The little red Jetta, with its alien head bobbing from the antenna, was filled beyond capacity; Max and Isabel cradled Liz across the back seat while Michael and Maria were unusually quiet up front. Backpacks and text books were stashed wherever there was room. Luckily Alex, Tess, Max and Isabel all had the same forth period English class. Within five minutes of Maria's warning, the pod squad had been peeling out of the high school parking lot. Over the past eighteen months, their elite group had perfected the art of "ditching school".

Alex and Tess were riding behind in the Jeep, but both vehicles were en route to the Evans' residence since it was the nearest, unoccupied, safe haven. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Evans were going to be out of town on a business trip for the next two days. Thus eliminating the possibility of unanswerable questions or the need for a cover story.

Maria turned around in the front seat, her green eyes were red and puffy, tear tracks staining her ashen cheeks.

"M-max??"

Maria's voice shook as she looked imploringly into the back seat. Max had his eyes closed, his face pale and taut with concentration. His large hands rested lovingly alongside Liz's face, but blood was still seeping through her clothes and this was what worried Maria.

"He's having trouble connecting with her," Isabel said in a quiet, dismal voice. The icy fear, which had lodged itself in the pit of Isabel's stomach the moment she'd seen Liz laying unconscious, had escalated to the point of horrifying dread. Liz looked undeniably awful, and Isabel was afraid to think of what might happen if Liz were to lose any more blood.

The harder it was for Max to make a connection, the easier it would be for Liz to slip through his fingers, and be lost to them forever. Isabel knew when they reached the house that she, Michael and Tess were going to need to lend Max their strength.

Gazing out the window, Isabel spoke up again, "He was able to heal some of the superficial wounds without a solid connection, but he needs one in order to heal her more serious injuries. When we get to the house, Maria, we'll all be able to help out."

Maria opened and closed her mouth several times, finally nodding her head and wiping the fresh tears from her cheeks as she turned back around.

Isabel looked down at her hands and swallowed a small sob which tried to escape from behind her trembling lips. Michael had found some old beach towels in the trunk and she'd used them to keep pressure on the deeper cuts. By now, the thick towels were twice as heavy and stained crimson with blood. Her hands and lower arms were also smeared with Liz's blood, some was still bright and fresh while in other areas it had dried and caked.

**Oh, Liz. You have to keep fighting, please, keep fighting.**

Isabel pleaded desperately.

**You have to hang in there, stay alive. You can't die Liz, 'cause then I'd loose my brother too. He'd be devastated, he'd literally go insane....You don't understand, these last couple days have been hell, Liz. He was crushed by what you did, it hurt him so badly. But you were still alive and breathing. He was still able to look at your face or listen to your voice. I can only imagine what would happen if he lost you all together. So please keep fighting Liz, keep fighting for his sake.**

Startled, Isabel jumped in her seat when the car came to a jolting stop in front of her house. Doors flew open and people scrambled out. Michael helped Max carry Liz inside while Isabel held the blood soaked towels in place. She couldn't help but notice that the sun had disappeared behind the clouds. Clouds that hadn't been there this morning. A chill crawled down her back as Michael threw the front door open and they carried Liz into the living room.

Maria ran through the open door, fast as a bullet, and started searching through the house for some fresh towels and warm water. Tess was kind enough to help her carry the various items back to the coffee table, around which everyone was clustered. Alex let out a long breath, his lips set in a thin line, and looked inquisitively between Max and Michael.

"What," Alex's voice cracked. "W-what can we do to help? I mean, how bad is it?"

However the grim look plastered onto Alex's face betrayed him, for it showed that the tall young man had already guessed the seriousness of his friend's condition. Alex was simply hoping someone would tell him he had guessed wrong.

"Jesus...it's bad," was Michael's gruff reply.

Those few words from Michael were all that was needed to confirm Alex's worst fears. Maria's hands flew to her mouth as she let out a strangled sob. She started shaking her small head back and forth, trying to deny the grave state in which her oldest friend lay. Her body shook with tremors as she began pleading in an anguished voice, "No, oh god no. Please...Lizzie you have to stay with me. Oh my god, not Liz. Noooooooo..." she cried.

Eventually she let Alex pull her away from the only sister she had ever known; she found herself wrapped tightly in Alex's arms, pressed up against his warm chest. The jean jacket he'd been wearing was soon wet from Maria's desperate tears as they rained down upon it. Used to comforting his two favorite ladies on a daily basis, especially recently, Alex paid the sudden dampness no heed.

Deep, ragged breaths were coming from Max, his eyes were closed and a fine sheen of sweat was visible along his forehead. Slumping forward, limp as a rag doll, Max spoke out loud for the first time since they'd left school.

"I can't connect with her," Max gasped, short of breath. He wasn't aware of the desperation that filled his rasping voice. "It's hard to reach someone who's unconscious, but dammit, it's not impossible! There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to reach her."

Max was sitting sideways on the sofa, cradling Liz's dark head gently on his lap. He looked lost and helpless, tears gathering in his expressive eyes and streaming down his cheeks unnoticed. Touching his forehead to Liz's, he breathed in deeply and let himself drown in her sent. His face shifted to the side, but he left his head resting on top of hers.

Sitting on the sofa as he was, Max Evans suddenly looked very much like the forlorn little boy...the one who'd stood naked by the side of the road so many years ago. In a few short seconds, Max's whole demeanor had changed, and it bore no resemblance to the king he would one day become. It bore no resemblance to the great leader, whose tasks he was destined to fulfill.

"It's almost as if she's blocking me. Somehow refusing to let me help her..." Max's voice betrayed the agony that he felt. His words were flooded with emotion.

"What if we tried to wake her up? If she were conscious, you'd be able to connect with her right?" Alex's voice was small and quiet, but equally as desperate; He knew they didn't have much time.

From the other side of the poorly lit room, Michael registered that Max was not operating in his usual "king of the world" fashion. In light of resent events, Michael could fully appreciate his leader's preoccupation. Doing what he did best, Michael rubbed a hand through his unruly hair and proceeded to assume Max's former role.

"Ok people, listen up......Isabel and Alex, you work on trying to wake up Liz. I have no idea what to do, so try whatever you think might help. Tess, can you find some kind of cloth, like one of Max's old t-shirts, and tear it into strips so me and Maria can temporarily bandage some of the deep gashes?"

Since she didn't really have a choice, Tess nodded reluctantly while keeping her reservations to herself. Her lips sealed into a tight, disapproving line.

"Good. Let's MOVE, we don't have much time. Max, you save your strength, you're gonna need it later."

Everyone ran about his or her different tasks, each careful to avoid glancing directly at the prone figure that lay limply on the sofa. It was hard to imagine that the frail individual resting alongside Max, was indeed Liz. This pale, sickly girl seemed a long way off from their cheerful, friendly, and vibrant Liz.

Fortunately, Philip Evans had insisted on buying an extra large sofa last year, so there was plenty of room for those who began to crowd around its cushions.

Sitting vigil beside Liz, Max was plunged into a vicious state of self-loathing. Side by side, rage and grief flowed through his body. He was trembling with the intensity of his rampant emotions. This torment of self-hate and despair, was worse than any hell Max had ever imagined. When he'd first opened his eyes this morning, had he know that in less than four hours he would experience a torture far greater than the White Room...far greater than anything he'd experienced so far...Max Evans would have gone back to sleep. And yet, here he was...

Liz, his Liz, lay dying in his arms. The life was being sucked out of her with each minute that pasted, Max could see it. And there he sat, inactive, because so far there was nothing he could do to help her. He was powerless to prevent his soulmate, his love, his best friend, from slipping into the darkness...where only those who are dead have the privilege to reside. Despite the events of the last few weeks, Max recalled how his heart had stopped when Maria'd first shown him Liz's unconscious body, draped across the Jetta's back seat. Her delicate, beautiful wrists slit with the precision of a razor. The damage inflicted upon her flawless flesh was severe, it not worse, on account of the additional gashes that adorned her long arms. Faith and hope, though he had little to none of both, were all that was keeping him from falling apart.

Max's fear for Liz was like nothing he had ever experienced. It's intensity held him paralyzed and totally vulnerable. But never the less, it remained where it was, continuing to grow larger and larger. Max didn't try to fool himself, he knew he'd lost Liz's love...and most likely her friendship too. But the possibility of having her forever ripped from of his life was unthinkable. If she were gone, he would no longer see her talking by her locker at school...he would no longer hear her voice when she sat behind him in history... he would no longer see her in that silly little alien costume at the Crashdown.

Although to witness these things caused him great pain, Max was unable to stop the way his body craved to be near Liz's. The longing was buried deep inside him; it was unbridled and indestructible.

Startled out of his thoughts by something brushing against his calf, Max shook his head as if attempting to clear it, and looked down to see what had brought him back to this painful reality. He saw that Maria and Michael had finished wrapping the worst of Liz's wounds. The remains of one of his old work t-shirts lay on the carpet, a pair of scissors right next to it. Apparently his sister and Alex were running out of ideas on how to wake up Liz. They were huddled close to the front window and conferring in quiet tones. Each wore a grim expression on their face. Tess wasn't in the room, but Max was positive she would be tiptoeing around the house somewhere.

Unable to determine what had startled him, Max jumped slightly when he felt the odd sensation again. His heart started beating faster, unbeknownst to Max, as he realized what it was he'd just felt. Liz was stirring slightly in his arms, her right leg moving ever so gently against his. One of her bandaged hands was dislodged from its position on her chest, and soon landed precariously on Max's sculpted thigh.

Sharply sucking in his breath, Max lifted his trembling fingers, reaching out to touch Liz's soft cheek. They were only inches away from its warm surface, when he furiously jerked his hand away, chiding himself to no end. What the hell did he think he doing? He was fantasizing about Liz when he should've been trying to heal her.

Waging a war with himself, Max finally gave in to temptation. He just couldn't help it. Stealing himself, Max stroked his dark fingers tenderly along her pale jaw. He tried to whisper her name, but he failed miserably, for all that emerged from his throat was a harsh croak. Reaching out instead with his mind, Max thought he felt the faint caress of her presence brushing against his before the electrifying sensation vanished abruptly.

Overjoyed beyond belief, Max swallowed a shout of happiness and concentrated on helping Liz awaken fully this time.

"Liz? Hey there, sweetness. You ready to wake up now?"

This time around, his voice was gentle and pleading. "Liz, I really need you to wake up so I can heal you. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease..." he groaned. Max felt moisture gather instantly behind his eyelids as he tried not to think about the outcome if she was unable to gain consciousness. If he wasn't able to heal her.

At the sound of Max's voice, Maria and Alex rapidly flew towards the sofa and went down upon their knees. They were frightened, each wondering what was going on. Had something happened to Liz?

"Max, I want to know what you're doing RIGHT NOW! What's wrong with Liz? Did she wake up? You had better answer me buddy, I've had about enough stress for one day. Brush me off and I'll make your life a living hell, I'll come after you Max Evans! TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!!"

Maria's reckless temper had taken on a life of its own. Alex made no move to contain her for he wanted answers just as badly as she did. Michael'd appeared from the kitchen, and as much as he wanted to help Max out, even HE didn't mess with Maria when she was like this. From the back of the room by the fire place, it was Tess who finally said, "Maria, shut up! You're not helping."

There was a loud collective gasp; the silence in the room was overbearing, one could have heard the air breathing. Nobody told off Maria without there being consequences. No one except Michael, that is.

Meanwhile Max was concentrating on Liz, just Liz. Recalling all his precious memories of her, he reached out and tried to form a connection again. The silent couple was oblivious to the drama taking place less than two feet away from them.

"Excuse me?" Maria's voice was deadly calm. "Not helping? Did I hear YOU tell ME to shut up? You bitch, you've been in the way since day one. What the fuck-"

Alex placed his hand over her mouth, but he couldn't stop the murderous glare Maria drilled into Tess over the top of his fingers. Using bodily force, Alex turned his captive around until she was staring back at Liz. All of the fight left Maria's body the instant she lay eyes on her best friend. Alex caught Maria's body, now limp, as it sagged into his arms.

Five pairs of eyes trained towards the sofa, where Liz was shaking her head back and forth, mumbling something frantically beneath her breath. Max had one of his large hands on her shoulder and the other was trying to steady her bouncing head. Her translucent eyelids were still closed, but you could tell she was searching for something, or someone. Someone to help her...

The onlookers were drawn towards the sofa, as if trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Perspiration drenched Liz's face as her internal battle continued; her fingers were opening and closing, knuckles white when she grasped onto the cushion beneath her.

Isabel stood staring at the scene taking place before her eyes, terror displayed nakedly on her beautiful face.

"M-max?? W-what's happening?"

Isabel's stuttering question was forgotten when Liz's eyes shot open and she sprang up into a sitting position, only to groan and lean against the back of the sofa. Liz's head, her dark hair streaming behind it, was still shaking back and forth. Small sounds of protest came out of her mouth before she suddenly cried, "Noooo!!! Please don't let him...don't let him," her voice high and keening, "You can't let him do it...he might see...I PROMISED...please...I can't block him any longer...he-e's so strong...Maria?...Oh, please..." by the end, her voice was barely a whisper. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she begged for help.

Barely conscious, Liz was unaware of what she was saying. Although some part of her was still struggling valiantly to protect Max from the future. Blind to the seriousness of her own injuries, or simply discarding them, Liz was jeopardizing her life in order to fulfill her promise.

Collapsing on top Max it seemed that Liz'd used up all of her strength and, at the moment, could hardly keep her eyes open. Her limbs started to tremble from fatigue; regardless, Liz fought to shift her gaze around the room. However, her feeble efforts were barely visible to the remaining six people. No one knew she was searching for Maria, praying beyond hope that the blond pixie was there. How could they?