Title: Crazy ( Destiny part seven b )
Timeline: The third of 16 parts for Crazy.
Perspective: Maxwell Evans
Spoilers: Nothing relevant, more ramble thought and panicked talkinh
Disclaimer: Characters and main storylines are not mine, they belong to the WB and Jason Katims.

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Max opens the door as quietly as he can and hopes their experiment hasn't gotten too far otherwise he may have to postpone this meeting to tomorrow. This isn't a situation he wants to be in, being here like this with them like that, not that they're like that, he can't tell from the doorway, but just the prospect of, oh, it's too terrible to think. Although, seeing Maria wouldn't be that bad except for the part about Michael killing him. The sound of "Maria" being moaned is just about all he needs to hear for now but since it's evident that it hasn't progressed that far — What the hell have they been doing all this time, playing Scrabble? Oh, right, Bewitched. Freaks — he steps into the room and averts his eyes about to speak when there is the soft sound of "Michael. Oh, Michael. Max." He almost laughs. Almost.

"What?" Now, please, please Maria, think quickly before Michael unleashes his undeveloped alien powers on us all and we almost get hit by a teddy bear — What the hell are teddy bears doing in Michael's room anyway? — or the clock or the bed sheets. Really, Michael needs to work on those things, they're more dangerous when not used. Max is now aware of Alex and Isabel standing behind him, both also struggling to keep their laughter inside. "Look," and she points and Michael gets that confused squinty look on his face and scowls. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

Liz doesn't hesitate to fill everyone in on their Topolsky encounter, in fact she jumps right into the story, no details left out. Everyone hangs on to her every word, including Max even though he was there. It's just the way she tells it, as if they escaped death! Actually, all she says is "Topolsky" in this monotonous voice Max was unaware anyone but Michael and himself, when he's imitating Michael, can make. No one's even listening to Liz when Isabel starts talking. "She's back," is what Is says and then adds, "She practically just attacked them in the car talking nonsense about danger and being followed. Did I cover everything, Max?" Max and Alex are still sort of laughing about Michael and Maria but Alex nudges him and coughs inconspicuously and his eyebrows shoot up. "Oh, right, yeah. She said we were all in danger. And to just act normal until she contacts us again."

Maria, nestled under Michael's arm and cuddling close to a fluffy pink pillow asks in this meek voice Max has never heard, "Would that be, you know, alien normal, or just plain 'we're the subjects of an FBI manhunt' normal?" She sounds scared which Max understands because everything has been so quiet and now, it feels like that's over. It's now hitting him that everything isn't going good anymore, that Topolsky coming back has really screwed up his plans for this year. Once again, he wishes he was human. After Topolsky left and Hubble died and he and Liz — well, everyone and Liz — stopped talking, it seemed like things were going to be, well, okay. And now, little miss FBI agent is back in their lives and it seems Liz is back in the group and it's just not what he wants.

He wants Michael and Maria to figure out the visions, he wants Isabel and Alex to find out who Ava is and he wants all of them to find the other five aliens and maybe expand their group to ten — because really, that would be cool — and he wants to do it in secret — obviously what with the alienness — with his friends. His four friends. Him making five. Five friends. No more, no less. He doesn't want to have Agent Topolsky following him around and attracting whoever it is that was following her, and he doesn't want Liz following him around. He thought, finally, he had let go of the drama, but it seems the drama hasn't let go of him. Stupid drama. He wishes it would just go away already.

The sound of Michael's voice brings him back to the present. "This sounds wrong, like some sort of trap." The sound of Liz's voice brings him back to the drama. He thinks the could give in to the drama, dramatically throw himself off a cliff or use his powers on a mirror so they reflect back and kill him! Would that work, that reflection thing? He decides to try it out on Alex when he's least suspecting it. Or Michael and then they can have a reflected power fight except for the fact that Michael's powers are so out of whack he might actually kill Max and then he'd be dead and his life would literally be over. That reminds him of Maria because she says literally all the time. Like she literally melted in the sun or she literally died during third period.

"No, Michael. She was really scared. I believed her." Michael rolls his eyes and Maria rolls her eyes and Isabel scoffs and rolls her eyes and Alex quirks an eyebrow and Max just coughs. She looks defeated and Max feels bad. He still has a heart despite not wanting her in the group or involved in the alien activity or near him, and it still beats and works and he isn't going to be a complete asshole just because. He feels bad that everyone is sort of against her. It used to be three to two and then it was three to three and now, now it's five to one and it must really suck for her. "Yeah. Let me remind you, Liz, that you believed her the first time, too." Part of Max sort of wants to ask Michael to knock it off, maybe jump in and be the hero again but another part of him is sick of being a hero.

Alex jumps in. Alex is the hero. This is unusual and Max doesn't like it. If he doesn't get to be the hero, no one does. "Do you really think she's here to warn us?" But the part of Max that is blase and nonchalant and doesn't care about, well, anything, decides to lean against the wall and talk to Isabel with his eyes. It's this thing they've been doing since they were kids. Isabel's eyes say 'This is boring me to death.' Max's eyes reply with 'Same here, do you want to get a burger after this?' Isabel laughs and covers her mouth. Her eyes glance at Liz and Max shakes his head. 'What did you ever see in her?' her eyes ask. He wants to reply with a list but his eyes roll and say 'I have no clue,' and then add 'It's strange how things change so quickly.' Isabel's eyes look sad and he knows they hope, she hopes, that nothing else changes that quickly.

"She wasn't the same person she was before. You know, and the way that she was talking, she seemed like she was just as scared for herself as she is for us. I say we listen to her." Liz is intent on staking her case, Topolsky's case and now everyone is just getting annoyed. Isabel has already given up on reasoning or talking, for that matter, and is filing her nails with her powers. Alex is intrigued at how her powers are working so precisely. Or perhaps he's intrigued with her, Max can't differentiate anymore. Maria is still hugging the pillow, Michael is idly patting her head and scoffing under his breath. Max is just watching. Watching everyone get bored and pissed off and scared, although now that Maria looks like she's sleeping, Liz is the only one that really looks scared.

"I say we don't! All right, it's just a new tactic. She scares us, makes us think we need help, and all we're really doing is admitting who we are. All right? I don't trust her, and none of us should." Michael is right. Max hates to admit it sometimes, but he is. There is no way in hell Max is going to admit to anyone outside of this room that he is an alien. Unless they happen to be alien also and that's another story. But Liz is right, too. Topolsky did seem genuinely scared. It's like his world is divided. What he saw or what he knows. "Whether we trust her or not, it doesn't hurt to take her advice. We're normal teenage kids. No one says the word "alien" or talks about this in public. Anybody could be watching. And I think we should keep the glowy alien rock thingy here. It's the safest place we've got right now."

Everyone is looking at Max like he's mental and for a moment he expects them all to start laughing. Yes, yes, he said 'glowy alien rock thingy', it's not that big of a deal even though it is a little silly. Michael nods his head, Alex stops staring at Isabel long enough to silently agree and Isabel's eyes say 'alienalienalienalienalien!'. "I can't believe she's back," Maria mutters under her breath with her eyes still closed. She sighs heavily. "I thought this was all over with." Sorry, Mar, it's never going to be over with it seems.