CHAPTER 37
Max

He looked at the red-brimmed eyes of his colleague with concern. "Are you okay?"

She looked away self-consciously and rubbed at her eyes. "It's nothing."

Max frowned. "You're sure? If you need to talk-"

She met his eyes and smiled, the smile an odd contrast to the vacant mournful expression in her eyes. "I'm fine, Max. Thank you."

He gave her a second look and couldn't help but worry. His EMT partner was the pillar of strength. He had never seen her break down, even though they'd had their fair amount of emotionally devastating call outs. She was normally the epitome of intelligence and calmness, of serenity. This was a side of her that he had never anticipated to encounter.

"Do you want me to drive?"

Melissa hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, thank you."

They jumped into the ambulance and Max stole a glance in her direction before igniting the engine. Something had happened. Something terrible. Melissa had never been very open about her family or friends, of anything outside of work. Maybe someone close to her had died.

As he turned onto the street, Max hoped that she might change her mind and confide in him, giving him a chance to perhaps ease her sorrow.

Liz

What do you pack when going on the run? What do you pack when going into hiding from the government with a group of aliens? She was pretty sure those questions wouldn't come up on Jeopardy any time soon. She looked at the picture frame of her parents that she had just put on top of her suitcase.

"What do I tell you?" she asked the photograph of her father. Her father, with whom she spoke almost once per day. Her father that, since the death of his wife, Liz's mother, seemed to live for his daughter. He had lost a lot of the friends he had shared with his wife, burying himself in his work until his daughter had called him out.

She had to tell him something. Leaving without a word would destroy him. She let her fingers wander across the framed photograph as she dialed Max's number.

"Liz? Is something wrong?"

She smiled at his concern and at the warmth it spread in her body. "I need to talk."

"Sure," he sounded relieved. "What's up?"

She bit her lip. "I need to see you."

"Liz…" he said with a twinge of warning.

"I know," Liz whispered. "It's not safe." She looked at the smiling face of her father next to the smiling face of her mother in the photo. They looked so young, so happy. "But I need to see you."

"Are you okay?"

She hadn't realized that she was crying until he called her upon her quiet sniffles. Embarrassed, she wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to clean her voice from the signs of sadness. "Could we meet somewhere? Somewhere safe?"

He sounded regretful, "There's no such place." There was a pause and Liz hoped that he would give in, even though she knew that it was foolish of them to meet in person. People might be watching.

"I don't want to talk about this over the phone." Could mobile phones be tapped? Liz closed her eyes tiredly. When had she started to exhibit paranoid tendencies?

"I'll be right over," Max said quietly. "Leave your bedroom window unlocked and turn off your bedroom light."

"Okay," Liz whispered. "Thank you."

He disconnected the call and she pressed the phone to her chest, wishing that time would speed up so that the twelve minutes it would take him to get to her apartment would only be twelve seconds.

11 minutes later, there was a gentle rap on her bedroom window. Feeling like a teenager who was about to let her secret boyfriend into her bedroom after hours, Liz pushed the window open. Max climbed through with ease (as if he'd spent a lifetime covertly crawling through girls' windows after the fall of darkness) and straightened up to his full length in front of Liz. Before she had a chance to utter a syllable, he had mildly taken a hold of her chin and guided her face up towards his. An uncontrolled tremor rushed through her, spreading goosebumps in its wake at the touch.

"You okay?"

She nodded mutely, large eyes staring at his troubled face. He appraised her face for a long pause before he seemed to become aware of the threshold he had crossed and abruptly let his hand fall away from her face.

"Good," he mumbled and turned to close the window.

"I'm sorry for calling you out here," Liz whispered, her mouth suddenly dry.

He turned back to face her, his facial features soft. "Don't apologize."

She didn't know she was worrying her bottom lip until his thumb came up to cover her mouth. She froze, her lungs stilling.

"Don't," he whispered, his face a breath from hers.

"Sorry," she said automatically and his finger slipped from her lip. She could smell him all around her, making the recommencement of her breathing more difficult. His eyes were piercing, the dimness of the bedroom casting dark shadows across the lines of his face.

"You wanted to talk to me about something," he breathed and she tried to get her mind to work again. She felt flushed, heat pumping through every inch of her body.

"You're packing? Already?" His eyes never left hers, so she wasn't sure when he had noticed, but she managed to get her head to move in something similar to a nod.

"Yeah." She swallowed, trying to clear her throat. "I want to be prepared."

A small smile started to play at the corners of his mouth and Liz forgot to breathe again. "The plan is to not leave suddenly. You'll have time to pack."

But there was a shake of uncertainty to his voice, telling Liz that he wasn't telling the whole truth. She decided to let it slide. For the moment.

"I just want to be prepared," Liz repeated and realized what she had said, hinting that she wasn't ready to leave her life here. Hit with embarrassment she dropped her eyes.

"Hey," Max murmured, a finger under her chin guiding her eyes up to meet his again. "Are you sure you want to come with?"

Now more than ever, she thought as she nodded. She couldn't leave him. "That's what I need to talk to you about." A veil came down in his expressive warm golden eyes and Liz hurried to add, "I'm coming with you, I just…"

He relaxed and took a step back, substantiating what she had suspected; he wanted her to come along as much as she did.

She gestured towards her open suitcase and the piles of clothes on the bed. "What do I tell people? How do I explain why I'm leaving?"

He got an uncomfortable look in his eyes and turned around to close the drapes to her windows. She watched him in silence, unconsciously biting her lip again. After pulling the last drape, Max went to switch on the small lamp on her bedside table. It cast a meager light across his face as he sank down on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know," he mumbled and there was something tormenting across his features.

"I don't know if I can fake my own death," Liz said quietly, wringing her hands nervously. "I couldn't do that to my father. He's already lost my mom. I don't think he can lose me too."

His eyes were filled with anguish and sorrow as he looked up at her. "Whatever we decide to tell him, you might never come back. Once we leave, you might as well be dead to the people you leave behind. On paper, you won't be you anymore."

Liz could feel tears forming at the back of her eyes and she looked skywards, damning her emotions. She had promised herself that she wouldn't break down. She wanted this. She wanted to leave with Max.

"I know," she said weakly, trying to control her voice. "But anything would be better than him thinking I'm dead. If we'd only have communication over the phone in the future, that's fine. Even if I'd go under another name. As long as he knows I'm alive."

Max looked at her for a long second before saying quietly, "I can't guarantee that. You have to understand that, Liz."
She understood that. Of course she did. Didn't make the decision any easier though. She was choosing between family and love. Normalcy and insecurity. Human and alien.

Max's words filled in the silence. "You don't have to decide yet. It's a big decision. You're not forced to do this. Not like the rest of us."

"But I'm in danger. Just like you."

He looked away and Liz watched the muscles in his jaw contract. "We'll find another way to protect you." He looked back at her. "You shouldn't be forced to do this."

How could she explain to him that she desperately wanted to go with him? How could she show him that the dilemma was not if she wanted to go, but of the people she was leaving behind?

Deciding to momentarily steer away from the topic that was making him uncomfortable, Liz posed, "How about I go on a lengthy trip around the world? Join the circus? Join the space shuttle program?" He offered her a weak smile, so she pressed on, "There must be a thousand reasons to supposedly drop off the Earth without having to 'die'."

"Yeah, but even if you were to join the circus, you'd have to exist. There would have to be records."

"Only to the bureaucrats," Liz insisted. "This is what I would tell my family, my friends; that I've joined the circus or whatever." She sank down next to him on the bed. "While in reality, on paper, I would not exist."

Max seemed to contemplate this. In silence he reached out for her hand resting between them on the bed and took it gently in his hand. She held her breath.

Max looked up at her and nodded, "It might work."

She didn't know that she had so much invested on his agreement before he threw her a bone and she felt her whole body relax. A shuddering laugh of relief escaped her. "Good."

He nodded absent-mindedly, his eyes returned to their hands as he slowly moved his thumb back and forth against the soft patch of skin between her thumb and index finger. "Maria's pregnant."

His announcement was so quiet she was unsure that he had actually said what she believed he had said. "Sorry?"

Max looked up at her, concern etched into every facet of his expression. "Maria and Michael are expecting."

Liz frowned, but couldn't stop the feeling of elation deep inside her womanhood. "How's that… Is that even possible?"

Max shrugged with a wistful smile. "I guess so."

"That's great, isn't it?" Liz asked tentatively, trying to gauge his reaction. Should she be happy or sad about this piece of information?

Max nodded, squeezing her hand. "Yeah. It's a miracle, really. We never thought we could reproduce."

His assessment was clinical at best, but it left Liz with hopes of the future. She couldn't stop her mind from going places. She couldn't stop herself from entertaining the thought that she might someday bear the child of the man holding her hand right now. Which was a ridiculous notion, since they were only friends. But there was a look in Max's eyes as he was watching her for her reaction to the news that made her suspect that Max feelings were not that platonic either.

"That's incredible," Liz whispered.

"It means that we have to move a bit sooner," Max said. "We want to be settled and certain that we are safe before the baby comes. Besides, we don't even know if this pregnancy is going to be normal. If the child is going to arrive sooner - or later."

"Right," Liz nodded and looked down at the interlaced hands. "How much sooner?"

"We have to leave in four weeks. Maximum."

Liz felt her heart hammering against her ribs. A month. Four weeks to say goodbye to her life.

"But…"

She looked up at his uncertain interjection and prompted, "But what?"

"I've received a note from an anonymous source."

Liz unconsciously squeezed his fingers. This couldn't be good.

"I've discussed it with the guys and I even asked Tess if she knew about it, but no one has any idea where it came from."

"What did it say?" Liz said thinly.

"'Don't run yet'," Max answered.

Liz felt a chill run through her. "And you don't know who wrote it?"

"It could be a friend or a foe," Max answered, watching her closely.

"Either someone that wants to keep you here for good reasons or bad," Liz filled in.

Max nodded. "Exactly."

"Can we afford the risk?"

Max shook his head desolately, "Not now. Not when Maria's pregnant."

"So we have to leave? Soon?"

"Within the month," Max confirmed.

Liz looked around the disarray of her pre-packed bedroom. "Maybe it's not too soon to start packing then."

Max lifted their joined hands to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss against her knuckles. She felt her mouth go dry.

"Don't worry. I won't come and suddenly whisk you away in the middle of the night", he said. "You'll have time."

Liz locked eyes with him, one single clear thought running through her mind, Please, whisk me away in the middle of the night.