"That is none of your business." Michael interrupted angrily.

"Michael, it is as much my business as the thing between Liz and me is your business." Max pointed out.

"No, it's different."

"How?"

"Well, for one thing Maria doesn't have a jealous ex-boyfriend! The son of the local Sheriff, whose life mission is to prove that aliens exist! I've got a low-profile relationship. I'm not the one stepping over Psycho-Stalker. You know that Kyle is just dying to find out something about us, and it's because of Liz!" Michael was really warming up to the subject.

"Look, don't blame Liz for this. It's not her fault." Max glared at Michael, his brow furrowed. He hated it when Michael said anything bad about Liz. Lately it seemed that Michael had been friendlier, nicer to Liz, but Max knew that Michael still blamed Liz for the attention they had had lately. Michael stared hard at Max, then turned away.

"Jesus, you really have it bad, don't you?" he muttered under his breath. Max glanced at him again, but didn't respond.

"It's late. Do you want to sleep over?" Max asked as he pulled up to his house.

"No, I have something I need to do."

"Michael,..." Max began warningly.

"I'm just going to check on Maria, Dad! Can I do that, please?" Exasperated, Michael jumped out of the Jeep and without another word, took off down the road. Max sighed, and let himself into the dark house. Isabel probably wouldn't be home until later, since both his parents were out of town. He was alone. It seemed like he was always alone, no matter what. Isabel and Michael both looked to him for guidance and leadership. Even Michael, who chaffed under his decisions, always ended up needing Max. Every day, he wondered what it would be like to be normal. To not have to worry about being watched, being caught, always being so responsible. To have a real life, with friends.... a girlfriend. Liz was never far from his thoughts. It had been so much easier when Liz hadn't known, when they were just aquaintances, not friends, not... whatever they were now. And yet, she had been there for him, had helped him, had understood him even when he didn't say a word. When her grandmother had died and Liz had asked him to heal her, he had never felt so different as he did then. He had also been scared that she would never forgive him for that. But, Liz had understood. And he had held her in his arms afterwards when she cried. It had been a bittersweet moment for him. He had loved her for so long, that having her near was tearing him apart. He could see her in his mind's eye, smiling, laughing, and looking radiant. No matter how much danger he was in now, he couldn't regret telling Liz the truth about him. The phone rang. Max glanced at the clock. It was nearly 1:00 in the morning. Frowning, a wave of apprehension hit him. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Max! Is Liz with you?" It was Maria, sounding hysterical.

"No, what's wrong?"

"I can't find her, that's what's wrong! I went by the Crashdown, she wasn't there. I tried her cellphone, like, a million times and no answer. I dropped her off at her house hours ago, and she's not there. She's just gone! Oh my God, there's someone... Michael! God, don't you know what a door is? This, is a window! This, is a door. Windows are not doors, you moron. Max, are you there?"

Max ran his hand through his hair, fear and worry making his heart race. "Can you get out of the house without your mom freaking out?"

"My mom's not even here. She's out of town making some deliveries this weekend."

"Good. Meet me over here as soon as you can with Michael. I'm going to try to get in touch with Iz." Max hung up and started pacing. Where was Liz?

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Liz watched the man in front of her finish eating his fast food with gusto. Tabasco sauce, she thought. I can't believe this.

"Well!" Liz jumped, startled. "I'm sure that you have a dozen questions for me, so let's get started." He grabbed the motel's only chair, a straight-backed armless one, brought it over to the side of the bed where she was tied and straddled it. "You can call me Adam. I know who, or should I say what, your friends are. I know you are protecting them. Well, I have a deep, personal interest in your friends, Liz, and I want to know everything there is about them. We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. But Liz," he smiled gently at her, "one way or the other I will know everything you know."

"I don't know what you mean," lied Liz bravely.

Adam frowned at her. "I knew you were going to make this difficult. Oh well. Don't say I didn't warn you," he moved closer to her.

"Don't touch me!" warned Liz shakily, pulling frantically at the rope that tied her hands to the bed's headrest. She tried to kick out with her feet, but they also were bound and made her clumsy and awkward. She tried to scream, but Adam already had his hands over her mouth, over her eyes... Suddenly, she felt a pressure, like her head was being squeezed. The vice contracted, making her want to pass out from the pain, then retreated. To her horror, she heard in her mind, Adam's voice. "You should have told me you had a headache, dear. Here, that's better." The headache eased, but the pressure was still there. Liz tried to mentally push it away, and Adam chided, "You can't make me leave your mind, Liz. I'm stronger than you and I've had a lot more practice at this than you." Then, Adam's mind overwhelmed her own, as she felt her awareness, her mind being overtaken by his. Memories rose up unbidden as Adam searched her thoughts for information. Seemingly at random he searched, pulling up her first kiss in grade school, the time she got chicken pox, playing with Maria. He paused for a long moment over her first memories of Max, then went on. Nothing was overlooked. It felt like her whole soul was being seared by his dark one. Liz sobbed, trying to push him away again. Nothing mattered now, except getting her mind back. Adam fastforwarded through junior high, nothing of interest there, apparently. Then, the night at the Crashdown. It was like she was getting shot again. Except this time, everything had slowed down. She could feel the bullet entering her body, slowly, the pain as it tore into her flesh. The blood spilling out. Then Max, bending over her, healing her. The pain receding, then Max begging her to stay quiet. Over and over, he went over the scene. Over and over, she relived the pain. Finally, his mind receded slightly, and she whimpered with relief. She could feel his amusement. "And you love this alien? How ironic!" She felt his laugh in her bones. Then, the dark wave of his mind rushed up again, and Liz was lost.

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"We've looked everywhere. I think something really, really bad has happened. Liz would never take off alone without telling at least one of us," said Maria. She glanced at Max. "She didn't say anything to you?"

"No, nothing." Max stared out the window, silently begging for Liz to come walking through the door. Something was very wrong. His eyes bleak, he turned back to the others. "Look, there's nothing else we can do. In a few hours Liz's parents are going to start getting worried, and start looking for her. When that happens… We need to contact the Sheriff."

"Are you insane?" Michael exploded. "Do you want to die, is that it?"

"Something's happened to Liz. We can't just ignore that. She could be hurt, or dying out there…" Max turned back again to the window, his chest so tight it hurt to breathe.

"Look, Max, it's 5:30, nearly morning. Let me try to find her in a dream, find out what's happened to her." Just give me half an hour. If I can't find her, then we go to the police." Isabel got up and grabbed Max by the arm. "I know this is serious, but you know that Liz wouldn't want us to prematurely draw even more attention to ourselves. If she's asleep, I can find her and talk to here."

Max hesitated for a long minute, then looked at Maria. "She's your best friend, what do you think?"

Maria stared down at her feet, then whispered. "Half an hour. That's it. Then I'm going to the police and telling her parents. If something's happened to her, though, I…" she started sobbing. Michael awkwardly pulled her into his arms.

"Okay, Iz, it's up to you." Isabel went to the couch and got comfortable. "Wait, I need a picture or something to focus on." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Here, this will work." Isabel took the photo from his hand. It was a small school picture of Liz, worn around the edges. Max looked away uncomfortably from Isabel's penetrating stare. Liz had given him that picture a year ago in class, everyone had been swapping pictures. He had kept it in his wallet ever since. Sometimes he would pull it out and just look at it, daydreaming.