PART FOURTEEN

For two hours they drove, keeping well behind the Cal's sedan, two cars between the Jetta and Cal's car. They had no idea where this would take them, or what the outcome would be, but they did know if it was Liz in either of their places, she wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Quite suddenly, Cal turned off onto little used dirt road. Alex pulled over. Maria noticed the sign next to the road.

Eagle Rock Air Force Base
Trespassing Prohibited
Violators Subject to Arrest

Maria turned to Alex.

"I guess he has even less of a clue than Uncle John's contacts," she muttered. "They came here days ago, and were able to find out that they weren't here."

"He's still our only lead Maria. We have to see if he sees something the others didn't," Alex said, turning off his headlights, before pulling onto the dirt road.

He moved slowly, keeping his eyes trained on the distant taillights of Cal's car. There was no moon, and visibility was practically nil.

A short distance later, Cal pulled off the side of the road.

Alex quickly pulled over and cut the engine.

They remained absolutely still, their eyes trained on the car, waiting for Cal's next move.

They didn't have to wait long. They saw a figure get out of the car, slamming the door closed. He headed off into the desert on foot.

"What's he doing?" Maria said quietly.

"I have no idea, but we're sure as hell going to find out," Alex said getting out of the car. Maria followed, and they set out stealthily to find out what Cal's desert mission was.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

The silence was suffocating.

"Don't say anymore Liz," he said.

His head lowered and he remained quiet, his breath slowly calming.

"Don't do this Max," she said in a low voice, "don't push me away."

"You don't understand," Max said. "You don't know what kind of trouble you're asking for even saying what you just did. If they heard you...."

"Max, how much more trouble could I be in?" she asked, dropping her hands into her lap.

"Didn't you even think about why they would want to install cameras in here? Or why they're keeping us together in the same cell?" he asked.

"Because all of the other cells are damaged," she said.

"Liz, you said one of the others is a girl. Why wouldn't they put you in the same cell with her?" he asked.

Liz frowned, and suddenly what Max was saying became very clear.

"You think they want us to...."

"Yes," he said dully.

"Oh...." Liz said, her face reddening. "Well they can think whatever they want. They can't make us...."

"Think Liz!" he said fiercely. "Tomorrow they are putting another chip in my chest. After tomorrow they can make me do whatever it is that they want, and you may not have a choice in the matter."

Liz watched his jaw tighten in anger, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

Rape. He was talking about rape.

Her eyes shut in dismay.

"Max, whatever happens, I trust you. I trust you just as much as I trust Alex and Maria," she said.

He shook his head.

"Liz, I don't think you understand. If that chip does what it's supposed to and they tell me to hit you, I'll hit you. Or anything else they want me to do," he said miserably.

"I won't be able to stop it," he said.

His hand went to his waistband. At the elastic, he fiddled for a minute, producing a scalpel.

"Where did you get that Max?" she asked.

"One of the surgeon's left it on the table next to me when they cut my neck," he said.

"Maybe we can use it to get out...." she said.

"No Liz. We'll never make it out of here. There are too many of them. I want you to take this. If something happens, and I'm....I'm hurting you, I want you to use it," he said.

"No!" she said horror etched on her face. "I would never Max...."

"Please Liz," he pleaded quietly. "Please take it. I....I can't even think about how I would feel if I hurt you, if I did something to you because they made me."

"No Max, and don't ask me again," she said angry whisper. "I couldn't use that. I won't."

He let out a heavy sigh, turning the scalpel over and over in his hands.

"Max," she said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

He moved away.

"Don't," he said.

"Max, what is it you expect me to do?" she whispered.

"I just told you how I feel about you, and you're asking me to hurt you. You just told me that you didn't want to be the one to hurt me. Did you think I would feel any differently?" she asked.

"I don't know," Max said miserably. "I don't know anything anymore."

Liz looked at him as he stared at the scalpel, unwilling to look at her.

She sighed, and reached out and slowly took the scalpel from him, glancing at the two-way mirror and then nonchalantly cut a tiny hole in the sheet on the gurney, slipping the scalpel inside.

"That's the best I can do for you Max. I'll leave it there, but I can tell you most definitely I won't be using it," she said in a low voice.

"At least it's there," he said, looking at her.

"Yeah," she said, moving to sit next to him on the floor, the two of them leaning up against the gurney, out of sight of the observation glass.

The two sat quietly for a few moments.

"Max, I know I told you how I felt, but you haven't said anything about how you feel," she said, and his eyes shut.

"I know that I probably shouldn't have said anything," she said.

His head turned toward her quickly.

"No Liz, it's not that at all. I just....it's just that things are so complicated, and....you might've felt different if we hadn't been thrown in this situation. I know you're thankful for what I did when they did what they were doing to you, and because I healed you, but I'm the reason you're here in the first place. I think you should really think about that," he said.

"What are you trying to say Max? That I have this romantic Romeo and Juliet complex? That I'm feeling the way that I am because we were thrown together, and no one thinks we should be?"

He looked at her uncomprehending.

"What?" she asked.

"Who are Romeo and Juliet?" he asked.

Liz leaned her head back against the gurney and shut her eyes. She'd forgotten for a moment where he'd been most of his life.

"Romeo and Juliet were tragic characters in a play by William Shakespeare," she said. "Their families were at war, but they fell in love with each other anyway."

"And what happened to them?" he asked.

Liz paused.

"It ended up badly, but that isn't the point," Liz said quickly. "I'm not feeling the way that I do because we were thrown into this together."

"Max, I....ugh, how do I explain this? I don't know why I feel the way I do. Most people care about people just because something about a person speaks to them, makes them think of things in new ways, or touches them in some way that no one has ever touched them before. You've done that to me Max. I've not only seen what a beautiful person you are on the outside, but because of what you are, I've seen how beautiful you are on the inside too. And no matter what happens from here on out, you've changed me," she said, looking down at her hands.

"Liz," he said. "I think you know how I feel. But....I don't know anything about what I am. Even if we weren't in here, even if we could try it, I know enough about what happens between humans....you know what I mean, the way things naturally progress," he said, looking at the floor.

"I don't know what *being* with another human would do. It might be bad. I mean, we don't look different....but we are," he said.

"That's why I am worried about what they're going to do. I don't know if I could make you sick," he said.

"We'll deal with that if it happens," Liz said, putting her hand over his.

"I'm afraid Liz," he said. "I'm afraid of what is going to happen to you."

"Max-"

"This whole situation is hopeless," he said. "Even if we got out of here, I don't even know what my life span is. I couldn't promise you *anything*, and that isn't fair to you," he said.

She put her head down, and he sighed sadly, touching her arm.

"You have no idea what knowing you has done for me. I've never met anyone like you. The only people I knew were the people in here. You changed the way I look at things. You've shown me the beginnings of a whole new world out there. One that I never knew existed, with people who aren't cruel. If I never get out of here again, I'll still know that, because I met you," he said.

"You were so beautiful that night I looked up saw you in the shed. I really saw you for the first time. And when I kissed you that night in your room, I felt things that I've never felt before," he said.

"Kiss me again Max," she said.

"What?" he said.

"I said, kiss me again," she answered, looking into his eyes.

For a moment he looked unsure.

"Max, things may change tomorrow. But we have tonight with no cameras, no chips, just you and I, and I want you to kiss me again," she whispered. "That is, if you want to."

Though he remained motionless, she saw that her words had lit a fire in his eyes. They glowed like dusky embers, smoldering quietly.

Slowly, tentatively, he reached over, touching her hair with his fingers lightly.

"I do," he said, his fingers tracing her jaw as he leaned in, a little unsure of himself, but more sure that he wanted his lips to touch hers again. He desperately wanted to open up to her, to show her how he felt, but he was afraid.

His eyelids lowered as his face came so close to hers, his breath lightly fanning her face. He paused for a split second, which seemed like an eternity to Liz, and then his soft lips met her own with the gentlest touch.

Liz immediately felt her heartbeat quicken at this simple gesture as his hand cupped her cheek, strands of her hair caught between his fingers.

With a small smile, she broke the contact, again capturing his lower lip with hers. The very taste of Max was heady. He felt the audible intake of his breath as she did this.

Languidly, her tongue lightly traced his lower lip, and it seemed on instinct his lips parted and his tongue gently met hers. The contact immediately sent fire racing through her body.

Unconsciously, her hands went to his shoulders, pulling him closer to her as his free hand slid around her back. She slid closer, her knees beside his thighs. She could feel the warm heat of them through the cotton scrubs he wore, and that very warmth drew her in even closer.

"What have you done to me, Max?" she breathed, laughing softly, raining feather light kisses on his lips. He glanced up to make sure that they weren't visible to the observation mirror, and then turned his attention back to her, his hand sliding from her cheek to her neck.

"You're all I think about. You're all I've *been* thinking about for the past few weeks," she said, his lips silencing her as they moved over hers again.

She felt the pulse in her neck beating erratically against his palm. The metal of the collar brushed her hand as she slid her hands up his shoulders. She stiffened as she felt the coldness against her skin, and broke the kiss.

"I hate this thing," she whispered to him, touching it.

His breath was unsteady as his eyes searched her face.

"Don't think about it," he said.

"It's hard not to, what they're going to do to you tomorrow," she said quietly.

He took a deep breath and lowered his eyelids, touching his nose gently to hers.

"What is it, Max?" she asked.

"All these new feelings," he said. "I'm not used to it, the way my body is reacting to you."

She smiled.

"That's perfectly normal Max. If it's any consolation, I'm feeling things I've never felt before either," she said.

"Even with Kyle?" he said, looking at her shyly, before looking down.

"Kyle? How did you know about Kyle?" Liz asked, confused.

"You know when you said that you saw me when I healed you? I mean *saw* me? When I kissed you the last time, I sort of had a flash of you kissing him," he said.

"Oh," Liz answered, a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did."

"No that's ok Max," she said, her face reddening a bit, "and no, I never felt anything like this with Kyle," she said.

"Not that things went very far with him, but it was nothing like the way I am feeling when I'm with you," she said, lifting his chin with her fingers. "I don't know what it is, but I feel like I'm....I don't know, connected to you, like I've never been connected to anyone before."

She pulled him toward her as she lay back on the hard. He settled on his side, so as not to irritate his burns. His hand glided over the cotton gown covering her stomach, settling on her hip lightly.

His weight rested in his elbow, and for a long moment, he looked at her quietly, not saying a word.

"What is it Max?" Liz asked.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

How could he possibly explain everything that was going through his mind? He felt almost overpowered by the myriad of emotions he was experiencing, anger, fear, desire, tenderness.

Anger at the situation they were in.

Fear of what would happen tomorrow.

Desire, a whole new emotion that was rolling over him.

Tenderness toward this girl that was so accepting of him.

A fierce feeling of protectiveness came over him. He wanted to protect her from harm, from what Pierce had planned.

If only had some way to fight back. The very hopelessness of it all made him furious.

His whole body was tense with all of it.

She sensed it, he could see.

"Max...."

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling his hand from her hip to her hand resting on her stomach. He watched as his own fingers ran lightly over her slender ones. Her eyes also fell to their touching hands. She took his hand in both of hers, running her thumb over his palm.

"Healing hands," she said softly. "These hands can take pain away. Do you have any idea what a gift that is Max?" she asked.

"It's a curse Liz," he answered. "It's one of the things that makes me different than you. It's one of the reasons I'm in here."

"Max, don't think of it like that. If you weren't what you are, we probably wouldn't have met, and it would have been me who lost out," she said.

"What has it been like for you Max?" she asked, looking into his eyes. "I mean, I can't imagine how you feel, not knowing where you came from or how you got here."

He shrugged, a wistful look coming into his eyes.

"I don't know. My only link to what I am is the others. I've thought about it a lot. I've....wondered about it a lot. I've wondered what my world was like. I wondered what my people are like. I've wondered how we wound up here. The Professor told me that they were able to determine that we were genetically engineered," he said.

"Who is the Professor?" Liz asked, her hand lightly stroking his arm. For a moment, her touch distracted him.

"He was a scientist that used to be here. They nicknamed him the Professor, because he was the one who taught me things. He gave me books. He answered questions," he said.

"Where is he now?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "One day he was just gone. I never heard what happened to him. He was the one who gave me my name. He was the only one that treated me decently."

He saw her eyes grow moist as he said this.

"Don't be sad for me Liz. It was hard. I won't lie. But....I've met you, and I've been free, for a little while," he said.

"I can't imagine what you must have thought when you escaped here," she said.

"I was frightened," he admitted. "It's so *big* out there. I'd seen photos in books of cars, trees, sand, houses. But it wasn't the same as actually being out there, seeing it," he said.

She nodded.

"But it's beautiful," he said. "There is so much beauty out there that is taken for granted."

"Yes," Liz said. "People get caught up in their daily lives, and forget to really look around."

"That's sad," Max said.

"Yes, it is," Liz answered, meeting his eyes.

"You don't take anything for granted, do you?" she asked.

He tore his eyes away from hers. He'd learned to live minute by minute, for the short periods of time when he'd had peace. The horrors that had been inflicted on him over the years spent in this place had marked him permanently. He couldn't begin to describe to her what had been done to him. He didn't want her to know. He was ashamed of it.

*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%

Liz watched as he said nothing, reaching up to the gurney, pulling the blankets, sheet and pillow off of it.

"No use lying on cold cement," he said wryly, laying the sheet and a blanket between them. He took her hand, and she slid onto it. He moved next to her, still on his side, putting the pillow down. Liz settled next to him, drawing him into her arms. She heard his slight intake of breath as the blanket settled on his burns.

"Are you ok?" she asked, and he nodded as he lay his head on the pillow next to hers. His neck was at an uncomfortable angle with the collar, and she stroked his cheek sympathetically.

He relaxed a little. They lay quietly as she gently ran her hand over his skin, his jaw, his shoulder, his arm, his hip.

"Is this all right?" she asked, seeing a look of sadness run across his features.

"Yes," he said quietly. "You have no idea what it's like to be touched by someone who isn't going to hurt you. I can't explain it to you."

"Even if you could, I'm not sure I could completely understand Max," she said. "But I won't hurt you."

"I know," he said. "I wish I could say the same. After tomorrow...." he broke off.

"It doesn't matter what happens tomorrow. I know you, and whatever they tell you to do, nothing will convince me it's you that's doing it," she said.

He nodded uncertainly.

She leaned over, her eyes falling to his lips, so close that their breath was mingling in the air between them. Her eyes roamed his face, rich brown eyes hidden by a frame of dusky lashes, the small scorch marks at his temples, the scar on his jaw, the silky locks of hair falling over his forehead, the tiny birthmark on his wondrous lips that made her pulse race. And in that split second she realized that somewhere along the line she had fallen in love with him. She'd only known him such a short time, and there was so much that she didn't know about him, so much that he didn't know about himself, but she felt it in her heart.

She loved him because he didn't know how beautiful he was. She loved him because he'd come into her life so unexpectedly. She loved him because he was so innocent in so many ways, yet so educated in the ways of human cruelty, and still every horrible thing that had been done to him hadn't hardened him, hadn't broken him. She loved him because he wanted to protect the others. She loved him because he wanted to protect her. She loved him because he'd saved her.

This very realization terrified her and made her heart soar all at once. Never had she felt anything like this, and never had she thought that love could happen in such a short period of time, or that it could be this intense.

It was one thing to say that you cared. It was quite another to know in your heart that your soul matched another's perfectly, especially if that soul was from another world altogether. She knew he'd think her crazy. She knew that he cared for her too, but she couldn't voice her realization. It was too fresh, too new, and too much was happening.

And so she closed that tiny space between them, embracing his lips with her own, as time seemed to stand still for one infinite moment.

*flash*

She saw herself in a hundred different images in his mind. She was seeing herself through his eyes, experiencing what he felt.

Fear. Paralyzing, gripping fear, pain, and a bone shattering weariness.

Darkness. But it was warm. Comfort in sleep.

She heard the voices of Jeffrey and Wilkes as he heard them. And then she heard her own voice, and it was a sweet sound to him.

And then she was next to him, and fear mixed with curiosity and the thought that her eyes were not cruel, but compassionate.

*flash*

She is holding his hand outside the examination room, and he is terrified, but she tells him it's going to be ok, and strangely, he believes her. Her warm hand in his is his only separation from the blinding fear that is threatening to take over.

She holds his hand, and he wonders yet again why she is helping him. Her reassuring smile calms him.

*flash*

He is looking at her in the Jetta, and thinking that her hair was like polished metal. That her eyes were kind.

*flash*

An encompassing wave of terror is again upon him as he wakes in the dark room, not knowing where he is, afraid of what he is, afraid of what he is capable of. And then she is there, and her hands comfort him and he grabs onto her as if he were to let go, he'd be lost forever. She strokes his hair and tells him it was just a dream, and her heartbeat, her warmth, her soft voice convinces him that it was.

*flash*

She smiles at him and asks him to come back to Roswell with her, and he wants to, because he wants to save the others, and he wants to know her better. He wishes that he was a normal teenager, because he wants to know her better.

*flash*

She is lying on the ground, blood welling on her chest, and he panics, not knowing what to do. His shield appears out of thin air, and he is desperate. She will not die. He won't let her die. She is beautiful and kind, and he wouldn't allow it to end there. And he connects with her. He sees a collage of images from her childhood, and then he is inside her, healing her from inside out, knowing that he had just ruined any chance of going back to Roswell. She will know what he is. She will think him a monster. But she will live. Above all, she will live.

*flash*

Night after night he is outside her window, watching her sleep through the glass, needing to be there, needing to watch over her. Tenderness washes over him as he watches her sleep, nodding off occasionally himself. But he doesn't fully sleep. Time and again the thought of her brings him out of his slumber, and he peers through the glass, making sure that she is still there, that she is ok.

*flash*

Her lips are beckoning to him as she lay next to him, and he wants to kiss her, something he has never even thought about doing before. Her skin glows in the moonlight, and the way she is looking at him, did he dare to believe that she might care for him?

She felt the new sensations as he felt them. The texture of her lips, that to him were the softest thing he'd ever touched with his own.

And the images of the kisses in her life rushed through her head until they focused on Kyle. And then she felt the sadness and his feeling of unworthiness because of what he was.

*flash*

Horror. He feels horror as he sees the silent explosion of the bullet that came cleanly through her skin. He wants to kill Pierce for what he has done to her. He wants to heal her, to make the pain go away. It was his fault. His beautiful Liz was in pain because of him.

*flash*

Panic attacks every inch of his body as he sees what they are about to do to her. He has to take her away from it, because he's been there. He knows it leaves more than physical scars. There are no words for the pain that comes along with their "explorations". He has to take her away from it, to his secret place. And she is even more beautiful there, against the backdrop of the impossible sky and blue sun. The world he had created there had fairly shimmered with her in it, and so did she.

Her hair blew silkily in the wind, her eyes shining as she told him that it was beautiful. But it didn't compare to her standing before him. His savior.

And the world turned black when she left it, and he had thought himself dead, because that is what his world was without her in it.

But she came back, and she gave of herself again, and she brought him back, and as he woke in the cell, her face the very first thing he saw, he knew that he'd never see something so beautiful for the rest of his days.

She was stunned yet again. He thought she was beautiful, and the very act of being able to know how he saw her left her humbled.

He broke the kiss abruptly looking away.

"Oh Max," she said softly, her voice quavering.