This time, Liz didn’t even notice. She was already heading down the white hallway, angry tears rolling down her face. Her energy was at its highest peak, almost drowning her thoughts with a high-pitched whine. The orb would do anything to protect Max and for once in her life, Liz actually agreed with it. Nobody hurt Max and got away with it.

*Liz?* The tentative, sleepy whisper in her mind stopped her cold.

Max? Are you okay?

*I- I’m- they* He was scared, for her, for him.

I know. I know what they did to you. I’m on my way.

*No! Liz-*

But the orb had already taken over and images of flames, burning bodies and carnage filled her mind as she walked forward. None of it registered. She was feeling Max’s fear as someone approached him with scalpel. They were going to hurt him!!

Liz let out a frustrated shriek. As the doors to the Observation Lab appeared in front of her, she held up a hand. She felt a stabbing pain in her chest- they had cut Max!! The fury pushed the pain away and the door was melted within seconds. Instant chaos took over the room as Liz stepped through the door. Past the short hallway, there were men in plastic suits crossing the room and shouting, but she couldn’t hear them. She followed them with narrowed eyes until she felt a sharp sting in her shoulder. She reached up and yanked out the dart.

*Are you okay?*

I’m fine, Max. I-

A man fifty feet away had a stun gun trained on her. She held out a hand toward him. The white power combusted him where he stood.

*Oh my god... Liz? You killed him.*

Max’s terrified amazement reached her. She was allowed to stop as another surge of power filled her. She couldn‘t even think back coherently. She had just killed another man-

She walked forward, past the small offices and into the brightly lit lab. Max was in the dead center, strapped to a metal table. He was covered only by a thin paper sheet and the terrified doctor backing away from him had made one incision in his chest. Blood trickled and pooled on Max’s stomach.

Liz burned with hate at the sight. With her eyes still trained on the smooth, rippled muscles on Max’s chest that were now cut and bleeding, her hand lifted- smashing the doctor against the wall with such force that his back was snapped in two. He was dead before he hit the ground.

*LIZ!* Max was warning her-

Liz whirled to catch two men in scrubs approaching with some kind of weapons. She started to fry them, then hesitated. Something about them...

*Get me off this thing! Liz-* But Max’s powers weren’t working. And the orb didn’t want Max to fight. Liz knew that. She knocked the two scrubs with a power bolt and brought them to their knees.

*Liz- wait-!*

As she walked forward, a short burst of pain caught her in the stomach. It was a bullet.

*Oh god-*

I’m fine.

Liz almost laughed as the bullet dissolved in her midsection. She turned to see a guard approaching with a gun held out in front of him. She smiled mirthlessly and he stopped, his fear evident. She could see the glow from her body reflected in his eyes just before she sent out the bolt of power that consumed him where he stood.

Then she turned back to the two scrubs. They were groaning and fighting to get off their knees. She walked closer and laid a hand on each of their heads.

*What are you doing? Liz?*

The orb searched their minds for her. Bingo. Moe and Joe, as Alex had named them, the plastics who had welcomed her here. A smile crossed her face that quickly turned to a grimace. She would never forget the way one of them had held her while the other man’s gloved hands slowly pulled down her panties...

Max’s rage exploded in her head. He had seen all of it from Alex...

*I’ll kill those bastards. I‘ll kill ‘em! Get me off this DAMN TABLE!!*

She shook her head to clear it of Max’s anger and fear.

No.

Then she looked down at the helpless men in front of her. They looked up into her eyes, and she saw their pain. Not an ounce of compassion stirred in her soul.

“This- is for Alex.” She knew the words had left her mouth, but she couldn’t hear a word of it. As the energy flowed from her fingers into their skulls, she cut off her pain at thinking of Alex again. Their brains hemorrhaged beneath her hands and she dropped them to the ground.

Her stomach revolted violently against her, as thick blood ran out of their noses and mouths. She backed away, suddenly in control again.

She felt Max’s grief turn to fear and she whipped back around.

Guess who?

The man with the piercing black eyes was standing over Max, a sharp knife in his hands. He must have been hiding behind the equipment. The bastard was lowering the knife to Max’s chest, letting the edge of it slice into his skin just above his heart. She felt it pierce her own skin. The man was shouting something at her, but she couldn’t read his lips. In fact, she could barely see him for the furious glow that had started to emanate from her body. Brighter and brighter it grew, until the roaring in her ears overpowered her and the glow became... blinding. She saw the man scream and cover his eyes. Then she felt an incredible explosion that rocked her body...

Then she was on her knees, gasping for breath, completely blinded by the power release. She blinked and brought her hands up to her face. Nothing. She could see nothing. How was that possible? She put her hands down and pushed off the floor, swaying dizzily.

“Max,” she said into the soundless void. He was there.

The humming was just too loud to hear even herself talking. “Max?” She couldn’t see; she couldn’t hear.

*I’m here. I’m here. I just- I can’t see anything.*

His disorientation matched her own as she started to walk toward where she thought he was. Then the orb stopped her and she felt the energy turning on herself. It flowed into her damaged nerves and recreated them. When she opened her eyes again, she could see and the humming of power inside of her was dissipating. Everything was quiet... so quiet, except for the groaning. All around her, there were men in scrubs on the ground, holding their hands to their eyes.

Max was trying to sense her approach, his useless eyes darting around. It broke her heart to see him so helpless, still strapped to the table. She rushed over to him and touched the bands that held him to the table, trying to keep her eyes off of his mostly naked body.

Not this way.

*I don’t mind, sweetness. Not for you.*

She looked up and flushed at the suggestive smile on his face. Even sightless, his eyes twinkled in a way she found utterly irresistible.

*Irresistible, huh?*

Liz’s jaw dropped open, then her eyes narrowed. The connection between them was pretty strong. It might be fun to test it. After all his pain was taken care of.

*It doesn’t hurt- not really.*

Liz rolled her eyes.

Liar. You’re as bad as Michael.

The bands melted off under her fingers, somehow not burning his skin and he sat up in relief, clutching the sheet to him. Liz watched the blood from the cuts run down his chest and cried out softly. Max swung his legs over to the side, modestly pulling the sheet with him. “Liz?“ He reached out his hands and found her face in front of him. Cupping her cheeks softly, he sucked in a breath at the pleasure that flowed through him. She sighed as she felt it, too. He whispered. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and reached out to touch his chest, her other hand resting on the taut muscles in his arm. He needed to be healed, too. Energy flowed from the connection, healing his eyes, his chest and giving him the power that the drugs had weakened. She felt his pleasure in her touch and smiled through her sudden tears as his eyes focused on her once again. She could live in that gaze, in that loving smile. And just touching him again...

*It’s like coming home, isn’t it?*

Liz nodded.

Max pulled his gaze from her eyes and looked around. Liz suddenly remembered their circumstances and the man, the evil man who had tortured Kyle and she and Max. That last blinding flash had been directed at him. But the place he had occupied was gone; only his shadow on the wall, contorted in a painful pose, was left as evidence of his demise.

“Liz, how did- I mean- what happened?” Max’s eyes were wide with amazement and his thoughts echoed hers. A chill ran down her body as she shook her head. The other men scattered around the room had grown silent. Were they dead, too?

“I didn’t do any of it. At least, I don’t think so.”

Liz covered her face with her hands, realizing now that she was once again in control of her body. The rage had gone as well, leaving her filled with horror at what she had done. But she had wanted to do some of it.

*You did what you had to. What it made you do.* And she knew he understood. He’d felt the power controlling her through their connection. *The orb was using you. Just like it always does.*

As his bitterness washed over her, she lurched against the gurney. Max fastened the sheet around his waist and stepped down beside her.

She was trying to shake off the sudden dizziness when his arms went around her. There was no jolt of pleasure this time, just a warm, smooth... sexy familiarity. His soft skin was all around her, and the hard muscles she loved were against her cheek. Liz looked down to see her body no longer glowing and wrapped back in the hospital gown. Thank goodness for small favors.

*Not me.*

Max! This connection was opening up a whole new side of Max to her. She looked up at him breathlessly. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

Max’s eyes were full of love and a few tears. She knew where his thoughts were running.

“It’s okay,“ she whispered. She tried to stop him with her schoolteacher eyes. “Maaaax, stop it.”

He swallowed hard and pulled her in tighter. “Let me just say it, okay? I am so, so sorry, Liz. I never should have left you alone in Roswell. It was dangerous and I knew it. I swear, I will never leave you again.”

Liz nodded, feeling a mischievous smile begin. “Okay, but I might want a little bathroom time to myself, for, you know, bubble baths...”

Max groaned automatically, his head falling back a little as her thoughts rushed through his mind. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

Yep. This connection was going to be fun.

*Fun/torture... it’s all in how you look at it.*

Liz smiled from the safety of his arms. But as her eyes shifted to the room around them, her playfulness vanished. Max’s arms tensed around her.

It was quiet now, but there would be others coming. They had to get to Alex and get out. Now. Max kissed the top of Liz’s head. *We can do this. I’m feeling stronger now. Do you know where Alex is?*

He pulled away and Liz took his proffered hand. “Um, Max. You might want to find some pants before we go off fighting anymore bad guys today.”

Max looked stricken for a moment. *You’re right.*

They stepped over the dead bodies littering the room, Liz with more grief than horror. In a minute, Max was dressed in scrubs and they were at the door. It was so quiet.

*No more talking.*

Yes, sir.

*You lead the way, funny girl. .*

As Liz stepped out into the hallway through the melted hole in the door, uneasiness hit her hard. God, I hate this place.

*Ditto.*

She squeezed Max’s hand and they crept down the hall silently, disabling cameras as they went.

******

Kyle looked around the tense room. Jeff Parker was hunched over in his chair. There was no doubt what was going through his mind. He had refused to even sit near his wife. Nancy Parker was wiping at her eyes and sitting on a love seat beside a thunderstruck Amy Deluca.

Kyle knew from experience that Amy was about one minute short of a violent explosion. His Dad hadn’t told them anything yet, but the whole “Liz-isn’t-dead-but-oh-yeah,-by-the-way-she’s-a-transformed-alien” thing had really knocked her sideways. There’s no telling what she’d be screaming by the end of the day, because there was a whole lot of truth left to hear.

Basically, he and his Dad were just waiting for a plan to come up and bite them in the butt. All they knew was that the families in here were about half an hour from being completely entangled in a nation-wide man-hunt for their otherworldly children and/or their children’s fiances and there had to be something they could do for help.

The way the media had jumped on Kyle after his stupid attempt to shut Garrett up, even his D-average brain could figure out that these families were going to go through hell once the info hit the airwaves.

Kyle looked around the room once more. On the other love seat was Charles Whitman and his very large, very angry wife. Her red hair was shaking with anger and she kept looking around the room like she wanted to find someone to hold responsible for this. Kyle couldn’t blame her, but he found himself not wanting to be on the receiving end of what she was dying to give out. The Whitmans’d been screwed over royally. First they’re told Alex is fine, but in hospital custody because of being exposed to a virus. Then it’s, “oops, it’s a deadly virus and your son contracted it.” Then there’s two dead bodies but neither of them are Alex and everybody seems to think he and Liz ran off together. Add this new little revelation of aliens-among-us and anyone would crack up. Kyle wanted to bet five bucks that it was Ann Whitman who would take the first swing at his Dad when he broke the news to them.

And there was his Dad at the door, with Max’s parents in tow. Joey walked in silently behind them. Kyle felt relief ease parts of him that he hadn’t even realized were tense. He jumped up at her beckoning and followed her back out in the lobby. When she stopped there, obviously figuring they were out of earshot enough, he pulled her off into the hallway and found an empty room. By the time they reached it, she was staring at him with concern. “Kyle, what is it?”

“Did you hear about Garrett’s latest announcement?”

“No.” She swallowed nervously.

Kyle looked into those beautiful hazel eyes and just couldn’t make himself say it. He skipped on to the next business. “So where’s Mr. Happy?”

“If you mean Justin, I have absolutely no idea.”

Joey’s sudden anger surprised Kyle. But he liked it.

It was her next words that he didn’t like. “He left and took the orb with him.”

“What?” Kyle cursed under his breath. For all they knew, Garrett was about to broadcast Justin’s name and picture on the news and he was running around with the orb like some deranged caveman. What was the guy thinking? “What about Max? Did they call?”

“They’re headed to Berkeley. They think that’s where Liz and Alex are.”

Finally. A direction to head in. That’s what they needed. “Good work, Joey. Let’s get back and tell my Dad.”

“Wait- Kyle,” Joey’s hand on his arm stopped him. “What did Garrett say?”

He hesitated. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you can’t react to this right now. There are too many people here. Swear you won’t react or I won‘t tell you.”

Joey nodded. “I swear.” He could see the fear in her eyes. And with good reason. What GOOD news had they had in the last twenty-four hours?

“Garrett just told the whole freakin’ world that there are aliens in Roswell. He’s going to produce names and pictures his next time at bat, which should be in thirty minutes or less.” Her eyes had widened until they were round, brown pools of complete fear. Kyle couldn’t stand it. He grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug. She was trembling and he tightened his arms around her. “Not now, Joey. Don’t fall apart on me now. We have to do a few things and then we’ll get you and that English bloke out of here safe. Alright?” She just clung to him.

After a moment, Kyle pulled back to look her in the eyes. “Give me ten minutes, okay? I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The tears in her eyes broke his heart and he made an oath to himself. They would NEVER get Joey, no matter what happened. NEVER.

“Okay,” she said with a quiver in her voice. “But I’m tougher than I look. Don’t worry about me.”

Kyle nodded. He knew better than to disagree.