"Are you coming with?" Liz pressed the garage door button and left the kitchen at a run. She pulled the tarp off the ATV and started it up. By this time Maria and Alex were out there with her. "I can carry one passenger. Choose quickly because I'm leaving right now." She scooted forward and Alex climbed on.

"Don't 'kung fu' me if I accidentally have to hang on to you to keep from falling off," Alex said as Liz gave the ATV the gas and sped up the road. He noticed uneasily that Liz did not ask which direction Max went. She seemed to know where he was. How on Earth… \\ Whoa-- Maybe that was the problem.\\ Alex thought.

They zoomed up the road past where Max and Liz had stopped on their earlier ride. Liz looked intently along the downhill side of the road as they drove. Suddenly, she slid the ATV to a halt and set the brake. She leapt off and half-ran half-slid down the steep hillside. Alex looked down the hillside but couldn't see anything but rocks and trees. He got off and followed Liz cautiously down the steep and rocky slope.

Liz slid down over the edge of a gully, lost her balance and tumbled head over heels to a halt beside an unconscious Max. He had obviously fallen all the way down the hill; he was full of scrapes and scratches. His jeans were torn open to reveal a gash in his calf that was pumping blood. Liz removed her belt and had begun to attach it as a tourniquet as Alex arrived. He took in the situation quickly and without a word, helped Liz with the tourniquet. Liz held the stick tightening the tourniquet while Alex gave Max a quick once-over to see if there were any other serious injuries. His leg seemed to be the worst of it. As they were doing this Max regained consciousness.

Alex placed his hand on Max's chest, keeping him in a reclining position. "Hey, buddy. Take it easy."

Max groaned and lay back down. What was it with him and ravines lately? "The edge gave way and I fell down here. Thank God, you found me."

Alex said, "Yeah." He looked at the silent Liz, but she turned away and wouldn't meet his eyes.

Liz looked up the hill and still not looking Max or Alex in the eyes said, "Alex, there is a rope in the storage box on back of the ATV. If you tie it to a tree up there it should help us get Max back up to the road."

Alex stood up to go and Liz added, "Bring one of the bungie cords too, please." He nodded and made his way up the hill.

Max looked at Liz. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. He said, "Bungie cord?"

Liz blushed and replied, "You're using my belt." She indicated the tourniquet. "And my jeans are about to fall off." Max looked and yes, it appeared that her jeans were being held up by will power alone.

"Liz…" She did meet his eyes this time and he saw amusement at her situation in them. Unable to help himself, he began to laugh.

Liz said, "You fink." And she joined him in laughter.

They were still laughing when Alex came back down the hill, using the rope to control his descent. He just shook his head at them. Liz regained control and reached out one hand and took the bungie cord from him. "Please hold the tourniquet, Alex." When he had a good grip on it she released it and stood up, hanging onto her jeans. She twisted around and hooked one end of the bungie in a back belt loop, pulled the cord up over one shoulder and hooked the other end in a front belt loop. She looked back at Max and her expression dared him to laugh.

Between the rope and Alex's strength they got Max back up to the road. Liz's main function had been to hold the tourniquet in place. They set Max on the ATV seat and elevated his injured leg.

"We need to release the tourniquet for a few minutes before we start the trip back," Liz said. She gently loosened her belt and winced at the renewed flow of blood.

Alex blanched and turned away. "Yuck. Can't stand the sight of blood."

Liz teased, "So, Alex, I guess that means it’s a good thing you weren't here when I cut the tip of my finger off two years ago…" She held up her left forefinger but Alex wouldn't look at it.

"Ewww, gross. Keep away."

Liz laughed, her expression mischievous.

Max said, "Really? You cut the tip of your finger off?" He held out his hand, intending that she place hers in his so he could inspect her finger. She began to tighten his tourniquet instead.

"Yeah. It was a tragic quilting accident…" She laughed again. "Dave was fun to tease with it. He was even more squeamish than you are, Alex. He almost fainted when we had to put three stitches in it to stop the bleeding."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Alex said, trying not to laugh with them. "Let's get Max back to the house."

After some deliberation, they had Max drive so he could prop his injured leg up on the front fender. Alex rode behind him to hold him in case he lost his balance. Liz originally intended to walk back, but Max refused to let her. In the end she sat on the front rack and helped support Max's leg and held the tourniquet.

When they got back to the house, Max asked Liz to go bring back his crutches. Alex held the tourniquet until she was out of sight then he used his body to conceal Max's glowing hands as he did a quick repair on the torn artery. Max left the skin gashed open so it wouldn't provoke questions. He could explain away lack of pumping blood by saying that it must have clotted.

"I'm really lucky you guys came along when you did," Max said quietly. "I might have bled to death before I regained consciousness enough to heal this."

Alex rolled his eyes and said, "You have no idea."

"What?" asked Max.

But Alex's answer was lost as Maria came running out of the house. She grabbed Max in a big hug and then reached out an arm and included Alex. She didn't have to say anything: her relief was evident on her face.

Liz came back with the crutches. They all got in each other's way trying to help Max inside but no one complained; they were just happy to have Max back safely.

Working together, they got Max cleaned up and bandaged. Max and Alex did their routine about the gash having clotted. Then Alex helped him upstairs to change clothes and wash up. As soon as they got upstairs behind a closed door, Max turned to Alex and said, "Okay, what were you going to say before Maria came out of the house?"

"Somehow Liz knew that you were injured. She ran out of the house and only stopped long enough for me to jump on the back of the ATV. And even more weird, she knew just where to find you. If it had been just me looking for you, you'd have bled to death." Max raised his eyebrows in question. "Max, you weren't visible from the road. I couldn't see any indication you'd gone over the side."

"Then how…"

"Liz stopped the ATV and took off down the hill. I followed and there you were."

======

Liz and Maria stood in the kitchen looking at each other. "I'll say one thing, Liz." Maria shook her head, amused. "Life around you is not dull."

"I could use a good dose of dull right about now." Liz answered. "I could use a shower even more. I'm dust from one end to another."

"I'll take care of dinner while you shower if you want," Maria offered.

"You're a real dear. Come downstairs to the freezer and I'll show you what's available." They went down to the basement together. "I don't think either one of us is up to cooking tonight, we can have leftovers." Liz opened the freezer and showed Maria shelves of neatly labeled packages. "The top two shelves are individual servings of whatever their label says. Maybe we can make a list and give the guys a choice. They're small servings so maybe they'll want two."

"Wow. I'm speechless."

Liz laughed. "I like to cook and I just package the leftovers like this to make it easier on the days that I don't feel like cooking." \\Not to mention the fact that after Dave died I would cook his favorite foods and then not be able to eat them.\\

Liz went upstairs for her shower and met the guys as they were coming down. "Hi. Maria's handling dinner. Don't wait for me; I feel the need for a hot shower," she said. She noticed Alex giving her a look, but she didn’t meet his eyes as she passed them.

======

Max and Alex met Maria in the kitchen. She motioned for them to follow her to the basement. "Come down and pick your dinner. Liz says the freezer and microwave are cooking tonight."

They obediently followed her downstairs and picked out their choices. They got back to the kitchen and began heating their dinners. Alex was doing most of the talking, running on nervous energy from all that had happened that day.

He told Maria about how he and Max were going to try to dreamwalk Isabel that night and about helpful Dave's powerful computer system was going to be. But he didn't think it was his place to talk about Liz's past. Max was becoming so protective of her that Alex thought he'd better let him be the one to tell Maria.

Max started to go sit down but Alex said, "Wait, Max. Tell Maria about your amazing rescue." Max frowned at Alex's tone of voice. He trusted Liz but it sounded like Alex's suspicious nature was getting the better of him.

"Okay, spill." Maria crossed her arms and waited impatiently.

Max remained silent so Alex told how Liz had somehow known exactly where to find Max even though he wasn't visible from the road.

Maria's eyes got wide and she said, "A strangely similar thing happened while we were shopping. We were standing on a street corner…" Alex gave her a look and she smacked him. "Doofus. Get your mind out of the gutter. Well, as I was saying, we were standing there waiting for the light to change and all of a sudden she literally dropped everything, turned around and swooped up this kid who was about to run into traffic."

"So she saved a kid's life. Okay, so don't get me wrong, I'm happy the kid didn't get squashed but how does this relate to the current situation?" Alex wasn't a happy camper.

"So we were standing there talking with our backs to the sidewalk with all this traffic noise… how did she know the kid was coming?" The guys had no answer.

Max was still silent so Alex asked, "Is this type of thing a Czechoslovakian characteristic? Because I'll tell you the truth, all of the uncertainties, her mysterious origins, these things she can do— its starting to freak me out. What is she, Max."

At this unfortunate point Liz entered the kitchen. She stood there in clean clothes, holding her shoes in one hand, devastation written all over her face. "I am not a freak," she whispered.

She started for the back door but Max said, "No. Liz, wait…" He reached out and grabbed her arm to keep her from running away. She made a twisting downward motion with her arm and broke his grip, but before she could get out the door he grabbed her again, this time with a firmer grip.