“That’s out of the question,” Zan said, firmly.

“Think about it,” Ava tried to convince him, “If he finds out any other way, he’ll never trust us again.”

“I don’t need his trust.”

“Yes, you do. We all do,” Ava responded.

“You know exactly what he’ll do,” Zan said.

“Yes, but we should still tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Max asked as he walked in the room.

Ava looked at Zan, telling him with her eyes that they should tell him and Zan threw his arms up in defeat. Ava turned to Max, so that she would be facing him. “Liz was in a car accident,” she said. Max thought his heart skipped a beat. “She’s fine, she’s Ok,” Ava continued, “She just has a small concussion, that’s all.” Max stared at her for a moment, processing the information.

“I have to go,” Max finally said as he walked quickly to the table and took the car keys from it.

“Max, you can’t,” Zan said as he stood in front of the door, so that Max would be able to leave.

“Get out of the way,” Max said as he walked up to him.

“You’ll die. Do you understand that? They’ll kill you!” Zan exclaimed.

“I don’t care. Now, get out of the way,” Max said with determination in his voice.

“No,” Zan answered.

With everything he felt inside of him at that moment, Max hit Zan in the face, sending him flying half across the room.

As shocked Zan, lying on the floor, touched his now bleeding lip, Max left.

“Max,” Ava called his name as she ran after him.

“You can’t stop me,” Max said without looking at her. He got in the car and turned it on.

“Just be careful, Ok? Make sure that nobody sees you,” she told him.

Max seemed to think about something for a moment. “Do you have the same powers as Tess?” he asked, finally turning to her.

Ava looked into his eyes and nodded after a moment as she realized what he meant.

**********************************************************************

“You have five minutes at the most,” Ava told him as they got to the floor where Liz’s room was. He nodded and as she began her mind warp, hiding Max from the people on that floor, Max headed to Liz’s room.

He slowly opened the door. The room was almost dark, except for a little bit of light that the moonlight provided through the window. Max’s heart began beating harder as his eyes landed on Liz. She was asleep in her bed.

He walked up closer. On the edge of the bed he saw her chart. He picked it up and scanned through it. Ava was right. Liz was going to be Ok. They just left her overnight for observations. He put the chart back and walked to the side of the bed. Liz looked so peaceful and fragile. She had a few cuts and a bruise on her face. Max moved his hand, wanting to heal every cut, but then he stopped himself. The last thing Liz needed right now was people asking her weird questions. For a while he just stared at her. It was over a month since the last time he saw her and with every part of his body he wanted to wake her up and hold her in his arms. But Ava was right, it was too dangerous…for all of them. He looked in the direction of the door. He didn’t have much time. He looked back at Liz’s face and knew what he needed to do. Gently he put his hand over Liz’s stomach. He just let his energy flow to his fingers. He made sure that he didn’t change anything except for the top layers of skin on Liz’s stomach. After he was done, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “It’ ll be Ok soon, I promise,” Max whispered and then left the room.

“Max,” Liz whispered in her dream.

***********************************************************************

Next day

“Ok, the bath is ready,” Maria said as she walked back into Liz’s bedroom.

“Thank you,” Liz said.

“Do you want me to help you?”

“No, I’m Ok,” Liz answered, “Besides, I’m sure you have a lot of other things to do.”

Maria looked at her friend, “Am I bugging you that much?” They both smiled. “Ok, fine, I’ll leave you alone. Get some rest…and…and call me,” Maria said as she got her purse.

“I will,” Liz said.

******************************************************************

She stood in the bathroom staring at herself in the mirror. She felt tired. She wasn’t really hurt in the accident, but everyone made a big fuss around her and that was exhausting. Slowly, Liz took her sweater off. As she put the sweater on a chair something caught her eye in the mirror. She began to shake as she looked in the mirror. Even though it was very faint, she could see the silver handprint on her stomach. She looked down at her stomach to make sure that she didn’t imagine it. Liz’s heart was pounding as she struggled to get a hold of herself.

*******************************************************************

“This is ridiculous, man,” Rath said, “We’ve been in this black hole of a town for God knows how long and we’re still no closer to the granolith.”

“We need time,” Nicholas said as he got off the couch.

“Time for what? They’re helpless. Let’s just go there and take their heads off.”

“I’m in charge here, not you,” Nicholas said looking straight at Rath.

“Do you know what happens to the last one who said that to me?”

“What are you gonna do? Tickle me with your mohawk?”

“Why don’t your try me?” Rath said taking a step toward Nicholas.

“Don’t temp me,” Nicholas replied as he, also, took a step toward Rath.

“HEY!” Lonnie shouted as she got up from the couch, annoyed. She came up and stood between the two of them. “You, chill out,” she said to Rath. “And you, get your freaking army together. We need a plan. I’m really sick of this planet.”

“It’s not safe. We need more back up,” Nicholas said.

“Back up for what? They’re harmless without that idiot Max,” Rath said.

“We don’t know if he’s really dead, you, moron,” Nicholas replied.

“Are you afraid? Is that what it is? You’re shaking your knees in that stupid body? I mean, couldn’t you have gotten yourself a better-looking husk? It’s creepy,” Rath said.

“Rath!” Lonnie gave him an evil stare. Then she turned to Nicholas and smiled. “Why would they make it look like he’s dead? What would they possibly have to gain by that?”

*********************************************************************

Liz sat outside on her balcony. She was deep in her thought. What was she supposed to do now? She didn’t dare to hope that what she felt inside was real. She thought it was just a dream. She felt him when he came to her in the hospital. She felt him kiss her forehead. She felt him touch her. She thought it was just a dream. Just another dream. She needed to know. But how? Then she realized something. Liz crawled back through the window and picked up Max’s picture from her desk. She sat on the chair. She wasn’t sure what to do. The only time she’s connected with him Isabelle was there to guide her.

Liz tried to remember what she did the last time. Concentrate on Max and let your mind go blank. She took a deep breath…another one. She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes, holding Max’s picture with both hands.

When she opened her eyes she had no idea where she was. She was staring at a wall. She knew it wasn’t her room anymore.

“Liz?” Liz heard familiar voice behind her. Quickly, she turned around. As she did, she felt her heart skip a beat. She was afraid to breathe. For a moment they stared at each other. Max was sitting on the bed. He had a surprised, almost shocked expression on his face.

“Max.” They both turned in the direction of another voice. At that moment Liz saw another Max standing in front of her. He did look completely different…different clothes, different hair, but it was Max nonetheless. She closed her eyes in shock.

When she opened them again, Liz was in her room again. She was breathing hard. Shock written on her face. What did it mean? She looked down at the picture she was still holding in her hands.