So Nancy did what she did when Liz was little. She told her a fairy tale. "Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a handsome young prince who had always dreamed of a beautiful dark eyed girl with hair the color of chocolate…"

Tess was standing across the street from the house with closed eyes and created an illusion of Eric arriving at the door. When one of his soldiers opened the door, fake-Eric told him he knew where Max was and that four of them should come with him to go "finish this off". Not knowing how to ignore Eric’s request without tipping him off that they were busy with something he wouldn’t like, the men followed him, right into the trap that Nick and his men had set around the corner.

Michael had held a firm grip on Max’s arm, preventing him from storming into the house unprepared while all this was happening. Max kept reaching out to Liz with his mind: Liz! Just a few minutes longer, love… He was rewarded every time with a small surge from her.

When Michael was satisfied that the other men were gone, he took his contingent into the house after commanding Max to stay back. Max just looked at Michael and shook his head. He would be right there alongside his friend and brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"…so the little Prince saw the girl from his dreams with the long dark hair and he knew her immediately. He so wanted to go and meet her, but he didn’t want to frighten her, so he--." Nancy jerked when she heard the sound of running feet upstairs. What was going on up there? Looking over at Liz, she saw that her eyes had drifted closed. "Liz honey, you have to wake up! Remember, Max is coming."

Liz forced her eyes open, but everything hurt so much. Not just her wounds and bruises, but her heart. It was Max. He was hurting because he was afraid for her. She HAD to keep fighting this urge to sink into oblivion. She had to do it for Max. She wanted him to be proud of her…

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was over in a matter of minutes. By the time Eric and Max arrived it looked like the house had been hit by lightning. There were burn marks on the walls and bodies strewn over the floor. Max felt ill when he saw that one of the bodies was one of his own people. He frantically looked for Michael and found him kneeling on the floor in the hallway in front of a door. His hand rested on the melted handle of the door. Looking up when Max arrived, he mumbled: "She’s down there." He waved weakly at the door. "I had to keep them away…"

Max didn’t have words to thank him for making sure that nothing more happened to Liz. Michael, who had been dragged into trusting other people kicking and screaming, was now prepared to give his life for the girl that had started it all for them.

"Just go, Max. I’m fine."

Max opened the melted lock by waving his hand over it and ran down the stairs. He nearly fell over his own feet when he finally reached the bottom and when he straightened, the sight of his beloved Liz cuffed against the wall with bruises covering her, brought tears to his eyes. He was next to her instantly, his hands reaching out to lift her against him gently. "Oh god Liz! I’m so sorry." He held her with one arm while the other waved the cuffs off her wrists.

Carrying her to the cot where Nancy was still sitting, he put her down at the foot of the bed, his tortured eyes taking in the damage that had been done to her. The anger was building inside him again, but he forced himself to concentrate on Liz.

Nancy looked on as Max ignored the tears coursing down his cheeks to tilt Liz’s chin up, begging her: "Please open your eyes, Liz. You need to look at me!" If she had any doubts that Max was feeling terrible about Liz being in this situation as a result of him, it was erased by his broken voice and shaking hands.

"Come on, Liz! We still have that box to open. We still have to get married. You promised. And… and I need you. Please." By this time, the tears running down his face was basically blinding him, so it took him a while to realize Liz was looking at him.

"You came…" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I’ll always come when you need me." His vow was solemn before he put his hand over her stomach to start the healing process.

It took a long time and Max was weakening, but he kept going. Fighting the damage to her body with everything in him. He felt his energy leaving him and flowing into Liz through his hand that was covering the spot where he had healed her from the gunshot wound more that a year ago.

Michael came in silently, releasing Mrs. Parker from her cuffs and making sure that Eric and Sarah were okay. Now they were all just watching Max and Liz.

The flashes were upon him in a rush. He saw himself making love to Liz the previous night. Her kidnapping and Marcus being killed. He saw every minute of her ordeal and cried out with the pain. Falling to his knees beside her, Max fought to keep himself linked to her, until the healing process was complete. Tim had basically started to burn her insides with his hand. And Max felt the killing rage return.

When he finally took his hand from her, he just keeled over until he rested his face in her lap. My Liz. You’re safe now. He desperately wanted to heal her other bruises, but he didn’t have the strength right now. A beautiful smile stole across his lips when he felt her slide her fingers into his hair.

It was another profound moment for Nancy. Yet again she was being confronted by the fact that whatever was going on between Max and Liz, was not normal. Not for two teenagers and not even for most adults. It was something amazing and special. Something that deserved special treatment from her.

Max was eventually able to crawl onto the cot and he stretched out on it, pulling Liz to him until he could curve his body around hers. The others looked at each other and realized they were intruding on a private moment, so they went upstairs to assess damage and let everyone else know they had lived through this.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Isabel was ecstatic when they phoned her to say basically everyone was fine. She informed them that Mr. Parker and her parents were coming back to Roswell right away. They all just wanted to be home now that everything seemed to be over. Isabel, Alex and Maria would wait for Max, Michael and Liz back at the camp. They all agreed that they needed some time there to recuperate before returning to their normal lives in town. And none of them said it, but they needed time with their partners to reaffirm their relationships.

It was an hour later before Michael finally had the nerve to go downstairs again to get Max and Liz. It was really late at night already and they still wanted to drive back to the camp. He found them in the same position that they had been left. Max was still curled protectively around Liz and sound asleep. Michael winced when he saw Liz’s face and neck where the welts from Tim’s rough handling of her were still clearly visible. No wonder Max lost it at the UFO Museum. He had probably felt this happening… Walking over, he shook Max’s shoulder. "Wake up, buddy, time to go home."

Max tightened his hold on Liz instinctively, not wanting anyone to move her from his arms. He woke up groggily as the shaking continued and stared at Michael uncomprehendingly for a few seconds before everything came back to him. He pulled away from Liz slowly, not wanting to wake her and kept his hand on her to ensure that she could feel his presence still. He opened his mouth to speak to Michael when his eyes fell on the cuffs still hanging from the wall. Compressing his mouth into a thin line, he got up from the bed and picked up Liz. "Let’s get out of here."

Upstairs, Max was surprised that all the bodies were gone and the house looked fine again. How long had he been asleep?

"About an hour." Michael answered him.

Spying Mrs. Parker sitting on one of the couches looking lost, Max went to sit in a chair near her with Liz still in his arms. "I’m sorry, Mrs. Parker. For all this."

Nancy held up her hand. "No, I’m sorry. For not trusting you with Liz. I see now that I was wrong."

Max stared at her in surprise and felt one of the weights he had been carrying on his shoulders, lift. "Thank you."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, content to just listen to Liz breathing when Eric and Sarah came in, holding hands and looking happy. Max got up and carefully put Liz next to Nancy on the couch.

Straightening and turning to Eric, he stood eyeing him from across the room. "I want this to end…"