Two weeks have gone by and no one knows exactly where Michael and Maria have gone. Liz has been trying to act normal, acting like she shouldn’t be worried. Acting like they would be back any day, any minute, any second even. Deep down, she just knew that Maria wouldn’t be running off to get married to Michael Guerin even if she was that much in love with him. She knew Maria like a sister and they would have at least called by now. Besides, it only takes a couple days at the most to elope outside of Roswell ... unless they like went halfway around the world. Liz just knew that they wouldn’t go far.

Now that two weeks had passed and no one had heard a thing from them Liz decided that they hadn’t really gone out of town to elope. She didn’t even know who started that rumor- and that’s what it was. Liz only knew one thing- that she had to get to the bottom of this and fast. She wanted her best friend back and she knew that Max and Isabel were pretty miserable without Michael. Today, in the Crash Down, as Max and Isabel sat down at their usual booth, Liz decided to tell them what she thought. She was sure that Michael had never gone this long without contacting them anyway.

Liz approached the table with her ordering pad, and noticed that Alex had joined the current duo as she said, "Hey, guys. What can I get you?"

Max replied, "An orange smoothie, a cherry coke, a coke, and three MIB specials."

Liz nodded as she jotted down the order and then looked at them as she asked, "Have you heard from Michael?"

Max looked at Isabel as she told Liz, "No, and I think it’s really weird. I mean we don’t really know him to just go off and do something like this. Sure, he has impulses, but we don’t think this kind of impulse was high on his list. What about Maria?"

Liz shook her head and replied, "Nothing. I think something is wrong, because I know Maria and she wouldn’t just go off and do this either ... at least not this soon. I think we need to talk about this, when we have time- like after my shift."

Max nodded and said, "Yeah, I don’t like it and what I really hate is that it’s a rumor and who would have known about something that serious before us?"

Alex replied, "I agree with you there. Personally, I didn’t even think that Michael and Maria were even that close anyway. Besides, I would think that they would be back by now. No one takes this long to elope."

Liz nodded and said, "Okay, so how about we meet in like one hour when my shift ends?" She grinned as she heard the others agree and left to fill their order.

An hour and a half later, they were out at the cliffs by the resovoir, probably the most private secluded place ever- a great place for their meetings. Max saw the fear in Liz’s eyes, but he had to ask, "So, how come it took you two weeks to realize that the rumor was bogus?"

Liz replied, "Well, I’ve been busy. How long did it take you?"

Max blushed even though he was trying to hide it and then he said defensively, "Michael’s been known to act on his impulses, I kinda believed it at first!"

He kicked the dirt as Isabel spoke, "So, if they aren’t eloping then where are they?"

They all thought for a moment and then Alex said, "I’ll bet the sheriff doesn’t even know about this and Maria’s mom is still out of town. What about the FBI? Topolsky even?"

Isabel was scared as she yelled almost hysterically, "You think the FBI took Michael and Maria?"

Alex nodded and concluded, "It makes sense if you think about it. They have been after you guys and he has no family- at least technically."

They thought about what Alex said and then Max spoke, "and you guys remember hearing about the supposed chase. I bet he bumped into Maria while he was being chased by the FBI and she got pulled into his mess when she tried to help, since they care about each other so much. This is kind of scary, but I can only think of one reason anyone like Topolsky would want both of them together." He looked around and waited as everything clicked.

Liz’s eyes widened and she even felt her heart stop for a second as she said out loud, "Oh, god! They’d want a hybrid! We have to do something, I can’t let them sit in there whether she’s already pregnant or not. Who knows what they would do with a hybrid!"

*****

Max sat in bed, knowing that he would now have to do the one thing that he always told Isabel not to do. Max was about to dream walk into Michael’s dream- if that was even possible. He had actually never tried to get into the head of his best friend and never really wanted to. Still, he didn’t want Isabel to do the dream walking because he didn’t feel like she would do the best job. He didn’t tell her that, but he had told her that he was going to look into the problem and she wasn’t stupid by any means.

Max dug up the only picture he could find of Michael, glad that they had at least one. He knew that Michael was never fond of getting his picture taken so any photo they had of him was definitely a rare moment. Max touched his fingers to Michael’s face on the picture and felt himself drift off into a deep sleep- and into Michael’s dream.

He expected to see some elaborate fantasy about Michael with Maria in Michael’s dream. Max was surprised to see Michael worried in the middle of a desert scene by himself. He heard himself say, "Michael," and felt his best friends worry as he turned to face Max.

Michael looked at him almost relieved as he said, "Please tell me it’s really you, Max."

Max approached him and nodded as he said, "of course, Michael. I’m really sorry, I mean, I should have known better than to actually believe that stupid rumor."

Max saw the flash of anger on Michael’s face as he asked, "you actually believed that?"

Max just looked at him, knowing that he was surely blushing as he told Michael, "Well, yeah for a day or two, until Liz decided that the rumor was bogus. I know I would have caught on eventually, but things being as crazy as they are, I guess I just didn’t think."

He saw Michael’s eyes narrow as he said to Max, "Highly unusual for you, Maximillion." Max just nodded and decided to get to the point.

Max asked him, "so if that rumor is bogus then where are you?"

It was then when the worry truly returned to Michael full blast as Max heard him reply, "I wish I knew for sure. All I know Max, is that Topolsky kidnapped me and Maria and put us in this cell. She did a couple tests on us too. And Max?"

Max looked at him inquisitively and said, "yeah, Michael?"

Michael told him, "Topolsky, she demanded a hybrid on penalty that Maria would die otherwise." He paused as Max looked at him in disbelief and then continued, "we had to do what she wanted, Max. I couldn’t let Maria die."

Max had already guessed this much and he nodded as he said, "we figured out that Topolsky would ask for that since she would have both you and Maria."

Max took a breath as he noticed that Michael was now hiding any fear that he still had as Michael said, "So, I guess you guys want to help us out of here?"

Max looked at him and said, "That would be the idea, Michael. We can’t leave you in there, but right now even you don’t know where you are in relation to us."

Michael was looking away from him now, refusing eye contact as if Max might as well go away, but he said, "You could try the computer, the web, maybe Alex can hack into that sort of thing ... figure something out. I ... I can’t even use my powers in this hell hole."

Max put a hand on Michael’s shoulder and said, "I’ll talk to Alex. Michael, we’ll figure something out."

Michael was still looking away as he said almost unemotionally, "Okay, Max. Just do it soon. We might have been forced into having this baby, but we sure as hell don’t want Topolsky to get her filthy hands on it."

Max took his hand away as he said, "I know, Michael. I’ll be back after we have a more solid idea of how to get you two out. I promise it will be soon, maybe a week. I will be back."

Michael just nodded slightly as he took a step away from Max and said, "Just go, Max. Find out what you can and come back."

Max began to fade out, but he said as he left, "I will, Michael, I promise."