get here?”

“You’re home,” he said quickly, tightening his grip on her wrists as she began to regain her strength. “You’re okay, Liz.” He followed the frantic movements of her head, trying to maintain eye contact with her. “Liz, do you know who I am?”

She paused momentarily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her eyes met his and for the first time since he’d found her, he saw recognition in her eyes. “You’re Max,” she answered, her tone displaying how ridiculous she felt the question was.

He released a relieved gasp, forced his tears of joy from showing in his eyes. “That’s right. Now think – where are you?”

Liz looked around the room for a moment and her brow furrowed in confusion. “My room. But how did I get here? Max? I’m supposed to be in Woods Hole…”

He nodded slowly. “You are,” he agreed. “Liz, you have to tell me what you remember.”

Some of the tension left her body and he released the grasp he had on her wrists, instead taking her hands gently in his. She sank back against the headboard, her gaze fixed on nothingness as she tried to dredge up her latest memory.

“It’s okay,” he reassured her softly. “I’m here – I’m not going anywhere.”

She worked her mouth. “I remember leaving for the bus station. But I think I got on the wrong bus or something.” She met his gaze and he gave her a nod of encouragement. “I don’t know what happened after that.”

“You do,” he urged her. “Think hard, Liz.”

She bit her bottom lip, thinking so hard it was painful to her. “There was a fire…” A vital fact of that fire came back to her in a flood and he saw the panic flare in her eyes once again. “I started a fire?!” she cried, incredulous.

“You didn’t mean to,” he said quickly. His eyes made one quick glance around the room, looking for an escape route if it should happen again.

Still frightened, Liz disengaged one of her hands and reached to push a lock of hair behind her ear, her typical nervous fidget. When her hand encountered her hair, however, her panic only heightened as she felt its length.

“Max,” she gasped. “What happened to my hair?!”

He could feel the energy building in the room, all around them, and he knew the more upset she became, the more likely she was to lose control and destroy something. He took her face between his hands.

“Look at me,” he said, his voice stern but gentle. “Liz, you have to look at me.”

For some reason she couldn’t explain, she followed his command.

He smiled with his eyes. “Remember this?” he asked, his face close to hers, his voice low. “Do you remember the first time I asked to touch you?”

Silently, she nodded her head.

“You trusted me then,” he continued. “Can you trust me again?”

Another nod.

“I’m not going to let anything or anyone hurt you, Liz. But you need to be honest with me. You need to tell me everything that was going on before you left.” He wanted more than anything to ask her why she hadn’t confided in him before then, but he also didn’t want to confront her with hostility and push her away. “I already know about the motel fire and the notebook and Grandma’s vase. What else is there?”

Her dark eyes were wide. How did he know all of that?

“Do you know what you did in the kitchen?” he asked, slowly releasing her face now that she was calm.

Her eyes shifted toward the door and she shook her head. “What happened in the kitchen?”

“Do you know Maria’s here?”

Her face lit up. “Maria’s here?!” She started to get up but Max took her arm and eased her back to the bed.

“In time,” he said carefully. “When we have a handle on what’s happening with you. Maria is here, as are Michael and Isabel.” He swallowed against the memories he was about to relay to her. “Isabel and I searched forever for you, Liz.”

She sank back into her spot, her eyes fixed on his.

“Texas, Arizona, all of the way across New Mexico. Until we traced your credit card to Colorado Springs.”

“Colorado Springs?” she asked, her voice a frightened whisper.

“That’s where the fire occurred. We found you in a men-“ He quickly cut off his words – he wasn’t sure Liz needed to know at this point that she’d been a frequent visitor to the psych ward. “We found you in a hospital. And we brought you here. Something happened this morning out in the kitchen, something that spawned a reaction from you.”

“What?” she asked, as though she was listening to a ghost story, a work of fiction on Max’s part.

Deciding demonstration was the best explanation, Max reached into his pocket and pulled out the mangled ring. Liz’s eyes shifted to it and filled with tears as she took it from his palm.

“My ring…” she choked.

Max watched her turn it over and over in her hand, trying to find the hole through which to put it on her finger. “You did this,” he said quietly.

Her eyes shot to his.

“Look at your left hand.”

Liz turned her hand palm-up and saw the burn marks Max hadn’t yet healed. Silent, she traced them with her index finger.

“I know,” he said, trying to keep the confrontation from his tone. “I know what you’ve been hiding from me.”

She remained with her head tipped downward, but soon her shoulders heaved with a silent sob.

“Why, Liz?” Max asked, biting back his own tears.

When she looked up, her eyes were clouded and her tears spilled onto her cheeks. “God, Max, I was so scared.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I kept thinking it would go away. I kept thinking that there had to be a mistake. Then things started getting out of control and I knew that I was going to expose you.”

He withdrew sharply. “Expose me?”

Liz held up the ring. “Tell me this is normal, Max. Tell me a normal person can do this. I couldn’t – and still can’t – control anything that was happening. It was only a matter of time before I did something that couldn’t be explained.”

Like spontaneously combust a motel room, Max thought. “I would have helped you. Don’t you know that?”

A fresh batch of tears flooded her eyes and he was amazed that she was able to produce so many at once. “I know,” she choked. “But I was so scared and confused and I didn’t know what to do.”

“So you ran away from me?” he asked, forcing the bitterness out of his tone.

She shook her head vehemently. “No. I ran away from me.” She looked back to the ring, her body convulsing with sobs once again. “What are we going to do, Max? I’m no better than I was when I left. I still can’t control what’s happening to me – whatever it is.”

Max’s heart broke as he watched her sobbing before him. Drawing in a shaky breath, he took the ring out of her hand and she watched in wonder as he waved his hand over it, restoring it to its original, asymmetrical beauty. Gentle, he pushed in onto her finger.

“We’re in this together,” he said, holding her hand in his. “I’ll show you how to control whatever it is that is happening to you.”

She shook her head in defeat. “How? It’s going to be a little obvious if I start breaking and burning stuff here in the apartment, Max.”

“Let's just keep running, you and me, away from here, away from everything. I see everything so clearly now. We'll go someplace where no one knows us. As long as we're together, nothing else matters.”

One corner of Max’s mouth lifted upward into a sad smile. “Then we run, Liz. We run away from here, to where no one will ever find us. And when things are better, we’ll come home. I promise.”

She stopped crying and met his loving, steady gaze. Then she was in his arms, holding him as close as she could. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, indulging himself in the sensation of being in her arms again.

“I love you, Liz,” he whispered against her ear. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

But even as he spoke the words, he knew that it was going to take all of his powers to keep that promise.

tbc

~~~~~~
* Dialogue borrowed from "Blind Date" *sigh* Sparkling parking meters...

Midwest Max wrote:Don't know if I'll get a new part written tonight - volunteered to help a friend strip wallpaper

I'm rolling about LMAO you know why? I'm not sure if you'll be able to get a part out this week, let alone tonight if you're stripping wallpaper. If there ever was a job that drove me completely potty that's it You sure are an amazing friend for offering, I hope it's going okay? Ohhh and I thought it was from that episode. I'm just after something new for mine Guess I've got to go a hunting As for

Use your imaginations - you'll probably come up with something better than I would anyway

I doubt that very much. You're a truly wonderful and talented writer please hurry back with more xxx

Thanks, cherie And Lana And Chips...even if she does disagree with me

BTW - Everyone go back to Page 1 and check out the wonderful banner Lolita Behrbuns made for me!!


Part Fourteen

Liz pushed the remainder of her clothes into the duffle bag, hesitated, then gave Maria an apologetic glance.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I’m sorry you came all of the way back from England and now I’m leaving.”

Sitting at the end of Liz’s bed, Maria waved a hand in the air. “Think nothing of it. I was looking for an excuse to come back anyway.” She tried to give her friend a reassuring grin.

“Sure,” Liz said gloomily, sinking down beside her. “Who wouldn’t want to come home from some wonderful foreign country?”

Maria tilted her head to the side. “It’s not so wonderful when you’ve eaten Spaghetti-Os for a week straight and you have no idea how you’re going to pay the next month’s rent.” There was no self-pity in her tone.

“But it was amazing for at least a little while, wasn’t it?” Liz’s eyes showed what Maria had assumed – Liz longed to travel. She always had – ever since Alex had supposedly returned from Sweden.

Maria nodded. “Of course it was. Don’t worry, Liz – I know your turn will come some day.”

Liz looked down to the floor, her shoulders sagging.

Maria reached over and took her hand. “You’re going to be okay. You know that, right?”

Liz looked at her silently.

“If anyone can fix the situation, it’s Max.”

Liz smiled just at the sound of his name, and that made Maria smile in return.

“You know I’m right, don’t you?” she laughed.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. You’re probably right.” Her smile faded away and she drew in a deep breath. “If only I know why these things were happening to me…”

Maria shrugged. “What did Ava say? You remember Ava – the one with the hair and the nose piercing.”

Liz’s eyes traveled first from Maria’s bright red hair, then to her nose ring.

Maria laughed, nabbed. “Yeah, well at the time Ava seemed a little out there for Roswell, okay? Anyway – what did she say?”

Liz shook her head. “I don’t remember.”

“I do. She said something about you being different now that Max healed you.”

“Oh, Maria, I doubt if that’s it. I mean, that was three years ago – almost four. You would think if any of that were true, there wouldn’t have been this big gap in time.”

Maria shrugged again. “Maybe the New York thing was premature. Maybe it just took time to develop.”

“And what about Kyle? How come he hasn’t changed?”

“Girls develop faster than boys.”

Liz cocked her head. “Even when it comes to alien powers?”

“Maybe. How do you know? When was the last time you saw him?”

Liz thought about that. She didn’t think she’d seen him since the summer after graduation. She knew that Isabel sometimes got emails from him, but she’d never heard any talk of Kyle changing. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead tiredly.

“Enough of this,” Maria decided as she wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her a kiss on the side of the head. In truth, she was somewhat afraid of making her upset, for fear of what she might do. “You just go wherever Max is taking you and get better, okay?”

Liz nodded and returned her embrace, her eyes sad.

In the living room, Max zipped the last of his two bags, then turned to face his siblings.

“Take these,” Isabel said, holding out the pill bottle Dr. Lewis had given them.

Max took the bottle and looked down at it curiously. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

Her eyes darted away uncomfortably, then back to his. “In case you can’t control her, you could use them to knock her out.”

Max smiled gently – he knew she was only trying to help. “Iz, I doubt if I couldn’t control her that I could convince her to take them.”

“Maybe. But just take them anyway, okay?”

He relented and stuck the bottle in his jacket pocket.

“I packed some reading materials for you,” Michael said, gesturing to the first bag Max had packed. Max looked at it quizzically. “Just some magazines…in case you get bored.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.”

Only Isabel caught Michael’s smirk, producing an eye roll. She ignored him and stepped forward to take her brother in her arms.

“I’ll contact you every night,” she said, squeezing him tightly. “If you need anything, just tell me and I’ll be there.” When she pulled away, she glanced at his forehead and squinted playfully. “So try to keep your dreams clean, Max.”

He blushed slightly. “My dreams are clean.”

“Not all the time.”

Michael snorted a laugh as Max’s ears started to turn a little redder. He gave him a clap on the back.

“Same for me,” Michael said. “Say the word and I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, both of you.” Max shifted uneasily and looked down the hallway. “Liz?” he called.

In a few moments, Liz and Maria emerged from the bedroom, Maria helping to carry Liz’s bags. Max smiled warmly at them, trying to infuse some levity into the situation.

“All ready?” he asked Liz.

She nodded and self-consciously tucked a piece of her short hair behind her ear.

“I guess we should go, then,” Max said, stooping to pick up his bags. When he reached for the one Maria carried, she pulled it back from him.

“I’ll take it down for her,” she said.

Max conceded and after a short round of uncomfortable goodbyes, the three of them walked downstairs to where the Chevelle waited. In the back seat was survival gear – sleeping bags, a cooler, non-perishable groceries, lanterns. The girls waited while he popped open the trunk, then he took the bags from them and crammed them into the small space.

Before they got in the car, Maria gave Liz another long hug, then turned to give Max one as well.

“Take all the time you need,” Maria said as she pulled away. “We’ll cover for you as long as it takes.”

They thanked her, then got into the car and pulled away. Liz watched in the side view mirror as her friend gradually shrank to a speck, then disappeared completely.

As he drove into the setting sun, Max glanced over at Liz and saw that she was crying silently. Why she was grieving, he wasn’t quite sure – maybe she missed Maria already, maybe she was frightened of what was to come. The only thing he knew for sure was those tears weren’t tears of joy. Without a word, he reached over and took her hand in his. She didn’t look his way, but tightened her grip as a response.

They drove for an hour, out of Roswell and into the desert. It turned dark and soon there was no distinction between earth and sky. Liz wondered silently if floating in space was like this.

Eventually, Max pulled to a stop and turned out the lights of the Chevelle. The land around them fell dark, save for the stars in the sky. Both Liz and Max turned their faces upward, looking at the thousands of dots of light twinkling above them. They both remembered a similar night, by a fallen radio tower, when Liz had commented on how many stars there seemed to be up there, so many more than they’d ever seen in Roswell.

They sat like that for a long time, until the desert air became chilly and urged them to move. Max grabbed their sleeping bags and one of the lanterns from the back seat, and handed Liz a bag of food. Then he set about putting up the roof of the convertible.

“We’ll get the rest in daylight,” he told her as he fastened the rag top in place.

She nodded and waited patiently while he finished reassembling the car. Then he picked up the sleeping bags and the lantern and started walking up the face of the rock formation, Liz following obediently.

When they reached a particularly familiar wall of rock, Max put down his things and waved his hand over the rock’s surface. Immediately, a silver handprint glowed in his wake and Liz took a queasy step backward, her mind involuntarily flashing on a wet, bloody alley. Max glanced over his shoulder at her.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded and hugged the bag of groceries tighter to her.

He placed his open palm on the handprint and the entrance to the pod chamber slid open with a rumble of rock on rock. Stooping, he lit the lantern, then climbed through the entrance. He helped Liz through, then reached back into the open and retrieved the sleeping bags.

Together, they walked to the main pod chamber, the empty pods still glowing blue against one wall. Max was happy that they were still luminous – maybe they could act as a night light and Liz would be less afraid to stay here. One glance at her told him that wasn’t going to be – she’d put down the groceries and was standing with her arms wrapped tightly across her chest, her eyes wide.

Max dropped the sleeping bags and crossed over to her, putting his arms around her small body. “It will be okay,” he said as he held her tightly against him. “I’ve stayed here before – it’s not so bad. Besides, I’ll be here with you the whole time. I’m not going anywhere, Liz.”

She nodded against his chest, returning his embrace. It felt so natural, so right to be in his arms that she immediately started to relax.

Max released his death grip on her but remained holding her lightly as he turned his head this way and that, checking out the chamber. “I mean, I know it’s a fix’er up’er, but I could get used to it.”

Liz snorted a little laugh.

“Over there, it’s really drafty,” Max pointed out. “And over that way, it tends to get a little wet. But right here, this is the best spot in the whole place…if you don’t mind the view of my placenta hanging on the wall.”

This time she burst out laughing, her laugh echoing off the cave walls. Max laughed with her.

“That is so gross,” she protested, but was still laughing. “I never thought of it that way.”

“You know what I don’t understand?” he asked, his expression serious.

Her smile faded away and she shook her head, waiting for another one of Max’s profound revelations.

“This,” he said, pulling up his T-shirt.

Liz raised an eyebrow as she eyed his flawless abs. “What?”

With his index finger, he poked himself in the navel. “Why do I have one of these?”

She looked at his belly button quizzically, then back into his face, trying to figure out if he was being serious. Then she realized she wasn’t sure why he had one either.

He poked at the dent several times, his expression curious, until Liz started to snicker again.

“What?” he asked, raising his head.

She covered her mouth with her hand. “It’s just the look on your face…”

“Sure,” he teased, dropping his shirt and cocking his head. “Make fun of me. You can do that – you know why you have a belly button. Do you know how badly this has messed me up? I came out of a pod, yet I have this thing?” He yanked the shirt up again, poking his navel.

Finally, Liz burst out laughing and pushed his shirt back down. “Stop it – you’re going to make yourself sore.”

Max grinned at her and pulled her into another embrace, looked into her eyes with so much affection that she felt her knees go weak. “Have I told you how much I love you since you’ve been back?”

She swallowed hard, her eyes wide, and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“I love you more than this world and my world combined,” he said, all joking gone from his tone.

Liz met his eyes for a long moment, then she looked down, at his chest. “Max, I’m not ready.”

“For what?” he asked gently.

“To be with you…you know, be with you.”

He smiled and pulled her in tight to his body, one hand stroking her dark hair. “I know that. But I can still tell you I love you, can’t I?”

She nodded against his chest, her cheek brushing against the soft fabric.

“We don’t have to do anything until you’re ready. Until then, can we just hold each other? Can we just talk and get to know one another again?”

Liz nodded again, relieved that he was being so understanding. He held her for awhile longer, then they set about arranging their sleeping bags. They zipped the two of them together, creating one big bag that they both slid into.

As the hour became late, they lay facing one another, talking like two best friends who’d been parted for a long time. Finally, Liz’s thoughts and conversation turned to their whole reason for moving into the cave.

“Max, what if you can’t figure out what’s wrong with me?” She met his gaze fully, wanting honesty from him.

“I can’t think that way,” he confessed. “I have to believe that we’ll get it worked out.”

“But…what if it’s something you can’t fix?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if…what if I’m dying, Max?”

His expression softened and he reached out to pull her over to him, to cradle her against his chest. “I won’t believe that, either,” he said after kissing the top of her head. “I didn’t put three thousand miles on my car and travel all over the southwest to find you just to lose you again. That isn’t an option.”

Liz lay silently against him, listening to his words and hoped that he was right. But in reality she knew he was speaking out of his need to hear those words, not out of his confidence that they were true.

tbc

Isabel's dreamwalks are in italics.


Part Fifteen

Max, are you there?

Huh? Oh, Isabel. I was just dreaming –

I know what you were dreaming. But for get that – at least until I’m gone. Everything okay?

Fine.

Can I do anything to help?

Not yet. We’re still getting settled in.

Okay. I’ll visit again tomorrow night. Love you, little brother…

Max slowly lowered his hands and sank back on his haunches, his eyes closing shut lightly. In his head, he could still hear the soft whoosh of Liz’s blood flowing through her veins. He sat silently for a moment, letting his powers dissipate until he no longer heard the sound or felt his abilities at the ready.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Liz still lying prone before him, looking at him nervously.

“What?” she asked, her words hurried.

Max shook his head.

“Tell me,” she said, her eyes growing a little wider.

He reached down and took her beneath the elbow, helping her to sit up.

“It’s something bad, isn’t it?” she said, her voice choked. “Am I dying?”

He shook his head again and drew in a long breath. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Then what is it? What did you find?”

Looking a little disbelieving, Max gave a slight shrug. “Nothing.”

Liz froze, her lips parted slightly. “Nothing?” she finally repeated.

“Nothing. I couldn’t find anything ‘wrong’ with you, Liz. Actually, you seem pretty healthy.” He gave her a one-sided smile.

“How can I be healthy?” she questioned. “We know something was going on with me –“

“Yes, I think something happened to you. But maybe it’s over.”

“What’s over?” Her voice was starting to rise in pitch. Max reached over and took her hand, holding it in comfort.

“Your cells are…different, Liz.”

“Different?”

He nodded. “They’re not typically human anymore.”

She froze again, and this time Max thought he could see her pulse beating in the hollow of her throat – she was frightened.

Liz broke his gaze and stared blankly at the cave wall. If Max brought you back, then you’re different now. She heard those words as though Ava was standing right before her.

Max released her hand and touched her hair, smoothing it reassuringly. “Liz, what are you thinking?”

“Maria.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What about Maria?”

Liz met his eyes again. “She brought up something Ava told me when you were in New York. She said that I was different now that you’d healed me.” Her eyes were wide. “Is that it? Is that why this happened?”

Max thought about it for a moment. “Maybe. I don’t know for sure. What else did she say?”

Liz dug back in her memory but couldn’t remember anything else, only Ava’s cryptic message and her urging Liz to hurry up before Rath and Lonnie could kill Max. “Nothing,” she answered. “Do you think I’m an alien now or something?”

He gave her a gentle smile. “No. I think you’re still human. Just…different.”

“How different?” Her eyes, wide, resembled a doe in the headlights.

“I don’t know, Liz. But from what I saw, your cell structure isn’t so different from mine now.”

“So I am an alien.”

He shook his head patiently. “You can just switch races, Liz. You were born human. You are still human. Maybe just super human.”

She swallowed hard and looked down to the cave floor, the color vanishing from her face.

“Hey,” Max said, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “It’s not so bad.”

“It’s not?” she replied quickly, snapping her gaze to his. “I asked you one time what you wanted to be more than anything and how did you answer?”

Max fell silent. He’d answered that he wanted to be human. What had followed was a long, typical-Liz pep talk of why he was beautiful and how he was more human than anyone she had ever known. She hadn’t understood why he’d wanted to change himself when he was wonderful as he was.

Now, however, he felt her anxiety at the knowledge that perhaps she was changing into something less human.

“How did you answer?” she asked again, her eyes fixed on his.

Max swallowed. “I wanted to be human,” he admitted.

“Do you still feel that way?” There was just a hint of confrontation in her tone.

He shook his head. “No.” He couldn’t lie to himself – he didn’t feel that way any longer because he was now the same as Liz. And that’s all he really wanted – to be like and be with her.

She heaved a sigh and looked back to her spot on the floor. “I don’t understand what happened to me, Max. I don’t remember leaving Albuquerque. I don’t remember being wherever it was you found me. It’s like someone else lived those things.”

“Liz, someone else did live those things.” She looked at him curiously and he drew in a breath, preparing to reveal his theory. “Our powers are cerebral. That much we learned from Agent Pierce.” He gave a little shiver, remembering the Agent’s rather brutal methods. “I think in order to stop what was happening – the whole bursting into flames business – you retracted into some other part of your brain that didn’t have control over what appeared to be alien powers.”

Her brow furrowed. “But, if I’m back in the part of my brain that controls ‘alien powers’, why hasn’t anything happened since I’ve returned?”

Max gave a little laugh. “Well, did you forget flinging me across the kitchen floor?”

Her face reddened.

“And melting your ring.”

She looked down at it, restored, on her finger. “But why not anything since then?”

“Maybe all of that stuff was just one big growing pain. Maybe while your body was changing, you had no control.”

She raised one eyebrow. “And now I do?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“How can we tell?”

Max wasn’t sure how to bring this up to her. He didn’t know how to tell her that she was going to have to try to summon her powers. “We could try to have you do something,” he said tentatively.

“Like what?” Her eyes were round again.

He gave her a tender kiss on the forehead. “Nothing bad. I’m not going to let bad things happen to you. But we could go outside and see if we can get those powers to come out, if they’re in there at all.”

Liz watched him with fright in her eyes for an agonizingly long moment. But deep down, she knew that they needed to get to the bottom of the mystery. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Suppressing his glee, Max jumped to his feet and grabbed her hand. Outside, they squinted against the early afternoon sunlight, a stark contrast to the darkness of the pod chamber. Liz shielded her eyes and looked around the barren landscape.

“What are we going to do?” she asked him.

Max looked around, located a small cactus nearby. He pointed to it. “See that? We’re going to take turns trying to blow it up.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll go first,” he offered, raising his hand.

Liz watched curiously – she’d seen Michael and Isabel both shoot power blasts from their hands, but never Max. She didn’t k now he had the ability. Then she reasoned that Max was a healer, a preserver of life and the fact that he never used his destructive capabilities touched her. It was things like that that made her love him more every day.

“It kind of feels like the energy is building up deep in your gut,” he explained, concentrating on dredging up the energy blast. “There’s kind of a build up…” A bolt shot from his hand and disintegrated one of the cactus’s arms. “And then the release. Kind of like sneezing.”

“Or climaxing?” Liz asked, her tongue in her cheek.

Max looked down at her and felt his cheeks redden a little. “Yeah, kind of like that, but not nearly as much fun.” He positioned himself behind her and pulled her arm up so that her palm was facing the cactus. “Concentrate. Feel it down here.” He tapped her abdomen.

Liz looked at the mangled cactus and thought about bolts shooting from her hands, but nothing happened. She released a heavy sigh.

“It’s okay,” Max reassured her. “Just relax. Think about that sneeze building up. Think about it getting bigger and bigger until you can’t hold it any longer.”

Liz bit her lip, her brow furrowed in concentration. She did everything he told her to, but nothing happened.

An hour later, Liz was sitting on a rock holding her aching head while Max stared dejectedly at the still-standing cactus. They’d tried everything, but had been unsuccessful in getting her to show the slightest inclination that she now had some sort of powers.

“I don’t get it,” Max mumbled.

Liz looked up at him, his shoulders stooped, his face a mask of disappointment. He really wanted her to be like him. But she couldn’t get over the thought that maybe she wasn’t like him. Worst yet, she was hoping that was the case.

“Max,” she said, ignoring the throbbing in her temples. “Maybe I don’t have powers.”

He turned to look at her, his hands on his hips. But what about the ring? And the kitchen tile? And that motel fire?

She seemed to read his mind. “Maybe it was a passing phase.”

He watched her silently. It could be possible. Maybe all of the chemical changes in her body were unbalanced, and now that the cellular mutation was complete she was back in balance and the powers were gone.

Later that night, they lay on the sleeping bags, kissing for the first time since she’d left for Boston. The sensation of having her back in his arms made Max want to cry. Tonight she seemed sort of happy, like she’d decided her alien crisis was over and they could move on with their lives. They both knew that they needed to take things slowly, so for now they would settle for kissing and touching. Intimacy could come later – they had all of the time in the world.

Smiling, Liz pulled away and kissed the end of his nose. “I can’t remember,” she said.

“You can’t remember what?” he asked, frightened that perhaps she was digressing.

“Being this happy. I am happy, Max. I feel better, I feel healthy, and I’m here with you. What do I have to be unhappy about?”

As she snuggled into him, Max was paralyzed with the folly of his thinking. He’d reasoned himself into believing that Liz’s theory was true, that she had somehow matured out of her fits of burning things. But maybe he was totally wrong.

Quickly, he thought back over the times when Liz had accidentally caught things on fire – and they were all times when she’d been frustrated, impatient, frightened, threatened or angry. Her powers seemed to be out of control when her emotions were out of control. Since he’d whisked her away from the outside world and built this protective bubble for her, she’d felt none of those negative feelings. In a sense, he was doing more harm than good.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up into his face.

He forced himself to smile. “Nothing. I just got lost in thought there for a minute.” He tightened his grip around her and tried to will himself to sleep…

Max, are you there?

I’m here, Iz.

How are things going?

I think I have a problem.

What is it?

I think the only way Liz can get her powers to surface is if she’s under stress of some kind. I can’t teach her to control them unless she can make them happen.

So, stress her.

I’m not sure I can.

Oh, yeah, I forgot – Max the Saint.

I need someone to help me piss her off. Someone who’ll really get under skin and get her blood boiling.

Not a problem. I’ll send Michael.

tbc

~~~~~~~
* Dialogue borrowed from "Max in the City"

Whew! I thought there'd be some Candy out there who would take offense to Michael being the antogonist Maybe this next part will flush them out Remember - he's only doing it because he has to


Part Sixteen

Max awoke slowly the next morning, his thoughts rolling over his and Isabel’s dream-time conversation. Michael would arrive some time that afternoon, ready to be annoying. Even though Max new Liz liked Michael, he some times got the impression she was more or less “tolerating” him because he was Max’s brother. If there hadn’t been a common bond, he doubted if Liz and Michael would even be friends. If anyone could irritate Liz into reaction, it was Michael.

If that worked at all. There were two possibilities – either Liz had been going through a phase and didn’t really have powers, or she had the powers but could only use them if provoked. This afternoon, they would find out for sure.

Max drew in a deep breath and blinked lazily into the dim light of the pod chamber. It was odd what light deprivation could do – he had no idea what time it was or how long they’d been asleep. Beside him, Liz was spooned up tight against him, her shoulder rising and falling gently with her breathing. Max watched it move up and down a few times, but his thoughts suddenly turned to their proximity.

His arm was around her waist, his knees curled beneath hers; her head was resting against the pillow of his bicep. They fit so well together – like hand in glove. He remembered all of his lonely nights in various cheap motel rooms when he and Isabel had been on the road, nights when dreamed he’d wake up and find Liz beside him much as she was now. This was how they were meant to be – together. To Max, they were already man and wife – the only thing that denied that fact was a slip of paper the courts would give them. That wasn’t a marriage. This, being together, loving and respecting one another, was a marriage.

Unable to resist, Max made a lazy circular motion against her flat stomach. He nuzzled into her hair, planted a light kiss against her neck. She released a content little sigh, still asleep. Allowing himself a smile, he slid his hand over the curve of her hip, down to the bottom of the T-shirt she was sleeping in. Sneaky as a thief, he slipped his hand under the hem and started a slow advance up her body.

Her skin was warm and soft, something he remembered so well that he immediately ached with the yearning to be with her again. As his fingers slid over her stomach, she drew in a quick breath and the rhythm of her breathing changed. Max hesitated, waiting to see if she was going to stop him. When she didn’t, he resumed his roaming and increased his assault on the soft skin of her neck.

He captured her breast gently, caressed the sensitive skin. Beneath his palm, he could feel the quick beat of her heart – too quick for someone who was still asleep. She pushed her body back against his and he had to concentrate not to release a groan.

As his hand moved to her panties, he breathlessly whispered against her ear, “I love you, Liz.”

He took the panties by the elastic and pushed them down as far as he could, then pulled them the rest of the way off with his toes. As he was about to take her from behind, she shook her head and started to pull away. All hopes fell straight to his toes.

“No,” she said, her voice still throaty from her slumber. “I want to see you.”

Max broke into a smile as she rolled over to face him, her cheeks flushed from her sleep, making her appear like a radiant, glowing angel. He opened his arms for her and pulled her in tight to him, their lips meeting in an intimate lover’s kiss.

In the cool darkness of the cave, they moved together quietly, lovers transcending all earthly worries. The calm before the storm.

**********

“So, when can we go home?”

They were sitting outside of the pod chamber, on a rock they’d claimed as their own. Each day, they came out to that rock and lay in the sun like lizards baking themselves. They were happy for the light and warmth, a stark contrast to the pod chamber.

Max eyed Liz curiously.

When he didn’t respond, she looked down at the sand between her feet. “I mean, I seem to be normal, don’t I?”

He couldn’t argue with that. But he also couldn’t rule out that she wasn’t normal, either. “You do,” he agreed. “But let’s just stay here for awhile. I spent so long searching for you that I’m not quite ready to share you just yet.” He baited her with a smile. “Besides, I’d like a few more mornings like this morning.”

Her cheeks flushed slightly. “Yeah…that was awesome, huh?”

He nodded and put and arm around her shoulders, kissed the side of her head. “The best.” His gaze shifted up to the top of the rock formation. “You know, when all of the four square mumbo jumbo was going on, Isabel dreamed that she and Michael had sex on the peak up there.”

Liz followed his gaze. “Really?”

Max nodded, then smiled. “I wonder what it’s like…”

She looked at him in surprise.

“Maybe tomorrow?” he asked, grinning.

She laughed. “It’s kind of high, don’t you think?”

He shrugged. “It will only add an element of danger to it.”

He was serious. She eyed the peak. “Sex on a cliff, huh?”

“Why not?”

She was about to agree to give it a try – somewhat tentatively – when she heard a buzzing noise. “What’s that?”

Max looked around. “What?”

“That sound.” She cocked her head. It was getting louder. “Don’t you hear it?”

He listened carefully and kept himself from grinning. It sounded very familiar to him. “It kind of sounds like a motorcycle.”

Liz’s eyes fixed on a moving speck below them. “Or a dirt bike,” she said, sitting up straighter and pointing at the speck. “Is that Michael?”

Max squinted, pretending he couldn’t tell. “Maybe…”

The sound grew louder and the image grew clearer until Michael pulled up beside them, skidding the bike sideways and throwing sand all over their legs and feet. Liz coughed and Max tried to look equally annoyed.

Michael cut the engine and pulled off his dust-covered helmet. “Greetings, earthlings,” he said, tossing them a smirk.

“Michael!” Max spouted, getting up to greet him. “What are you doing out here?”

Liz got up without as much enthusiasm. “Hey, Michael.”

“The bitch sent me,” Michael said as he got off the bike. Liz’s eyebrows rose sharply.

“The bitch?” Max questioned.

“Yeah, that sister of yours. God, she’s a bitch sometimes.” He moved to the back of the bike and untied a box he’s strapped back there for transportation. “Brought some steaks.” He held the box out to Liz. “Why don’t you make those for us?”

With a half-scowl, Liz reached for the box but Michael let it go before she had a grip on it. The box fell to the sand and Liz eyed him in irritation.

Being the ever-caring boyfriend, Max retrieved it for her. Inside, he was screaming with delight – Michael had been there for a mere two minutes and had already insulted Isabel, ordered Liz to cook for him and then pulled the stunt with the box. Max had to hand it to him – Michael was a master asshole when he wanted to be.

Silently, as was her manner when she was starting to get pissed, Liz glanced at Max, then disappeared into the pod chamber to get the grill.

Max waited until she was out of earshot, then turned to give Michael a brotherly clap on the back. “Thanks for coming, man.”

“Not a problem,” Michael said, brushing some of the dust off his clothes. “Listen – anything I say or do tonight, I don’t really mean, okay? Isabel explained the situation and I think I know which buttons to push. But I may need to be a little cruel and I don’t want you going all Mr. Sensitive on me and getting pissed off.”

Apprehension turned in Max’s stomach. The warning was troublesome. He wanted Liz pissed, not hurt. “Okay. I’m trusting you, Michael. Just don’t hurt her, okay?”

“I wouldn’t. Shh – I think she’s coming.”

Liz emerged from the cave and dropped the grill onto the ground. She lit it, then retrieved the box of steaks. Max and Michael sat down on the rock, letting her do all of the work.

“So, what have you been up to?” Max asked. “What’s going on in the real world?”

“I’m trying to find Maria an apartment,” Michael announced.

From the corner of his eye, Max saw Liz look up quickly at the mention of her friend’s name. They definitely had her attention.

“Oh?” he said. “Why’s that?”

Michael shrugged. “Mainly, because I don’t want her sponging off me.”

Max saw Liz bristle.

“But also because she lived with four guys, Maxwell. Tell me what nineteen-year-old can live with a member of the opposite sex and not want to do things, you know? Let alone four of them. She’s been around – not sure I want any part of that.”

Max looked over at Liz in the guise of checking on dinner. “Need help with that, love?”

Her jaw was set and she only shook her head. It was working.

Michael glanced at her, then the grill. Quickly, he jumped to his feet and reached the grill in three long strides. “Jesus! Who taught you to cook?”

Liz withdrew sharply and Max felt his first stab of guilt. Maybe he couldn’t go through with this. Looking at her round, dark eyes, he was almost sure of it. What if they did all of this damage only to find out she really didn’t have any powers? There would be no explaining their behavior and she’d be hurt. Maybe this had been a bad idea.

“Turn the flame up a little,” Michael commanded brusquely, then moved to do it himself before she could. “Forget it – you’d probably get that wrong, too.”

Liz pushed herself to her feet, her eyes blazing.

Michael fiddled with the grill, then kicked it over. “Ah, fuck it! This piece of shit is never going to cook them right anyway.” His voice rose harshly and he spun quickly to address Max. “You know what, Maxwell? You wouldn’t even be out here in the middle of nowhere trying to cook top-cut steaks on a butane grill if you’d have just let her die like I told you to.”

Losing track of their mission, Max rose quickly to his feet. “What did you just say?!”

“I mean it,” Michael continued, waving a hand in Liz’s direction. “I told you that day in the Crashdown to just let her bleed to death. But NO – you had to go riding in like a knight on a white horse and what did you get in return?” His jabbed a finger at Liz. “Baggage, Maxwell. That’s all you’ve got is baggage.”

“How can you say that?” Max defended, realizing that while Michael was pushing Liz’s buttons, he was also pushing Max’s. “I love Liz –“

“Oh, please!” Michael rolled his eyes to the sky. “I’m so tired of hearing that. The only reason you think you ‘love’ her is because she’s the only one who knows the secret, Max! It’s a relationship of convenience! THAT’S ALL!”

Button successfully pushed, Max lunged at Michael and the two of them tumbled into the sand, fists flying.

“Stop it!” Liz shouted. “Michael, stop hitting him!”

And then Max felt it – a definite build-up of electricity in the air. Apparently Michael felt it as well as he stopped struggling. Gasping for breath, the boys lay side by side on the ground and looked up at Liz.

Eyes blazing, limbs trembling, she held her right arm outstretched, her palm pointed directly at Michael.

tbc

Part Seventeen

Max scrambled to his feet, but Michael remained sprawled in the sand, breathing heavily. Max quickly joined Liz, standing slightly behind her, ready to react if he needed to. Dark eyes wide, he felt panic starting to spread throughout his body. This had been a mistake.

“Liz,” he said quickly. “You don’t want to hurt Michael.”

But her eyes were fixed on her target, her jaw set in anger. Max understood her reaction and the struggle to control it – it was a primal instinct to protect, to defend. In her human life, Liz had never experienced such a strong emotion. Max doubted she even understood it entirely.

In response to her lover’s words, Liz nodded her head.

Michael’s eyes grew a little bigger, realizing that she really wanted to pulverize him. Instinctively, Michael put up a hand, ready to defend himself.

“Michael, put that down!” Max commanded, his eyes fixed on Liz. If she perceived a threat, she would strike.

Michael quickly dropped his hand back to his side.

“Now, listen to me, Liz,” Max said, his voice low, his words slow, trying to maintain control of the situation. “We’re going to get rid of that energy you’ve got penned up – and not on Michael.” He glanced a fair distance away, to the damaged cactus. “We’re going to finish the job with the cactus.”

She shook her head, her eyes filled with hatred and still fixed on Michael.

“Yes, we are,” Max commanded gently, then cautiously put his hands on her waist. “I’m going to turn you, slowly. Don’t do anything yet, okay?”

For some reason, she allowed him to do just that. He didn’t know why, but thanked God anyway. He turned his arms until Liz was facing the cactus.

“Let it go,” he told her.

In a flash, an energy bolt erupted from her palm, blazed across the desert and pulverized the cactus. Wet bits of the plant flew into the air, then hit the ground with a slap. Liz blinked as though coming out of a trance, then drew in a quick breath when she saw what she had done. She whirled quickly to see Michael still prone, wiping blood from his lip, and immediately burst into tears.

“No, no, no,” she sobbed into her hands.

Max blinked in agony as he heard her pitiful cries and pulled her into an embrace. She didn’t return it, however, as she continued to cover her face with her hands.

Michael pushed himself to his feet, for once in his life without words. He’d accomplished his mission – but at what price?

“Max, I’m –“ he began.

“Maybe you should go inside,” Max said, his voice stern. He continued to hold Liz, rubbing her back in comfort.

Michael looked helplessly at her and then to his friend. “I’m sorry, Max, but I only did what you asked me to.”

Liz’s head popped up, her face a mask of disbelief. “What did you just say?” She twisted around so that she could see Max’s face. “What did he say?”

Max drew in an uneasy breath, then addressed Michael. “Michael, please go inside, okay?”

Michael pursed his lips, realized there was nothing he could do to help, and disappeared into the pod chamber.

Liz’s dark eyes were hard, the tears almost gone now. “What did you do, Max?” Her voice held so much accusation that he felt like he’d been accused, found guilty and put to death all within those five words.

“I asked Michael to help me,” he said, smoothing her upper arms.

She stepped back out of his embrace. “Help you? Help you do what?”

Max looked back at their rock. “Liz, let’s sit down and talk about this-“

“No,” she resisted, shaking her head. “You tell me what you did.”

He sighed, suddenly feeling ashamed. “I had a theory that I needed to prove.”

“A theory,” she repeated, her voice dead.

He nodded. “All of the times your powers showed up, you were stressed or upset or angry about something. Since we’ve been here you haven’t been any of those things.”

She snorted and looked away, shaking her head. “Do you hate to see me happy, Max?”

“No, that’s not it.” He tried to smile at her and realized it wasn’t being accepted. “I want you to be happy more than anything. And if I get to be happy with you, then that’s all the better. But I couldn’t risk letting you back into the outside world knowing that you might blast something as soon as something upset you.”

“Let me back into the outside world?” Liz snapped, her voice suddenly very loud. Internally, Max did a quick memory scan of how to put up the green shield in case she decided to blast him as well. “I’m not a freakin’ dolphin you’ve been nursing back to health!”

“Liz, I know that,” he took a step toward her and she took a step back.

“You intentionally had Michael come up here to antagonize me, didn’t you?”

Ashamed, he silently nodded his head.

“Jesus, Max! Why didn’t you just talk to me?!”

“Liz, I was afraid if I told you my theory, you’d go out of your way not to let me piss you off. I didn’t think I could do it myself, so I asked for help.”

Liz closed her eyes and Max could see her starting to tremble. When her hand shot up, he flinched, but her outburst was aimed at a tumbleweed near where the cactus had been. The dried bush flared into flames immediately.

“Guess what, Max,” Liz said, the hurt so evident in her voice that Max felt her pain. “You’re more than capable of pissing me off.”

And of hurting her, he realized as he watched her start to walk briskly away. It was an all-too-familiar scene – Max devastated, Liz running away from him, all against the back drop of the pod chamber.

“Liz, where are you going?” he called, wishing she would return and they could talk.

She didn’t reply, only continued to walk until she’d disappeared over the drop of the rock formation. Max kicked at the sand. He didn’t follow her because he knew that it would be dark soon and that she wouldn’t get very far before she turned around.

He didn’t follow her because he knew she didn’t want him to.

********

“I really am sorry, man,” Michael said for the hundredth time as he watched Max toss some brush onto the small fire they’d built outside of the pod chamber.

“Save it, Michael,” Max said, his patience pretty much shot.

“I told you before I did anything that I meant none of it.”

Max stood upright, put his hands on his hips. “You didn’t pull any punches, did you? Christ, I knew you had a mean spirit sometimes, Michael, but could you have been any more cruel?”

Michael looked down into the sand. “I thought that I should do it as quick as possible.”

“So that you could get out of here and go home as quick as you could?”

He shook his head. “No. I thought that if I could make a fast offense, then her defense would be just as fast. And it was.”

Max scratched his forehead tiredly and looked to the entrance of the pod chamber. Liz had returned barely before dark as he’d predicted, but then she’d disappeared into the cave and he’d seen nothing more of her. He dropped down into the sand beside Michael.

“I didn’t mean any of it,” Michael repeated. “I never told you to let her bleed to death in the Crashdown. I don’t believe that you’re only with her because it’s convenient. But I needed to piss you off.”

Max pointed a finger into his chest, his eyebrows rising quickly. “Me? You were supposed to upset Liz.”

“I know. But I think the instinct to defend is stronger than the instinct to be angry. Anger is a subjective thing – you can choose to take something offensively or just let it go. But a threat isn’t subjective. There’s no reasoning if something is a threat or not. You just know.”

Max stared at him incredulously. When did Michael become so smart?

“So,” Michael continued. “I needed you to come after me. And if you did, then I knew she’d react.” He gave Max a lopsided grin. “Liz loves you, Max. She’s never going to let anything happen to you.”

Max sighed, his anger at his brother dissipating. “You’re right, Michael. It was just…harsh.”

“I know. I can apologize to Liz, if you’d like…”

Max shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s not even speaking to me right now. As mad as she is at you, I’d be afraid she’d blast you.”

Michael snorted a little laugh. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“I’m sorry about your lip.”

Michael reached up and touched it. “It’s okay. I deserved it. I guess I should get out of here, huh?”

Max shook his head. “Not tonight. Albuquerque is a long ride, and it’s dark already. You can camp here for tonight.”

“Okay. I brought my sleeping bag,” he said, gesturing toward the bike. “In case it took me two nights to piss her off.”

Max allowed himself a small laugh. “Michael, it didn’t even take you one night. How long was it – half an hour?”

Michael laughed, as much as he ever laughed. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll camp under the stars tonight. Not sure I want to be in there with the head hunter.”

Inside the pod chamber, Max realized that Liz was gone. He looked quickly from one corner to the next, panic filling his body, until he realized there was only one place she could have gone. Squeezing his body through one of the bottom pods, he pulled himself to the other side, where the granilith had once stood.

Liz was sitting near the pit that had been left when the ship had departed earth. It broke Max’s heart to see her looking so small, so broken. Her knees were pulled up to her chin and she was rocking slowly back and forth. For one brief moment, he feared that she had reverted back into her head, into the personality the hospital workers had called “Maggie.”

But when he sat down beside her, he saw that the rocking was only a product of her upset state, that she was crying softly to herself. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the gaping hole she was ripping in his heart.

“Wow,” he said softly, looking down into the abyss. “That’s one big hole.”

Liz sniffled but didn’t respond.

“And I’m one big asshole,” he continued. “I’m sorry, Liz.”

“I didn’t want it to be true,” she choked out.

Seeing she wasn’t going to lash out again, he put his arm around her tenderly. “You didn’t want what to be true?”

“This,” she said, looking at her palm. “I was hoping so much that it had been a passing thing, that I could just go back to being what I was before.”

Max felt a burning in the corners of his eyes and willed it away. “Liz, I’ll love you no matter what happens to you.”

She met his eyes briefly and he could see a hint of bitterness in them. “Because I’m the only one who knows the secret?”

Max shook his head. “You know that’s not why I’m with you. How could you even doubt that?”

Liz looked away, not liking that he’d questioned her belief in him. Not that he could blame her if she did – he’d just set her up.

“I can teach you to use those powers,” he offered, trying to infuse some enthusiasm into his voice. “It will be fun.”

“Fun? Fun, Max? I don’t call blowing things up and nearly flattening a friend ‘fun.’” She shook her head. “And how could you do that to me? How could you set me up like that?”

“I did what I felt I had to, Liz,” Max said gently. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. I’m sorry if Michael hurt you. He feels horrible about it.”

“He should.” Liz looked back into the abyss. “And so should you.”

In that reprimand, Max understood fully that Liz’s trust in him was wavering. He was never going to be able to help her if she didn’t trust him.

Michael felt a presence nearby and looked up to see Max spreading his sleeping bag on the other side of the fire. “What are you doing?” he asked curiously.

Max gave him a wan smile. “It’s a little chilly in there tonight,” he explained. “I thought I’d come out and share the fire with you.”

Michael nodded silently. He understood completely.

Max, are you there?

I’m here, Iz.

How did it go?

World War III.

Oh, shit! Who’s hurt?

Physically, no one. Emotionally, everyone. It was a bad idea, Isabel.

I’m sorry, Max.

But we did learn that Liz does indeed have some kind of ability.

That’s great!

Not really. She’s really upset with me and I don’t think she’ll let me help her.

Wonderful.

Iz, I need a favor.

Anything, little brother.

You were the one who could get through to her at the hospital. She trusted you. I think she’d trust you again.

Say no more. I’ll be there tomorrow.

tbc

Part Eighteen

Morning didn’t bring a magic Band-Aid to heal all of the bad feelings at the pod chamber. Michael quietly packed his sleeping bag and left the rock formation, again expressing his regrets to Max. Liz remained inside the pod chamber, so he never got to apologize in person.

After Michael had gone, Max warily entered the cave to seek out his fiancé. He found her sitting on her sleeping bag, looking at a magazine that she’d found in their bags. As he watched her, he realized that even though he’d physically found Liz days ago, he was still searching for her mentally and emotionally. Never before had he had such a difficult time understanding her and communicating with her. He said all the wrong things and the things he did were far worse than the things he said. Quite simply, he no longer knew what to do.

Max approached her and slowly sat down before her, on the cold stone of the chamber since his sleeping bag was still outside by the fire. “What’re you reading?” he asked quietly, just trying to make conversion.

Liz glanced over the top of the magazine at him and held it up, reading aloud the title, “Ten Ways to a Better Orgasm.”

Max’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Oh. There are ten ways to improve on that? Anything I should know?”

She looked at him silently, then returned to her reading. But deep down Max knew she wasn’t really absorbing the words – it was all an act so she could avoid looking at him.

“Liz, can we talk?”

She glanced up again, worked her lips, but didn’t answer.

“Please?”

Drawing in a breath of patience, she closed the magazine and laid it down before her, her motions deliberate.

He met her gaze, dark eyes on dark eyes, and tried to find the best way to broach the subject to her. “I really am sorry for what Michael and I did to you, Liz.”

She drew in her bottom lip and looked away.

“I didn’t know what else to do. So, I’m sorry for that.” He paused a moment, then let the cat out of the bag. “Isabel is coming today.”

Liz’s eyes shot to his, full of disbelief.

“I know you want to go home,” he continued, keeping his voice calm and steady. “And I don’t think you want me to help you right now.”

In her eyes, he thought he saw a glimmer of regret, but he couldn’t be sure.

“So I asked Isabel if she might try to help you control what is happening to you.”

Liz saw the pain in his eyes at having been shut out, but she quickly put up her defensive wall before he could see her sympathy for him.

“I know you know you’re not my prisoner – the keys have been in the Chevelle this whole time and you haven’t tried to leave,” Max continued. “Which leads me to also believe that you know you need help. If you don’t want Isabel’s help, you may ask her to leave. But the sooner you learn to control your powers, the sooner you can go home.”

She realized that he’d been saying “you” a lot, when things had always been discussed in terms of “we.”

“I’m going to go on a hike, I think,” he announced. “I’d like it if you would give Iz a chance, but that’s up to you.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I love you, Liz. Don’t ever doubt that.”

**********

Liz sat on the rock that she and Max had once proclaimed theirs and looked across the barren, tan expanse of the desert. He was out there somewhere, climbing rocks or investigating a cave he’d found. She’d watched him walk away, no rejection in his step as he’d strapped on a backpack and headed down the mountainside. Once upon a time he would have asked her to go with him. But now it seemed there was a divide between them, one that neither of them understood.

Liz understood Max’s need to help her. What she didn’t understand was his methods. But she tried putting the shoe on the other foot and if she was in the same situation, she hadn’t a clue how she’d handle it.

What Max apparently didn’t understand was what all of these “changes” were doing to her. She didn’t want to be super human. She didn’t want to be able to blast things at will – or sometimes without her will. She wanted to just be Liz Parker, normal human being, non-arsonist. Why couldn’t he understand that everything she used to be was now compromised? Could she seriously work in a lab with chemicals when she was setting things on fire? All her life, that’s all she’d wanted to be – a researcher – and now that was in jeopardy because maybe one day she’d have a bad day and the result would be mass destruction.

Why couldn’t he understand how upsetting that was?

Liz frowned at the realization that maybe Max didn’t really know her at all.

Before she could mire herself any deeper into her sullen mood, a dusty, maroon convertible pulled to a halt before her. Behind the wheel was Isabel, tall, tan and beautiful. She gave Liz a wide grin and a little wave as she stepped out of the car. Liz waved back half-heartedly and watched the alien approach her.

“Come on,” Isabel said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Liz’s eyebrows shot up. “Where are we going?”

“Ugh - any place but here. Aren’t you sick of the sand by now?”

Liz nodded and rose from the rock. As soon as she was clear, Isabel stooped and used her index finger to write a message to her brother on the rock – Took your chick, be back later, Iz. She gave Liz a grin and motioned to the car.

Somewhat apprehensive, Liz climbed into the passenger seat as Isabel took up residence behind the wheel again. As they pulled away, Liz glanced at herself in the sideview mirror and frowned – her hair was still short, growing at a snail’s pace, and she looked tired and beaten. Not attractive. Who would want to find ten better ways to give orgasms to this woman?

“Feel like tacos?” Isabel asked as she pulled the car onto the paved road that ran past the rock formation.

Liz felt her stomach growl and nodded silently.

They drove that way – soundlessly – for about forty five minutes, until a roadside taco stand loomed into view. Isabel grinned again and pulled off the road and parked the car.

“Max, Michael and I used to skip school and come here,” she explained, retrieving her handbag from the back seat.

Liz eyed the fine leather and frowned. “I didn’t bring any money.”

“My treat,” Isabel said happily as she opened her door and got out.

They ordered tacos and soda and sat at one of the outside picnic tables, deserted but for their presence. Liz eyed the alien perched atop the stand and found his sombrero odd but amusing. As they ate, Isabel dug around in her purse and pulled out some letter-size paper, folded three times.

“Emails from your parents,” she said, handing them to Liz, whose eyes lit up. “While you were…uh, away, we sent your parents notes every so often so that they wouldn’t worry. I didn’t read those. If you want to reply to them, I brought my laptop – you can type up your response and save it and I can send it when I get home.”

“Okay.” Liz looked down at the papers and suddenly felt a little ashamed. They’d all gone to such lengths to keep her disappearance a secret, to make sure her parents didn’t worry. She should be grateful to them.

Isabel sipped her pop and watched her patient silently. She set the plastic cup down and crossed her arms on the table. “I know what you’re going through, Liz.”

She snorted. “No you don’t.”

Isabel nodded. “I do. Do you think we just stepped out of the pods and went ‘Oh, look! A death ray!’? No, didn’t quite happen like that.”

Liz watched her silently, her eyes curious.

“Remember when you went through puberty and all of those scary things that happened to your body?”

Liz nodded, remembering all too well.

“Well, you could go to your mom and ask her if you were afraid. And she would explain to you what was happening and why it was nothing to worry about. Now imagine realizing that you can change things pretty much just by thinking about it and having no one to talk to about it.”

Liz’s eyes grew round; she’d never thought about what a terrifying thing that must have been.

Isabel gave a little laugh. “For me, it was Malibu Barbie. I was about eight, I guess. I was playing in my room and I kept wondering what Barbie would look like with red hair. Three seconds later, I had a redheaded bombshell in my hands.” She laughed, finding humor in something that had been anything but funny at the time. “God, I freaked! I had no idea what had happened or even that I’d done it. But somewhere deep down, I knew it was something I couldn’t share with my parents. I don’t know why – I guess it was a survival instinct.”

Liz cocked her head, always the scientist trying to put the pieces together. “Didn’t they find the Barbie with the red hair?”

Isabel laughed again. “No, I got really good at picking up my toys. That doll disappeared until we found a way to put her hair back – which was a few years later.”

“What about Max?”

“Oh, poor Max,” Isabel grinned. “He wasn’t as good at concealing his blunders as I was. He’s never been good at being devious. Most of the time, he’d ruin something and we’d break it together or something so that we could throw it out. I think our parents just thought he was a klutz. He grew out of it – eventually.” She snorted a little laugh.

Liz looked surprised. “Really?”

“Hell, yeah. He wasn’t always the graceful being he is now, Liz. Max was always doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Maybe that’s why since he’s been older he’s tried harder than the rest of us to conceal his abilities – he remembers what it was like when he couldn’t.”

Just like me, Liz thought, looking at the tabletop. He pushed her and set her up because he knew first hand what it would be like if she were to slip up some day.

“Look,” Isabel continued, picking up her taco. “I know that you’re mad at the boys, but they were only trying to help. Granted, their methods are a little caveman sometimes but they meant well. They’re guys – they’d build a sand castle with a bulldozer.”

Liz snorted a little laugh, then her face fell solemn again. “It’s not just the guys, Isabel.”

“No?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t...I don’t want to be like this.”

Isabel put down the taco and regarded her seriously. “I know that. I didn’t want to be like this, either. But I am like this and so are you. There is nothing you can do to change that.”

Liz frowned.

“But why is it so bad? I remember after Max healed you that you wanted to be involved in everything alien.”

“But I never wanted to be an alien,” Liz corrected.

“And you’re not one now, Liz. You’re still human. You used to be a human fascinated by new and different things. What happened to that?”

“Well, I never counted on being the ‘new and different thing.’”

“But now that you are, aren’t you the least bit curious?” Isabel was smiling widely. “I remember I was terrified when I first found out I could go into other peoples’ dreams. Trust me – there are just some things you don’t want to see. Anyway, once I got over the fear, I started realizing it was a fun gift to have.” Her cheeks flushed slightly. “Not that I’m condoning anything I did in those early days, you understand…”

One corner of Liz’s mouth lifted into a grin.

“But aren’t you even the least bit curious about what you can do?”

Liz snorted. “I can burn things, apparently.”

Isabel shook her head. “Liz, none of us has purely destructive powers. I didn’t even know I had one at all until the whole incident with Congresswoman Whittaker. We all have additional, wonderful gifts. Max heals people. I can dreamwalk. Don’t you want to know what you can do?”

Now that she put it that way, Liz had to admit she was curious. All of this time, she’d been assuming that her gifts would all involve fire and destruction. But now she was wondering if maybe she had something a little more special than that.

“I can help you,” Isabel offered casually, picking up her taco and taking a bite.

Liz watched her silently for a moment.

Isabel swallowed and wiped the corners of her mouth. “If you want me to. Max and I didn’t have anyone to go to to ask questions when we were developing our powers, but you could come to me if you wanted.”

Liz nodded her head slowly. “Yes. I think I would like that.”

Isabel grinned. “Good. Now eat that taco so we can get out of this friggin’ heat.”

Liz smiled back and picked up her taco. She felt a little better, a little relieved that she’d agreed to Isabel’s coming to the pod chamber. She hated to hope, but maybe things would be better now. When they returned, she would have to talk to Max to try to straighten things out. It was something they’d been missing for some time now – the ability to gently but bluntly speak their minds to one another.

As they climbed into the car, Liz asked, “Isabel, what is Michael’s special gift?”

“Being an asshole, apparently.”

tbc