“Michael!!” Maria clutched him to her body as he fell, his body pushed back by the force of the bullet. She gathered him close, his blood spilling on her. “Oh god, baby. What did you do?”

Her hands moved over him, over his face. She held him tight crying uncontrollably. Looking up she screamed, “Help me! Oh god, help me!”

Kyle, who had rushed to Jim and Amy to make sure they were alive, heard Maria’s cries. The sounds of the bullets still echoed in the canyon. All of them had ducked for cover. He heard the ringing still in his head, but that one of the flying bullets had hit someone didn’t register until Maria’s screams pulled him from his stupor.

Amy’s voice was small, “Maria? Oh god, who hurt my baby? They shot my child!”

Jim was struggling to get free from the ties that bound him, as Kyle cut them, but Kyle couldn’t stay and help Jim and Amy; he rushed to Maria.

“Kyle?” Alex called. He was gathering up the last of Clayton’s men. The members of the tribe were making their way down from the cliff, their rifles never wavering from the men who had brought death to their land.

“I’ve got it.” Kyle rushed to her side, but stood shocked, seeing Michael Guerin bleeding to death from a wound in his chest. It had hit his lung. Kyle could hear the sucking sound of air, and the ragged push of his breath. “Oh shit!”

Maria pulled off her shirt. Ignoring her nudity, with only a small bra left to cover her, she pressed the material to the wound. “Help me, dammit!”

Alex rushed to their side as the others joined them and took over control of the remaining men, disarming them. “Eddie! We need you!”

Eddie ran forward with River Dog on his heels. He dropped to his knees, checking the wound. River Dog knelt next to Maria as she held Michael’s head in her lap. Her bloodied hands stroked his face as her tears streamed down to cover him. Whispering to him softly she kissed him, pleading with him to stay with her.

“Don’t leave me. Don’t you die.”

Eddie pulled the shirt from the wound making Michael cry out, as the shirt stuck to it.

“The coyote.” River Dog said softly, his hand joining Maria’s on Michael’s face. Michael’s eyes opened and he stared into Maria’s face, then his eyes veered to look at the old Indian man.

“I’m not a damn coyote,” he said softly, coughing up blood. He felt tired. Too tired to stay awake. He looked at Maria again. If he was really going to die, he’d rather her face be the last thing he saw.

“You sound like one. I expect a coyote to always deny his nature.” River Dog looked at his grandson. Eddie shook his head.

“ Alex , you need to get him to town. The Emergency Room.” Eddie took off his shirt and added it to Maria’s already soaked one. “There’s nothing I can do here for him. He needs to be there quick.”

Alex nodded, and he motioned for Kyle to help as Eddie lifted Michael into the back of Kyle’s police vehicle. Maria scrambled onto the bench as they placed him with her, Eddie took her hand and added it to the wound.

“Press hard. Keep the pressure on. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Maria just nodded and softly talked to Michael to keep him with her, awake.

Kyle went to get into the driver’s seat taking note of the mess of restrained men, a dead Clayton Wheeler, an entire hunting party of Native Americans, and his dad and Amy. Taking his field unit receiver, he called to his father. “Dad?”

Jim nodded. Wavering on his feet, but still in control. “I’ve got it. I’ll call it in and bring Amy in, just go!”

Kyle tossed him the radio, and he was in his vehicle with lights and sirens blaring, heading back to Roswell. He didn’t even bother to look back to see how Guerin was doing; he already knew they were out of time.

“Maria?” Amy watched as her daughter sped away, not even a word, hardly a glimpse and she was gone again. “Where are they taking my daughter?”

Jim hugged her tight. “She’ll be okay. She’s with Kyle. They just need to take care of Michael first. I promise I’ll take you to her as soon as the relief teams arrive.” Jim grabbed her face. She had fought so long to have her daughter back, to watch her leave again. “Amy, I promise. Soon. She’s alive. Let her help the man who just saved her life.” Amy nodded.

Maria had been too busy talking to Michael. It all happened so fast, that she didn’t even register her mother’s presence. All she could see was Michael. Feel him pushing her aside. The impact of the bullet that he took for her. Damn him.

Maria whispered to him, “You healed me. Can you heal yourself?”

Michael, struggling to retain what hold he had on consciousness, shook his head no. His mouth was dry. It tasted of blood, and he was struggling to breathe. It took great effort to talk. All he could manage was one word, “Max.”

Maria understood. His brother. He needed his brother. His brother could heal him! Running her hands down his body and along his back pocket, she found his cell phone. Opening it, she was thankful to get a dial tone. Working. “Michael, tell me. What number on speed dial?” His eyes were closing. “No! No! You stay with me, dammit! What is the fucking number?”

“Three.” She barely heard it, but nodded hitting the number. Shouting at a confused Alex , she listened to the phone ringing.

“Take him to his place!”

Alex shook his head. “He needs the ER. Now.”

“He can’t go to the ER.” Alex was confused. “Dammit, just trust me! He can’t go there! I’m calling someone who can heal him.”

“This is insane. He needs a doctor. Surgery. A hospital.”

Maria heard the phone being answered and a man’s voice answering. “Hello?”

She didn’t even pause. “It’s Michael. He’s been shot. He’s dying. We’re taking him to his place. Hurry. He’s leaving us.” She hung up. Looking at Alex , she held up her bloodied right hand. “I can’t explain. It’s not my place to tell. But believe me, if you take him to the hospital, you might as well kill him now. I can get him help, a chance. Don’t believe me, but believe this. Look at my hand. It was almost useless from the accident. He healed it.”

Alex looked at her unmarred hand covered in Guerin ’s blood. He had read the reports from the hospital, and heard her own account. It was impossible. He looked at her, seeing the desperate plea in her eyes, a plea for her mate’s life. He nodded.

“ Alex , take us to Guerin ’s place.”

Kyle who had been listening protested, “Are you insane?”

“Just do it.” Alex looked at the woman and saw the gratitude in her eyes. Felt it. Connections. They were all connected somehow, some way. It was growing stronger. The mate of the coyote, she had the answers. River Dog. The visitor stood with them at the stronghold, to the death. Not today. Too many already dead. No more.

Maria broke eye contact and moved her hands over Michael’s face making him look at her. “Don’t leave me. Please.” Her eyes were soft and gentle and she kept the pressure on his wound. “What were you thinking? Dammit, Spaceboy…you grow old with a person, not because of them. I swear, if I get gray hairs from this I’m going to kick your ass and wash your fucking clothes for a lifetime.”

Michael’s eyes were tired, but they watched her face. So little time left with her. So little time. He had stolen her anyway. He was never meant to have her. He always knew he’d have to give her back. Isabel. Max. Liz and the baby. They were so far away, but Maria was here. That was okay. He could feel the cold taking over his body, starting at his lower legs. She kissed his lips gently, still talking to him.

“Stay. Stay with me.” He was tired, she could feel the pull to rest. To close his eyes and just finally be at rest. “No. No, please. I love you.”

Michael’s opened up one last time, and regarded her. Thank you. Ditto. He always thought death would be dark, cold and dank. An end. But he felt warm, secure, and her arms held him tight.

~~~

Max stood holding the phone, unable to talk. Before he could move or even think, Isabel rushed into the Crashdown.

“Max!” He looked at her, and it was on her face.

“Michael. I know. C’mon. We’ve got to get to his place.”

Liz saw them rushing for the door. Following quickly, she called out, “Max? What is it?”

Max stopped to kiss her and push her back into the restaurant. “It’s Michael. He’s leaving. Liz, stay here. I’ll be back. Just rest. You and the baby. Rest.”

“But…” She watched him jump into the jeep with Isabel, who was pale and clutching her front, tears streaming down her face. Michael? Oh god. Liz watched the red taillights in the dark move out of sight. Please. She touched her stomach. Please.

~~~

They had barely gotten him into the house and on the floor in the living room when Max and Isabel burst in. Isabel was unable to talk. She was using all her strength to hold onto that thin whisper of connection she had to her twin. He kept pulling away, and she kept bringing him back. This time was different. He wasn’t struggling with her. This time he was fighting to stay too. He wanted to live.

Maria looked up from where she sat on the floor, holding Michael’s head. “Hurry! He’s weak. He can’t hold on much longer.”

Max and Isabel rushed to Michael’s side, but they hesitated at the sight of Kyle and Alex . Maria saw their hesitation.

“Just do it! He’s dying. Worry about it later.”

Max nodded and quickly knelt beside his brother as Isabel took one of Michael’s hands. Maria leaned over Michael and took his face forcing him to look at her. “Stay. You need to help us, Michael.”

Max placed a hand on Michael’s wound and another on his face. The brothers’ eyes met. And Max closed his eyes and concentrated. Too much damage. He didn’t have the strength. Isabel added her hand over Max’s on Michael's chest and she prayed. Maria took one of Michael’s hands and intertwined her fingers with his. Placing it on top of Max and Isabel’s she made eye contact with him, pleading with him to heal, to stay, to survive.

The voice. It was back. The one that urged him to survive all those years ago. To get up and fight. It was her! It was Maria’s voice! His strength.

Alex and Kyle watched in wonder as Michael Guerin who had been at death’s door, suddenly opened his eyes and they were clear. He was tired, but alive. Alex watched as the other three on the floor seemed to slump in exhaustion, their hands falling away from the wound that was no more. All that remained was a silver handprint on Guerin ’s skin.

~~~

They were all silent. Kyle broke the quiet.

“That was amazing.”

Isabel couldn’t meet Alex ’s eyes. She kissed her twin, the tears on her face streaming onto his skin. Michael’s hand came up and wiped some of them away. She smiled at him, but she could feel Alex ’s eyes on her back. Standing, she left the room and went outside onto the deck.

Alex followed, watching the lines of her back.

“So you know.”

Alex reached for a pack of smokes, but held back. Those things would kill you. “I know nothing. Nothing but what you want to tell me.”

“And if I can’t tell you anything?”

“Then I say that's okay.” Isabel hesitated, uncertain, but she met Alex 's gaze as he continued, “I say that we all live with secrets, things that are too personal to share, that make us vulnerable and afraid. When you can...if you want... you can tell me. Trust me. I will not fail you. So tell me when you can. Later.”

“Will you listen?” Isabel asked softly.

Alex smiled slightly and nodded. “Isabel Evans, I’ve heard nothing but your voice for years. How could I not listen?” Alex moved closer, ignoring her reserve, and took her in his arms. She didn’t need uncertainty or doubt. If he pulled back, treated her like a freak, that mere act would be a wall between them always. With no indecision, no fear, he pulled her into his arms and held her close, soothing her back. “Don’t worry. Nothing and no one will ever hurt you. I promise. I’ll make sure of it. You don’t have to hide anymore, Isabel. Not from me.”

Isabel’s arms went around his neck, and she hugged him hard. She was finally not so alone. For the first time in her life, there was someone else, someone strong and powerful who could protect her, who could accept her…someone who was not either of her brothers. Someone that was hers.

~~~

“Kyle?” Max followed Kyle into the kitchen and watched the man open the fridge and take out a beer. He waved one at Max, but Max refused.

“I can’t drink. It doesn’t mix well with what I am.”

“And what is that exactly, Max?”

Max looked at his brother still on the floor with Maria next to him kissing him and talking to him. What was he? A visitor? No. They never came. He was born here. Raised here. He belonged. It was time to stop thinking like a stranger. It was time to make a stand. He wasn’t alone. He had a family. A growing family. Liz and the baby. They deserved to be safe. They deserved to have a home. Isabel deserved more than giving up everything she ever wanted and ever had, always living on the edge of fear. Michael deserved to finally come home.

“I’m a Roswellian, born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. I’m human. We all are. We’re human with a little bit more. Not different. Not really. Just more. We live here. We love here. And here we’re going to raise our families.”

Kyle looked at Max and noticed Isabel and Alex had joined them. “Fair enough. Welcome to Roswell, Max Evans.” Kyle understood needing to find a safe place to raise a family. To keep them happy, alive and together. Max wasn’t that much different. “But someday soon, we’re going to have to have a talk. If I’m keeping your secret, I think I have a right to know what I’m shielding and protecting. You can thank Liz Parker for this. I’ve known her too long not to trust her, and trust her heart. So I might not know much, but I know you’re a good man.”

Max looked at the man holding his sister close. Alex Whitman. He recognized him vaguely from High School. Isabel was holding onto him, and the way Alex held her close…Max’s eyebrow went up. Obviously, Isabel hadn’t bothered to mention a few things.

“And you?” Before Isabel could say anything, Alex answered for himself.

“What about me? Is your secret safe? I don’t really know your secrets, but what I do know…I’ll keep to myself. I made a promise to a special lady, and lucky for you, I’m in a position to make sure nothing comes your way.”

Max felt a creeping coldness up his spine. Suspicion and mistrust were hard things to release after a lifetime of living with them. “What position is that?”

Alex smiled wickedly and held out his hand. “ Alex Charles Whitman. Federal Agent. NSA.”

Max almost swallowed his tongue, and looked at his sister in disbelief. A Federal Agent? Reluctantly he placed his hand in Alex ’s and shook it. The man had helped save Michael’s life. He had to trust that he wouldn’t turn around and take it away.

“Yeah, I specialize in aliens…” Alex smiled pleasantly as Max’s hand faltered in his, “...of the illegal kind, but more specifically terrorists. I’m part of the NSA Terrorist Taskforce. Computers, information and retrieval. You don’t have any plans to terrorize, maim or harm any member or citizen of the United States or the planet earth, do you?”

Max could hardly speak. “No. Not today. Not in this lifetime.”

“Good. Then it seems Mr. Evans, you are outside my jurisdiction.”

Isabel pinched Alex hard in the side. “You’re mean. And that’s not funny.”

“His sense of humor is for crap, always was,” offered Kyle.

Alex took offense. “What, from Potty Humor Boy? It took him until senior year of college to stop making armpit farts.”

“Actually, I still do that. Someone had to teach the twins.”

Alex laughed but saw Max’s serious face. Sighing, he made a note to self. Work on socializing more. Two years in captivity really was bad on his people skills. “Hear you’re expecting a baby. Given your special circumstances, I have a nice solution for you. I know this great doctor. He deals with things, strange things, all the time, and he is the model of discretion. Damn, he’s Native American, so getting him to open his mouth is next to impossible, especially to a Fed.”

“Doesn’t seem to keep your mouth shut.” Kyle said.

“Shut up, Kyle. So anyway…”

~~~

Maria watched him. He was silent. Things had happened too fast. Faster than he thought they would. She was free. Her memories were back. Her life was her own again.

“I’m sorry.” Maria looked over at the two men. Kyle and Alex . “It seems that because of me, you exposed yourself to more people.”

“It was an inevitability. We’ll deal.”

Maria sat back and looked at him. His eyes. They never lied. “It’s time huh?”

Michael nodded.

“I’m hurting you.”

Michael couldn’t look away. “Yes.”

Maria nodded and sat back from him, her hands rubbing down her legs to remove the moisture from her palms. “You’ll be okay on your own?”

Michael nodded. He couldn’t say the words. He couldn’t say the words needed to send her away, and the words to beg her to stay stuck in his throat. If he had been a different man, or even from a different time or world…but no.

Maria leaned down, her hair falling in a curtain closing them in a world of their own. Molding her forehead to his, she rested against him for a second, and Michael almost begged her to stay anyway.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for my life.”

Maria mated her mouth to his, one last time. Lingering, unable to break free. But it was time. He had promised he’d let her go, and she had promised to leave when it was time.

Standing, she rubbed her arms and stepped away. Looking at Kyle and Alex , she nodded. “I think I’m ready to go home now.”

Michael slowly got to his feet, and noticed the two men looking at him questioningly. He nodded. And they followed Maria to the door. Alex stopped to kiss Isabel on the cheek and whispered he’d call her soon. Isabel nodded absentmindedly, her entire attention on her brother.

Michael stood watching Maria leave. Her back was to him. A part of him willed her to turn around, to look at him one last time, but he knew she wouldn’t. Watching her leave, he struggled not to go after her and bring her back, but he had always known this day would come. She didn’t even bother to gather her things.

“Michael, go after her!” Isabel begged. Michael ignored her, wincing as the door of the house shut. “Michael…”

Max stopped her. He took her arm and shook his head no. Michael took time. Some things, some ideas took longer to overcome. Michael always had the idea that he was meant to be alone. Nothing, not even Maria, could change that in just over a week.

Max looked at his brother, and despite Michael’s usual hands-off policy, he went to him and pulled him close in a tight hug closing his eyes and thanking some unseen force for letting him get there in time. Reaching out, he pulled Isabel into the hug, and in the first time in a long time, the three of them were together again.

~~~

Maria was silent on the trip to Roswell. She sat in the backseat on the blood stains left by Michael's wounds, her hands and body still covered in his blood. Kyle watched her via the rearview mirror, but he remained silent. Taking out his phone, he called his dad to find out where Maria’s mom was.

They walked into the Roswell PD to the flashing of reporter's cameras, and Alex quickly covered the bloodied Maria from their prying eyes. But one pair of eyes found her immediately.

“Maria!”

Maria looked up to see the woman coming towards her. Amy. Her mom. Her eyes filled with tears. She remembered her. Leaving Alex , she threw herself into her mom’s arms crying in relief.

The bright lights and noise. That would be all that Maria would remember for years to come about that evening spent in the Roswell PD. Sitting there holding her mother’s hand, she retold all the events leading up to that moment, including her father’s murder.

“Maria, are you okay? Is there something we can do?” Jim asked kindly.

“I just want to go home.”

It was late when Jim Valenti drove both Amy and Maria back to the hotel. He safely walked them to their door.

Like a zombie, Maria entered the room and went straight into the bathroom. They heard the shower running. Jim frowned, unsettled by the quiet Maria. He didn’t know her, but he suspected that her personality tended to be more vibrant and upbeat. The events of the past week or so took away from her. As it was, it was easy to see that she was disturbed and unhappy about it.

“Is she going to be okay?”

Amy looked at the door, and tear flooded her eyes. “I don’t know. I just know she’s alive.”

“Amy…”

Amy turned and smiled at him with a heartfelt warmth. “Thank you. Thank you for my daughter’s life.”

“No thanks needed, Amy. I almost got both you and me killed. I think Michael Guerin is the person who saved her life. With what we know about Special Agent Burns now, if he hadn’t gone back and taken her from the hospital, taken care of her and hidden her, she would have been dead.”

Amy nodded. She owed a certain Michael Guerin a debt she could never repay. He not only gave her back her child, but miraculously gave her child her hands. Amy looked at the closed door, and wondered how much of her he kept.

“I should go and let you rest. Take care of Maria.”

Amy grabbed his hand, and held on tight. “I…I...just thank you. Really.”

“It was good seeing you again, Amy DeLuca.”

Amy watched him smile and walk towards the elevator. Uncertain what to do, she turned to a voice. Maria’s.

Maria was standing in the door in a robe, still wet from the shower.

“If you let him just walk away, you’ll regret it.”

Amy frowned and bit her lip. Looking at Maria and then at Jim, she was still uncertain. Decisions. In her life, she had made some real bad ones. Bad enough to make her reluctant to risk making more.

“I know. I have nothing but regrets, and I’m only twenty-five.” Maria looked at her mom sadly. “When is it too much? Are you going to let what has passed cripple you for life, from taking chances? We esteem highly, but nothing is as dear as that which we fight for, at the risk of our own lives and hearts. That's a quote from some author - the name escapes me, but it's appropriate now.” Maria walked up to her mom and hugged her from behind. “Don’t fear love, just that you’ll never find it, never feel it, and let it walk away. Don’t be afraid. I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Maria…” They heard the chiming of the elevator door.

“Go now, or die living this way.”

Amy didn’t hesitate. She ran, and barely slipped into the elevator before the door closed. One moment Jim Valenti was walking away, unsure what to do, and the next moment he was pushed up against an elevator wall by a fast moving Amy DeLuca, kissing the very life out of him.

Maria smiled. Maybe it was the wrong choice. Maybe. Time would tell. All she knew was she was tired. Life. So much of it she wasted, and in some ways so had her mother. If living a life taught lessons, then maybe it was time to take account and actually learn what those lessons were.

Closing the door. Maria stared at the empty room. All her memories weren’t back. Some were still fragmented and coming back slowly. She didn’t really remember this room, except from the time she broke into it with Michael.

Michael.

Sitting on the bed, she stared down at the pair of pink athletic shoes he bought her. They were covered in his blood. Her stomach felt nervous, jittery, and unsettled. Part was from relief. Relief he was alive. That he would go on. Another part just felt empty. Hollow. Her hands were shaking.

She needed to paint. To sculpt. She had left her brushes and paints in Tucson. There had been no room on the bike, and a part of her wanted to leave them behind. The sleep painting was scaring her. Now she needed to work, to find the relief in the world where nothing could touch her.

Sitting on the side of the bed, she buried her face in her hands, and she wept.

~~~

“Did you talk to him?”

“No. I tried, but he’s not talking to anyone,” Max said.

“Max, I think…”

“Leave it alone, Izzy. You know how he hates it when you push him.”

Liz was quietly listening to them discuss Michael. Three weeks. They hadn’t seen him in three weeks. Not since Maria DeLuca left. He had been closed up in his home not answering the phone or returning phone calls.

“Maybe he just needs time to decide what he can do, what he wants to do?” Liz offered helpfully.

Isabel nodded and smiled slightly, but worry still lined her face. “He loves her. He doesn’t have to be alone. Not anymore.”

Max and Liz looked at each other. Isabel was right. They had moved on, all of them. Isabel was seeing Alex Whitman whenever she could, and she quit her job at their dad’s law offices. She was taking classes with Vicky in education at the local community college. Isabel was going to be a Kindergarten teacher. Summer session had just begun, and for three weeks they listened to endless chatter about her classes, schedules and degree program. It felt good. It felt like living.

“Let’s just give him time.”

“I know, Max. I know. Michael always took time.” Isabel noticed Liz wincing. “Liz, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a few cramps. Nothing really.”

Max frowned at her. “You sure? Maybe we should call John or Eddie? These aren’t the first ones you've had, and…”

“I’m fine. I think I’m just tired. Isabel, why don’t you keep Max company. I think I’ll go take a nap.”

Isabel smiled, but her smiled faltered as Liz left the Crashdown and headed upstairs. Max and Liz had finally hired a day manager to help take the work load off Liz, and in the evening Max helped out in the diner. Despite all their efforts, Liz was still looking tired and run down.

“She doesn’t look good, Max.”

“I know. She’s still anemic, and John couldn’t find anything wrong.”

“The dumping, Max. The contamination.”

Max frowned. “I know. I thought about that. Alex said the miscarriages started with cramping. John says it is still too early to test the baby, and too early to tell.”

“She’s scared.”

Max looked at the closed door where Liz had walked through. “I know, and so am I. So am I. Do me a favor and keep an eye on the place.” Max said hurrying after Liz. Entering the breakroom, he found Liz stooped over, crying. “God, Liz! Honey, what’s wrong? Is it the baby?”

Liz nodded. “I think it’s dying. I can feel it almost struggling.”

Max went over and picked Liz up placing her on the sofa. “I’m taking you to the emergency room.”

“Max…” Liz bent over in pain again, her face losing what little color she had left. Sweat beaded on her brow, and Max could feel her leaving. She was dying.

“No! No.” Max quickly pulled her into his arms. “Liz! Liz, look at me! Stay with me! Just don’t leave me.” He ran his hands down her body, concentrating. On the flatness of her stomach he stopped, and his hands began to shake. Breathing harshly, he could feel it. His child. Dying. Liz. Dying. The baby couldn’t breathe. Oxygen from Liz was not traveling correctly to the baby. The baby was slowly asphyxiating in her womb. Concentrating. Closing his eyes, he blanked his mind. Too much. Too complex. He didn’t know how. So he did the only thing he could. He closed his eyes, and he prayed to a God he had never believed in, and placed his healing gift and trust in blind faith that whatever omnipotent being existed would guide him to fix Liz, and maybe fix their baby.

Liz gasped, and her eyes opened wide as she felt a warmth flood her lower body. And suddenly the gripping pain was gone. Lying against Max, exhausted, for the first time in days she could no longer feel her child. No!

Max held Liz tight. Speaking was a struggle. He felt things. Saw things. Saw Liz. Saw her life in slow motion. Saw his baby in the womb. He felt like he just lived a hundred lifetimes in mere seconds. “I’m taking you to the ER now, Liz. Listen to me. There can be other children. We can try again. But I can’t lose you Liz. I can’t.”

“Max…” Liz bit her lip. Selfish. It felt selfish. All the miscarriages in Roswell. All the women who wouldn’t have babies, but all she cared about was her own. “Max, I feel better. The pain. It’s gone. Did you heal me?”

“I don’t know. I can’t know. I need to take you to the doctor.”

“I can’t feel the baby, Max.”

“Liz, I don’t know what I did. I don’t know how to heal something this complex. I’m not God. I can’t change nature. It’s a balance. I put my trust in something I’ve never seen.”

“Max, this isn’t about you being alien. This isn’t about the time not being right, or something in me that is broken. It’s about an evil man and his evil son spending decades poisoning us. My entire life. You, Isabel, and Michael might escape because you’re never sick. There is nothing natural about this. This is what is unbalanced.”

Max knew she was right. It still didn’t mean he could change anything. Max shook his head no. There was a chance she wasn’t losing the baby, but if he couldn’t tell until he took her to the hospital. Max looked at his hands. What to do? Playing God was a dangerous thing.

Liz looked down at her stomach. It felt warm. He had unbuttoned her clothing. Liz gently removed his hand from her abdomen.

“Max?” Her voice broke.

Max looked down. A silver handprint, much like the one he left on Michael when he healed him. Searching Liz’s eyes, he saw the uncertainty, the fear, and a tinge of hope. Moving his hand down to her stomach again, he placed it over her womb and concentrated.

A small smile lit his face, and then a larger one. A son.

“A boy. We’re having a boy.”

“The baby? He’s alive?” Liz placed her hands over Max’s in wonder.

“Yeah. He’s alive. Swimming like a fish, and kicking. Healthy. He feels healthy to me, Liz.”

Liz laughed, and then cried, and then laughed while she cried. Hugging him tight, she closed her eyes and thanked the heavens, God, and Max Evans.

“You saved us.”

Max shook his head no. “I didn’t know how. That was…something else. It was out of my hands, beyond me. I was just a conduit for something bigger. The Balance.”

~~~

Michael sat outside in the dark watching the woods. He held a beer in his hand, and slowly finished it. He had started drinking again after she left. Numb. He liked feeling numb.

There was a rustle in the woods behind the woodpile. Quietly jumping over the banister to land softly on the lower patio, he cautiously approached. Maria?

Raccoon. A large one was digging through his garbage. Tossing his empty beer bottle in the open can he watched the rodent scurry away, back into the dark of the woods. Slowly he walked back into the house.

He felt empty. Three weeks. He still couldn’t push the feeling away, or find a way to warm the large lonely spaces. Her painting sat on the easel. Flight. He called it Flight. All her things were still upstairs. He should send them back. Soon. Soon.

Picking up the phone, he hit the speed dial for number one.

“Yeah?”

“Sam? It’s Michael.”

There was a pause. “Michael who?”

“Michael Guerin , the writer you represent.”

The man laughed in amusement. “No shit? Damn Mike! You calling me?”

Michael just made a face at the phone. “Yeah, it would appear so. Look, I need you to line me up some jobs. Traveling ones.”

“Need money?”

“No. I need something to do and time away. So just find me a few assignments. I don’t really care where, as long as it gets me away from Roswell for awhile.”

“Done. I’ve got three lined up right now. I was just getting the basic background information before sending you the proposals.”

“Well, send them. I’ll take them.”

“All three?”

“Yeah. Just send them.” Michael hung up without saying goodbye.

Going into the kitchen, he took out another beer. Lying on the sofa in his living room, he drank his beer in the dark staring at the painting as the moonlight filtered into the room through the windows. Another night. He wasn’t going to sleep.

~~~

The newspapers were piling up in front of the door. He frowned. It took him long enough to get there. Anger. Horror. A creeping numbness. Too many emotions to sort through. All he knew was that he almost lost her forever. Banging on the door, he waited.

She was home. The music was loud. Very loud. It always was when she painted. He took his fist and banged again.

“Dammit, Maria! Open the damn door!” He waited. Waited as long as he could, and he finally let himself in.

She had been on her way to answer the door. Maria looked wild. Unkempt. Tired. Covered in plaster and paint. He stood in the doorway drinking her in, with a flood of relief. Oh, god. He almost lost her. Opening his arms, she ran to him to be swept up in a deep hug.

Holding her like he’d never let her go, he felt her trembling in his arms. “I tried to get here sooner. I really tried.”

“I know. I knew you’d come.” She whispered, still crying against him.

“You should have called. I worried. I was frantic. I wanted to murder you myself.”

She laughed against him. “And now?”

“Now? I’m just relieved. Happy. Ecstatic. Still pissed, but generally just ready to pledge money to every goofball charity I can find.” He kissed her on the forehead. Pulling back he looked her in the eyes. “I love you, you know?”

“I love you, too, Sean.”

~~~

Max and Liz were cuddling in a booth, grossing Isabel out after-hours when Michael came strolling in. All of them stopped talking at once, amazed to see him.

“Michael.”

“Maxwell.” Max recognized that impatient standard Guerin expression.

No one talked, so finally Max cleared his throat. “So, you’ve been okay?”

“You know that’s not what you wanted to ask. So why didn’t you just ask the real question? Why the hell am I here?”

Max shrugged. Fine. Okay. “So why the hell are you here?”

“Max!” Isabel’s brothers ignored her.

“I’m leaving on assignment for a little while.”

“Define little while,” said Isabel softly.

“About four months. I’ll be out of the country for most of it. I’ve already shut down my house and everything. Security is taken care of and my mail is being held. Not a big deal, considering I have a Post Office box. Anyway…”

“Are you going to make the wedding?” Liz asked shyly.

“Yeah I’ll be back before then, just barely. Anyway...I had an interesting visitor today, actually two.”

Max and Isabel looked at each other. Both were hoping it was the DeLucas. Amy and Maria.

“Your parents.”

“Mom and Dad?” Isabel couldn’t hold back the screech in her voice. “What, um…did they...? I mean….what did they want?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? They blathered on and on about something, and finally they took off all smiles with some comment about how it was great, and they were happy.”

Maxwell looked at Liz horrified. “What did you agree to Michael?”

“No clue. I just nodded a lot and tried to shove them out the door as fast as possible.”

“Oh lord.” Max rubbed his face, and Liz turned away trying to hide a smile.

“Anyway, the gist I get is that you and Liz are still planning to get married in October. Correct?”

“Of course, we are!” Max was clueless to whatever the hell was going on.

“Yeah, well that’s unacceptable.” Michael ignored the protest from the group. “The woman is pregnant with your child. October? Hell, she’ll be lucky not to pop the little alien mutant out on the honeymoon.” Michael continued to ignore them. “I’m just saying, the least you could do is take off the damn stress, marry the chick before she waddles like a Jersey cow, and do the formal thing in October for friends and family.”

Liz, Max and Isabel were silent.

“If you wait for Isabel and your mom to get everything done to their satisfaction, Liz will be expecting your second child before she has your name. I’m sorry, but she has no family to take care of her right now, so someone has to look out for her interests. You get a woman in a family way, then you better get off your ass and make her family.”

Max smothered a smile. “What are you suggesting, brother?”

“I got a red-eye plane to Sin City. All of us. We can get clothes there. I booked you a time tomorrow at the Elvis Chapel, and all you need is the bride, rings, and remember the words ‘I do’ at the appropriate place.”

Liz smiled, but then frowned. “I can’t just leave. I mean the business, and…”

“Hey! Parker! You want to marry Max or what? You want to have his name before your child is born?”

“Of course I do, but it’s not that easy. I have responsibilities, and…”

“It is that easy. If you want it, you’ll make it happen.” Michael looked at his watch. “Look, meet me at the air tarmac in half an hour. If you’re not there, then fine. Whatever. I’ll try to make your wedding in October. Otherwise, I’m taking off, doing some gambling in Vegas, and then catching an international flight to Europe. So I’ll see you either shortly, or in four months or so. And Maxwell? Find out whatever the hell I promised your parents and get me out of it.” Michael headed for the door. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He went back and handed Liz an envelope.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

Liz opened the envelope and took out official looking papers and a check. Reading quickly she looked at Michael in shock. “I don’t understand…”

“It’s all there in plain print, Parker. I’m offering to buy out half of your business as a silent partner to give you an infusion of capital. You can sign the partnership papers, hire a manager and update your place with my money, or you can rip up the check. Doesn’t matter to me. Consider it my wedding present.” Michael sighed as Max took the papers and read them quickly and Isabel looked at the check. They all seemed speechless. “Just, if you do it, I want you to remember one thing. I don’t want to know. So don’t tell me about the business. Don’t shove pie charts or color displays of efficiency reports in my face, and most important…look up the word ‘silent’ in the dictionary and memorize it.”

Michael didn’t wait for their reaction. He had a few other errands to run, and all that family togetherness time was giving him a frickin’ ulcer.

Liz suddenly looked up and seemed to realize he was going. He was already out the door when she found her voice. “Um, Michael? Um...thanks.”

The three looked at each other, and Isabel said in a sarcastic voice. “Who was that masked alien boy?”

They all snickered, and time seemed to tick loudly between them.

“Did he say half an hour?” asked Liz. The other two nodded. Then they all screamed loud, ‘Vegas!’ and they were up and running.

“Half an hour? I can’t pack in half a day!” Isabel fretted.

Liz was struggling to get her cell phone out of her pocket to call her manager as Max pulled her forcibly up the stairs.

~~~

“So how much you remember?”

“Not everything. Some things more than others. Friends. People. Some places. Events are still edgy. Roger thinks I'm still repressing, that I just need to let it go.”

“Easy for him to say. Does he still take you to get ice cream like he did when you were a kid?”

Maria laughed. “Yeah, and he still has an archaic Atari game system.”

Sean laughed and drank the rest of his wine. Reaching over, he refilled and offered to refill hers. Maria shook her head no.

“I really prefer a clear head right now. I seemed to be walking in a fog for almost ten days, and three weeks later it hasn’t cleared.”

“Guess I can understand that, Cuz.”

“How’re your girls?”

“They’re fine, and they send you their love. Don’t try to change the subject.” Sean was still reeling from the tale that Maria told him, but even he realized she left out key parts. “We’re talking about you.”

“Nothing more to say.”

Sean nodded and looked over at her work. Damn. Major changes. They were like a heartburn. Alive. Deep. Powerful. It was the sculptures that caught his eye. Power. Intense. Raw. Harnessed and unleashed. She was just picking up sculpting, and somehow she found inspiration. Her art had taken on a life, a change in perspective. Before, her work was transparent, light, and almost surreal, like looking through gauze. Now it was stark, rich, and almost felt like it could draw you into its depth. Seeing it felt like living it.

“What’s his name?”