"So, that was kind of weird," Kyle finally broke the silence after they had been driving for a good half an hour. He had seemed to understand that Liz wasn�t in any sort of mood for conversation, but she had felt his increasing tension as the miles crept by. She knew that he wanted to talk to her about something.

"What was?" she asked wearily, fingering the ring which she still clutched in her hand. She didn�t know what to do with it, but putting it back in her pocket seemed wrong somehow. As she clenched her fist now she felt the otherworldly metal which formed its ring scrape against the platinum of her engagement ring.

She quickly opened her purse and thrust the Antarian jewel inside.

Kyle did not reply for a long moment, long enough that Liz glanced sharply to the left. She could see that his hands were clenched tightly on the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead out the front windshield.

Liz and Kyle had grown close over the years since Max had left. After graduation he had accepted a baseball scholarship to BU and so they had hung out often during their college days. Liz had actually been the person who had introduced Kyle to his wife Sarah, who had been her roommate during her first year at Harvard. It did not surprise Liz that Dan trusted Kyle to intervene in the situation between she and her friends. They knew each other well and Dan was also aware of the history of antipathy between Max and Kyle, although he thought it was because of the fact that Liz had broken up with Kyle to be with Max in high school.

All of this meant that Liz was more than able to judge Kyle�s moods, and his present one was melancholy, to say the least. She could see the pain etched on his face, although he was trying to hide it.

And Liz suddenly understood.

"It�s because Ben looks so much like her, isn�t it?" Liz asked gently.

She saw him swallow, hard. "I haven�t thought about her in a long time, Liz. But he looks exactly like her." He glanced at her quickly, then returned his eyes to the road. "I had forgotten� I mean, I had forgotten how much�"

"How much you loved her," Liz finished. And she knew he had�loved Tess. He had even admitted it flat-out to her once. He had shown up at her door in Boston, plastered out of his mind after a fraternity event during his sophomore year and had cried in Liz�s arms about her� A full two years after she had been gone from their lives. He had been wracked with guilt that he still missed her, even after they had known what she had done to Alex. But, she had been like a sister to him.

It was not easy to take back your heart after you had given it away. She knew that better than anyone.

I give you my home in exchange for your heart. Max�s voice filtered through her mind again. She frowned, crushed it ruthlessly. The last person she needed to be thinking about right now was Max. Kyle needed her.

Tess had been a different person when she had been with the Valentis. Even now, despising her as she did, Liz could recognize this. Max had even said as much�that Tess had tried to change for them. To Kyle, seeing Ben, seeing her reflected in his features, must have been something of a shock.

"Max told me that she missed you," Liz told him softly.

Kyle jerked around to stare at her. "She� She told him that?"

Well, Max hadn�t exactly told Liz that, but he had implied it, she thought, grimacing slightly. But she lied anyway. "Yes."

"My middle name is Benjamin," Kyle said, after a couple more minutes of silence.

Liz blinked, whipped her head around to stare at him. "It is? I�d forgotten that."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for the rest of the trip to the truck stop, because there was really nothing else to say.

Liz could see Maria sitting on the hood of Isabel and Jesse�s car as she and Kyle pulled into the parking lot of the truck stop. She slid to the ground when she caught sight of the sheriff�s department vehicle, stood waiting for them, shifting impatiently from foot to foot.

It was close to ten o�clock at night. Liz knew that her best friend and the others had been stranded at the truck stop in the middle of nowhere for close to twelve hours now, but Maria appeared to be still completely energized. Frowning slightly, Liz climbed out of Kyle�s vehicle and right into Maria�s enthusiastic embrace.

"I�ll go find the others," Kyle called over the hood of the car, disappearing into the huge building that was made up of a twenty-four-hour gas station, restaurant, and hotel.

"Lizzie! Thank God you�re here," Maria practically yelped, basically ignoring Kyle altogether. He just rolled his eyes and sauntered off. "This has been hell. I told Dan that he had to let me talk to you first. That he at least owed us all that," she finished disdainfully.

Liz pulled back, sighing heavily. "I am so sorry about this Maria. How are Michael and Izzy?"

"Well, I had to make Michael take a time-out a couple of hours ago." Maria wrinkled her nose at the memory. "I can�t remember exactly what Dan said that set him off, but since everything he has said over the past few hours has been somehow an insult of Max, it must have been something like that." Maria lowered her voice. "Liz, his hand was up and everything. He literally almost blasted him. In public."

Liz shook her head. She wasn�t at all surprised. In fact, she was almost shocked it hadn�t happened earlier. "I�m going to kill him," she muttered. Her annoyance and anger at Dan had faded during the drive, but it was now coming back full-force.

Isabel, Michael and Maria had absolutely nothing to do with any of this. It was completely ridiculous that they had been pulled into it at all.

"How are the others?" Liz asked as she and Maria moved towards the door leading into the restaurant attached to the gas station.

"Isabel and the baby are asleep in the car." Maria gestured behind her. "There�s still no word from Jesse, but Liz, the weird thing is�"

Liz stopped abruptly, holding her hand up. "What do you mean there�s been no word from Jesse? Isn�t he here?"

Maria stared at her. "What? Didn�t Max tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Liz demanded, her eyes narrowing. Although she knew that she hadn�t given Max much of an opportunity to tell her anything, being as she had refused to talk to him for almost the whole day, she still felt a flash of irritation.

"Jesse�s disappeared," Maria replied, frowning. "Why didn�t Max tell you this?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because we�re not presently speaking," Liz told her, sighing. "I don�t think we are anyway. I�m not speaking to him." She just shook her head, suddenly realized how childish the whole thing sounded. They were smack dab in the middle of danger and Max had not given her extremely important information because she had been pouting like a baby. "Maria, I think I�m losing my mind." She dropped her face into her hands, collapsed on the curb in front of the restaurant.

Maria sat down beside her, put her arm around her. "What�s wrong?"

"He�s driving me insane," Liz replied in a muffled voice. "I don�t know what to do." She leaned into her best friend, craving comfort. Only Maria could possibly understand her complete upheaval and confusion.

"You do still love him!" Maria breathed, unable to keep a note of victory from her voice. "I so knew it!"

Liz�s head shot up. She glared at her friend. "Of course I do. But it can�t matter, Maria! I can�t take another chance on him. I barely survived the last one I gave him."

Maria was quite for a long time. "Liz, no one knows better than I do that it isn�t easy. It�s damn hard being in love with a Czechoslovakian. But you and Max�" She shook her head. "You know I like Dan�well, not at the moment obviously�" she amended wryly, "But what you and Max had�"

"Don�t you think I know that?" Liz demanded. "But I can�t live in the past. He�s got Ben to think about now and I have Dan."

Maria smiled slightly. "You do have Dan. I know it. That man is crazy about you, Liz. He�s practically been climbing the walls with worry. You know I�ll support you no matter what you decide, but I have to say, it can work you know. With Max, I mean."

"Maria, he left me. I can�t trust him."

"Michael�s left me more times than I can count Liz," Maria replied, shrugging. "If not physically, then emotionally. But look where we are today."

Liz stared at her. "Are you back together again?" she demanded, felt pleasure at the thought of it. She had not fully understood why Michael and Maria had broken up in the first place, Maria had been so cryptic about it. But if any two people belonged together it was her best friend and Max�s almost brother. They fought, they made up, but, in the end, they completed each other.

Maria rolled her eyes. "Jeez! Max Evans is as close-mouthed with the gossip today as he was ten years ago! We�re engaged! Michael told Max when he spoke to him."

Liz felt her mouth fall open in shock. "Oh my God! Maria!" She reached out an hugged her friend tightly. "I�m so happy for you."

"Yeah, well�" When Liz pulled back again, she saw tears of joy in Maria�s eyes. "You know Liz, since I hit it big, I can have any guy I want, but he�s the only one I�ve ever loved. I don�t know what I would do without him."

Liz hugged her again. "You�d survive Maria, but you wouldn�t really live."

Just like me, Liz thought sadly. And yet, she could not give in. She could not trust him again. It was just impossible.

"Oh Liz�" Maria squeezed her sympathetically, seeming to understand. "We need to live. We have to. It�s the only fair thing."

Liz knew exactly what Maria was talking about. "Because of Alex."

"God, he never even got the chance to live Liz. But he hasn�t left us." Maria was really crying now. "We haven�t even talked about this you know. About Ben I mean." She paused, then whispered. "Did Max tell you how it happened? I just can�t believe that Alex would do that�with Tess I mean."

"He was mind warped," Liz explained sadly, her arm through her friend�s. "Leanna� she didn�t exist. Well, she did, but the girl that Alex was with was Tess."

Maria closed her eyes in horror. "I think Michael and I were both in shock when we first found out. Plus, it was so weird to be back in danger like that� I didn�t even know how to deal with it. That little kid had to save us both. Neither of us knew what to do," she finally managed to croak. "We haven�t told Isabel yet. I think it�s best if Max does it." She smiled slightly through her still tear-stained face. "But Liz� can you believe it? It�s like we still have a piece of him!"

Liz felt tears filling her own eyes. "Maria, he�s so great. Ben, I mean. And Max is so good with him. You wouldn�t even believe it. He�s just a perfect little boy."

Maria frowned slightly. "But, if Ben is Alex�s, then what about Max and the skank?" she asked. "Did they even�"

"I don�t know," Liz replied evenly. "I don�t care. It doesn�t change anything anyway."

But Liz knew that that was not true. It was why she had not even allowed herself to contemplate the fact that if Ben was not Max�s son, she could not know for sure that Max had even been with Tess.

If she found out that Max had not, in fact, slept with Tess, it would change everything. She had forgiven him for it once, when they had gotten back together after Tess had taken off in the granolith, but she had never forgotten about it. It had gnawed at her constantly, had worried her when they had been together that she might not measure up in some way, not measure up to the girl that Max had been destined to be with�the girl he had been with.

Of course, he had never loved Tess. Not even in that other life. And yet, he had potentially slept with her anyway, which almost made it worse. Even though Liz knew intellectually that she had pushed him towards Tess time and again, she still felt hurt over the whole mess.

She had forgiven him long ago for it, but she had never forgotten.

But if he hadn�t slept with her at all�

Maria did not look convinced that it didn�t change things either, but she didn�t comment, linked her arm through Liz�s. "I so cannot wait to meet him again. We are going to be the best aunties in the whole world." They started to walk towards the restaurant again. "Is Max going to let the Whitmans see him?"

"We didn�t really talk about it." Liz grimaced. "I would guess yes, as long as he could be sure that they wouldn�t try and take him away from him. Ben is the center of his life."

"I thought you guys didn�t talk much," Maria commented wickedly. "You seem to know an awful lot about what�s important to him Liz."

"It�s Max," Liz sighed. "I�ve always known."

And that was the biggest problem of all.

Liz�s eyes met Dan�s the instant she entered the greasy spoon. He was sitting in a booth, twirling a fork between his immaculately manicured fingers. She couldn�t see that detail from where she stood, but she knew those hands almost as well as she knew her own.

He was her fianc�. She had loved him for close to four years. She was angry with him, yes, and she was beginning to recognize that perhaps he was not the one for her after all, but she did care about him.

And now she needed to figure out what the hell she was going to do about him.

Kyle and Michael were sitting at the counter, sipping coffee and talking quietly. Liz frowned slightly. She was shocked that Michael hadn�t bolted the instant she and Kyle had arrived. But he looked completely settled.

"What�s that about?" she whispered to Maria, who still stood beside her.

"I think he thinks he has to protect you." Maria sounded amused and affectionate. "For Max."

"Oh for God�s sake, Liz sighed.

"Max is his best friend, Liz." Maria shrugged. "And he was never nearly as pissed at Max as both you and Isabel. He told me once he would have done exactly the same thing Max did. I didn�t speak to him for a week after that, but when I remembered that he had stayed for me� well, I sort of forgave him. See, the thing is, we all would have done it. If we�d thought it was our kid, I mean. Hell, if we�d known Ben was Alex�s, I think we all would have been on that spaceship anyway."

Liz didn�t reply. She couldn�t. Because she knew that Maria was right. Because she had been planning to go with Max all along. Part of the reason she couldn�t trust him was because he had known it and he had left without her anyway. He had said that it had been to protect her, but it had not been his choice to make, to leave her like that.

"You need to leave, Maria," she said instead, forcing her random thoughts about Max aside again. "Max needs you guys. He needs help protecting Ben."

"I know." Maria shook her head. "Just give me a minute with Space boy and we�ll be out of your hair." She started to move away, but then paused. "Are you going back to Roswell?" she asked suddenly, as though it had just occurred to her that Liz might in fact be leaving them all.

"No," Liz replied instantly. "I�ll get Kyle to take me back to Atherton�s as soon as I deal with Dan."

"Liz, he�s not going to let you go off again," Maria told her.

"Yes, he will, or I�ll end it," Liz said firmly.

"Liz�"

"Maria, I�m not trying to come up with excuses to break it off with Dan. I still fully intend to marry him," Liz continued stubbornly. "But Ben has to come first. He has to."

Maria just sighed, quickly hugged her again. "Okay. But be careful. He�s really hurt. If you do intend to marry him, I think you have some bridges to rebuild." When Liz gave her a strange look, she shrugged. "I told you I liked him Liz. I just know that he�s not who you really want. But I told you I�d support you no matter what, and I will."

Maria went over to Michael then, spoke quietly to him. He seemed about to argue, but then appeared to change his mind. He muttered something to Kyle, stood up and followed Maria out the door at the far end of the restaurant.

Liz exchanged a charged glance with Kyle, who raised an eyebrow at her as she passed him. "I�m staying right here, Liz," he muttered.

"Kyle, it�s Dan. He�s not going to hurt me. You can go wait outside," Liz replied, exasperated. Kyle had already agreed that he would take her back to Atherton�s after her conversation with Dan, but Liz certainly didn�t need him hovering over her like some sort of protective older brother.

"Maybe not, but he was plenty steamed when I saw him earlier." Kyle shrugged. "I�m not taking any chances."

"Fine." Liz swallowed, squared her shoulders and marched towards her fianc�, who had set the spoon down with a click and was staring at her, his expression unreadable, his green eyes chilly.

She slid into the booth across from him, narrowed her eyes. "I hope you�re happy with yourself," she said quietly. "I told you I was perfectly safe. And now I�m sitting here with you when I should be with a very sick little boy."

She chose not to reflect on the fact that she didn�t even feel guilty lying to him anymore. It was not a good sign she knew. Their relationship was teetering on very shaky ground at the moment. And yet, now that she sat across from him, only moments after she had told Maria that she still intended to marry him, she couldn�t bring herself to care.

Because all she knew was that the last place on the face of the planet she wanted to be was in this booth. And that was not how one was supposed to feel about one�s fianc�, three days before the wedding, even if one was as furious as all get out at said fianc�.

She had to break up with him. It was as simple as that.

"You�re angry with me?" Liz frowned when Dan stared at her in amazement, obviously completely shocked. "I was worried about you! Clearly something peculiar is going on around here Elizabeth and you won�t be open with me. I had little choice."

"You had a choice," Liz replied evenly. "You could have trusted me."

"I couldn�t. Because I knew you were lying to me," he exclaimed. "You have never lied to me�not once in our entire relationship. And because you�ve never lied to me I know how dangerous it is for you to be around that� that�"

"Max?" Liz sighed, laid her hands on the table. "Dan, you have to say his name. And I�m not the one creating Max into some monster. You are. He�s no threat to you�or he wasn�t until you started acting like a jealous maniac! This isn�t you Dan! What is this about?"

Dan just stared at her, appearing astounded that she didn�t understand why he was so upset. "He broke your heart. It took you almost five years to get over it. I waited patiently for you almost that whole time and I�m not going to let him waltz back into your life and do it again." Dan�s voice was low, urgent. "Elizabeth, he�s going to. Why can�t you see it?"

Liz swallowed, frowned again. His use of her full name struck her as absurd suddenly, for the first time ever. She wondered why it had never irritated her before now. Because it did � annoy her that was. Why had she ever let him call her that? She was not Elizabeth, had never been Elizabeth.

"Dan, I�ve told you. I was with him because Ben is sick," Liz explained patiently.

"But this child, he�s his son. He�s using him to get to you," Dan told her, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

She eyed him for a moment, unsure how to proceed. She had told Maria earlier that she still intended to marry Dan. And moments ago, she had decided that she had to break up with him. But, now, as he spoke to her, as he gave her all these logical arguments, as he explained why he was angry and jealous and upset � rightfully after all � she didn�t know what to do.

Well, that wasn�t entirely true. She knew what she wanted to do. She glanced towards Kyle, who was still seated at the counter, flipping through a magazine as he waited for her, apparently doing his best not to eavesdrop.

All she wanted to do was stand up and ask Kyle to take her back to Ben. And she owed it to Dan to explain why, to give him the chance to understand.

Because of who he was, of what he was to her. He had been the one secure person in her life since Max had left�the one person she could count on, even if he didn�t make her entire soul come alive when she was with him.

He was not her soul mate, but he was a good man, and he deserved an explanation.

Because he was right. He had waited a long time for her. She knew that he loved her.

The problem was, she didn�t know if he even really loved her, because she was beginning to understand that he didn�t really know her at all.

She had been open with him over the years, had explained all about Max, about how he had broken her heart, but Dan had never really understood�had never understood than it had been far more than just a break-up. Because she had never been fully able to understand it herself�until now that she had spent time with Max again.

Max Evans was her heart and soul. He always had been. The only reason that he had been able to so completely destroy her when he had gone was because, when he left, he had betrayed the fact that she was the same thing to him. His departure had ripped them apart, in a way that had never been supposed to happen. And they were suffering the consequences of it, even now.

He had had no right to do it. To either of them. He had betrayed the essence of what they were about, Max and Liz. They were supposed to be together through thick and thin, through danger and despair� and they never had been. Every time something bad had happened, it had torn them apart. Tess�s arrival, Future Max�s visit, Alex�s death� Every single time they should have been able to deal with these things, if they had stayed true to each other. But they never had.

And it was not entirely Max�s fault either. They had both done it. She was just as much to blame as he was. But his leaving without her for Antar, heading off into danger alone, when he known that she wanted to be with him, no matter what, it had been the final straw.

They were not strong enough to be together, to accept the gift that had been granted them in each other.

But she was also wrong to be trying to replace the gift with someone else. Dan felt that he knew her, that she had opened up to him, but she had never fully done so. It was impossible. Because no one could replace her soul.

Liz loved him, knew that he loved her, but she could not subject him to a life with someone who would never fully be his.

Even if she never got back together with Max, which she fully expected might not happen based on the way she felt right now, she had no right to stay with Dan. He was safe, she would be content with him, but he deserved more.

"Elizabeth?" Dan reached out, took her hand gently in his. "Please. I can feel you slipping away from me and I don�t understand it. We�re supposed to be getting married in two days! Why are you letting this happen?"

Liz closed her eyes briefly. "Dan, I�m sorry. I�m a horrible person." She heard her voice crack. He squeezed her hand. "You just don�t understand� about Ben, I mean." She could at least explain to him about that, tell him about Alex. "He�s so special to me because�"

Dan cut her off though, only having heard the first part. "You�re not! He�s doing something to you."

"No, you don�t understand. Max isn�t doing anything to me. It�s Ben. He�s not really�"

"Your dad told me that there was something not quite right about him and I understand what he meant now." Dan wasn�t even listening to her. It took a moment for his words to penetrate because she was trying to tell Dan that Ben was Alex�s son, but she stopped talking when she realized what he was saying.

Liz pulled her hand away abruptly. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "What else did my father say to you?"

Dan narrowed his eyes. "He told me some interesting stuff when I was in Roswell, while you were teaching with Isabel." He paused, seemed to be searching for the right words. "About there having been a shooting at your restaurant when you were a teenager�"

Liz blinked. "I told you about that. That was when Max saved my life. It was what brought us together." She could feel her heart beginning to beat irregularly. What on Earth had her father told Dan? What did her father think he knew?

"I�m going to ask you something Elizabeth, and I hope you�ll be honest with me." Dan swallowed, hard. "I know it�s impossible, but I heard something the night we were at Jesse and Isabel�s for dinner. I tried to put it out of my mind because I know it�s impossible. I�m a biologist for God�s sake! But I heard you say it and I have to know what you meant. Because what your dad said about Max made me wonder even more."

Liz could tell that this was going to be bad. And she had a feeling that it was also going to explain why Dan had suddenly turned into someone he had never been before�possessive, overbearing, difficult.

"What?" she whispered. "What do you know?"

He frowned again at the fear he must have picked up in her voice. "See! This is what I�m talking about. You are keeping something from me, and I know it has something to do with Max Evans!"

Liz reached out, grabbed his hand across the table. "Dan, just ask!" she insisted.

He bit out the words. "The other night, when we were at Jesse and Isabel�s, you totally lost it when you saw their baby. I didn�t understand it at first, but when I met Max, I knew why."

"I don�t understand." Liz shook her head. "I was surprised Lexi looked so much like Max, but what are you getting at?"

"I let you go off with Isabel upstairs, even though I could see that you were extremely upset," he continued. "Needless to say, I was upset too, because I didn�t know what was wrong with you. I went to speak with Jesse and Maria in the kitchen, maybe to send Maria up to see if you were okay, because obviously you didn�t want me then." He sounded bitter as he continued, "Well, they weren�t in the kitchen. I looked out the window and they were in the back yard doing something, taking out the garbage I think."

"Dan!" Liz exclaimed in frustration. "I don�t care what they were doing! What happened?"

"It doesn�t matter, you�re right. The point is, I was in the kitchen, by myself, and I realized that the baby monitor was sitting right there." He grimaced. "I can�t explain my actions to you Elizabeth, other than to say that I was worried about you." Dan swallowed, but Liz already knew what he was going to say. She was already trying to frantically remember her conversation with Isabel in Lexi�s bedroom. Her horror was mounting as she thought about all that they had said to each other. "I turned it on."

"Oh my God," Liz gasped. "Dan!"

He wasn�t even looking at her now, was gazing past her. "The first words I heard were something about it being impossible for Alexandra to look like Max."

"Dan�" Liz tried to break in. She already knew what he had overheard, didn�t want him to say it out loud.

But he continued anyway. "But then you started talking about cloning and human donors and some place called Antar�" He closed his eyes. "Elizabeth, it scared the hell out of me. I thought you had literally lost your mind."

"Dan!" He looked at her finally, his expression completely controlled now. Liz glanced around the restaurant, terrified that someone was overhearing their conversation. Fortunately it was virtually empty at this late hour. Kyle�s head had snapped up at her tone though. He whirled around and stared at her across the caf�.

"Liz?" he called out. "Are you okay?" But she couldn�t answer him. Her head was spinning in a million different directions.

Dan knew. He knew the truth about Max. No wonder he had been acting like a complete psycho.

"But Isabel didn�t seem to think so," Dan was saying, his eyes narrowing. Now that he was talking, he seemed unable to shut up. "And I knew that there was something more to this than you were letting on. I didn�t want you to go back to Isabel�s the next day, but I didn�t know how to stop you and it gave me a chance to do some investigating."

She brought her hands down off the table and clenched them in her lap and just waited. "Your dad told me about the shooting. I read about it in some old newspapers at the library too � about some unexplained aspects of it � how the bullet was never found for example. I also dug up an old story about some FBI agent named Pierce being reprimanded by the government for secret dealings in Roswell, having to do with aliens. I found the report and there was something in it about the shooting at the Crashdown."

Liz watched Kyle hurrying towards her, just let Dan talk though.

"I knew that there is something off with him Liz. I wanted to know the truth," Dan finished simply. "I know that there�s no such thing as aliens, but all evidence is pointing towards the fact that Max Evans is, in fact, something not quite human. Because the hold he has on you is� I don�t know� unnatural."

She didn�t have time to say anything though. Kyle was standing over them now, a fierce expression on his face.

"Liz, what�s wrong? Dan?"

"Kyle�" Liz swallowed. She had to fix this�immediately. "Everything�s fine. Dan�s just getting a little� paranoid."

"Paranoid?" Dan stared at her, dumbfounded. "I know what I heard you say Elizabeth."

"Liz?" Kyle�s eyes were wide, questioning.

She forced a laugh. "He thinks Max is an alien." She shook her head. "He thinks it�s why I can�t stay away from him. That�s he�s put some kind of force on me or something." She was now truly giggling, hysterically as a matter of fact, but it sounded like she was just amused by a good joke. Thank God.

"Elizabeth!" She could see Dan�s face beginning to turn an interesting shade of scarlet.

Kyle�s mouth was hanging open in shock. "Liz?" he practically croaked. She could read his eyes perfectly. This was dangerous. Dan was angry, confused and jealous. If he went off spouting his theory to anyone with a half-knowledge of what had really transpired in Roswell ten years ago�

Ben and Max would never be able to live in their hometown in peace. Ever.

Not to mention, Dan had inadvertently stumbled upon the truth. He was right. He was a molecular biologist, a scientist. He would not just allow a discovery of this magnitude to go. It would make his career, to be the first to truly publish the truth about aliens on Earth, about cloning and what could be achieved through technology.

The last thing she could allow to happen was for him to believe it.

"Dan, I don�t know what you thought you overheard between Isabel and me, but I was just confused and upset. I always thought that Max and Isabel weren�t genetic siblings, so I didn�t understand why Lexi looked like him. Isabel told me that they found out that they were actually related after Lexi�s birth."

Kyle had collapsed into a nearby chair, a completely flabbergasted expression still on his face. He was beginning to listen with interest though, wondering how she was going to talk her way out of this one.

"I know that I�ve been acting really weird ever since Max showed up again," Liz continued quietly. She stood up, went around the table and joined him in his booth. Putting her arm around him, she smiled into his eyes. "But it really has nothing to do with Max Dan. You have to believe me. It�s Ben."

"Why?" Dan asked, still looking suspicious.

"Because he�s really my friend Alex�s son," Liz told him simply. "My friend who died. The one I told you so much about. Max found the girl that he thought he had gotten pregnant and it turned out that it wasn�t even him at all."

Dan looked like he had been punched in the stomach. He swallowed, shook his head. "Elizabeth, what kind of friends do you have? They didn�t even know who fathered the baby?"

Liz exchanged a glance with Kyle. "Well, Tess�" She paused.

"She had some problems," Kyle finished for her, looking sad.

"But� but what about the shooting?"

"It�s like I told you. I was shot at and Max pushed me out of the way." She shrugged. "You can talk to Kyle�s dad about it if you really want to. He was the sheriff then. The bullet hole never showed up, but it was just one of those things."

Dan still did not look convinced. "Elizabeth, I heard you. You said something about Max and Isabel not being human."

"I don�t know what you thought you heard Dan, but I don�t think I would have ever said that." She looked him right in the eye. "I was overwrought, but I�m not crazy. There are no such thing as aliens," she continued firmly.

Liz forced another giggle. "My God. Dan, you must have thought that you were going crazy over the past few days." She kissed him lightly. "I am so sorry, honey! I should have just told you the truth about Ben, but it was still such a shock to me, I don�t think it had fully registered when I spoke to you on the phone last night."

She could feel Dan relaxing under her. She looked over at Kyle, who looked resigned, but unimpressed at the ease with which she lied.

But she had no choice. She had to protect Max, and Ben too.

Because she knew her fianc�. If she allowed him to know the truth, he would never let it go. He would feel compelled to pursue it, to investigate, to try and convince Max to come forward.

He would ruin their lives.

And the worst part of all of it was that she knew that there was only one way to make sure that that never happened.

She was going to have to marry him.

Max sighed wearily, but felt a great wave of relief as he watched as Michael parked the Volvo that belonged to Isabel and Jesse close beside his Cherokee.

It was close to one in the morning. He had put Ben to bed long ago, although the little boy had wanted to stay up to wait for the others to arrive. Max had only managed to convince him to go to sleep when he had promised him that he would wake him if Liz got back before morning.

He had not expected Liz and Ben to bond as quickly and as completely as they had. He had known that Liz would care about his son, because of the connection to Alex, but it had always taken Ben a long time to trust anyone. He was a friendly, outgoing child, but he didn�t expect much from adults. Max knew that it had to do with some of the things he had experienced as a small child living with Khivar and Tess, basically having been raised by servants and left to fend for himself much of the time in the compound on the northern pole of Antar. They had not been cruel to him, thank God, but they had not given him the love that every child � Antarian or human � needed.

For Tess, Ben had been a bargaining chip, a means to an end. She had known all along that he was not Max�s, but she had also known that Max had wanted him, and so she had used the little boy to string Max along, to torture him, to keep him always on edge. She had let him get close to finding them many times during his early days on that far-off planet, but she had always slipped just out of his reach at the last minute. Max knew that she had cared about the child only so far as she could use him. But it wasn�t until she truly realized how much Ben meant to Max that she became a danger to him.

Because she didn�t particularly care about the child, she had not truly understood the way Max felt about him until they had finally come face to face.

It still brought a sick feeling to his stomach, reflecting on when he had finally found them, almost five full years after he had left Earth.

They had been sitting in the garden of the nursery in Khivar�s compound, under a star studded sky, one of Antar�s three moons shining down brightly upon them, turning their identical blond locks silver. She had been cradling the little boy in her arms, projecting the image of a mother comforting her son. But it had all been a farce. Tess had been stroking Ben�s small head, murmuring soothing words to him but her cold blue eyes had been on him, Max, as she had raised her other hand to the boy�s back and had allowed it to start to glow, smiling slightly because she knew that he knew what she was going to do.

Max had known exactly why she was doing it too. One look at him when he had stepped into that garden had been enough for Tess to know that he would never accept her back into his life, that he would take the son he had still thought then was his and he would leave her with Khivar, that he fully intended to never look upon her again.

She had seen the truth of it in his eyes and she had decided in a split second her course of action. If she was going to be alone, then so was he. She was going to kill the one thing on the entire planet he cared about. Just to punish him, she had been willing to kill her own son.

Max had wanted to kill her ever since he had found out what she had done to Alex. But he had allowed her to live in order that the baby that had been growing in her womb could live as well. He was not going to let her kill him now.

And so he had done it. It had been simple in the end, because his will had been greater, finally, than hers.

He had simply stared at her, into those eyes he had come to despise so much, connected with her instantly, and had fried her brain from the inside out.

He still remembered the momentary flash of shock that had crossed her face, that he had penetrated her shielded mind so easily. But she had had no idea how strong he had become over the years.

She had blinked once and then her essence had been completely gone, shutting off the connection as simply as turning off a light switch on Earth.

He had not felt even a single pang of remorse.

The first moments afterward had been strange. He had moved over to the two of them, still seated on the bench, had realized with relief that his son had slept through the entire thing. He had gently disentangled the little boy from his mother�s unnatural embrace and had just held him.

And the moment he had picked up the little boy in his arms, he had known the truth.

He had told Liz that it had been Khivar who had bragged about Ben being his child, that that had been how he had found out. But Max had never believed it, had refused to believe it. It was not until he actually held the child, that he knew that it was all true.

Ben was not his.

And it had taken one more second for him to realize that he didn�t care. Because he had fallen in love with him the instant his arms had come around his neck, the moment his small face had pressed itself against his neck.

It had only been reinforced when Ben had finally opened his eyes, had stared at him for a sleepy moment, and had murmured, "Who are you?"

"I�m your father," Max had whispered back. He had seen the instant flash of fear that had entered Ben�s blue eyes, had known with a sinking heart that Tess and Khivar had likely been feeding the child horrible lies about him.

It had been a surprise when the small voice had replied, "You�re going to leave me too. Mama always leaves." His fear had not been of Max at all, but of letting himself love someone else, and finding himself disappointed again.

"Never," Max had told him quietly. "I will never leave you."

But it had taken the almost three years it took them to get back to Earth to convince the child.

And, yet, Liz had somehow convinced Ben in less than forty-eight hours that he could trust her.

Apparently there was just something about Liz Parker that made people believe in her. Max had known that he could trust her from the first moment he had laid eyes on her in a school playground close to twenty years ago. It wasn�t because of who she had been to him in a past life either. It was because of who she was today. The best person he had ever known.

The only woman he would ever love.

What Liz returning to Ben meant for his relationship with Liz, Max had no idea, but he had no doubt that she would be back.

The question was simply when.

Max could feel his heart beating unevenly as Michael climbed out of the driver�s seat after lightly poking Maria, who was half-asleep on the passenger side. Because he was about to get his answer.

"Hey," Max called out in a low tone. "Is everything okay?"

The back door of the Volvo opened and Isabel stepped out, her little girl clenched tightly in her arms. Lexi was fast asleep against her mother�s shoulder, a small thumb firmly between her lips.

"Just tired," Michael replied, running his hands through his hair, clearly exhausted. "But we need to talk, Maxwell."

Max swallowed as his eyes met Isabel�s. Her expression was unreadable. He knew that it was not her choice to be back in his company so soon. He had agreed to give her the time she needed to decide what kind of relationship she wanted with him, but, as usual, circumstances had taken that choice away from her.

"I�m glad you�re okay," She said tightly, but Max could tell she meant it. His heart instantly felt lighter. "Is Ben�?"

"Asleep inside," Max responded. "Iz, I�m sorry about Jesse."

Isabel looked away for a moment. "He�s fine," she finally replied shortly. "I know far more than either of you think I do."

Michael�s head whipped around. "Are you telling me you know where he is?" he demanded. Max watched Maria step forward and place a hand lightly on his arm, trying to calm him down.

"I know." She sighed. "I didn�t tell you because I needed to talk to both of you. Michael, I knew you would freak out and I just couldn�t deal with you alone."

Max stared at her. "Isabel?"

"You don�t understand." Isabel shook her head. "He�s trying to save us. I know he is."

Max frowned, exchanged a glance with Michael, who looked about ready to explode. "What are you talking about?"

She moved past him and towards the door. "I never once thought I would see this place again," she muttered as she entered the darkened dome. "Just let me put Lexi down and we�ll talk."

"What the hell?" Michael almost yelled after the door shut behind her. "I�ve been worried about her all day! And she knew all along?"

"Michael, she obviously had a good reason," Maria reprimanded quietly.

Max rubbed a hand across his face wearily. He could tell that this was going to be a very long night.

"Well?" He blinked when he realized that Maria was standing right in front of him, eyeing him with annoyance.

"What?" Max asked, unsure what the expression on her face meant.

"What did you do to Liz?"

"What do you mean? I didn�t do anything to her."

"So you�re telling me that she�s not talking to you for no reason then?" Maria raised an eyebrow. Max took a step backward when she poked him in the chest.

Max grimaced. "Well, she wasn�t exactly happy that I told her that I wasn�t going to just give up on her," he admitted uncomfortably. He glanced at Michael, who looked interested, but mostly relieved that Maria�s ire was no longer directed at him. "I told her I still loved her and that I was going to fight for her."

"And why, pray tell, did you decide to inform her of this?" Maria asked, deceptively calm. "Do you think that Liz can�t make her own decisions?"

He didn�t know what to say. "She told me that she still loved me too," he protested lamely.

Maria rolled her eyes. "Of course she loves you, you idiot! You�re Max. But that doesn�t mean that you can just decide what�s going to happen in her life!" She poked him again. "You need to give her time, Max. I mean it. If you want this to work, you have to let her realize that it�s what she wants. Because what you�re doing now is just driving her away."

Max stared at her. "Why are you telling me this?" he finally asked.

"Because I think you two belong together," Maria told him honestly. "But I won�t have Lizzie forced into anything. She has to come to it herself or it�s always going to be wrong. Do you understand?" She finished gently.

He frowned slightly. "I understand," he replied automatically.

And, suddenly, he did.

All the plans he had been formulating in the back of his mind to woo her and to win her back crumbled to dust. The idea of rebuilding their relationship from the ground up, of pretending that everything that had come before had never happened - it wasn�t going to work. Maria was more than right.

He realized that it was why he had slipped that ring into her pocket before she had left, even though it had not fit in with his plan of ignoring the past. He had brought the knowledge of it back from Antar, knew that it had fallen into the possession of William Atherton, just as the pendant had. They had both been presents to the writer, from Langley, in an attempt to keep him quiet about what he knew.

Max had learned a great deal about Langley on the trip back to Antar. Nasedo had been the cold-blooded killer of the pair of protectors that had been sent with the two sets of pods to Earth. Langley had not started out that way, had only become a murderer when his newfound life on Earth was threatened. Langley had wanted to appease Atherton, had tried with first the pendant, and then the ring.

But, of course, they had not been Langley�s to give to anyone. They had, in fact, been a gift to him, Max. From the one person who had given him everything in his past life. The one person who had, in fact, given him this life.

Kadiya.

The past could not be changed. Giving Liz the ring as he had, after he had torn apart Atherton�s office in search of it, had proven that his subconscious knew this. He wanted her to know�wanted her to remember.

Because their past was about so much more than him having slept with Tess, about more then him having deserted her, which he knew she still thought.

He had had to go back to Antar to get answers, so that they could create a new future. He had been compelled to leave her, not just in pursuit of his son, but also in search of the truth.

Because if he and Tess were meant to be together, then how could his heart have been so wrong all along?

He had needed those answers� and he had needed to find them alone.

He had been wrong to even allow Liz to get involved with the search for his son. But, in the end, it had been too hard for him to let her go, when she had wanted to help, when she had been holding on to him so tightly. Because he loved her so much and hurting her had been something he couldn�t even conceive of doing. Not when she wanted to be with him. And he knew it was what he was supposed to want�to be with her. Because he knew that he loved her.

And so, in the end, he had taken the coward�s way out�without explaining what was really wrong with him. He had left, without saying goodbye, and she was probably never going to forgive him for it because he had never given her the chance to understand.

He had not lied to her when he had told her that the reason that he hadn�t answered her phone call on the night he left was because he wouldn�t have been able to do it. He would not have been able to go if he had spoken to her.

And he had had to. Alone. He did not regret it. His only regret was that he had not trusted her enough to tell her so.

Because he had not been her Max when he left�and he needed to go alone to find again the person he wanted to be for her.

Max realized that he was still standing out in the cold, where Michael and Maria had left him almost ten minutes before. Perhaps they had recognized that he had needed a little time alone, to let Maria�s advice penetrate.

He was glad. Because he was going to take it. He was going to leave Liz alone, but first she had to know the truth. About everything.

"Max?" He heard Isabel�s voice calling him from inside. Frowning slightly, he thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and put Liz from his mind for the moment.

His sister had something to tell him and he had a very good idea that he was not going to like it.

He found them all gathered around the scarred wooden table in the small kitchen attached to the bedroom. A bare bulb burned from the ceiling of the room, accentuating the cobwebs hanging from everything.

"I didn�t have time to clean this place." Max sighed, collapsing into a chair at the head of the table. "Sorry."

"I think we have other things to worry about besides your housekeeping skills Maxwell," Michael retorted tonelessly. He was staring at Isabel, his eyes flashing. "I want to know what the hell�s going on with your husband, Isabel."

"Michael�" Maria frowned at him.

"It�s okay," Isabel interjected calmly. "He�s going to be a lot more ticked off once he finds out what I have to say."

Max narrowed his eyes. "Where is Jesse?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady, trying to convey that he trusted her, no matter what she was about to say.

But the problem was, he wasn�t sure he was going to be able to say the same thing after he knew.

"Jesse knew that one of you would come for me tonight because he had a feeling that something was going to happen. As soon as he saw Max, he knew. He�s been protecting Michael and me for years, but when Max came back, everything changed. It�s out of his control now," she explained in a rush, clearly trying to get it all out before someone could interrupt. "You all know that Jesse knows the truth about us," she continued. "But what you don�t really know is how he found out."

Max could see Michael frowning in his direction. "Isabel, what?" Max asked gently, before Michael lost it, which he was clearly on the verge of doing.

Maria reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on Isabel�s, which was clenched on the table top. "Jesse�s FBI," she blurted finally. "And the only way he has been able to keep Michael and me safe is because he vowed that if Max ever came back, he would turn him in."

"I�ll be up in a minute." Liz kissed Dan lightly on the cheek as he picked up the motel room key and headed for the elevator. "I just need to get something out of Kyle�s truck."

Dan frowned slightly but nodded. He had been unnaturally quiet since she had basically ridiculed him about his suspicions regarding Max. She could tell that the conversation was by no means over, but the fact that she had agreed to stay the night with him in the motel and that she had also decided to return to Roswell the next morning had quieted him on the subject of aliens for the moment.

Now she had to deal with the consequences of the fact that she was going to have to break her promise to Ben. She had told the little boy that she was coming back and now she couldn�t. And, somehow, she knew that an eight year old was not going to understand that she was doing it to protect him.

But she couldn�t go back. Not before the wedding anyway. Because if Max even caught a hint of the truth that she was now basically marrying Dan to protect him� Liz grimaced. It would not be pretty.

The fact that she was still furious at him � truly, gut-wrenchingly furious � because of the fact that he had basically ordered her to acknowledge that they belonged together � did not overshadow the fact that she would not allow him to be threatened by her fianc�.

Max had made his choice. By coming back to Earth, he had decided that he was human�that his son was human. And Liz was not going to let anyone take that away from them.

Deep down, she knew it was a bad plan. She knew that Dan was not just going to let this go. But she didn�t know what else to do. Telling Max was not even an option. Because what was he going to do�tell Dan the truth? No, Max had himself admitted that he had had to do many horrible things in order to protect his son. She did not want him to even have to face the reality that he might have to continue doing them.

Because, deep down, Liz knew the only way to truly protect Max and Ben from Dan was to kill him.

And, suddenly, she understood Nasedo�or at least understood him before it had become clear that he was in on the plan with Tess to have Max and Isabel and Michael killed as soon as they returned to Antar. The only real way to keep Max and the others safe was to decide that their lives were more important than those of the people who threatened them.

Once upon a time, back when she had first known him, Max had been willing to sacrifice himself to keep others safe. He had been ready to turn himself in after he had healed her at the Crashdown for example. But that had changed. He couldn�t just give himself up, because he was needed. Now the only person who mattered was Ben. He would be willing to do whatever it took to protect that little boy.

A child who wasn�t even really his.

Liz was not going to put him in the position where he had to decide. She would decide for him. If it meant that she had to spend every waking minute of the rest of her life with Dan, she would do it.

She was not surprised to find Kyle waiting for her in the motel�s parking lot. "Looking for this?" he asked, an eyebrow raised, as he held her purse up in the air. "Thought you might come looking for some fresh air," he added, explaining his presence. "We need to talk Liz."

"Did you call Sarah?" Liz asked wearily, leaning back against the hood of the sheriff�s department vehicle.

"Yeah, she hasn�t even missed me. Vick�s in town for the wedding. They�ve been gabbing it up all night." Kyle grimaced.

Liz smiled slightly. Victoria was Kyle�s sister-in-law. She was a journalist and drove Kyle absolutely batty because she never seemed to shut up. But Liz loved her. She and Sarah and Vick had been practically inseparable during her student days. Vick had left Boston for New York after graduation, but she and Liz were still close enough that Liz had invited her to the wedding.

She shivered slightly. Even the thought of the wedding sent a chill down Liz�s spine. There were barely thirty-six hours until she would be walking down the aisle.

All of her dreams had come true. She was a molecular biologist at Harvard, marrying someone normal, someone who had always been there for her, and somehow, some way it had all turned into a nightmare.

It would be easy to blame Max. But she had long ago acknowledged that she had not been happy, even before she knew he was back. And she had no intention of even being with him after all.

No, she was the one who had gotten herself into this mess. She was engaged to a man she could no longer trust and stuck in a job she hated. Life was grand.

"She�s pressuring me to get her an interview with Maria," Kyle was adding, rolling his eyes.

Liz laughed slightly. "Maria will give her a little something. She likes Vick. She might even let her break the story about Michael."

It felt good to discuss something so inane Liz realized. But she knew that they were avoiding the real subject. Even now Kyle was beginning to eye her with disapproval again. She sighed heavily. "Okay, out with it. I know it�s practically killing you."

"I think you should tell Evans what�s going on," Kyle replied without any ceremony. "While I am still not the guy�s biggest fan, he should know about this. It�s up to him to deal with Dan, Liz."

"How?" Liz asked reasonably. "There is only one fool-proof way of doing so Kyle. Do you want Max to kill him? Doesn�t that go against your oath to protect people?" she added wryly, lightly patting the vehicle she was still leaning against.

Kyle�s eyes narrowed. "Do you really think Max would do that?"

"What else can he do Kyle?" Liz closed her eyes in frustration. "Dan is like a dog with a bone when it comes to his career. This would make him."

"Liz, I don�t think Dan�s particularly concerned about his career at the moment," Kyle shot back. "I think he�s more than a little concerned that he�s losing you. Maybe knowing the truth would put his fears to rest. You know, he might find it reassuring that the reason you�ve been acting like you�re madly in love with Max is because you�re still trying to protect him�because he saved your life."

There was a long pause. Liz opened her eyes and stared at Kyle. She watched Kyle�s eyes widen as the truth hit him squarely. "Oh Jeez. Are you telling me that he has? Lost you, I mean?" He sighed heavily. "Man, whatever alien force Evans does put on you� I gotta get me some of that."

Liz just smiled sadly. "It�s not about Max, Kyle. I wasn�t ready for this long before I even knew Max was back. But Max has played a part. Because being with him has reminded me of what I want to feel like when I�m in love. And I just don�t. Not about Dan."

"How can you say that it�s not about Evans if he�s the one who reminds you of that?" Kyle asked logically. "Liz, why can�t you just admit you still love him? Despite everything?"

"I do love him, Kyle. But I can�t be with him. I just can�t. I can�t trust him."

Kyle shrugged. "I�ve never trusted him, Liz. But I know he trusts you. You have to tell him. You can�t deal with Dan by yourself. It will kill you. I cannot stand the idea of you married to someone you don�t love." He reached out, pulled her gently against him.

"What does it matter?" Liz whispered against her friend�s chest. "If I can�t be with the person I do love, what does it even matter? I�ll make the best of it."

They stood that way for a long time, Liz trying to gather the strength to return to Dan, to try and convince him that what he had heard with his own ears had been untrue.

"I guess I�ll head back there and tell them you�re not coming," Kyle finally broke the silence. "What do you want me to say?"

What could he say that would even make a difference? Liz swallowed, tried to stop the tears from coursing down her cheeks. Ben was never going to understand. It was absolutely breaking her heart to have to betray him like this. "Just tell Ben that I love him and that I�m sorry. Tell him that I�ll see him soon but that he can ask Maria any questions he has about Alex." But she knew it would not be the same. She was never going to have the relationship with Ben that she wanted now. He would never trust her after this.

"What about Max?"

"Don�t say anything. He�ll get the picture." Liz felt the lump in her throat expanding as she imagined how Max was going to react when he realized that she was not coming back. She had a feeling that he was going to be a little stunned that her will was so strong. She knew that he had thought that it was just a matter of time until she broke down and gave in. After all, when had her actions told him anything but that? She had run off into the night with him four days before her wedding, had slept in his arms, had flat-out told him that she still loved him.

She had told him that she would be back. And she could even admit to herself now that it was no longer an option that going back had not been just about Ben.

"Tell them to be careful," Liz choked out as she turned away from Kyle.

"This is a mistake," he called after her, sounding supremely frustrated.

She turned around. "Maybe," she nodded, the tears truly falling now. "But if so, it�s a mistake I have to make."

The stunned silence had yet to be broken.

Max had felt all the color drain out of his face after Isabel�s bombshell, could not even begin to formulate a coherent sentence. He just stared across the table at Michael, who, for once, seemed incapable of even an explosion of outrage. This revelation was so clearly beyond anything he had been expecting, his mouth was hanging open, literally.

It was Maria who finally managed to find the use of her vocal cords. "Isabel, what does this mean? How can the FBI know about you and Michael� and not care?"

"Because they don�t think we�re aliens," Isabel replied simply, a slight crease of fear on her forehead. "They never knew for sure about us. They do know for sure about Max, because Nasedo wasn�t able to expunge all the records when he was impersonating Pierce. And when Jesse took over it was too late to do it. Too many agents already knew."

Max felt fear twist within his gut, flashes of Pierce and what had been done to him in the White Room filtering through his mind at lightening speed. Because it sounded like not only was Isabel�s husband FBI, but that he was, in fact, heading up the same unit that had tortured him.

The sheer irony was that he had experienced worse torture on Antar, but the difference had been that he had trusted humans, had believed inherently in their conscience to do what was right and so the betrayal in the White Room had been that much more horrifying. He had always been afraid of discovery on Earth, but after Liz had known the truth, and Maria and Alex, and even eventually Valenti and Kyle, who had both always seemed like his enemies, he realized that he had started to fear less, because they had accepted him. He had started to hope that if the truth had come out, maybe it wouldn�t be as bad as he had always envisioned. He had never recognized this feeling he had until long after he had left Earth. Because it had only existed for a very short time.

Pierce had changed it all.

What he had experienced on Antar had been different, because he had never trusted the Antarians, not for an instant.

But his fear now wasn�t even for himself. It was for Ben. Because if they knew about him, they had to know about Ben.

"But� but you just said that Jesse knows the truth," Maria replied. "About you, I mean." Max felt grateful to her. Because he didn�t even know where to start with his sister.

Isabel had agreed to betray him. She had hated him so much after he left that she had been willing to turn him back over to the people who had tortured him�the people that had destroyed his faith in humanity.

"Jesse knows�knew before he even met me, although the FBI didn�t know that," Isabel told them. "He officially came to get close to me because they thought that they could get more information on Max from the inside. They had Max�s name and the suspicions and some of the tests from the White Room, but they had to be absolutely sure before they moved in again, because of how humiliated they had been during the Senate hearings."

"But why hasn�t he turned you in?" Maria asked. She had reached out to grasp Michael�s hand. Max could see that his best friend looked like he was about to pass out.

But Isabel ignored her for the moment. She was eyeing Michael worriedly. "Michael?" She glanced at Max, but quickly averted her eyes. She clearly didn�t want to see his reaction. He wondered inanely if she even felt at all guilty. "Are you even going to say anything?"

"You agreed to turn Max over to the FBI?" Michael finally ground out, appearing to finally break out of his stupor. "How could you do that? How?"

Isabel was twisting her hands in front of her. She swallowed convulsively. "You don�t understand. I never thought he would come back," she whispered finally. "I had to protect you Michael. You and me." Finally, she turned to look at Max, her eyes shining with tears. "Max, I never thought you would come back. I really didn�t. I thought it was what you would have wanted me to do." The tears began to spill down her cheeks. "It�s the only reason I let myself go enough to have Lexi. I really, truly believed that you were never coming back. And Jesse never meant it either. He�s not going to turn you in, just told them that he would. It was the only way he could stay married to me and still work there�they were willing to let him, in case Max came back."

"Where is Jesse now?" Max croaked, visions of a team of Special Unit agents gathering outside Atherton�s, making his blood run cold.

"He went in to do damage control," Isabel replied. "He has no intention of turning you in Max, never did. It�s why he told me to go with you�why he didn�t want me to tell him where we were going. In case he can�t fix this."

"How can you be sure, Isabel?" Michael demanded. "And why would he send you off with us if Max is in such danger? With his own daughter yet?"

"It�s because of what almost happened to Ben the other day at school." Isabel sighed, closing her eyes and burying her face in her hands. "He must have known that that was Nicholas even before we did. He knows that the three of us have a better chance of protecting Lexi than he does, even though�" She cut herself off abruptly.

And the hits just kept on coming. "What? Even though what Isabel?" Max stood up so abruptly, the chair he had been sitting on fell over backwards.

"Jesse has been on to Nicholas for years," she replied wearily. "Guys, don�t you get it? Why Jesse is working for the FBI, but hasn�t turned Michael or me in?"

"Clearly not," Michael replied suspiciously. "Tell us."

"I�m trying," she retorted. "It�s just that it�s all so complicated! Okay, think about it." She looked at Michael. "Remember when I married Jesse, you are were all concerned, because you thought he might be using me, or a bad guy, or something?"

Michael nodded, frowning.

"Well, I told you at the time that I had dream walked him and that he was perfectly normal," Isabel continued.

"He�s not?" Michael interrupted, although he sounded resigned now.

"He�s as normal as we are," Isabel replied, shaking her head. "And he�s a good person, just like we are."

And suddenly Max understood. It was so far-fetched as to be almost unbelievable and, yet, it made perfect sense.

"He�s one of us."

Isabel glanced at him gratefully. "Yes. Well, sort of," she amended. "It�s why I was so attracted to him, right from the beginning."

Maria had stood up by now too, was backed up against the wall of the room, just taking everything in. "Sort of? Either he is or he isn�t," she interjected.

"He�s half-alien." Isabel grimaced.

"How?" Max could feel his heart beating at about fifty times the normal speed.

Isabel sighed. "Nasedo."

"EWWWWWW!" Maria shrieked. Max, Michael and Isabel all whipped their heads around to stare at her. "Sorry," she muttered. "But, I mean, c�mon. That�s gross."

Isabel rolled her eyes. "His mother doesn�t even know," she continued. "But Nasedo came back after he was born, kept an eye on him, because he knew that he might develop some powers, wanted to make sure that he learned how to hide them." She frowned in Maria�s direction. "Nasedo wasn�t all bad you know. He had a job to do and he did it, and after he lost us he made a deal that he couldn�t get out of, even after he found us again and wanted to. Tess was wrong. He didn�t make it forty years ago. He made it only after he found the empty pods. Why do you think the Skins killed him if he was working for them? Tess knew he was waffling and she told Nicholas so." Isabel looked at Max. "You impressed him far more than he ever thought you would. I think he thought you were something of a moron on Antar, only came with us in the ship because he was loyal to our mother and the monarchy. He tried to get out of the deal, once he knew you, but it was too late. He had raised Tess to only want one thing. When she thought that you weren�t going to go back, because of Liz, she knew that the only way to make you was to follow the Skins� plan to the letter. So she betrayed Nasedo."

Max remembered back to the last few times he had spoken to Nasedo, before he had been killed. The shape shifter had pushed the idea that he was meant to be with Tess, although he must have known that Zan had never loved his wife. Because he had to have known about Kadiya, especially if he had been around when they had been cloned. He must have been or he never would have been sent with them.

Max wondered if Nasedo had even known how Liz was tied to Kadi. If he was such a monarchist, it had probably scared the hell out of him. It might have even been one of the reasons that he had kidnapped Liz, before Pierce had taken Max. If Liz had been killed in the crossfire then, the whole thing would have been over before it had even started. Because Kadi had been the one person who had compelled Zan to abandon his throne. Even though he had wanted to long before he had ever met her, it had been love for her that had finally made him actually do it. No wonder Nasedo had not been loyal to Zan first. If he had wanted a king and a monarchy, the fact that Zan had been willing to give up his throne must have been anathema to him. Pushing Max towards Tess had perhaps been Nasedo�s way to try and avert it from happening again in the present lifetime.

"So Jesse went to the Special Unit after Nasedo died?" Max asked, pushing those questions aside for the moment. Isabel wouldn�t have the answers for all of Nasedo�s motivations after all. But he felt like he was gradually putting the pieces together.

"Well, he already worked there, had since he left college. He had been undercover for a long time, on Nasedo�s orders. They were the ones who put him through law school actually. When Nasedo was impersonating Pierce, he set it up so that Jesse would take over for him when he left. Because, despite what we heard on C-SPAN, the government had no intention of completely ending the Unit. Not after all the proof they already had because of Max�s imprisonment."

"What about Nicholas?" It was the answer Max really wanted. Because if Jesse had any connection to that evil little troll, then there was no way he could ever trust him. "Do you know why he�s still alive?"

"I�m shocked he is, if he�s out in the open," Isabel admitted. "Jesse caught up with him after the summit in New York. Why do you think he completely disappeared? He was at the Special Unit. They figured out a way to keep him alive, in spite of the fact that his new skin was destroyed. But Jesse would have told me had he escaped. He knows he�s a danger to all of us."

"Did Nicholas talk?" Michael demanded. "Because he could have told them all about us."

"I don�t think so. I think he and Jesse understood each other. Jesse would keep him alive if he protected me. Plus, Khivar didn�t want me dead." Isabel glanced at Max guiltily. "Only Max."

"But that doesn�t answer the question of why Nicholas wants Ben dead," Max murmured, glancing at Michael, who shrugged.

"Because he�s your son of course," Isabel returned, sounding confused. "Max, he�s your heir. Of course he wants him dead."

Max blinked. He stared at Michael. "You didn�t tell her?"

"Er, no," Michael admitted. "It didn�t seem like the right time, being as we were fleeing for our lives and all. And then we had to deal with Liz�s crazy fianc�."

"Tell me what?" Isabel asked, annoyed. "If I�m being so honest with you, I expect the same courtesy Max."

"Chill, Isabel," Michael snapped. "You don�t have the right to give anyone orders right now. In spite of the fact that you didn�t think Max was coming back, your husband is still the one who told his bosses that you would turn over your own brother."

"Michael," Max cut in gently. "It�s okay. I understand why she did it."

"Well, she should have told me about all this years ago, Maxwell," Michael almost yelled. "I can�t believe that she kept a secret of this magnitude for so long. What am I anyway? I�m practically your brother, Isabel!"

"I was trying to protect you," Isabel whispered, her eyes filling with tears again.

"Bull!" Michael flared. "You were trying to protect your pansy-ass husband. That and your pretty little house and picket fence. I know you Isabel."

"Michael!" Maria gasped. "None of this is Jesse�s fault! He�s trying to help you."

"Well, then why doesn�t he really help us? If he�s half alien, then he should be with us. He�s got to have some sort of gift. And keeping Nicholas alive? Man, that�s just crazy."

"Jesse doesn�t have any gifts," Isabel shouted back. "And he�s been working his butt off for years trying to keep them away from us. You owe him your life, Michael!"

Michael just snorted and turned to storm out of the room. Maria shook her head in despair. "He thought that all of this was over," she told Max and Isabel helplessly. "He doesn�t know how to deal with it."

"It�s my fault." Max shook his head. "I never should have come back here."

"This is your home Max. It�s where you belong." Maria smiled sadly at him. "You had every right to come back. Things might be a little tense right now, but we�d rather have you here than not." She turned and followed Michael.

There was a long silence after she was gone. The only sound was Isabel�s sniffing as she tried to control her tears of sorrow and outrage.

"I�m sorry about all of this, Iz." Max finally turned, took in the shattered mess that his sister was slowly turning into. She had collapsed into a chair and looked absolutely devastated by Michael�s accusations.

"Why can�t he understand that I was trying to protect him?" she asked, tears welling up again.

Max sighed. "Do you understand that I was trying to protect you? By leaving you behind I mean?" He sat down across the table from her again.

Isabel blinked, but she replied honestly, "Intellectually, yes. But my heart still hurts."

"I know, Iz." He reached out and squeezed her hand lightly, before standing up again. "Come with me."

"Where are we going?" She asked quietly, although she stood quite willingly.

"I�m going to make your heart feel a little better," he replied, quirking a grin in her direction.

Max led the way to the bedroom, where Ben and Lexi were both curled up, sound asleep. Isabel stood quietly beside him, gazing down at the two blissfully unaware children.

"They�re in danger," she whispered, a hitch in her voice. "How is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"They�re who we really need to protect," Max murmured back. "It�s why we have to stop lying to each other, Isabel. Only telling half the truth means that the other half can be used as a weapon."

There was a long pause. "What do you need to tell me Max?" she finally asked. "I know there�s something."

Max swallowed. "There�s more than something. There are a lot of somethings, but I�m going to start with a good one. Or at least I think you�ll like it. "

"What?" Isabel brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ears, frowned slightly.

"Lexi isn�t Alex�s only legacy," Max replied. "We have more than just his name, Isabel. Because Ben is not my son."

"Is she okay?"

Max rubbed his eyes wearily as Maria came to join him on the roof of the secret exit from the dome. He eyed his sister, who stood about one hundred yards away, under the star-studded sky, her arms wrapped around her middle, simply staring off into the desert. "I think she will be. She�s still a bit shocked."

"Who hasn�t been in the last twenty-four hours?" Maria asked wryly. "But I feel for Isabel. It can�t be easy to hear that your first love fathered a child with someone else. Even if it wasn�t Alex�s fault." There was a pause. "I know that from previous best friend experience." Max knew that it was beyond Maria�s loyalty to Liz for her not to get that little dig in.

"I know." It was all he could say. "Because, you know, even if it didn�t look like it often, Izzy did love Alex. She ran from it for a long time. I don�t think she could quite deal with the fact that he was so willing to accept her. And when she finally could, she lost him."

"I don�t know what it is with you Czechoslovakians, thinking you�re so unworthy of being loved." Maria sighed, throwing her arm around his shoulders, letting him know that she wasn�t really trying to guilt-trip him. "You have totally sabotaged any chance at happiness you�ve ever had Max. I�m just glad that Michael has finally accepted that he�s not going to escape me�ever."

"I�m really happy for you Maria." Max sighed.

"You sure sound it." She pinched him lightly.

"Sorry." He quirked a grin in her direction. "I really am. I guess I�m just tired." And he was. Exhausted�body and soul. He had felt this way ever since Liz had left to go meet Dan. He was jittery and nervous, but bone-tired as well.

The news that Isabel�s husband was a card-carrying member of the Special Unit had not helped matters. Alien or not, Jesse was Nasedo�s son, who had not exactly turned out to the most loyal of protectors. Could they really trust him? And he still didn�t understand exactly what it was that held his sister and Jesse together. How had they dealt with all the lies that existed between them?

Because they seemed happy. More than happy. Blissful. He wistfully wondered what their secret was.

"And worried," Maria was guessing. "She is going to come back you know, Max."

"As soon as she works things out in her head," Max agreed. "Iz is strong. And she�s going to love Ben. He�s a lot like Alex. Or at least Liz thinks so. I never knew Alex as well as I should have," he admitted quietly.

"You�re right about that," Maria replied. "You didn�t. You guys might not have thought that you were worthy of love, but it really didn�t give you the right to throw it back in people�s faces, which you did�a lot." Max swallowed, knew that she was right. He opened his mouth to admit it, but Maria was still talking. "Because Alex didn�t just care about Isabel. He cared about all of you. But I wasn�t talking about Isabel. I was talking about Liz."

Max looked at her, surprised. "I know. She promised Ben," he told her. "She wouldn�t break a promise�especially not to him."

It was the one thing that Max knew above all others. That he could trust Liz Parker�with his life and with the life of his son. And not just because Ben was Alex�s. It was because of who she was. Her character would not allow it to happen.

"Max, what are you going to do if Liz decides that she�s marrying Dan?" Maria asked abruptly. "Because I really think that�s a possibility. She is totally freaked out. You make her feel totally out of control. And she�s gotten used to control again over the last few years."

Max was silent for a long time. When he spoke, it was tentatively.

He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to throw Liz over his shoulder and carry her off into the sunset. He was struggling against he urge to force her to accept what she already knew anyway. He was trying not to give in to the urge to kiss her, to make her see flashes, to make her remember why what they were together could not simply be ignored.

They belonged together. Neither of them would ever be as complete with anyone else as they would be with each other�as they were meant to be with each other.

But, the sheer irony of the whole situation was that, he had given up a throne for her in his last life. He was not a king, had to stop thinking like the worst medieval example of all he hated about the idea of monarchy.

It was supremely ironic that in both lifetimes he had not wanted to be a king, was against the principle of it, and, yet, he had never stopped acting like one. He could not seem to fix that aspect of his character, as much as he wanted to. Being treated as the be all and end all on Antar had not helped this side of his personality either. In fact, in some ways, it had made it worse.

He wondered if he would have been able to avoid this character flaw had he never known about his destiny. But he doubted it. He could remember instances long before Tess had come to town where he had tried to control events, had tried to make them turn out the way he wanted them to. The time that Isabel had wanted to tell their parents in their sophomore year sprang to mind. Liz had called him controlling then, and she had been right. Thinking that he could take a step back from Liz after their first date and, yet, somehow still bind her to him, that he should expect her to not move on, had been another example.

It had only been when he had completely lost control that he and Liz had reached the best moments of their relationship. When he had been drunk the night of the Blind Date concert. When he and Liz had been under the power of the orb a few weeks after that.

Was there no middle ground for them? Could they not build a healthy relationship, one that would flourish and nourish the souls of them both?

"I don�t know," he told Maria honestly. "At first, I just wanted to let her be with him, if that�s what she wanted. And then I told her that I wasn�t going to let her waste her life on someone she didn�t love." He raked his hands through his hair in frustration. "Everything I do is wrong. All I really want is for Liz to be happy." He shook his head. "And I just can�t let go of the fantasy that she can�t be happy unless we�re together."

"This is a veritable mess, isn�t it?" Maria sighed. "But I do think you have done one thing right Max. You have to know that you could have used Ben to get to Liz. But, as far as I can see, you haven�t done that."

"I would never do that!" Max exclaimed, truly horrified.

"I know you wouldn�t," Maria replied affectionately. "And Lizzie knows it too. I told you before and I�m going to repeat it. You need to give her time. It might be years Max. But you have to do it." She shrugged. "Maybe I�m just a hopeless romantic, but I believe in happy endings, and I do agree with you. The only happy ending I can really see for Liz is with you."

Max grimaced. "It would be nice if she had her happy ending sometime," he muttered, thinking about Kadi and all she had sacrificed. He could see that Isabel was coming towards them, her arms still wrapped tightly around her middle, like she was desperately trying to hold in all the emotion that was longing to spill out of her.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Maria asked. "You guys have probably had about enough of each other for the night. That was some heavy stuff she dumped on you in there."

Max frowned, watched his sister approach. "How�s Michael?" he asked, not denying what Maria had said. He didn�t blame Isabel for doing what she had done�agreeing to turn him in. She had had little choice, but he couldn�t help but wonder if her anger at him over his departure had not played a larger role in her decision than she was letting on. She said that hadn�t believed he was ever coming back� but, if that was true, why had she held on to her anger for so long? Why hadn�t she just let it go?

No. His sister had known that there was going to be a reckoning in their relationship at some point. It had been brewing ever since he had first healed Liz.

It had been brewing for two lifetimes.

But he did not have the strength to deal with it at three o�clock in the morning.

"He�s okay," Maria was saying. "He grabbed a sleeping bag and is trying to get some sleep. I think he�s just trying to avoid how mad he is at Isabel. He never gave up on you Max. He always knew deep down that you�d be back, wouldn�t listen to a single negative word about you. It was one of our major problems," she admitted with a grin, nudging him. "Because I can�t say that a few not-so-flattering mentions of your name didn�t pass these lips."

Max grinned despite himself. "I don�t blame you, Maria. You�re a good friend. I was a screw up."

"That�s right, buddy. I wasn�t just pissed off for Liz�s sake, you know. I was mad at you for messing up your own life so completely." She shook her head. "What were you thinking? Tess? Why?"

Max looked away, could not meet her eyes. "You�d be surprised about that I think," he replied quietly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Maria demanded.

Max just shrugged. Isabel had paused, seemed unsure how to approach them. "Go talk to Izzy," he suggested. "My past mistakes will be dragged out many more times in the coming days, I�m sure."

Maria scowled at him. "I don�t think so bucko�" But she was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Or, rather, by the playing of the instrumental of one of Maria�s major hits that Michael had played for Max when he had first gotten back to Earth. "Saved by the annoying little ditty." She wagged her finger at him as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Don�t look at me like that!" she whispered, putting her hand over the mouthpiece. "It sucks. I know it! The price one pays for fame."

He rolled his eyes. It looked like he was going to have to be the one to speak to Isabel, although he couldn�t figure out who would be calling Maria in the middle of the night.

Unless it was Liz. He glanced at Maria expectantly, but she had started to wander away, was speaking in a low tone into her phone, making it impossible for him to figure out who she was talking to.

But Isabel did not seem to want to discuss Ben at all. When he moved over to join her, his sister spoke to him distantly, "I think someone�s coming, Max."

His heart instantly skipped a beat. "Nicholas?" he demanded. Isabel had always had a strange connection to the little troll. Maybe she was feeling his presence in the near vicinity?

"No, it�s not an enemy." Isabel shrugged. "But, whoever it is, they�re not happy."

Max felt his pulse speed up in excitement. Could Liz be coming back so soon? If she was upset, was it because she had hurt Dan or because she was not pleased to be returning to anywhere near him, Max?

It seemed that his question was about to be answered though. He could see headlights bouncing across the desert far to the west, coming up to Atherton�s house from the direction of the highway.

As the vehicle drew closer, he could see that it was Kyle�s truck.

But he knew almost instantly that Liz wasn�t with him. If she had been, her presence would have called to him, as it had ever since he had first laid eyes on her again.

Something had gone wrong.

He knew it instinctively.

And so he almost attacked Kyle when the deputy finally pulled to a stop beside the other two cars. "What happened? Where�s Liz?" he demanded, barely refraining from grabbing Kyle by the lapels of his jacket in demand of an explanation of why he had returned without Liz.

Max could feel Isabel moving up behind him, could still hear Maria�s voice rising and falling softly off further away, as she continued to speak into her phone.

Kyle had pulled his hat off his head, was mangling it in his hands. He refused to meet Max�s eyes. "Listen, Max�"

"Kyle, what�s wrong?" Max forced his voice to an even pitch, refused to reveal how worried he was.

Liz had promised that she would be back. If she wasn�t back with Kyle, then something had to have happened.

She had promised Ben. She would never break a promise to his son. He knew it.

Hell, even if she was still ticked off at him, she wouldn�t break a promise to him either. She never had.

And that�s what her words to him had been before she had left. A promise that she would return to finish whatever it was that had sprung up between them again, angry or not.

I will be back.

The words filtered through his brain, reinforcing the belief in the pit of his stomach.

"I don� t know what to tell you." Kyle was shaking his head. "She�s going back to Roswell with Dan. She decided that all of this�" He waved his hand towards the dome, grimacing, "�was just too much for her. Her wedding is in just over a day. You�ve got to give her a break man."

Max exchanged a look with Isabel, looking for support that something was not right here.

His sister raised an eyebrow at him. "She loves him, Max," she said simply, brutally. "You�ve got to accept that."

Maria had joined them, stood quietly to the side, her phone still clasped in her hand.

"Was that Liz?" he asked, almost desperately. He knew he sounded pretty pathetic actually. But he also knew that he was right.

Something was seriously off with this entire situation.

Maria smiled at him sympathetically. "Yeah. She�s just on her way to bed. She and Dan are heading back to Roswell in the morning. She was just checking in to make sure that Kyle made it back safely."

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks.

If she wasn�t coming back, then she had lied. She had not only lied to him, she had lied to Ben.

She had lied to his son.

A flash of rage wound through him. It was so intense, he had to clench his fists.

But within seconds, his certainty returned, more secure than ever.

Because Liz Parker did not lie. Not the Liz Parker he knew.

Well, that was not entirely true. She <>had lied. She had once told him that she didn�t want to die for him�and then she had thrown away their entire future to save his. All because he had asked her to.

She had lied then.

But only because she had had no choice.

And he knew that it had to be the case this time too. "Something�s happened," he told Kyle evenly. "Tell me."

Kyle scratched his chin, stared hard at Max, exchanged a look with Maria, then broke. "Jeez. I told her this wasn�t going to work."

"What isn�t going to work?" Max asked impatiently.

But Kyle shook his head. "I can�t tell you. I promised her. She�s my first priority."

Max swallowed, tried not to kick something in frustration. He scowled instead, held out his hand to Maria. "Maria, can I please have your phone?"

"Max�"

"Please."

"Why don�t you wait until morning?" Isabel suggested. "Maybe you�ll be a bit calmer then Max. I don� t think it�s a good idea for you to talk to Liz right now."

"I know that she�s doing this for a reason," Max replied, trying to sound patient. "Liz would not lie to Ben." He raised an eyebrow at Maria. "She promised him she�d be back, so something has to have happened. Something that means that she has to break her promise. If you won�t tell me, then I�ll just ask her myself. "

"You might as well give it to him." Isabel rolled her eyes. "He�ll just go get his own phone."

Maria hesitated for one more second, then crumbled, handing him the phone.

Max hit the button which displayed the menu, found Liz�s name easily, and hit enter.

He started to pace impatiently, waiting for her to pick up.

It seemed to take forever. He heard at least seven rings, growled in annoyance when the voice-mail kicked in.

Max thrust the phone back at Maria. "She�s not answering. You just talked to her five minutes ago! Where is she?"

"Jeez Evans. Calm down. She probably just turned her phone off for the night," Kyle interjected.

"Something�s wrong here," Max repeated, for what felt like the millionth time. "I need to know what it is."

"I can�t tell you," Kyle insisted.

"Maria?" Max turned to her again.

"Max, I really don�t know what it is," Maria admitted. "She just told me she wouldn�t be coming back and that I had to try and explain it to Ben."

With every instant though, Max could feel his anxiety rising. He clenched and unclenched his fists, briefly closed his eyes. His heart was racing now, but in a way that went beyond how worried and upset he was.

"Something�s not right. It�s all wrong," he muttered, pacing back and forth again.

"Max?" He could hear the concern in Isabel�s voice, could feel Maria grabbing his arm, trying to make him stop.

But they couldn�t stop him. He couldn�t stop himself. He could feel consciousness disappearing, felt himself drifting away from them.

His last coherent thought was a name.

Kadi.

The planet he was giving up for her.

But he was gone. The curtains hanging around the bed were beginning to whip around her, the cross breeze from the open door of her chamber beginning to pick up.

Kadiya clambered off the bed, wrapped a robe around her slight body, shivered as she hurried to the door, slamming it shut.

Something was wrong. She knew it. Zan would never just leave, not after what they had decided together only hours before.

And then she saw it. It sat right in the middle of where his head had been resting when she had gone to sleep in his arms.

It was the royal seal, the symbol of his family, the ring he used to mark all declarations and documents with his approval.

It was a ring that she had seen a thousand times, so often that she hardly noticed it on his hand anymore, such an integral part of who he was.

But, sitting there, waiting for her, it looked different somehow.

He had changed it. She didn�t even need to touch it to know it was true.

She managed to stumble back to the bed, picked up the ring, held it so that the moonlight shining through the open window struck it at such an angle that it set the jewel embedded deep within the seal shining with a light unlike any she had ever seen. The insignia of the whirlwind galaxy, the device of his House, seemed to come alive as her eyes lit upon it.

Where once it had been heavy, kingly, now it was small, delicate, meant for one hand alone.

Hers.

She slid it onto her finger, her heart beating so fast, she thought she might pass out from the intensity of it. She knew that by putting this ring onto her finger, she was taking the final, irrevocable step.

She was actually going to let him give up his throne for her.

She could almost hear him whispering in her ear as the thought crossed her mind. I give up nothing. I am gaining everything and all I have ever wanted.

She smiled slightly, the love she felt for him swelling within her breast.

So lost in reverie was she, the pounding on the door to her chamber made her jump. She almost dropped the ring. Swallowing in horror, she hurried to her dressing table, gently opened the secret compartment underneath. She placed the precious gift upon the secret journal she had kept since the day she had first met Zan.

She would not wear the ring permanently until he could place it on her finger.

She threw off her robe, quickly pulled on the closest garment she could find, the light colored gown she had worn the day before at the wedding of Zan and Ava � the wedding she had been sure had ended all of her dreams.

How wrong she had been.

Composed, she moved to the door after the second impatient knock. "Open this door!" A deep voice commanded from the other side. "I know you are in there. The king has sent me to find you."

Kadi frowned. She recognized the voice, could not place it immediately.

It wasn�t until she opened the door, that she realized the true state of danger in which she found herself.

Khivar, Zan�s greatest nemesis, stood upon the threshold staring in at her. His dark, cold eyes raked over her, instantly making her feel dirty, worse than her mistress ever had with all her evil, hateful words.

He was openly mocking when he grabbed her by the wrist, "So perhaps I was not sent." He grinned at her, his handsome face belying the malice she could see easily. "Well, whore. You finally managed to be Zan�s undoing."

"What are you talking about?" She raised her chin, wrenched away from him. "Keep your hands off of me."

"He is dead, you stupid girl." Khivar�s eyes glittered. "And I have come to thank you for bringing down his House more quickly than I ever could have."

Kadiya knew he was lying. She refused to let any momentary doubt even cross her face.

She knew that Zan lived with a certainty that appeared to unnerve Khivar. "I would feel it if he were dead." She knew that she looked haughty, didn�t care.

Khivar rolled his eyes. "Well, he will be dead soon enough," he amended testily, striding past her and into the chamber proper. "Where is it?" he demanded.

"Where is what?"

"The Royal Seal, wench. It is no longer on his finger. He must have given it to you."

Kadiya felt her heart skip a beat. "You are mistaken," she replied. "Why would he give something of such importance to me?"

Khivar rounded upon her again, grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "I want it, Kadiya. Give it to me!"

"I will not play this game with you, Khivar." Kadiya wrenched away from him again. She had known him since they were both children, knew that he was more of a bully than anything. He would never actually harm her, would never have the nerve to go quite so far. "Zan will kill you if he finds you here."

"Zan is dead," Khivar repeated, a half-smile appearing on his face. "He cannot protect you anymore whore."

"I do not believe you," Kadi said, although she felt a tremor pass through her. Moments ago, she had been certain, absolutely knew without question, that he was fine. But something had changed� something was different.

She could feel it in the air, in her heart, in her soul�

In the next instant, she was out the door of her chamber and running. She could hear Khivar on her heels, could not believe that she was outpacing him.

But she had to get to Zan. She knew that he was calling for her.

She paused in the central courtyard of the great palace, frantically looked around. Where was he? Where had they taken him?

It was then that she saw the body.

Her hands flew to her mouth, she felt her legs giving out on her as bile rose.

Princess Vilandra lay sprawled on the polished stones of the courtyard, her beautiful face a mask of grief and despair. There was no question that she had died a horrible and painful death.

No wonder she had felt the spasm of grief from Zan. His beloved sister had been cut down in a way that even common criminals did not suffer on Antar.

"It was a shame." Khivar�s voice was strained. He was still panting, having had to exert himself to catch up to her. "She could have been my queen, but she chose to defend her brother in the end, even though she hated him because of you."

Kadi whirled upon him. "What have you done?" she whispered, shaking her head in absolute horror. "Where is Zan?"

Khivar raised an eyebrow, turned his head, stared in the direction of the palace gardens.

And she was running again, determined to find him, comfort him, protect him from the evil that seemed to have come from nowhere to infect his House.

She heard Khivar calling after her. "Remember Kadiya! I have done nothing! He did it all� for the love of you."

Her heart screamed. Because she knew he was right.

And yet, she had to find him, had to help repair the damage their union had caused.

But as she entered the garden, called out his name desperately, she knew that it was too late.

Liz awoke gasping.

She sat up, brought her face down into her hands as she took deep breaths, trying to get a grip on her racing heart.

The motel room was still completely dark. She could hear Dan snoring softly beside her.

Everything seemed perfectly normal. Too normal.

Because Liz knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that something was wrong with Max.

She had dreamt it. It was completely ridiculous but she knew it was true.

Liz switched on the lamp beside the bed, glanced sharply at Dan, but he only stirred slightly, turned over onto his side, away from the light.

It was only then that she realized that the ring Max had put in her pocket earlier that evening had somehow made its way from the bottom of her purse to, absurdly, her finger.

She stared at it, a frown creasing her forehead.

If she had only suspected that Max was driving her crazy before, she now knew it for certain. Not only was she having dreams about him constantly, she was apparently sleepwalking as well.

And, yet, she knew that her dream had not been lying to her. There was something wrong with Max�or at least there had been moments ago.

She picked up her watch, which sat on the bedside table, blinked in disbelief.

How could it have only been fifteen minutes since she had spoken to Maria on the phone?

Her heart began thumping irregularly again, her breathing becoming more shallow.

For the first time, she was truly frightened. Maybe she was really losing it. Had her torn feelings about Max and her worries over Dan finally pushed her over the edge?

Liz stumbled off the bed, grabbed the cell phone that still sat on the bedside table and locked herself in the bathroom, all without waking Dan, although with the graceless way she managed the feat, stubbing her toe twice and almost completely bailing on her own purse at one point, she wasn�t quite sure why he hadn�t woken.

With shaking hands, Liz managed to call Maria�s cell phone, only having to redial twice.

Her best friend picked up on the second ring.

Feeling that this was no time for pleasantries, Liz practically screeched into the phone. "What happened? Is he all right?"

"Liz?" Maria sounded amused. "Is that you?"

"Maria!!!"

"Sorry, sorry," Maria soothed, still clearly not at all upset. "It appears that his Highness has been expecting your call." And then Liz could hear fumbling in the background. She jumped slightly at a loud crash and then Maria was yelling, "Max! Okay! I�ll give you the phone, but sit down you big alien dummy! I really don�t feel like picking you up again. You might be skinny but you weigh about a ton."

Liz shook her head in befuddlement, but actually felt her heart begin to beat normally the minute she heard Max�s voice. "Liz?"

"Max, what happened?"

"Did you see it too?" Max sounded excited.

"See what? Max, I know something happened to you. What was it? Is Nicholas there?"

"No, no." There was a long pause. "Er � it�s a little embarrassing, Liz."

"Max!"

"Okay." He paused again. "I passed out."

"What? Why?"

"Well, it seems, what with everything that�s been going on�"

"He forgot to eat, the big moron!!" Maria�s voice filtered past Max�s and straight into Liz�s ear. She held the phone away, blinked.

"Thank you, Maria." Liz could almost hear Max rolling his eyes. "I haven�t eaten in a while," Max explained, sounding completely humiliated again. "Well, until Maria practically force-fed me a few minutes ago," he added wryly. "Forgot how much energy this atmosphere eats up. I got my nutrients other ways on Antar."

Liz just shook her head. "What? You passed out because you haven�t eaten?" There was no way that that was all there was to it. "Max, I dreamt that you were dying!"

"So you did see it," Max replied, sounding pleased.

Liz frowned again. "Max, I didn�t see anything! I just woke up completely sure that there was something wrong with you."

"There is something wrong with me," Max retorted. "But that�s not what I�m talking about. Are you sure you don�t remember anything else? From the dream, I mean?"

"Max." Liz was trying for patience, but she was exhausted and was nearing the end of her rope. It was almost absurdly irritating to know that she was still so attached to Max, she dreamt he was dying when he simply wasn�t eating three square meals a day.

He sighed. "Okay, I give up. Never mind." There was a long, awkward pause. "Liz, Kyle said you aren�t coming back."

She felt her heart climbing into her throat. She hadn�t realized that she was going to have to try and explain herself to him so soon, had been sure that she wouldn�t see him again until she and Dan were safely married.

But she had had no control over her actions when she had awoken. She had been completely panicked, sure that Max was dead, or was close to it at least. She had acted without thinking by calling them�and now she had to deal with her lie straight up.

"No," she managed to choke out. "I�m sorry, Max, but being back with Dan�"

"Liz, don�t try that bull with me," Max snapped. "I know that something�s wrong. What is it?"

"What do you mean?" she asked evasively, wrinkling her nose, annoyed that Max apparently didn�t buy her story.

"Liz, I know that you don�t lie, unless there is a really good reason," Max replied simply. "You told Ben that you�d be back. You changed your mind, which means that something made you change it. And I want to know what it is."

"What if I told you that you don�t know me at all anymore?" Liz could feel anger beginning to run through her veins. "I�ve decided that I love my fianc� and I don�t want to be around you anymore. Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

She couldn�t even protect him without him trying to interfere. Why couldn�t he just leave her alone, let her do this? Why couldn�t he just let her be miserable in peace?

There was another long pause. "Liz, I have to know what to tell Ben," Max finally told her quietly. She could hear the hurt in his voice, refused to allow it to affect her.

So if it wasn�t affecting her, then why were tears threatening to spill at any moment? "Max�"

"Liz, please just tell me."

And suddenly she just couldn�t take it anymore. "He knows Max. He knows that truth about you." The words were out before she could even comprehend what she was doing. She gasped in horror, brought her face down into her knees, the phone still clutched tightly against her ear.

When had she ended up on the bathroom floor? she wondered inanely. There was nothing between the cold tile floor and her bottom except for a thin pair of panties.

She blushed scarlet when she realized that she wanted to know what Max would think if he had that piece of information.

What kind of crazy person was she, thinking things like this when she had just told her soul mate that her fianc� knew that he was an alien?

"Max?" she whispered into the dead silence to which she had been treated since she had made her pronouncement.

"It�s okay, Liz," Max finally managed to say. He sounded incredibly weary to Liz�s knowing ears.

Had she forgotten any of the nuances of his voice while he had been gone? She didn�t think so. Each one was as familiar to her as any of her own.

"Max, what are you going to do?" she asked, unsure what to even say to him.

"I�m not going to do anything," Max told her. "Bring him here Liz."

"What? Max�"

"Liz, do you trust him? You�re engaged to marry the guy, so I assume you trust him?"

Three days ago she would have replied yes without hesitation. Now she just sighed, "I don� t know."

But her heart was screaming. No! I don�t trust him with you, Max! Not with Ben! I can�t risk it!

"Well, I guess we�re about to find out if Dan Riley really deserves you, Liz," Max replied firmly. "Bring him here."

"Please tell me that I am hearing things." Michael�s voice was too quiet. It made Max grimace. He saw Maria flinch at it too.

"I can�t," Max replied, shrugging. "Liz is on her way here with Dan. I just spoke to her a few minutes ago."

It was a lie, of course. He had spoken to Liz a few hours ago now. After finally convincing her that he was serious, that she should bring Dan to Atherton�s, she had agreed that they would drive out first thing in the morning with Kyle. By that time, everyone else had managed to find somewhere to pass out in exhaustion�Michael in his sleeping bag on the floor, Isabel and Maria in the bed with the two kids.

Max had been bone tired�too tired to deal with the repercussions of what was about to happen at three-thirty in the morning. And so, he simply hadn�t. He had crashed on the other sleeping bag, having absolutely no trouble falling asleep.

Because he wasn�t worried. Not at all. It had to be done. Dan had to be dealt with. There was no choice now. And he was happy about it. Really and truly happy.

He had been more than aware that Michael and Isabel were going to be the complete opposite of happy, and so he had simply chosen not to tell them right away.

No good in them worrying about what couldn�t be helped. There was no point in that at all.

"And why did you decide that it was a good idea to bring Liz�s psycho fianc� back into the picture?" Michael was asking now, so clearly trying to hold onto his temper that Ben, who was sitting on a blanket on the floor playing with Lexi, looked up at him with interest.

"Michael, did you know your face is turning all red?"

"Maria, do you think�" Max gestured in the direction of the two kids, indicating that she should take them outside. Maria frowned slightly, but nodded, went to pick up Lexi and grabbed Ben by the hand, hauling him to his feet.

Ben�s face fell in annoyance. "I always have to leave just when things start to get interesting!" he complained. "And I don�t get why everyone yells at my dad here. First Liz� and now Michael. Because you�re about to start yelling, aren�t you?"

Isabel, who was leaning against the wall, her arms folded in front of her, managed to unbend slightly in order to smile at her nephew. "It�s not you, honey. We need you to help Maria look after Lexi. And no one�s going to yell at your dad." The look she was sending in Max�s direction told him that this last statement was not true though.

Ben sighed. "Okay." He followed Maria out of the room, looking more glum than Max had seen him. Max frowned slightly, shook his head in concern. His son had still not bounced back from Liz�s departure. He missed her and Max had not failed to notice the fact that Ben had been holding back tears when he had woken up this morning to discover that she still wasn�t back.

It was another reason why Dan had to be dealt with. Liz was going to be a part of Ben�s life if it was the last thing Max ever did. Both Ben and Liz wanted it and Max was going to make it happen, come hell or high water.

"Okay, are you going to try and explain this, Max?" Isabel asked wearily. His sister appeared to have woken up even more tired than she had gone to sleep. Max knew that she was beginning to worry about her husband now. The fact that they hadn�t heard one word from Jesse did not bode well that he was managing to straighten things out at the Special Unit.

"Of course," Max replied, smiling slightly at his sister. She didn�t smile back. He sighed. Apparently for every step forward he seemed to make with Isabel, he took two back. He was trying not to be impatient with her anger at him, but he had left her only because he wanted to protect her. She might not believe it, but it was the truth. And after all he had learned about Vilandra, about how she had been bewitched by Khivar, and about how she had died, he would never regret it.

"Listen to me, you guys. This is going to be hard for you to hear, but you have to know."

"Maxwell, just tell us." Michael ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Okay, Dan knows the truth."

There was a long moment of silence. And then pandemonium broke.

"What!" Michael yelled. "Liz told him?"

"Oh my God� Oh my God�" Isabel began to murmur. She backed up against the wall again, slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, a shell-shocked expression on her face.

"Liz didn�t tell him," Max interjected.

But neither of them appeared to hear this.

Michael had crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, so you�re bringing him here so that we can kill him. Good plan, Maxwell." He sounded resigned, but perfectly willing to do it.

Isabel looked sad, but she nodded. "I guess we have no choice." An expression of anger crossed her face. "I am not going to let anyone put my daughter in danger. If it means we have to kill him, we do it."

"We�re not going to kill him," Max exclaimed. "We�re going to tell him the truth."

This managed to shock them both into silence again.

"Max, you don�t have the right to make this decision." Isabel finally managed to screech, sounding like she was about to lose control. "We all have to agree!"

Michael, surprisingly, didn�t erupt this time. Instead he was staring at Max, a puzzled expression on his face, like Max was some gigantic enigma he didn�t understand. "Can I please just ask why you think telling Dan the truth is the answer?"

Max looked at him gratefully, because he actually sounded like he was willing to listen. Isabel was glaring, but she suddenly appeared willing to hear his explanation as well, even if only to shoot it down. So some things had changed while he�d been gone. It used to be the other way around. He hid a smile with little success.

"It�s really very simple," Max told them quietly. "I trust Liz."

"Er�we know that, Max. That doesn�t answer the question though." Michael rolled his eyes. "Trusting Liz has nothing to do with trusting Dan."

"Yes, it does," Max argued. "Can you honestly tell me that Liz would ever agree to marry someone that, deep down, she didn�t completely trust? In my opinion, Liz�s judgment is dead on target. She told Maria, she told Valenti. And you can�t tell me that our lives weren�t made better because she did." He looked at Isabel pointedly. "She told Alex."

"And he died because he knew," Isabel shot back.

Max felt a lump enter his throat. "Yes, but I don�t think he would have chosen not to know either." Max smiled sadly at his sister. "Izzy, he loved you. And if Alex never found out, we wouldn�t have Ben."

"But he�d still be alive!" Isabel�s dark eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Max, please don�t try and take away my guilt about that. It�s all I have left of him."

"It�s not all you have left." Max moved forward, gently pulled his sister to her feet and into his arms. He was actually a little shocked that she allowed it, but she was slowly crumbling right before his eyes. He had to help her. "His son is right here. You can make it up to Ben. It would be what Alex wanted."

He wasn�t even sure if Isabel heard him though. She was sobbing against his chest, as though her heart was breaking. "God� how can he be his son? It just makes it worse, Max! What Tess did to him�"

"Ben is nothing like Tess, Isabel," Max told her firmly. "He is all Alex�s. And it�s our job to make sure that he stays that way."

Michael cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I�m sorry, guys." And he truly sounded it. "But we don�t really have time for this right now. Because how Ben turns out isn�t exactly going to be an issue if Dan Riley manages to get him killed."

Isabel stepped away from Max, her expression stony again. "I know. I�m sorry."

Max felt a pang of disappointment. He had obviously not convinced his sister at all. He managed to focus on Michael though as his friend continued. "Trusting Liz really doesn�t seem like a good enough reason to me Maxwell."

Max narrowed his eyes. "Let me just ask you something. Both of you." He looked at Isabel as well. "Before you knew I was back, before whatever sense of loyalty you still have to me made you change your minds�" He grimaced. "Well, and Dan�s actions over the past twenty-four hours haven�t really helped his case much either," he admitted. "But that doesn�t really matter. My point is this� Before you knew that I was back, you were willing to accept Dan. You even liked him."

"I liked him, Max, but I wasn�t about to go broadcasting my secret to him!" Isabel exclaimed.

"I never liked him," Michael added militantly.

"Michael!" Max shook his head in exasperation. "You told me you liked him!"

Michael scowled. "I lied."

"Fine." Max rolled his eyes. "You lied. But the point is, Liz has never steered us wrong. I trust her completely. And if she trusts Dan enough to marry him, then he deserves to know the truth. Because Liz is going to be a part of Ben�s life, and I don�t think that�s even possible unless we let Dan in on the secret."

"Why have you suddenly accepted the idea that Liz is going to marry Dan?" Isabel asked suspiciously. "I was getting the impression from Maria in the car that you weren�t exactly making Liz�s life easy over that."

Max looked away for a moment. It was going to be difficult trying to put his muddled thoughts on this subject in order, because he wasn�t even too sure himself, but he had to do it.

He spoke seriously. "Here�s the thing. I love Liz. We all know it. I�m never going to want to be with anyone else. But I also love my son. And he needs her." He paused. Isabel and Michael were both listening closely to what he was saying, like suddenly they wanted to be convinced. "If I don�t leave her alone, she�s going to shut herself off from me, and I cannot do that to my son. Because I know Liz. She would never try and take Ben away from me and so, if she shuts me out, she�s going to be shutting him out too. She wouldn�t want to, but she�d have to."

"Why Max?" Isabel asked, shaking her head, clearly not understanding.

"She doesn�t trust me, Isabel." Max smiled sadly. "I understand that now. I can�t force her to either. She either does or she doesn�t. So I don�t have any chance at all. But she did trust Dan before I came back and screwed everything up for her."

Michael was still frowning. "But Maxwell, telling him our secret�.?"

"Liz wants Dan. And no relationship can truly work if there are secrets." Max shrugged. "I owe it to Liz to let her have a completely honest relationship with her husband. It�s the least I can do. Because I�m the only secret she has."

Of course, he was basically shooting himself in the foot here, because if he started added up all the secrets he was keeping from Isabel and Michael, not to mention Liz, his head would start spinning. And if they knew, they would kill him.

It wasn�t as though he wanted to keep them though. He was protecting Isabel and Michael from what had happened to them on Antar. Knowing would not serve any purpose for them.

And, as for Liz, she had made her choice. Whatever he told her now about Kadi wasn�t going to change things. In fact, it would be unfair, because he would be using what they had once been to each other to try and bind her to him. If she didn�t trust him without knowing, it wasn�t fair to use their past lives as a way to hold on to her.

Because, in the end, if Liz didn�t trust him, then he didn�t want to be with her. Any sort of relationship between them, without trust, would simply be a shadow of what he really wanted.

"But Max, what about us?" Isabel whispered.

"I�m not planning to tell him about you guys," Max told her.

"I�m your sister! He�ll suspect me for sure!" Isabel retorted. "I don�t even understand how he found out anyway. You said Liz didn�t tell him?"

"Apparently he listened in on a baby monitor or something?" Max sighed, remembering what Liz had told him before they had hung up.

"And this is the guy you�re willing to trust?" Michael demanded, his spine straightening again. "He�s a spy!"

"People do crazy things when they think they�re losing someone," Max replied wryly. "You can�t tell me that either of you wouldn�t have done the same, if you thought there was something weird going on with Jesse or Maria?"

"I just don�t know if this is a good idea Max." Isabel shook her head. "Maybe Jesse could do something about him�" She trailed off as her husband crossed her mind. She looked worried again, but quickly tried to suppress it.

"Well, I actually thought that might be a good idea," Max agreed. "He is a molecular biologist. Maybe Jesse can find something for him to do at the Special Unit. That way Dan and Liz could stay in New Mexico. And it wouldn�t hurt for us to have someone else in there on our side."

"You�re that convinced that Dan�s okay?" Michael sounded amazed. He was peering at Max suspiciously. "Who are you? You hate him!"

Max grinned, despite himself. "Of course I hate him. He�s marrying Liz. I used to hate Kyle, too. But that doesn�t mean I don�t think we can trust him." He sighed. "He�s made Liz happy. He can�t be all bad."

"This is all just too weird for me." Michael threw his hands up in the air. "I give up! Do whatever you want. But if he even shows any little sign of screwing us over, he�s dead." He glared at Max. "Do you understand me, Maxwell?"

Max frowned at him. "Michael, I am telling you, don�t throw that threat around lightly."

"I�ve killed before," Michael shot back. "I will do it again. If it�s between him and us, I choose us." He looked at Isabel for approval, but she turned away, clearly still undecided.

"Michael, you killed an evil person in circumstances where you had no choice. Dan is not evil," Max explained patiently. "There is a very large difference."

"I don�t see one," Michael retorted.

"Please just trust me on this," Max pleaded.

It was only then that he realized that Isabel was staring at him. "Max, what did you do on Antar?" she whispered, sounding scared.

"A lot of things I�m not proud of," Max replied shortly. "But I never did any of them without thinking about the consequences first."

It was true. He had killed Tess and Khivar without remorse, but he had understood beforehand that he had had no choice. He knew that he was taking away Ben�s mother and the only person he had had ever known as a father, but he had had to believe that it was truly the best thing for the child. Being with them would have been worse than being without them.

He could not deny that old-fashioned revenge had played a large part in it as well. And it was only because he could recognize this fact, that he had wanted to kill them, that he was able to forgive himself at all for doing it.

He could not say the same for all the hundreds of other beings that had perished because of him.

He did not want Isabel and Michael ever to have to bear that burden. Ever.

Michael and Isabel were looking at each other. They seemed to come to some sort of silent agreement, because Isabel appeared to speak for them both when she finally nodded. "Fine. We�ll play this your way. But we can�t tell you that we�re not going to step in if we have to."

It was the best he was going to get. "Thank you."

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Michael asked.

"I think you should go tell Maria what�s going on," Max suggested. "And, as for me, I�m going to spend some time with my son."

Because, as much as Max truly believed that telling Dan the truth was the only way to save this situation, he still was not going to waste a moment with Ben. Dan wasn�t the only threat after all and he certainly wasn�t the most dangerous. He was only the most immediate one.

"We�re almost there now." Liz spoke cheerfully, but her heart was thundering in her chest as Dan pulled his rental car off the highway and onto the long gravel road that led to Atherton�s dome. "Thanks again for agreeing to do this, honey."

"I know how much Alex meant to you," Dan grumbled from beside her. "And I can�t have you worrying during the wedding. If seeing Ben again is going to make you happy, then that�s what we�re going to do."

Liz reached out, picked up his hand and squeezed it. "I am so sorry about all of this." And she was, although she was not as sorry as she was worried.

She knew that Max had absolutely no intention of killing Dan. He had told her as much on the phone, and even if he hadn�t, despite what he had told her about what he had done on Antar, she had somehow known that Max would never do such a thing.

And so, the only logical reason Max could have for wanting to see Dan was to tell him the truth.

Liz had not been able to understand what Max�s reasoning was for doing so, but she knew that she had not been happy about it. She truly had not believed that Dan was going to be able to handle it.

But Liz had awoken that morning with a new clarity.

Dan had not seemed as shocked as he should have been when he told you what he suspected, a small voice in the back of her head had reminded her. Your fianc� is a scientist. He will accept what can be proven to him. And Max will be able to more than do so.

No, she had realized that she had been afraid of telling him the truth for another reason entirely.

What Liz was more afraid of was that he wasn�t going to be able to accept Max. Because, the more she thought about it, the reason Dan had been so upset about his suspicions regarding Max�s otherworldly origins had not been because Max was an alien. In fact, he had been pretty straightforward about that.

No, what Dan had been worried about was that he had felt that what Max was put Liz in danger.

It did not bode well. Because Dan had no loyalty to Max or to Ben. She was the only person he cared about. She was the only one he wanted to keep safe. And if keeping her safe meant turning Max and Ben in, Liz did not doubt that he would do it. Her dad egging him on behind the scenes had not helped matters either, because her dad had always felt exactly the same way.

She came first with them. Because her own safety did not come first with herself, she appeared to have a little difficulty accepting it from anyone else. But she knew it was true, felt horrible that she had tried to convince herself otherwise.

She was more than a little ashamed of herself that she had originally tried to convince herself that Dan would betray them because of his career. She knew that his career was important to him, but she also knew that she was even more important to him. She had tried to deny it for the last few days, because of the upheaval Max�s return had inspired within her, but she could not ignore it any longer.

She had been looking for an excuse to make Dan less worthy of her love, to make Max more so. Because it was Max she wanted to be with, deep down, and if Dan was a jerk, well, then she had every right to turn away from him.

But, the thing was, he wasn�t a jerk. He was a great guy. She had been very happy with him.

She knew though that it had never been the same as it had been with Max. She had felt safe and secure, but she had never felt alive.

Dan loved her though. She knew it. And if she followed her heart in the direction she was beginning to suspect she was going to be unable to resist doing, she was going to break his heart.

She didn�t trust Max, had no intention of giving in and being with him. But, because he was Max, and she hadn�t changed that much from the girl who had robbed stores for him after all, he would always come first with her.

If she had to choose between Dan and protecting Max, the decision was already made for her.

It was sad, she didn�t understand it, she didn�t like it, but it was true.

She had come to this realization before all Dan�s suspicions had come to light, and it was only fair to tell him so. He might choose not to be with her because of it. He deserved to be loved entirely, with her whole soul after all.

Unfortunately for them both, her soul was not hers to give. It had been claimed a long time ago by someone else, when she had been lying in a pool of her own blood, dying on a cold floor in her parents� restaurant.

He had to be told the truth. All of it. The rest would play out from there.

Liz knew that Max was right, knew that this was the only way to fix this situation, and yet, she was still terrified.

She could feel icy fear in her veins as they pulled the car to a stop behind Kyle�s all-terrain vehicle. Her friend was standing beside it, waiting for them, a slight frown of concern on his face.

The sun was high in the sky, striking the dome directly and almost blinding them as they joined Kyle to climb the slight incline to the door.

"What is this place?" Dan asked, taking her by the hand. "It doesn�t look like a hospital, Elizabeth."

Kyle looked back at them both, shook his head. "Liz�" He trailed off in disapproval that she still hadn�t told Dan that Ben wasn�t really sick. Kyle had been thrilled to accompany them back to Atherton�s, had been ecstatic that Max had wanted to clear the air with Liz�s fianc�. Because all Kyle wanted was for Liz to be happy.

But that didn�t mean that Kyle didn�t want her to behave like the Liz he knew and loved. And she had not been behaving like herself at all. She had been behaving like a complete maniac. She could try and blame Max, she could try and blame Dan, but, really, she was the one to blame.

It was time to take responsibility for her own feelings. Because as much as she didn�t want to have them, they were there and she had to start accepting them.

"Ben�s not really sick," Liz explained carefully. "I mean, he�s part of the reason that I brought you here�" Dan had stopped walking, dropped her hand, was staring at her in surprise. "�but Max really wanted to talk to you too."

Dan narrowed his eyes. "Why? What could we possibly have to say to each other?"

Liz moved forward, picked up his hand again. "Please just listen. I swear you�ll understand everything when we�re done here." She smiled sadly at him. "I don�t want to lie to you anymore, Dan. I can�t guarantee that you�re going to like everything you hear, but Max is putting a lot of faith in you by letting you come here." She took a deep breath. "I am, too. Because I�m about to let Max put the two most important people in the world to me in danger."

"I�m in danger?" he asked, not sounding afraid, more angry than anything.

Liz felt a pang of sadness. He truly did not understand. Could not understand. Because it made no sense to her either that her fianc� was not the most important person in the world to her.

She had to warn him ahead of time, had to tell him that what he was about to hear was not going to be easy for him. Because he was about to be hit over the head with exactly what Max meant to her. There was going to be no way to avoid it.

She had tried putting off telling him, had thought that seeing his reaction to the alien reveal before she told him her real feelings would make it easier, but it just wasn�t fair. He deserved to at least be warned.

Liz looked at Kyle. "Can you give us a minute? Let them know we�re here?"

"I�m guessing they know." Kyle quirked a grin at her. "They always know. Or he does anyway."

Dan watched him go. "What is that supposed to mean? Elizabeth, we�ve just had a two hour car ride. What do you have to tell me now that you couldn�t tell me then?"

"Dan, this is so hard for me to say to you�" Liz trailed off. "It really has nothing to do with what Max is going to tell you. But, you need to know. Because you�re not going to understand otherwise. And we�re putting a lot of faith in you by even allowing you to be here."

"What?" Dan whispered, now truly sounding frightened.

"You�ve always understood about Max, or at least said that you did," Liz began, moving away from him and staring up at the dome, a slight smile on her face. "You know that he saved my life and that he broke my heart. But, it was so much more than that. The connection we had� have," she amended firmly, "It�s something I can�t even describe to you. I�ve tried to let go of it, but I just can�t seem to, no matter what I do. I love you, Dan, and I still can�t let go of it."

"What are you saying?"

"It sounds insane, crazy, but it is completely true. I love you� but I am still in love with him too. And I always will be."

Max stood near the door, waiting for Liz and Dan to climb the slight incline that lead up to Atherton�s front door. He was trying not to stare at Liz, but this was made more difficult by the fact that she looked like she wanted to be sick. Max could almost feel her nervousness, her fear that she was doing the wrong thing by allowing Dan to join them here.

For one brief moment Max felt doubt. Maybe this was a mistake. They could still change the plan, could still construct some elaborate tale to spin for Dan, could still keep the secret. If Liz was so concerned that Dan was not going to be able to handle the truth�

And, yet, Max knew they were doing the right thing. Even if Liz didn�t trust her own instincts, Max did. Because he knew her. He knew that she would not be engaged to someone that she didn�t trust. She might not know that she trusted him anymore, but Max knew that, deep down, she did.

It was convoluted logic, but in Max�s mind, made perfect sense. He was never going to doubt Liz again. He had made that mistake once in his life and he had paid for it every day since. His instincts where she was concerned � about trusting her, about believing in her � had always been right.

One look at Dan�s expression and Max knew it was far too late to back away now anyway. He looked like he had been kicked in the stomach�hard�several times. Max frowned slightly. What the heck was going on?

Liz turned to Dan, spoke quietly to him. He nodded, turned away and stared out across the desert, his back tense.

And then she was standing right in front of him, her expression unreadable. "Hi."

"Hi," Max replied, looking towards Dan. "What�s going on? I thought that he would have been chomping at the bit for answers by now."

"I told him the truth, Max."

Max blinked, swallowed. "Oh." He frowned again, glanced behind him. He knew that Michael and Isabel were both lurking near the doorway, listening, ready to take Dan down at his slightest word. It was making him supremely uncomfortable. "How did he take it?"

"I don�t think it was quite what he was expecting to hear," Liz admitted, shaking her head, a guilty expression on her face. "But I had to tell him. He needed to know. It was the only way he was going to understand."

The way Liz said that, Max knew that they weren�t talking about the same thing at all. "Liz, what did you tell him?" he asked, confused.

"That I�m still in love you," Liz replied simply. "He had to know."

Max stared at her. "You told him that?" he managed to croak, almost unbelieving. His heart was beginning to beat erratically, and for the first time since he had made his decision about Dan, he was terrified. "Why?"

Because, the worst part of it was, even though those words coming from her lips were what he had most wanted to hear since he had first laid eyes on her a couple of days before, he knew that everything had just become extraordinarily more complicated.

"Because it�s true Max," Liz sighed. "He needs to know, deserves to know. I love him and you were the one who said that I shouldn�t be keeping secrets from him."

"I just don�t get what good it was telling him that." Max shook his head, in total confusion. "Liz, he�s going to freak out."

"Probably," Liz agreed. "But he needs to know the whole truth Max. He needs to get why he can�t turn you in. He needs to understand why I would never forgive him, but also why I know that you�re not dangerous. Because I�m beginning to think that�s his biggest issue with you."

Max just stared at her helplessly. "Liz, are you still planning to marry him?" he demanded finally.

Liz looked away for a long moment. "I don�t know anything anymore, Max." She swallowed, sighed. "I was going to, you know. To protect you. To protect your secret."

"What?"

"I would have stayed with him for the rest of my life to protect you." Liz smiled sadly. "In spite of everything, I can�t let anything happen to you." Her voice lowered. "Max, that dream I had last night�" He saw a shudder pass through her slender frame. It took all of his control not to reach out, not to pull her into his arms comfortingly. "I don�t know what I would do if anything happened to you� or Ben," she added unnecessarily. He knew that the two of them were becoming interlinked in her mind.

It was what he had been afraid of�that she was going to be drawn to him because of her desire to be close to his son. And, yet, it was not nearly as horrible as he had imagined it might be. Ben was a part of him now. Even if he wasn�t his biological child, the bond they had formed, the desire he had to protect the child� He was glad that Liz trusted him enough to want him to do it.

Because that trust was the first step towards being able to trust him with her heart again. Ben was important to her and it had never even occurred to her that Max shouldn�t raise him.

And the love he had for Ben was closely tied to the love he had for Liz, for how important he knew that he would be to her. He understood suddenly that the boy did not detract from the way they felt about each other�would always feel about each other. He just added to it. That they felt exactly the same way about the child, the miracle that was Ben, was a gift.

He realized that Liz was still speaking, was beginning to look at him strangely. "�tell him."

He shook his head, focused on what she was saying. "I�m sorry. What?"

"I think you�re right that we can tell him," Liz repeated, frowning slightly. "I haven�t been fair to Dan at all over the past couple of days. I�ve been so desperate to protect you both, I�d forgotten that he is trustworthy. When I think about all he�s done for me�" She trailed off. She bit her lip. "But it still doesn�t explain why you trust him."

Max smiled slightly. "Liz, you just answered your own question." He reached out, gently brushed aside a piece of hair that was teasing her face in the warm mid-afternoon breeze. "He helped heal you too. And you let him in. That�s good enough for me. After what I did to you, that you were still able to open up, even at all, to anyone�" He shrugged. "He�s a good man. He has to be."

Max glanced over her shoulder, saw Dan had turned back around, was staring at them now, his expression unreadable. "It�s time Liz. Tell him. He can speak to me after if he has any questions."

She shuddered slightly, but moved back towards Dan. She spoke to him quietly for several minutes. Dan listened to her intently, glancing up once to stare right at Max, his gaze piercing. Max stared right back, not challenging, not threatening, simply trying to convey that he was not afraid of the other man, but that he was also taking a big chance on him.

Because, he was, quite literally, placing his life � and the life of his son � in Dan Riley�s hands.

Liz approached Dan, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. "Dan? Are you okay?" she began tentatively.

He had not said a word to her since she had dropped her bombshell upon him�that she still loved Max, but that she loved him too, still wanted to marry him if he wanted her.

"Am I supposed to be?" he asked, causing her to flinch. The bitterness in his tone� It was not a good sign. She looked back towards Max, who was watching them, looking so calm it made Liz�s breath catch.

He really trusted her judgment so completely, he was willing to have her tell her fianc� the truth, was willing to put his entire existence, the existence of his son at risk because he believed in her.

"I really don�t understand how you expect me to react to the news that you are still in love with another man, Elizabeth," Dan continued. "And I also don�t understand why you think I would even consider still marrying you."

Liz blinked, felt her heart drop. "What?"

"I will not share you," Dan told her seriously. "I love you but I will not be second best."

"Dan, you�re not!" Liz exclaimed. "You just don�t understand!"

Dan pressed his lips together, looked past her and up at Max. "Why is he standing there so smugly?" he demanded. "What does he expect you to be telling me?"

Liz closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, Dan was focused on her again. "I have to tell you what really happened between Max and me, Dan. If you�re going to understand at all how I can still love Max, feel connected to him, but still love you too, then you�re going to have to hear it all."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I don�t understand what you think you can tell me that is going to change anything." But his tone had softened slightly. He appeared ready to listen.

Liz swallowed, felt like she literally had to force the words out. "I told you that Max saved my life. I told you just last night that he was in my father�s restaurant when someone shot off a gun, that he pushed me out of the way. I told you that I would have been shot if he hadn�t."

Dan nodded impatiently. "Fine. I understand that you had a major life experience with him. But he hurt you, Elizabeth. How can you still love him?"

"Dan, I was shot that day," Liz blurted. She stared at him, hard. "What you suspected, what you overheard� you were right. Max isn�t� he�s not like� he�s not human."

She saw Dan take a deep breath. He wasn�t looking at her at all. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Dan?" Liz tried tentatively, after what felt like hours. "Say something!"

"He healed you," Dan finally said quietly, like the whole story was finally coming together in his mind. "He�s an alien and he healed you."

"Yes."

"Why? Why are you telling me this now?" Dan asked. "I wouldn�t have asked again, Elizabeth. It was enough for me that you stayed with me last night. You wanted to come back here, desperately, and you chose me. That was enough."

Liz stared at him. Because, somehow, she knew that he was telling her the truth�that he would have let it drop. But she couldn�t. Not now. "Dan, I lied to you. I couldn�t have a lie of that magnitude standing between us."

He shook his head, his expression angry. "No, I don�t think that�s it at all. I don�t think you would have ever told me." He looked over her head, stared up at Max for a long moment. "I think he wanted you to tell me the truth. Why? What does he want from me? Does he want me to give you up? He wants me to be scared of him, because of what he is?"

"No!" Liz grabbed his arm as he made to move past her, as though he wanted to go pound Max into the ground. Max had turned away to give them some privacy, was sitting on a rock near the open door, his head back against the wall as he gazed up at the sky. She felt desperate to get Dan to believe her, to get him to trust Max. "He trusts me. He wants me to tell you because he wants me to be happy and he knows that I won�t be happy unless I�m with you! That I can�t be happy unless you know that truth about me!"

Dan paused, looked back at her. "He told you that? That he knows that you won�t be happy unless you�re with me?"

"Well, not in so many words�" Liz admitted. "Listen, I haven�t told you everything. About why I think I�m still in love with Max." She paused, searching for words, intimidated by the unreceptive look on Dan�s face. "When he healed me� we made� a connection. Something beyond this world. He had to see my soul in order to save my life. And I saw his. It was beautiful, Dan! He is such a good person!"

"This is supposed to make me feel better?" Dan demanded incredulously. "How do you know he wasn�t doing some weird alien mind trick?"

Liz just closed her eyes in frustration. As she had suspected, the whole alien issue did not seem to be the problem here. Dan appeared perfectly willing to accept that Max was not of this Earth. What he was not willing to deal with was the fact that she could not get Max out of her heart. "Dan, he wasn�t. He could do a connection with you too, even! To show you."

" I think not," Dan snapped back. "If you made this wonderful connection as you call it, how could he have betrayed you with that other girl� that Tess? I don�t understand how him being an alien excuses that!"

Liz brought her hands up to both sides of her neck, rubbed, trying to focus. "I told you that I couldn�t lie to you anymore. Well, there�s a reason for that too. Because I once lied to Max. And it destroyed us. Completely. I drove him to Tess."

"What?" Dan whispered, sounding amazed. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I didn�t want to die for him," Liz replied softly, tears filling her eyes. "It was the biggest lie I had ever told�is still the biggest. I drove him away by pretending to sleep with Kyle and it almost killed him."

"Why would you do such a thing, Elizabeth?" He looked up at Max, who was now standing talking to Michael, who had come out of the house and was glaring down at them, his arms crossed over his chest. Dan�s voice was almost sympathetic, like he could understand how devastated Max must have been, especially after what he had done for her.

Liz glared back at Michael. She could see Dan tensing up nervously at the sight of him. "What is that guy�s problem?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"He�s protective of Max," Liz told him simply. She and Max had agreed that telling him the truth about Michael and Isabel really wasn�t necessary after all.

More lies.

"So� you all know the truth?" Dan asked, turning away. "Even your parents?"

"My parents don�t know," Liz told him. "And they can�t. They don�t need to and it would put them in danger." She placed a hand on his arm. "And I�ll tell you why I drove Max away. Because it�s important, will just go to show you even more why you can�t tell anyone about him."

And she proceeded to tell her fianc� all about Future Max, about the end of the world, about Max being a king, about Tess and Ben and Alex and Khivar and the cloning and everything, only leaving out details that involved Michael and Isabel. She even told him about her summer of crime in Max�s company before he had returned to his home planet in search of his son. Dan�s expression became increasingly dumbfounded as she continued. She knew that it all sounded like some crazy science fiction television show spun out of control, but it had been her life.

Until Max had left her. It was only then that everything had returned to normal, that her life had become safe and steady and planned.

And that it had become completely, totally unfulfilling.

Not that danger was particularly fulfilling either, she reflected wryly. But at least having her life in danger again was helping her to realize what was really important: the people she loved and possibly looking for a job she enjoyed and living each day to the fullest.

The only problem was, the person she loved most in the world, she couldn�t trust. In spite of it all, she could not trust that Max was not going to break her heart again, and so she would never be completely fulfilled.

But as she managed to catch his eye, even from across the distance that separated them, she knew that these were all just becoming words. That the more time she spent in his company, the more she wanted to take the chance on him again.

He was her soul mate. He had returned to her from across galaxies. He had come back for her. Wasn�t it enough? Liz wondered briefly where Ben was, felt disappointed that he hadn�t rushed out to see her when she�d arrived. Maybe having Maria around to fulfill his Alex curiosity had been enough for the little boy. After all, just because she felt close to him, already loved him like he was her own child, it didn�t mean that he felt the same way. He was just a kid�one who had had very few people to believe in over his short life. What had seemed like a significant connection to her might have just been another example of an adult making promises she wouldn�t keep to him. Because maybe he had found out that she hadn�t been planning to come back. She cursed herself mentally for the stupidity of that decision. It had made no sense at all.

"Elizabeth?" She blinked, refocused on Dan. He didn�t look nearly as upset as he had before she had started her story. In fact, he looked shell-shocked, as though he was incapable of emotion.

"Dan, are you okay?" Liz asked sympathetically.

"I�d like to speak to him," Dan told her quietly.

"Okay. I know he wants to talk to you," Liz replied. "I know I�ve given you a lot to digest. I don�t expect you to make any decisions right now � about me, I mean � but I can�t stress to you enough how important it is that you keep this a secret. I�ve trusted you more than I�ve ever trusted anyone today, Dan. Because it�s not just Max who�s in danger. Ben is too. And he is more precious to me than anyone."

Dan didn�t answer, just looked away, a strange expression appearing on his face. "I understand." He looked up the hill at the three Czechs standing there waiting for him, unaware that two of them were even aliens and Liz felt a pang of guilt.

They climbed the hill together, Liz slightly ahead of him. Her eyes met Max�s immediately. "He knows now." She tried to tell him with her eyes that she still wasn�t sure what his ultimate reaction was going to be.

Max nodded. "Good." He looked beyond her at Dan. "I�m sorry that you had to be brought into this, Dan. I really am."

Dan didn�t say anything for a long moment. He just stared at Max. Liz could almost hear the wheels spinning in his head. "Thank you for letting Elizabeth tell me the truth," he finally said, sounding a little uncertain. He glanced over at Liz, who could feel her heart pounding anxiously. "I don�t quite know what to say to you. It�s not every day that one finds out that aliens really exist."

Max smiled slightly. "I know it�s strange. But I�m more human than anything else. And like any human, I just want to live in peace. All I want is to keep my son safe and lead a normal life."

Dan tilted his head slightly, studying Max. He glanced warily at Michael and Isabel, then said, "You appear to have inspired loyalty in a lot of people. That has to mean something." Liz frowned slightly. She could see a faint flush rising on Dan�s neck. "I didn�t expect that you would ever let her tell me the truth," he admitted.

"I trust Liz�s judgment," Max replied simply. Liz felt her heart beating a little faster at the way he said it�as though it was a given, that there would never be any question that it should be that way. She swallowed, tried not to show how moved she was by his words.

Dan�s hands were in his pockets. He glanced up when Kyle emerged from the dome, looking around curiously. "So, is it resolved then?" Liz frowned at him slightly, a little annoyed at the cavalier way he said it, as though he had always expected that it would work out. But then, Kyle was a firm believer in the truth. He liked Dan, had felt that he would do the right thing. And he was going to be smug if he was proven right too. Which it appeared he was.

"How many people know about this?" Dan asked suddenly, as though seeing Kyle had prompted the question.

"Not many," Michael spoke up gruffly, sounding slightly threatening to Liz�s ears. "And no more after today," he added.

"What about your wife, Kyle?" Dan asked, sounding a little strange. Liz looked at him curiously.

"Nah. Never saw any need to tell her. My association with aliens has always been a little� different." Kyle shrugged. "I was never truly in the inner circle, you might say." Liz glanced at him sharply, saw Max do the same. It was a half-truth, of course. While Max and Kyle had never really bonded on any deep level, Isabel and Kyle had been close ever since high school and there had been Tess�

And Liz understood. Kyle had not wanted to explain to Sarah about Tess. He had wanted to forget. She could understand that. Because hadn�t she tried desperately to forget Max? Hadn�t Dan been a way to help her to do so?

Of course, it had not worked. Not really.

"Why do you ask?" Kyle continued.

Dan closed his eyes briefly, as though contemplating Kyle�s question. When he opened them, he put out his hand to Max. "I want to thank you for saving Elizabeth�s life. Truly. Without you, I never would have even met her. And she has made me so happy. Thank you for that. We both thank you." He put his arm around Liz, pulling her against his side.

She knew that she was supposed to be happy to hear his words. They were exactly what they had all hoped he would say.

But Liz felt her heart stop. Max was staring down at Dan�s hand in shock. Because the way Dan had said that� it had almost undermined the healing�made it seem like it had been something simple, something uncomplicated.

It implied that Max would have done it for anyone. It acknowledged Max as a good person, but it did not establish that Dan believed that it created any sort of special bond between Max and Liz. It told them that Dan was not going to turn him in, was not going to create problems for Max or Ben.

But he was not going to give Liz up either. Nor was he going to accept that Max had any sort of connection to her at all.

Max appeared to force himself to shake Dan�s hand, but he did not look at him. He stared right at Liz, his eyes dark with pain.

Because she knew exactly what Dan was doing. He was making it seem like that was what Liz had told him, that she had downplayed the seriousness of what Max had done for her, what he had given up to save her.

And she could not say a word. Not in front of Dan. She could not hurt him like that, could not tell them all that she was torn about her fianc�, that it was really Max she wanted, but that she could not trust Max and so was sticking with Dan, who she did love, just not quite as much or in quite the same way.

Not in the way that she would throw away her entire life to keep him safe. Not in the way that she would willingly give up her life for him.

Even if she didn�t trust him, she would still do it.

Max would not believe it anyway, would not believe that she had told Dan the truth in such a way. He could not think that she would actually tell Dan such a thing, that she would downplay their connection. She had just told him a few minutes ago that she had admitted to Dan that she still loved Max after all.

"I�m glad too," Max managed to mutter. Liz ached to reach out to him, to scream that it wasn�t true, that she had tried to explain to Dan� Because, apparently he did believe it. How could he? He knew the truth!

"You should go in to see Ben, Liz." Max looked directly at her then, his eyes cold. "He missed you. Dan should meet him too." He turned away. "I�m going for a walk," he told Michael curtly. "Watch over things."

"Wait!" Dan intervened, placed his hand on Liz�s shoulder, as though knowing that she was going after Max, even though she hadn�t taken a single step.

Max paused halfway down the slope, didn�t turn around.

"I was trying to tell you. I�m afraid� well, I did something that I don�t think is going to be easy to repair." He turned Liz around, looked guilty. And Liz truly believed that he was. He might be trying to break the connection between Max and Liz, but Liz truly did not think that he had it in for Max anymore. "Kyle, you might have to tell your wife the truth too," he continued.

"Why?" Kyle�s face blanched as Liz watched. Everything was moving in slow motion suddenly.

"Because�" Dan paused, grimaced. "She�s on her way here. And she�s bringing Vick with her."

"Vick?" Michael stepped forward menacingly. "As in Victoria the reporter?"

"Dan!" Liz rubbed her temples in horror. Max had turned around, was staring right at her, his face an emotionless mask. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I felt that I needed support." He looked at Liz guiltily. "I knew you were lying to me about Max. I knew that I was right. And I thought that if I confronted you all about it in front of Vick� well, she would expose him and this would all be over."

"Who cares?" Max said quietly. "It�s not like we�ll tell them. They don�t have to know anything. We�ll just send them home. Kyle can take them. We�re leaving later today anyway."

"We are?" Liz glanced at Isabel and Michael, who both looked as surprised as she felt.

Max didn�t look at her when he replied, "You have a wedding tomorrow, Liz. I think you need to go back to Roswell. You should all go back. I�ll take Ben somewhere safe until it�s over. Nicholas doesn�t care about any of you. I�ll deal with him and then come home."

"Max! That�s crazy!" Isabel exclaimed. "We�re not just going to leave you! And Jesse wants me to stay with you too!"

"I don�t particularly care what Jesse wants," Max snapped back. "I�ve told you what�s happening and that�s it."

"Nicholas is out there Maxwell! He�s not just going to let us go back to our lives." Michael spoke softly, as though understanding that Max�s stubbornness was stemming from anger at Liz, rather than because he truly meant what he was saying.

But Max was already walking away. "I�ll be back in a few minutes," he called over his shoulder.

"Liz!" Isabel�s voice penetrated the fog surrounding her. How had everything spun so completely out of control? How could she actually be marrying Dan in less than twenty-four hours? Wasn�t it exactly what she wanted? And was Max really losing it so completely that he was going to send everyone he cared about back to the one place Nicholas would be able to find them with ease? "Go after him!" Max�s sister ordered, as though not understanding why she was still standing there.

"Elizabeth, he clearly wants to be alone," Dan spoke softly to her. "I don�t blame him. He must understand now that we�re still going to be married. I would be hurt too, if I lost you."

Liz wrenched away from him. "I have to go after him. He�s not behaving rationally." She looked at Dan, could feel tears filling her eyes. "How could you do that to him? I told you what it was like between us!"

Dan stared at her, as though he truly did not understand. "What are you talking about?"

But Liz was already racing down the slope after Max, unable to resist what she really wanted to do a moment longer.

There was a small wind-break of trees at the bottom of the slope on the far side of Atherton�s dome. Max stopped there, not wanting to be out of shouting range should anything go awry back up at the house.

For the moment though, he really needed to be alone.

He knew that Liz had not downplayed what had happened between them after he had healed her. He also knew that that was what Liz thought had upset him. He had seen the expression of dismay that had crossed her face when Dan had tried to deny the connection that existed between them. She had been upset that he, Max, had been hurt and that she couldn�t comfort him, that she could not make her fianc� understand why they would always be important to each other.

It had been in that instant that Max had recognized a very basic fact�one that had totally shocked and, very quickly, horrified him.

Watching Dan deny the connection, even though Max could see plainly in his rival�s eyes that he knew that he was making a fool of himself, had been more than painful, because the realization that had hit Max like a flash of lightening had terrified him.

Because of the connection that existed between them � the unnatural bond that he now knew stemmed from far more than just the fact that he had saved her life that day � Liz was never going to be able to be truly happy with anyone else.

He would always be holding her back. She was never going to be happy. Because what other man would ever accept a woman who�s soul already belonged to someone else?

Max had accepted that she did not trust him, that they could not be together, but if they couldn�t be, then he at least wanted her to find contentment, joy and a full connection with someone else. But as long as both of them lived, it was going to be impossible. She would always be tied to him, because of Kadiya�s sacrifice, and so, would never be able to fully move on.

They were going to torture each other through eternity.

He could bear it for himself � he would bear any burden to be able to continue to love her � but he did not want it for her. Not for Liz. Because he loved her, he did not want her trapped.

Dan might not have been the man that Max would have chosen for her � Max still basically thought he was a pompous ass � but his reaction to the news of Max�s otherworldly heritage had been surprisingly open and accepting. He was not a bad man. But he was also a man who loved his fianc�e and was not going to be able to deal with the fact that she would always be connected to Max on a level that he could not understand, could not share.

No it was the bond between Max and Liz that Dan could not accept, would never be able to accept. Max certainly did not blame him. He wouldn�t want to share her either.

The sheer irony was that Max knew deep in his heart that Dan Riley was absolutely not a threat to the connection he shared with Liz. Because it had been predetermined long before she had even been born.

Destiny could not be fought. He had learned that lesson the hard way one time too many.

And so, Dan and Liz�s relationship was doomed. They would try, but it would never work. Especially since Max and Liz were going to constantly see each other because of Ben. Dan was going to slowly be eaten away by jealousy, not really understanding the hold that Max had on his wife�s heart.

Max was the only one who really understood. He knew that it was not real and that it was not fair. Liz was living a new life on Earth. She should have the right to love where she wanted and where she chose. But it was impossible.

He had not wanted to tell her about Kadi � about what she had done � because he had not wanted her to feel compelled to be with him. It was only now that he was beginning to understand that Liz did not need to know the truth for the sacrifice to affect her.

It was binding her to him anyway, destroying the life she was trying to make for herself. Even if he had never come back, it would have slowly eaten away at Dan and Liz�s relationship�maybe not as quickly as Max�s presence was doing, but eventually.

She was trapped.

Someday she was going to start to hate him because of the connection, because of the fact that she was never going to be entirely free. Because she couldn�t be with him, but she also couldn�t fully be with anyone else.

He couldn�t bear it, could not bear the thought that she was going to hate him. But he knew that he was going to have to. She had the right. And it was going to happen.

It just seemed so damned unfair that Kadi had sacrificed herself so that they could be together, and yet, in the end, Liz was as doomed as Kadiya had been.

"Max."

He had been aware of her for a while, standing quietly nearby, waiting for him to speak first. He knew that she still thought that he was upset because she had supposedly denied their connection to Dan. He hadn�t spoken immediately though, had continued to stare across the desert, continued to watch the sun begin to set in the western sky, had just enjoyed the feeling of her being close.

She was always with him, but might not be physically with him for long. Not after he told her the truth. She was going to run from it. He knew her. She could not be with him, because she did not trust him, but the news that she was never going to be allowed to move on from him� It was going to devastate her.

Liz would not be Liz without her hope. He thought that she was beginning to recognize that perhaps Dan was not the one to help her get over Max, but he also thought that maybe she believed him to be the first step�that maybe the next man would be able to heal her heart, remind her what it was supposed to feel like, what it was like to truly give yourself to another person.

His mind flashed instantly to Liz�s comment to him so long ago, when her journal had disappeared and they hadn�t known where it was. After it had turned up safe and sound, but not before they had both almost completely panicked, she had needed to tell him why she had written down all the dangerous secrets about him and Michael and Isabel.

I felt something that I just had to put into words... so years from now, if anyone ever... if anyone ever touches me the way that you did, I�ll know what it�s supposed to feel like.

She was never going to have that. With anyone. Because she could not trust him and, yet, no one else could break their bond.

"Max�" Liz spoke again, softly. "I don�t know what to say. I am so�"

"Liz, please don�t say you�re sorry." Max cut her off abruptly, turning around. He could not bear to have her apologize to him�not when he was about to shatter all her dreams. He forced himself to smile at her. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."

Her brow wrinkled in that way it did when she was concerned about something, or someone. She didn�t believe him. Of course she didn�t. She was Liz. "Max, I just want you to know, I don�t know why Dan did that� why he tried to make it seem that I had somehow downplayed what you did for me� I would never do that. Whatever issues we might have between us now, I will never stop being grateful to you that you risked your life for me like that�" She paused, tears shining in her dark eyes. "�that you showed me your heart by doing it."

Max swallowed, looked away. "Liz�"

"Max, why does this have to be so complicated?" Liz sighed heavily.

Max just stared at her. Finally he just decided to lay it all out on the table. Better for her to hate him now, right away. He could not bear for it to be slowly, for him to have to watch her gradually come to the realization of what their connection was doing to her, for despair to take over.

"Liz, I need to tell you something," Max began, grimacing. She looked at him in surprise. He could see that she was startled that he didn�t sound particularly upset at the moment.

He was hiding it of course. He was more than upset. He was beyond it, into that state of being where you realize that if you let any emotion through, the tidal wave will destroy you.

"Max, what?" She moved closer. "You can tell me anything. I�ve told Dan that we�re always going to be connected. We�ll always be friends."

"Do you still have the ring I gave you yesterday?" he asked quietly, trying to decide where to begin his story.

He saw her eyes widen, saw a flash of fear cross her face. He frowned. "Yes," she finally choked out.

And then he watched in amazement as she reached for the chain around her neck and pulled it out from under her shirt. The ring glinted on the necklace, the blue jewel catching the light of the setting sun.

"You�re wearing it?" he whispered, his heart starting to thunder despite himself.

She didn�t look at him for a moment, then slowly said, "When I called you last night� when I knew that something had happened to you�" She paused, searching for the words. "It was because I had a dream." Liz looked directly at him, sighing. "Which you obviously already knew from what you said on the phone."

Max nodded. "I had it too. When I was unconscious." He still felt a flash of embarrassment at the stupidity of the fact that he had passed out at all. But getting back into the swing of humanity had been less natural than he had imagined.

"Max, when I woke up, the ring was on my finger," Liz told him bluntly. "Which was a little odd, because of the fact that I had left it buried in the bottom of my purse when I went to bed."

He shook his head. "I�m not surprised Liz. I never should have given that to you," he continued quietly. "It wasn�t fair."

"Why?"

"You don�t remember the details of the dream." He paused. "Dream doesn�t even seem like the right word, Liz."

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"It was a memory," Max admitted. "Liz, giving you that ring� I was playing a game that I had no right to play."

She was truly frowning now, trying to understand what he was saying to her. "Max, can you stop playing games now?" she finally queried, beginning to sound a little testy. "Because I don�t understand what you�re saying."

"Liz, that ring belonged to Kadiya," Max told her bluntly. He watched her eyes widen, saw her finger it slowly, wonder slowly appearing on her face. "It made you able to access Kadi�s memories."

There was a long moment of silence. "That doesn�t make any sense Max," Liz finally replied, sounding disbelieving.

"It might not Liz, but it�s the truth." Max sighed. "You had that dream last night�I had it too. You dreamt about my death on Antar, as Zan, because you lived it. You were there."

She didn�t say anything, just continued to finger the ring, a completely blank expression on her face. And so he continued. "When Zan died, Kadiya helped to clone him. She put the ring in his pod and sent it with the ship to Earth. And then she did something that Zan never would have wanted. She took her own life. You took your own life." He said this last part as gently as he could, but he saw her flinch at it anyway.

Liz�s eyes were empty, as though she was looking back, trying to remember something that could not be remembered. Because while her soul was Kadiya�s, she was not the same person�not in the way he was.

"If Larek let her help with the cloning, why didn�t they just clone her too? Send her instead of Ava?" Liz finally asked, after the silence had stretched out for what felt like an eternity.

"The monarchists, the ones who cloned us because they wanted the Royal Four to come back, would not allow it." Max shook his head. "They were not allowed to be together. Larek accepted that Kadiya loved Zan, felt sorry for her � he is not a hard man after all � but she could not be the one. She knew it, did not even fight it. Because she knew that we would be together one day anyway."

Liz brought a hand up to her forehead, looked like she was about to pass out. "Max, what are you talking about?"

"Liz, you are Kadiya."

She started to laugh, sounding a little hysterical. "Max, are you insane? That�s impossible!"

"No, Liz. It�s the truth. I�m sorry," he continued urgently. "Liz, when I first found out, I was just overjoyed about it. Finally, I understood where the love I had had for you from the first moment I laid eyes on you came from. We were meant to be! I had been right all along." He paused, scrubbed a hand across his face. "But, I�m only beginning to get that there is a dark side to this whole thing. You�re trapped. What we did in that past life bonded us in a way that means that we�re never going to be able to move on. Either of us."

"I don�t understand." Liz shook her head. "Trapped how? We�re connected because I know you, Max. You showed me your soul and it was beautiful and I fell in love with you because of it. But I�m not Kadiya. I�m Liz Parker. I am fully human."

"Yes, you are human," Max acknowledged. "But your soul is hers. She killed herself so that it would find me, so that she could be reborn and become a part of my life here."

"Max, that�s absurd. How could she know that she would be reborn as me? Here on Earth with you? Are you telling me that not only is reincarnation possible, but that someone can decide when and where they are going to be reborn?"

He was forced to smile slightly. Of course Liz would have knife sharp questions for him. Her scientific mind was already telling her that none of this was possible, that he was clearly spinning some sort of strange fairy tale in order to try and convince her that they belonged together.

"Not everyone, Liz." He shrugged. "It�s complicated, but on Antar, there�s a bonding ceremony called the Rashna. It�s basically a recognition of a connection like the one shared by Kadi and Zan. They couldn�t live without each other. And so they made sure that they would never have to. Their souls were linked, for eternity."

Liz put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "That is impossible, Max!" But he could see the interested gleam in her eyes. This was capturing her imagination, just as he had known it would. It was why he hadn�t wanted to tell her, had wanted her to figure out who she was on her own, so that when the bond was acknowledged, it would be by her own choice.

"Liz, it is possible and it happened."

Her eyes were narrowed thoughtfully. "I don�t understand why I can�t remember the dreams when I wake up then. If I�m really Kadiya, shouldn�t I be able to remember them? You remember your past life!"

"But there�s a difference," Max explained. "My soul, essence, whatever the hell you want to call it, was cloned. I am still Zan�exactly the same person, only in a different body. You aren�t. Your soul is the same as Kadi�s, but you�re also Liz, an entirely new person." He grimaced. It sounded ludicrous. But he knew it was true. Larek had confirmed that the Rashna had taken place. "You had the dream because the ring connected you to Kadi, but they�re not really your memories."

Liz rubbed her temples in frustration. "This doesn�t make any sense. Max, I know that I fell in love with you�with you! Because you healed me, because you let me see your soul. It�s not because of some weird ceremony two other people went through on another planet." She paused. "And none of this even begins to explain why you�re so upset. You told me yourself a few minutes ago that you thought this was a good thing�that it gave you the answers about why you have always felt connected to me, even before the healing."

"Liz, I wasn�t upset because Dan was trying to act like the connection doesn�t exist. I know it does and I also know that you would never deny it," Max told her. "I was upset because I finally fully realized what the connection means."

"What does it mean?"

He moved away from her again, leaned against one of the trees that had been planted as a wind-break. He stared up at the sky, could not look at her. "Do you know how much it hurts to know that you don�t trust me?" he finally asked, knowing that she was going to think that he was completely changing the subject, although he wasn�t.

There was a long pause. When it went on for close to a minute, he looked over at her. She was standing there staring at him with a strange look on her face.

"Liz, what�s wrong?" Max pushed himself forward, concern making his heart stop.

"You once told me you didn�t trust me," Liz finally whispered. "After Kyle. Before you went to New York. I know. And I�m sorry."

Max sighed. "Liz, I don�t want you to apologize. The point is, I know what it feels like not to trust the one person you thought you knew better than anyone. I know how you feel. And I know that we can�t be together because you don�t trust me. I brought it on myself by leaving without saying goodbye to you. But that�s not even the point anymore."

"Max, what is the point?" Her voice sounded frail, like she was on the verge of breaking down.

"Liz, you don�t trust me, but you still love me," Max replied sadly. "Don�t you think there�s something wrong with that? Something unnatural?"

"I� I don�t�" She had tears in her eyes now, was stumbling over her words.

"It�s because of this bond, this unnatural connection that Zan and Kadiya created. I once told you that I couldn�t bear to ever hurt you. But I�ve done it again and again. And yet you still love me. You are a very smart person Liz. I know that you want to be happy, that you think that I could never make you happy, and yet you still love me." He smiled sadly. "And I love you. I always have. We�re trapped Liz. And while I don�t mind for myself � I would not be the same person if I didn�t love you � I can�t bear that you�re never going to be able to have this connection with someone else. I feel like I�ve robbed you."

"Max�" Her eyes were bright again, tears apparently never far from the surface whenever she was with him. All he ever did was make her cry. It was all he had ever done.

"All I know Liz is that I want you to be happy. You can�t be happy with me, you can�t be happy with anyone else. It�s the worst possible thing I can think of." He could feel tears filling his own eyes.

Their gazes met. His heart skipped a beat. He could see that she had a look of astonished amazement on her face, like she was truly seeing him for the first time in practically forever.

It reminded him of the expression that had been on her face after the first time he had connected with her� completely flabbergasted and yet, enchanted at the same time.

"It�s not the worst possible thing," Liz told him, shaking her head. "Losing you was worse. And I�m only now beginning to realize it." She was moving towards him. "And I haven�t even told you how glad I am that you�re safe and that you�re home."

"Liz, you�ve told me. And thank you. But I�m only beginning to realize how much it�s screwed up your life. And I don�t even know if it�s worth it."

"Max, it�s worth it," Liz insisted. "You brought Ben back to us. You brought us all back together. We missed you. The real you. And if going halfway across the universe was what it took for you to come back to us, well, I�m beginning to realize that maybe the fact that you left how you did� Maybe I can get past it."

"Liz�"

She cut him off. "You have to let me finish. This has to be said. Max, the person that you were before you left, it wasn�t you. She destroyed you. You were not the same person you were when I first fell in love with you."

"And you got back together with me anyway, Liz. Because of the connection, because you had no choice," Max replied, what she was saying only reinforcing to him that he was right � that their connection was not a positive force in her life � that it had not been for a long time.

He had allowed their relationship to erode to such a degree before he left that the gift that Kadiya had given them, this amazing bond that brought them together across the universe, was a curse instead.

"Max, I had a choice," Liz replied wryly. "I was an eighteen-year-old girl desperately trying to hold on to the only person I thought I was ever going to love. Dan showed me that wasn�t true, though. Because I do love him, Max." He tried not to show that it was painful to hear that � he knew it after all � but he flinched slightly. Liz saw, but continued anyway. "Max, I love Dan, but I�ll never love him how I loved you� the you that saved my life I mean. It�s why I couldn�t bear it when you left without saying goodbye. If you had done that when we were sophomores, I would have known that it had been because you had had no choice. But I just didn�t really know you anymore. You were this person who told me one week that you wanted to make my dreams come true, and then the next week you let me rob stores with you. The real you would never have done that. It took me a long time to accept that you just weren�t him anymore. I think maybe that�s why I couldn�t accept that you weren�t coming back for so long. I could not believe that you weren�t. The Max that I loved� he just would have. He would have come back." She paused, seemed to be watching him to see how he was taking this.

He didn�t know how he was taking it. It hurt to hear her say these things to him � that he had no longer been the person that she had fallen in love with � but he knew that she was right. The whole Tess thing� it had changed him. And not, because he had chosen for it to happen.

But telling her the truth about that� She was going to think that he was making excuses, that he didn�t deserve everything she was saying to him, that it wasn�t all true.

Because, the sheer irony of the whole thing was, he had been an entirely different person.

And yet�

He had promised himself that he was going to tell her the whole truth. She deserved to know, needed to understand that she had not been a fool, that the real Max had still existed, but had been unable to fight back any longer�that seeing her in bed with Kyle had weakened him, undermined his belief in himself, so that he had been susceptible to Tess and to all the others who used his own weaknesses against him.

When he just continued to stand there, not saying anything, Liz moved forward, placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Max, I�m not trying to hurt you. The point I�m trying to make here� What you�ve told me tonight� Seeing you with Ben�" She was searching for words. "I think that you are my Max again." He blinked, surprised, felt his heart beginning to beat erratically, suddenly so full of hope, he didn�t quite know how to deal with it.

How had this happened? He had been apologizing to her for the fact that she was never going to be able to move on, that he was going to make her miserable for the rest of her life, and suddenly� suddenly it seemed like maybe she was willing to give him another chance.

And he hadn�t even told her the whole truth.

She smiled up at him gently. "Max, I can see you struggling with these decisions you have to make, with the desire to protect the people you love, and I know that they�re the same feelings you had before Tess. I know what you were like then. But what you became after Alex died� even after Tess left, you were just never the same. You talk about me being trapped� but it was you, Max. You were the one trapped in someone I didn�t even recognize."

He knew that he had to speak, that she must be waiting for him to say something. "Liz�"

Liz brought her hand up and gently laid her fingertips against his lips. "Max, don�t say anything. I know already. You weren�t yourself, were you? Even after she was gone? There�s more to the fact that Ben isn�t your son than you�ve told me. Isn�t there?"

He swallowed, closed his eyes for a moment. He knew it was time to tell her everything. She wanted to know and he couldn�t not tell her just because it might affect her decision about whether she wanted to marry Dan or not. He couldn�t make those choices for her, even if he thought he was protecting her.

Enough had already been decided for her in another lifetime. He couldn�t do it for her any longer.

"You�re right. About everything. The person I was when I left� it wasn�t me. She�she changed me. And she wasn�t the only one. By the time I knew about it, by the time I was strong enough to fight back, there was only one thing left to do to completely free myself." He stared right into her eyes as he told her the whole truth. "I had to kill them all."

Liz felt a chill descend her spine at the expression on Max�s face.

I had to kill them all.

He was not sorry. The guilt that he was carrying, the sorrow that he had told her about on the car ride to Marathon, that he had been responsible for the deaths of so many people�it did not extend to whoever he was talking about now. She could almost read the shame of it in his eyes.

He was not guilty that he had killed them, but he was guilty that he didn�t feel the horror that he knew he should.

"Tell me," she whispered.

It was time for it all to come out in the open. He had been confessing little pieces of it since she had first seen him again. But she could see that he was finally going to tell her everything.

It was frightening�and yet strangely comforting. No more secrets.

And maybe, finally, there would be some answers.

She saw his jaw clench. He closed his eyes briefly, then turned away.

"You know that I killed Khivar and Tess?" he began quietly, so softly she had to strain her ears to hear him.

"Yes." She wanted to move closer to him, wanted to take his hand, but she knew that it would not help him now. It would simply distract him, upset him, because he truly seemed to believe that the connection that existed between them � that made her need to comfort him because she could feel the pain coming off of him in waves � as a curse, that she was destined never to be happy because of it.

She didn�t buy it. Not at all. Whoever he seemed to think she had been in a past life, she knew who she was now. She was Liz Parker and she knew that she felt this way about Max Evans, not about some alien king he had once been. The flashes they had shared, the many times she had seen into his soul�that had been all Max.

It was Max she loved, felt bonded to.

It reminded her that she was beginning to realize that she didn�t really care how she was supposed to feel, that she supposedly didn�t trust him. Right now he needed her and she was going to be there for him.

Liz moved forward, gently took Max�s hand. He turned in surprise, but didn�t pull away. He just looked resigned, as though he thought she didn�t have any choice in the matter, that the connection was making her do things she didn�t necessarily want to.

"I killed Tess first. She was going to kill Ben, I had no choice." His voice was distant again, as he remembered the circumstances of his son�s mother�s death. "It was about five years after I left here."

That would have been three years ago�in fact the year that she, Liz, had officially started dating Dan. They had been friends for much longer of course, but it was only three years ago that Liz had allowed herself to actually start to feel something for someone again. She had been ready to move on while Max had been taking the first step towards finally being able to come home. Ironic that.

"After Tess died, after Ben was safe � or at least as safe as he was ever going to be on Antar � it was only then that I began to understand what was going on. Because when she died� I can�t really explain what it felt like, Liz. It felt like something opened up inside me. Something I hadn�t really missed until it was back."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"It was me. Or at least my control over who I was, how I acted." Max shrugged, meeting her eyes again. "I don�t know how to say it except to say that. It was like a window opened. Something that had been missing just came back. I guess you could call it self-awareness."

"Are you saying that Tess was controlling you somehow? That her death ended it?"

"That�s exactly what I mean. Although not quite either. It was like everything I felt, believed, was muted. Not necessarily non-existent. Just not quite as important as it had once been," Max replied. "And after she died, that part of me was freed�the part that felt. And it was only then that I was able to understand that she wasn�t the only one doing it either," he continued grimly. "Because I began to feel them�the others. The death of Tess made it so the rest of them couldn�t hide. With one of them gone, the intricate web they had woven in my mind began to crumble. I just suddenly understood that my mind was not my own and had not been for a very long time."

"How long?"

"Since the summit in New York. I don�t know if I ever told you this, Liz, but when I was there, Rath took me to meet this guy named the Emissary. It was so that I could be certified as the rightful king, which I supposedly was�or at least that�s what they told me." His tone was angry, self-berating. "I was so stupid to have trusted any of them � especially Tess, because I knew what she was, had known since she first came to Roswell � but my only excuse was that my whole world was a mess. I felt so lost. Not feeling like I could trust you, or Isabel or Michael� everyone important to me was just gone. So I let them do what they wanted to me. And nothing that happened in Roswell seemed quite as important after it was done. All of my feelings about Antar and being an alien changed. At the time I just thought that it was being face to face with who I really was made me see everything differently. It wasn�t until Tess died that I knew that they had actually done something physical to my mind."

"What happened? How did they do it?" Liz squeezed his hand, trying to convey to him that she understood how events could swing completely out of one�s control very easily. Hadn�t the same thing been happening to her ever since he had returned?

"Rath and I went to see the Emissary and he did something to me. He supposedly revealed the royal seal or some such nonsense." Max rolled his eyes. "I bought it all because I saw it and they talked about it at the summit. It was only on Antar that I began to understand that everyone at that table in New York knew exactly what it meant. It meant that they had branded me, could manipulate me through the seal. Every person sitting at that table now had control of me. One representative from each planet had a stake in the scheme, although one of the planet�s � Kathanna�s � let Tess hold its reins. Ava was Kathanna�s sister, it turns out."

"But you didn�t take the deal, Max. You told me that at the time. If they controlled you, shouldn�t you have agreed to go home with the granolith?" Liz felt a little confused. Max had told her the basic gist about the summit in New York after he had returned to Roswell at the time, but not everything. She knew that it had not been a pleasant experience for him, and, upon returning, he had been much more focused on the fact that Liz had been able to save his life.

"There were a couple of factors working against them," Max replied wryly. "First of all, they all hated each other and didn�t trust what anyone else wanted to make me do, so even though they had the power, they couldn�t figure out how to use it. Not to mention, Khivar was really the one in control and he didn�t want me back. He just wanted me dead. The only reason any of the rest of them wanted me back at all was because their planets were all about to overthrow them. It turns out that Zan was pretty much the most popular of any of them and they felt that if he returned to the high kingship, the populace would settle and they could regain control of their thrones."

"But if what you�re saying is true, then Larek was working against you too!" Liz exclaimed.

"Well, technically. He was my friend and he only took a place in the whole thing because he was hoping to be able to counteract a lot of the stuff the rest of them wanted to make me do. But, in a way, I think he wanted to be able to control me too." Max shook his head sadly. "Larek was a good man, but he really did not get Zan at all. They grew up together so they were close that way, but it was not a relationship of what you might call understanding, but more one of shared history. It wasn�t like Zan�s relationship with Rath for example�the first Rath, I mean. They agreed on everything."

"I guess the whole Kadiya thing supports that," Liz agreed. She looked at Max closely. "You used the past tense when referring to Larek. You�ve never done that before, Max." She paused, watched a vein in his neck spasm slightly as he swallowed and looked away. "Was he someone you had to kill too?" she whispered, her heart going out to him. Because, even though, in many ways, Larek had screwed up Zan�s life considerably by doing what he had thought was right for the monarchy, they had still been friends.

"I didn�t have to kill Larek. I would have left him alone. I trusted him not to mess with me. It was only the other four I needed dead," Max replied distantly, as though remembering. "When I confronted Larek about the whole thing after Tess died, he admitted it openly, apologized for having concealed it at all. I accepted his apology, told him we could move forward. But only on one condition. He had to help me get Ben off the planet." Max closed his eyes.

Liz realized almost immediately what had happened. "He couldn�t agree to that."

"No," Max sighed. "His entire life had revolved around the restoration of the monarchy. It was why he had helped to clone me in the first place. If he just let me go�"

"His life�s work would have been worthless." Liz shook her head sympathetically, sorry for what Larek�s beliefs had forced Max to do.

"I couldn�t do it though, Liz," Max whispered. "I just couldn�t. He had been so good to me. So I let him go. He went and joined Khivar, even though it was against everything he believed in. Khivar was a usurper� but at least he wanted to be king, which was better than nothing."

"What happened then?"

"I went after Sero and Hanar, the leaders of two of the other planets," Max told her grimly. "They knew I was coming. They had felt Tess�s death, knew what it was going to mean for them. Sero tried to hide from me, but I found him fairly easily. Turns out the connection went both ways. Once I was aware of him, he couldn�t keep me out of his mind either. Hanar was different. He met me honorably, knew that he had lost, knew that I was stronger than he was. I killed them both easily." The way Max said that, it made Liz�s heart go out to him again. Because, despite the fact that he was not sorry he had done it, she could tell from the flat way he said all of this that it had not been easy to take the lives of Sero and Hanar, especially because, with each of their deaths, he was returning more fully to being who had had been on Earth.

And Max Evans would have cared, as much as he tried to deny it. He did care.

"And then only Khivar and Larek were left," he continued. "Once I got rid of them, my mind would be my own again. Not to mention, the five planets would be able to align themselves to move towards democracy. The deaths of Sero and Hanar liberated their people to move in that direction. They all wanted it by then. After the original deaths of the Royal Four, their rulers had basically turned into tyrants, trying to put down the democratic movement that Zan had started. With them gone, there was nothing holding them back any longer."

Liz frowned slightly. "Max, I believe you about all of this. But what does it have to do with the stuff that happened here on Earth after the summit in New York? You were definitely yourself most of the time after that." She blinked at the intense way he was looking at her. He was smiling slightly. It made her heart start to thump in her chest.

She could see how much he loved her in his eyes. Something about what she had said had made him look that way.

"It�s not hard for me to believe that you don�t understand that, Liz," Max finally said, reaching up and pushing a strand of hair that was blowing across her face behind her ear. "You never did totally understand how much my well-being was linked to you. I told you that there were a couple of reasons that the seal was not entirely successful. The second was you."

"What do you mean?" She could feel herself falling under the spell of his eyes, the way the shone only for her when he looked at her.

"Seeing you in New York brought me back from the place of self-pity I had been inhabiting since I saw you in bed with Kyle," Max replied. "Any time I had any positive interactions with you after the summit, it lessened their hold on me. I told you once that loving you made me human. Well, it�s true, Liz. When I had hope that we might find our way back to each other, my human side won out over the alien. And it was the alien side that was branded, controlled." He looked away. "It was only when I had absolutely no hope that we were ever going to get back together that I let that side take over. After Alex�s death."

Liz felt her eyes widen in horror. "Because I blamed you for it."

He looked at her sharply. "No, Liz. I knew right from the beginning that you didn�t blame me. And I knew that you were right. Deep down I knew it and I just couldn�t accept it. It wasn�t your fault. As always, you were just trying to make me see what was right in front of my face. But I just couldn�t deal with the fact that someone I actually cared about had been killed because of who � of what � I was." Max ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "It was all Tess needed to activate the seal. Because I was so angry at you, she was finally able to break through the connection. It was the only thing still protecting me, and with it gone, I was gone. My alien side fully emerged."

"Oh Max," Liz whispered, felt tears filling her eyes. "You did sleep with her then." It was only then that Liz understood how much she had hoped that this was where he had been leading�to telling her that it had all been a lie, that none of it had ever happened. That Tess had only pretended, had changed his memories so that he would think that he had.

It hurt � a lot � that it had all been true. That Max�s first time had been with someone he didn�t even love.

But when she finally met his eyes, she could see that he was still smiling slightly. "No, Liz."

"What?" Liz demanded, more rudely than she intended.

"I didn�t sleep with her."

"I don�t understand!" She stared at him. "Why wouldn�t she have wanted that to happen?"

"It didn�t have to," Max replied. "She was already pregnant. She hated me, Liz. The last thing she wanted was to sleep with me." He shuddered at the thought. "See, the thing was, Tess remembered being Ava. She had always remembered. She knew how it had been between Zan and Kadi, and she hated me because of it. Before she left in the granolith, she screamed at me about being my wife, that I had always put you ahead of her. I didn�t get then that she wasn�t just talking about in this life. Because, obviously, she wasn�t my wife on Earth. Not in any way that I would recognize, being so attached to my humanity�and she knew it. She knew me better than I knew myself it turns out. And she despised me. She was only using me to get home. Because Khivar didn�t really need her without me."

"Okay, so she did mind warp you?"

"Sort of. The seal had the added bonus for those who had access to it that it hid when mind-based powers were being used on someone. Anyone with a drop of Antarian blood in their veins would have known if they were being mind warped. The seal blocked me from being able to do that. Nasedo told Michael that our gifts were human, but he was not entirely truthful about that. It�s unlikely that regular humans will ever be able to access them. It�s our Antarian blood that makes it possible for us to use them. My Antarian blood is also the reason that I was so suspicious of Tess when she first came to Roswell. I knew that those thoughts I was having about her were not mine." Max paused, then looked right at her. "I didn�t sleep with Tess."

"Oh." It was all Liz could think of to say. Her mind was whirling in about a million different directions.

"Liz, whether I did or didn�t�it doesn�t matter," Max told her quietly. "I don�t expect it to change things. I know that you want to be with Dan, and I�m really hoping that it works out for you." He didn�t sound very convinced that it was going to though. Liz felt a flash of anger run through her. She knew exactly what he was thinking�that the connection that Zan and Kadiya had created was dooming her relationship with Dan, whether she wanted it to end or not.

"Max, you don�t know anything," Liz told him evenly. "How can you? I don�t even know what I want anymore."

"I�m sorry, Liz."

"Don�t apologize," Liz replied calmly. "None of this is either of our fault. It�s just a gigantic mess is what it is. We need to finish this Max. Once and for all. My trust issues are not because of Tess and what supposedly did or did not happen with her, anyway. They�re with the fact that you left with even saying goodbye. But if that wasn�t even really you than how can I even justify having them?"

"Liz, you�re allowed to feel however you want. Just because my behavior after New York does have some basis in things beyond my control, it doesn�t mean that I wasn�t still a Max that you had to deal with�one that hurt you. I never doubted that I loved you, you know." He sighed. "I knew I did. And that I loved Michael and Isabel and Maria too. But I just couldn�t feel it. I could not get a grip on how I was supposed to behave to show it. I hurt all of you�constantly. First Izzy with the whole school thing and then by telling her that she couldn�t marry Jesse. You, with so many insensitive comments I can�t even remember them all, which makes it ten times worse. Even things I said to Michael�" Max closed his eyes, shook his head. "I was an ass. And while the seal was partly to blame, none of you knew that. You were hurt and you have every right not to trust me. Because it�s not really an excuse anyway. I don�t want to use it as one. I�m only telling you about it because I made a vow to myself recently that I�m not going to lie to you any longer. I just refuse to do it."

Liz listened to him, even heard him, although the temptation to just kiss him and end all of these doubts was beginning to take over as he spoke. Couldn�t things just be uncomplicated for once? Couldn�t she just take what she wanted? Because what she really wanted to do was tell him that it was going to be all right. That the truth made her want to give their relationship a second chance.

But she couldn�t tell him that. Not right now. Her emotions were in complete turmoil. She could not tell him anything of the sort until she was absolutely sure, until everything else in her life had been straightened out.

Because they still had to deal with Dan, with Vick, with the FBI and with Nicholas. Their future was going to have to wait.

She also didn�t think that Max would accept that she might want to be with him again anyway. He had completely convinced himself that the only reason she was giving him the time of day right now was because of Ben, and also because of the connection that Zan and Kadi had supposedly cursed them with.

But she knew it wasn�t true. She had been on the verge of taking the leap with him again even before she had known all of these things. The connection she had with him had nothing to do with Zan and Kadiya. It was only about Max and Liz. She did not remember being Kadiya, knew that she likely wouldn�t. And, as far as she was concerned, none of it was really important anyway.

Liz shook her head. She needed to think about something else! She couldn�t think about any of this while he was so close, watching her with those eyes of his�the eyes that had always seen right through her, even during that time when he hadn�t been himself. Liz believed him when he said that he had been in there, aware and trapped, because she had seen his desperation, had seen how he had focused on the search for his son in order to try to give his life some meaning again.

The fact that this had been going on when he couldn�t even feel anything�it made it even sadder. Because he had obviously been fighting the seal, had been trying to get back who he was, to behave like he was supposed to. But it had all come out wrong. He had only ended up hurting everyone even more.

Liz frowned slightly. "Let�s talk about the seal a little bit more," she said abruptly. Max looked at her in surprise. "I don�t understand exactly how it worked. What could they make you do with it?"

"Well, it wasn�t that they could make me do anything specific," Max replied. "It was more like a clamp on my behavior�on my humanity. It didn�t let me do what I really wanted to do. I didn�t really know how to behave anymore. And it was generated by the minds of the five whom I�ve named." His eyes lit up as he remembered something else. "It wasn�t the first time they had tried to do it to me, either. When Nicholas used his mind raping powers on me when all the humans disappeared from Roswell, that was the first attempt. But I was still too wrapped up in you for it to work properly. I also still trusted Isabel and Michael. But it did weaken me, made it easier in New York. It wasn�t until the dupes screwed with my mind where Michael and Izzy were concerned that things changed. Being in Roswell, where I was comfortable, my home, was also making it difficult. Nicholas told the others that they had to get me out of Roswell, so it was why the summit was set up in the first place."

"Couldn�t they have just used Zan if they wanted you so badly but you were proving so difficult?" Liz asked logically. "Why didn�t they seal him?"

"They were duplicates of us, Liz. We were the original clones. It�s why we had the granolith and also why Kadi�s ring was in my pod," Max replied.

"But they were willing to take Lonnie and Rath?" None of this made any sense. It annoyed Liz�s logical mind when things didn�t add up.

"Nicholas had a thing for Vilandra." Max rolled his eyes. "He knew that Izzy was too much like what Vilandra had been before Khivar had played with her mind on Antar. She wouldn�t have given either him or Khivar the time of day. Lonnie was Izzy�s extreme opposite. Nicholas liked that and thought that Khivar would like it too. As for Rath, I don�t think that there was ever any plan to bring him. Khivar hated him, but he was still his brother. He would have let Michael and Rath live, as long as they stayed on Earth where they couldn�t mess with him."

Liz nodded. "Okay, so the seal didn�t make you do things, it just made you unsure of everything you did?"

Max frowned. "I guess that�s as close an explanation as I can give you. I still don�t understand exactly what the point of it was either. I do know that I was highly emotional as Zan in my past life. They remembered and wanted a way to make sure they knew how I was going to behave. Because throwing in a bit of humanity had likely made me even more of a loose cannon," Max added wryly. "I think it might have been a way for the other rulers to assure that I wouldn�t go right back to promoting democracy upon my return. Because if someone isn�t really passionate about something, they�re not going to fight for it. And I didn�t really feel passionate about anything. Everything I did was mechanical, what I felt had to be done." He paused, lowered his voice. "Including looking for Ben, when I thought he was mine. Holding him, after Tess died, it was the first flash of real emotion I had felt in years." His voice cracked slightly as he remembered.

Liz stared at him. Something he had said to her the day before, when they had had their argument in the bathroom came rushing back in a flash so intense, it made her heart start to beat faster.

This is war. I am going to get you to give in if it�s the last thing I do.

He had said it in the heat of the moment, but she did not doubt that he had meant it at the time. When he had had time to calm down, to realize that maybe giving her ultimatums was not the way to go, he had backtracked, but there was no question that he had passionately believed it then.

There was no question that he felt now. None at all. The seal had been broken. And there was also no question that he was still in love with her. He was willing to fight for her, but only if it was what she wanted. He had even changed from the Max he had been >before she had pretended to sleep with Kyle, the Max who had told her that he was coming for her, even though she couldn�t believe that it was the right thing at the time.

That Max still existed within him, obvious in the argument they had had. But he was more in control of that Max than he ever had been before. He would not pressure her into anything.

She had all the time in the world to decide to be with him. Although she didn�t think it was going to take that long.

For once, the ball was entirely in her court. Her life was in her control. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"Liz?" It was only then that Liz realized that she had been quiet for several minutes, mulling over all of this. "What are you thinking?"

"I�m thinking that we need to figure out what to do about Dan," she admitted. She was looking down as she said it, but before she continued, she made herself look right at Max. "Because I�m not getting married tomorrow."

His heart stopped. Literally.

They were, of course, exactly the words that he had been hoping to hear from her since the moment he had learned that Dan existed. But the circumstances, the timing�it was all wrong.

He had known, deep in his heart, that telling Liz everything that had happened on Antar would change how she viewed him. But he had never wanted it to affect her decisions. He had vowed that he wouldn�t lie to her again, that he wouldn�t keep things from her - but he didn�t want her choices to be dependent on the truth either.

Maybe he had just wanted her to choose him without knowing any of it. Which she had been incapable of doing, because she didn�t trust him. Which he fully deserved and still couldn�t forgive himself for.

Max knew it was stupid. He truly did. But he couldn�t stop the way he felt. And now that he had had such painful insight into what their connection truly meant, he couldn�t help but feel that Liz was making a decision that she was going to regret.

She was watching him closely. He wondered how she wanted him to react. He didn�t know how to react. Did she mean that she wasn�t getting married tomorrow�that the wedding would be rescheduled? Or did she mean that she wasn�t going to be marrying Dan Riley ever?

"What are you thinking?" Liz finally asked, sounding concerned.

"I don�t know," Max replied, shaking his head. "I don�t know what to think. Liz, I didn�t tell you all of this stuff to make you break it off with Dan."

"I know you didn�t," Liz told him. "But it�s what I have to do. These feelings� this connection� whatever you want to call it� it�s just really not fair to him." She sighed. "You know, I had already decided this before I found out that he knew the truth about you. That it wasn�t fair to marry him when I was in so much emotional upheaval where you were concerned."

"You did?" He frowned slightly. "Why did you change your mind again?" But he thought he already knew, because it would be just like her. "Liz, you weren�t going to marry him because you thought that you could protect me that way?" The horror of it was enough to actually make him feel nauseous. "Is that what Kyle wouldn�t tell me when he got here?"

"It was dumb. I admit it." Liz laughed slightly, shaking her head. "Max, I never think clearly when it comes to you. Don�t you know that by now?" Her voice dropped. "It�s what scares me so much. When I was a teenager, it was romantic and exciting to feel that my happiness was linked so closely to being with you. But now it�s just really frightening."

"Because you don�t trust me," Max finished sadly.

"Max, no." Liz smiled again. "I do trust you. That�s the scariest part. I really don�t know how it happened, but I do." He opened his mouth to insist that he hadn�t wanted to convince her of anything by telling her the truth, but she cut him off. "And I know exactly what you�re going to say. That it�s the connection that�s making me feel this way." He closed his mouth with a snap. "But Max, it�s not."

"How can you be so sure, Liz?"

"Max, there has never even been any question in my mind that you are the right person to raise Ben. Do you understand what that means�that it has never even crossed my mind that I couldn�t trust you to do it? Sure, I asked you if you would give him up, but I knew you wouldn�t, and I never would have asked you to anyway." She shook her head. "You never got what Alex meant to me if you don�t know how important Ben is to me. Alex was like my brother, Max. You might never have understood that because things were so bad between us when you and I were first together, and then once he did know, everything just went back to normal. I don�t think you ever got that I was making a huge sacrifice by not telling Alex the truth about you. But I loved you. I chose you over him, which just goes to show how much I already felt for you. How I knew I couldn�t be complete without you."

A flash of guilt ran through him. "Because of the damn connection!"

"No, Max!" Liz exclaimed, sounding frustrated. "I don�t know why you suddenly think the connection is a bad thing. It�s always been something special about us! When it was gone�" She paused, her voice breaking a little before she managed to continue, "After what you thought I had done with Kyle�"

Max interrupted her there. "Liz, it wasn�t gone then. Why do you think that I kept harassing you to admit that nothing had happened between you two? I knew you were lying." He paused, grimaced slightly. "When I told you before going to New York that I didn�t trust you, it wasn�t because I believed it had happened by then. I really still just didn�t. But the fact that you wouldn�t tell me� It was what was driving me insane. But after I was sealed�"

"The connection was cut off." Liz blinked, as though understanding. "So that�s why you asked me again when you got back. Because whatever certainty you had had was gone."

"I guess so. And everything went downhill from there." Max sighed heavily.

Their eyes met for a long moment. "Do you ever wish that you could go back?" Liz whispered suddenly. "That we could just go back to the place where everything went to hell and change it?"

"All the time," Max told her, smiling slightly. "And it doesn�t help matters that I know that technically I could. If we still had the granolith that is. But changing the past certainly didn�t help us the first time you and I decided it should be done."

"Everyone�s still alive," Liz argued quietly. "If we hadn�t done it, Michael and Isabel would be dead soon. Ben wouldn�t exist. Neither would Lexi."

"But Alex would be alive. Changing the past is just not a good idea," Max replied. "Besides, where would we go? To before Tess? I think she would have come anyway. To before I healed you? So I could prevent if from ever happening?"

Liz�s eyes widened in horror. "God! No!"

"No, of course not," Max agreed. "But we don�t know what other people are thinking, Liz, what their destinies are. We changed a future where we would have been together and happy, at least for a little while. Tess stayed, but things just got worse. We didn�t know that she was evil. How could we? Sure, we knew she was annoying, but we didn�t know that she hated me so much because of what I had done to her in a past life that she was determined to bring me down at any cost. But it wasn�t right of us to mess with what was meant to be anyway. Because maybe she was responsible for what had happened in that original timeline and we just didn�t know because we weren�t around her." He paused, frowned slightly. "While that was clearly the most confusing thing I have ever tried to say, did it make some modicum of sense?"

Liz laughed. "I think you were trying to say that changing the past is never a good idea." She raised an eyebrow. "So why are you so upset about what Zan and Kadiya did then? You can�t change it, I don�t find it particularly important either, so why can�t you just let it go, Max?"

"Because they took away your free will, Liz," Max replied evenly. "It�s not fair."

"They took away yours too, Max!" Liz retorted, smiling at him saucily. "Why isn�t that important?"

Max blinked, momentarily unable to think of a response to that. "I am still Zan. I did it to myself."

"That makes absolutely no sense!" Liz shook her head. "It makes even less sense than what you said before!"

"It makes sense to me!"

"Well, you are determined to feel guilty about something, so I�m guessing that�s why," Liz told him. "But I want you to stop. I am telling you that I do not have any conscious memories of Kadiya and Zan. The connection I feel to you has nothing to do with them and everything to do with us. Max, it was you I saw when you first connected with me. It was your soul that made me fall in love with you."

"Liz, my soul is his!"

"So I fell in love with you all over again then." Liz shrugged. "Who cares? I wasn�t in love with you before we connected after the shooting. I thought you were cute, sure, who wouldn�t�" She paused, tilted her head. "Are you blushing?"

"No!"

"Anyway," she smiled at him knowingly. "As I was saying, I wasn�t in love with you before that. Maybe the Rashna only meant that we would end up in the same vicinity so that we would fall in love if the chance presented itself. And fate made it so that you were in the Crashdown that day. Whether we were connected or not, if you hadn�t been there that day, I would have died and we never would have fallen in love at all. You�ve told me that enough times yourself. Doesn�t this make a tiny bit of sense, Max?"

"But, Liz I did love you!" Max was not going to let her talk him out of feeling guilty about this. He was not going to allow it.

"And as you yourself just said, you are Zan. You probably just recognized Kadi�s soul more quickly because you were cloned directly and not reborn. Who knows? Who cares?" Liz dismissed his last argument with a wave of her hand. "Sorry! You have nothing left to say about it, Max. I�m not going to let you feel bad about this, so just forget it."

"Liz�" He was trying to come up with a valid argument, but she has quashed them all.

"Yes, Max?" She was watching him, an amused expression on her face.

"I am at a loss," he finally muttered.

"Because you know I�m right," Liz returned. Her expression sobered. "And now that that�s dealt with, we need to discuss Dan."

"Liz, I don�t want you making any hasty decisions�" Max began.

"Max! You call this hasty? I�ve been freaking out about this for almost a week!" Liz replied. "Don�t mess with me when I�ve finally made some headway."

"Liz�"

"Max, just be quiet and listen to me." She looked exasperated as she scowled at him. "And I thought you were annoying when you told me that you weren�t going to give up on me," he heard her mutter quietly to herself.

He just stared at her. But he didn�t open his mouth again.

"Thank you. As I was saying, I never said that just because I wasn�t marrying Dan tomorrow, that it necessarily means that we�re getting back together." He was about to say that he knew that, when she looked at him sharply, which made him clamp his jaw shut again. "I do love Dan. He is a wonderful man. You were right to trust him, Max. I kept telling myself that he was going to betray you, but I was just trying to give myself an excuse for why I just didn�t feel right about our relationship anymore. But the thing is, I didn�t feel right about things even before I knew you were back."

"Not right how?" Max asked quietly.

"I just wasn�t happy." Liz shrugged. "I really don�t understand it. I have everything I have ever wanted. My dream job at Harvard, a great guy, a bright future. But it felt wrong. It wasn�t until I saw Isabel again, saw how happy she was, that I realized that something wasn�t right." She paused, then smiled slightly. "And then you came back. And I remembered that one part of my dream life was missing. Because even though I love Dan, he�s just not you, Max. He doesn�t make me feel like you did when things were good between us. Having you back has reminded me of that. So, even if we aren�t meant to be anymore, neither are Dan and I."

"I�m sorry, Liz." He sighed, thinking about the connection again. But, of course, she knew that and looked at him in annoyance.

"Max, would you stop apologizing?" Liz ordered. "You aren�t even listening to me. It wasn�t just Dan. It was everything. It was the fact that I couldn�t talk to him like I can talk to you. I can say anything to you�as this conversation is quickly proving. He doesn�t even know how I feel about my job." She shook her head slightly. "Boston just isn�t home either. Because I miss everything about Roswell, too. I miss feeling like my life actually has meaning. It just doesn�t there. But here, it could."

"Because of Ben."

"Yes."

"Well, I�m glad then." And he was. His son was going to benefit from having Liz in his life, without question.

There was a long silence. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. Max watched Liz quietly as she stared off into the distance, a serene expression on her face.

"It�s just so nice to have made some decisions," she whispered.

"I know."

She turned her head to look at him, measuring. "Don�t you want anything for yourself, Max?" she finally asked. "I can�t expect you to wait around for me to get my own life in order. I can�t guarantee you that we�re going to be able to move ahead together."

"I�ll never stop wanting you, Liz," he replied simply. "But there will be absolutely no pressure from me. You have to make your own decision."

There was another long pause. "Okay then." He wondered if he imagined the slight disappointment he heard in her voice. "Do you think maybe we should head back?"

"I know Ben is probably dying to see you." Max smiled. "I don�t actually know how Maria managed to keep him in the house when you first got here." He paused. "And there�s Dan."

"Yes. Dan." She closed her eyes briefly. "Thank you for listening to this, Max. I know it can�t be easy for you."

"I will always be here for you, Liz."

"I know it." She moved towards him, hugged him tightly. "You are my best friend. I think I almost missed you more because of that than anything. I don�t think I�ve ever told you that."

He breathed in her clean scent, closed his eyes as he let his arms come around her small frame. His heart was beating quickly, unused to being in such close proximity to the one it most loved, but he didn�t feel any urge to kiss her. This embrace was not about being lovers, either in the past or the future, but about being with the only other person who truly understood him.

She was his soul mate, whether they were together or not, whatever that even meant. They were the same, despite their different heritage they just understood each other. And he could not regret it. Not anymore.

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