Kyle took a deep breath, trying to form some thoughts other than "Come on!" Him and Maria were both keeping a vigil; him over Liz, her over Alex. And other then their breathing, not a sound or word were spoken.

Even with the ventilation of the storage room, Kyle was sweating profoundly. He stole a quick glance at Maria and noticed the sweat on her brow. Kyle looked back at Liz, noting she was still in the same canotomic state, then glanced around the cramped room. He spotted a tiny, high window in the right corner and walked over to it.

Maybe, just maybe, Kyle could boost Maria up and she could open it. As he was estimating her height and difficulty of actually prying the window open, Kyle heard Maria gasp.

"What?!" he demanded, spinning around and rushing back over to Liz's side. She was still perfect, her eyes trained on Alex, whom was now slacking off a little on the staring contest. But was still not responding.

"Did you see it?! He moved!" Maria exclaimed in a high pitched voiced.

"Shh!" Kyle hissed, placing a hand over her mouth. "Do you wanna get caught?"

Maria shook her head 'no', jarring his hand loose. "He moved, Kyle. I saw it."

"I never said you didn't," Kyle replied. He waved his hand in front of Alex's face, then Liz's. Nothing.

"His eyes...they were twitching...like he was coming out of a trance--coming out of the connection," she added.

Kyle got as close as he could without effecting the connection and focused on Alex's face. His eyes looked more relaxed, but that was all. Kyle fixed his eyes on Liz and studied her face also. Still the same.

"I don't see any difference--"

Suddenly, Alex moaned and Maria squeaked. "He moved again!" she cried.

Kyle, once more, hushed Maria and grabbed Alex by the shoulders. "Alex...pull out of it."

Alex, by pure pray from Kyle, pulled his eyes away from Liz and looked straight at Kyle. "What?" he mumbled.

Maria shoved Kyle out of the way and pulled Alex up into a tight embrace. "Are you ok?!"

"I'm fine, by the way," Kyle mumbled from his newly found spot on the floor. Maria ignored him and kept pounding Alex with questions.

"What happened? Is Liz ok? Did Isabel disconnect? How's everyone--" Her questions kept coming, not even stopping to let Alex answer.

"Back off, DeLuca," Kyle warned, sitting up. "Can ya let him breath a little?"

Maria shot him a look but backed off, letting Alex take a deep breath. Everyone waited for him to speak, but Alex focused all of his attention on Liz's still form.

"Is Liz gonna be ok?" Maria asked in a small voice.

Alex gave her a little smile and nodded. "Yeah...Isabel's working on it right now."

Kyle felt some weight being taken off of his shoulders and sighed, finally being able to relax a little.

"God...talk about ill fatted," Maria mumbled.

"What?" Kyle asked, not really hearing her words.

Maria shrugged and looked at Liz. "They just left, mere hours ago, and look at us. We can't survive for 12 hours apart. How do you think it's gonna be like in a week; a Month? Try a year," Maria predicted.

"You don't know that," Alex commented.

"I don't? Look at Liz. Look at Isabel. Look at me," Maria replied. "My nerves are shot to hell. You're trying to act all big--"

"Who said I was trying?" Alex interrupted.

Maria kept going, and Kyle was trying to keep up with her rambling. "I bet Max is totally lost with out Liz, who's in a comma! And Michael? Well, Tess is probably more upset then he is--"

"For your information, Isabel said Michael has already smelled your whole vile of cedar oil," Alex said suddenly, making Maria shut up real quick. "Now can we all shut up and try to act like human beings?!"

Kyle saw Maria's face go pale and Alex sighed. "Sorry...bad example," he mumbled.

Kyle, not liking that Alex yelled at him, grumbled, "I wasn't talking."

***

Liz held on tight to Max's hand and tried to take deep, calming breaths, but it wasn't working. She was leaving her sanctuary, her warm bed, to go home to a place where her life was in shambles. A life where the man she loved was taken from her.

Liz stopped walking and choked back a sob, trying to gain some control.

"Liz..." His voice was full of concern and love, but it didn't help. All it did was remind her that in a short, few minutes, he would be gone from her life again. Liz shook her head, letting her tears course down her face.

"Liz..." Max spoke her name again, turning her face up to his.

Liz looked into his eyes and shied away, still full of doubts. "I can't...I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Max replied, cupping her face in his hands.

"No...I can't," Liz commanded. "I don't wanna go back."

Max sighed and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. He then pulled her close, and Liz felt his breath on her neck. She knew he was wavering on his control, so she decided to try one more time.

"If we go...we can't be together," Liz said, her voice low and emotional. "And I don't wanna lose you."

"I don't wanna lose you either," Max replied, but Liz could hear the determination in his voice. "But we can't stay here."

"Why not?"

Max smiled sadly and ran his hands through Liz's hair. "We can't leave everyone alone," he said finally. "They need us."

"Why are we so important?" Liz mumbled, clinging tightly to Max's shirt. She took in a nosefull of his smell and sighed in content.

"Liz...as much as I want to, you know we can't," Max answered, moving his hand in a circular pattern on her lower back. Liz moved in even closer, if it was possible, and ran her hands under his shirt, massaging the skin of his lower back also.

Max stiffened at first contact, but relaxed and closed his eyes at the feel. Liz leaned up and kissed Max on the corner of his mouth, reveling in his taste. His lips started to respond and Liz shortly found herself being pressed tightly up against his chest; with Max's lips fully covering her mouth. She closed her eyes as Max explored with his tongue. Her blood was pumping through her veins, and Liz was positive her skin was on fire.

Liz moaned as Max moved lower, licking and nipping at the sensitive skin on her neck, working his way down to her chest. She could never get enough of this. Just the feel of Max's lips on her was enough to make her die happy. Max ran his hands down her hips and picked her up, prompting Liz to wrap her legs around his waist. She heard a groan escape his lips, and Liz arched her body, giving Max full access to her neck.

It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she saw the shadow on the ground a few feet away. She tried to focus on it, but what Max was doing to her was all her mind and body wanted to experience at the moment. Max started to walk forward, and Liz finally felt the cold, hard surface of a wall being pressed up against her back.

Liz's breath was coming in shallow, short bursts as Max continued his exploration of her body with his hands. The trail of fire left by his hands was making Liz glow in its wake, and Liz was still amazed by how her body re-acted to just a touch from Max Evans.

"Liz..." His lips were forming her name, but Liz didn't expect any more words to come after it. His mouth seemed determined to taste every inch of her skin; and Liz wasn't about to protest.

Maybe it was her guilt or his words from earlier finally sinking in, but Liz chanced a glance back over to the shadow in the corner. From her new vantage point, Liz could make out a body--a girl's body.

"Max..."

Max simply moaned, his response to the question lost in the kisses.

Liz shifted in his arms and looked again, noticing the long, golden blonde hair fanning the figures face. Max braced her up against the wall with his body and started to unbutton her dress. Liz's body throbbed, screaming for her to respond to Max, but her mind was fighting to help the girl in the corner.

"Max..." Liz said his name once more; this time with determination in her voice.

Max stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, his eyes dazed with passion and lust. His lips were red and swollen from kissing her, and Liz was tempted to ignore her mind and let him finish undressing her. But she could feel it in the pit of her stomach that they should help the girl.

"We need to stop," Liz said, sliding down Max's body until her feet hit the floor. She was shocked by the lost of heat as their body contact diminished.

"Okay..." Max mumbled, clearly trying to gain some control. He put both of his hands on the wall around her body and closed his eyes, taking in deep, even breaths.

Liz saw how tight his jaw was clenched and caressed his face, wanting to do more. Max shuddered at her touch and Liz figured that maybe it wasn't the best idea and pulled her hand away. It had to be hard enough without her touching him; Liz's own body was still throbbing and her skin felt all tight.

Max took in one more deep breath and looked Liz in the eye. "I...I shouldn't have--"

"I started it," Liz said suddenly. She glanced back over his shoulder and saw the girl was still there. She slid under Max's arms, prompting a confused look from him.

"Where are you going?" he asked, turning and noticing the girl for the first time.

Liz felt a deep, tingle in her stomach and rushed over to the girl, Max a few feet behind. She slid down to her knees and gently turned her face up.

"Isabel?!" Max cried, bending down over his sister also. "Is she ok?"

"Um...yeah," Liz mumbled. She knew, for some reason, that Isabel was ok, just a little drained. The it hit her, she and Isabel were connected.

"How can you be sure?" Max asked, his voice all panicked. He was running his fingers through her hair, looking all doe eyed.

Liz reached for his other hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure him. "Max--"

"I came here to help her--and you," Max said, his voice giving way to his feelings. Liz could hear the guilt pouring out of his mouth with each word. "And instead I forget and let my own fantasies--"

"Fantasy?" Liz asked.

"I...I always dreamed of taking you that way," Max admitted. "But that's not the point. The point is that I let myself get carried away."

"Max..." Liz wasn't sure of what to say, so she told him exactly what she was feeling. "When we were...doing what we were, my whole body was on fire. Everywhere you touched me; I glowed. My mind was clouded and all I could see and feel was you. But I came out of it. My body was still on fire, but we both knew what was important."

"We still got carried away," Max stated. His hands were still in Isabel's hair.

"Listen, we could both still be carried away and over in the corner making out, but we're not; we're over here helping Isabel."

Max didn't seemed convinced, but his face was a little more relaxed now. "I can feel her, she's waking up," Liz added.

As soon as she finished her sentence, Isabel stirred a little and mumbled, "Alex."

"Izzy...are you ok?" Max asked.

Isabel gasped and opened her eyes, looking straight at Liz. "Liz?"

Liz nodded and bit her lower lip. "I'm here...and I'm sorry."

"For what?" Isabel asked, being helped up by Max.

"I was...I was the reason you were stuck--"

"No, you weren't," Isabel said quickly.

Liz exchanged a look with Max. "Then what happened?" Max asked.

Isabel wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "I needed to go back through Alex," she whispered.

Liz felt her heart contract for the other girl and walked closer, engulfing her in a hug. "I know the feeling," she whispered, only loud enough for Isabel to hear.

"But you said...you were sitting right there," Max rambled, clearing confused.