"Oh, just shut up and give me those things so I can---" Nathaniel growled, reaching for the binoculars gripped tightly in Simon's hands.

"Hey, for your information, I was handling this just fine..." Simon said firmly.

"Sure you were--- the queen, the sister, the second, and their slave children have been here for days and you have yet to do anything but sit on your lazy---" Nathaniel ranted, only to be interrupted by Simon yet again.

"I'm HANDLING it. I'm not just going to break in there unprepared, I've been watching..."

"Well, you're done WATCHING, Simon. It's obvious you can't handle a simple break-in and attack." Nathaniel said as he followed Simon's gaze on Liz. "Or is it just the attack on the pathetic *human* you're avoiding?"

Simon narrowed his eyes in anger. "No, Nathaniel. I can do this. I'm not going to miss this opportunity. It's like they're begging for us to crash this happy little party..." He grabbed the binoculars back from Nathaniel and went back to watching Max's back window carefully.

Nathaniel sighed. "Fine. You have twenty-four hours. I want the Royal Four and their families dead, or you will pay...with your life. Goodnight, Simon," he said coldly. As Nathaniel walked away, Simon looked through the binoculars with fear. Sure, his powers were strong, but could he really sustain a mind warp for that long... and with that many people?

He watched carefully as Liz and Isabel prepared the dining room table in Max's condo with different types of food and drinks. Everyone was dressed up and Simon wondered what this little party they were having was for. He followed the voluptous curves of Isabel back into the kitchen as she returned to stirring a large pot on the stove. She brought the wooden spoon up to her mouth to taste the contents, then looked back to Liz, beckoning her to come taste the sauce too. In another pot, Isabel was stirring what looked like pasta. Simon racked his brain for a way to get the suppressive serum Nathaniel gave him into the food. He watched as Liz walked back into the living room and picked up her purse, pulling car keys out of them. She and Isabel talked and then they hugged--- Liz was obviously leaving the house to go get something.

Liz would be gone, and Isabel would be there all alone with the food.

Jackpot.

* * * *

Isabel was upstairs checking on Seth as he, Angelique, and Teagan played in Liz's room when she heard the front door swing open and the sound of keys jingling. "Max? Guys? Are you all home from the store?" She called down the stairs.

"No, Iz, it's just me again. I forgot my list down here. I'm just going to get that and then I'll be leaving..." Liz called from the kitchen.

"Okay, Liz. I'm just checking on the kids. That sauce isn't burning, is it?" Isabel asked from the top of the stairs.

Liz pulled a bottle out of her jacket and lifted the lid on the sauce, quickly pouring its liquid contents inside the pot. "No, it's just fine!" Liz called to her. "I'm out of here-- again-- I'll be back!"

"Alright!" Isabel called back. Liz quickly walked out of the condo and looked around, making sure no one saw as she walked behind a large group of bushes behind it. A large beam of light emerged and suddenly, the form of Simon replaced that of Liz.

"Everything's fine, Isabel..." Simon whispered quietly in Liz's voice, laughing as he returned to his watching post further behind Max's condo.

* * * *

Tess stood up at the side of the table, raising her glass of sparkling apple cider and looking across the faces of her family all gathered around at her. "I'd like to propose a toast. First of all, congratulations to Max for getting that job at Seattle Children's Hospital..." She looked over to the head of the table where Max was smiling back at her. "...and thank you so much to my dear husband and my incredible children, for dropping everything back home to join me on my little 'wild goose chase'. You're always willing to support me in my---sometimes insane--- paranoia about things, and I love you for it." She leaned down to Alex, who was sitting beside her, and he gave her a kiss. Teagan sat up further in his chair and took another bite of his spaghetti.

"I love you, Mommy." he said with his mouth full. Everyone at the table laughed and Tess smiled.

"I love you too, baby. Moving on--- I just want to say how wonderful it is to see you Isabel, and Michael. I know we don't get to see each other that often and I'm so glad that we've had this chance to all be together... I've missed you too, Seth." Tess continued. Seth ducked his head into the side of Isabel's arm and smiled. He was a shy thing. Michael tousled his son's sandy blonde hair and everyone laughed. "And lastly, to you Liz. I'm thankful for this chance to start over with you. I know we had our problems in the past, but it really is nice to see you again and I truly am happy that you are back in all of our lives. I mean that."

Liz smiled softly and looked at Tess in awe. "Wow, Tess. Thank you. I just-- thanks." Liz was speechless as Tess looked at her and raised her glass. Each adult at the table responded in kind by raising their glass, reaching to clink them together.

"Cheers."

* * *

"Dinner was so wonderful, Isabel." Liz said as she, Isabel, Michael, and Max sat out on Max's patio talking. She sipped daintly on the glass of white zinfandel in her hand. Max had bought her a bottle for the party, because he knew how much she liked it.

"Thanks." Isabel beamed as Max cleared his throat in protest. "Oh, well, Max helped too." She quickly added and Liz nodded.

"Helped? I made everything! You only made the sauce for the spaghetti." Max cried. Liz smiled and Michael rolled his eyes.

"Jeez, Maxwell, touchy tonight, aren't we?" Michael commented as he sipped on his Coke with a splash of Tabasco. Max rolled his eyes at his best friend and cross the distance of the patio to wrap his arms around Liz's waist.

"What are you thinking about?" He whispered in her ear as she looked up at the night sky. Liz took another sip of wine before turning her body around to lean up against the railing.

"Mmm," she said, raking her eyes up and down Max's body. She then pressed her body against his to breathe in his ear. "I was thinking... that you look *so* incredibly sexy right now." He smiled against her hair as she nibbled slowly on his earlobe. He moaned softly into her ear.

"I wish we were alone." He whispered low in his throat.

"Oh, and what would you do if we were, Dr. Evans?" She whispered as she darted out her tongue to circle his ear.

Michael slammed his Coke on the table and grabbed Isabel's hand, pulling her to her feet. "You know, you could have just said you guys wanted to be alone..." He rested his hand on the small of Isabel's back as he lead her into the condo.

"Yes, I don't want to see my brother making out. That's so--- juvenile." Isabel shuddered jokingly. Max and Liz turned beet red. Max turned around from her embrace to wave at his sister and best friend.

"Sorry, guys," he cried to them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Maxwell. Just don't stay out here all night." Michael warned as he closed the patio door behind them. They heard the sound of the door click and Liz returned her attention to him. Pressing her mouth in the hollow of his throat, she placed tender kisses on his neck and collarbone.

"Liz---" He moaned out quietly, his voice heavy with desire. "Liz, what are you doing to me...?" He shut his eyes and buried his face in her hair.

"I'm kissing you. Can't I kiss you?" She whispered. He nodded. "Good." She smiled, breaking away from his neck and moving to his lips. They shared a series of intense, passionate kisses. Liz's hands drifted down his back as his moved slowly down her sides to rest on her hips. They pressed their bodies firmly together and began to caress each other ever so slowly...

"Liz---" He cried into her hair. "What's happening...?"

"Max," she nuzzled the tender flesh under his ear. "I need you."

"Oh, Liz---" his body was helplessly responding to her words. "What are you saying---" He felt her lips drift up to his ear and speak softly.

"I love you, so much that it hurts. I want you to make love to me." She pushed her hands under his shirt so she could feel the skin of his back. He looked at her and captured her lips in a slow kiss.

"Are you sure? If you're not ready yet---" he said quietly as he rested his forehead on hers.

"Max, I'm sure. I'm sure that I love you. I'm sure that I need you." He smiled, pushing her hair behind her ear and kissing her once more.

"I love you, Liz Parker." He felt his heart swell with passion and love. All he could do was hold her tightly to his body and dream about what was soon to come.

He turned his back for a moment before grabbing her hand to lead her back into the condo but was horrified to feel that hand slip away from him.

"Max!" Liz cried before a phantom arm came up behind her to muffle her screams.

"Liz!" He cried, desperately trying to pull her back into the safety of his arms. Max heard the clicking of the gun before he saw it being put to her head.

Then finally, he saw the face of the assailant. It was the hunter that haunted his dreams. His face was different, but Max would know him anywhere.

It was Simon. And he had Liz at gunpoint.

"Don't take another step, your Highness!" He screamed, pressing the gun further into Liz's temple. Tears streamed down her face as she shook under his tight grip.

Max ignored the "your highness" comment, even though it perplexed him. "Let her go. I know you're here for me- for us." Max said slowly, his voice wavering.

"Max, you obviously don't know me well at all. I would never hurt my precious Elizabeth." Simon said cooly as he made his way around the railing and onto the patio. He let his hand drift down her curves, settling his large hand over her breast and massaging it gently.

"LET GO OF HER!" Max cried, lunging for her again, extending his hand towards Liz's attacker and channelling his powers to knock the gun out of his hand.

The gun didn't budge.

"Max!" Liz screamed again as Simon laughed. She couldn't control her fear as she watched Max struggle to regain his power. Suddenly, as if on tape delay, the words Simon uttered a few moments ago registered in her ears.

"'My precious Elizabeth...'"

"Simon?" Liz asked as he tightened his grip on her body. "Simon, is that really you?"

"Yes, Elizabeth, it's me." He nipped at her earlobe with his teeth. "You've missed me. I can feel it here---" He pushed two fingers to her neck. "--here--" He lowered that hand down the valley of her breasts. "--here--" His fingers brushed across one nipple and lowered down her stomach. "--and here--" His hand continued to drift lower and Max screamed. Liz's face was streamed with tears.

"STOP IT! What do you want from us?" Max was biting back tears now. "What did you do to me?"

Simon laughed. "Let's just say I've rendered your powers useless for the evening. All of you."

"What? How?" Max looked around and up to the stars, vainly searching for an answer to his question.

"Oh, I have my ways. How did that spaghetti taste tonight, King Zan? A little funny?" Simon asked with a gleam in his eye.

"What? How did you get to our food---" Max was cut off by Simon pushing Liz into his arms and pointing the gun at both of them. Liz clung to Max, burying her face in his chest as he crushed her body to him for her protection.

"I'll show you. I have more talents than you could ever realize." Simon said proudly as he extended his arm in front of his body and shapeshifted into the form of Liz in a lacy red negligee.

"Oh, God, yes, Simon, don't stop!" Simon cried out in Liz's voice, as his hands drifted over his body and he moaned with pleasure.

"ENOUGH!" Max screamed as the real Liz cried on to his shoulder. "Change back to yourself. Right now!"

"Oh, does this bother you, King Zan?" "Liz" said in a voice think with desire. "Does it bother you that I look like your beautiful little girlfriend here? Does that make you not want to hurt me?"

Max shut his eyes and pulled the real Liz closer to him, if that was possible. "No."

"Aww, shucks." Simon said, and with that, he shapeshifted back into himself, pulling the real Liz back into his arms and putting the gun back to her head.

"No! Max!" Liz cried before Simon cupped his hand over her mouth once more.

"God, Liz!" Max said, slumping to his knees and dissolving into tears. "Please, Simon. I'll do anything... just let her go." He said firmly, his voice unwavering.

Simon smiled. "Good. Now we're getting somewhere. Actually, what I want is very simple. See, I was put on this planet for one reason. To destroy the Royal Four. If I do that, then I get to go back home for good."

"The--the 'Royal Four'?" Max croaked out.

Simon laughed. "Wow, for a King, you really are sadly uninformed, aren't you?" Max looked at him with dead eyes. "Your mother came to you in a vision, no? She told you that you were once 'the beloved leader' of your people? Well, that's halfway true. Leader? Yes. Beloved? Not exactly. And your 'young bride'? Queen Avaria? She's here too." Simon pointed to the figure of Tess in the window. "Vilandra, your sister.... and Rathard, your second-in-command. You're all here. This makes my job SO much easier. Thanks!"

Just then, Michael, Isabel, and Alex ran out onto the patio as they finally realized something was going on.

"Let go of her!" Michael screamed, raising his hand to knock Simon out of the way, but pulling back when he realized his powers were useless. "Shit..." He muttered under his breath and pushed Isabel behind him.

"Vilandra! Rathard! So nice to see you again! As you can see, your powers are nice and... well... gone, I guess is the word you would use." Simon chuckled as Liz squirmed against him.

"What?" Isabel breathed out, struggling to breathe. "How?"

"He shapeshifted into Liz and put something in the spaghetti sauce. Something to suppress our powers." Max said solemnly. "Did you guys put sauce on your spaghetti?"

Isabel nodded. "Yeah," Michael managed to say. Alex ran towards the door when he saw Tess walk through it.

"Honey, no! Go back inside!" Alex cried, putting his arms around her.

"Um, excuse me, hello! Over here, yeah? Scary guy with the gun?" Tess said, waving her arms in the air so she could get Simon's attention over the sea of tall people around her.

"Ah, Queen Avaria. So nice to see you again." Simon said, smirking.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that your little plan? It's not going to work." Tess said non-chalantly.

"Oh, but it seems to be working perfectly so far..." he added.

"Well, um, that's about to change. I guess you didn't know this--- but I eat my spaghetti with tabasco sauce, not regular spaghetti sauce." Tess said with a slight smile on her face.

Simon's face sank. In his deflation, he dropped the gun on the ground beside Liz and she managed to kick it towards the others. Max reached out and grabbed it and Liz ran towards him. He pushed her behind him to protect her and she gladly obliged.

"It's over, Simon." Max said coldly as he pointed the gun at him.

"Like hell it is." Simon cried, raising his hands up and thrusting all the power he had inside towards the group of six.

Tess immediately ran in front of them and screamed, reflecting the tremendous power he was throwing at her and breaking him. He was flung from the patio in a huge ball of fire.

There was a pause between them. They all silently prayed that Simon wouldn't get up.

He didn't.

Liz ran over to Tess and hugged her fiercely. "Tess! You saved us! Thank you! You saved my life!" The others just stood around in shock at what just happened. Michael slowly walked over to inspect Simon's body.

Tess was too weak to answer, so she just nodded. Alex caught her in his arms as she sank to the ground.

"Tess!" Alex and Isabel cried. Max ran over to them as they circled around their friend.

"Tess, are you okay?" Max asked, holding a hand to her forehead.

Tess's eyes fluttered open and she nodded slowly. "I'm fine. I just need to-- lie down for a while." Alex scooped her up in his arms and began carrying her inside.

"You can put her up in my room." Max called behind him.

"Thanks, bro." Alex called to him as he carried his tired wife in the condo. Michael walked back on to the patio and nodded.

"Yup, he's dead, all right. Who was that guy? And why did he call us Vilandra, Rathard, and Avaria?" Michael asked as a teary-eyed Isabel fell into his arms for a tight hug.

Max held Liz close to him as he told them. "That was Simon. He used to be Liz's fiance'."

"Wait a minute, that was the bastard that--?" Michael cried.

"Yeah." Max nodded. Liz broke into tears again and he ran his hands through her hair soothingly. "Anyway, he's from our planet. Our home. He called me King Zan. Apparently I was---"

"The King, huh?" Michael asked. Max nodded. "Weird."

"And your name was Rathard. Isabel was Vilandra, and Tess was Queen Avaria." Max continued. Michael just nodded. Isabel looked at him with horror.

"Seth! We should check on Seth. I hope he didn't hear or see any of that, oh God!" Isabel cried, her eyes lighting up in horror. Michael grabbed her hand.

"We'll go check on him. Will you guys be alright out here?" Michael asked, looking from Max to Liz.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. We need to do something with---" Max motioned to the body lying in the backyard.

"We can move it later. Then we can get rid of it, when our powers come back." Michael said. Max nodded as he watched Isabel and Michael walk hand in hand back into his condo. He finally looked down at Liz and found that she was still clutching his shirt.

"Liz, my angel..." He breathed into her hair. She continued to cry. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I just can't believe-- Simon was-- he really was out to kill you Max! My dreams---" Liz looked at him in disbelief. "Oh, my God, I hope the neighbors didn't see anything!"

"It's late, sweetie. I'm sure no one is up." He brought his lips to hers softly. "Tess killed him. He's gone. He's never going to hurt you or anyone else again." Max soothed her. She looked up at him and stopped his words with a kiss. He never wanted it to end. Every time she would try to break away, he would capture her lips again, bringing a part of her back inside him. His lips moved down to her neck.

"Max, Max---" She moaned. "Max, marry me..."

He broke away and looked at her with shock. "What?"

She intertwined their hands and raised them to her heart. "Max, I want you to marry me. I love you so much."

"I love you, too, angel. But shouldn't I be the one to ask you?" He joked with her.

"Hey, pal. It's the new millennium. Women are empowered. If I want to ask an incredible, brave, handsome, sexy, smart, loving, perfect man to marry me, that's my right." Liz said, playfully hitting him on the arm.

Max nodded, kissing her. "Noted."

"Max." She moaned into the night.

"What?" He asked, breaking away from her kiss again.

"You didn't answer my question." She said firmly. He pulled away from her to look into her beautiful eyes. She smiled. "I'm waiting..." She tapped her foot impatiently on the deck.

"Here. Let me give you an answer." He pulled her to him and encircled his arms around her waist, pulling her in for another soul-searching kiss.

"I'm warning you. I consider that a 'yes'." Liz said, smiling into his neck.

"Yes, Elizabeth Claudia Parker. I will marry you." Max got down on his knees and hugged her waist, burying his face in her stomach. Liz squealed with delight and began jumping up and down. "Um, honey? Down here?"

"Oh!" Liz cried, realizing she was causing problems for Max, who had his face buried in her abdomen. "I'm sorry." She slowly kneeled down and kissed him.

"Are you guys getting married?" Little Teagan had snuck downstairs and was watching them kiss from the doorway. Max laughed and ran over to the little boy that he considered his nephew.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, little man?" He cried, tickling him. "You know what Uncle Max does to little kids who are up past their bedtime!" Teagan squealed with delight.

"Uncle Max!" Teagan cried, squirming as Max tickled him.