The six friends shared a table, while the parents were seated at another table. Max informed the group that the Sheriff hasn’t seen anything to worry about yet. Max’s frustration at the lack of developments was visible. He so desperately wanted to get whatever was coming over with, so he could start building his life with Liz. He didn’t even want to think about the possibility that things may not turn out well for his people. Looking at Liz and running a caressing hand over her hair, he knew that he had to make every second count with her. Just in case…

"I’ve been helping with searches on the Internet," Alex was saying. "We are looking for anything that might give us a clue where these other aliens are. I mean there must be more of them, right?" He realized his blunder when Isabel gasped next to him. Nice going, Whitman, scare the people more, why don’t ya! "By the way, what happened to the one you guys caught?"

Max and Michael looked at each other before Max returned his attention to Alex. "He is… in jail, so to speak."

Alex frowned. "What jail?"

"Our jail. Here in the camp." Max was shifting in his seat uncomfortably. "With Jans and his friends. Don’t worry, he won’t be coming out."

"Did the goon have a name?" Alex was intrigued.

"Devin."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sarah was getting tired. She had wandered around the mall for a few hours by now and it was starting to get dark. She needed to get home to Eric. But what if something had happened to him too. What if he had disappeared just like Devin? She resolved to try phoning Liz again.

This time the phone just rang for a long time before the voice mail picked up. Sarah gritted her teeth in frustration. Now she didn’t have a choice, she had to leave a message…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz sensed something was wrong with Max. His levels of worry were spiking dramatically and he had sounded distracted when he spoke to Alex. She put her hand on his thigh under the table, trying to calm him. His only reaction was to take her hand in a crushing grip.

"Wow, that’s cool!" Maria was grinning. "You have some sort of alien jail thing here in the camp? I never knew that!"

Michael was also staring at Max, wondering what the heck was up with him. Max had gone silent, so Michael tried to answer the questions about the "jail". "…like pods… spheres… keeping him in stasis…"

His explanation went over the heads of the rest of them, all of them were turning their attention to Max by now. Liz finally broke the tense silence. "What’s wrong, Max?"

He blinked, as if coming out of a trance. "I don’t know. Something… I just feel something bad is going to happen."

This reminded Liz of the feeling she got before Max went away and he was abducted by Jans and his goons. A premonition of doom. She looked around the group. They were all upset by Max’s statement. They have been together too long to ignore stuff like this.

The tension in the group rose steadily as dinner progressed. The three couples all held hands and sat as close together as possible. Finally Maria, spoke up: "I have a plan for tonight. I think we all need it." All heads turned to her as she spoke in hushed tones. "I propose we… change the sleeping arrangements a little tonight. After everyone else is asleep of course…"

Michael was already nodding his acquiescence.

"Let’s see, three groups, two tents. How do we handle that one?" Maria was frowning.

Liz and Max shared a look. "We’ll go, uh… stargazing." Liz didn’t meet her friends’ eyes. They were the only couple that could potentially be in real trouble if the new arrangement was discovered, so it was better to be as far away from the camp as possible.

Now everyone around the table was nodding. They all needed to be with their other halves tonight. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

The parents again saw how incredibly close the six were. But they also saw how serious they all seemed. Diane cringed at how unfair it was to these teenagers that they didn’t get to enjoy much of their youth. She watched her daughter lean against Alex and smiled. She had talked to Izzy again after they had returned from their training session and now felt comforted that she didn’t have to worry about her relationship with Alex yet. Now Michael and Maria… that was another story. They seemed combustible together and it was probably only a matter of time before they take the next step. It was still amazing to her that Michael actually had a girlfriend! But, as always, her eyes were drawn back to Max and Liz. They functioned like two halves of a whole. Continuously aware of each other even if they weren’t together.

After everyone had coffee, which were heated by hand by the three aliens to the amazement of their parents, Max got ready to leave for a session with the Council. He leaned towards Liz and whispered: "I…love…you," between lingering soft kisses. Finally pulling away slightly, he touched his forehead against hers, still trying to cope with the uneasy feeling assailing him. Suddenly he needed to hear Liz say it too and opened his mouth to ask her.

"I love you, Max Evans." She cupped his jaw in her hand and nuzzled his nose before softly rubbing her lips over his.

"Guys! Dining room. Where people eat?" Alex interrupted them with his usual ribbing. "Is it possible that you two can get any happier?"

Max just smiled at him when he got up. He would be really worried if Alex didn’t give them a hard time after that display. He placed a final kiss on top of Liz’s head and departed to Alex’s stage-whispered: "Eeew!"

Liz just shook her head at her friend, smiling. She was really worried about Max. He was clearly having trouble dealing with whatever was bothering him. Tonight, I will make him forget for a while, she promised herself.

Tess arrived for dinner later, clearly not happy about the fact that they were all still there. She went off to sit on her own away from everyone again. Liz looked at Isabel. "How did it go today? With her?"

Shrugging, Isabel tried to make Tess sound as unthreatening as possible. "Like that." She nodded towards her. "Never said a word. Stayed away from Max. Practiced a bit. Stayed away from Max. Had lunch. Stayed aw--."

"Isabel!" Liz interrupted her with a grin. "I didn’t ask because I was worried about her and Max. I asked because I just wondered how she was."

"Well, all I can say is, whatever Max threatened her with is working. She scampers away every time he gets near." Iz looked over at the blonde.

"Who can blame her?" Alex said. "I have never seen Max so mad in my life. I thought he was going to kill her!"

It was quiet for a while as the group thought back to the time Tess had made Liz unable to wake up by messing with her mind and how Max had completely freaked out about it.

Alex sighed dramatically. "Yeah, never mess with Mrs. Max!"

The mood lightened considerably.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sarah crept out of the mall with her instincts on full alert for anything or anybody that looked suspicious. She had reached the other side of the street when a hand suddenly grabbed her arm, making her jump with fright.

Whirling around, she felt relief flood her body. "You scared me! I thought you were someone following me! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like…" Her voice faltered when she saw the look in his eyes. It wasn’t the one she was used to. It was one that told her she was in serious trouble.