They stayed like that for an hour. Neither of them spoke. Occasionally Max touched her hair. God, he'd missed the feel of her soft locks. Occasionally she reached up and touched his face.

Finally Max sighed and moved his arm. Liz took the opportunity to sit up and look at his tired face. She'd heard his stomach growl more than once.

"Max," she said. "Let me get you something to eat."

He shook his head. "No. I don't want anything. Thank you."

"I bet you'd eat that mud pie the Crashdown has if I got you a piece," she teased.

He put his arm back around her. "No, don't go anywhere."

Her gaze softened. "Okay. I won't." She tried to read the emotions in his eyes. She saw he was tired, depressed, beaten. "Max?"

He didn't even attempt a reassuring smile. In fact, he frowned. "It isn't just Isabel, Liz."

"What do you mean?"

Max let his fingers twirl a strand of her silky hair. "I know."

Liz was confused. "You know what, Max?"

He looked into her beautiful eyes. "Everything." He was being cryptic, and that wasn't fair. "After...after Isabel was gone, I touched her bed. I felt whatever had taken her. And I got images from home."

Liz gasped. "Home? You mean -?" she pointed to the ceiling.

Max nodded. "I saw my mother. I saw Isabel and me as babies. I saw the crash." He hesitated. "I know why I'm here."

Liz's mind started whirling. Maybe she didn't want to know. What if his purpose would take him away? Not being officially with him was one thing, but having him several galaxies away was another story entirely. Liz found her voice. "Why are you here, Max?"

Max allowed himself to smile. "I am home, Liz. This is where I belong. It was meant to be." Max thought he saw a flicker of something in Liz's eyes - relief? His smile faded. "I'm human after all, Liz."

"Human? Max - "

"It's complicated," he explained. The events of the last few days rushed at him and he rubbed his eyes wearily. "It's a long story."

"So tell me," Liz urged. "If you think you're human and you're here to stay, that changes everything, Max. I, if anyone, want to know the whole story."

Max looked at her in surprise. Was she hoping there was a chance for them now? Was he hoping? At any rate, she was right - she deserved to hear all of it.

Max drew in a breath. "It all centers around Isabel, Liz. She's special."

"Special?"

"She has special gifts. No one else in the universe has them but Izzy. You know that dream walking thing she can do?"

Liz paled at the thought. She'd often had the feeling Isabel had been poking around inside of her head, trying to dig up information about Liz's so-called promise to keep quiet about the three of them. "Yeah, I know what you're talking about."

"Well, she's always thought she can only do it when people are asleep and in close proximity. She can do it any time, to anyone, anywhere, Liz. She just doesn't know it yet."

"How can she do that, Max?"

"Because she was...." Max looked to Liz for any sign of fright. "She was engineered that way, Liz."

"Engineered?"

Max swallowed. Liz had accepted his other-worldliness, would she also accept that he'd been manufactured? "We were all engineered. Isabel, Michael, and...me."

Liz watched the fear cross his face. Fear that she would look at him like the monster all aliens were supposed to be and run for her life. Her heart melted at his sad expression, and at the weight he'd been carrying for the last three days. She figured the best way to reassure him was to ask an intelligent question. She couldn't let emotion play into this - he was too fragile right now and she didn't need him wigging on her.

"What were you manufactured for?" she quizzed quietly.

A brief flash of relief crossed Max's face. Then he blushed. "It's kind of embarrassing."

Liz's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

Max cleared his throat, glanced away. "My, uh, intelligence...although my biology grades would say otherwise."

Liz's expression softened and she touched his face. He met her gaze. "You are very smart, Max. You just don't like biology, so you don't try."

Max allowed himself a hoarse laugh. She was right.

"What about Michael?"

Max shifted uncomfortably. God, he didn't want to talk about this. Liz saw his sudden discomfort.

"Max, have you talked to Michael about this?"

"No."

"No?! Wow, this concerns him, too, Max. All of these answers you have - he's been looking all of his life. How could you keep - "

"I can't."

Liz stopped mid-sentence. "Why not? Oh, God, Max, what is it?"

Max decided to take a different approach. "Remember when I said all of this revolves around Isabel?"

"Yeah?"

"Her gifts make her a powerful asset to anyone. Think about it - if you were a world leader and wanted to know what your enemy's plans were.... Michael and I were designed to protect her. I was designed for cunning, for thinking my way out of situations. And Michael...."

"Max...."