She noticed that the two guards no longer had a hold on her arms. In fact, she couldn't see them at all. She turned and looked around. The guards were all gone. It was just the teens and Marcus.

Max seemed to realize what had happened. He looked up in puzzlement. "Where'd they go?" he asked, echoing everyone's puzzlement.

Marcus seemed more shocked than anyone. He picked up his cell phone and started to dial a number. Then he yelped when it began to grow hotter, sizzling and burning his hand. He dropped it on the dirty tile, where it melted into a pile of black goo.

Liz hesitated, and then walked back through the doorway into the cell. Max looked at her, his eyes showing his fear.

"What the hell just happened there?" Michael croaked. Liz sat down, feeling a little weak. "I don't know." Maria looked up from her spot on the floor, her eyes watery. She seemed to be coming out of the state of shock she'd been in since she was brought here. "Is any of this real?" she whispered. "Am I hallucinating?"

"Not unless we all are," Alex said.

"Liz? You're still alive?" Her eyes turned downward. "And pregnant," she whispered.

Alex laughed. "That was pretty much my reaction."

Liz walked to her best friend and hugged her tightly. Marcus looked at them. They looked at Marcus. He turned to run, and just as he reached the door it slammed shut in his face. "I don't think so, asshole." Michael said acidly.

Max and Michael got up simultaneously and yanked Marcus off his feet. "What are you going to do to me?" the tall, thin man asked, suddenly looking afraid.

The two aliens looked at each other. "I think we should kill him," Max said casually.

Michael shrugged. "Whatever you want."

Max looked as though he were struggling with himself. "He should die," he said softly.

Michael's mouth twitched. Undoubtedly he felt the same way, but he still didn't act. "Max, there's probably a reason he didn't vanish like the others. Maybe we should just leave him alone."

Marcus began to squirm as they dragged him over to the corner. "Does anybody have something we can tie him with?" Max asked tersely.

They looked around. No one had anything. Alex got up, walked over to the bed, grabbed a sheet, and ripped it into thin strips. "There you go."

Michael and Max tied his arms and legs, gagged him and left him in the corner. Marcus stared at them with absolute hatred in his eyes.

The door was unlocked, though Michael had shut it. Liz felt the same sense of unease that she had when she and Alex had broken into the complex. Max looked at her and she knew he shared her feelings.

They watched as Michael pulled Maria against him, massaging her arm gently. Alex scooped Isabel into his arms to carry her. His eyes widened in shock, and Liz guessed that Isabel, despite her imposing height and recent pregnancy, didn't weigh much. Malnutrition could do that to you. Isabel moaned a little and wrapped her arms around his neck. Liz noted that she hadn't said a word the entire time.

Max leaned down and kissed Liz for the first time in months. They clasped hands and opened the door. Then they stepped through the door, not into a dark hallway but seemingly into another world.

****

The first thing they saw was people.

Or at least they seemed to be people. They were lovely creatures, with flawless skin, delicate features and long hair of varying shades. Liz felt dizzy, lightheaded, as though something was wrong with the air. It was too thin, reminding her of the air in the mountains, only a hundred times worse. She looked to Max for help, but he didn't seem to be having trouble at all.

The people looked at each other and one left briefly. Within moments, Liz felt the air becoming normal. She inhaled deeply, trying to make up for the lost oxygen. The room they were in came into clearer focus.

It was spherical, shaped like a giant bowling ball. One entire side was made of a clear substance through which shone an odd unnatural light. It made Liz's eyes hurt, so she looked away. The walls and floors, which merged and became one and the same, were coated with a reflective sheen that made them seem translucent.

She clutched tightly to Max as two of the people slipped Isabel out of Alex's arms and hurried her away. "Hey, you can't take her!" Alex yelled.

"Please, we only wish to help her," one of the people said.

Alex reluctantly released his hold.

"Forgive us for not arriving sooner," said another one of the people.

"Who are you?" Max asked suspiciously.

"You don't know?" The people looked at each other in surprise. "We are your people, Max. We've come to retrieve you."

"Retrieve us? Why? Why now?" Michael demanded.

"We didn't know where you were," the tallest of them, a man with dark red hair, admitted. "None of you ever called for help, so we assumed that you were dead. When we heard the baby cry for help, we came as soon as we could."

"Isabel's baby called for help?" Alex asked.

"No," said the man. "It was the baby this young woman was carrying. It gave the strongest signal we have ever heard from any child. Once we were here, we could hear your signals, but they were fuzzy and barely detectable. We were uncertain as to your whereabouts. So we simply followed Liz."

Max looked at them, and then looked at Liz. "It's not that simple. I know it can't be."

"We'll be willing to explain it to you, if you simply come with us."

"But what about Maria and Liz and Alex?" Michael asked.

Another alien, this one petite and blond, shrugged. "They will be released back onto their planet."

"No!" Liz cried. "You can't take him away from me again."

"I won't go," Max said stiffly, holding tightly to Liz.

"You really don't have any choice," the red-haired man said patiently. "You're needed at home."

"Screw 'home'!" Max cried. "If they needed us so badly, why the hell did they abandon us here?"

The three aliens looked pained. "At the time, we thought it best."

"Well, I'm not going," Max said.

"Me either," Michael echoed.

The blond alien sighed. "We were afraid of this. You can't go, really. Isabel needs you. She'll die without your help, and without ours."

The third alien finally spoke. "Besides, haven't you always wanted to meet your real family?"

****

Max and Michael left silently, each one accompanied by one of the aliens in case they decided to bolt at the last second. Liz watched, tears streaming down her face. "Max," she whispered silently, hoping he would feel the connection.

There was no response at all. Liz sobbed as she felt Maria wrap an arm around her. "It'll be okay, babe," Maria said, but her eyes looked hollow and dead. She felt Alex come up behind her and wrap an arm around her other side. They stood united, three humans in a place they knew absolutely nothing about.

"If you'd please come with me," the remaining alien, the petite blond one, said.

They didn't seem to have much of a choice, so they went.

****

"When did my baby call for help?" Liz asked, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over the group. They were walking downwards in what Liz assumed was a ship, taking ramps and hissing lifts over the steepest grades.

"About six of your months ago," he replied tersely.

"So you came and took me, right? So why the hell don't I remember anything for the whole time?"

"We saved you. If not for us, you almost certainly would have died. You were very ill when we took you from your government, and your baby was near to death as well."

"What was wrong with me?"

"You had a head injury-a tear in the membrane around your brain-as well as a serious blood infection which endangered the baby. We healed you and let you rest. You were awake and alert for most of the time."

"Why don't I remember anything?"

"We thought it best, all in all, if your memory of the visit was erased. We thought it may hinder you in your search for Max."

"So you experimented on me," Liz said, feeling sick.

"We did need to find what made you different from our species, and what made you similar enough that you could breed with one of our own. Naturally, some changes were made in Michael, Max and Isabel before they were born in order to let them blend in better here. But they shouldn't have been able to breed. We didn't really experiment on you. We just gave you a few abilities that may come in handy in the future. Also, we gave you our tracking ability, in order to better find Max."

"So that's why I sensed he was near," Liz muttered.

"You really are quite an anomaly, Liz. It appears that some major biological changes were made to your body when Max healed you all those months ago. We found it amazing, honestly."

"Yeah," Alex said. "Amazing."

"So is my baby--a mixed breed? Half human and half alien?" Liz said, ignoring Alex's comment.

"Yes, and unfortunately, I doubt that you or your baby would fit in well on our planet, or we might be willing to take you back with us. But I believe that staying here would be best for you all in the end."

Liz's lower lip trembled. "Will I ever be able to see him again?"

"No, probably not. He's needed at home now." "For what?"

The red-haired alien pressed his lips together. "I really can't say. It would compromise us all if that information was released to the wrong people."

"Like what people? Like Marcus?" Alex asked.

The alien smirked, and when he did it reminded them all eerily of Michael. "You won't have to worry about that particular human anymore. In fact, I really doubt you'll be in danger from your own people." "Why? What did you do?" Maria asked.

"Let's just say that the little facility you were held in is now a rather large crater."

****

They were dropped off in Colorado Springs, the ship coming silently out of the nighttime sky and vanishing again just as quickly.

Amy ran out of the house. "Maria? Honey, what the hell was that?"

"Don't ask, Mom," Maria said as her mother approached.

Her mother apparently forgot the ship as she saw Alex and Liz. "Liz, honey, is that you? Oh, my dear God! "Ignoring her own daughter, Amy wrapped Liz in a bear hug. Maria watched and laughed softly.

"Mrs. DeLuca? Can you help me find my parents?" Liz asked softly. "I need to see them."

"Of course, honey, of course," she said, looking disapprovingly at Liz's belly. "But first, I think we should get a good night's sleep."

They all walked toward the house in silence, Alex obviously amused that Amy had barely noticed him. But she turned around as they reached the door. "Alex Whitman, aren't you supposed to be in military school?"

Liz and Maria giggled for the first time in a long time. "Yes, ma'am," he managed.

Amy looked around again as she shut the door behind them. "Maria, where's the Jetta?"

****

After a week, Liz didn't cry herself to sleep. She was simply too exhausted, too worn down by the events of the last seven and a half months. She fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, curled onto her side to sleep most comfortably with the bulge of her stomach. She woke slowly as she felt a cold breeze blow across her bare legs. There must be a window open that she hadn't noticed. She struggled out of the sheets, half-awake, and sat up.

"Don't get up, Liz," said a male voice.

Liz was instantly fully awake. "Max?" she whispered, unbelieving.

"It's me. Don't worry, I'll shut the window." She watched as he closed it and turned the latch gently. Then he sat in the chair across from the bed, studying her face. "I never really got a chance to look at you," he explained.

Her eyes filled with the tears she thought she was rid of. "Is that why you're here? Another goodbye?"

"Do you want me to stay?"

"What? Max? Why wouldn't I want you to stay?"

He sniffled a little. "I thought that you might not be able to forgive me again. Not after I ditched you twice."

"Max--this time I actually understood. You had to help Isabel. You couldn't just let her die. It hurt like hell, like I thought I was going to die, but I...I understood. But I thought that--that you had to go home. I thought they needed you there."

He shook his head. "Not as badly as I was needed here."

"What about Isabel and Michael?"

"Isabel and Michael are at a motel right now, sleeping. They'll be here in the morning. But they told me to come talk to you now."

Liz made a mental note to thank them. "I love you, Max. How did you talk them into letting you come home?"

He shrugged. "I didn't. We took a pod and escaped." "So...so they might be back?" Max just shook his head. "C'mere," she said, and he climbed into bed with her.

Liz reached behind her head and smacked him. "Not forgive you?" she muttered in disbelief.

"Ow," he complained.

They lay in silence for a few moments, peaceful at last. They fit together perfectly, his shape wrapped totally around her to keep her warm. But she had something to tell him, still. "Max, um...there a few things you should probably know."

"Like what?"

"Ummm...well, maybe the aliens told you, but, um, I'm not totally, uh, human anymore."

She felt him stiffen and freeze behind her. "What do you mean?"

"They changed me, Max. And you changed me, too, when you healed me."

"Changed you how? What the hell did they do to you?" "I don't know how to explain it," she said. "But I've been, uh, experimenting the last week." She sat up and grabbed a pen, twiddling it nervously in the moonlight.

"Show me, Liz," he whispered in her ear.

Liz raised her arm, her whole body trembling nervously. She released the pen in her hand, but it stayed in midair, wafting in the breeze. Max gaped, his mouth wide open. Liz concentrated and the pen flew across the room, embedding itself in the plaster of the wall.

"Oh my God," he muttered. "Oh my God."

Liz laughed nervously. "There are a few other things, too."