Outside the Crashdown, policemen and bystanders were moving slowly about the building. The ambulance was still there, a testament to the hopelessness of the emergency.

Max sat in the back alley, his head in his hands. Unshed tears burned in his throat as he contemplated his last vision of Liz alive. It was forever seared in his memory....her lifeless form in an ever-widening pool of crimson blood.

He couldn't even get close enough to hold her as she left him. And she never even woke up. Never saw him try to save her. Never knew he loved her.

She just...bled to death while the frantic paramedics worked over her.

Max didn't think his heart could hold any more pain, any more grief.

She was dead.

And it was his wish that brought this, all of this pain.

His wish had made his sister a stranger, his friend an enemy and his soul mate...a corpse.

If there was a way, any way he knew of, he would undo it...no matter what it took.

A breath of wind brought a small whisper, "There is a way..."

Max suddenly knew what he had to do. He jumped up and ran to the jeep.

******

MINUTES LATER

He faced the canyon with more hopelessness than he'd ever felt in his life.

Only steps away, the yawning darkness of the cloudy night took away even the familiar stars he loved. He stood as one stands before a judge who knows all, guilty and already condemned.

Sarah appeared beside him, and she slipped her small hand in his.

He gave her a grateful look, but pulled his hand away to step forward. This was no one's fault but his own.

He had been rash and wrong in despising the life he had been given. Alien, visitor, whoever he was, life was a gift and with it came blessings he had not even seen.

Blessings at the hand of an unseen God who had the power to take it all away and....perhaps, the mercy to grant it again.

At least Max hoped so.

He swallowed nervously...and bowed his head.

"Take me in her place....please. Let me fall and die as I would have, if it will just...give Liz her life and make everything right again."

Sarah wept for him, and prayed on her own.

When the fierce wind began to blow toward the cliff, Max lifted his head. He knew his prayer had been heard.

He stepped to the edge, held his arms out...and leaned into the darkness without another thought.

As he fell, Sarah shimmered and disappeared with a sob.

********

In the peacefulness of heaven, she felt Clarence's presence and turned to him for comfort.

"I did everything wrong, and he's dead. She'll be miserable without him...just miserable."

Clarence chuckled with that superiority that only archangels can have.

"Little one, you do not know your God as well as you should. Look down below..."

When Sarah finally cleared her tear-stained eyes enough to see, she radiated enough bright joy for a thousand suns. The bell that sounded and the beautiful wings she grew were of little matter to her, as long as she could see them together...

********

Max was climbing the fire escape, his heart in his throat. The pain of the last hours in his "normal" world had not yet subsided, but he could do nothing else buy try and put to right what he had destroyed here.

If she would just be alive here, in this world. Just allow him to see her and hold her, he could fix whatever stood between them.

He neared the top, almost afraid of what he would find there. But Liz was still standing, looking at the stars. Tears were streaming unendingly down her face.

*How long has she been standing here?*

She had to hear Max as he landed lightly on the rooftop, but she didn't even acknowledge his presence.

He could feel the pain radiating from her, and the insecurity his words had left behind. He dared not go closer. "Liz?"

She wiped her eyes and turned, a guarded look on her face. "What is it, Max?"

He couldn't help but look relieved that she was alive and here before him. He took a step nearer. "I meant what I said before..." he began.

"Then why did you come back," she lashed out at him angrily.

He took a step forward and looked down, realizing his relief and his words had been taken wrongly. "I mean, I meant what I said before, when I said that no matter what we go through, it's worth it, as long as we're together."

Liz looked at him, confused and hopeful.

He crossed to her, still not daring to reach out. "I am out of balance, but without you, it just gets worse. Trust me. I know that now."

Liz searched his eyes for a moment, then cautiously stepped forward. "So you came back because you..."

Max gazed deeply into her eyes. "I can't live without you."

Liz looked up at him searchingly. How could she could trust him fully? Those words had cut her like blades... "We don't belong together."

Max knew only one way to erase her doubt.

"May I touch you," he asked quietly.

Liz hesitated and looked away, but finally nodded.

Slowly and gently, Max placed both of his hands on the sides of her face. Locking his eyes with hers, he reached out with his mind.

"Take deep, even breaths," he whispered.

It was almost immediate. Their breathing in sync, their hearts beating as one, Liz felt herself giving in to the connection between them.

And suddenly, Liz could see flashes of the jeep nearing a yawning chasm....an angel...Isabel, or was it?...the shooting at the Crashdown....his anguish....and a desperate leap into space.

But most importantly, she felt his love, his clear, undivided love for her flowing from him.

Max took his hands away and looked at her intently.

"Did you see?"

"I'm not sure what I saw," Liz began with a confused smile, "but I know how you feel."

He leaned down to kiss her, but she stopped him with her hand.

He was startled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry...I...I'm sorry."

She reached out and touched his arm, tilting her head until he finally met her eyes.

"Let's just wait a while, okay? Until everything is...balanced. We have plenty of time."

Liz's smile reassured him, and Max took her hands in his.

"As long as you're okay, I'm okay. And I mean that."