He observed the woman that had come to the reservation on several occasions. She was usually full of life as she did her studies of the Indian cultures here. Today she looked sad and he couldn't help but wonder what had made her look so sad. He had watched her many times before when she had come to the reservation, but he never spoke to her. He was different, only a few knew truly how different he was from all the other people on this planet. As she entered the cave, he followed. For this was the cave he came to when he needed time. Time, that's all he had. Time to wait until they would awaken and need him. He had been here over ten years waiting and hoping they would awake before he was discovered so he could be there for them as was his duty.

The woman felt a presence behind her and turned to see a man standing at the entrance of the cave. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed him this time when she had come to the reservation. On many times when she visited the reservation, she had noticed him. Although he never spoke to her she could feel him watching her. There was something about him. Something special.

The man slowly approached her. "Something is troubling you today." His voice was calm as he moved closer to her.

She was nervous, but he did not scare her. The tear slid down her face without her even noticing it. She had just come from the doctors office and received the worst news of her life. For some reason the man that stood in front of her made her want to talk about it. "I cannot have a family."

He crept closer still. "Family is important to you?"

"That is the only thing I've ever wanted." She answered, as she noticed he was now standing in front of her.

"Family is important. The future is important. Maybe we could help each other preserve a future. If you will allow me to help you now, your future family will help play an important role in preserving family for me."

She didn't understand what exactly he meant by his words, but something inside her told her to follow her heart and trust him. "I do not know if there is anything you can do for me, but I do want a family."

He reached out with his hand and touched her stomach. She watched in amazement as his hand began to glow on her stomach. When he pulled his hand away he looked up into her eyes. "Go to your husband, you will conceive a son tonight. Your son's daughter will be the one." With that he turned from her and began to step out of the cave.

Before he reached the opening she asked, "Who are you?"

"They call me Nasedo. What is your name?"

"My name is Claudia, Claudia Parker." He nodded and left the cave.

Setting: Roswell, NM (present day)

Max was once again laying on top of his bed staring at the ceiling of his room. For the past week this is all he seemed to do. His mind raced for answers. Answers to questions he didn't know who to ask. Isabelle, Michael and even Tess looked to him for answers now, but he had no one that he could look to for answers. He felt himself being pulled further and further inside himself. How was he going to fulfill a destiny that was set upon him without the one who made him feel complete? "Liz" He moaned. He understood why she had walked away from him, but he needed her now more than ever. He just couldn't understand why he felt the way he did about her. How could he have been drawn to her the way he was if Tess was his destiny?

Isabelle stepped inside her brother's room and sighed. She knew how much her brother loved Liz. She also knew how Liz felt for her brother. He had been so withdrawn since she ran away from him, it almost scared her. "Max?"

"Isabelle, I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone just yet."

"Max, you have been like this for the past week. I think it's time you talked to someone. If you don't want to talk to me, maybe Michael...."

"Do you love Michael?" He asked interrupting his sister.

"What?" Isabelle was taken back by her brother's question.

"Do you love Michael? I mean do you love him in the way you are supposed to love him?"

"I will always love Michael. But, I love him like I love you. He will always be a brother to me and nothing more." She answered him honestly.

"I don't love Tess either. I know I was drawn to her, but I don't love her. I have so many questions. I think I have more questions now then I did before we knew anything."

"I know, I feel the same way." She knew he wasn't really ready to talk to anyone about what had happened between him and Liz, but she couldn't let him continue down this path of depression either. "Max, aren't you going to even talk to her?"

"Tess?"

"No, Max, Liz." She saw a tear swell in her brother's eye and felt as if she might cry for him.

He blinked the tear from his eye trying to get his emotions under control. "I can't...I can't pull her into this."

"Max, if you haven't noticed she is pulled into this already. She is hurting as much as you are. It's time to put an end to this pain for both of you."

"Have you talked to her?"

"No, I've talked to Alex though. He is really worried for her just like I'm worried about you. You need to talk to her. Even if you two decide you can't be together in the way you both want. You both need each other. Talk to her Max, please."

"I don't know Isabelle. How did Alex take the news of your destiny with Michael?"

"Alex understands. He still wants to be our friend and help us anyway he can. I honestly don't know how I would have been able to keep it together as well as I have if I didn't have him to talk to right now. That's why you need to talk to Liz. I think she would want to help you just like Alex wants to help me. She'll understand."

"That's just it Is, she does understand and that's why she left me. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I'll think about it okay."

"I'm here for you Max. We are all here for you. Don't think because you are the one that is supposed to lead us that you don't have people who you can lean on sometime. I just wanted to let you know that." She started to leave her brother's room.

"Thanks, Isabelle."

"Your Welcome, Max."

Setting: Crashdown Cafe (same day)

Liz sat at the counter with no expression upon her face. She had hardly spoken a few words to anyone since the day she stepped out of Max's life. Maria and Alex were both extremely worried about their friend. They both knew the situation of their alien friend's so called destiny and had come to an acceptance of it. Liz on the other hand had witnessed the ordeal, understood it, but somehow hadn't allowed herself to accept it.

Maria remembered when Michael had come into the cafe with Sheriff Valenti a few days after the whole Agent Pierce situation. She had been working like today and when the chimes on the door of the cafe rang and Michael had walked in with the sheriff she was shocked.

Michael saw the shock on Maria's face and approached her cautiously. He looked around the restaurant and noticed only a few customers. "Can we talk?" He asked as he came within only a few inches of her. Maria's voice was lost from her for the first time in her life. The only way she could respond was to nod her head saying yes. He took her arm gently and pulled her to the back and outside the back door. "Maria, I want you to know that I meant what I said. I do love you, but I need to make sure I'm not a danger to you before I can be with you."

Maria was surprised herself for the way she did understand what he was trying to tell her. "Why are you with the sheriff?"

"He is trying to help me control my powers."

"What?"

"I know this sounds weird, but he really has helped me a lot."

"Okay this is just a little too weird, even for you spaceboy!"

Michael smiled as Maria called him spaceboy. He knew she understood him better than he understood himself sometimes. So he started to explain how Valenti had come to his apartment and talked to him about Agent Pierce's death. He then told her how the sheriff had suggested that he let him help him control his powers. So the sheriff wouldn't have to arrest him in the future for an accident that he may cause if he lost control at the wrong time or for the wrong reason.

Maria was in shock. Could the man they had feared for so long become an ally that they needed? "So what does this mean for us?"

Michael's expression turned serious. "I can't make any promises to you. All I know is I want to be your friend. No, I mean I need you to be my friend."

"Friends uh....well I'll make a deal with you. Be my friend and be here when I need you and I'll do the same for you. Deal?"

"Deal. Now what's the chances of me getting my job back until I have to leave to save my planet." He joked.

"Well, if you're sure you won't blow up the kitchen, I think Mr. Parker would be willing to give you another chance."

Now Michael was back to work at the cafe, Maria and him continued to banter back and forth on a regular basis. They both were worried for their two friends and wondered how long they were going to go before they would try and talk to each other. Maria watched as Liz sat at the counter with no expression and just shook her head. She walked back to the kitchen counter. "So how's Max dealing these days?" She asked Michael.

"He's not. He looks as lost as Liz does over there. At least she made it out of her room. Max just lays on his bed and stares at the ceiling."

"Have you tried to talk to him."

"Isabelle has and told me not to push him. She said he would come around when he was ready. Now it's been over a week and I don't know if it was the right thing to do. I mean to leave him alone for so long."

"I know what you mean. Both Alex and I have tried to talk to Liz, but she just kind of sits there with a glazed stare. I think enough is enough, we need to come up with a plan to get those two to talk. Are you with me?"

"I don't think we should interfere with their relationship. Who are we to know what they need?"

"Well, obviously we know more about what they need than they do at this point. I'm not saying we need to get them back together, I'm just saying they need to talk and work things out. Alex and Isabelle have talked and you and I have talked, I think they need to do the same thing."

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

"First we are going to need Alex and Isabelle's help. Let's meet at your apartment tonight to discuss it. OK."

Michael looked over at Liz and saw how lifeless her eyes were. He then looked back at Maria. "Okay, tonight 7:00 PM my apartment. You call Alex, I'll call Isabelle."

Setting: Michael's Apartment (That evening)

The four friends sat and tried to come up with a plan to get Max and Liz to at least speak to each other.

Isabelle: "Look we have got to come up with something. Mom is really starting to get worried about Max. She has asked me all kinds of questions. I can't keep coming up with these lame excuses."

Alex: "Why don't you just get Max to drive you over to the Crashdown?"

Isabelle: "I can't get him out of his room let alone out of the house. What about Liz, maybe I could invite her over to my house for..."

Maria: "No trust me, she would not go to your house...

Michael: "What about if we get them both over here?

Maria: "If we couldn't get her to go to Isabelle's, I know we couldn't get her over here."

Alex: "Okay, so Liz won't go anywhere Max could be and Max isn't leaving his room. Then how are we going to get them together in order for them to talk?"

Michael: "Maybe they won't go willing, but maybe if we could use our powers and force them together."

Isabelle: "No Michael, we don't want to force them to talk to each other. We just need to get them together. Once they see each other again, they'll talk. Trust me, they'll talk to each other."

Maria: "I agree with Isabelle, if we could just arrange the two of them to meet. They would definitely talk to each other."

Alex: "This might be a little devious, but what if we made them think the other was in trouble. We all know how they feel for each other, so if they thought that the other was in some sort of danger then I think they would both be out the door to help the other one."

Maria: "That's it Alex. I know if Liz thought Max was in any kind of danger she wouldn't hesitate to help him."

Isabelle: "And Max would die before he would let anything happen to Liz and he didn't do anything to help her."

Michael: "I think Alex may have something here. So how do we make them think the other one is in danger."

Alex: "Well first, Isabelle I'm going to make a list of words that you will need Max to say in a conversation. Maria you will need to do the same with Liz. You both record the conversation and then I'll slice the tapes together to make it sound like it's them calling each other for help."

Isabelle: "God I love how your mind works Alex. Do you really think you could do that."

Alex: "Alex may be my name, but computers and gadgets is my game."

Michael: "Remind me never to get you angry at me. I don't even want to think of the things you could come up to get even with me."

Maria: "Ditto, that goes for me too!"

The rest of the evening Alex made a list of questions that both Maria and Isabelle would need to ask Max and Liz so he would get the words he would need without getting them suspicious. After they worked out the final details of their plan they said their good nights and decided on putting the plan into action ASAP.

End Pt1

Alex sat at his computer putting in the information that he had obtained from Isabelle and Maria. With a few key strokes he arranged Max's and Liz's words to say what he wanted them to say. Then rerecorded the conversations so they sounded exactly how he wanted them to sound. Isabelle, Maria and Michael all sat watching and listening. They were all in awe when they heard the finished product.

Isabelle: "I can't believe you made them sound so real."

Maria: "So do we do it tonight?"

Michael: "Yeah, the sooner the better I think."

Alex: "Okay tonight we put plan *Talking Again* into action."

Isabelle came up to Alex and wrapped her arms around him. She then gently touched her lips to his. As she pulled away from him she said to him "Have I told you today how much I love how your mind works?" She then looked over at Michael who was standing close to Maria.

Michael nodded his approval to Isabelle and slid his arm around Maria giving her a small squeeze. Isabelle nodded back to him her approval. Neither gesture went unnoticed by Alex nor Maria. They all smiled and without words they all realized what had just happened. Isabelle and Michael had both made a choice and both were in agreement with the choices they had made.

Setting: Outside The Reservation (That evening)

Isabelle pulled out her cell phone and dialed Liz's number.

"Hello."

Then she heard Max's voice on the other end of the line. "Liz, it's me. I need your help. Please come to the cave quick." Click the phone went dead. Liz couldn't believe it. Max had finally called her. He sounded like he was in trouble. She quickly got dressed and called Maria's cell phone.

Maria who of course was expecting her call answered her phone immediately. "Hello"

"Maria, I need your help. I need to get to the cave at the reservation. I think Max maybe in trouble. Could you please pick me up and drive me out there."

"I'm on my way right now. Don't worry Liz he'll be okay." She knew what she was supposed to say and she thought she acted her part beautifully.

Back at the reservation Isabelle hung up her cell phone. "Maria's on her way to pick Liz up right now. Well, so far so good." She then dialed the next victims number.

Max was still lying on his bed as usual when his phone rang. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He just wanted to be left alone in his own thoughts. As usual the answer machine picked up. This of course was no surprise to *Talk Again* plan connivers. As soon as the machine beeped for a message to be left Isabelle hit the play button. "Max it's me. I hope you get this message. I need your help. I'm at the cave. Come quick." Click the phone's dial tone sounded. Max sat up from his bed and replayed the message. It was Liz. She sounded like she was in trouble. He quickly changed his clothes, grabbed the keys to the jeep and set out for the reservation.

Michael and Alex were pacing after only a few minutes. "How are we going to know if Max heard the message or not?" Alex inquired.

Isabelle: "Trust me Alex, he hasn't been answering his phone, but he has been listening to the messages. I told you that, now stop worry both of you. They'll both be here soon. I'm more worried about if they will forgive us for setting them up like this."

Alex: "You know this plan could backfire and they could end up hating us for scaring them to death."

Michael: "It's not going to backfire. Now stop sounding so paranoid like Maria. It's gonna work."

Isabelle: "It better work, I don't think I can take Max being like he his for another week."

Alex: "Look here comes Maria's car, come on we need to get to our hiding place. I don't want them to know this is a set up before the set up even takes place."

They all hid from sight and Maria pulled her car to a stop. As they were getting out they could hear them talking. "I don't know where Michael is either." Maria was saying as she snapped her phone closed again.

"Well, you keep trying to get a hold of them on your phone. I'm going to head for the cave. Max said he needed my help and I can't wait for you to find Isabelle or Michael. Come to the cave as soon as you get a hold of them." Liz grabbed the flashlight from the car she had brought and started the journey to the cave.

As soon as she was out of sight Maria ran over to where the others were hidden. "I told you as soon as she thought Max was in trouble she would be there to help him. Now what about Max?"

Michael: "He should be here in about five minutes. That's if he drives fast. Which I'm sure he will thinking Liz is in trouble?"

Just then they saw the jeep pull up. They all quickly ducked back into their hiding place. Michael: "I told you he would drive fast."

Max looked at Maria's car and knew instinctively that Liz was at the cave. He didn't sense her in trouble just that she was scared and that was enough to worry him. He started running toward the cave.

The four friends slowly came out of hiding. Alex: "Did anyone else see the look on Max's face?"

Maria: "Boy I thought Liz was scared for Max. Max looked like he might die if anything happened to her. Those two are either going to love us all for doing this to them or they are going to hate us for a very long time."

Isabelle: "I just hope it's not the latter version. Even through all his depression I don't think I've ever seen Max this worried or scared."

Alex put his arm around Isabelle. "It's all going to work out. Now come on let's get going to the cave or we are going to miss everything. Everyone agreed and started the long walk to the cave together. Alex and Isabelle hand and hand. Michael and Maria hand and hand.

Liz arrived at the cave in a panic. "Max." She whispered. with no reply. She stepped just inside the cave "Max?" She said loudly, still no reply. She went further in the cave and screamed "MAX!"

At that moment Max ran into the cave and heard Liz scream his name. He saw her standing there and yelled back "LIZ!"

She turned to see him standing just inside the cave. All thoughts and reasons went out of her mind and she started to run to him. Max ran to her without hesitation. They wrapped their arms around each other and held each other tightly. Their embrace lasted a little longer than was necessary, but they had not seen, let alone touched each other for a while and neither wanted to be the first to break the embrace. Max finally pulled back slightly and cupped her face with his hands. "What's wrong?" He finally asked.

"I was so scared when you called. All I could think of was you were in trouble and needed me."

"When I called? I came as soon as you called me and said you needed me!"

"Max, I didn't call you. You mean you didn't call me?"

"You didn't call me. Liz, this is a set up. I don't like this. Let's get out of here before it's too late." He quickly grabbed her hand and started pulling her back to the entrance of the cave. Just then Alex, Isabelle, Michael and Maria came into view of the two. As soon as Max saw the rest of his friends, his paranoid side got the better of himself. "What are you guys doing here. It's some kind of set up, come on we all need to get out of here." He stated with urgency in his voice.

The four friends started giggling. Finally Alex piped in "Plan *Talk Again* I guess is a success."

Isabelle: "I can't believe we actually got Max out of his room."

Maria: "And look Liz actually has an expression on her face."

Michael: "Man Alex you have got to teach me those tricks you know with your computer."

Max and Liz were both turning a crimson red as they both slowly realized they had been tricked by all their friends. Max: "So you guys set this whole thing up."

"Yep" All four friends said in unison.

Liz: "How? Why?

Alex: "Guilty, and before either one of you gets upset. We only did it because we were worried about the two of you."

Max: "How did you make me think Liz needed my help, Tess?"

Michael: "No, this didn't concern her. It concerned the six of us. Right Liz."

Alex: "I just used some words Isabelle and Maria had recorded from the two of you guys and rearranged them so it sounded like it was what you heard when we called the two of you."

Isabelle stepped forward and played the recorded message for them to hear both messages.

Max looked over to Liz. "So you thought I was in trouble and came to help me again."

Liz: "I would always be there if you needed me. Just because you have another destiny besides me, doesn't mean I can stop loving you."

Max started to pull Liz into his arms, but Liz pulled away once again. "Yes, I still love you Max, but it doesn't change the fact that we weren't meant to be together." Then she turned to her friends. "I know you were all just trying to help, but I need to be alone right now." She started to walk out of the cave.

Max immediately grabbed her back into his embrace. "I let you walk away from me once. Do you honestly think I will let you walk away from me again? I need you in my life or my life doesn't exist anymore."

The tears slid down Liz's face and she gently caressed Max's face with her hand. "Max, what about your destiny?"

Michael couldn't help but chime in at this point. "You know what Liz, screw destiny. I make my own choice in this life." He then bent Maria over in his arms and kissed her passionately.

Alex and Isabelle watched and then not wanting to be out done themselves said together "Yeah, screw destiny." And the two of them began to kiss and giggle at the same time.

Max watched as his sister and friends tried their best to let them know what they had chosen as their destinies. He then turned back to Liz. "You are my destiny. I have known it since the first time I saw you all those years ago. Liz Parker I am going to kiss you now and if you don't want me as much as I want you I will know and let you go." Before Liz could protest Max's mouth was on hers gently caressing it at first. Once Max began to kiss her Liz melted into his arms, into his touch and responded to his kiss. Max deepened the kiss when he felt her responded to him. As their kiss became intense the flashes of their times together flashed through both of them. They each could feel the others feelings of want, need and love that they shared.

When Max finally broke the kiss to allow them to come up for air. Liz could only moan "Max...oh Max." She hugged him tightly.

Max brought his arms around her waist and returned her hug. He bent down and whispered in her ear. "I love you."

Alex: "Well I guess they won't be too mad at us now."

Isabelle: "I had faith that everything would work out for the best."

Max turned to his sister and friends and simply said "Thank you"

Michael: "Your welcome Maxamillion. But, now that you are your old self again, I think it would be best if we all sat down and discussed the other part of our destiny and what we need to do about it."

Liz: "He's right you know. Max, I won't walk away from you anymore, but you have a destiny you need to fulfill."

Max: "As long as you are with me. I can fulfill it."

Maria: "We're all with you. Remember it is the six of us now."

Max: "Correction, there are seven of us now. Even though I can't be with Tess the way we were supposed to be together she is still one of us and we will need to include her." He looked down at Liz and asked "I hope you can understand that?"

Liz: "I do."

Isabelle: "Well what should we do first."

Max instinctively took charge. "First we need to find out what exactly is the extent of our powers."

Michael: "I've been working with Valenti a lot lately. He really has helped me to try and control my powers more and more."

Max: "Valenti? Michael, I think it's okay that he helps you in controlling your powers, but I don't think he should be the one we should turn to, to learn more about our powers.

Isabelle: "Max is right Michael. I think we need to learn as much about our powers ourselves, before we start showing Valenti what we can do."

Alex: "Well from what I understand. Your powers are just human abilities at its best, correct."

Max: "Yea, we are basically human. We know that much now."

Alex: "Well why don't we do research on the human brain and see exactly what is possible that we know of at this point. I can get on the Internet and find out as much information to help as I can."

Isabelle: "Thank you Alex, would it be okay if I helped you with the research."

Alex: "I was kind of hoping you would want to."

Max: "Okay Isabelle and Alex you two find out as much as you can about the human brains capability. We also need to start doing more research on our home planet. Where exactly it is located. Michael why don't keep looking into the map of the stars and see if you can navigate them back to their origins. This might give us more clues we may need as the time comes."

Michael: "Yea, I could do that. I think maybe we should also contact Nasedo and see what he may be able to tell us."

Max: "Let's see what we can discover for ourselves first. I think it would be best if we kept our distance from Nasedo while he's Agent Pierce. I don't want to take any chances on his cover being blown for a while anyway. Our mother also told us about another alien race that has come to earth. She said we would know them by the evil inside them. This is what I need to do more research on. After all I don't want history repeating itself and us perishing before we have a chance to fulfill at least one of the destinies that we were recreated to fulfill."

Liz: "I know you said it wouldn't be wise for any of you to contact Nasedo since you don't want his cover blown. But, what if one of us made the contact for you. I could act like a mail carrier and I have the perfect cover story to have to interact with Agent Pierce say once month."

Max: "NO!! I will not endanger your life by having you be the one to go to Nasedo. We still don't know enough about him for me to trust him with you."

Liz: "I don't think he will hurt me Max. Think about it, if he was going to hurt me, he would have done it by now. It's not like he hasn't had opportunity to do me harm. Remember at the carnival. When we were in the house of mirrors. He could have easily grabbed you and took you out of there, but he didn't. He grabbed me instead. I still don't understand why he did that, but it was like he was protecting me from them too."

Max: "I don't know Liz. We don't have to make any decisions tonight. It's getting late and I don't want us to have to be worried about our parents wondering what we are up to." He then looked deeply into Liz's eyes and asked "I would like to drive you home, if that's okay?"