Roswell Fanatics

Title: I’ve Got the Power
Author: Karen
Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.
Pairings/Couples/Category: CC – M&L
Rating: TEEN
Summary: Max teaches Liz how to use her new powers; takes place sometime after Max in the City
Author's Note: Okay, here’s the scoop. Some of you probably already know that I started this fic about FIVE YEARS ago. Then I hit writers block and couldn’t finish it. That has always bothered me, so I’ve finally decided to put an end to it. I think I was trying to make more of the story than necessary and all it really needed was a conclusion. It won’t be long, probably only four or five parts. As I reread this, I realized that my writing style and the way I see the characters has really changed over the last five years


Part One

Liz watched Max as he absent-mindedly scratched his face while he watched TV. Her eyes followed his fingers as they traced the curve of his jaw, the indent of his cheek beneath his cheekbone. She didn’t think she’d ever grow tired of watching Max, of looking at his unearthly beauty. At first her constant staring had unnerved him, but now he acted as though he didn’t even notice.

They were sitting on Liz’s couch watching a movie Max had rented on his way over. Liz turned sideways on the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest so she could watch him without having to twist her neck. Suddenly she realized that as Max scratched, the five o’clock shadow he’d acquired disappeared beneath his fingers.

“How do you do that?” she asked.

Max jumped slightly at the sudden sound of her voice and turned dark eyes to her. “Do what?”

“That shaving thing you’re doing,” Liz answered.

Max looked at his fingertips, shrugged. “I didn’t realize I was doing it,” he confessed, then scrubbed his hand across his clean-shaven face.

“I mean, where does it go?” Liz prompted.

Max raised his eyebrows. “Go?”

“The stubble – where does it go?”

Max shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe it just disappears.”

She cocked her pretty head. “It can’t just disappear, Max. Conservation of mass and energy – remember? It has to go somewhere. It defies the laws of science.”

Max gave her a small smile. “Liz, my very existence defies the laws of science.”

Liz giggled and slapped him playfully on the arm. “No, really. Tell me how you do it.”

Max gave a sigh, saw there was no appeasing her. “I was just watching the movie, thinking I needed a shave and it happened.”

She eyed him curiously, silently.

“Why?” he asked.

Liz shrugged. “Just curious.”

But she didn’t seem satisfied. Max waited, brows slightly raised, for her to continue. She didn’t. “Liz?”

She looked at him and gave him a little smile. “I just wonder if…if I could do that.”

At this Max’s attention turned fully from the movie to his petite girlfriend seated beside him. She’d never given any indication that she wanted to learn to use her new abilities, not since she’d saved Max’s life in New York. Max had assumed that she didn’t want to know, that the fact she was now ‘different’ had somehow frightened her.

“I don’t know if you could,” he answered honestly and watched Liz’s hopeful expression fade. “I don’t know what kind of powers you may have.” He needed to approach the subject carefully – this needed to be her decision. “Do you know what powers you have, Liz?”

Liz met his gaze and shook her head. She knew Max was asking her if she’d been experimenting on her own. “Other than the projection thing Isabel helped me do, no.”

Max reached over and pulled up the leg of her jeans, ran his hand along her shin and frowned. Liz watched him curiously.

“You shaved this morning,” he said disappointedly.

Liz gave a little laugh. “Well, yeah. I knew my boyfriend was coming over.”

Max reddened, but chuckled. “I guess shaving is out, then.” He dropped her pant leg and thought for a moment. Taking her tiny hand in his, he stroked the back of it with his thumb. “Do you want to try, Liz?”

She suddenly looked wary.

He quickly covered himself. “I mean, it’s up to you, but do you want to do some checking, see what abilities you have?”

“Max, I…” Her voice drifted off, then she looked very determined. “Yeah, I think I do.”

Max tried to conceal his delight, but his goofy grin betrayed him. Secretly, he’d always wished that Liz would explore her new world, that she would accept that she was a little more than human now, that she was more like him. It was an odd sense of acceptance that she wanted to be the same as him.

“Okay,” he said eagerly. What to do first? “I think we should start slow.”

“Okay,” Liz agreed. She thought for a moment. “What about that connection thing you guys can do? Do you think I can connect with people too?”

Max shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s try it.” He picked up her hands and put them on either side of his head. It was going to be hard to not interfere with her attempts to connect with him. Since connecting was second nature to him, he could connect with her in a matter of seconds. He couldn’t let his abilities over ride hers, which meant he sort of had to resist her but not block her entirely. “Take deep breaths,” he said. “Match mine. Look into my eyes. Think about me. Only me.”

Liz did as she was commanded, but found that she was thinking more about not being to connect with him than actually doing it. She felt her body start to tense with the struggle.

“Relax,” Max said, his voice a soft whisper. “Think about me, Liz. About what I mean to you.”

She tried, but the thoughts of failure pushed to the fore again and she let out a defeated sigh. She looked to the floor, upset with herself. Max lifted her chin and smiled at her.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Maybe you don’t have that gift.” He kissed the side of her head and returned to the TV.

Liz looked at him incredulously. Just like that? He was giving up? “Max?” she said and he turned to look at her. “Maybe I can do something else.”

Max tried to not smile. He’d hoped she would want to try other things and he’d managed to maneuver her into asking. “Maybe,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “Let’s go for a ride.”

* * * * *

Max pulled the jeep to a stop in the desert. The sun had set over their shoulders on the drive and the sky was now dotted with thousands of stars. Max looked over at Liz, gave her a smile and swung his body out of the jeep. Liz followed him and tentatively took his hand.

“What do we do?” she asked.

Max’s smile widened. “We’re going to blow stuff up.”

Liz laughed. “Blow stuff up?”

Max nodded eagerly. “Watch,” he said. He dropped her hand and lifted his toward a cactus a few yards away. Drawing in a deep breath, he concentrated, then a powerful burst of energy erupted from his palm and splattered the cactus into a million pieces. In the dark, the light was a very white, very bright intrusion. Liz put up a hand to shield her eyes and a soggy piece of cactus slapped her arm.

“Wow,” she said. She’d never seen Max use his powers of destruction before. She’d witnessed Michael stop the hummer when they were escaping from the FBI and kill Agent Pierce with his energy blast, but she never thought Max had that ability. It touched her that he never used it. Max was a creator, a preserver, not a destroyer.

“Let’s see if you can do it,” Max prompted. “Lift your hand.” Liz obeyed. “Straighten your fingers.” He stood behind her and aimed her open hand at a small bush. “Reach deep down,” he told her. “Pool all of your energy toward your hand. Think of it like you are collecting electricity from throughout your body and sending it into your hand.”

Liz did as she was told and she thought she could feel a tingling in her stomach, but as soon as she had the thought the feeling was gone. She sighed in defeat, started to drop her hand as she turned to talk to Max. As she turned, a small bolt suddenly leapt from her palm and incinerated the passenger side mirror on the jeep. Max let out an involuntary shriek and dropped flat on the ground. Liz screamed and started to lift her hands to her face. Quickly, Max jumped back to his feet and pulled her hands high above her head, pointed her palms skyward. Gasping, he looked down into her face.

“Don’t touch yourself,” he ordered, perhaps a little more tersely than he’d intended. Liz’s round eyes started to fill with tears, partly from fright, partly from Max’s tone. His gaze softened, but he didn’t dare release her hands to comfort her. “It’s okay, Liz,” he said gently. “You just scared me, that’s all.” Then he started to laugh. Liz had a power! “You did it. You really did it!”

Liz glanced over at the jeep, at the smoking remains of the mirror.

“Thank God your aim sucks,” Max continued, laughing. “We could be looking at a very long walk home.”

At that Liz laughed a little. Her heart had started to slow and she realized that she had an odd buzzing feeling coursing through her body – she hadn’t spent the energy she’d built up. It was a good thing that Max was still holding her hands over her head.

“I don’t think I’m done,” she said in embarrassment.

“I know you’re not,” Max agreed, nodding his head. “This is what we are going to do – we are going to very slowly lower your hands toward that bush. I want you to concentrate on holding the blast in; I don’t want you to let it go until I tell you, okay?” Liz nodded. “Control is very important, Liz. You have an immense amount of power and you could really do some damage.” Max had a brief thought of Michael, of his struggles with control in his younger years. He hoped Liz wasn’t going to have the same problem.

He turned her body toward the bush and circled around behind her, never letting her hands go. Once he was safely out of her range, he started to slowly lower her arms. He could feel her body trembling with the struggle to hold in the burst. When her hands had reached about a forty-five degree angle to the horizon, Max was catapulted backward as the energy burst from her palms and disappeared harmlessly into the night sky. Liz tumbled on top of him and Max let out a rush of air as she pinned him to the ground.

They lay like that for a while, Liz flattened on top of Max, Max gasping for air. Once he cautiously looked to see where her hands were and thankfully they were against the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Liz said, her voice sounding small.

Max reached over and smoothed her hair. “I know, but don’t be.” His voice was gentle. “Wow, Liz, you have powers. What a wonderful thing.”

Liz lifted her head to look at him and she gave him a wide smile. “I do, don’t I?” Secretly, she was wondering what else she could do. Could she heal? Could she dream walk? Who was going to teach her all of these things? The possibilities were endless – and very exciting.

Then Liz realized that she and Max were in an extremely compromising position. They were in the desert, they were all alone, she was sprawled on top of him – and she had powers that made her more like him than she’d ever dreamed. It was oddly erotic. She bit her lip. “Max?”

He caught the look in her eyes and he suddenly felt just as excited as she did. “Yeah?” he responded.

Liz looked questioningly down to his zipper. Then Max remembered what had transpired only a few minutes before and his desire waned.

“Liz,” he began, “do you honestly think I am going to let you touch me there?”

tbc

Part Two

Liz stared relentlessly at herself in the mirror. Then she stared relentlessly at her hand, at her palm. She’d actually disintegrated a solid object with nothing but her bare hand. A little smile crept to her lips and she returned her gaze to the mirror. She looked the same. The same Liz Parker half of Roswell knew as the friendly Crashdown waitress. Which was a good thing – there would be no explaining any sudden changes to her appearance. She heaved a content little sigh and turned to her closet.

She was meeting Max for dinner, so she wanted to wear something special. She flipped through her clothes, frowned when she couldn’t find a green shirt she liked. Her fingers happened to be on a red blouse when she thought of the green shirt, and the blouse suddenly turned green. Liz gasped and dropped the shirt, took a step back. Her heart started to thump in her chest as she realized she’d changed the color of the shirt just by thinking about it. She gave a little giggle and touched the shirt again, turned it purple, then blue, then yellow. She gave a squeal of laughter and did a little hop of joy.

Racing to her vanity, she sat down before the mirror and waved her hand across her eyelids, thought of blue and immediately her eyelids were blue. Involuntarily, she gave a little squeal of delight. She hadn’t given herself eye shadow – she’d actually changed the color of her skin. No wonder Isabel’s makeup always looked so perfect, never smudged – it wasn’t makeup at all. Another wave of the hand and Liz’s lips turned a pale peach, garish in comparison to the blue eye shadow, but Liz giggled in excitement anyway. This was going to be more fun than she’d imagined.

* * * * *

Max stood before his own mirror, looked at his handsome reflection. Not that he had ever considered himself handsome. He thought that Isabel was beautiful, that Michael was quite striking as far as guys went, but Max had always seen himself as somewhat a freak. Years of feeling different, feeling like the outsider had deprived Max of vanity concerning his looks. But he knew that Liz loved him, that she thought he was beautiful, and that was all that mattered to him.

A smile creased Max’s features as he thought of Liz, of her new-found powers. She’d startled the bejesus out of him when she’d incinerated the jeep mirror, but it had also thrilled him to no end. Now she could understand – maybe just a little – what it was like to be him, to have powers. He couldn’t wait to show her, teach her…the ways of the Force so she could become a Jedi. He laughed to himself at the analogy.

Sitting on the bed, Max started to pull on his shoes when he heard a light rap on the window. He glanced up and saw Liz on the other side. His heart leapt at the sight of her – until he realized she looked very unhappy. He reached the window in three long strides and pushed it open. She looked like she’d been crying.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he held out his hand to help her through the window. Then he noted that she was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled over her hair.

Liz climbed through the window and stared at the floor, speechless.

“Liz?” Max said, bending a bit at the knees so he could look into her face. “What happened, sweetie?”

She gasped in a breath and started babbling. “I just want – I was just trying – and then I couldn’t make it stop – I tried to put it back – I got really nervous – couldn’t concentrate – I was just trying –“

Max took her arm. “You aren’t making any sense,” he said gently.

Liz stopped, never took her gaze from the floor as she reached up and pulled the hood from her head. Max let out an unintentional gasp followed by an inappropriate “Jesus” when he saw her hair. The shiny black locks he loved so much were gone. Instead, Liz looked like an exhibit at an abstract art show. Her hair was many colors of the rainbow, from pink to purple to green in spots. Max was oddly reminded of one of those rainbow clown wigs, then of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” video.

At his reaction, Liz started to cry. Max sighed, realized he’d messed up and reached for her. He tried not to laugh as he soothed her. Inconspicuously, he smoothed her hair and restored its natural beauty. “Come on,” he urged as he led her over to the bed. They sat and Liz stared at the floor.

“What happened?” Max asked as he put an arm around her shoulders.

Liz sniffed and Max handed her a Kleenex. “I was looking for something to wear and I touched a shirt while thinking of another one and it turned green.” Max noticed with horror that as soon as Liz said the word ‘green’, the tissue turned a pale mint color. Liz didn’t seem to notice. “So then I started experimenting – with eye shadow and stuff.” The Kleenex turned blue and Max’s eyes widened. “Then I was combing out my hair and I wondered what I would look like as a redhead.” Her bottom lip quivered and she put a now rose-colored Kleenex to her nose. “But I couldn’t get my natural color back. I didn’t know how to put it back. Every time I tried, it turned another color. The more I tried, the more I panicked, the worse it got.” She sniffed.

“Liz,” Max said gently. “You have no idea what just happened, do you?”

She looked at him, eyes wet. She shook her head.

“You just changed that Kleenex a bunch of different colors.”

She glanced at it and dropped it to the floor as if it had stung her. Max started to feel a little frightened –this Jedi had no control of its powers.

* * * * *

At the Crashdown, Max stared sullenly at the tabletop. His fingers toyed with a straw wrapper, twisting it, balling it up, straightening it out. He wasn’t paying any attention to Michael and Isabel, who were talking and laughing around him. He was depressed. Just the night before, he’d been all happy about Liz having powers, about her wanting to learn. But now…now he was scared that she might hurt herself or someone else.

“What’s your problem, Maxwell?” came Michael’s terse tone.

Max looked up into Michael’s irritated face. “Nothing.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “Nothing my ass, Max.” She turned her attention to Michael. “Seems like Miss Parker is an accident waiting to happen.” Max shot her a glance that she ignored.

Michael looked back to Max. “That true?”

Max shrugged.

Michael sat back in the booth and crossed his arms. “Excellent, Max. So we’ve got a loose cannon roaming around that could expose us.”

Max gave a disgusted sigh. “Liz won’t expose us.”

“Not intentionally,” Michael corrected. “But it will be hard to explain when she blasts something – or someone – to kingdom come with her freaking powers.”

Max could feel his anger growing. “What do you want me to do, Michael?”

This time Michael shrugged. “I think screaming like a little girl and hitting the deck is a good option.”

Max stopped short and his jaw clenched in anger. So that’s how it worked – Liz told Maria things, Maria told Michael things and Michael used those things to hurt Max.

“Guys,” Isabel said calmly, glancing around the dining room of the Crashdown to make sure they hadn’t drawn any unnecessary attention. “Just chill, okay?” She turned her attention to Max. “Where is Liz now?” she asked.

Max broke his gaze with Michael and glanced upwards. “Upstairs, in her room.”

“You left her alone?” Michael spat.

“Michael, enough,” Isabel reprimanded.

“No, Iz, it’s not enough. How do we know she isn’t up there doing all kinds of bad stuff?”

At that Max threw the straw wrapper viciously against the wall of the booth. “Give it a rest,” he spat. “Have you forgotten what you used to be like? Don’t you think Iz and I worried about what damage you might be doing? The only difference here is that Liz doesn’t realize she is doing these things while you were irresponsible enough to know you were doing it and do it anyway. If you want to talk about people having a blatant disregard for our well being, Michael, why don’t you look at yourself for a change? God!” Max shoved away from the table and thumped roughly into the corner of the booth.

Michael stared emotionlessly at him, while Isabel looked straight down at her lap. She could almost feel the waves of anger – and fear –coming off Max’s body. There was no talking to him or Michael at this point. She folded her hands, waited a beat, then acted like nothing had happened.

“Can we go up and see her?” she asked Max. “Does she feel like visitors?”

Max rubbed his eyes, sighed and nodded.

Isabel rose from the table and disappeared into the kitchen. Max looked up at Michael and the two stared silently for a long moment.

“I’ll be at home if you need me,” Michael said and pushed himself from the booth.

* * * * *

Max and Isabel stood outside of Liz’s bedroom door. Isabel turned around and looked at him for approval before she knocked on the door, then pushed it open.

Liz was laying on her bed, faced away from them, her knees drawn up to her chest. Isabel glanced at Max again and again he nodded. She rounded the bed so Liz could see her. Isabel tried to not break a smile when she saw Liz’s hands tightly bound in winter mittens. Only Max could come up with a solution like that.

“Liz?” Isabel said cautiously.

Liz met her gaze and Isabel was taken aback by the sorrowful look in her friend’s eyes.

“Hi,” Isabel said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Max circled the bed also and sat in Liz’s rocker.

“Hi,” Liz mumbled. She looked depressed, miserable.

“How’s it going?” Isabel asked, trying to find a way to get the petite brunette to talk. She glanced around the room, saw that a few things looked freshly broken – some random blasts of power? – and a few things had changed colors. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

Max braced himself for another wave of tears from Liz, but instead she giggled. Then giggled harder and Isabel laughed with her.

“And I like the mittens,” Isabel complimented. “Very useful in Roswell in June.”

Liz rolled onto her back. “My hands are sweating.” Max felt a pang of discomfort for her, at his thrown-together solution. “And it makes washing my hair difficult.”

Isabel laughed gently and touched Liz’s hands. Carefully, she pulled the mittens off and Max had to fight the reflex to duck. Maybe Michael had been right – Max’s only defense these days was to scream like a girl and hit the floor. Isabel turned Liz’s hands over and looked at her pink palms. They were sweaty and had that water-logged quality skin gets when too long in the bath. Isabel stroked Liz’s palms and gave her some cooling relief.

Liz sighed and sat up. “Thank you.”

Isabel smiled at her. “You poor thing,” she consoled. “You must’ve been miserable.” Liz nodded. “Just ball your fists up for now, okay? It doesn’t have to be tight – just close your hands.” Liz complied.

Isabel turned to look at Max, who was watching silently from the rocker. She gave him a little grin, showed that she was trying to conceal her laughter, and that put him a little at ease. Michael’s outburst in the café had bothered him, had made him feel responsible for anything Liz might do. But Isabel was letting him know it was a funny situation – sort of.

“We’re going to have to give you some control lessons,” Isabel said to Liz. “Can’t have you walking around blasting stuff and changing the color of everything. I can help you, if you want?” The last part was said as a question and Isabel raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

Liz glanced over at Max. He smiled at her and nodded his head. He needed all the help he could get.

* * * * *

“Think of it like holding pee.”

Liz turned to Isabel, her pretty brow furrowed. “Holding pee?” she repeated.

Isabel nodded as she rounded the jeep. They were in the desert again, only now it was day time. Max sat a few yards away on a large rock. He had his hands folded between his knees and was just observing silently. He had to admit that he was a little jealous that Isabel had taken over teaching Liz, but also thankful that she was being so gracious about it.

“It’s like you’re 3 again, and you need to be potty trained,” Isabel explained.

Max put a hand to his face to hide his grin.

“When you were a kid,” Isabel continued patiently, “you probably wet the bed because you didn’t realize you had to pee, right? Eventually, your body learned to recognize the signs that you were about to wet yourself and you woke up. Same thing during the day – you had to wear diapers because you weren’t aware of what was happening in your body. That’s what’s happening to you now. You need to learn to recognize the change in your body before you use your powers. Once you do that, you’ll be able to stop, well, accidents from happening.”

Liz let this soak in. It did make sense. “So how are we going to do this?”

Isabel walked a few paces away and dropped an empty soda can on the ground. “You can start by taking off the gloves.”

Max watched as Liz carefully removed the mittens that he’d asked her to replace before they left the Crashdown. She looked at her hands as though they were death weapons; Max guessed in a way they were. A little part of his stomach lurched at her expression – she looked terrified. Of herself.

“Okay,” Isabel said, taking a safe position behind Liz. “Go ahead and blast that can.”

Liz looked warily at Isabel.

“Go head,” Isabel urged.

Liz gave a mental shrug and turned her attention to the can. She raised her hand, closed her eyes as she built up the energy, then the bolt erupted from her palm and the can shattered into a million metal shards. Max ducked quickly behind the rock as the needle-like projectiles rained around him. Time to find a new stoop.

“Good,” Isabel said, hiding her amusement as she saw Max walk around to the back of the jeep and lean on the spare tire.

“Good?” Liz asked, confused.

“Sure.” Isabel walked to the same spot and dropped another can. “Now, think about what you felt before you let that blast go.”

Liz looked to the ground. She’d felt that stirring in her midsection, then her hand tingled, then the bolt had exploded from her palm.

“Do you remember how it felt?” Isabel asked as she returned to her position behind Liz.

Liz nodded. “I think so.”

“Excellent. Now aim at the can again. This time, as soon as you feel that power starting to kick in, push it back down. Don’t let it go full force.”

Liz glanced at Max and he gave her a little reassuring nod. She raised her hand, felt the stirring in her stomach and tried with all of her might to keep the energy from escaping to her hand. She was only partially successful – a small gust of power, no more than a breath of wind, pushed the can a few feet across the sand.

“Not bad,” Isabel assured. “How do you feel?”

Liz looked at her uncertainly. “Like I haven’t finished peeing.”

Isabel smiled. “Then just imagine that pee going away. Let it absorb back into your body.”

Liz did just that and she could feel the energy level in her body wane. Satisfied, she turned a smiling face to her teacher.

“Try it again,” Isabel prompted. “Try to not let any power escape this time.”

Liz nodded eagerly, reassured, and raised her hand to the can. Her stomach stirred, but she mentally made the energy die immediately. She closed her eyes, made sure it was gone, and turned an even wider smile to Isabel.

Max watched from the back of the jeep as Isabel put Liz through similar tasks. Each time she repeated the exercise, she did better. They moved on to the color changing problem Liz had. Sitting on the sand, the girls changed rocks many different colors so that the space between them resembled the floor of an aquarium. Then Isabel made Liz turn them all back to their original colors, not an easy task considering the shear volume of rocks they were experimenting with. Within a few hours, though, Liz could do it with her eyes shut.

Max observed the two women he loved the most in the world, felt a small pang of regret that they were sharing in something he couldn’t.

tbc

Hello everyone! *wave* Thank you all for reading - I will try to answer fb later. This is the last of the "old chapters"



Part Three

It had been weeks since Max and Liz had touched each other for fear of Liz hurting one or both of them with her lack of control. But the sessions with Isabel had been a major help and soon they were able to continue their romance once again. Max had barely pulled the jeep to a stop in the drive in when they were clambering for the back seat. They both tried to squeeze between the front seats at the same time and got wedged in at the hip. Giggling, they struggled free and tumbled in the back, hands groping, grasping, reaching.

Max hoisted Liz onto his lap and kissed her mercilessly. He couldn’t get enough of her, it had been too long. He kissed her neck. Where’s that spot? he thought. The one that drives her crazy?

“Lower,” Liz breathed then gasped when Max’s lips touched the hollow of her throat.

Max found it cool that Liz was becoming bold enough to voice her wants to him. Speaking of wants, he wondered if it was too soon to move for her panties…

“No, go ahead,” Liz said as she wove her hands in his hair.

Max sat back. “What?”

Liz looked at him in confusion.

What’s that look for? he wondered.

“What look?” Liz answered. She stopped short, realized that she was looking right at Max and his mouth hadn’t moved. She gasped.

Oh, shit!

Liz pulled her hands to her ears, but she could still hear Max.

She’s going to scream any moment now.

And she did. Liz pulled her knees to her chest, closed her eyes and let out an ear-piercing, glass-shattering shriek. Quickly Max realized what was going on – she could hear his thoughts. Actually read his mind! While he thought this was super cool, he realized that it was freaking her out so he quickly blocked his thoughts and reached for her arms.

“Look at me, Liz,” he said aloud.

But she continued to scream.

Max tightened his grasp around her arms and she finally opened her eyes. Her scream echoed, then dissipated in the small confines of the jeep. Her eyes darted nervously; her breath came in hard gasps. She cautiously lifted her hands from her ears and when she realized she couldn’t hear anything any more, she dropped them entirely. And started to cry.

Max pulled her close to his body and rocked her. He wanted to laugh. Was it going to be this way every time Liz discovered a new power? Was she going to spend the rest of her life in tears? And just how many powers did she have stored in there, anyway?

“It’s okay,” he said against her ear.

She pushed back from him, her cheeks streaked with her tears. “No, Max, it is not okay. I finally get a grip on what is happening to me and now this happens? This is so wrong.” She shook her head in defeat.

Max brushed away her tears. “It’s not wrong, Liz. It’s wonderful, don’t you see? You’ve got –“

“Oh, shut up, Max.” Liz pushed herself from his lap and stared out the side window.

Max looked at the floor of the jeep as a long silence ensued. Not three minutes before, he was on the verge of making love to his beautiful girlfriend here in the back of the jeep and now it felt like there was a Grand Canyon-sized rift between them. She was upset. She told him to shut up. Now he was upset. Looked like no love for Max tonight. He sighed.

Shortly after, she sighed, and it was a ragged, gasping sigh and Max knew she was crying again. He wanted to reach for her, to comfort her, but he wasn’t sure she wanted him to touch her. So he stared at his hands, at the floor, anywhere but at her. Finally he drew in a breath.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked quietly.

“No, Max,” Liz said quickly, snapping her head towards him. “I want all of these ‘wonderful changes’ to stop happening to my body.” Her voice was cold, angry, frightened. “I just want to be Liz Parker, human being again. I’m tired of being half – half whatever it is I am. What am I, Max? Am I an alien now? Am I half alien? Am I just a human with super powers? Jesus, Max, I don’t even know what the fuck I am any more and all you can do is ask me if I want to go home?” She gave a disgusted snort. “Everything doesn’t boil down to you not getting laid tonight, Max.”

Max nearly withdrew from the sting of her words. He knew she was scared, but never had Liz sworn at him or accused him of only wanting sex. His eyes were round and he held his breath, waiting for her next verbal assault. She stared at him, her eyes hard.

Finally Max moved for the driver’s seat. He wouldn’t ask her again – he’d just take her home. Best not to say anything right now, he told himself. He jerked with the memory that she could hear his thoughts, was thankful that the surprise of her outburst hadn’t caused him to drop the block he had over his mind. Silently, he reached down and started the jeep. He glanced in the rearview mirror, saw that Liz had resumed staring out the window, pushed in the clutch and started to put the jeep into reverse.

A sigh from the back seat. “Max, wait.”

Max stopped, glanced over his shoulder.

“Turn it off,” Liz requested quietly.

He turned the key and the jeep went silent. He turned back to her and she looked at him shamefully.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You didn’t deserve that. I’m just…I’m just scared, Max.”

He smiled gently at her, reached back and took her hand. “I know.” Then he squeezed her hand and invited her back into the front seat. “Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested.

The drive in was nearly deserted and the night air was cool. Max took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around Liz’s small shoulders, then put his arm around her, too. They walked in silence for a while until they were at a small playground beneath the wide outdoor screen. They sat down on swings, Max immediately twisting his and spinning in a fast circle when he released it. Liz giggled.

“I used to do that as a little girl,” she said.

“Me, too,” he agreed. “Well, not when I was a girl, when I was a little boy. I did other things – tea parties, Barbie dolls, dress up – when I was a little girl.”

Liz giggled at his silliness. “What did you like to do when you were a little boy?”

Max started the motion of his swing. “Pick on Isabel.”

Liz smacked his arm as he passed her. “You know what I mean.”

“I liked cars. Matchbox cars. And I liked dirt. A lot of dirt. I knew I could dig my way to China. I tried it several times.”

She watched him glide gently back and forth. “I wish I’d known you then,” she said wistfully.

“You did know me,” Max corrected. “You just ignored me.”

Liz watched him silently for a moment. “I never ignored you.”

He gave her a little smile. “You’re right. You didn’t even know I existed.”

“Yes, I did.”

Max dropped his work boots to the ground and the swing stopped. He looked into her dark eyes for a long moment. “Did you?”

She nodded. “I just never knew how to approach you. Maria was always telling me that you were staring at me.” He gave a little laugh. “And I kept telling her you couldn’t be staring at me.”

“Why not?” Max asked curiously.

Liz cocked her head. “Look at yourself, Max. You’re absolutely gorgeous. What would you want with me?”

Max looked embarrassedly to the ground. It astounded him that Liz found herself unworthy of him of all people. And the whole time he’d been thinking he wasn’t worthy of her.

“Thank God I was shot,” Liz deadpanned. “Think of all we would have missed out on.”

Max looked into her face and shared an ironic smile with her. He fell serious again. “Do you still feel that way, Liz?”

“What, that you’re gorgeous?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, that I couldn’t possibly want you?”

Liz looked into his eyes and knew he was very serious about this; that her answer might make or break him. She shook her head. “No, I don’t feel that way any more,” she answered softly. She reached over and took his hand.

He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Are you sorry?” he asked. “That I changed you?”

She thought for a moment then shook her head.

“I am,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry that it’s upsetting you to be…” His voice trailed off and he looked to the ground again.

“To be what?” Liz inquired.

He looked back to her. “Like me.”

Liz felt her heart shatter into a million pieces at the possibility he was entertaining that thought. She squeezed his hand tighter. “Oh, no, Max, that’s not it,” she pleaded. “Please don’t feel that way.” It implied that everything he was was somehow wrong. After all of this time, after all of her love for him, he still felt like a freak. “I shouldn’t have said what I did in the jeep,” she continued. “It’s just too much too fast, you know? Just when I think I know my powers, something else happens and it’s like starting all over again. I’m sorry. I’d never hurt you.”

He studied her silently for a long moment, then pulled her toward him. He adjusted his position on the swing so that Liz could sit on his lap. He smiled tenderly at her and brushed her hair away from her eyes.

“What did you do when you found out you had powers?” she asked him. “How did you react?”

Max shrugged. “I didn’t know I had powers. I didn’t know that everyone else couldn’t do what I could do. It was just a part of me. It’s not like I woke up one morning and could do these things – I could always do them.” He squeezed her a little tighter, realized that he really didn’t understand what it was to be in her shoes. “I wish I could tell you this is the end,” he said sincerely. “I wish I could tell you that these are all of the powers that you possess. But, the truth of the matter is that sometimes I still catch myself doing something I didn’t know I could do. After all this time. I think it’s an evolving thing – as I grow, so do my powers.” He kissed her forehead. “Maybe it will be the same for you. I don’t know.”

Liz wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his forehead in return.

“You have every right to be freaked,” Max continued. “This is a big deal – your life has changed in a big way. But let me help you through it. Don’t block me out.” He was thinking of Isabel training Liz to control her physical powers, of how he’d been left behind in the learning process. “Promise me that?”

Liz smiled and held him tight to her.

A couple emerged from the nearby concession stand and Max felt Liz’s body tense. She could hear them, their thoughts. She didn’t know how to block them yet. Easily, Max brought Liz’s lips to his and formed a connection to block out the strangers. He sent her images of the two of them – laughing, singing, naked, making love. He felt her give a grateful moan and smiled to himself. They would get through this together; everything was going to be okay.

* * * * *

A few days later, Max stood in the shower and let the warm water cascade down his chest, across his stomach. He clenched his eyes tightly and turned his face directly into the shower head. He loved the way the water pelted his eyelids, his cheeks. Standing back, he shook his head like a Labrador retriever and reached for the shampoo.

As he lathered, he thought of Liz, of her growing abilities. A little smile crept to his lips. Liz was the most amazing creature he’d ever known, alien or human. He found it hard to believe that she hadn’t known how to approach him in the early days before the shooting. He couldn’t imagine anyone being intimidated by him, by his looks of all things. Of course, if she had approached him, it would have knocked him for a social loop, he wouldn’t have been able to respond and she would have walked away thinking he was a total dork. Maybe she was right – thank God she had gotten shot.

Over the past several weeks, Max had watched in absolute wonder as Liz’s powers grew, as she became stronger in her abilities. It took several days before they had her mind-reading powers under control and she could venture into public without feeling like she was invading everyone’s privacy. It hadn’t been easy. Each time Liz heard someone’s thoughts, she panicked. Eventually, Max taught her how to block other people, to concentrate only on her own thoughts.

Once she was comfortable with her new gift, Liz had had a little fun with it. She discovered that not only could she read peoples’ thoughts, she could put thoughts in their heads as well. Suddenly the old cliché of ‘who put that thought in your head’ didn’t seem so outrageous. One day when Max was in the Crashdown working on homework, he’d suddenly had a thought of Liz licking him from his feet to his head. He’d jerked out of his concentration only to find Liz standing behind the counter smiling slyly at him.

Max turned off the shower and reached for a towel to dry himself. No one else was at home, so he discarded the towel before exiting the bathroom nude. He walked the short distance from the shower to his room – and nearly screamed aloud again when he saw Liz standing by his bed. He jumped and his first reaction was the drop his hands to his crotch, to cover himself. Which was totally ridiculous considering Liz had seen him nude many times. Then he realized that Liz wasn’t really in his room – it was only her projection. She looked at him and laughed, although Max could hear no sound. It was just like in New York – he saw her but couldn’t hear her. Her image started to fade then disappeared completely.

Max gave a disgusted gasp and hastily jerked on a pair of boxer shorts. He grabbed the phone and quickly dialed Liz’s number. She was laughing when she picked up the phone.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded, still startled from the shock of it all.

“Just experimenting,” she laughed. “You should have seen your face!”

“Yeah, well you should feel my heart because it’s about to pound out of my chest. That wasn’t funny, Liz.”

She snorted, which only made her laugh harder. “Yes, it was.”

Max drew in a breath. “Did Isabel put you up to that?”

“No, I decided to visit you all on my own. And I hope no one else is home because you really shouldn’t walk around like that.”

Max blushed. “Liz, that is a huge invasion of privacy.”

There was a pause on the other end. “Really? And sitting outside of my window and watching me sleep isn’t?”

Max gasped. She knew about that. With all of the problems they’d had with various enemies – human and alien – Max sometimes stole into her balcony in the middle of the night and watched her sleep. He did it just to reassure himself that she was okay. He always thought that he’d die a thousand deaths if she found out about it. Now he felt like he really was dying.

Liz laughed lightly. “I’ve known for a long time,” she told him.

Max sighed. “Okay, you got me there.” His voice fell soft again, some of the tension dissipating. “Just don’t sneak up on me like that again, okay? You scared the crap out of me.”

“Did you scream like a girl?”

“Funny.” Max thought about Michael, about his accusations of Max turning into a little girl. For possibly the first time in his life, Max had a wicked, vengeful thought. “Liz?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Wanna have some fun?”

tbc

One more part to go


Part Four

Michael was sprawled on his couch watching the hockey game when a light knock on his door caught his attention; his brow immediately furrowed in irritation. It had to be Max at the door – he was the only person Michael knew who knocked so apologetically.

Pushing himself from the couch, Michael stomped angrily to the door. Flinging it open, he pinned his friend with a stare. “What?” he asked rudely.

Max’s eyebrows rose and he gave Michael that meek, uncertain look that Michael detested so. “Can I come in?”

Michael shrugged and stepped aside so that his friend could enter. Max walked directly to the chair and sat without being invited. Michael looked at him silently, then sat down on the couch.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked. He didn’t want to be interested in Max’s sudden appearance, but in a way he was.

Max shrugged. “I just wanted to talk to you, clear the air.”

“We need to clear the air?” Michael asked.

Max nodded. “Yeah. You know – about Liz.”

Michael sighed. “She’s your problem.”

Max cleared his throat. “I don’t really consider her a problem, Michael. However, I do think she’s really doing better…” Max’s voice drifted off and he seemed to stare at the empty space beside Michael on the couch. “I’m going to tell him about that. Just be patient.”

Michael followed his friend’s gaze. “Who are you talking to?”

Max ignored him. “She has some neat gifts that not even we have,” he continued, his attention back to Michael. But it was only momentary as his gaze shifted back to the empty space. “The mind-reading thing, I know. I’m getting to that.”

Michael followed Max’s gaze again and let out a snort. “Maxwell. Who are you speaking to?”

Max looked disbelieving, then gestured to the empty space. “Liz.”

Michael waited a beat, blinked. “Max, Liz isn’t here.”

Max nodded. “Yes she is. Look.”

Michael looked only to humor his friend and shook his head. “No. She’s not there. Are you okay?”

Max gave a little snort. “Do you think I’m crazy? Look.”

Michael let out an impatient sigh and looked again - and found Liz suddenly sitting beside him. Entirely against his will, he let out a high-pitched shriek that would have put any school girl to shame. He quickly backed off the couch and looked towards the door. “How did you get in here?” he yelled.

Then he realized that Liz was laughing, but no sound was coming out of her mouth. He looked at Max, whose hand was covering his own mouth as he laughed at Michael’s expense.

“What the hell?” Michael demanded.

Max went to the door and let Liz in. “I told you she had powers we don’t.”

Liz stopped laughing long enough to tell Michael, “Wow – I heard that girlie scream all the way out in the hallway.”

Michael reddened as he caught on to what had just happened. He turned his gaze back to Max, who simply shrugged, unable to rub it in and slung his arm around Liz’s shoulders. “See you later, Michael.”

They were even.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon, Liz was still grinning over the look on Michael’s face as she prepared for her shift in the bathroom of the Crashdown. The sound of his screaming had been even more amusing. Liz liked Michael and she wished for Max’s sake that the two of them could someday find some common ground. If they couldn’t be friendly, then they at least needed to be civil. Because Max loved them both and didn’t deserve to be burdened with choosing between them.

After she finished snapping her turquoise waitress uniform, Liz grabbed her jeans and sweater from the floor and exited the bathroom. She stuffed her clothes into her locker and went to the mirror to check her hair. It was only then that she saw the dark smudge across the front of her dress – a spill from a table-clearing accident a few days prior that hadn’t come out in the wash. She frowned slightly, then looked over each shoulder. When she saw the coast was clear, she waved her palm over the stain and it immediately disappeared. She grinned, until she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“I guess I’ll have to get used to that, huh?”

Liz whirled, her heart thumping in her chest. Maria was sitting on the couch, so still that Liz hadn’t noticed her until she’d spoken.

“Get used to what?” Liz questioned, glad it was only Maria who’d seen her use her powers.

“What you just did.” Maria didn’t look happy, but she didn’t really look angry either. She looked sort of sad. “The fact that you can do that now.”

Liz looked at her unblemished dress, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “It was nothing.”

“Maybe to you, Liz. But I can’t do that. I’ll never be able to do that.”

Liz looked down at her hands, then walked over to sit down beside her friend. “It’s not something I asked for, Maria.”

“I know that. But I also know that you’re now one of them. You’re like them.”

In Maria’s eyes, Liz saw envy, not jealousy. Liz would forever be linked to the aliens now, she could understand their world. And while Maria might try to, she would never have the same perspective.

“I might be able to do some of the things they can,” she explained carefully, “but I will always be who I am, Maria. And you will always be my best friend, I hope.” She gave Maria a small smile.

Maria’s frown deepened a little. “I know you’ll always be my friend, but once again I come in second.”

“How do you mean?”

“You’re smarter than me. You’re prettier than me. And now you’re more Czechoslovakian than me.”

“Oh, Maria,” Liz said, reaching over the distance between them and pulling her friend close. “I’m not prettier than you.”

Maria laughed. “But you are smarter.”

“Well, not smarter smarter. I just get better grades.”

“There’s a difference between that and what?”

“I think you’re very wise, Maria.” Liz gave her friend a peck on the side of the head. “And someday that will be more useful than book smarts.”

Maria relented a little. “Well, okay. But you’re still Czechoslovakian and I’m not.”

Liz laughed and shook her head. “I’m not either. I never will be.” Her eyes softened. “I started out just like you, Maria, and I will always be just like you. Regardless of the fact I can do this-” With that, Liz reached for Maria’s broken shoelace and repaired it with a wave of her hand. “That could come in handy some day,” she baited.

“How?” Maria asked, her nose scrunched up. Then her eyebrows shot up in surprise and excitement. “The clearance and damaged rack at the Cosmic Boutique!”

Liz chewed the corner of her mouth and nodded.

“That pair of jeans I saw last year with the embroidery on the pockets – you could remove the ink stain from them now!”

“Yep.”

“And those Jimmy Choo’s with the broken strap!”

“Fixed in a snap.”

“And-and that pink cashmere with the tear in the sleeve!”

“Could be yours for 9.95.”

Maria’s hands flew to her mouth to stifle her scream. “When, Liz? When do we go shopping?”

“Whenever you want, Maria.”

“Tomorrow!”

Liz laughed lightly. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

“And we can take Spaceboy and get him some decent things, too.” Maria’s voice trailed off when she saw the doubtful look on Liz’s face. “You don’t want Michael to go?”

“Oh, I didn’t say that. I’m just not sure he’ll want to go.”

“Why not?”

Liz rose to her feet and pulled her friend with her. “Help me fill the sugar shakers and I’ll tell you all about girlie screams.”

tbc

Part Five

The cool night air drifted over Liz’s body, making her skin prickle. Odd that during the day the desert could be sweltering, but at night also very chilly. Not that she minded – she didn’t mind much at all these days, in fact. At comfort with herself and her current situation, she simply tugged her throw afghan tighter around her shoulders and continued to write in her journal, which was placed against her thighs, her legs bent at the knee.

I’ve never been one to shy away from change. It is true that there is a certain comfort in the ordinary, day-to-day existence, one that is never altered, one in which you know what to expect. But there is also boredom there, a suffocating prison of routine…

Liz stopped, scratched her head, her brow furrowed delicately. Flipping backwards in the journal, she paused on a passage she’d written shortly before her grandmother’s death.

Part of me wants safety, wants to go back to how things were, to a life that I could predict, where I know how life is going to be. And the other part of me wants to go somewhere else, into the unknown.

While reading those words, Liz’s lips curved into a gentle smile. At the time she had scribed that page, Max Evans was still a wonder to her, a mystery she wanted to dive into head-first. She’d been drawn to him and the fact that he was different, but she was still cautious about getting too involved with something she understood so little about. Now she realized that she hadn’t really had a choice – by that time, the effects of Max healing her were already taking hold in her body.

And she wouldn’t change any of it.

This was where she was meant to be – half human, half something else. Or maybe just extra-human. It didn’t matter. She could do wonderful, beautiful things and she wasn’t trading that for the world.

She was about to add those words to the latest entry of her journal when she heard footsteps on the rungs of her escape ladder. Her small smile turned into a full-fledged grin as she closed her journal over her pen and laid it aside. She’d been dying to show Max her new power all day.

Pushing the afghan aside, Liz practically skipped to the edge of the roof, only to withdraw slightly as a tousled head came into view. Her visitor was definitely male, and yet definitely not Max.

Liz stepped aside as Michael threw a leg over the top of the ladder and came to an uneasy halt before her. Shifting his weight, he crammed his hands into his jean pockets, his eyes darting away from her and then back again.

“Are you okay, Michael?” she asked tentatively. Maybe he was angry about the trick she and Max had played on him. Maybe he’d come here to make her pay.

“Yeah,” he said hurriedly, then waved toward the ladder. “Sorry that I just invited myself up. But I, um, wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” she said, going to pick up the discard afghan to fold it, just to give her hands something to do. “What about?”

Michael pivoted in his place, but didn’t come any closer to her. “The girlie scream thing.”

Liz paused mid-fold. “Oh.” Here it came – he was going to give it to her with both barrels.

“I deserved that. And I wanted to say that I’m sorry.”

At that, she stopped entirely, disbelief evident on her face. From what Maria said, Michael never apologized – for anything.

“I was unfair to you,” he continued, looking like his mother had dragged him back into the drug store to apologize for lifting a pack of gum. “I was unfair to Max as well.”

“Michael –” Liz began.

But he held up a hand. “No, let me finish. I should have been more understanding. I should have offered to help out when things weren’t going so good for you. But I didn’t and for that I apologize.”

In his face, Liz could see a world of humility and a touch of fear. Fear of what? She realized that he was afraid she’d refuse his apology. That tiny little showing of vulnerability tugged at Liz’s heart.

“I accept your apology,” she said, trying to remove any patronization from her tone.

Michael appeared visibly relieved, his body relaxing, the scared-rabbit look leaving his eyes. “Good. It’s just that we’re in a bad situation,” he explained. “We can’t risk exposure.”

“And I was a big risk,” she added. “I got it. I understand. It’s okay.”

“If anyone were to ever find out about us…well, you saw what could happen. With Max and the White Room and all…” His words drifted off as he remembered the horrible events of that May.

In an offering of truce, Liz stepped toward him, but not close enough to touch him – she had the feeling that Michael wasn’t a fan of physical contact and she didn’t want to scare him off by initiating even a friendly pat on the arm.

“I’m one of you now,” she told him gently.

His dark eyebrows rose slightly.

“Well, not one of you biologically, but one of you in terms of things I can do. I don’t want anyone to find out about that, either. I know how you feel, I know the danger you’re in. And, Michael, I would never bring harm to any of you. You’ve gotta believe that.”

Something resembling a smile, but not quite, passed over Michael’s face. Liz realized that this was as close as he got to showing happiness. “I do believe you.”

“Good,” she said, smiling in return. “So, listen. I was going to go downstairs, pop some popcorn, and sit out here and watch the stars come out. Interested in joining me?”

“Naw, I gotta meet Maria downstairs when her shift is over,” Michael replied, already backing toward the ladder. “She keeps babbling on about some pair of pants she bought me or something.”

Liz laughed lightly. She knew exactly what Maria had picked up for Michael earlier – it was the same pair of jeans Liz had repaired with her powers. “Okay, then. See you later.”

“Later, Liz.”

She watched as he descended the ladder, then returned to her journal to continue her entry.

Sometimes even the things we never expect to change can. Maybe it doesn’t take an act of God or the healing hands of an alien. Maybe all it takes is a little human kindness. I think the bottom line is that change will always be good, that I should always accept it. Whether it comes in the form of a new alien power, or an olive branch from a vulnerable friend. There is no stopping change and I couldn’t be happier about that.

There was another pair of boots on the ladder and Liz doubted that Michael had forgotten something – meaning that her visitor could only be Max. Closing the journal for good this time, she crossed back over to the ladder and waited while she watched the familiar view of Max climbing the ladder. When he was almost to the top, he looked up like he always did, and gave her a grin.

“I missed you!” she chimed, holding open her arms for him.

As soon as he was on solid ground, he grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. “I missed you, too,” he said, stooping to kiss her.

When they parted, she gave him a quick squeeze, then leaned back to look into his eyes. “You just missed Michael.”

“I did?”

“He came to apologize for the girlie scream.”

Max’s eyebrows lifted. “He apologized for screaming like a girl?”

Liz laughed lightly. “No, he apologized for being a jerk to us and making us make him girlie scream.”

“Wow. There’s hope.”

“I think so.”

“Enough about Michael,” he said, squeezing her to him. “What are we doing tonight?”

“Watching the stars,” she said dreamily, her eyes drifting toward the sky.

“Fine by me,” he shrugged happily.

Together, they climbed onto Liz’s lounger and Max pulled the afghan around the two of them.

“There’s Orion,” he said, pointing toward the shape in the sky.

“And Cassiopeia,” she added.

“Big Dipper.”

“Little Dipper.”

“The V-constellation.”

“I have a new power.”

Max stopped, his mouth open to recite the next constellation. “You do?”

Liz nodded eagerly.

“What can you do?”

Beneath the blanket, she dropped his zipper and slid her hand inside. Max cocked his head to the side.

“Liz, that’s hardly a power and even if it is, it isn’t a new power.”

Liz smirked a little.

“I mean, you do have a certain power over me, but – oh, God!” Max’s eyes rolled back in his head and he gave out a gasp. “Jesus – what are you doing?”

“It’s my new power, Max.”

Lost in the unexplainable sensation coursing through Liz’s hand, Max closed his eyes and tried to even out his breath. He was barely aware of her sliding close to him, her lips close to his ear.

“What do you think, Max,” she teased. “Aren’t you glad you let me touch you there?”

The End

**Used lines from Leaving Normal

YAY! FIVE YEARS LATER AND I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!! WHY DOESN'T RF HAVE BOUNCY SMILIES???