Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell or the Covenant. This is my take on how things might have happened had Liz made a different decision.

Max Evans was not pleased as he regained consciousness. He was in a dark and dank room with no lighting as far as he could tell. The last thing that he remembered was being shoved rather rudely in here. It was not a very hospitable place and he was astounded by Liz's rude behavior. It was almost enough to make him believe that she did not care about him anymore. Max knew that they were meant to be together. They had a connection and that had to mean something. Suddenly Max realized that Michael and Isabel were waiting for his call. They were waiting down the street in case he needed back up or to come and pick him up once he had Liz. Max checked his pockets for his cell phone only to find that it was gone. This was not good. Since, there were no windows the only way out was the door and he knew better than to try that.

Since there was no light in the room he decided to lay out and go to sleep this place was more bearable that way. That was when he heard arguing from the stair way. Four people were on their way down. Then the room was filled with light and a fire roared to life in the area over to his left. As they got closer Max recognized Caleb and his friends, including the two he'd seen with Liz. He was so angry that he acted without thinking. He went for the blond one first. "You stay away from Liz", he shouted he ran at the other boy ready to punch him in the nose. Reid simply raised his hand as if to wave Max off and Max found himself once more against the wall. That blond took the opportunity to move forward and look him in the eye. "I can't believe that Liz ever gave you the time of day. You come at me again and you will regret it. Now, you are the one who needs to leave Liz alone. She is one of us and is where she belongs. This is her family home and it is where she should be when she needs support, comfort and friendship." For the first time since he became able to fight back Reid Garwin walked away from a fight.

Caleb called the meeting to order and knew that it was time to get on with business. If they were lucky this would all be over before Liz woke up. "This time I am going to put the appropriate punishment up to a consensus", Caleb said. Perry, "He obviously needs a lesson in manners. Coming into your house in the middle of the night and into Liz's room is just disrespectful. I say just give him a little pain and then let him go. He needs to know that we don't play around. It is possible he's just messed up from whatever caused the whole situation Liz told us about in the first place." Garwin, "I say the worst, he obviously thinks too highly of himself. Coming into your place and Liz's room at night without an invitation and then taking a swing at me, he needs a lesson in etiquette. I'm already regretting letting him off easy." Simms, "I'm with Reid on this, the worst." They turned to Caleb, "What do you say this was against your bloodline?" Caleb looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'm inclined to agree with Pogue that there is obviously something that messed things up. I think it might have happened when Max forced the connection with Liz. We know it caused a lot of pain mentally and emotionally for Liz that she never should have gone through. However, his behavior cannot be taken lightly. He is a threat and he had powers of his own. We treat him like we would any other threat. He needs to get the worst."

Max Evans was shivering listening to the conversation of the four boys who were his age. If he did not know better he would think they were insane. They were not however going to have the chance to harm him again. It was not in his nature to just stand back and do nothing. He approached the boys and did not notice the field of energy that surrounded them. It sent a shock through Max's body that he barely noticed. What he did notice though is that he could go no further than that point. This gave a great deal of amusement to the boys to whom it is hilarious that Max is trying to go near them. Tyler finally spoke, "Did your encounter with Reid teach you nothing? Did you hear nothing during your conversation with Caleb? This house is designed to protect us and this room especially. Each of our homes is created with features designed to care for and protect the respective heir to the bloodline. In turn it will help protect the other heirs as well."

Max was not pleased that boys took so much pleasure in torturing him. "Just let me take Liz back home and I will leave you alone. You will never hear from me again", Max said in what he thought was a calm and rational voice. He hoped that he could appeal to Caleb and the one he had called Perry. They were apparently the two most rational members of the group. That however was not going to benefit him at all. Pogue Perry spoke up this time, "Liz is home Max, and don't you get that yet. Liz is here with her family. Caleb is her cousin and until you came into her life they were as close as siblings. They are starting to regain that closeness now that she is here where she belongs. Is it right for you to just come waltzing in here and demand that she go back to Roswell when she is here with her family and going to a good school?" Max decided that he needed to get help and fast. "If I leave then she won't ever hear me out. I want to be able to apologize for everything that happened and explain why it happened to her? I think that we deserve that chance."

The sons were even further angered by this and they began a punishment that was designed to cause great pain even to them. It was an age old tradition of the covenant to use in order to restore order. It was meant to keep the younger sons in line with will of the oldest and the other members of the covenant. That day Max knew a pain and torment that even the white room could not inflict.