~Orison Swett Marden
****

"Liz!? Liz... can you hear me?" Alex called through the impending darkness. "Liz!"

A few feet away from him, Maria called out the same frantic plea. "Liz! Come on... it’s getting late, and I’m getting scared. Max said you were around here somewhere! LIZ!"

In the dusk, two flashlight beams crossed as the lone search party of DeLuca and Whitman met.

"Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she found a way home," Maria said in frustration.

"No way—-Iz said she’s out here. Besides, Valenti would have called us if she made it home. Try calling her cell again. I really think I heard it last time."

"Yeah... that’s what you said the last three times. I mean, we don’t even know if she has her phone with her. For all we know, she left it in my car on the way to Gallinas. Okay, so Max *says* she’s out here. Well, why isn’t he with us in the dark searching for her?"

"Isabel said that Liz was upset when she ran off. And—-"

"—-Who else other than Max Evans can make Liz that upset. I see your point. My God! You don’t think they found out their destiny, do you?"

Alex smacked another mosquito off his arm, "I don’t know," he mumbled to Maria.

"It make sense... why Liz ran, why Max didn’t follow, why Isabel didn’t answer your questions."

"We’ll never know unless we find her, then. Try the phone."

Maria dialed her best friend’s number and they waited. Nothing. Then after a moment, a faint ringing was heard in the distance.

"It’s her!" The two sped off into the direction of the noise, stumbling through the underbrush, flashlights bobbing in the night. Suddenly Maria stopped short.

"Oh my God—-Liz!"

Alex caught up with her a second later and was left speechless. In the faint glow of the flashlight, they saw Liz. She was laying on the cold ground in a tight fetal position. Her dirt covered face was streaked with dried tears, and her eyes were open and staring.

"Liz?" Maria asked softly, kneeling next to the prone girl. "Liz, please... I’m really afraid now. Talk to me."

The brunette blinked and reached out to Maria, who grabbed it, pulling Liz’s head into her lap. Liz started to cry again.

"Maria..." she sobbed, unable to choke anything else out past the ragged cries.

"Shhh... it’s okay. Alex and I are here... we’re all going to be all right."

Alex sat down next to the two girls and stroked Liz’s hair softly. "We’re here, Liz... we’ll always be here."

***

Max sat outside the pod chamber on a large boulder, staring off into the distance.

"Isabel and Tess went back to town an hour ago," Michael said, coming up behind his leader. "How long are you going to wait?"

"They just found her. She’s safe."

"She’s not your concern anymore, Max."

Max threw a rock into the darkness. "You’re wrong. She’ll always be my concern. I love her, Michael. That’s nothing I can just cast aside. Don’t you feel that way about Maria?"

Michael hesitated. "No."

"Liar."

The spiky haired alien chuckled. "You’re right, I’m lying."

"You told me that you would do anything to make Maria happy... to protect her from harm."

"Don’t you see... that’s what I’m doing! Knowing us is dangerous--*I’m* dangerous. Just look at what happened to Kyle." Michael paced a few steps away, then turned back to his friend. "I’m a killer, Max. I’m no better than Pierce."

"Pierce killed to kill. You killed to protect. He would have killed us all-—you, me, Valenti, and given the chance, Maria. You saved us. As my second in command, it’s your job to protect."

"I thought that you didn’t believe in that destiny crap."

"That’s not destiny, it’s duty." Michael looked on, waiting for Max to explain, so he took a deep breath and continued. "Who we are... what we are, can’t be changed. I was a leader... before... and you, you were my 'Number One', for a bad Star Trek reference. That’s what we were then, that’s how we were engineered now. It’s your responsibility to make sure that no harm comes to me, or the others. I think that’s why you killed Pierce—-not because you wanted him dead, but because it’s your duty to protect us, at all costs.

"That’s duty, Michael. Destiny is so different than that. It’s our duty to learn about ourselves, fight against the evil aliens here, and eventually try to save our own planet. When Tess talks about destiny, she always says that we were meant to be together... in a way she’s right. We’re meant to be together-— all of us—- to fulfill our duty, to save our people, but I’m not going to allow myself to be told who I should love, who I should choose to be with, based on that book, on that past.

"I have the same essence as that alien 'Adis' but I have a different body, a different brain, and a different heart. This heart belongs to Liz Parker."

***

Maria knocked loudly on the door, the tone echoing a sense of certainty that the petite blond did not feel. In an instant, he answered, his expression making it seem as if he expected her. Stepping aside and ignoring the vague sense of deja vu, Michael ushered her into the apartment.

"I thought that you could tell Max we found—-"

"He knows," Michael said, interrupting. "He knew the minute you found her."

Maria cast her eyes away from him. "I guess that’s what love is," she commented bitterly. "Look, I know you don’t want me here, so I’ll go."

She had her hand on the doorknob, when Michael finally found his voice again and called out to her. "Maria, wait." Maria didn’t turn around, but she didn’t open the door either, so Michael took that as a silent sign to continue. "Don’t you even want to know what happened yesterday?"

Maria whirled to face him. "At the pod chamber? Whatever made Liz so distraught that she ran out into the desert? Michael, she was nearly catatonic when we found her... Alex had to carry her back to the car, but did you even bother to ask how she’s doing? No! And so now you want me to care about your day?" She took a breath to calm down. "I don’t have to ask... I already know what happened out there."

"She told you?"

"She didn’t have to, I knew. Discovered your destiny, huh? Congratulations!" Maria said in mock sincerity. "Let me guess—-it doesn’t involve me?" Michael was silent. "Wonderful. I can’t believe that you’re going to throw away all that we’ve been through together, because of a stupid destiny. I *LOVE* you, Michael. I want you to know that mainly because you didn’t let me respond in the UFO Center yesterday. No, you just busted a classic 'Michael Move' and ran away. But I do... I love you, and even after all this, I still want to be with you."

"It’s not—-"

"Safe? Yeah, so I’ve heard. Possible? Why? Because you’re *supposed* to be with Isabel? Come on, Michael---this is the girl that you’ve thought of as a sister for the past ten years. Can you change that? Do you love her?"

"Yes," he said softly.

Maria paled a bit. "Are you 'in love' with her?"

He paused, pursing his lips in thought. "No, I’m not. I should be. She’s not my sister, and she’s more than just my 'mate', Maria. On our planet, we were engaged to be married."

"If you *think* she’s your sister, she’s your sister. Go with it, Michael, it works. Destiny, schmestiny."

"It’s not that easy, Maria!!"

"Yes. It. Is. I think Liz said it best, 'You are who *you* chose to be, just like you’re with who *you* chose to be with'. You told me that you loved me... you’ve never said that to anyone before, have you?"

"No," he shook his head, unable to meet her probing eyes.

"Then why did you say it to me?"

Because I do... love you, that is."

"But..."

"But like you said. It’s not safe or possible. There’s something out there, Maria... something much bigger than me, and what I want. Something that has made me kill one man, and more likely than not, many more. And if I don’t destroy them, eventually they’ll come after me, to do away with me and anyone with me."

"Just tell me, Michael... do you want to be with me? The truth—-how you feel, not what everyone has been telling you. Beyond the grand scheme of the universe there’s a base feeling that I know you feel. What does that truth tell you?"

//The truth... wow.// Michael thought. //Whoever said the truth shall set you free obviously never had to tell the truth before. The truth doesn’t set people free. The only truth leads to pain, anger, suffering, fear... and we all know that stuff leads to the Dark Side.// He could only look at the girl in front of him, the one who he loved more than anything, the one who made him human, and he had nothing to say.

"I think it’s fair to warn you that I’m not Liz, Michael."

Her voice broke the alien out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I know that," he said, a confused expression crossing his face. "Uh, what does that mean?"