Maria grabbed the phone on the fifth ring. “Hello?”

Everything felt unreal after connecting with Liz, so fake and just... unfair.

“What’s goin’ on over there? I’ve gotten two complaints from your neighbors that somebody’s been fightin‘. Has there been any damage? I’ve got your deposit, you know, so it’s coming out of your behind, sister.”

Maria couldn’t even dig out a booger that could care any less about this man’s stupid problems. Yes, Michael had torn the room apart when he was feeling Liz’s pain and yes, Max had just busted through a wall, but he had a hell of a good reason...

“Everything’s fine. No damage. Just some wild, kinky sex going on, that’s all.”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. “That kind of stuff is against the law, sister. I’m coming down there right now to check it out.”

Maria opened her mouth to object, but he had already hung up. She slammed the phone down and turned to the others with her mouth wide open. “He-he’s coming. He’s going to see the wall. Somebody fix it- do the Samantha-genie-alien-thingee!”

Max was cradling his hand and sitting as still as stone on the bed. Isabel was beside him, her face buried in her hands. Michael was sitting as far back in his chair as humanly- no, make that as far back in his chair as alienly possible.

“Did you hear me, guys? The manager is on his way right now. If he sees the hole, he’ll, like, make us pay out the butt, or maybe arrest us for property damage or something. This is bad. Very bad.”

Nobody moved.

Maria looked over the wall- huge, gaping hole, blood from Max’s hand dripped all over creation... “Oh yeah, he’ll never notice that.”

She turned back to the aliens with desperation, seizing the first plan she could come up with. “Okay, this is it. I’m taking off my clothes one piece at a time until someone gets off their ass and fixes that hole. Okay?”

Nobody looked up.

“Fine. You all want to see me butt-naked. Fine. Here goes my jeans.” She jerked open her fly and bent over to pull them down, knowing that someone would stop her. But no one did.

Okaaaaay.

She jerked them all the way off and tossed them on the floor right in front of the two Evans ice sculptures, just to show her how serious she was. And- no response.

“Okay, here goes my shirt... And I’m now standing in my bra and underwear. Anyone care to stop me before my shiny, white butt hits the atmosphere?” She saw Max move slightly and she moved closer and pointed in his face. “Max, I know you don’t want to see me naked, so get up off your ass and fix that wall!!” He just turned away. “Great. Michael? Don’t you want to, like, protect my dignity or something?” Nothing.

Maria threw her hands up in the air and was just about to unload on them when she finally got a response.

“Maria! Just shut up!” Isabel finally jumped to her feet. “You do realize that you’re seriously screwed up, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever- just fix the damn thing.” Maria could care less what she said, at least she was heading for the hole. Maria re-dressed quickly.

“They may be aliens, but they’re guys, you know,” Isabel continued as she waved her hand over the hole. “It’s not like they’re going to stop a girl from taking her clothes off if she decides that what she wants to do.”

Maria pulled her shirt back on just as a knock sounded at the door.

Max jumped to his feet, surprising everyone. “I’m going to Christopher’s. You guys stay here with Michael and make sure he’s okay. Call me if anything changes.”

And then Max was out the door, leaving a very flustered and angry manager ready to inspect their disheveled but undamaged room. Maria walked over to him and smiled charmingly. “You know I was just kidding about the sex thing, right?”

He ignored her smile and pushed his way in. Maria raised her eyebrows and hoped he didn’t try to check out the table area too closely. Michael would just as soon fry somebody as suffer through an interrogation right now. In fact, he was already glowering at the guy.

Maria slipped in between them and settled herself in Michael’s lap. “Just relax,” she whispered to him before smiling at the manager again, who nodded curtly and walked to the bathroom.

Maria sighed and looked over at Michael again. He buried his face in her chest. “I don’t know if I can handle this.” She could hear the tears in his voice.

They brought tears into her own eyes instantly. “It’s okay. You helped her. She’s better now. Just relax, okay?”

He nodded.

Maria tried to control her trembling chin. Maybe Christopher could help them find Liz and Alex. She sat back against Michael’s arm and sent her love to them, like she had through the connection. After feeling Liz’s pain for just that short amount of time, she didn’t even try to imagine what Alex was going through. There was just no point unless you were a masochist. At least they knew that Liz was sleeping now.

“Everything looks in order, but I’ll be back to check you out personally at eleven this morning,“ the man’s smug look infuriated her. Like keeping the hotel room immaculate was supposed to be at the top of their list of priorities. That man had way too much time on his hands.

Maria watched Isabel close the door after the manager left. She opened her mouth to speak, but noticed Isabel heading straight for the bed. Isabel needed some time to recover.

Maria tried to relax and be a comfort to Michael. She closed her eyes and reveled in the fact that they weren’t separated right now. Something in her wanted to feel guilty, but she didn’t give into it. Liz wouldn’t want her to.

******

Joey watched in horror as several men tackled the yellow-suited guy she was sure was Kyle. “NO!” She ran to the edge of the plastic partition and heard Kyle’s muffled shouts turn to a roar. The doctor behind him had done something and Kyle was collapsing.

Joey was frantic. They had him now. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth. He would be so easy to get rid of. They were already lying about Liz and Alex, she was sure. Now they would just add him onto the list and get rid of his body, too.

She couldn’t let them do it. Her body was humming with power and she knew she was going to use it, going to let loose in front of all of these people. She couldn’t let them kill Kyle.

She lowered her hands and walked slowly past where Sheriff Valenti was fighting to get past the two security guards. No one seemed to notice her and she drifted to the opening in the plastic divider. The power was crackling in her, fighting to be let loose.

She raised up her hand and-

found herself flying to the side, down to the ground where she landed- hard. As she fought to get air back in her lungs, her eyes raked over the face of the man who had tackled her. His blond hair and blue eyes looked familiar...

Her body lifted off the ground in a convulsion as she continued to fight for air. Then air suddenly swooped in and she fell back against the ground, sucking in big gulps of air. Eventually, she could speak again.

“Why did you do that?” She turned accusing eyes on the man as he helped her up.

“Because you were going to do something that we’d all regret,” he looked at her steadily.

Joey felt her side tenderly where she had landed. “I was going to help my friend,” she said non-commitedly.

“Not that way, you weren’t.”

She looked into the blue eyes and resented his superior attitude. But as she started to berate him, tears filled her eyes. “I don’t know who you think you are, but my friend- he’s in there and he’s in trouble. I have to help him.”

“I know. Let me handle it. Just promise me you’ll stay out of the way.”

Joey opened her mouth to protest, but then she felt a hum of power building in this man and she automatically backed away. He watched her a moment and then turned to the scene of chaos behind him. Sheriff Valenti had been wrestled to the ground by three security guards, and two of his back-up men had come to help. It was a ridiculous uniformed free-for-all, and the reporters were having a field day. Dr. Garrett was standing off to the side watching the fray with a slightly disturbed look.

God, Joey hated him right now.

Then she jerked her head over to the mystery man who was letting his power out in small leaks. He was standing right beside the plastic divider, trying to look like he might intervene in the cop-fest. But his power was snaking behind him and Joey could finally see his target. The divider started to fall.

As Joey watched in amazement, it just detached itself from the ceiling and fell down in slow waves, over the pile of fighting cops and over the group of yellows dragging one of their own away inside the ICU. A shout rang out and cameras started rolling. The huge sheets landed gently with a quiet hiss.

Sheriff Valenti and the policemen managed to get out from under the plastic easily. But inside the containment area, the yellow figures struggled for several minutes. No one moved to help them. As they finally managed to push the clear sheets away, a hush fell over the crowd. Five yellows stood, with one green-suited man in their midst. And on the ground lay one suited victim, unconscious.

Joey didn’t know what conclusions everyone else was drawing, but it was obvious to her what they should think. The “virus” and these evil men’s intentions were now exposed.

******

Alex was feeling groggy. He must have fallen asleep.

“What-what are you doing?“

Clive’s face was swimming over him. “Just time to change out treatments.” There were hands at his i.v. Someone was taking his blood pressure.

“Twelve hours already, huh?“ Alex said with a cottony tongue.

“Not quite. Dr. Simpson says we’ve taken you as far as radiation will take you. Time for some good old-fashioned chemo. Ready to lose that hair of yours?“

Alex was too nauseous to be shocked. That is, until he saw the gurney beside him. Then, shock pushed the words out of his mouth. “Liz! What are you doing to her? Is she okay?“ She was laying on a bed beside him, bandaged and finally dressed in a plain hospital gown. She looked okay, at least better. But then it was hard to tell when everything was shifting so badly in front of him.

“She’s fine. They tried to question her, but some sort of defense mechanism shut her system down. Know anything about that?“

Alex shook his head.

“Of course you don‘t,“ Clive obviously resented Alex‘s silence. “Well, we’ve never seen anything like it before. She’s in some sort of a coma. They thought maybe you might have more success waking her. Just talk to her a little, see if she‘ll wake up for you.”

“Riiiight.“ Alex almost laughed in his face. They wanted Alex to try to wake her up so they could torture her some more? Oh yeah, he wanted to say, and just shove a grain of sand up my ass and I’ll make a pearl for you while I’m at it.

Clive looked pissed. “Twelve hours of chemo, Alex and then the ATG begins. So you have about that long to talk. After that, well, who knows. If you have anything to get off your chest, I suggest you do it now.”

Alex’s face slackened immediately. How did Clive always manage to make him feel like he’d been kicked in the gut? He turned his head and looked past the scrubs to where Liz lay peacefully. At least now she wasn’t in pain.

Thank god.