Liz turned to flee with him, but the cry from the other Max made her turn and hesitate. Was she with the right Max? One glance into his fearful eyes told her that yes, this was her Max, these were not the empty eyes she had looked into only minutes before, these eyes were full of love and concern.

But, she should have listened to that other Max when he shouted no. As she and the real Max rounded the corner, they came face to face with several men in black suits with menacing looks on their faces. Before she even really knew what was happening, they were wrestling Max to the ground. His face was pressed hard to the floor but he was struggling, gasping and grunting as he thrashed under their weight.

“Max!” she shrieked. “Liz…Run…Run, Liz!” He yelled back between gasps.

Before she could decide whether to obey and abandon him or disobey and fight, a strong arm closed around her middle, dragging her back and lifting her off her feet. She kicked her feet wildly, landing several bruising blows to the shins before a rough hand thrust a handkerchief to her mouth.

“NO! Liz!”

A sweet smell engulfed her. She tried not to breathe it in, but the man’s hold was tight and her lungs were ready to burst. The heady scent forced itself into her lungs and the world became a blur as she collapsed like a ragdoll against the chest of the man behind her.

“LIZ!”

Blackness.

-------

Liz lifted her head from the flat pillow slowly. Her mind was still cobwebby and her vision slightly blurred. She looked around the unfamiliar setting cautiously, moving her head slowly so as not to jar her mind and dizzy herself any further. She glanced down at the cot she had been sleeping on before scanning the rest of the room, taking in the mahogany table and the mirrored wall.

She slid her eyes from side to side taking it all in. She let her eyes rest on her reflection in the mirror. She was sure that there was someone on the other side of that mirror, watching, waiting. She lifted her chin and stared defiantly, daring that someone, refusing to show any fear. She put on her bravest front, even though on the inside her thoughts were frantic and scrambling.

From out of nowhere, a door slid open and a handsome man in an impeccable suit strode in. Liz immediately jumped to her feet and held her ground even as he crossed the room towards her. She wanted to cower in fear but she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing that she was afraid.

“Hello Liz.” The voice had no malice in it, it was almost friendly. Almost. There was a slight twinge of something running underneath, but Liz wasn’t sure what. But there was something, she wasn’t tricked by the almost friendliness of it.

“Where’s Max. What have you done with him.” They weren’t questions. Liz didn’t let her voice shake or raise uncertainly, she said them unfeelingly. She refused to be intimidated.

The man smiled at this, as if he were pleased to hear her defiance, her strength and anger. “Max is just fine…Why don’t you have a seat so we can get to know each other a little better?” He gestured at the table and chairs in a graceful move that was meant to be inviting, but only served to further anger Liz.

She walked over slowly, more from the effects of the drugging than from a refusal to cooperate, but she was happy that it looked like she was not impressed. She slowly sank into the chair, eyes never leaving him. “Who are you. What do you want with us.”

The man’s steely blue eyes bored into hers and a muscle in his jaw twitched slightly as he clenched his teeth together momentarily before nodding and smiling a little at her. “Usually *I* ask the questions, Liz.”

“You know my name. It’s only fair I know yours.” Liz may have sounded cool, calm and collected, but her heart was really pounding like a jackhammer.

He was enjoying this. He smiled even more at her, showing off his perfect teeth in what would have been a winning smile if she hadn’t been so scared. “You’re right. Fair is fair. Liz Parker…Agent Pierce.”

Liz couldn’t help the little gasp that escaped her throat as she half croaked, half whispered, “the alien hunter.”

He tipped his head back and laughed. He was really enjoying this.

“Oh come on, Liz. You don’t believe everything you’re told, now do you?” He leaned in closer across the table and fixed his eyes right on Liz’s. “Kathleen Topolsky was a very sick woman.”

Liz swallowed hard. She couldn’t make her eyes leave his. They were like two bottomless pools of icy water, so different from Max’s velvety rich warm brown ones. They had her mesmerized. His stare and her fear held her body rigid and kept her eyes locked to him.

He reached across the table and put a surprisingly warm hand on top of her freezing one. “I’m not going to hurt you, Liz.”

He let his hand and gaze linger a few seconds before he got up and left the room as quickly and quietly as he’d come in. Liz grew a few shallow breaths as she watched his figure retreating, the warmth of his palm still tingling on her hand, her head slightly dizzy from his stare.

--------

“Hello Max.” The voice echoed around the empty white room, assaulting Max from all sides. He turned trying to find the source of the noise. The walls were smooth. He was alone He stood in the center of the room in a pair of scrubs and breathed heavily.

“Where’s Liz?” He croaked out to the voice, still spinning, looking for a hint of its origin.

It boomed back at him from everywhere and nowhere, “As long as you cooperate I won’t have to kill her…Shall we begin?”

-------

Liz nervously paced around the room, running her fingers over the walls, looking for a loose tile or anything, a way out. She had started to count her steps as a way to keep calm. 20 steps, turn, 15 steps turn. It helped her to not think. It kept her from replaying the events of Max’s capture and her encounter with Pierce over and over in her mind, like a broken record. Just thinking about Pierce, with his laser eyes, made her shiver, the warmth on her hand where his had been sizzling.

From across the room, the door slid open again. Liz gasped in anticipation, expecting to see Pierce’s lean figure confidently stride in. Instead, a black man walked calmly in, decidedly non-menacing. Liz allowed her rigid body to relax just a little.

“Ms. Parker,” his voice had none of the edge that Pierce’s did, it didn’t make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, “We’d like to run a few tests on you if you don’t mind.”

If she didn’t mind? She suspiciously repeated, “Tests?”

“Yes. We’d like to get a blood sample, run an MRI, that sort of thing.”

Still not convinced, Liz lifted her head to look directly at him, “Why.”

“Standard procedure. You’ve had direct contact with an alien. We need to make sure you weren’t harmed in any way. We want to see how this alien contact has effected your human physiology. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

Liz felt confused. Every fiber in her being had been yelling danger danger. She had been caught by the alien hunter who wanted to kill Max. But this agent seemed totally legit. He wasn’t making any unreasonable requests; Liz’s scientific mind could see the reasoning behind the tests, and even she had to agree that it was valid. And this agent was friendly and completely non-threatening…so she reluctantly followed the agent, hoping that wherever Max was, he was receiving similar treatment.

-------

Max thrashed around as he was strapped to a chair and needle was roughly forced into his arm. He screamed and tried to turn away as a metal helmet was placed on his head. Terrified, he turned to see Pierce standing next to the machine that the helmet was rigged up to, smiling sadistically at him before turning the voltage up. Then he could see nothing as the pain became blinding and he wildly called out, “NO!!!”

-------

“Hello Liz.”

Liz sat up quickly at the sound of the voice, her skin prickling. It was him. She wished it was Agent Mathison, who was friendly and not scary, who had taken her to have her blood drawn and told her not to worry as she went in for her MRI. But it was Pierce. Her whole body reacted to the sound of his voice, all of her senses on edge. He made her nervous and fluttery inside.

He crossed the room and came to stand by her cot. She held her body tense. Sensing her tension, he sat down next to her. She willed herself to look straight ahead, to not be sucked back into those deep eyes that were like quicksand. His closeness made her skin tingle, but she forced herself not to scoot away from him, but to instead remain expressionless, emotionless.

“Liz.” His voice was softer now, gentler, the edge gone. He put his hand on her knee. “I told you you wouldn’t be hurt. Have I lied to you, Liz?”

She wished he would take his hand away. It was completely unsettling her. The warmth was radiating out from his hand and drawing her mind away from her fear and towards the power of his touch. But she wanted to feel that fear. The fear was the only thing keeping her going. Fear for herself and fear for Max.

She turned to look at him then, “What about Max?”

Mistake. The instant her eyes met his she felt that drowning feeling all over again. They were so intense, crystal clear blue, and they held her gaze strongly, never wavering. It was like some sort of bizarre staring contest that Liz wanted to look away from but couldn’t bear to lose.

His other hand found its way to her cheek and cupped her face. He leaned in a little closer to her. She managed to pry her gaze from his and instead let her eyes rest on the words his mouth was forming.

“Don’t worry, Liz. He’s fine… We’re not bad people, you know. Nothing’s going to happen. You’re safe… I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

With that he turned his hand over and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Liz couldn’t pull her eyes away from his face. It had almost been better when she was stuck in an eyelock with him, now her gaze was transfixed on his perfect teeth, red lips, his strong jawline…she closed her eyes and tried to will herself not to feel the soft touch. He gave her knee a gentle squeeze before planting a light kiss on her forehead. His face lingered close to hers for a few seconds. As much as Liz was willing herself not to feel, she couldn’t help the response her body was having. His touch made ripples of feeling through her. It took all of her will not to tilt her face upwards to let him place his kiss on her lips.

And then he was gone again. Liz’s breathing was shaky in response to his touch, his kiss. Her stomach still churned from the shock of his touch, her insides warm. She kept her eyes squeezed shut. A lone tear rolled down her cheek.

-------

“Make them work. Show me how the orbs work Max.” Pierce held the two orbs in front of him, a satisfied smile on his face.

“I don’t know how to.”

Pierce’s grin began to evaporate and he fixed his best you’d-better-cooperate look on Max. Max started to panic. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know. Please…don’t hurt Liz, please.”

A sadistic smile began to reappear on Pierce’s face at Max’s mention of Liz. He shook his head appreciatively. “Liz…hmm…she’s a very pretty girl. I can see why you like her…so…young and…” his voice trailed off as he licked his lips lightly. Max inhaled sharply and a small no escaped his lips.

Pierce leaned in a nodded. “Yes…You won’t show me how the orbs work-“

“I don’t know how!” Max broke in frantically.

“-Maybe I can make you change your mind.”

At Pierce’s signal, four men came in and roughly dragged Max out of the room as he struggled, calling out fearfully, “Where are you taking me? Please! I don’t know how to work them!”

They stopped in a small room and strapped Max into a chair. They put another helmet on him, to monitor his brain waves. He was sitting in front of a window that was looking into a room that contained

“Liz! No! Please! I swear I don’t know how to work them, please! Don’t hurt her!!”

A silencing hand clamped over Max’s mouth. Pierce. His voice was dripping with sugary sweetness as he said, “Don’t worry Max…I’m not going to hurt her…”

-------

Liz knew who it was the moment the door slid open. The feeling in the pit of her stomach told her it was him. She didn’t bother to look up. She didn’t move from her the edge of the cot, not even when he came to stand behind her so close she could feel his body heat. He placed his hands on her shoulders, massaging out the tension in them. He leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head.

-------

Max struggled against his restraints. He could see Liz’s expressionless face and Pierce’s smile as he rubbed her shoulders and bent down to kiss her head. Max croaked out, “No, just leave her alone, please don’t, please don’t…”

-------

Pierce crouched down next to Liz and whispered in her ear. “Liz…relax Liz…”

His breath was tickling against her ears and neck, her skin was prickling. It made her cold throughout her whole body, a small shiver went through her. He had placed his hand on her knee again and was rubbing her thigh gently while his other hand rested lightly on her back. With every breath he exhaled on her neck a tiny tremor went through her body. She willed herself to just not look at him, as long as she didn’t look at him she could ignore the chills that were everywhere except that one place that was continuing to get warmer with every stroke of his hand on her leg. Her breathing became more labored as he let his lips get closer and closer to her ear.

He breathed into her ear, “Liz…you’re beautiful, you know that?”

-------

Max wanted to close his eyes, to stop watching the scene unfolding, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her face. Her eyebrows knitted together, the way her mouth was slightly open. The way she closed her eyes and bit her lip. He watched her chest go up and down as her breathing became shallower and shallower. Max’s eyes started to fill with tears as he whispered, “leave her alone…leave her alone… no Liz…”

-------

The hand that had been resting on her back left now and stroked her face gently. She felt a knot harden in her chest, her stomach plunge. Her chin tilted towards him slightly. He continued to rub her thigh, a little higher now as he breathed her name into her ear once more. The sensation rocketed through her. She turned her head towards him and saw those ice blue eyes once more before she closed her eyes as his mouth met hers.

-------

“No! Liz! Oh God. Oh God. Liz!”

-------

Pierce pulled out of the kiss and wrapped his arms around the shaking girl who was still clinging to him desperately, her hands grasping at his shirt, her head buried in his neck, her lips taking anchor there. He looked at the mirror and smiled at his reflection, at who he knew was behind that reflection. He blew a little kiss towards the mirror before he took her mouth back in his.

-------

“Li..Li..Liz.Liz.liz”