Max nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you were,” Michael responded with obvious disinterest. “Listen, I’m ditching the peace talks. You guys are doin’ just fine without me.”

Michael headed for the kitchen in relief, stretching out the muscles that had grown stiff. His mind thought back idly to the fact that he had accepted Max’s bid for king so easily. But if there was one person who wouldn’t lord it over his subjects, it would be Max. He was probably the one guy who could order Michael around without ending up flat on the ground.

Michael smiled as he walked past the kitchen table where the girls had set up camp. Maria and Shelley were leaning in and talking quietly together. Seeing Maria being quiet like that tipped him off as to what they were discussing- being transformed. Maria had lots of questions about that.

Beside them, Isabel and Delia’s conversation had obviously taken a nosedive because Delia was on a subject Michael knew Isabel didn’t want to explore.

“Tell me, what is it really like being Max’s sister? Is he always so... mysterious?”

Michael smothered a smile as he waited for Isabel to explode. But she just played along airily, “Oh, definitely, mysterious and brooding. Well, until he takes a dump and stinks up the whole bathroom. That’s usually where the magic ends for me.”

Michael barely stopped himself from laughing out loud. Delia was silent and Michael turned to peek at her.

She was smiling lightly. “You’re making fun of me.”

Her sense of humor took her up light years in Michael’s estimation. As for the Max infatuation, well, he was way too into Liz’s brain to not be able to list the finer points of Max’s attraction for girls. And hell yeah, that used to make his skin crawl, and make him want to wash his mind out with soap. But, what the hell. He admitted it; he could understand Delia’s thing for their future king.

Of course, that didn’t mean he approved. Actually, the thought of someone pulling Liz and Max apart made him physically ill. Had to be a side effect of the connection, because he knew that’s exactly how it would make Liz feel, too.

Which made him wonder again. Why was Liz still blocking him tonight? With all that was happening here, he’d expected her to be peppering him with questions all night. Weird.

Delia and Isabel were off into mate comparisons now. “It’s not that I don’t like Tug.“ Delia absently fingered the fringed edge of her jeans as she sat cross-legged in the chair. “But, please, I’ve know him since I was three.“ Delia was pretty in an unusual way and she talked animatedly with lots of gestures. “He helped potty train me, for god’s sake! And he’s always running after me, telling me to be careful. He’s more like a father, honestly.”

Sounded like she and Tug were in the same boat as he and Isabel. Michael found himself wondering what it had been like for her, growing up with Christopher, Melanie and Tug as her family. Had she remembered her brothers and sister at all, or was she clueless as he had been?

He was startled when Delia looked over at him, her eyes narrowing a bit. “Do I meet with your approval, big brother?”

Michael wanted to say something flip, but his throat choked up on him at her words. All he could do was nod and look away.

He could feel everyone’s eyes on him and turned around to gaze out the window. The trees and big skyline almost completely blotted out the stars. He hated that. He wanted to see them. So he headed for the door and ignored Maria’s voice behind him.

Once outside, he leaned over on the railing and looked up with disappointment. The sky was hazy and dark orange-brown with yellowish bits of light just barely showing. He sighed loudly. In Roswell, the stars twinkled like diamonds in a pitch black sky.

He heard the door open and close behind him and footsteps falling softly in his direction. Maria. Her arms slid around his waist. “Hey spaceboy, you alright?”

He nodded, just enjoying her presence.

“Michael,” Delia’s soft voice penetrated their quiet moment. He turned to see her looking at them nervously. Maria kissed his shoulder blade and then pulled away to walk toward the house.

Michael watched Delia approach, feeling too nervous to be comfortable. Ever since Justin had told them about Illnyasetsa, Michael had been trying to figure out how he felt about having a little sister. And he still didn’t know.

Standing in close proximity to her now, he found himself falling back on old habits- silence and furtive glances. And as he glanced back at her, he caught her doing the same thing. Delia caught his emerging grin in between furtive glances and stopped to look at him. A slow grin spread on her face, too, livening up the green eyes.

“How old are you,” he found himself asking.

“Just turned sixteen. You?”

“Seventeen ‘til December... I guess.”

“Sucks not knowing our real birthdays.”

“Yeah,” he agreed readily. “Sucks even more not knowing who your real family is, ‘til now.” She blinked at him and a silence stretched between them. Michael felt like he’d probably said more than he’d meant to.

“Yeah,” she agreed quietly, sudden emotion clouding her eyes. Michael hesitated a moment, then pulled her in his arms before the tears could fall. She was stiff, but didn’t pull away.

“Where’ve you been, huh,” she whispered.

Michael didn’t answer. He couldn’t.

******

Liz knew it was all in her head, but repeating that to herself just didn’t help. She felt vulnerable being upstairs in her parents’ apartment and was desperately trying to avoid listing out the times before that she had felt this way- this combination of dread and unreasonable fear.

She needed someone to be here with her, helping her to ignore it as she had been doing rather successfully most of the day. But Alex was currently making his fifth pit stop of the night. Liz let out a frustrated sigh.

His pea-sized bladder had always been a running joke between them, “Tinius Bladdus” the nickname they’d stuck him with. How did Isabel put up with it?

Liz pushed a shaky hand through her hair, trying once again to pinpoint the reason she felt this way. This morning she had thought the dread was about Max’s meeting with Christopher, but that had gone fine.

Then, she figured it must be about Kyle, or Joey, but they had been located safely at the park and were now at home with orders to stay put for the night. And as far as she and Alex were concerned, the usual contingent of undercover police was watching from outside the apartment, she was sure. They hadn’t left her for one moment since the funeral.

So if everyone was safe, then why did she feel this way? In desperation, she reached out for Michael with her mind, trying to make sure they were still alright.

Then she paused. Connecting with him would make him feel it, too. She sighed and shifted restlessly. It was a half-baked decision, anyway. As soon as Alex got back, she would feel better.

A sudden click at the door behind her made her jump. She blinked her eyes open wide, listening to the quiet sounds of entry behind her. She knew within seconds that it was her mother, moving efficiently, as always, to put her keys and purse on the table.

The t.v. was tuned in on an old James Bond movie, one of Alex’s favorites, and Liz fixed her eyes on the on the screen like it was NOVA. Emotions were twisting inside her at the thought of facing her mother, but she forced herself to be still and wait. She grew more tense as her mother came over and sat in the armchair beside her. Liz kept her eyes focused on the buxom blonde on the t.v. screen, even though every sense was directed at her mother.

“Your father told me you were coming home, and I was honestly afraid to see you.” Liz couldn’t help the small frown that puckered between her eyebrows, or the thin veil of tears that covered her eyes. Her mother’s voice was soft, broken as she continued. “I’ve done nothing since the wedding but try to come to terms with what I’ve done, what I‘ve cost you... what I‘ve cost everyone.” Liz blinked. Her mother was crying- “I have ruined... so many people’s lives with my fear,” she spat out the last word with venom. Liz was frozen in amazement. “And it doesn’t matter how badly I feel, I can’t bring Max back. All I did was bring about the one thing I was trying to prevent all along- losing you.”

Liz felt tears flood her eyes and a pang of guilt for letting her mother believe that Max was dead. But it was short-lived. The anger just below the surface in her was as unforgiving and cold as that casket they had lowered in the ground three days ago. But she didn’t scream the way she thought she would.

Or throw things, or callously disown her mother as she had wanted to in her darkest moments. She turned to her mother with devastating calm, wiping away the single tear that fell. “You’re right. You can’t bring Max back and you’ve lost me. Was it worth it? I mean, how much did Larry pay you, mother, to turn Max in like that?” Her mother just stared at her in horror. Liz almost smiled. “Oh, you didn’t think I knew about that, did you? You thought you could fool me into believing you were tricked into it, as you’ve obviously made yourself believe.”

“Liz, that wasn’t money...”

Liz felt fury spear through her and she spat back venom-filled words at her mother. “Maria heard you. She heard the entire conversation. So don’t think you can lie to me. This wasn’t an indiscretion, or a bad judgment call. This was a betrayal.” Liz took a deep, shuddering breath and felt her control crumbling. She jerked her head back over to watch the flickering images on the screen and fought her trembling lips in the heavy silence that followed.

After a moment, her mother stood to her feet. “I just hope you can forgive me one day,” the broken words seared her conscience, but Liz didn’t even blink. She didn’t want her mother to think it was going to be that easy. Not after the hell she had put all of them through with her betrayal. The air around her was suddenly cold and empty as her mother moved away. The door clicked shut. Her mother had gone back downstairs.

Immediately, Liz’s face crumpled and tears fell from her eyes. She saw Alex approach the couch with watchful eyes and knew that he had been waiting for her mother to leave.

He nodded as he sat beside her. “I know, I know.” His long arms went around her and she leaned into his chest, sobbing. She wanted her mother back.

******

After he was sure no one was listening to their conversation, Max got down to brass tacks. Two questions were on his mind that he didn’t want to discuss in front of the others. He looked over to where Christopher sat, pouring over a map of the Western US. “So, Shelley was transformed by the orb...”

Christopher looked up questioningly, sensing that Max wasn’t done. “Yeah.”

“Did she- were there any side effects from the transformation?”

“Like what?”

Max looked around again before speaking low. “Liz has developed asthma and I just find myself wondering if maybe her body didn’t take to it so well- the transformation, I mean. I‘m afraid something‘s going wrong.”

Christopher nodded with serious eyes. “Shelley actually does have a few chronic problems, just small ones, really. She still has migraines often and gets these fevers every now and then. I would worry about it if it weren‘t for the connection. But I know she‘s alright. Can‘t you sense that with Liz?”

Max just stared at him. “The orb used Michael’s DNA to transform Liz.”

“What? Why?”

Max let his frustration show in his voice. “Because I just happened to be out of town at the time. I don’t know, maybe the orb has a sense of humor or something.”

Christopher’s eyes bugged out. “You mean, Michael and Liz have the connection?”

Max nodded reluctantly.

“Oh man. I don’t think that’s good.”

“Why not?”

“Well, the connection is meant to be between mates, I’m pretty sure. It- uh, has lots of uses when you‘re... Oh man, how do you deal with that?”

Max sighed. This wasn’t helping any. “So you don’t know how to un-do it, then?”

“The connection? No. I would have no idea. Have they tried?”

“She can block him, but not vice versa.”

“Only have one thing to say about that.” Christopher was smiling as he shook his head. “Glad I’m not you, man.”

“Thanks,“ Max smiled mirthlessly. “The other thing I wanted to know is if you have dealt with any of your hunters yet?” He watched him carefully, worried that maybe they might not know about them yet. But he was glad to see sudden pride in Christopher’s eyes.

“Figured you‘d ask about that. They didn’t get any of us, the stupid s.o.b.s. Talk about not being covert...”

“Good. We’ve dealt with three of ours so far.”

“Who’s is left,” Christopher lowered his voice.

“Isabel’s.”

Christopher exhaled loudly as he stood. “Okay, I’ll let the others know to keep an eye out. And you do the same when you’re traveling. Don’t let your guard down. They’re tricky little buggers.”

Buggers? Max tried to fit that name to the horrible image of the shapeshifting hunter who had assumed Liz’s form and tried to drain Michael completely.

Didn’t fit at all.