Chapter Four

"Liz, something is going on with her. I'm telling you, something is not right about her."

Liz was kissing Kyle. The other boy held her with an unease that did nothing to hide his experience, and Max found himself reaching the boiling point as he watched his girlfriend's gorgeous face marred by a smirk. He wasn't sure if the knowledge that his Liz was miles away in some god-forsaken government facility made the situation more or less upsetting. There was only one answer to the question running through his mind, and Max latched onto it with a ferocity that startled him.

Despite the overwhelming rage clouding his judgment, his legs locked tightly and merely clenched his jaw, unable to move forward and stop the embrace. He found himself sickly fascinated by the intimate exchange, noting in Kyle's movements experience that he himself didn't possess. The scene suddenly changed as Kyle's large hands forcibly extricated Liz from the kiss. Out of instinct Max took a step forward to shield her, stopping himself at the look of terror and disgust on Kyle's face. "What the hell was that?"

Liz gave Kyle an amused smile, her eyes shifting to Max and back to Kyle almost instantaneously. The satisfaction and superiority displayed by the small form drove Max completely over the edge. "That's what I'd like to know," he said. His voice was deceptively soft.

"Oh, Max!" Liz exclaimed, whirling around to face him. Her eyes rounded in faked surprise and she placed a hand over her heart. "I had no idea that you were there."

"Obviously," Kyle said bitterly. Despite his utterly ravished appearance, Max found himself feeling a pang of sympathy for the other boy. "What, did you set this up, Liz? Are you trying to make Evans jealous?" A look of comprehension dawned on his face. "This is about that new girl, isn't it? Suddenly someone gives you a little competition and you're ready to whore it up for your man?" Kyle's voice gained volume and strength as he continued, and at the sight of Liz's stricken expression, Max almost forgot that it wasn't Liz that Kyle was berating so harshly.

Before Kyle could continue his tirade Max stepped forward, any previous paralysis coming to an abrupt end. He grasped Liz's elbow firmly in his hand, his fingers digging into her skin as he moved down the hall. "Max, I know you're angry, but try to be reasonable," she complained, pouting so exaggeratedly that Max had to restrain himself from giving a humorless snicker.

"Liz?" Kyle asked, his voice suddenly taking on a note of concern. Max thought he heard her mouth whisper a curse word before she turned to face Kyle.

"We're fine. Max and I just need to talk, so… you should probably go."

"Dismissing him so soon?" Max growled. "I would have thought you'd keep him around for awhile." He tightened his hold on her arm, his only measure of restraint coming from the fact that imposter or not, the person in his grasp looked exactly like Liz.

"No. No, you know what? I don't care anymore," Kyle stated, stepping backwards. He held his hands out in front of him, anger and resignation flashing in his eyes. "For a minute there you actually had me going, Liz. Good thing your boyfriend was around to set things straight." His voice was laced with venom as he stalked down the hall.

Max watched him retreat into the distance. Once he'd departed a safe distance Max tightened his grip on Liz's arm and dragged her through the hall. Recklessness took hold of him as he searched frantically for a closed, contained area where he could rip her to shreds without interference. His eyes fell on the janitor's closet and he strode toward it with purpose, dragging the creature behind him with all his force. When they were safely inside he pulled the door shut viciously, moderately satisfied the by the ominous crack it made as it closed. When he turned to face her, he found Liz standing in the corner with her arms crossed. He moved towards her quickly, his arms reaching up to grip her shoulders. "I think you'd better let down that mindwarp now," he said quietly.

"What?" There was a genuine tone of surprise in her voice, but Max brushed it aside.

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It wasn't enough that you had to make me kiss you, was it? You had to show me my girlfriend mauling her ex-boyfriend where anyone could see, too." His voice rose and he shook her shoulders more fiercely. "I swear, hiding under the protection of Liz's face isn't going to keep me from throttling you for much longer. End the warp, Tess, or I swear to God I will find a way to break it for you!" he roared.

The door shot open. "What the hell is going on in here, Maxwell?" Michael demanded, his face paling when he caught sight of Liz. Max glanced over, ready to quiet his best friend, and paled when he saw Tess entering behind him, breathing heavily but otherwise unruffled. Max felt terror curling in his stomach.

"How are you doing this? How can she be here when you're standing over there?" His faced became a mask of horror as a thought occurred to him. Was it possible that her powers were advanced enough to create the illusion of an actual human being?

Tess stared at him in surprise and stepped behind Michael instantly. "I don't know what you're talking about," she protested.

"Max, you're hurting Liz," Michael said calmly, a dazed expression perched on his face.

Liz shook out of Max's grip effortlessly and stepped to the center of the room. A sickening glow started at her hand and moved outward, illuminating the whole room as her features shifted into those of Ed Harding's. "Really," Nasedo said, his voice taking on a reproving tone, "Tessa is much too vain to try breaking you and Liz up by conventional methods. She'd much rather believe that you'll fall in love with her all on your own." His brow quirked as he glanced at the small blond. "Although, it appears that you're wild card is out on the table. Since you haven't mentioned anything about your powers to Isabel or Michael, I'm assuming Max surmised them on his own. It is quite remarkable that he knew the correct name, though," he commented, turning to Max with an interested expression. "How did you do that?"

"Why are you here?" Max demanded, purposely ignoring the troubling question. "And why are you pretending to be Liz?" His features grew pained. Michael glanced at the floor, discomfited by his friend's sudden display of emotion. Nasedo rolled his eyes impatiently.

"It would seem that your powers aren't the only thing you've let go to waste. Why do you think I'm here? Someone had to take care of the sheriff and Liz's parents. And since Tess seems to have decided that commonplace mindwarps are below her-"

"You know I can't keep them up that long," she interrupted quietly.

"So, you start skipping out on classes and seducing Kyle Valenti?" Max asked incredulously. "I know you only spent one afternoon with her, but you must know that Liz would never do that."

"In case you haven't noticed, I did show up at your school," Nasedo snapped. "And it's not my fault that you're so focused on that human that you've completely forgotten about your mate. How else would you suggest I proceed?"

"Maybe by treating Liz's identity with a little respect," Michael bit out angrily. His eyes had narrowed and he regarded the shapeshifter with the wary expression he always wore around the fifth alien. Nasedo snorted, smiling knowingly.

"Oh, I don't know, I think I'm doing Liz justice. I'm not sure what Max has been telling you, but from my… experience… with Liz, she certainly didn't seem as pure as he'd like to believe," he retorted.

A strangled sound escaped Max's throat, and Michael quickly reached for his arm when Max attempted to close the small distance between himself and Nasedo. "Okay, we need to get you out of here before someone comes to check up on the commotion." He surveyed the room for a moment, frowning at the empty space next to Tess. "Where's Isabel? Tess and I both felt you getting worked up, and she'd usually be the first one to come find you in a situation like this." Michael added silently to himself that he needed Isabel's help in the present situation more than he wanted to admit.

"I saw her cut out of second period," Tess offered. "She looked really worried, but when I asked if she was okay she just kind of shook her head."

Panic immediately welled up in Michael. "Oh, Iz," he muttered softly. Looking up to Nacedo, he motioned to Max's almost catatonic form. "The two of us are going to find Isabel. If you're planning on keeping this ridiculous act up you'd better get your ass into gear. The bell is about to ring."

"Should I come with you?" Tess asked eagerly, her features and voice laced with concern. Michael paused a moment, unaccountably softening at the sight of the icy eyes trained on his. He hesitated for a second, remembering the shouts he'd heard from Max just minutes earlier. The last thing that they needed right now was Tess trying to wheedle her way into his best friend's good graces.

"No," he said after a moment, shaking his head firmly. "We're the ones she would want." He did his best to avoid her crestfallen expression as he tugged Max into the hall. Tess stepped out to join them and shut the door on Nacedo, who had trained his hand in front of him and assumed a concentrated expression. The bell rang overhead as light filtered through the cracks in the closet door. Students flooded out of the doors and Michael turned imploringly to Tess. "Can you do something about that light?"

"Oh… sure," she replied, closing her eyes immediately. Michael withdrew his hand from Max's bicep and placed it on his back, suddenly feeling the need to shield Max from the rush of classmates in the hallway. Max followed him stiffly, eyes trained to the ground.

Although he knew her eyes were closed and her focus on something else entirely, Michael couldn't shake off the feeling that Tess was watching every step he took with a deepening degree of abandonment.

-

Nasedo eyed Tess's still form with amusement as he stepped out of the closet. "Were you hoping to put on a show? I know it's not as fun without powers, but Liz's body is probably a good match for you if you were hoping for one of those clawing matches," he said, the tone in his voice almost teasing. She stiffened at the sound of his voice.

"Why didn't you tell me you were replacing her? At least you could have prepared us," she whispered angrily. "Max was about to completely lose control of his powers, some of which he doesn't even seem to be aware of yet!"

Nacedo ran slender fingers through the wealth of silky brownish-black hair hanging past his collarbone. "I thought you would assume that was where I was," he recanted lazily. "We've been through the drill often enough, haven't we?"

"But this is different," she insisted. Despair seeped into her words but it was quickly masked with condescending anger. "They hardly trust us as it is, and pretending to be one of their friends is supposed to make it better? If you're going to take care of us than you're going to have to be able to get within twenty feet of Max without him ripping you apart limb by limb!"

He graced her with a smirk. "I don't have limbs, or have you forgotten?" She bit back a groan, turning her head to the side.

"Did you see the way Michael looked at me? It was as if he thought I might try to blast him if he took his eyes off me for a second," she said softly. Her voice picked up bitterness as she continued. "Not that I can blame him after that stunt you pulled with Max. I don't know what our parents were thinking sending you as our protector." Anger contorted his face briefly before it was replaced by a glimmer of remorse.

"Ava-"

"Don't call me that!" She hissed. Her eyes filled with tears as she stepped back. "Why do you only seem to care when you're looking at me as if I'm her?"

"You are her," Nacedo countered. She shook her head, turning and preparing to run as far as she had to in order to escape his expectant eyes.

"I don't know who I am," she murmured quietly.

-

Clench steering wheel, step lightly on gas pedal, and keep both eyes on the road in case someone is stupid enough to take up permanent residence in the middle of Birchwood Street. Ignore the feeling in your gut. Ignore it like you ignored Max's sobbing last night and ignored Liz's fear when you dreamwalked her. Ignore the whole damn mess and get to Alex's. She repeated the mantra over and over in her head, pausing to check her rearview mirror as she heard a car pulling up behind her. She cursed under her breath as she recognized a friend of her mother's and jerked the car to the side of the road, despite the fact that Alex lived five houses down. As soon as the car was out of sight she cut the engine and jerked the door handle. The jeep seemed to groan in protest as the door swung open wildly. A pang of dread hit her as she realized that by merit of the jeep alone, she'd probably been recognized instantly.

Hopefully her mother would take more kindly to skipping school than staying for impromptu all-night study sessions at Liz Parker's.

Isabel turned around once, examining the quiet street warily. The feeling in the pit of her stomach remained, but she felt safe in surmising that no one was watching her. The absence of prying eyes didn't calm the anxiety in her belly, though, and it didn't stop her hands from shaking as she walked briskly down the street. She stopped at the walkway to Alex's house, fisting her hand as she weighed her options. If something… alien… had happened to Alex, then he needed her as quickly as possible; and if, God forbid, he was being held inside of the house, her best bet was a few melted locks or a broken window. On the other hand, if there was a perfectly reasonable explanation to his absence at school earlier then it might be kind of difficult to explain away breaking into his house.

The choice was made for her when the door opened softly and Alex's exhausted gaze met hers. "What are you doing here, Isabel? School is still in session," he said tiredly.

Her adrenaline transformed into rage at the sight of his raised eyebrows and defensive stance. She glanced quickly up and down the street before practically running to the front door. "Yes, it is still in session. In fact it's been in session since eight AM this morning, and on top of Liz's absence I had to cover for you and Maria during homeroom," she snapped, brushing past him and entering the house. "So while you were at home in your pj's having a slumber party with Maria, I was sitting in class panicking and waiting for Max to interrupt class to tell me that you'd been abducted, too. And when I finally get so scared that I cut English to come and find you all that you do is ask me why I'm here?!" Her voice rose to a fevered pitch as she whirled to face him.

Alex closed his eyes briefly and ran a hand over his face. "You're right. I should have called you, or at least Michael or Max. We just didn't want to cause any more trouble, you know, and I've been so preoccupied with trying to calm Maria down…."

Isabel let out a dry laugh. "Oh, I get it. Maria had a panic attack because Michael left her alone for about five seconds and you decided to take on the role of her protector and monitor her cypress oil intake. Heaven forbid that you follow the plan and act normally when Max and Michael and I are all depending on you!" She yelled. Eyes stinging, she fisted her hands in her hair and tried to focus on a Native American patterned wall hanging across the foyer.

When Alex spoke again, his voice was low. "Look, Isabel, you're not being fair. Nacedo obviously didn't give you the whole story, and I understand the stress this is putting you under. Believe me, I get it." He reached out to touch her hand but she batted his arm away harshly.

"You have no idea," she growled, "what the four of us are going through. Days ago I thought I was pregnant with Michael's child, and then Liz goes and gets herself kidnapped by our errant protector—" Alex flinched but remained silent, reminding himself that Isabel had a habit of phrasing things the wrong way when she was under pressure. "—and now Maria, who's been a time bomb ever since Liz let her in on this, is blowing things exponentially out of proportion!"

Alex's face darkened. "Stop right there. You crossed the line five seconds after you came in, but don't you dare accuse Maria of blowing this out of proportion!" He exploded. "Under the circumstances, she's doing a hell of a lot better than you are. And I think that with the four of you so focused on yourselves, it makes sense that she would come to me when Nacedo showed up as Liz and tried to shut her up the easy way."

Isabel stared at him blankly as the pieces fell haphazardly into place: why Valenti hadn't been any trouble, why Jeff and Nancy Parker hadn't reported their daughter missing… "Wait," she said, reviewing his last few words, "what do you mean he tried to shut her up the easy way?"

Alex put his head in his hands, his shoulders trembling as he drew in shuddering breaths. Isabel brought her hand out, ready to comfort him, but thought better of it. When he looked up at her, fury and tears mingled in his eyes. "She has bruises in the shape of someone's handprints spanning her neck from where he almost strangled her. She was in shock when I found her, and she's thrown up three times over the course of the morning. Whatever the hell he did to her, it packed a bigger punch than a normal human fight. And on top of all of that, she's convinced that she got a flash of Liz in a hospital gown this morning."

Isabel shook her head furiously, crashing into a side table as she backed away from him. "No," she said, trying to blink away the spots marring her vision. "No! I won't believe that. Nasedo's misguided, he's not homicidal. If Liz hadn't run away from him and screwed up the plan—"

"So now this is Liz's fault?!" Alex's hands balled into fists as he faced her, his eyes flashing with anger foreign to them. "It's her fault that your psychotic 'protector' spent an afternoon playing mind games with her and then delivered her to the FBI on a silver platter?" He paused to look at her, grimacing as he shook his head. "You just can't deal with the fact that it might be his fault, can you? That her abduction could somehow be related to you?"

Isabel's eyes blazed with something bone chilling and altogether alien as she considered him. "Liz knew from the beginning where we stood and where she stood. She was the one who pursued Max, all but chasing him down like a puppy because he impressed her with his glowing hands. He told her from the beginning that he didn't want a relationship with her. She ignored him and got hurt in the crossfire. This is not our fault. It's all hers."

Horror played across Alex's face for a moment as he took in the cold, measured tone of her voice. His lips thinned and his hands clenched more tightly, his nails cutting into the palm of his hand insistently. "Get out," he said softly. When she remained unresponsive her took a step toward her. "I said get out!"

Fear replaced the vacancy in her eyes as Isabel stretched a beseeching hand out, vulnerability evident in the sudden stoop of her shoulders and draw of her mouth. "Alex, I—"

"GET OUT!" He roared. "Jesus, Isabel, to think I was sure you were different. That you cared about me, about any of us. But you know what? No more. I've put up with a lot of shit from you, but accusing the two girls who only ever helped you is low even for you. I can't even look at you right now." She was running for the door before the last words left his mouth, her head bent low as tears filled her eyes.

Alex flinched when the door slammed. Guilt was a physical taste in his mouth, metallic and bitter. The implication of words torn from his mouth against his better judgment hit him fully, grim acceptance settling in as he realized how splintered the group had become. He shook his head as he climbed the stairs in an effort to banish the argument and the look of Isabel's eyes, glazed over and unforgiving, from his head.

Maria needed to be checked on. He padded to his bedroom door softly, hoping that the blowout downstairs hadn't woken her up. The unsettling realization that Isabel was no longer his main concern washed over him as he paused, his hand settled on the doorknob. The cruel glint in her eyes while she'd talked about Liz washed over him and he shuddered involuntarily. Her words had almost been enough to make him wish that she was the one being replaced by the shapeshifter. Stress and defense mechanisms could go to hell as far as he was concerned, because the Isabel Evans he'd just encountered was nothing like the girl he'd fallen in love with.

-

Maria clutched Alex's comforter more tightly as her body trembled with another round of shivers. Sweat lined her brow, joining the tears falling in quick succession from her eyes. She curled into a ball when the door slammed shut, rocking back and forth as Isabel's words replayed in her ears. She'd always known that Isabel hadn't liked her, barely tolerated her, really; but to hear her talk that way about her, and the things she had said about Liz….

Ria?

Maria bolted from the bed. The door opened to reveal Alex looking at her worriedly, exhaustion and sadness written on his face. "What's going on?" He asked, reaching out to pull her into a gentle hug. "Did you hear Isabel and I arguing?"

She pulled away from him impatiently, shutting her eyes and trying her hardest to concentrate. The voice that had appealed more to her heart than her ears was long gone, but she could still feel a fleeting connection to Liz and she clung to it wholeheartedly. "No," she whimpered, digging her palms into her eyes as the sensation faded. "No, no, no!" Alex moved to pull her into his arms again, and this time she didn't resist.

"Maria, talk to me," he pleaded, his voice catching in his throat.

She bit back a sob as she turned to look at him, her eyes glassy and desperate. "She was here again. I didn't get a flash this time, but she felt me and she reached out to me and she was here, Alex!" Maria took a jagged breath and tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked at the ground. "She was trying to take care of me."

Alex's brow furrowed in confusion as he watched her. "What do you mean, she reached out to you? You mean like… like an alien thing?" He questioned, not bothering to ask who 'she' was.

Maria shook her head from side to side and ran a hand through her hair. "Whatever it was, it was definitely not alien. At least not the brand of alien that Miss Evans is so fond of displaying," she spat out. "This was Liz. It was completely human and real and Liz."

Alex drew in a huge breath and looked at her closely. "Maria, I think it's time we visited Max. We have no idea what the hell Nasedo did to you, and I don't want…" He paused and his voice broke, "… I don't want something to happen to you, too."

Her eyes filled with fresh tears as she surveyed him. "You don't believe me, do you? You think, you think I'm just making this up because I'm desperate or because Nasedo did something to my mind?"

"After what he did to Liz and the way he assaulted you this morning, I wouldn't put anything past that bastard," Alex growled quietly. "Look at yourself, Maria. You're trembling from head to foot and in a cold sweat. You threw up minutes after I picked you up and you can't even focus your eyes too long on one place."

Maria's jaw tightened as she looked at him defiantly. She pointedly held his gaze for an interminable moment before opening her mouth. "I'm fine, Alex. I'm upset, but I'm not sick. And if this really is a flash thing, then yes, we probably should go to Max." A relieved smile covered her face and her eyes glimmered with latent excitement. "I bet he's been hearing her too. He's probably worked out some alien voodoo, and I bet that he knows where she is and…."

"Maria," Alex cut in quietly. When she looked up at him he had to force his eyes away from her face. "I want this to be real. You have no idea how much I…but it's not. They're the aliens, you know? Liz is just a human. We're just human, and I think that whatever's happening to you is alien. We need to find them and set you straight," he pleaded. His lips curled into a hesitant smile and he shrugged his shoulders. "I'll bet when we explain the situation to Michael he'll beat the stuffing out of Nasedo."

Maria's back stiffened and she turned to face him. "Oh my God," she whispered. "That's it. That's why she came to me." Alex lowered his head, fighting back the pathetic urge to cry. It seemed that at the moment nothing he did comforted her, and he was at a loss for what to do. Maria moved toward him, latching onto his arms and shaking him softly. "Alex, both times that she's come it's been because I've been really upset. This morning some bitchy old lady made some offhanded comment about her and I completely lost it in the break room, and then, when Isabel came in—"

"So you did hear," he interrupted. "Listen, Maria, she had no right to say what she did, but she didn't mean any of it. You have to believe that."

She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive gesture. "You don't understand. I wasn't upset because of what Isabel was saying. The whole time she was talking, I… I couldn't help but think that she'd cared enough to check up on you, but that Michael was nowhere to be found." She gave him a helpless, teary smile. "It was kind of a new low in our relationship."

Alex closed his eyes. At the moment, he highly doubted that anything he had to say would make a difference to her. With the vision of her frail frame hunched over, her arms hugging her stomach tightly, he only hoped he wouldn't be responsible for upsetting her further. "Okay," he finally allowed, not sure what he was agreeing to and not caring much. "Okay," he repeated, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to look at her. She was staring at an undesignated patch of the wall. He shut his mouth abruptly, realizing that she was too far away for anything he said to make much of an impact on her anyway.

-

Max glanced at Michael through narrowed eyes as his friend cursed under his breath. "Maxwell, you've gotta help me out here. We've checked the rock formation, your house, the park, and the mall, and we still haven't found her," Michael complained, panic evident in his voice. "Where else does your sister go?"

"School," Max answered dully, eyeing the storefronts with disinterest. "School and the Crashdown." His gut clenched painfully at the mention of the familiar restaurant. He furiously brushed away the tears stinging his eyes as he remembered Liz's smiling face greeting him at his usual booth two days ago. Anger quickly welled up inside him as an image of Nasedo shifting out of Liz's form flashed through his head.

"Damn it!" Michael groaned. "Why would she do this? She knows how on edge we all are right now. The last thing we need is to have someone else abducted."

Max instantly stiffened at the careless words, and Michael flinched at the expression on his friend's face. Before he could offer up an awkward apology, though, Max jerked his head to the right. "Turn at the next intersection. We haven't checked Alex's house yet." Michael nodded stiffly and flicked on the turn signal. They drove in silence until they reached the unfamiliar neighborhood and Max gave a few more quiet instructions until they had pulled up in front of Alex's house.

Maria was bounding out the door before Michael had a chance to cut the engine. He turned to her, poised to ask her why she wasn't in school, but she brushed past him and took hold of Max's arm. "I saw Liz this morning," she said breathlessly.

"Nasedo is impersonating her," Michael announced dully, looking away guiltily.

"I know that," Maria snapped, her eyes flashing as she faced him. Before he could retort he noticed the bruise marks on her neck.

"What happened to your neck?" He demanded.

The porch's wooden planks creaked as Alex moved to join them. "Nasedo attacked her at the café this morning," he said quietly.

"Shit," Michael cursed, blood rushing in his ears as he curled his fists. A wave of primal rage swept over him at the image of Maria, defenseless against the powerful alien, being terrified and assaulted. He sought her gaze, stung when he found her avoiding him studiously.

"Listen, has Isabel been here today?" Max interrupted. "She went missing during second period according to Tess."

"Yeah, she was here earlier," Alex said uncomfortably. "She wasn't doing too well."

"And you just let her go?" Michael inquired furiously. Maria was temporarily forgotten as he looked at the man that he had trusted with Isabel's safety, both emotional and physical. Out of all of the humans, Alex was the last one that he would have expected to close rank and turn away one of the aliens out of spite.

"I wasn't going to stop her after some of the things she said," Alex retorted bitingly.

"Stop it, all of you!" Maria cried. When the three of them turned to face her she drew in a deep breath. "Max, I got a flash of Liz this morning at the café. I was thinking about her and suddenly she just… appeared for a moment in a hospital gown. Then after Isabel left today, I heard her voice in my head. I think that she's trying to contact me." She looked up at him, hopefully searching for some sign of approval or commiseration.

"Don't be ridiculous," Michael bit out. When he caught sight of Maria's broken expression he swiftly backtracked. "I'm just saying, there's no way that you can be seeing her."

Maria turned to look at Max entreatingly. "Max, don't you feel her? I know that she's trying to contact us somehow. I'm sure of it."

Max wordlessly considered the recognition that had been building in him while Maria spoke. All day he had felt her, almost as if she was a corporeal presence beside him. He'd simply brushed it off as shock before. Still… when he had walked into Nasedo's staged seduction of Kyle, his assurance that it was an imposter had nothing to do with Liz's disappearance and everything to do with the sense of alien presence rife in the air. Was it possible that Liz could actually be contacting him somehow through their connection? And if so, how had she appeared to Maria?

Max started to reply but took pause at a sudden shift in the air. He felt Liz with more clarity than he had since yesterday evening, suddenly, and he reached out desperately to hold onto the sensation of her surrounding him. Without warning she appeared in front of him, her eyes locking on his almost immediately. The earlier bruising and cuts on her face and arms had disappeared, but the delicate skin under her eyes was still puffy with exhaustion. The hospital gown hanging from her frame gave her a sickly appearance, but he hardly even noticed as his eyes raked over her face. "Liz," he breathed out, reaching for her arm. Her eyes filled with panic as she took in something beyond him and she disappeared abruptly. Michael and Alex's exclamations vaguely swam in his ears, cut off by Maria's voice, equal parts triumphant and frightened. His eyes remained trained on the air that Liz had occupied moments before, as if he could bring her back from wherever she was by simply needing her. The space remained empty.

His friends' voices were distorted as if through a tunnel, and as he shook his head to regain his bearings the barrage of sounds fell upon his ears like a hammer. "Stop," he said softly. Although Alex and Michael continued to glare at each other, silence fell as soon as the word left his mouth. Max looked up wearily, his eyes meeting Michael's for a moment before he returned his gaze to the ground. "I'm going to go to school and get Tess. Michael, you should find Isabel and meet us back here. She might be able to dreamwalk Liz while she's awake if Liz really is contacting us."

"Why the hell would you bring her here?" Maria burst out. "I think she made it clear earlier that she had no intention of helping Liz unless it was to save your asses."

Max found himself unable to meet the anger and raw pain in her eyes. "Because," he said quietly, fear making his voice catch, "It's the most efficient way to go about it. And if the look in Liz's eyes was any indication, she doesn't have any time to spare."