(continued from previous)

The compound was relatively still as Michael and Isabel snuck up to the door they had seen Milton use earlier. Michael tried the door. It was locked, but they could see down the hallway through an oblong shaped window.

Isabel waved her hand over the door and it opened with a click. Michael pulled the door open just a sliver and Isabel crouched down beneath him to look inside. At the end of the hallway there was a guard stationed in front of a security door. A lanky man with glasses came through the door and stopped at the desk. A plastic ID tag was clipped to the pocket of his white lab coat. The guard looked over the ID and handed him a clipboard to sign.

"I'll handle the guard. You take care of the geek," whispered Michael. Isabel looked up at him and nodded.

They stood on either side of the door waiting for the lanky scientist to come out. When he opened the door, Isabel grabbed his hand and pulled it behind him. With the other hand she gagged his mouth. He struggled, but Isabel was surprisingly stronger than she looked. She concentrated on stopping the blood flow to his brain temporarily. In seconds he was out cold.

Michael inhaled and entered the building. He lowered his head and walked with a determined gait toward the security desk. The guard stopped him, "Hold it right there. Do you have some ID?"

"Uh, yeah," Michael reached into his shirt pocket for the credential he had been given at the front gate. The guard watched him carefully. Michael handed him the plastic card and he looked it over. While the guard's attention was focused, Michael clasped his hands into fist and forcefully brought his arms down together over the back of the man's neck.

Isabel soon joined him, now wearing the lanky man's lab coat and glasses, her hair tied up neatly in a bun. They sat the guard up on his chair. Michael removed the guard's olive jacket and gun belt and put them both on. Isabel opened the security door and nodded at him. Michael nodded back and they took a collective breath as they entered the long corridor and headed for the elevator at the end.

* * *

"Agent Topolsky, you have a phone call," said one of the scientists. She excused herself and went inside the little glass office that looked out onto the lab.

Milton entered the lab just as she was finishing her call. She hung up the phone and came out of the office with a sweet smile that made him somehow uncomfortable.

"Ah, Dr. Richter. You're back. I trust you found your notes."

"Yes. Yes I did."

"Good. You wouldn't want to miss a single detail. After all, this project will be quite the coup to show off to your colleagues at MIT."

"Right," he answered.

"Now, before we go back to the detention wing there's something special I'd like to show you."

"Really? What?"

"Just something our surveillance team picked up on video a few days ago."

"Well, that would be stimulating, agent." Milton was hoping he wouldn't have to do much to keep her away from Max while Michael and Isabel made their way to him.

Agent Topolsky grinned as one of the lab assistants rolled over a cart with a television monitor and a VCR. She popped in a tape and turned on the TV. Milton's jaw nearly dropped when the interior of the UFO Center appeared. He tried to remain calm, hoping that by some miracle his cover had not been blown. Max appeared on the screen arranging the displays, picking up trash and getting the exhibits ready as he usually did before the museum opened. Then, from the corner of the screen, Milton appeared and pointed to an exhibit in the corner that needed Max's attention. Damn.

"Now, would you care to explain to me, Dr. Richter, why you look exactly like a certain UFO museum curator in Roswell who just happens to be Max Evans' boss?"

"Well, it... it may look that way. Yes. But then, quality of that tape is very poor. It must be a coincidence."

"A coincidence? I just talked to the car service. Seems there was a mix-up at the airport. Dr. Richter was never picked up. And by the way, he went to Harvard, not MIT." Milton could feel sweat starting to leak out of every pore. There was nothing he could say now. He had been caught. "I knew I recognized you. I'm not going to let Max Evans and his friends get the best of me this time." The agent turned her head to the two guards standing at Milton's side. He hadn't noticed them until now. "Restrain him. Then search the compound thoroughly. I'll bet he's got some co-conspirators around here somewhere. Find them." Then she motioned to two guards who were standing near the door. "You two are with me. We're going to make sure our guest isn't going anywhere."

* * *

Liz crouched down beside the dumpster. She wasn't sure if the anxiety she was feeling was her own or Max's. They were still connected and it was getting increasingly difficult to tell where she left off and he began.

From around the corner of the building she heard footsteps. Someone was coming. Quickly, she climbed into the dumpster. At the other end of the connection Max seemed amused at her repulsed reaction to the trash now beneath her feet. She tried to convey to him that it wasn't funny, but the feeling of amusement only increased.

It stopped completely, however, when Max sensed the fear that Liz was suddenly projecting.

From inside the dumpster she heard the guard speak into his portable radio. "Base 1 this is Alpha. No sign of the intruders. Q4 sector is secure."

Intruders? She wasn't sure if she had heard him right. Did they know they were here? Liz huddled under a discarded bookcase as the guard poked his head over the rim of the dumpster. Max sent her waves of calmness and courage, though he couldn't hide the undercurrent of terror that came with them.

The radio hissed back, "Copy that, Alpha. Continue your present search pattern." They were definitely looking for them. Liz was safe for the moment in her hiding spot, but she had to find a way to warn Isabel and Michael.

Despite the strong protests from Max, she pulled out a shelf from the bookcase and carefully stood up. Hearing the noise, the guard whirled around but only in time to see the heavy wooden plank come crashing down over his head. He collapsed at the base of the dumpster.

There was something new emanating from Max now, something besides the fear. It was almost close to amazement mingled with pride and even a little gratitude. All of it was mixed with the ever-present emotion of pure, true love.

* * *

Isabel and Michael exited the elevator and found themselves in a brightly lit hallway with white ceilings and white walls that seemed to extend out into infinity. Michael remembered the directions Milton had given him. Turn left, then right, then right again and look for a door marked D1-4.

Isabel scanned the top of the walls and soon found what she was looking for in the corner above the elevator. "Michael," she whispered and pointed to a small black camera directly above them, its mechanical eye trained down the corridor beyond.

"Can you...?" he whispered back.

"I think so. Help me up." Michael bent over and clasped his hands to form a step. Isabel flattened herself against the wall and stepped into Michael's hands, using his shoulder for balance. She reached up underneath the camera and touched it. There was a spark and a burning smell. Knowing she had succeeded, Michael let her down carefully.

"I coulda done that," Michael joked.

Isabel shrugged, "Where did you think I learned it from?"

They followed the directions through the underground complex. A few scientists and technicians scurried through the halls, nodding polite greetings as they passed. Everyone seemed too concerned about where they had been or where they were going to be suspicious of the two out-of-place teenagers. Finally, Michael and Isabel reached the door marked D1-4, just as Milton had described it. Isabel opened it and they entered the detention wing. Several rows of unmarked gray cells sat empty. Michael tried not to imagine what their intended purpose was. After passing though two identical chambers, they finally came to the row that held Max's cell.

Max heard the faint sound of two sets of footprints coming toward his cubicle. He knew it wasn't the scientists this time. They usually entered with more bravado. It had to be Michael and Isabel. He felt them coming long before he saw their faces.

When they finally reached him, the three shared a tense reunion. Max could swear that Isabel was shaking, but it was something only a brother would notice. To the casual observer she would have seemed like the same old cool, calm Isabel. Michael, on the other hand, was a wreck. He was sweating profusely and his eyes were wild with nervous energy. Neither of them wanted to be here any more than Max did. But they had come. For him.

Before any of them could say a word, the door at other end of the corridor opened and Topolsky entered with two military men. Isabel and Michael turned and stared. There was nothing else they could do. The men trained their rifles on them as Topolsky approached the glass door.

"Sorry, Max. Visiting hours are over." She passed his cubicle and used her key card to open the glass doors to the next two cells in the row, then returned to face him. "But I think we can arrange to have your friends stay with us for a while," she said with a sweetly sinister smile. Max felt his stomach churn.

* * *

Liz felt it too. She knew she had to get in there somehow. She was hardly thinking straight now. Her body moved of its own will, driven by one singular desire -- to get to Max. She was running on pure adrenaline and instinct. It completely eclipsed the fear she had been feeling earlier and gave her a strength she would not have expected.

She climbed out of the dumpster and searched the guard's pockets until she found his key card. She headed straight for the door that Michael and Isabel had passed through. The guard at the security desk was unconscious, propped up in his chair as if he'd simply fallen asleep on the job. Liz slid the card into the reader and heard the lock click open. There was an elevator at the end of the hallway. Knowing that Max was underground, she took the elevator to the bottom floor.

When the elevator reached the bottom she looked up and saw the camera, still smoking from either Michael or Isabel's handiwork. She was on the right track, but where to go from here? There was an overhead sign in the corridor ahead. It read "Laboratory." It was as good a place to start as any.

The security key unlocked the door and she opened it hesitantly. She found Milton inside, bound and gagged in an office chair. Fortunately he was alone. She headed over to his chair and untied the knot that held the cloth over his mouth.

"Liz! You've got to get out of here. They know you're here. They're looking for you right now. The guard will be back any second."

"Shh. I know, Milton. But we've got to get Max first." She continued untying him. "And you're going to take me to him."

"Hold it right there!" A guard entered the room, his gun aimed at Liz. She froze. Her eyes darted over to a silver table nearby filled with instruments -- instruments that could easily be used as weapons. Her glance did not go unnoticed by the guard who barked, "Don't even think about it."

Liz stood with her arms at her side, fidgeting anxiously. She tucked a strand of her long, dark hair behind one ear and resorted to the first thing that came to her mind. She tried to reason with him. "Okay. Maybe we can talk about this. See, this is all just a big misunderstanding. You've got my boyfriend locked up somewhere in this place for no good reason and I'm just trying to get in to see him."

"I don't give a damn about your love life, miss. Just put your hands where I can see them." Liz raised her hands slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Milton rolling his chair closer to the guard. She kept on rambling, hoping that it would provide a distraction.

"You people all seem to think that he's, like, this dangerous monster or something, but he's really not. He's gentle. And sweet. He would never hurt anyone. He doesn't deserve this. He just wants to have a normal life. Why can't you understand that? Why can't you just leave him alone?"

The guard didn't seem to be swayed by her pleas, but she had kept him interested enough that he hadn't noticed Milton, who had made his way over to the guard. As soon as he was close enough, Milton leaned over and bit the guard on the arm as hard as he could. This distracted him long enough for Liz to grab a sharp scalpel-like instrument from the table and jab it into his thigh. She grabbed the gun as he doubled over in pain.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." She felt silly for apologizing to the man who would have shot her without a second thought, but she couldn't help it.

In the back of her mind she could sense that Max was caught up in his own struggle. Things were not going well. She felt a surge of energy coming from him. There was too much going on in her head right now. She couldn't think. She needed Max. Everything would be all right when she reached Max.

* * *

Max decided that it was time for action. It was one thing for him to be a prisoner and a lab rat, but he would not have Isabel and Michael subjected to it. There wasn't much left to lose at this point anyway. He placed his hand on the glass door and concentrated. The glass shattered into a thousand jagged fragments, echoing the anger and pain he was feeling inside. The guards jumped back, their formerly stern expressions now bearing a hint of fear. Topolsky just stood there amused.

"It's about time you showed us what you're really capable of."

Max walked barefoot through the glass that now littered the opening to his cell and grabbed her by the hair. He tried to control his anger, but it was all he could do to keep from snapping her neck. "Let them go," he said calmly but firmly. "Let them all go." He knew by this time that Liz had been caught trying to free Milton. "I'll do what you want. I'll cooperate and work for you. Just promise me they will be free, safe and unharmed."

"No, Max," said Isabel. "I'm not leaving without you."

"It's all of us or none of us, Maxwell," added Michael.

Max understood. He would not have left without them either. There was only one way now -- to fight their way out. He nodded to Michael and Isabel. They knew what he was planning. He let Topolsky fall to the floor and lunged for one of the rifles. Michael grabbed the other one. Their hands glowed simultaneously until the metal turned to liquid and melted at their feet. Feeling suddenly vulnerable without their weapons, the men reached for their radios to call for back-up. Michael grabbed the shoulder of one of the men and swung him around. He threw a punch with a force so strong it knocked the man into the wall.

Max pulled back and connected solidly with the other man's jaw. He realized that it was the first time in his life he had ever hit anyone in anger. He was a little bothered by the satisfaction it gave him. While contemplating this, he failed to notice that Agent Topolsky, still on the ground, had grabbed one of the men's radios and was now calling for back-up herself.

"This is Topolsky. Code Red in Detention Wing Four. Repeat. Code Red. Send as many units as you can. Now."

"Let's go, Maxwell, before the cavalry arrives," said Michael. Max and Michael headed down the hall, but stopped when they noticed that Isabel wasn't following.

Isabel crouched down, her forearms resting on her knees, and faced Topolsky eye to eye. "When we get out of here, and we will, you had better hope that you never see any of us again because I'll tear you apart so fast you'll wish you had never even heard of Roswell." Both of them knew that she meant it. Isabel stood up and kicked Topolsky in the face as hard as she could. "That was for Max." Isabel swore that she heard a meek whimper before the woman collapsed into a heap without a trace of the cool, professional facade she usually wore.

* * *

Liz knew what had happened through her link with Max before the announcement came over the speakers. "Code Red. Section D-4. All units respond immediately."

A tight cluster of troops passed by them without even turning their heads. Liz and Milton headed for the detention wing, hoping by some chance they would get to Max before it was too late.

Suddenly, a bright light glowed in the wall up ahead and Max, Michael and Isabel passed through it. This time, Milton's jaw did drop as he stared at the three teenagers who had just seemingly come out of nowhere.

"Shortcut," said Isabel with a tilt of her head.

"Max?" said Liz, hardly believing that they were really face to face again. At last.

"Liz," he said softly. And in an instant they were in each others arms. The feelings were so strong that neither one of them could speak another word. They just held onto each other, silently promising never to be separated again.

"Oh come ON, you two. There'll be time for that later. We've got to keep moving," chided Michael.

"Right," said Max with a hint of reluctance.

They ran past the laboratory and Liz shouted, "Wait! What about the lab? All those tests. The evidence."

"We've got to destroy it. No proof, Maxwell," said Michael.

"No proof," Max agreed.

They entered the room, empty now that all the guards were looking for them. Max reached his hand out over the desk and a fire blazed forth. Isabel and Michael started fires of their own in separate corners of the room. Liz tossed the computers off the desk one by one and they each landed with a crash. They smashed the petrie dishes, test tubes, slides, anything they could find that possibly held some part of Max. Milton just stood there, not believing his own eyes.

"You guys!" cried Liz. "Look at this." The three aliens stopped their vandalism momentarily and came over to see what Liz had found. It was a storage room filled with shelves and shelves of video tapes. Max pulled out one of the tapes at random. The label read 'Roswell Elementary 9/24/94.' Another read 'Crashdown Cafe 8/9/97.'

"Oh my god," said Isabel, holding a tape that read 'Evans Residence 11/11/96.' "They've been watching us for years."

"They've always been watching," said Max. With a wave of his hand the tape in Isabel's hand burst into flames. It didn't startle her. Instead she just watched it burn as a tear rolled down her cheek. "They always will."

They destroyed as much as they could, including another room's worth of videos. When they had either burned or smashed everything in sight, Max parted the flames and the five of them slipped into the corridor. From there it wasn't too difficult to pass through the walls to the stairwell and climb up the three floors to the surface. The fire would be contained eventually. They just hoped that enough evidence would be gone by then.

The car was still parked where they had left it. Evidently the guards had not managed to connect them with it. A least something had gone right. Michael headed for the driver's side door and Isabel sat shotgun. Max ushered a very dazed Milton into the back, then helped Liz with a kiss to her hand before finally climbing in himself.

Michael sped off toward the front gate, plowing right through the wooden barrier without stopping. They hadn't had to go through the electrified fence after all. Isabel wondered how Alex was going to feel when they brought back his dad's car in this condition. She made a mental note to fix it for him before Alex had to return it.

* * *

The car sped away down the formerly quiet desert highway, leaving only a swirling cloud of dust in its wake. Behind them the bright flood lights of the Canyon Ridge Research Center grew gradually dimmer until they faded away completely into the distance. Everyone was thankful for the darkness when it returned.

Milton, who had been slowly processing the events of the last hour finally got the nerve to speak up, "So... what was that back there? With the walking through walls and the fire and all that? Who... who are you people?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Milton. In all the commotion I didn't get a chance thank you," said Max apologetically. "You've been a big help to us." He looked to Isabel in the passenger's seat. She knew what he was asking and nodded in agreement. "So, I think you deserve to know."

"Know what?"

Michael's exasperation finally got the best of him and he exclaimed, "He's an alien, all right! We're all aliens. Jeez, do you need me to draw you a map?" Isabel and Max tried to hide their amused grins.

Milton barely blinked. He had already seen so many unexplained events tonight that one more revelation didn't make any difference. "Even her?" he asked, pointing to Liz.

"No. She's normal," said Isabel.

"Oh," said Milton, settling back to think on it some more.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, which was fine by all of them.

* * *

Epilogue:

The sound of soft music floated over Liz's balcony. A dozen candles flickered and glowed, creating an almost magical light. Liz and Max sat next to each other on a lounge chair, talking and laughing, all the pain of their recent ordeal put aside for the moment.

"I really did all of those things?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, you did," said Liz, with a nervous laugh. Her eyes wandered over to the brick wall, where the large heart still read "M.E. + L.P." A symbol of his love. Liz sighed.

Max stood up and touched the plus sign just as he had the night he had drawn it. It glowed bright red. Liz smiled. With a wave of his hand, it disappeared as if it had never been there. She couldn't hide the disappointment on her face when it was gone. Seeing her expression, Max carefully loosened a brick from the wall and waved his hand over the back side of it. The heart appeared once again in a smaller version.

He replaced the brick and whispered in a warm, husky voice, "Now you'll always know it's there."

"Thank you, Max." She meant it in more ways than one.

"Thank you, Liz. For everything."

"You saved my life too, you know. And I'm not just talking about the shooting."

Max smiled and reached out his hand to stroke her hair. Just then, Maria poked her head through Liz's bedroom window. She was still wearing her waitress uniform, having just finished her shift in the cafe downstairs. "Hey."

"Hey, Maria," said Liz, tearing her gaze from Max for a brief moment.

"Everything's all locked up, so I'm going to head on home."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"You owe me several." Maria saw the way the two of them were looking at each other and suddenly felt like a third wheel. "So... your parents are out stargazing again tonight?"

"Yeah," said Liz without taking her eyes from Max this time.

"Guess you guys will probably want to be alone then, huh?"

Max and Liz didn't answer. They just shared a knowing smile, as if something unspoken had passed between them.

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