Alex was sure that he was dreaming when Clive came back in the room. For once, the jerk was actually quiet as he and his minions went about their duties. If Alex had felt better, he would have had a field day with that, but as it was, he was putting a whole lot of effort into watching Liz breathe and writhing in pain. He’d found that writhing was actually quite time-consuming and mind-numbing, if one goes about it the right way. And Alex... had it just about perfected.

He let his mind cloud over as the cramps came again, and asked God to watch over Liz... or an angel... or whoever else was out there...

The room was silent as he fought the pain. Then when the cramps finally subsided, he turned to watch Liz breathe again. He felt like if no one watched her, she might just stop breathing altogether. And no, he couldn’t explain it logically, but... there it was. If he thought picking his nose and singing “Ba Ba Black Sheep” would keep her alive, he’d do that, too.

Alex felt the nausea take over again as the pain faded and he let out a shuddering sigh.

“Don’t get too comfortable, Whitman. ATG coming right up.”

Alex blinked and turned his head to see that Clive was still in the room, smug look in place. “It has not been... twelve hours... yet.” The words came out slow and laboriously. Just that much exhausted him.

Clive smiled. “Nope, you got me there. But the chemo’s too slow. This way, we maximize on our time limitations. Seems like Dr. Garrett has had a change of heart. He needs some results a bit sooner.”

Alex closed his eyes and drifted on the sea of pain. He just wished he could fall asleep and forget for a while. He knew his body was tired, but for some reason, it just wouldn’t happen...

The door closed and all was silent again. Alex slid in and out of reality for a while. Was it just him or was it getting hard to breathe? Had they done the ATG already? He opened his eyes and realized that he wasn’t alone in the room. It took him a few seconds to focus, but dammit, that was Clive standing over Liz’s body. How long had he been there?

Out of all the seething, biting words that came to Alex’s mind, only one made it out- “Hey!” He must have fallen asleep; was Liz still breathing?

Clive turned and walked back over. “Still fighting it, eh? You just don’t know the meaning of the word ‘die,’ do you?” He reached out a finger and touched the machine that controlled the drugs Alex was receiving.

Alex laid there with growing horror as the dripping became a slow running trickle inside the clear bag. Clive hadn’t pressed the buttons on the front to do it... he had manipulated the machine with just a touch.

Alex’s mouth started working, but only a few sounds came out, “...you‘re - a- a-”

Clive turned back to him and smiled. “An alien. Yes. Goooood, Alex. Very good. I’m a shapeshifter, actually. And no, Clive is no longer with us. The last time I saw him, he was squealing like a stuck pig while his eyes burst out of their sockets. Made quite a nasty mess.”

This wasn’t Clive. Clive was dead. Alex’s mind was reeling, swimming in confusion and a spreading numbness. A thought struck him. In the flashes Liz had from Kyle‘s torture, she had seen his abdomen being cut and healed before he was released.

They had suspected an alien in with the FBI. Alex slowly willed his gaze back up to “Clive’s” face. “You- took- Kyle. Why?”

“Kyle. Yes. Well, it was simple, actually. The FBI dolts were investigating Larry Trilling’s claims and Kyle was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, I took advantage of the situation, as part of the drop-off team, and interrogated him myself. Unfortunately, he didn’t know where Eliyamalinka was after all. I left him with just enough scars to scare him, but not enough for medical attention. Although why I am explaining this to someone who should be dead in a matter of minutes, I don’t really know. Overdosing by ATG- should be pretty horrific.”

Alex’s mind was numb now. Eliyamalinka was Isabel. This bastard was after Isabel. He was her hunter. Alex wanted to jump up off the table and pound him until the son-of-a-b*tch couldn’t even think about hurting her. But he couldn’t move. He could just barely breathe.

The hissing sounds of his own breathing filled the room. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the hunter turn back to Liz.

******

Max wasn’t coming. Liz had been waiting forever. She was going to die in this place; her body just wasn’t healing itself like it should. She actually felt ambivalent about the whole thing. The stillness of this place had crept into her bones, lulling her into surrender. Whatever happened, happened. Except when she thought about Alex. Liz’s throat constricted with tears. What had they done to him? She hadn’t seen him again since the tubes, when he was fighting to get free from those restraints. She hoped he was okay, that maybe they would let him go when they realized he was simply a human.

Liz sighed and watched the leaves move in the tree above her idly. They ruffled like someone was running them between their fingers. Realization slowly dawned and Liz sat up, her eyes wide. There was no wind here. Where had that come from? She looked around, but saw only trees. The leaves above her were still again.

But somewhere, just beyond where she could see, there was a stirring around the forest, a shifting. Something was happening...

“Max,” she asked hopefully. She climbed to her feet, pulling the hospital gown around herself tightly.

“Isabel?”

A whisper of wind was her only answer. She felt a chill settle in her bones. Something tugged at her mind and she immediately looked over to the right. There was a figure walking toward her with rapid, determined strides. She found herself taking a step back as he approached, despite the fact that he looked about as dangerous as a twinkie with his paunchy, middle-aged stature. There was something about the look in his eyes...

Just as she was growing frantic, he stopped about five feet away.

“Who are you,” she breathed out.

“Just a visitor, wondering about a certain friend of yours.“ Liz couldn’t stand still under his gaze. She moved to the side and panicked slightly as he followed.

“What friend,“ she managed to get out.

“Eliyamalinka,“ he whispered, his squinty eyes intense. Liz continued to back away, shaking her head helplessly. “I don’t know who that is.“ She swallowed painfully. She knew. This was Isabel’s hunter. His power was filling the air around him, crackling with intent.

His eyes grew hard. “You are completely at my mercy, child. I’m in your mind right now and I can take anything I wish, any information I deem necessary. So, I’ll ask again, where is Eliyamalinka?“

Liz just kept backing away. He shimmered and then he was gone. She gasped and tried to turn before he could-

Instantaneously, he was behind her, his hand on her throat, squeezing and holding her still. “Now, this won’t hurt a bit,“ he whispered in her ear. “Oh, no wait, I‘m wrong. This will probably hurt like hell.“

Liz squirmed in his grasp as he invaded her mind further. She could feel him scratching around in her thoughts as if they were solid, tangible objects. His frustration was mounting and he started shoving, pushing and tearing away at her mind. She should be in agony, but the pain wasn’t registering... why wasn’t it registering? Oh. She was in her safe place, in the wood. It was protecting her.

“What is this,“ she felt a tug that sent panic through her, without her even knowing why. Then, before she knew what was happening, he was gone. Liz fell to her knees, trying to read the vague feelings she was getting. He was still in her mind, right?

Michael...

She was asleep and couldn’t really feel him. Everything was muted here. But she there was a disturbance from him... something was wrong, very very wrong.

She became completely still.

Emptiness...

Then pain came screaming back to her and her wood disappeared in an explosion of red, yellow and orange.

Pain was ripping into her again, weakening her and sending her spiralling into unconsciousness.

Michael! MICHAEL??

******

Maria was just drifting off to sleep when Michael suddenly sat up, stiff as a board. “Michael,” she asked, instantly awake. “What is it? Is Liz awake?”

“Maria, what happened?” Max looked back from the steering wheel briefly. Maria didn’t know what to say.

The expression on Michael’s face was flickering from confusion to discomfort, but no pain. “Michael?”

Then his eyes went wide and his hands flew to his head. “No! He wants- he wants- Isabel. NO!”

Isabel turned in the front seat to look at them, stricken by his words. Maria couldn’t breathe past the panic settling in her chest. “Who, Michael? Who wants Isabel?”

But he was buried somewhere deep inside his own mind, fighting someone she couldn’t see. She pulled away and leaned over the front seat. “Max, do something!”

He slammed on his brakes and jerked the car over. Immediately, Maria heard the squealing tires of Christopher’s van behind them. Then Max was at Michael’s door. As he opened it, Michael shuddered and then collapsed over into his hands. Max looked up at Maria with frantic eyes. “What happened?”

Maria forced the words out between sobs. “He- started holding his head and that was it. You heard- what he said- somebody is after Isabel.”

Then she gasped. Blood was running out of Michael’s nose and mouth in a thick, crimson trail. ******

Alex watched slack-jawed as the hunter pulled away from Liz. “How very interesting. One less alien to kill. And don’t worry,” Clive turned to Alex again. “It wasn’t your sweet Eliyamalinka that bit the dust. I actually found a semi-conductive connection between our hybrid and Krynasettah. Just surfed it and found out that they’re bringing the whole gang here to rescue you two. Isn’t that handy? So I’ll just sit back and pick ‘em off as they arrive, one by one. Eliyamalinka first, of course. But since the other hunters neglected to do their duty, I’ll just take over and get the extra credit when I get home.”

Alex laid there and watched the blood seep from Liz’s nose and mouth. He couldn’t even scream out the slow rage that was consuming him. It just festered in his already nauseous stomach. If he could move at all, he would kill that bastard, right here and now, alien or not.

“Clive” had already moved out of view. “Oh, and don’t worry about your little friend there, she should only last a few more minutes.”

Alex sucked in a harsh breath and a sob came with it. The door slid shut and footsteps walked away.