As Liz got up from the cold floor, she looked around. She was in a very dark room. There was only one very small window in one of the walls, but it was very high up. The room was completely empty…no chairs, nothing. Just darkness.

Liz didn’t know how long she’d been there, but she was sure that Max would be looking for her. “Max.” What if they got him too. “Ok, Liz, concentrate now. Panic later.” She had to get some clues to where she was. That’s how they found Max. She jumped, hoping to jump high enough to see out of the window, but she couldn’t.

As she sat down on the floor, a door opened and two men she’d seen before came in. “Hello, Liz.”
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Through his sources Valenti found out that a black Towncar with two men in suits was seen going in the direction of Texas. Valenti was driving. Max sat quietly in the passenger seat looking out of the window deep in thought. Velenti knew that he couldn’t even imagine what Max was going through right now. He didn’t know what was the right thing to say in this situation. “Don’t worry, Max, everything will be alright?” He knew that no matter what happened, it would never be alright. So, he just didn’t say anything. He just drove the jeep to the Texas border.
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“What do you want from me?” Liz asked trying not to sound scared. “What do you think we want?” the man that seemed to be in charge said. “I have no idea,” Liz said innocently. “Come on, Liz, don’t play games with me. Why don’t you just tell me everything about your alien boyfriend and we’ll call it a night, huh?” He said as he walked closer to her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said not looking at him. “So, this is how you wanna play it?” he asked as his face was practically touching hers. “Fine,” he said as he started to walk towards the door. Then he turned around and said, “You have two choices here, Liz. And one of them is not going to be pleasant. You have two hours to decide.” And with that he and his partner left the room.

Liz stood there trying to breathe again. She saw what they did to Max before. She knew exactly what was going to happen to her in two hours. As she exhaled, she scrolled to the floor again. All she could hope for was that they didn’t have Max and he would find her.
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“It’s 4 a.m. This is insane. Where could he be?” Isabel said. All of them were now at Michael’s apartment. They looked everywhere for Max, but it was like he disappeared of the face off the Earth.

“Listen, maybe you could try finding him…you know…through your mind,” Alex said. “Yeah, that might be worth a try,” Michael said.

Isabel pulled out a photo of Max and tried connecting with him. But something wouldn’t let her. She tried again and again, but with no luck. “I can’t,” she finally gave up. “It’s like he’s shutting me out. Like he doesn’t want to let me in.” “Maybe he knows where she is and doesn’t want us involved,” Maria said. “What are you talking about? We’re always involved,” Alex said. “What about Liz? I mean, that’s how we found Max, right? Maybe she knows where she is or anything else that might help,” Maria said with a little bit of hope. “Sure, yeah, that might be a good idea,” Isabel said as she once again tried to concentrate, this time on Liz’s picture. And right away she was in.

Isabel was in a huge dark room with only one small ray of light coming in. “Liz! Liz!” Isabel shouted as she tried to see in the dark. “Isabel?” she finally heard. As she turned around, Liz was standing in front of her. “Oh, thank God. Are you Ok?” Isabel asked as she hugged Liz. Liz just nodded. “Liz, do you know where you are?” Isabel asked trying to keep her emotions from showing. “No,” Liz said as she looked at the door. Then she looked at Isabel again and asked,” Is Max Ok? Did they get him too?” “No, he’s Ok. He’s coming for you.”

As Isabel said that, she heard a door open. Liz spun around and they both saw two men in the doorway. “It’s too late,” Liz whispered in horror.
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As Isabel awoke, she tried to catch her breath. She felt the fear Liz felt as she saw those two men. Isabel sat there for a moment trying to calm down, but the tears were just rolling down her cheeks.

“Isabel?” Alex said softly, “Isabel, what happened?” Isabel finally turned her gaze to him. She took a deep breath and tried to sound as calm as possible. “She…uhm… she doesn’t know where she is.” “Damn it!” was all Michael could say. “Is she Ok?” Maria asked. Isabel swallowed hard. She knew that when those two men came in the room, they were going to do something to Liz and Liz knew that too. “For now,” Isabel lied, “But Max was right,” she said as the turned to Michael. “It was the FBI.”

They all knew the implications of that…for both Liz and Max if he went alone against them.

“I just wish I knew where he is!” Michael shouted. “He’s with my dad,” standing in the doorway, Kyle said.
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Max was waiting by the jeep while Valenti went to get a map and to ask around if anyone saw the men they were looking for. Max was getting restless. It seemed as though they were right behind those two men, but they were still getting nowhere. And Liz was still in the hands of the FBI.

“They passed here earlier, an hour or two ago,” Valenti said as he walked up to the jeep while unfolding the map. “We need to look for any abandoned buildings,” Max said as they both searched the map. “The guy inside marked a few…” Valenti trailed off as he saw someone walking towards them and he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Pierce.”

At the sound of that name Max’s heart started racing like crazy. But as he turned around to see what Valenti saw, he calmed down. Jim couldn’t believe it. He checked himself: Pierce was dead. He started to pull out the gun, but Max put his hand on it telling him to stop. “It’s Ok,” he said looking Valenti straight in the eyes. And Jim realized at that moment who that man was.

“How did you know where to find us?” Max asked as Nasedo came closer. “I have my ways. You shouldn’t be here.” “Do you know who has Liz?” Max asked ignoring what Nasedo said. Nasedo just nodded. “Then what happened?” “Those two were getting suspicious. I couldn’t kill them while they were inside, so I had to fire them. Then they disappeared.” “Oh, I get it, you were so scared for your life, you sent them after Liz…You promissed to protect us!” Max shouted angrily. “My job is to protect the four of you. No one else matters.” “Why do you think they kidnapped her? To have a tea party?” Valenti said, finally getting a hold of himself. Nasedo thought about what Valenti said then turned to Max, “You can’t go after them.” “You can either help or you can get out of my way,” Max said firmly. For a moment they played a staring game. Then Nasedo said, “The last time they were seen about 15 miles away from here." “Wait, don’t agents’ cars have satellite tracking system?” Valenti asked remembering he heard about that somewhere. “I’ll check with the Center,” Nasedo said as he walked towards his car.
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Liz was lying on the floor trying to breathe. She knew that her ribs were broken and more than likely everything else inside. After the first few minutes of beating, Liz didn’t remember much. All she remembered was the pain.

She struggled to sit up. As she did, the door once again opened. “So, Liz, are you feeling like having a conversation now?” When Liz didn’t say anything, he continued. “Look, I really don’t want to do this to you, but I need to know everything…Max’s powers, where he’s from…everything.” “You seem to know more than I do, so why do you need me?” Liz asked. “Ok, you know what? Fine. We’ll play it your way. Rob…” he said as he turned to the second guy who was holding a syringe with a fluid inside. “Alan, are you sure about this?” Rob asked. Alan, the guy in charge, nodded.

Liz looked up at him terrified. “Don’t worry, Liz. It won’t kill you. Although in about two minutes you’ll wish it did.” As Rob took her wrist and started administer the fluid, Alan continued, “You see, this thing is a total opposite of a pain killer. It will go to every part of your body and effect all of your nerves. Trust me, you never know what the real pain is until you try this.” Then he took out a small bottle out of his pocket and held it in front of Liz, “Now, this is the antidote. The minute you decide to share information with me, I’ll give it to you. Just think, Liz…no pain.” With that he stood up and both men left the room.

It got dark once again in the room and then only thing that was there was Liz’s scream.
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“Did they say if they’ll contact us?” Alex asked Kyle.

They were now at the sheriff’s house. Valenti thought that if anything happened to him and Max, the rest of them would be safer there.

“No, they just said to wait for them here,” Kyle answered as he looked around. Alex was sitting in a chair, Isabel and Tess on the couch. Michael was standing in a corner. “You guys have done this before, haven’t you?” Kyle asked. “This hiding-from-FBI-waiting-for-Max thing?” They all looked at him as if saying, “Yeah, we’ve done this before.” “Doesn’t get any easier the second time around,” Alex said as he got up and went to the kitchen. Michael, too, left the room.
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“Alex, what is it?” Isabel asked as she walked into the kitchen, “What’s wrong?” As Isabel sat down next to Alex, he said, “Besides the obvious?” “Well, yeah,” she said. “I just…I feel like I’m not doing what I’m supposed to…you know… I mean, I always felt like I was…like it was my job to look after the two of them, you know…and now…Now, I’m sitting in the kitchen while Liz is being tortured by the FBI and I can’t help her and Maria…she’s near a nervous breakdown and I can’t just go to her and tell her that it’s going to be Ok, because…well, because I really don’t know if it will be…I don’t know anything anymore.” He looked down then at her again as he continued, “And you…your brother is going up against the FBI and I can’t help you or him or anybody else either. And it’s driving me insane!” He shouted as he stood up. Isabel’s never seen him like that before. “You are helping, Alex.” “Really?” “Yes,” Isabel said as she walked up to him, “You’re here. That’s all that I need right now.” She said as she put her arms around him and hugged him. “You mean, besides the obvious?” He asked trying to make a joke. “Well, yeah.” She smiled back at him.
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“Hey,” Michael said as he walked up to Maria who was sitting on a bench in the backyard. “Hey,” Maria said as she looked up while wiping away the tears. Michael sat next to her. “How are you holding up?” “Been better.”

The two of them sat in silence for a while.

“Liz and I…we’ve been best friends forever,” Maria suddenly said. “She was always there for me, no matter what, you know…And now she’s the FBI’s 411 on ET.” She looked at Michael who after her last words looked down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it the way it came out,” she said realizing that she hurt him. “No, it’s Ok. I understand,” he said. “I don’t know what I’ll do without her, Michael,” Maria said quietly as she felt the tears rolling down again. “Somehow it’ll be Ok,” he said.

Maria looked at him with a shocked expression. “What?” he said not understanding the look she gave him. “Did you just say what I think you said?” “What? I’m just trying to…you know…be a guy.” Maria smiled at him as they looked into each other’s eyes. And Maria leaned in and kissed him.

After a few minutes Michael pulled away and stood up. “We can’t do this, Maria.” “Why not?” she asked as she, too, stood up. “You know why not.” “No, Michael, I know your version of it.” “Maria, don’t start this now.” “Don’t start what?” I need you right now and all you do is run.” “I’m here for you…as a…a…friend.” “I don’t need a friend!” she shouted. “What do you need?” “No, you know what?…Forget it.” She started to leave, then turned around, “No, don’t forget it…You said you loved me, but you know what?…I don’t believe you…not anymore…Because when you love somebody you’d do anything to be with that person. But you…you just use it as an excuse to stay away from me. So, you know what, Michael? From now on…stay the hell away from me!” And with that Maria left, leaving Michael alone.
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Max, Valenti, and Nasedo were looking at the cabin hidden behind the trees. The satellite search led them here.

“There’s a basement, a few rooms, and an attic,” Valenti said as he looked through binoculars.

Getting ready to go, Max said, “Ok, whoever finds Liz, gets her out of there,” then looking at Nasedo, “unharmed.” As he said that, he turned around and started to walk towards the cabin.

“Max, wait,” Valenti said and when Max turned around, Jim held out a hand with a gun in it. Max looked at it for a moment. He has held a gun before. He’s never shot one. Then he took the gun and stuck it in his belt and started walking again.
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The three of them split up. Max took the basement. He slowly walked into a huge dark room. He looked around as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Max didn’t see anything, so he started to leave. Just then he noticed another door in one of the walls. Slowly, trying not to make a sound, Max walked to the door. He unlocked it with his hand.

As soon as he opened the door and walked in the room, he felt like his heart stopped. Liz was lying on the floor. Even with barely any light in the room Max saw that she was badly beaten. He just stood there in shock. Unable to move. Unable to breathe. He finally took a deep breath and as he exhaled, he willed himself to move.

He dropped to his knees beside Liz fighting back the tears. “Liz…Liz,” he called out as he stroked her hair. “Liz, it’s me…Liz.” Max heard his voice breaking as he saw that she struggled to open her eyes. “Max?” Liz said so quite that he could barely hear her. “Yeah, it’s me. It’s gonna be Ok, Liz. You’re gonna be Ok.” He said as she closed her eyes again. He gently put his hand on her face as he started to heal one of the wounds on her face.

“So, is this how you kill people, too?” He suddenly heard someone say as he felt something cold and hard in the back of his head. He knew right away that it was a gun. “Get up…slowly,” Rob said. Max did as told. Now was not the time to play hero. Liz was in the room and he couldn’t do anything to endanger her even more. “Turn around,” Rob said again.

As Max turned around and looked at the man who did this to Liz anger and hate washed over him. He didn’t feel that way even towards Pierce.

“Are you alone here or did you bring your alien friends with you?” Rob asked. “No, I’m alone,” Max lied as he saw Valenti slowly walking up to them unnoticed by Rob. Max knew he had to distract Rob, so that Valenti could get closer. He searched for something to say. “What did you do to her?” Max asked, trying to keep calm. “Nothing that we won’t do to you. I have to say, I didn’t believe Alan at first, but this is just gonna do wonders for my career…”

Just then Valenti came up from behind Rob. “Drop the gun,” he said, “Drop it, now.” As Rob dropped the gun, he turned around. “Sheriff, it’s not what it looks like,” Rob said, obviously not realizing that Valenti and Max worked together. “Really? It looks to me like you kidnapped and tortured an innocent girl,” Valenti said. “No, no, not kidnapped. Just brought in for questioning.” “Questioning?” “Yes, that’s right.” “Well, in case you don’t know, agent, it’s illegal to question a minor without her parents’ permission, so you’re under…” As Valenti was about to finish the sentence, a shot was fired and Rob fell to the floor.

Both Max and Valenti turned in the direction of the door where Nasedo was now standing with a gun in his hand. Valenti stood pointing the gun at Nasedo. “Are you gonna shoot me, sheriff?” Nasedo asked. Slowly, Valenti lowered the gun. The two of them looked at each other for a moment. Then Nasedo said, looking at Max, “Get her out of her. I’ll take care of the rest.”
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They were almost home. The sheriff was driving. Max was sitting in the back holding Liz. Max tried his best not to let his emotions show. Liz needed him strong right now. She didn’t need to see him crying. Healing her physically wouldn’t be a problem. Healing HER…helping her to get through this…that would take a long time. He knew that. So, he just held her closer to him as she slept and he tightened his jaw while fighting back the tears.