((---I am still working on fixing spelling and html errors, but it's still good to read. ---))

"What do you mean he's taken Liz?" Sheriff Valenti asked the two teenagers sitting in front of him. He was having trouble thinking straight. What should he do about this Max kid? He was just starting to think that Max was a good kid, that maybe he just had some rotten luck. But now Maria and Alex were saying he took Liz? Liz, the one girl he pines over day and night? Even the sheriff didn't have to attend West Roswell High to know that Max was in love with Liz.

"Well, at first she wanted to go with him, thinking it was like a romantic getaway," Maria Deluca told him quickly, as little tremors shook her voice. Valenti knew that she must be freaking out. He had spent a lot of time watching her and her friends and he knew that Liz was Maria's best friend in the whole world.

"Yeah, but then he started getting strange," Alex Whitman piped up, then quickly added, "You know, at least that's what she said when she called us." The Sheriff didn't know what to think of Alex. He got the feeling that Alex had only recently found out whatever it was that Max was hiding. What they all were hiding. He always thought it had been something not so dangerous, but now....

"Yeah," Maria broke in. She hesitated before continuing as if she didn't really think Max could do such a thing to Liz, "She said that...that he was scaring her and that she wanted to go home but he wouldn't let her."

"It's like he's kidnapped her," Alex said loudly than added in a softer tone, "or something." Valenti got the feeling that neither of them were telling the whole truth. But he was the sheriff of Roswell; he had to do his job to protect his citizens and Liz seemed to be in trouble.

"Sheriff, I'm really scared," Maria told him with pleading in her voice. "I mean, you know I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Valenti's thoughts immediately went back to the time Maria had come into his office in September. He knew that she knew something. He had tried to get her to talk about who Max really was, but she kept the secret just like all of them had. She had even shed a tear. Valenti knew this must be something big for her to come here and he knew he had to stop Max.

----------

"Hello. FBI? Yes, Agent Pierce, please." Nasedo said into a cell phone as he drove down the highway. Liz Parker sat quietly in the passenger seat. She had just seen him dump a dead body at the side of the road. She didn't think talking was such a good idea right now. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I know there's no Agent Pierce. Just let him know that I left him a little clue on Highway 380 to Hondo. Near mile marker 67."

Liz wondered how much time she had left. Each breath she took in felt like her last. She couldn't take it any longer. She had to ask. "Are you going to kill me, too?"

Nasedo smiled. "Not as long as I still need you."

Liz hated the way he was so nonchalant. As if the man he had just left on the road had been a fly. As if she was nothing more than a flea. She looked up at Nasedo again and shuddered as she saw Max's face. "Do you have to be Max?"

"Oh, I like it. Being him. Being 17," Nasedo said enthusiastically. He turned and smirked at her. "I don't think you'd have been nearly as friendly to Ed Harding."

Liz caught her breath in her throat. "That was you?"

"I've been a lot of different people you don't even know about," Nasedo told her. Liz got the feeling he shapeshifted a lot. He could have been anyone at anytime. The realization sent little tingles all though her. "But right now, Max Evans is my most important role."

"Why?" Liz asked. She was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Because I'm the bait," Nasedo said as if it were so obvious. "Pierce is looking for Max, and I'm going to draw him to me."

Liz saw her chance for escape and she jumped at it. "So why do you even need me?"

"You're my collateral," Nasedo smiled at her again. Liz hated that smile, even though it was Max's face. She loved Max's smile, but when Nasedo smiled it looked...evil. "My hostage," Nasedo added.

"What kind of hostage am I?" Liz said getting frustrated. "Pierce would just kill me."

"Oh, there's a thought," Nasedo said almost mocking her. After a pause he said, "Actually, he wouldn't. See, he knows what Max did to you at the Crashdown that day." Liz couldn't help but feel a little tremor of joy and pain seize her. That was the day she had been shot and Max healed her. The day she learned Max's secret and the day that started this journey that was leading to Max's exposure.

Guilt washed over her as Nasedo continued, "He wants you alive. You see, he needs answers. You could come in extremely handy in terms of my survival." Nasedo turned his gaze from driving and turned to face Liz with the same evil smile, "and even if you don't, you've been fantastic company."

They drove down the highway a little longer, but before Liz could even get her thoughts in order, he said "Time to leave another clue." Liz couldn't do anything but watch as he pulled into a gas station and stopped the car. Slowly he stepped out of the vehicle and pressed his hand against the gas pump. As he moved his hand away, he left the imprint of a silver hand. Liz's heart got caught in her throat as she remembered having the same silver handprint on her stomach after Max had healed her.

She watched as Nasedo put his hand over the pump again, only this time a little smoke began to rise from it. Nasedo walked back to the car and drove a little ways towards the high way. Just before he turned back on, he looked behind him eagerly. Liz reluctantly followed his gaze. Just then the gas pump exploded leaving behind a trail of smoke and fire. By the time the gas station clerk ran outside, Nasedo and Liz were already driving down the long high way with only a small dust trail marking their path.

----------

Michael Gueren walked down the street with a vigorous stride. Where was she? Tess Harding was usually strolling this part of town around now. Ahh, there she was. He ran up to her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her with him.

"Michael!" Tess exclaimed as he clamped down on her arm hard.

"What's going on?" Michael asked her.

Tess looked up at him puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Michael said to her, his voice bitter. "Nasedo has Liz."

"I didn't know," Tess said shaking her head. Michael kept on walking dragging her around the corner and shoving her towards Max's jeep.

"The hell you didn't," Michael said growing angry. She knew Nasedo. She grew up with Nasedo. And now Nasedo had abducted Liz. "You want us to trust you, but how can we if you don't tell us what you know."

"I can't tell you what I don't know," Tess said defensively, but before she could utter another word, Michael cut her off again.

"Hey, Valenti is involved now," Michael warned, looking her in the eyes and emphasizing his words. "If this thing goes the wrong way, he'll know everything, and that puts us all in danger-- including you." Michael looked at Max and the others in the jeep before he shoved Tess in the front. "Now, get in the jeep."

"Michael, you don't know who you're dealing with," Tess told the whole group. Michael sniggered to himself.

"No, but you do, and that's why you're coming with us."

----------

"Right," Valenti said into the phone as he wrote down some notes vigorously. Where was Max? He wasn't getting any clues. He needed something to go on quick. Before Liz got hurt. He looked up and saw Deputy Fisher running to his door, out of breath.

"Sir, there's a report on line three, says a young couple was spotted at a gas station," Fisher told him, then paused as if what he were about to say was unbelievable. "There was a freak accident, a tank exploded. And they found some kind of weird silver handprint."

The silver handprint got Valenti's whole attention. Before Fisher could even utter the next words, Valenti already had his jacket in his hands. "They're faxing over security cam pictures."

"Where was this?" Valenti asked impatiently.

"380 West, just outside of Hondo," Fisher answered. Valenti climbed into his police van and switched on his lights. He was just about to take off when Fisher asked, "Hey, Sheriff, do you need me to come along with you?"

"Nope. That won't be necessary, Deputy," Valenti answered. He wanted to find out the truth himself. This was his chance to avenge his father's dishonor; he wasn't going to let it go.

"Ok, sir," Fisher said, obviously disappointed. Valenti looked hard at him for a second. Might as well make him useful, he thought.

"You wait here for the security cam pictures to come through," he said and then sped off down the street, his siren wailing.

"Yes sir," Fisher said and then turned to go back into the office when suddenly he heard a screech of wheels turning the corner. He immediately went over to the speeding jeep. "Whoa, wait, slow down. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Max Evans looked at him with fear, "Nowhere, officer. I'm really sorry."

Fisher pulled out a ticket book and started to write in the date. "Well, I think you're just going to have to learn to slow down."

Isabel Evans from the back seat started to panic. They didn't have time for this. Quickly she leaned up and smiled her sexy smile at Fisher. "You know, you're so right, Officer. And we promise never to do it again."

Fisher gave her a thoughtful look. "Good enough, this time." He scanned the occupants of the van. He eyes sweeping over Michael and Tess. "But I'll be watching."

Max nodded his head and then started off slowly down the street. Fisher went back into the station to get the fax from the security camera. Holding it up to the light he smiled. There, on the picture, was a shot of Max.

----------

A bored vendor at the carnival swished around some nut shells. "Where's the pea?" he asked the young couple before him.

"Pick one," Nasedo told Liz. Liz just stared straight ahead. Was he insane? Here they were just standing around playing stupid carnival acts. "Pick one!" Nasedo ordered. Liz jumped at the sound of his voice. She reached out and chose one of the shells. It was empty. The vendor looked expectantly at Nasedo. Nasedo smiled and picked up the correct shell. "Don't believe everything you see," he said as he threw the shell back on the table.

"What are we doing here?" Liz said as she was being herded away from the shell game.

"We're waiting for Pierce to connect the dots," Nasedo told her while gazing all around him at all the interesting booths surrounding them.

"And when he gets here, what are you going to do to him?" Liz asked him. She was getting more scared by the second. She didn't want to have to deal with Pierce. "I mean, and then you won't need me anymore, right?" An idea suddenly occurred to her that sent shivers down her spine. "God, don't you think Max is already on his way to find me?"

"Now why would he be doing that?" Nasedo asked as he paid for some cotton candy.

"Because he cares about me," Liz said, her eyes meeting his for the first time. "But you don't understand that, do you? YouÉ you don't care about anyone."

"All I care about is protecting them," Nasedo said after tasting the cotton candy. "No one else matters."

----------

Driving down the road, Valenti couldn't help but wonder if he was getting as crazy as his father. What if his father was wrong? What if he was just like him? Valenti pushed the thoughts out of his head and kept driving. He didn't want to think about that. He had to focus on Liz. Up ahead he saw some agents leaning over a dead body. Curious, he pulled to the side of the road to see what was happening.

"What's going on here?" he asked the nearest FBI agent.

"We have it under control, Sheriff," the agent replied in a rather curt tone.

----------

"You can't deny this, any of you. It's our destiny," Tess told the group in the jeep. Why couldn't they see that she was made to be with Max; and Isabel to be with Michael? "It's what we were planned for. Even if you don't want to believe me, you can't hide from the truth."

"It's not about the four of us right now, it's about Liz," Max said. He was getting frustrated. Why was she so worried about who was dating who when Liz had just been taken by an alien? That seemed way more important.

"Liz is human. She has nothing to do with us," Tess told Max.

"No, you have nothing to do with us!" Max almost screamed at her. How dare she talk about Liz that way. Liz had done more for him than Tess ever had. Liz had kept their secret, had risked her life on so many occasions. And now she was so close to being....

"Michael, is that what you think?" Tess asked breaking Max's thoughts. Michael remained silent. Tess asked quietly, "Isabel?" Isabel looked away from her. Tess sighed in frustration. How was she going to convince them?

----------

"This is my county," Valenti told the agent. "I demand to know what's happening."

"Go away, Sheriff. This is a matter of national security," the agent told him sharply. Valenti got the feeling that whatever happened to that man was not of this earth. He wished he could get a closer look to see if there was a silver handprint.

"Is that them?" Max asked as he neared the agents and Valenti. He got his hope up. "Is that Liz?"

"Don't stop. Don't even slow down. It's not her," Tess said quickly while trying to hide her face from them. "Those men are from the Special Unit. Just drive."

"How do you know?" Isabel asked in a choked voice. Her, Max and Michael had spent hours talking about them. About what they would do when they found out about their secret. But now that she was face to face with them and they were real, it sent warning signals all through her.

"I've been running from them all my life and now they're after you, too," Tess explained quietly. "Just go."

----------

"I don't believe you," Liz told Nasedo. No, no, no, she kept repeating to herself.

"It's true, Tess and Max were made to be together," Nasedo said.

"But you don't even know what Max and I have. You know, ever since he saved my life at the Crashdown, he changed me," Liz smiled. "We saw into each other's souls."

Nasedo looked at Liz oddly and shook his head. He was just about to tell her about what Tess and Max had, when a voice broke his concentration.

"I don't believe in that hokey," a woman said at one of the alien booths. "There's no such thing as aliens."

Nasedo smiled his evil smile. "Time for the final clue." Liz watched as Nasedo turned his full concentration on the woman. A bright light started to emit from the ground where she was standing and shot into the sky. The lady screamed in pain. People around her thought it was just a carnival act, but Liz saw it as her chance for escape. She slowly backed away from Nasedo and made a run for it.

----------

Still auguring with the agent, Valenti's attention turned heavenward. A bright light was illuminating the sky with a strange symbol. He racked his brain for where he had seen that symbol before. The orb! It was on the orb that Max had. He quickly got back in his patrol car; wherever that light was coming from is where he would find Max-- and Liz.

----------

"Oh my god, I know what he's doing," Tess exclaimed. "He's leading Pierce right to him."

"And to Liz," Max said.

'Why?" Micahel wondered.

"He wants to kill him," Tess told him. The idea of Pierce dead gave her a feeling of hope. Once he was gone, things could go back to a state of normal. Or however normal things could get.

"Let's go," Max said, his eyes set dead ahead. The look in them made it clear that he was on a mission.

"We can't," Tess said quickly. Was he insane? He wanted to go to Pierce, the one man who was trying to kill him or worse.

"Yes, we can," Max answered, pressing his foot against the gas.

"Do you have any idea what Pierce would do if he gets a hold of one of us?" Tess asked urgently. Didn't he realize how much danger he was putting himself in? All of them in?

"He's going to get to Liz if we don't get there first," Max said, annoyed.

"Nasedo will take care of Pierce," Tess told him reassuringly.

"I can't take that chance," Max said. Why couldn't she just understand that? "I'm not going to let anything happen to Liz."

----------

Liz stood on the merry-go-round looking in every direction as she went around and around for Nasedo. She turned to the left, then to the right, then back to the left. Liz's heart skipped a beat. Nasedo was on the merry-go-round! How did he get there?

In a panic, she jumped off the spinning platform and fell to the ground. Scrambling to her feet, she rushed over to a mirror maze. Nasedo slowly stepped off the merry-go-round and jogged after her. Looking around him, Nasedo saw Valenti. He made eye contact before he stepped inside the maze.

"This is where the light was coming from," Max told the group as he parked his jeep at the carnival. "We've got to split up and look for Valenti; he'll lead us to Liz."

Max rushed through the crowds of people scanning everyone's faces for Liz or Valenti. Finally he saw Valenti entering a mirror maze, keeping his hand on his gun. Taking a deep breath, Max followed him.

Valenti walked into the maze and was surrounded by images of himself and Max. He saw a reflection of Liz. Her expression was serious and Valenti got the feeling she was seriously freaked out. The three of them walked cautiously through the narrow passages trying to find a path to one another.

Valenti could see Nasedo, who still was in the form of Max, at one side of the maze, but when he turned around he saw Max there too. Confused he tried to convince himself that it was just the mirrors.

Max used his hands to guide himself to a open narrow passage. He entered it and comes face to face with Nasedo.

"What are you doing?" Nasedo asked him. "Get out of here."

Putting aside the eerie feeling Max has of talking to a man who looks just like him, he asked, "Where's Liz?"

"Pierce doesn't care about her; he only wants me," Nasedo told Max.

"He wants her, too. He wants all of us," Max said, raising his voice in fear. "I'm not leaving without her."

"I won't let him take you," Nasedo told Max, just as Liz appeared at the end of the passage way.

"Max!" Liz yelled.

"Liz," Max pushed past Nasedo and ran to Liz, but bumped into a glass wall before he could reach her. They both jump as some clowns fall down behind Max. He pressed his hand out on the glass. "Get out of here."

"Not without you," Liz answered, placing her hand where his is on the glass. Suddenly Liz saw two agents coming up from behind Max. "Max! Behind you!"

Max ran to the right and finds his way to Liz. He took her by the hand. "I've got to get you out of here," he told her as he led the way out.

Valenti sees Max walking in the passage just before him. He called out, "Max?"

Max spun around just as a voice said, "Right behind you, Sheriff!"

Valenti turned around to see Fisher and two agents with guns pointing at Max. He fired his own gun at them but it is only their reflections and the mirrors shattered.

"Sheriff!?! Sheriff, it's me, Fisher, what areÉ" his deputy said, dumbfounded as he twirled his gun back into his holster. Valenti ran back towards where Max had gone before Fisher can finish his sentence.

Valenti saw Max on the other side of a glass wall just as two agents grabed him and shoved him against it, forcing his face against the glass. Valenti watched as Liz and another Max watch horrified and leave the mirror maze.

----------

Liz and Max ran from the mirror maze and find their way to a empty van. "Right in here," Max told Liz as he climbed up the stairs into the van.

"Max, are you all right?" she asked. She grabbed him and pulled his lips to her own and kissed him deeply. She sees a flash of a gray tunnel and a dead body. She slowly backed away. "You're not Max."

"No, I'm not," Nasedo answered. "And now I've got to get him back." Liz watched in horror as Nasedo raised his hand and changed his face from Max Evans to a clown. A bright white light shook the van. Nasedo ran off before Liz could speak.

Liz started to breathe heavily and tears stung at her eyes. They had Max, they had Max. It kept playing in her head like a loop. She ran from the van and started to run in no given direction. She ran right into Isabel and Michael.

"Oh God," she said. They had Max.

"Liz," Isabel exclaimed as she saw her. Something was very wrong, though. Liz's breath was coming in short gasps. "Liz?!"

"They have Max," Liz told the group not looking anyone in the eyes. Then as if she just realized it she repeated, "They have Max," her voice breaking on the last word.

Isabel pushed the hysterical Liz into the arms of Michael who instantly hugged her. Liz buried her head and cried. Isabel looked around them. Where was Max?

----------

Fisher watched as Max paced around the white room. He was feeling all the sides looking for a door. Frustrated, Max slammed his fists against the wall.

"They want to know when you'd like to start the tests," an agent asked Fisher.

"Tomorrow morning," Fisher answered as he straightened his tie and folded up his deputy jacket. He smiled. "Let him get some sleep."

"Yes sir, Agent Pierce," the agent answered. Pierce watched Max step away from the observation wall and slump against the opposite wall. He curled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. Pierce smiled.

----------

(Max to the Max ends and The White Room begins.)

----------

Max sat slouched in a corner of the white room, wearing light colored hosptial clothes. There was no door, no windows, nothing. He slowly took in each breath, dreading what would happen to him next. How much did they know? What would they do when they found out his secret? Max started to panic and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He thought about Liz. The touch of her skin. The way her eyes look into his. Her smile. Her lips.

"Good morning, Max," a voice broke through Max's thoughts. Slowly he leaned against the wall and raised himself. Fear jolted through his body.

"Where am I," he asked, trying to keep the tremors out of his voice.

"Someplace where no one can find you," the unknown speaker said in a matter of fact tone.

"Why am I here?" Max asked.

"That's what I want to try to find out," the voice said. Oh my God, Max thought, they know. He took another deep breath pulling himself together.

"You've made a mistake," Max began.

"I don't think so. I know what you are, and now, you're going to tell me everything," the voice cut him off, almost destroying any hope that Max had left. He won't give up. He can't. Not just for his life, but for his sister's life. All of his friend's lives.

"I'm Max Evans. I live at sixty-twenty-five Murray Lane. You can call my parents," Max told the voice. He's glad he couldn't see the man behind the voice. It made all of this...less real.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What is the name of your home planet?" Max thought for a couple seconds. What should he say? He didn't even know the name of his home planet. Finally he made a decision.

"Earth."

"All right. Hard way." Max heard footsteps and saw the wall of the room open. Men dressed in bacterial protection suits surrounded him. He tried to break free from their grasp but there were too many. They strapped him down on a table.

"I'm Max Evans. Why are you doing this to me?" Max cried out desperately. "Why?!" He screamed. "Why?" He saw them taking blood and knew that all was over. He wouldn't be able to deny it now. With lessening strength he continued to question. "Why?"

----------

"We should have never split up. I mean, I never should have left him alone," Michael said. He ran his hand through his spiky hair, guilt weighing down on him hard. They had Max.

Next to him, Isabel was worrying about him, too. "What are they doing to him? What if he's already dead?" she choked out, almost afraid to let anyone answer. Michael shuddered at the thought of Max's body lying on the ground, cold and still.

"No, no, Isabel, you can't even talk like that because, you know, Max is too smart to let something like that happen," Liz reassured Isabel. Michael wanted to puke. He couldn't just stand here doing nothing while Max could be dying.

"Pierce won't kill him. He wants to study him," Tess told the three of them, in a much calmer voice.

"How the hell do you know?" Michael exploded at her. How can she just sit there, he asked himself. Max is captured and she didn't even seem worried.

Michael lifted his head at the sound of the cafe's doors opening. Liz ran to the front of the Crashdown, where her best friends Alex and Maria were entering. Michael followed.

"Oh my God, Liz. We were so worried," Maria began, before she even realized Max was missing. Michael's heart beat slowed down a little now that Maria was around him. Things seemed less scary.

"You guys, they took Max," Liz clued them both in. Michael was amazed at how calm Liz seemed on the outside, but he knew that she was wailing on the inside.

"Who?" Alex asked. He quickly checked to make sure Isabel was in the room. He don't know what he'd do if they took Isabel. "Who did?"

"Pierce, you know the FBI Special Unit," Liz answered in a rush and then as if realizing for the millionth time it was true, she added,"They took him."

Maria ran over to hug Michael. He gladly welcomed her embrace. He watched as Alex did the same to Isabel. Liz looked a little left out. She turned to Tess.

"Where's Nasedo?" Liz asked.

"I don't know," Tess said to her quietly, trying not to upset her.

"He's supposed to be at our side," Michael broke in. Not to mention the fact that he was responsible for Max's being captured, he added silently to himself. "Where is he?"

"I told you, I don't know," Tess repeated, annoyance flashed in her eyes. "He's never left me alone like this before."

"Then it's up to us," Isabel said, looking up at the ceiling, trying to keep the tears from falling. Michael wanted to comfort her, but knew that would just freak her out more. "We have to find Max."

"Wha, what makes you think we can go up against alien hunters and win?" Alex stuttered out.

"What the hell choice do we have? Let him be a pincushion for Pierce? Let him die?" Michael practically screamed. Alex was forgetting who they were dealing with.

"No," Alex told him, sadly. Michael suddenly felt a little sorry for getting so angry at Alex. They were all a little high strung right now.

"We have to go to Valenti," Liz said after a moments silence.

"What, and tell him everything?" Michael asked, shocked. He wasn't about to let some human break their life long secret to the sheriff of Roswell, New Mexico.

"Max was willing to do it to save Liz," Isabel told the group, trying to make sense of her confusing world. "Maybe now is the time to trust him." Or die, Michael thought bitterly.

"What makes you think that Valenti is better equipped than we are?" Tess butted in, making eye contact with Michael and Isabel.

"He's the law. He's got resources," Maria said. She always could be sensible when she needed to, Michael thought.

"So do we. Stronger ones," Tess shot back at Maria. She looked at Michael and Isabel again. "Look, I know what can do. What about the two of you?"

"What do you mean?" Michael asked her.

"Your powers, Michael. Your gifts," Tess answered. Michael and Isabel were silent. "You do have them, don't you?"

"We're not too advanced," Michael finally said. He wished he had more control of his powers. Now more than ever he might need them to save his best friend's life.

"We can do easy things, like ch-change simple molecular structure, but we don't use them very often," Isabel confessed. "What about you?"

"Being around Nasedo has taught me quite a few things," Tess told them.

"Wait, what about that dream thing that you can do?" Alex suddenly asked Isabel. Finally someone was talking sense, Michael thought.

Tess looked at Isabel with interest. "What dream thing?"

"Sometimes I can go into people's heads when they're sleeping," Isabel explained softly.

"And you can all do that?" Tess asked.

"Nah, just Isabel," Michael said, gesturing to her.

"And you can communicate with them?" Tess asked, an idea forming in her head.

Isabel nodded. "Subconsciously." She took a nervous breath. She hated the way fear made her sweaty. She really just wanted to curl up after a long bath. She pulled her thoughts away from herself and back to Max. He was important right now. He was all that mattered. "I've only done it a few times."

"Look, if you do it to Max, maybe he can tell you where he is," Liz told her looking up in her eyes with hope. Isabel looked at Liz hard. She once again marveled at how much Liz loved her brother. Max was lucky he could trust a human.

"I've never done it to anyone who was awake before," Isabel said to the group, so as not to get their hopes up. Then her voice shaing she added, "I don't know if I can...get in."

----------

Max stared up at the ceiling. He was strapped down on a table in the middle of the white room. The door opened. He looked to see who it was, but couldn't move much more than his neck. A single man stands in front of him. He grabed a remote and pressed a button.

Max braced for pain, but realized that the remote was only lifting his chair. I've got to get myself together, Max reminded himself.

"You and I don't need procedure, now do we, Max?" said the man, taking off his protection suit. Max saw his face, and recognized him as Deputy Fisher. He had a flashback of being pulled over.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" the deputy asked.

Max Evans looked at him with fear, "Nowhere, officer.

Max asked, "You're the deputy?"

"You have your tricks, I have mine," Pierce answered.

"Who do you think I am?" Max asked refusing to let on about his secret until he absolutely has to.

"That's what we've been trying to find out at the lab," Pierce answered looking at some charts. "You know, there's something very strange about your X-rays, something that doesn't make sense." Pierce put an X-ray on a screen showing it to Max. "They're completely human; your bone structure, your organs, circulatory and pulmonary systems. Everything human."

Max started to relax. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe things would be okay. Pierce holds up his hand. "But, here's where things get really strange." He points to another image showing green circular blobs. "These are your blood cells. Completely not human."

Max felt the air rush out of him. All hope was gone. Pierce knew. "Still want me to call your parents?" Pierce mocked. "I told you Max; I know what you are, so now you're going to start answering my questions."

Max stared Pierce in the face, and kept his mouth shut. Pierce left the side of the table and starts to pace the room. "Delta, Colorado, 1962, Agent Lewis, the first head of this Special Unit was found dead. His internal organs had reached a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. A silver handprint was found on his chest. What do you know about that?"

Fear ran through Max. Was Pierce going to blame him for all the murders Nasedo had comitted? "Nothing," he answered.

"Union City, Tennessee, 1967 Agent del Bianco, his replacement. Ring a bell?" Pierce continued.

"No," Max said quietly. Who did Pierce think he was? He wasn't a killer. All he did was save Liz by healing a gun shot wound. Was that a crime? Max wanted to shout all this out, but something kept his quiet.

"All right. How about this," Pierce said, suddenly becoming more emotional. "May second, 1999, Agent Daniel Summers, the man who brought me into this unit, the man whose job I now have, did you kill him, too?" Max shakes his head slowly. "Or was it one of the others?"

Did Pierce know about Isabel, Michael and Tess, Max asked himself wildly. He couldn't let Pierce get a hold of them. "What others?"

"You know, I might not have been around in 1947, but I know all about the crash. About the four aliens they captured; two dead, two alive. I've spent my entire career studying the documentation. Especially the three years of observation they made on the one held in captivity, right here in this room," Pierce told Max, emphasizing his words by hitting the table.

Max wondered what happened to the second alien that lived. "I thought you said there were four."

"One of them escaped," Pierce said, and then looked directly at Max. "Nasedo. Isn't that what you call him?" Max suddenly lost all his energy. He let his head slump down against the hard table. What was he going to do?

Pierce opened his hand to Max revealing an orb. Want rushes through Max, and then defeat. "Where's the other one? What happens when you put them together?" Pierce asked Max.

"I don't know," Max said, speaking the truth. Pierce shook his head. He signaled for the technicians to return. They brought in some drugs and started injecting Max with IV's and shots. Max whimpered in fear, each second becoming more scary. Then, amazingly, he felt himself start to relax. Start to become sleepy.

"Shhh," Pierce said, letting the drugs do their work. "Shhh." Max drifted in out of consciousness, his thoughts becoming clouded and muddled with fear.

----------

Alex sat on Liz's bed next to his girlfriend, Isabel. Liz, Michael, and Maria were outside on the balcony waiting. Alex turned his attention to Isabel. "I remember when, uh, Michael almost died in here. He went somewhere in his, in his mind and he, he barely made it out," Alex told her, afraid of where she might go if she attempted to dreamwalk Max.

"I have to do this," Isabel told him softly. She was just as scared as he was.

"Then I'm going to stay with you. Umm, if I'm holding on to you, maybe you won't get lost," Alex told her with love in his every syllable. Isabel gave him a weak smile. He was so sweet. She was glad that she didn't have to do this alone.

"'Kay," Isabel almost whispered, then lied down, her head resting on Alex's chest. Touching a picture of Max, she murmured, "Let me in, Max, let me in."

Isabel closed her eyes and suddenly found herself in Max's mind. She entered the white room, pain filling her body. Confusion and dizziness swept through her. "Max. Max?" She called out.

"Oh, God. Max, stop this. Stop this and help me," Isabel said. She had never been in dream as horrible as this. She could feel Max's fear, but she couldn't see much. Her eyes were clouded by drugs. She felt as if her whole body was pulsing in and out, in and out.

"I can't," Max said and Isabel turned to see Max chained to a wall. "They gave me something."

Pulling herself off her hands and knees, Isabel found her way over to Max. "Ok. Ok. Ok." She stood right in front of him and put her hands on his face forcing him to look at her.

"Max, look at me." Max's eyes fell droopily from the drugs. "Look only at me, look only at me. Where are you? Tell me where you are."

"I don't know."

"Help me, Max, how did you get here? Think harder," Isabel said in a panic. She couldn't lose him again.

"I don't know."

"Think harder," Isabel pleaded. Max used his energy to send Isabel a mental picture of being brought into a white room on a stretcher. The stretcher passed over the ground, a strange symbol embedded there. He showed her a security scanner. Before Max lost control of his energy, Isabel asked him, "Who brought you here?"

Max showed Isabel a picture of Deputy Fisher. "Valenti's deputy? Max, I don't understand."

Talking through his teeth and using the last of his mental energy, Max said, "Look again."

"Deputy Fisher is Agent Pierce?" Isabel asked, astonished.

"You have to go now," Max cried.

"No. No, I'm not leaving you," Isabel said, hugging him.

"You have to," Max gasped out.

"No. Why?" Technicians from the dreamwalk grabbed Isabel and pulled her out of her embrace with Max. "No, no, stop, please. I'm not leaving you, I'm not--" Isabel suddenly lost control of the dreamwalk. She raised her head off Alex and screamed "MAX! MAX! Oh, God! Oh my, God!"

Liz, Maria, and Michael climbed through the window and hurried over to Isabel. Alex followed her off the bed. Isabel felt tears sting her eyes.

"What happened? What happened?" Michael asked Isabel, holding her by the shoulders to calm her.

"Michael, he's so scared. He's so scared," Isabel whimpered, tears streaming down her face. She could barely speak.

"Ok, Isabel, you've got to calm down. All right? You got to tell me what you saw. We've got to help him," Michael tried to keep himself under control.

"Oh God. That deputy, the deputy that stopped us last night, he's Pierce. He's Pierce," Isabel told the group in a one huge breath while grasping for more air.

"Are you sure?" Alex asked.

"He told me," Isabel snaped a little harsher than she meant to. "And he's drugging him. He's... he's, hurting him." Isabel started to cry again.

"Where is he? Where, where is--" Liz stuttered out.

"I don't know. I don't know where he is!" Isabel cried harder.

"Think hard. He must have given you something," Tess urged. "Think."

"Ok, he did," Isabel realized. "He did. And I think I know where I've seen it before."

----------

The group stood in the UFO Museum looking at some exhibits on the 1947 crash. Maria sighed. Could things get any worse? "Eagle Rock Military Base. This is where they were said to have secretly taken the aliens after the crash," said Maria reading off the sign tacked up on the wall.

"This is it. This is what Max showed me. This is the symbol on the hall floor on the base," Isabel said, relief flooding through her. They knew where he was.

"It says that it's been abandoned for years," Maria protested.

"That's where he is," Isabel snapped again.

"Look; now we have no choice, ok, we have to go to Valenti," Liz said, heading out. Maria felt a little of the tension release from her body. Liz sounded so confident.

Michael grabbed Liz by the arm. "What? Are you crazy? After we just found out about Deputy Fisher? Valenti's probably in on the whole thing."

"We can't go to a place like that on our own," Liz reminded him.

"No, you can't, but we can," Michael said, his voice becoming more confident. "Isabel, Tess and I can protect ourselves." Maria's heart jumped into her throat. Protect yourselves, ha!

"With what? Your gifts?" Maria mocked.

"Why not?" Michael challenged her back.

"Because you don't know who to use them, that's why not. You could get killed, or worse," Maria tried to explain. She couldn't let Pierce capture Michael, too. Maria couldn't even imagine what Liz must be going through right now, but what ever it was, she didn't want to go through it, too.

"And you guys aren't going there without me," Liz told Michael. She couldn't just do nothing knowing that each breath Max takes could be his last.

"Look, you want the truth? You're liabilities, all three of you. We've got a better chance of saving Max without you," Tess jumped in, "and that's what this is all about, right?"

Liz gave in. She wasn't an alien. She didn't have any special powers. She looks up at Michael. "Bring him back to me."

"I will," replied Michael, not quite looking her in the eye.

Thinking about plans and procedures, Tess told them, "We'd better hurry."

"You come back to me," Maria warned Michael. He walked over to her and kissed her, his nose rubbing against her cheek. Then he slowly backed away and joined Tess. Isabel hugged Alex and then the three aliens left the UFO Center, leaving Alex hugging Maria and Liz.

----------

After getting a change of clothes and putting together some quick plans, Michael, Tess, and Isabel found themselves breaking into the compound where Max was being held. They went in through the sewer tunnels and found their way to a security door.

"I saw that. Max remembered it," Isabel whispered.

"He's in there," Tess pointed out the obvious.

"How do we get in?" Michael asked. Before anyone had a chance to come up with a plan, let alone an answer, the three heard footsteps.

Tess catched her breath, "In here or they'll see us." Michael and Isabel followed Tess into an unoccupied room where they hid under a table. They watched as the agent walked by. Isabel but her lower lip in fear. Michael made a move to leave, but Tess stopped him.

"Wait! They always patrol in air holes," Tess whispered fiercely. Isabel and Michael watched as another agent walked by.

"How did you know that?" Isabel asked Tess. "Nasedo?"

"When you've been hunted all your life, it gets easier to catch on," Tess answered. She sighed, imangining a life where she didn't have to worry about being caught. Isabel looked at Michael as they both broke into a fresh sweat. How were they going to get Max out?

----------

"Tell me about the crash, Max. What about the orb? The communicator," Pierce asked Max, who was still drugged and floating in and out of consciousness. "Wake him up. Wake him up," Pierce told the technicians, then continued his questioning with Max. "Tell me. Don't make me kill you," Pierce said, trying to get Max's attention.

"Max, tell me where it is," said Pierce getting frustrated. To the technician holding a smelling salt he said, "More!"

As Max slowly opened his eyes, Pierce told him, "I am going to find out one way or another." Realizing that Max isn't going to talk while he is so drugged, Pierce grabs one of the technicians by his chest. "See-- this is getting us nowhere. I want everything flushed out of his system now."

Pierce watched the technicians quickly hurry to carry out his orders. He adds with a smile, "I want him completely coherent for the next phase."

----------

Liz sat in a booth at the Crashdown Cafe, the bottom level of her house. Maria sat next to her, and Alex was sitting across from her. God, what are they doing to him, Liz wonders.

"I'm sure they've found him by now," Maria said breaking Liz's thought process.

"They're probably on their way back," Alex piped up.

"Yeah, I wish I could believe that one," Liz said. Alex sighed. He couldn't bear to see Liz so sad, but there was nothing he could do. That any of them could do.

He tensed as Sheriff Valenti pulled up a chair and sat down at their booth. He just came out of nowhere.

"I've been up all night trying to figure out what happened at that carnival," Valenti bagan without saying hello. The three teens just listened. "I mean, I know what I saw. Mirrors or no mirrors, there were two Max Evans standing right in front of me. And now one of them is in the hands of Agent Pierce and the Special Unit, and I'm just hoping that it wasn't the one that we all care about."

Valenti looked straight at Liz. Tears filled her eyes. Alex wanted to shout at him. Couldn't he see that she was upset enough already? "Liz, tell me. Let me help."

"We don't know any more than you do, Sheriff," Liz said quietly while wiping a tear from her eye. She is so strong Alex thought. "I'm sorry."

"Well, if Pierce has reached the same conclusion that I have, Max is going to need a lot more help than any of you can give him," the sheriff said, looking each one in the eye. Sighing, he gets up and leaves the Crashdown Cafe.

As soon as he is out of ear shot, Liz burst out, "You guys, what if he's right? I would never forgive myself if something actually happened to them that maybe we could have, like, prevented," Liz said while shaking her head wildly. "I-"

"Ok, listen; let's give them until four o'clock, all right?" Maria broke in before Liz could blame herself for something that hadn't happened yet. "If they're not back by then--"

"Right. Ok," Liz cut in before Maria could finish her sentence. "Four o'clock."

"He's going to be fine," Maria comforted. Yeah, I wish I could belive that one, Alex thought. Optimism was so annoying at a time like this.

He watched as Liz gave a weak 'yeah'. Please just let them be alright, he thought. Come on, Isabel, you have people who love you...

----------

Max's darkest days were just beginning now. Pierce decided that since Max would not cooperate with the orbs, he would try toture. Max found himself being forced into a bath of ice water. He frantically tried to keep his head above water, but the technicians forced his body to disobey his will.

Freezing, wet, and alone Max sat in the corner of the white room, dreading what would happen next. His body was past exhaustion. Just when he thinks he couldn't go on, Pierce strapped him down on the medical table and did electric shock therapy. Max's mind was white with pain as his scream echoed in the empty room.

----------

"Oh God, he won't let me in. I just keep seeing some blinding light," Isabel told Michael and Tess after attempting to dreamwalk Max. "That's not good. He's in some kind of trauma."

"If you can get through the damn electric fence, why can't you short circuit the security system?" Michael asked Tess.

"I told you, because they're watching," Tess replied in earnest. "The minute they see us, it's all over."

"So what are we supposed to do, just wait and let them kill him?" Isabel snapped at Tess.

"I'm going to take this thing down myself," Michael made a move to leave the doorway they had been hiding in, but two agents were coming down the hallway wheeling a gurney with a dead body.

Fear ripped through Isabel at seeing the gurney. Someplace deep inside her began to swell. "It's him," she whispered.

"We don't know that," Tess said quickly and then added, "I would have felt it if something happened to him."

Michael and Isabel look at each other. How can Tess be so sure, Michael asked himself. Max could be dead, and she is just sitting here calmly. Michael took a deep breath, trying to push thoughts of Max's body laying limp out of his mind. "Only one way to find out."

Michael, Isabel and Tess followed the agents down the corridors until they come to a room marked 'Morgue'.

----------

Liz looked up at the clock while leaning against the counter of the Crashdown. It's 4:09. She shuddered. "I'm not waiting any more," she told Maria and Alex. "I'm going to do what Max would do for me."

"Wait a minute," Maria tried to reason. "Are you sure it's our responsibility to tell Valenti everything?"

"It's our responsibility to keep them alive," Liz shot back. "You know, Max was ready to trust him, that's all I need to know."

"What are you going to say?" Alex asked Liz as she put on her jacket.

Whatever I have to; to get him to help," Liz answered and left the Crashdown. Maria shrugged her arms in defeat. I just hope we can trust him, she prayed.

----------

Michael, Tess and Isabel entered the morgue as soon as the two agents left. They stood over the body covered in a shroud. Isabel looked up at Michael. He took a strong breath, closed his eyes and revealed the head of the body.

Isabel let go of her breath. Relief flooded through her whole body frame. She felt tears sting her eyes. Michael ran his hand through his hair, wiping the sweat of his face. Isabel nudged him.

"Oh my God. Michael, look," she pointed to a silver handprint on the body's chest.

"What is that?" Tess asked.

"Nasedo," Michael said, dumbfounded.

"That's how he kills," Isabel clarified.

"I swear to you," Tess said to them. "I never--" she is cut off by the door opening to the morgue. An agent walked in. "Hey. You shouldn't be here."

"Michael, Tess, and Isabel tensed up. We've been caught, Isabel's mind screamed. "What are you doing here?" the agent asked.

Michael, in a moment of panic, raised his hand and concentrated all his energy on the agent. Papers flew around him and doors opened. He didn't have it under enough control. Suddenly the agent raised his hand and pointed it at Michael, sending him flying across the room.

"It's you!" Tess said to the agent sighing in releif. Michael and Isabel watched as the agent turned into a man they know as Ed Harding through a shield of bright light. "Don't ever leave me alone like that again." Tess said to him.

"I have four of you to watch now," Nasedo said looking at Isabel and Michael.

"I've been looking for you for a long time," Michael managed to say.

"Not as long as I've been looking for you," Nasedo said. "And now you're about to get yourselves killed."

"We're here for Max," Isabel said shortly.

"This isn't the local sheriff you're dealing with," Nasedo tried to explain the severity of the situation. He turned to Tess. "You should have known better." Tess moved her head to side as if she had just been slapped. "None of you are equipped to be here. I've got to get you out of here."

Nasedo shapeshifted into one of the agents working at the base. Michael, Tess, and Isabel followed him out into the corridor. As they passed by a room, they see the agent that Nasedo is impersonating. They hid in the room and watched as the agent walked by. Tess let out breath she didn't even know she was holding. That was too close. How were they ever going to save Max?

----------

Liz walked down the hallway to the sheriff's office. She opened the door, watching how the lettering on the glass made a shadow on the wall. The door closed behind her. Think about Max, she reminds herself, this is all for Max.

"Liz Parker," Valenti said in surprise.

"You're right, Sheriff. I need your help. We all do," Liz began quietly. She looked up at Valenti. He nodded and waited for her to continue. "Your new deputy, Fisher; he isn't a deputy, Sheriff, and his name is not Fisher. It's Pierce from the FBI Special Unit," Liz checked Valenti's face, then added, "He's the one who has Max."

"How do you know that?" Valenti asked her.

"I can't tell you, Sheriff, but Max is in a lot of trouble. I think that they all are," Liz told him, knowing he wanted more information.

"Sheriff, please. Will you just trust me? I can tell you where he is." Liz felt tears sting at her eyes, but she held them back. She had to be strong now, for Max.

----------

Michael and Isabel were standing close together in the basement of the compound. Nasedo and Tess a little ways off were discussing plans. Isabel quietly said to Michael, "I don't think we belong with him."

"He's Nasedo, what choice do we have?" Michael asked her.

"We could go back up there ourselves," Isabel urged him. Too many things just didn't make sense. And Isabel didn't want to end up dead.

"Four is stronger than two," Michael said. Jeesh, why can't she just be happy that we are so close to the key to our existence, he wonders. Then aloud he added, "We need them."

"He could be working for Pierce," Isabel said, admitting her worst fear. "You know, we don't know anything for sure--" Nasedo and Tess joined them, so Isabel kept her mouth shut.

"The most important part of the plan is timing," Nasedo said. "Set your watches: 5:47." He turned to Michael, handing him a map of the base. "This is your escape route: scan it."

"Scan it?" Michael asked.

"Into your brain," Nasedo said, and then realizing Michael didn't know how, he said, "You can't? All right, you have two minutes to memorize it. I know this place intimately. I've already escaped it once. Now, if I'm going to save Max, I need help. We need to get through the security door."

"I could do that," Isabel volunteered. "I've gotten through doors before."

"That isn't some deadbolt up there. That door is made up of depleted Uranium; a metal composed of heavy atoms, which we can't manipulate," Nasedo told her.

"We can't," Isabel said, not quite believing it. I'm an alien, she thought, I can do whatever I want. And I want to save my brother. She felt the pain starting up in her stomach again.

"You have many limitations," Nasedo told her.

"They know about them?" Michael asked.

"They know more about you than you do. They've been studying us for fifty years," Nasedo said in a nonchalant voice. Where does this guy get his cool from, Michael wonders. "The only way to gain entry is to get through the security scanner."

"Well, how do we do that?" Isabel said, getting frustrated by Nasedo's calm demeanor.

"I can shapeshift into any of these agents: take their form, even their fingerprints. That's why they added the X-ray scanner. My bone structure is far from human. I can change my appearance, but not what's on the inside," Nasedo said and then taking Michael's hand added, "Your bone structure, on the other hand, is one hundred percent human."

"So you're different from me?" Michael asked, staring at Nasedo.

Nasedo pressed the pen he was holding into Michael's hand and patting him said, "Biology lessons later. Come on." The three aliens followed their protector to the hallway back up to the security scanner. "If I'm going to get through that door, I'm going to need one of you with me, and since the only female agent at the Special Unit is now dead, it's you and me, Michael."

"I can't get through the scanner, either, though. I can't change my fingerprints," Michael protested.

"Yes you can, you just don't know you can. I'll teach you. I just hope for Max's sake that you're a quick study," Nasedo turned to Tess and Isabel. "I'm going to need both of you, too."

----------

Max felt his eyes start to burn. He found himself lying on the ground of the white room. He watched as his hand twitched slightly. He wasn't in restraints. Slowly he observed the room; this was his chance. Then, jumping up, he grabbed Pierce by the shirt and pushed him up against the wall. Max suddenly had trouble breathing. He gasped for air.

"Don't even try," Pierce soothed him calmly. Max used all his might to use his powers on Pierce. His breaths came in short gasps. "Don't even try to use your abilities, Max. The serum we injected you with-- very effective in suppressing the neurotransmitters in your cerebral cortex. Experiments on the alien in the forties taught us that that's where most of your powers come from."

Max stared out into nothingness. He gave up all mental strength. Pierce coaxed him over to a chair. "Come on, sit down. It's all right. That's not your real weakness, though, is it? You know, I've been going about this the wrong way the whole time. It's not that you're part alien: it's that you're part human." Max looked him in the eyes as Pierce restrained him to the chair.

Pierce forced a Virtual Reality visor onto Max's head. Max looked around him, all he saw was the white room with a red tinge. "You have feelings," Pierce said, pushing a button to make an image of Michael upset that his signal to Nasedo seemingly didn't work appeared in the VR visor.

"Emotions," Pierce said as an image of Isabel comforting Michael appeared. Max had a sudden ache in his heart as he imagined Isabel in his place. "Friendship." Maria and Alex talking silently while auditioning for the Blind Date concert appeared in front of Max's eyes. He felt the pull of bonding between them.

"Love," Pierce said to Max as he changed the image to a picture of Liz at the Crashdown. The image changed again to show Liz lying on the ground bleeding out of her mouth, dead. Emotion burned in Max. "No!" He screamed. Liz can't be dead. She can't be. I love her. "NO!" Max's screams were so deafaning and pitiful Pierce almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Trick photography, Max," Pierce tried to say over his screaming.

"NO!" Max screamed. Then as if he is losing strength, said again, "No!"

"Max, Max! Computer rigged. Virtual reality, Max. It's not real. It's not real. We didn't kill her. We didn't kill her." Max began to understand what Pierce was saying. Liz, oh God, Liz. She was alive. "I just wanted to show you what can happen. What will happen."

"You're evil," Max whispered.

"I'm evil?" Pierce said in surprise. "I'm risking my life to save my country, my planet from being colonized by alien life-- by you. Tell me where the other one is."

"The other what?" Max said, losing his control of his feelings.

"We found this in the crash. We have spent fifty years looking for the other one, and we know you have it," Pierce said, and then added with a small smirk. "It took a little persuading, but Topolsky told us. Tell me where it is. Tell me."

Max moved his lips but no words come out. "Ok. I'm going to give you a choice, Max. You can either tell me where the other orb is, or you can tell me which one of your friends you want me to kill first." Max lifted his head to full attention. I can't let my friends die, he thought wildly.

"Hmm? And you have ten seconds," Pierce said, starting a countdown on the VR screen. Then showing the picture of Liz dead again, he said, "Maybe I'll start with Liz."

Max screamed, "Ok, stop it! Stop!" Pierce took the VR visor off his head. Max said through clenched teeth, "I'll tell you where it is," and then looking Pierce in the eyes, "just don't hurt Liz."

"Huh. You do have feelings. Just like us," Pierce said as he put the VR visor back on the rack. Then coming real close to Max's face said, "Whatever you are, you better tell me the truth for Liz's sake."

Guilt spread over Max like a blanket. He couldn't let Pierce hurt Liz. Liz didn't have anything to do with this. She was human. And she loved him. And he loved her. Pain swept through his body.

-----------

Nasedo entered the morgue with Michael following close behind him. Michael was being very cautious, whereas Nasedo was just walking along. Is he insane? Michael thought.

"Humans are weak-- which doesn't bother me-- and they're wasteful," Nasedo told Michael. "Their brains are incredible machines they haven't even begun to learn to use. When you were engineered, you were given the capacity to do everything the human brain is capable of."

"You mean beside our powers?" Michael asked.

"Those are your powers, Michael. Everything you can do is human. You were just programmed to be several thousand years ahead of mankind, that's all. But from what I saw earlier, you've barely tapped into what you're capable of." Nasedo took the hand of the dead agent lying in the morgue. He put the finger up to Michael's urging him to change fingerprints.

"You can do it, Michael. The only thing stopping you is yourself," Nasedo told him. Michael took a deep breath and concentrated on the man's fingerprints. Nothing happened. Nasedo look at him, "Try again."

----------

"It's going to be ok," Tess told Isabel. "Nasedo knows what to do."

"Thank you," Isabel told her, her voice charged with emotion.

"We've been in trouble before. We can deal with this," Tess sid, sighing.

"That's not what I mean," Isabel said looking Tess in the eyes. "Thank you for helping us find Max."

"We haven't got him yet," Tess said quietly with a faraway look.

"So, I don't understand," Isabel broke the silence. "I'm going to dreamwalk Max to give him the plan, but what are you going to do?"

Tess closed her eyes. Isabel watched her intently. Suddenly an agent came up from behind them and grabbed Tess over his shoulders and ran down the hallway. Tess screamed.

"Tess!" Isabel said, as she watched her being carried down the corridor. I'm next, she thought. Oh my God, I'm next.

"It's ok." Tess said. The man disappeared and Tess was in the same place where she was when they were talking. She was just sitting there calmly smiling. "It's ok."

"Oh my God, what just happened?" Isabel said running her hand through her hair.

"I made you think something was happening right in front of you when it really wasn't," Tess told her.

"That's what you did to Max, isn't it? That's why he had all those thoughts about you," Isabel said realizing what had been going on. Tess nodded.

"I can only keep it going for a little while. After you get Max to clear the room, I'm going to go into Pierce's head, distract him. Hopefully I can keep it going long enough so that Michael and Nasedo can get Max out of there," Tess said quickly before Isabel had a chance to think about how dangerous her mindwarping power could be.

----------

Michael was staring at the fingerprint of the dead man. He could see each cell and the pattern they make, but he couldn't transfer them to his own hand. He gathered all his mental power and released it. A light behind him short circuited. "Damn it, I can't do this!"

"Yes you can," Nasedo said, "The only one stopping you is you."

"Will you quit saying that?" Michael said. "That is not helping me."

"Are you just going to let Max die?" Nasedo said.

"I am trying my best," Michael said through clenched teeth.

"That is not your best, Michael; it is not your best," Nasedo told him.

"Well, give me a pointer, huh? Give me a hint. Give me something," Michael said becoming more than angry.

"It's inside you. Your program," Nasedo tried to make Michael understand but he was too wound up. Years of foster care and unaswered questions rushed at him.

"Hey, I didn't get the manual, ok? All this time I've been alone. Where have you been? Where the hell have you been?" Michael exploded. He continued to yell at Nasedo. All these years of not knowing what he was weighing down on him hard. "Huh? Why'd you let this happen to us? To me?"

"Emotions are a weakness, Michael. Focus," Nasedo said. They heard an agent walking toward the morgue. Michael ran his hand though his hair. Nasedo said, "You've got until this guy gets to the door, then I'm using his hand, and you know how I'm going to get it."

Nasedo leaned up against the wall out of sight from the window in the door. Michael picked up the agent's finger again. "We are running out of time here," Nasedo warned.

Michael took a couple breaths and closed his eyes. He focused his energy on transferring the fingerprints. A soft red glow covered his finger. "I did it. I did it. I think I did it." He said and then ducked as the agent entered the room.

Nasedo stepped behind him, "Agent."

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doin--" the agent began just as Nasedo took his hand and placing it on the agent's chest killed him.

"No!" Michael screamed when he saw what happened. "I said I did it."

"I heard you. I told you you could," Nasedo said as if he had just swatted a fly.

"You killed him," Michael said amazed at how cool Nasedo was acting. A man just died. "Why'd you do that?"

"I can't take a chance like what happened in the hallway before. There can't be two of me," Nasedo explained.

"How can you do this? How can you kill all these people?" Michael said, his eyes twitching. "You don't care, do you?"

"Michael, if you want to survive, if you want to get back home, you've got to be willing to fight for that. Do you understand?" Nasedo told him forcefully.

"You're not who I thought you'd be," Michael admitted with a lot of hurt in his voice.

"Neither are you," Nasedo said as he changed Michael's clothes into a suit with the wave of his hand. He handed a comb out to Michael, "It's show time."

----------

"You finally told me the truth about where you hid it," Pierce told Max as he set the orb down next to the other one. "Now make them work."

"I can't," Max said.

"Do it!" Pierce screamed.

"I'm telling you the truth now, too," Max told him.

"Make them work. Make the orbs work," Pierce said impatiently.

"I don't know how," Max said each word as if each is a single sentence. Couldn't he see that he was telling the truth?

Pierce turned to the technicians, "Let's begin." A group of agents hurried in wheeling an operating table and many different kinds of IV drugs and scalpels. Max wildly looked around him. What are they going to do, he thought desperately. I am telling the truth!

"I can take you apart piece by piece, and make sure that you stay conscious enough to feel every second of it," Pierce told Max while swinging a scalpel around in his hands.

"I can't tell you what I don't know," Max said, shaking his head. "I can't tell you what I don't know!"

"Bring in the surgeons," Pierce ordered one of the technicians. Max felt as if his heart has already been cut out. Think of Liz, he ordered himself. Think of Liz.

----------

Michael walked up to the security scanner. He looked up at Nasedo, who nodded. Michael put his hand down on the scanner, and held his breath. Slowly the scanner took an X-ray revealing a human bone structure. His fingerprint was examined and then access was granted. Michael released his breath.

Michael and Nasedo walked down the hall, just as another agent comes down from the opposite direction. Michael quickly ducked to take a drink from the drinking fountain that just happened to be there.

"Matthison," the agent nodded to Nasedo who has shapeshifted to look like Matthison.

"Afternoon, Agent," Nasedo replied.

The agent turned to Michael. "Fields." Michael looked up. Nasedo got ready to kill him but backed down as the agent said, "You're the new agent, aren't you?"

"Yeah, good to meet you," Michael lied.

"You picked a hell of a time to show up. Welcome to the Unit," the agent said to Michael and then continued on his way.

"Thank you," Michael called after him. He saw a group of surgeons heading into Max's room. He moved to follow.

"Where are you going?" Nasedo asked, stopping Michael.

"Max is in there. We got to go get him," Michael told Nasedo.

"It won't help Max if you get yourself killed. We have to do this the right way. Two minutes."

----------

"Ok, I'm going to do it," Isabel said.

"Two minutes," Tess reminded her.

"What if it takes me longer to get into his head than it did last time?" Isabel protested.

"We have to stick to the plan. Everything has to be done like Nasedo said-- to the second," Tess reasoned with Isabel.

"Ok, ok," Isabel said as shivers ran down her spine.

----------

Pierce pointed to a surgeon with a scalpel. "This man will hurt you," he told Max. Then pointing to another man with a large green syringe he said, "This man will help you. Tell me what I need to know, and he will take the pain away."

Max looked up into Pierce's eyes, "Who's inhuman now?"

Pierce stared at Max thoughtfully for a couple seconds then ordered, "Open him up."

----------

Isabel looked at Tess. She nodded. Placing her hand on a picture of Max, Isabel concentrated on the dreamwalk. She found herself in the white room where surgeons are getting ready to dissect Max. She ran over the the hospital table and placed her hand on Max's cheeks.

"Max. Max, Max? There's no time. You have to listen to me. Michael and Nasedo are coming to rescue you. Ok, Max? Max, do you hear me? Please, Max, please. You have to let me in," Isabel said in one huge breath. Max suddenly became coherent.

"He wants me to make the orbs work," Max stuttered out in short breaths.

"Ok. Tell him anything. Get him alone. Get Pierce alone in this room. It's the only way. Tell him anything," Isabel said to him. The dreamwalk ended just as Max felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"Stop!" Max screamed just as the surgeon cut from his sternum to the bottom of his ribs. Blood was pouring out of his chest.

"Stop," Pierce ordered the surgeons.

"I'll show you how they work, but only you," Max gasps out at Pierce as he looks at his chest. Pain pulses through his veins.

"Clear the room," Pierce told the surgeons.

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"Did it work?" Tess asked Isabel.

"Yes. Pierce wants Max to show him how to work the orbs," Isabel informed her.

"I don't know how they work," Tess said shaking her head.

"Well, you've got to do something, and do it now," Isabel told her.

Tess closed her eyes and concentrated.

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Pierce handed Max the orbs after Max weakly sat up. "Make them work."

Max just stared at the orbs in his hands. Nothing was happening. "It takes a little time."

"I'm bringing them back," Pierce said to him.

"No, just wait," Max pleaded.

"You had your chance, Max," Pierce told him walking away. Tess finally was able to create the mindwarp. Pierce saw the orbs start to glow green.

"Timing is everything," Nasedo told Michael who had been watching Max and Pierce on the other side of the wall.

Nasedo used his powers to break the glass. Max reflexively moved away. He saw Michael. Relief floods through him. Pierce is still standing there looking at nothing.

"It's Nasedo, Maxwell, don't worry," Michael said as he put the orbs in his pockets. "Are you all right?"

"I am now," Max said as he fell off the medical table. Michael helped him to his feet.

"All right. Let's go," Michael said to Nasedo while practically carrying Max.

"Get out of here. You know the escape route," Nasedo ordered Michael.

"What are you doing, come on," Michael told Nasedo.

"I have something to take care of," Nasedo explained to him.

"No! You are not leaving me again. Let's go!" Michael warned Nasedo forcefully.

"There are only seconds left. Go!" Nasedo said. Michael realized that he has no choice. He helped Max though the broken glass.

Just after Max and Michael left, Tess's mindwarp broke. Pierce looked around him. "Are you all right, sir? You were in here a long time. We thought we'd come check," Nasedo told him.

"Where's the prisoner?" Pierce yelled at him.

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Meanwhile two agents are in the morgue. They discover Matthison's dead body. They rush over to the white room.

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Michael helped Max down the corridor towards the security scanner. The agent from before saw Michael with Max.

"Fields?! What are you doing?" he asked Michael.

"Pierce's orders. I got to get the prisoner out of here," Michael lied, and pointing to the white room added, "They need help inside. Go. Now!"

------------

"Are you all right, sir?" Nasedo asked Pierce.

"Sir, stand back. He is not Matthison," the agents from the morgue shout at Pierce. He moved out of the way as the agents shot Nasedo.

"NO! Go, lock it down," Pierce screamed, realizing what had happened. "Lock it down!"

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Michael put his hand the security scanner. The door started to open. Suddenly an alarm sounded, and the access was denied. Michael forced through it with Max in his arms. Pierce came running from behind. Michael isn't strong enough to carry Max out before Pierce gets to him.

Suddenly Sheriff Valenti ran in and took Max by the other shoulder and helped Michael carry him through the door. Pierce took a gun and pointed it at the two aliens. Valenti is quicker and shot Pierce six inches from the heart, sending him flying backwards.

"Come on, come on. Come ON!" Valenti helped carry a helpless Max out of the compound with Michael as the security door finished closing behind them.

Pierce jumped up and tried to open the door, but is unable to since it is locked down. He hit the door in anger, leaving a bloody handprint on the glass.

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(The White Room ends and Destiny begins.)

----------

Michael and Valenti half carry, half drag Max away from the coumpound. Valenti leads Michael to a hole in the fence where three cars are waiting. Liz rushed over the second she saw Max, his shirt off, blood still drying on his chest.

"That won't keep Pierce for long. We've got to get Max out of here," Michael gasped out under the weight of Max's body.

"I know somewhere safe. It's an old silver mine in Galitas off horseshoe road. If we make it there, it will buy us some time," Valenti told Michael as they passed through the hole in the fence and met up with the others. "We should split up, make it harder for them to follow."

"Max, are you alright?" Liz said as she ran up to him. He looked so fragile, so weak. But at least he was alive.

"Come on," Valenti urged.

"Where's Nasedo?" Tess asked Michael.

"Just get in the jeep," Michael yelled at her. They didn't have time for this. They had to get out of here, now.

"Come on! Let's go," Valenti said again, getting nervous that Pierce would catch them all any second.

"I don't know about this," Michael whispered to Max, who was already in the jetta with Liz.

"I trust him," Max managed through gasps of air.

"Come on!" Valenti once again urged.

Isabel hurried to Max's window before getting in the jeep. She handed him a bundle, "Clothes."

Michael started the jeep and drove off down the road, the sheriff and Maria following close behind him. At the first fork in the road, all three cars split up leaving trails of dust behind them.

----------

Liz watched as Max slowly put on the shirt Isabel gave him. It looked as if just the material was burning his skin. Liz's heart got caught in her throat. "Max, what did they do to you?"

"It's over," Max murmered, then looked at her, his eyes filling with emotion. "Listen, Liz, if we ever get out of this--"

A series of bullets shattered the back window of the jetta. Liz screamed as she and Max ducked to get out of the fire line. Liz drove the car into a turnout and slammed the breaks. She and Max ran from the car.

"Let's go. Let's go," Liz said frantically. She saw a path into the woods, and turned to Max, "Come here."

Two FBI agents got out of a vehicle right behind them. Max looked at Liz. "Go," he said as he followed her down the steep path. Liz ran ahead, and looked back to see Max tumbling down the hill. For one horrifying second Liz thought he was too weak, but he got back up and ran to her, grasping her shoulder for support.

"Come on, come on, Max," Liz said as she helped support him.

"Go," Max urged. He couldn't let Liz fall into Pierce's hands. Not after all they had been through. "Go." He scrambled after her.

Somehow they found their way back to the main road. Running on a bridge they stopped dead short as an agent's car screeched to a halt in front of them. The two agents were closing in on them fast. Liz grabbed Max's arm. "Come on."

Liz and Max scrambled onto the bridge's rail. Looking into each other's eyes they kissed passionately. Then they each held their breath, closed their eyes and jumped.

The two agents rushed over to the rail and pointed their flashlights over the edge, but all they saw was the rushing of the water.

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Max and Liz silently walked along a stream. Max clinging to Liz as they traveled for support. After a while, it was too much for him and he slumped into the stream. Liz pulled him up and they continued on their way. They passed through a water underway and could hear the agents driving above them.

Liz led Max into a junk yard. "We've got to hide. Come on, in here," Liz said leading him to a overturned delivery truck. "Come on, Max. Come on, in here. Come on." Max fell onto the seat of the truck, exhausted. He reached out for Liz. "I think we'll be safe in here for a while. They don't know how far down river we got." Liz looked him in the eyes. "Max."

They kissed and saw into each other's souls. Liz had flashes of Max being tortured in the white room. She could feel his fear, his pain. His love. "Max."

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"How could you leave Nasedo there?" Tess asked Michael, dumbfounded.

"Listen, he might not have made it, alright?" Michael yelled in frustration. "We heard gun shots."

"Michael, listen to me. We have to turn around," Tess said, her voice urgent. "We have to go to the pod chamber."

"What are you talking about?" Michael said, staring straight ahead at the road before him.

"Nasedo told me that if anything ever happened to him, to go to the pod chamber," Tess explained.

"What are we supposed to do? Just go there and wait?" Isabel asked. "How will anyone know where we are?"

"Max will know," Tess said dreamily and then added, "He'll find us."

"Well what about Liz and Valenti?" Maria added in a hurry. "What happens to them?"

"No, look, we said we'd meet at Galinas," Alex warned Tess. "If we don't go now, we may never see them again."

"Alex is right," Isabel jumped in. Who made Tess the boss of them? "We don't do anything without everyone."

"But without Nasedo, we have nothing," Tess nearly screamed. Almost near tears, she ordered, "Michael, I'm telling you, turn around. Our lives depend on it. Everything depends on it."

"No, we're not leaving anyone behind anymore. All right?" Michael finally decided. He couldn't leave Max, no matter what Nasedo had said. Max was his brother- or as close as any brother could ever be. "We're going to the mine."

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"So everything Nasedo told me was true," Liz said standing up and swaying on her feet. "You and Tess were meant to be together."

"Liz," Max began, but Liz cut him off.

"I mean, it's your destiny, right?" Liz said, as tears filled her eyes. Max looked up into her face.

"I wish I could go back, Liz," he said. "Back to when things were normal."

"Me, too," Liz said. She bit her lip. "I just wish that I could have stopped you from saving my life that day in the CrashDown."

"Don't say that," Max whispered.

Liz went over by Max and leaned down to be face to face. "Max, the day that you saved my life, your life just ended."

"No, that was the day my life began," Max told her. "Liz, when I was in that room, and they did what they did to me. You're what kept me alive. The thought of you. The way your eyes look into mine. Your smile. The touch of your skin. Your lips," Max said as he explored her face with his hands. Liz kissed them gently. Max looked up into her eyes and said, "Knowing you has made me human. Whether I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same: it's you. I want to be with you, Liz. I love you."

"I love you," Liz said, a smile breaking across her tired face. Max kissed her all over as they lay back on the seat.

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"Where's Max and Liz," Michael asked Valenti as he entered the mine.

"They're not back yet?" Valenti asked in surprise.

"We took the long way," Isabel said, her voice full fear. "They should have gotten here before us."

"It'll be light in an hour," Michael said. And that means they will be easier to see. "They're still out there."

"I'm going back to retrace the route," Valenti said as he headed out.

"I'm going with you, you may need me," Michael said following him.

Valenti turned out and warned the others, "The rest of you wait here. Don't make a move without us."

"Michael!" Maria said in alarm. Michael went over to her. "Michael." He hugged Maria.

"I'll be back with him soon. Don't worry," Michael murmured and then left the mine.

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"Let's go," Max said, feeling a lot stronger now that the drugs had worn off. He grabbed Liz by the hand and they made a run for it.

---------

"Why are you helping us?" Michael asked Valenti as they drove down the road. The sheriff looked thoughtful for a moment.

"There's a right side here and a wrong side. I don't think Pierce is on the right side," he said. Then looking at Michael added, "Besides, I like to think that if my son were in trouble somewhere and I wasn't around to help, that somebody would be there for him."

Michael returned his gaze and barely nodded before they saw Max and Liz running, a FBI hummer close behind them. "There they are. Stop the car." Michael raised his hand and a bright white light stopped the hummer in it's trackes. Valenti looked on amazed. Michael saw Max and Liz climb in the back seat. He turned to Valenti, "Get in. Let's go."

"What did you do?" Valenti asked.

"I don't know," Michael said.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Valenti said, raising his voice.

"I don't know, just go! Come on, go. Go! Go, or get out!" Michael said in one huge breath as Valenti pulled back onto the road and sped off down to the mine.

----------

"We'll be safe here for a while," Valenti said as he parked the police van in front of the silver mine.

Michael shook his head, "There is no safe anymore."

Valenti sighed as Michael went into the silver mine. He looked back to make sure Liz and Max were all right. They all got out of the car.

"Go ahead," Max told Liz. "I'll be right in." Liz left and Max stood there waiting for Valenti.

"Tell me what just happened back there, Max. All this time, I thought it was just you. It's Michael, too, isn't it? Isabel?" Valenti asked. Max remained silent. "My god. Man!"

Max took a couple steps towards Valenti and spoke urgently, "You swore to me that we could trust you. I need to trust you right now. It's our lives, Sheriff. There's no time for doubts."

"Well, it's my life, too, and I need to know everything," Valenti answered.

Max hesitated just slightly. "We don't know where we're from. We don't know why we're here." Valenti turned away. "Liz, Alex and Maria are the only ones who know. And now you. We don't want to hurt anybody, Sheriff, we just want to stay alive."

"I keep thinking about my father," Valenti said. "He was right."

"Yes, but he would have turned us in," Max said, fear edging his tone. He looked Valenti in the eye and said, "What are you going to do?"

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