Hoisting up the window, Liz climbed out onto her balcony and raced for the ladder. The rungs were damp with the evening dew, so she took them slowly, carefully, but once she got to the pavement below, she broke into a full run. Could she run all 6 miles to Max's house? She sure as hell was going to try.

A few blocks from the Crashdown, Liz spotted the jeep's headlights and her heart leapt. He was okay! But then her heart sank when she saw it was Michael behind the wheel. He slammed on the brakes when he saw her, sending stones and dust flying into the air.

"Get in," he ordered.

"I felt Max - " Liz began, gasping.

"Just get in!" Michael urged.

Liz hopped into the passenger seat and Michael squealed the tires as he made a u-turn in the middle of the street. He gunned the engine, shifting the gears as fast as he could. Liz clung to the roll bar for fear of being thrown from the vehicle.

"Michael, what happened?" Liz shouted over the sound of the wind whistling around them.

Michael's dark eyes were wild. "She almost killed him, Liz."

"What? Who almost killed him?"

He glanced at her quickly, then back to the road. "Isabel."

"Isabel! But she's not even here!"

"I know."

To prevent Max's parents from hearing them arrive, Michael cut the engine a few houses away from the Evans' and let the jeep roll into the driveway. They were both out of the jeep and running for the side of the house before the car had even stopped moving. Michael crawled through the window first, followed very closely by Liz.

Max was sitting against his headboard, his knees still drawn up to his chest. He was rocking back and forth nervously. Liz stopped cold in her tracks when she saw him. She could never remember seeing him look so small, so frightened, so devastated. At her presence, he looked up at her with sorrowful eyes and swallowed hard. Liz shrugged her shoulders and let her coat fall to the floor, then she crawled into bed next to him and put her arms around him. She placed one hand on the side of his head and pushed it gently down to her chest while she cradled him. Once her face was hidden from his view, Liz bit her bottom lip and turned hurt eyes to Michael, who was shifting nervously at the foot of the bed.

Michael understood the trauma Max had gone through and realized that his friend needed some comfort, so he let a few moments pass by before he interrupted. He watched Liz lovingly stroke Max's hair, saw Max cling to her like she alone was his salvation. Michael thought of Maria, of how he'd feel if something like that had happened to her. He shook the image from his mind. He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him right now.

Michael sat down slowly on the edge of the bed. "Maxwell," he said quietly.

Max lifted his head, some of the anxiety now gone from his eyes. Maybe Liz truly did have healing powers.

"Tell us what happened," Michael prompted.

Max heaved a sigh and sat up straight, but kept his arms around Liz. He relayed the events of the dream up to the point where Michael had connected with him. "It was almost as though as soon as they saw you they scattered," Max said. "Like your being there could stop them from -" he took in Liz's round eyes and changed his wording - "finishing what they'd started."

Michael shook his head. "No, Max. That doesn't make sense. Isabel wouldn't hurt you that way."

Max nodded. "I know," he said softly. "But she's being manipulated by Tess and whoever else was with them."

Liz gasped. "You were right all along," she said.

"I know," Max agreed. "But I wish I hadn't been." He glanced at Michael. "There's something else."

Michael suddenly felt nervous. "What?"

"They have her. They have Isabel, and they are going to hurt her."

Michael jumped to his feet. "What? No! We have to go there." He was already moving for the window when Max's voice stopped him.

"Michael, she'll be dead by the time we can fly to Boston."

Michael stopped in his tracks, spun around and pointed a finger at Max. "That is not an option."

"I know it isn't," Max agreed calmly.

"Then what do we do?" Michael ran a hand through his hair. "We don't have Isabel's ability to go behind the scenes and visit people mentally. How are we supposed to get to her if we can't reach her?"

"No, we don't have those abilities." Max turned his attention to Liz. "But Liz does."

Liz withdrew involuntarily. "Max, I'm weak. Weaker than either of you - certainly weaker than any of them." She felt her body start to quiver at the thought of fighting aliens with Max and Michael. Obviously her trembling was visible because Michael picked up one of Max's sweatshirts and handed it to her.

Max turned his body so that he could hold Liz's face in his hands. "You're strong enough to get us in," he assured her. "I know you don't have any powers of destruction, but Michael and I have enough of those to go around. All you have to do is contact Isabel and we'll do the rest." His eyes searched hers. "Please, Liz?"

Liz glanced over her shoulder at Michael. He looked like he was about to climb out of his skin. She couldn't deny them - either of them - their sister. She looked back to Max and nodded warily. ______________________________________________________________________

Tears ran from Isabel's eyes and rolled sideways across her face. She was still on the bathroom floor, unable to move. She was becoming more coherent by the minute, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. She was remembering what she'd done, how she'd reached into her brother's body and tried to stop his brain from functioning.

She didn't have that ability. The best she could guess was that either Paul or Jackson was capable, that they had only used her powers to get in, then had infused her with the desire and the tools to destroy Max. Another tear rolled across her nose and dripped onto the cold tile. I'm so sorry, Max, she wept to herself. You were so right.

Isabel could hear Tess and the others talking in the living room. They had induced this catatonic state in her and now she posed no threat. She knew they were planning on killing her.

"Why didn't you tell us about that Michael guy before?" Paul's voice, angry.

A sigh from Tess. "Because I thought this would be done and over with before Michael was any the wiser. How was I supposed to know he'd be camped on the floor? Although I shouldn't be surprised - the king's loyal second, sleeping by his master's bed like a freaking dog."

Isabel was stung by Tess's harsh words toward Michael. Michael had never been mean to Tess, had never really cared if she came or went. Yet here she was slamming his loyalty to Max.

"What happens now?" Jackson asked.

A pause. "We wait for them to come get her," Tess replied. "And they will. The honorable Max Evans would never leave his beloved sister in the condition she's in. Then we get the bonus of destroying them all at once." Isabel could just imagine the evil little smile on Tess's lips.

If only Isabel could move, think straight, do anything to help her situation. She closed her eyes and tried to open the dream plane. Nothing. Whatever they had done to her had neutralized all of her powers. Isabel was defenseless. ______________________________________________________________________

Max kissed Liz gently on the lips, caressed her cheek with his fingers. "It'll be okay," he whispered to her. Michael was on the other side of the room, giving Max some time to bolster Liz' confidence. "I know you can do this. And I'll be right here with you. And Michael will be here also. We won't leave you, okay?"

Liz nodded weakly and Max kissed her forehead. Then he glanced at Michael, a signal that it was time to start.

Michael joined them, took Max by one hand and Liz by the other. Max took Liz's hand and they formed a circle.

"Take deep breaths," he told Liz. "Close your eyes." She obeyed. "Think about me, Liz. About what we've shared, about what you mean to me."

Liz concentrated and the connection with Max was very quick. She could suddenly feel another presence inside of her body - Max's.

"Good," Max said soothingly. "Now think about Michael."

A little longer this time because Liz didn't share the same intimacy with Michael that she did with Max, but there he was. All three of them were now part of her and she was only part of the whole. She could feel their strength, their power becoming one.

"Excellent," Max said, although Liz didn't think he said it aloud, rather thought it and as he thought it, she thought it. "Think about Isabel. What she might be doing, what you've shared together. The sound of her voice. The color of her hair."

Liz let out an involuntary gasp as she felt her mental being propelled through time and space, to a place many thousands of miles away. She felt words of encouragement from Max, excitement from Michael that this might actually work.

And then she was suddenly with Isabel, lying on a cold tile floor in a bathroom somewhere on the east coast. Her head felt heavy, her muscles sluggish. She couldn't move. Liz also felt the immense sorrow coming from Isabel about what had happened.

Liz felt Max order her to lay low, to let him do the communicating. "Isabel," Max said. "Get up."

Isabel only cried harder, because she knew Max was dead.

"I'm not dead," Max told her. "I'm here, with Michael."

She stopped, tried to clear her mind. "Is it really you, Max?"

"Yes. Now get up."

"I can't."

"You have to."

Liz momentarily forgot her orders to remain quiet. "She can't, Max. She's drugged."

Isabel shook her head. "Liz?"

Max hurriedly covered Liz' blunder. "You can't let anyone know Liz is here," he warned Isabel. "She can't protect herself."

Isabel sent her understanding.

"We'll help you," Max explained to her. "You can pull on my strength and on Michael's strength to get up. Get them into the bathroom. We'll take care of the rest." Max directed his next thought to Liz. "You stay where you are."

Michael and Max concentrated on pooling their energy. Soon Isabel was able to get to her knees, then shakily to her feet. Get them in the bathroom, Max reminded. Isabel looked around the countertop for something to create a commotion. There was nothing, so she used what little strength she had to pull open the medicine chest. It contained nice glass shelves full of toiletries. She gave a weak smile, then knocked over each shelf, sending the contents crashing to the floor.

The voices in the living room ceased and Max and Michael braced themselves for the impending confrontation. In a matter of moments, the bathroom door swung open the three conspirators stood aghast.

"What the hell's this?" Paul demanded.

But Tess only laughed. "She found her way to her feet somehow. Don't worry. It won't last. Not with the drugs we gave her."

Jackson was silent, enraged.

Isabel was so weak she felt like she was fighting for every breath. But she found the strength to slowly raise her right hand, hoping that Max and Michael had the strength to do this from such a distance.

Paul and Tess both laughed mockingly.

"That's probably one of the most pitiful things I've ever seen," Paul said, glancing over his shoulder at Tess. "It really is heart-wrenching, isn't it?"

Tess nodded her agreement as she continued to laugh.

Jackson wasn't laughing with them. Something wasn't right. "I'm not so sure - " he began.

At that moment, Max and Michael kicked up the connection a notch and a blinding white light leapt from Isabel's open hand. Having alien reflexes, the other three immediately threw back a bolt of their own. Isabel staggered, but managed to keep from dropping the bolt Michael and Max had produced. She felt her strength, their strength starting to waver and a small piece of her started to give up. There was no way she could beat them. She was going to die. Max was going to die and Michael would soon follow.

But then Isabel saw Tess's expression change to one of worry, then fright, then understanding as the glow emitting from Isabel's palm let forth one final, forceful blow. There was a blinding flash of light and Isabel crumpled to the floor. When she could focus again, all that was before her was a cloud of dust.