I own neither the story nor the characters of Roswell./p


Two hours and 45 minutes later two chilled kids pulled in to the Olive Branch Coffee Shop in Alamogordo, New Mexico. They took the back booth and ordered coffee, strong and black. It was still not quite 10AM.

Liz was visibly shivering. "I w-w-w-was d-d-doing pr-pr-pretty w-w-well there... until th-th-that 9000 foot pass."

"It was stupid of me to take you through Cloudcroft in an open jeep, Liz,... seems like I'm doing a lot of stupid things lately."

Liz was uncomfortable with Max beating himself up so much. He'd stopped four times, heating several large stones with molecular manipulation, bundling them around her feet and putting them under the blanket he'd wrapped around her... the same blanket they'd used at the radio tower.

It wasn't like either of them had really thought this through. She had heavier coats in her closet... ski gear even. They'd both been so upset they'd just walked away with the clothes on their backs. If Max hadn't stopped at the ATM... taken out the $600 that was his maximum daily limit (and most of what he had in the account in any event), they would have only had about $100 between the two of them.

And it wasn't fair that he was trying to take all the blame. Heck, it had been her parents that would be buying tickets right now to take her off to boarding school, if they hadn't left. She intended to have a heart to heart talk with him... make him understand it was her parents fault,... once her teeth stopped chattering.

Max noted the lack of response by Liz to him calling himself stupid. She obviously agreed... no surprise there, Liz was a smart girl. She was just staring at the cup of coffee... couldn't even bring herself to look at him, obviously. He wasn't surprised. The enormity of what he had done was just starting to seep in to Max's conscious mind. He had been turning over and over in his mind, over the last couple hours, Jeff Parker's speech at the Crashdown. He couldn't believe Jeff's conduct toward Liz... that was wrong... cruel. But what he had said about Max Evans... well that was spot on. He had disrespected her... first using her over the damn orb... then just sitting there and letting them do that to her. Why the hell hadn't he spoken up. He could have said that... he forced her. Or at least, wouldn't bring her back until morning... even though she'd begged him to. Sure, he might be in jail... but Liz would be home safe... and in the good graces of her parents. Hell, he couldn't even drive her across the state, without half-freezing her. She deserved better than that... better than him.

Liz had both hands clasped tightly around the cup of coffee. She was staring at it, trying to somehow leech the warmth right out of it, into her frozen fingers... up her arms... get her core temperature up, so her teeth would stop chattering. Until then she couldn't talk to Max. This needed to be a serious talk... make some plans. If she tried it now... well, it'd sound like he was talking with Woody Woodpecker...


10:00 AM - Crashdown Café

Maria walked in the front door in her uniform and saw Jessica working the front tables... Liz's table. She furrowed her brow and went directly to the schedule in back. Nope, that's how she remembered it... and it was Saturday. She walked over to Jose at the grill.

"Hey..."

"Hi Maria."

"How come Jessica's working here? Is Liz sick?"

Jesse appeared to look around to make sure no one overheard. "Apparently her and her new boyfriend spent the night together. Both her parents and his were here before I opened. Apparently there was a big fight, and they both ran off. They've already been to the Sheriff... to put in a report."

"Who ran off?"

"Liz and the boy."

"Liz ran off with Max!"

"No. She was abducted by aliens. Yes, she ran off with Max. That's what I just said."

"Omigawd!" said Maria, while realizing that Jose's sarcasm was closer to the truth than he knew. "Why would they do that?"

"Well, apparently everybody got excited... things escalated on both sides. It's easier in Mexico. You beat the crap out of the boy, march him and your daughter to the church with your shotgun... then everybody has a fiesta."

"Where are the Parkers?"

"The boss is at the Sheriff's office... again. I think he checks there every twenty minutes. Mrs. Parker is upstairs. She comes down about every twenty minutes and looks out front and out back... hoping Liz has come back."

"Has anyone heard from Liz or Max?"

"Not that I'm aware of... of course, people don't tell me nothing. Did you know they were uh... involved?"

"No. And I think Liz wouldn't have kept something like that from me."

"Well maybe that kid... maybe he forced her?" said Jose. Then he wilted immediately under the glare from Maria's eyes. "Or maybe... maybe it's all a misunderstanding. I better get my orders up."

Maria heard a noise behind her and turned to see Nancy Parker looking nervously out the back door. She walked back to see her.

"Hi Mrs. P. I heard the word from Jose about Liz. What happened?"

"It was that boy... that Max. I wish she'd never had anything to do with him."

'Well yeah, that'd be a big help. Then she'd be... dead.' "Can you tell me what happened, Mrs. P."

"They went out last night... stayed out the whole night. When he brought her home this morning we caught them... Max's parents and us. I can't believe this is happening, Maria. God knows what he did to her last night... what he's doing to her right now."

"Mrs. Parker, Max... honest, Max would never knowingly hurt Liz. He just wouldn't do it. Whatever happened... well, I don't know... what did they tell you did happen?"

"Oh, they denied everything but... Oh God, Maria... I just want my little girl back, I don't even care what they did anymore... I just want her back."