A/N- Sorry for the wait on this chapter- it's been too long and I know that. School is getting crazy, but I apologize for the wait. I hope this chapter isn't too terrible. I know it seems like I'll never answer your questions, but I promise I will. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and thank you to my reviewers and readers- I seriously love you guys. :)

Chapter Six

The air stood still, Max's gaze darting nervously from Liz to Michael and then back again. Max watched as Michael's face fell, his eyes casting downward in an anxious sadness.

Max let out a small breath. "What?" He asked Liz again, looking deep into her understanding eyes.

"Max, you can heal it. I know you can. Use your powers." Liz pleaded, pointing down toward her ankle frantically, the tears still glistening in her eyes. "Please heal it, Max. It hurts."

Michael reached his hand up, gently placing it on the back of Liz's head. Before she could turn to ask him what he was doing her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped backwards against his chest.

"Michael! What the hell are you doing?" Max asked as Michael casually moved Liz away from him and stood up.

"Look Maxwell, she figured us out, OK? I don't know how she did it or who she is, but I sure as hell know I don't want her awake with that knowledge until we DO know what is going on."

"I can't believe you just did that. I can't believe you just used your powers against Liz." Max stood up so he was eye level with Michael.

"Why are you so defensive? We don't know who she is, Max. So whether you believe it or not, it's what I did. Now she'll be out for a couple hours, so would you like to help me take her back upstairs or would you just like to leave her here?"

Max sighed, looking down at the girl's sunken form lying alone on the floor. The sight made him sad, and all of a sudden he understood that she was alone in this world. His mind flashed back to the moment he first saw her, innocent and alone, soaking wet in a heap outside of his window. While he had Michael, Isabel, Maria, and Alex, he realized that Liz had no one. He felt something stir inside of him as he looked at her, and an understanding overtook him. Liz meant something to him, whether he knew it or not. Liz was a piece to the puzzle.

"Let's take her upstairs," he said, his voice coming out low as he bent down and scooped her up as gently as he possibly could. He looked toward Michael, his eyes remaining cold. "Don't be scared of her, Michael. She's not here to hurt us."

Michael sighed, turning to walk up the stairs. He turned his head quickly as they walked. "You don't know that, Max. We've thought that a lot of people weren't out to hurt us, but you know what? In the end, they always were."

Later That Day

Max leaned his elbows against his knees, closing his eyes and lightly placing his face in his hands. The shadows stretched across the room, the evening light beginning to bend into the window as the sun set on the horizon. A beam of light lay gently over her body as she slept on Michael's bed. In the dying light, she looked almost radiant. Max couldn't squelch the urge he had to reach over and place his hand on her swollen ankle, piecing the bones back together with his mind. He wanted so badly to heal her ankle, but he knew he couldn't. Not until they knew who she was.

He could hear his friends' low voices in the next room, murmuring softly about everything that could come back to hurt them in the end. Their fears toward the information that Liz might hold in her memory were evident as they all gathered at Michael's apartment. They'd come together again to discuss their options while Liz slept soundly in the next room. Max slowly convinced them to let him talk to Liz before they took any new course of action. They all wanted answers, but somehow Max knew that he was the one that had to find them.

He heard Liz softly groan as her body shifted slightly. Max quickly slid the chair closer to the bed and watched as her eyes opened, instantly landing on him. She let out another low noise, looking down toward her ankle.

"You fell on it," Max explained. "Do you remember?"

Liz paused, her eyes falling shut as she reached toward her ankle. "No, I don't-" her words trailed off as her eyes drifted open. "I don't remember." Her eyes held his in a steady gaze. "But I know that you are the healer. God Max, how do I know that?"

Max quickly lifted himself from the chair and rested himself beside her on the bed. "Tell me what you know, Liz. Tell me what you remember."

Liz sighed, her eyes falling downward as a tear fell slowly from her eye. She could hear the fear evident in his voice. Max Evans was scared. "I don't know, Max. I'm so confused because I don't know anything. The things that I do know, I don't know how they got there. I get these flashes of memory. It's like when you try to remember a dream that you had the night before- you can recall small bits of it, but the full understanding of the dream is lost." Liz felt the tear slide slowly down her warm cheek. "I don't know what to think anymore."

Max looked at the small girl beside him, her eyes closed in silent sadness. He felt something moving deep within him; the same feeling he'd felt when he came upon her that morning in the rain. He could feel the pain radiating from her as he spoke and as he looked at her, he understood that she was broken. Liz needed to be put back together.

Slowly he reached up his hand, running his thumb across her cheek and wiping away the moisture. Her eyes opened slowly and she looked at him, the silence between them suffocating the words that longed to fall from his lips.

"It's like steam, Max." She said quietly. "I know it's there, but when I reach out to grasp it, I come back with nothing. I know my name is Liz; I know you're the healer; I know Tess means something to me." She paused, catching his hand and holding it tightly between her fingers. "These are the things I know."

Max stared at her as she held his hand near her face. He didn't know who she was, but she knew something about him that few people on this earth knew. His eyes flicked toward her swollen ankle lying limp on the bed, and he felt his fingers itching to reach down and ease the pain in her. He knew that if he could connect to her he would get a rush of images from her. It would be that easy. The only fear came from the realization that she too might get images from him.

"Do it, Max." Liz said, watching as he stared at her ankle. "Do it and get your answers."

Max's hand moved toward her ankle before he could even think about it. His fingers slid softly over her skin, sending shivers through her leg and up through her body. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and concentrating on making the connection. Slowly he felt their bodies merging together into one. He could hear her slow heart beat join his, slowly beating together in unison. They were one.

He opened up his mind, waiting patiently for the images to come. Waiting for Liz to open up to him. He waited for a few moments, but nothing came. All he saw was darkness. They were connected as one but he wasn't getting the rush of images that he got every time he connected to someone else. Defeated, Max quickly focused his energy on piecing Liz's ankle back together. He broke the connection and slid his hand away from her ankle, looking down and seeing it had healed back to normal.

He looked up and saw Liz's eyes gazing expectantly at him. "Who am I, Max?" She asked quietly.

Max let out a slow breath, his heart falling as he looked at her hopeful eyes. "I don't know, Liz. I don't know."