Title: No Ordinary Love

Category: AU. Max/Liz. Some Michael and Maria and hints of Alex and Isabel.

Summary: What if you fell in love with your family's sworn enemy? What if you were only teenagers at the time and it ended tragically? What if you met again years later? Would you be willing to risk your heart again for and extraordinary love?

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters connected to the show Roswell.

Present: Los Angeles California, June 22, 2005

Liz gripped the foam cup tightly nearly dislodging the stale coffee within. She stared blindly at the dull colored paint on the police station walls. She dared not look anywhere else for fear of what she might see. Like the dried blood covering the thighs of her jeans, where she'd wiped her hands earlier that afternoon. She shivered though the weather was a humid seventy-two degrees.

Noting her shiver, Police Detective Patrick Morgan quickly ended his phone call. "Sorry to have kept you waiting Ms. Parker," he apologized. "I know you must be anxious to get back to the hospital."

Liz stared at the salt and peppered haired detective with dead eyes and said nothing at all. Some small part of her psyche, where the world still made sense, could appreciate the kindness in his faded blue gaze and the courtesy in his speech. However, the part of her psyche that was two seconds away from psychosis, was telling her to just get up and leave. The hospital had promised to call if there were any changes, but Liz wanted be there, needed to be there.

Seeing the bleak expression in the young woman's eyes, Detective Morgan rubbed a weary hand over his rugged features. He'd been a cop for over twenty years. In essence, he'd seen it all. Still, it was never easy interviewing the loved ones of victims. And there was something in particular about this young woman that pulled at his heartstrings.

Shaking his head with a silent curse, Morgan berated himself for being such a sentimental jackass. What he needed to do was kick start this interview. Clicking on a recorder he said, "In your own words Ms. Parker, tell me what happened."

Liz's breath knotted in her chest when she tried to speak. She inhaled and exhaled several times in an attempt to catch her breath. Finally she said, "I don't even know where to start."

Morgan looked at her kindly, reassuringly. "The beginning usually helps."

Liz laughed humorlessly. "Got a couple of hours?"

Detective Morgan frowned. "I don't understand."

Liz raised her hand to run it through her hair. She remembered the blood stains and quickly lowered it again. Her voice shook as she said, "You want me to start at the beginning. Well, this all begun nearly thirty years ago."

Detective Morgan's eyebrows nearly shot into his receding hairline. Liz would have laughed if not for the fact that Max was at the hospital fighting for his life. Clearing her throat she continued:

"You've heard of Phillip Evans of Evans' Saving & Trust, right?"

Morgan nodded. Who hadn't? The Evans family had their hands in a few cookie jars.

"Well, that's the thing," Liz said accurately reading his expression. "The Evans family has always had money in one form or another. Even as far back as the Great Depression..."

Liz stopped to stare off into space.

"Please continue Ms. Parker." Morgan encouraged.

Liz shook her head to clear it as the past and present merged together. "A lot of their family wealth comes from banking. About thirty years ago my grandparents were killed in a freak lighting storm. At that time my father inherited their mid-sized ranch. About 500 acres. He was fresh out of college with no practical experience and newly married. Within a few years the ranch was in trouble. My older brother was about two at the time. Anyway, my dad had been friends with Phillip Evans in college. Naturally, when he found himself in trouble, he turned to his ole pal for help." Liz smiled ironically. "You can probably guess what happened."

"Your family lost the ranch?" Morgan surmised.

"Lost is too kind a word. A year later Phillip Evans, or maybe it was his father," Liz shrugged, "foreclosed on the loan. My family was left penniless."

"And after that?" Morgan wanted to kick himself for sounding so enthralled. But this was like one of those cheesy soap opera's his wife loved to watch.

"My dad never forgave Phillip Evans. From that day on our families were sworn enemies. So much animosity could not help but to spill over into the next generation."

"I see," Morgan said trying to digest it all. Only problem was he didn't see at all. "I don't mean to be obtuse Ms Parker. But what does any of this have to do with today's events?"

Liz smiled sadly. "By the time Max and I met the seeds of hate had already been sown. The feud had a twenty year head-start on us. My brother and father in particular loathed all things Evans."

"And you?" Detective Morgan asked, only slightly clearer on where all this was leading.

Liz shrugged. "I actually never gave it a thought. It wasn't like we lived in the same neighborhood as the Evans' or attended the same schools. As far as I was concerned the feud was ancient history. More like a myth really. Something along the lines of the Hatfield and McCoy. I mean our families paths rarely ever crossed. Maybe an odd football game here or there."

"Is that where you met Max? At a football game?"

Liz shook her head while biting her lower lip. "No," she finally said. "I met Max at a homecoming dance during my senior year. Some friends of his had snuck him into my school's dance. He was a couple years to old to be there, and stood around looking bored the entire night. That's what first drew me to him." Liz smiled briefly in reminiscence.

It was a real smile too. Detective Morgan noted. Not one of those grimaces she'd been giving him since entering the station. Only it didn't last long. He watched her smile disappear along with her next words.

"If only I'd known then who he was, it would never have happened."

"What would never have happened?" Morgan leaned forward to ask.

Liz got a faraway look in her eyes. "Love at first sight."