Added by MoonDreamer
[The story picks up where it left off last episode. Michael and Isabel are running down a hallway of the lab complex. Michael is a security guard there, Isabel is dressed all in black, having come to the complex with Max earlier to sneak in and rescue the captured Valenti. As they run down the hall, alarms are sounding. Michael and Isabel are frantic. Michael is heading towards a particular wall.]
Isabel: What?
[Michael reads a security display on a wall.]
Michael: We got a fire in section C-Charlie.
Isabel: That must be where they are.
Michael: Let's go. This way - here...
[The two of them run to the area, stopping in front of a door with a flashing red light next to it.]
Michael: That's it!
[Michael and Isabel hold out their hands in tandem, blasting the door open. A wall of flame pours out. They try to shield their eyes from the heat while still holding hands up towards the door.]
Michael: I can't put it out!
Isabel: Valenti! Max! Are you in there??
[After a moment, Valenti leaps out through the door, trying to protect his head from the flames.]
Valenti: Wh- Aaanh! Aah!!
[He stumbles forward and drops at Michael and Isabel's feet, coughing and choking from the heat and smoke.]
Isabel: Where's Max? Jim, where's my brother?!
Valenti: ...Dead.
Isabel: (mouths)What? (then, disbelieving) No - No - !
[Isabel starts to run towards the flame-choked doorway. Valenti puts an arm out to catch her, holding her back. He struggles to restrain her from going to the burning room.]
Valenti: Come on, this whole place is going to go up!
Isabel: No! I'm not going without him!!
Valenti: He's dead - I saw it with my own eyes. He's dead!
Isabel: [screams] No! No! [pleading] Michael... No!
[Valenti starts to drags her away towards escape as she struggles against him, still screaming. Michael stands staring at the wall of flame, unwilling to leave.]
Valenti: Michael! Go! Come on!!
Isabel: Michael, no!
Valenti: Let's go!!
[Valenti pulls Isabel away down the hall. Michael keeps looking at the wall of flame -finally decides to follow.]
[Outside the smoke-filled building, Michael comes out the door, coughing and choking, removing his tie and security belt. He joins Valenti and Isabel. Valenti examines his own burned hand as he relates what happened with Max.]
Valenti: -- hit the floor. Flames poured out from his body...started the fire.
Isabel: [Holds Michael as he catches his breath - talking to Valenti] No, he can't be dead. He can't be dead!
Valenti: --look, I tried to get to him... but his body collapsed into dust.
[Michael and Isabel then notice Meris leaving the building with a hunched Clayton, flanked by the gunmen in suits. They are about to get into a black limousine and drive away.]
Michael: There they are.
Isabel: [to Valenti] Is that them?
Valenti: Yeah, but they're armed - Wait!, Dammit!
[Enraged, Isabel and Michael bolt off to confront Max's killers. Meris sees them approach and coolly directs her men before getting into the limousine.]
Meris: Take care of them.
[The men lift their guns to start firing. Isabel screams in fury as she and Michael lift their hands to blast the gunmen. The gunmen open fire. A shot hits Isabel in the abdomen and she reflexively clutches at Michael, falling to the street, even as the gunmen are blasted into the air. They fly over top the car, and fall dead as the car screams off into the night.]
[Valenti rushes up to examine Isabel, who lies gasping in pain.]
Michael: What?
Valenti: It's bad. Give me your shirt.
[Michael quickly removes his security shirt for Valenti to press against the wound.]
Isabel: ...shirt...Max - ...Max -
Michael: You're gonna to be all right.
Valenti: Just hang on.
[Jesse, yelling, rushes out of hiding towards his fallen wife.]
Jesse: Isabel!
Isabel: Max...
Valenti: - stay awake...
Jesse: Isabel!! [He comes up close enough to see Isabel.] Oh, my God...
Valenti: She's been shot. I don't know how bad it is.
Isabel: [weak] ...it's all right... it's all right...
Jesse: Oh, my God... [pulls out his cell phone and begins to dial.] Have you called an ambulance??
Michael: [takes the phone from Jesse.] No... no, no-no, no!
Jesse: Well, what's wrong with you?!!
Michael: Hey, no ambulance! No hospital!
Jesse: She'll die, you idiot!! [punches Michael. The cell phone falls and he grabs for it. Michael wrestles with Jesse to keep him from using the phone.] What the hell is wrong with you??!!
Michael: Hey, you can't take her to the hospital - you can't!!
Jesse: Why?! Tell me why?!
Michael: Because your wife isn't human! [stunned, Jesse stops fighting and stares at Michael.] Okay, understand that? Your wife is not human.
Jesse: [wrenches away from Michael, starts to stand.] Stop the crock!
Valenti: Ramirez! [Jesse looks over towards Valenti, who is still tending Isabel.] Look!
[Jesse stands and stares, stunned to see crackling energy sparks flying from his wife's blood-covered, trembling hand.]
Valenti: It's true, Jesse. I know you don't want to accept it, but it's true. She's not human.
Jesse: ...what...?
Michael: She's alien. We both are.
[Opening Title Sequence]
[Maria and Liz are walking at night down a sidewalk at Winnaman. Maria is on her cell phone leaving a message for Michael. Liz walks beside her in a daze.]
Maria: Michael, it's Maria - please pick up the phone, 'cause Liz has this completely wrong idea that something's happened to Max, and I - I just I really need someone in Roswell to pick up the phone. [She hangs up.] Maybe I should try Isabel and Jesse - I mean, they might all be at the movies, or something.
Liz: Max is dead, I know it...
Maria: Look, we don't know anything yet, okay? I mean, just because you had this feeling - and I really respect the connection you and Max have and whatever - but we don't know anything yet, okay?
Liz: I... I need some time.
[Liz walks off and Maria stands where she is.]
Maria: Okay, but when I get in touch with someone and this turns out to be whatever it turns out to be, I'm gonna come find you, okay?
Liz: Yeah.
Maria: [back trying her cell phone.] Oh, Michael, Michael, Michael!...come on... please...!
[We see an SUV weaving through traffic in the night, honking its horn and speeding down the road. A car horn blares. Inside the speeding vehicle, Valenti is driving, Jesse is in the front seat trying to use his cell phone, and Michael is in the back seat holding the gravely wounded Isabel, pressing his shirt against her gunshot wound. Michael's cell phone is ringing incessantly.]
Jesse: Paul? Yeah, it's me, Jesse. Can you hear me? Paul! [Jesse turns to shout at Michael] Look, can you turn that thing off??!! I - [Michael finds the phone, turns it off and tosses it over his shoulder.] Paul, yeah, it's Jesse. Can you hear me? I- I can barely hear you...Can you hear me?
Isabel: [faintly]...Jesse...
Jesse: [to Isabel] ...just hang on, okay?...just hang on... [back on the phone] Look, yeah, I got an emergency...and my wife's been shot... If I could go to the hospital I wouldn't be calling you!! ...he - hello?? Yeah...
Michael: Hey, the shirt's soaked through, what do I do?
Valenti: You keep the pressure on - we can't do anything about it now!!
Isabel: ...no... Max...
Michael: No, Max isn't here... We're gonna take care of this. Wake up... wake up. Don't leave us... just - [to Jesse] -Are - are you sure about this doctor??
Jesse: He's not a doctor any more, he's - he's an old friend from the neighborhood...
Michael: What the hell does that mean?!
Jesse: Just - it means just shut up! and let me just - Paul! Yes - one shot through the abdomen - !- a - a handgun, possibly-
Valenti: Big - Nine mil!
Jesse: Nine Millimeter! Look, just - just meet me at my apartment - okay? The address is one twenty six -
Valenti: We're going to my house! It's closer!
[Jesse bursts into the Valenti house, followed closely by Michael and Jim carrying Isabel. Blood is evident on everyone's hands as Michael keeps the soaked shirt against the wound.]
Michael: Get her on the couch...
Valenti: ... got her, got her...
[They work together to lay Isabel down on the couch. The commotion brings Jim's son Kyle into the room.]
Kyle: What's going on? ...Oh, my God, what happened?
Valenti: She's been shot...
Kyle: She - what?.
Valenti: Kyle, there's a trauma kit in the garage. Get it. Go!!
[Kyle runs out to the garage.]
Jesse: [holding Isabel's head, continues to speak reassurances to her throughout all the commotion] ...everything's going to be okay... everything's going to be okay... ... everything's going to be okay...
Isabel: ...I don't wanna die... please... please... I don't wanna die...
Jesse: You won't. You won't, I promise, okay? [to Valenti] Look, j-just DO something!! Please...
Valenti: I'm doing everything I can...
Michael: Where's the doctor?!
Valenti: Kyle!!
Jesse: He'll be here!!
Valenti: Kyle!!
Kyle: [runs in with the kit and hands it to his father] She needs Max... Where's Max?
Michael: Max is dead.
Isabel: ...Max... no...
Kyle: What?!
Michael: Max is dead, alright?!
Isabel: ...Max... no...
[There is loud knocking at the door.]
Michael: Here, hold this!
[Valenti pulls out a large sterile pad for the wound while Michael rushes to open the door.]
Michael: You the doctor?
Paul: Yeah.
Michael: There.
[Paul goes directly to the couch, medical bag in hand.]
Paul: Clear out - clear out - give me some room.
Jesse: Paul... thank God...
Paul: I got it. 'take a look here. [Paul pulls out a pen light to examine Isabel's wound.]
Jesse: [to Isabel]...The doctor's here, okay? the doctor's here...
Paul: I'm going to have to go in and find the bleeders - there's damage to the liver - Clear that table - [to Michael] you - in my car there's a tank, a monitor, a ventilator bag, and a, ah, blanket tied up with chord, okay?[Michael rushes off] I can't make any promises, Jesse - she's lost an awful lot of blood.
Jesse: Do everything you can, okay? Just everything you can... [to Isabel] It's going to be okay, okay? it's going to be alright...
Paul: [gives Isabel a shot.] Alright, let's get her on the table, alright? Brace, brace, brace... get her back - one, two, three, ready - lift! [Jesse, Valenti and Paul pick up Isabel off the couch and take her to the table.] Easy does it... get her middle... let her down easy, let her down easy...let her down easy - [Michael brings in the equipment] tank right here - monitor there, bag on the counter, give me the blanket over here. Alright, she's gonna need a transfusion. Anyone know her blood type?
Michael: Uh, yeah, I'm her type.
Paul: Okay, who can tap this kid's vein?
Valenti: I can.
Paul: [spreads out his surgical instruments] Alright, let's get to work, guys.
[In Clayton and Meris' bedroom that same night, Meris is dressed in a negligee, sitting by her husband, who is laying on their canopy bed with the sheets pulled completely over himself. He lies shivering and gasping as Meris is trying to talk to him.]
Meris: Clayton. Clayton, can you hear me?
Clayton: Where am I?
[His voice has an eerie vibration to it, and Meris is concerned.]
Meris: Clayton?
Clayton: Meris? Meris, is that you?
[She reaches to pull the sheet back and look at him, and gasps at what she sees. Clayton now looks like Max Evans.]
Clayton/M: I feel like someone ...walked over my grave. [He sees Meris staring at him strangely.] What? ...What?? [Meris picks up a silver mirror and offers it to him. As he reaches for it, he sees his rejuvenated hand.] Oh, my God. Look at my hand! ...Meris, look at my hand!
Meris: Clayton, you really should look at this.
Clayton/M: [takes the mirror and sees Max's face in the reflection.] That's not me... This can't be me!! [He scrambles out of bed, pulling down a lace curtain.] I'm not him! I - [Suddenly he sees his reflection in the wall mirror, and approaches it slowly. Meris comes up behind him, holding his shoulders.]
Meris: It's all right, Clayton. It's all right.
Clayton/M: This is impossible...
Meris: He was trying to heal you... I saw him. He was... he was trying to rejuvenate you.- to... oh, God, to make you young again.
Clayton/M: But why... why make me look like... like him? Where is he? I want to talk with him.
Meris: He's a pile of ash... Just like the rest of them out at the lab by now.
Clayton/M: So this is me... now? ...This is my body. [Clayton slowly smiles, admiring his new body, flexing his arms...]
Meris: You know... it's not a bad one.
Clayton/M: That alien boy must've worked out...
Meris: Clayton, you know I've always loved you just the way you were... but this does open up... a whole new set of possibilities for...our relationship.
[Meris puts her arms around him, and Clayton/M turns to kiss her passionately, taking her in his arms and carrying her back to the bed.]
[Sense Field's song, "Save Yourself" bridges this and the next scene.]
Turn out the light...
[Liz walks alone across campus through the cold Vermont night, stopping to sit under a garden trellis and look up into the sky. Maria finds her here.]
Just say good night
To yourself
May I remind you
when you find you
where all your lows
Where you -
You've got to be strong
That's when they call you
In the night
He's got your picture
In his mind
He's got your number
On a paper
At his disposal
Any time
Maria: I got in touch with Michael. ...
Is it really true?
'Cause you save yourself
Maria: I'm so sorry. [
Maria goes over to sit by Liz]
For someone who'll
Love you for you
So many times
We just give it away
Liz: I knew it.
To someone who
Someone who
You met in a bar…
Liz: How?
In the back of a car...
Maria: Um. He, died um ...in a fire trying to save Valenti's life... an- ...Michael said that he was really heroic. I'm so sorry...
[Maria breaks down in tears and Liz pulls her close. Maria puts her head on Liz's shoulder and Liz holds Maria, tears brimming in her own eyes.]
'Cause my self esteem
Has been low
Go ahead and count
It's been lower than low
I know the feeling
I've been stealing
Right out from under me
I want to learn
[Clayton/M and Meris are laying in bed together, enthralled in passionate embrace... ]
You save yourself
For someone who'll
Love you for you
So many times
We just give it away...
To someone who...
Meris: ...God, Clayton...
[Suddenly Clayton/M is hit by strong flashes of Max and Liz together, and he rolls over, agonized.]
Clayton/M: Aaaah!
[Still caught up in the moment, Meris reaches over to him, oblivious.]
Meris: Don't stop...
Clayton/M: Something... something's wrong...
[Clayton/M has more, stronger, flashes of Liz and Max together. He cries out loudly.]
Clayton/M: Liiiiz!!!
Meris: Clayton... what happened??
Clayton/M: I... I saw this... this girl...
Meris: A girl??
Clayton/M: Yes... brown hair, brown eyes... about 18 years old...
Meris: Great...
Clayton/M: This is serious...[rises from the bed, walks towards the mirror slowly] She's somebody Max Evans knows... someone from his life...
Meris: You must've gotten some of his memories... Clayton, come back to bed...
Clayton/M: He's in there. He's inside my head.
Meris: Who?
Clayton/M: Max Evans. He's still alive. He's in my head. This head... This head... I know you're in there, Max. I know you are. You want something, don't you? What is it you want? [He sees flashes...] Liz.
Meris: What was that? Clayton, are you all right?
Clayton/M: Is the Gulfstream fueled and ready to go?
Meris: Always. Where're we going?
Clayton/M: Vermont. We're going to Vermont.
[It is now daytime. Back at Valenti's house, Valenti and Michael are sitting on the couch. Paul is sitting on the coffee table in front of Jim, bandaging his burned arm and hand. Kyle cleans the table where Paul has just done surgery on Isabel.]
Paul: She's far from okay. I removed her spleen and tried to repair the liver, but ...it's meatball surgery at best. The real question is whether infection sets in. If that happens...
[Paul gets up to get a beer.]
Michael: - What?
Paul: Well, to have a fighting chance, she'll need a lot more than I can do in your dining room. She'll need a hospital.
Michael: That's not an option.
Kyle: Neither is letting her die.
Valenti: No one's dying yet. We don't have to face that decision right now. Let's just wait and see what happens, okay?
[Jesse comes out of the room where Isabel is, walking into the living room pulling on his coat.]
Jesse: She's uh... she's still sleeping. [addresses Michael.] You and me. Outside.
[Jesse and Michael walk outside into the back yard.]
Paul: You mind if I smoke?
Valenti: No... go ahead.
Kyle: [sarcastically] I can't imagine why you lost your license.
[Valenti gives his son a hard look.]
[Liz's dorm at Winnaman. Inside the room, Liz sits bundled in her coat, the knit hood of her sweater up over her head, staring into space. Her roommate is packing a bag, also has her coat on, and is ready to leave.]
Eileen: Are you sure you won't change your mind? I mean, spending Spring Break in this place? You'll be the only one here. Even the faculty head for the hills.
Liz: Good. Y'know, the fewer people around here, the better.
Eileen: Okay...
[Maria enters the room. Unmoving, Liz watches Maria and Eileen sideways.]
Maria: [to Liz] Hey.[to Eileen] Hi, I'm Maria - I'm the best friend.
Eileen: I'm Eileen - the roommate.
Liz: [gets up and heads out the door.] I'm outta here. Later.
Eileen: What's going on with Liz? Did something happen with her ex?
Maria: Yeah. He's ...um... he's dead.
[Eileen is speechless.]
[Liz goes to the storage room / secret student sanctuary in the attic-space that Eileen introduced her to in the last episode. She tries to pop open the panel where bottles of wine and spirits are hidden, but it doesn't work and she pounds the panel with her fists in frustration. Suddenly, the panel explodes and she is thrown back covered in splinters. She sees green energy crackling in her hands and screams.]
[In Valenti's back yard.]
Jesse: Do it again.
Michael: Jesse...
Jesse: Look, just do it again!
[Michael waves his hand over a sharp-leaved plant, turns it into a flowering bush, then back again.]
Jesse: Son of a...
Michael: How many times do I have to do this?
Jesse: I don't know... You know, you tell me this crazy story about... another planet... and ... and kings ...and and shape shifters...uh- pod chambers... and every time I come close to believing it I start worrying that I'm strapped down in a room somewhere because I've lost my mind!! Okay? So just keep doing it until I can accept that I am seeing it and that I am really ...here...
[Paul comes through a gate in the fence to join them.]
Paul: Okay, okay, what the hell's going on here?
Jesse: What are you talking about?
Paul: Isabel has a temperature of a hundred and twelve.
Jesse: [incredulous] One twelve?!
Paul: And rising.
Michael: How high can it get before it gets dangerous?
Paul: Dangerous? Hah. Let me tell you something. A hundred and seven is considered fatal in most cases. I've never even heard of a temperature of a hundred and eight. Now, obviously I'm not supposed to ask any questions, but if there's something about Isabel that I should know - there's something that could help me? you might want to consider telling me.
Michael: [Looking directly at Jesse.] There's nothing we can tell you that would be of any use.
Paul: Okay...
[Paul walks back through the gate. Jesse and Michael stare at each other for a moment, then Jesse walks away, too.]
[Inside, Kyle is sitting by Isabel's side, holding her hand. She is still unconscious.]
Kyle: You know, I was, uh... I was thinkin'... uh, heh... See, you're supposed to say, "there's a first time for everything" [he gives a slight laugh.]...Anyway, I was thinking that, um... since Liz got some alien powers ...when Max saved her life...that... you know, maybe I've got some alien juice too. [We see Jesse come into the room behind Kyle. Kyle does not see him. Jesse stands silently, watching.] Maybe I've got the power to heal...
[shakes his head, tearing up] So let's just ...give it a... a try...
[Kyle holds Isabel's hand tightly, and puts his other hand against her, concentrating for a moment. But nothing happens. Kyle cries, then tries to smile at Isabel. We see Jesse walk off.]
Kyle: It was worth a shot. You know me -- I'll try anything once.
[Back at Winnaman, Maria walks into the attic-space to find Liz sitting on the window ledge, woozy and drunk, looking out, and nursing a bottle of spirits.]
Maria: Hi.
Liz: How's Isabel?
Maria: Not good. Michael says that her fever's up to a hundred and fifteen now.
Liz: Wow... that's really high...
Maria: Yeah.
Liz: It's really high... it's a really really long way down...
Maria: Liz. Could you not be by the window right now, please?
Liz: [turns to look at Maria.] Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to jump.
[Maria sees the hole in the wall panel.]
Maria: And now what happened over here?
Liz: Oh. That? My powers are back. -pshk!![She makes an exaggerated 'pow' gesture with her hand.]
Maria: Your powers? I thought that -
Liz: That they would go away because Max died? 'Guess not.
[Liz takes a swig. Maria walks over to take the bottle.]
Maria: All right. Enough.
Liz: No, you're right. You're right. [Liz hops down off the windowsill, and goes over to grab a different bottle.]
Maria: Dammit, Liz.
Liz: Dammit, Maria!
Maria: Okay, look, I understand what you're going through, I really do, but getting drunk is not going to help anything...
Liz: Really, you do? You understand what I'm going through? Is Michael dead? Because Max is. And you know all of those things that I have been dreaming about for the past three years, well they are now gone! So why don't you explain to me how you understand what I'm going through?!
Maria: You know what? I'm just...I'm not going to talk to you when you're like this.
Liz: Why? Because I'm an angry drunk? Well that's just - you know what? That's...that's too bad. ...I'm gonna go get some air.
[Maria is left standing, concerned but frustrated.]
[Outside in the late afternoon, Liz walks drunkenly across the slushy campus. She missteps and slips, falling on her butt. With the campanile sounding the hour in the background she lies there, laughing. Suddenly she sees a figure silhouetted against the bright sky. An image of Max stares down at her. She shakes her head, but the image persists, walks around her. She laughs.]
Liz: You're not here... You're a dream... [The figure of Max kneels down beside her, studying her.] Okay... okay, this isn- this isn't funny any more. [She sits up.] I just - I need to wake up... You need to go away, okay? [she reaches up to push the apparition away from her.] Just go away!
[Touching him, she suddenly sees flashes of stars, of Max healing her, childhood images. She is stunned for a moment, then reaches suddenly to embrace him.]
Liz: Oh, my God. Max!
[Surprised and uncertain, Clayton/M lets Liz kiss him while Meris watches them from behind the corner of a building. Liz pulls back after a moment to look at him, and tenderly holds his face in her hands. As she is touching him, a sudden wave of crackling green energy flows from her into his body and throws him back onto the ground.]
Liz: Max? What - what's, uh...what's the matter, Max? Are you okay?
[Clayton/M sits, stunned and disoriented, seeing the world now as a spinning blur. Liz's voice sounds distorted to him.]
Liz: Max? ...Are you all right? What's the matter, Max? Oh, my God - oh, my God... Max...
Clayton/M: No... No!!
[Clayton/M runs off.]
Liz: Max?! Max! Come back!!
[Liz sees the sky spin drunkenly around her as she collapses into unconsciousness.]
[Isabel is still unconscious. Michael sits at her side, holding her hand gently and talking to her.]
Michael: ...First day of school, third grade. I'm standing by the lunch line, arguing with that ass, Mr. Trevors. He tells me that the cafeteria won't take my food stamps. I say, "They're for food, aren't they?" And he looks down on me... and he says, with that scraggly moustache and that stupid comb-over, says, uh, "I don't take lip from ...welfare punks." I'm about to kick his balls up into his throat...but then I feel someone watching me... It feels like a heat lamp... turned on the back of my neck, and... I turn around and uh... there you are. And you're sitting at a table all by yourself, and you're just staring right at me. So, I walk over, I sit down. You're still staring at me, with those big eyes. And, ah ...you pushed your tray of food over to me and you say, "You can have my lunch." Right then I knew you were different. I thought you were different like I was different... only people liked you and they wanted you around. [Michael starts to cry] ...I want you around... I want you around, so, please don't go...
[He puts his head down against Isabel. As he holds her hand, healing white energy flows from him into her. Feeling her unexpectedly rouse, he raises his head to look at her.]
Isabel: You still owe me for that lunch.
Michael: [overjoyed, calls out to the others.] Hey, guys! Guys! Come on, get in here, quick!!
[Paul, Jesse, Kyle and Valenti rush in. They are all happy and grateful to see Isabel conscious.]
Paul: [checks her over quickly, takes her temperature] Vitals are steady... temperature's down to... one-o-two. God, I need a cigarette. [He leaves the room]
Isabel: [smiling weakly] I heard, Michael. I heard you. I was somewhere else, but I followed your voice back. [Still weak, she then gazes up at a troubled Jesse, trying to smile.]
[Inside the Winnaman library, Meris speaks sternly to a confused and agonized Clayton/M.]
Meris: Alright, Clayton, listen. You have got to take control of this.
Clayton/M: I can't - I have to go to her. I - I have to. She's the love of my life.
Meris: . [stung, goes over to him.] Look at me.
Clayton/M: Liz...
Meris: [Clayton/M twists to walk away, she follows him.] Listen to me. I have spent the last ten years of my life - trying to find a cure for you. Clayton! I have stolen patents for you... God, Clayton, I've even killed people for you. Now, I didn't come this far to see you just throw it all away on some adolescent crush!
Clayton/M: It's more than that! It's Max... he wants to take over - I can feel him fighting for control, I... he wants to be with Liz... be with Liz...
Meris: Alright, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get rid of that girl.
Clayton/M: Liz? ...No! No, I love her.
Meris: No, Clayton, you are not thinking clearly. Look, you don't love her. Max does. As long as she's alive... he has something to - to hold on to... something to fight for ... [she starts speaking to him as if he were a dear small child.] See...if she were dead, he would have to give up. Then...those voices in your head would stop.... [As Meris takes his face in her hands, Clayton/M touches her hand and begins to come back to her, but then moves away again.]
Clayton/M: But, I - no, I - I love her...
Meris: Don't say that!! Just forget about that! You have to kill her. Clayton... You-have-to-kill-the--thing-you--love-to-be--free. You have to kill the one you love... to be free. Clayton, you have to kill her. Do you understand what I'm saying??
[Increasingly disoriented and confused, Clayton/M tries to focus on what Meris is saying.]
Meris: Clayton. Dammit, Clayton, listen to me. Strap on a pair and take control here. You have to kill the one you love to be free. You have to kill -
[Suddenly Clayton/M grabs Meris's throat and snaps her neck. As her lifeless body slumps to the floor, he walks off, purposefully.]
Clayton/M: Liz.
[In the kitchen of Valenti's home, Jesse comes in to give Paul an envelope, then goes to the fridge to get a beer.]
Jesse: There y'go. You can count it if you want.
Paul: You're the last person I'm worried's gonna stiff me, Jesse. You're the guy Diogenes was lookin' for. Huh. You know, Diogenes. Walks around Athens, lookin' for -
Jesse: Yeah - lookin' for an honest man. Yeah, I went to college.
Paul: Heh huh. So did I. Now look at me. Unlicensed, unwanted, and unloved. And all because I wrote some prescriptions for a few friends...
Jesse: They weren't your friends, Paul. Especially not the one that turned out to be a Fed.
Paul: True. But you know what the truth is? Ultimately I lost my license because ...because I'm not an honest guy. Neither are your friends in there.
Jesse: Goodbye, Paul.
Paul: You're involved in something here. I don't know what it is, and I don't wanna know, but it's wrapped up in lies within lies... and that's not what you're about. You're one of the good guys, Jesse.
Jesse: So are my friends.
Paul: They're liars. You can't trust them. Not when it counts. Not when it comes time to "chant down Babylon and destroy the plans of wicked men." Bob Marley...'member?
Jesse: Yeah. I got the reference.
Paul: Good luck, Jesse.
Jesse: Thanks.
[They shake hands, Paul takes his leave, and Jesse is left to his troubled thoughts.]
[Liz awakes, hung over and disoriented, in her dorm bed, with Maria sitting over her pouring powder into a glass of water.]
Liz: Where am I?
Maria: I brought you back to your room.
Liz: You brought me - [she tries to sit up.] Owww... [and collapses back down holding her head.] uhn.
Maria: Yes, 'owww.' ...Here you go, come on. Take this. It's what my Mom takes for hangovers. Come on.
Liz: [taking the glass] eh! - it's so cold!
Maria: Ye-es... you're so cold. You were lying out on the frozen tundra for about a half an hour before I found you. You're lucky you didn't freeze to death. [Liz takes a drink.]
Liz: Thanks, Maria.
Maria: No problem, it's what I'm here for. Now, do me a favor...
Liz: Hmm.
Maria: Repeat after me. "I'm sorry, Maria."
Liz: "I'm sorry, Maria."
Maria: [laughs] Okay... you're forgiven.
Liz: .Do I wanna know what I did that I'm sorry for?
Maria: [laughs and rolls her eyes, smiling.] Umm... let it go. I have.
[Outside the dorm building, Clayton/M walks through the night, seeking Liz. He sees the one room which has a light on.]
[Inside, Liz suddenly sits up in bed wide-eyed, with a gasp. She turns to Maria.]
Liz: Max - he's here. I saw him...
Maria: What?? Wait...
Liz: No, Maria, I saw him today! I - I fell down or something and he was standing over me, and then he kissed me... I th- - I think...
Maria: No, pumpkin, you were dreaming. [Maria strokes Liz's hair, and she calms down.]
Liz: Yeah... I guess I must've ...been.
Maria: Yeah, you had a lot to drink.
Liz: I should prob'ly go take a shower.
Maria: I'm forced to agree.
Liz: okay... [gives a little laugh, and gets up to gather her things. As she picks up her robe, she turns to Maria again.] You know - you are, like, the most special person in the world to me. [they hug.]
Maria: Right back at you...
[Liz leaves to go down the hall and Maria walks over to Liz's CD player and starts some music. It is Bob Marley's "Chant Down Babylon."]
[Clayton/M walks quietly into the room, and approaches Maria from behind. Just as she turns he grabs her quickly around the throat and begins to choke her. Liz runs back into the room, and Clayton/M tosses the now-unconscious Maria aside.]
Liz: Max? [at first happy to see him, she quickly takes in both Maria and Clayton/M's strange bearing.] What's going on, Max?
Clayton/M: [still seeing the world distorted, shaking his head.] Clayton.
[Liz feels the threat clearly now, and bolts. Clayton/M follows her as she runs down the hall. He tosses aside furniture she tries to put in his path. They run up flights of stairs. Liz finally runs in to the attic space and tries to barricade the entrance, but he pushes through. He swats aside the objects she throws at him and keeps coming towards her.]
Liz: Stay away from me! - whatever you are - just - stay away!!
[She picks up a golf club and takes a swing, but he is able to grab her throat. She is choking, and gives a strangled scream. Suddenly a burst of green energy explodes through Clayton/M's body and he is thrown back to the floor. He rises unsteadily to his knees.]
Max/C: Liz?
Liz: Max? Max?!
[Liz throws down the club and gets down to crawl towards him. Gasping and physically strained, he puts out a hand to warn her off.]
Max/C: No... No, you're in danger...
Liz: Max? What - what happened to you?
Max/C: I don't know. I - I'm in this body, but it's not really me...
Liz: Oh, my God. Okay... okay, let me help you...
Max/C: [shouts] Shut up! There's no time. I can't hold out much longer, I... You have to kill this body. You have to stop Clayton.
Liz: [shakes her head.] No...
Max/C: You have to... he'll kill you if you don't. Liz, please. Take the club... do it?
Liz: Max...
Max/C: DO IT!! Liz, do it...
Liz: I'm so sorry, Max... I love you...
[As Liz declares her love, the distorted mind of Clayton takes over again. Liz swings the club, but he dodges it, rushing in to grab her by the neck. While Clayton/M is choking her, Liz manages to grab a piece of old pipe and strike him in the head. He falls back for a moment, but then rushes her again. The force of his advance sends them both shattering through the window, and they fall from the highest story of the building.]
[As they are falling, Liz sees flashes of beloved people from her life - her father, Maria, her mother, Alex, Max. Max/C sees flashes of meaningful times he has shared with Liz, and cries out.]
Max/C: No-o-o-o-!!!!
[He reaches out to project an energy field to break her fall. Then, even as Liz is cushioned in the protective green energy, Max/C smashes through the trellis, still falling fast. After a moment, the energy field blinks out and Liz drops. She falls first to the trellis, then rolls off of it onto the ground, leaving them both lying still on the frozen earth.]
[Jesse sits with the recovering Isabel. Neither one knows what to say. Isabel keeps rubbing worriedly at her wedding ring.]
Isabel: Are we okay?
Jesse: I don't know. I mean, I look at you... and I - I know that I love you...
Isabel: But I lied to you. [Jesse looks down, nods.] I always knew in my heart that you would never forgive me for that.
Jesse: That's not it. I mean, I - yeah, I'm hurt that you lied to me... but I can get past that...
Isabel: [hopefully] You can?
Jesse: Yeah. Yeah, eventually... and I - look, I - I'm not perfect. I've told a lie or two. And you, hell, you had to grow up lying to everyone around you... just became second nature.
Isabel: Hey, it was never... never about you. It's just that lying about who I am is a given.
Jesse: And you were really good at it. Isabel, you were ...really good.
Isabel: That's what the real problem is, isn't it? Not that I lied... but that I'm good at it.
Jesse: I believed you, completely. I mean, strange things would happen and I... never doubted that I knew you... that I knew who my wife really was... I mean, I - I married Isabel Evans. There is no Isabel Evans. Isabel is - is this person you hide behind. I - I just...
Isabel: You're right, you're right about everything. And even though I'm a... a really good liar... I want you to know that I'm telling the truth when I say I love you... and I love being your wife.
Jesse: Okay...
Isabel: Where do we go from here? [A tear glistens in her eye.]
Jesse: I have no idea...
[Liz rouses slowly and looks over at Max's body lying still and face down on the ground. She reaches to roll him over and tries to find a pulse, first in his wrist, then in his neck. Finding nothing, she painfully accepts that he is dead. She tenderly caresses his face with her hands, and bends over him. A single tear falls onto his cheek as she gives him one last kiss. But then, wonderingly, she sees a glow of white energy pass across his face. It begins to transform, taking on Clayton's original features, then fading back into Max's. She now sees he is alive.]
Liz: Max?
Max: Liz? You brought me back...
Liz: [amazed, she sits smiling down at him.] I guess that makes us even.
[He tries to smile, but he is still weak and in pain as he tries to move. She puts her arms around him to help him sit up.]
[Max and Liz sit on the ground together, and Liz holds him tenderly. We finally see that Maria is okay as she makes her way through the evergreens around the building. She finds Liz holding someone gently in her arms under the wreckage of the trellis. Maria takes in the scene quickly.]
Maria: What happened?
[Liz and Max turn towards her now. As Maria is able to see Max's face clearly, she can only stare, amazed.]
Liz: Let's go home.
[Sense Field's song "Save yourself" plays again as the three of them walk off together into the night. Liz holds Maria's right hand as she supports Max on her other shoulder - their arms around each other.]
Turn out the light...
Just say good night
To yourself
May I remind you
when you find you
where all your lows
Where you -
You've got to be strong
You save yourself
For someone who
Loves you for you
And Loves me for me ...give it ...
Writer: Ronald D. Moore
Michael: First day of school, third grade. I'm standing by the lunch line, arguing with that ass, Mr. Trevors. He tells me that the cafeteria won't take my food stamps. I say, "They're for food, aren't they?" And he looks down on me... and he says, with that scraggly moustache and that stupid comb-over, says, uh, "I don't take lip from ... welfare punks." I'm about to kick his balls up into his throat...but then I feel someone watching me... It feels like a heat lamp... turned on the back of my neck, and... I turn around and uh... there you are. And you're sitting at a table all by yourself, and you're just staring right at me. So, I walk over, I sit down. You're still staring at me, with those big eyes. And, ah ...you pushed your tray of food over to me and you say, "You can have my lunch." Right then I knew you were different. I thought you were different like I was different... only people liked you and they wanted you around. (Michael starts to cry) ...I want you around... I want you around, so, please don't go...