Liz could barely keep the tears out of her eyes as the tight grip of the bouncer bit into her arm. “You ladies need to come back in a few years, when you’re legal.” He let Tess’ arm go first and she jerked away, glaring at him. “I cannot believe I’m being treated this way!” “Believe it, doll-face.” He let go of Liz’s arm and she stood with her eyes averted as they continued sparring. This was just one more humiliation on a completely miserable night. “I can spot a fake i.d. a mile away. As well as a fake set of something else.” Liz looked up at the sudden tone in his voice. His gaze was on Tess’ cleavage, prominently displayed in her tight navy keyhole shirt. Tess’ mouth dropped open. Liz set her jaw and pierced the man with her eyes. “Is it a job requirement that you have the manners of a gorilla, or is that just your unique spin on it?” The gorilla crossed his arms and glared at her. “Stay out here, ladies, where you won’t get into serious trouble.” Then he turned and walked back in the casino. Tess huffed and flipped her hair back over shoulder. “He acts so tough. I wonder what he‘d do if he saw something really scary? Like, oh say- a dragon?” Liz pulled her eyes away from the colorful crowds inside the casino and stared at Tess. “Tess, I don’t think-” But she was already doing it; her eyes were shut. And as much as Liz wanted to interfere, she still had a healthy amount of respect for this mind warp thing. So she turned her eyes back to the bouncer. He was heading for the large, colorful cabana in the center of the room, an annoying swagger in his hips. Then, suddenly, he stopped. He turned around, and an expression of horror grew on his face. A bellow escaped his lips and his arms went over his head in defense of some invisible demon. “Oh my god...” Liz looked back at Tess, who was still in her own world. The terrified screaming of the bouncer pulled Liz’s attention back to the casino. The crowd was backing away from him, but one dealer had run up to him. “There’s nothing there, Jerry!” He grabbed his arms and tried to keep him still. “There’s nothing there!” “Are you blind? It’s gonna’ eat me! It already ate HER!” The bouncer, Jerry, ripped his arms away from his friend and stumbled toward the cabana. Liz was horrified. Tess had made him see the dragon eat someone? How far was she going to take this? As Jerry ran, he looked back over his shoulder and yelled in terror. People scattered to get out of his way. Finally, he collapsed on the ground and threw his hands over his head, curling up in as small a ball as possible. He thought he was getting attacked. Liz heard a tinkling laugh behind her and turned to see Tess smiling gregariously. “Tess, that is NOT funny.” Tess glared at her. “I didn’t really do anything to him. He’s fine. Everybody just thinks that he needs a little vacation now, that’s all.” Liz looked back to see Jerry standing again, looking around in disbelief. “But it was just there,“ he said weakly. A few people laughed and his face darkened. He turned and shoved through the crowd and walked into the cabana. “God, what a jerk. He deserved it.” Liz looked at Tess with disbelief in her eyes. How could she be so calloused? But only one line of reasoning she could think of would work with Tess. “Um... Tess, I really don’t think Max would want you doing that.” Tess’ eyes narrowed. “Really? And you would be the expert on what Max wants? I don‘t think so. Not anymore.” The words stung Liz and she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Liz pushed down her anger and tried to stay calm. “Mind-warping that man was wrong, Tess, and you know it.” Tess rolled her eyes. “You know, you owe me. I was going to win some big bucks tonight. I have no idea why that meathead thought we were together, but it was your stupid seventeen-year-old schoolgirl look that got us kicked out.” Liz was suddenly too tired to be having this conversation. She just wanted to go upstairs to her lonely hotel room and wait for Maria to come give her details about her wonderful night of auditioning. “Tess, I am a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl.” “Thinking like that is exactly why you never get any dates, Liz. How many guys are going want to go out with a girl who dresses in jeans and a cowboy shirt?” Tess’ nose wrinkled in distaste at Liz’s outfit. Liz had to smile at Tess giving her fashion advice. “Well, skintight and revealing is just not me, okay? And I happen to know that some guys like modest girls.” “And that’s why you’re here all by yourself tonight, right? Because all of those guys were... let me guess, busy?” Her tone wasn’t cruel, but the words hurt, anyway. Why did she let Tess of all people still get under her skin? She didn‘t have the energy to fight anymore. “Look, I’m sorry for getting us kicked out, Tess. Alright? Good night.” “’Night, Liz.” And then Tess reached out a hand and stopped her. “And- don’t tell Max what I did, okay?” Liz looked up at her in surprise. “He’d be really mad at me and I don’t want to ruin his trip.” Tess actually looked guilty for about two seconds. Maybe she wasn’t as calloused as she seemed. “Please?” “Fine.” Liz pulled away and headed up to her room, feeling the usual flood of misery that overtook her whenever she was alone. She concentrated on just moving one foot in front of the other.

******

Something fun. Something distracting. Max’s mind turned, constantly churning one bad idea after another. It had been so long since his mind wasn’t clogged with FBI conspiracies or alien threats that his mind didn’t know how to function on anything less than survival mode. Fun did not compute. “How about finding a bar where the girls dance in those cage things. I’ve always wanted to ask them how they picked to do that. Do they audition doing trapped animal imitations or what?” “A bar is not a good idea, Alex,” Michael said loudly from the back seat. “We drink; we get drunk; and all of Las Vegas is privy to a free alien sideshow.” “Yeah, but it’s not like they‘d notice,” Alex threw out. “And even if they did, you guys would probably get hounded to do a week of shows at the Sahara.” Alex sounded a little too happy about that idea. “Oh yeah, and I would do what? Ask for volunteers and blast them to death,” Michael grumbled. “Yeah, that’d go over big.“ Max looked back at Michael briefly. “Well, you could always crack rocks.“ Michael smirked. Alex went on. “Okay, so we want fun with no alcohol. No worries- I’ve got years of girl-bonding experience to draw from. Karaoke?” Max didn‘t hesitate. “No.” “God, no,” Michael groaned. “I hate those places now. If Maria even so much as sniffs out a microphone, we’re stuck for hours.” Max laughed, but then turned melancholy. Michael and Maria were actually an item now, and he and Liz... He pushed down the clutch and shoved the car into a higher gear. She’d trashed the precious thing they had and made sure that there was no going back. He’d tried to go back. He’d wanted to. And, at one point, he thought he might just be able to forget about it. But, he couldn’t. That is, if she was even telling the truth about to begin with. Shut up, Evans. Thinking like that does no good. She said they did it and that’s the end of it. He huffed out a breath of frustration. How had he gotten back on this? Thinking about Liz was like trying to walk through quicksand. He needed to think about something else. A sign caught his eye and he slowed down. That’s it. He pulled the car in the parking lot and looked back at Michael and Alex. “Here we are.” Their quizzical looks just made him smile.

******

Heading by the stores in the hotel lobby, Liz stopped to admire a beaded gown in the window. Some ladies wore dresses like that in the casino, trying to attract the wealthy high rollers with their attributes. That’s what Tess had been talking about. Liz was a little surprised Tess hadn’t gone in for that look herself. But then give her time, they’d only been here for a few hours. Liz looked at her watch. A few hours? She groaned. They weren’t leaving until tomorrow afternoon. What was she going to do until then? The guys had just disappeared; Maria was off singing and the auditions were closed; she had no idea where Isabel was. The only person she wanted to be with didn’t trust her anymore. Tears filled her eyes at the thought. Max was trying so hard to be friends, but she could see the wall he’d built up to keep her out of his heart. The light in his eyes when he used to look at her, probably the thing she treasured most about their relationship, was gone forever. She shook her head. It was so ironic. In Future Max’s time, they had eloped to Las Vegas when they were nineteen. And as much as she tried to stop herself, the constant reminder of the vast difference between her life and that Liz’s life threatened to break her. She knew she had to be close to losing it because she actually wanted to get drunk. Liz rested her forehead against the pane of glass, the beautiful gowns inside unable to draw her attention again. Tears filled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night and she angrily brushed them away. Life was NOT supposed to be like this. She had given up every shred of happiness when she agreed to help Future Max. If she could just go back... No. She stopped the thought wearily. If she could go back, she’d just do it again. She could never have NOT helped Max stop Isabel and Michael’s deaths. She had done the right thing. And if her life was hard right now, then she was just going to have to adapt. Her gaze wandered up to the dress in the window. Adapt, huh? It was crazy, but a small thrill went through her. Maybe it was time to turn over a new leaf; be a new Liz, since the old one obviously couldn’t make life work anymore. She could at least make a few of her smaller, less important fantasies come true. Like wearing a dress like that...

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