I'm so sorry it's been a few months since I updated. Been stuck for a good long while. But I finally managed to get another chapter out since I got a couple new readers asking for updates. Nice comments are my fuel! XD
Hope you enjoy, gonna try to start another chapter now. Hopefully it flows and I get unstuck.
-Ana

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Liz burst into Michael's apartment without knocking, Kyle on her heels. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took in the scene. Isabel was perched on the edge of the coffee table, Max's limp hand clutched between hers. Alex hovered beside her; arms crossed. Michael paced behind the sofa, and looked up as she entered, relief flooding his face for the briefest of moments before tension fell back into place. She dropped her gaze to Max, unmoving on the sofa and felt her heart plummet.

Kyle stepped around her as she stood frozen in the entryway, "Where was he? Do we know what happened? Where's Tess?"

Michael raised his hand and let it fall uselessly to his side as he shook his head, "I got nothin. He was staggering down the middle of the freakin road. I almost hit him."

"Did he say anything?" Kyle moved towards the sofa, and his hand landed on Isabel's shoulder, squeezing lightly.

"He said…" Michael glanced away, as if he didn't want to be the one to say the words. He looked back and locked eyes with Kyle, "He said Tess and the kid were captured. He couldn't save them."

Kyle's jaw tightened, as well as his grip on Isabel's shoulder. He nodded tersely, "Alright. Alright." He took a deep breath, and then laughed humorlessly, forcing a brave face, "Alright. Well, ah, lets worry about one thing at a time." He looked around, and spotted the stones strewn across the table. "Well, at least these aren't buried out in the desert somewhere."

"Kyle…" Isabel looked up at him worriedly.

"I'm fine. It's fine. Let's just focus on healing Max and then we can… we can…" Kyle trailed off, his forced smile fading as he looked down. "Look, I don't want to think about what's happening to my sister right now, so if we can just do this and then Max can tell us where the hell she is…"

Alex nodded, "Agreed. One thing at a time." He glanced around the room, "Where's Maria? Did anyone call her?"

All eyes turned to Liz, only she didn't notice. She was staring at the blood staining Max's face and clothes; at the dark color saturating his jacket and shirt; at the shallowness of his breathing. She was lost in the agony that came flooding back after two years. She was swallowed up by the hollow buzzing in her ears, and the burn of her powers rising swiftly to the surface as the image of seeing him kissing Tess filled her vision. Anger, hurt, and resentment simmered beneath her skin. As if her alien side hadn't moved on from the last time she'd seen him even though her heart most certainly had.

"Liz! Where's Maria?" Isabel asked loudly.

Liz jerked in surprise, her eyes tearing away from Max, "What?" At the same instant there was a crackle and a pop, and the small room was plunged into darkness.

"Wonderful." Isabel commented.

"Maria's on her way. We called her on our way here." Kyle spoke up for Liz, sounding distracted.

"Hang on, I'll get it…" Michael's shadow moved through the dark living room and a second later the kitchen light cast a soft glow across the group. His eyes locked with Liz's and she could see the worry there – not just for Max. Worry that she would once again run into Max's arms and forgive him every fault. Worry that she would change her mind.

"Well, we don't have time to wait for her to get here." Isabel collected the amber stones from the table, and they clattered together softly in her hands. Tension filled her voice and her hands shook as she began to pass them out.

Liz jerked her gaze away from Michael as Isabel pressed a stone into her hand and moved back to sit on the edge of the coffee table. Automatically, Liz stepped forward as the group gathered around Max. She felt as if she were on auto-pilot. As if her brain hadn't fully caught up to the fact that Max was back; that he was severely injured; that Tess and their kid might already be dead. Scalding energy continued to hum through her body as her emotions ricocheted around as if they were trying to get a high score in a pinball machine. She curled her fingers into fists as green tendrils flickered about the amber stone.

The door burst open, drawing everyone's gazes. "I'm here! I'm here, Oh my God, Max…" Maria threw her purse aside and rushed to Liz's side, her eyes wide and face pale. Liz could only stare back at her wordlessly. Maria flung her arms around her and squeezed tight, "It's going to be okay, we'll heal him."

Guilt threatened to choke her as Liz gently pried Maria off and she met Michael's eyes once again over Maria's shoulder.

"Come on you guys." Isabel said softly, and Liz gratefully turned away from Maria to stare down at Max.

Fear twisted her insides, and she saw Michael, so many years ago now, laying on the cave floor, so close to death that she thought it was impossible to bring him back. She rolled the small stone between her fingers and swallowed hard. She couldn't be afraid. River Dog had told her she couldn't be afraid.

"Wait, we need water." Alex said, moving suddenly away from the group and rushing into the kitchen. Cabinets banged, and the faucet turned on, then he was back.

"Right… okay… everyone form a circle." Isabel motioned for everyone to move, and they shuffled around the couch. "Alex?"

Alex nodded and took a deep breath, staring down at Max as he took a sip of water, and then passed it to Michael on his left. Michael followed suit, taking a drink before passing it to Kyle. The water made its way around the circle, from Kyle to Maria – who drank even though she didn't have a stone – Maria to Liz, and Liz to Isabel.

Liz squeezed her eyes shut as she cupped the stone in her hands, willing her unstable energy calm itself, to connect with it, to flow through it to meet the others before pouring into Max. She counted each breath. Four seconds in. Four seconds out. Again and again, until her emotions began to settle. Everything was fine. It was fine. Max was back. She knew he'd come back eventually. It was only the fact that she never got any closure, any sort of apology, that made her chest hurt so bad. It was the memory of heartbreak resurfacing. She had moved on. She was doing good. She didn't love him. Not anymore. She reiterated the words to herself over and over. She forced herself to picture him happy, healthy, and smiling. Forced the memory of seeing him with Tess down, back into the darkest corners of her heart. It didn't matter if he had been her first love. It didn't matter that he'd ripped her heart out. She had what she wanted now. Sort of. Guilt bubbled to the surface once again as the image of Michael, shirtless and dripping wet, skin glistening in the sunlight, came to the forefront of her mind, swiftly followed by Maria's comforting hug upon her arrival. She swallowed hard and then crushed that image too. She vehemently focused on her mental picture of Max, willing him to return to his healthy, strong self. Willing the blood and bruises to heal. Willing herself to let go of everything else.

A warm tingle began to spread through her body, beginning from inside her chest, spilling out and out until it consumed her before it withdrew and surged towards her hands, pouring into the stone. One by one she felt the energy of the others connect to hers, each colored by an indescribable aura that told her who was who without seeing. As one, their energy pooled and then flooded into Max, colliding with his dim, flickering light until it surged and grew brighter, stronger, gleaming gold as the balance was restored to his body and healing swept through him. She could feel the familiar pulse and pull of his energy, tugging on her own, like a tide flowing in and out. She swayed slightly on her feet.

"Liz?"

Max's soft, confused voice shattered the semblance of calm she had managed to attain. Her stone clattered to the coffee table, the sound deafening in the quiet living room. The flow of energy abruptly broke, leaving her unsteady and breathless. Her eyes flew open, locking with Max's hazel irises.

Green tendrils crackled across her tanned skin in a scorching hot path that had her crying out in pain and the apartment rocked with a violent pulse of power that rattled the windows, and sent items to the floor in a series of crashes as the stunned group flung hands out to catch themselves, gasping in surprise.

Liz's knees buckled as she clenched her jaw against the pain – a much more powerful echo of the agony she had felt the last time this happened. She had fled the state to get away from him, to avoid the angry surge of power that burned her body each time she saw him. But she couldn't run away this time. There was nowhere to go, and her powers were much, much stronger now.

Dimly she registered the voices of her friends as they split themselves between rushing to Max and diving to catch her.

"Oh my God, Liz!" Maria's face came into view as she leaned too close, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Liz squeezed her eyes shut as another surge of power burned through her body. She bit back the scream building in her throat.

"I thought she had control of this?" Isabel's tense voice filled her ears, coming vaguely from the couch.

"So did I." Kyle replied.

"It's my fault." Max. She heard the sofa creak as he shifted.

"Move." Michael.

The reckless desire to reach for him nearly overrode her knowledge that Maria was clinging to her worriedly. Or at least she had been. Loudly protesting, Maria's tight grip suddenly lessened, and a new touch slid over her arms, bringing with it a cool, soothing wave of peace that immediately quieted her raging powers. Whimpering with relief, Liz pitched forward into Michael's arms without opening her eyes. Her fingers knotted desperately into his grey t-shirt as she clung to him, unaware of the shimmering tendrils coiling over her skin, no longer sparking and burning with agony, but dancing with joy at his touch – the tendrils mirrored themselves on his body, sliding over his forearms, and up to vanish beneath his short sleeves. "Shh, I've got you." His lips brushed her ear as he murmured the words, too soft for anyone else to hear.

"What the fuck?" Maria demanded.

Michael, belatedly realizing what he'd done, slowly raised his head to meet the speechless and accusing stares. Shit.