Title: Crazy ( Destiny part seven a )
Timeline: The second of 16 parts for Crazy.
Perspective: Maxwell Evans
Spoilers: Nothing relevant, mostly thought and rambling
Disclaimer: Characters and main storylines are not mine, they belong to the WB and Jason Katims.

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Max dips his fry into the mix of ketchup, Tabasco sauce and chocolate frosting and takes a sip of Tabasco tainted orange juice. How he can drink orange juice after eight in the morning has been a mystery to everyone, but he likes it. "No, if a vampire bites you, and then another vampire bites you after the first one does, it cancels out, you're no longer a vampire." He tosses the fry into his mouth and makes a face. Maybe the frosting was too much to add to the mix. Alex frowns at him, probably at both the frosting and the vampire logic. Of course, Max isn't being logical, but Alex is always being logical and he likes to test that. It's just a but of fun, and he usually gives in and lets Alex win.

"That's just. Not. Max, we've had this conversation before. Do you remember?" Yes, he remembers, but he shakes his head just because. Alex scowls, once again and continues his lecture. "Isabel called it the Vampire Fiasco of 2000, you have to remember." He waits for Max's response, maybe a nod or a realization, but Max just squints his eyes and blinks. He's having far too much fun with this. "If a vampire bites you another one will make you a vampire, how do I put this, squared. You'll be twice vampire." Max has to fight the urge to laugh as Maria walks by, so he asks her for input, knowing fully that she's only going to add to the insanity.

"Mar, if you get bitten by two vampires, does it cancel out or make you and even stronger vampire?" Alex seems pleased by the question as she ponders it. Max thinks this is all insane, but he still asked. He's still munching on fries that are covered in chocolate frosting and even though they taste bad, he's much too occupied to change that. "Well, I don't know. I got bit, you see, and turned into a vampire, and then a second vampire bit me, but immediately after a third bit me. So whether or not it cancelled out or made me stronger, I have no idea. Ask Michael, he was the second vampire." She walks off and Alex shoots a suspicious look at Michael who is now squinting in that confused way that he does.

Max just laughs and tries to ignore Liz's stare from across the room. She's been staring at him all night and it's getting kind of creepy. Isabel's been reading, one of Michael's old complicated books that were written by some guy who's been dead for a century, but she's not reading it the way she usually does, by flipping through the pages, she's actually paying attention. Michael and Maria are arguing about something or other and Liz informs them all — not that they're all listening — that she's taking off, going on a walk, something like that. Maria says she'll close and Isabel nudges Max. Liz is staring again. Quite the role reversal, he thinks, wasn't it him that was always staring at her? Lot's changed.

"We're closing early," Michael yells from the kitchen. Great, Max's plans for an evening of doing nothing but bothering Alex are shot. Michael and Maria only close early for one reason. They all leave together and Maria locks up. Alex and Isabel plan to watch a movie, the dorks, Michael and Maria's plans will not be discussed further and Max decides to just head home and maybe watch Bewitched. There's got to be something overly spectacular about it to make Michael ditch everyone just to watch. Max gets in the jeep and waves goodbye to his friends. He's driving, thinking, trying not to crash because of all the thinking and he thinks maybe things are finally going good for him. Despite unanswered questions and being hated by Liz and that feeling in the pit of his stomach that there is something out there worth looking for and he is missing out by not looking for it, everything seems to be going relatively well.

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He stops at one of those deer crossings — at least, it looks like a deer crossing —and wonders if Roswell even has deer. He knows there are roadrunners, and coyotes and those avocet things, but he's never actually seen any deer and he doesn't think they'd have avocet crossings, talk about animal prejudice. He realizes there is so little he knows about Roswell, despite having lived here for ten years and fermenting in a pod for forty years before that. He realizes that all this time he's been mulling over the fact that he may have to leave his family and his home and his life in the not so distant future and he doesn't even know his home. He knows nothing about Roswell and he knows nothing about his parents prior to his meeting them and maybe leaving Roswell wouldn't be such a hard thing to do. His thoughts are slowly moving from weird to insane when he notices someone — or something, maybe it's a deer — is walking toward the jeep.

"Max, hey, how are you?" Liz Parker; interrupter of insane thoughts, starer from across the room, human brought back to life by stupid once obsessed alien is standing near — leaning on actually — Max's jeep and batting her eyelashes once again and is now asking irrelevant questions. Max wonders why she wouldn't ask a question like 'What are you doing out here at this deer crossing all by yourself?' or 'Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing wandering around deer crossings by myself?' instead of her question which should have started with 'Even though I just saw you ten minutes ago and know perfectly well that you're doing all right, I just have to ask'.

"I'm okay," he replies, and the smart ass in him wants to ask what she's doing all by herself at a deer crossing, but it is Liz, after all and she seems to have developed telepathy as well as a fondness for speaking. Max has developed a fondness for thinking and over thinking and rethinking and he's developed a strong hatred for all things nonthinking, and he's thinking again, oh, when will it stop? "I was just taking a walk and I ended up here." There, there's the telepathy, and there is her explanation, not like he cares. He was just driving home to watch Bewitched and investigate what sort of power it holds over Michael, not that she cares, although she might care what with the staring and the interest in his life and the mild stalking — because, honestly, how did she manage to be at the exact same deer crossing as him? It's scary.

He nods and her eyes are focussed on him, not even moving, and even though he can't see it, he can feel it and it really does feel scary. So he speaks. "Right, then, I should get home." She nods now, and backs away from the jeep and then leans on it again and then backs away — oh, will she make up her mind?! "Say, do you think you could give me a ride? It's getting kind of cold out." No, his mind says, he can't, because he's just come from the Crashdown making it out of his way and he needs to get home before Bewitched finishes because. Just because. So no, he cannot take her home. "Thanks," she hops in and he isn't actually aware of saying yes, probably because he didn't say yes, but he starts driving anyway and tries to ignore her presence. It's difficult, to say the least.

"Max, what happened to us?" she says almost as soon as they're driving again. He's sure somewhere in the back of his mind there is a logical explanation for what happened to them. He's sure he will tell her the explanation and she will be content with it and never ask again. He is sure she will continue to stare at him until he answers her and right now he is unsure of an answer and doing that thinking thing again. He shrugs, squints his eyes and thinks on it for a second. Maybe a little more than a second. "It started as a break," he mutters. "If I'm remembering correctly, and then we just. Didn't talk." Max tries to focus on the road, on driving and not crashing and not dying before he's found out about his alien heritage, but it's hard when he starts thinking again.

What did happen between him and Liz? He's right, it started out as a break and then due to lack of communication or lack of opportunity to communicate, they just drifted apart. It seems everyone is drifting toward each other — Michael and Maria, Maria's mom and the Sheriff, even Alex and Isabel — and here he is so far from Liz. Not that he cares, or that she cares, except that she does, but really, he doesn't, but it's weird to think things could fall apart so easily. He hopes the rest of his life doesn't fall apart so easily. He wants to hang on to everything else at least. Even though Liz doesn't seem at all content with his answer, he doesn't say any more, just because he doesn't feel like explaining himself anymore, or at all for that matter. She looks like she's about to ask another question but something jumps out at them and Max steps on the brake. Maybe it's a deer.

"You're in danger, all of you." Max unintentionally leans over to Liz's side, not to protect her although she does move behind him, but to get away from whoever is against the jeep yelling. He sees her now, shrouded in darkness and a tinge of fear, frantic and creepy looking. "What are you talking about?" It's things like this that make Max seriously wish he was human. Psycho people telling him he's in danger or following him or trying to shoot him. It's too much, no human kid ever had to deal with this kind of stuff unless they were Alex Whitman, Maria Deluca or Liz Parker or their parents were in some form of the Mafia. Which makes Max wonder if there's an alien Mafia somewhere out there. Maybe they have safe planets instead of safe houses and the Mafia Boss looks like Jabba the Hutt.

"The best way to protect yourselves is to just act like normal kids." Oh yes, because that's so easy what with the alien powers and all, not to mention the crazy people. Of course, telling the crazy people about the alien powers isn't always a good idea. Max thinks nothing about the alien powers or the alienness in general is good. Nothing. "We are normal kids," he lies, through his pearly white alien teeth. He can feel Liz trembling behind him and now she's clutching onto his shirt and her nails are slowly digging into his shoulder. "Ok. I think I was followed. Don't trust anyone. I'll find you again." She leaves, runs into the darkness and Max gets comfy in the driver's seat again. His shoulder hurts and his eyes hurt from rolling so much. Since she said not to trust anyone, doesn't that mean they shouldn't trust her? Then how can they trust that they shouldn't trust anyone?

He looks over at Liz who — honestly, it's kind of funny, Max is having a difficult time not laughing — looks like she's had multiple heart attacks. This is stupid, it really is, and the fact that she's flipping out so much just proves how much. So what, she's back. It's not like she holds the key to their very existence. He starts the car up and decides they should call Alex and Isabel and meet at Michael's. It's like headquarters. They've never had headquarters before, it's kind of cool to think about it. "Topolsky." Liz mumbles under her breath in this scared way that is only funny to Max and his mind can't help but say 'Thanks, Captain Obvious.'