Max stood to meet her as she came over. "Oh, honey," she said. Phillip was right behind her.

He willingly stepped into her embrace. He held his mother tightly, and inhaled deeply, absorbing the scents that were uniquely hers. A thousand memories flooded over him of all the times she had comforted him as he was growing up. Ever since the day the Evans' brought him and Isabel home from the orphanage, Diane had been there for him. It wasn't always easy for her to get Max to respond to her overtures, he was always so guarded, even when he was little, but she never stopped trying. Any day that she was rewarded with one of his rare smiles was a good day in her book.

She knew that Max had a special relationship with Liz Parker. They never talked about it, but the sheriff had told her one day - in not so many words - that he believed that Max had healing powers and that he had used those powers one day to heal one of the waitresses of the CrashDown when she'd been shot in the stomach. The waitress, he'd said, had been Liz Parker.

Diane had tried to get Max to talk with her about it months ago, but he refused to discuss anything about it, and had threatened to leave them if she'd insisted on pressing the issue. That had settled the matter. She knew there was something special about her son, but had no answers; no facts other than what she'd witnessed with her own eyes, and Max's assurance that whatever it was that made him different was nothing bad - nothing dangerous.

She'd never mentioned any of this to Phillip, afraid that her husband would wind up pushing Max away while trying to get some answers. She'd planned on telling him one day soon - as soon as Max left home for college. When Sheriff Valenti had phoned them that morning to let them know what had happened, and where Max could be found, they'd rushed right over. Liz and Max had been inseparable for the past two months, and she could only imagine what he must be going through at this time.

"Mom." His voice was a little deeper than usual.

Phillip Evans put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Max. Have they heard anything?"

Max pulled himself out of Diane's arms and said. "No. Not yet. The sheriff doesn't know anything yet."

"I'm sure they'll find her." Diane tried to comfort him.

He nodded. "I know. I know... Mom. We'll find her."

He introduced Kyle to his parents, and then asked his mom if she could go say something to the Parkers. He thought that maybe Mrs. Parker might find some comfort in having another woman around.

"Of course, honey."

Max walked his parents into the back of the restaurant and up the stairs that went to the Parkers' living quarters. He knocked on the door at the end of the stairs, and was surprised when it was flung open suddenly. Nancy stood there with dark circles under her eyes.

"Oh, Max, I'm sorry. I thought you might be Liz. I know, it's stupid." She ran a hand through her hair, which looked as if she done that to it several times already. "I mean, why would Liz knock, right?"

"It's ok, Mrs. Parker." Max said while looking straight into her eyes. "My parents are here, and we wanted to make sure that you were doing ok. ...If you needed anything?"

She looked behind Max and noticed the Evans' standing there for the first time. "Diane, Phillip. Oh, this is a surprise."

Max let his mom pass and Diane swept Nancy up into a tight hug. "Nancy. Nancy." Mrs. Parker's shoulders began to shake. Diane rubbed her back and said, "I'm so sorry. How terrible this must be for you."

While the women embraced, Mr. Parker went over to Liz's father and held out his hand. "Jeff. If there's anything we can do... You just let us know."

"Thanks, Phillip." Jeff seemed dazed as he returned the handshake. "We just don't know what to think. You know, who would take our Lizzy? Why? We're not rich or famous. About the only thing we have of any value is the restaurant. We just don't understand who could do something like this."

"We're sure that the sheriff is doing everything he can to find her. I'm sure that she will be back home again soon." Phillip said.

Jeff fought his emotions. He felt like crying on the other man's shoulder. His voice broke as he said, ""I hope you're right. If we lost her..."

"Now, don't you worry. Everything will be fine, you'll see."

Closing the door, Max silently left the grown ups alone and went back downstairs. As he was passing the lockers were the girls kept their stuff when they we working, he stopped and backed up. He opened the door to Liz's locker and took one of the pictures of her and Maria that was taped inside of it. He tucked it into the breast pocket of his shirt for later. He had no doubt that he would need it in a couple of hours when he tried to dream-walk into her subconscious again.

He walked back into the restaurant and headed over to where Kyle was sitting. "How are they doing?" Aside from living in Roswell his entire life, and therefore knowing everybody, he had dated Liz last summer, and had gotten to know her family very well. His concern was real.

"They're holding on by a thread, but they seem to be ok. I'm hoping that talking to my parents will help them."

Their customary hostility had been put aside for the current crisis.

"Yeah, maybe." He wasn't sure that anything other than the return of their daughter would help. Kyle leaned forward to ask, "So, who do you think has her?"

"I have no idea, Kyle. If I knew, would I be here with you? It could be anybody: one of the other aliens, some government agent we didn't know about, or someone completely new. I don't have the first clue." Max looked around the restaurant. "It wasn't just a random act. They came here specifically to take her, but the question is 'why'." He was fidgeting in his chair. He picked up a menu and set it back down. He rearranged the salt and pepper shakers. He used his powers to fix a scar on the surface of the table. His mind was a million miles away, and he seemed unaware of what he was doing. Kyle just stared at him the whole while. "Evans, pull yourself together."

He focused on the sheriff's son. "I feel so helpless. Liz's life is at stake, and I can't do anything about it."

"Hey. My dad is going to find her." Kyle said with as much certainty he could muster. "They won't have her for long."

"Yeah well, they've already had her for over five hours. They've had plenty of time to do who-knows-what to her all ready."

"Ok, that's enough, Evans. Thinking like that isn't helping her." Max shot him a glare, not caring about his opinion. Kyle continued, "I know, let's plan what we're going to do to the son's of bitches as soon as we catch up with them." Warming to his subject, he said, "I know what I'm going to do to the first one I get my hands on." Kyle stabbed at the table with his finger as he said, "You're looking at 160 pounds of Varsity Wrestler that going to be putting someone in the hospital for a good long time." He flexed his muscles.

"Yeah well, if they've hurt her, you're looking at 170 pounds of pissed off alien that's going to put someone in the morgue."

Kyle chuckled like it was a joke, and then saw the look on Max's face. "Come on." Max's expression didn't change. "Oh, come on, Max you don't mean that."

Max looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Don't I?"

It was a particularly nasty pothole that brought Liz awake. As the memories of the night before flooded her, she went from sleep to alert in instants.

She tried to sit up, and nearly smacked her head on the top of her cage. She looked through the bars at the other occupants of the van. Of the four of them, only one man was looking at her, and he was busy scribbling on a clipboard. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

At the sound of her voice, the three others turned to look at her. One man reached for his handgun to have it ready in case she tried anything.

None of the men answered her. She repeated the questions, and then again. She thought frantically for a moment. "Look, whoever you are, you've made a big mistake. I'm not who you think I am. You know, kidnapping is a federal offense. You guys are all going to go to jail for like a very long time, unless you let me go right now." Still she got no response.

Mile after mile ticked by under the van's speeding tires, and with each passing second, she became more frightened. The cage she was in was not unlike a dog kennel, and her legs were cramping up from being unable to stretch them out properly. Another hour later, she had a more pressing problem than her legs cramping. "Look, I'm not kidding. I have to go to the bathroom, and I mean now. You've got to stop and let me out."

They continued to ignore her. She tried logic, threats, tears, pleading. Nothing she did got the slightest reaction out of any of them. She finally just gave up and laid back down. She was frightened, but somehow, knowing that Max was out there worrying about her, trying to find her, was a huge comfort. She knew that he would never give up until she was back home. She tugged at her nightgown so that it covered most of her, and spent the rest of the trip planning her escape once they were at their destination.

There was a knock on the door. "Yeah." Nasedo looked up at Agent Moss who was entering. He put down his pen and said, "I hope you have good news for me."

"Yes, sir. I believe I do." He entered Agent Pierce's office and closed the door. "We figured out who removed the videotapes from the evidence room."

"And? Who was it?"

"Agent Harrison."

Nasedo rocked back in his chair. "Doug."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, Agent Moss. I'll take it from here. Good work."

"Uhh, sir, there is another piece of news."

"What is it?"

"You were right about them going back to Marathon. I just found out an hour ago. They tripped the alarm late yesterday. The second team is already assembled and on their way."

"What!? Why wasn't I informed sooner?" Nasedo leaned forward in shock.

"You're the one who gave the team their orders. They were to check in when they were on the way, which is what they did. They should be arriving at the target in four or five hours."

"Do we know for certain who it was that tripped the alarm?" He was praying it was some homeless bum that was thinking of moving in.

"Absolutely, sir. The camera is working properly, and it's the kids from Roswell for certain."

Putting on his best false smile, he said, "Terrific. Thanks, Agent Moss. Keep me posted."

"Will do, sir." Agent Moss said as he left the office.

"God damn it!" Nasedo reached for the phone, needing to head off this new disaster, cursing Pierce with every breath. 'What else could go wrong?'

Sheriff Valenti was on the phone to every agency that he could think of, trying to get some idea of who might have come to Roswell for Liz Parker.

He also was certain that her kidnapping wasn't a random act. Someone had come here specifically for her. The only explanation that made sense was that it was in some way connected to her relationship with Max Evans. They could be trying to get Max to surrender himself in trade for Liz's life. Knowing how Max felt about Liz, he was certain that the alien would agree to the exchange. However, a life for a life wasn't an acceptable trade as far as he was concerned. If it came to that, he needed to be prepared to take some other sort of action to keep both of them safe.

So far, there have been no phone calls of ransom demands, or anything else. Liz had been missing for eight hours now, and usually a kidnapper would have called by now, which led him to suspect that they wanted her for some other purpose. What that purpose could be, he had no idea.

"Sheriff," Deputy Hanson stuck his head in the door of the sheriff's office. "There are two calls holding for you. Both sound pretty urgent."

"Oh?" he asked. "Who are they?"

"There's a Ms. Deluca is on line one, and the FBI is on two."

"Tell Amy, uhh, Ms. Deluca," he clarified, "that I'll call her back in a little while."

"Uh, sheriff, she says that her daughter is missing. She's pretty upset."

Valenti shot to his feet. "What!?" He didn't wait for an answer, but snatched up the phone and punched the button that would connect him to line one. "Amy, this is Jim."

On the other end of the line, Maria's mother was in hysterics. There had been a break-in, and Maria wasn't there, and she was terrified that her daughter had been kidnapped. Valenti calmed her as best as he could. "I'm going to send someone over right away. Don't touch anything, ok?" It was another minute before he could hang up the phone. He went to the door of his office and shouted, "Hanson!"

The deputy appeared instantly. "Yes, sir."

"I want you to get over to the Deluca residence right away and get to work. They had a break-in and the daughter is gone. It may be related to the Parker kidnapping. Dust for prints and note anything unusual. I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Ok, sheriff. I'm on my way." He started to turn away, and said, "Oh, and don't forget that the FBI is still holding on line two."

"Damn!" What else could go wrong today? he wondered. "Hello. This is Sheriff Valenti, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"What the hell are those kids doing in Marathon, Texas?!" "What? Who is this?" Valenti didn't recognize the voice, though it sounded familiar. "Who do you think it is? It's Pierce," said Nasedo, whom the sheriff was aware had been masquerading as an FBI agent ever since the real Agent Pierce had died here in Roswell just before summer began. "Do you have any idea what's happening right now? There was an alarm installed in that house, and they tripped it going in. A unit of agents have been dispatched to their location and are on their way even now. I was only just now informed. There's nothing I can do now to stop them. What is going on out there?!" The alien was angry.

"Wait a second. I don't know anything about what you're talking about. Are you talking about Atherton's house in Marathon, Texas?"

"Of course, what else is there in Marathon?" Nasedo asked in exasperation. "What? They didn't tell you?"

"They who? If you mean Max and the others, they are here in Roswell."

"Are you sure about that, Sheriff?" Nasedo asked, his tone becoming skeptical.

"I've seen Max this morning, myself."

"And the others?"

"They wouldn't go anywhere like that without Max."

"Want to bet?" Nasedo ground out. "How well do you know Michael? He's more of an act now, think later kind of guy."

"I'll check with Max, but..." It suddenly occurred to Valenti that he hadn't seen any of the others all morning. Max was falling apart over Liz's disappearance, and none of their friends were there to offer their support. He was left to sit at the CrashDown with Kyle while they waited for news. It was for this reason that he'd called Mrs. and Mr. Evans to let them know what was happening. "Damn it!"

"Sheriff, there's no time. The unit will be there in a few hours. If they capture them, then we're done. There's no chance that I can rescue all of them. Not without drawing a lot of attention to myself." Nasedo took a breath then continued. "Look, even if I left now, I'd never make it there in time. I need you to get over there - now - before they do and get those kids out of there!"

"I can't leave Roswell. Not right now." Valenti said. "I'll call someone at the police station out there and..."

"You can't do that, Sheriff. Think! First of all, they will never trust some stranger. Secondly, those kids are trespassing, and thirdly, we can't take the chance that someone will see something they shouldn't."

Valenti saw the logic of his arguments, and became angry at feeling the situation spiral out of control. "This is the second time I've had to chase them into Texas. What is it about Atherton and his house that makes them keep going back there?" he bit out.

"I don't know and there's no time to wonder about it now. You need to get going. It's about a five hour drive from Roswell to Marathon, isn't it?"

"I can do it in four if I hurry." Valenti admitted.

"Hurry."

They hung up the phone. Valenti grabbed his jacket and headed out of the office. He needed some answers before he just took off down the road.

At the CrashDown, he found Max and Kyle sitting in silence in one of the booths. "We need to talk," Valenti said without preamble. Max looked up. "Sure." He slid out of the booth and followed the elder Valenti outside. "Where are Michael and Isabel?"

"They aren't here."

"I know that," Valenti said angrily. "I'm asking you where they are."

"They went on a road trip yesterday, Sheriff." Max stopped, but the look on his face forced him to continue. "...to Atherton's house in Texas."

"For God's sake, why?"

"We think he might have had something that belongs to us hidden there."

"Max, he's been dead for forty years. How could he possibly have something that belongs to you?"

"He and Nasedo knew each other. We know that Atherton and Nasedo were friends for a time, before Nasedo killed him. We think he stole some things from him a long time ago. Whatever it was could still be in his house after all this time."

"Max," the sheriff said gently. "It wasn't just me that followed you into down there the last time. Topolsky was there, too. That means that whatever was there has probably been picked up by the FBI by now."

"We know that, Sheriff. But we were thinking that Atherton created a secret hiding place that they wouldn't have been looking for. At least we're hoping so. Don't you see, Sheriff? We had to find out, one way or another."

"Why aren't you with them? I didn't think they did anything without you."

"All six of us were supposed to go together yesterday, but with Liz so sick, I couldn't just leave her, so they went without me."

"So, Maria's there with Michael and Isabel?" Valenti spared a moment for the relief he felt.

"And Alex, yes." Max answered, confused why Valenti would be worried about Maria specifically.

"I just got a call from Nasedo. He told me that they tripped an alarm in the house, and that there are agents on the way there right now."

"What?" Max was on full alert.

"I've got to get down there and get them out of the house before Pierce's friends are all over them." Max was torn between wanting to go help his friends and wanting to stay in case they found anything out about Liz. The sheriff settled the matter by saying, "Stay here and wait for any news about Liz. With your powers, you're the best link we've got to getting her back."

Valenti headed for his cruiser. "...And Max... Don't do anything without me." As he was pulling away, he remembered that Amy was waiting for him. He got on his phone and placed a quick call to her. "Amy, this is Jim... Listen, I have good news for you. I know where Maria is. No, she wasn't kidnapped. I don't know why your house was broken into, but your daughter was out all night with her friends. They've had a little bit of car trouble, and I'm on my way to help them out right now. Ok? So don't you worry. She'll be home, safe and sound in just a few hours. I promise."

He was hoping that he was telling the truth with that last statement. Turning on his flashing lights, he turned onto 285 South and put the pedal to the floor.

Kyle pushed the door of the CrashDown open and joined Max on the sidewalk. "Where's he going? Did he hear something about Liz?" Max shook his head.

"Then where's he going?" Max turned to go back inside as he said, "Texas."

Kyle stood on the sidewalk for a second. Then he repeated, "Texas," as he turned to follow Max inside. "What the hell is in Texas?"

When the van pulled off the freeway, Liz was instantly alert. She tried to look out the windshield, the only window on the cargo van, but from her perspective, all she saw was sky. Within a few minutes, they pulled into a parking structure of some kind, and parked on a lower level then the street. The men in the van were all preparing to get out. The one with the clipboard took a heavy blanket and completely covered her cage with it so that she was immersed in near darkness. Not long after, she was being lifted out of the vehicle and placed on some sort of cart. She lifted the edge of the covering and looked out, but all she could see was white tiled halls. There were no signs or posters or writing of any kind to give her an indication of where she was.

The cart was loaded into an elevator, and they traveled upward. She counted the dings and figured that they had stopped on the second floor. She was wheeled down another corridor. This one had some signs and flyers taped to the walls, but they were moving so quick that she could only make out the headlines: Gallagher!, Rally!, Moving Sale!, Art Show!.

One of the men said, "Get the door," and she heard a door being unlocked and opened. The cart turned. Just before she was wheeled into a room, she could see down to the end of the hallway. On the wall was a large painted tiger, appearing to jump out of the bricks. Above that it read, "Go, Wildcats!" It looked like a sports mascot, but she wasn't sure. She had never heard of a team called the Wildcats.

Inside the room, they removed the covering from the cage, and she looked around. "Where am I? Why have you brought me here?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. She was in some sort of medical facility, which meant that she was probably in worse trouble that she thought. Panicked, she said, "What are you going to do with me?"

She finally got a response from the guy who was in charge. He hunkered down so that he was nearly eye level to her and said, "You'll just have to wait and see."

Elated that he was finally speaking to her, she asked, "Where am I?"

"Oh no, I'm not telling you that. Do you think I'm that stupid? I'm betting that you can probably communicate telepathically with the others. I'm not about to give you that kind of information so that you can pass it on to them."

"What are you talking about? What others?"

"Michael, Maria and the rest of your friends. We know quite a bit more about you than you'd expect. The videotape that we got from the FBI was very informative."

Liz was still as she asked, "What videotape?"

He didn't say anything but stood back up. "Is the team ready?" he asked a young lady that Liz hadn't noticed standing there before.

"Yes, sir."

"Ready for what?" Liz asked.

"Good. Then, let's begin." he said.

"What are you going to do?" Liz was getting frightened, but that was nothing compared to when she saw the gurney being wheeled into the room.

Then she was terrified. She flashed back to the scenes of torture that she'd seen Pierce put Max through a few months ago. The terror she'd felt then was nothing compared to what she was feeling now.

"So, Evans," Kyle was getting bored with just sitting there. "As long as we're spending all this time together, there are a couple of things I've been wanting to ask you."

"Like what?" Max was amazed that he was actually so desperate for a distraction to keep his mind off of what was happening to Liz, he didn't mind Kyle plying him with questions. He could guess a couple that the other teen was getting ready to ask him. He wasn't disappointed.

"Like about the night we were drunk and decided to win Liz back. The night of her blind date with that guy from UNM."

"What about it?" The events of that particular evening were fuzzy, but not completely gone, as he'd told Liz. When he'd told her that he didn't remember anything that he had said to her that night, it had been an outright lie. At the time, he had been avoiding getting entangled with her. He'd been such a fool. He looked at Kyle, waiting for him to continue.

"I remember that you painted a heart on the wall of her balcony, but I don't remember you carrying a can of spray paint. I also remember that you just disappeared into thin air, then reappeared on that overhang that was like twelve feet up in the air. You said that you used a ladder to get up there. But there wasn't any ladder, was there?"

"No."

"So how'd you do it, Evans? Fly?"

"No, I can't fly." He was quick to nip that idea in the bud. "I climbed up the same drain pipe that you saw me slide down."

"Oh." Kyle couldn't help but be impressed. He decided that he'd try it himself as soon as Liz was back safe and sound. "Well what about the heart?"

"What about it?"

"How'd you do it?"

Max didn't see any harm in showing him. "Like this." He dragged one finger across the top of the table, leaving a thick red line in his wake.

At a glance, it appeared to be paint, but when Kyle looked closer, he could see that the red wasn't on the surface of the table, like paint; it was a part of the surface. He touched it. It was completely dry, and undetectable to the touch. Max waved his hand back across it and the line disappeared.

"Wow."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Max agreed, referring to the events of the night he'd been drunk, rather than to what he'd just done. "That's the last time I'll ever drink. I can't believe the things that I did that night. I mean, there was all the stuff you saw me do, plus there was this whole light show on Maple Street."

"What light show?"

Max waved his hand in negation. "Don't ask. You know, I almost turned that guy's hair blond when we were all standing on that stage, right in front of all of those people." He shuddered at the thought.

"Why didn't you? Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Liz. She stopped me. She was doing her best to protect me that night. Even from myself." He put his face in his hands. "I owe her... everything. God! What is happening to her?"

He needed to get up and move around. The CrashDown was closed with everything that had happened, but Max didn't think anyone would mind if he helped himself to a glass of water, and it would give him something to do for thirty seconds. He got up and headed toward the counter. He hadn't taken two steps before he was knocked off his feet by a system overload. In reflex, he tried to catch himself on a table and wound up toppling it over along with a chair. Menus and salt and pepper shakers went flying. Liz! Someone was doing something to Liz, and she was scared out of her mind.

"Evans?"

He lay on the floor helpless against the waves of dizziness that assailed him. His stomach heaved, and he thought he was going to be sick. He rolled to his side, and tried to get his feet under him. His skin was clammy and he was white as a ghost. His arms and legs were shaking so badly that he couldn't control them.

"Max, what's wrong?" Kyle was standing next to him.

Max tried to muster some strength, but a fresh wave if dizziness washed over him and he lost whatever ground he'd gained. Then to his horror, he heard footsteps on the stairs in the kitchen. One of the adults was coming down the stairs, probably to investigate the noise.

He raised a hand to Kyle. "Help me up."

Kyle took his hand and began pulling the other boy to his feet. "What's wrong with you?"

"Get me out of here. They can't see me like this." Kyle didn't move.

"Please Kyle." If Max thought he could have made it, he would have run for the door, but the room was doing a fast spin, and he knew there was no way he could get out the door before whoever it was that was coming entered the room. He looked at Kyle and pleaded, "Please Kyle. Before they get here."

Kyle held one of Max's arms across his own shoulders, and grabbing him by the waist for additional support quickly got him out the door. As soon as they reached he Jeep, Kyle let him go. Max slumped down, but held onto his car for support. "OK, now you tell me what that was about."

There was nothing on the earth that could persuade him to explain to Liz's ex-boyfriend about their connection. Besides, this was no time for talking. He'd waited around long enough. Liz was somewhere, scared out of her mind needing him, and he couldn't just wait around anymore. Max tossed Kyle the keys to the Jeep, and said, "Come on. Let's go."

Kyle watched Max carefully make his way around to the passenger side of the Jeep and slowly get in. "Go? Go where?"

"We're going to get Liz. Now."

"But we don't know where she is." Kyle said as he climbed in and started the engine.

Max took at picture of Liz that he'd taken from her locker out of his pocket and said, "Not yet."