His stubborn belief that a human was his future was ludicrous. There's no way he could have ever been programmed to want a human. Isabel and Michael weren't helping with their little humans, either. They were fighting their attraction to one another, Tess knew. Don't they understand they have no choice? They never had any choice? Something must be done to bring things to their natural conclusion. She had better things to do than stick around in this little po'dunk town of Roswell, New Mexico. One thing is becoming clear: as long as Max continued to pine for Liz, she would get nowhere with him. So, how to stop him from hoping Liz might come back to him one day? Why, of course. Tess just needed to make sure she couldn't - permanently. It wouldn't be the first time she'd killed to possess him. But how? This was something of a delicate matter. If Max connected her with Liz's demise then her game would be over. She would still win, but she wanted to appreciate the victory.

She needed to act fast. The others had been expecting her back weeks ago. If she wasn't so caught up in savoring her revenge, she would have been gone by now. Tess vowed that before the week was out, Max Evans would be hers. Then the fun part could begin.

It was two days after Liz told everyone about the mind games that Tess had been playing with her. Max was at first astonished, then angry. Isabel forced him to relate what Tess had been doing to him, too. In the course of the conversation, Max discovered that Liz hadn't been in the house the day that he thought he was kissing her and asked her to leave. It was Tess. Everything that has been wrong in his life lately was Tess.

They hadn't yet come up with a good plan to combat her and her intentions. Liz didn't mention her totally ridiculous suspicions that Tess was some malevolent creature out to get all of them. Things were bad enough as it was, and she figured there was no need to throw that log onto the fire. Not until Liz could come up with someway to prove it.

She felt tense, like something was getting ready to happen. Despite the bustle of the restaurant around her, she felt a certain stillness. She was expecting Max and the others to be here soon. She got off work in an hour, and they all had plans to catch a movie tonight. "Final Destination" was playing, and they had heard it was pretty good.

It was so good to be back with Max. To be able to kiss him when she saw him, to be able to moon over him without guilt. They had stayed out late last night at Buckley Point, kissing and talking. When he brought her home, dawn was just creasing the horizon. They had talked of every minute of their life that they had been apart these past three weeks. Max had gone to Michael yesterday and got a warm welcome. He thanked Liz for helping his friend get over what had happened. She shrugged it off, and told him that Michael was like her family, now, too. She, like Max, would do anything to help and protect her family.

Maria had had her fears concerning Liz and Michael put to rest, and Alex was still in awe over Liz's new abilities. Yes, she sighed happily, life was good. Sheriff Valenti came into the CrashDown with his thermos, which Liz filled up with fresh coffee for him. "You're looking better than the last time I saw you," he said.

"I'm feeling a lot better."

"That's good."

"When is Kyle coming home?"

"Three more weeks."

"Is he having a good time?"

"The time of his life." Max walked in the door behind the sheriff.

"Yeah, I know how that feels."

The sheriff looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess maybe you do." He tipped his hat at her. " 'Night. Max."

"Goodnight, Sheriff."

"Hi."

"Hey."

"So, um, where's everyone else?

"They'll be here soon. Isabel was still deciding what to wear when Alex showed up."

"There's plenty of time. Can I get you anything?"

"Just you."

She glanced around the nearly empty restaurant. "Coming right up." She took him by the hand and pulled him into the kitchen. No sooner had they cleared the doorway then she was in his arms, and he was kissing her like he never meant to let her go. He grabbed her under her arms and hoisted her up on the counter, then stepped between her thighs. She clutched him to her as he moved his lips down her throat, then back to her cheeks and forehead only to bury them back in her lips once again. He used one hand to anchor her head in place. There was nothing he loved more than touching her hair when he was kissing her, he decided. The other hand traveled up and down her spine, alternately clutching her to him, or stroking her, wishing it was her silky skin beneath his fingers rather than the starchy fabric of her uniform.

"Ahem, is this a private party, or can anyone else join in?" Michael and Maria walked in the back door behind them, hand in hand.

Liz rested her forehead against Max's while they fought for breath. Her blood was pouring through her veins, and her skin was tingling everywhere. She closed her eyes to savor the emotions that only Max could arouse in her. Max stepped back, and turned away, needing a moment of privacy to get his body back under control. Liz went to hop down from the counter, but slipped on some grease on the floor. Michael reached out and grabbed her arm to steady her. Liz put a hand against his chest, and was suddenly flooded with images.

In the space of a couple of seconds she saw a girl, (Isabel?)emerging from one of the incubation pods, a run through the woods, headlights, a feeling of anxiety and mistrust. Strong arms picking Michael up despite his struggles. Hank shaking hands with a man in a suit, then Hank turning on Michael in anger. She could feel Michael's pain and confusion at each blow from Hank's large hand. She saw Michael being reunited with Isabel and Max, and their vow to always stay together. To never tell anyone. She saw herself get shot, and felt Michael's disbelief as Max went to her. A hundred emotions flooded her as she saw Maria, Max, Isabel, Alex, Pierce, Valenti, all doing things she remembered from her own experiences, but from Michael's point of view. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over.

"Liz?"

"Liz?!" It was Max. He snatched her back against him. She returned to the present with a thud.

"What happened?"

"Is she ok?" Maria sounded anxious.

"Liz," Max was brushing her hair back. "Liz," he said softly. "What happened? Are you ok?"

"Yeah." She met Michael's eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just ...had a ...flash."

"A flash?" Michael moved closer, and peered into her eyes as if he could see what she had seen.

"Oh great, there goes the movie." This from Maria.

"What?"

"Don't we need to go... I don't know, dig something up now? I mean, that's the usual order of things. She gets a flash, we dig up some alien artifact, the FBI comes running, and we're in it up to our necks."

"No." Liz smiled at her friend. "No, it wasn't anything like that." She looked back up at Michael.

"What did you see?" he asked.

"You. Just you."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"It was like your whole life. Your life flashed before my eyes."

"What? How?"

Liz smiled at him. "I guess we're even, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I haven't had any secrets from you for months," referring to her stolen then returned journal. "Now we're even." Liz took Max's hand and walked back into the dining room of the restaurant. Michael just stood there with his mouth hanging open.

"Ok, that was weird." Maria wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

The next day, Liz was walking down the street towards the library. She wanted to do some more research. She was specifically interested in seeing if there was anything about the flashes she gets from time to time. Were they clairvoyance? Or something else? Suddenly behind her, she heard the squeal of tires, the fast roaring of an engine and sirens. She looked behind her, and saw that Sheriff Valenti was in hot pursuit of someone who seemed intent of avoiding capture. Liz watched in disbelief as the unknown driver suddenly swerved on to the sidewalk. He was headed straight for Liz. She screamed and darted into the street an instant before he got to her.

Incredibly, he laid on the brake, and blared the horn. She was still congratulating herself on moving fast enough to get out of his way when he hit her. She went flying up into the air, and landed hard on the pavement. Out of control, she rolled for several feet before coming to a stop. She hadn't even had a chance to feel fear, it all happened so quickly. Her last thought before losing consciousness was disbelief that he had got her when she was so clearly out of his way.

Sheriff Valenti got out of his patrol car. He sprinted past the man he had been pursuing yelling to the driver to stay in the car. He ran over to the young woman laying so still on the ground, afraid of what he would see as he rolled her over. "Liz Parker." His worse suspicions confirmed. "Oh no. Hold on, hold on, Liz." She had already been through so much these past few months. Now this. Just a couple of days ago she'd been 'having the time of her life.' Now her life was draining away.

He ran back to his car and radioed for an ambulance, and looking at Liz lying so unmoving on the street, he made a fast decision and ordered dispatch to locate Max Evans. He knew about Max's powers, had seen them first hand himself when Max saved his son from a bullet that was in his chest, inches from his heart. The sheriff knew that perhaps Max was the only one who could save Liz now, assuming the dispatch officer could locate him.

He quickly knelt back at her side. "Liz, help is on the way. Do you hear me? Hold on, Liz. Hold on, I'm here. Max is on his way, too. He's coming for you, so you just hang on until he gets here." Valenti was saying anything he could think of to get her to fight. She looked pretty broken up. He was sure the injuries were extensive. He wasn't even sure if she could hear him.

Across town, Max unexpectedly had a pounding headache. "What the hell," he wondered aloud. There was no warning. One second he was fine, the next, instant migraine. There was a ringing in his ears, and his palms began to sweat as his hands shook. What was happening to him? The phone rang suddenly. The sound caused his eardrums to throb. He answered it if only to keep it from ringing again.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is county dispatch. It there a Max Evans there?"

"Yeah, this is he."

"Please hold for a radio connection with Sheriff Valenti."

The sheriff? Radio connection? What was going on? Then, suddenly, he knew. Liz. Liz was hurt. Liz was lying somewhere needing him, and it was bad enough that the sheriff would risk calling him. "Max?" Valenti's voice was crackly with static.

"Sheriff, where is she?"

"Outside the library. She stepped into the road in front of a speeding car. She's hurt pretty bad, Max. I think you'd better get over here. Max. Max?" Valenti didn't know that Max was already in the jeep. He hadn't heard anything but that Liz was at the library.

He could hear the ambulance siren as he pulled up next to Valenti's cruiser. "Liz! Liz!"

There was blood everywhere. One leg was laying at an impossible angle. One rib threatened to break through the skin. He reached for her, but Valenti put his hand on Max's arm. "Wait. There's a crowd. The ambulance, Max. Let's get her into the ambulance. I'll make sure you get in there alone with her, I promise."

Max saw the wisdom of the plan, but he was going insane. She was so still. Was she even breathing? He started touching the small cuts that she'd gotten from rolling across the pavement. "Liz. Hang in there. I'm here, Liz. Just a moment more and you'll be safe. Hold on." One by one, the small cuts and scrapes disappeared from her skin. Valenti looked on in awe and watched helplessly as tears streamed down Max's face. "It'll be ok, Liz, I promise." The two men knelt on either side of the unconscious girl and prayed she'd be all right.

After an eternity, the ambulance screeched to a halt beside them, and two EMS guys ran over to Liz with a stretcher. Max couldn't bear to let go of her while they worked to put her on the cart. Valenti put his hand on Max's shoulder and said loud enough for the rescue team to hear, "You should go to the hospital too, just to get checked out."

"Is this man injured, too?"

"Could be," answered the sheriff. "Best he get looked over."

"Come on, son." He motioned Max into the back of the waiting ambulance. As Max passed the rear tire of the ambulance, it suddenly went flat. Valenti noticed, and grinned. 'Good job, son. Now that's thinking under pressure,' he grinned. "Hey, hey guys, you have a flat tire." The EMS guys came over to look. They began jumping and running around looking like the Marx brothers, pulling out tools and a jack. Max pulled the rear door closed behind him, and welded it shut. He pulled the curtain closed that separated the rear from the front of the ambulance then turned to Liz. His hand was already glowing when he put it on her. God, she was hurt everywhere. Where was he to start? He put his hands on either side of her head, concentrating, looking for any damage. Yes, a concussion, a blood clot was forming. He removed all traces of them and moved down. Her spine seemed unhurt, but there were several broken ribs. One had punctured a lung and she was bleeding internally. He concentrated fiercely. One hip was damaged. One knee was dislocated, and the other was fractured pretty badly. Her arms seemed fine as did the rest of her legs. Healing always sapped his strength, he could feel he was getting near the end of his reserves. Did he miss anything? He didn't know. He needed to be sure.

He moved back up near her head, and shook her. "Liz, Liz, look at me. I need you to look at me. LIZ!" He shook her harder.

"Max," she said weakly.

There was still something wrong, but what? He put one hand under her head. "Look at me."

She slowly opened her eyes and focused on him. Instantly he was able to form a connection where he could see into her. All the way to her soul. He laid his free hand gently on the side of her face, then slid it down her front, chasing the mysterious injury. There it was. Another piece of bone fragment buried in her lung. He dissolved it and repaired the tissues.

"Max?" Liz's voice was stronger. She sat up looking dazed.

"How do you feel?" he asked, shaking. The last of his energy flowed out of him. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

Liz did a quick mental inventory. "No, I'm fine."

"Thank god."

"What happened? Drunk driver?"

"Max, I think it was Tess."

"What?!?"

"I saw the car. It was driving on the sidewalk so I jumped into the street to get out of its way. It wasn't anywhere near me. But it hit me. Tess must have made me think it was coming towards me, and I moved into its path."

"I'll check it out." His voice was indescribable. If Tess had caused this... "You're going to the hospital."

"No, Max, I'm fine."

"Tell that to the three EMS and twenty passers-by who saw you get in here. You're going. I want you to get checked out. I'm not a doctor, you know." He paused. "Liz, when I saw you laying there..."

"Shh," she reached out a hand to touch him. "I fine. You were here to save me. Again." She pulled his head towards hers. "Thanks, Max." She kissed him. He ran his hands over her face.

"If I lost you... Liz, this has to stop. I couldn't bear it if anything had happened to you."

"I know. Let's get everyone together tonight and make a plan."

"A plan, huh?" He kissed her. "I know how you like plans." He began moving towards the rear door of the ambulance. "Now lay down and look sick."

Within seconds he had the door open. The paramedics had just finished changing the tire, and were storing their tools in the side panel of the vehicle. Sheriff Valenti was questioning the man driving the other car.

It was just as Liz described. He had been going down the street when suddenly she had jumped in front of his car. He had been unable to stop. The strangest part about the driver's story was that he didn't know why he was speeding so fast down the road to begin with. He had just been about to park his car when unexpectedly his foot was on the accelerator. He couldn't explain it. Then Liz had stepped out in front of him, and he couldn't react. It was like every driver's worst nightmare.

Max caught Valenti's attention, and nodded him a little way off. When the sheriff came over to him, Max quietly said, "I don't think it was the driver's fault."

"How come? He was obviously in control. He doesn't appear to be intoxicated or on drugs."

"That's just it, I don't think he was. I think Liz was meant to be a target here. This was planned."

"A target? What do you mean?"

"She told me that she saw the car coming at her down the sidewalk, so she ran into the street to avoid it."

"It wasn't on the sidewalk, Max," the sheriff quickly pointed out. "I was right behind it the whole time." He shook his head at the memory. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Liz jump out in front of it."

"But that's just it, Sheriff," Max asked for understanding with his eyes. "Something made the driver speed right here, and made Liz see it coming at her down the sidewalk so that she would actually cause the accident herself. Someone wanted to hurt Liz, but needed it to look like a complete accident."

"Who would deliberately want to hurt Liz, Max?" Valenti asked in disbelief.

Within an hour, Max was sitting in Sheriff Valenti's office telling him what he could about Tess and his suspicions about her. He told Valenti that he would take care of it, and asked him not to question her about the accident, telling him that Liz would be safer if Tess didn't know they were on to her.

The sheriff had reservations about agreeing to Max's plan, but he was hard pressed to come up with a better one. How can you fight someone who can manipulate your thoughts and actions; who had the power to take control over your body, at the same time manipulating your thoughts and perceptions. He suddenly had a need to go talk to his father in the convalescent home where he lived. His dad had a lot of years experience in chasing hostile aliens, and the thought was unexplainably a comforting one.

For now, however, he decided that this might be one of those times when you have to fight fire with fire. He agreed to let the aliens handle this bizarre situation. He had given the driver of the car only a citation for speeding, needing to take some sort of action with him, and let the rest of the accident slide, but resolved to keep a closer eye on both Tess Harding and Liz Parker in the future. He didn't envy Max Evans for what lay ahead. As they say, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,' and if that woman happened to have special powers, then watch out!

The next day, Tess, assuming her plan had worked, went looking for Max. She couldn't find him, or anyone else of the gang. She thought they might be at the hospital, and was actually floored to learn that there was no Liz Parker currently being treated there. The nurse quickly clarified that she had been in yesterday, but only as an outpatient. How could that be? That car should have knocked her into next Tuesday. 'Max,' she quickly realized. Somehow Max had been there to save her. Damn it. What was with him and this human?