It wasn’t even her shift yet, but her job as assistant manager had her on the floor of the Crashdown early today.

“Well, tell him that he is NOT going to L.A. on his own,” Maria stepped over to Liz. “Then I’ll shut up.”

Liz glanced at Michael nervously as his pent-up anger seethed into her. That was the biggest reason she had intervened. “Um... Michael, you know you can‘t go alone.”

“Liz, stay out of it,” Michael jerked his head over at her, the feelings that were flooding into her much more eloquent than his words. But she wasn’t caving. Not yet.

“No,” Liz shot back firmly. “You know you can’t go on your own, Michael, so just stop it.”

He turned and cursed to himself.

“Maria,” Liz continued. “Michael is just frustrated because he thinks no one is going to check this guy-”

“Don’t say another word,” Maria walked over to her locker and grabbed her sweater. “You‘re always on his side.” After taking a breath, she turned back to face her. “What happened to my best friend, Liz?”

“She went over to the dark side,” Michael muttered as he sat down on the couch.

“Michael,” Liz was dumbfounded. “Maria, I‘m just trying to help. The truth is Michael was just using this to push you-”

“Liz, shut up,” Michael jumped up and grabbed her arm furiously, whirling her around to face him.

“No,” Liz met his fierce eyes with her own.

*Get the hell out of my head, Liz!*

The blast of anger that accompanied the thought took her breath away. Liz felt her own hostility die down in the face of it. And she was suddenly unsure whether it was all maybe just his anger she was feeling anyway. It was always hard to tell. She shook her head, trying to clear it.

“Okay, Liz,” Maria‘s voice suddenly reminded Liz that they were at the Crashdown. Michael dropped Liz’s arm quickly and they turned to Maria. Maria smiled briefly. “I used to think this was kinda’ cute, you know, the connection between you two. The brother and sister thing. But it’s not kinda’ cute anymore; it’s kinda’ psychotic.”

“And kinda’ infuriating,” Michael jumped in, directing his voice at Liz. “I don’t need-”

“-help from anyone,” Liz finished with Michael with a tired glance. “So you keep telling me.”

Michael turned away, fighting back scathing words that she could still feel anyway. She looked at Maria and then left.

******

Max fiddled with his calculator for a few more minutes, hoping to somehow make the numbers work this time. But, to no avail. There was absolutely no way he could afford to support he and Liz on his pay from the UFO Center. Amazingly enough, it was close, with Liz working as assistant manager at the Crashdown. But she made more money than he did. And although that was fine in a general kind of way, it wasn’t fine when she became his wife.

Max frowned. Was Isabel right? Was he acting like Fred Flintstone?

He sighed and rubbed his fingers across his eyes wearily. It wasn’t that he had some big ego trip over how much money he made and her salary threatened that. But if he didn’t take care of her, couldn’t bring in over half their income at least, then he had no business getting married in three weeks. He felt that at the core of his being. Liz seemed to understand, or- well... okay, she really didn’t. Max rolled his eyes. But she was trying, and she was okay with him looking for a better job. The main problem was that Roswell was such a small town. It looked like the only job he could do for more money was construction for the new hotel to be built on the edge of town. That seemed to be a pretty sure thing. The job interview had consisted of a nod to his father, a handshake and a tour of the site.

Of course, it would be back-breaking work and early morning hours. Not to mention hanging out with guys who had butt cleavage the size of the Grand Canyon and the most colorful vocabulary he’d ever been around. But the ten dollars an hour just might make it worth it. And with Liz’s salary and his wages combined, maybe they could afford that little apartment on Fifth Avenue, the one with a jacuzzi tub. A quick flush followed by an even quicker smile crossed Max’s face. Man, was he glad they had moved the wedding up- twice. Three weeks was still too far away for his taste. And so was Liz. Saying goodbye every night was like torture and he couldn’t wait until the goodbyes would end forever.

His eye fell on a quote from Archimedes he’d scribbled and saved after reading it in one of his schoolbooks, “Give me a lover long enough, and a place to stand, and I will change the world.” He felt that sentiment with every fiber of his being. With Liz by his side, with their passion for each other fueling and driving him, he could do anything.

Now if he could just figure out a way to show it to her. They had decided to give each other wedding gifts. If there was anything out there that could say all that to her, he would have to get it for her.

Maybe he should ask Michael at the meeting tomorrow night. Max shook his head in frustration. He refused to sink to using his best friend or his strange connection to Liz that way. Ever since the orb had used Michael’s DNA to transform Liz into an alien, it was like they shared a brain or something. There had to be a way to cut it off or control it at least, but nothing had worked so far. With the wedding impending, he should probably devote a little more thought to it. After he got another job, found them a place to live and figured out the perfect wedding gift.

******

She could feel him coming down the hallway. Liz sat up on her bed nervously and tried to stay calm as his steps neared.

The door swung open suddenly and Michael took three strides over to the bed before he started yelling. “What the hell do you think you‘re doing? You’re screwing my life up even worse than I have!”

Liz slowly stood. She tried to keep her eyes on his face, but had to duck her head and take a deep breath. He honestly scared her when he was like this. “I know,” she whispered. “I was just- just trying to help. Maria jumps to conclusions and I just couldn’t stand for her to...” She trailed off, trying to fight off the embarrassing tears that filled her eyes.

Michael sighed loudly, then reached out for her. “Just relax,” he said as he pulled her into an embrace. She could feel the self-cursing he was doing internally for upsetting her. And she relaxed against his chest, sighing as loudly as he had. “I’m sorry, Michael...”

When does this get easier, she thought to herself.

Behind the strong chest muscles against her cheek, she heard his voice rumble, “When you stop trying to fix my life.”

Liz blinked. He had read her thoughts again. She pulled back and looked up into his amused eyes, determined to make him understand. “I can’t help it,” she began, only to be cut off.

“Try harder,” he dropped his arms from around her. “Or I won’t be held responsible for my actions. Got it?”

Liz hesitantly nodded. He was right. She sat down on the bed heavily. Trying to help had just made things worse between she and Maria. She’d just add that on to the long list of things going wrong lately. Chief among those was the growing stress on her relationship with her mother.

“So, uh, your Mom is...” Michael’s voice startled her; she had almost forgotten that he was in the room. Liz nodded.

“Yeah, she’s so closed off. I have no idea what she‘s thinking.”

Michael was looking very uncomfortable and she could feel the desire to help her seeping into her consciousness from him. Before he even spoke, the words popped into her head.

*It‘s getting to you, isn‘t it?*

“It‘s getting to-”

“Yes,” she interrupted him. “Of course it is.” Liz took another deep breath against the sudden tightness in her chest. This thing with her mother was terrifying. The longer the silence from her mother lasted, the more real her fear became... that she’d turn Max in for being an alien.

Michael cursed under his breath and stepped back over to her. “You know she’d never do that.”

“Why wouldn’t she,” Liz looked up at him, hoping he could help her fight off these doubts since she couldn’t.

“She doesn’t hate you,” he answered quietly. Liz blinked. Where had that come from? But he was right, the feeling was there inside her. He was more tuned in to her than she was.

“Yeah, she doesn‘t hate me, she just hates...” Liz trailed off. Michael finished the sentence with her. “What I am.” He said it as though he welcomed the feelings of ugliness and self-loathing she pronounced on herself. It touched her and it embarrassed her. She had never loathed what they were before, but now that she was one of them... an alien... It was just different.

“I know,” Michael said quietly.

Liz didn’t even bother to speak. She could feel the thoughts running through Michael’s head.

*What if her mom does cave? What will we have do to protect ourselves?*

Liz shook her head, not wanting to hear more. This is getting ridiculous, she thought.

*Yep. Get some sleep.*

Michael kissed the top of her head and left. Liz felt lonely suddenly. It was weird to have someone that close, but it helped somehow. If something did happen, she wouldn’t have to be alone. Heck, she wouldn’t even have to feel it alone. Between Max and Michael, she didn’t have a private thought or feeling left in her.

Liz picked up the phone and dialed automatically.

Max picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Hi.”

“I was just thinkin’ about you,” he whispered huskily.

Liz shivered, as if his breath had actually crossed the phone line and tickled her neck. “What were you thinking,” she teased.

The silence was delicious.

“Give me about four hundred and ninety-five hours, and I’ll show you,” he said with perfect seriousness.

“Oh, god it sounds too far away when you say it like that,” she moaned. “How many days?”

“That’s easy. Twenty-one,” she heard the smile in his voice.

“I can do that,” she nodded.

“Me, too.”

Liz smiled at his certainty. Hers was half-feigned.

“I love you,” he added softly. “I’d wait much longer if I had to. I wouldn’t like it. But I’d wait forever for you.”

“Truth?”

“Truth.”

For some reason, it touched her. She was just glad it wouldn’t be necessary. The waiting was just too hard. “I love you. Good night,” she whispered.

“I love you, too. Sweet dreams.”

******

Joey woke up early, even though she had slept pretty soundly due to her developed-to-perfection, practically-patented park bench roll-and-sleep technique. She went on a long walk, munching her leftover crackers and stretching out the kinks. And trying her best not to dwell on her situation. It just didn’t pay to think too much. In no time at all, she reached the area she laughingly referred to as her “hometown,” the only part of Oklahoma City she felt comfortable in. Grafitti-covered walls, cement stretching as far as the eye could see, children playing in vacant lots and basketball games springing up everywhere that some type of hoop could be set up.

“Joey,” she heard a boisterous greeting from the first “court.” Shamiel, a thin, dark-skinned NBA wanna’-be sauntered up. “Where you been, home girl?”

“Hey, throwback,” she said easily, stopping to chat at the fence. Shamiel held the ball in his hands loosely, holding up the game to speak to her. At six feet and five inches with the longest arms she‘d ever seen on a guy, he did look like a throwback to the cave man days.

“We need you to ring it up with us. You in,” he asked with a full-out grin.

Joey shoved her hands in her pockets and tried to act casual. She wanted to play. She really did. Finally, she looked up at him through the long dark bangs that fell forward over her eyes. “Can’t. Sorry.”

“Aw, come on, baby girl,” Shamiel had picked up her street name despite her repeated attempts to get him to stop. The name just stuck.

“No place to shower,” she insisted, looking away. “And I refuse to walk around grungy and sweaty for two weeks.”

Shamiel looked surprised, but shrugged it off. “Tough. See ya’,” with that, he turned back to the game.

Joey watched him walk away with surprise. Guess we’re not that close after all. She eyed the black bodies returning to play, moving with such grace around the court. Their size didn’t intimidate her. It just increased the challenge. One last game...

The thought trickled through her mind and tugged up one side of her mouth. When had sweat ever kept her from a blacktop?

******

Maria had never felt more alone in her life as she turned off the ignition in the Jetta. After her fight with Michael last night, he had avoided her at work all day. Of course, this was in keeping with his self-imposed “stay away from Maria” theme, which had been ruling his life ever since the Doug thing went down over a week ago.

And it didn’t look likely that things would change in the near future, unless they could figure out some way of magically becoming compatible. Maria sighed and opened her car door. Life was too short to be sitting around waiting on Mr. No-future while your best friend gets married to her dream man.

She took one last glance at the beauty of the setting sun and got out of the car.

And this thing with Liz and Michael. Something had to give. They were like Siamese twins, joined at the brain or something.

“Creepy,” she muttered as she entered the house. She glanced around the messy kitchen with a frown on her face. It had been perfectly clean when she left for work. “Mom, I’m home.”

She picked up a discarded fat “lil’ sausage wrapper” with a grimace. “That’s nice, dear,” came Kyle’s sarcastic voice.

Ah. Suddenly, it all made sense. “Kyle,” Maria asked, dropping the trash and pushing her way into the den area. “You’re back.”

There he sat, in all his sarcastic, grinning glory. Maria nodded and laughed. “I see you missed something while you were away at that camp. What, no recliners in the cabin?”

Kyle lost his smile. “No recliners, no air conditioning, no television, no girls, no staying up late. It was basically a minimum security prison, only with worse food.”

“And you actually wanted to leave,” she asked with raised eyebrows. “I thought you were all into that be-a-real-man-and-tough-it-out stuff.” She sat down on the couch across from him.

“No more, from here on out, it’s all leather ottomans and ice-cold beer for me.” He raised his can in salute of her and chugged for a solid minute.

Maria clapped sardonically. “I can’t tell you how impressed I am. Are you gonna’ burp the ‘Star-Spangled Banner!’ next? Just let me know when the post-testosterone show is on, so we can have a real conversation.”

Kyle just smiled irritatingly.

Maria got up and headed upstairs to her room. She knew from experience that she did not want to watch him drink and watch baseball until he puked. “Tell Mom and ‘him’ that I’m going to a meeting at eight.”

“Sure thing, honey,” he yelled up after her. “I live to tell Dad and ‘her’ your messages.”

Maria stopped at the top of the stairs and fought the urge to go back downstairs and pour the beer over his head. Their mutual refusal to give the other’s parent a title was just a way of bugging the hell out of each other.

Nah. Not worth it.

“By the way, Kyle, Michael’s coming by to pick me up at seven-thirty.”

Silence.

“Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll tell ‘em.”

Smile.

Kyle could be so helpful sometimes, especially when aliens were involved.

******

Liz walked into her room with slumped shoulders and a miserable headache. Work had been incredibly hard. For one thing, these alien urges were incredibly difficult to deal with, like wanting to levitate the plate of spaghetti into the fat guy’s lap so that he’d leave her alone.

Or waving her hand at Jose and leaving him with crossed-eyes for life instead of that leering grin he always wore when Max wasn’t around. Oh, and Jennifer, such a certifiable blonde... How many times was that girl going break dishes? Today had been the third time this month, and she did it close enough by to splatter Liz with an order of “Cheesy Chili Nachos from Outer Space.”

Liz sighed and ripped off her uniform, throwing it distastefully in the dirty clothes hamper. Unfortunately, too many people had seen the incident for her to wipe the sauce away with her powers. But the urge to wave it away had been overpowering, especially as the cheese began to get old and smell less than fresh.

Liz frowned. Maybe there was a way to change the odor of something with her powers. That might have been inconspicuous enough. Oh well, she’d have to practice that later. Right now, she had only a few minutes to rest before the meeting. The leftover effects of all the urges gave her a headache, something Max had no idea how to combat.

They figured it had to be from her altered physiology trying to encompass her new abilities. Either that, or stupid female alien hormones. Alien PMS, now there‘s an excuse my Dad will really understand, she thought wryly. If I ever do tell him about the transformation.

Liz shivered at the thought of his reaction, then suddenly found herself jumping to her feet as another alien urge hit- the urge to run. She stopped herself, opening her mind slightly against the pressure that was always there.

Oh.

It wasn’t her body telling her that. Ugh. Liz settled back on her bed and let the emotions wash over her for a moment.

Uh-oh... don’t get involved, Liz. Think about Jennifer and that wacky husband of hers, Larry. She was glad that Larry had followed through with his proposal to Jenn. He was such a creepy guy, in a nerdy kind of way. When Liz had first seen them the day of the shooting years earlier, she had labeled them as sci-fi geeks. But Jenn had really bonded with Liz during the rougher times in their respective relationships. Larry was a strange bird, and he still sometimes just sat in the restaurant and stared at nothing. But Jenn seemed to bring him some balance to his life.

More emotion pouring in now, swinging more toward panic.

Poor Michael. What was Maria saying to him now?

******

“Michael, I just want some kind time table here,” Maria leaned forward toward and held on to Michael‘s back tightly. They were at the Evans’ house, just pulling up to the curve on his rebuilt Katana motorcycle. And sure, Maria felt like a scheming wench for talking to him while he couldn’t get away, but hey, it was working so far.

“Some kind of time table,” Michael muttered as he pushed out the kickstand.

“Yeah. I’m not talking proposals here,” Maria swung herself off the bike and looked into his eyes intently. “I just want to know that we’re headed somewhere. That you taking your sweet time to figure out what we’re going to do doesn’t mean that you’re not thinking about it. About us, about our future.”

Michael looked away, his eyes skittering over the neighborhood. “I can’t make a commitment to you right now, Maria. You know that.”

Maria gaped at him as he stood and swung himself off the bike. “No duh,” she recovered and managed a half-smile. “We’re two different species. I know that. It’s just that you’ve gone completely non-incommunicado on me and it’s... making me crazy.”

He was standing so stiff that he looked like a gust of wind might break him. Maria sighed and walked around the bike. Then slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. And he actually let her. “I know you’ve been through the ringer with this whole Doug thing and you’ve found out a lot about yourself, not all good. At least, it didn’t mean good things for us. And that makes you feel insecure.” She rolled her eyes as he shifted away uncomfortably. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop talking to you about your feelings. But just tell me this, are you thinking about us at all? About the future?”

Maria couldn’t believe that just came out of her mouth. She had just said that she wasn’t asking for a commitment. Oh god... he was gonna’ blow her off, again. This was her mother’s fault entirely. If she hadn’t come in Maria’s room right before Michael got there and started to talk...

Maria cursed under her breath just as Michael bent down and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m thinking about it. Satisfied? Meeting. Let’s go.”