Roswell Fanatics

Max walked slowly up to Humboldt, his eyes still glowing with an inner golden fire. Had he been in a contemplative mood, he might have thought of all the biology you learn about as Liz Parker's lab partner.

The skin is the heaviest organ in the human body and for a big man like Humboldt it weighs over 5 kilograms. He had over 2 square meters of skin...almost 2 and a half square yards, and there are almost 20,000 sensory nerves per square inch.

But Max Evans wasn't in a contemplative mood. Max Evans had spent the last ten years regretting that he was different...that he was a monster...but today none of that made any difference. He no longer cared about his secret..no longer wished to be normal..no longer worried about where he came from, or if he would ever find his own kind. None of that was important anymore. Right now there were only two things in the world that Max Evans cared about, although in very different ways. One was Liz Parker....the other was Bob Humboldt.

"You think you are a monster?" he asked, as he walked slowly forward. "You have no idea what being a monster is like...if you did you wouldn't want to be one. I've been a monster all my life....wishing every day of it that I could be normal...that I could have a normal life. But not today...today....today I don't mind being a monster."

Max touched his hand to Humboldt's skin and formed the connection...visualizing every single one of the uncountable millions of sensory nerves in the big man's skin. Despite their number, the weight wasn't much...less than 10% of the weight of his skin...in fact less than a pound. The nerves were already 98 degrees....they felt pain at 107 degrees....the pain was excruciating at 120 degrees...like an entire body being immersed in boiling water...like....a foretaste of Hell. And heat was just the kinetic energy of the molecules...the simplest form of molecular manipulation and for a pound of nerves the energy requirement to raise the temperature 22 degrees was trivial...the calories in a single alien blast sundae.

"Where is Liz?" The question was asked softly..almost politely.

"Go to Hell," replied Humboldt. That had evidently not been the proper response. The entire surface of Humboldt's body suddenly felt like it had been immersed in burning napalm and he screamed in agony, but the glowing golden eyes didn't even blink.

"Where is Liz?"

Humboldt struggled to answer...to give him the information he wanted...anything to make it stop...the unbearable burning pain that felt like it was consuming him....felt like it was melting the skin right off of his body.

The thought went through Max then...something he had once heard Liz say, about bones. Bones didn't have any feelings..you could actually saw them and nobody could feel it. All the sensory cells were in the cellophane like layer that covered them..the periosteum...the richest collection of nerves in the human body...

"Where is Liz?" the question came again, and Humboldt's body was wracked by muscle spasms as he responded involuntarily to the agony of every bone in his body...every square millimeter of his skin having their pain receptors stimulated to the maximum.

"Wh-what are you?" Valenti asked, still pinned against the wall...seeing the agony that Humboldt was going through. The hand continued to glow where it touched Humboldt but the eyes turned toward Valenti, still glowing, almost as if Max had forgotten for a moment that the Sheriff was present.

"This is Roswell, Sheriff. You know what I am....certainly your father would know."

He turned back to Humboldt and let the glow fade. "You will tell me, you know. I'll do this forever...I won't let you die...I won't even let you faint...you'll hurt...just as badly as I hurt...until you tell me where Liz is."

The pain eased only enough for Humboldt to look once more into those eyes...those glowing demonic eyes, "I'll talk...I'll tell you. She's buried out on Silvermine road...about eight miles...I dug the hole between two abandoned vehicles by the side of the road. That's the truth..I swear."

Max forced a connection with Humboldt's mind, his own mind recoiling from the evil he found there...but not before he saw the memory of the site...the box going in the ground...the abandoned cars...the connection broke..but only after he had the knowledge he needed to find her.

As Max let go of Humboldt, gravity somehow became normal again and Valenti and Humboldt both slid to the floor at the base of the wall. Valenti quickly scurried to the side, reaching for his service automatic once more.

As he slid to the floor, Humboldt was already reaching for his backup gun in the ankle holster, and he had it out even before Valenti found his weapon. Humboldt raised it quickly, pointed it squarely between those glowing golden eyes, and pulled the trigger....it didn't move.

"I swore two days ago that I'd kill you slowly...rip the skin off of you a piece at a time...use my powers to keep you alive so you wouldn't die...not for months...so your pain could go on for as long as the pain you gave all those girls...the pain you gave to those who loved them. I guess even I'm not that much of a monster. It's better this way..."

Humboldt felt himself lift the revolver, as if he had no control over his hands...saw the barrel come towards him...felt it enter his mouth..felt it press against the roof of his mouth...he tried to scream at the last...as he felt his own finger tightening on the trigger...but if he managed a scream at all...it was drowned out by the noise of the gun discharging.

Jim Valenti pointed the barrel squarely at the boy, both of his hands shaking..waiting for the barrel to start the climb toward his own face as the boy turned to him...as the boys hand came toward him...but it didn't happen. The eyes were soft and amber, with no gold in them. The hand was held out not to destroy...but merely to help him from the floor.

"Come on, Sheriff," he said. "You can kill me later, right now we need to save Liz."

Even with strobes flashing and the siren screaming, it took almost twenty minutes to get there. Jim wasn’t sure what they could do…they had no equipment…not even a shovel. But when they got to the cars the hands glowed golden again, and the dirt seemed to fly from the hole…..even the box…even it was slowly lifted up to the desert floor.

Jim watched in wonder as twenty screws unscrewed themselves and the lid went crashing away into the desert. Max had been crying and shaking with desperation since they’d gotten there, and he shook and cried now as he lifted her from the box and laid her on the ground.

Her fingernails were torn..her fingers bleeding, her hair a matted mess. Her uniform smelled of urine…feces….old sweat and fear…she was breathing…but only barely….she was the most beautiful thing that Max Evans had ever seen.

Jim Valenti watched as Max put his hand on her head and her abdomen, not knowing what was going on as the golden glow came again.

“She has edema to her brain caused by the carbon dioxide buildup and kidney damage from dehydration. I can fix the kidney damage and her brain should be OK, once she has fluids. I can’t make matter…just manipulate it. I’m going to give her plasma from my body…not the red cells, I don’t know what they might do to her…but the plasma should be OK. If I pass out…get her to a hospital Sheriff.”

The golden glow came again as he held his forearm against hers, and Max sagged visibly, trying not to lose consciousness as over a quarter of his blood volume passed into Liz. He managed to brush his lips against hers for only a moment, before the darkness took him.

Max woke up in the back of the ambulance, an IV in his arm, strapped to the gurney. He looked up into the face of Sheriff Jim Valenti.

“She’ll be OK, Max. She’s in the other ambulance…we’re on our way to the hospital. I asked the EMT to ride in front…to give us a little privacy.”

“So what now, Sheriff? What happens now?”

“What happens now, son….is that you get a ride to the hospital. I told them you fainted…nothing more than that. I guess the Valenti family was kind of wrong about aliens all these years…I wanted you to know that. But you, Max…you were wrong too. There was only one monster in that jail today…and it wasn’t you. One monster who…when you figured out what had happened….when you exposed him to me….well….that monster committed suicide, Max. That’s what’s going in the report, and that's what I'm telling the coroners inquest jury. I'd kind of appreciate it if you didn't tell the judge I was lying about that," he said with a gentle smile.

“Whatever you say, Sheriff.”

“And Max…?”

“Yes, Sheriff.

“He really was the only monster……I don’t want you ever thinking otherwise. I don’t like it when…a friend…beats himself up over something that really isn’t all that important. We all have our little quirks…you learn to live with them.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

“Rest now, Max. Everything will all work out.”

1:15PM Room 214, Roswell Memorial Hospital

"I'm sorry, Sheriff," said the doctor. "We've done all we could do...she was just in shock too long. Too many systems have failed. I'm afraid it's only a matter of time. Does she have anyone in the area locally?"

"No. She has a sister on the East Coast but here in New Mexico...I guess the law enforcement community is her family. Could you just give us a moment with her alone..me and the boy here?"

"Sure...take all the time you want. It really doesn't matter now."

As the doctor left Valenti turned to Max. "Are you sure,..son? Sure that you can really help her?"

"We'll see, Sheriff...the least I can do is try."

No. Valenti knew that wasn't the least he could do...the least he could do was to just walk away...to take no chances at all. And that's what a lot of people would have done. But Max...Max wasn't just any sort of a person..he was special...and not just because he had extraterrestrial powers.

It took him longer this time, and Valenti could see that it drained the strength from him. When he was done Jim helped him stagger to the chair, helping him to sit down there.

"Take it easy Max. You just rest now, you've had an awful busy day already."

Before he even looked up, he heard the voice.

"So you two are friends now?"

She noticed when they looked at her that they both shared the same sheepish grin. "Well, sort of...yes. Max, I think you probably would rather be somewhere else...why don't you just go and Dr. Fowler and I will talk...probably have to think up some atrocious lie to tell the doctor once I explain to her what really just happened. He's not going to accept that 'the murderer always left silver handprints painted on the victim' story twice...especially when she didn't have them before she came in here."

"Bob Humboldt...he..."

"We know about that, Sandra." Valenti said. "It's ...taken care of."

Sandra Fowler watched as Valenti started to shake Max's hand..then reconsidered and hugged him, before sending him back to the lobby.

"So how did it happen..you two becoming friends?"

"It's a long story...I'll fill you in on it before the doctor gets back. but to start with...well, we both sort of found the right nail, and we hammered it together..."

2:00 Room 112, Roswell Memorial Hospital

Liz woke to the light from the fluorescents and the light to the window illuminating the ceiling, and she instinctively reached out….trying to find the sides of the box. As she felt nothing but the sheets, and the edges of the bed, she smiled. Could the nightmare really be over?

“She’s waking up…” said Maria.

The circle of vision above her was quickly crowded with the faces of her mom, her father, and Maria DeLuca.

“Oh Liz, my baby…I never thought I’d see you again,’ said a crying Nancy Parker. Jeff Parker was smiling at her, but the tears were streaking his cheeks. “Hi darling. You just rest now, everything will be fine.”

“Hi Ria…”

“Hi, Liz. I snuck in. There’s only supposed to be two at a time….just your parents for now…but everyone is waiting for you outside…waiting to say hi. Alex…Kyle…even Max.”

“Max Evans? I know what the Sheriff says…but he just seemed to know too much. I still think he was working with the man who did this to Liz,” said Jeff.

“Max knew….knew about me being in the box?”

“Yeah, and about some other girl the guy did this to… he was upset with her because she had an academic scholarship…and he was academically ineligible to play football.,” said Maria. “Kyle told me.”

‘So he really was in my dream…..he really is…an alien,’ thought Liz Parker. But yet…that was what she’d already decided….when she’d trusted her heart. She had opted to go through that hell rather than taking the quick way out…because she’d convinced herself…because she’d hoped… that story was really true. So in a sense, Liz really didn’t have to think about it…she’d made her decision over a day ago.

“Stay away from Max,” said Jeff. “I’d be worried sick…just at the sight of you near him.”

“Well you better get used to it, Dad. If you ever have any grandchildren…well, they are going to look a lot like Max. Help me up, Ria. I need to see him..”

“Liz, no. You still have IVs. You can’t get up…” said Nancy….but it didn’t matter. Her decision had been made almost a day previously.


2:15 PM The Contemplation Room, Roswell Memorial Hospital

The sign said ‘the contemplation room,’ but in less politically correct time it had been the chapel. Max could see the outline on the wall, where a wooden cross had once kept the paint from being bleached by the sunlight that poured through the skylight overhead, it's absence now leaving a sort of shadow of darker color on the wall. But it was quiet in the room, just the place for a solitary person to sit and contemplate the events that had just occurred.

Max knew he couldn’t leave without making sure she was alright. He knew that the dreams had only been dreams…that in the real world…well, she’d want someone…normal. He didn’t expect miracles…...didn’t really expect her to still want him…even in her dreams..now that she knew the truth.
He had made three friends, Doctor Fowler and Kyle and Jim Valenti. And most of all....she was safe. All in all, that made it a very good day.

“Max..?”

“Liz! What are you doing up?”

She was wearing a hospital gown and slippers…rolling an IV stand with tubing running down to her arm, not at all like the seductress in black lace of his dream. But she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“That was you, wasn’t it? In my dream? Only it wasn’t a dream, it was something else.”

“Not everything is always as it appears, Liz. Or everyone…”

His further words were cut off by her lips covering his…he was stopped at first by his surprise..then by his enjoyment…but he came to his senses, and pulled himself away.

“You don’t have to do this, Liz…you don’t owe me anything.”

“You’re right, Max. I don’t owe you anything. But this isn’t about you…not entirely. It’s also about me. I learned something in that box, Max. Every day above ground is precious. I’ve wasted too many of them already…we both have. I’m not going to waste any more. We all make choices Max, and my choice is to love you.”

She reached behind his neck and tried to pull his lips down to hers…but Max held back. “Liz…we don’t even know if we are biologically compatible…if we could even have children…”

Her eyes appeared to hold a gentle reproach as she cocked her head to one side..a half-smile on her lips.

”Max…..after those two dreams…I don’t even know if I’m still a virgin….but I plan on resolving that issue permanently in the very near future…with your help.” As his eyes went wide with surprise, she continued, “…besides…the only way we can logically address your question … is to address mine first.”

‘That’s my lab partner,’ Max thought as he pulled her into an embrace, ‘the girl does know her biology…’

It’s hard to tell how long the kiss lasted…it was as if time had stood still. Eventually they heard a rustling in the back of the room and broke the kiss to see the Parkers, the Evans’, Maria, and Jim and Kyle Valenti enter the room.

“I don’t think it’s a chapel anymore,” said Isabel with a broad smile. “You might have to wait quite awhile for the preacher to show up.”

Liz’s eyes sparkled as she looked back at Isabel. “You might be surprised, Isabel…,” she said with a smile.

“Mom….Dad…this is Max…the man that I love.”

The End

Epilogue:

Four weeks later, State Police Headquarters, Albuquerque New Mexico

Sandra Fowler looked at the nervous couple sitting on the chairs in her office. They had driven five hours to talk to her...referred by the last of the three Psychiatric workers they had seen..who had told them she was an expert in such cases. 'An expert? Not in this one. This was a one of a kind.' It would be easiest to blow them off altogether...tell them she had nothing to say. What she'd like to do is to tell them the truth...hopefully it would reassure them...but it wasn't her secret to tell. So she'd try to just walk the line...tell them enough of the truth to reassure them...but not the truth behind the truth.

But she sensed that now they both needed to talk...and she needed to listen..listen to their fears...listen to their questions...to build rapport with them if possible...to try to explain the unexplainable in words that could give them reassurance. There were many victims of a crime, she knew. The evil of such a thing sends ripples out affecting not just the victim but all those whose lives are touched by the criminal...the victim...sometimes even the hero.

"She was always the perfect child...even her grade school teachers told us that.." said the woman, 'and even now...about everything else..she's still the same...it's just about..him."

The tears crawled down Nancy Parker's cheeks as she went on, her husband gripping her hand, trying to provide what support he could to her.

"It would be different if they had even dated...Liz had hardly dated anyone, but had never dated him...but when she awoke in that hospital...when she said she intended to..well...have his children...it was just so bizarre."

"We argued with her about it of course," said Jeff Parker. "I even threatened to send her off to a boarding school,...but she looked at me with those eyes...and in those eyes she wasn't a child anymore. It wasn't that she no longer loved us but more like...she'd moved on...he was more important than us. When I looked at her I could see that if I tried to break them up...she was going to leave us...that she'd actually leave us to be with him."

"We did insist that she get counseling," said Nancy,"..and she even went..humoring US I think. They said she was rational...that she understood that declaring her eternal love for a boy she'd never even dated wasn't the most reasonable thing to do, but just smiled and said she knew what she was doing. They diagnosed her with PTSD...prescribed some medications...but she refused to even get the prescriptions filled."

"We know she has nightmares of the time...and of the man...sometimes just after she's gone to sleep she will cry out...but then she just calms right down and her expression becomes...well, happy...loving...sometimes she'll even call out his name," Jeff said. "It's like just the thought of him can drive the nightmares away..or change them into something else...something that...makes her happy. And when they are actually together...it's like he's the only one in the room...kind of like that for both of them really...like no one else really matters.

And I don't know, Doctor Fowler, if it was anyone but him...anyone but Max Evans..."

"Sheriff Valenti says the boy is OK...that it was all a mistake..him arresting the boy. But that still doesn't explain how much he knew...and certainly doesn't explain her infatuation with him."

Sandra Fowler looked at the two pairs of eyes looking at her pleadingly..'How do you answer the unanswerable...without breaking a trust?'

She decided she'd do her best.

"You know Bob Humboldt was my partner on the task force?...I'd worked with him for three years...never had a clue as to what he was...he hid it that well. He was a true psychopath ... one of the worst I've ever seen...but you'd never know it. I didn't...until just before he shot me. I barely survived that injury...probably shouldn't have...what I owe Isabel Evans...yes, and Max too, is beyond price. So maybe I'm not the most impartial person to talk to you about this, but I can tell you that what I went through at his hands.....well, it was nothing compared to what Liz went through.

For Liz...well, death became far preferable to what she was going through....it would have been far easier for her to light those matches she had...to end it quickly, then to endure that terror. Buried underground...with no real hope...your daughter had to decide what there was in her life that made it worth going through that hell. I think she decided that it was Max. I thnk that she probably had loved him for a long time...they'd been friends since the third grade.

I think the trauma of what she was going through crystalized that in her... she would choose to risk the terror for the chance to be with him. It didn't matter that they hadn't dated..he was the one she chose...the one reason for her to go through that hell, rather than taking the easy way out.

And I know that Max was in love with her as well. Did you know that he came to my room that night..before I was shot. He was frantic with fear for her...trying to get any information he could to help him figure out what had happened to her...and finally he did...the Sheriff's son gave him the final pieces to the puzzle.

Do you realize what it took for him to accost Humboldt like that...a shy kid, incarcerated, going up against an armed officer? And I'll tell you something that Jim Valenti won't...Humboldt would have gotten away altogether...left Valenti and Max both dead, if it hadn't been for Max disarming him. Even then Humboldt wouldn't talk...wouldn't say where Liz was, until Max...convinced..him.

Both of those kids were in the crucible...both went through trauma far greater than the wound that almost killed me. It's no wonder really that they somehow were joined together by it...no wonder that neither wants to risk putting off what I think they both wanted. I think they are joined by something now, something even stronger than friendship..or even matrimony. I think what they have is real..and likely to be eternal. I know that isn't what you wanted to hear...that you wish your daughter would keep her options open until she's older...wiser....but I think perhaps both she and Max have matured far more than you would believe. I think you need to accept that...and accept him. If you don't, I do believe you'll lose her."

"But they are so young...," said Jeff Parker.

"Max Evans was ready to give his life for your daughter, and she went through worse than that for him. I think you need to accept that both are older than they appear...and in their own way, wiser than they appear as well."

"Thank you Doctor Fowler. I guess we'll try to accept him," said Jeff, "Maybe it will work out.."

"I'm sure it will," said a smiling Sandy Fowler....