After all she had seen, all Michael had put her through with this latest alien crap, it just didn't seem fair. Of course, she was glad that the kissing thing had turned out to be a brotherly/sisterly sort of thing in a weird, twisted alien sort of way, but somehow, that led to this conversation they were now having. The one that began with "Maria, we can't have sex."

Could never have sex. Ever. Something bad would happen if they did.

Now, it wasn't as if Maria had never wondered about this before...

A dry laugh escaped her. God, did she ever dream about anything else? She and Michael wrapped up in sheets, love bouncing off every wall and sweat dripping down every crevice of their bodies...

Michael's brown eyes were watching her intently, obviously wishing her to be okay with this somehow.

But how could she be?

"No," she said firmly, standing.

"No? What the hell does that mean," Michael asked with an almost desperate scowl.

"NO," she burst out. "What do you want me to say, 'okay, I'll give up?'"

She shook her head at him as the tears started to flow.

"No, I'm not doing it. You're it for me, Michael. There is nothing better out there for me. If it doesn't work out with you, then it doesn't work out at all."

Her eyes were watering, her voice choking out from her suddenly trembling body, but she had never felt so right about something in her life. He was going to have to come up with something better than this to scare her away.

"The orb could change me, too. I'm not afraid of the pain. I don't care how it happens, but I'm not giving up. I love you too much."

She blinked and wiped away a few tears, watching his unresponsive face.

Then he stood and walked to her slowly. His eyes roamed over her face with an intensity that made her flush all over. Finally he cupped her face in his hands, wiping at her tears with his thumbs.

"You are... incredible, Maria de Luca. And for once, you're right. We'll find a way."

Maria sighed and allowed him to pull her into his arms. She turned off her tumultuous thoughts and listened to the pulsing of her heart within as it echoed his words to her.

"We'll find a way..."

******

Alex had been still too long, and Isabel's confidence wavered a bit. She sat up in her bed, pulling the phone into her lap.

"Are you sure you're okay with what we talked about earlier? I mean, the human-alien problem," she said in a voice that sounded ridiculously wimpy to her. Too much time around Max, she lectured herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine with it, Isabel. I meant what I said," Alex's voice was strong, confident. "This has never been about me trying to get you with your clothes off. You know that. You're beautiful, and intelligent, and confident, and, for some reason, you want to be with me. I'm not going to dump all of that down the tubes because of a physical problem. We'll make it work. I promise."

Isabel couldn't stop the tears that flowed.

"Okay," she said with a choked breath. "Okay... so you're okay with it."

"Yeah," he said firmly. "I'm okay. I just didn't know how to tell you that I'm grounded for like, two weeks because I didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning. Sorry. It won't make this any easier."

He was so sweet.

"Alex, I'm perfectly happy to take whatever I can get. You- are worth it, Whitman."

A smile danced around her lips at the silence that came next. Alex deserved every bit of love she could shower on him, but he always got uncomfortable when she turned the tables on him.

"I love you, Isabel," Alex whispered. "And I'm not leaving anytime soon."

"I know," she whispered in return. "I love you, too."

"Oh," the tone in Alex's voice was suddenly very light again, "and I am available for any further experimentation you want to do on the alien/human physical limitations thing. It might be a good idea to make sure of what we can and can't do, you know..."

"Um... yeah," Isabel managed.

Oh God, am I blushing...

Definitely spending too much time with Max lately.

******

Liz pushed through the door of the apartment as quietly as possible. The lights were out and she was hoping to avoid a scene.

But before she could even take a deep breath, her mother's form appeared in the semi-darkness and enveloped her in a fierce hug.

"Mom," Liz said, startled. "I'm sorry. I hope you weren't worried."

"Worried," Nancy said as she pulled back and took Liz's face in her hands, "no, I wasn't worried. I was terrified."

Liz stared into her haunted eyes with deep regret.

"Mom, I'm sorry... I just *couldn't* call."

Nancy dropped her hands and crossed to the light. Flipping it on, she gestured for Liz to sit on the couch.

"Okay, I'll play. Why couldn't you call? And I'm warning you, Liz. I am not in the mood for half-truths."

Liz swallowed nervously.

"Mom, can we talk about this in the morning," Liz stalled. "I mean, this has been a really rough night for me."

"NO, we cannot talk about this tomorrow," Nancy almost shouted. Then she seemed to fight with herself a moment. "Sit down, please."

Liz looked at her strained face, suddenly remembering their conversation a few nights ago. Liz warily took a seat on the couch.

"Your father is asleep, so this is probably the best time to talk about this." Nancy took a deep breath as she sat down. After a moment of heavy silence, she looked her daughter full in the face. "I know about Max, and I don't want you marrying him."

Liz froze.

"Know what about Max," she managed to choke out.

"Liz, don't even start with me. I am not going to sit here and tell you what you already know," she glanced away uncomfortably. "But I am not going to let you marry him, and that's final."

"Why not," Liz decided to go with the simplest of responses, ignoring the waves of fear and anger flooding through her.

"Oh, you know, the usual reasons..." Nancy's voice trailed off and she stood to her feet again. "You're too young; you're broke, and you're different species. I guess that about covers it."

Liz couldn't move. How did her mother know?

Nancy blinked a few times and swallowed before continuing.

"For example, tonight, I was scared for you. But I knew that you were with Doug because some patrons saw you leave with him. I was angry that you didn't call to let me know, and a little afraid. But, you know, I wasn't nearly as afraid as I usually am for you. Why? Because Max wasn't the one you were with. Doug may not sweep you off your feet, but atleast he's not an alien."

Liz barked out a hoarse laugh.

"What are you laughing at," Nancy demanded.

"I- I don't even know how to respond to that," Liz half-laughed, even though she felt like crying. What should she say? Would Max want her to continue to lie, or tell the truth? And how much truth could her mother take, once the barrier was broken?

Liz closed her eyes to gather her whirling thoughts.

"Liz," Nancy walked closer and grabbed her arms firmly. "It can't work."

Liz opened her eyes. "Mom-"

"I've tried to let you figure this one out on your own, but I can't do it anymore. I can't let you out of this house with him, not having any idea who he really is or what he'll do to you."

"Mom," Liz was repulsed at the way her mother viewed Max. "This is Max we're talking about. I love him."

Nancy pulled back in amazement.

"That's completely insane. He's an alien," she emphasized the last word in an ugly tone that made Liz flinch. "And even if you do love him, being around him is very dangerous."

Liz's stomach turned over as her mother's tone changed.

"I can't let you put yourself into that kind of danger, Liz. People are after him, and they'll hurt anyone around him. You have to stay away."

Liz had to acknowledge the truth to know the answer, but there was something in her mother's voice that worried her.

"Mom, how did you find out about Max," she asked slowly.

Nancy Parker stiffened.

"I've suspected for a long time. I'm not stupid, Liz. But after graduation, we started getting threatening phone calls... warning me to keep you away from Max."

Liz's eyes darted around the room as she processed the information. Who had done that? Had it been Doug? No... he hadn't known about Max that long ago.

She shook her head as her mother continued.

"What kind of mother would I be if I let you marry someone who was going to put you in danger constantly? Besides the fact that you can't be... compatible.... can you?"

Liz wanted to laugh again at the complicated answer to that question, but she managed to stay silent.

"Liz, you don't already know the answer to that question, do you," her mother said in a warning voice.

"Oh, do we have to talk about this," Liz whispered, feeling the conversation quickly spinning out of control. She ran her hands nervously through her hair. There were too many things to explain, things she had no idea how her mother would react to.

"Elizabeth Parker, if you two have already had sex, I'm going to march you straight over to the emergency room. There's no telling what he may have done to you."

Liz bounced nervously, pleading with her eyes.

"Mom! Just stop it! No one can know about this, about him-"

"Oh my god, you've done it, haven't you? That's it," Nancy started to take off her robe and head for the bedroom. "There is no way-"

Liz grabbed her.

"No! Mom, listen to me!"

"You are NOT marrying him and I will do whatever it takes to make sure you don't," Nancy spat at Liz, stopping her cold.

"What's that supposed to mean," Liz said in a steady voice, dread growing in her stomach.

Nancy took a deep breath.

"If you try to marry Max, I'll turn him in."

Tears sprang into Liz's eyes as she saw the animosity and fear in her Mom's eyes.

She let the statement hang a moment, waiting for her mother to retract it. But there was no hesitation in Nancy's eyes.

Oh my god... she would really do it.

Liz clenched her jaw. Time for the whole truth.

"Fine. But you'll have to turn me in, too, Mom," Liz held her mother's gaze and then reached a hand toward the lamp on the table beside them. The light flickered and then broke apart into tiny, revolving rays. Nancy gasped as the room was filled with the specks of light dancing along the walls. It was psychadelic and it perfectly matched the jumbled thoughts in Liz's head. She watched her mother grapple with the meaning of her actions.

Then Liz reached out and the little lights became one soft light again.

She had done the least intimidating thing she think of, but the anger growing at her mother's betrayal was turning her belly to lead.

"Max and I... we are compatible. And you'd be putting me in even more danger by exposing him. Because now I"m one of them, too."

She took one more glance at her mother's devastated face and then turned and walked away.