She turned her face in his direction when she heard his voice. When she saw him she got off the bed quickly and ran to him throwing her arms around him for the comfort she knew he would offer her and that she needed right now. Though her tears had subsided she was still emotional stressed and when she spoke her voice was straggled. "I'm so sorry Kyle."

"Shhh..It's okay Tess." He replied while wrapping his arms securely around her.

After a few minutes she pulled back and started pacing around her room trying to figure out why she had made such a scene before. "I don't know why I just did all that."

"I guess you were upset." Kyle answered not sure himself why she had caused such a scene.

Slowly she stopped pacing and turned her attention to the man that stood there patiently wanting to understand what was going through her mind. "You have to understand I have been told my whole life I was destined to be with Max. It's like it has been programmed into me. I mean I don't even know him that well to actually love him, but my mind keeps telling me I do since that's what I have been told for so long."

Kyle stood their in silence listening to her explanation. He did understand what she was trying to say, but it still didn't explain why he felt jealous of her outburst for Max. "I think I understand what you are trying to say Tess."

"You do?"

"Well, the part about being told your whole life you were made to be with Max and all, but you said it yourself you really don't love him."

"I thought at first I did. I mean love him. I had all these feelings for him, but I realize they were the feelings I was told I had for him. Not what I really felt. And now with the two of them wanting to have a baby together, I don't know something just snapped inside of me."

"They haven't decided to have a baby together yet."

"What do you mean, they went to have all those tests done?"

"They agreed to the tests to see if it was possible for any of you to have children with human's. The decision to actually have a baby hasn't been decided." In his mind he thought, not yet anyway.

Tess was trying to process what Kyle had just informed her and when it finally sank into her stubborn brain she felt more guilty then she ever thought possible. "So Liz agreed to have these tests run on herself to help us?"

"Yea" Was all he said to answer her.

"Oh my God. They must really hate me right now. Especially Liz. What am I going to do now?" The realization of the stupid way she had handled this hit her hard and she felt about two feet tall at this moment.

"Well, Liz doesn't hate you. For one she was the one that suggested someone needed to talk to you. Both her and Max felt really bad for making you so upset. But, I do think you owe them an apology, especially Liz."

"What about you? Do you hate me?"

"Tess I could never hate you. I care about you and I hate seeing you so upset."

"You care about me really?"

"Yea, it's kind of hard not to care about someone who looks...well, the way you do you know."

"Kyle, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you with my outburst. Do you think you could forget about that and we could start fresh?"

Kyle studied Tess for a moment trying to figure out what to say. Suddenly an idea popped into his head and he stuck out his hand and said. "Hi my name is Kyle Valenti."

Tess couldn't help but laugh at his gesture. Accepted his hand and stated. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tess Harding." Within a few moments she then stated. "I guess I should go talk to Max and Liz and try to explain. Do you think they'll understand?"

"I know they will."

Inside Max and Liz's bedroom:

Once Max closed the door to the bedroom behind them, he stood by the doorway trying to decide what would be the best way to approach Liz. They were just starting to get back together and then with Tess's outburst earlier he was sure she would think he belonged to Tess once again. "So, are you okay?"

Liz's mind was trying to process everything that they had been through. She wanted to be with Max so bad, but did she have any right to be with him. She knew Max loved her and she loved him, but was love enough. Once again she was afraid that if she accepted his love sooner or later he would need to fulfill his destiny and she would be left alone. If she let her feelings for Max to continue to surface she didn't think she would survive him leaving her for Tess. She was once again more confused about what was right. When she heard Max's voice she turned to face him and saw how worried he was for her. "Physically yes, emotionally I just don't know Max."

"I'm so sorry for Tess's behavior. Is there anything I could do?"

Liz plopped down on their bed and tried to fight the tears that were forming in her eyes. "Is love enough?"

Max slowly approached her. Sat down on the bed next to her and took a hold of her hand. "It is the strongest emotion we have. If it's not enough, I don't know what is." He then took his other hand and turned her face to look directly at him. "Liz, I know I love you. I want to be with you. You give me the strength needed to get through anything that life throws my way and without you I'm lost. I need you Liz."

"I need you too Max. I guess that's what scares me the most. Sometimes I feel I need you too much, when you do have to leave I don't think I could survive without you."

"I feel the same way about you. I can't tell you what the future holds for either of us, but I can tell you this I have no future at all without you in it. I love you Liz."

"That's why this is so hard. Don't you see Max, I love you too. That day at the cave when I walked away from you. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I love you that much though, that I had to let you fulfill a destiny that I couldn't be a part of."

"I understood why you left. But now, don't you see with these tests..."

Liz interrupted. "These tests will only allow us to see if it is possible for us to be together, not tell us that we should be together. And what about Tess? How do you think she feels about all of this?"

"I don't love Tess! I don't even know her! She may be one of us and yes the two of us might have been intended to be together, but that all changed the first time I saw you. I can't change my feelings no matter what was supposed to be."

"But you were drawn to her. Who's to say in the future you won't be drawn to her again?"

"He won't be."

Both Max and Liz were shocked to see Tess standing in the doorway. They had been so wrapped up in their conversation they hadn't even heard her step into their room. Max immediately stood up and stepped in front of Liz. "Tess what do you want?" He asked her with more anger in his tone then he meant.

Tess expected Max's anger so she quickly began. "I think it's time the three of us talked."

With that said Liz also stood. "Why are you so sure Max won't be drawn to you again?" She couldn't help being curious what Tess had meant.

"Because he never was really drawn to me to begin with." She replied softly. Both Max and Liz gave her questioning looks so she continued. "Look you both know about my special ability. I used my mind control to seduce Max into being drawn to me."

"YOU WHAT?" Max shouted.

"I'm sorry Max, but you don't understand." Tess tried to explain, but Max interrupted her before she had the chance to finish.

"You're right I don't understand. You knew how I felt about Liz and you didn't care. I don't care what you do to me or did to me, but when you play with Liz's emotions like this. Just get out, GET OUT NOW."

Tess backed out of the room slowly. The tears were once again back and her worst fears had just come to life. Max hated her and after what she had done to him he would never forgive her. The fear in her face was evident to Kyle when she came out of the bedroom. She looked directly at him and then went back to her room without saying a word. Closing the door behind her.

Kyle knew her greatest fear was not to be accepted by the other members of the pod squad. He also couldn't allow it to happen so he quickly walked into Max and Liz's room, slamming the door open and yelling. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU EVANS?"

Max was still trying to get his emotions under control, simply stated. "Not now Kyle."

"Now!" Kyle replied.

"Kyle, you don't understand what she did?" Liz tried to play peacemaker before the two said or did anything that they would both regret.

"I know exactly what she did, but what you two didn't give her a chance to tell you is why she did it." Kyle stopped shouting, but they could still hear the anger in his tone.

"Okay, if you know then tell us. Explain to us why she played with our minds, with our emotions and why she thought it was okay to cause so much pain."

By this time Michael and Isabelle were both at the door standing behind Kyle ready to stop a fight if one had broke out. They hadn't said anything, but also waited for the explanation.

"She did what she thought she had to do. That Nasedo guy messed with her mind for so many years telling her that she was created for you Max. That she loved you and that you loved her. She lived for years believing that you and her would be together. It's all she was raised to believe and then when she finally meets you. Surprise surprise you don't love her, you are in love with Liz. Look I know the way she went about all this was a bad choice, but it was the only choice she thought she had. Tess was told from day one you three were her family and would love and accept her as soon as she found you. But, you didn't. None of you accepted her."

"That's not true Kyle, I tried to be friends with her." Isabelle finally spoke up.

"That might have been true, but you weren't Max. Don't you see, she thought she had to be with Max. That's all Nasedo had told her and without him she was alone. Nasedo was all she had. Human emotions were never a concern from his point of view and that's what she grew up believing. Think about it even though you guys were different you were still raised human. She wasn't, she was raised by Nasedo a true alien."

Max sat there and listened to Kyle explaining Tess's point of view. He knew she had it rough being raised by Nasedo and slowly he started to understand her reasoning behind what she had done, but he couldn't help still feel hatred for how she had hurt Liz. Liz was Max's first priority and he needed to know where she stood before he could do anything else. "Liz?"

Liz knew what he was asking with only her name. "I think Tess was right, it's time the three of us talk." Max nodded, grabbed her hand and the two of them walked past the other three that still stood in the doorway and walked to Tess's room.

Max knocked on her door. When there was no answer he slowly turned the knob and they stepped inside of her bedroom. She wasn't there. Liz motioned to the bathroom door and she walked to the door knocking softly. "Tess, it's Liz and Max. Can we talk, please?" There was no answer. Liz tried once more. "Tess, please. We both would like to talk to you." When no reply still came Liz decided to open the door. Has she started to open the door she could see the mirror in the bathroom had been broken and then she noticed the blood? "Max, oh my God, Max." Her voice barely a whisper.

Max took in the sight of the bathroom and the small form that laid on the bathroom floor. It was Tess, her wrists both slashed with a piece of the mirror that laid next to her pale body. He threw open the door and shouted "TESS!"

With that the other members of the party were in Tess's room in a matter of seconds. Kyle stared at her blood that was pooling out of her slashed veins, knelt beside her and screamed. "NOOOooooo."

Max was by her side trying to get her to open her eyes to form a connection with her so he could heal her. "Tess come on, look at me. It's Max, I need you to look at me. Please don't leave us, we need you."

Tess blinked her eyes opened slowly. She tried to focus on the person that was by her, but her vision was blurred. "I'm sorry." Was all she could say before she passed out.

Even though her eyes were only opened a few seconds it was enough for Max to form the much needed connection. He concentrated fixing the wounds on both of her wrists. Once they were healed he knew she had lost a lot of blood and would need a transfusion quickly. "Isabelle get the doc!"

Isabelle didn't hesitate to react to Max's request and ran out to where the door to their living area was. She pounded on it as hard as she could to get there attention. She didn't have to wait long until it was answered and DR Turner came through the door carrying a doctor's bag. They raced back to the bedroom where Kyle had put Tess on her bed. "She needs blood now." Was all Max could say. Healing always drained his power and it didn't take the doctor any time to realize what Max had done.

"Isabelle lie down on the bed next to her. I'm going to give her some of your blood." He instructed. Soon he had completed the transfusion and they all waited to see if Tess would wake up or not. The doctor took her vitals and was pretty confident she would be okay. He told them she would just need to rest. Kyle said he would stay with her. The rest of the group stepped out of the room and DR Turner asked to speak to Max privately. They stepped away from the rest of the group and he began. "The tonic?"

"It hasn't worked for a few days now." Max confirmed what the doctor had suspected.

"Why didn't you leave then?" He wanted to ask why he was still living. He know full well that Max could have easily killed him.

Max read in between the lines of what the doctor really wanted to ask. "We don't want to hurt anyone. You haven't done anything except to try and give us answers. Like you said before we are working together on this."

"The others?" The doctor questioned.

"I'm not for sure, but I think it still has an effect on them." Max replied honestly.

"I want us to be able to trust each other."

"I would like that, but trust goes both ways. It's time we are treated like team members and not prisoners. We all have family and friends that are going to need to know we are all right sooner or later. I think it's time we were able to let them know we are okay."

The doctor pondered Max's words. "Tomorrow, I will arrange everything for tomorrow. Would that be okay?"

Max nodded. The doctor went back to Tess's room to see if there were any changes and to check her vitals once again. She was still unconscious, but her vitals were still good. He then excused himself for the evening.