When Max returned, he found Liz lying facedown on her bed and his first reaction was complete panic because something had happened to her. He ran over to her bed and turned her over, causing her to wake up. Liz was instantly shocked from her groggy state by the look on Max’s face.

Max hugged her close. "Don’t ever scare me like that again!" He fought to breathe normally again. "Are you okay?"

Liz rubbed her hands over his arms in a comforting way. "I’m fine. Just really tired." She cupped his face and looked up at him pleadingly. "Max, you have to stop worrying about me like this. You can’t go around wondering what’s happening to me every time you leave me alone somewhere. You have a very important job to do and you need to focus."

He looked at her seriously. "You’re asking me to stop breathing." He stared at her quietly for a few moments. "It would help if you tell me what happened the other night…"

Liz swallowed. "Max, its over now. I don’t want to talk about it, please."

"Honey, you were really upset again last night. I need to know what Tess did to you. This… whatever this is, will continue to bother you until you talk to me… talk to SOMEONE about it." His voice held a pleading note that tugged at her heartstrings. He truly was the most gentle man she knew.

"I’ll try and talk to Isabel tomorrow. NOW will you let me get cleaned up so I can sleep?" Liz was trying to placate him and change the subject, but the slight narrowing of his eyes told her that Max wasn’t falling for it.

He brushed a soft kiss on her cheek and pulled away. "So, what have you been up to Ms Parker?"

She smiled, relieved that he wasn’t pushing the issue. "Oh, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Nothing important anyways." But she couldn’t hide the wince of pain as she got up.

Of course Max, who was watching her intently, didn’t miss the small sign. He jumped up. "What have you been doing to yourself?"

"Max, relax! I just carried some heavy stuff. Nothing terrible." Liz was grinning at him. He was so cute when he got all overprotective.

Max failed to see the humor, but he didn’t really know what to say without sounding like he was trying to control her free time as well. He tried for a joking attitude instead. "Tell whoever you were helping that you need to be rested for when your leader comes home at night!" That only earned him a slap on the shoulder as Liz breezed out of the tent to the showers.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Journal Entry 18

Unknown elements. Testing the strength of the original elements.

Maria nudged Liz during dinner, making sure that the guys were involved in a discussion that diverted their attention. "Liz, this is like déja vu! That Jans guy hasn’t taken his eyes off you the whole night! Only I liked the way Max stared at you…"

Liz looked up only to see Jans drop his eyes to the table. "Maria, don’t panic over nothing. And above all, don’t make Max panic over nothing. He’s just helping me with some stuff."

Maria looked unimpressed. "There’s something weird about that guy, I’m telling you. And may I remind you that I also told you there was something up with Tess? And that I was right! What happened to her anyway?"

Liz shuddered. "I don’t know and Max freaks out when I talk about her. Maybe you could find out."

"Oh yeah, like Spaceboy is going to tell me anything! Maybe we could pump the Ice Queen for answers." She looked speculatively at Isabel, causing a frown on Alex’s face. "I’ll try later. We are on the verge of being dragged off to their caves!" The last part was said in a stage whisper, obviously aimed at annoying Michael who was leaning over to grab her hand.

The others just smiled as the two went off, holding hands while arguing.

Liz turned back to Max and caught him looking at Jans with an unreadable expression in his eyes. She stepped closer to him, brushing her body against his in an effort to get his attention. As usual, it work instantaneously. "Let’s go home."

Max smiled at her unconscious use of the word and turned her around in his arms so that her back was pressed against his chest. Keeping his arms around her, he marched her out of the tent, their steps matching instinctively. His thoughts went back to what he had just witnessed. Jans had been staring at Liz with an almost hungry look in his eyes. And the smile that he had on his face also disturbed Max. He wondered if he was just being paranoid. Maybe he didn’t like the guy because he spent so much time with Liz. Nick had said that he would ask Jans to look after Liz when Max was out of the camp and Max had agreed reluctantly. He still had a very vivid memory of Jans hanging all over Liz.

Back at the tent, Liz plopped down on her bed and took out her journal. Max grinned at her. She looked so cure sitting cross-legged on the bed and frowning in concentration. "So, am I ever going to get to read that?"

"Maybe if you’re really good." She bit her lip, pretending to think about it. "Its not as if there’s much in here that you don’t already know. See, here I wrote ‘I love Max’. And here I put ‘Max is gorgeous’." Liz burst out laughing at his obvious discomfort. She closed the book, deciding to rather talk to him about his day.

They had and awkward moment getting ready for bed later, not knowing whether or not to undress in front of each other. Max solved the issue by turning his back on Liz and giving her some privacy. That only solved on of his problems, because he could still hear her movements and his mind was supplying the visuals from last night to go along with them.

When they finally faced each other over the expanse of the tent, the awkwardness returned. Again it was Max that broke it. "I can’t imagine you sleeping anywhere but in my arms. Ever again." That was all Liz needed to cross the divide and snuggle into bed with him.

Max caressed her cheek and kissed her gently. He looked serious when he ended the kiss. "Liz, I need to talk to you about something. Actually, I need to ask you something, but… its serious and I want you to have time to think about it. Could you make sure that you could meet me tomorrow night at six? I’ll come get you and we could go for a drive."

Liz sensed his nervousness and wondered what could be so big that he could feel that way. "Max, if this is about the other night-."