We needed to get him out without alerting his captors. We can’t afford to fight the other side now. Not with him vulnerable because of her presence…

It was still dark by the time Nick’s group arrived at the site where Max had disappeared. They were scattered in two vehicles, Nick having brought some men along that Liz has never seen. She didn’t care about anything but getting to Max. She had felt a wave of fury from him that scared her in its intensity. That was quickly followed by total panic. All she could make out from him was: "Don’t come." It didn’t make sense to her at all, so she kept quiet, fearful that Nick would keep her out of the rescue effort if he knew.

Isabel, Michael and Tess woke up from their restless sleep in the Jeep when the lights of the two cars fell over them. Michael was out of the car the minute he saw Liz. He pulled her into a rough hug. "Liz, I’m sorry. You know he loved you above all…"

Liz had to fight the tears following Michael’s actions. He hid such a soft heart beneath his sometimes gruff exterior. "Michael, he’s alive!"

Michael searched her eyes uncertainly. He didn’t know whether Liz was losing it or if he should start hoping with her.

Liz smiled up at him, conviction shining in her face. "I felt him! He-."

"What nonsense!" Tess interrupted her. "There is no way you could sense him. Firstly, you’re a human and secondly, none of us feel him. I share a genetic connection with him. I would be the first to know!"

The group just stared at her in silence. Then Michael turned back to Liz. "So, you felt him, huh? What do we do now?" The last part was aimed at Nick.

Nick looked at Liz. Michael looked at Liz. In fact, everyone was looking at Liz…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Max was getting desperate. He had tried warning Liz to stay away, but she had either not heard him, or she was ignoring him because he could feel her coming closer. His stubborn, beautiful, wonderful Liz was walking right into a trap.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz was concentrating on pinpointing Max’s location. It was very hard with Tess glaring at her and everyone else practically dancing around her with anxiety. She eventually walked away from them, holding up her hand when they tried to follow.

"Oh, please! How much more dramatic-"

"Shut up Tess!" Michael and Isabel talked in chorus.

Liz had no idea what she was doing. She was going on instinct here. She tried reaching out to Max again, but the feeling of panic coming from him was drowning out everything else in her mind and she mentally backed away again. What were they doing to him? Why was he so scared? She turned around anxiously, her eyes finding Isabel.

Isabel was at her side immediately. "What is going on?"

"I don’t know! He is really scared about something and I can’t… It makes it hard to concentrate." Liz’s voice was pleading. "Do you think you could try to use me to… to find him?"

Isabel paled. "He was afraid? What for? Are they doing something to him?"

Liz looked away, avoiding her searching gaze. "Uhm… I don’t know. He just seemed… panicked, I guess."

"Let’s do it then!" Isabel took Liz’s hand and they both closed their eyes, looking for Max. She felt him immediately. Izzy didn’t have time to be amazed at how strong the connection between her brother and Liz was, she just yelled at Max.

"Max! Where are you? You have to help us find you!"

Max sounded frantic. "Isabel! You have to keep Liz away from me! It’s a trap for her… or me, I’m not sure. PLEASE! Just keep her away!"

Isabel understood then. Max would never be in such desperate fear for himself, only ever for Liz. "Okay Max, I’ll try, but you have to tell me where you are!"

Max answered in a relieved tone. "I have no idea. Its dark. And Izzy, please warn Nick. Its-"

The connection was severed unexpectedly, when Liz was jerked away from Isabel. Isabel opened her eyes and found Jans basically hugging Liz. He was mumbling something about being worried about her. Where the heck had he come from? Isabel ws sure he hadn’t been in either of the two cars.

Liz was assailed by an avalanche of images while Jans touched her. Some disturbing ones were coming from Jans himself, but the most emphatic one coming from Max: a wave of extreme hatred. Liz pulled away from Jans, realizing that Max had been reacting to Jans. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what it meant.

Isabel and Jans both made a grab for Liz at the same time. Isabel was a second slower than Jans. He grinned at her while holding Liz in front of him like a shield. "Sorry, she’s mine now! Since the leader will be dead soon, I can reign by her side!"

The rest of the group had arrived by then. Nick held them all back, not wanting Liz to get hurt. He glared at Jans. "What is wrong with you! These are our leaders, our own people!"

Jans’ voice was condescending. "You are so pathetic. Why does he HAVE to be our leader? Because he was born that way? I don’t care for that anymore, especially in the light of what happened to our planet. And getting little Liz in the process is just sweetening the deal…"

"Our people will never accept you after this. It will get you nowhere!" Nick’s eyes went to Liz. "Are you okay?"

Liz nodded. She had been taking deep breaths, trying to stay calm, but that was a difficult task with Jans’ hand glowing on her skin. She mustn’t think about Max either, because that just opened the connection between them and she couldn’t afford to be distracted by his distress. No, she had to keep her wits about her…

Michael was watching Liz worriedly. He never wanted to be the person to tell Max anything had happened to Liz. She seemed so calm. He wondered if it had anything to do with Max. Catching Liz’s eyes, it dawned on him that she was trying to communicate something to him. He blinked in confusion as he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.

Liz gave up being subtle and mouthed to Michael: "Be ready."

She didn’t give him time to absorb that before she whirled around in Jans’ arms and kneed him in the groin. Luckily for her he had not been expecting trouble from her. There was a stunned moment where the only sound that could be heard was Jans’ groaning. Then both Michael and Nick were on top of Jans, holding him down.

When Jans was effectively captured, Michael turned to Liz in astonishment. "What the hell was that?"

But Liz ignored the question and walked over to Jans. "Thanks for teaching me self-defense, you bastard! Now where is Max!"