Hey everyone!!

kagarichan – Hey! Welcome to this fic, and thank you sooo much for the feedback!! It really meant a lot to me!! Thank you J

tals – Thank you so much!!!!!!

Burgandy Lily – Hey. Yeah, I know I'm a bit mean... *looking at the roof innocently* And I can't promise you that I will not leave you hanging in this chapter either... hmmm... well, just remember that it's getting brighter now... (at least for a while ;) ) Thank you for the fb!! J

Chapter 16


Santa Fe, New Mexico

"Mommy, mommy!" cried a familiar voice behind her. Elizabeth turned around and found her daughter running towards her. Elizabeth caught her in a hug and spun her around.

"Thank you," Elizabeth thought, relieved that she had Emma back into her arms again – safe.

"Hi darling," Elizabeth said. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes," Emma said and was so wild with excitement that Elizabeth had to put her back down on the ground. "First Andy was weally sad 'cause he was 'fraid of the aliens, but I wasn't 'fraid. And then he was happy again 'cause he got to fly this space..uhm...plane and all other got to fly too and it was weally fun. And then I met another Maria and we ate at a rest...rest..."

"A restaurant?" Elizabeth asked with a smile at her daughter's rambling.

"Yes, a rest...rest...," Elizabeth gave up on that and continued, her words going a mile a minute, "and then guess what, mom?"

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, you have to guess!" Emma scolded.

Elizabeth laughed softly.
"Hmmm...maybe you met an alien?" she guessed, not knowing how correct she actually was.

"Nooo," Emma sighed, but before her mother could make another guess it was out of Emma's mouth.

"I found daddy," she said.

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart was slamming against her ribs.
"What?" she whispered, her voice not holding up any longer.

"He was at this home where the aliens lived," Emma continued, referring to the UFO center, "and then we went to eat together. Maria is daddy's friend and she gave me a soda, but I felt sick to my stomach..."

Emma was already on the next subject, unaware of the fact that she had lost her mother's attention several sentences ago.

"What's his name?" Elizabeth whispered, interrupting Emma's thorough description of how the restaurant looked, with painted aliens and all.

"Whose?" Emma asked, confused.

"Uhm...daddy's," Elizabeth said.

"Max," Emma answered.

"Oh my God," Elizabeth said, a male face flashing by in her mind. A dark-haired, handsome man with Emma's eyes. "Come on, Emma. Let's get home."

****

The TV was on, but Elizabeth was neither watching nor listening to it. She was thinking about him. How could Emma know that he was her daddy? Was it Max that was after her? She couldn't know that, could she? Maybe she had run away to escape him, and he had kidnapped her instead or something like that. No, that didn't sound realistic. Anyway, he didn't seem like someone she couldn't trust. Elizabeth stood up to turn off the TV, and then it hit her. What if he came to look for her and Emma? Oh my God! What if he was to take Emma away from her? She couldn't let that happen. Emma was her whole life, without her she would die – she wouldn't have anything left to live for. Nothing! Elizabeth sank down on the couch again and felt like crying. Her eyes burnt and wanted the relief of tears, but she couldn't cry. She hadn't cried for as long as she could remember, that is since she had woken up in that motel somwhere out in nowhere, with no idea of who she was.

****

Roswell, New Mexico

"What's the big emergency?" Sheriff Valenti asked.

Max had summoned a meeting. It had been a long time since Max had last called a meeting. Everybody was there – Maria, Isabel, Michael, Alex, Kyle, Kira, and Valenti. Of course, Tess had not been invited.

"So, why isn't Tess here?" Kyle asked, annoyed that Max had once again ignored Tess – who actually was a part of the group.

"I don't trust her," Max said simply, as if that explained everything.

"Oh," Kyle said. "So, it's like general knowledge just because you think so. What if she needs to hear this?"

"She doesn't need to hear this," Michael said, defending Max. If it was something they agreed upon it was Tess.

"Why's that?" Kyle asked, not letting the subject go. Those aliens shouldn't think that they could just do what they wanted to, and hurt other people's feelings in the process.

"It's about Liz," Max said.

Kyle looked at Max (all thoughts about Tess forgotten), trying to decide if he was serious or not. Oh yes. He was serious.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Kyle asked.

"Kyle! I guess that's what we are here to find out," Valenti said, silencing his son. "Who's that, Max?" Valenti pointed at Kira, who kept himself on the fringes of the group, hidden in the shadows.

"Yeah, that's what I want to know," Alex said.

Max sighed and rubbed his forehead. Were they ever gonna get started or was this just how competent he was at running meetings?

"Sit down everybody, and Max will tell you," Michael said, after having thrown a concerned look in Max's direction.

Max shot Michael a grateful look before he began.
"Okay, guys. About a week ago this man showed up outside my window. He said we – we the aliens that is – should summon a meeting and talk. He told us that he was our protector-"

"What? I thought Nasedo was your protector," Alex said, already confused.

Max shook his head. "No, Nasedo was a traitor-"

"And we don't think he's dead," Kira spoke from the shadows. Everybody turned to look at him as he stepped out of his hidden place.

"What do you mean?" Max asked, adrenaline starting to pump through his veins.

"My men have reported that there have been traces of Nasedo all over Roswell-"

"Of course, he was here for some time," Kyle interrupted.

"-and they are very fresh," Kira continued, ignoring the interruption. He was still a little unclear to why Max had invited all these humans.

"What does this mean?" Isabel asked.

"Nasedo is a very dangerous man-"

"Alien," Kyle mumbled.

"-and when my men find him, he will be prosecuted for his crimes," Kira said.

"Which means?" Maria prompted.

"He will be executed," Kira said matter-of-factly.

"Of course," Maria said, and turning towards the others. "What else would happen to him, right?"

Max was pacing the floor. He did not like the fact that Nasedo was still out there. That he was still out there where Liz and Emma were as well.

"Max, why are we here?" Alex asked, noticing how Max had totally spaced out on them.

Max's head jerked up.
"Right, right," he said. "Well, Kira told us that an heir had been born."

There was a short pause as the others pondered the meaning of Max's statement.

"What?!" Kyle said, almost yelling, when it became clear to him just what that meant. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Max nodded.

"Shit, Max! Who have you slept with?! I thought you weren't interested in anyone with breasts since Liz died," Kyle said.

"I wasn't," Max said, his voice calm and even.

"Wha-" Kyle said, and then it him. "Was it with Liz?"

Max nodded.
"Ohhhkkkkaaaayyy," Kyle sighed and sat down.

"You didn't think of using...I don't know – protection?!" Maria scolded.

Max shook his head.

"That's great. That's just great," Kyra mumbled.

"But wait, how can there be a heir if Liz is dead? She would not have gotten the chance to give birth to a child," Alex said, not getting two and tow together.

"Liz is not dead, that's what I've been telling you," Max said.

The incident in high school four years ago came to Alex's mind.
"So you could feel Liz giving birth?" Alex asked.

Max, understanding what Alex was referring to, answered: "Yes, I think so."

"Okay, that's really freaky," Maria said. Maria knew a little more, since she had actually met Liz's daughter. But she had yet to hear all the background information. When she had seen Emma she had been positive that it was Max's and Liz's daugther, but she had never really thought about how that was possible, what really had happened.

"We've met her," Isabel said.

"Met who?" Valenti asked.

"Max's daughter. She looks just like Liz, but anyone can see that Max is the father," Isabel said, a proud I'm-an-aunt-to-that-beautiful-girl-smile playing in the corners of her mouth.

"You've met her?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"She's just so adorable," Maria said, smiling broadly.

"You've met her too?" Kyle said accusingly.

Kira quietly watched the whole group interact. They were natural around each other, but when Liz had came up everybody had tensed up – reminded of her absence to the group. However, when Liz's daughter had started to be discussed, everybody who had met her had a ridiculous smile on their faces. Even Max smiled a little – despite the fact that he was so worked up and worried at the moment.

Maria nodded proudly as an answer to Kyle's question.

"Well, did you meet Liz too?" Alex asked, wondering why no one had told him about the meeting with his former best friend. Was she dead?

Max smile disappeared and the sadness returned.
"No," he said, "she wasn't there."

"It was a field trip, for kindergarten or something like that," Isabel explained.

"As in no parents allowed...?" Kyle asked.

"Right," Max answered.

The group grew silent, thinking about a loving, warm and caring gril which they had all lost almost five years ago and the fact that she was alive, with a daugther. Max looked around the faces of the only people he trusted in the world. He realized that the meeting hadn't gone as he had planned. He wasn't sure if he had gotten out the most important information or not.

"Look guys, that's why I called this meeting," Max said, and everybody looked up at him. "We have to find Liz."

"You know where she is?" Alex asked, hope of seeing his friend sparkling in his eyes.

"We know her surname and that she lives in Santa Fe," Max answered.

"Then it's only a matter of time before we find her," Valenti said.

Max turned to Valenti, his leader-mode kicking in.
"And I want you to find her," he said to Valenti.

Valenti nodded.
"Sure, I get right on it," Valenti said.

"I'll get my men on it too," Kira said.

"Good," Max said, "but don't approach her if you find her. I don't want to scare her off. For some reason I think she's hiding, I mean, she has a different name and has told Emma's teacher that she's not to tell anyone anything about them. She might be very suspicious and...afraid...and...and I want to be there when we first approach her, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Kyle said, making a salute in an effort to lighten up the mood.

Max smiled, some of the weights had been lifted from his shoulders. Now they had a plan, now they weren't only passively sitting by and watching any longer. Now they were going to find Liz. His knees suddenly went weak and he had to sit down. He was going to see Liz.

TBC...