“Don’t mind him, Kyle,” Alex waved from the side. “He’s just getting in touch with his inner WWF Wrestler.”

“News flash for you Whitman,” Kyle shot back, breathing heavily. “He’s not just in touch, he’s channeling the damn guy. What‘s his deal?”

Max just ignored them and dribbled back over to the left, sinking a long two-point shot.

Michael shook his head. “It’s all about sex, Kyle,” he offered.

Kyle stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Michael. “I guess that would be my cue to leave. Do you... Czech-people have some weird basketball ritual that I know nothing about? Not that I really want to know,” he added hurriedly, grabbing his towel off the chain-link fence. Kyle knew their secret now, but that didn’t mean he was comfortable with it yet.

“Boy, as tantalizing as that sounds, I think I’ll pass as well,” Alex added with raised eyebrows. “Just let me know which Max is on the bachelor party line-up for next week so I‘ll know whether or not to attend.”

Michael glanced over at Max who was unapologetically ringing up lay-up after lay-up on the park court. Then he took stock of the humans preparing to flee. “Cowards,” he muttered, deciding that he had to at least try to remedy the situation. Walking over to Max, he rolled his eyes at a particularly nasty but well-placed slam through the hoop.

Basketball. He just didn’t get it.

He stopped Max with one hand on his chest. Max pulled back in surprise, as if he’d forgotten everyone else there.

“Max, no one else will tell you the truth. This thing between you and Liz is getting really old. Just get married, consummate, whatever the hell it is you need to do before you lose all your friends.”

Max looked at him like he had just sprouted wings and attempted to fly up his butt. “Clarify,” he commanded Michael.

“You’re playing like Charles Barkley, minus the charm and charisma,” Michael added with a sharp look.

Max finally got it. “Two words, Michael. Two weeks. Liz gets the wedding she wants. Then-” He looked away and jogged to the ball. Swooping it up and turning with uncanny balance, Max released it and sunk a perfect three-pointer.

“Nice symbolism,” Alex pointed out gamely.

“You’ll never make it, Max,” Michael muttered as he turned away. “Hell, I’ll never make it.”

“What,” Max asked, turning around and wiping at the sweat in his eyes.

Michael realized he’d just said more than he wanted to. “Nothing.”

“Hey, Kyle, sorry about the foul,” Max threw a nod in his direction. “Take a free shot?”

“No way,” Kyle walked up to Max and tried to strip the ball, but Max just dodged him and sent the ball through his legs. As Kyle turned quickly to try to catch him, Michael couldn’t help but shake his head.

“I don’t take charity from Czechs,” Kyle spouted as he went up against Max’s lay-up, which went in, of course.

As they landed and Max tossed him the ball, Kyle narrowed his eyes. “You’re not... you know?”

Michael snorted loudly at Kyle’s inference that Max would use his powers to beat him. Kyle acknowledged the lameness of his question and started dribbling the ball idly. “So, Max, what’s Liz up to?”

Max grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his face. “You mean, besides staying away from me?” He grabbed his water bottle and took a swig, then poured some of it over his head.

“Staying away,” Kyle asked with a smile. “You mean she finally came to her senses and dumped you?”

“No,” Max answered shortly. With that, he tossed down the water bottle and lunged for the ball, leaving Kyle standing still bouncing... nothing.

“Hey, I thought we were taking a break,” he protested mildly.

“Weak, Kyle, weak,” Michael couldn’t resist saying.

Alex jumped in to explain. “Liz is staying away because her new Czechoslovakian status makes she and Max so... uh... It’s apparently impossible not to... uh... take the Nestea plunge whenever they’re alone.”

Kyle groaned. “What do you people do all day, follow Max around and pick his nose for him? He’s like the center of everyone’s freakin’ universe. I tell you what, the next time he takes a dump, I wanna’ know who helps him wipe his butt.”

Michael cackled, but was glad just a shade that Max was currently out of earshot.

Alex just raised his eyebrows and continued his explanation. “So, anyway, to answer your question... she’s still with him. But not alone. I mean, they’re not ever alone. Uh... they’re not ‘being together’ alone. Geez... do I have to keep talking about this?”

“No, please,” Michael held up his hand. He was forced to do enough thinking about this one on his own. It was actually less than two weeks now, and he had the brains to be thankful.

“I think Liz is at a dress fitting today,” Max offered as he ran back down the court and stopped at half court to shoot for the opposite goal...

Nothing but net.

Michael shook his head. Everything was always so easy for Max.

“Another fitting,” Alex shook his head. “How many dresses is she going to wear?”

“Just one, I hope.”

“Yeah, with as few buttons as possible, right, Max,” Kyle grinned wickedly.

Michael watched Max start to agree then stop and frown darkly at Kyle. But Kyle wasn’t known for being sensitive, exactly, and he pushed on. “Lighten up, man, she’s all yours. But a guy can dream, can’t he?”

Michael jumped forward to get in between the two, catching the flash in Max’s eyes. “Nope,” Michael turned to Kyle and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Guy dreams; guy dies.”

Kyle eyed Max over Michael’s shoulder and grinned. “Thanks for the handy guide. Should be easy to remember.”

Max had the last word on that one, his quiet voice laced with menace. “I can make it easier.”

Kyle backed off with his hands in the air, a bit of genuine fear in his eyes. “No need, Evans. No need.”

Michael nodded.

Smart move, Valenti.

******

As soon as Nancy Parker exited the room, Maria climbed up on the platform and crossed to Liz. “You are being so casual about this, I want to choke you,” Maria’s blue eyes were wide with fear and anger.

“Maria, this is my mother we’re talking about,” Liz whispered fiercely. “She wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, or Max.” Liz paused as Maria considered the idea and nodded reluctantly.

“But what was she doing with that Larry guy last week,” Maria insisted. “He’s a crackpot. Even my Mom thinks he‘s a crackpot, and that‘s saying a lot.”

Maria’s smile looked strained. Liz forced herself to answer Maria honestly. “Larry’s wife works at the Crashdown, remember? It was probably something to do with-”

“No it wasn’t,” Maria interrupted. “You didn’t see them. It was not a ‘by-the-way-my-wife-broke-her-fingernail-and-needs-workman’s-comp’ kind of conversation. This was a ‘there’s-aliens-here-in-Ros-’”

Liz threw her hand over Maria’s mouth and pierced her with her eyes. “Maria, you’re losing it.”

Maria met her eyes and Liz willed her to take some strength from her gaze. This was not going to get better if they panicked. Liz had been fighting that instinct for weeks now, and she was not going to let Maria get to her. They didn’t have a chance of convincing Liz’s Mom to relax if Liz was so jumpy that she couldn’t carry on a decent conversation. Yes, it was all an act. But it was an important one.

Finally, Maria relented and moved to sit back down on the edge of the platform. “Losing it? I don‘t think I ever had it,” Maria sounded depressed. “And whatever I did have is quickly disappearing in the onslaught of this extremely freakish series of random events that I bundle up and affectionately term ‘my life.’”

Liz blinked and looked at Maria in the large mirror in front of them. “I‘ll talk to Mom,” she muttered. “I‘m sure it was nothing.”

Maria stared at the floor and Liz turned away from the mirror to watch her. She knew all about Maria’s unvoiced fears, that Liz’s mom’s paranoia might lead to getting Michael captured, too. And Liz also knew that Maria had been pushing Michael to look into it. She had caught several of his thoughts in that direction. And she couldn’t blame them. Or blame Maria for acting distant ever since this connection had started between she and Michael.

Liz sighed. This was so ridiculous. She was in her wedding gown for goodness sake! She cast her glance around a minute and then locked eyes with Maria. “Look, it is a goal of mine to remain calm. You know why? Because I am getting married to the love of my life in two weeks,” Liz dropped her voice to a fierce whisper, quickly losing the battle to remain emotionless. “And I refuse to spend all that time wondering whether or not my mother is going to betray us. I refuse!!”

Maria blinked in surprise.

“Right,” Liz said firmly, blinking away the sudden tears and turning back to the mirror. “Now, we’re here for the stupid dress. How does it look?”

It fit perfectly, the waist of the simple silk satin gown nipping in and clinging to her curves until just below her stomach. A sudden blur of tears made a closer inspection impossible.

Liz wiped one away listlessly. She couldn’t even plan a wedding without some life or death situation coming to the forefront. It was beginning to wear her down, her natural optimism fading fast. What if her mother had said something to Larry...

But she knew immediately that there was no way to follow that train of thought. Too many emotions, too many devastating results...

Maria was now beside her in the mirror, the same worried look in her eyes as she tried to smile. “You are going to take his breath away,” she said, circling Liz’s waist with her arm.

Liz stared at her momentarily, wondering at the compliment. How could a saying like that mean something positive? Take his breath away? No, she wanted him breathing at that altar. She wanted him standing, breathing, holding her and never letting her go. She leaned her head against Maria‘s briefly. This wedding was supposed to be the most wonderful moment in her life, but right now she just wished she could be sure it would actually happen.

******

Michael sat on his motorcycle, eyeing Max as he walked up to the Jeep, basketball in hand. There was a question that was burning in Michael’s gut and he was doing his best not to just blurt it out.

They were still at the courts.

Talk basketball, he commanded himself. Talk wedding. Talk about something...

Aw, hell.

Michael snorted and gave in. “Max, what about L.A.?”

Max hesitated and then continued pulling his t-shirt on over his head. “Yeah, I, uh... switched Liz’s and my tickets for L.A. We’ll check him out as much as possible. Alex says we can do it without being in danger.”

Michael didn’t jump on that loose reference to “it,” and glanced away in frustration. “Great,” he mumbled with a flat tone.

“Michael,” Max began, then stopped himself and climbed in the Jeep.

Michael wasn’t sure he wanted to hear his next words or not.

Finally, Max looked over and broke the silence. “I don’t see any other way for somebody to get out there sooner. We’re all strapped for time, or money.”

Michael had looked up at the mention of “time”, because that was one thing he had plenty of. But money, that was another thing. That apartment sucked the life out of his paycheck. There was no way he could pay for a trip like that. “I know that,” he agreed.

But once again, Max was doing his vision quest. He started up his motorcycle and revved the engine loud. He knew Max was still watching him, so he kicked it into drive and squealed off. He let out a stream of obscenities that blew away in the wind.

Sometimes, life sucked.

******

“Hi, Sheriff Valenti,” Liz smiled awkwardly and shoved her hands in her back pockets. They were trembling a little too much. “Is Kyle here?”

“Sure, he’s in the back gettin’ some sun,” the Sheriff held the door open for her and followed her to the back door. “Uh... Maria’s out picking up something for the wedding.”

“I know. Thanks,” she stopped and turned back to smile at him, hoping he would stay inside.

“If you need anything to drink, Liz, you know where it is,” the Sheriff smiled and walked back to the common room.

Liz watched him go a moment. It was times like these when she still wondered. Did he know the truth about them? Even Doug’s disappearance hadn’t prompted a huge inquiry on the Sheriff’s part. Weird. Nice, but weird.

Maybe living with Amy and Maria had made him relax some, although she couldn‘t see how.

Liz pushed through the screen door and saw Kyle laying out on a lawn chair in his swim trunks. What was he doing, trying to get a tan?

Liz smothered a smile and walked until her shadow fell over his face. He blinked once and opened his eyes.

“Liz!” Kyle jumped up and almost took her with him as he fumbled to get out of the chair. “Just... uh... workin’ out back here and got... tired and had to sit down. Phew!” He wiped his brow and nodded his head.

The smile that stretched across her face eventually stopped him.

“Okay, okay,” he held his hands up. “I’m white as a ghost from that damn camp with the stinkin’ indoor gym. Satisfied?”

Liz nodded. “You know, I can always help with that,” she let her voice trail off, indicating her powers with a smile and a wave of her hand.

“No way,” Kyle said, taking a step back. “You keep that crap to yourself. I’m just happy being me, pale, pasty skin and all.”

“Okay,” Liz’s light-heartedness faded as she remembered the reason for her visit. She sighed and sat down on a bench. She felt Kyle’s eyes on her as he pulled on his shirt.

“What’s goin’ on, Liz,” Kyle sat beside her. She could smell the familiar musky scent of his sweat and it made her smile. He was a friend and had proven himself to be courageous in their dealings with Doug. She could trust him with this. She finally looked up and he met her eyes openly, waiting for her words.

“I need your help, Kyle.”

He blinked. “Okay... is this a secret?”

Liz hesitated. “Kinda’. I don’t want Max to know.”

Kyle studied her face for a moment. “Okay. You got it. Anything I can hold over Evans is definitely worth it.”

Liz rolled her eyes. Still treating her like fresh meat.

“I need you to keep an eye on someone for me, like you did with Doug.”

Kyle jumped up and took two steps before rounding on her and whispering fiercely. “The last guy I tailed for you tried to deep fry my heart, Liz! Forget it!”

“Kyle, this is important,” she lowered her voice. “It’s life or death, probably. And this guy is completely human- at least, I’m reasonably sure he’s human.”

Kyle huffed out a breath and Liz stood up quickly. “You remember Larry Trilling?”

Kyle hesitated, then crossed his arms and answered her warily. “Yeah. Weird guy. Wife works at the diner, right?”

“Right. And he’s... he may be trying to get information about Max from my mother.”

Kyle nodded with an unreadable expression before finally speaking. “That’s bad.”

Liz nodded with a sinking feeling in her heart. “Yeah, yeah, it is.”

Very, very bad.

******

“How does the dress look,” Jeff Parker leaned over the counter with twinkling eyes. Liz and Maria shared a look and then glanced over at Nancy, who had a plastic smile on her face.

“It looks lovely, of course,” she managed to say through stiff lips. “The dress will be completely ready in a few days. They’ve done wonderful work. Right, girls?”

As they nodded, she walked unsteadily to the back room and pushed her way through the doors. Liz collapsed in a booth, and Maria watched her with worried eyes.

“So, Maria, what do you think of the dress,” Mr. Parker walked over to them, obviously wondering what was going on with Liz.

“Oh, she looks breathtaking in it,” she began. At Liz’s piercing gaze, she fumbled for a correction. “I mean, not that it would literally take anyone’s breath away. Because that would be like killing someone. I mean, not that anyone is going to kill someone. But... she looks... great.”

Liz just let her head fall over on her arms and Mr. Parker stared at Maria until she finally excused herself. At the rate she was going, she’d spill the beans in two minutes flat.

That look on Mrs. Parker’s face...

******

“I can see it in her eyes, Michael,” Maria leaned back against the wall and watched him scrub the grill top.

The Crashdown was dark behind them, everyone gone for the night. “Mrs. Parker is panicking.”

Michael stopped and looked at her. “Panicking?”

“Okay, I know she doesn’t look like it on the outside,” Maria admitted. “But remember how I was when first found out about you guys? I was one step away from either puking or spilling my guts to Valenti for days. Mrs. Parker looks like I felt. And no one knew what I was going to do. I didn’t even know what I was going to do.”

Michael had blinked a few times during the conversation, but very little else was going on in his mind.

Maria frowned, “Michael, what is it? Is something wrong with Liz?”

“No,” Michael said without hesitation. “She’s just arguing with you. I mean, arguing with my thoughts about what you’re saying.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “This is so ridiculous. Can’t you just, like, turn her off or something? Shove her into a dark, cobwebby corner of your brain? I know you have them and this is important.”

She watched as he again communicated with someone she couldn’t see but knew well enough to forecast the probable conversation. “Michael, tell her to stop trying to control me. I actually do have a brain and actually do use it on occasion, whereas she is just a little hampered right now by planning a wedding, being a subscriber to the all-Michael channel and having her freakin’ alien hormones resort to guerilla warfare tactics.”

She could see Michael trying to figure out how to translate that into non-angering English for Liz, but mostly giving up. She waited as he finished.

This thing with Liz’s mother was getting bad. If she was thinking the things that Maria had been thinking when she was ready to spill the beans to Valenti, who knew what could happen? Any little bit of information that she passed on to the wrong people could be fatal to the gang. And now, that included Liz, whether Mrs. Parker believed that or not. In fact, everything she was probably thinking about doing was going to endanger her own daughter as much as anyone.

Maria’s eyes narrowed. Maybe that was the answer, getting Mrs. Parker to believe the truth about Liz’s transformation.

Hmmm...

“Michael, maybe what we have to do is to get Mrs. Parker to believe Liz about the... change.”

Michael looked at her like she was nuts.

“Yes,” she insisted. “Once she believes, she won’t want to risk exposure for any of them.”

Michael’s eyes lit up. “Because that will put Liz at risk.” He threw down his SOS pad and grabbed Maria by the arms.

“Brilliant! You’re brilliant, Maria Deluca,” he said forcefully, his eyes raking over her face.

His gaze forced the breath from her lungs. This was why she loved Michael Guerin. That passionate, all-consuming fire towards everything he cared about. When it was focused on her, there was nothing that could compare to the feelings of awe it inspired. And as his lips met hers hungrily, she reminded herself of the other reason she loved Michael...

God, she loved this. How could he live without it? It was so weird. She tried to turn her brain off and just enjoy it. Then the answer just popped into her head.

“Michael,” she murmured, pulling away. “I just figured it out. It’s because of Liz, isn’t it? That’s why you won’t touch me.”

Michael stares at her a moment, trying to refocus his dazed eyes. “I wasn’t thinking about Liz. What are you talking about?”

“Because she gets your thoughts and feelings. That’s why you don’t touch me. You’re embarrassed,” Maria had to congratulate herself on finally getting it. She knew she was right because Michael pulled away.

Pulled away? Oh great.

“Michael, I don’t understand. Max and Liz don’t seem to be letting it get in their way,” she reminded him with a shake of her head. In fact, they seemed to be worse than ever since the connection happened.

“Believe me, I’m acutely aware of that fact,” Michael grumbled as he sat down on the couch and bit at a fingernail restlessly.

Maria just stared at him a moment. “Oh my god. I never thought about it before, but you must get their... oh my god.” She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “How weird that must be for you.”

He looked at her with a droll expression. “You have no idea. All Max has to do lately is look at her...”

Maria lost her smile quickly. So Michael is feeling Liz’s desire for Max? God, this alien crap is so freakin’ weird!!!

Maria took a deep breath. “Does Liz know about this? I mean, I find it hard to believe that she would still... I mean, not that anything could really stop those two, but, still... Does she know you‘re getting feedback from her hormones?”

“No. And don’t tell her. It’s not her fault,” Michael said in a clipped voice.

Maria sat down beside Michael and reached for his hand. He didn’t want to upset Liz. What a sweet guy. Although, Maria tilted her head to one side as she thought, this knowledge might come in handy if we have to interrupt them again one day.

“Wait, Michael, if we just talked about this, doesn’t that mean that she knows now,” Maria asked with a little hope in her voice. “I mean, wasn’t she still listening?” God, I’m selfish, she berated herself.

“She’s asleep.”

Oh. Then that means...

Maria scooted closer to Michael and ran her hand over his tense back muscles.

Michael looked at her with a resigned expression, obviously ready to tell her to stop.

Maria grinned at him mischievously. “She’s asleep, Michael, she’ll never know.”