Roswell Fanatics

The room in the Crashdown was called the 'birthday' room although it was used for all sorts of parties. It wasn't being used for a party tonight though. It was in fact a somber occasion that had brought Diane and Phillip Evans, Jeff and Nancy Parker, Maria DeLuca, Alex Whitman, Michael Guerin, and Isabel Evans together. They were planning a memorial service.

The call had come that morning from the NTSB. Except for Jim Valenti - still apparently searching the malpais - the search for the bodies of Max Evans and Liz Parker was being terminated. It had always been somewhat of a long shot but after innumerable helicopter flights it was decided that the bodies just weren't going to be found.

That simple telephone call - it appeared - was as much closure as any of them would get - at least in terms of actually knowing where the mortal remains were of their children, sibling, and friend. Of course it wasn't enough - it never is when the young are cut down before they even have a chance to really live. That's why they were planning for a memorial service. They wanted it to be a celebration of the lives of the two. That those two lives were all too short was obvious, if unspoken. The planning session wasn't going all that well.

If there was anything more painful than burying your only child, thought Jeff Parker, it was losing her without even knowing what had become of her save perhaps that it was a gruesome and perhaps terrifying end. Had Liz already been dead from the impact before her body was sucked from the plane? Was she - he hoped - unconscious when it had happened? Or had she been awake those long seconds - seen her death coming? The numbness - the disbelief - and the shock was now far enough past that he could contemplate thinking such questions although he was already sure those feelings would never really leave him. He could only hope that for Lizzy - for both of the children - it had been mercifully quick and that they hadn't suffered. Of course, that hope didn't really even mitigate his own suffering.

"Mr. Parker, you have a telephone call," said Hermosa Rodriguez, who was taking telephone calls for the take-out trade tonight."

"I'm sort of tied up...." protested Jeff. He really wasn't in a mood for business.

"I know that Jeff, but it's Deputy Valenti," said Hermosa. "He's pretty insistent he talk to you."

When last he'd heard from Jeff Valenti the man had been combing a trackless wasteland looking for the remains of his child. He certainly couldn't refuse to talk to him. He excused himself from the group and left the room to go to the office.

As Jeff Parker left, Diane Evans watched him go. Jeff himself seemed more dead than alive and she felt much the same way. Unlike him she had the solace of another child - she looked up to see Isabel talking softly to Alex Whitman. Isabel's eyes were red from a week of crying - but they still weren't really dry yet. The girl had been devastated by the loss of her brother - inconsolable, although young Mr. Whitman was doing his best.

Of course still having Isabel - fortunate as she and Philip were in that respect - did not offset losing Max. She had loved her children without ever favoring one over another but that didn't mean her love for them was exactly the same either. As long as she and Philip had had them, Isabel had always seemed the best adjusted of the two, while her brother had seemed the most vulnerable. Diane had, of course, loved them both but that vulnerability she had never been able to truly protect him from had always made Max - if not her favorite - at least the child for whom she showed the most concern.

Oh, she remembered that conversation - years ago - when Dr Marquardt had told her that the kids were like feral children - that they might never be able to embrace life either as members of their family or even as members of the human race. Thank God that had not been the case - or at least not totally. Until her brother's death Isabel had still been distant - a budding Ice Princess Philip had called her - although it seemed that the death of her brother had itself melted whatever was at the core of their daughter. Somehow in their shared grief for the two lost ones, the four teenagers all seemed closer - finding at least some small consolation in the shared company of the others.

But it had always been little Max that had been her greatest concern. Little Max who really couldn't seem to accept the notion that he was a human being like everyone else - one who ought to participate - and enjoy life - like anyone else. Little Max who - if it hadn't been for Liz Parker helping him along probably couldn't even have gone to public school. Little Max who - although she knew he did love her - had never been able to completely open his heart - even to a mother's love. She realized as the tears formed again in her eyes why it was so hard to think of her son being dead. Far more even than his sister - he had never really lived.

As Jeff Parker returned to the room he walked toward Diane and Philip and motioned for Nancy to join him. In a soft voice just to the three of them he whispered, "Jim Valenti is back. He says he needs to speak to us - that he found Max and Liz. I think we'd better hear what he has to say before we tell the others," Jeff said, nodding toward the teenagers.

It wasn't hard to guess what his thoughts were. The bodies had fallen a great distance and had lain out for the scavengers to pick over for nearly a week. All four of them had lived in the Southwest for a long time and realized how buzzards and other carrion eaters survived. Road kill animals were scarcely uncommon in the desert Southwest. In fact, by this time it might well be impossible to tell Liz from Max without forensic testing, and that certainly wasn't the image of their lost friends or sibling they wanted any of the teenagers to have.

"He wants to speak with us at the sheriff's department - he says he'll meet us at the back door."

Within minutes the four teenagers were told to keep up with the planning - that the two couples would be back as soon as possible. They piled in to the Evans car and in minutes were at the back door of the sheriff's department where the old jail had been.

As the car arrived in the back parking lot the back door opened. Both couples could tell that Jim Valenti had gone a few days without shaving and he looked pretty tired. He ushered them in to a medium sized conference room with a central table and a mirror along the front and motioned for them to be seated.

"I'm sorry that this took so long," he started. "As soon as the Search and Rescue squad was released from supporting evacuation efforts in the Lincoln National Forest landslide I went right to Holloman and made my services available to the National Transportation Safety Board investigators that are looking in to the Mesa Air crash. As far as what I learned on the board - well, this is off the record until they release their formal report of course, but here's what happened.

It would appear that the pilot of the aircraft was a very experienced pilot - superficially one of the best that the company had. He'd actually flown considerable hours with a major carrier - before he was furloughed several years ago. I say superficially because a deeper investigation revealed that the reason he was never hired back after furlough was that he had a positive urine test for cocaine. Unfortunately the chain of custody of the sample got screwed up and because it had the positive test wasn't legally sufficient to support either termination or criminal prosecution. The carrier furloughed the pilot and never called him back - but they didn't tell anyone about his problem.

The second problem with the pilot was that he seemed to be in the pay of a drug cartel. The evidence of that is indirect but fairly persuasive. His checking account showed a number of periodic electronic deposits from what was eventually confirmed to be an account owned by a drug cartel in Northern Mexico. What's more, all eight of the people picked up by the flight in Albuquerque were likewise associated with that cartel - including the drug lord and his primary adviser. There is also fairly persuasive evidence that the pilot met several of these people outside the security area and carried an illegal automatic weapon and four pistols through security for them. The four pistols were subsequently found with the bodies of four men who were identified as bodyguards for the drug kingpin in the wreckage of the aircraft. The illegal machine gun was found with other baggage in the Carizzozo malpais. It also appears that at a critical point in the flight - as the aircraft was encountering unforecast severe weather - the pilot was back in the cabin talking to the cartel kingpin - leaving the junior copilot in the company to fly the aircraft.

The copilot also had a number of problems. He was far more inexperienced than he should have been. He'd apparently falsified quite a bit of the flying time he claimed - both in applying for the job itself, and even for several of the ratings he held. He made critical mistakes when the pilot left him unsupervised - mistakes that ultimately lead to the aircraft being diverted to El Paso. Enroute there it was hit by a military aircraft that itself had lost all antennas as a result of a lightening strike.

Another mistake the copilot made was moving a number of the seats around - we think six - to make room for additional baggage. Tis was done in violation of company policy - and poorly done at that. Two of the seats were never fastened securely to the floor after being moved - those were the seats that Liz and Max were sitting on at the time of the midair collision. Because they were not securely attached when the aircraft was struck immediately behind those seats and a hole was ripped in the floor - well, the air pressure in the cabin pretty quickly pushed both of those seats right out into the slipstream carrying Liz and Max with them."

"Our children..." said Nancy Parker, her voice quavering,"...were they conscious during this time."

Jim Valenti nodded his head. "Neither one of them were hurt when their seats were sucked out of the aircraft. They were at about 25,000 feet then. They were in clouds down to maybe 15,000 feet or so - after that they could see the ground..."

"Oh my God," said Jeff Parker, the pain in his voice apparent, "they must have been terrified."

"Well, I certainly would have been. What apparently happened though was that Liz saw Max falling below her ... somehow managed to catch up to him and land on his back and clung to him - just wanting to be near him when the end came."

Nancy nodded her head slowly. "That sounds like Liz. So you found them together?"

"Eventually, yes I did - although it wasn't as straightforward as that. I found them days after we found their seats - and many miles away."

"But how is it they were scattered that far from the rest of the wreckage?" asked Philip Evans.

"It's sort of an involved story and I really don't know all of it. It started - as near as I can tell - in 1947."

"In 1947?" asked Jeff Parker, in confusion.

"In 1947 a flying saucer crashed in Roswell New Mexico. Within it were four pods. Exactly what happened to one of those we still aren't quite sure, but the other three of them - I guess you'd say they incubated children. Eventually - about nine years ago now - those children were released naked into the desert and two of those children were found by a passing car on a remote rural road in Chaves county and eventually adopted by the couple who found them."

"What kind of nonsense is this?" demanded Jeff Parker.

"Yes, what are you talking about," echoed Philip Evans.

Diane Evans looked at her husband and covered her mouth as the final piece in a puzzle that had tormented her for nine years suddenly clicked in to place. Philip looked at her and saw her silently nodding...

"That's impossible," said Phillip Evans in a voice so low - and so lacking in conviction - it was obvious to Diane that he too was seeing a hundred small clues suddenly in a new light. "isn't it?" he asked her. But Diane Evans wasn't answering. Instead she was replaying in her mind dozens of little incidents that had never quite made sense - toys that had placed out of reach that had somehow found there way into her childrens hands - toys that she'd seen broken with her own eyes that had subsequently somehow become good as new - a pigeon with - she was sure - a broken wing that Max had caught that had - against all logic -just flown away. But most of all she remembered their little faces looking up at her - faces that had seemed so many times like they wanted to tell their mother something - but had never found the courage to do it.

"Of course it is," insisted Jeff. "Deputy, we are aware of your father's tall tales - but I assure you we are NOT in the mood to listen to them. We have a tragedy here and it's tearing us apart. We don't need for you to claim that one of our children is an alien."

"I never said Max was an alien - but Max has never been entirely human either. That's what Liz found out as she watched the ground come up - waited for the impact...."

"Deputy, this is just being cruel...," started Jeff Parker, but as he started to speak there was a click behind them as the door opened and the rest of his words were cut off by the look on Nancy Parker's face as she looked back at the door. Nancy Parker's lips moved but no sound came out. Even so, Jeff Parker could tell what she said as she mouthed the word, 'Lizzy.'

The other three parents turned toward the door and saw the sight that had stunned
Nancy Parker into silence. A young couple dressed in sweatsuits holding hands - Liz and Max.

"Mommy....Daddy....," said Liz, "... the rest of Deputy Valenti's story goes something like this; Liz clung to Max's back - burying her head in his neck as the ground got closer - knowing she was going to die - and in the last thousand feet or so the wind that was whistling by suddenly started shrieking by. I could feel us decelerate even if I had no idea what was happening - or why."

She looked lovingly at the young man at her side before continuing, "...Max was using something called telekinesis to accelerate the air molecules - to give us more lift. He was using his powers to make the air underneath us hit his body fast enough that it supported both of us. Max stopped our fall a handful of feet above the ground and lost consciousness because he'd exhausted himself with the effort. We fell the rest of the distance and I broke my arm - Max fixed it the next day. Without Max I couldn't have possibly survived," Liz said, caressing his hand with both of hers, "...of course, that's hardly news. He's been doing that since the first day we met."

Diane Evans eyes went to her son. He'd never been good in stressful social settings and this one was as stressful as they came - but Liz was holding his right hand with her left and even from half a room away it was obvious he was drawing strength from the girl. His eyes, though, were on his mother.

Max's eyes flickered to Liz for a second and Diane saw the thin smile and sensed the encouragement there. With Liz's reassurance Max walked slowly up to his mother - his face reminding her of the time she'd caught him with his hand in a cookie jar - a cookie jar, if she remembered correctly, that had been placed far too high on the counter for him to have gotten his hands on it.

"Mom,. I am so sorry..." he got out before his voice faded and the tears started to come down. Diane saw Liz squeeze his hand and he turned to look in her eyes. Liz grinned back her own love and encouragement and - with her eyes -directed him back to the face of his mother.

"Liz says I'm an idiot..."

"Max, I did not...I said it was idiotic to worry about your mother never forgiving you for not telling her the truth. Forgiving their children their mistakes - and loving them despite them - that's just what mother's do..."

Despite Liz's support it was apparent to Diane Evans that Max was hovering on the edge of panic. She had a horrible feeling that if Liz just let go of his hand he was going back out the door and disappear into the night. But Liz didn't let go and Diane Evans stepped forward and gathered her son in her arms - her own tears now falling freely. "Well Max, you ARE an idiot if you thought this would make any difference - but you are my son and I love you - idiot or not."

Nancy Parker just reached out and hugged both children. The fact was she just didn't care. Once she'd seen Max Evans save her child by reaching out and grabbing a rattlesnake in midstrike. Perhaps even then she'd known deep down inside that he'd moved with greater than human speed and reaction time. Back then it had mattered to her only that Max had been successful in saving Liz from harm, and after spending the worst week of her life having her child be drugged and assaulted - then believing her dead - Nancy Parker didn't have to think twice. She had her daughter safe in her arms once more and Max Evans had again been the instrument of Liz's salvation. Had he been green with three eyes she would have likely hugged him anyway. He'd given her back her child.

"But - telekinesis... alien powers...," this is all so hard to believe," said Jeff Parker, Philip nodding his head in agreement. Liz looked at Max and squeezed his hand, smiling at him. They'd talked about this.

Liz climbed up on to her chair and then onto the table across from the parents, looking at them. Without warning she toppled backwards - her head rotating downward as she fell. Before she was quite horizontal the noise and rush of air started and before the alarmed faces of all four parents her fall slowed as the torus lowered her slowly to the floor.

"It's a lot harder when it's two of us and we are headed toward the ground at 2 miles a minute, but Max did it - he did it despite being exhausted from getting stun-gunned a half dozen times and spending a night in jail because I was an idiot."

"i wouldn't say you were an idiot," said Max, taking her hand and helping her up from the floor.

"No, Max, even when I treated you shabbily, you put up with me - you were still there for me. But I was an idiot, even though you are too gracious to admit it - but I'm not going to be an idiot anymore when it comes to us - that's why we are going to do this my way..."

"I told you there are other ways."

"Of course there are other ways," she said, looking at him lovingly,"... but you haven't convinced me that there are better ways - which is why I'm asking you to please to let me do this."

"Kids..., what are you talking about here?" asked Diane.

"We need a cover story for how we survived. Otherwise .... you've seen the crazy people who come here for the Crash festival. Even if the government didn't lock him up somewhere to study his powers - or do something even more awful to him and Isabel, what kind of life would he have ... would we have?"

"She's right," said Jeff Parker, nodding his head, "...but how can we possibly explain their survival?"

Jeff watched Max's face and saw the frustration there.... but it didn't seem to bother Liz at all. She just smiled and said, "It's easy really. I just become a scarlet woman."

"A ..... WHAT.....?" asked the four parents simultaneously.

"A scarlet woman. A friend of mine - Lexie Rudman - is going to call the NTSB in the morning after I call her and claim that she was there when we got off the aircraft. The story is that Lexie and Max and I flew to Albuquerque together where she got off, but that she hung around to see us off. That much is actually true.

Lexie will say that when Max and I got back on the aircraft and the copilot tried to make us sit in seats that we figured were unsafe, we got in an argument with him. Then the pilot came and took the copilots side of the argument and when we complained, he ordered us off the aircraft just before it taxied and Lexie will say she was even with us when we left the terminal. According to Jim, the surveillance tape there erases itself every five days - they won't be able to check.

She is going to say that she heard about the plane crash but assumed everyone knew we weren't on it. Then she's going to say I called her today from Pine Lodge where Max and I had been staying in a summer cabin we'd broken into and asked her to loan us money for food - and only after I told her did she know that everyone figured we'd died in the crash.

There simply isn't any way for our disappearance to not make the news. People are going to be suspicious that SOMETHING happened - but if we give them a scandal - a nice juicy one - if we imply that 'the perfect Miss Parker' is actually a delinquent who talked Max into running off with her for a week in the woods together - imply that I'm a seducer of a naive young man somewhat lacking in social skills who I wanted to ' pay back' because he kept me from being raped and then beat up my attacker - that ought to be scandal enough to take the heat off of Max, anyway. It makes me the story and if they want to look in to my background, I'm just a third-generation small town girl who somehow went astray, not someone who appeared mysteriously near the town where a flying saucer crashed.

So tonight Deputy Valenti is going to take us to Pine Lodge and we'll break in to a cabin a friend of his in Oklahoma owns - and we'll be there when the Lincoln County Sheriff's department investigates the NTSB guy's story. We'll probably just get some public service time - and because we are minors, they probably wouldn't even release our names."

"But Liz," protested Diane, "... even without your names being released - Roswell is a small town.... Everyone here would know who the two kids were - what the other kids would think of you.... I mean, fair or not, something like that carries a lot more of a stigma for the girl than for the boy. The reputation you would get would follow you socially forever..."

"I'm not a little girl, Mrs. Evans," said Liz, "...and I'm not risking Max's life because I'm worried about anyone thinking I'm having sex with him. If people chose to believe that...well, eventually they are going to be right anyway...," with a proud smile Liz held out her left hand showing her ring, "...because we are engaged."

"You are WHAT???" said four parents exceedingly close to simultaneously.

"That's impossible," said Jeff Parker, realizing even as he said it the irony of him now knowing the reality of his daughter and Max surviving a four mile fall from the sky while disputing the reality of a statement made when he could actually see the diamond ring on her finger. Oh, Liz was engaged alright. Whether that was good or bad might be debated - but there was no debating the ring on her finger or - Jeff forced himself to admit - the proud and possessive look on his daughter's face when she looked at the young man.

"It's not impossible, Daddy," said Liz, edging nearer to Max and reaching out her hand. His slipped over hers - even though he hadn't appeared to be looking at her.

"Max and I are engaged ... we know we are very young but it doesn't matter. Max is the only one that I could ever love - and for some crazy reason he loves me too. That's another reason why I don't care about my reputation. It's not like I want to date any other guys. Max is my friend - my best friend in the whole world - and someday he's going to be my husband."

"Liz," said Diane, "... I love Max too, but before either you or he make a commitment like that you really do need to date other people and ..."

"And what, Mrs. Evans? Pretend that they could measure up to Max and the feelings I have for him? Lead them on and let them think they actually have a chance - while pretending that my feelings for Max aren't real? Would that be respecting them .... or respecting Max .... or respecting myself?"

"Look, uh...folks," said Jim Valenti, "...everybody has an awful lot of new information to process and before anybody says anything they might regret, I think we need to take a short break for processing. Liz.... Max, here are the keys to my office. There's a coffeemaker there - the filter and coffee is in the drawer underneath it. Why don't the two of you go fix us a pot of coffee while I talk to your folks for just a minute?"

For a moment Liz seemed defiant - ready to continue to make her case, but then she saw Max's head slowly nodding. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Well OK, but you should understand, this ring is not coming off," she said looking determinedly at all four of the parents before looking back at Max and smiling.

"No," he agreed, smiling and taking her hand proudly, "It isn't. But our folks probably need a little time to think this over. We had almost a week to work this out. They've had what - ten minutes? We need to let them think this over and then we'll all talk. I went way too long without talking to my parents about where I came from - I don't want to make the same mistake about where I intend to go with my future - with our future. We need to listen to their concerns and do what we can to reassure them."

Liz smiled and nodded - then took his hand. "Dad takes it black, Mom with cream and sugar, your mom with just sugar, Deputy Valenti and your fathert I'm not sure about."

"Black for me," said Jim.

"Uh, same here I guess," said Philip.

As soon as the door closed behind the young couple - by this time even the parents were accepting that they were a couple with all the implications of that status - Jim let out a deep breath.

"I wanted to talk to you to tell you some of the rest of the story - before tempers got heated and words were said and threats were made that would have been hard to take back. I think even Max was starting to feel that was going to happen. Funny thing - he doesn't 'read' many people well - but he's getting quite good and understanding where Liz is going with something."

"The rest of the story? I mean they didn't really already do something did they?" asked Jeff Parker.

"They did a lot - but it isn't what you are talking about. Oh, it's no doubt headed in that direction - but I get the distinct impression that the ring was Max's idea and it was to forestall their getting involved in physical intimacy for awhile rather than to facilitate it.

But I can tell that you are all looking at Liz and Max and seeing your kids - your children - who you feel you have to protect and I'm afraid that protectiveness is going to make you do something that is going to drive a wedge between you and them and if that happens it's a real tragedy. Those two aren't children.

Maybe they aren't really adults yet - I think even they realize that - but if you define a child as a naive and vulnerable human being who needs to be protected from their own mistakes - they aren't that. A week ago I think they probably were - but it's been a long week. Jeff - Nancy, you may find this difficult to believe but about thirty-four hours ago your daughter was plotting to kill me..."

"To KILL YOU?"

"Yes, and emotionalism aside, she showed astounding maturity and concern when she did so. And from all information she possessed at the time, it was a totally reasonable decision. She could have simply killed me over what was a terrible misunderstanding but she had the wisdom and maturity to hedge her bets ... which is why I'm alive today.

What neither of the two of them would probably ever tell you is that - well I screwed up. You have no idea the wasteland they were in after the fall. Max was using his powers to construct small caves for them to shelter in. It got down to the teens during the night and they were wearing just light clothes - their jackets were in the aircraft that crashed and burned. When we were looking near where we found the seats I saw one of the caves they'd used. My father used to tell me about the shapeshifters from the saucer making shelters like that. I had no idea that Max or Liz might have survived, but I started to track what I thought were the shapeshifters - I guess to prove that all the people who had laughed at my father - and at me - were wrong. I had a vehicle and I was able to get in front of what I thought were shapeshifters.

I set an ambush. I wasn't really trying to kill them - not at first anyway - my plan was to catch them separated - to tranquilize and immobilize them one at a time - then call for help as soon as I had proof. Instead I wound up tranquilizing Max."

"You shot our son?" asked Philip. Valenti nodded unhappily.

"I didn't think it was Max. I'd dozed off - then there he was in front of me - burning the spines off a prickly pear cactus with his powers so that he and Liz could have something to eat. The shapeshifters - when they had broken away from the FBI - had taken on the appearance of a couple of FBI agents. I assumed that the shapeshifters had come across Max and Liz's bodies and - I don't know, maybe fed on them or something - then taken their forms. I put a tranquilizer dart in Max from concealment and he tried to find me before it had a chance to take effect - but I was too well hidden. He took off running. I was sure he was really a shapeshfter - running to get help from it's fellow creature. What it really was was Max - knowing he was being captured and trying to lead whoever and whatever had done this to him away from Liz.

When he finally went down he saw me, im fact he did his level best to disable or kill me, but he was way too drugged. But he'd scared me when he'd tried to use his powers on me - I was furious too - and said some things that were pretty xenophobic - and I was sure pretty soon this shapeshifters accomplice was going to show up. I decided the time for non-lethal force was past and I got out my shotgun with every intention in the world of killing that creature and desperate to put it down before it's fellow showed up.."

"So what made you stop, Jim?" asked Philip Evans.

"I stopped because that little girl who wants to be your daughter-in-law someday buster her walking stick over the back of mu skull, that's why. I'm not blaming her - hell, I'm glad she did it - but that was only part of the story. She'd heard be calling Max an alien - threatening to kill him - and they were already engaged. Another person might have finished me off as I lay there - I honestly wouldn't have blamed her if she had - I'd gone way over the line assuming that Max wasn't even a human. L:et's just say that Liz fixed it so after I woke up - well, I thought I had the force to kill those two shapeshifters but I had to talk to Liz first. Liz talked some sense in to me - I didn't know until later that if I'd have tried to hurt Max again I'd have been holding an empty pistol - and Liz would have had a very much loaded shotgun.

The point is she'd have used it. Again, I wouldn't have really blamed her. A man too stupid to learn the first time he tries to kill the wrong person probably ought not to get three chances - but the second point is that she had the wisdom to understand that I might have made a stupid mistake and the compassion to give me a chance to see reason. But make no mistake about it - had I tried to kill Max again, that little lass would have shot me down like a dog.

That may not strike you four as being mature but in my line of work I deal with people all the time who have neither the courage or the compasssion to pull off something like that. But even that is only part of it.

I've been talking to Liz and Max - knowing the secret - for almost a day and a half now. It's hard to learn about either one of them by asking them things - they just don't volunteer things about themselves. They sure talk about each other though.

I had to learn from Max that he was so incapacitated by stopping them from that fall that he was out for almost ten hours. The first of that was during a driving rainstorm - then it cleared off and got cold. Liz had a broken arm but even so - she dragged and pushed him into the hollow under a little ledge - the only shelter around - and then cuddled up next to him to keep him warm - herself sticking out of the shelter. Absent that Max would have probably died from exposure - Liz almost did - Max had to use his power to get her out of hypothermia the next morning.

Near as I can figure it, Liz saved Max's life twice - and mine once. Max saved her life from the fall and - well, hell - every day he found her food, water, and a shelter, I guess. But neither of them ever mentioned their own part - just what the other had done for them."

Nancy Parker nodded her head abd started to speak. "I remember a long time ago on a field trip - I was one of the room mothers - and Max and Liz had wandered off. I went to get them for lunch or a lecture or something. I finally spotted them with binoculars across a ravine - too far away even to yell to them. Lizzy spooked a rattlesnake and the damn thing struck at her without warning. Max caught it - and tossed it away from her. He didn't even tell her - I doubt she knows to this day. Right that day I decided I loved your son, Diane. He didn't brag - didn't try to impress Lizzy with what he'd done - just did what was necessary to save my child's life and pretended it hadn't even happened. You don't have to convince me that they are special kids, Jim, or that Max would never knowingly allow Liz to come to harm. I guess I know how she feels about him, too. I remember when she was kidnapped - I'd never seen her so frightened - but it turned out it wasn't being frightened by the kidnapper - it was because she'd seen Max go over the rail and didn't think he'd survived."

"But they are so young - and emotionally Max is even younger than he looks...," said Diane.

"Well I think I agree with the Sheriff - maturity is about more than calender age," said Nancy. "Besides, nothing you or Philip could ever say about your son would make me believe that he wasn't good for Liz, Diane. Without him I wouldn't even have her."

"But age makes a difference to the law," reminded Philip. "They may believe themselves to be engaged, but they are a long way from the legal age of consent."

"That may be fine for you two and Max," said Nancy. "Assuming we could keep Lizzy away from him I'm not sure that I'd want to. Waiting until the age of consent doesn't do Lizzy any good if she doesn't live to reach it. Am I overjoyed at the thought of them being engaged in middle school? No, I'm not. But thirty minutes ago I knew my child was dead. Now I know that Max pulled off a miracle and saved her again. I'm not wild about keeping them apart either - even if I do know that being engaged this young is likely to put pressure on them to start having sex earlier than if none of this had ever happened. But I guess if I have to I can deal with my daughter having sex earlier than I would wish. It sure seems vastly preferable to her being dead."

"At this point, I don't really think this is about sex - despite what Liz said when she was arguing for this cover story," said Jim, "... not yet anyway."

"No, said Jeff, "...but Nancy is right. Liz is only human and Max - Max is close enough. If we permit them to get engaged at this age..."

"I don't think permitting has anything to do with it," said Nancy. "They are engaged. We can fight that - and probably lose them. That's what you are trying to tell us, isn't it Jim?"

"Sort of. I just don't think that you are going to get those two apart. Yes they are awful young age-wise but the fact that each puts the other first is obvious. And I don't think you want to fight that because I think if you force that fight..."

"If we force that fight, we'll lose - is that it, Jim," asked Diane.

"You know, Max worried about telling you all the way up to and back from Albuquerque. Going up Liz reassured him that it wouldn't make any difference to you at all that he wasn't entirely human - that took about two hours. Coming back it was three hours of reassuring him that you'd forgive him for lying all these years. While we waited up in Albuquerque for four hours to get Miss Rudman alone, I witnessed a frustrated young man trying to come up with a different cover story - one that didn't involve the gossip-mongers having a free shot at his fiance'. You four have two remarkably kind and caring and - for their ages - quite mature and responsible kids who really do love their parents - probably as much as they love each other. But I think both of them also realize that they are each others future and - yes, I think if you force that fight you will lose."

The silence hung for several seconds. It was finally broken by Jeff Parker. "You know, the Parker family has a tradition. Every spring break we go camping. This year I'd like to invite Max along - maybe have a friendly little future father-in-law to future son-in-law talk..."

"Now Jeff, ....," Nancy started,but stopped when he held up his hand.

"I realize it's going to be a long time until they can get married. I'm also realistic enough to know that eventually they'll get to where they are doing more than just holding hands. I'm not going to encourage that, but if it does happen, I'm going to let Max know that we are going to be understanding of that - I'm going to let Liz know too. They are good kids - both of them - and I want to enjoy them being kids as long as I can. Then I want to enjoy them being young adult nd finally a family of their own. They are better as a couple - I think - than either one is separately. Max may be a little vexed that Liz's reputation might take a hit but I know my daughter and I saw the look in her eyes when she told us that. As long as she has Max - and he is safe - I don't think what people say will bother her a bit."

"Do the decision is....?" said Philip.

"To go with Liz and Jim's plan..." said Diane. The three other parents nodded in agreement.

"With luck we can have our kids back in another 12 hours or so," said a smiling Nancy Parker.

It was another five minutes when the two teenagers got back bringing five coffee cups.

"Liz.... Max..., looks like the deputy's going to be taking you to Pine Lodge," said Jeff Parker. "Oh, by the way, Max, I already talked to your mom and dad about this. I'd sort of like to invite you on the Parker family spring break camping trip, if you've got nothing planned that week."

Max looked at Liz and saw her smiling ... and blushing.

"I, uh.... I'd be delighted,. Mr. Parker."

"I think, Max, you might as well start calling me Jeff."

It was twenty minutes later and the group was splitting up - Liz and Max to go with Jim to Pine Lodge - the parents back to the Crashdown. Diane Evans caught Liz alone in the corner of the room for a quick woman - to - woman talk.

"Thank you, Liz, for taking such good care of my son all of these years."

"Mrs. Evans, Max is the one who takes care of me."

"Don't sell yourself short, dear, and please call me Diane. I taught Max to read and write and did the best I could to make up for all the things in life he had missed - but you were the one who made him human. I will always love you for doing that. I realize I'm not the main woman in his life any more, but I'd appreciate it if you let me keep him a while longer."

"Honest, Diane, we aren't planning on doing anything any time soon..."

"Well I think that's probably best but - can Philip and I still think of you as our new daughter anyway?"

"I'd like that," said Liz, blinking away her tears. "I'd like that a lot."

As they drove away from the Crashdown, Isabel was a little bit hurt. Planning a memorial service for her brother and Liz Parker had been one of those tasks that was a duty - certainly not a pleasure.

The first half-hour had been particularly hard - all four teenagers had spilled a lot of tears before they could actually get down to making progress - but they had been making progress - Alex and Maria and even Michael had cried their way through that first half hour or so - but then gotten down to some beautiful ideas to memorialize their departed. They had been anxious to share those ideas with the adults and hear the news - had he actually found their remains? Instead they'd been treated much like - well - children.

The adults had come back - said Jim Valenti really had nothing to report - and told the teenagers they'd done enough for tonight. The adults had given everybody the bum's rush and her mom and dad had dropped Alex, Michael, and Maria off at their homes enroute back to theirs. That had been bad enough... but what was now happening in the front seat was even worse.

Isabel watched with amazement from the back seat as her parents actually smiled at each other. As if that weren't bad enough, her mother cuddled next to her father and she distinctly heard her whisper in his ear, "This is one of the happiest days of my life."

That was enough. Maybe she was a budding Ice Princess and sometimes drama queen, but that didn't mean she didn't have a hot temper - one she rarely showed without provocation perhaps, but tonight was certainly provocation enough.

"How can you two possibly act like that? Doesn't it matter to you at all that Max and Liz aren't here? That their bodies are scattered out over the desert ... probably being picked at by buzzards?"

Despite the anger, tears were already starting to form in Isabel's eyes.

"Max and Liz's bodies are in the back seat of Jim Valenti's car, dear, on the way to Pine Lodge," said Diane.

"And from the way they were acting when we last saw them," said her father, "I doubt that their bodies are 'scattered' at all. Likely as not they are trying to use the same seatbelt," he said with a smile, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from his wife for his efforts.

"Max and Liz are ... alive?" Was it true? Or had her parents somehow totally lost their minds, which certainly seemed more likely.

"Yes dear," replied Diane. "We'll likely have Max home by noon. Right now they've got to go over to Pine Lodge and help Deputy Valenti break in to a vacant summer cabin. With any luck at all the Lincoln County Sheriff's office will have them arrested by 9AM and we can post bond for them as soon as your father and I can contact the judge."

That did it. Mom and Dad were in la-la land. It figured. All of them had been consumed by grief for the last week - barely eating or sleeping. Even so, the question popped out of her mouth. "Why would they be breaking in to a cabin?"

"That's so they can claim they've been there all week - claim that Liz induced your brother to 'hook up' with her - that is the right phrase these days, isn't it, Isabel - 'hook-up'?" asked Diane.

Isabel's eyes widened. In the last 30 seconds, it seemed like the world had gone totally insane. Certainly her parents had.

"The deputy sheriff - is going to help Max and Liz commit a crime - so the 'perfect Miss Parker' can falsely claim that she and Max ' hooked up' in the cabin...?" asked Isabel in total disbelief.

"Something like that," acknowledged her father - still somewhat worried that the 'hook-up' part might not be a false claim by morning.

That was one determined little future daughter-in-law he had. He hoped she didn't feel the need to hedge her bets against anyone actually doing a sexual assault exam on her. He was uneasily aware that the young lady REALLY believed in contingency planning and the young lady's love and dedication to his son was incredible. He was hoping the kids would forestall actually doing THAT for a few years. Max wasn't ready for it.

'Although Max when he's with Liz is almost a totally different person..., he thought. A better ... fuller ... more complete person.

Even so, the thought of Liz and Max going through with it just to have a cover story was somewhat worrying. Certainly Max would never ask - but if Liz got the idea it might be necessary - well, that young lady certainly could make it difficult for Max to say no ... and she would, too, if the love he'd seen in her eyes for Max meant as much as he was sure it did. Being too young certainly didn't stop either of those kids from subordinating their own needs to the needs of the other. Hopefully, Liz just wouldn't think about it.

Mom and Dad, Isabel decided, were really starting to worry her. Had the two of them lost it altogether?

"But that's just totally insane! Why would they do that? Why would you two ALLOW it?"

"Because Liz and Max forced us to admit it was probably wiser than having to explain that they actually survived the airplane crash because your brother used his powers, dear. You've seen some of the weirdos that show up for the Crash Festival. Liz doesn't want Max harassed by those people - or maybe even by the government - for the rest of his life."

"Oh." Isabel sat in silence for several minutes while her entire world readjusted around her. First overwhelming joy. Max had to be alive. They couldn't have found out from anyone else.
Then more joy. Deputy Valenti both knew - and he apparently was alright with it. Despite knowing Kyle was her friend, she'd been afraid of hs dad finding out ever since third grade.
Liz knew too - and was also alright with it. In fact, she was being one hell of a sport - sacrificing her reputation for her ex-lab partner, although in fairness Max had gotten her out of a lot of scrapes. Still, that was an awful lot to do, even for a friend, and Isabel appreciated the sacrifice Liz was making. She'd always been worried about the influence that Liz had seemed to have over her brother but Liz, she decided, really was alright. Then the thought hit her.

"Uh - did Max mention anyone else with 'powers.'

"Besides you and Michael? No - only that there was one empty pod when you guys woke up, dear. We didn't talk about this back at the Crashdown because we weren't sure how much you and Michael had told Alex and Maria, but once it was just the three of us - well, there's no reason not to let you know. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you sooner, or that our happiness over this upset you....." said Diane.

They know about me too - and she still called me dear...

"Mom, I'm so sorry. So many times I wanted to tell you...."

Diane turned and smiled at her daughter, the tears in her own eyes matching those in Isabel's. "I always knew my kids were special. Apparently they were even a little bit more special than I knew. Sometime if you feel like it maybe we can talk about your powers - maybe you could even show me."

Isabel nodded and held her mother's hand - bringing it up to her cheek. "I love you so much mommy - daddy."

For just a moment as she looked at her daughter, Diane saw the frightened little girl huddled naked on the roadside. "You've grown up so fast. Where did the years go?"

Isabel felt close to her parents - closer than ever before. "They've been good years, mommy, they really have - but the ones to come will be better yet. I promise, mommy..."

It was really sort of awkward - the three of them hugging - Isabel standing in the back - leaning forward between the front seats with the car pulled over to the shoulder in the middle of the desert while two adults held her and she held them back. But it was also the happiest they'd been for a long, long time. Too bad Isabel had to spoil it.

Her feeling of joy that Max was alive and that her parents accepted them - loved them without caring about their differences, kept the thought from occurring until they were safely home. But they had no sooner sat down in the kitchen than Isabel thought back over the plan her parents had described. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head.
"It won't work."

"What won't work?" asked Diane.

"The hook-up excuse," replied Isabel. "It'll never work. I mean, do you know how unbelievable that is? Max hitting on Liz? The boy wouldn't even go out for recess for crying out loud. No one will ever believe that."

Diane looked at her spouse and smiled. "Children grow up, dear, even Maxwell. You knew about Liz being drugged, assaulted, and almost killed up in Boulder before Max found her ....? What we didn't tell you was that he sort of broke out of jail and went back and beat-up the guy who did it. Jim Valenti thinks that - had the police not gotten to him - Max might well have killed him. That got plea-bargained down to simple assault, and delayed adjudication on that. I'll handle it and it'll be fine but sometimes when people go through a rather dramatic event like that - well, they change."

"Yeah, well I'd imagine you can mature pretty quickly when you're falling four miles out of the sky, too," said Philip. "I think you are going to find that your brother and Liz have gotten a lot closer than they were a week ago ... a LOT closer."

"But it's not just that," protested Isabel. "I mean, Liz Parker. Nobody is going to believe she'd actually do THAT with anyone. Maybe if she was Pamela Troy, but the perfect Miss Parker? I mean, even if he saved her life nobody would believe that the two of them would actually do THAT. Maybe if they were older ... had been going steady for awhile ... but probably not even then. Without at least an engagement ring on her finger nobody is going to believe that Elizabeth Parker spent a week with any guy - at least not that she'd do THAT with him."

"Isabel," said her father, "... I think you are going to have to just trust us. You see we have this all worked out and we are your parents. We have more experience and ... well, just trust us, it'll all work out."

Isabel missed Diane's eyes rolling skyward as Philip said 'we have this worked out.' In fact, Liz Parker had this worked out - but she was pretty sure the young lady was going to pull it off - just through the force of her own will. For all of her life she'd been worried about her kids - especially Max, but she was starting to feel that things were going to work out just fine.

"Isabel, honest. This will work out. It isn't just gratitude for saving her life this time. Liz really loves your brother - and with love all things are possible. Besides ... they ARE engaged. Trust me, it'll all work out."

Isabel blinked several times. She wouldn't have believed it was possible for anyone to love either her or Max like that - despite knowing that they were different. Alex had been the guy of her dreams for some time now but she hadn't really ever believed he could be more than a dream. Maybe he could. With that for an incentive, she could certainly give this new state of affairs a chance anyway. Maybe even her own dreams could all work out.

"OK, mommy," she said nestling back into her parents arms. "If you say so... I trust you."

It was three hours later as she hovered on the edge of the dream-orb. For over two of those hours she had laughed and cried with her parents. The world sure changed quickly as you grew up. This morning she'd been mourning a dead brother - surrounded by people she would always keep at arm's length, with only Michael left to really understand the extent of her isolation. By the time she'd finally gotten to bed it was obvious that her parents loved and accepted her despite her difference. She'd always dreamed that someday might happen - but it had seemed to her for so many years like it would could been a dream - something that she could never risk. 'There never was any risk - not from the first day. We were all so - stupid - no, so ignorant.'

She had done something that she had not done since the year she and Max were first adopted – she had connected with her parents. She and Max had done that intuitively when they were younger – it had helped them to catch up in language and other knowledge. At first there had been little risk – she and Max had been like empty vessels that could be filled by knowledge plucked from the heads of Philip and – most especially – Diane Evans. But they had kept it superficial – even then. When they had connected deeply with each other they could see that the communication could easily run both ways. So they'd kept it superficial – picking out a few words - a noun here – a verb there – the simple things that most six year old kids already knew. They'd stopped even that after the first year – judging the risks of detection to be too great.

But tonight she'd purposely let down her guard and let them in – let them see her and Max's first few minutes of life breaking out of the pods – let them feel her emotions as this kindly couple had gotten out of their car and gone to the assistance of two naked children who they thought were six – but who had been barely more than a day old. Then – with their permission – she'd seen their memories of the meeting with Max and Liz and Jim Valenti.

She was still amazed at Jim Valenti's part of this - or that Liz would actually do this - or that her parents would let her. It wasn't just her own parents that were accepting, but Liz's too – although she only 'saw' this second hand. It seemed like the whole world wanted to help Max Evans. Isabel had tried to put it off to just gratitude - after all, Max had saved Liz more than once - but it was apparent from the memories she'd seen it was far more than that. That Max loved Liz - which was about as much of a surprise to her as knowing that New Mexico occasionally gets warm in July -was one thing.

That Liz - even knowing about his difference - truly loved Max wanted to be his lover and wife and mother of his children – well that certainly introduced a new factor into her equation of life in Roswell.

But the other things she'd seen in her parents minds had ssurprised her even more. She'd never, she now realized, really understood the depth or breadth of their love for her and her brother. Unlike her and Max, they'd never held back – and they weren't holding back with Liz now.

Perhaps it was all the years of childhood they'd missed but somehow Michael and Max and she hadn't really understood. You don't have to be biological children to be family, and she and Max had always been family to her mother and father – right from the first day. They weren't put off by their children's differences either – in fact they were proud of their kids special powers.

Families didn't just expand by birth – they expanded by adoption and marriage as well. But they were still a family.

It was – once she understood how her parents felt – quite reasonable. When Mom had married Dad they had become a family – but also part of each others family. They considered the adoption of their two children no less a commitment than their own marriage to each other. With Max's betrothal to Liz – Izzy was still pretty flabbergasted at that – her parents were already considering Liz one of their children and loving her as a family member too.

Her parents had always been proud of their children and – surprised as they were by the situation with Liz and Max – they were also proud of Liz. Not just for coming up with this plan, but for having the courage and loving Max enough to go through with it.

Isabel was pretty confident that her father had not intended for her to get the memory of his fear about Liz actually doing – THAT – with Max in order to be able to establish her bona fides if she was physically examined – as a lawyer he knew that she wasn't going to be examined unless she claimed Max forced her – and that obviously wasn't going to happen. The surprising thing was that her Dad would have been proud of Liz even if she and Max had actually DONE that.

Oh, he was real worried that they were too young for that – apprehensive even about how much harassment and censure Liz was sure to receive in school – but he was still proud of her for coming up with this plan to cover for Max.

What's more the girl had convinced both of her parents that she would – eventually – be an ideal mate for Max and they absolutely believed it was someday going to happen. That's why they were already considering her their daughter too.

Yes, indeed, the real world of human families was very different from what three paranoid pod-people had assumed from birth. All of which was why Izzy was now hovering just outside this dream-orb.

Isabel wasn't quite sure how close to insanity she'd come in this last week – probably closer than she wanted to know. Max had been more than a brother to her – he'd been one of only two people in the world like her – and his loss had been crushing. Michael was in little better shape.

Her own dream-orb had been a nightmare place with visions of Max and Liz falling from the sky. So Isabel had retreated to a refuge – a place of safety – the dream-orb of Alex Whitman.

Of course, Alex hadn't actually been in much better shape than she had. He'd been friends with Liz since kindergarten – as well as liking Max. In fact, his dream-orb had been a pretty depressing place itself six days ago but somehow being together – being able to talk – had pulled them both through. They'd talked and comforted one another and held hands – but somehow drew strength from each other.

That's why she was back here now. But it wasn't the same Isabel here today. Most of everything she'd believed – and feared – had been proven wrong. No, it was a very different Isabel coming to Alex's dream-orb tonight - and only partially comfort his grief.

Liz had the courage to take a chance, Isabel, she told herself, '... so can you.

As she entered the dream-orb she felt his sadness and grief. She knew it would be over tomorrow, but it was very real to him tonight. He'd survive her not telling him – she knew that – but she also knew if she let that happen a door would close between them forever. If she didn't have the courage to do this now – when it would save him from a night of suffering – she wouldn't have the courage to do it later.

Her parents had taken the risk of loving two children unconditionally. Liz had taken a risk to help Max - doing what she was doing because she loved Max unconditionally. Isabel was afraid – but she was going to do it anyway. She had learned tonight that you can't really live if you are too afraid to take risks. So she was going to take a risk - a big one.

“Hi Alex.”

“Oh, hi Isabel.”

“Alex – you know this is just a dream, don't you?”

“Yeah – I'm better friends with you than I am with the real Ice Princess – although that's not really fair. She's just always been distant – not like you. But it's obvious that Max's death is eating away at her. He was a nice guy. Somehow I always figured he and Liz would - you know – live happily ever after. Boy was I wrong on that one.”

“Alex – I need to tell you something. You probably aren't going to believe it, but – promise me this – when Isabel - the REAL Isabel - calls you and invites you to lunch tomorrow morning you'll accept.”

“Isabel invite me to lunch? Well, OK., but – what's the secret and what has it to do with lunch?”

“The lunch part is so I'll be there when you do believe. So I'll be able to look in your eyes and see...”

“See what?”

She leaned over and kissed him gently before answering. “To see if I have any chance of having my dream come true. You see, that's when you are going to find out that Max and Liz are OK. That they've been spending the week together in a cabin in Pine Lodge – only that isn't really the truth. You see Liz loves my brother – and she's lying to draw the attention away from him by claiming she seduced him. It isn't true – at least not what she's going to admit to. She didn't really have to seduce him - the goofy guy has always loved her. It's just that she loves Max, too, and is just trying to keep him safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“Well, that's a long story,” she said sitting beside him and taking his hand in hers. She looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Before I tell you the story - you need to know that I love you, Alex. I really do. But as for the start of the story .... well, it started in 1947 when a flying saucer landed in Roswell, New Mexico....”

It was almost 3 AM in Pine Lodge and a gentle rain had been falling for a half-hour as Jim Valenti picked up the two bags and started to carry them back to the waiting Sheriff's vehicle. He had parked a hundred yards away - the intention being to leave no vehicle tracks near the cabin since the cover story was that Liz and Max had walked there - almost a mile - from where the driver of the car they'd been hitch-hiking with had let them off.

The storm was the remains of a tropical low that had swept up from the south - this one had had been predicted and was nowhere near as severe as the one a week ago - and it would no doubt destroy any evidence of the presence of the police vehicle in any event. As it turned out Jim could have probably parked at the front door and saved them a walk and himself a long damp walk back to the vehicle - of course, in the grand scheme of things a little drizzle wasn't going to hurt anything.

It had been almost an hour since the break-in - an hour during which all three had searched the cabin and made efforts to make it look as if it had been inhabited all week. Part of that effort was finding and opening most of the week's worth of food that his friend usually kept in the cabin and emptying it it into one of the bags he was now carrying. The empty cans and wrappings were carefully stored in another trash bag - that one stayed in the cabin to be found and inventoried tomorrow by the Lincoln County deputies who would be responding to the NTSB investigators early morning phone call and arresting the trespassers. It would confirm the report by one Alexis Rudman that two wild and wayward teenagers - now running low on food – had been squatting in the cabin since the night of the storm – and had called her requesting that she wire them money to the small town nearby. The inventory of the empoty food containers would also – no doubt - be a factor in the restitution the judge would require the two teenagers to make.

The second bag contained two sweatsuits that needed to be returned to the department before the next police league basketball game. Both Liz and Max had changed back to their old clothes – the ones they had worn in the malpais – and checked carefully to make sure they had nothing on them that could rebut their alibi of having spent the whole time in the isolated cabin with their only amusements being the radio that had told them about the plane crash and – well, each other, not to put to fine a point on it.

As he said his goodbys and left the cabin, Max was starting a fire in the fireplace – a good thing really, because the cabin was never used in the winter and the stacked wood had been drenched by the storm of a week ago and again by the drizzle that had started tonight. In all likelihood Max would need his powers to get a fire going at all and it was still cold – likely there'd be snowfall before the night was done. As he closed the door and stepped off the porch Jim Valenti assumed that was the last he'd see of Liz or Max until they were arrested, booked, and released in the custody of their parents in the morning. He'd gone less than fifty feet before he learned he was wrong.

“Jim...”

Valenti turned to see Liz walk quickly toward him. She still wasn't dressed for cold weather – but she apparently wanted to talk to him – away from Max.

Liz had been worried for the last hour of the trip, but she'd waited patiently for this chance to talk to Jim Valenti alone. The question was an awkward one – but she needed to know the answer before Jim was gone – while she still had time to take the necessary corrective action. She fingered the ring on her finger nervously – drawing strength from it. She had, she knew, fundamentally changed, and that ring was part of it. Max did love her – she knew that - his commitment to her was a permanent one. But despite that at least a part of Max's reason he gave it to her less than two days ago was to diplomatically decline her offer to physically prove her commitment to him. Of course it wasn't only Max that felt accepted ... and wanted ... and loved, when she saw that ring on her finger. She did as well – and she wasn't going to take any avoidable risks in keeping her Max from ending up in some government laboratory or something.

Sure, they were still too young - especially Max – and she was still in her fertile period. Even so, as she nervously fingered the ring and tried to think of some less awkward way to ask Jim Valenti this question, Liz had no doubt what she would do if necessary. She was no longer the girl who had flung the pendant away or chosen a different lab partner or danced with Drevins to spite Max. It wasn't just that Max had rescued her – again. Perhaps the fall had started the change but learning Max's secret and seeing the ring on her finger had completed it. They were now commited to each other. Max was hers and she was his – the rest was details. Max's beautiful proposal and the ring may have masked an attempt by both of them to delay the inevitable – but it was inevitable.

She certainly wasn't going to delay the inevitable if that was going to increase the risk of Max's discovery though. As she nervously fingered the ring she felt the warm glow of Max's love flow through her and she smiled. If nothing else, the ring gave her the confidence to realize that she would never have to doubt his love – and the confidence that she could almost certainly seduce him if she really had to.

“Yes, Liz...?” asked Jim Valenti.

Liz blushed deeply and appeared to be trying to gnaw off her lower lip. Finally she found her voice.

“I need to ask a question, Jim. It's a little embarrassing but – well, when we get taken into custody tomorrow, am I going to have to undergo a – uh – a sexual assault exam – like the one I had last Saturday …? Because if they do they can find out that I'm not … that we didn't really...?”

Jim smiled at her sympathetically. “No Liz – not unless you allege that what happened – well, what you are going to claim happened – was involuntary. You and Max are close enough in age that – even though you are both beneath the age of consent - what you are going to claim is considered to be a non-crime as long as it's consensual.

Even if you claimed otherwise you would have to consent to the exam – or your parents would have to consent to it for you before an exam could be done. Your parents had to give permission for the exam up in Boulder because you were still out from the drugs and alcohol. No, you won't get a sexual assault exam tomorrow – although you are likely to have a female officer strip search you after you are taken into custody. I can't really blame them for that – you know way too much about hidden firearms and hidden handcuff keys.”

Relief warred briefly with disappointment in Liz's mind. Finally she smiled and said, “Thank you Sheriff.”

He'd tried a little levity to reassure her. There really was no risk they'd examine her and find out she and Max hadn't had sex. But a law enforcement officer learns – over time – how to read people's expressions. As he recognized the relief – tinged with disappointment – he started to blush … and to chuckle.

Liz blushed in embarrassment as Jim Valenti chuckled at her, and glared at him in mock defiance.

“What? It was an important question...”

Jim nodded. It was an important question – but only if she intended to do something about it. He was suddenly very glad that he'd been able to give the answer he had. Liz Parker was going to lie about having sex with Max – Jim was certain about that – both kids had promised their parents that despite their engagement they would take things slowly – he'd been there to hear it. But that ring on her finger meant a lot to Liz Parker. No doubt if he'd have given the other answer she would have spent as long as necessary – probably not all that long either – convincing Max to 'make an honest woman of her' before the exam could disprove her story.

“You know, Miss Parker,” said Jim Valenti, subtly emphasizing the word 'miss,' “...it seems like only a few weeks ago that you were a little girl. You are still sort of new to this womanhood thing, but I can tell you, that if Kyle's mom was a tenth of the woman that you are, I'd still be married to her and Kyle would probably have two or three siblings.”

Liz fought to control her blushing – with only partial success.

“Well, Jim, she wasn't much of a woman if she couldn't appreciate what she had – and couldn't be happy with you. Amy DeLuca, on the other hand, would be someone you could probably go the distance with. You ought to give it a chance.”

Liz was right, Jim told himself. She DID have a better love life than his and maybe it was time for him to give romance another try.

“I might just try to do that, Liz. Amy is really nice. I wonder if she'd be interested in an old guy like me?”

“You're not that old – and she certainly isn't. Heck, Kyle might have a sibling or two yet.”

“Good night, Liz .. and for the sake of four very anxious parents, please get a good night's SLEEP.”

Liz giggled softly. “Good Night, Jim. I will get that good night's sleep. I promise...,” she said, as she thought, ….eventually

As Jim Valenti trudged off toward the vehicle with the two trash bags, the rain started turning to snow, and Liz turned to go inside - to where Max now stood beside a burning fire.

“It's starting to snow,” she said. “...that's good, because it will hide all evidence of the car tracks.”

“It's pretty late. We ought to be calling it a night. You can sleep in the big bed – I can take one of the bunks.”

“That would look pretty lame – if the Lincoln County Sheriff's department gets here before we wake up. What kind of seduction is this?” she asked.

“A bogus one – but it won't always be that way,” he said hugging her.

“Max, I know we promised our parents that we'd go slowly – and we will – but even with all the horror and tragedy of the crash the time we spent in the malpais the hours I spent snuggled up to you – dreaming with you - they were the happiest hours of my life.

Maybe this is selfish – I intend, after all, to spend most of the nights of my life in your bed – but chances are we aren't going to get to lay side by side and share dreams until spring break – and then it'll just be sleeping bags side by side with my parents chaperoning. If it wouldn't make you too uncomfortable, could we just both use the big bed?”

“Sure, Liz,” he said, kissing her on the forehead, “...that would be very nice.”.

They turned off the two Coleman lanterns and each walked to the opposite side of the bed. Somehow the little caves Max had built hadn't seemed quite so – well, erotic.

“Uh, Max, I think if they get here and find both of us sleeping in our clothes they might just get suspicious. Why don't you turn your back and I'll turn my back and then you can strip down to your underwear and I can strip down to mine and then we can both slide under the covers?”

“OK,” said Max, “... let me know when it's OK to look.”

Max turned his back and undid his belt - letting his pants fall to the floor - as he peeled off his shirt and t-shirt. Then he slid under the covers, averting his eyes from Liz.

Liz turned in the other direction and let her own pants fall to the floor. They were quickly joined by her blouse. She hesitated briefly, taking in the darkness of the room – lit only by the soft glow of the warm fire – and then her sportsbra joined her pants and blouse on the floor. She slid in to the bed and snuggled toward him under the covers.

“I guess you can look now,” she said, pulling the sheet up to her waist.

“Uh...LIZZZZ....”

“Max Evans, I remember only this morning you promising me that we could put something off until some time and place just a little more private. This my darling, is as much time and privacy as we are going to have for quite awhile – and besides, I need something from you.”

“Liz, we talked about this – we promised our parents we'd wait.”

“For THAT we'll wait, but not for this. Jim Valenti said that tomorrow I'm going to get strip searched by a policewoman. When she does that she's going to see hickies....”

“Hickies?” Max gulped, “I'm not sure that's exactly what your father meant by 'going slowly with out relationship.”

“Well, you'll have to be careful to put them only where he won't be able to see them, I guess,” said a smiling Liz.

She thought about telling him it was a consolation prize – for both of them – but in the end she just smiled. That was seductive enough apparently. I mean, the guy was only human, at least in this regard.

It was – for both of them – the first hour of burning passion of their young lives. No, nobody ever got past second base. Yes, Liz got her hickies – several of them in fact – that when the policewoman strip searched her in the morning would be readily visible when she removed her sportsbra. Max had a few of his own - just to show it was consensual...

Even Liz would probably have admitted that the hour of wasn't really ABSOLUTELY necessary for their alibi, but it would be years before they would again sleep in the same bed. Liz figured they owed themselves tonight. So tonight they lay together their arms and legs intertwined – their lips somewhat swollen from passionate kissing – their bodies burning with kisses and caresses. It probably wouldn't have taken much for them both to get carried away - but this was their first taste of true passion and both knew that they had the rest of their lives together to take it further. Besides, it had been a long eventful and somewhat tiring week. Before long, both were in the dream-orb together. But yet another message had been sent – and received. Passion wasn't going to be off-limits – even if they were too young to do what lovers do – that love and passion was waiting for them and they would taste it slowly and progressively in the months and years ahead.

They would awaken in the morning side by side – still intertwined – and they would awaken knowing that if either of them had been ready to take the next step the other would have responded. But they knew that they weren't quite ready for that step – besides they'd promised their folks. Instead they just lay there looking at each other – drinking in the beauty of their mates – even if they weren't quite yet mated. That, they knew, was only a technicality – a technicality they would one day quite happily resolve.

It was 3AM at 1484 Yale Drive in Roswell New Mexico - and the gentle mist that was turning to snow in Pine Lodge was a freezing drizzle in Roswell - and Michael was drenched to the bone.

Hank Guerin had been royally drunk when the phone call had come from Isabel - which was probably just as well. Michael had sat down on the floor of what passed for a living room in the singlewide trailer - practically as stunned as his near-comatose foster-father. That state had lasted for a surprisingly long time.

A whole lot of things that he'd taken as Gospel - the threat posed by Valenti - the belief that they could never be accepted - even the idea that Roswell was a pit at the end of the universe.

'It had to be a pretty good place', he told himself,' if there are people like that in it'.

That Max loved the girl was scarcely news. He and Isabel had fretted over that for years. That Liz could actually love Max even after knowing the secret - keep the secret - and do what she was doing - put her prissy rep on the line to help keep the secret.... no, it was more than that ... subject herself to the taunts and gossip that would clearly come her way once the story got out.... man, those things had taken some time to digest. But eventually he'd gotten past it - I mean Isabel had said that her parents flat out told her and she'd even connected with them and seen it herself. I mean it wasn't like there could be any real doubt.

'Of course, that still doesn't make this a smart idea,' he told himself as he looked at the window across the street and shivered in the freezing rain.

It wasn't the sound of thunder that woke Maria. She'd never been asleep. She'd tried - really tried - but whenever she'd closed her eyes all she could see was images. Images of parts of her friend Liz scattered across the desert. The fact was, she probably hadn't gotten more than 12 or 14 hours of sleep al totalled in all six of the days since the plane crash. But it was the thunder that made her glance out the window and it was a flash of distant lightning that illuminated the figure across the road.

'What are you doing here, Michael?' he asked himself. 'You know this doesn't make sense. Even if you tell her they are alive - you can't tell them how you know they are alive - and without telling her that she'd never believe you anyway.' And all that was true, but other things were true too. He'd watched Maria this past week - watched her agony as she struggled to accept the death of Liz. He doubted if she'd gotten two hours of sleep a night. Her grief was torturing her and he wanted to find some way to help her. Oh, tomorrow she'd know - he realized that - but over the last week he'd had to come to terms with how much he liked her - realizing of course that nothing could ever come of it - but with Liz being in love with Max and everything else - Michael just wasn't sure what was and wasn't possible anymore. All he really knew was he didn't want Maria to keep on hurting - not even one more night - that and that he wished he'd practiced his powers like Max and Isabel had. Maybe then he could at least heat up the rain that was soaking him.

Maria went to the window and opened it - he looked like a half-drowned kitten. She didn't know whether to be angry or to tell him to come in out of the rain.

"What are you doing here, Michael?"

The look of terror as he realized she'd spotted him decided it for her. She shook her head briefly before continuing, "...get in here out of the rain - before you catch pneumonia."

He climbed through the window - shaking with the cold. OK, so he'd probably have been shaking even if he hadn't been cold - this wasn't something a young teenager normally did - especially one that was an alien-human hybrid trying to keep a low profile.

Maria touched his cheek. "My God, Michael, you are as cold as ice. Get those soaking clothes off right now."

"I don't think that would be a good idea. If your mom came in, she might misinterpret that."

"My mother would understand," said the pajama clad young lady - which of course was NOT the same as saying her mother would approve. Within a couple of minutes Michael was down to his underwear and she shoved him into her bed. THAT did not make his shaking a bit better.

"You need to get warm or you are going to go into hypothermia," said Maria, climbing in beside him and snuggling up to his back, her right arm encircling his chest and pulling him tightly against her. Suddenly Michael found himself considerably warmer but the shaking didn't seem to lessen. He was beginning to doubt the shaking was from the cold.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Maria asked.

"That's a more profound question than you realize, " Michael said with a deep sigh.

"What?"

"I'm here because I didn't want you to have another restless night having nightmares about Liz and Max. They aren't dead - they aren't even hurt. They are in a cabin over at Pine Lodge."

"That's not funny, Michael," she said sitting up in bed beside him and glaring at him.

"Good, because it wasn't a joke. Liz and Max are there and they're OK and ... well, they are going to be coming home tomorrow."

"And how did you come up with this bit of information, might I ask?"

"I can't tell you that. Maria. It's ... well, it's personal."

"Let me get this straight. It's 3AM and you are in your underwear - somewhat holey underwear at that I might add, - in MY bed - being kept from freezing to death by having my warm body pressed up against your icy one - do you have any idea how cold your feet are right now? - and you have the nerve to tell me that you can't explain this wild tale you have about my best friend because it's PERSONAL?"

"Maria, you have to be quiet. If you don't lower your voice you'll wake your mom."

"Wake my mom? You damn right I'll wake my mom. IF what you are telling me is the truth, I want some answers right now, or I'll wake my mom by yelling 'rape' at the top of my lungs. So if that story is a big lie you'd better admit it right now, or explain it - don't give me this PERSONAL stuff."

He really did look so sweet when he was flustered, she thought, and it looked like he was about to give in.

"Maria, I can't tell you. Honest. If I did you'd totally freak out."

"Freak out? This is Maria you are talking to here, my frozen friend. Give me answers right now - or talk to my mom."

"Well," said Michael, drawing a deep breath, "...it started out in 1947, when a flying saucer crashed in Roswell New Mexico..."

It took awhile - and making the wallpaper on one wall glow in the dark briefly - before Maria believed him, but she didn't freak. They talked for over an hour - the first honest discussion Michael had ever had with anyone other than Max and Isabel - and over the course of the hour Michael got warm - and his shaking stopped. Neither had slept well the whole week. It probably wasn't surprising that they both fell asleep, Michael spooned up against Maria - her with one arm over him holding him tightly against her. That's how Amy would find them in the morning.

The scene would not be a pretty one. There would be frantic pulling on of cold sodden clothes by Michael and protestations that nothing had happened by Maria. The action would really get going - teenage girl to mom - after Michael was out the window. Of course, by that time the pheromones had been exchanged - chemical promises made and accepted and Amy was trapped fighting a losing battle.

The initial grounding was supposed to be for a year. Amy upped that to 'the rest of your natural life' when she found out that Liz Parker - who she'd always considered a paragon of virtue that she hoped Maria would emulate - was really alive and had been shacked up with Max for a week. Oh, she was glad Liz and Max were alive - it was just that Amy's teenage romance hadn't gone well - that's why she was a single mom in Roswell. She did not want Maria going down that path. That's when she also forbade Maria to associate with Liz Parker.

But then the usual teenage daughter versus mom arguing started.

"But nothing happened....."

"I don't care if it happened or not," said Amy, the statement an obvious lie although one hallowed by generations of teenage daughter to mother arguments, “... a person has to be aware of the appearances one gives. If you say you and Michael did nothing, I'm certainly not going to call you a liar...,” which again wasn't quite the same as telling her she believed it, “...but you are STILL grounded if only for the APPEARANCE of what you did.”

“You don't TRUST me,” shouted Maria.

“It isn't a question of trust, it's a question of your judgment about what the APPEARANCE of what you do can be interpreted by other people...”

The argument went on relentlessly for two weeks – Maria nonetheless continued to see Michael at school. In fact the pheromones had not only gotten her midbrain hooked, but her cerebrum liked him too. There weren't a whole lot of guys like Michael around – in fact Liz had locked up the only other one.

The probability is that the pheromones alone would likely have been enough to guarantee that Maria and Michael would bond for life, but even if they hadn't been, Amy's actions pretty much guaranteed that outcome. There is an old Mark Twain quote that says:

• It was not that Adam ate the apple for the apple's sake, but because it was forbidden. It would have been better if the serpent had been forbidden. Then he would have eaten the serpent.

The point of course is that by forbidding Maria to date Michael, Amy pretty much guaranteed the girl would be interested in nothing but dating Michael. No one knows for sure why. That's just the way young teenage girls work. You'd think teenage girls' mothers would remember that from when they were themselves teenagers but apparently they don't.

So the DeLuca household became a social battleground – as mother-daughter fights typically do, Amy certain of the rightness of her cause and in control of the transportation and checkbook, Maria certain of the rightness of HER cause and determined to assert her own independence. That sorry state of parent-child dysfunction might well have gone on for months – possibly years – had nothing happened. Something did happen.

It was a Saturday morning – almost two weeks after Amy found Maria and Michael in bed together. Maria was in that same bed – alone – when the telephone rang. It was Kyle Valenti – looking for his father who had somehow never returned last night from his second date with Amy. Maria would investigate.

The truth was, nothing had really happened. OK, Jim had gotten to FIRST base – but both Jim and Amy had been burned and the psychological scars were deep and they were taking their time. After the date Amy had invited Jim in for a cup of coffee and to watch a DVD. But it had been a busy week for both of them – Jim getting caught up on paperwork that had accumulated back when he was spending a week looking for Liz and Max, Amy suffering the effects of two weeks of constant conflict with her errant daughter. They'd both fallen asleep on the couch, Jim Valenti's arm around her mom – his hand dangling reasonably close to second base as she'd snuggled up against him in her sleep. Maria was as understanding as any teenage girl in a similar situation would have been.

Maria liked Jim – he was good for her mom – and every second her mom spent with him was a second she and her mother weren't fighting over Michael. So instead of making a big fuss and embarrassing the deputy, Maria chose to be kind. After photographing the two from just about every angle possible as they slept together, she went back to her room – loudly opened the door, banged around the kitchen, and made all sorts of commotion until both the adults had awakened and Jim Valenti had time to sneak out the front door and Amy had time to sneak back into her room and pull a robe on over the dress she was wearing so she could pretend the inadvertent overnight episode hadn't happened. The breakfast was – surprisingly - cordial, at least until Maria laid down the pictures and explained about the Facebook posting she intended to do on the subject of her mother the hypocrite.

Amy protested that what actually happened wasn't anything like what the pictures made it look like....then stopped and shook her head as her daughter smiled. Eventually the terms of the truce allowed Maria to date Michael – but only double date. Maria could see Liz – but not double date with her and Max. In fact Amy insisted that when Maria did go out on a date with Michael that the other couple have someone in it that Amy knew and trusted – like that nice Alex Whitman. Amy would learn later that having Alex and Isabel along for chaperones on a date was much like trying to control a fire by dousing it with acetylene – but that's another story.

Amy's prejudice against Liz would last for only four months – then she'd find out the truth - the WHOLE truth. Jim Valenti, it would turn out, was no less susceptible to spilling information during pillow talk with Amy than Michael had been with Maria. Amy and Jim would marry that summer. Sixteen months later Amy would give birth to 7 pound 3 oz Andrea Valenti and be much too busy to fight with her teenage daughter about her social life. Michael and Maria would marry two weeks after graduation and live happily ever after - but that too is another story.

The snow crunched beneath the chains of the four wheel drive pickup as it climbed up Bear Ridge Road overlooking Pine Lodge New Mexico. The pickup belonged to the National Park Service and was being driven by Law Enforcement Agent Victoria Benning. It was 7:45 AM, and she was responding to a call to assist a Lincoln County deputy sheriff. Such cooperation wasn't uncommon in Lincoln County – law enforcement resources were rather sparse there.

Back in the late 1800s – when William Bonner, aka Billy the Kid, made his home in Lincoln County – it was in fact the largest county in the United States. Even today the county had 4821 square miles – greater than seven of the STATES in the US but with a population of less than 20,000 everyone – barely four people per square mile – there was a lot of space and not many resources. Too few police and too much territory made it essential that all agencies work together.

As Vickie turned the corner she saw the police cruiser a mile ahead with Cole standing beside it. She knew him – although perhaps not as well as she would have liked. Deputy Cole Ferguson was the most junior member of the Lincoln County Sheriff's department.

Vickie was 22 years old. At age ten she'd told her mother she wanted to be a police officer when she grew up. Her mother had been appalled. THAT she'd been told, was no kind of job for a lady. Vickie listened to her mother and dropped the matter. Eventually she went to college – got involved in the environmental movement - and ultimately got a degree in forestry. She was hired by the Park Service as a Park Ranger and – the work was OK – but it was less satisfying than she'd hoped. But the world of the Park Service had changed since it's inception and the National Parks themselves had their own law enforcement problems. People on vacations brought with them all the common criminal problems of the cities – theft, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and – more rarely – crimes of violence. When the Park Service requested Park Service asked for volunteers to be trained as law enforcement officers, Vickie had jumped at the opportunity. That's how she met Cole Ferguson.

Cole and Vickie had been classmates at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy in a rigorous five month course. She'd been fourth in the class of 84 candidates only sixty of whom had successfully completed the course. He had been second in that class – slightly better than her at vehicle handling, at physical fitness, and at unarmed combat – not quite as good in marksmanship or at legal academics. Although – she remembered - the only time they'd ever met in unarmed combat she had managed to not only evade his restraint but reverse and get his service weapon. It had been the single significant problem he'd had in the course and it had cost him eight hours of extra remedial training.

Vickie knew what the problem had been – for all his other abilities – Cole Ferguson was shy when it came to women. He'd been unwilling to grab her here he would have had to grab her to counter the move she'd made to break his restraint that day. Not unable – simply unwilling. She'd seen him put the right counter on men under those circumstances but apparently he just couldn't bring himself to manhandle women that way – just the way his mama raised him, she guessed. She'd seen that – and taken advantage of it. Both of them had graduated with honors and she had returned to Lincoln County as a law enforcement specialist Park Ranger. He had been hired by the Lincoln County Sheriff's office as a deputy and almost immediately gotten himself in trouble.

It had, in fact, been Cole's first arrest. The patrol car videotape had made it plain that it was a valid arrest – he pursued the weaving car for over two miles as it weaved from lane to lane at over ninety miles an hour. When the car lost control and ended up spinning off the road Cole did everything right. He made sure the driver – a local sixteen year old girl - was unhurt, then administered a field sobriety test right in front of the camera. The girl was obviously drunk – although the lawyer her father got for her had her refuse the blood alcohol test. Nonetheless, it was pretty open and shut – until the girl claimed Cole had groped her when he put her in the back of the patrol car. There was no way to actually disprove it, of course, it had been 2 AM and nobody but Cole and the girl within a mile – but Vickie knew it was nonsense. It didn't matter though, there's a process that you had to go through with any allegation and Cole had been administratively suspended for five weeks while internal affairs investigated. Eventually they cleared Cole – except of course they never really CLEARED you. The allegation of the complainant was 'not sustained.' Not exactly the way you want to spend your first six weeks as a sheriff's deputy though.

The fact of the matter was that Vickie sort of liked Cole. You have pitifully little free time at the Law Enforcement Academy but on the two weekends they did have free, Vickie had actually thought that Cole might ask her out on a date. He never had, though. The closest they'd ever come was the usual 10 AM Saturday meeting at the small bakery in town when a couple of deputies, a state patrolman, and – when she could get there – Vickie would meet for the traditional law enforcement breakfast of coffee and maple bars. He was, she had to admit to herself, a good looking guy, smart, polite.... 'But your momma told you, ladies don't ask the guy out, the guy asks the lady out,' Vickie told herself as she pulled the pickup alongside the patrol car.

“Thanks for coming, Vickie."

"Glad to help, Cole. What's the problem?”

“Come here and I'll show you,” he said, motioning her to follow him twenty feet downhill through the trees. She could see from his footprints in the snow that he'd been there a couple times already. From the ridge line she could see a summer cabin far below. He nodded at it and handed her the binoculars.

“So what am I looking at?” she asked.

“The chimney of that cabin...”

Vickie focused the binoculars. It wasn't much, but there appeared to be a little smoke coming from the tin chimney of the cabin. As she looked closer it appeared the snow was melted away from the chimney near where it passed through the roof. Apparently the cabin had been occupied since before the snowfall last night – Vickie could see no footprints in the snow – and the wisp of the smoke was from a fire that had yet to be rebuilt.

“Kind of cold to be staying in a summer cabin in the winter. Those things are barely insulatedat all – but that's not a crime.”

“It's a little more involved than that. Let's go back to the patrol car and talk it over.”

Vickie walked back to the deputy's car and got in the passenger side. Cole got in the driver's side and turned toward her.

“Remember the airplane crash last week over near La Luz? The Natonal Transportation Safety Board is still at Holloman investigating. This morning they got a call from an eighteen year old girl named Alexis Rudman – her father is some bigwig up at Sandia labs – and she checks out as pretty reliable.

She was a passenger on that flight from Boulder to Albuquerque and she claims that two of the people who had been on that flight – the two bodies they have been looking for all week – actually got off at Albuquerque. She said that they had some sort of problem with the copilot and got off – then decided to hitchhike back to Roswell.

These two young teenagers got to Pine Lodge and the driver was continuing south so they got out to catch a ride east, but with that big mudslide there was no one on the road. Apparently they broke in to that cabin then and they've been there ever since. Last night they apparently walked to a public phone down in Pine Lodge because they were running out of money and the girl called Miss Rudman to ask her to wire some money to them because they are running out of food. That apparently was the first that the Rudman girl had heard that the two of them hadn't made it home and that they were in fact here. One of them – the girl – told her the whole story. They apparently have been holed up in that cabin for about a week with no entertainment but a radio and – each others company.”

Cole watched Vickie's eyes as he told the story – then looked quickly back to his notes. Victoria Benning was an attractive young woman and – despite his shyness – he had come real close to asking her out when they'd been together back at the academy. Had it not been for that one time on the gymnasium floor when he froze – rather than grabbing her between the legs to counter the reversal of the takedown he was trying – he probably would have. But by then he had already started thinking about her in romantic terms – and the idea of actually violating her physical privacy under those circumstances was a taboo that for that fractional second he just couldn't break – which of course had made him the laughing stock of the assembled cadets. He didn't blame her – the problem was his.

Cole had in fact turned down a better job offer from the Santa Fe Police Department to come to Lincoln County in the hopes that he could somehow attract her attention in a more favorable way. His disastrous first arrest of Jezebel Perkins – the drunk little sixteen year old – had left a cloud over him though and transformed someone who was very shy when it came to romance into someone REALLY shy. Much as he liked Vickie, he wasn't going to make any overtures unless she made it real plain she was receptive to the idea – and that hadn't happened yet.

In fact, Cole would have been reluctant to even call her for assistance had not another young girl been involved. He had asked for her help mainly in a sort of cover-his-posterior-role, so no one could allege that he'd done anything untoward to the Parker girl. He was in fact worried about her mental status. There hadn't been anything in the computer about the girl, but what was there about the boy – Max Evans – appeared somewhat alarming.

“So these two kids have been hiding out – is that it?”

“Perhaps,” agreed Cole. “But what I'm afraid is that there may be more to it than that. The state police computer net doesn't show much about juveniles because of juvenile court privacy restrictions – just active bookings - but we ran both there names anyway. The Parker girl was clean but the Evans boy – wow. He was arrested eight days ago on suspicion of sexual assault – then seven days ago for escape from police custody and assault and battery. The first charge has apparently been dropped – I don't know why – could be someone didn't Miranda him right or something. They other two are in deferred adjudication with a status of 'pending' whatever that means. We also got a cross reference from an old coroner's jury report filed in Roswell a few year's back. There had been a homicide – it was apparently later ruled justifiable homicide, but under the 'cause' on the death certificate was listed physical assault by persons known (Maxwell Evans – age ten).”

“The boy KILLED someone at age ten?”

“He's the only Maxwell Evans in Roswell – and the age back then fits. What I'm worried about is that he talked this girl into hitch hiking, and once he got her here to an isolated location where she had no real access to help – well he may have pressured her to do all sorts of things. The phones were even down early in the week – so even the one she used to call the Rudman girl wouldn't have been available.”

“Was there any indication she was under duress when she talked to the Rudman girl?”

“How would we know? The public telephone is right near the tourist campsite, and that's been empty since the slide. This Evans kid could have had a knife to her throat for all we know. One thing for sure, we have them on breaking and entering, but I was sort of afraid if I went in there alone and found the girl traumatized – well, she might respond better to a female officer. Besides, my track record with teenage girls arouns here isn't all that good..”

“Cole... No one believed those allegations. The internal affairs investigation was purely routine.”

“Well, regardless – it's good to have you here. You ready to go down there and do this?”

“Sure, what's the plan?”

“We take the vehicles back down the ridge, bring them up the road until they are a couple hundred yards or so from the cabin. With the trees to screen them from sight, they shouldn't see us coming and they shouldn't hear the vehicles that far away. Then we walk up to the house on foot. It's clear from here that the lock on the door has been smashed and we contacted the owner who said he's given no one permission to use the cabin and he asked us to investigate, so a warrant isn't an issue. I'll be the first one through the door – you back me up, OK?”

“That works for me,” said Vickie.

They got in their cars and slowly went back down Bear Ridge Road to the main road – then turned up the small road toward the cabin.


Somehow Liz knew he was awake – even before the lips touched the back of her neck and the kiss sent warm feelings radiating out into her body.

“Good morning, Liz.” she heard – then he had his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. “I love the smell of you...”

Liz smiled, feeling his middle digit moving slowly against her nipple and areola while his hand cupped her breast possessively. For all his initial reticence, he had become quite good at this.

“Mmmm,” she sighed as she felt her body react to his touch, “..and I love the feel of you against me, Max. It's reassuring. I know what you feel – I mean – last night it was like I was looking in to your soul – but the physical presence is nice too.”

“Yeah, well it'll be a long time before we get quite THIS close to each other again. Our folks are going to have to at least pretend that they are appalled by our behavior to keep the cover story going – not that I'm all that sure they wouldn't be truly appalled if they'd been here last night.”

“I don't regret that, Max. Even if we'd gone farther – I wouldn't have regretted it. We needed that – even if I do feel abraded a little in spots.”

“I AM sorry about that,” said Max, as the golden glow of his hand soothed a few abrasions – first on the one breast – then on the other. “Izzy kids me about shaving once a week if I need it or not – but even so, it has been well over a week. I should have used my powers to get rid of the stubble...”

“No you shouldn't – not unless you found a razor in the cabin somewhere – I certainly didn't. Besides, I sort of took you by surprise last night – and I'm NOT sorry. Like I said, I needed that – even if you didn't,” she said, as she opened her mind to his and looked inside, “... and you did,” she smiled.

“That is so – weird – that you can do that.”

“What – excite you? You excite me...”

“No, Make a connection with me – you did it several times last night while we were – nuzzling.”

“I thought you did it....?”

“I don't think so – although I was kind of preoccupied at that time. But just now I'm sure. Usually only Izzy or Michael can initiate a connection with me – and only complete if I let them. You just sort of pop in to my mind like they do..”

“Can you keep me out?”

“Don't know – it hadn't occurred to me to try. It hardly seemed gentlemanly to work at keeping you out of my mind when you weren't objecting to my lips kissing your breasts.”

“Well, go ahead and try...”

“What - blocking the connection – or kissing your breasts?”

“Blocking the connection of course – not that you can't do the other if you want...”

“Mmmm, said Max, “Did you try it? ... I didn't feel a connection that time.”

“I'm not sure if you blocked it – or just distracted me. Maybe we better just try the mental stuff.”

“Spoilsport,” said Max, grinning.

It took another five minutes or so to establish that Liz now had the ability to initiate connections with Max – although Max could block it if he tried. The only issue was they had to be physically touching or at least within a few inches of each other.

“Can anyone else do that?”

“I don't know,” replied Max, “Izzy and Michael have always been able to connect but other than them – well I actually haven't let anybody else get this close.”

[Maxwell Evans,..] came the thought through the connection in Liz's voice, [… you had damn well better not let anyone else get THIS close] she thought as she pulled him over on top of her and kissed him. The connection opened but there was no conscious thoughts there – just pure emotion – large amounts of warmth and love and – just enough lust to make her happy as his chest pushed down on hers trapping her against the mattress. She sent her tongue darting quickly between his lips to find his tongue and felt his passion build through the connection.

That's when the door burst open and Cole Ferguson stepped through, pistol drawn.

“Police Officer – freeze right where you are...”

[That has to be the worst timing in the world] came Liz's thoughts through the connection.

“Let me see your hands...,” shouted Cole.

Liz raised her hands behind Max's back. [Show him your hands, Max..]

[I can't. They are supporting my weight. Without support my eight will press right down on top of you}

[Toss me in that briar patch.... I'm afraid it's all the snuggling we are going to get for at least a few weeks.... I'll take it]

Max sighed and put up his hands. Liz, he realized as he felt her emotions through the connection, was really enjoying having his chest pressing down on hers in a most erotic manner. So was he. Too bad it had to end right now.

“OK, you …. keep your hands in the air and roll off her – RIGHT NOW! Are you alright Miss?”

“I'm fine officer, said Liz. [Not as alright as I was ten seconds ago though] she thought to Max. He could almost see the twinkle in her mind's eye even as he felt the love for him pour from her very soul.

A lot of things had happened to Max Evans in the last week and the person looking up at the deputy was a far different person than the one whose self-esteem issues and fears had kept him in at recesses.

A week of sleeping cuddled up together had changed both of them - although it would be several months and a spring vacation camping trip before they discovered that the dream he'd shared with her about the talk with Jeff wasn't really a dream - it was a precognition. It would take many years more before they found that the dream about the sex scene after the birth of their first child was a precognition too. Whatever healing her in her childhood repeatedly had started - and a week of sleeping against each other had strengthened, one hour of passion had apparently matured. Liz wouldn't often be able to dream the future - but on occasion she would. And it would happen - every event - every conversation - word for word as she would dream it.

Her ability to connect to Max - a primitive telepathy on a private line - would eventually mature to where they could have telepathic conversations across the room rather than just across a few inches. Somehow, the frequencies of their minds had blended. Just as their midbrains had made their chemical bonds through the pheromones, somehow Max's cerebrum bonded with Liz's and in doing so changed them both irrevocably.

Max would find out tonight that he had the ability to dreamwalk Liz for almost four miles - the distance between Max Evans' bedroom and Liz Parker's bedroom. So although it might be awhile before they shared a bed again - they were still together every single night. That was some consolation at least - as was the subsequent discovery that passion in a dream-orb was very private and available every night.

But the real changes in both of them were changes in attitude. Max had a new confidence such as he had never before known. If Liz loved him - and Liz did love him - he figured he could handle just about anything else. It's hard to have self-confidence issues when you know that you are that loved. No, Max had seen into Liz's soul, and he'd felt her passion for him as well as her love - felt her loving and longing and cherished the memory of the secret dreams that she'd shared with him - the first time they made love - the first time they made love with her off the pill - making a baby with 'malice aforethought,' as she described it. Knowing that Liz wanted him - wanted to bind her DNA to his and carry his children - knowing that this brilliant and beautiful and passionate creature wanted him - no, Max Evans would never have another doubt about his place in this world. His place was by Liz's side.

Of course, that was going to change briefly for awhile - they were about to be arrested - but the warmth of her love and the bond they had between them gave him the confidence to not even let that bother him. Max roled slowly over onto his back and his eyes took in thee two deputies. He reached out with his telekinesis and froze the firing pins in the slides of their weapons. He'd leave them that way until they were back in their holsters. He wasn't upset with the two lawmen - they were only doing their job - but he was taking no chances of an accident with Liz. She did seem to be a trouble magnet at times.



First impression for Deputy Cole Ferguson was a possible sexual assault in progress - until the boy rolled over and he saw the marks on his neck. During his training he'd seen scratch marks - even bite marks - on rapists that were defensive wounds made by victims attempting to fight off their attacker. Hickies weren't one of the defensive wounds that the studies had covered. But who knew - maybe the kid had forced her to do that - feigning affection for him. There were sickos in the world who would probably find some sadistic pleasure in making the girl pretend that she was enjoying it - even if he had to beat her senseless to get her to do it. No sense taking any chances....

"You - slowly slide out of the bed and on to the floor - keeping your hands visible at all times," said Cole, his eyes looking at Max - but watching for any sudden movement from Liz's direction as well.

The kid complied. Second impression - rapists don't generally wear their briefs during the act. Third impression was that he didn't have any concealed weapons either - the bulge in the briefs appeared to be the physiological result of what had been going on when he'd come through the door rather than any sort of a cached weapon. Once the situation was a little bit more under control he'd pat him down to make sure - but not all that aggressively. The kid looked stimulated enough as it was.

"I want you to roll over on your stomach and put your hands behind your back..."

The kid's eyes looked at him and Cole was briefly surprised. Generally everyone is intimidated by having a handgun drawn. This kid wasn't.

"Liz wasn't expecting company. I'll go quietly, but you need to step out and give her a chance to get dressed."

"THAT is not going to happen," said Cole. It was Law Enforcement 101 - you don't allow the perpetrator to dictate the conditions of the arrest.

Then he saw how the boy was looking at him. There was no give in those eyes. He wasn't going to turn over and let himself be handcuffed until he got his way. He reached with his left hand for his taser - and got the same look that a dog named Lobo had seen many years ago. The kid's eyes spoke to something primordial in the brain of Cole Ferguson. Everyone had some kinds of territorial imperatives - this one was the kids. This arrest was about to go from controlled to a knock-down drag-out fight - a fight this kid for some reason seemed confident he was going to win.

'What the hell kind of rapist is willing to start a fight to avoid the embarrassment of his victim?' Cole asked himself. The answer was - probably none. Whatever was going on here it was clear the boy cared for the girl and it was very possible that this was consensual - which would piss off their parents but would reduce potential charges to breaking and entering and petty theft - depending upon how much of their time the kids spent eating the guys food and how much they spent in bed. Hell, if they can make the case that they had to break and enter because the weather was so bad they couldn't stay outside they could probably make a necessity defense for the breaking and entering and even for the food they ate. Chances are they'd be looking at only restitution if that was the case. Of course they'd still have to deal with the pissed off parents - but then perhaps this kid will be intimidated by his mama - he sure doesn't look intimidated by you, Cole...,' he thought to himself.

"Vickie, please come in here and take care of the young lady. This gentleman is going to let me handcuff him and take him out to the patrol car while you check her out and let her get dressed."

"You aren't going to make him go outside half-naked?" demanded the girl.

His eyes went to her - she was looking at him in the same way the boy had been. Cole sighed, deeply. "I suppose not. You there - toss your clothes over here - keep your hands visible while I check them. If they are OK I'll give them back to you and you can get dressed. Then we'll handcuff you and get you out in the patrol car.

'Great, thought Cole. 'I really showed Vicke who was in charge on this arrest...'

“Police Officer – freeze right where you are...”

As the door crashed in and she heard the voice of the deputy Liz sighed with regret. This truly had been a wonderful night - and now it was coming to an end. Still - she couldn't really be unhappy - because she knew it was also a wonderful beginning. A lot of things had happened to Liz Parker in the last week and the person looking up at the deputy was a far different person than the one whose self-esteem issues and fears had been devastated by her wish to go to dances and on dates with Max being turned down only about nine months ago. Back then she'd been a child - full of uncertainties. Today she was a woman - confident in Max's love and therefore - confident in herself. For if she truly had Max's love - she realized - nothing else really mattered.

Yes, Liz had undergone a transformation - not just the changes to her mind that let her share her dreams and thoughts with Max - but a fundamental change at her core. She was not a particularly religious person, although she went to church. The concept of 'one flesh' she'd heard about in confirmation classes and at weddings - but it had always seemed just like the words of some archaic ritual - something more of form than of substance. This morning she knew differently. She was of one flesh with Max - it didn't matter that the final intimacies had not yet occurred.

[That has to be the worst timing in the world] she sent through the connection.

Years of friendship and months of unrequited romance had deepened her love for him and the fall had crystallized in her mind the fact that when the final moment of her life came she wanted to be with him. The week in the malpais had refined that love and in the furnace of an hour of passion when she found herself surprised and amazed at how much pleasure his touch could give her - how completely she wanted and needed him - and he her - that single hour had annealed that love - bonded it with her very soul. Max knew he could have had her last night - willingly and completely. She knew she could have had him. They were one flesh already - even before the final consummation - and perhaps only realizing that there was no doubt that the future did hold that consummation had kept it from happening last night. They were in this together - until that distant future when that final breath was drawn.

'And who knows....,' Liz thought to herself, '...perhaps even then...'

No, gone was the dour girl who had lamented about her science grade - the petty person that had sought to return hurt for hurt without really understanding Max's own fears and needs - gone forever was the mini-vixen who had screamed at him on a dance-floor and then done something stupid to spite him - and gone too was the 'perfect Miss Parker.' That she'd given up for something far more perfect.

“Let me see your hands...,” shouted the officer.

She could sense Max's uncertainty as he suddenly considered the physics of that request.

[Show him your hands, Max..]

[I can't. They are supporting my weight. Without support my weight Iwill press right down on top of you]

No doubt the perfect Miss Parker would have considered the weight of Max Evans naked chest pressing down on her naked chest something shocking - but the perfect Miss Parker had left the building sometime shortly after 3AM.

[Toss me in that briar patch....] she thought to him, adding to it all the love and acceptance that she could ... and not just traces of desire... [I'm afraid it's all the snuggling we are going to get for at least a few weeks.... I'll take it]

She felt his love and heard him sigh and as his body pressed in to her it was all she could do to not hold him close like that for all eternity. 'This is going to be a truly great part of our lives together,' she thought.

“OK, you …. keep your hands in the air and roll off her – RIGHT NOW! Are you alright Miss?”

Well - she was OK.... . Max had supported himself on his elbows to avoid pinching her as he'd left but the sudden coolness where his warm chest had pushed against her breasts left a slight emptiness in her heart.

“I'm fine officer, said Liz.

[Not as alright as I was ten seconds ago though] she thought to Max.


"You - slowly slide out of the bed and on to the floor - keeping your hands visible at all times," said the officer.

'There he goes...' thought Liz to herself. 'It was sure great while it lasted .... Of course, there will be other nights,' she promised herself.

"Liz wasn't expecting company. I'll go quietly, but you need to step out and give her a chance to get dressed," said Max.

'He's so sweet,' thought Liz. She really didn't care if the officer got a look at her breasts - she wasn't the perfect Miss Parker any more - the girl who was still embarrassed by the group showers in the girl's locker room - and it didn't really matter if the deputy looked. Max was there - it wasn't like he'd ever let her be hurt. '...but I like Max thinking about me in a possessive way,' she told herself. '...as long as he doesn't get himself shot.' Of course she was pretty sure that neither of those firearms would work right now. They'd discussed what to do to make sure of that yesterday. No doubt Max had their firing pins in a tight mental grip.

"THAT is not going to happen," said the officer. Max was close enough that she could feel his intensity - his protectiveness. He was going to protect what he thought of as her dignity - she hoped the young policeman would have the good sense to back off, because she wasn't altogether sure that Max did. Finally the officer sighed in resignation.

"Vickie, please come in here and take care of the young lady. This gentleman is going to let me handcuff him and take him out to the patrol car while you check her out and let her get dressed."

That got her attention.

"You aren't going to make him go outside half-naked?" demanded Liz. Max was hers. She wasn't about to risk him maybe getting something frostbitten that they had future plans for.

The young deputy gave another sigh. Liz noticed that he really was sort of cute - not that it mattered to her. Her dance card was filled for the rest of her life.

"I suppose not. You there - toss your clothes over here - keep your hands visible while I check them. If they are OK I'll give them back to you and you can get dressed. Then we'll handcuff you and get you out in the patrol car.