Liz tossed the paper to the floor and curled up on her side, arms wrapped around her stomach. She listened to the sounds of the traffic speeding by on the highway. She didn’t really know where she was, she had never been to Milwaukee before. She had gotten a taxi at the bus station and had asked the driver to take her to a hotel. He had looked her over carefully, taking in her faded blue jeans and the duffel bag on her shoulder.

“Something on the inexpensive side?”

“Yes, please.”

She had hoped to stay downtown where the inconvenience of not having a car wouldn’t, well, be too inconvenient. But the driver told her there were only two kinds of hotels in the downtown area: expensive and the kind he wouldn’t even let his mother-in-law stay in. She had ended up at the Super 8 along the interstate.

She sighed, wishing again for her car. She hoped Max would think to look for it at the bus station. She’d hate for it to get stolen or vandalized. Maybe she would tell Maria to pass the message on to him. She sat up and reached for the paper. She could cry later.

--

The apartment was dark, the blackness split only by the headlights of passing cars. The lights moved across the room, from one wall to another, passing briefly over the sofa where Max sat. He had sat down seconds after hearing the message from Liz’s employer, his mind running over the events of the previous evening, then further back over the years. All of the days he had shared with Liz, all the secrets, the intimate looks, the feel of her fingers as they touched his. And now she was gone. Finally driven away by the one thing that should have kept them apart all those years ago: He was different.

A part of him wanted to respect her decision to leave. They had denied the truth about themselves for so long, struggled to make their relationship work, even though he knew, they both knew, that it was wrong. That she could never have a normal life with him. But he had tried to give her that normal life. He had given up the search for his past, he hadn’t used his powers since he and Liz had gotten back together in college. Even when he locked his keys in his car on one of the coldest days of the year he had called a locksmith, and seriously depleted his checking account, rather than wave his hand in front of the lock. But it hadn’t mattered. No matter what he did, he couldn’t escape the simple, undeniable truth: She was a human and he was not. They didn’t belong together.

He dropped his head to his hand. But whether they belonged together or not was beside the point right now. She was out there, risking her life, carrying his child. He had to find her. Even if it meant letting her go again later. He reached for the phone. There was only one person he could think of to call.

“Hello?”

“It’s Max.”

“I expected you to call a couple of hours ago already.”

“You’ve heard from Liz then?”

“Yeah, but there’s no point in asking me anything. She made Maria promise not to tell me where she is.”

“Damn.” Max sighed. “Do you know how she’s doing?”

Michael shrugged, forgetting that Max couldn’t see him. “If Maria’s mental state after she talked to her is any indication, I would say that Liz is pretty much a train-wreck. What the hell is going on, Max?”

Max fell forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What did she tell Maria?”

“That she’s pregnant and you don’t want it.”

“That’s not true, Michael.” Max felt the anger beginning to stir in him. “I never said I didn’t want it.”

“Did you tell her to get an abortion?”

“Yes, but not because I don’t want it. You know it’s not safe for any of us to have children. There are just too many complications, too many risks.”

“Hey, I’m not arguing with you. There are a lot of risks. But you had to know how Liz would react. Even I know that Liz wouldn’t let anyone, not even you, push her into a corner like that.”

Max flopped back into the cushions and stared at a crack in the plaster ceiling. “I thought she would be reasonable. She’s always so rational about everything.”

Michael snorted in disgust. “Max, do you hear yourself? This is not a ‘reasonable’ situation. If you were you this cold when you talked to Liz then I’m not surprised she left you.”

“I’m not being cold,” Max flared.

Michael’s reply was cut off by muffled arguments. Max pulled the receiver away from his ear as someone banged the Guerin’s phone against something hard and unyielding. He heard Michael yelp in pain and then someone was breathing heavily into the phone.

“Max?” Maria was seething. Max knew if they were in the same room, he would be doing a lot of ducking and running. He closed his eyes, waiting for the onslaught. “You are so lucky you live halfway across the country, mister. How could you? Liz adores you, you know that. How could you ask, no, make that demand, that she give up the one thing that means more to her than you?”

“Where is she, Maria?”

“Uh uh. A promise is a promise and I promised Liz I would not tell you, or anyone else, where she is. If she wants to talk to you I’m sure she’ll call you herself.”

Max slammed down the phone. This was getting him nowhere and he didn’t want to tie up the line in case Liz should try to call. But he had a sinking feeling she wasn’t going to. He laid his head on the arm of the sofa and pulled his feet up. He clutched the phone to his chest and stared into the blackness of the room. There had to be a way to find her. He supposed it was too soon to file a missing person report and the police probably wouldn’t care anyway. She had left him; she wasn’t kidnapped. Maybe he could report the car stolen. He sat up. It had been so long since he had used his powers that he hadn’t even thought of it until now. He could dreamwalk.

--

Liz chewed the pen as she looked over the list of potential jobs. She would start with the hospital labs, though she didn’t really have much hope in being hired. She was overqualified for one thing and she knew that her pregnancy would be a hindrance. No insurance company would want to take her on when she would be working with infectious bacteria, no matter how careful the conditions. She thought she would have a good chance at one of the medical office jobs though. She knew the terminology and was proficient with practically every popular software program.

She set the list on the bedside table and flipped off the TV. She was going to have to find a bus schedule. Trying to take a taxi to apply for jobs and look for an apartment would quickly eat away her small supply of cash. And she had to find an apartment soon. This motel may not be as expensive as the ones downtown, but it was still $50 a night.

She lay back on the bed, thankful she was so exhausted. She didn’t want to dream tonight.

--

Max raced to the bedroom and stopped cold. The picture that had sat on their dresser for the last six months was gone. He hadn’t noticed it missing before, but Liz must have taken it. He opened the closet and pulled a box out from the corner. He didn’t have to dig down very far; it was a fairly recent photo. He pulled it out and held it up to the light.

Max smiled faintly, remembering how he had pulled the camera out of the pack he carried when she hadn't been looking. He had taken the picture the weekend they came to Chicago to visit the University. Liz was in profile, gazing out over Lake Michigan with a look of rapture. She had never seen a body of water that big before. It was like the ocean to her.

He pulled his eyes away and glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten. Too early for Liz to be asleep under normal circumstances, but these weren’t normal circumstances. She had to be exhausted and he didn’t think he could wait any longer. He would try it now. If he couldn’t get in, he would simply try again later. He didn’t care if it took all night.

He lay on the bed with the picture on his chest, his finger pressed lightly on Liz’s smile. And he waited.

--

Max opened his eyes, unsure of where he was or what he should do. He was standing in a hallway, surrounded by doors. The hall stretched on out of sight. He spun around. The view was the same behind him.

“How in the hell am I supposed to find her in here?”

He hesitated, looking both directions, and then finally walked to a door and opened it. It was pitch black inside. He listened carefully, but didn’t hear a sound. He frowned and closed the door. By the time he got through all of them it would be morning.

He stood in the hall, frustration mounting. He was afraid to go one way in case she was somewhere at the other end. He took four steps back down the hallway and stopped. He looked behind him and took a few steps back the way he had come. Maybe. He took a few more steps, going further down the hall. Yes. He could feel her. He wasn’t sure where she was, but he could definitely feel her presence somewhere on this end.

He closed his eyes as he walked slowly down the hall, reaching out with his mind. He pictured her, sitting on one of the rocks that dotted the lakeshore, laughing in delight as the gulls swooped around them, her hair blowing back in the breeze. He shuddered. Her presence was stronger now. He could feel her close by. He could feel her fear.

He opened his eyes and ran to the nearest door, throwing it open. And she was there, sitting on a bed in a motel room. A baby lay next to her. And he was there, too, in her dream. He stared at himself and felt his stomach tighten at the cold, indifferent way the dream Max looked at Liz.

“Max.” Liz’s voice shook, face stricken with fear. “This is our daughter—“

“I don’t want to know it’s name,” he cut her off. He advanced on her, his eyes hard. “You should have listened to me, Liz. Don’t I always know what’s best for us?”

Max stood frozen in the doorway. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, what he was hearing. Liz was afraid of him. He watched as his dream self reached out a hand to stroke her hair and Liz shrank from his touch.

The dream Max’s jaw clenched. “I told you a baby was a risk we couldn’t take. We aren’t like other people, Liz. We have to do everything we can to eliminate risk from our lives.”

His eyes dropped to the baby then. He picked the small bundle up and rocked her in his arms, but his face remained cold and unforgiving. He raised his eyes to meet Liz’s.

“No,” Max whispered from the doorway. He took a step forward.

The baby was snuggled in the crook of the dream Max’s arm. He pulled her close to his chest and snaked one arm around her body, crossing over her face, gripping her tiny chin. Liz’s eyes widened in horror and she reached for her baby… just as Max jerked his arm back sharply, twisting the baby’s neck too far.

“NOOO,” Liz wailed and flew at him. She slapped the dream Max hard across the face and pulled the baby from his arms. “No, no, no,” she chanted over and over as she held her dead child close to her, rocking back and forth.

Max still hadn’t moved. His mind forgot the commands to send to his body. Instead, it was churning, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. He knew this was only a dream, but the terror and panic Liz was feeling was real. He had to move. But the dream Max was ahead of him.

“We have to make sure this doesn’t happen again, Liz. And there’s only one way to be sure.” He wrapped his fingers around Liz’s throat.

Max watched in horror as the baby slipped from her arms and she weakly tugged at her attacker's hands. Her eyes rolled up in her head and then closed. He was killing her. He was watching himself kill her. And she wasn’t waking up. Wake up, Liz. You have to wake up. Liz. Liz. Liz.

“Liz,” he screamed.

Her eyes flew open and the dream Max and their baby disappeared. Liz was alone, sitting on the rumpled bed. She looked around, bewildered. Her eyes finally came back to rest on Max.

“I’m still dreaming?”

“Yes,” he whispered hoarsely.

“But you’re real, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“What are you doing here?”

“I had to find you. I had to make sure you’re all right.”

“Are you satisfied with what you found?”

Max winced at the harshness of her tone. “Liz, I would never hurt you. You have to know that.”

“But you already did.” Her voice was flat, devoid of emotion. She looked away from him. “I want to wake up now,” she stated calmly. She waited a second. “I want to wake up now.” Her voice rose a notch. “I want to wake up now.” She was desperate.

Max took a step toward her, reaching for her, but she saw him from the corner of her eye and scootched to the other side of the bed.

“I want to wake up now.” She raised her fists to shoulder level and pounded against an invisible wall.

“I want to wake up now,” she screamed over and over, pulling at her hair, pinching her arms, all in a frenzied attempt to wake herself from her nightmare.

Max stood on the other side of the bed, helplessly watching, as the tears streamed down his face.

--

He sat up straight in his bed, his breath coming in labored gasps. He flipped on the lamp next to the bed and pulled the sweat-soaked shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. He picked up the picture of Liz and brushed one finger across her hair, stroking it lovingly.

“I’m sorry.”

--