ONE WEEK LATER- LIZ AND MAX'S PLACE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

"Isabel, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have you here with us." Liz said, sitting on the couch enjoying a late-night snack of ice cream with her best friend Maria and soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Isabel. It had been a week since Adam-Michael had come to live with she and Max, and Maria and Michael were slowly but surely moving into their new place in Boston. After Max called Isabel to let her know about the major problems they'd been having with Tess and how they feared for Liz and Jordana's lives, Isabel and Alex dropped everything in New Mexico, and brought Michaela out to Boston to be with them.

"Alex and I weren't going to stand by and let Tess hurt you guys like this. Besides, I've loved getting to know my sweet little nephew." Isabel said, smiling. She really had changed her once cold and invincible demeanor in the past few years. Being a mother and a wife has made her realize that she is loved, and she can let people into her life without getting hurt.

"He really is adorable, isn't he?" Liz asked, smiling. Maria dug in for another scoop.

"Yeah...he really is, great, Liz. How DID he ever come from the Wicked Witch of the West?" Maria replied.

"One of the great mysteries of the world..." Isabel began. "God, I always knew Tess was selfish...but I had no idea she was so innately...evil!"

"When she came back, I thought she was just going after Max again...I wasn't worried, I knew Max would never leave me for her...but then Adam-Michael showed up, and I found out I was pregnant...and all these awful things kept happening...it's like I'm living a nightmare."

"We're not going to let that twisted chick win, Lizzie, don't you worry." Maria said, gulping down a heap of cookie dough ice cream, a favorite of all three women. Isabel, naturally, enjoyed hers with a splash of Tabasco sauce.

Just then, Adam-Michael toddled in to the kitchen, clutching a teddy bear his mother had left for him. It was his favorite and he couldn't sleep without it.

"Lizzie?" He asked, walking over to her and hugging her.

"What's the matter, hon? I'm sorry, are we being too noisy?" Liz asked him, kissing the top of his head covered with shiny black hair.

"No, I had a bad dream." He said, his eyes red with tears.

Liz kneeled down to his eye level. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adam nodded a "yes". Liz put down her spoon and grabbed Adam's tiny hand, leading him to the kitchen table and helping him climb up into the chair. Isabel walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed some milk, placing it on the counter.

"Adam, sweetie, would you like some warm milk? When your Daddy and I had bad dreams when we were little, Grandma fixed us warm milk and it always made us feel better." Isabel asked him. Adam nodded another "yes". From his facial expressions, he seemed to be a mix of tired and terrified.

"Adam, can you tell me about your dream?" Liz asked him. He looked up into her eyes, and they began to fill with tears again.

"It was scary," Adam said, crawling out of his chair and into Liz's arms. Jordana crowded most of Liz's lap but he had managed to find a spot to sit on.

"Was Jordana there?" Liz asked.

"Yeah..." Adam said. Maria and Isabel walked over to him with the cup of warm milk. Maria looked at him and frowned.

"Adam, honey, you don't have to tell us about it if you don't want to..." Maria began.

"But I want to tell you...Mommy was hurting the baby." Adam said. "She hurt the baby, then she hurt Lizzie."

Liz, Maria and Isabel gasped. Liz buried her face in Adam-Michael's sweet-smelling black hair. Her own eyes filled with tears and dampened the black hair surrounding her face.

Adam continued. "And I was there and I tried to get Mommy to stop it. I was yelling at her 'Stop it Mommy! Stop hurting them!' But she wouldn't stop. It's all my fault. I couldn't stop her."

"Adam, sweetie, no. It's not your fault... and I'm fine! Your sister's fine, we're both fine. Nothing's going to happen to us, okay buddy?" Liz said to him while wiping the tears of fear from her own eyes. "She's been moving a lot tonight. She wants to come out and play with you, Adam."

Adam put his hand on Liz's belly. He smiled and drew his hand back in surprise when he felt the baby move. "When's she going to be here with us, Lizzie?"

Liz looked up to Isabel and Maria and grinned. "We're not completely sure about that one, pal. But when we find out, you'll be the first to know."

Adam smiled. "Okay."

The ladies and Adam-Michael turned their head to the doorway when they heard footsteps come into the kitchen.

"Hey, how come I wasn't invited to this party, huh?" Max asked, his eyes sealed tight with sleep and his hair mussed. Adam smiled and ran into his arms. Max picked him up and held him tight to his neck. "Hey, pal. What are you doing up? Are these ladies being too loud in here with all their yapping?"

"I had a bad dream, Daddy." Adam said, pulling his head back from Max's chest and looking into his eyes. Max stole a glance at Liz and she nodded. Max knew then that the dream had been about Tess and the baby.

"It was just a dream, Adam. Nothing's going to happen to Lizzie or your sister, ok?" Max said, looking into his son's eyes with concern.

Adam just nodded quietly. "Mommy...she scares me sometimes."

"Adam, your Mommy would never hurt you..." Max said, putting his son back down on the kitchen floor and kneeling down to his eye level.

"I know." Adam said. He yawned.

"You want me to tuck you in, sweetie?" Liz asked him, walking over to the little boy and taking his hand. Adam nodded.

"Goodnight, Adam." Maria said, waving to him.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Isabel said, blowing him a kiss. "We love you."

"I love you, too, Aunt Izzy." Adam said as Liz and Max escorted the young prince back into their bedroom.

"God, I pity that poor child for having Tess as a mother." Maria said, shaking her head.

"But at least he has Max and Liz." Isabel said, yawning.

"For his sake." Maria added in. "I guess I better go, since everyone seems to be turning in..."

"Yeah, I'm sure Michael's wondering if you're ever coming home!" Isabel said, smiling.

"Well, I like to make him wait." Maria said, winking. She grabbed her car keys and hugged Isabel. "Goodnight, girl. Tell Liz I'll call her tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight." Isabel said, walking into the guest room and shutting the door behind her. She smiled at what she found.

Michaela had fallen asleep in Alex's arms again.

It made a cute picture but it really wasn't safe and Isabel was very protective of her baby girl. She carefully and quietly pried the baby from Alex's embrace and placed her into the small portable crib next to their bed. She kissed her and rubbed her back until the baby was back to sleep once again. She then crawled back into bed with Alex and wrapped her arms around his back, nuzzling her face into his neck.

"Mmmm..." Alex said, turning around to face her. "Where were you...I missed you..."

Isabel smiled and kissed his cheek. "Just girl talk..."

"You really missed them, didn't you?" Alex asked her, smiling.

"Yeah...I really did. I mean, they're my family. They're our family. It's the six of us again, the way it always should have been." Isabel said, playing with his dark hair. Alex looked like he was in a far off place. "What are you thinking about?"

"Well...what if...we moved out here?" Alex asked.

Isabel's eyes lit up. "Can we do that?"

"Why not? I mean, I can put in for a transfer at work...the world headquarters of the record company is Boston, after all..."

Isabel gave him a slow, sweet kiss. "You are the greatest..."

"No, you are...I still pinch myself everyday when I wake up...I can't believe you're my wife. How did I get so lucky?" Alex said.

"Well, I did kind of just...fall out of the sky..." Isabel said, snuggling up closer to him.

Alex smiled, kissing her earlobe. "I love you, Mrs. Whitman."

"I love you, too, Mr. Whitman."

* * * *

It was the last day of finals week, and Liz had just finished her very last final exam before graduation. Unfortunately, she'd been too worn out to celebrate, so she had returned back home to take a little nap before work.

She turned her key in the door and opened it slowly, taking in her relief and joy that she was done with school- at least for a while. She had been accepted to Boston University's medical school, but had deferred admission a semester to have Jordana. She kicked off her shoes and dropped her bookbag on the floor in the living room. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and gulped it down quickly, falling into bed. She was even too tired to turn on General Hospital. She just pulled herself into the covers and sighed.

The apartment was serene, quiet. It was almost eerie. Ever since Adam-Michael had come to live with them, and Isabel and Alex and the baby came to visit for a while, they had been living in a quasi-zoo. People always coming in and out. The apartment was full of life, love.

Until today. There was something really off about the place. It shook Liz out of her peaceful slumber.

She sat up in bed, her body trembling. She knew something was wrong. Was it Adam? No, Maria and Michael had him for the day so Liz and Max could take their finals. Isabel and Alex had taken Michaela over to Maria and Michael's and they were all taking the kids to the downtown Children's Museum for the day.

If everyone was accounted for, what could it be?

Liz laid back in her bed and pulled the covers tight around her neck. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand.

2:44. Only an hour until Max should be back from his exam.

"Only an hour." Liz thought. "Sixty minutes. I can handle it."

* * * *

"Honey! I'm finished! We're all finished! I got..." Max said, clutching a dozen roses and a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider. He opened up the door, surprised to see it was unlocked. He walked into the hallway in the front of the apartment, feeling an immediate sense of panic.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Liz? Lizzie?" He asked, throwing his bookbag and his presents for her on the kitchen table and sprinting into their bedroom.

The bed had been made, and the TV was still on. A half-empty bottle of spring water was sitting on the dresser. Max frantically ran into the bathroom. "Liz? Liz?" He cried. The bathroom looked untouched. Everything was in its place. Nothing unusual. He walked back into the kitchen and slumped against the counter. Liz was supposed to be home now. Had she gone to run errands? It wasn't like her to leave without at least leaving him a note or something. He took another step towards the kitchen table and heard a crunching noise beneath his shoes.

He looked down to find that he had stepped in a pile of broken glass. Someone had broken a dish and not cleaned it up. Now he KNEW something was wrong. Liz was a total neat freak. If she had broken this plate, she would have cleaned it up immediately. He bent down to the pieces and picked one up with his right hand.

Suddenly, he got a flash.

Liz making a sandwich and singing to some music coming from the bedroom.

"Oh, oh, you've got the best of my love, oh oh..." She was singing an old 70's song. She placed her free hand on her belly as she piled small pieces of turkey onto the two slices of bread lying on the plate. "Hey, baby girl, I know you're hungry. I've got your favorite coming right up..." She said, smiling.

Then there was a scream, and the plate was knocked to the floor.

A strange man had come up behind Liz, holding a knife to her throat and a knife to her belly.

"Come with me, little girl." He whispered in her ear. "Don't make a sound, or Jordana will die."

Liz's eyes lit up in terror as the man tied her wrists together, throwing her on to the cold kitchen floor, then bounding her ankles together. He grabbed a roll of duct tape from a bag he had slung over his shoulder and put a large piece over her mouth. Liz's eyes were spilling over with angry tears. She couldn't struggle or he would slice her open, she just knew it.

"Max. Help. Max." She called out to him in her mind, hoping he would somehow know she was in trouble.

She looked up above her to the cold white ceiling. Her vision was blocked by the image of tight blonde curls cascading down her face. Then a cold hand on her cheek, then a warm kiss on the forehead. "My darling, Liz."

Liz squirmed around in fear.

"Liz, there's nothing to be afraid of. It will all be over quickly, I promise." Tess said sweetly as Liz continued to squirm.

"Ok, everything's ready. Grab her arms and I'll grab her ankles." The man said, picking up Liz's ankles from the cold floor. Tess complied with her partner's orders and they gingerly lead her out into the hallway of the apartment building.

Their across the hall neighbor had just walked out of her apartment carrying a large bag filled with garbage. Tess panicked but quickly sprang into action. She sent a message to the woman's brain, making her see an image of Tess and the man carrying large bags of garbage out of Liz and Max's apartment, not Liz's squirming, pregnant body.

The woman smiled and waved at them. "Are you friends of Liz and Max?"

"Yes, we're their best friends." Tess said.

"Can't talk now, lots of things to do..." The man said.

"Okay," The woman said smiling, in a daze.

By the time the woman's vision was over, Tess and the man had already left with Liz.

"No! God NO!" Max screamed, sinking to the floor, clutching the piece of the broken plate. "Not Liz- don't take my baby, no, God, please!" He screamed, broken and sobbing. He immediately got another flash.

It was dark, except for a bright light coming from over in her right visual field.

Another image of Tess smiling over Liz.

Then a rip and a scream.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" Liz screamed once Tess had removed the tape from her mouth. "You're NOT going to win! Max doesn't love you! And if you do this, Max is only going to kill you!" She tried in vain to release the ropes bounding her to a cold steel chair.

Tess chuckled at Liz. "Oh, sweetie, you can have him. I just want payback."

"What have I ever done to you...that you didn't bring on yourself?" Liz asked her.

Tess was shocked. She slapped her across the face and tears of frustration filled Liz's big brown eyes. "How dare you even suggest... You TOOK my SON away from ME! You just wait and see how empty you feel when I take your baby away from you...your child...your first born...your only reason for living, breathing..." Tess said, rubbing her fingers across Liz's stomach.

Liz's eyes brimmed over with tears.

Her bottom lip quivered.

"Do what you want to me. Just don't hurt...her." She said firmly.

"Where, where did she take..." Max said, pulling himself off the floor and lightening. His language abilities were breaking down as panic set in. He sank back deep into his subconscious...trying to pull out a clue from the vision he had.

A picture of Owen. There's a picture of Owen.

There's a picture hanging on the wall.

I'm at Morgan's, I'm at Morgan's...

The voices rushed through his head, banging him back into reality.

He rushed over to the fridge and grabbed the list of important numbers Liz had made. "Maria's Cell Phone: 703-9871. Michael and Maria's: 787-0967. Alex's Pager: 505-645-2234." Max's mind was racing as he grabbed the phone and called the first number on the list.

* * * *

Maria and Michael each held one of Adam-Michael's hands as they walked through the dinosaur exhibit at the Children's Museum. Alex was wearing a light blue baby carrier which was holding a sleeping Michaela in it's sling.

A faint chirping noise was coming from somewhere.

"What the hell is that?" Michael asked as Maria rummaged around in her purse for her cell phone.

"It's my phone. You have a problem with the ring?" Maria asked.

"That ring is so stupid, Maria. Why can't your phone just ring like normal phones?" Michael asked. She playfully punched him in the arm as she pushed the "Send" button on the phone.

"Hello?" She said cheerfully. There was a pause.

"M-maria..."

"Max? Max, what's wrong?" Maria asked, frantic.

"She t-t-took her. She t-took Liz."

"WHAT? Wait, Max, WHO took Liz? Was it Tess? Where did she take her?"

"T-Tess took her to M-Morgan's...Maria, they're going to k-kill her...and the baby...help Maria...oh God, no..." Max said, dissolving into sobs.

Michael grabbed the phone from Maria's ear. "Max, Max, it's me. Now look we know you're upset but you've got to calm down, ok? Tell us where Tess took her."

"Morgan's! Do you remember how to get there?"

Michael searched in his mind. He had never been good at memorization. "No." He admitted, defeated.

Max screamed, shouting out directions through sobs.

"Max, Max, I can't understand you..." Michael said. "Max..." Then the phone went dead. Michael looked at Maria, stunned. "Dammit, Maria, I told you to charge your frickin' phone before we left, now look what happened..."

"Michael, stop yelling at me!" Maria screamed. Adam-Michael tugged at her pant leg.

"Mommy has Lizzie, doesn't she?" Adam-Michael asked her. Maria nodded slightly, throwing her arms around him.

"We're going to get her back, kiddo." Maria said, kissing his head. She looked up at Alex, Isabel, and Michael. "I can get us to Morgan's."

"Thank God." Alex said, whispering a silent prayer. "What are we waiting for? Liz needs us. That baby needs us."