Chapter One-Part B: On the Road Again… But Different

"You didn't have to drive me, Max," Maria said softly as she and Max flew down Route 278. Max fumbled with the radio station and glanced at her from the rear view mirror.

"We only have one car," he pointed out with a slightly amused smile.

"I could have taken a bus. Or a plane. I just-" and Maria stopped, dropping her head in her hands. Max slowed down a bit and pulled over to the shoulder. He looked at Maria and suddenly it hit him very hard. Her bags were filling the trunk and the rest of the back seat.

Maria was actually leaving. Max sucked in a deep breath. "I just want to make sure you get there safely," Max said, finding his voice thick with emotion. He twisted around to face her to find her large blue eyes filling with tears.

"I don't know how to say goodbye," she admitted.

Max felt his heart twisting painfully. "Max, I'm afraid of what will happen to you when I'm gone. I don't want you to try to find Michael and Liz. You won't even find them."

Max grew defensive and pinned her with a hard glare. "Did you love him, Maria?"

"Yes. But I've moved on with my life. He's gone and even if he wasn't, his death showed how much we weren't meant to be together."

"Is that what you think?" he asked in disbelief. "You can't just give up hope like that."

"Or maybe you just have too much of it."

Max winced as if he had been physically hit. "Maria, what is it exactly that you're trying to say?"

"We were horrible people to them, Max. How could we expect them to not hate us by this point? If they were still alive, Max, they'd hate us just like Kyle does. I mean, how many times did I have to play Michael like a yo-yo before he left me? And-"

Maria looked at Max before saying it. She knew he needed to hear it but she didn't know if he was prepared to. "We might as well have killed Liz ourselves, Max. We all hated living the way we were. I abandoned my best friend. I was too jealous to be there for her. And you were pushing her too much. Why didn't we stop? At what point would we have stopped?"

Max was shaking his head vehemently. "You can't really think that."

"Why won't you accept it?"

Max's head was spinning and he jammed a hand into his hair nervously.

*You weren't happy, were you?"*

*I am now.*

He jumped out the car and began to pace. He quelled back an urge to run. Max knew she was right. He was pushing her into having a child that she didn't want. He ordered her around like she was-not his wife. Liz was his wife and he treated her like a minion.

Maria scrambled out of the car after him. "Max, I didn't mean to upset you."

Was Liz better off dead? Max thought to himself and the thought brought tears to his eyes.

"So I was a bad husband. Is that it?" he yelled over the traffic. "I'll make it better when I find her. I'll make it better!"

"You can't!" Maria screamed back. "We can't take back what we did. You can't make her love you. Max, a week ago, you weren't even thinking about any of this. And now, you're obsessed with finding something that may not exist anymore."

"It's complicated. Liz was in my dream and-"

Maria looked at him in disbelief. "This is all over a dream? You're placing everything on the line here over a dream?"

"I know it sounds crazy."

"No, Max," Maria said softly. "You've done crazy things before. This is downright impossible. You have no evidence or anything. All you're going on is your feeling," Maria tried to reason with him.

Maria couldn't believe that she was actually entertaining the thought that Michael and Liz could be alive. But considering it was making her realize that if they were alive, they wouldn't want to come back.

"If she's alive, Maria, I have to find her. I'm not going to give up until I find her."

Maria looked at him sadly and went back into the car, out of words to say to the alien king. "That's what I'm afraid of," she said under her breath.

The rest of the car ride was silent.

"I didn't want us to fight like this today," Maria said, biting her lip. Tears were sitting on the brims of her eyes. Max closed his eyes and tipped his head back. They were standing in front of her mom's house and Maria was about to knock on the door.

But she couldn't. Not without saying goodbye.

"It doesn't change anything," Max said honestly. "We've fought before."

Maria reached over and grabbed Max's hands. "Max, I was serious about what I said though."

Max's eyes darkened and Maria prepared herself for another argument. Instead, he dropped his hands and hugged her tightly. "I'll worry about you too, Maria."

Maria began to cry. The idea of leaving Max suddenly seemed very suffocating. So many times she had wished for an out of the life she had led for the last seven years yet now, when the moment counted, she didn't know if letting go was the right thing to do.

"I love you, Max," she whispered.

Max pulled himself out of the embrace. "I love you too, Maria. Now go live the life you so desperately want."

Maria placed her hand on the door knob and fingered the key her mother had sent her. "What about you, Max? What about what *you* want?"

Max gave her a small smile and placed his hand over hers, opening the door for her.

"What do you have for me?" Max asked Valenti over the phone. Once, he left Maria and got back to Vermont, he had practically ran to the phone. Now with Maria out of the apartment, he wouldn't have to sneak phone calls anymore.

Valenti was silent and then sighed. "Absolutely nothing."

Max bristled at Valenti's harsh tone. It was no secret that Valenti harbored less than pleasant feelings for Max. "So you're telling me that there were no holes in any of the reports?"

"No, Max. I'm telling you to let this go. I talked to Maria and she's very worried about you. All you're doing is hurting those around you."

"Don't you care that Liz and Michael could be in danger? Someone has to pay for this."

"If your theory is true-"

"It is, dammit," Max ground out, his knuckles turning white from gripping the phone so hard. "I know that you don't like me and I don't blame you for that, Sheriff. But if Liz and Michael are out there, I need to help them."

"Here's all I know, Max. Michael Guerin and Liz Parker died five years before that fire. You are the one that told me that. Why can't you just accept the facts?"

Max was clenching the phone tightly. "Just help me. *Please*."

Valenti was silent again. "Good bye, Max," and then he hung up.

Max screamed in frustration and threw the phone against the wall. Now, Max had nothing to go on. He had no solid evidence and no support from anyone. He knew that dredging up the past probably wasn't the best idea but he had to find them.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. If no one was going to listen to him, then he make someone listen to him. Max was going to Los Angeles to find Cal Langley.