Long to Be (AU,M/L,MATURE) [COMPLETE]

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 17 ~ Liz

He gently pushed back my hair that had begun to stick to the side of my face. He leaned over me and began to kiss the length of my neck. I closed my eyes and arched my head back to give him better access to one of my pleasure zones. Our bodies were in motion and I was in heaven. It didn’t matter that I had just met him last night. I knew him and he knew me and all that mattered was that we had finally found one another.

His rhythm slowed and I looked up at him. What was he doing? I needed more and I needed it now. I pushed him over and onto his back. I was in control of how our bodies reacted to one another. I had never felt this way before and I wasn’t about to let it stop. “Liz… please.” He begged.

“Please, what Max?” I knew what he was asking but my body didn’t want anything to do with his request. I was so close. He placed his hands on my hips and slowed my rocking a little.

“Not yet.” His words were soft and made the tiny hairs on my neck stand at attention.

“But I’m ready for you.” I said as I leaned over him and whispered in his ear. While I was there I nipped at his earlobe and added, “I want you inside of me. All. Of. You. I’m going to join you. Do you want me to come with you?” He shook his head yes and closed his eyes as if he were preparing himself for the special moment. “Good.” I had never acted this way before and didn’t think it was possible for me to be such a seductress but the look in his eyes and the way that it made me feel to be lavished by his gaze made me do unbelievable things.

“Liz!” He screamed as we came together. I collapsed on top of him. He rolled the two of us over so we were now facing each other. I caressed his cheek and then kissed him. “I love you.” He said and I had to kiss him again. I knew that he loved me for I saw it in our connection. We shared our souls and it was beautiful.

“I love you too.” I replied and he rolled over onto his back and I snuggled in deep to him. Lying my head on his chest I fell asleep listening to the beating of his heart. The most amazing thing that occurred to me was that my heart was in sync with his. The two hearts beating as one.


I fought hard to stay asleep, not wanting this dream to end. My body automatically gravitates to the warmth beside me. Scooting closer so my backside is against it. Strong arms wrap tightly around me while feather light kisses make their way down the length of my neck and down the back of my shoulder. Goosebumps make their appearance on the surface of my skin as a small shiver races down my body.

I fought with all my might not to open my eyes. I knew I was in bed and I knew that I wasn’t alone. Maybe I was still dreaming. I so wanted to believe that I was. That was the only logical explanation for being where I was this morning. I was still in the magnificent dream that I had had last night.

I professed my love to a man that was always in my dreams, a man that until last night had no face. The faceless man appeared in my dreams as a teen now had a face of a dark haired Adonis, the face of Maria’s friend, Max. I take in a deep breath and sigh from the memory that I was reliving behind closed eyes. I was complete. Well, my dreams were now complete. Then it slowly dawned on me that the ache between my legs was telling me that maybe it was more than a dream.

The golden glow I saw behind my eyes led me to believe that it was a sunny day outside. It was going to be a great day. I just knew it. Boy was I wrong. I reached for my journal like I always did and wasn’t too surprised that it wasn’t there. Opening my eyes I realized that I wasn’t in the same room that I had woke up in yesterday or what I believed was yesterday. I didn’t dare move for I also realized that the strong arms and the warm body that were so tightly wrapped around me weren’t part of a dream but were real.

I pulled my arm back underneath the covers and lay there while I took in my surroundings. It was morning. I was right about that but wrong about how sunny it actually was. It looked absolutely dreary outside. The sun tried with all its might to seep in through the white mini blinds that covered the window. It was just too overcast for it to make it.

I debated with myself on whether to turn over and see who I was in bed with or whether just to lie here and enjoy the feelings that he was invoking in me. What was I going to do? What had I done? Was my dream really a dream or was it my altered reality?

“Good morning.” His hot breath whispered against my ear. He snuggled in and began working his way down my neck once again. I closed my eyes. A war was waging between my mind and my body. My mind told me to get out of there now that I didn’t belong where I was but my body reacted as if it had a mind of its own. It reacted with every kiss and nip that the stranger lavished on it. It reacted from the memory of last night.

I froze instantly as his hand moved from my waist to cup my breast. He must have felt me stiffen in response for he stopped; his lips were hovering just above my right shoulder. “Liz? Is everything okay?” His soft sultry voice asked.

I wasn’t surprised that he knew my name and something about his voice was familiar. Could it really be Maria’s friend Max that I was in bed with? Could my dream really be coming true? I shook the possibility out; he was with Tess, the blonde that rubbed me the wrong way the first time I laid eyes on her.

I nervously shook my head. “Yeah.” It came out weak and unsure of itself.

I felt the bed move and knew he was trying to peer over the top of me and see for sure that I was okay. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide my scared expression from him. Was I really scared? I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t scared of him that’s for sure but I was scared of the situation. What was I going to do? How was I going to get around this?

Did he know about my other half? I quickly pulled the covers over my head and hid. I used to do it all the time when I was a child and was scared to face the real world. Sometimes it’s just hard to break old habits. I chose not to say another word for I knew if I did that my voice wouldn’t work. I would sound like I was scared and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Liz.” I could hear a tinge of panic in his voice. “What are you doing underneath there?” He pulled his side of the covers up and crawled in underneath them with me. The dim light from the room flashed as he pulled them up and over his head. It was getting rather warm underneath here as the two of laid in silence. I was glad that it was dark enough that I couldn’t see anything either. It meant that he wouldn’t be able to see me as well.

I began to relax. “Nothing.” I answered firmly now that I knew he wouldn’t be able to see my expression on my face and I had some courage now that I was deep undercover with no possibility of being spied.

“Why are you hiding from me?” He reached his hand over to caress my face and I closed my eyes.

The instant he touched me, I saw it all. I saw him seeing me at the party and what was going through his mind. I saw him finding me crouched on the ground crying begging him to remember for me. I didn’t wait for anything else to flash before my eyes. This was Max. He had stayed with me during it all or maybe I was the one that stayed with him. “Max?”

“Yes…” He hesitated to say anything else. He probably was scared that I would do something crazy. I wasn’t so sure that I wouldn’t.

I knew what I had to do. There was no lying to him anymore. No matter how my body wanted to respond to his I had to tell him about me. I had to make sure he knew the truth before I would ever think of continuing a relationship with him.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

He snuggled in deeper and wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me in closer to him. I could feel his breath coming out of his nose and landing softly against my forehead. I felt how his body reacted to my naked body being this close to him I looked at his chest and ran a hesitant hand over the smoothness of it. Once again déjà vu crawled up the back of my mind and tangled with a memory that lay dormant there.

“I thought we covered this last night.” He began and then leaned in for a kiss. “You know there isn’t anything that you can’t tell me that will make me change the way I feel about you.” I heard his conviction as well as felt it with each additional kiss that was given to me.

I so wanted to believe that but I knew that there was no way around it. I was a freak and a guy like Max wouldn’t want to be caught dead in bed with a freak like me. “I… I…” I didn’t know how to start. I couldn’t do it. I pulled the covers off my head and wrapped them close to my body. He followed my lead and did the same. His eyes sparkled and his hair fell over one eyebrow. A scene from early on in my dream flashed before my eyes. He smiled at me and went to reach for me. I couldn’t let him do this. It wasn’t fair to him. It wasn’t fair to me. I was quickly growing attached to him and I couldn’t. I pulled away and he stopped in mid-motion.

“I don’t remember last night.” I pressed out quickly. It was like a stubborn Band-Aid that was over a fresh wound that needed cleansing. Rip it off fast and the pain would be over with quickly. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I have a split personality and…” I rolled over and got out of bed as quickly as I could. I searched for my clothes and began pulling them on. I couldn’t look at his face. I didn’t want to see his expression. I couldn’t live with myself if I saw something that resembled hate or fear. “I’ll just get going.” I continued on. The entire time I kept reliving my dream. At least I would always have my dreams.

My heart ached but from what, I wasn’t sure. Every move that I made was made with difficulty. My body wasn’t reacting to what my mind was telling it to do. “I just wanted to let you know that it’s not your fault. I’ve never had this happen to me before. I’m sorry.” Tears began to spill from my eyes. My life had impeded against another.

I had my sweater on or what I believed to be as my sweater and was in the process of pulling on my jeans. I heard the springs in the bed move and knew he was getting out of bed as well. I wouldn’t have much time to get out of here. I needed to hurry.

He hadn’t said anything at all and I was grateful for it. With my jeans on I quickly jammed my feet into my shoes. I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. I stood up, once my shoes were on, and quickly exited the bedroom. I heard him following. I was about to throw the door open and walk out of his life forever, when his hand reached around me and kept it closed. “Don’t go.” He whispered in my ear. His hot breath once again sent chills through my body. “Please. You asked me to remember for you because you wouldn’t be able to. Don’t you want to stay and find out what happened? Don’t you want to know how you’ve changed my life? Don’t you want to know how much I’ve learned to love you in such a short time? Let me share your other side with you. Let me show you what it is to be complete for you have made me complete.” His voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear every word that came from his mouth.

He was telling me that he knew. The other side of me had shone herself to him. I had to look up and see if he was telling me the truth or if it was just a ploy to keep me here longer. When I slowly turned my head and our eyes locked I knew that what he was saying, indeed, was the truth. “She told you?” I asked in a half-whisper. He let go of the door and reached for my hand.

He was still shirtless. In his haste he had only pulled on a pair of jeans. I figured he either couldn’t find his shirt or was in too big of a hurry to catch up with me. Pulling me away from the door hand in hand I followed him to the kitchen table. There were so many questions flowing through my mind at this very moment. “I’ve spent my entire life going to psychiatrist after psychiatrist to try and find out the cause of me losing time and she never once gave them a clue that she even existed.” I tried to hold my disgust with the fact that she so openly shared herself with a total stranger to myself but he looked over his shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile.

He let loose of my hand and walked into the kitchen. “Her name is Andra.” He said as he reached into the cupboard and pulled down two glasses for us to drink out of.

“Andra,” I tried her name out for myself. It had a ring to it and part of me surged with its calling. Was it her trying to surface? I wasn’t sure but I sat down at the table and continued to listen to the story of me.

“Once upon a time there was a princess from a far away land and her name was Andra Aliya.” He smiled at me as he peered through the opening. I didn’t know whether to believe him or not and I appreciated the gesture of trying to relieve some of the tension in the air.

“Andra Aliya… a princess.” He shook his head as I repeated her name. I guess he thought I was asking if I pronounced it right or not. He reached into the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice. “Any relation to Princess Leah?”

“No,” he said with a half chuckle. It was the least I could do. This playful bantering between us felt good. It felt right. I wasn’t so sure about the princess part but I believed that he believed it was true.

It was hard for me to take my eyes off of him. I followed his every move watching his muscles work beneath his golden skin. The sight of him makes my stomach do flip-flops. He poured the juice into the glasses and then returned the carton back to its rightful place. “What else do you know?” I asked as I sat on the edge of my seat steeling myself for what was to come next. All thoughts of the possible sex with him pushed to the back of my mind to be dealt with at a later time.

“I know everything there is to know about her. About her life… before.” He brought the glasses over and sat them down in front of me. “She showed most of it to me yesterday.” He went back to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of hot sauce and then set that down in between the two glasses.

“Yesterday?” That answered one question. “How long was I gone this time?” I had hoped that it hadn’t been that long although the scene that I woke up to and the dreams that I thought I had had could mean that the two of them had become quite close. I was so confused and the pounding in my head began to increase. I rubbed at it with my hand and waited for him to answer. I felt like there was a fog rolling in and no matter how much I swiped at it; it wasn’t going to clear out anytime soon.

“It wasn’t that long. Today is Sunday. I met you at the party just the other night. It was only a day.” He must have seen the lost look on my face for he continued rather quickly. “She’s aware of you or at least knows who you are.”

I couldn’t get past the time frame and didn’t pay any attention to what he was saying. “A day?” I looked down at the juice. A day so much had happened in a day. Bile began to rise and I needed to quell it quickly so I grabbed the juice and chugged it. It tasted awful. I sat the glass down hard and rubbed at my mouth. “I’m being taken over by a ghost of a long ago princess. Great.” I mumbled more to myself then to him.

“Here.” He took the hot sauce and put it into the glass and then slowly and carefully swished the glass around letting the red mix with the orange. “Try that.” I looked up at him and hesitated. He nodded his reassurance and I did as he instructed. I wondered if this would help my head or not. Anything was worth a shot.

I took a sip of the juice reluctantly dreading the awful taste that was about to invade my mouth but to my surprise it was really, really good. “How did you know that I would like that… that stuff in my juice?”

“Because that’s the way I like it.” One side of his mouth rounded up into a half smile and then faded. He took a deep breath as if what he had to say next was going to be really hard. Why, I had no idea but I knew it would be. His eyes never wavered from mine. He held them the entire time. It was hard for me to concentrate on the here and now without falling back into the dream I had had. “She’s not a ghost…” He paused as if to ponder the idea and then continued, “She’s just as real as you or I. She has feelings like you do.” He said when I continued to drink my now altered orange juice. “She’s a part of you. You are a part of her; it’s just for some reason you aren’t whole. You aren’t complete. It’s like the two of you are battling for control over your body. I really don’t understand…”

“My body? You just said that we were one.” I had interrupted him. He scooted closer to me and swung around to face me. He grabbed both of my hands in his and squeezed them ever so slightly.

“I know it’s confusing. I’ve had my whole life to deal with this and even though I’m aware of everything it’s not the same.”

“This happens to you?” Relief spread throughout my body. He was like me or I was like him.

“No, not exactly. I have no past memories. I have no idea who I was before.” The relief sank and was gone instantly.

“Neither do I?” I said firmly throwing my hands up into the air. I stood up and began to pace.

“But she’s does.” He stood up and followed me into the living room. “When you’re not here she is. She knows what she was before as if it happened in this lifetime.

“So,” I turned and pinned him with my gaze, “what you’re saying is that I’ve lived before.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.” He went back to the table and grabbed his orange juice. Evidently relieved that we were getting somewhere with this conversation.

“And you don’t find the need to lock me up in a loony bin?” I walked back into the dining area of his small apartment and sat back down. I felt like a teeter totter… up… down… up… down...

He smiled and took a sip of his orange juice. “You’re not crazy, Liz. You’re special. You’re one of…” he hesitated for just a brief moment and then continued, “us? You’re who I’ve been looking for my entire life. My entire life on this planet.”

I stood up. “Okay, I see why you’re not wanting to send me to the loony bin. You, yourself, need to be admitted. This is crazy Max.”

“Just listen. I know it’s going to sound crazy but it’s the only way I can help you. I have to tell you and you have to keep an open mind about it all and maybe, just maybe we can figure out a way of getting the two of you as one.” I sat down because his eyes begged me to.

“What if she doesn’t want to be one with me? What if she wants to destroy me and have my life all to herself? She’s already got you.”

He took my hands in his and looked me in the eye. Instantly calming me. The sincerity in his voice and the look in his eyes did wonders with my anxiety. “I won’t let her do that and besides that’s not the way it’s supposed to be, her time is over. We can never go back to that life.” I nodded slightly and he continued. “Do you believe in aliens?” I motioned to stand up again and he quickly continued. “The crash in 1947 wasn’t a weather balloon that the government tried to cover up. It was what it was rumored to be. The crash in 1947 was the ship that brought me and others like me here to Earth.”

“I was born in 1983, Max and you sure as hell don’t look like you’re almost sixty years old.” I couldn’t take it any longer. This was ridiculous. I stood up and began to pace again.

“I’m not. I was in a pod and was released in 1989. I don’t know why we were sent here but I know that you were sent here to find me.” I stopped and watched him. He slumped back into his chair and stared back at me. He believed everything that he was saying. He believed in aliens and he believed that I was like him.

“She told you this?” Was that hesitation? I wasn’t sure. I was tired of pacing. I sat back down in the chair that I had just vacated.

“Well, not really. You showed me.”

“She’s not me!” I yelled at him. I wasn’t an alien. He stood up and crouched down in front of me.

“I can try and show you like she showed me.” He said quietly. His eyes spoke volumes to me and I found myself calming just by having him rest a gentle hand on my knee. I looked down where his hand touched my knee and felt a tingling sensation pool just below the surface.

“What’s happening to me?” I hadn’t planned on saying that out loud. I meant to ask myself in hopes of my other half answering me but knew I was being foolish.

“What?” He pulled his hand off my knee as if it were a hot plate.

“That! You felt it, I know you did.” I stood up and he stood up with me. “I can’t take this anymore. I’ve got to go.”

“Liz, wait. There’s something I need to tell you.” I turned around and faced him.

“What.” I said. My voice sounded as if I was unsure of myself, which I knew I was. When the expression that resided on his face reached my brain I realized that he was scared. I took a tentative step toward him. “What is it, Max?”

“It’s just…” he took a step to me and reached for me. His hand snaked up the sleeve of my sweater. I looked down where he was touching me and I was glowing. I immediately pulled away from him.

“Liz, don’t pull away. I want you to stay. I need you to stay.” Max pleaded.

“Max, I’m not her! I’m not Andra! I’m Liz Parker.” Why would he want me to stay? Didn’t he know what he was getting himself into? “Why do you want me?” My heart began to ache with anticipation for what he was going to say. Would I be soaring for his declaration or would I be scooping up the bits and pieces of a broken heart? I didn’t know and I wasn’t sure I want to know.

Max stepped closer and pushed the stray hair that had fallen over my face behind my ear, “Because it’s you.” Max ran his fingers lightly over my cheek and down along my jaw until he came to my chin. Gently he raised my face so that I was looking into his eyes. Those eyes, two amber pools that seemed to draw me in. They spoke to my inner core and sent things in motion that I never knew could react that way.

“Liz, I’ve always been looking, as far back as I can remember, I’ve never dated. I’ve never been in a relationship with a girl because I was always looking for the one that was for me. That special person that was put here for me.” He must have seen the doubt in my eyes, so he shook his head. “I don’t understand it either, but Friday night, before I knew anything about you or Andra, any of that stuff. I knew. One look at you and I knew. You were the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.” I found it hard to believe what he was declaring to me. He was talking about love at first sight. That didn’t exist. Love at first sight was a fairy tale. Love at first sight happened to princes and princesses and we were neither. I was sure now, he was crazy as I was.

“Max? How could you know that? How could you …” he placed a finger on my lips, silencing my protests.

“I know it isn’t logical and I can’t explain it myself, but I know.” He continued to look into my eyes trying to read what was there. “I think you know it too. If you would just let yourself feel, you’d know.”

Damn him. He didn’t try to argue or explain the unexplainable. He just told me to feel. I shook my head. There was no way I was going to let my feelings rule over logic. That wasn’t me. I was always one to plan. Emotions never ruled logic did. He was asking me to go against everything that I knew and throw caution to the wind on a feeling. Besides, what I was feeling right now defied logic. I had known him all of three or so hours but his words just felt right. Being with him just felt right. I reached up and as my fingers came in contact with his cheek they started to glow.

I stood there and stared and then finally voiced as I pulled my hand away from him. I rubbed it against my pant’s leg causing the tingling sensation to slowly disappear. “What’s happening to me?” I tried to stay strong, really I did but my head began to swim and before I knew it I was on the floor looking up into Max’s eyes.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.” I couldn’t remember where I was. Or what I was doing before I found out that I was on the floor.

“Max?” His eyes were full of concern.

“I’m here Liz.” He scooped me up and walked the two of us over to the couch and sat me down. Our sudden movements made a sharp pain pierce my head right behind my eyes. I cringed in pain.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I could hear him shuffling around the apartment. I didn’t dare open my eyes for I knew the minute I did the searing pain would streak across my mind. Something was happening to me and I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know.

“Here, I got you a cold rag to put over your head.” Max’s voice filled the silence as well as my disturbing thoughts. He gently placed the cold rag on my forehead and I shivered as the cold encompassed the throbbing.

“Thanks,” I said as quietly as I could. “What time is it?” I asked. My world had tilted and I felt like I didn’t know anything anymore. I needed some balance and I needed to place myself back into the real world and the only way to do that was to know the time and date as well as my surroundings.

“It’s almost nine.” He was hesitant to give me the information I could hear it in his voice. Was he really concerned for me? Was he really worried that I would leave? I didn’t know.

“And the date is…” I could hear him take a breath so he could answer but I held my hand up to stop him. “No, I need to do this myself. If I don’t then I won’t be able to function. The date is… January 10, 2005?” I wasn’t sure how I came up with that date but something in the back of my mind was telling it to me so I repeated it.

“Yeah, that’s right.” If I were to open my eyes I’m sure I would see his smile as well as his sparkling eyes looking down on me. I didn’t dare and I didn’t see; but I knew. Somehow I knew what he would look like with me laying on his couch in pain his concern would be very much clear. “Are you starting to feel any better?” He asked.

“Yeah, just give me a moment. I’m just really tired.” Never in my life had I come back from an episode feeling so drained. I felt like I could sleep for the rest of the week and still be on empty. “You guys must have gone on a four-hour hike yesterday.” Not only was I tired but my body ached and I didn’t want to blame it on the sex that we had had yesterday but the more I thought about it the more I knew that that was the reason I hurt all over. We didn’t go on any four-hour trek; my body just participated in passion-filled sex.

“No we didn’t.” He said to himself but didn’t do a very good job of it. He was uncomfortable with our situation. Hell, I would be uncomfortable with our situation if it was any other guy other than him. The thought puzzled me. For some reason I wasn’t too upset with loosing my virginity to Max. Maybe somewhere deep down inside of me, the thought had crossed my mind as having him be the one. “I can heal you. Take some of the pain away.” I immediately sat up and the pain ripped across my forehead. What pain was he talking about and how the hell can he heal?

His hand went to support my back as I looked to him through half-lidded eyes. “What do you mean you can heal me?”

“That’s my gift. We all have gifts.”

“When you say all… you mean…” I didn’t want to assume whom he meant but I had a sneaking suspicion that Maria was going to be one of those that he named. She was the center of it all. She was the one that took me to the party last night. I shook my head. It wasn’t last night it was Friday night and it was two days ago.

I could see him running his options through his mind. His eyes darkening and lighting with each and every option that he contemplated. “Lay back down a minute. I can see that sitting up is hurting you.” He helped me lie back down as he thought some more. “There are others that are like me. Like us.” He added as if it were an afterthought. He was including me.

“Maria?” I offered.

“No, Maria’s normal. Although I have to wonder sometimes if she’s not from somewhere out there.” He smiled. My stomach went out of control and started fluttering around as if there were a bunch of butterflies that had suddenly been disturbed and had taken flight. Once again he was trying to lighten the mood. If I wouldn’t turn all shades of red I would have let the sigh escape my lips but I fought the urge. Now wasn’t the time to forget about our situation. I was on a fact-finding mission and I couldn’t get sidetracked by extremely good looks.

Okay, so Maria wasn’t like him but she was in the know. She knew about them, she had to. My next guess was obvious; there was no doubt in my mind who was one of them. “Tess.” The way she clung to him she had to be one of them. She didn’t like me invading on her territory. I wonder how she’s going to react once she finds out that I’ve shared his bed. I shook my head again. I was thinking mean and evil thoughts and it wasn’t like me. For some reason I didn’t like this girl. I didn’t have sufficient enough proof to make that assumption but something or, maybe I should say someone didn’t like her. If what he was saying were true and I was like him and I didn’t like her then she had to be one of us.

Us… how easy that slipped in there. I quit letting my thoughts run wild and pinned him. He must have known that I was trying to piece together my so-called life. “Yes, she’s one of us.” I knew it but it wasn’t much of a victory.

“Michael and Isabel?” They too had a feeling that I couldn’t quite get around. They looked at me like I was hiding something or maybe they were just being overly cautious. They were definitely different.

“Yes, Michael, Isabel and I came out of our pods together. Our parents picked Isabel and me up that night but Michael was leery, he didn’t trust anyone so he stayed behind and was later put into foster care.”

“Where was Tess?” She was so adamant about keeping her hold on him, surely she was there in the early years.

“She didn’t emerge until later. She didn’t find us until the spring of our sophomore year.”

“How did she find you? Do you guys come with some kind of tracking device?”

“No, although we can sense each other when we use our powers. She found us because of the rumors of a strange healing."

“You healed someone and they talked?”

“No, Maria didn’t talk but I wasn’t exactly thinking very clearly. She was shot at the local diner and I just couldn’t let her die. Michael would have gone downhill. She was his whole life at the time when he had no one else. She was his normal and seeing her lying there on the floor I knew that Isabel and I would end up losing him as well.”

“So you healed her in a crowded restaurant in Roswell. How convenient. The alien capitol of the world.” He smiled slightly. The memories were troubling.

“Tess checked the mysterious healing out and found the three of you.” My head had quit hurting and I was actually excited about finding this information out. Even though I didn’t believe that I was one of them I knew that they were different. “What was her family like?”

“She didn’t have one. We were sent to Earth with a protector and he raised her. You can’t take her as she is. She’s a little standoffish because she was raised by the only one that remembers the life we had before we came here.”

“What? I liked her.” I said heavily laced with sarcasm. He moved to sit up on the couch. Evidently crouching on the floor was uncomfortable. He took the washcloth and switched it around so that the cool side was against my head. His fingers lingered in my hair when he pushed it back. We sat and stared at each other and I couldn’t quite understand what was traveling through his mind but I felt my heart wanting to reach for him and make all doubt disappear. I pulled away ever so slightly just enough to bring him to the present.

“Come on.” A hint of humor entered the conversation. “I know the two of you would throw down if the rest of us weren’t there. She couldn’t get away from you fast enough but I know now why it was like that.”

“Why?” I asked without thinking. It was like I didn’t know anything and the more he talked the more information I received. My mind was craving more and more of this unbelievable fairy tale. I didn’t want to ask myself if I really wanted to know? I pushed all insecurity aside. I needed to know.

“Remember the princess I said that you were?” I nodded and swallowed deeply. I’ve always been down to earth and referring to myself as a princess just didn’t seem right. I felt like I was a type of girl that did things for herself not one that was waited on hand and foot and I was definitely not one that lived in a castle and lived happily ever after. That wasn’t me and no matter how much Max wanted to argue with me about it I had a feeling I was right. “Your father was murdered and everyone thought that you had done it. Everyone except me, and a select few at first.”

“This is ridiculous.” I sat up and regretted it instantly. The pain sliced through my head but I forced myself to stay sitting. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to subside before I tried to move any more but it wasn’t, so I lay back down.

“No, it’s not. It’s the truth. So much of what I saw yesterday feels right. If you would just let me try I’m sure I can show you some of it.”

“No. I don’t want to know. I need time to think. I’ve got to get out of here.” I swung my legs onto the floor and started walking for the door and when I was about halfway there, someone knocked on it. I stopped and looked back to where Max was standing.

“Ignore it. They’ll go away.”

“You just can’t ignore them. What if it’s one of your other girlfriends or something.” I felt the need to lash out at him for reasons that were beyond his control. It wasn’t his fault that I chose to ignore what he was saying. I felt like pressing my hands to my ears just so I wouldn’t have to hear of the possibility. My world was chaotic enough I didn’t need anymore twists to it.

Maybe I was being mean to him for what we did. What they did, my other half. Maybe I was hurt that I wasn’t there to enjoy it that all I would ever have of the event would be in my dreams. It wasn’t fair. I now hated my other half more than before and the only one that I could vent to was the only one that I didn’t want to hurt.

“Liz.” But my lashing out didn’t faze him. He took two long strides and had me in his arms. “There is no other. There’s no one but you.”

“Don’t forget the murdering princess.” He dropped his hands and I felt badly for what I had said but it was too late now to take any of it back. I was destined to be alone. If my chaotic life wasn’t enough to make sure; then my subconscious would make sure I was and then if it failed my other half would jump right in and do the deed. At lease I could count on her to ruin any sort of normal life I might ever have.

“I told you. You didn’t murder anybody.”

“Max! I hear you in there. Open up this door this instant.” The person on the outside of the door continued her pounding. The voice sounded familiar I had to ask.

“Is that Maria?” I looked at the door and then back to him. It sounded like her.

“She’ll go away.” He told me grabbing hold of my arm.

“No I won’t.” She responded. “Liz, open up the door.” I looked to Max and he shook his head for me not to open up the front door. His not wanting Maria in here made me want her in here even more. Maybe she would be able to act as a buffer between us. Make him stop telling me the stuff that I didn’t want to hear. I went to the door and opened it up.

She just stood there. Lack jaw and all. I grabbed her arm and pulled her in. The weather outside was miserable. It was trying to rain but it was too cold to do it, so the rain was more like slush than anything else. “Maria. I’m so glad you’re here. Now you can keep Max company. I have to go.”

She looked to Max and then back to me by the door. “Liz… why are you wearing Max’s sweater?”

I looked down at myself and then back to the shirtless Max, I could feel my embarrassment begin to rise to my cheeks. How stupid was I? That was the reason why he wasn’t wearing a shirt. I had his on. “Ummm…” I held up one finger. “I’ll… I’ll be right back.” I ran to the bedroom and quickly searched for my sweater. I paused… what if I wasn’t wearing a sweater? What if I was wearing a shirt? Oh, god… I think I’m going to throw up. I couldn’t see it anywhere. I got down on my hands and knees and was in the process of crawling around on the bedroom floor when I heard the two of them laughing at me.

“Are you looking for this?” She said. I got up again and pushed the pain behind as well as my hair that was all in my face. I needed to get out of here. I quickly snatched the sweater and went to the bathroom. I closed and locked the door behind me. I could hear their murmuring and chose to ignore it. It didn’t concern me. Not anymore, it didn’t. I was out of here.

With my sweater on and Max’s in my hand I exited the bathroom. I tossed the sweater at him and he put it on in front of both of us. “I was telling Max that we could all go shopping this morning. You know… get some breakfast and then walk the streets.” She must have seen my confusion for she stopped about what they were going to do and started explaining what they usually do. “Max and I are the only morning people in our group. Michael works nights on the weekends so he likes to sleep a few hours before he interacts with me. It works better that way.” She shook her head slightly as if it would help me understand Michael’s psyche. I still didn’t but I didn’t let her know that I wasn’t really following.

The pounding in my head was getting worse and now it felt like I was coming down with a fever because I’m began to shiver. “Anyway, what do you say? You want to come with us?”

“I really can’t go Maria. My head feels like its ready to explode.” I tried to explain.

“Maria, I’m not going either. Liz and I have things we need to talk about.” Max said between clenched teeth.

“Oh, nonsense. Liz, three Tylenols and you’ll feel fine. And Max… the two of you can talk while we walk. I won’t interfere.” Max drew in his eyebrows at her. “What? Really, I won’t. I swear.” She held up three fingers. I didn’t want to interrupt the two and tell Maria that that was the sign of being a scout and there was no way that she was a scout. I had to smile. They started arguing and forgot about me entirely as I walked into the small kitchen area.

I sat down at the kitchen table and rested my head in my hands. Their raised voices were taking their toll on the pounding in my head. When I looked up and placed my hands down on top of the table I didn’t see the two of them arguing. I saw myself standing over this very same table. My hands were firmly on top of the table in the exact same position that I had just placed them in.

~*~FLASH~*~

“And I’m supposed to have a copy of this seal somewhere?” Max asked. He looked like he was angry about something. What was going on? I was having a dream while I was fully awake. I didn’t want to think that I had fallen asleep with the two of them arguing. My life is totally screwed up. There is no doubt about that at all. I nodded and stood up. I looked like hell. Dark circles under my eyes and my hair looked like it hadn’t been combed in ages.

I quit scrutinizing over my appearance and listened to what Max was asking her. “How do I pass the seal onto you?” Her cheeks, my cheeks, turned bright red. She, no… I need to quit talking about myself in the third person. The woman I’m looking at through Max’s eyes is me. Everything that I have ever dreamed of is happening at this very moment. I’m seeing me when I’m her. I straightened and the redness began to fade.

“The Seal of Power can only be passed through the act of love. I can’t talk about this any longer. My head hurts and I need to go lie down.” She was having the same problem I was, the headache was plaguing her as well. Did that mean that it was a physical thing rather than a psychological thing? “I’m going to kill the king of Antar and I’m going to change the way that the people are living there. That is my destiny and I am not going to stop until I have fulfilled it.”

I was a murdering princess. I knew it was too good to be true. Max didn’t know what he was saying but… maybe he did. He just chose to ignore it. I flat out told him I was going to kill the king. I saw it as plain as day. “So, I have sex with you and you leave?” Did I manipulate him into having sex with me just so I could get the seal? He didn’t sound too happy about having to do the deed with me. My heart fluttered just a little bit at the thought of him trying to protect our innocence.

“That’s what all this is about? You want to use me to get the seal?” I needed to concentrate on what was happening between us. This was all valuable information that I needed to know. I was planning on getting this seal and returning to Antar to kill the king. I had to pay attention because I had a feeling that it wasn’t just my life that I was playing with but several others as well.

I put my head in my hands like I had just done earlier and started to shake my head no. I wasn’t here just for the seal? Or having sex with Max wasn’t what this was all about? I didn’t have a clue why I was shaking my head but I couldn’t wait to find out. “You really don’t get it Max. You don’t understand. It’s not sex that allows us to share the seal. It’s love. We have to connect and make love.” I sounded so dramatic but there was definitely something underneath what I was saying. “This is useless. You don’t remember a thing. You still don’t realize what we meant to each other in the past.” I knew more than Max did? How was that possible? I could feel my frustration as well as how Max felt about me walking toward the door. He cared about her. Me. He actually felt like I was the one that he had been looking for.

He needed me to let him know that he wasn’t crazy. I can’t believe that he thought he was the one that was crazy. He thought I was just a figment of his imagination. He whispered into my ear and I could feel my body’s reaction to his whispered, “Don’t go. Stay here. There’s so much that we need to talk about. So much that I have to understand.” His hand cupped my shoulder and I stiffened. I wasn’t about to change my mind about going back to Antar that was the reason I stiffened.

“I’m not going to change my mind.” I warned him. No matter what he said to me I was going.

I held my ground against everything that my body wanted to do. I wanted to seep into his arms and let him hold me tight. I wanted to forget about what I had to do and live a normal life. I wanted to be normal with him but having these memories were what was keeping me from doing anything normal.

His voice broke through my self-pitying. “You don’t have to. I’m not asking you to change your mind. Stay and rest with me. I don’t want you to leave just yet.” He pulled me closer and I couldn’t resist anymore. I leaned into his embrace and I felt his breath on my neck. “I feel something Andra. It’s like I should know something that’s just out of reach. That if I just concentrate enough it will come to me. Stay and help me remember.”

“Help me remember.” I repeated out loud. My last night with Max surfaced. My cheeks were wet from the tears I had been silently shedding.

“Liz?” He was by my side. “Sweetie, are you okay?” I couldn’t quit staring at my hands.

I saw his hands move into my view. He was ready to grab them. “Don’t… don’t touch me.” I was afraid that I would forget everything that I now knew. “I saw… I know…”

“You saw what?” Maria asked from across the table.

“I need to go home.” I finally looked up to him. “Please take me home.” His eyes searched mine and I could see that he didn’t want me to leave. “I need to straighten out my head. I just saw some of what happened yesterday. I saw me through your eyes, Max.”

“Liz… please, stay here.” His eyes pleaded with me.

“I can’t Max. I need to call my parents and let them know that I’m okay. They’re probably worried sick by now. I’ve been gone almost a month. I need to straighten myself out. I promise you haven’t lost me.” I cupped the side of his face and he leaned into it and then kissed the inside of my palm. “I need to do this for me.”

Max slowly nodded in understanding, “Liz. Please… don’t fight me.”

He stood up and took hold of my hand and pulled me into an endearing embrace. “I’m here for you. Just don’t shut me out. We’ll take you to your dorm and we’ll do our shopping and then I’ll come back and check on you later on this afternoon. Will that be alright if I come by later on?”

I shook my head yes. “That would be great. I think I’m ready to listen to what you have to tell me. I know I am.” I looked up at him and my heart sped up from the possibility of him leaning down and kissing me. He started to and then stopped.

“Come on.” I had forgotten about Maria but heard her shuffling out of the apartment behind us.

“You okay, chica?”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to be okay. I just have some things that I need to straighten out before I can do anything else.”

“I’m cool with that.” We piled into her car and were off.

I was surprised at how close I was living to Max. The dorm where I was staying at was just around the corner from his apartment. Maria parked the car and Max got out and held his hand out for me. “I’ll be right back.” He told her.

“I’ll be here.” She called back. “I’ll see you later, okay Liz?”

“Yeah.” I took his hand and followed him into the building.

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t… don’t apologize. I don’t need any explanations from you. You don’t have to explain anything to me. I understand. You do what you need to do and when you’re ready for me…” He stopped and turned so he was facing me. “I’ll be here waiting for you. I’ve just found you I’m not going to let you go so easily.”

He pulled me into him and we continued around the corner and down the hall. We stopped in front of door 123 and I flashed back to my first waking memory of this place. Instead of Maria’s note from the other night there was a note about breakfast and a deli. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of Maria’s idea of a message but I’m going to try.

My hand reached out for the door and I saw it trembling. There had been so much that I was processing through my mind that I had forgotten about the pain that I was feeling earlier. I quickly grabbed the knob and turned it. When the door didn’t open I looked in my pockets for a key. When there wasn’t a key I looked to Max. “I don’t know where my key is.”

“That’s okay.” He covered his hand over the keyhole and I heard a click. “I’ll stop by the office and tell them that you lost it and if someone could bring you another one.” He pushed the door open and waited for me to go inside. He didn’t enter the room but hovered around the door. “Are you going to be okay because I can stay if you need me to stay.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” I assured him. “Go have fun with Maria. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.” I smiled and grabbed hold of the door and started closing it.

He placed his hand firmly against it so I couldn’t continue any farther. “I just want you to know that what happened between us yesterday…”

I let go of the door and placed a silencing finger on his mouth. “Later, we’ll talk about it later. That’s part... That’s something I have … I just have a lot of things to process.” I removed my finger from the warmth of his mouth and instantly replaced it with a light and hesitant kiss. I felt him lean into it and I let him. It felt perfect and I didn’t want it to end but he pulled away.

He rested his forehead on mine and looked me in the eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t run from us.”

“I won’t do that.”

“You’ve done it twice already and each time it kills me just a little bit to think I won’t find you again. I’ve waited my whole life to find someone to be happy with and I know that that someone is you. Everything has a way of working out just believe in that.” He kissed my forehead and left me standing there with my hand on the door. “I’ll see you later.” He was walking backwards so he could continue to look at me.

“I’ll be here waiting.” I waved at him and he turned hesitantly. There was a spring in his step that hadn’t been there when we were walking to my room. I had to admit that I felt a lot better too just knowing that I wasn’t going to lose him just because of who I was.

I closed the door and flopped down on the bed. It felt good not to have to worry about what I was doing because of someone noticing that I was doing something out of character for me. I rolled over on my back and searched for the dream that I had woke to this morning. My body began to hum with excitement and I had to close my eyes so I could remember every detail of him.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I woke in a bed of sweat. I was thoroughly soaked. I tried to get up but my muscles weren’t responding. I turned my head and looked at the clock. It was noon. I hadn’t slept that much. I took a few deep breaths and then pushed my tired body up. I had to get out of bed now or else I would never get up. I went to the closet and pulled out a change of clothes. I saw a bag of shampoo and soap so I bent over and grabbed that. My head sent me for a loop and I had to balance myself against the wall so I wouldn’t topple over. “You can do this Parker.” I prodded myself along.

I followed the signs on the wall to lead me to the bathrooms. The pink tiles combined with the fluorescent lights made my head scream in agony. “Just a little bit farther.” I threw my stuff down on the bench and started a shower. The water felt hot and I stepped in. I leaned against the wall to let the water flow down my back. The hot steam was making it hard for me to breathe. What was happening to me? I’ve never been sick like this before. The closest I had been was when I had strep throat and had let it go too far. I had a hundred and two-degree fever and nearly passed out. Maybe that was what I had. When I get back to the room I would take a couple of Tylenol and sleep the fever off.

I still needed to call my parents. I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. They had to be worried. I started to shiver the water wasn’t hot enough so I cranked on it more. It was as hot as it was going to go and I couldn’t get the chill out of my bones. Maybe a couple of Tylenol wouldn’t do the trick this time. I turned off the water and quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around me.

I was standing in front of the mirror and I was looking at myself. I looked sick. My skin was pale and the circles under my eyes were dark. The bright lights had to go so I walked over to the wall and turned them off. “Much better.” I went back and pulled on my clothes and then walked back to the room. The chill was gone and I was now sweating again. I pulled open a dresser drawer and found the Tylenol. I looked around the small room and noticed a small refrigerator tucked away in the corner. I went to it and opened it up and found a bottle of Cherry Coke. I twisted the cap off and downed the two tablets. I hoped they worked. I didn’t want to have to go to the doctor’s office. I didn’t even know where the college infirmary was located.

My palms were wet from sweat and I could feel trickles falling down my neck and down my back. I wasn’t dressed that warm. I had to do something to cool off. I opened my window and stuck my head outside. There was a fire escape going up which made it tempting to go outside and sit there for awhile.

I looked around for a pair of shoes and when I found them I pulled them on. I stepped through my open window and then went to the fire escape and started to go up. The cool air felt good against my skin. My lungs fought to force the air in and out of my body. I should have brought a blanket or something to sit on. I should have brought my diary. I had a lot to write down. I threw the coke over the ledge and then pulled myself over as well. I was gasping for breath as if I had just finished running a timed mile.

I quickly fell to the floor and leaned up against the side of the wall. I just needed to rest a little before I went back down. I closed my eyes and concentrated on quieting my gasps. “I can do this. It’s not anything that I can’t handle.” I kept on thinking that over and over.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I startled awake when a siren blared in the distance. The afternoon was considerably darker. I must have dozed off again. I was shaking violently from the fever. It had returned and the cold of being outside wasn’t helping matters. I had two choices. I could get up and make my way across the rooftop, with what looked like a lot of obstacles to the exit or I could try and climb down the ladder… Decisions, decisions. I pushed myself up to a stand and took one step in the direction of exit. I stumbled and fell to the floor. I rolled over on my back cursing at myself for getting myself in this kind of predicament.

Despair had reached its peak and I began to laugh hysterically. I was stuck up here and I was going to freeze to death. My hands were now skinned and bleeding from scraping against the tar and rock combination that they had covered the roof with when I fell. I knew better than to even try and make it down the ladder. There was no way that I would make it if I couldn’t even take one step. My laughing turned into cries of pity.

What was I going to do? I stopped crying when my mind touched on a memory. “Max.”

~*~FLASH~*~

“I’m here for you. Just don’t shut me out. We’ll take you to your dorm and we’ll do our shopping and then I’ll come back and check on you later on this afternoon. Will that be alright if I come by later on?”

Max was going to stop by later on this afternoon. I hoped that I hadn’t missed him. All I had to do was get over to the edge of the building and watch for the old red Jetta that Maria drove. Simple. I can do this. I rolled back over and worked my way up to be on all fours. I sat back on my heels and debated whether or not to stand up or just crawl over. Logic told me that if I tried to walk I would just end up lying on the roof again but my hands told me that they hurt and that either way I was screwed. “Why can’t anything ever work out the way it’s supposed to be?” I cursed under my breath and decided to crawl to the ledge.

It wasn’t as far as the exit was and if I could make it there then I could wait for Max. My vision started to blur and I had trouble concentrating on a focal point but I kept on moving.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


It was now pitch black outside and I had no idea where I was. I started crying for I knew I had missed Max. I was still quite a ways from the wall that over looked the parking lot. The distance to the exit and the distance from the wall looked about the same so I pointed my body in that direction and started for the only thing that would get me down safely. I rested often for the pads on my hands and my knees were screaming for mercy. I had to keep on going it was getting colder and colder and I didn’t know if I would wake up again if I didn’t make it.

I bit my lip to keep my cries from reaching my own ears. I knew that if I started crying I would end up stopping and that was definitely not an option. I had to continue. I could cry when this was all over. I only opened my eyes to grab a new point for if I kept them open for too long my head would begin to ache with pain.

I’m not sure how long it took me to get to the exit but I finally did. Not only were my hands bleeding but I tasted blood in my mouth. I had bit too hard one too many times on my lip. If I thought I looked like a mess before I’m sure I look even worse after spending ten hours in the drizzling rain. I hadn’t even let it sink into my head that it had begun to drizzle when I was about halfway to my chosen destiny.

~*~FLASH~*~

“Yes, he looks upon the soul of the new born child and predicts its destiny.”

“But that’s ridiculous. The future can’t be told.”

“Yes, it can."

It wasn’t the same destiny that I was thinking of, but I guess whatever kept me here was good enough for me. Why was she haunting me? This had never happened to me before. I was seeing bits and pieces of her time, her time with Max. What was she trying to tell me? I would have to figure it out later, for now, I needed to get inside and downstairs.

I pushed myself up against the wall that housed the exit door and leaned heavily on it just to keep myself standing upright. I didn’t dare open my eyes. I had to get my bearings first. I reached out blindly for the doorknob and pulled on it. It didn’t budge. “NO!” I screamed. My voice was harsh as if I had been screaming the entire time.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I can do this. I turned the knob and the door opened. I pushed with everything I had and stepped in as quickly as I could. I had made it. I was almost home free. “Shit! I forgot to call mom and dad.” I’ll do it when I get downstairs. They’ve waited this long what was a little bit longer.

“I knew better than to try and walk down the stairs. Visions of me tumbling head over heel and breaking my neck flashed before my eyes. No, I would do this the sensible way. I sat down on my ass and began to work my way down the stairs.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


Move my feet and slide down. Move my feet and slide down. I had to keep reminding myself on what I was doing because I found myself leaning against the wall a couple of times not moving. It was probably morning by now. Move my feet and slide down. God, what time was it? I haven’t passed anybody in my trip, was everyone asleep, home for the weekend? Move my feet and slide down. Move… there was nowhere for me to move my feet. I looked up and saw that I was sitting in front of the first floor door. I was almost there. I used the railing to pull myself up and took the one step to the door. I pulled on the handle and it swung open with ease.

I bit back the thought of laughing. I’ve come this far but there was still quite a distance for me to go yet. I could see the dry-erase board hanging on my door. It wasn’t that far. I could make it there then I would be good to go. I walked by using the wall as a guide. My shoulder was pushed hard into the wall just because I didn’t want to lean the other way and fall flat on my face. I passed the first door and continued on. I passed the second door and continued on.

I finally stumbled to my door and noticed that Maria’s message had been replaced.

Liz ~

I had a great time getting to know you on Saturday and wish I knew where you were now. I hope nothing happened today to make you leave. Please call me as soon as you get back. 303-555-2855.

Love,
~ Max

Max… I had missed him and now he thought I was having second thoughts about what I had said earlier. The phone was just inside. I turned my doorknob and it was locked. I started beating on it. “Hey,” I quit beating on the door and looked up at the scared face that was in front of me.

“I lost my key and I need to get in.” I groaned to person in front of me.

“Hang on, I’ll be right back.” The woman left and ran down the end of the hall to where the information desk was. She came running back with a ring of keys in her hand. “Okay, I can get you in. But I don’t think this is where you need to be. You really don’t look so well.” She grabbed my arm as she tried to help me into my room. “The front attendant is required to call the campus security whenever a student loses their key.”

“Thanks. I just need to call my boyfriend and have him come pick me up and take me to the hospital.” She guided me to my bed and helped me to flop down. She looked around before finding the phone and grabbing it off my nightstand.

She looked at me, “Are you sure you’ll be okay? Should I wait until your boyfriend gets here?” Her voice was full of concern; I must really look like crap.

“No, that’s all right, he lives right around the corner.” She didn’t look convinced as she started to back out of my room. As the door closed I pushed on the appropriate buttons for Max’s phone. I had this overpowering feeling that he was the only one that could help me now.

The phone rang and rang and then finally the answering machine picked up. “Hi, you’ve reached Max and Tess.” My stomach drops to the floor. I can’t keep it together any longer. He wasn’t home. I started crying into the phone.

When I heard the beep I took a deep breath. “Max…”

“Liz! Oh my god. Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Relief hit me instantly as I realized that help would be on the way. I couldn’t answer his questions as I lost consciousness.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 18 ~ MARIA

I could hear him moving around. I didn’t want to get out of this bed but I knew that I would have to sooner or later. He’d be leaving pretty soon to be going to work and once again I would be all by myself.

“Maria, are you going to get up?” I pulled the cover up over my head. I didn’t want to face reality right now. Can we just fast-forward to a time where everything is perfect? I heard him come into the room and moments later I felt the bed sink down where he sat. “Hey? Are you okay?” He began to rub my back in tiny circles. It didn’t do anything for the tight muscles but it did a world of good for my emotions. He always knew what I needed. I could hear his concern in his voice so I decided I better answer him.

“Yeah… I just don’t feel like getting out of bed.” I wanted to add just yet but thought better of it. “Everything is so much better under the covers then out there in the real world.” I knew he would understand it. I hid under the covers for two days when my mom told me her and Jim Valenti were getting married. My mom married the sheriff. I couldn’t believe it. I lived in shock for two days before Michael snapped me out of it by proposing to me himself. I knew it was just to get me out of the sulking that I was so intent on doing but I couldn’t help but wonder when he’ll do it for real.

“I know.” He sighed heavily. Michael wasn’t one to let emotions rule him but I always seemed to get to him. “I’m going to go. I want to stop by and see if he found out anything before I head into work. Are you going to be okay here tonight by yourself?” It took me awhile to figure out what ‘he’ he was talking about. I couldn’t believe that I could have forgotten like that. I guess that’s why I’m still in this bed with the covers pulled in so tight that nothing can penetrate them.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I really don’t feel up to having company. I just keep playing the past three weeks over and over in my head. All the signs, they were there. I should have known. I should have seen it.” My mistake proved that we had gone lax. I was so intent on finding someone for Max that I forgot to be careful. All of us had let our defenses down not expecting anything to happen after we destroyed the ‘Skins’ in Copper Summit. Life couldn’t go as planned. Nope, not for the seven of us. And to think I pulled another unknown into the group. I can’t believe it. I know if things go bad it’s my fault and nothing anyone says is going to make me not blame myself. No matter how hard they argue. If anything happens to anyone I have no one to blame but myself.

“Quit beating yourself up over this.” He could read me like an open book. Yep, no getting anything past Michael Guerin. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through it just like we get through everything else. We just all need to be together.” That had been our key for so long. Sticking together and talking about our options.

Michael kept rubbing my back before continuing, “If it’s worth anything I like her too. She’s great for Max. There’s something weird going on but she’s great for Max.”

I guess he thought for a moment longer before taking his hand off my back and giving me a smack on the butt, “Well, I gotta go. I’ll call you if I find out anything.”


“Ow,” That forced me out from under the covers. As I sat up Michael leaned in and gave me a kiss. In retaliation for the smack I bit his lip. As he pulled away I gave him a final warning, “Take it easy on Max. I’ve never seen him so smitten before. They spent the night together. Do you know how significant that is?” Just thinking of the huge step that Max took made me think good and happy thoughts. He had never acted like this in his life. He was our leader and therefore never did anything for himself. We were always his number one priority it was about damn time that he did something for himself. “Even if she is the enemy he loves her.”

“How can you be so sure?” A girl can smell love a mile away and seeing Max and Liz this morning I would have to say that she’s just about as in love as he is.

“I can see it in his eyes. They sparkled this morning. So did hers. She loves him too. Just don’t jump to conclusions. Let him work it out with her before you go barging in there declaring war against her. If you do that you’ll end up losing Max too.” I don’t know when I became the thinker of the group. In high school I was a whack job and then… and then Max healed me and brought me back from the dead and I found out that aliens did exist. I would have to say that was the turning point in my life. A turn for the better that’s for sure.

“Maria…” I could hear what was coming next so I didn’t even give him the chance.

“No, Michael. Listen to me. Don’t push him on this… not yet. You can’t make his mind up for him.” I had to sit up so I could show him how serious I was. I took his hands in mine and pulled strength from his warmth. I had found the love of my life and no matter how much of a lug he was I wasn’t going to let him screw this up for his best friend. If he was going over there to find out information, then I better give him what little I had. It did no one any good for him to go in there thinking one thing when the totally opposite was happening. “There’s something more… she doesn’t remember who she is or how she came to be here. If she is the enemy she doesn’t know it. If you come between them it might be just enough to push her over and when she goes, Max will go.”

“I was going to say I know but since you so rudely interrupted me I didn’t get the chance to. Look, I’ve got to go.” He stood up and leaned over and kissed me. “Get something to eat. You’ve slept all day. My leftovers are in the refrigerator.” He turned around and headed for the front door. He was such an angel. He let me sleep off my depression and then he even made enough supper for me to have when I woke up. A gal just has to love this guy.

“Call me if you find out anything.” I hollered after him. I knew there was no way that he wasn’t going to go over to Max’s apartment. I just prayed that he wouldn’t screw things up too bad.

“I will.” He shouted back to me. I threw the covers off of me and headed for the bathroom. I needed a good hot soak in the tub and then I would tackle Michael’s leftovers.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


The two-hour bath and a little aroma therapy had me back in shape. The leftovers were wonderful. Michael always did his best cooking when he was brooding. So here I am in our small apartment all by myself. I flipped through the channels and found nothing at all to watch but those nagging infomercials. I stopped on the one that had the painting kit. The one where you change the roller and it makes all sorts of cool designs on the wall. I don’t know why I even bother I’ll never do anything like that, not when I can get Isabel to come over and she can do it with a sweep of the hand. I finally turned the TV off and went to bed it was one o’clock in the morning and neither Max nor Michael had called so I guess he did something right for a change.

I slept great. My internal alarm went off at eight o’clock sharp and with all the sleep that I had yesterday I was ready to get up. I got up and grabbed a cup of coffee that was all ready. Modern technology is wonderful. Michael should be getting home soon. As I sat at the kitchen table I looked outside the window and shivered. Today didn’t look like the type of day that was going to be good for shopping. Maybe I could talk Max and Liz into something different. Who knows, maybe we could start a different kind of Sunday ritual? Anything was possible.

Putting my cup in the sink I grab my coat and keys and headed over to Max’s. He lived about twenty minutes away. I debated whether to call or not but surely they would be up, Max was a morning person like me and couldn’t sleep late. And even if I did show up, what would it hurt if I woke them? I could stand to see Max’s red ears one more time. I’m bad. I know it but this opportunity doesn’t come all that often. If I had to guess it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The traffic was light, which I’m always grateful for especially with weather the way it was. The closer I got to the apartment the worse the drizzle came down. I parked right behind the jeep and ran up the stairs making sure to hang onto the railing for support. These boots just weren’t the thing to wear on slippery surfaces. I can see myself slipping and falling on my ass. Not something that I want to happen.

I pause outside the front door and listen for a brief moment. I hear voices, hah; I knew Max couldn’t sleep late. It seems that old habits are hard to break. I knock. They were up I wasn’t going to walk in on something that I didn’t want to see. When I knock on the door, their voices stop.

“Ignore it. They’ll go away.” I hear Max say. Maybe he didn’t remember that this was Sunday. I began to knock again and I heard Liz speak.

“You just can’t ignore them. What if it’s one of your other girlfriends or something?” Ooh, a lover’s spat already. That wasn’t good. What the heck had Max told her?

“Liz. There is no other. There’s no one but you.” Smooth Max. Way to go. I knew he always had it in him.

“Don’t forget the murdering princess.” Ouch… who was she talking about? Tess?

“I told you. You didn’t murder anybody.” Huh? She… she didn’t murder anyone. Okay… there was no time like the present to barge in. If I had to I would use my spare key.

I pounded on the door. “Max! I hear you in there. Open up this door this instant.” This isn’t the way that the two of them were supposed to be spending their morning after at all. I had a feeling Michael had more to do with this then anything. If anyone could get someone to argue it was him. He just had that affect on people.

“Is that Maria?” Liz asked. Of course it’s Maria I felt like yelling to the door. I’d wait out here for another minute and if the door didn’t open up I was using my key. That’s all there is to it.

“She’ll go away.” Max said. The hell I will. Did he know what the weather was like out here?

“No I won’t.” I said as I pounded on the door again. “Liz, open up the door.” I wasn’t sure what I would see when the door opened but a disheveled Liz wearing Max’s sweater wasn’t what I was expecting.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me in. At least she wanted me inside. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not after hearing that she was a murderer. Oh, Michael… where are you when I need you?

“Maria. I’m so glad you’re here. Now you can keep Max company. I have to go.” Sarcasm wasn’t one of Liz’s strong suits. Wait I can keep Max company? No, no… that’s not good. What did she mean by that? Okay, breathe Maria, breathe. Don’t panic. Change the mood. Yeah, I can do that.

I was in the middle. Max was standing in front of me with nothing on but a pair of jeans. Man the boy was good looking. Look at that six-pack; I’ll have to get Michael to cut down on the pasta. I had to look back to where Liz was by the front door to get my mind out of the gutter. Okay… break the tension… okay… I can do this… “Liz… why are you wearing Max’s sweater?”

She looked down at the sweater in question and then up at Max. Her cheeks started to flame red and I knew I had done what had to be done. “Ummm…” She paused and held up one finger. “I’ll… I’ll be right back.” She ran to the bedroom and Max quickly followed. I didn’t have time to ask him what was going on so I just trailed quietly behind, by the time we reached the bedroom Liz was on her hands and knees looking for what I assumed was the sweater that was on Max’s dresser. I leaned over and picked it up. I showed it to Max and he shook his head yes.

The expression on Liz’s face was classic. She looked like she just got caught having sex by her mother. I had to start laughing at the comical state that she was in. Max joined in and Liz stopped looking for her sweater and looked at us.

“Are you looking for this?” I asked. She sat up on her heels and pushed the hair out of her face with both hands. I quickly quit laughing because the look on her face was anything but funny. It looked downright terrified.

She stood up and snagged the sweater out of my hands and ran into the bathroom. I pulled Max out of her way and he followed me out to the living room. “What in the hell is going on? This shouldn’t be happening like this at all.” I threw my hands on my hips. “That girl is absolutely terrified of what is going to happen. What happened yesterday?”

“Well, between finding out that I know about her somewhat split personality and Michael demanding to know what the hell I had found out. Almost anything that you can imagine has happened.”

“What do you mean she has a split personality?”

He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He took one more look toward the bathroom and then began to answer me. “She has two sides… sort of… It’s like part of her remembers everything from our previous life and then there is a part of her that doesn’t know anything at all, like us.”

“She’s one of you?”

“Yes… Well, maybe, I’m not really sure. She may be really human but...”

Before Max could finish we heard the door open and I quickly faced the direction of the bathroom. I wasn’t sure how much of a sore subject Liz’s identity was but by judging the sound of the conversation that I had interrupted it was pretty sore. I thought quick and changed the subject just as she walked out of the bathroom and tossed Max his sweater. He didn’t waste any time putting it on. Wait, did he really just stop to smell the sweater? Man is he whipped.

The tension in the room was thick so I didn’t wait any longer to change the subject. “I was telling Max that we could all go shopping this morning. You know… get some breakfast and then walk the streets.” Liz looked confused and it compelled me to explain myself further. “Max and I are the only morning people in our group. Michael works nights on the weekends so he likes to sleep a few hours before he interacts with me. It works better that way.” I was beginning to get nervous and when I’m nervous my body language starts to overact. My head started to bob up and down and I felt my hands start to rise. I held them down, it was hard but I managed.

Liz just stood there. I don’t think anything I had to say was going to make a difference. She wouldn’t be coming with us and I had stepped into the middle of something major between Max and her. So as deftly as I could I asked her if she wanted to come with us once more. “Anyway, what do you say? You want to come with us?”

“I really can’t go Maria. My head feels like its ready to explode.” She did look like she had a headache and I didn’t understand why Max just didn’t lay his healing hand on her. Hell we all know his hands had been everywhere else already. Just by the looks of Liz alone.

“Maria, I’m not going either.” I couldn’t believe my ears. We had been in California for four years and every Sunday for the last three Max and I had been going out and doing our little bonding thing. I tried to hold back the hurt. How quickly I had been replaced. “Liz and I have things we need to talk about.” He wanted me to get the hint but he should know me by now that I don’t take hints at all. I’ll do what I want to do.

“Oh, nonsense.” I looked to Liz and began, “Liz, three Tylenol’s and you’ll feel fine. And Max… the two of you can talk while we walk and I shop. I won’t interfere.” I looked at him and the look on his face said that he didn’t believe a word that was coming out of my mouth. “What? Really, I won’t. I swear.” I did the little scout honor sign and pleaded with my eyes. He was in big trouble with Liz and he had to see that he wouldn’t be able to solve anything with just the two of them. They needed an outsider, someone that could look on things with a neutral perspective.

“No,” He shook his head at me. If I thought that they would be okay without me I would back down gracefully but I knew better. They needed me.

“Come on Max… I promise I’ll be good and besides Liz was my friend first.” I started to whine.

“No, Maria…” he paused and watched Liz sit down at the table and rest her head on her crossed forearms. She really did look bad.

“Just do your voodoo on her and heal her.” I whispered to him.

“It’s not that simple. She’s not the same Liz that you know. This is Liz Parker.”

“Yeah,” I knew I was dense sometimes but come on. Even I knew that that was Liz.

“No, you don’t get it.” He let out a huge breath of frustration. “The whole time you knew her she was this other person. An Antarian self.” He held up a hand to keep me from interrupting him. “What I’m trying to say is that she’s been… she’s been….” At this Max started to wave his hand trying to come up with the word he was looking for. “She’s being taken over by someone from our previous life and Liz is fighting it. The…spirit, I guess you’d call it isn’t meshing with this one. It’s like she’s two different people and this one,” he pointed to where Liz was sitting, “doesn’t know anything about the other person. She’s not as fortunate as the rest of us. We were cloned to be this way, Liz is human that’s channeling an Antarian spirit.”

“So what you’re trying to say is that the Liz I knew was actually… this uh, alien trying to take her over?”

“Yes. So you can see when I told her this morning about her other side she’s not in the best of moods. Please, Maria. Postpone the shopping trip just for today. She shouldn’t be alone and I don’t want her to be.”

“Just bring her along, Max. I heard what she said about being a murdering princess. Is it true?” I had to ask and the look on his face was one that I hoped I would never see again.

Max threw up his hand in frustration, “God, I don’t believe you. How could you even think? No! She didn’t do it.” Max was so sure of himself I just had to find out why, “How are you so sure? None of you guys remember your past lives. What makes you so sure that she didn’t do it?”

Max shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe my question, “Maria, you’ve known Liz a lot longer than I have. She was your friend, do you think that she’s capable of killing her own father?”

The sincerity in Max’s eyes was unmistakable. He didn’t think Liz was capable of murder. Then it hit me. He said her father. How could anybody kill their own father. I shook my head as I answered Max’s question, “Well, no. I don’t think she would do that now, but people change. Circumstances change. All I’m saying is that I don’t think it’s safe for the two of you to be alone. You need me.” I explained to him.

“Help me remember.” While we were arguing Max and I had forgot Liz was in the room, at the sound of her voice we turned towards her. I didn’t know what she was saying but Max was by her side instantly. Yeah, just forget about me. Throw me to the curb why don’t you.

“Liz? Sweetie, are you okay?” She was in a trance or something. She didn’t even acknowledge that he was there.

“Don’t… don’t touch me.” She said when he went to grab for her hands. “I saw… I know…” Okay, all those that are freaked out raise your hand. I shook my head. This is not what Max needed right now. He needed someone to be objective and detached from the situation and that was me.

“You saw what?” I was standing on the opposite side of the table. I couldn’t help anyone if I didn’t know what was going on.

“I need to go home.” She ignored my question and look at him. “Please take me home.” She looked so small and helpless that my heart went out to her. She was begging him with her eyes to let her go home. “I need to straighten out my head. I just saw some of what happened yesterday. I saw me through your eyes, Max.” And that was a bad thing? I could see how Max looked at her. There was nothing that she could have seen that would make her want to run from Max. Unless… unless she saw how much he loved her and it scared her. Or was she talking about the way he looked at the other. Wait, who was here yesterday. Was it Liz or… God, now MY head was starting to pound. I decided not to interrupt them. They needed to sort this out for themselves.

“Liz… please… stay here.” He was begging right back. I could feel the weight of his eyes and how they pleaded not to leave him here. How Shakespearean was this? To find love and to not be able to hold it. I felt like an intruder so I quietly snuck out of the room and went back out to the living room. They didn’t need me eavesdropping on them. Well, to obviously ease drop on them. So I stayed next to the archway and listened.

“I can’t Max. I need to call my parents and let them know that I’m okay. They’re probably worried sick by now. I’ve been gone almost a month. I need to straighten myself out. I promise you haven’t lost me.” Max’s apartment was small, so hearing their conversation wasn’t hard. They had stopped talking so I peeked around the corner. She cupped his face and I saw him tilt his head ever so slightly. It was amazing how the two of them said so much with no words. He turned his head and kissed the inside of her hand. Damn, I’d been with Michael for six years and he never kissed the inside of my hand like that. It just seemed so incredibly intimate. If I wasn’t me I feel like I was intruding. “I need to do this for me.” She finished.

He nodded that he understood. “Liz. Please… don’t fight me.” I’m not sure what he meant by that but I was sure I was going to find out. He stood up and pulled her to him. “I’m here for you. Just don’t shut me out. We’ll take you to your dorm and we’ll do our shopping and then I’ll come back and check on you later on this afternoon. Will that be alright if I come by later on?”

She buried her head into his chest so I didn’t see how she answered him but I heard her say, “That would be great. I think I’m ready to listen to what you have to tell me. I know I am.” It looked like they were going to kiss but I saw Max pull away. I’m assuming he didn’t want to seem too forward. They were just trading sweaters and he’s worried about trading some spit? I would have to ask him about it later. At least there was going to be a later. I heard him say that we would be going shopping so I had to assume that he meant that he would be going with me.

“Come on.” He pulled her into his side and headed for the front door. I followed because I had to. There was no way that I was going to let the two of them out of my sight. Not until I was satisfied that I had safely exited the Twilight Zone.

“You okay, chica?” I asked when we were at the car.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to be okay. I just have some things that I need to straighten out before I can do anything else.”

“I’m cool with that.” I opened the car door and slid in. She got in the front seat and Max crawled into the back. I could see his reflection in the rear view mirror and it looked like someone had just kicked him in the gut. Today’s shopping wasn’t going to be all that good. He wasn’t going to be in the mood to do it and to be perfectly honest I wasn’t either. Maybe we could just come back and talk about things? I’ll ask him once we’re alone. There were a lot of pieces to the Liz puzzle that I was missing and Max was going to give them to me.

I pulled into the dorm and parked the car. Max’s door opened, which didn’t surprise me any. I figured he would walk her to her room. I thought it best to stay out here. Let them say their good-byes without anyone looking at them weird.

“I’ll be right back.” He told me. Liz waited for him. That was a good sign.

“I’ll be here. I’ll see you later, okay Liz?” I looked through her open door and called out to her.

“Yeah.” She gave me a small smile and closed the door. She then turned and took Max’s outstretched hand. The two of them looked like the perfect couple. She was perfect for him. I just hoped that they would be able to work through all this alien crap. Sometimes I’m grateful that it exist but nine times out of ten it’s really a hassle and not worth it at all.

I took the time that I had alone to call Michael. I had to know what had happened last night. I pulled out the cell phone and dialed home. It rang and rang and when the answering machine picked up I let it have it. “I don’t know what the hell you did last night but just wait until I get my hands on you. You’ll be lucky if you make it out alive. Do you hear me, Michael? ARGH!” I growled into the phone and immediately hung it up. He knew that I would be calling and made sure that he didn’t pick up. I hope he was ready to receive my wrath when I got home.

Max returned about fifteen minutes later. He looked a little bit better than he had when he had first left. “Is everything going to be okay?”

“I think so. Would you mind if we didn’t go shopping today? I don’t think I would be any fun.”

“You must have read my mind. With the weather the way it is I was just thinking that we would go grab something to eat and talk. How’s that sound?”

“It sounds good. Actually it sounds really good. I’m starving and I really need someone to talk to. Thanks.” He smiled that lopsided smile that he has at me and I put the car in drive and headed down the street to the deli that we liked to frequent when it was just the two of us. A couple of bacon and egg sandwiches and gallons of coffee would really hit the spot.

“Is it me being out of the loop or is it really complicated?” I had to ask.

“It’s really complicated.” He took a deep breath and let it out again. “I’ve never been on such an emotional roller coaster ride in my entire life. I don’t know how you and Michael have survived as long as you have. Everything was great and then the next moment she’s freaking out.” I could hear his frustration.

“What happened?” I didn’t think anyone would ever compare their relationship to the one I had with Michael. It took a lot of give and take to get along in that kind of relationship. I didn’t doubt that Max would be able to survive it. He was a strong person and could probably survive anything that was thrown at him, I just didn’t know if their relationship would last that long.

“After breakfast I took her out to the cliffs and we started talking. It was the most amazing thing.” I heard the hope in his voice and the excitement of finding out something that he hadn’t known before. She had given him a gift that he had no idea of how to receive.

“What?” I asked when he had stopped explaining what she had showed him. I could only guess that he was going over every detail before he went on.

“She showed me when we had first met on Antar.” I glanced over to where he was sitting and he had his eyes closed. I wonder if it helped him to remember. “She knew right off the bat that she liked me. We didn’t even say a single word to each other until she peered out her bedroom window down to where I was. We spoke without using any words. She called it mind speaking. It was the most amazing thing, Maria… I saw me as she saw me.” He opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

“What was it like? Your first meeting?” This was something that all of us had wondered about and to have finally gotten the answers that we had been looking for after all this time was amazing.

“I was part of the royal guard for her father, the king.” He paused and looked at me.

“The king? I thought you were king? That’s what your mother said.”

“No, she didn’t. She said I was the beloved leader of my people. Not king of the planet and ruler of the Alliance. That was never what I was. So much that was told by my mother was misleading.”

“So if her father was king… she was princess and you were…” The details were so skewed. Everything that we had taken for granted was wrong.

“I was her guard. My family was from the nobility and part of my military training was to be a member of the king’s guard. My duty was to protect her from any harm that would come her way.”

“What kind of danger would she be in?” I couldn’t imagine that a princess would need protection in her own kingdom… then again, what if her father wasn’t very popular? I could see her being in danger because of that.

“When she was born she was prophesized to kill the king of Antar. They wanted to kill her before she had the chance but her father passed a law forbidding any harm to come to her.”

“Max she didn’t kill you and the others did she?” I don’t know what made me think of that but I did. All we knew was that the four of them had been murdered and in a last attempt to save the royal lineage Max’s mother had had them recreated.

“NO!” He gathered himself and then continued. “No, she didn’t kill us. She died on our wedding day. Her uncle had her killed so that he could take over the throne.”

“How awful… Wait. You were married to her? What about Tess? Your mother had said…”

“I was forced to marry her. I was the rightful king since we had completed our vows and had uh, bonded. There was no way that Andra’s uncle would be able to take the throne so he started a rising stating that the throne needed an heir and the only way that that would happen is if I were married.”

“So, that’s when you and Tess got married.”

“That’s when Zan and Ava got married.” Max corrected me.

I don’t know why he bothered with the technicalities but I didn’t question him. He had his reasons.

“What would Liz’s uncle have to gain if you and Tess were to produce an heir? You would still be on the throne and he would still be out.”

“Ava was Khivar’s daughter. She was Andra’s cousin.”

“Oh…” The tangled webs that the aliens can weave. I felt sorry for him. “Did you guys love each other?” I had to ask.

“Who, Ava and Zan or Zan and Andra?”

“You and Liz…uh, Andra. What was your relationship like? With you being her guard it must have been tough.”

“I don’t know. I only saw parts of it. Bits and pieces but of what I saw and felt I know she loved him very much.” He paused and looked at me and I turned onto the street that the deli was on. “I felt what it was like… her love for him and I know without a doubt that was what he felt for her too.” I twisted around in the seat to face him he was so serious.

“Wow… and how do you feel about her now?”

Max looked me in the eyes and answered, “I love her.”

He hadn’t qualified it and I was confused so I had to ask, “Which her?”

Max slumped back in the seat, “You sound like Liz.” He thought a moment before turning back to me and continuing, “To me there is only one. You don’t consider me two different people do you?” I shook my head no. “Why should you consider her being two different people?”

“You said so yourself Max. She has something like a split personality.”

“Yeah, but she’s only one person. It just so happens that this other essence becomes more dominant at times than any of ours. She can pull up any past memory she has, it’s just that Liz Parker doesn’t remember any of it. Remember Brody? He never remembered when Larek would take over. But Larek was alive; he was just using Brody temporarily. Andra isn’t, she’s in a half way place and the essence doesn’t have another body to return to. Right now Liz is in control but Andra needs to use Liz’s body, the two essences are warring. Hopefully they’ll come to some equilibrium where Liz and Andra are both self-aware. Liz has lived with this her entire life and to think that there was something wrong with her had to be hell. I don’t want to add to it. I just want her to feel my love for her no matter who she turns out to be. Am I making any sense?”


“Yeah, you are.” My heart went out to him. Why wasn’t it ever easy? Even Michael and I had it easier than Max did.

I found a parking spot around the end of the block from the deli. We would have to make a run for it if we didn’t want to get soaked. Lucky for me I had an umbrella in the trunk. Maybe the two of us can huddle underneath it? I knew there would be a lot more to be told for I had just barely heard how it all started.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

<center>Best Portrayal of Michael Guerin in ROUND TWO
</center>


PART 19 ~ MICHAEL

“Honey, I’m home!” I hear Maria walk in while I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner. I check the pot simmering on the stove before I head into the living room. I don’t go all the way in but choose to stand in the archway that divides the two rooms. With Maria a person can never be too cautious.

“Where have you been?” It wasn’t like her and Max to stay out this late on a Sunday night. Max usually goes over to Isabel’s for Sunday dinner and it was way past six for that to have happened.

“I know, I’m sorry, I should have called.” She threw her purse on the couch and took off her coat. She plopped down and slammed her feet up on the coffee table. Any minute now she was going to blow. I heard the message she left for me this morning there was no way that I was going to get out an ass chewing.

When she just sat there not saying a word I began to worry. I knew I would kick myself later for asking her but I just had to do it. “What happened?” I walked into the living room and stood at the end of the couch. She looked exhausted and on the verge of breaking down. Yelling at me was the last thing on her mind. I sat down on the couch and pulled her feet into my lap. A good foot rub would be my peace offering. As I started to massage her tired feet she sighed in contentment.

She enjoyed my ministrations for a moment before rubbing her tired eyes and answering my question, “We can’t find Liz. Max is beside himself. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s exhausted I don’t think I would be home right now.”

I stop my massage in shock, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! She’s missing again? How the hell can that happen? I thought after she disappeared the first time he would know better then to let her out of his sites.”

Maria picked her head up off the arm of the couch to look at me, “He can’t hold her prisoner, Michael. God! It’s just like you.” She dropped her head back on the couch and covered her eyes with her arm.

“Maria,” I reached over and pulled her arm away from her eyes. “What happened?” I made sure not to raise my voice because the first time I did she would let me have it. No, this was better. Keeping her calm means keeping her talking.

She lifted her head. “It’s a mess, Michael. First, I got there and they were arguing. Max didn’t want to answer the door and I thought I was going to have to use my key but then Liz opened it up. And she was in Max’s sweater.” Evidently she didn’t like the view that she had so she went back to leaning her head back on the couch.

Years of training kept me from jumping in with a ‘what happened next.’ Maria was organizing her thoughts for me. She should know by now that I didn’t need her to do that. After years of putting everything through my Maria Filter I can manage just fine with her jumbled thoughts. But once again, years of training kept me from saying or doing anything that would get her off track.

She giggled. “You should have seen her down on her hands and knees looking for her sweater. It was a riot. Max and I were laughing. I thought it was because she was embarrassed getting caught with Max.” She stopped and looked at me. “But it wasn’t funny. That girl was so scared. It’s like she didn’t know anything. She looked frightened. I’ve never seen anyone look like that before.”

“And…”

“I thought everything was going to be alright. I asked her to join Max and I for our Sunday ritual. You know… but she declined. She said she had a headache and I could tell she did. You know how people get that…” She started of on a tangent until she saw the look on my face, “We drove her to her dorm and Max walked her inside. When he came out he had a little smile on his face. He thought everything was going to be all right. Max thought that Liz just needed a little time to adjust to everything she had learned.”

“Okay, she needed space. So what went wrong?” The story just wasn’t moving fast enough for me. I needed to prod her along. Give her a little nudge so to speak.

“We went and ate and then we went shopping. When he couldn’t handle it any longer we stopped by her room and she was gone. Max just about flipped. He ranted about having a feeling something was wrong. He knew it and he was beating himself up for not listening to his gut. He wasn’t making any sense so; I suggested that we go back to his place. That she might be there. We went back to his place and…”

“She wasn’t there.” I finished for her; I could see him driving like a mad man. This woman was going to be the death of us yet. It didn’t matter that she was one of us and it didn’t matter that she didn’t know that she was one of us. Max would stop at nothing until it was too late.

Maria watched me for a second before continuing, “Right. Max had a plan. I was to stay at the apartment just in case she came by and couldn’t get in and he would go looking for her.”

“Did he find her?”

She gave me that “Maria Look” that let’s me know when I’ve asked a stupid question, “No, He came back as white as death and soaking wet. It’s not pretty out there you better make sure you dress for the weather when you leave. It started to rain cats and dogs about half an hour after he left. He had to have been walking the streets. You could tell that he just didn’t care what happened to him. All that matters is that she’s okay. I felt helpless and he wouldn’t let me call anyone or do anything to help. He finally gave in when I told him to go take a hot shower and I would call the dorms and have someone check and see if she was back. That was the only way I could get him to do something for himself.”

“Shit! Why didn’t you guys call me? I could have helped. I could have called into work and asked them to help. Jesus, Maria… He’s going to do something stupid and get us all in trouble again.” Now wasn’t the time for me to be sitting down. I could feel the power beginning to rise deep inside of me. I needed to calm down. I looked at the clock. It was too early for me to go into work but maybe I could go looking for her myself. I guess I’d skip dinner tonight.

I stood up and went into the bedroom. I started to get ready for work. I couldn’t believe that Max didn’t call me. Maybe he was more upset then I thought he should be. Maria didn’t even question me when I came back out. “I’m going. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.” I leaned over the couch and kissed her upside down. She still had her head tilted back so it was easy to do.

“Be careful. I love you.” She called out to me as I opened up the door.

“I love you too. Call me if anything changes.”

“I will.” I shut the door. She wasn’t joking when she said it was raining cats and dogs. Lucky I had my rain gear out in the foyer of our apartment. I quickly jumped into them and I was off. First stop… Max’s.

I barely made it half way up the stairs to Max’s apartment when his front door swung open. “Liz?” When he saw it was me; his shoulders sagged.

“No. It’s me. Still haven’t found her?”

“No.” He left the door open but went back inside. He sat down at the bar and stared at the phone.

“You know watching it isn’t going to make it ring any faster.”

“I know. It’s just… I should have been there. It was stupid for me to leave her alone when so much has happened.” He didn’t even look at me when he spoke. All of his concentration was focused on the damn phone.

“Max you can’t be everywhere all the time. Eventually you have to let us make our own mistakes. Anyway, Maria said she wanted some time alone.” I took the stool beside him and looked him over. Maria was right. He did look like hell.

“She’s not like the rest of you guys. She’s different.” He picked up the phone and clicked it on to see if it was working or not and then hung it up. “I left my number on her board so when she got back she would be able to call me.” I guess he thought I needed an explanation for his actions. I didn’t but if talking made him feel better, then I would let him talk.

Max leaned his cheek in his hand and his elbow rested on the counter and he continued to stare at the phone. “So, Maria said she walked in with Liz wearing your sweater. You want to tell me what happened?” I wiggled my eyebrows trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s none of your business.” He said flatly.

“Hey, don’t get upset with me. I’m just trying to help you find your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my life!” He stood up and walked into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Cherry Coke. He tossed me one and then shut the door. “There’s something between us that I just can’t explain to anyone that doesn’t know what I’m feeling.” He opened up his Coke and took a swig of it and then continued.

“My life is so wrapped up with hers that I’m finding it hard to draw a visible line between what is her and what is me.” He sat back down in his spot that he had vacated just moments before. Picked up the phone and listened for a dial tone. “You never know with the weather the way it is, we may lose the phones.”

“You’ve only known the girl forty-eight hours. Don’t you think you’re putting more into this then there really is?” I’m trying to get Max to be reasonable. He hasn’t known this girl all that long.

“Michael, we’re connected. We have a connection.” Max shook his head, “Didn’t you feel something the other night?”

“Yeah, I felt nervous that Maria wanted us to bring someone else into the group and you looked like you were all for it.” I tried to explain my reaction. “You know I don’t like strangers.”

“You’d be singing a different tune if you knew who she really was.” He said softly. He didn’t let my goading get to him.

“Who is she? She’s not anyone that was close to us; otherwise they would have sent her with us. Gees Max, she’s human.” He looked over at me. It was one of the few times that he had taken his eyes off the damn phone.

“She’s closer to you then you think.”

He was infuriating. “Maxwell, quit toying with me and just tell me who the hell she is.”

“She’s your cousin.” He shook his head at my gawking mouth. “Her father was king of Antar.”

“But…”

“I was only king by marriage.” He explained knowing what I was going to ask.

“You two were married?” I wasn’t stupid I could follow the crumbs that he was laying down for me.

“What we knew is nothing compared to what she can tell us.” He stood up and went to the window and pulled the blinds apart to peer outside. “We were married under difficult times. Her father had been murdered and she was their only suspect and before you go spouting off about her being a murderer she didn’t do it. I was with her the night he was killed. There was no way that she could have done what they accused her of doing.”

“I wasn’t…” He turned around and smiled. The look on his face was one of pure disbelief. Okay, so I was thinking that he had gone mad by bedding with the enemy. He was acting too strange for me. I wouldn’t believe anything until I witnessed it for myself.

“I’ve known you for a long time, Michael. I know you just as well as I thought I knew myself. She’s opened my eyes to a whole new world and when she’s not here I don’t feel like I’m complete. There’s a bond that is forming between us and it is only getting stronger.”

“If she is who she says she is, then why didn’t she just come on out and tell us the other night? Why play the games?”

He looked one more time out the window and then let the mini-blinds clash together. “Like I told Maria today. She has her past-life memories locked up. She’s living like she has two personalities. One day she’s Liz Parker from Hartford Connecticut and then the next she’s Andra Aliya, princess of Antar and ruler of the five planets.” Shit she sounded like she was important. “The two half’s are fighting over control and as long as they continue to fight with each other Liz will never have a normal life.” He sat down and picked up the phone and listened and then hung it back up.

“You know you might miss her call while you’re checking the phone to see if it works.”

“You’re not helping. If you can’t help then I suggest you leave.”

“Max… look at it from my point of view. This girl comes out of nowhere and casts some sort of spell on you. You’re following her around like a lost puppy. You tell me that she’s one of us. She’s my relative… don’t you think that there might be something off with her? I don’t trust her.”

“You don’t trust anyone!” He exploded. Visibly trying to calm down he ran his fingers through his already messy hair before telling me, “Just go to work, Michael. I really don’t feel like justifying my feelings to you.” He got up and walked to the door. Opened it up and motioned for me to leave. I was a big boy and could take a hint. Shit. I’ve been thrown out of better places than this.

I stood up, walked over and grabbed my helmet off the table that was by the door. Stopping next to Max I told him, “Just because I don’t trust her doesn’t mean I hope you don’t find her. Call me if you need me.” Thank god Max lived close to the security office. I wouldn’t have to be in this weather for too much longer. “I really hope that Liz is all right.”

I walk into the office and Harry looks at me. “You’re early. Maria kicked you out?” He chuckled at his joke.

“No… just had something to do before I came in and it didn’t take me as long as I thought it would. Anything going on?”

“Nope. Been really quiet all night. Since you’re here I’m going to jet. They say that the weather is going to get worse.”

“Crap, just what I need. Alright… see you later.” Harry started to pack his stuff into his bag. I sat down at my desk and turned on TV. There wasn’t much on so I went to my locker and grabbed some homework. Working nights was good for something.

I don’t know how long I had been working on a sketch for my art class project but when I got a call from the student dorm saying that I needed to fill out a report for a student that lost her key I wasn’t too happy. It was really starting to take shape. I looked at the clock and it was almost time for me to leave. I left a note for the next guy so he would know that I just didn’t split on him. I put on the rain jacket and headed for the golf cart.

If it weren’t for all of the lost key reports that had to be filled out, our job would be a piece of cake. The campus is pretty good about adhering to all the rules. The rain had let up some and I was thankful. I drove over to the Taylor Street dorms, parked the golf cart and headed for the attending supervisor.

“Yeah, where’s the student that lost their key?” I looked around. Pretty quiet around here.

“Oh, yeah… she’s right down here. I know we usually have them wait here to make a report but she doesn’t look so well. I tried to get her to go the campus infirmary but she says that someone is coming to help her. She’s not really all that coherent so I don’t know how much information you’re going to get out of her.” I followed the attendant. She was really concerned for the student. Maybe I would try and talk some sense into the girl.

We headed in the direction that Liz’s room was at. Maybe I would stop by and see if she’s back yet. Maybe I’ll ring her neck for worrying Max like she is. It didn’t matter who she used to be in her previous life. We kept on walking and the further we went the more I got this weird feeling that something was wrong.

The supervising attendant stopped in front of a door. It just wasn’t any door though, it was Liz’s. How do I know? Simple. The note from Max on the dry-erase board was enough for any clue. “The student is Liz Parker?” I asked just to make sure.

“Yeah…” The attendant gave me a funny look. “How did you know?”

“She’s dating my best friend, Max.” I replied as I tapped on the board.

“Well, it’s a good thing that its you that came to fill out the report. Hopefully you can talk her into seeing a doctor.”

The attendant left and nothing could have prepared me for the site that was waiting for me on the other side of that door. When I opened the door the smell of blood and water mixed with the air. “Liz…” I called out because the room was dark and cold.

I moved into the room and noticed that her window was wide open and the mini blinds were flapping from the wind that was blowing into her room. I shut the window and heard a moan off to my left. “Liz? It’s Michael. I’m going to turn on the light. You might want to close your eyes.” The light from the hall helped me to navigate back to the door.

I didn’t know if I wanted to turn on the light or not. Something in the back of my mind was telling me not to do it, that I wouldn’t be able to stay focused enough to handle the situation. “Rath?” I stopped and listened. It could have been my imagination that made me hear my Antarian name. When I didn’t hear it repeated I continued to the wall that had the light switch on it. “Rath, I need Zan. I’m so cold.”

I took two huge steps and flipped on the light and closed the door. No one was standing outside but I didn’t want to take any chances at that changing.

“Shhh… don’t talk. I’m here.” I turned around and stood still. Liz was wet and there was blood on the floor. A bloodied handprint marred the phone that sat beside the bed on the nightstand. “What the hell happened?” I asked her.

“Rath… is that you?”

“Yeah, its me. Michael.” She tried to sit up and I quickly got down on my knees and helped her the best I could. “Jesus, Liz you’re soaking wet.” She held her hands up and I was able to see her bloodied palms. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She was trying hard not to cry but I could see her silent tears begin to fall. “I need Zan. He can heal me.”

“Okay. Let me call him.” I stood up and reached for the phone when the door to Liz’s dorm room busted open.

“Liz!” Max flew into the room. “Oh Jesus! What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She flung herself into his waiting arms and her body began to wrack with her cries. “I don’t know. Something’s happening. Something’s wrong. It shouldn’t be like this. I’m scared.”

“Shh… I’m here.” The way he wrapped her up into his arms and began to rock her back and forth to quiet her sobs was something I have never seen Max do in my entire life. “What was the last thing you remember?” He pulled her away from his body and cupped her face and made her look him in the face.

“Making love to you.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“No.” She shook her head as she spoke. “No I can’t remember anything after that. Why?”

“Liz is starting to get some of your memories. She wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I need you to try and remember what happened. I need to know what I can do.” She grabbed his hands that were cupping her face and he noticed that they were bloody. “Shit! Where did all this blood come from?”

“I don’t know. I just woke up when Rath came into the room. I don’t know.” She started to cry again and buried her face into Max’s chest..

He looked to me for answers. “That’s the way I found her. I was called in because the attending supervisor had to open her door because she didn’t have her key. Security is always called when a student loses their key. Procedure.” He looked back to her hands and swiped his healing hands over them.

Just as he swiped his hands over her he froze. “Liz?”

“Max, you’re here.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. “I’m scared. I’m so scared.”

“Shh… it’s okay. Can you tell me what is happening?”

“I’m cold, Max. I’m not feeling very well. So weak.” I could barely hear anything that she was saying. It was definite that she was weak. Anyone could tell just by looking at her. Max gently stood up and laid her back on the bed.

“I need to see what’s wrong. I need to connect with you so I can fix whatever is wrong.” She nodded her head that she understood. The two of them were in their own little world. I stepped further away so as not to disturb them. I’m not sure exactly what was happening but whatever it was didn’t look good.

Max leaned over her and once again cupped her face. “I need you to relax. Blank your mind and take deep breaths. Let me do the looking.” She nodded her head up and down. It looked like he was going to lean in and kiss her but he didn’t. I had seen Max do this once before so I knew what to expect.

His thumb stoked at the tear that was running down her cheek. “I love you.” He kissed her and then pulled away. “It’s going to be alright. Together… we’ll be all right.” He quit talking and began to concentrate on her. Everything stood still. Time seemed to stop passing the entire time he was connected to her. Would he be able to help her? Was what was happening to her fixable?

Max had never had to fix anything with Isabel, Tess or I so I wasn’t sure if he would be able to heal whatever was wrong with her or not. I hoped for Max’s sake that he could because none of us had thought to bring the healing stones to California. They’re still in Roswell in the pod chamber.

The flash of a bright light woke me from my thoughts and brought me back to reality. Max was hurled away from Liz while screaming, “No!” as he flew through the air. I immediately went to where he had landed and tried to help him up.

“Max! You okay?”

He struggled to get up. He pulled his arm out of my grasp. “Get everyone here. We leave for Roswell as soon as possible.” He went back to her side and knelt down. I realize that Liz’s eyes are no longer open. Sometime during their connection they had closed.

“Max… what’s happening.”

“She’s going to die if we don’t save her.” He turned his attention back to Liz as heeaned over and kissed her. He started to mumble to himself, “I won’t let him have her. Just hang on Liz. Hang on.” He pushed her wet hair off her face. She didn’t even move.

I felt terrible breaking into such a personal moment but I needed Max to tell me what he needed done. “What do you want me to do?”

“Call everyone. Have them meet us here. We’ll need Tess so we can leave the dorms without being noticed.” He never once looked up at me. The entire time he spoke he kept his concentration on her. Whatever was happening was serious.

“Okay.” I grabbed my cell phone and started out of the room. “I have my phone. Call me if you need me. I have to go take care of work and then I’ll be back.” I needed to go back to the office and tell them that there was an emergency that I wouldn’t be able to work for the next few days.. I really didn’t want to leave Max and Liz alone but he would call me if he needed me.

“Hurry!” He called back as if I needed further prodding. I don’t know what it was about Liz Parker but even I was falling under her spell and wanted to drop everything to help her.

I jogged down the hall and the attending supervisor hollered at me. I waved a hand at her and hoped that was enough. It probably wasn’t. I stopped and went back to her. “Everything’s okay. Her boyfriend is taking her to the hospital now so you don’t have to worry. I have another emergency that I have to go do so I’ll get your signatures on all the paperwork later.”

“They left already? I didn’t see them leave.” She looked down the quiet hall.

“Umm, yeah. They left about five minutes ago.” I hoped it was enough to appease her. I didn’t have enough time to stand here and chat. “Look, I’ve got to go. Everything is cool. No harm done.” Once I saw her nod her head I was out of there.

So much needed to be taken care of and I wouldn’t be able to do it all by my self. I needed to call Maria. She would be able to get everyone together. I hopped into the golf cart and was off to the security office. I walked in and no one was here. “Call Harry, let him know that you have an emergency and then see who was coming in and call them into work early. Okay, I can do this.” I was talking to myself. A sure sign that I was under pressure.

I dialed my supervisor’s phone number and explained the ‘emergency’. I had to wait until someone showed up. I didn’t like it but I told him I would wait. He didn’t live that far away. I would have to wait a half-hour, tops. So while I waited I grabbed my stuff off the desk and shoved it into the backpack. I took one more glance around the office to see if I had missed anything. I didn’t see anything so I sat down and waited.

I dialed Maria’s number and it went straight into voicemail. Damn it! How many times have I told her to never turn her phone off? I tried our home number. I got the answering machine. “Maria, if you’re there I need you to wake up. I need you to get everyone rounded up and meet Max and I over at Liz’s dorm room. Maria! Are you there?” She never did come to the phone. I slammed it down and looked for something else to do. Just as I started to dial Alex and Isabel’s phone number the security phone rang.

“Campus security, Guerin speaking.” I didn’t have time for this crap.

“I’ve locked my keys in my car can someone come help me get them unlocked?” A high-pitched nasally voice rattled in the phone.

“Is it really important? I’m the only one here and I’m waiting to be relieved because I have a family emergency to get to.”

“Yes, it’s important. I wouldn’t be calling you if it wasn’t.” Shit. Why me? Why do these things always happen to me?

“Okay. Where are you?” I wrote down the address.

“Wait… you need to call the south campus security. You’re in their area.”

“I did. There’s no one there. Their recording says to call the west campus security.”

“Okay… I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I slammed the phone down on the cradle and swore to myself those bastards at South Campus were always playing that recording. I looked at the clock it was just turning six o’clock.

I dialed the house number again. I got the answering machine again. I left a message for Maria, again. “Just wait until I see her.”

The situation couldn’t wait for me to get a hold of Maria. I started to dial Isabel’s number when my phone went dead. “NO! Damn it!” Crap. I was stuck out in the middle of nowhere without a phone in sight. Great, just my luck. I pushed down on the accelerator on the golf cart and made it to the girl who had locked her keys in her car.

“It’s about time. Do you know what it’s like to have to stand out here in this weather to wait on you people?”

“Look, I’m not the one that was dumb enough to lock my keys in my car and if you want them out you better just shut your trap.” I was in no mood for this crap. Max was depending on me to do something for him and so far I haven’t been able to do anything. What kind of ‘second in command’ was I?

“Well aren’t you Mr. Sunshine.” I gave her an evil look and pulled out the slim jim. I went to the other side of the car so she wouldn’t see me use my powers. I ran the tool down the edge of the door to make it look believable and then covered the key hole with my other hand and in unison I pulled up on the slim jim and unlocked the door.

“There you go.” She hung up her cell phone and a thought occurred to me. “Can I borrow your phone to call a friend to let him know I’m running late?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t have that much time left. My parents put me on a pay before you can use plan.” She continued to rattle off all the reasons that she wasn’t going to let me use her phone so I did the only thing I could. I opened her car door pushed the lock back down and then shut it.

I hopped into the golf cart and started to take off. I drove about fifty yards before I turned back to the car. The girl may be a real witch but I just couldn’t leave her in the parking lot without her car. I jumped off the cart and opened the door again. “I’m going to tell your supervisor what you did!” She screamed after me. I just laughed at her. The scare serves her right for not letting me use her phone. Now all I had to do was get back to the office and call Isabel.

Another half-hour went by. I had finally reached the security office and why was I not surprised that Harry hadn’t shown up yet. The message light was blinking. “Michael, it’s Harry. I have a flat tire so I’ll be there as soon as I can. Sorry. I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I erased the message.

I picked up the phone and dialed Isabel’s number. I dreaded telling her about Max she would totally freak she was in the dark as far as I knew and I hated doing this to her. The phone rang and rang and no one ever picked it up. Great. Where is everyone and why is it I can’t get through to them? I was at the end of my rope. It was seven thirty and there was nothing more I could do. The rest of my phone numbers were stored in my cell phone, which was now dead.

The phone rang again and it was Harry. He was on his way. The tire was fixed. I dialed the house again. Got the answering machine. Dialed Maria’s cell and got the answering service. There was nothing more I could do so I left the message on her cell phone. I prayed that she would check her messages before she went to class.

When Harry arrived, I practically ran him over getting out the door. I hollered over my shoulder that I’d call him if I needed more time off. I didn’t know what Max thought we had to do but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I had to get back to him. I would use his phone to call the others.

I hopped on my bike. I didn’t bother with the rain gear the weather had started to clear. Traffic was a pain in the ass. The streets were still a little damp from the rain from the previous night. I walked in a calm fashion into the dorm room. I didn’t need the attending supervisor looking at me and getting suspicious.

I opened the door and Max looked up at me. I could tell by the look on his face that she wasn’t in any better shape. “I need your phone. I can’t get a hold of anyone on mine.” I didn’t tell him that my battery was dead and I didn’t trust myself to try to recharge it with my powers. Three other cell phones had taught me that lesson. He reached behind him and tossed it to me. “Thanks. I’ll get everyone here.” He turned his attention back to Liz. I couldn’t tell what he was doing but every so often he would look like he wasn’t here.

I called Maria’s number first. “Isabel! I can’t call anyone if you don’t let me be.”

“Maria, its Michael. I need you to get everyone and meet me at Liz’s room. She’s sick. Max said to get everyone together we need to leave ASAP.”

“What! Leave? Where are we going?”

“Roswell.”

“Roswell? Oh, shit. Okay. I’ll get them.” She hung up the phone. That was my girl. To the outside observer Maria wasn’t all there but in the time of crisis she worked well under pressure.

“I got a hold of Maria. She’ll get everyone together. Is there anything else I can do?”

“No, I don’t think there’s anything we can do until we get to Roswell.” He was stroking her hand and every once in a while he would lean over and kiss it.

I moved to the other side of the small room. If he needed me he would ask me. Right now I didn’t want to intrude on whatever he was doing.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


When I heard the doorknob turn and saw the door open just slightly I relaxed some. “It’s about damn time you guys showed up.” Isabel, Maria and Alex walked into the room. We were two short. Don’t tell me that they couldn’t find Valenti and Harding. “Where’s Tess and Kyle? We need them.”

“I can’t find Tess and Kyle. They’re out of range. I go straight into voicemail. Where ever they are they’re not where they can be reached.” Maria said as she made her way to me.

“Max?” I saw Isabel take a hesitant step toward her brother. Max looked up at her but didn’t say anything. “Max… What’s wrong?” I could feel his fear roll off him. I could feel the power he was using and I could feel it weakening.

A group of students had passed the door and a couple of them stopped and looked inside. We didn’t need this so I pulled everyone inside and said, “Shut the door.” They all scooted inside and I was able to shut the door.

“What the…” I hear Alex say but didn’t get to finish because Maria interrupted.

“Oh my god…” she finally saw what all the commotion was. Evidently she didn’t realize how serious it is.

Isabel went down to her knees and grabbed one of Max’s hands. She was lending him whatever power he needed. Why didn’t I think of that? “How bad? How bad is she?”

“He’s got her and I don’t know how to get her out of there.” He wasn’t making any sense.

“Who has her?” Everyone asked in unison.

“Khivar…”

There was a knock on the door and Max stopped his sentence. I went to open up the door and about shitted my pants when I saw the police officer standing at the other side.

“Hi, can I help you, officer?” I needed to warn the rest of the group not to say a word. We couldn’t afford him finding Liz in the state that she’s in. Why can’t things ever go the way they were meant to go?

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 20 ~ MAX

I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be with Liz and Maria’s prying wasn’t helping. “You sound like Liz.” I can see how everyone comes to that reasoning. If she has essentially two sides which one do I love? That was simple and I told her so. “To me there is only one. You don’t consider me two different people do you?” She shook her head no. “Why should you consider her being two different people?” I was in the same mess as Liz was but no one went around treating me as two separate entities.

“You said so yourself Max. She has something like a split personality.” Maria maneuvered the car to the best of her ability. The weather wasn’t cooperating at all not to mention the people that were always in a hurry to get from one place or another.

“Yeah, but she’s only one person. It just so happens that this other essence becomes more dominant at times than any of ours. She can pull up any past memory she has, it’s just that Liz Parker doesn’t remember any of it. Remember Brody? He never remembered when Larek would take over. But Larek was alive; he was just using Brody temporarily. Andra isn’t, she’s in a half way place and the essence doesn’t have another body to return to. Right now Liz is in control but Andra needs to use Liz’s body, the two essences are warring. Hopefully they’ll come to some equilibrium where Liz and Andra are both self-aware. Liz has lived with this her entire life and to think that there was something wrong with her had to be hell. I don’t want to add to it. I just want her to feel my love for her no matter who she turns out to be. Am I making any sense?” Maria looked at me all weird like. I hadn’t strung that many sentences together in one breath in a long time. What I said before usually was her way of speaking.

“Yeah, in some weird sort of way, you are.” She gave me a sympathetic smile and squeezed at my hand that was resting on the center console. She found a parking space at the end of the block from the deli and pulled in. We sat there for a brief moment to wait for the rain to die down some. “Well, it doesn’t look like it’s going to die down. Do you want to make a run for it or shall I get the umbrella out of the back?”

“I’ll be fine. I won’t melt.” I smiled at her and opened my door. She hurried to the back and unlocked it and pulled out her multi-colored umbrella. She opened it and we ran back down the block to reach the deli.

She shook out her umbrella and closed it before entering the building. I held the door open for her and waited for her to enter before me. “Ah… there’s my morning shoppers. You’re running a little late.” Thomas called out. “It’s almost lunch time.” The tall dark-haired man with the Italian accent was the owner of the place and over the years he had started to treat us like family.

“Yeah, yeah… you should be happy that we made it at all. The weather outside is horrible.” Maria called back to him.

“I’ve got just the thing for you two on a dreary day like today. Soup. The best soup ever and I even think I have something spicy enough to satisfy him.” Thomas walked out from behind the counter and had been walking our way as he spoke. When he reached us he hugged Maria and kissed both her cheeks and then turned to me and held his hand out for a handshake.

“That sounds wonderful.” Maria said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. If that was the way she sounded now I had to be twice as bad because she hadn’t had a tenth of the problems to deal with as I did. Not to mention if we go shopping how tired she will sound.

“Hi, Thomas. How’s business?” I went through the usual. I would ask him how business was and he would make some kind of comment about how I didn’t quite look right. It usually led to him telling me about a cousin of his who just came over from the motherland or something like that. Real nice girl, I’m sure because Thomas was nice. He must have a huge family because he has tried to marry me off to about fifteen girls. He tried to ask Maria about the possibility of setting her up with one of his nephews but that stopped after Michael joined us for breakfast the next weekend.

“Ahhh… Miss Maria what is wrong with our Max? He seems a little blue today.” I shook my head. I think secretively that him and Maria meet when I’m busy just to see what they can come up with next.

“Well, Thomas, I think our Max,” she looked at me, then back at Thomas, “has finally met the one.”

“Wonderful! We celebrate!” Thomas left us standing there and went back to the back of the restaurant and came out with a camera. “Let me take your picture so I can hang it up with today’s date. Today is the day that all of America’s single women mourn the loss of one hell of a good looking man.”

“I’m not dead.” I told him.

“Well, you sure do look like it. Come on, Max. Smile for Thomas. Show me what it looks like to finally find the one.” I couldn’t do it. I tried and all I could think of was that Liz was back at her room wondering whether or not to run again. “Now that is not the look of a man in love.” He pulled me in and sat me down at a small round table. “Tell me what is she like. How does she make you feel when you’re together? Close your eyes and remember what it is like to kiss her warm-subtle lips.” I did as he said and I felt the warmth in the pit of my stomach begin to grow. “Ah… Miss Maria I think I am beginning to see. Yes, our Max has finally found the one.” I opened up my eyes and the flash from the instant camera flashed before my eyes, blinding me.

Thomas got up and took the picture and began to wave it in the air. He then pinned it up behind the cash register. “I’ll be back with your meal. Thomas will not bother you anymore. You two talk… enjoy each other’s company and eat my good food.” Maria had sat down in the seat that Thomas had vacated. She was smiling as she watched Thomas push through the double swinging doors.

“He’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, he’s a good man.”

“He’s right you know.” She took off her jacket and threw it in the chair that was to her right.

“About what?”

“When you were thinking of Liz I could see the difference in you. Max, you have found the one.” In her excitement Maria reached across the table and excitedly patted me on the hand. Seeing the look on my face she stopped and took a hold of my hand, “I’m so happy, I just wish things were different.”

I just shook my head, “You can’t go wishing that things were different. Love doesn’t work that way. When you love someone you take what you can get when you get it. You take the good, the bad and the ugly all at once. Don’t you see that if it was easy and everything just fell into place, I don’t think we would enjoy what is bound to happen? We would always think that it has something to do with our life before but having this little bump in the road makes me realize that this is us.”

As he had promised Thomas had delivered our food and left us alone for the remainder of our meal. The hot tortilla chicken soup was wonderful. It had the perfect blend of spices as well as texture. I would have to bring Liz here so she could try it out as well as meet Thomas. Maria let me be, she didn’t pry too much not that our topic would be one that the whole restaurant would be able to hear. She just didn’t want to take the chance.

“So, what do you want to do?” I started to answer but she had already started to talk again. “I saw the most amazing painting at the corner of Smith and 47th. I think it would be perfect for Kyle’s birthday. Have you been in his apartment lately? Boy, I’m glad I finally found you a girl because that boy is next in line for someone to help him get his act together.” I had to chuckle. Maria was never one to sit and let things be.

“What makes you think he needs to be fixed up? Maybe he already has someone in mind.” I took a sip of my coffee and took a bite of the pastry that Thomas was famous for making. The perfect ending to the hot and spicy soup.

“Please. You know those two aren’t going to do anything unless I interfere. You should have seen their faces Friday when I called them on it.” She stood up and grabbed her coat. While she put it on I finished my pastry and drank what was left of my coffee. I stood up and followed her lead. Pulling on my jacket. We walked up to the register and waited for Thomas to take our money.

“No, no, no. You two just go. This one is on me but only if you promise that the next time you come in here you bring ‘the one’ and introduce her to Thomas. Deal?”

“Thanks. I will bring her in. Next time.” We shook hands and left. The wind had picked up some and the rain was now coming in at an angle. We fought our way back to the car. As we settled in our seats and Maria waited for the defroster to clear the windshield I thought that maybe she would decide not to go shopping but when a gap appeared in the foggy window she took off for 47th and Smith.

We drove in silence, which wasn’t uncommon for the two of us because whenever we went shopping we spent more time focusing on the small shops that were inserted here and there along the streets then trying to speak to one another. That would come later. I hoped that it wouldn’t come at all. I really didn’t want to talk about Liz and I. I really wanted to get everything settled between us before I started to discuss the two of us with anybody.

As we drove along I kept thinking of Liz and the more I did the more I wanted to go back and be with her. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and whisper soothing thoughts in her ears. I wanted to lavish all my love all over her and I wanted to look in her eyes and convince her that everything was going to be okay between the two of us.

We finally arrived at 47th and Smith and I wasn’t really all that surprised to see that none of the art was out on display. “Good luck in finding a parking spot. They don’t allow parking on the street along here.” I looked at her and she slumped a little deeper into the driver’s seat pondering her next move. I bet the walk from the deli to her car had convinced her that today wasn’t a day for strolling between shops.

“You don’t want to shop do you?” I could tell by the tone in her voice that she had already come to terms of not shopping today. There was just something about it that just didn’t feel like a good day to be shopping.

“No.” I stated rather flatly. There was only one thing that I wanted to do today and I was beginning to think that all odds were against me being with Liz.

“Do you want me to take you back to the dorms?” She glanced my way briefly and I could see her brows pull together with worry.

“Yes.” There was no point in trying to deny what I wanted to do. Maria already had a good enough idea of what I wanted she probably just wanted to hear me say it for confirmation’s sake.

She turned the car around at the next available light. I felt a lot better. Something was nagging me at the back of my mind. I didn’t want to leave Liz alone for too long. Maybe I should bring her some soup or something. “Would you mind going back to Thomas’ and let me pick up a cup of soup for Liz?”

“Sure, no problem.” I’m glad that she didn’t tease me about it. She was actually being rather mellow for being Maria.

We continued back the way we came and I ran inside to Thomas’ and shook the rain off my head. “Max! You’re back. Did you bring her with you this time?”

“No, she’s not feeling well and I was wondering if I could have a cup of your hot tortilla chicken soup to take back to her.” Thomas smile widened.

“Ah… yes, I will get it for you now.” Thomas disappeared into the back and came back out moments later. He had a cup of soup in one hand along with a red rose in the other. “Here, tell her to get better and come see Thomas soon.”

“Thanks. I will.” The man had a heart of pure gold.

I walked out of the little deli and looked the street up and down. I heard a car honk and saw Maria’s red Jetta flashing its lights down a ways. She pulled out and double-parked in front of the deli for me to hop in.

“Oh, isn’t that sweet.” She said when she saw the red rose bud in my hands. “Liz is just going to melt when you give that to her.”

“I hope so. It’s been a rough couple of days for her.”

“For you too. Remember, you guys don’t have to do this on your own. We’re all here for you.”

“I know, and thanks Maria. But this is really something we have to work out together.” I reached over and grabbed her hand “I appreciate you not giving me a line of crap.”

“Well, just remember you’re in line to get some once this is all over.” I looked at her and smiled. A car behind us started to honk their horn at us. “Alright already! Jeez, doesn’t anyone have patience anymore?”

She took her foot off the brake and waved her hand as if the vehicle behind us could see through the fogged windows as well as the rain.

“To the Taylor dorms and ‘the one’.” She said the one in a sigh and I let out a half laugh.

“Thanks Maria.”

“No, problem. That’s what I’m here for. To serve my king.” I could see the gleam in her eye. She was teasing me but it still rubbed me the wrong way.

“Maria….”

“What? Come on Max. We’ve gone through a lot of shit and I’ve earned the right to tease you when I see fit.”

“Fine.” Once again conversation in the car grounded to a halt. The only sound was the radio and Maria’s singing.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


She pulled into the parking lot and put the car in park. “Do you want me to wait or should I just go on home?”

“You can go.”

“Are you sure?” She didn’t seem to think I should be left alone.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Go home, give Michael hell for me.”

“You know I will.” She replied. I opened the door and climbed out. It was still raining and the temperature felt like it had dropped quite a bit.

I ran to the dorms and opened up the door. Shook the rain off and wiped my feet on the mat. I couldn’t help but cringe at the sound my feet made when they came in contact with the white tile. The squeaking sound was enough to get on my nerves. Lucky for me Liz’s room was on the first floor and relatively close to the front door.

I knocked on the door and there was no answer. I looked around the hall and saw too many people so I chose not to unlock the door myself. I erased Maria’s message that she had left yesterday for Liz and replaced it with my own.

Liz ~

I had a great time getting to know you on Saturday and wish I knew where you were now. I hope nothing happened today to make you leave. Please call me as soon as you get back. 303-555-2855.

Love,
~ Max

I sat the soup and the rose on the floor in front of her door. Hopefully no one would take it. I remembered that I had told Maria that she could go so I hurried down the hall and out the door. I stopped at the glass doors and saw that she was still there. I jogged out to the car and opened up the passenger door.

“She’s not there.” I told her. “I’ll go back a little later. I left the soup and my phone number on her door. She can call.” I shut the door and looked at her. I wanted her to tell me that Liz would come back. I wanted her to tell me that Liz would call me. I wanted her to tell me that I wasn’t over reacting about the whole situation.

“Okay. I’ll stay with you until she calls you.” She pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street to go to my apartment. “Besides, it’s not like Michael is even up yet.”

“Thanks, Maria. You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do. Liz is just as much my friend, as you are. I have a lot riding on the two of you working things out.” She parked behind the Jeep and we got out.

The way we walked up the stairs it felt like someone had died. I felt like I had been run over by a Mac truck. I opened the door and let Maria in first. She took off her jacket as well as her shoes. I did the same. I hung them up on the coat rack and followed her into the living room.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” I asked while hesitating between the kitchen and the living room.

“No, I’m good. Come sit down Max. You look tired.”

“I feel tired.” She scooted over so there was enough room on the couch for me. “Do you think she’s run away again?” I had to ask Maria her opinion. I really needed her reassurance.

“No, I don’t think she did. She said she wouldn’t.” She settled herself into a better position. It also enabled her to face me and look me straight in the eyes.

“How can you be so sure?” I looked deep into her eyes and looked for some sign of uncertainty. I watched her expression while she began to speak.

“If she said that she wouldn’t, she’s not. She may be very confused about what’s going on but I saw it in her eyes this morning. She trusts you. I would even say that she loves you.” She believed everything she was saying, that I was certain of. I just wish it made me feel better.

I got up and checked the phone to make sure that it was working properly. I went to the front window and looked outside. I could still smell her on my sweater. It was faint but it was there. I wonder if Maria will mind me going to the bedroom for a little while just so I can wrap her scent around me in the warm covers.

I felt like a caged animal. There was all this pent up energy inside of me but I felt too drained to do anything with it. “What if something’s wrong?” I asked as I looked out the window.

“Max, you’re over reacting. There’s nothing wrong. She said that she needed time to think. Maybe she’s at a friend’s room or something.” I turned to look at her and couldn’t believe that she could even think that. Liz didn’t have any friends. Andra on the other hand…

“She should be in her room or over here.” Andra would be here. I let the blind fall back down and walked back to the couch and sat down. This was ridiculous.

This routine continued on until I couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m going back over there.”

“I’m coming with you.” She stood up as if she were going to follow me.

“No, I need you to stay here in case she comes by or calls. Something’s wrong, I just feel it. I have to find her.”

“Max, she’s a big girl.” I didn’t wait for her to say anything more. I had my shoes on along with my jacket and was out the door before I heard another word.

I hopped into the Jeep and did a U-turn to head toward the dorm. I had to stop at each and every light. Not that it was that many but just having to stop at all, was a pain in the ass. I parked and ran to the building. I went to Liz’s room and noticed that she hadn’t been back because the rose and the soup were still there. I checked the door and it was still locked. “Where are you?” I hit the wall with my balled fist and then hung my head in defeat.

She wasn’t here and she wasn’t at my place. Where could she be? I left the building and walked home. I didn’t want to take the Jeep just in case I was going too fast and didn’t see her. This way I could holler for her as I walked.

Four blocks later I still had nothing. I walked in and Maria quickly shut the TV off. “Did she call?”

“No, she didn’t. She wasn’t in her room?” Maria quickly stood up. The look on her face was enough for me to want to be alone. I didn’t need her pity. It was my fault not hers. She didn’t need to suffer with me.

“No, the soup and the rose are still there and her door is still locked.” I just stood there. The shock of not knowing enough to know where she would go for comfort had halted me in my tracks. I’m such a fool to think that she would come back to me. I can hear Michael now saying ‘I told you so.’

“We need Michael. He can help.”

“NO!” I took a breath and started over. “No, Michael won’t understand. He thinks I’m off my rocker.” Was she able to read my mind? I can’t believe that she brought him up right when I was thinking of what he would say.

“Isabel then?” She tilted her head the other way.

“No, she doesn’t like Liz. Especially after Alex played his special riff for her.” I see now why Liz would run from me. Everyone in our group was hostile to her on Friday night.

“We need help, Max. You can’t do everything by yourself.” Was she right? Did I need help in finding Liz? I don’t know. Would I ever know?

I needed to be alone so I could think. I love Maria to death and to my surprise she’s been really quiet this afternoon. “What if she’s over at your place? I need you to go home.” I started to steer her to the door. Get her in motion so I can go look for Liz some more without her worrying about me. “If she needs someone to talk to and she feels like she can’t talk to me then I need you to be there for her.”

“I’m not leaving until you know something.” She dug her heels into the carpet.

“Maria, you’re not being reasonable.” She was just telling me how I was the king and all earlier today… Now damn it… do what I want you to do. I wanted to scream at her for not listening to me. Who did she think she was?

She turned around and faced me. “Max all you’ve eaten all day is a bowl of soup. You look exhausted and you’re soaking wet. You’re going to catch cold if you’re not careful. Go take a shower and I’ll man the phone. I’ll call the dorms and see if the attending supervisor will go check and see if she’s seen Liz. I’ll even cook you something to eat.”

“You’re going to cook and you expect me to eat it?” She came at me with both hands as if she was going to choke me.

“I can cook but you better not tell Michael. If he finds out that I can cook I’ll be in the kitchen all the time. Now, skadaddle.” She turned me around and pushed me to the bathroom.

“I need clothes.” I said as I grabbed the doorjamb with both hands.

“Fine, get clothes but I better hear water running in there in five minutes or less otherwise I’m coming after you with a stick.” Her hands left my back and I almost fell backwards. I stabilized and went to my room to get some clothes.

I could hear Maria in the kitchen. She had started humming as she opened and closed cabinet doors. “I don’t hear any water yet.” She hollered out.

“I’m getting there, mommy, just chill.” I called back. Jeez, and we thought Isabel was the Christmas Nazi. Even she’s not this bad. I stood beside the bed and grabbed Liz’s pillow and brought it to my nose. I inhaled deeply. “Liz…” I murmured into the pillow, “Where are you?”

I don’t know how long I had been standing there inhaling her scent but Maria was standing in the doorway just staring at me. “Are you okay?” She asked. Her voice was laced with sympathy.

I quickly put the pillow down and pushed passed her to get to the bathroom. I had to make it to safety before she could see the tears. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute. If she calls…”

“I’ll come get you. Don’t worry Max I’ll make sure that you get to speak to her and if she shows up at the front door while you’re in your shower I’ll shove her in there with you.” I needed her jokes to keep me sane. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” I imagined what it would be like to have her in the shower with me and all I can think of is that it would probably be like heaven. Seeing the look on my face she called out in disgust, “All men are dogs.” She flung the dishtowel at me and it landed on my head covering up what only could be my red face. “Hurry up. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”

I closed the door and hurried up like she had asked. The entire time I was in the shower I strained to hear if the phone was ringing. I wanted it to do so really badly. I stepped out of the shower and dried off to the best that time allowed. I didn’t want to be naked in case the phone rang. It didn’t and I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Smells good.”

“Thanks. Just ask Alex. There was a summer that we practically lived on this stuff. It better be good I don’t know how to cook anything else.” She sat down across from me.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” There was only one plate on the table and only one drink on the table.

“No, Michael is probably waiting for me to get home.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms across her chest. She smiled at me when I took my first hesitant bite. I shook my head up and down while I chewed to let her know I liked it.

“Go ahead and go.” I told her once I had swallowed my bite.

“Not until you’ve eaten it all and not until you lie down for a little while.” She held up her hand to keep me from speaking. Evidently she wasn’t done speaking yet. “I’ll stay for a couple more hours and then I’m going. You need rest. Lord knows that you didn’t get any last night with all the extracurricular activities that you two were doing. You’re exhausted. You’ll be no good to her if you’re too weak to perform.”

“Maria! I can’t believe you’re saying this to me.” My cheeks flamed. I could feel the heat rising. I shifted in my chair and looked anywhere but at her. How embarrassing.

“What? You’re my girlfriend. That’s what girlfriend’s are for, to tell you straight up. Now eat!” She leaned up and looked me in the eye until I broke the gaze by looking down and shoveling another bite onto my fork.

“I’m eating.” I said as I took the bite into my mouth. How embarrassing to have talk about my sex life as if it was the normal thing to talk about.

I finished my food and did as she asked. It was still early but now that my stomach was full I did feel tired. “Thanks, Maria. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I know. All of you aliens would be a total wreck if it weren’t for us humans to keep you in line. Now go to bed I’ll wake you up in an hour because I really need to go before Michael leaves for work.”

She closed the door as she left the room and I crawled into bed and grabbed the Liz-scented covers and pulled them up and over my head and inhaled deeply. I pulled her pillow into my arms and snuggled my head into it. The scent of her was relaxing and I quickly fell asleep.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I woke with a start and busted out to the living room. I had actually fallen asleep and could have missed her call. “Did she call?” I stood and stared at Maria.

“No, she didn’t call and the supervisor hasn’t seen her all day long.” She stood up and took me to the couch. “Did you get enough sleep. You were only asleep for a half hour.”

“I can’t sleep anymore.” I sat and rubbed at my face in hopes of rubbing the sleep away. “Go home. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you if I hear anything.” She leaned over and kissed my forehead.

“Take care, Max. It’ll be alright.” She turned to leave. I got up off the couch and followed her. She reached the door and started to slip her foot into one of her shoes, “Eeww, these things are still wet and cold.” She whined as she pulled her foot out. She reached down and picked the shoes up and held them out to me, “Here, make yourself useful.” When I gave her a quizzical look she sighed and continued, “Dry them. You know, use your alien voodoo. I hate cold, wet shoes.”

I shook my head before reaching out and drying the shoes. Just as an added bonus for everything she did for me I warmed them slightly. “Try that. They should be nice and comfortable now.”

Maria dropped the shoes on the floor and slipped them on her feet. She smiled when she realized that they had been heated for her. “Aah, you’re going to make the perfect boyfriend.” I took her coat off the rack and held it for her to put on.

I looked around and was really surprised to see that she had cleaned up my dinner dishes. “Thanks for everything, Maria.”

“You’re welcome, Max. Good night.” She looked at my worried face and pulled me into a hug. “It will all work out Max.” She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before releasing me. She quietly opened the door and closed it.

I walked over to where the phone was sitting on the counter and I stared at it willing it to ring, when it didn’t I picked it up and listened for the dial tone. The phone was working and yet Liz still hadn’t called. What was I going to do? I sat down at the bar and stared some more at the phone wishing my ‘alien voodoo’ had a way with making the phone ring.

My eyes were blurry from staring at the phone so long. I heard footsteps on my stairs and hurried to the door. It just had to be Liz. I just had to be. I opened the door wide and called out before my eyes had a chance to focus. “Liz?” My eyes fell on Michael. All hope vanished. I looked at the clock and realized that he must not have spent too much time with Maria for she had left a little under an hour ago.

“No. It’s me.” Michael said as he continued up my stairs. “Still haven’t found her?”

“No.” I said as I turned around and headed back into my apartment. I headed straight for the bar and sat down on the stool that was directly in front of the phone. If Michael wanted to come in then there was no way I was going to be able to stop him.

He quietly shut the door and took off his coat. He didn’t bother with his shoes but I did hear him wipe them on the rug before he came in any further into my apartment. “You know watching it isn’t going to make it ring any faster.” Leave it to him not to be able to keep the wisecracks to himself.

I rested my head in my hands and continued my stare. I didn’t really need to explain to him why I felt like I needed to be staring at the phone like I was but I couldn’t keep myself from doing it. “I know. It’s just… I should have been there. It was stupid for me to leave her alone when so much has happened.” Ring! Damn it!

But it didn’t and the only thing I heard was Michael’s words. “Max you can’t be everywhere all the time. Eventually you have to let us make our own mistakes. Anyway, Maria said she wanted some time alone.” He sat down and I could feel his intense stare on me. The little hairs on the back of my neck began to rise.

What did he know? He didn’t know the first thing about Liz. He didn’t even stick around long enough for me to explain. So, why is he here now? He wasn’t talking like he wanted to rub it in on me. I didn’t dare look at him for I knew that I just didn’t need his ridicule right now. “She’s not like the rest of you guys. She’s different.” I picked up the phone and checked to make sure that it was still working. It had been a while since I had last checked it. “I left my number on her board so when she got back she would be able to call me.” My mouth just felt the need to explain my being nervous. Michael didn’t give a shit what I was doing. I don’t know why I even told him anything it just gave him more fuel to throw onto the ‘Max don’t know what he’s doing’ fire.

My depression made me lean my head in the palm of my hand. It was easier to stare at the phone this way anyway. “So, Maria said she walked in with Liz wearing your sweater. You want to tell me what happened?” I could hear the hint of teasing in his voice and it angered me that he was taking a stab at her without knowing what really had happened.

“It’s none of your business.” I said through clenched teeth. I was a little surprised that I didn’t come up off the stool swinging at him. Maybe my subconscious mind knew what he was trying to say better than my logical mind did.

“Hey, don’t get upset with me. I’m just trying to help you find your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” None of them understood what Liz was to me. “She’s my life!” I stood up and walked into the kitchen to grab a Coke. Habit made me grab one for Michael too. I tossed him one and then shut the door. “There’s something between us that I just can’t explain to anyone that doesn’t know what I’m feeling.” Once again my mouth felt it necessary to explain my actions. I quickly opened up my Coke and drank it. If there were something in my mouth then it wouldn’t be able to speak unless I wanted it to say something.

“My life is so wrapped up with hers that I’m finding it hard to draw a visible line between what is her and what is me.” I tried to explain how I felt. I didn’t think I was doing a very good job of it so I sat back down on my stool and picked up the phone and listened for the dial tone. I could see Michael shake his head and could imagine that he was rolling his eyes as well. “You never know with the weather the way it is, we may lose the phones.” Damn mouth. Never knows when to shut up.

“You’ve only known the girl forty-eight hours. Don’t you think you’re putting more into this then there really is?” He’s talking to me like I’ve done this before. There’s never been a woman in my life before. Even Tess was never this important to me. I accepted her just like I accepted the others but Liz… Liz was different and I knew no matter how plain it was in my eyes the others, Michael especially, would never see it the way I did.

“Michael, we’re connected. We have a connection.” There was no use in trying to explain it to him but my mouth continued to be in control of the situation. “Didn’t you feel something the other night?”

“Yeah, I felt nervous that Maria wanted us to bring someone else into the group and you looked like you were all for it.” He ran his hand through his hair and then reached for his coke and took a swig of it and then continued. “You know I don’t like strangers.”

“You’d be singing a different tune if you knew who she really was.” I could kick myself for bringing up Liz’s past life to him.

Glancing over to Michael I could see that I had piqued his curiosity. “Who is she? She’s not anyone that was close to us; otherwise they would have sent her with us. Gees Max, she’s human.” This is something that she would have wanted to explain to him but my anger was in charge and the look on his face along with his comment of her being human as if it was a curse made me defend her.

I finally looked at him and embraced my anger. I would not do this. I would not let Michael lead me to somewhere I didn’t want to go. I took a deep breath and when I let it out I allowed my mouth to speak. “She’s closer to you then you think.”

I saw the flash in his eyes that made me want to get up and do a little dance. I could annoy the hell out of him just as easily as he did me. We each knew each other’s buttons to push. “Maxwell, quit toying with me and just tell me who the hell she is.” He actually sounded sincere and something inside me broke down and I quit doing the little dance that I had been doing. Damn him.

“She’s your cousin.” His mouth dropped wide open and I shook my head up and down to his disbelieving look. “Her father was king of Antar.”

“But…”

I knew where the “But” was going so I cut him off, “I was only king by marriage.” Michael’s mind could be very complex at times but more than most times he was easy to read. I knew what he was going to ask. I could see it in the way his body sat on the stool. The tightness in the grip of his hand on the Coke can.

“You two were married?”

“What we know is nothing compared to what she can tell us.” I decided to let him think on what he had just learned. I stood up and walked to the window. Pulling the blinds apart I scanned the rain-soaked street. “We were married under difficult times. Her father had been murdered and she was their only suspect and before you go spouting off about her being a murderer she didn’t do it. I was with her the night he was killed. There was no way that she could have done what they accused her of doing.”

“I wasn’t…” I turned around and smiled. He could lie to himself all he wanted to but he wasn’t going to fool me.

“I’ve known you for a long time, Michael. I know you just as well as I thought I knew myself. She’s opened my eyes to a whole new world and when she’s not here I don’t feel like I’m complete. There’s a bond that is forming between us and it is only getting stronger.” Liz was what we were all waiting for. She had the power to make all of our nightmares disappear. But I wasn’t going to let her do it all by herself. We were going to help her.

“If she is who she says she is, then why didn’t she just come on out and tell us the other night? Why play the games?” I looked one more time out of the blinds. If I thought telling Maria was difficult explaining to Michael was going to be even harder. He didn’t believe anything until you had beaten him over the head a few times.

I took a deep breath and released the blinds. “Like I told Maria today. She has her past-life memories locked up. She’s living like she has two personalities. One day she’s Liz Parker from Hartford Connecticut and then the next she’s Andra Aliya, princess of Antar and ruler of the five planets.” I started to walk back to the counter as I told him what I had told Maria earlier today. “The two half’s are fighting over control and as long as they continue to fight with each other Liz will never have a normal life.” I sat down and picked up the phone again and listened for the dial tone. Everything was still working all right.

“You know you might miss her call while you’re checking the phone to see if it works.” Michael smirked at me.

“You’re not helping. If you can’t help then I suggest you leave.” It was just like him to be this way with me. Why couldn’t he be what I wanted him to be?

“Max… look at it from my point of view. This girl comes out of nowhere and casts some sort of spell on you. You’re following her around like a lost puppy. You tell me that she’s one of us. She’s my relative… don’t you think that there might be something off with her? I don’t trust her.” That’s what it always boiled down to, Michael and his distrust of all.

“You don’t trust anyone!” There was no point in arguing with him the rest of the night. I was exhausted. I rubbed at my tiredness as well as my frustration and spat out, “Just go to work, Michael. I really don’t feel like justifying my feelings to you.” To get my point across to the stubborn second-in-command I got up and walked to the door. I opened it and swept my hand in a motion to show him that I wanted him to leave.

I was expecting some kind of rebuttal from him for Michael never left without arguing with me but he didn’t. He got up off the stool and walked towards me, picked up his helmet and continued on out the door. Just as he crossed the threshold he stopped. “Just because I don’t trust her doesn’t mean I hope you don’t find her. Call me if you need me.” He continued on out the door and called over his shoulder, “I really hope that Liz is all right.”

I stood there in my open doorway and watched my best friend drive off to work on his motorcycle. He really needed to get a vehicle that would keep him out of the elements. Maybe once this is all over I can talk him into getting something a little better.

I closed the door when his bike rounded the corner turning onto Taylor Street. I went back to the counter, picked up the phone and when I heard a dial tone hung it back up and sat down and stared again. “Where are you Liz?” I asked the phone.

I called the dorms on my cell phone because I didn’t want to tie up the landline; Liz might call. The attending supervisor hadn’t seen Liz since she had been on duty. I asked her to go check her room and when she came back and said that there was no answer there wasn’t more that I could do. I thanked her and went back to staring at the phone and walking to the front window to see if she was on her way to my apartment.

Sometime during the night I had fallen asleep and I woke from a bad dream. Liz was reaching her hand toward me but I was too far away to get to her. Was my subconscious trying to tell me something? Was Liz trying to get to me but I was too far away? I didn’t know. I looked at the clock in the living room and couldn’t believe that it was almost five o’clock. No wonder I woke. This was the time that I normally did get up and my bladder was telling me so. I reached for the phone and checked for a dial tone. It still was working.

Unable to hold my bladder back any longer I got up and went to the bathroom. I was tempted to forward my phone to my cell phone but decided against it. I would be able to get to the phone in time. I think somewhere deep down I had come to the conclusion that Liz wasn’t going to call me. I needed to deal with it.

Lost in my own world and the bliss of the first morning pee, I didn’t hear the phone ring. When I heard my outgoing message begin I freaked. Fumbled with the big guy a little and raced to the phone. The beep sounded and I was still a couple of steps away from the phone. Damn! “Max…”

I grabbed the phone and picked it up. It was her! “Liz! Oh my god. Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Relief hit me instantly as I realized that she hadn’t ran away from me and she was calling me. “Liz…” there was no answer. “Liz!” I began to panic. What had happened? There was another woman’s voice on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Hello! Who is this? What’s happened to Liz?”

“This is Mary the attending supervisor, are you any relation to Liz Parker?”

“Yes! What’s going on?” It didn’t matter that I wasn’t. What Mary didn’t know wasn’t going to kill her.

“She doesn’t look too well.”

I didn’t give the woman a chance to say anything else. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes. Five minutes, okay. I’m on my way.” I slammed the phone down and ran out the door. I don’t know what possessed me to take the time to lock the door but I did it. I berated myself for being so anal.

I jumped into the Jeep and for once Bob didn’t give me any feedback. Usually he didn’t do too well in the morning, especially rainy mornings, but he must have known that now was not a time to be sputtering around. I pressed my foot down on the accelerator cursing for not owning a sports car or even a motor bike like Michael’s. The Jeep accelerated at its own pace.

“She doesn’t look too well.” Mary, the attending supervisor had said. Her words kept on replaying over and over in my head as I ran each and every one of the red lights between my house and Liz. It didn’t matter if the cops were after me they would have to arrest me and even then I don’t think that they would be able to take me down. Nothing was going to keep me away from Liz.

She had called me. She finally called me. I hope that it wasn’t too late.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I pulled the Jeep into the parking lot not even looking for a space. I didn’t even turn it off or take the keys. It wasn’t important. Liz needed me. I jumped out of the Jeep and ran inside. I slipped and fell going around the corner of the hallway. Wet shoes and tile just don’t mix. I scrambled to my feet and headed to her room. I reached the door and flung it open.

“Liz!” I pushed a figure out of my way and slid to her bedside on my knees. She looked so pale, her lips blue as she shivered with cold in her wet clothes. Her hair was wet and matted against her cheeks and forehead. “Oh Jesus! What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She flung herself into my arms and began to cry. “I don’t know. Something’s happening. Something’s wrong. It shouldn’t be like this. I’m scared.”

“Shh… I’m here.” I rocked her back and forth and ran my hands up and down her back and over the back of her head. She quieted quickly and when I thought she would be able to speak again I pulled her away and cupped her face. “What was the last thing you remember?” I looked into her dark pools and saw her fear.

“Making love to you.” She said. Her voice was shaky and I could hear her uncertainty in it as well.

“Do you remember anything else?” Andra was back and Liz was somewhere in the background.

“No.” She shook her head as she spoke. “No I can’t remember anything after that. Why?”

I continued to stroke the side of her cheek as I held her face in my hands. Her skin is so soft and it kills me to see her in such turmoil. “Liz is starting to get some of your memories. She wasn’t feeling well yesterday. I need you to try and remember what happened. I need to know what I can do.” She reached up and took hold of my hands with hers. They were covered in blood. My mouth spoke before I had a chance to think of what had happened. “Shit! Where did all this blood come from?”

“I don’t know. I just woke up when Rath came into the room. I don’t know.” She dropped her hands and buried her head into my chest and then began crying.

I turned to the figure that I had pushed out of my way and realized that it was Michael. “That’s the way I found her. I was called in because the attending supervisor had to open her door because she didn’t have her key. Security is always called when a student loses their key. Procedure.” Hearing his side of the story made me realize that he was not the one to blame.

I turned my attention back to Liz; something else had caused her pain. I swept my hand over her hands and they were all better. My heart unclenched a little knowing that everything that was wrong I could heal. Everything was going to be okay. I just had to keep on telling myself that. A bout of shivering wracked her body and I quickly began to take care of her wet hair and clothes. I ran my fingers through her hair, drying it then did the same for her clothes. I dragged the blankets off of her bed and wrapped her in them and tried to rub some circulation back into her arms and body. My efforts soon paid off as the color started to come back into her face.

As if seeing a magician do a magic trick, I saw Liz come into her own. It was a little eerie seeing it happen and I just stared into her beautiful eyes. There wasn’t a big difference between the two but I knew the difference. “Liz?”

“Max, you’re here.” She sighed and shrugging the blanket from around her shoulders wrapped her arms around my neck. Instinct took over and I pulled her into me. “I’m scared. I’m so scared.” She whispered.

“Shh… it’s okay. Can you tell me what is happening?” If Andra wasn’t present when Liz got hurt then it happened while she was in control.

“I’m cold, Max. I’m not feeling very well. So weak.” I stood up and laid her back down onto her bed.

“I need to see what’s wrong. I need to connect with you so I can fix whatever is wrong.” She nodded her head and I once again cupped her face. “I need you to relax. Blank your mind and take deep breaths. Let me do the looking.” She nodded her head that she understood everything that I was instructing her to do. I relaxed. A sense of relief washed over me. Liz trusted me enough to put her life in my hands. It was a feeling of accomplishment even though I hadn’t done anything yet. It was just enough to make me want to kiss her. I leaned over and stopped inches away. I would kiss her when I healed her. When everything was all right and we could celebrate.

A single tear broke loose and I wiped it away with my thumb. “I love you.” I couldn’t help it. I just had to kiss her. It was a short kiss filled with love and promise and hope. I pulled away and looked her in the eyes once again. “It’s going to be alright. Together… we’ll be all right.” I concentrated on making the connection with her. I would search for anything physically wrong with her and fix it. I didn’t think that I would be able to do anything with her mental state. That would come together on its own. I quickly searched her body for anything that needed healing. Her knees were cut badly but were healed.

Once I was sure that everything was fixed the way it was supposed to be I did a scan of her brain. There was nothing wrong there. I looked deeper. I searched for the part of her that I knew was there, the part that was Andra. I saw a glimmer of something familiar and went to it. All around there was nothing and then it was bright. The form of herself the way she looked in our past life formed before me.

“Andra? What’s wrong? I’m here. Come back with me.”

“Zan!” She cried out.

“Andra?” I held my hand out once again. She started walking towards me. Her hand was outstretched. My dream flashed before my eyes.

“You can do it. We can do it.” I encouraged her to come to me. She stopped. She was a few yards away. “Andra?”

“I can’t come any further.”

“Why not? What’s going on? Why is Liz sick? I can’t heal her.”

“You can’t do it on your own. You need the stones as well as those of the others. Our body is out of balance I have stayed in it for too long. It wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready. You must hurry!”

“The stones. How long do you have?”

“I’m not sure. Please hurry.” She looked behind her as if there was someone. She turned back around and looked at me. Fear… that’s all I saw when she turned around. “Go! I will keep him here. You must hurry put her in balance.”

“Andra? Who’s there?” I began to walk towards her.

“Zan, please go. The only way that I will be able to come back is if my body survives. You have to use the stones and bring me into balance. If I don’t balance soon I will not be able to come back.”

“I’m not leaving without you.” I called to her.

“Go! Khivar is strong; I won’t be able to hold him out of here for too much longer. Go!” She held her hand up and blasted me out of there.

“No!” I was once again in the real world and was flying through the air. The room had been illuminated briefly and as I hit the wall the light that Andra had flung at me was gone.

“Max! You okay?” My eyes focused on Michael.

I struggled to get up. Liz needed me. She didn’t have long from what Andra had said. Michael tried to help me but all he did, was get in my way. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and gave my first order. “Get everyone here. We leave for Roswell as soon as possible.” I went to her side not paying any attention to where Michael was or what he was doing. If he knew what was good for him he’d be doing what I told him to do.

“Max… what’s happening?” Michael’s question made me look up at him. I could see his concern but his question just hung in the air for a brief moment before my brain started formulating what needed to be done.

“She’s going to die if we don’t save her.” I turned my attention back to Liz. She would survive. She was strong. I leaned over her and kissed her. “I won’t let him have her.” I told Michael. “Just hang on Liz. Hang on.” Her hair had gotten in her face again so I pushed it back. She didn’t even acknowledge that I was there. I only hope that she can continue fighting.

“What do you want me to do?” Michael asked.

“Call everyone. Have them meet us here. We’ll need Tess so we can leave the dorms without being noticed.” I looked down at Liz’s soft face. She looked so peaceful that I couldn’t take my eyes off of her long enough to see if Michael had started to do what he needed to do.

“Okay.” I heard him say. He opened the door and paused in the doorway. The light from the hall cascaded into the pale room. “I have my phone. Call me if you need me. I have to go take care of work and then I’ll be back.” I felt like screaming at him that his job didn’t matter. That Liz was the only thing important right now, but I knew Michael and I knew that he would do what was necessary to make sure that everything was done in a timely matter.

“Hurry!” Had escaped my mouth as if it needed to be said and he closed the door and I was alone with my one true love.

I tried to connect with her on several occasions and was unable to reach her. Khivar must still have Andra held in the other world that she had shone me. How that was possible and how that affected Liz I wasn’t sure. All I knew is that we needed to get to Roswell as soon as possible.

I reached for my cell phone and dialed our one ally that made sure that things back home were kept quiet. The strong voice on the other end of the phone said, “Hello.”

“Hi, Jim. Its Max.” I stood up and backed to the opposite side of the room.

“Is everything okay?” He asked immediately.

“No, I need you to meet us at the border and give us a police escort to the chamber. We need the stones and it’s a matter of life or death.”

“Who’s hurt?”

“Liz… my… she’s my life.” There were no other words to explain who she was to me. Jim had always been there from the very beginning he would understand what I had meant.

“Liz Parker I presume.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Kyle and Tess just left here. They should be there sometime before lunchtime. They had me do a background check on her or I should say Tess had me do a background check on her.”

“And…”

“Nothing much but I can tell you if you’re going to be running you’re going to have to take care of her first. She’s got a tracking device located just to the right of her stomach. I guess she’s disappeared a few times and didn’t know where she was.” There was a pause from Jim and then he spoke again. “Max? What’s going on?”

“I’ve got to go. I’ll fill you in when we meet you at the border. Is there a way that you can call Kyle and Tess and tell them to turn around. There’s nothing that they can do by coming back.”

“Yeah, I’ll get a hold of them.”

“Thanks.”

“Max…”

“Yeah?”

“You kids be careful.”

“We will. I won’t let anyone get hurt.”

“I know… but if you’re taking care of everyone else who is taking care of you?” My first instinct was to say Liz but she began to move on the bed and I went to her.

“Jim, I’ve got to go. Call me on my cell if you can’t locate Kyle and Tess.”

“I will, be careful.”

I pushed the end button on the phone and stuck it back in my pocket.

“Liz… Liz sweetie, I’m here.”

“Max…” Her voice sounded so strained.

“Yes, its me.” I smoothed the lines on her forehead some and waited for her eyes to open. “Can I get you anything? Water… food…”

“Water, please.”

“Don’t move. I’ll get you some water.” I stood up and went to the little refrigerator in the corner of the room and opened it up. There were a few bottles of water and I grabbed one and quickly took it back to Liz. “Here.” I reached behind her and helped her to sit up so that she can drink some water.

After a few sips she started to cough. Her whole body shook from the lack of strength to keep herself composed during the fit. “Thanks.”

I leaned her back down, “Don’t try and talk. It’s only going to make you cough more.”

“What’s happening to me?” Her eyes were filled with fear.

I smoothed her forehead once more and ran a light-feathered touch down the side of her cheek. “You need what we call balancing. Your system is out of whack and your human side is fighting with the alien side.” Her eyes widened and I could read her unasked question. “Don’t worry, we can fix it. We’ve done it before with Michael.” I could see her relax a little.

Her hand snaked to follow my arm up to her face and took hold of my hand. “I saw you reaching for her.” She said quietly and her body was once again thrown into a fit of coughing.

“I was reaching for you. Now, no more talking. Rest. I’ll be here watching over you.” I leaned over and took her mouth into mine. “I love you and I won’t let anything happen to you.” I gently wiped my hand over her eyes and I felt her eyelashes tickle the inside of my hand. By the time my hand was through making its pass, her eyes were closed. Her hand gripping my hand squeezed a little bit more just before relaxing.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


The door opened and I saw Michael walked in. “I need your phone. I can’t get a hold of anyone on mine.” I reached back and grabbed my phone and tossed to him. “Thanks. I’ll get everyone here.” I felt Liz stir and turned my attention back to her. I tried connecting to her and every once in a while something happened. Its like I wasn’t in the room anymore. I was in that other world where Andra had showed me but the room was empty. She wasn’t there. I wanted to search for her but then I knew that I better not go too far because Liz needed me back in the room with her.

“Maria, its Michael.” Michael’s voice had a hint of urgency and I can barely make out Maria’s voice on the other end of the phone. “I need you to get everyone and meet me at Liz’s room. She’s sick. Max said to get everyone together we need to leave ASAP.” He paused to let Maria speak, I looked up at him and he had his back to me. I turned back and kissed Liz’s hand that held onto me. There was no way that I was going to let go of her hand. I had a feeling that it was the only thing keeping her here with me.

“I got a hold of Maria. She’ll get everyone together. Is there anything else I can do?” Michael was standing behind my left shoulder. His presence was reassuring and greatly appreciated.

“No, I don’t think there’s anything we can do until we get to Roswell.” My thumb was working its pattern of small circles on the back of Liz’s hand. Her hand tightened and then relaxed and I leaned over and kissed the inside of her palm and then let my face lean into it as if she were cupping my face on her own.

Michael’s presence vanished for a small amount of time and before I knew it the door was being pushed open ever so slightly. “Max?” I turned to see who was intruding and the sight of my sister standing there staring at me made me break down into tears.

She took a hesitant step toward me and my eyes followed her process. “Max… What’s wrong?” I couldn’t focus on what she was asking and I just stared at her. I silently asked for help and was relieved that she didn’t hesitate at all. She was down on her knees holding my free hand pouring love and support into my connection with Liz.

Michael ushered the rest of the group inside and closed the door. Somewhere in the background I heard Alex and Maria talking to Michael and heard him answering their questions. “How bad? How bad is she?” Isabel asked.

Having Isabel’s support was a relief and when she asked I didn’t know where to start. My mouth once again took over. “He’s got her and I don’t know how to get her out of there.” I looked upon my sister whose face was filled with confusion.

“Who has her?” Everyone asked. I stopped and looked around pretty much everyone’s face looked like Isabel’s except Michael’s. His seemed to have a determined look. His eyebrows scrunching were the only thing that showed any signs of worry.

“Khivar…” I wasn’t able to add our enemy or her Uncle or Tess’ father to the end of my statement because there was a knock on the door.

Michael moved to open the door. He was probably the best equipped to get rid of anyone no matter who it was.

“Hi, can I help you, officer?” He made sure to speak loud enough so that all of us would know who was on the other side of Liz’s door. Maria, Alex and Isabel’s jaws all fell open. I went to stand up but Isabel placed a firm hand on my shoulder and shook her head no.

“Do something.” She whispered to Maria.

“Like what?” Maria asked.

“I don’t know. But just take one look and tell me that if that officer makes it inside that we aren’t all going to jail. I’m telling you now that there is no way that Max is going to let go of her hand so she’s your friend you do something.”

“I’m looking for a Liz Parker. The attending supervisor said that this is her room. Can I speak to her?” The officer’s voice filled the room while the others contemplated what to do.

Michael began to squander. Talking to authorities was never one of his best suits. “Ummm… yeah, it’s her room but she’s not here. I’m just waiting for her to get back from class.”

Maria went into action and pulled the door away from Michael’s grip so she could step in front of him. I noticed that she didn’t open it wide enough to allow him to see inside. “I’m Liz Parker.” She said.

“I thought you said she wasn’t here.” The officer asked. I saw Maria’s hand slap Michael’s chest.

“He just wants to keep me to himself. What can I do for you, handsome?” Maria was laying it on pretty thick and I could see Michael’s fist start to clench.

“The description I have says Liz Parker has brown hair.” The voice of the officer sounded like he was young. I only hoped that whatever Maria had planned that it worked. This wasn’t the time to have the cops on our ass. Isabel was right there was no way I was going to let anyone come between Liz and me. No way.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 21 ~ KYLE

I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. Tess, my wife… my love. It’s hard to believe that we did it. I look over at her once more. “Why do you keep looking at me all the time?” She asked. I’m not offended by her question and in fact, if it were anyone else that she had asked that question to they would have thought that she was a little paranoid. But no, I knew what she was asking and I knew just the way to answer her.

“I can’t believe that you’re Mrs. Kyle Valenti and that you’re actually here with me.” I told her as I squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? Going home to tell my dad is a major step. I can hear him now. ‘Don’t you think you kids should have dated before getting married?’” I said in my best Jim Valenti voice that I had.

“Yeah, of course I’m nervous, but I think your dad will be easier to tell then the rest of the group.”

“Well, Michael already knows that I was going to propose to you, so, it’s only going to be a little while before Maria puts two and two together.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Besides, it doesn’t matter what the others think. What we think is all that matters.” She leaned over and kissed me and rubbed the side of my face with her hand and then let it trail down my chest and down to my leg. I just loved it when she showed me affection like this. It’s a huge step for Tess. “I love you.” She smiled at me and watched as we rounded the final turn to my dad’s house.

I pulled into the driveway. It’s early Sunday morning. I’m not surprised that the lights are on inside the house. Dad must have the early shift this morning. “See I told you he’d be up.” I placed the Mustang in park and turned the engine off. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” She smiled nervously and took a huge breath.

I got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. She had the door opened by the time I had gotten around to her side. I held my hand out to her and she took it with a smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” She stood up beside me and together we walked up to the front porch and stood there.

After a moment Tess broke the silence, “Are we going to knock or just stand out here until he goes to work?” She was looking at me and all of a sudden I was nervous. It finally hit me; this was a huge step not to mention the first step that I had taken without getting someone’s permission to do it. This was forever, not just a week or month but forever.

I tried to swallow but my mouth was dry, “Yeah, I’m going to knock.” And we still stood there. Finally she got fed up with me and knocked on the door. Honeymoon over already? No… her assertiveness is one thing I love about her. Just as the door opened I swooped down and picked her up. I vowed that I would carry her over each and every threshold that we came to together for the first month. She had told me that I would get tired doing it but I really doubt that I will.

“Tess… Kyle…” Dad’s shocked expression told us he was definitely surprised to see us. Tess was struggling to get out of my arms and had begun to giggle. “Is everything okay?” He asked with growing concern.

“Yeah, dad. Everything’s fine. It’s just that we have something we wanted to tell you before we tell anyone else.” He held the door open wider to let us in. I was still carrying Tess who had resigned to the fact that I was going to carry her over this threshold.

“Son, why are you carrying Tess? Did she hurt herself or something?” He quietly shut the door and waited for my reply to his question.

“No, dad. I’m carrying her over the threshold.” I wondered if it was just me or if my dad was just getting old and wasn’t able to put the clues together as fast as he used to.

He shook his head up and down and then said, “Oh.” He looked at the two of us again. “I’m missing something aren’t I?”

Just as I was getting ready to say something Amy walked in tying her robe. “Jim… I heard voices.” She stopped in the middle of the living room. “Kyle… Tess…” She turned red. She tightened the tie on her robe and walked over to my dad. He wrapped his arm around her. “Is there something wrong?” Her hand wandered up to her throat as if it would help her from screaming out anything in fear.

“No, no…” Both Tess and I said in unison. We both quit talking and then looked at each other. “You go ahead.” We both said and then giggled. I shook my head. After all it was my dad. Tess slid out of my arms and stood beside me taking hold of my hand.

“Dad, Amy… I just wanted to come by and tell you guys…”

“We just wanted to come by…” Tess corrected me.

I looked down at Tess and smiled. She was right. It was we after all. “Um… Well, we just wanted to tell you that…” Tess’ grip tightened on my hand and caused me to lose track of where I was in the conversation. I wasn’t really expecting to have to say the complete thing. Surely dad would be able to figure it out sooner or later. Surely… “Ummm… the reason I’m carrying Tess over the threshold is because…”

“Oh my god!” Amy squealed. “You two got married!” She unraveled herself from my dad’s arm and crossed the room and hugged Tess and then me. “Jim…” She had turned around and had her hands on her hips. I see where Maria gets that look from now. “Aren’t you going to say anything to the two of them?” My dad was just staring at the two of us.

The fog must have lifted because he quickly crossed the living room and hugged Tess. “Welcome to the family.”

“Thanks, Jim.” She said as he released her.

“Kyle…” He embraced me and when he pulled away he continued, “Gees, we’re really out of the loop, I didn’t even realize that the two of you were dating.”

“Um, yeah… well you see dad. That’s the beauty of it.” Boy, do I feel like I’m the little kid again. Damn it… I’m an adult. “We weren’t. I just got this wild hair and decided what the heck. I love the girl. There’s no point in pretending that I don’t. We got married Friday at Vegas.”

Tess smiled, held her hand up and wiggled the finger that supported the ring that I had given her. Amy had walked over to the front door and was looking out one of the windows. “Where are the others?”

“They’re not here.” Tess said as she turned around to face Amy. “We sort of wanted to do this on our own. You know. Just for us and for our own reasons.”

“Well, good for you.” She turned and grabbed Tess’ arm. “Come in I’ll start breakfast and you can tell me all about it. What made you decide to get married Friday and all.” Amy took hold of Tess’ hand and pulled her into the kitchen.

“I won’t be able to stay too long. I have to be at work by six this morning.” My dad informed me while the two women walked into the kitchen leaving the two of us out to talk about things. Leave it to Amy to know that there was something else that needed to be said and do the right thing and leave us to it.

“That’s okay. We weren’t planning on staying very long either. In fact, there was another reason that we swung by, I was hoping that you could do us a favor.”

“Sure, what is it?” My dad’s forehead increased with worry lines.

“Well, you see. We’ve encountered a stranger among us and we, Tess and I, thought that maybe we should have her checked out.”

“A stranger.” He scratched at his ear as if he were mulling the information over. “And this stranger is a threat because…”

“Max fell so totally head over heels for her in like thirty seconds. Tess got really spooked about it and after talking about it on the way here we’ve thought that we might get you to do some background checking on her. You know, see if she is who she says she is.”

“I see and how does Max feel about this?”

“Dad!” God he aggravates me when he has to ask Max what should be done. “What did I just say? Max is head over heels for her. He’s not going to want us going behind his back to do a background check on her.” I tried to explain my reason for not asking Max.

Dad looked at me for a second before asking, “Do you really think it’s necessary? Give Max his due, he’s always been very cautious where the group’s safety is concerned. Maybe he’s finally found someone for himself?”

“Dad,” I tried to explain, “You weren’t there. It was totally weird. Minutes after Liz joined the group she and Max were trading this whole look into my eyes, let’s get naked thing. It was totally unreasonable. Nothing like Max.”

“Oh, like you’re the voice of reason, Mr. Head to Vegas and marry a girl you aren’t even dating?” Dad shook his head at me, “Maybe this girl cast a spell over all of you, after all you’re not showing the best line of thinking lately either.” We walked into the kitchen and Amy and Tess were busy making breakfast.

“Dad, I know this is a shock…” I tried to explain but my dad held up his hand, silencing me.

“I understand. I’ve been wondering for years why you and Tess weren’t dating. It was obvious to all of us that the two of you liked each other, maybe even loved each other. I’m just surprised by the jump into the fire without the stop in the frying pan.”

“You think we were wrong?”

Dad shook his head at the question, “Impulsive? Yes. Wrong? I don’t think so.” He put his arm around me as he steered me toward the kitchen and the smell of coffee. “You and Tess have been doing this mating dance for years. You just did it in a weird way.” He stopped to ruffle my hair like he did when I was a little kid. “I just wish I could have been at the wedding.”

“Did you ask him?” She asked me as soon as we walked into the kitchen.

I nodded my head, “Yeah.” She walked over to my side and looked up at Jim.

“It’s important. There’s something about her, Jim, something that’s...” Tess got this faraway look in her eyes as she tried to remember how she felt when she met Liz. “Just not right. Now that I think about it, she even seems familiar.” She snapped out of her daze and gazed up at my dad, “Please, for the safety of us all.”

Dad held up his hand in surrender, “Fine, as soon as I get into work I’ll see what I can find out about her. How long are you guys staying again?”

“We’re staying until we can get the information. We’ve decided that we aren’t going back until we can talk to the group about who she is. But we liked to head back today if all possible because have classes tomorrow.”

“Are you sure that she’s hiding something? Maybe it’s just meeting new people or something like that.”

“No, its something to do with us. I’m sure of it.” Tess bounced her head up and down.

“Okay, write down her information and I’ll see what I can scrounge up today. I’m not guaranteeing anything. You two understand that right?”

“Yes, we understand. Thanks so much, Jim.” Tess smiled.

“Now, this just isn’t going to work. You’re married to my son. The least you can do is call me dad. You’re one of the family now, not that you weren’t ever considered part of it before. It’s more formal now.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jim… I mean, Dad.”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


The rest of the morning went well. We caught Amy up on the lately news. She seemed to be comfortable with Liz being amongst the group. “I’m telling you if Maria thinks she’s okay then she’s okay. She has a way of just knowing these kinds of things. If Liz does turn out to be a little different, so to speak, then Maria has a feeling and if she thinks that she’s the one for Max then I wouldn’t be too surprised if they don’t work out.” Amy took another sip of her coffee. “So tell me… How are Michael and Maria doing?”

Tess and I looked at one another and Tess smiled. “Well, you know the reason we’re married is because of your daughter. She told everyone at the party Friday night that if I would just ask Kyle out that I would release Max from having to pretend that we were dating and then she pinned Kyle and told him that he just needed to quit being such a sissy and ask me out.”

“She didn’t call me a sissy.” I turned to Amy. “Maria didn’t call me a sissy.”

“Of course she didn’t.” Amy patronized me. “So, how is married life?”

“Great!” We both said in unison.

“Of course we’ve only been married for a couple of days so I wouldn’t say that we’re the best to say right now how it’s all going to turn out.” I quickly offered. Amy after all knew just like my dad that not all marriages were meant to last.

“You two are being careful aren’t you?” She asked over the rim of her coffee cup. “You still have the rest of this year of school to finish.”

I glanced over to Tess and her face was as red as mine felt, “Ummm… I think we need to get going and see if we can offer dad anymore information on Liz Parker.” We both stood up and ran out of the kitchen. “Bye.” I called over my shoulder as I closed the door.

“Oh my god. Is that the first thing everyone is going to ask us when we tell them that we’re married?” Tess lowered her face into her hands and shook her head. “That was so embarrassing.”

“Tell me about it.” I opened the door to the Mustang and waited for my little lovey dovey to get into the car.

“Thanks,” she said as I closed the door. She waited for me to get in and then she kissed me. “Maybe later we can sneak back into the house and rest a little. If we’re going to be going back to school tonight then we’re going to have to rest sometime.”

I raised my eyebrows at her. “Rest? Sure, honey whatever you want to call it.” She slapped my arm and a feigned being hurt. “Ow. Just joking…” I leaned over and kissed her. “Whatever you want to do. I’m your man.”

I pulled away and started the car. Driving through town brought back a lot of memories. Most of them were good while others were a little bit more traumatic then others. I pulled up in front of the sheriff’s station and turned the car off. We got out of the car and walked into the office.

“Kyle! Congratulations!” I turned so I could look at the face that belonged to the voice. Deputy Hanson.

“Thanks. Is my dad in?” Tess and I continued down the hall, hand-in-hand.

“No, he’s off checking on something. He told me that if you came in that it was okay for the two of you newly weds to sit in his office. He should be back shortly.”

“Thanks.” We did as he said and waited for my dad to show up.

I guess I don’t need to say that it was a little embarrassing when he walked in on us testing the couch out. Hey… it’s just a force of nature that when newly weds see opportunity in front of them they will take hold of that opportunity.

My dad threw the door to his office open and breezed in. Tess and I had tried to be good, really we did, but one thing lead to another and…

When my dad caught sight of us on the couch his face turned crimson as he spun around, turning his back on us, “Oh, God. I’m really sorry.” He walked back out the door, “I’ll just be back in a minute.” He stuttered as he pulled the door closed behind him.

I looked over at Tess who had turned a fierce shade of red. She looked adorable, hair messed up, clothing disheveled. I knew that I didn’t look much better. At least we kept our clothes on, a small miracle in and of itself. We tried to straighten ourselves out as best as we could. I ran my hands through my hair as Tess used her powers to do hers. We heard a knock on the door a few moments later and told my father that he could come in.

He slowly opened the door and peeked inside, not sure of what he was going to see. We must have done a good job in making ourselves presentable because he tossed the door all the way open and strode into his office and took a seat behind the desk.

“You know, this is a sheriff’s office, and I know you’re newly weds, and you’re expected to…” My dad started to ramble on while he kept his eyes on the papers he was fiddling with on his desk.

“We know dad. We’re really sorry.” I decided to stop his discomfort. “We won’t let it happen again.”

My dad chanced a glance up at us, “Yeah, well, make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m getting old and I don’t think I can handle walking in on that situation again.”

“Like I said, we’re sorry, it won’t happen again and you’re not that old.”

We stared at each other uncomfortably for a minute before Tess cut in, “Did you find out anything about Liz?”

Dad glanced at Tess and lifted the papers in his hand, “Yeah, I was able to find quite a lot actually.”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


“Liz Parker from Connecticut. Newington to be exact. She was president of the Science Club, active member in Who’s Who among American high school students for all four years. She was also a member of the National Honor Society. Graduated valedictorian from high school. Overall, she’s an above average student. She went on after that to Harvard where she was majoring in molecular biology. While in her fist year of college she volunteered at the city hospital research department. All in all she was a model citizen.”

“That’s good right? So she’s okay?” I let out a sigh of relief. Our fears were groundless.

I felt the smile leave my face as my father shook his head, “No, she’s anything but normal. Liz Parker was diagnosed, as to being a schizophrenic. She keeps having these…” My father waved his hand in the air trying to come up with the word he was looking for. “Uh, episodes. Yeah, she keeps having these lost-time episodes. On the first occasion she was found in New York at the age of thirteen. The report read that she had called her parents to pick her up and that everything was all right. The second time, at the age of fourteen, she was picked up in Enid, Oklahoma. Every year the same thing, another town and at the end she was the one that called home to be picked up.”

“She’s being treated by a psychiatrist. The doctor tried several methods of treatment and none of them seemed to do any good.” He was looking at us. I could see that he felt sorry for her. Hell, I felt sorry for her and if some alien was using her then I really felt bad for her. No one deserved to be taken and used and then discarded just because.

Picking out a page in the stack on his desk, dad handed me a sheet of paper, “The patient seems to experience periods of lost time.” I read out loud so Tess would be able to hear all of the information as well. “She finds herself in different locations without any conscious explanation as to why she was there. Patient has reported of experiencing these lost moments throughout her childhood.” It went on and on detailing each and every episode. She was in therapy for almost four years before they decided that it just wasn’t helping.

Her parents were at a loss of how they could protect their daughter from her own self. The episodes were taking longer and longer for her to return to them. She was finding herself in places that weren’t fit for a young woman. It would be only a matter of time before Liz would come to physical harm by outside factors and her parents just couldn’t have that happen.

The therapist offered a solution and after consideration Liz, herself, agreed that the solution was for the best. It was an experimental study by the University and was to be monitored every month for accuracy. I looked up to Tess. I couldn’t believe what I had read. In order for her parents to make sure that Liz was safe at all times they had implanted her with a tracking device, a device that was scheduled to alert local authorities if it wasn’t reset on the scheduled date.

“Great… Liz is being tracked and she leading the police right to us.” Tess stood up and read over my shoulder the best that she could.

When she was done reading she sat down. I followed her. “What are we going to do?” She asked as she looked up at me. Her eyes were a little glossy as if she were trying to keep from crying. I wrapped a comforting arm around her and she leaned in.

“We go to the others and tell them what we have found out. There’s nothing else we can do. There’s a possibility that this is Liz… and not one of her episodes. After all what she told us was the truth. Just hope that that tracking device isn’t ready for a scheduled broadcast to bring notice to us.” I stood up and walked over to my dad’s desk.

I picked up the papers from my father’s desk, “Can I take these with me?”

Dad nodded as he stood up, “Yeah. I’m sorry for Max that the information wasn’t better.”

Tess nodded her head in agreement as we headed for the door, “Max really deserves someone of his own. This is really going to throw him for a loop.” She said in a daze. Something was bothering her and maybe we would be able to talk about it once we were in the car.

Dad walked us out of the stationhouse and to our car, “Are you sure that you can’t stay for dinner? Or maybe lunch?”

I shook my head, “We have a long drive ahead of us and we better get started. We really have to get back with this information.”

Dad smiled. I’m sure his mind was working out the time frame and all. And I’m sure that it had figured out that we had plenty of time to stay for at least lunch but I’m grateful that he didn’t insist. After all we are newly weds. We need our privacy. “Okay,” he said.

Tess and I were in the car and he stood on the curb and watched us pull out. “Call me if you need anything. Oh, and keep your cell phone turned on!” He hollered and Tess stuck her hand out the window and waved at him.

“Thanks, we will. Tell Amy good-bye and make sure and tell her that we will have Michael and Maria call her as soon as we can tell them.”

“I will.” He hollered back.

I watched my dad standing on the curb in front of the sheriff’s station in my rear-view mirror. Part of me wishing that kids never had to grow up.


<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 22 ~ TESS

The weekend went by rather quickly. What was I to expect? It wasn’t every day that I get married. It wasn’t everyday that a girl finds out that her husband from her previous life is in danger either. Well, maybe for me it was. I know I shouldn’t be worrying there isn’t much that can happen in two days time. The gang would be quite all right. I needed to keep telling myself that the entire trip back from Roswell to school because something in the back of my mind was screaming that I was a fool if I believed that.

Most of the trip was made in blissful silence the other part of the trip was made in short make-out pit stops. It’s weird how Kyle and I have just come into sync like we have. It’s like being overwhelmed with this sense of peace. Weird. I know. I’ve never encountered anything like this before. Kyle pulls the car in front of a Motel 8, our home away from home for the night. “Here we are. Home sweet home.” I look at him and he’s smiling a smile that hasn’t left his face since Saturday morning. I like to think that it’s there because of me. I’m sure I’m wearing one just like him.

“Kyle this isn’t home.” I point out the bitter fact to him. We were still six hours away from home.

“I know,” he started and turned in his seat so he could face me. “But no matter where I am it will always be home if you’re here with me.” I melted into the car seat.

I reached over and touched his arm. “I love you.” We stared into each other’s eyes for awhile. His blue eyes glittered. There was just enough light in the parking lot for me to see them. I leaned into him to show him exactly how much I loved him.

“I love you too. We better get inside before it starts raining too hard.” Just as he finished his sentence it started pouring. He opened his car door and ran around to my side. I had the door already opened and was halfway out when he was at my side.

Leaning down he swooped me up into his arms and together we ran to our room. The rain was absolutely pouring down. That’s one thing I hate about living in California. We don’t get snow we get rain and it’s not a cheery kind of rain. It’s the kind that makes you want to stay indoors and in bed all day.

“Kyle! It’s raining. You don’t have to carry me. We can make it inside much faster if we both ran.” Thunder cracked above us and the night sky was lit almost immediately with a flash of lightning. The eye of the storm was close and I was surprised that the rain wasn’t coming down harder than it was.

“I don’t care. I made a promise to you and I’m not going to break it.” He pinned me with his eyes. Daring me to say something about it. When I didn’t he continued to our room. With me in his arms he was unable to unlock the door so I reached down for him and did the honors. “Ready, Mrs. Valenti?” He asked just before the door was pushed open.

“Yes, Mr. Valenti.” I felt my heart fill with this sudden warmth. I knew no matter what, that I would always have it. Besides Kyle, it was my most prized possession.

He pushed the door open and slammed it shut with his foot. “Welcome home!” He hollered and we spun around and around in the small motel room.

“Kyle, you can put me down now.” It was hard not to stay like this but I was beginning to feel the effects of little to no rest. He set me down gingerly onto my feet and I looped my hands around his neck and looked up once again into his wonderfully blue eyes. I’ve never noticed them before but now that I know that he doesn’t mind me staring into them, I find myself getting lost quite a lot in them.

Our kiss broke and he sat me down on the chair that was beside the door. “Stay here and I’ll get our stuff.” I nodded my head. It wasn’t much. Just stuff that we had picked up in Vegas. He had picked up a few more things while we were at his dad’s house but not much. We were newly weds after all. We didn’t need much stuff.

I watched him exit the room. I stood and walked to the door and waited for him. I peered through the window and watched him work. So far he hadn’t been out of my sight. I know it sounds really pathetic but something about our relationship just seems too good to be true. Like if I let him out of my sight for one moment it’s all going to disappear like one of my mind warps or something.

He opens the trunk and grabs our bags. He shuts it and dashes back inside. I open the door and let him run in. He throws the bags to the floor and I go immediately to his open arms.

“You’re soaked.” I say as I begin to unbutton his shirt. He watches me with his eyes. I peek up under half-lidded eyes and smile my most seductive smile I could muster.

“So are you.” He says with hot breath. He leans over and begins to kiss my neck. I tilt my head and allow him access to it. My fingers begin to tremble from the sheer force of his love. I’ve never felt this way before in my life. I really never thought that I would ever feel it at all.

“You’re shaking.” His brow creases because he is concerned for me. “You’re cold.” My mouth wouldn’t work. I haven’t gotten used to someone actually thinking of me before anything else. It’s kind of weird. I realize that I am cold so I shake my head.

He kneels down and starts with my shoes. He applies enough pressure on the back of my calf to let me know that he wants me to lift my leg up. I do and he takes the first shoe off. He does the same thing to the other leg and I am now shoeless. He stands up and begins to lift the hem of my sweater. The thick knitting held a lot of water and it was hard to believe how much it weighed when it was wet. I hadn’t noticed it until it was gone. I was now topless.

My fingers began again on his shirt. His warm skin beneath it radiated to my fingertips. A vision of our wedding night flashed before my eyes and my fingers fumbled briefly with anxiousness.

“Kyle…” I couldn’t form a complete thought. The buttons on his shirt were all undone now and I pressed my palms to his chest. He flinched and I looked up at him.

“Your hands are cold.” He offered. “But don’t worry. I’ll warm you up.” He held my hands in place on his chest and he leaned over and took my mouth in his.

Heaven. I was in Heaven and never wanted to leave. He walked us back slowly to the double bed. The backs of my knees hit the side and I sat down. My hands still firmly pressed to his warm sculpted chest. He followed me down and before I knew it we were making mad passionate love.

We’ve been like this since Friday night. The floodgates had been opened when he proposed to me and our bodies and pent up hormones refuse to let them close again.

The raging storm outside echoed our heated lovemaking. When the storm had passed we were tucked in bed and sound asleep.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


The sharp ring of the bedside telephone wakes me from my quiet slumber. Kyle’s arm is draped across my waist as well as his leg over mine. It rings again and I try to move but can’t escape the tight hold of my husband. “Kyle, the phone is ringing. I can’t answer it.”
“Don’t. It’s just the wake-up call that I had them schedule for us. I was going to try and have us back to town by lunch but I think we need the rest. Don’t answer it, Tess. Let it ring.” His hand traveled up and down my skin sending thrills up and down my spine.

I looked at the clock and realized that it was almost five. We had only been asleep for about five hours. Where was the justice? The phone had yet to quit ringing. “I don’t think they are going to hang up. It’s probably an automated service. Just…” I reached for the phone, “let me pick it up.” I grabbed it picked it up and set it back down in its cradle. “There.”

I rolled over and wrapped my arms around Kyle’s waist. “Good morning.” I kissed him. He kissed back. One thing led to another and we were back at it again.

Twenty minutes later we were wrapped up in each other’s arms and staring contently into each other’s eyes. “Are you hungry?” I asked.

“A little.” He said as he leaned in to kiss me.

“Don’t start. I’m starving. Feed me.” I held my head away from him so he wouldn’t be tempted to kiss me and have one thing lead to another.

“Okay, I will.” He captured my lips before I knew that he was thinking of kissing me and I squealed.

“Kyle… stop… I have to pee…”

“You have to pee? Well, then by all means go.” He rested his head on his hand and watched me get out of bed. I walked into the bathroom. The tiles on the floor were absolutely frigid. I squealed when my bare bottom hit the cold of the porcelain toilet bowl. I’m going to kill Kyle for leaving the toilet seat up. I jump up and put the toilet seat down found the seat wasn’t any warmer than the bowl. Damn! Guys have it so lucky. I’m either going to have to pay more attention when I go into the bathroom from now on or train Kyle to do the right thing. I finish what I came into the bathroom for and rinse off my hands as a chill runs through my body. I so wanted to be back in bed with Kyle’s warm body.

When I was finished I looked at myself in the mirror and almost couldn’t recognize the girl staring back at me. “Who are you?” I asked my reflection.

“I’m who you always wanted to be.” I told myself. “I’m happy. Don’t screw this up.” I warned myself.

“I won’t.” I told the reflection. “I won’t.”

I opened the door and stopped when I saw that Kyle was still lying on the bed. “I’m just going to check my messages. I’m sure I have a few from Max wondering were I am. I forgot to call him and tell him that I wouldn’t be home all weekend.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t call him and tell him.” Kyle sat up and stared at me. “You of all people. Wasn’t it you that went off and locked him out of the apartment the one time he forgot to tell you that he had gone home for the weekend without telling you?”

I sat down into the chair and stared at Kyle. “Well… yeah… but…”

“Tess, I can’t believe you forgot to call him. He’s probably worried sick by now.”

“Well, I did and what do you mean you can’t believe I forgot to call him. If you remember I had other things besides Max Evans on my mind.” I started to dig in my purse so that I could find my cell phone. Finding it I looked at it and realized that my cell phone was dead. “Great. It’s dead.” I set it down on the table and stood up. “Where is your phone?”

“It should be in my coat pocket.” Kyle had evidently had given up on trying to stay in bed any longer. He sat up and walked to the restroom. He closed the door behind him. I looked around the room. There were clothes everywhere. I finally found his coat behind the dresser drawers.

“Kyle… it’s not in here.” I called out to him.

“It has to be.” He answered back.

“Nope. Where else can it be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s in the car.” He opened the door and peeked out. “Let’s get ready to leave and then we’ll check in. Okay?”

“Okay.” He opened the door wider and I wasn’t too surprised that he was naked. “Is there room in there for me too?” I hadn’t even realized that I was still nude as well. It’s amazing what married life can do to a person’s libido.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


Showered, changed and checked out we walked hand in hand to the car. The rain had stopped at one point during the night but it was still dreary outside. A chill ran down my spine and I got this feeling that something was happening. He pushes the button on his keypad and the doors unlock. He opens mine for me and waits for me to get in. When I do he shuts the door carefully and walks around to the driver’s side.

He climbs in and shuts his door. “You know you could drive my car if you wanted to. What’s mine is yours.” He’s so sweet.

“I just wouldn’t feel right. I still need some time to get used to things. Anyway, before I can drive this car by myself you’ll have to teach me how to use the shifter thingy.” I pointed to the stick shift in the console.

Kyle looked startled before asking, “You can’t drive a stick?”

I shrugged before answering, “No, never had to learn.” I rested my hand on Kyle’s where it rested on the shifter, “It’s going to be fun learning on a Mustang though.” Looking Kyle in the eye I just had to add, “Is it hard…” I paused to let his imagination run wild for a little bit and then added, “to learn?”

“What are you implying Tess? If you’re asking about me? Of course you know I am…” He wiggled his eyebrows up at me. “If you’re asking about the car? It all depends.” I could see some thought flash behind his eyes. I can only imagine him seeing me behind the wheel of his baby, tires squealing and the clutch repair bills.

He started the car and backed out. “Umm… maybe we can ask Max if we can use the Jeep to teach you how to drive a standard.” He looked both ways and entered the highway.

“That reminds me… where else would your cell phone be. I still haven’t called Max to let him know that we are okay.” I started to look around the front of the car. I couldn’t see it anywhere.

“What do you think Max will say?” He looks at me waiting for my response.

I had no idea what he would say. We’ve never been a couple… not in this lifetime anyway. “I don’t know. What do you think he will say?”

“He’d probably say thank god.” I slapped him on his arm.

“I think that’s what he would say too. You know him… he’ll probably have my stuff packed and delivered to your apartment by the time classes are over.” I used to think that in time the two of us would work things out. Nasedo had always told me that we were married in our previous life. It was just common sense that we would be together this lifetime too.

“It must have fallen out of my pocket.” He glanced down at the side of his seat then back at the road. He took his hand and tried to reach between the seat and the console.

“Kyle, concentrate on your driving. I’ll look.” I reached between the seats and found nothing.

“Damn, I hope I didn’t drop it out in the rain. Water will kill it.” Kyle said as he alternated looking at the road and down at my search.

As I looked around the interior of the car and spotted the phone lying on the floor in the back. “Here it is. It must have fell out of your pocket and between the seats. The way you drive probably made it slide to the back.”

“Ha, ha. Call Max. Let him know we’re on our way back.”

It didn’t take long for me to notice that the phone was off and when I tried to turn it on it flashed “Low Battery” before shutting off again. “Your cell is dead too.”

Kyle pointed to the glove compartment. “Get out the charger and plug it in.” Kyle shook his head, “Damn, my father may have been trying to get us with more information.”

I found the car cord and plugged it in but the phone went immediately to ”No Service”. “There’s no service.” I told him.

“Leave it on. We’ll have to wait until we’re in range again. Just wait. We should come along a tower sooner or later.” I sat the phone down in the cubby and leaned over and took hold of Kyle’s hand.

Kyle had the car cruising along at a good clip, probably out of habit. A sheriff’s son doesn’t usually have to worry about speeding tickets. We made small talk, school, friends, and the future as the scenery rushed past. We had started to rehash what we knew about the new girl in our group, Liz. We both had a bad feeling about what was going on with her. We couldn’t contact Max right now but relaxed in the knowledge that the sheriff probably had.

Out of nowhere the cell phone started to beep as we came into a service area. I looked down and noticed that he had voicemail. I picked up the phone while Kyle continued to drive. “Someone tried to call. You have voice mail.”

“Could you check it for me?”

“Sure.” I hit the button and it started to dial his voicemail box. “What’s your code?”

“The Man.” I looked at him.

“You’ve got to be kidding?”

“No, I’m not good at remembering numbers so I had to make it into a word and that’s what it worked out to be.”

“Right.”

“Seriously.” He looked all innocent. He had me wrapped around his finger already. Boy, was I whooped.

I hit the VM key then entered Kyle’s code. I listened as the mechanical voice started, “Gees, Kyle you have twelve messages.”

“It’s probably Max and the others wondering where we are.”

I pressed “1” to hear the first message. “They’re going to kill us.” I mention to Kyle as the first message starts. “It’s Max, from Saturday. He wants to know where we are.” The second message starts to play. “We are so dead Kyle. This one’s from Isabel.”

A few messages later Michael’s voice comes on, “Kyle? Where the hell are you. We need you and Tess back here right now.”

“Something’s happening back there, Kyle. That was Michael, they need us and he really sounded desperate.”

Kyle responded by pounding his hand on the steering wheel, “Damn it. We take one weekend off from the alien follies and things go to crap.” Kyle pressed his foot on the gas pedal a little harder. Glancing at his watch he noted, “If we’re not pulled over for speeding we should be back in about another three hours.”

The next message confused the hell out of me. It was the sheriff, “Kyle, I got through to Max. He needs you and Tess back here in Roswell. They’re all coming out here and they need you.”

Confused I turned to Kyle. “That was your father. He says we have to turn around and head back to Roswell”

Kyle took his foot off the gas pedal and glanced at me. “What? Michael needs us in California and Dad says we have to got to Roswell?” He turned his eyes back to the road. “Will somebody please make up their minds. Roswell or California.”

“I’ll call Michael to see what’s going on.”

“Yeah, ask the general what his orders are.” Kyle said dryly.

I give Kyle my sternest look, but he knows I don’t mind his ribbing me about Michael’s former title. I punch in the number to Michael’s cell phone and it goes immediately to voice mail. “Damn, voicemail. He must have his phone turned off.”

“Isn’t that just like Guerin, calls us with a desperation message then turns his phone off?”

“Maybe his died like ours.” Gees, I can’t believe I’m defending Michael. “Should I try Max?”

Kyle shook his head “no”. “Try my dad. It seems like something weird is going on back in California. He’ll probably be the most rational one to talk to.

“Wait. Someone is trying to call in.” I looked at the phone and noticed that the number trying to dial in was from Roswell. I pushed the button and switched over. “Hello?”

“Tess, thank god I finally got a hold of you.”

“Jim, what’s wrong?”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 23 ~ MARIA


“It’s about damn time you guys showed up.” I could tell by the sound of his voice that something terrible was happening. He was scared and the rigidity of his shoulders told me that he was stressed. “Where’s Tess and Kyle? We need them.”

“I can’t find Tess and Kyle. They’re out of range. I go straight into voicemail. Where ever they are they’re not where they can be reached.” I continued to walk toward him. I stared him in the eyes. He was counting on me to contact them and I could see that he was hoping that I would have had some luck. How serious was it that I hadn’t been able to do what needed to be done? Could we handle it without them?

Isabel immediately went to Max. “Max? Max… What’s wrong?” I didn’t have time to see too much else before Michael was in motion.

“Shut the door.” Michael pulled me through the door by my arm and quickly shut the door. I looked back to see why he was so rough with me and noticed a group of students peering into the door just before it had closed.

“What the…” I take a quick glance at Alex and follow his eyes to see what has caused him to speak. I am finally able to look at what has happened. I finally got the chance to see the condition Liz was in. And it wasn’t pretty.

“Oh my god…” Isabel went down to her knees and grabbed onto Max’s hand.

“How bad? How bad is she?” I hear her whisper.

There was so much blood. Max had a bloody handprint on the side of his face. He too looked lost. Defeated even. In my entire life of knowing these four I have never seen any of them look so bad.

“He’s got her and I don’t know how to get her out of there.” He had to be out of it. He wasn’t making any sense.

“Who has her?” Everyone asked in unison including myself.

“Khivar…”

Max was interrupted by a knock on the door. Great, just what we needed. Didn’t the world know that we were in the middle of an alien crisis here? Come on. Give me a break.

What was Max going to say when he said Khivar’s name? I think I’m going to die and if I don’t die now I’m going to do it when this is all over. I can’t take anymore of this.

Michael looked over the room once more and went to the door. He barely opened it and stuck his head out of the small opening. Alex and I both scooted out of the eyesight of anyone that would be peering inside; there was no need to bring any more unwanted questions.

“Hi, can I help you, officer?” Oh, shit. My jaw drops along with everyone else’s. What were the cops doing here? I don’t believe it. I start to panic and I’m doing a little dance. I shuffled from one foot to the other and twirled around because I had no idea what to do next. There was no way that he needed to see what was inside this damn dorm room.

Max went to stand up but Isabel placed a firm hand on his shoulder and shook her head no. Wasn’t it enough the woman that he was in love with was sick and evidently, he was unable to do anything about it? No, the cops had to show up on top of it all.

“Do something.” Isabel hissed to me. Me?

“Like what?” How was I supposed to know what to do? Did I look like I had things under control? No. I'm telling you now I’m not under control.

“I don’t know.” She hissed back at me. “But just take one look and tell me that if that officer makes it inside that we aren’t all going to jail. I’m telling you now that there is no way that Max is going to let go of her hand so she’s your friend you do something.”

“I’m looking for a Liz Parker. The attending supervisor said that this is her room. Can I speak to her?” Okay, I can do this. Okay… think… think… The officer at the door sounded somewhat young. Maybe I could do something.

“Umm… yeah, it’s her room but she’s not here. I’m just waiting for her to get back from class.” I slap my forehead. Okay, so we all know that Michael isn’t the quickest thinker in our bunch.

I pull the door away from Michael’s grip and step in front of him in the small opening. “I’m Liz Parker.” I lean heavily onto the doorframe while holding the edge of the door. I can feel Michael breathing over the top of me. If the officer wasn’t here I could hear his nagging already. Boy was I dead.

“I thought you said she wasn’t here.” The officer asked over my head. I giggled nervously, slapped Michael’s chest, and then batted my long, heavily-mascara-laden eyelashes up at the officer. I didn’t spend an hour in front of the mirror for nothing. These babies were long and thick.

“Well, there was this joke I pulled on… and, uh, and uh, I’m hiding from the guy I tricked.” I start to stammer out. Turning back to Michael I smack him on the chest and say, “I told you it was Jimmy that I hit with the water balloon.” Turning back to the cop I ask, “What can I do for you, handsome?” His voice didn’t betray my first impression of him. He definitely was a rookie. Clear as day, from his crisply starched shirt, right down to his highly buffed shoes. Having Jim as my step-dad did have a few advantages. He had his standard issue cop glasses tucked firmly in his breast pocket. His badge was pinned on the other side. It was shining like it had just been taken out of the box.

Sure, the cops would send a rookie to check up on a disturbance at the local university. No problem. I can do this. ‘Keep telling yourself that chica because I’m sure in Hell not believing it.’ I just hate that little voice inside my head some times. It just doesn’t know when to shut up.

“The description I have says Liz Parker has brown hair.” The officer looked down at the small spiral notebook in his hand. He had a pen in the other as if he was going through some kind of check list or something.

“What? Don't you like the blonde look? Everyone out here is blonde; I just wanted to fit in.” I swung my hips as I spoke and raise my hand to shake out my blonde hair. I had to smile because that little voice inside my head was saying ‘Work it girlfriend, work it.’

Sometimes that little voice inside my head sounds a little bit like Michael. Although my back was to him, I could see the smile on his face. We were going to make it. Whatever the reason this officer was here I was going to be able to take care of it. I could feel the tension that had been hanging in the air of the dorm room begin to lift.

Looking closer at me the cop asked, "What about your eyes? It says that they are brown here...” He lifted up his note pad and waved it in front of me. “Yours are green." He waited a bit. "Although, they really are a nice shade of green." Was he flirting? It sure sounded like it.

I held myself in check to make sure that I didn’t do a little dance right here in front of him. I still had to get him away from the room. Okay… I can do this. ‘Yes, you can.’

I flashed a smile at the cop, "Why, thank you." I took a step outside the room and brought the door with me so it would close behind me. I looped my arm through his. "I'm glad you like the shade, when I was picking my contacts out I thought to myself what the heck might as well go with the all new me. Therefore, I changed my eye color as well. It was either this green or a deeper shade." I batted my eyelashes again. ‘Work it… Work it.’ “So do you think I made the right decision?”

"I've always liked green eyes." He looked down at me and smiled. I could see his face start to flush some. He cleared his throat and took a step back. “The reason I’m here… Okay, your parents contacted us. They haven't heard from you in a while and wanted us to check up on you. Could you do me a favor and call them?"

“My parents? Called you guys?” My voice was raising an octave. I picture of one of those cartoon characters taking a big gulp before getting caught flashed before my eyes and the little voice inside my head said, ‘You’re so screwed.’

“Yes, ma’am. They called yesterday. I guess that you forgot to reset your device or something.” He scratched at his head as he looked down at his notes. “I’m sorry; I didn’t really take very good notes.” He looked up at me. “You had a tracking device inside you…” He scrunched his eyebrows up with concern over the fact that Liz had a tracking device inside of her. I did too. What in the hell was the girl thinking?

“Oh, that thing…” I hurried and added as I flung my hand onto his forearm like it was no big deal. Shit! Liz had a tracking device inside her and none of us knew about it. Oh, we’re in too deep. The shit is going to hit the fan big time.

I looked up at him with my best questioning look that I could muster. “What’s today’s date, again?”

“January, 11, 2005.” He offered.

“January, 11th? Shit! I did forget to reset it. Oops, sorry… I didn’t mean to cuss in front of you. Is that like against the law or something? You’re not going to arrest me are you?” I batted my eyelashes some more and looked as innocent as possible. Who knew what all he had in his little notebook.

“No, ma’am. I’m not going to arrest you. I just need you to call your parents and reset the device. Once we’ve received the cancellation call from either your mom or your dad we’ll complete the call in our log.”

“That’s all?”

“Yeah, just call home. Let them know that you’re all right out here in sunny California…” he looked up and realized that it wasn’t so sunny. California was hardly ever sunny during the wintertime. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. Thanks again.” I peered at his badge. “Officer Robertson. I’ll make sure to call home because if I don’t they just might send another officer to my door and if they all look as yummy as you I don’t think I could handle myself. Not to mention my boyfriend.”

He chuckled and shook his head as he continued down the hallway. He turned back around. “My name is Tom in case you need any more help with anything. Just call.”

“Thanks.” I waved my fingers in the air, bit my lip and twirled my other hand in my hair. I did my best to act like a teenager again. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to do that. Hell, I’ve been dating Michael since 1999. That’s a long time.

I watched the officer round the corner and then bolted for Liz’s room. I now knew the reason why Michael was so concerned about getting a hold of Kyle and Tess. We needed Tess if we were going to make it out of here undetected.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


“He’s gone.” I pushed open the door and then closed it. I flopped back heavily against it and hauled in a ragged breath to gather my bearings. “Liz has a tracking device inside her that needed resetting. Evidently, it didn’t happen and her parents are worried about her. She’s supposed to call them to let them know she’s okay.”

Everyone but Max was standing and staring at me. “What?” I asked. “Doesn’t everyone have one?” I continued sarcastically. My emotions are on a roller coaster. I know Liz is the perfect match for Max; it’s why I introduced them. But a tracking device, come on… I wonder if the gang will think that the problems it will cause will be worth finding Max someone to love.

Alex was the first to react, “I heard about that. We have to get out of here. If she doesn’t make a call soon the cops will be back here wondering why.” Glancing at his watch he added, “We probably have an hour or so. No more.”

“An hour? We only have an hour? We have no idea where Kyle and Tess are and if we want to get Liz out of here undetected we’ll need Tess.” I begin to babble. “Wait, Liz. What the hell happened to Liz?”

I walk to Max who’s still bent over Liz and squat down next to him. “Max, you said Khivar has her, who does he have?”

Max tore his eyes away from Liz for a moment, “Andra, he pulled her back to where she came from. She’s trapped there.” Turning back to Liz Max ran his hand tenderly through her hair. “We have to save her.”

“Max, what about Liz? What happened to her?”

Max shook his head, “I don’t know.” He was quiet for a minute as if he were really thinking about it.

“With Andra gone shouldn’t Liz be back? Isn’t that the way it works?” I try to prod him.

“Yeah, it is but for some reason her body is all out of whack and I can’t do anything to change that. I can’t reach her. I can’t connect to her.”

“There has to be something we can do. I mean you guys can do miracles with a wave of the hand surely you can do something with this.”

“She’s unconscious. I can’t get to her. I’ve never been able to connect with an unconscious person.” I hear his frustrations and it pulls at my heart. This isn’t fair. He’s done nothing wrong to deserve this.

“I’ll do it.” Isabel’s voice rang crisp and clear to my ears. I looked from Max and then to Isabel.

“What? How? Do you think you can?” I know I don’t sound too intelligent right now but give me a break there’s a lot happening.

“I may be able to dream walk her. She’s unconscious; hopefully I’ll be able to find her on the dream plane.”

“What are you going to do once you get there?” I asked. I didn’t want any of us getting our hopes up for nothing.

“I don’t know. I can try to see what’s going on. See where she is and why she’s unconscious. If she needs healing then I’ll come back and get Max.” I had to hand it to her. She looked like she believed like she could do this.

“But Max can’t heal her unless he connects to her.” I’m getting a bit frustrated. “If she needs healing Max won’t be able to do it.”

Isabel just looks back at me trying to think of an answer. It sounded so simple, dream walk Liz, find out what’s wrong, then have Max fix it. No problem. Only he can’t fix her unless he can… You understand my frustration.

Alex jumped in to try to get things rolling. “Maria, let’s just let Isabel dream walk Liz, once she connects to her…..” Alex stops what he’s saying and a surprised look comes to his face. It’s the same look he gets when he finally finds the perfect musical phrase to go in one of his songs.

“What if Max connects to Liz through Isabel? Do you think you can get them together on the dream plane?” Whipping his head toward Max he gets his attention, “Max? Do you think you could heal Liz from the dream plane?”

Max tears his eyes away from Liz for a moment, “I don’t know I’ve never tried it before.”

“Look, this is all hypothetical. Let’s find out what’s wrong with Liz and figure out how to fix it. Okay?” Isabel was anxious to help her brother. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Max and Liz.

“Can you do it now?” Alex was next to her. His arm wrapped around her waist and her head resting on his shoulder.

She peered up at him. “I have to. If what you say is true we don’t have any choice.”

“Okay, let’s do this people.” I clap my hands together and everyone starts to break apart. Michael grabs a blanket and lays it down on the floor next to the twin-size bed where Liz is lying.

Max is still holding her hand and is watching the four of us in action. I grab a stuff animal from a pile of them in the corner of the room. “This is going to have to work. Liz is lying on all the pillows.”

“It’ll be fine.” She assures me. Michael is standing against the closet door and I go to his side. Alex moves into position next to Isabel and holds her next to him. He kisses her on her forehead and she closes her eyes.

The room is quiet; all of us are just staring at Isabel. It’s weird really. Not knowing whether she’s made it in or not. I’ve often wondered what it was like; walking amongst all the dreams, the human subconscious. It’s scary to think that all of us meet on another dimension when we are unconscious. That anyone that has the ability to do what Isabel does can reach us anytime we are asleep. I can’t help but shiver as the thought passes my mind.

Michael pulls me to him. I lean my head on his chest and he wraps his other arm around me. I look up to him and smile. “What if she can’t do it? What other option do we have?”

“The only one I can think of is Tess. Our only other option lies with her.”

“Why?”

“She’s the only one of us that can make people see or hear what she wants them to. She can actually get into their heads.”

“But she’s a thousand miles away, can she mind warp people over the phone?” I thought I knew it all when it came to the others but I guess I don’t know as much as I thought I did. Gees, remote control mind warps? Next they’ll be telling me they can give an all new meaning to the term ‘Phone Sex.’

“Yeah, some thing like that.” I can tell that he doesn’t want to go any further with the topic so I turn my head back to the center of the room. My eyes skim over to Isabel and Alex and then they move on to Max and Liz. Both sets of couples are quiet. Max has his eyes closed, his hands firmly clasped around Liz’s. His body looks weak. I don’t know how much more he can take. It’s been a long hard weekend and it doesn’t look like it is going to end any time soon.

I hope Isabel can do what she says she can.

The phone rings and I nearly jump out of my skin. “Crap! That scared the hell out of me.”

“Answer it.” Michael hisses.

“What if it’s her parents?”

“I can’t answer it. I’m a guy. You answer it.” What’s being a guy have to do with anything is beyond me.

“Fine.” The phone rang a third time and I quickly grabbed for it. “Hello?”

“Maria?” The male voice on the other end asks.

“Yeah… Jim, is that you?” I let out a sigh of relief when I realize it’s just my step dad. Then I also realize now that the phone that was ringing wasn’t even Liz’s and that Michael and I had been fighting for no reason. What’s new? Figures.

“Yeah, it’s me. Where’s Max I need to talk to him.” I scoot away from the four unconscious people and go over to where Michael is standing. I really don’t want to disturb them.

I slap him really hard on the arm. “It’s Jim and it was Max’s phone that was ringing you doh-doh head.”

“Um, he’s busy. What’s going on?” I try not to let him know that anything is wrong. I don’t want to raise too much suspicion with the parents until it is absolutely necessary. God, I can see it now when my mother finds out that we’ve found another one. She is going to have a fit.

“Well, can you tell him that I got a hold of Kyle and Tess?”

“You did! Where the hell are they? We need them here, now.” My mouth spoke before I had a chance to think about what I was saying. So much for trying to keep the parents out of it.

“What’s going on, Maria? Why do you need Kyle and Tess?” When I don’t answer immediately he continues, “I know that there is something wrong with Liz.”

“Liz? No… Um, how did you know about Liz?” I wasn’t the one that said anything about Liz. How did he find out?

“Tess and Kyle were here yesterday. Max called me this morning trying to find out if I’ve heard from them lately. Tess doesn’t trust Liz one-hundred percent and I can’t say that I blame her but Max seems to be connected to her already.” The man could never get to a point.

“Tess and Kyle were there yesterday? Why didn’t they tell us about going home? They know the rules just as much as the rest of us.”

“They eloped Friday night and they wanted to tell me before any of you found out about it.”

“They did what!” I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. The world was definitely coming to an end. Not only has Max found a lost love but Kyle and Tess have finally admitted that they were made for one another.

I get slapped for my sudden out burst and Michael shushes me to quiet down. I mouthed that I was sorry but I don’t think that mattered too much. We both look at our four friends and Alex is the only one that’s seems to be awake.

“Maria… I really need to speak to Max if it is all possible.” Jim’s voice brings me back to the telephone conversation.

“Umm, uhh, that’s not possible right now. He’s kinda indisposed. Liz isn’t doing so well and she’s unconscious. Isabel is trying to get through to her on the dream plane and Max is hanging on to Liz like there will be no tomorrow. You’re going to have to tell me.” I hated to blurt all that out but I felt like I had to say it in order to get the information that Max had asked Jim to get for him.

“Okay, well he wanted me to keep on trying to contact them and I finally did this morning. They’ve turned around and are heading back to Roswell.”

“Wait, hold it.” I cut in while Jim is explaining, “Why are they headed back to Roswell we need them here.”

“What do you mean you need them there? Max called and said he needs them in Roswell, at the pod chamber.” Jim explained, “He told me he’s bringing Liz here, something to do with the Granolith. They should be back here in a few hours.”

Why am I always the last to know these things? I glance at Michael and ask, “Did you know we’re heading to Roswell?”

Michael answers with a shrug like it was an everyday thing. I give him a look that lets him know that we’re going to have a talk when I’m finished with Jim and go back to my conversation.

“Okay, so what do we do now?” I ask Jim. “I don’t know when we’ll be leaving here.”

“I’ll keep Kyle and Tess here until you decide what you want to do. When you leave, let me know and I will meet you guys at the border on I-40. I just need to know the time that you guys will be there so I’m not waiting around forever and a day.”

I looked around. What was I supposed to say to that? Everyone that could give me answers was unavailable. “Can I get back to you? I really don’t know when we’ll be there. They’re trying to get Liz stabilized so we can move her.” Michael started hitting my arm.

“Give me the phone.” He demands.

“Will you just jump back?” I told him. Couldn’t he see I was taking care of things? “Don’t worry. We’ll call you to let you know what’s going on. Here’s Michael.” I hand over the phone to him and give him my death glare. He’s lucky that I don’t have any alien powers.

“Jim, you saw Tess and Kyle?” Well, duh. Isn’t that what he said? Wasn’t he listening to a single word of my conversation that I was having with Jim? I quit listening to him. I would only get more upset than what I was already.

I look at the clock on Liz’s night stand and realize that it has been almost twenty minutes since anything has happened. Isabel was evidently having a harder time connecting with Liz on the dream plane than she expected. Great. Couldn’t something go our way? Michael’s back-up plan of having Tess contact Liz’s parents was shot since they decided to run off and get married.

That pisses me off. Well, I guess it couldn’t have come at a better time. Max will have no reason not to ask Liz to move in with him now. That is if we ever get out of this mess.

I start to pace the length of the room. Well, as much of it that I could since it wasn’t a very big room. I needed to think. What could we do to get the cops off our backs if Isabel wasn’t able to bring her back with her?

I went to her desk and started rifling through some of the papers that were on her desk. I wasn’t really paying that much attention when I heard Isabel gasp for air and Max cry out Liz’s name.

I quickly turned around to see what was happening. Isabel was as white as a ghost and Max was sweating like he had spent the last half hour in a sauna.

She turned to Max. “She won’t come with me. I can’t reach her. You’re going to have to come with me.”

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“We don’t have much time.” Michael jumps in with his glorious amount of information. Yeah, we know we don’t have much time. What else is new? I didn’t even hear him hang up with Jim. I must have been concentrating really hard on nothing. “You guys have been out of the real world for over a half-hour now. I suggest whatever you’re going to do; we do it on the move. If Alex is right the cops will be here within the hour.” Michael was standing at the foot of the bed looking at everyone.

“Okay…” Max scooted off the bed, waved a hand over Liz as well as the rest of the room causing the blood and all the chaos to disappear. “Let’s go.”

I held my arms out and say, “Wait!” Everyone stops. “We need a plan.” I tell them. Surely they know that we need a plan. We just can’t go out there carrying an unconscious Liz down the hall. People are going to see it and they’re going to ask questions and eventually when the cops come they’re going to remember who she left with and the condition she was in. So, I suggest that we think of a plan.” I take a deep breath. It had been a long time since I had had reason to say that much in one breath. I was out of practice.

“Plan?” Alex looks around the room. Evidently he didn’t have one.

“Yeah a plan. We need to get the heck out of here and we have to have a plan.” I snap at him. Why are smart guys the dullest tools in the box?

It hits me, the perfect way to get them out of here. “I have it.” I turn to the rest of them smiling. “We’ll have a race.”

Alex turns to Isabel, “I knew it would happen some day, she’s losing it.” Looking around to Max and Michael, “We just witnessed Maria DeLuca going INSANE!” He yells the last word out. I guess we’re all under a bit of pressure. “A friggin’ race with a comatose racer? What are we going to do, see who moves the slowest?”

I grin slyly at Alex, “No dimwit, we’re going to have a piggy back race out to the cars. We’ll tie Liz to Max’s back and hide the belt under her jacket. Michael carries me and we see who wins.”

I saw Alex’s eyes light up as he saw the absolute brilliance of the plan. Michael reaches his arms around me and pulls me into an embrace. “Great idea.” He whispers to me as he nibbles my ear the way he knows drives me insane.

“Okay… let’s move people.” Isabel was right. Liz is my friend and I’m responsible for her being here. I may not be responsible for the condition that she’s in right now but I feel I owe it to her to do my best. What are friends for?

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 24 ~ ISABEL

Max just sat there for a few brief moments before he took a deep breath to begin. “He’s got her and I don’t know how to get her out of there.” He looked so out of it. He had a bloody handprint on the side of his face. A small bloodied handprint. Liz’s handprint. My gaze fell to the small lifeless figure lying on the bed.

She just didn’t have the same aura that she did when I last saw her Friday night at the party. I tore myself away from my thoughts and asked the same question that everyone else asked. “Who has her?”

“Khivar…” The bottom of my stomach fell out when I heard that name, the name of our faceless enemy. The enemy that haunted my dreams and I felt like I needed to throw up.

There was a knock on the door and Max was forced to stop what he was saying. Michael was quick to react and answered the door before any of us could react. Just before he opened it I noticed him take one final look around the room. He was probably making sure that who ever it was on the other side wouldn’t be able to see anything incriminating.

Alex and Maria scooted out of the way of the small opening that Michael had made. I felt Max shift closer to Liz. He gently swiped away her hair from her face and tenderly ran his finger down the side of her face. My heart broke for him. How could something like this happen now? This just wasn’t fair.

‘She’s perfect for him.’ Maria’s words ran through my head as I looked at the two of them. I turned to Maria. This was all her fault. If only Liz would have stayed away from the party Friday night. If only Maria hadn’t have brought her with her. If Maria hadn’t tried to fix the two of them up... If… to hell with all the if’s.

“Hi, can I help you, officer?” Michael warned the entire room who was on the other side of the partially closed door by emphasizing the word officer.

Officer… as in police officer? I tilt my head back and take a deep breath. I feel Max start to move so I level my head and open my eyes. He probably thought he should take care of the situation. Evidently he hadn’t looked in the mirror recently. He had no idea what he looked like and if the cop outside saw him he would be hauled down to the jailhouse quicker than I could cross my arms and wiggle my nose to make a miracle happen.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook my head no. I backed it up with a glare that I had years of practice doing while under mom and dad’s roof. His place was here. With her. It was our turn to take care of him. We all know that he’s spent most of his life taking care of and looking after us.

“Do something.” I hissed to Maria. We all looked like deer caught in the high beams of a car and if things didn’t get any better the car was going to turn into a damn eighteen wheeler with no breaks.

“Like what?” She whispers back. I feel like I’m the only one that understands the consequences.

We didn’t have time for this. If that officer made it inside we were all doomed. There would be no more living with a secret. There would be no looking over our backs. We would be strapped to the metal tables in little white rooms. The thought scared me and I hissed, “I don’t know. But,” this was the time to remind her exactly what was at stake, “just take one look and tell me that if that officer makes it inside that we aren’t all going to jail. I’m telling you now that there is no way that Max is going to let go of her hand so she’s your friend you do something.”

“I’m looking for a Liz Parker.” My head whips to the partially opened dorm-room door. “The attending supervisor said that this is her room. Can I speak to her?” I looked to Maria to see if she was going to do anything. She was going around in circles, sort of swaying from one foot to the other. I felt myself rolling my eyes and couldn’t believe that my brother’s safety was in the hands of Maria Deluca. Don’t get me wrong, I love her and I couldn’t imagine my life not knowing her but I’m feeling a little desperate right now.

“Umm… yeah, it’s her room but she’s not here. I’m just waiting for her to get back from class.” I could tell that Michael was nervous. He wasn’t the quickest thinker in our bunch but at least he knew what was at stake if the officer made it inside.

I don’t know what made me do it but my thoughts travel back through time. Michael has always taken that role without question. He’s always put our protection before all else. There wasn’t a person on this planet that was going to get into this room with Michael standing at the door. Just knowing that made me loosen up a little.

Maria finally stopped her little dance, took hold of the door, and pulled it out of Michael’s grip. I watch with worry as she steps between Michael and the small opening that she’s created. I had no idea what she was intending on doing but whatever it was it had better work. “I’m Liz Parker.” I see her throw her hips a little and I hear her lace her words with as much sexual appeal that she could muster. Michael evidently doesn’t like it because he takes a step closer to Maria. I hope he doesn’t blow it. Not only is he protective of us but he’s also very protective of Maria.

“I thought you said she wasn’t here.” My heart begins to race even faster than it was before when I hear the officer’s words. Maria giggles and I begin to fume. This is not a laughing matter. She playfully slaps at Michael and it finally dawns on me what she’s doing. She’s flirting with the officer. Big time, too.

“Well, there was this joke I pulled on… and, uh, and uh, I’m hiding from the guy I tricked.” Come on Maria don’t stumble now. If he finds out that you’re lying to him then we’re all toast and I do mean all.

She looks back at Michael and slaps him again but this time a little harder as well as on his chest. “I told you it was Jimmy that I hit with the water balloon.” Jimmy? Who the hell was Jimmy? Never mind, she’s just playing along. I finally figure out. She turns back to the cop and asks, “What can I do for you, handsome?”

“The description I have says Liz Parker has brown hair.” Crap! He wasn’t buying the act. What was she going to do now?

“What? Don't you like the blonde look? Everyone out here is blonde; I just wanted to fit in.” I pause to take a glance at Maria. Boy, I would have to say that I’ve never seen her act this way. She really puts her hips into that swing as she shook her hair to show that it wasn’t brown like the police report had said.

"What about your eyes? It says that they are brown here...” the breath that I was taking got caught in my throat and I fought hard not to cough and gag. That’s all we needed was for me to blow it after Maria had tried so hard to make the guy just disappear.

“Yours are green." He continued after what I could imagine was a really good look at Maria to see what else didn’t match his description of Liz Parker. "Although, they really are a nice shade of green." Oh… my… god… he’s flirting. I’ve heard that tone a million times in my lifetime. I know when I guy is flirting and if push came to shove, I would use it against him to protect all of us.

"Why, thank you." Maria poured on as much charm as possible. She stepped outside the room and pulled the door closed behind her. What happened with her and the cop I have no idea. All I know is that the rest of us in the room took a huge sigh of relief.

“Do you think she can get him to believe her?” I asked. Both Michael and Alex looked at me and I felt like crawling under the bed to hide. “Okay… she got him out of the doorway. I’m just asking if someone shouldn’t go out there and help her. That’s all.”

“What and blow her cover? I don’t think so.” Alex shook his head at me. “She seems to be on a roll. The cop seemed to be buying that she’s Liz.” I knew when to trust his instincts and this was one of those times.

“We have more of a problem.” Michael finally decided to join the conversation.

“What now?” I asked. Could it get any worse?

“That cop wasn’t here for what I think he should have been here for.” He said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“What do you mean? What is he here for?” I stared him down and he shrugged his shoulders and then looked over to Max. “What aren’t the two of you telling me?” I looked from one ‘brother’ to the other.

“Liz has a tracking device. It needed to be reset at the beginning of the month.” Alex supplied.

“What!” I flamed.

“It’s true. I didn’t think about it earlier. Jim told me. It’s my fault that the cops are here.” Max’s voice was so quiet. So… unlike him. My heart broke into a million pieces once again.

“No, Max. This isn’t your fault. No, don’t think that.” I go to his side and squat down so I’m eye to eye with him. His eyes are glossy as if they were about ready to release all the tears that he had been holding in. “We’ll be okay. We can deal with this. We’ve dealt with more before.” He didn’t need to feel like a failure to the group. We were a team and just because his mind was occupied with something else we didn’t have the right to blame him for forgetting to take care of a tracking device.

Okay, where is the old Isabel, the one that would be screaming right about now? It doesn’t take me long to figure that one out. She’s long gone for two reasons. Reason number one, Alex. No more explanation needed on that. Reason number two, seeing my brother tenderly stroke the woman on the bed just melts my heart to a little puddle on the floor.

I stand up and notice things that need my attention. I can use the distraction while I think. There has to be something we can do; something that will get the cops off our backs for the time being. Just as I start to swipe all the chaos away, Maria bursts back into the room. My attention was now on her.

“He’s gone.” Maria is breathing heavy as if she just ran a mile to get back to the room. I hope she doesn’t hyperventilate. She leans heavily against the door as she takes in each breath. I look around the room and we’re all staring at her. Waiting for her to tell us what happened. “Liz has a tracking device inside her that needed resetting. Evidently, it didn’t happen and her parents are worried about her. She’s supposed to call them to let them know she’s okay.”

She nervously looks around the room. Paranoid much? I don’t think it would be nice to say that we’ve already discussed this part so I just keep quiet. “What? Doesn’t everyone have one?” Maria’s attempt at lightening the room didn’t help much but I have to give the girl some credit. I look to Max. I’m waiting for him to tell us what he knows or at least fill Maria in so the two of them can compare notes.

Alex, noticing my tension that I’m broadcasting to everyone in the room, finally speaks up. “I heard about that. We have to get out of here. If she doesn’t make a call soon the cops will be back here wondering why.” He glances down at his Star Trek watch. The one I can’t stand seeing him wear but he does because it is his favorite. When he’s done looking at the piece and calculating how much time we actually have left he adds, “We probably have an hour or so. No more.”

Queue Maria rant right now. That’s her only way of coping. I haven’t really figured it out. Maybe it’s because that is how they cope with everything. They’re either at each other’s throats or in some other compromising position that I don’t care to think about right now. “An hour? We only have an hour. We have no idea where Kyle and Tess are and if we want to get Liz out of here undetected we’ll need Tess.” Need I say any more? Her hands were going ninety to nothing the entire time. “Wait, Liz. What the hell happened to Liz?”

At first, I thought she was on another planet. We all know what happened to Liz. She’s hurt. Khivar has her. Hello? Where has Maria been? Oh yeah, outside flirting with a cop while pretending to be Liz.

She walks over to Max and lays a gentle hand on his forearm. I guess during our little discussion he went back to focusing on Liz. “Max, you said Khivar has her, who does he have?”

Max tore his eyes away from Liz for a moment, “Andra, he pulled her back to where she came from. She’s trapped there.” He’s hurting so much. This is killing him. He turns back to Liz and runs his hand through her hair. “We have to save her.” He finally says after her hair is in place and is sprayed out over her pillow.

“Max, what about Liz? What happened to her?” I go to take Maria out of his face. He doesn’t need her badgering him like this. We need to get a move on. Form a plan, but before I can move, Max is shaking his head. I wait to see what he will say next.

“I don’t know.” He trailed a finger down the side of her face. I can only imagine that he’s memorizing each and every curve.

“With Andra gone shouldn’t Liz be back?” Uh? What? Okay… I think my mind has been made up. Maria is officially off her rocker. What the hell is she talking about? “Isn’t that the way it works?”

“Yeah, it is but for some reason her body is all out of whack and I can’t do anything to change that. I can’t reach her. I can’t connect to her.” Okay. I think I’m missing a few pieces to this unsolved puzzle. I look to both Max and Maria and wait to see what will be said next. It was obvious that I was out of the loop.

“There has to be something we can do. I mean you guys can do miracles with a wave of the hand surely you can do something with this.” Maria illustrated our wave of the hand by waving hers in the air.

“She’s unconscious. I can’t get to her. I’ve never been able to connect with an unconscious person.” I don’t think I fully realize what the two of them were saying until I heard what Max had said. She needed healing but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t reach her because she was unconscious.

My mind started going over each and every possible scenario and before I was even past the first one my mouth was speaking. “I’ll do it.” My voice didn’t waiver at all. Maria looked at me and then back to Max.

It didn’t take her long to start rambling off questions. It never did. “What? How? Do you think you can?” I gave her the benefit of the doubt. She was close to Max. He saved her life. She has been his buddy since the beginning and to see him in the condition that he was in was probably hurting her as much as it was hurting me.

“I may be able to dream walk her. She’s unconscious; hopefully I’ll be able to find her on the dream plane.” I pushed a lock of loose hair behind my ear. It was possible. Once I was on the dream plane I could find anyone as long as I had a feel for them.

“What are you going to do once you get there?” Maria was standing up now, looking at me. I could see her hope floating in the back of her eyes but I could still hear her hesitation in her voice. She didn’t want to get Max’s hope up if I failed.

“I don’t know.” How can I tell her that I hadn’t thought about what needed to be done? I just offered my services. “I can try to see what’s going on. See where she is and why she’s unconscious. If she needs healing then I’ll come back and get Max.” I looked at Max and he nodded his head ever so slightly. He agreed with the plan.

“But Max can’t heal her unless he connects to her. If she needs healing Max won’t be able to do it.” I could understand where she was coming from. It was hard for us to understand what our powers were capable of doing so; I can only imagine how hard it was for her to grasp what I was planning.

I didn’t know how to answer her. I just didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if it would work but I was willing to try. Maria doesn’t seem to realize that some of our powers are new to us too. We don’t know everything that we can do. I was saved from trying to explain myself to Maria when Alex jumped in and smoothed everything over for me. At that moment I quit worrying about the what ifs. I couldn’t get to thinking like that now. I would never make it if I did.

“Maria, let’s just let Isabel dream walk Liz, once she finds her…” Alex stops what he’s saying and looks at me. Our gazes connect and we hold each other for a brief moment. He had it. He figured it out. Something that we were all missing. Alex closed the gap with whatever idea he had.

“What if Max connects to Liz through Isabel? Do you think you can get them together on the dream plane?” He drops my gaze and looks at Max who had gone back to leaning over the still Liz. “Max? Do you think you could heal Liz from the dream plane?”

“I don’t know I’ve never tried it before.” There was a time that we had this hamster and he had died while Max was at school and when he came home he leaned over it like he is with Liz. Once the hamster had died there was nothing he could do. I remember him crying and sniffling that he was useless. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t save his hamster. Looking at Max now I understand what is going through his mind right now. He’s lost. He’s wondering if he’s going to be able to save her and if he can’t… well, I’m not going there.

“Look, this is all hypothetical. Let’s find out what’s wrong with Liz and figure out how to fix it. Okay?” We were wasting time. The longer Max thought that way the worse it was going to be. We didn’t have time to split hairs. This was my time to help, my time to do everything in my power to be a functional part of this group. I stared at Max and Liz and willed myself to believe that I would be able to help them

I didn’t notice Alex crossing the room and didn’t know he was beside me and that I had my head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around my waist until I heard his voice so close to my ear. “Can you do it now?”

I looked up into his dark eyes. “I have to. If what you say is true we don’t have any choice.”

“Okay, let’s do this people.” Maria gets everyone moving with a clap of her hands. Michael is in motion and is laying a blanket down on the floor next to the bed. I looked at him and realized that I had never seen him like this. It was really weird how one tiny little person could affect our group like Liz has. We were all pulling together no questions asked. Just working and moving as one group with the exception of Tess and Kyle. I had no idea where they were but I know that I am probably going to dream walk Kyle and see what was going on.

“This is going to have to work. Liz is lying on all the pillows.” I took the stuffed penguin from Maria and squeeze it.

“It’ll be fine.” Once I was on the plane there was nothing that was going to bother me. Maria fluttered around and decides that she’s in the way and goes to Michael’s side who is standing against the closet door. I lie down on the pallet that Michael had made and look up to Alex. With no verbal communication he sits down beside me and wraps me up in his arms. He kisses my forehead as he has always done when I choose to go into the dream plane and I close my eyes.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


The dream plane is a place like no other. It’s dark and light all at the same time. It’s hot and cold. It’s dry and wet. It’s really everything that a person can imagine. But the key is not to think of it as a place but an in between.

At one moment, I could be on a beach and drinking those drinks with the cute little umbrella’s and the next I could be running for my life from a runaway lawn mower. I never know what I’m going to be stepping into when I break into a dream orb.

I waded through the darkness searching for the one that felt like Liz. It was going to be difficult because I didn’t have much to go by. At least I thought it would be tough. I was totally surprised when this unbelievable light blinded me.

I walked over to it and ran a hand over its opalescent wall making sure not to touch it just yet. It wiggled like a piece of Jell-O on a spoon as it tried to keep a safe distance from me. It wasn’t always easy to enter a person’s dream orb. If they had training, they could keep me out. I was hoping that Liz didn’t have that kind of training but now being here, I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t really grasp the conversation between Max and Maria. Khivar had Andra. Who was Andra and if he had Andra what made Maria so sure that Liz was here. Just too weird.

Something at the back of my mind was nagging at me. Liz’s orb was somewhat familiar to me. Could it be?

Snippets of past conversations played again through my memory.

“Let’s just say I was right about Liz. She’s perfect for Max.

Why would Liz be perfect for Max? Did Max tell her about whom he really is, and did she accept him like Maria and Alex had accepted Michael and me? I wish I hadn’t been so mean to her Friday night. It wasn’t her fault that I can be a paranoid and possessive bitch.

I sat down on the ‘ground’ and waited. Sometimes the orb had a mind of its own and it would decide to see what I was doing. I don’t know how much time I had waited, time on the plane never traveled at the same speed as it did in the real world, but what seemed like hours later to me is when the orb finally made its move. It floated over to me and rubbed against me. The minute I felt it I realized why Maria said that she was perfect for Max.

She was a part of him. The ‘feel’ of her was the feel that I’ve felt a thousand times when fooling around with Max’s orb. “Oh, my…” I stand up and do what I must. Now I understand why it’s so important to help her. She’s one of us. She’s Max’s soul mate.

The orb ‘lets’ me in with a little persuasion and once I’m in I realize where Liz is hiding. It’s Max’s apartment. The way it was when I was there earlier this morning. Everything was made up and in its place. Liz was sitting on the couch.

“Isabel? What are you doing here?” She asks. Her tone was one that I hear quite frequently when I first enter an orb.

“I came to get you so Max can help you.” I told her. I walked over to her and sat down beside her on the couch.

“Max? Isn’t he here?” She looked confused.

“No, he’s not here. He’s with you. This is all a dream and you have to wake up.” I tried to be as gentle as I could. It was a shock to find out that being in a dream was no different from being in the real world for me.

“I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to keep me away from him so Tess can have him.”

“No, no I’m not. You don’t understand. You’re not well. Your body needs healing and Max can’t do it unless you’re awake. I need you to wake up.” At that moment, a dream image of Max came walking through his bedroom door. As he got closer I sensed something was off. The person may have looked like Max but something was definitely wrong.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.” He says not even paying any attention to me. I stood up and tried to block him from her.

“Liz… you don’t understand. We need you to wake up. Your tracking device has alerted your parents. You need to call them and tell them where you are and that you’re okay. If you don’t, Max will be in trouble.” I didn’t know what else to tell the woman. She wasn’t being very reasonable.

I reached for her to grab her hand but she stood up and pushed at me. The minute I touched her we were rocketed to another dimension by the time I got my bearings she was squatting down next to me. “Vilandra? Is that you?”

I didn’t know what to say. I was looking into the eyes of someone that I hadn’t seen in this lifetime but yet I knew her. I knew exactly who she was and how I felt about her.

I felt myself fading. My time in her orb was over. There was nothing else I could do but follow the pull. I held my hand out to her in hopes of her taking it and following me out of the dream but a man came in and grabbed her around her waist and dragged her back into the darkness.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


When I woke I gasped and I heard Max scream Liz’s name. I turned to him and told him. “She won’t come with me. I can’t reach her. You’re going to have to come with me.” I tried to gather myself. It was so strange… I saw her and I knew exactly who she was. My brother’s soul was so perfectly entwined with hers and she was in trouble.

I understood now, why he looked like he did. She’s so beautiful and she was being held against her will from him.

“What’s happening?” Maria jumped in. I pulled my eyes off of Max and Liz and turned my attention to Maria. The room feels like it was spinning. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on being in the real world again. The room spinning was a slight side effect of being on the dream plane for too long.

“We don’t have much time.” I hear Michael tell us. I don’t look at him. I’m concentrating on centering myself. “You guys have been out of the real world for over a half-hour now. I suggest whatever you’re going to do; we do it on the move. If Alex is right the cops will be here within the hour.” I can hear the panic in Michael’s voice. He’s worried. I open my eyes and the room has quit spinning for the time being.

We didn’t have much time and I heard Max say, “Okay…” as he scooted off the bed. He waved a hand over Liz as well as the rest of the room causing the blood and all the chaos to disappear. “Let’s go.” I berated myself for not doing that when I had a chance. He shouldn’t have had to do that. We should have taken care of that for him.

“Wait!” Maria has her arms spread out so no one can get passed her. We all stop to see what she has to say. “We need a plan.” She says.

Where was my mind? “We just can’t go out there carrying an unconscious Liz down the hall. People are going to see it and they’re going to ask questions and eventually when the cops come they’re going to remember who she left with and the condition she was in. So, I suggest that we think of a plan.” I can’t believe we were on the way out the door with an unconscious Liz and the cops roaming the campus. I’m so glad that Maria is thinking.

I look around the room to see who, out of all of us, is going to come up with the plan. Maria takes a deep breath. Michael shoves his hands into his pant’s pocket. “Plan?” Alex looks around the room. Evidently he didn’t have one.

“Yeah, a plan. We need to get the heck out of here and we have to have a plan.” Maria starts to pace the small width of open floor. I could practically see the light bulb light above her head when she said, “I have it.” She stops dead in her tracks and turns so she can face the rest of us. “We’ll have a race.”

Alex looks to me and rolls his eyes, “I knew it would happen some day, she’s losing it.” He looked to Michael and Max seeing if they thought the same thing. Seeing the dazed look upon their faces too, he continued his little rant. “We just witnessed Maria DeLuca going INSANE!” He now starts to pace and Maria moves out of the way so he can have her little path that she had been traveling only moments ago. “A friggin’ race with a comatose racer? What are we going to do, see who moves the slowest?”

A smile creeps across Maria’s face I can see she feels that she has the perfect plan. I hope so. “No dimwit,” She begins. “We’re going to have a piggy back race out to the cars. We’ll tie Liz to Max’s back and hide the belt under her jacket. Michael carries me and we see who wins.”

Michael pulls Maria into his arms and twirls her around. Alex shakes his head in disbelief. Maria strikes again. Just when you think she’s a total blonde she comes out on top. Thank God for small miracles.

Michael stops twirling her and brings her down so she’s eye to eye with him. “Great idea.” He dives down for her neck and I turn my head as he begins to nibble on her ear and neck.

“Okay… let’s move people.” We were wasting time. We needed to get Liz on Max’s back and out of here as soon as possible.

“Alex and I will go get the vehicles. We’ll be outside waiting for you.” I tell the group. I grab Alex’s hand and pull him out the door with me. I take one more look inside and see Michael, Maria and Max working on getting Liz strapped to Max’s back. I hope this plan works. We really needed Tess here for this to make it all go smooth but there are times when we just can’t get what we want.

We walk quickly down the hall hand in hand and when we round the corner I notice that there’s another police office at the front desk. “Damn.” I hiss.

“What are we going to do?” Alex asks me.

“Give me a second.” Just as I started to think; I see Tracey Little walk in from outside. “Tracey.” I walk over to her and look her in the eye. “I need your help.”

“Okay.” She says. I have her in my acting class. “What do you need me to do?”

“You see that officer over there?”

She looks over my shoulder, “Yeah.”

“I need you to distract him for me. I have a ton of parking tickets and I know he’s here looking for me. I heard him say my name. Can you do that for me?”

“I’m second in our class, Isabel. If you can get him to do it I surely can.” She had a point. I was behind her in class.

“Good. Tell him you locked your keys in your car or something.”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry. I’ll do it and if you want to pay me back you can have that gorgeous brother of yours go out on a date with me.” Tracey has been trying to date Max since we came here four years ago. Her timing couldn’t be worse.

“I don’t think I can do that. Max met this girl over the weekend and I think he’s already fallen in love…” I didn’t really want to break her heart but I couldn’t really tell her that she could have a date with Max because I knew he would never go out with her. Especially now.

“Damn. My timing always sucks. Okay, just remember you owe me.”

“Oh, thank you Tracey. I won’t forget this.” I hurry out the door and am surprised when I see Max’s Jeep right in front of the door.

I hurry around to the driver’s side and start to curse. The cop went and put a parking ticket on Max’s windshield. Great.

“You go get the Jetta… you and Maria will have to ride with each other. I’ll ride with Michael, Max and Liz.” Alex is standing right in front of me.

“Are you going to be okay?” He asks.

“I have to be.” I lean in and kiss him with everything I have. “I’ll have to do this one solo. I wish you could be there with me but there just isn’t enough room in either of the vehicles to handle that many people at once.”

“I know. I better go. I can see Michael and Maria tearing out of here any second and we won’t be ready. I’ll see you when we stop. You be careful. I don’t want anything happening to you when I can’t be there for you.” He leaned in and kissed me once more.

“I love you.” I breathed out when his lips left mine.

“I love you, too. Now I have to go.”

Alex turned and started running for the Jetta. It was at the other end of the parking lot. I watched his body weave in and out of parked cars looking for the shortest route to his destination.

Just as he returned in the Jetta the front door busted open and Max and Michael were running as fast as they could. Maria was off Michael’s back the minute they were outside and she hurried to the waiting car and to Alex. She climbed into the front passenger seat and rolled down the window. “Good luck you guys. We’ll see you on the other side.”

I know she didn’t mean for it to sound bad but her words made me shiver a little. The other side. I wasn’t so sure that we could come out from the other side. I hoped so but I wasn’t certain. I hurried and climbed into the front passenger seat. Michael helped Max and Liz into the back. It was hard to climb back there since the Jeep only had two doors and I’m sure it was really hard with an unconscious Liz. I heard Michael curse because his finger got stuck in between the seat and the steering wheel.

“You guys in?” He asked as he pulled his sore finger out of his mouth.

“We’re in. When ever you’re ready.” Max had Liz cradled into his lap and was stroking her hair.

As soon as we were out of the parking lot and on the freeway I leaned my head back against the headrest and reached my hand back for Max to take it. “You ready?” I asked. I could just barely see him out of the corner of my eye.

“Yeah.” His voice cracked as he spoke.

“We’re going to get her.” I lifted my head to make eye contact with him. “I know we will.” He smiled a small gracious smile to me and I turned my head back so I could get comfortable. “Keep her steady Michael. I don’t want to get in an accident while we’re out.” I tried to lighten the mood for him but I don’t think he took it that way.

“Thanks a lot, Isabel. I’ll try not to get in an accident while you’re out of it.” I closed my eyes and squeezed Max’s hand and together we entered the dream plane.

My last conscious thought was that I hoped we made it to the other side like Maria said.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

PART 25 ~ MAX

I think I was in a daze. When Michael picked Liz from my arms, I didn’t want to let her go. I looked into his eyes and I could see how sorry he was for me. In all my life, I had never seen that look in Michael’s eyes. “I’ve got her.” He whispered quietly. With his arms outstretched and waiting, I let go of her.

I watched him as he gently settled her into his arms. My heart ached for I never wanted to see her in another man’s arms but I had to; it was for the best. I turned around so he would be able to place her on my back. I felt her weight, what little there was of it, press ever so slightly on my back. My hands were instantly there to cradle her against me.

“Okay Max, you’re going to have to raise your arms so I can get this belt around the both of you.” My head whipped around to stare at Maria. Was she serious? She wanted me to let go of her? “Don’t worry, I’m sure Michael won’t let her fall.” She flashed Michael a concern look and I followed her gaze. I saw Michael shake his head up and down.

“Really, man I’ll make sure that she won’t fall while your hands are in the air.”

“Okay, are you ready?” I asked. My heart filled with trepidation. Did I really want to let her go?

“Yeah, I’ve got her.” I felt his hands come around her waist.

“Hurry, Maria.” I urged her on. I knew Liz wasn’t going anywhere but it was just the thought that we were in a vulnerable position. My hands stretched out before me, while the love of my life is being strapped to my back. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.

“I’m hurrying Max.” I heard her huff. Her hands fumbled with the buckle of the belt when she finally finished. “There… now, Michael put her arms around his neck and Max… grab hold of them and I’ll get her jacket. I know just the one. We bought it when I took her shopping that first time we met.”

I saw Maria swipe at her cheek. She was crying but she didn’t want me to see. She opened the closet and I saw her pull out a long black coat. “Here it is.” She held it out, looked at it and then smiled. Evidently, she was remembering their first shopping spree. I can’t wait to hear about it.

“Okay, Michael… grab her arm and Max hang on to the other one while I put the coat on her.” We did as instructed. It was definitely easier taking directions than dishing them out.

With the coat on and the belt firmly around Liz’s waist and mine, Maria took one more glance around the room to make sure everything was in order. “Okay boys… lets do this.” She hopped onto Michael’s back and he opened the door and looked both ways before leaving the safety of the room.

“It’s clear… come on Max.” He motioned me to head out first. “On the count of three just start running. Maria will take care of all the rest.” I nodded my head and waited for eternity to pass.

I didn’t hear him start to count but when I heard him say three I started running. Carrying dead weight is a lot different than when the person is in control of their muscles. It felt like I was going to rip Liz’s arms out of their sockets if I ran too fast. Michael and Maria passed me and as they did I heard Michael say, “Come on Maxwell. What’s taking you so long? Eat my dust sissy boy.”

I knew it was all in making it seem real but hearing him tease me made me run faster. He was right the longer it took me to get out of the dorms, the more likely we were going to be caught.

The length of the hallway seemed like it was forever getting longer. I felt like I was running on a conveyor belt and getting nowhere fast. Just when I thought that there was no way that we would make it Michael pushed through the double glass doors.

Maria hopped off and headed for the waiting Jetta. I see Isabel running around to the passenger side of the Jeep. Michael’s ushering me to the driver’s side, where he has the door wide open and the seat pulled forward. I stop and hesitate. What am I supposed to do?

“Turn around and back in Max.” I do as Michael instructs and rest Liz on the seat. “I’ve got her. Get the belt.” It didn’t take long to get the belt off. I didn’t even bother with the buckle. I waved my hand over it and then threw it into the back of the Jeep. I turned around and grabbed for Liz. Michael handed her over to me and in one big step I was inside the Jeep and Liz was securely in my lap. She looked so pale and I hoped that whatever happens we would make it to Roswell in time.

“You guys in?” Michael’s question takes my attention off Liz.

I look up at him and I can see that he is waiting for an answer from me. “We’re in. Whenever you’re ready.” I went back to stroking Liz’s hair; it was all I could do until we reached her on the dream plane.

I was looking onto Liz’s face memorizing every line when Isabel’s hand came into view. “You ready?” She asks. She has her head resting on the back of the seat.

“Yeah.” My voice cracked with all the emotion that I was feeling. I reach for her hand and she squeezes it to reassure me.

“We’re going to get her.” She looks me in the eye and I hold her gaze. I’ll have to remember to tell her how much I love her when this is all said and down. “I know we will.” Her determination to make me believe takes a little of the burden off me. I smile just a little. It was the least I could do.

She turns her head back to Michael but keeps her hand in mine. I take it that she needs contact with me in order to bring me onto the plane. “Keep her steady Michael. I don’t want to get in an accident while we’re out.” I could hear the teasing in what she was saying but I don’t think Michael could.

“Thanks a lot, Isabel. I’ll try not to get in an accident while you’re out of it.” Isabel squeezed my hand and I felt her relax some.

Michael looked at me through the rear view mirror and even though he didn’t say a word I knew that he was hoping that everything went okay.

“Just get us there. That’s all I’m asking.”

“I will.”

“Remember, Jim will be meeting us at the border to give us an escort, so all you have to do is get us to New Mexico without getting pulled over.”

“I know.” He was getting aggravated. I knew how he felt. It wasn’t easy having everyone’s life in your hands. I had done it for so long that, even though I needed to relax, things that needed to be done kept racing through my mind. “Just relax, Maxwell. I’ll get us there.”

I locked gazes with him and he nodded his head. He got the picture and I knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to us. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. The familiar roar of the Jeep lulled me to sleep.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I was in my bed curled around a pillow that smelled of Liz. My body began to tingle as I stretched. I looked around the room and realized that Liz wasn’t even close. I instantly shot up out of bed and went to look for her. She should be here somewhere. After all this was my dream and any dreams that I would have from now on would always have Liz in them.

“Liz…” I went to the door and tested the doorknob. It wasn’t locked so I opened it.

The bright sunlight blinded me. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from it harshness. “Liz!” I called out for her. “Can you hear me? Where are you?”

Some force was pulling me out into the light. I looked back and realized that it wasn’t my apartment that I was leaving but a house. A really cute house. A house that I could imagine Liz and I living in. Together. A house that I saw us raising our children in. A nice ranch style house with a porch running along the front, roses were growing in a bed in front of the porch and a brick walk that ran down to the gate in a white picket fence.

I looked around now that the blinding light was at my back and I saw a well-manicured lawn. The front of the house lined with roses gave off and intoxicating aroma. “Liz!” I hollered for her again.

Panic started to well up inside of me. Something wasn’t right. She should be here. She was always here. “Liz… where are you?”

I rounded the corner of the house and I stopped. The sight that I faced was amazing. “There you are.” I said. I shoved my hands in my pocket and leaned against the side of the house. She looked up at me. I watched her swing back and forth on the little swing set that would be in every backyard that had kids. The sun was at her back; as she swung her hair alternately flew in front of her face then as she changed direction it trailed behind her letting me see the smile that matched the laughter coming from her throat.

She let herself come to a stop when she noticed me standing, leaning against the house.

She didn’t say a word and it didn’t worry me one bit. Her eyes spoke for her. “Didn’t you hear me calling?” I asked.

She smiled even wider.

I took a few steps and she stood up as if she were going to greet me. “I was worried when I woke and you weren’t in bed.”

She rolled her eyes at me, telling me that I was over reacting. “Did you even try to wake me?”

She put her hands on her hips.

“Of course you did. I guess I was just too tired.”

She nodded her head.

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” I was almost to her. My body was already feeling her against it and my heart beat began to pound faster.

She turned and began to walk away.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

She turned around and smiled at me. She waved me on to follow her. That’s all I needed from her. I picked up my pace and began to chase her. She wove in and out and around all the play equipment that we had in our yard.

“Liz… quit running!” I called out to her.

She turned around again and smiled again. I could see that she was teasing me and I was just an arms-length away from catching her. If only I could take one more step.

As if she heard my one request she stopped and waited for me to catch up. When I had her securely in my arms, we tumbled to the ground. “Playing hard to get?” I asked.

She nodded and tilted her head to allow me access to her neck. I gave her what she was expecting. I could smell her as if this dream was real. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t.

Just as I went in to lavish the tender skin that she had exposed to me I felt two hands on my shoulders pulling me away from Liz as the dream began to dissolve.

“Max… Max! I am not standing here and watching you while you ravish your girlfriend.” I stood up quickly and looked at Isabel. She had her hands on her hips glaring at me and her foot was tapping at a fast rate.

I took one more glance to where I had left my dream Liz but it was too late. She was gone. When I looked back to Isabel my dream world was completely gone and we were in what looked like to me a black void. I couldn’t see a thing. “Is this the plane?” Isabel followed my gaze and then looked at me. I guess she wanted to see what I was referring to.

“Yeah, this is it.” She had spread her hands to show me that this was indeed it and then they slapped the side of her pants.

“So… where’s Liz’s orb?” I looked around and still couldn’t see anything.

She continued to look and then closed her eyes. I waited with anticipation. Whatever she was doing had to be important. I didn’t want to disturb her concentration. I took a few steps away just to give her some room.

This was my first time being on this side of the plane. Many times, during my childhood, I have had to kick Isabel out of my dreams but never had she brought me to this side. I don’t know how she did it night after night. This is a place that I would never think of coming to spend my spare time.

I took one more glance over my shoulder to see if she had opened her eyes yet. She hadn’t; so, I started to walk toward the glimmer of light that was shining in the far distance. I could feel the warmth coming from it and something inside me told me that I had found Liz.

I stopped when I thought that I should grab Isabel and tell her that Liz was this way. When I turned around I could no longer see her. The light fluctuated and looked like it was beginning to dim. I had no time to search for my sister. Liz needed me.

I hesitated for just a moment and then headed for the golden light that was calling to my very soul. I glanced over my shoulder as I ran and yelled out, “Isabel! If you can hear me she’s over here!” I hoped that she could hear me. I didn’t know if I would be able to do this on my own. I had barely paid any attention to all the times that Isabel used to tell Michael and me of the times she had entered someone’s orb. Now I wished that I had.

I ran a bit farther and looked over my shoulder and still no Isabel. “Isabel! She’s over here!” I continued to run. Liz’s orb slowly dimming was enough to make me throw all doubts out of my mind. The dimming of the orb had to mean something and it probably wasn’t something good. She needed me and I was the only one that can help her.

My dream surfaces back to the front of my mind when the orb looks like it is moving away from me. “Liz! Please. It’s me… Max!” The orb flashed brightly and then dimmed again. Almost, as if it had heard my call. I had to get to her. She needed me more than ever.

I don’t know how long or how far I ran but I finally reach her orb. It’s pulsing. Lighter… Dimmer and then it repeats. I take a step to it and begin to make soothing sounds. I hold out my hand in hopes of being able to comfort it as well as myself. I hesitate just for a moment. I’m afraid that it will start moving away again.

The wall of the orb rippled as my hand not only touched it but went completely through. My heart skipped a beat for I didn’t know if it was a normal reaction or not. Deciding that I had nothing to lose I push the rest of the way through. The darkness of the plane is pushing on the walls of the orb making its presence known on the inside. It’s cold… so very cold.

“Liz! It’s me, Max! Where are you?” I call out to her in hopes of her showing herself to me. I begin to follow my instincts and start wandering through the shadows. Chills run through my bones. It’s so cold that it’s frightening.

“Liz…” I continue to wander aimlessly; not really knowing where I’m going or what is going to be around the next corner. I come to face a brick building. I look in both directions and have no where to go but up.

Without hesitation, I begin to climb the rungs of the ladder up to the top. My hand slips on a slippery rung about halfway up. When I regain my footing, I look at my hand and notice that it has blood on it. “Liz!” I know the blood isn’t mine so the only other person that it can be is Liz’s. I take the rungs two at a time. Fear taking over. “Liz!”

I can’t even imagine what I’m going to see on the other side. What I will encounter once I reach the top. Will she be there? Surely she will, for I found her dream orb. She’s alive. She has to be.

I clear the top and I see her lying on the roof. Her hands and knees are all scraped up. “Liz!” I run to her and fall down beside her.

“Max.” She starts to cry. “You found me. I was so scared that you thought I had run. I’m tired of running.” She lifted her bloodied hand and caressed my cheek.

“Shhhh. Hush. It’s going to be okay. I’m here, now.” She pulled herself into my jacket and began to sob even harder. I could feel the chill deep inside of her and I took my jacket off and wrapped it around her rubbing her arms to try to drive some of my warmth inside of her.

There was nothing that I could do but caress her. When she quieted down some I took hold of her and made her look into my eyes. “Liz… this isn’t real. This is just a dream. I need you to wake up so I can see what’s wrong with you.

I could see the confusing look on her face. “This isn’t real?” She asked.

“No, sweetheart. This isn’t real. Just open your eyes and you’ll see for yourself.”

When the scene began to dissolve, I thought for sure that everything was going to be all right. Little did I know that I didn’t have a clue what was about to happen.

The rooftop evaporated and the wind turned bitter cold. Liz began to tremble. She scooted out of my arms and tried to hide behind me. “What is it?” I asked her as she gripped the back of my shirt.

“I don’t like it here.” She whispered.

“Why? Where are we?”

“This is where he is. This is…” She quit talking and her eyes widened in fear. I turned around and looked to see what had scared her so much.

“How nice of you to join us.” I couldn’t see the owner of the voice very well. He was surrounded by mist, as if he had just materialized into Liz’s dream. The light from an opened doorway in the background cast a shadow over his face making it impossible to see who he was.

“Who are you?” I strained to see if I could see some kind of features, but failed for he was wearing a hooded coat of some kind.

The man laughed. His head tilted back and he laughed even louder. I could see the vapor from his breath when it encountered the biting chill of the dark air. “Come now. I’m wounded.” He said as he feigned being stabbed in the chest. “Max…” He tsk’d and my ear pricked with irritation. “Andra Aliya has told me all about you and her.”

He didn’t need to say anymore. “Khivar… where is she? What have you done to her?”

“All in good time.” The words rolled on the wind and hit me in the chest. The evil within him pierced my heart. What had she endured while I was sleeping in the back seat of the Jeep surrounded by my family, safe with my loved ones. Every horrible possibility ran briefly through my head.

“How can you do this to her? She’s your brother’s daughter. Your own flesh and blood. Why must you continue to torture her every day of her life? Can’t you just let her be? We don’t want anything to do with Antar. Just let us be!”

I wasn’t thinking because if I were, I would have never said the things that I had said.

“Well, it’s like this… There is no way that I can rule until I am the only one of the royal family left alive. There’s some myth going around that the true king and his queen will return.” He shook his head, “I can’t have the possibility of competition now can I? The natives are restless on Antar and I think I have to be like that guy on your world, what’s his name again? Oh yes, Bill Gates. Like him I want to crush any competition.”

He started to stroll back and forth in the darkness about twenty feet from us. I turned ever so slightly and tried to get Liz’s attention. “Liz… you have to wake up. He can’t do anything to us if you wake up.”

She buried her head in the back of my shirt. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” Her voice sounded so weak.

“No, you don’t understand. I can’t.”

“There’s no point in trying to escape, Zan. As she has probably already told you she can’t wake up.” I whipped my head around to where Khivar was standing. “This couldn’t have worked out any better if I had planned it myself. Now you’re both trapped.”
“Let her go. It’s me you want.” I told him.

He tilted his head back and laughed again. “You think so highly of yourself. You mean nothing to me. It’s her I want. All I have to do is get you out of the way. I just need you dead. It’s her that will give me everything that I could ever want and more.”

“What about your daughter, Ava? Don’t you care what she thinks of you? What would she do if she knew everything that you had done? What you are still doing?” I thought I had him pinned. What father wouldn’t do anything for his own daughter? Everyone knew that a father’s little girl always had their daddy’s wrapped tightly around their little fingers. Isabel did.

He ignored my shouts and continued pacing. “Do you want to know why your sweet Liz can’t wake up?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. “I really see no point in keeping you in suspense since we will have so much fun here together.”

“What’s he talking about?” I whispered over my shoulder.

There was a flicker of motion next to Khivar and before my eyes could focus I saw him whip Andra out from behind him. “Andra!” I saw her as I once knew her. Her dark hair trailing down the length of her back. Her round face pale from what she must have gone through. I realized now that they really were two different people. They looked nothing alike.

“Zan!” Khivar pulled on her arm to keep her from me.

“Let her go!” I yelled at him. The anger that I felt was building to a new height.

He tilted his head back and laughed. “You want me to let her go? Okay. I will let her go but one of them has to stay. Who will you choose? The human or the alien…” I could see the smirk on his face. “Come on boy… the clock is ticking.”

I looked from one to the other. One had been my past and the other my present. Which one would be my future? That was easy. He was trying to pull one over on me. It didn’t matter which one I chose. This was a dream. None of this was real. All I needed to do was get Liz to wake up. “Liz you have to wake up. This isn’t real. I’m telling you just wake up.”

“What about her? He’s going to do horrible things to her.”

“No, he won’t. Trust me. Just wake up.” I stood up and pulled Liz up with me. “You drive a hard bargain Khivar but I don’t think you really know what you are doing. You don’t deserve to rule if this is all the better that you can do.”

He started sputtering and his anger rose. He pulled Andra out in front of him. “Choose!” He yelled. “Choose or I’ll choose for you.”

“This is just a dream. You have no power here.” I hoped he didn’t anyway. It didn’t matter if I was right or not. What mattered was that Liz believed in me. “You’re on Antar and we’re here.” With each word that I spoke I could feel a tingling sensation start to take over my body. Something was happening and it wasn’t what I wanted to happen.

My eyes blurred and I saw both Liz and Andra, fear marring their faces as they faded away.

“NO!” I woke up gasping. “NO!”

“Max, I was worried. I couldn’t find you.” Isabel was leaning over the back of the seat. Her hands were gripping my shoulders.

“He now has both of them.” I couldn’t do it anymore. I began to run my hands up and down Liz. I paused to check her pulse in her neck and then continued on to her chest. I rested my hand there. It gave me some comfort. Not much but some.

“What do you mean he has both of them?” Isabel looked back over her shoulder to see if Michael had any clue to what I was talking about. He didn’t tell her anything and I knew he wasn’t going to.

“Khivar, somehow he has Liz and Andra.” I try to explain. “Somehow he has them both trapped on the dream plane.”

I grabbed Isabel’s hand before continuing in desperation, “We have to go back. I have to go back to save them.” I begged her with my eyes. I hope with it coupled with the sound of my pleading voice that she would sit right back down and take me back there.

“Do you think….” Just as Isabel starts to ask me a question the Jeep swerves across two lanes before Michael brings it back under control.

“Sorry about that. I think I fell asleep.” Michael looked back through the rear view mirror and then went back to concentrating on the road. I watched him rub his eyes and I could tell by the way that he was hanging on to the steering wheel that he was tired.

“Michael are you all right?” Isabel says speaking the words before I could. She glanced down at her watch, “God, Michael, you’ve been driving for six hours. Why didn’t you stop to rest? You worked all night. You’ve probably been up for more than twenty-four hours. Pull over.” She sat down next to him.

“I thought we had to get to the Granolith.” He explained.

The conversation between them had about a five-second delay before it registers in my head. “We’ve been driving for six hours?” I ask. When Michael answers my question with a nod of his head I start to ramble, “I thought dreams were supposed to compress time? It only felt like I was in the dream for a hour at the most, why did it take so much time?” I felt the urge to start to pace. I needed to feel like I was doing something constructive. Something to save Liz. But I was stuck in this damn Jeep!

“I don’t know Max. Maybe Khivar did something to the dream plane.” Isabel’s eyes darted from me to Liz and then stopped for a brief moment back on mine. She didn’t want me to see the uncertainty in her eyes. I didn’t want her to see that it was already too late. I had already seen it. I looked back down at Liz lying in my lap and pushed the piece of hair that refused to stay out of her face.

“Isabel we have to go back.” I said quietly as if I didn’t want to disturb Liz from her slumber. I knew there was no point in raising my voice. It would do no good. I looked up to where she was sitting in the front seat and continued, “I have to save her.”

“Max,” she turned back around in her seat, “you said Khivar has them trapped on the dream plane. Maybe we’ll need Michael and Tess to save them.” Isabel was sympathetic but she was trying to be the logical one.

“Max, I’m not going to be able to drive much longer. I’m ready to fall asleep at any time.” Michael tried to break it to me gently. “I need Isabel to drive if we want to get to Roswell today.”

Thoughts rushed around my brain. ‘Just what did I know about Khivar and his powers on the dream plane? Andra said she needed Liz’s body and the Granolith to defeat him. Could I do anything if I forced Isabel to take me back to the plane?’ I slumped back in the seat, admitting defeat for now.

“Okay, I guess we’ll have to wait until Roswell to make another try.” I looked up to the highway just in time to see the “4 Miles to New Mexico” sign flash by.

“We’ll switch over after we cross the border. I think I can make it ‘til then.” I continued to stare out the plastic window. My hand still resting on Liz’s chest feeling the subtle rise and fall of her breathing.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


As we approached the border Michael started to slow down. I looked up to see where he was going to pull over. There on the other side of the “Welcome To New Mexico” sign stood Jim Valenti. He was leaning against the side of his SUV, hat pulled low to keep the sun from his eyes and his arms firmly crossed over his chest. We pulled in behind him and Michael and Isabel piled out of the Jeep to explain the latest news and to switch seats.

I watched as they talked to Jim and he kept shaking his head and glancing back at the Jeep. The door of the Jeep was jerked open and Maria stuck her head in. “How is Liz doing? Were you able to wake her?”

I started to shake my head in response as Isabel came up behind her, “We found her Maria, but Max couldn’t wake her. He says Khivar has her trapped.”

Maria looked back at me with sympathy in her eyes. “Oh God, Max. I’m sorry. What can we do next?”

“We’re going to go back to Roswell as soon as we can.” Michael said as he walked up to the Jeep. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. “Who’s been driving your car, Maria?”

“Alex, he said he wouldn’t trust me while I was so excited.” She looked up at him and then kissed him. It amazes me sometimes how comforting the two of them could be. When they weren’t fighting with one another they were actually kind of nice to be around. The silent communication that went between the two of them for a brief moment had my heart aching for Liz. I caressed the side of her face and ran my hands through her hair.

“Are you alright to drive now? I’m beat and I want to ride with you.” Glancing at Isabel he continued, “And I have a feeling Isabel would prefer Alex with her.” Maria turned around so she could embrace Michael and when she did he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. I began to notice that what they shared was like Liz and I shared. They were two halves of a whole and when one was weaker than the other, the other took the lead and did whatever was needed to keep them going.

Isabel gave Michael a smile in response as she climbed behind the wheel. Alex jumped into the passenger seat and turned to look at me, “Are you going to be all right Max?”

“If we can just get to Roswell, I think I’ll be fine.” I turned as far as I could so I could watch Maria lead Michael to the passenger side of the Jetta. After Michael climbed in the car I saw Maria lean in and say something to Michael, suddenly his head dropped from view as he reclined his seat. She closed the door and then ran around to the driver’s side.

“Okay you guys. Follow me. Keep up and whatever you do don’t stop unless you let all of us know. Flash your lights or honk your horn if you need to stop for gas.” Isabel nodded her head and then started the Jeep. Jim continued to the side of the Jetta where Maria was sitting with her window down.

I saw her nod her head and then I saw Jim lean in and kiss her cheek. I can only imagine that he was telling her that he wanted her to be careful. It dawns on me that our mismatched group of people have become a unified family. A sense that everything was going to be okay enveloped me. My attention was drawn to Liz when I felt her chest rise in a deep intake of breath. I began to panic but then when she released it I knew that she was feeling whatever I was just by me holding her.

I sent her the feeling of her being loved by me and hoped that that would be enough to keep her here with me until it was all over.

Isabel shifted the Jeep into drive and pulled out onto the highway, flooring the accelerator as she tried to keep up with the sheriff. Jim wasn’t kidding when he said that we needed to keep up. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Maybe I could fall back asleep and maybe I could find Liz again. I didn’t know if it was possible but it was worth a shot.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>

[Bordersinsanity]

<center>Best Portrayal of Michael Guerin in ROUND TWO
</center>


PART 26 ~ Michael

I watch the mile markers click down, hour after hour in silence. I didn’t turn on the radio. I didn’t want to disturb whatever Max and Isabel was doing. The quiet did nothing for me and I found myself seeing things. Things that I didn’t know what the hell they were. Sort of like the twilight zone kind of things. Hands and heads popping up on the road side.

I don’t know how long I traveled like that but when Isabel’s hand slipped away from Max’s, I prayed that one of them would wake up. And a moment later Isabel was awake. She glanced around trying to figure out where she was and after she remembered the previous night hurriedly turned around and looked at him. “What happened?” She asked me. She was still on her knees looking in the back seat.

“Nothing. You guys have been quiet. Neither one of you moved.” Her face was pale and I knew something wrong had happened. “What’s wrong?” She sat back down and refastened her seatbelt. “Isabel, tell me what happened.”

“It was like one minute he was there and then the next he wasn’t. He just disappeared.” I glanced over at her, surprised. She was biting her nails.

“What the heck do you mean, he disappeared? Weren’t you supposed to guide him?”

“Well, yeah. I thought I’d have to, but once we were on the dream plane he seemed to know where he was going and took off.” Isabel answered.

“Took off how?”

“I, uh, when we first fell asleep Max started to have a dream about Liz. I, uh, I had to…” Isabel’s face reddened as she remembered Max’s fantasy.

I glanced over at her and saw her red face. “You don’t have to explain, Liz, Max, his dream. I got the picture.”

“Yeah, well, I got the picture too.” Isabel shook her head trying to forget the dream, “I took him out of his dream and into the dream plane. He seemed to look around like he was lost, he called out to Liz then seemed to sense where she was. He took off after her. The last thing I remember is Max calling my name but I couldn’t find him.”

“Well, both of you were under for a long time. Do you think it’s safe for him to be wherever he is?” I went back to concentrating on the road. The headlights, of the approaching cars, hitting me in the eyes was giving me a headache. Some of them just wouldn’t take a hint no matter how many times I flashed my brights at them. It had been a very long day, and a bit of sleep would be fantastic right about now. I was grateful that there was someone finally awake to keep my mind occupied. I think I probably would have had to pull over if something didn’t change.

“I don’t know. I have to assume that he slipped out of the dream plane and into his own.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know.” I heard her frustration. It didn’t do anything at all for my nerves.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re the expert here.”

“I’m no expert Michael. I visit the dream plane for recreational purposes, I’m not sure how it works or how much you can do there.” I can hear the frustration in Isabel’s voice; all these years of visiting people’s dreams and she never took the time to try to understand the power.

We sat in silence, well as silent as the Jeep could be. The course tire tread on the wheels had a nice lulling effect to it and I found myself nodding off. “I think I should wake him up.” Isabel’s voice snapped me back to the Jeep and kept me from falling asleep.

“Okay.” I guess. I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do or not. Anything to keep her talking.

“You think so?” I looked at her. She looked like she was ten again, asking me what I thought about something.

“No. I don’t know. Jesus, Isabel. You know I’m no good at making these kinds of decisions. What if he is busy… you know. In his dream with… well. You know.”

“Don’t remind me. I had to drag him off her earlier, remember?”

“Okay… so you see what I’m talking about.”

“But what if he’s not? What if he’s in trouble?”

“Wouldn’t he be lashing around if he was in trouble?”

“I don’t know.” She said. She spat out a piece of nail. Boy I wish the world could see her now. All the kids in West Roswell that thought she was above them… what would they say now? Seeing her spit her fingernails out onto the floorboard. Then I saw her catch herself before she tried to take another bite of nail, she waved her hand over it and it returned to its original length. She then went back to gnawing at it.

“Look, I’m going to stop at the next gas station and fill up. Maybe Alex or Maria can help you.”

“Fine. Thanks for all the help.”

“It’s not my job, Isabel.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. She sat like that for a few seconds and then turned on the radio. “God, Michael you could have turned on the radio.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you guys.”

She cranked it up and turned around to see if it had affected Max at all. “Man, he’s in deep. Not even the radio will wake him up.”

“Then, I say don’t disturb him.”

She turned back around and went back to her fuming.

When I saw the sign for the gas station, I sped up. I needed out of this Jeep. I needed the fresh air. Hopefully they had coffee and something to snack on. Anything to keep me awake.

I pulled up to the pump and Alex and Maria pulled in behind us. “I thought you guys would never pull over. I’ve had to pee for the last hour.” Maria yelled over as she hurried into the gas station. Isabel slid out and went over to talk to Alex. I opened the gas tank and began to pump the gas. I watched Max and Liz in the back seat.

They looked so peaceful. Like nothing in this world could touch them. Two days. Two days was all it took for her to worm into our lives and I thought Maria was bad. She was one of us. She was family. My family. Out of all of us, I was the one that was related to her and I didn’t even have a clue on how I felt about it. I had family. For once in my life it wasn’t just me.

Well, I know I have Maria but that’s different. In a way anyway, it’s different. It’s just not the same as it is with family. I think. Maybe it is… I can’t believe I’m even contemplating this.

The pump clicked off and I quickly put the nozzle back into its slot. I looked in once more and decided to let them be. I’d pay for the gas this time around. I pull back on the glass door and stepped up to the counter. “Pump five,” I told the clerk.

The spiky hair dude was chomping away on his gum. “Anything else?”

I glanced around and noticed the coffee machine, “Yeah, throw in a large cup of coffee.”

“Sixteen ounce?”

“No, the largest you have. I still have a long drive ahead of me.”

He pounded a few keys on the register and asked again, “Anything else?”

I looked around. “No.”

“I’m starving.” I heard Maria say over my shoulder. Before I knew it, I was being shoved out of the way by my little woman. She had an arm full of junk food. “What?” She looked at me. “We’re on a road trip, Michael. And you know a road trip is just not a road trip without the Big Red and the beef jerky. Look, I even got Tabasco to dump on your Snickers.”

I surveyed the pile of junk food in front of me. “That is just disgusting.” And she had the nerve to say that chocolate cake and hot sauce was gross. Anyone in their right mind knows that Big Red is just disgusting. Give me a cola anytime. She stuck her tongue out at me.

“Well, be thankful that you’re in the other vehicle. Aren’t you going to get anything to eat?” The clerk rang her food items up, put them in the sack and then looked at me.

“What?”

“Is there anything else?”

“No.”

“Hey, Michael pay for Alex’s gas.” Isabel ran inside. “I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t leave without me.”

I watched her all the way until she disappeared into the woman’s bathroom. “Yeah, I guess I’m getting the gas on pump seven as well.”

“Okay.” He punched up the gas and then looked at me again. “Is there going to be anything else?”

“No.” I just want to get to Roswell so this nightmare can end.

“Any nachos?” Selective selling. I knew the concept. And me being the customer had every right to tell him no.

So I did. “No.” If he asks me one more time or if he suggests something else, I’m going to reach over this four-foot tall counter and strangle him.

“Hey, Michael. Could you?”

“Why the hell not! Buy the frickin’ store out for all I care.” Max is so going to pay for this. I should have grabbed his ATM card before we left California. Why, I didn’t think of this before we left I don’t know… oh yeah, I couldn’t. I was too worried about getting out of the dorms before the cops showed up.

I slapped the hundred on the counter and walked out. I climbed into the driver’s seat of the Jeep and started it. “I hope you’re enjoying your little nap, Maxwell. Because when you wake up you’re so going to hear me complain.”

I pushed the buttons on the radio and got nothing but static. “We’re out here in the middle of nowhere. Your girlfriend is being held by our enemy from another planet and the three musketeers have the munchies.”

I take a huge swallow of my coffee and burn every taste bud on my tongue. “Damn it!”

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


“I’m going to wake him up. Something’s not right.” Finally, she says something an hour and a half later.

“Okay, we’re almost to the border anyway. Now would be a good time to do that.” I felt like her and I was just about to suggest that she wake him up but I didn’t want her to know that I was beginning to panic.

She turned around in her seat. “Max. Wake up.” She waited for a few seconds and then turned around and looked at me. “He’s not waking up.”

“I knew that wasn’t going to do it. Jeesh. You’re talking like you’re afraid that you’re going to wake up a baby or something. Put some gut into it.”

“What if I wake up Liz?”

“More power to you. We need her awake if Max is going to heal her.”

She shook her head and then turned back around. “Max! Wake up!” She yelled. She looked over her shoulder at me. I gave her a little encouragement.

“Shake him if you have to.”

She reached out for him but then hesitated. “I don’t know. I just don’t want him upset with me.”

“He’s a big boy. He’ll get over it. Besides, you never complain when he’s upset with me.” She reminded me of just earlier last night. Going over to his apartment and having Liz run out. “Shake him hard and make sure you yell at him good.” Maybe it would help me get out of the doghouse a little quicker if he was upset with his sister for once.

She grabbed hold of him and started to shake him. “Maxwell Evans wake up!” She used the tone her mother used to use on us when we were kids.

“NO!” He shot up gasping for air and when he realized he was awake he screamed, “NO!” again.

“Max, I was worried. I couldn’t find you.” Isabel immediately started to defend herself. Although she was still leaning over the front seat, she made shaking Max by his shoulders look easy.

“He now has both of them.” Max sounded like he was far away. I could barely make out what he had said. I had to look in the review mirror to tell that he had said anything at all.

“What do you mean he has both of them?” Isabel looked at me and I just kept looking ahead. It wasn’t my responsibility to tell her exactly who Liz was and why she was so important to Max as well as Khivar. He had to do it. It was Max’s decision. I turned my attention back to the road.

This was something that needed to be taken care of between them. The stop that we had taken a few hours back had done some good but my eyes were feeling heavier and heavier. Gees, you’d think with twenty-two ounces of coffee in my system I wouldn’t be so sleepy, but the only thing it did for me was show me just how human I am. I was definitely going to have to find a cactus or something real soon. With the weight of Max’s safety off my shoulders, I began to relax, well, relax as much as I could with a bladder that was getting ready to explode.

“Khivar, somehow he has Liz and Andra. Somehow he has them both trapped on the dream plane. We have to go back. I have to go back to save them.”

It was quiet for awhile and I took that time to rest my eyes for just a second. It wouldn’t hurt. We were going straight.

“Do you think….” I heard Isabel start her question but that was it.

The next instant there was a flash of stars zipping past my head. When I opened my eyes, I was on the wrong side of the road. I quickly brought it back to the right side and began to apologize.

“Sorry about that. I think I fell asleep.” I looked back at Max to see if he was going to yell at me for being so careless. When he didn’t I went back to trying to concentrate on the road. The lines were blurry but I wasn’t about to interrupt them. No need bringing heat to me when it was unnecessary. I rubbed my eyes hoping that that would clear up some of it. It helped a little but something still was wrong. Maybe I was just too tired.

“Michael are you all right? God, Michael, you’ve been driving for six hours. Why didn’t you stop to rest? You worked all night. You’ve probably been up for more than twenty-four hours. Pull over.” She sat down, all thoughts of Max and his ordeal forgotten for the time being.

“I thought we had to get to the Granolith.” I glanced from the rear view to Isabel and then back to the road.

“We’ve been driving for six hours?” Max asked so I answered with a nod. “I thought dreams were supposed to compress time? It only felt like I was in the dream for a hour at the most, why did it take so much time?” I could hear his anxiety. He was looking for things to do but couldn’t because we were stuck on the road.

With the attention off me for the moment I went back to what I had been doing just before I swerved. I watched the two of them try and figure things out.

“I don’t know Max. Maybe Khivar did something to the dream plane.” Isabel voice. I looked up at Max to see what he thought of that idea.

He didn’t see me watching him. The way he caressed Liz’s face and hair to keep his hand from shaking didn’t go unnoticed. “Isabel we have to go back. I have to save her.” That was my cousin I realized. The sick person, that Max was trying so hard to save, was my cousin. Family…

“Max,” Isabel was like a regular jack in the box. One moment she was sitting right in the front seat the next she was turned around talking to Max. I guess all of us were pretty much on edge. She continued to talk, “you said Khivar has them trapped on the dream plane. Maybe we’ll need Michael and Tess to save them.”

Uh, hello? Did she just mention me helping on the dream plane? I don’t think so. I think it’s time for me to change the topic. Maybe they’ll forget that they even mentioned me. “Max, I’m not going to be able to drive much longer. I’m ready to fall asleep at any time. I need Isabel to drive if we want to get to Roswell today.”

I watched him carefully in the mirror. I know I was a disappointment but the road was just looking too blurry for me to even try and make it. I would end up doing more harm than anything and besides, Isabel and Max would still be able to talk about their options. He slumped back into the seat. I guess there was more to think about than just stopping so I can swap places with Isabel.

“Okay, I guess we’ll have to wait until Roswell to make another try.”

I saw the mile marker and a road sign reading four miles to New Mexico. Max must have read it at the same time as I did because he said, “We’ll switch over after we cross the border.”

“I think I can make it ‘til then.” I replied.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


I started to slow the Jeep down when I saw the “Welcome to New Mexico” sign. Jim was leaning against his Explorer. He looked like one of those western silhouettes with the cowboy hat on, arms and legs crossed leaning against a fence post.

I parked the Jeep behind him and jumped out. Isabel got out and walked around to meet me in front of the Jeep but I was in no condition to stand and chat and took off for a friendly looking cactus on the horizon. “Hey, Sheriff.” I waved as I took off. I didn’t wait for an answer and heard Isabel’s laughter follow me.

I quickly did what I had raced out into the desert to accomplish and walked back to the highway. Isabel and Jim were standing talking and as I approached, Jim turned to me.

“Michael, you look tired.”

“I am.” He reached out his hand and I shook it. “So, have you heard from Kyle and Tess lately?”

“Not since I told them to meet us at the Granolith chamber. I’m estimating that they will be about four hours ahead of us. How is she?” He nodded toward the Jeep and both Isabel and I followed his gaze.

I could see Max looking out the front windshield. “Pretty good considering the circumstances.” I watched Maria go to the driver’s side door and peer in. She looked pretty good for being on the road all morning. Evidently Big Red and beef jerky does the body good. Either that or my eyes were just missing her. I didn’t contemplate it for too long.

I didn’t even notice that Isabel had left until she came into view behind Maria. Evidently she didn’t want Maria to rock the boat too much.

“Well, let’s get everyone moving. The longer we sit out here the longer it’s going to take to get everything that needs to be done, done.” I shook my head and went to the Jeep where the others had pooled.

I don’t know exactly what they were talking about but when I heard Maria give Max her condolences, I had to put my two cents in. “We’re going to go back to Roswell as soon as we can.” Maria had jumped a little so I wrapped my arms around her. God, she felt good. My head gravitated to her shoulder.

Without turning her head Maria started in on me, “I saw you run off into the desert, don’t you ever give me a hard time when I tell you I have to pee. You always give me a hard time I always...” I knew this could become a long rant so I grabbed her chin and turning her face toward me I shut her up the quickest way I knew. She fought me for a second, not wanting to stop the argument when she had me at a disadvantage but I opened my mouth and tried to probe hers until she gave in and surrendered to the kiss. When I knew I had her distracted enough I pulled away, “Who’s been driving your car, Maria?” It goes to show how much attention I was paying to our current situation. Man, I’m tired.

“Alex, he said he wouldn’t trust me while I was so excited.” She kissed me again and I closed my eyes to enjoy the brief moment of delight. She knew exactly what I needed.

“Are you alright to drive now? I’m beat and I want to ride with you.” I opened my eyes and looked to Isabel. “And I have a feeling Isabel would prefer Alex with her.” Maria turned around in my arms and fully embraced me. I closed my eyes when she hugged me close to her. When she realized that I was almost asleep she looped her arm around my waist and started to lead me to the car.

“I can’t believe you did all that driving. What is wrong with you? When I saw you swerve I knew you had to be tired.”

“Not now, Maria. I don’t think I could argue with you so lets just not fight about it now. I promise, when we get to Roswell we’ll argue until you’re blue in the face.” She led me to the passenger side and opened the door. I sat down and was in the process of shutting the door, when she pushed her way into the car and leaned over the top of me.

“I want you to lay down.” She made sure she had eye contact with me for a brief moment. The seat instantly reclined and about gave me whiplash from the sudden movement. “No, ifs ands or buts. You hear me Guerin?” She slammed the door and ran around to the other side.

“Great here comes my dad.” I looked over at her and she had started to roll the window down. I was almost asleep.

“Okay you guys. Follow Isabel. Keep up and whatever you do don’t stop unless you let all of us know. Flash your lights or honk your horn if you need to stop for gas. Buckle up your seatbelt, Maria. Your mom would have my hide if she knew we were going to be speeding. Michael, you going to be okay?”

Maria had started to buckle her seatbelt and I nodded my head. “Yeah, I just need a few hours to get some shut eye, that’s all.”

“Jim, does mom know that we’re coming to town?”

“Yeah, she does and yes you’re to stay at the house tonight if you guys need a place to stay.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “No arguments. Now let’s get going. Be careful and if you need anything…”

“I know flash my lights and honk my horn.”

“Right.”

Maria started to roll her window up. She quickly started the car and shivered a little.

“Are you cold?” I made and attempt to sit up and get the heater going but was stopped by a hand to the chest.

“Don’t you even think about it.” I stopped in mid motion and looked at her. “Lay down and sleep. I’ll wake you if I need you.”

If she had been standing her hand would have come to rest on her hip. I knew that look. “Fine. Now, I don’t want you swerving all over the place and if you could keep your singing down to a minimum that would be great.” I lay back down and acted like I was getting comfortable.

“So you want me to find some eighties music and sing?”

“Yeah.” She knew me the best. She knew how I loved to hear her sing.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


She hadn’t even sung but the first few lines of Tonight, Tonight by Phil Collins and I was out. The car was warm and in the small confined space of the Jetta my world was perfect. It’s when I ventured to think what was happening outside the vehicle; that I began to toss and turn.

I knew I was asleep when the stars returned. They were flying past me at an unbelievable rate. It was sort of cool. Psychedelic really. I was really starting to relax when it all stopped. My dream went blank and I was engulfed in total blackness.

This was really weird. I had never had such a vivid dream before. “Hello?” Maybe Isabel had pulled me into the dream plane. No, she was driving. She better not have pulled me in. I struggled to wake up but found myself paralyzed. Unable to move, unable to blink. I saw a golden globe begin to come my way.

From this distance, it looked like a pale sun getting larger and larger. It wasn’t as bright, I mean. I could look at and not see spots when I looked away so I knew it wasn’t the sun that I was looking at. Isabel had mentioned something about globes in the dream plane and figured this must be it.

The glowing globe kept on getting larger and larger and before I knew it, it stopped right before me. “Hello?”

Nothing. I know, you think I should know what to do? Hell, I don’t even know how the hell I got in this predicament. I’m not the one that surfs other people’s dreams.

I stared at it and then turned around to see if I was missing something else. To see if there was a clue as to what I should do. As far as I could see I wasn’t missing anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

From out of the center, darkness began to appear. The longer I concentrated on it the more the darkness started to form a shape. A human shape. It looked like someone trying to push their way out of a rubber ball. Hey, I hear you laughing, if you don’t like my comments, you come up with the analogies!

The hourglass curve of a woman’s body began to form. I could almost feel Maria’s hand smacking me in the back of the head when the thought that the women was pretty well put together flashed through my mind. Okay, maybe not a smack, maybe more of a punch to the… When the figure separated from the globe I could see more detail. She was about a head taller than Liz but with the same dark hair and dark eyes. Her dress was a pale yellow and as far as I could tell, was all one piece of material. It seemed to hug all the right areas.

“Who are you?” I asked her.

She stepped up, to where she was an arms-length away and then stopped. She smiled up at me and something in her eyes told me that she knew who I was. Something in the back of my mind told me I should know her too.

“Do I know you?” I asked as gruff as I could.

“It’s been a long time, but yes, you know me my son.” The nameless woman said.

My knees failed me and I went to the ground. I looked up at her. “How is this possible? You can’t be real. This is some trick.” I glanced around quickly looking for some hidden danger. This can’t be happening to me I have no family left. Her voice brought my head back around to her.

“I am real. This is all possible because you’ve been changed.” I felt my eyebrows scrunch to the middle of my forehead.

“Changed?” I stumbled back to my feet because I didn’t want to show my mother how weak I was.

“Not physically. Mentally.”

“How?” I couldn’t recall how or when the change could have happened, but I had to find out so I asked questions.

“You’ve opened your heart to someone. You’ve let someone see the real you. You’re no longer closed off to those around you.”

I thought of Maria and the spell she had cast upon me. But Maria isn’t an alien, how the hell could she help me contact my mother on a dream plane? This made absolutely no sense to me. I really needed Maria or Isabel right about now. Someone to help me understand all this touchy feely crap.

“Yeah, I have opened myself to someone, but she isn’t an alien. She doesn’t know how to get to the dream plane.” I allowed that Maria may have changed me in some way, I guess I did open up to her. But, she isn’t an alien, the fact still hasn’t changed. “How could my opening up to Maria get me sucked into the dream plane.”

“The queen has found you and has renewed your faith.”

“My faith? In what?”

“In family. It’s pained me to know that you thought that you didn’t have any.”

“I had Max and Isabel and Tess but I’ve never felt that connected to Tess. It just wasn’t the same.”

She looked at me questioningly. “Max, Isabel and Tess. I don’t know these people.”

“Um…” Think, damn it. “Zan, Vilandra and Ava.”

“Oh. The others.”

“Look, what’s happening?” I was getting frustrated. I didn’t like her cat and mouse games. I hated dealing with feelings at the best of times, but when I have other things to stress about it wasn’t something I wanted to talk about. “So I’ve got renewed faith in family, big deal. Why are you here now?”

“By being open to others the queen was able to renew your faith in family. It’s how you’re able to travel to the dream plane.”

She went to reach for my cheek and I pulled back. I saw the hurt in her eyes. “Don’t.” I told her. I could tell that I had upset her, so I fumbled with an explanation. “I’m not used to being touched. Only Maria touches me like that.”

“Maria?”

“My girlfriend. Look, just get on with it. You’re here for a reason. I’m not so good with the family lovey, dovey stuff. Tell me what you want to tell me and let me get some rest. I’ve been up for over twenty-four hours and I’m not in the best of moods.”

She took a deep breath and began. “Khivar has the queen but the seal is out of his reach. He’s planning on keeping her there to lure the rest of you and her body to Antar.” She began to pace. “Be aware. He is monitoring the use of the Granolith. He’ll know when you will show up.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

“You’re going to have to fight.”

“Fight who? Khivar? I don’t understand how he can hold the queen but not her body. How is it possible?”

“Her mother, your aunt saved her essence. She hoped to use her to win back control of our home. The council had decided it was the only way.” She paused and looked at me. “You must understand that our world is not like it used to be. What used to be green plains and rolling hills is nothing but waste lands now.”

“What happened?”

“Khivar’s greed killed our world. The council did everything they could to keep peace but in the end when he found out that we had sent the Royals to Earth so that one day you would return to us and help rebuild, he grew furious. No one was safe and no one was strong enough to defeat him.” She turned back around as if she were going to return to the glowing globe.

She didn’t. She stopped about halfway between it and me. She stared at the globe as she said, “We were foolish when the seer predicted the queen’s future. We were naïve. It wasn’t the current king, her father that she had killed…” She let the sentence hang for just a moment and turning around to face me began again. “The council voted and we secretly sent Andra to Earth. We didn’t have the means of using the pods to ensure her growth and memory retrieval. She had already been taken by Khivar so we didn’t have enough of her essence for complete hybridization, so we had to improvise. She never knew who she really was.”

“Improvise, how? If you’re able to send her to earth what is keeping the rest of you from following her?”

“We can’t, it’s not safe.”

“Safe? Nothing is safe. We aren’t even safe. Don’t you realize what you have done by deserting us here? Nasedo’s dead. We’re just kids with instincts that help us get through one problem at a time. We know nothing about who we were.”

She turned around, the globe fluctuated, and she turned back around to face me quickly. “I can’t stay much longer. Khivar is monitoring the council. He’ll know that we are combining our power in order to reach you. We’ve come a long way, my son. Don’t hate us for not being prepared. Just know this…” The globe dimmed to where it was almost gone. “I will try and reach you again before you come. Be careful. I love you.”

She ran up to me grasped me by the shoulders and gave me a fierce hug before she turned and ran just as fast to the globe.

“Wait. What’s your name?”

She stopped for a brief moment and said something but I couldn’t quite hear what it was. It sounded like Murphey but I knew that wasn’t right. When I looked up she was gone and the globe had grown to an unbelievable size and disappeared as well.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>


“Shit!” I sat up. Sweat was running down the side of my face. “What the hell was that?”

“Michael! Are you okay?”

“No. I just met my mother.”

“WHAT!!!” Maria shouted as her eyes left the road and she lost control of the car.

<center>~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~</center>