Title: Shrink
Author: MissAnnThropic
E-Mail: miss_annthropic@yahoo.com
Spoilers: UFO Convention
Summary: It's been years since Max has been in Roswell, New Mexico, but the loss still haunts him every day.
Disclaimer: None of it's mine. I'm just a sad little fangirl that spends her days writing fanfic and watching taped episodes of her favorite shows :(



"So... what brought on this sudden interest in screening your teachers so thoroughly? I mean, what was the reason?" Psychiatrist Dean Hunter asked Superintendent Kevin Marcus as he readied his office for his first string of teachers.

Mister Marcus sighed and shrugged simultaneously as he looked down, almost uncomfortably, at the cliche black leather shrink couch. "Mostly these rash of school shootings. With so much that can happen, we want to make sure we don't encourage any of this violent behavior by having unstable teachers we didn't know about... you know."

Doctor Hunter nodded, "Covering your ass. I get that a lot. So... are there actually any teachers you ARE concerned about particularly?"

Mister Marcus looked troubled, then hesitantly answered, "Yeah... one I'm not real sure about. He's never been violent, but he doesn't... fit in. He's an excellent teacher, English Lit, but... I don't know. He's just real withdrawn. I just want to be able to say they've all been checked out... the teachers, that is."

Mister Marcus seemed nervous... anxious. Then again, what school official wouldn't be these days. Doctor Hunter understood completely. Being a shrink, he'd gone through his fair share of bad repute. It came with the territory of nearly any job.

"Well, I'll do my best, Kevin."

Mister Marcus shook hands with his old college classmate, "Thanks... I really appreciate this."



Doctor Hunter glanced at his watch. He'd been doing hour long meetings with teachers for four hours, and he felt about ready to have an episode himself. He had ten minutes of break before his next patient. He sighed, then rolled his head to pop his neck. At least he wasn't a chiropractor... then he probably wouldn't be able to do that... knowing what it really did to the bones of the neck.

He looked up after having closed his eyes for only a second (or so it seemed), when he heard his door open.

A man stepped into the room, then stopped at the door and stood there. Doctor Hunter studied him a moment. He was about six feet tall, fit... muscled like he probably worked out but not excessively. His golden hazel eyes were attentive, but cast away from the doctor's own stare. He had dark, almost black hair, and wore a long-sleeved brown shirt with khaki pants.

Doctor Hunter motioned to the chair opposite him, having decided that the teachers would probably feel less weird about it if they didn't have to sit on 'the couch'.

The man at the door looked to the indicated chair, then walked over to it and sat down silently.

Doctor Hunter looked down at his file, then looked up. "Okay... well, let's get started. You've been teaching for seven years. English Literature, right?"

The man nodded, then almost muttered in a hurried reply, "Sophomore English Literature."

Doctor Hunter nodded, "Okay... ever had any problems? You know, coping with the stress of classes... students... anything with work?"

The man shook his head, then settled down further into the seat, as if trying to absolutely retreat from the doctor across from him. Doctor Hunter took note of it silently.

Doctor Hunter asked slowly, "Okay... have you ever had any discipline problems? With the principal or other teachers?"

The man shook his head again, then cast a vague but wistful look to the door. The doctor noted this as well.

"Have you ever been arrested before?"

Another shake of the head.

"Have you ever had any trouble with authority figures in the past? You know... any boot camps in your childhood?"

The man shook his head again. 'Certainly not much of a talker,' the doctor thought with a little concern.

The doctor looked down at his file on the man who had just walked in. He read a little, then asked, "You're not married?"

The man was still a moment, then shook his head again. A pause... what had that meant?

"Have you ever been married?"

Another, more timely shake of his head.

The doctor sighed, looked down at the file, then said, "Well, Mister Evans... I think that's all I need from you right now."

Mister Evans stood, then left the room without much of anything in the way of a good-bye... just a passing glance.



"Well, doc... what's the verdict?" Mister Marcus asked good-naturedly of his friend at the end of the next week. He'd seen all the teachers... meet with each about an hour. He was exhausted, but one of his friends had asked for a favor, and he didn't want to let Kevin down.

Dean sat down in his own psych couch, looked over his little paper with names and small notes, then said, "Well... they all looked pretty good... nothing too weird, but there was one..."

"One?"

Dean nodded, "I don't know what to think. He was defensive... I think I'm going to need a little more time with him before I can say for certain. I'm not saying he's a nut, I'm just saying I don't know enough about him."

Kevin seemed concerned. He sat down in the doc chair opposite Dean, then asked tentatively, "Don't know?"

Dean flopped the list down, then looked sympathetically at his old friend. "He might be fine... I just. Well, when people come in, you can get a reading on them just by the way they talk, act... you know. This one was guarded... I couldn't get a reading on him. I think I need to see him every week, at least until I can figure out whether or not he's a possible danger."

Kevin stood, "Good idea. I can order him to come to sessions... someone else can teach his class for a while... once a week isn't too much. Which one is it?"

Dean looked again at his list, "Um... Evans... Max Evans."

Kevin froze at the door at the mention of the name, and he slowly turned back to Dean... a little concerned. "That's the one I was worried about."



Doctor Hunter was sitting in his doctor chair, waiting for his patient. Apparently, Max Evans had put up no fight to coming to therapy sessions... in fact, they said he'd not really reacted at all. That didn't sound good... being apathetic about everything.

The door sounded with a knock to interrupt his thoughts, and Doctor Hunter called out immediately, "Come in."

The door opened, and Max Evans walked in. He was just as meek as he'd been the first time. Doctor Hunter looked at him a moment, watching him glance around the room perceptively, then called his attention, "Mister Evans?"

Mister Evans looked at the doctor blankly. "Would you please sit down?"

Max looked at the couch that was offered, hesitated, then went over and sat down on its edge.

The doctor began slowly, "Okay... well, I guess you figured why you're here. This is nothing against you, I just want you to know that up front. This is just a new policy that the superintendent wanted to have put in effect... for the safety of the students."

Max nodded, then stared back at doctor. When Doctor Hunter saw that this man was not going to speak first, he cleared his throat and said, "Okay... well, let's get started. Um, I have a few questions about you... do you mind?"

Max shrugged... as if he really had a choice. He didn't want to lose his teaching job.

"Okay... well, everyone I've talked to from the school where you work described you as quiet... why is that?"

Max looked at him quizzically, "Uh... probably because I don't talk much."

The doctor was still a moment, then laughed, "No... I'm sorry. That's not what I meant... I meant, why are you so quiet?"

Max thought a moment, then said, "I don't know... Guess I never have anything to say."

"Do you feel that you will be made fun of if you talk?"

Max shook his head... "No."

"Okay... well... hmm. What keeps you from talking to others?"

Max narrowed his eyes at the doctor distrustfully, mostly at being uncomfortable about being asked the same question repeatedly, "I don't know... Maybe I just don't WANT to talk to them."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not interested in the things they talk about... that's all."

"What do they talk about?"

Max huffed in aggravation, "You know... the same stuff everyone talks about... I just find it boring."

"Which parts bore you?"

Max glowered at the doctor for an instant, quickly covered it up again, then continued, "I don't know... I can't pinpoint it for you."

The doctor nodded, then asked hesitantly but firmly, "Can't or won't?"

Max stared back at the doctor for a long while, face expressionless. When he finally spoke, his face did not change and his eyes never left the doctor's steady gaze as he finished, "Won't."

The doctor nodded, then averted his eyes by looking down at his note pad on his lap, "I appreciate your honesty, but you realize that with that kind of attitude we could be here quite a while?"

Max shrugged apathetically, then settled back further in the couch as if accepting the terms if only to keep hidden the darker side of himself.

Doctor Hunter sighed... he was NOT hoping for Mister Evans to settle down for a staying power contest... it always ate up his time and was frustrating as hell. All he wanted to do was help, but some people seriously did not want to be helped. Mister Evans looked like one of those kind of people... who wanted no help from anyone. Usually with these cases, Doctor Hunter would just be there for them whenever they had questions about society... why people did this and that... and through those questions find out what the person's problem was. Here, though, he had a deadline. He had to finish this job so he could get Mister Evans back to school and teaching without uncertainty... the principal having his cleared psych exam record on file safely. Doctor Hunter sighed inwardly... this could take a long time... but he didn't have that kind of time. It could get hairy.

The doctor snapped back, remembering quickly that he was still sitting there with Mister Evans. He looked at him, finding him in a stare... gazing blankly into space and probably did not notice when the shrink had zoned out. Doctor Hunter cleared his throat, then asked curiously, "Mister Evans?"

Max looked over at him vacantly.

"Do you know why you won't tell me? Is there a reason?"

Max stared at him like he was an idiot but didn't want to say anything. Doctor Hunter wanted to mutter 'damn.' He was hoping he could tip toe around the original question and come back around to it when Mister Evans's guard was down... but it didn't work. Mister Evans was just looking at him with that obviously stunned look that he'd asked such a stupid follow-up question. Like, 'if I wouldn't tell you what I don't like, you think I'd tell you why?'

The doctor waved his hand in the air in a shooing motion, "Forget that... dumb question."

Max nodded, then looked vacantly out the window. Out of nowhere, he spoke up, "I'm not dangerous."

The doctor looked up at him, "What?"

Max looked back at the doctor, "That's why I'm here, right? The superintendent thinks I'm a danger to my students... I'm not. I would never hurt anyone. I don't see why this is necessary."

The doctor had to give this guy credit for being sharp. Honestly, when he'd first met Max Evans, his impression had been that he was slow and not too bright... now it didn't seem like that was the case. Quiet maybe, but not slow.

Doctor Hunter nodded, then explained, "He doesn't necessarily think you're dangerous... he just wants to make sure..."

"Cover his ass."

The doctor chuckled, "Yeah... cover his ass. Can you blame him?"

Max shook his head, then looked down as he muttered, "Meaningless shootings are maybe the worst thing about your... our society."

The doctor studied him a moment, "Why did you say 'your'?"

Max looked back up at the window, "Well... When I think of a society, I think of a community of people who turn to each other... I don't turn to anyone and no one turns to me... so I don't really belong to your society."

"That's kind of a negative way to look at it."

"Only if I thought it was a drawback."

The doctor shifted in his seat... now we're getting somewhere. "You don't feel it's a bad thing to distance yourself from others?"

Max stared back at him a moment, then looked away again. The doctor withheld a frustrated sigh. Before the doctor could try something else, Max asked in retaliation, "Why do you think it's such a good idea not to?"

The doctor hadn't expected that, and he was silent a moment. Before he could answer, Max stood, "I think that's it for today."

The doctor looked at his watch... Mister Evans was right. He watched Mister Evans walk out of the office, and as soon as he was gone, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Kevin... hey. I just finished my first meeting with Mister Evans."

"What do you think?"

"I think we need to talk."



Mister Marcus nodded slowly, then looked across the bar booth to Dean. He sighed a moment, then asked, "Dean... are you sure we have to do this?"

Doctor Hunter nodded, "I have to be around him more... he's not opening up in sessions... he's guarded."

Kevin rubbed his hand with his face, then said, "All right... I'll talk to Kathy and tell her she has to take a vacation."

Doctor Hunter nodded, "Good... I hope I can get to the bottom of this."



Max Evans sat as usual, in the farthest seat and slumped down as far as he could get without drawing attention to himself. He hated teachers meetings. Everyone was there... sitting around him. Everyone he disliked to a degree. Actually, one other teacher he didn't really mind... Miss Peterson, the Geometry teacher, but that was only because she never tried to be 'fake friendly' with him. He didn't want to talk to her, so she never spoke to him. Actually, through their lack of conversation, they turned into kind of pseudo friends. When they had to get together on these kind of meetings, Miss Peterson sat next to him... and he appreciated that. Because Miss Peterson never spoke to him... never looked at him... she sat still in her chair... ignoring him and giving him space without seeming rude about it. She was an oddity, but Max appreciated it.

Max stared at his hands as he drew circles with his fingers. He knew very well that everyone in the meeting thought he wasn't paying attention. He actually did listen, to every word, he just didn't understand why that had to include looking at the speaker too. He sat silently and listened to the principal.

"Okay... well, I know you're all wondering why you are here. I wanted to tell you that your assignment schedules are due tomorrow afternoon, and that since the computer is down you'll have to write in personally the course numbers on the top of the first page. And... Mrs. Walker, Psych 102, is going to be out for a few days... to replace her for the duration of her absence will be a personal friend of Kevin Marcus... the doctor you all saw last week."

Max looked up, instantly suspicious. The principal continued talking, "I just wanted you all to have a heads up..." He smiled to show he was only joking now, "Knock off the dancing on the desks until he leaves."

Everyone laughed falsely... everyone but Max and Donna Peterson.

"Well, that's all I have for you today. You can get back to your classes."

Everyone stood, including Max and Donna.

Donna shot over her shoulder at him casually without turning to look at him, "Shrinks..."

Max nodded, following her out of the room. As they strolled down the hall side by side, he suspected they were getting more looks... he and Donna always did. For anyone who didn't understand their strange but distinct friendship would be completely lost.

Max and Donna did that a lot... they walked down the hall together, sat together, but they never spoke. It was just something they did for companionship. Neither could find this kind of understanding in anyone else... neither Max nor Donna WANTED to talk to each other... they didn't want or TRY to be friends... they just hung out because they didn't talk. Neither wanted a conversation, they just wanted to think, and it looked less weird if they did it together... less different. Theirs was an appreciation for the other's understanding that the other was there souly to be quiet... to shut up and hang back.

They had reached Donna's classroom, and she turned and walked into it without even a glance back at Max. Max didn't watch her go, he just kept walking toward his room.



Lunch. Max sat at the cafeteria table, just barely on the fringes of the teacher's table. There was a seat between him and all the other teachers. Max liked it better that way... he didn't have to be any closer to them than necessary.

Someone set a tray down right in front of him, and he looked up to see who it was... even though he knew.

Donna sat down across from him, then gave him the 'greeting look.' Max returned it, then turned his attention back to his food. That would be the extent of their interaction, and that was one thing Max found in her to be grateful for. She had an incredible understanding of space, and asked only in return to get the same space. Max was more than glad to comply.

Before the other teachers, who had been talking nonstop, could say another word, they all fell silent as a new person joined them... sitting in the empty seat next to Max.

Donna looked up first to see who it was, knowing full well no one but her ever sat with Max unless it was unavoidable. She being the one person who respected space as much as Max did, she looked irritated and a little defensive that someone was going to sit next to Evans.

She immediately grew uncertain, then looked back down at her food silently. Max was mildly curious and looked over briefly to see who it was.

He grew even more withdrawn and protective when he saw Doctor Hunter sit down next to him, then look at Mister Evans in an attempt at that 'we're just two teachers hanging out' camaraderie. Max turned away quickly... annoyed and secretly enraged. He knew full well what the doctor was doing here... and he was infuriated that the doctor would take it upon himself to invade the one part of Max's life that he could throw himself into... lose himself in and forget the... rest... the past. Now the doctor was in his space... his place of escape, to spy on him. Max, in an uncustomary gesture, looked up across him at Donna. She gave him a sympathetic but not too clear glance, then shot a hostile look at the shrink when he wasn't looking. Her eyes were absolutely fiery, then she looked down at her food again... refusing to look at the doctor anymore.

The doctor tapped Max lightly on the arm to get his attention, and instantly everyone at the table froze. The air grew silent, with only Max's reaction to fill the split second after 'physical contact.' Max felt the doctor touch him, jerked, then shot him a look before he could curb it.

All the other teachers were watching... stunned. They had all learned VERY early on that you don't actually TOUCH Max Evans... he didn't like it. That was much closer than he cared for people to be to him.

The doctor saw the others' reactions, and quickly wished he'd not tried to be chummy with Mister Evans. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the other eyes on him as he looked at Max and offered up friendly enough, "This is a strange coincidence, isn't it?"

Max glared at him, just barely, then turned away with, "Yeah... imagine that."

The doctor nodded, then looked across at Donna, "Hello, Miss Peterson."

Donna gave him a glance... a not-so-friendly one, then looked back at her tray in absolute silence.

The doctor cleared his throat, then turned back to his new fellow teachers... the ones who would actually speak.



The lunch hour passed by with the doctor finding it one of the oddest situations he'd ever been in. On his left were two completely silent teachers who seemed to want to disappear into the walls, and on his other side totally normal, social people who didn't even seem to notice their two outcasts. They were only a seat away, but the other teachers acted as if Donna and Max didn't exist.

Max suddenly stood, gathering up his tray to take it to the back. Without any look to cue Donna, she stood as well. Picking up her own tray, she headed to the back as Max did... they met up at the end of the table and walked abreast toward the back. The doctor watched intently. The two never once spoke... they didn't even look at each other. They just continued as if the other did not exist, but yet they remained side by side until they left his sight.

Doctor Hunter was brought out of his stupor of observation when he heard the conversation at the table take an interesting turn, "They are so weird."

The doctor looked into the fray of disapproving teachers, and figured that he had already been accepted as one of 'them' so took the chance to speak up, "What do you mean?"

One of the teachers looked at him, then leaned in closer, "Evans and Peterson... they're freaks."

Doctor Hunter glanced in the direction they'd left, "Are they... together?"

The teachers reacted... some laughing and some frowning in confusion. It was a totally different teacher who answered, "That's just it... no, they're not. I mean... they sit together, eat together, walk together... but I'll be damned if they never speak so much as two words to each other!"

"Really?" Dean had to admit, he'd not ever heard anything exactly like this in his entire psychology career before. He'd seen people distance themselves and others cling to people, but never simultaneously.

One of the other teachers nodded, "Yeah... and you'd be damned to try to get either of them to talk to you, either."

Doctor Hunter nodded, shifting in closer to join the 'group,' and commented, "I know, I have."

Another teacher pointed at him in recollection, "That's right... you did. So, what's the prognosis? Are they nut jobs?"

Dean swallowed, "I'm not at liberty to say... it's that doctor patient thing..."

They all nodded, a little disappointed. They'd wanted to hear some good gossip on the two 'freaks,' but obviously it would not come from the shrink.

Dean scooted his chair closer, "Can I ask you guys something?"

They all waited for his question. Dean continued, "Have they always been like this?"

One nodded, "Ever since I've been here, which was before either of them. I was already here when they both got here, and from the very start they've both been... oddballs."

Doctor Hunter noted it in his head, but did not give the appearance of searching for information, "Well... I'm just glad this little consult gave me a reason to come back up to Wisconsin."

"Excuse me?"

"Well... I graduated from here with Kevin Marcus, but got a job in Arizona... hotter than hell down there... I'm glad I got to come back to the real world for a while."

The teachers all nodded, then turned back to their own conversations... giving the doctor a chance to sit back and process everything that had just happened. He'd gotten small pieces of information on Max Evans and he'd managed to weasel his way into the teacher's ring... they may be able to give him useful information.



Max sat at his desk. There were no students in his classroom yet... it was their break. He was staring at a stack of papers, zoned out, when someone walked into his room. He looked up to see who it was, then stared back down at his desk when Donna walked in. She said not a word, just went to the stool on the other side of his desk and sat down.

At that moment, Doctor Hunter was whisking by the room, and since Max Evans was the reason he was there, he glanced in the doorway. He stopped when he saw Miss Peterson sitting down across from him. Careful to be quiet, he moved over next to the doorway, leaning against the wall right next to it and pulling from his pocket a small book he was reading... trying to look inconspicuous. He was trying to listen to what the two said to one another.

Max did not greet Donna, but it was a mutual ignoring. She just sat there, not looking at him... only resting her arms against the desk and heaving a heavy sigh. Max looked up at her briefly, then leaned in closer to also rest his arms on the desk... thinking it looked like a good idea.

The doctor peered in quietly, wondering why it was so quiet. He was utterly confused to find that the two were just sitting there... almost mirroring each other in body movement, but he'd be damned if they didn't say a single word to each other.

He was about to walk in and greet the two casually when the first bell rang. He cursed silently to himself, peeked in again to see Miss Peterson standing to leave without a word of farewell, and hurried off before she could catch him.



Doctor Hunter sat at his desk, typing in the name on his search directory, "Peterson... Donna."

The computer whirled and clicked, then a window popped up on the screen, "Found: Donna LeRae Peterson... treatment initiation date: October 1994. Last date of known evaluation: August 1998... diagnosis... incomplete."

Doctor Hunter scrolled down, but was annoyed to find the only other bit of information he could find was the name of the treating psychologist. Devin Framps.

He sat back, then clicked in the print button, and as it spit out the pages he requested, he thought to himself, 'well, she has a history of psychological treatment... that's something... I wonder if I could get a hold of this Devin Framps.'

Before doing that, a thought crossed his mind, and he cleared the search mode and typed in again, "Evans... Max."

The computer whirled, then beeped. "None found matching that description."



Doctor Hunter stood in the unfamiliar office, fidgeting nervously. He hated to do this... ask a fellow psychologist to divulge information about a patient, but the safety of hundreds of students could depend on this... Well, okay, that may have been exaggerating just a little bit, but not much. The doctor here could cross-check Dean's story and find it full proof. Little did anyone else know that this case had become more than another job for him... he'd taken it as a challenge. He'd not had anything this testing since the exit exams at college, and he was getting a high off the excitement of it... it was exhilarating. He was determined to figure out what the story was here, and amazingly... even though he was taking this up as a personal crusade, he was still trying to help these people. He was of the firm opinion that everyone could use a little help, and it was his obligation to get that help to these people.

He turned when he heard a door open, and he recognized the man who came out to meet him immediately. He had seen the doctor in plenty of psychology magazines and other publications. It was Devin Framps. He was an older, very distinguished man who was considered one of the authorities on the field of psychology.

Dean stepped forward toward the man, "Mister Framps?"

Devin extended a hand toward Dean, who shook it respectfully. When they released, Dean decided to jump right into it, "I'm here about a patient of yours... back in 1998?"

Devin's guard to protect his patients went up immediately, and he eyed Dean, then was about to say something when he stopped. Looking around the waiting room, he looked down at Dean, "Let's go in my office."

Dean followed him... closing the dark office door as he entered after Framps. Framps turned to face Dean instantly, "Why have you come here asking about one of my patients?"

Dean nodded, understanding the fervent desire to protect patients, and he slowly began in a non threatening tone, "Well, this particular person I was asked to evaluate earlier this week. This former patient of yours is a teacher at a school where I was asked to give every teacher a preliminary psych evaluation."

Devin frowned, and Dean moved closer as he explained, "Well, with all these school shootings... school officials are starting to get defensive. They just wanted to make sure there was no way they were unintentionally fueling the fire of violence by having an unstable and undiagnosed teacher influencing students."

Devin sat down behind his desk, shrugging at the cowardly but logical sense of the reason. Dean sat down in the chair opposite Devin's desk, "Anyway... one of those teachers was a former patient of yours. I couldn't get anything... couldn't really figure out if she was a danger... so I looked up her name in a directory... I found out she was treated by you."

"Before we go any further with this subject, who is it we are talking about?"

Dean answered quickly, "Donna Peterson."

Devin made no indication that he remembered the name... he sat passively then motioned for Dean to continue. Dean nodded, a little warily, then continued, "I saw that her last diagnosis came back incomplete. I was just hoping I could get a few answers on this."

Devin was silent a moment, then replied in his deep, dominating voice, "Doctor..."

"Hunter."

"Hunter... you know as well as I do the doctor-patient confidentiality policy... I'm afraid I can't..."

"Yes, I do realize that policy... but this seemed important. Without that passing evaluation, she may get fired from her job. At this point, I feel something like that would only do more psychological damage to add to whatever caused her to need professional help in the first place. Sir... I'm only trying to look out for her best interests."

The doctor was silent a long moment... thinking. Slowly, he looked out his window... pensive. Finally, he responded, "Yes... I had her as a patient. I'll answer what I can now, but I need more time to think about this before I give you any specifics on her case."

"Thank you, sir. First of all, I guess the most important and timely question is... IS she a danger? Was her evaluation incomplete as in a 'failed' sense?"

Devin shook his head, "Not at all... she didn't fail her psych test... she just didn't finish her therapy session cycle."

"Why not?"

He was quiet a moment, then thought hard as he answered, "She had problems that she had not addressed... Issues."

"About what?"

Devin stood abruptly, "I'm sorry, I have to consider this further before I can feel good about sharing any more information with you. I told you what you really needed to know for now... that she didn't fail her test... that she's not determined a danger. I need time to think this over."

Dean stood, pulling from his pocket his business card. Before handing it to Framps, Hunter took out a pen and wrote another number on the back, "Here..." he handed the card to Framps. "This is my office number... and on the back is my personal phone number and cell phone... whenever you decide if you can talk to me about this or not, I would appreciate a call."

Framps took the card, then placed it slowly in his front jacket pocket. Doctor Hunter left the office quietly, thinking.



Max Evans stared at his calendar. It was hanging behind his desk with the students' test dates on it, but it was not one of those days that was holding his rapt attention. Oddly enough, it was a completely blank day square that was holding his attention. To anyone not privy to his darkest secrets, it would have seemed like a totally mental thing to do... but Max knew.

Max looked up when he saw someone come into his room out of the corner of his eye. He knew it was Donna... school had let out an hour ago, every kid in their right mind had been gone from the school campus 55 minutes ago; and only one person would even think of walking into his room after hours.

Donna walked in, saw him standing in front of his calender, and took it upon herself to step behind his desk and head toward him. Max looked back at the calender, trying to tear his mind away from the foremost thought in his mind.

Donna drew closer, but stopped three feet from Max, as if any closer would only be uncomfortable.

They were standing in absolute silence when suddenly Donna broke the silence by speaking, "Funny, isn't it?"

Max looked over at her quickly, stunned and a little unsettled that she had actually spoken... and in a tone that implied he respond... engage in a conversation with Donna Peterson.

He thought a moment, then asked hesitantly, "What's that?"

"Dates... each day has one, and the next is just as meaningless as the last, except for those days... The ones that change your life forever, but are just as meaningless to everyone else as the day before."

Max understood... understood so completely that Donna may well have asked him about it and simply repeated it back to him. He nodded, then muttered as he stared again at the same day he'd been studying before. He mused more to himself than spoke to Donna, "The ones that haunt you."

Donna nodded, not turning to look at him, "The ones you can feel coming, every year as if the life-changing event that had happened years ago will repeat, only because they share the month name and day number."

Max had never known someone could feel like he did. How he dreaded THAT day... every year it crept up on him... he could feel it stalking him like some wild beast, out to mutilate not his body, but his mind. Shredding his mental stability for the whole day with the reaping claws of memory... its teeth delivering the sting of the past.

Donna sighed heavily, almost despairingly, then wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold, "Those are the enemies... the days that can send you three steps back when you've been working all year to move two steps forward."

Max looked away from the calender... feeling the dread and agony creeping into him by just thinking about it. No need to go through the excruciating pain before he had to.

Evans stepped back, finding his stool and sitting down on it absently. Donna looked over at him, then muttered, "If only the good days could be so permanent... you never remember the good ones."

Max nodded sadly, "The memories of the good times seem to last only a day... the more you think about them..."

"The shorter they seemed to have lasted... the pain far outlives the joy."

Max smiled slightly to himself, then added almost defiantly, "But I wouldn't trade those short good memories for anything."

Donna nodded, stepping back as she backed away toward the door, "They're all that give life meaning. All that's left to keep you going."

Max nodded in complete agreement, then looked up at Donna as she disappeared silently out his door. He looked back at the floor, thinking. He'd never talked to Donna before... not like that. He knew they thought alike as in they enjoyed silence, but he'd no idea they thought THAT much alike. It was like she'd read his thoughts... thoughts he tried his hardest NOT to think about but did anyway. He was a little frightened by it, but also comforted in a way. Before, he'd imagined himself as someone standing alone in an endless desert... now he could see someone else on the horizon.

Max was brought out of his thoughts when there was another, colder voice at his door, "Mister Evans?"

Max turned, rather unwelcoming in his demeanor, and frowned visibly when he saw the doctor Dean Hunter standing in the doorway, "Can I come in?"

Max glowered slightly, then turned away to stare at his notes on the chalkboard as he replied, "I don't care."

Doctor Hunter stepped in, studied Max as he avoided contact with him, then offered up, "Okay... look. I came here to... apologize. I tried to be your friend, and I shouldn't have done that. Before... I thought we could be... you know, friendly acquaintances, but I realized that after I've been your doctor once it's not likely we could be friends. It just took me a while to realize it."

Max shot him a doubtful, suspicious look, then stared intently at his day-old class notes. Doctor Hunter wanted to scream. Would nothing get a reaction out of this guy?!

Dean stepped closer, then asked cautiously, "What are you up to?"

Max turned to stare at him, and Dean stepped back, "Right... no friends."

Max turned back to his notes, studying them as if he was required to double-check them. Doctor Hunter turned back to the door, exiting without another word.



RING!! RING!!

"Hello?"

"Dean Hunter?"

"Yes."

"This is Devin Framps... I've made a decision."

Dean sat up in bed. He'd gone to bed early that day... exhausted by teaching AND spying at the same time. He tried to clear the fuzz from his head as he listened intently, "What?"

"I cannot tell you the specifics of Donna Peterson's case... that would be a violation of trust which I know you can understand, but..."

"But?"

"I can and will tell you that in my professional opinion, from what I already know about having worked with her... she is NOT a danger to anyone. Only a burden to herself. If you need me to sign something professing this, I'll..."

"No, sir. That's fine... I'll take your word for it. Are you sure you won't change your mind?"

"Certain."

"Well, thank you anyway. Good-night."



Max glanced around him at all the other teachers. Another teachers meeting. Didn't they have enough of these? What was wrong with putting notes in their boxes? Why did everything require discussion?

Max was standing by the wall, crossing his arms and idly scuffing the carpet with his heal. They were in the small room this time... the one Max liked to have teacher meetings in. It didn't have enough chairs for everyone, so about four people had to stand. He made it a point to always be one of the last to show up so he could stand back by the wall.

Standing somewhat near him was Donna, leaning against the wall with her hands propped behind her in the small of her back. Max turned his eyes away from her and glanced almost irately at the person to his left... about six feet away, but still near him. Doctor Hunter returned his look, but there was no hint of friendliness behind it. It was obviously too early in the morning for that false friendliness, and Max was glad he didn't have to see that fake look first thing.

The principal entered the room and instantly was jabbering, "Okay... sorry I'm late, I was in conference with a parent. What I wanted to tell you all is that, first of all, the police are going to be coming to do a random dog search for drugs... nothing big but be aware they'll be here. And since you're here, remember tomorrow we'll have a fire drill. That's all, you're free to leave."

The teachers stood and began to clear the room. Max hung back, waiting for the room to clear. As expected, Donna did the same. Dean hung around, just for the chance to watch them some more. He felt like a zoologist in the African plain... studying a pair of elusive leopards.

Max turned his back on the doctor, absolutely sick of his constant staring, and this forced him to look at Donna. She glanced up at him, ACTUALLY giving him a small smile. Why was she smiling? They didn't smile at one another... they didn't even give the other the time of day (since that would require talking). Donna had been actually talking lately... interacting with him. After all these years, why would she decide to actually talk to him? At least she wasn't a dolt. When she DID talk, it was about things that Max understood so completely that it stunned him constantly.

Donna shifted slightly to face him, and whispered almost timidly, "That could have been worse."

Max stared at her a moment, again surprised to hear her voice. He wasn't sure yet if he liked Donna talking to him or not. He'd always loved the way they were so silent... alone with their own thoughts... it would take a little adjusting before he could decide if it bothered him.

Max nodded finally, as if snapping out of a stupor, and muttered in response, "Pretty quick and painless."

Doctor Hunter was held in rapt attention. His subjects were speaking! They were actually talking... like normal people. He watched as the last of the other teachers began to trickle out of the room.

Donna looked at the sparsely chaired table in the middle of the room, then offered, "I prefer this room... not enough chairs."

Max smiled as much as he could manage (it felt so foreign... he hadn't done it in what seemed like a lifetime), "That's exactly why I like it."

Max and Donna left the room side by side... Donna moving in slightly closer than she usually stood from him. Max noticed it all too well. He glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye... hesitated uncomfortably, then continued on when he realized that he still had plenty of personal space... Donna was not going to invade his little space bubble.

Doctor Hunter fell in behind them, far enough behind not to be noticed. He wasn't going to miss a second of this... not if Max and Donna were actually speaking.

He followed them down the hall, but they said nothing else. He was getting frustrated when someone heading in their direction at the end of the hall caught his eye. He looked up to see who it was.

He didn't recognize the woman heading toward them... she was not a teacher. She was slim with short blond hair. Her clothes were of the latest style... a girl who obviously was up with fashion, but not to the point of sacrificing the influence of her own taste. The woman's face was forlorn... sad. He felt for her immediately and wanted to talk to her... help her.

Max was watching his feet absently as he walked down the hall. Donna was walking beside him, just as despondently. He was thankful that they'd fallen to silence again... it gave him time to think and get lost in his head. He looked up when he saw Donna out of the corner of his eye look up and pause in her step in uncertainty.

Max glanced at her, saw her staring at something down the hall, then looked over to see what it was.

He stopped in his step immediately, noticing only barely that Donna stopped as well and moved over to the wall as if to fade into the background. Max didn't look at her... he was focused on the woman heading toward him. Just looking at her and his entire past... his childhood, came rushing back at him with a brutal force.

The woman was soon upon him. She looked up into his eyes searchingly. Max stared into her brown eyes for a long time, as if at a loss for what to say and yet feeling that words were not necessary.

Doctor Hunter had stayed a fair distance behind, but moved over to stand against the other wall to get a better view of the woman and the side of Max's face.

The woman standing before Max looked down briefly, then moved in closer just barely. It was much closer than Max ever let people get to him, but he didn't even flinch when the young woman moved in closer to him. He was intent upon her face... looking at her deeply.

The woman looked back up into his eyes, then finally broke the silence with a whisper that the doctor could barely pick up, "It's been a long time, Max... it's good to see you."

Max nodded barely, then tore his eyes from her gaze to glance up and down her body. Dean was flabbergasted. Max Evans actually looking over a woman? Taking interest in another person?

Max returned his gaze to her dark brown eyes, then he whispered in response, "It has... been a long time. What are you doing here, Maria?"

The woman's lips twitched as if to suppress an emotion, but whether sad or joyful the doctor could not tell. The blond replied weakly, "I came to see you. I wanted to see you again."

Max nodded, seeing Maria's strength (mentally) faltering.

She bit her lip, then stepped forward into Max.

Donna flinched instantly. She knew Max... he didn't let people get close to him and he DID NOT let people touch him... this could get ugly.

Max opened his arms, welcoming Maria into his grasp. Maria leaned into him heavily, wrapping her arms around his chest. Max closed his own arms around Maria's back... holding her to him. She closed her eyes, grimacing as she tried to hold back her feelings, then she turned her head to bury her face in Max's chest... hiding her face from the world.

Donna was paled at the sight. Max hugging someone? That wasn't Max Evans... that wasn't right.

The doctor was knocked off his feet. He could only watch in amazement.

Max lowered his own head to bury his face in Maria's perky hair. He had to. If he didn't hide his own face someone might see the agony fighting its way to the surface.

Maria sighed shakily, then asked without breaking their embrace, "How have you been?"

Max took a deep breath, gathering himself again, then pulled away. Maria released him and looked him in the eye as he responded, "Okay... How are you doing?"

Maria sighed, "Barely doing... but I'm still alive." She tried to smile weakly, but neither really felt any humor in them.

Max grabbed her hand for support, then asked slowly, "Who else is here?"

Maria touched her forehead, as if it was a personal struggle to answer without breaking down, "Um... Alex is here... he brought me. He just went to park the car, he should be here..." Maria turned behind her to look for the afore mentioned person.

Max looked up too, and both looked just in time to see someone enter the far door.

Doctor Hunter turned to look to see who it was. He didn't recognize him either... none of these people were affiliated with the school.

The man was about Maria's age. He was very tall, probably six two. He was thin, almost wiry. He had almost black hair and strikingly contrasted blue eyes that were intent upon Max and Maria.

Donna ducked away, backing away along the wall and then just disappearing. The doctor didn't even notice her go. He only knew that when he looked to see her she was gone. Dean looked back at the unbelievable events unfolding before him.

The man reached the two standing in the hall. He gave Maria a sad, compassionate look, then he turned his eyes to Max, "Max." He greeted.

Max released Maria's hand to take Alex's offered hand as he returned the greeting, "Alex."

When their hands were clasped together, instead of shaking them up and down, they pulled the two men together. Hands still clasped in a shake, the two men hugged each other, each patting the other strongly on the back before stepping away and releasing their hands.

Alex looked again at Maria, placing a hand on her shoulder supportively, then he looked at Max, "It's real good to see you, Max."

"You too, Alex. How long's it been?"

Alex thought a moment, "Almost ten years."

Max suddenly seemed to notice that they were standing in the middle of the hallway, and he interjected, "Come on... let's go to my room."

The doctor cursed silently to himself as the two visitors followed Max as he headed toward his room. No more spying for today... oh well, he'd seen more today than he hoped to in a month. He turned back to his own room, throwing curious glances over his shoulder as he departed.



Max held his door open for Alex and Maria, following them in and closing the door after them.

They turned to look at him solemnly, then Maria sat down on one of the desks as she uttered, "So... um, when's the last time you talked to the others?"

Max sighed, stuffing his hands in the pockets. He thought a moment, then answered, "Well, um... I haven't heard from Michael in about a year."

Alex moved over next to Maria, "He's in the army, isn't he?"

Max nodded, "Yeah... last I heard a colonel. Looks like he found his niche." Max smiled weakly, then his face dropped as he answered, "Bad thing is he moves so much... I don't even know where he is anymore."

Maria frowned, "That's sad."

Max nodded, then shrugged, "His choice, though. I mean, he knows where I am... all he has to do is write."

Alex sat down on the desktop next to Maria, then asked almost casually, "What about Iz?"

Max sat down on his stool behind his desk, "Oh... Iz. She, um... she's on some mission of mercy in Albania."

Maria laughed softly, "I still can't believe that... Isabel Evans... queen of social status, a volunteer nurse for overseas relief programs."

Max nodded, "I know... unexpected, but she seems to like it. Lets her distance herself, you know?"

Both visitors nodded, then Max asked them, "So... how are you two doing?"

Maria played with a loose strand on her dress, "Oh... the fashion business isn't all that glamourous. The only interesting part is living in New York. It's as far as I could get from..."

Max nodded, no more needing to be said, then he turned to Alex, "How's the computer business, Whitman?"

Alex waved it off absently, "Oh... you know... computer program after computer program after computer program... I feel like I'm going to start thinking in binary code."

Max smiled, then sagged down in his seat, "Well... what are you doing here?"

Maria looked at Alex, then began, "This was my idea. I was sitting in my office on tenth street a few weeks ago... staring at my calender."

Max frowned, "Yeah... I was doing that yesterday... same time every year."

Maria nodded understandingly, "Yeah... I know. Anyway, I just had this feeling. I had to see you... all of you, but the only ones I had the phone numbers for were you and Alex. So..." she looked at Alex.

Alex picked up, "She called me, said she wanted to get together again. All of us. I told her I'd take time off and drive us up here... at least three of us are together."

Max suddenly felt an aching to see the gang again, too. It was the first time in years. Usually, he was content not to hear from any of them... it helped him ignore what had happened, but as soon as he'd seen Maria, he wanted to have them all together again. He wanted it now more than anything.

Max sat up and started to rummage through his open briefcase, "I have the patch number for the mercy mission... we can try to get hold of Isabel."

"What about Michael?" Maria asked hopefully.

Max sighed, "I... don't know how to get hold of him. I don't even know where he is."

Maria nodded sadly, "Well... four's better than nothing."

Max found his address book, then stopped. He thought a moment, then said, "We'll have to call from my place... this is a VERY long distance call. I'll go ask for some time off... today."

Alex and Maria smiled warmly... the same smile they used to give each other as kids. Max was frozen by it a moment, then he set his book down on the table and muttered, "You don't know how great it is to see you guys again."

Maria smiled again, then answered, "I think we do, Max... it's how glad we feel to see you again."

Max nodded, knowing they understood as much as they said they did, then asked to lighten the conversation, "So... either of you married, kids?"

Maria shook her head, "Nope, it's a bachelorette pad for me. Me and my cat."

Max nodded, "You seeing anyone?"

Maria shook her head, "No... I've had trouble letting people in after..."

Max nodded, holding up his hand to stop her, "I know what you mean... the school has a shrink following me."

"A what?" Alex asked in almost a laugh.

Max smiled forcedly, "Yeah... they think I have mental issues... emotional scars... all that."

Maria stared into the distance as she answered, "Don't we all."

Max turned away from Maria, looking at Alex, "What about you, Whitman? Is it a dog and a television for you?"

Alex ducked his head, "No... um... I'm married."

"Really?"

"Yeah... I met her in college... I was going out with her to... you know... forget everything..."

Max nodded, and Alex continued, "Well... I do like her a lot, and I know she loved me, so I married her."

Maria looked at him sorrowfully, "You don't really love her?"

Alex shook his head slowly, then answered, "I just didn't see why I should make her suffer too. I mean, I never expected to find anyone ever again... the only people aside from my parents that I ever loved were you guys."

Max and Maria gave each other knowing looks, "So, you know... if she could live with that, then I may as well try to give her what she wants."

"That's terrible," Maria commented.

Alex scowled a little, "How? I mean... I could never love anyone... not like I loved the gang... so why break her heart by turning her away? I give her whatever she wants... she seems happy. What's the worst that could happen? She leaves me? So what? She has an affair behind my back? So what? She takes half my money? So what?"

Max interrupted, "I know what you mean, Alex. You'd only be lying to her if you did tell her you loved her."

Alex nodded, then looked away. Max stood up absently, "So I guess that means no kids, either."

Alex cleared his throat, "Actually... I do have a son. Rodney."

Maria frowned at him, "And you don't love him?"

Alex sighed again, "I've tried... I can't. I'm too shut off. I wanted to love him... I couldn't. I couldn't love anything again... Like it was not my choice."

Max and Maria looked at each other again, then Max jumped in, "Well, enough of that... no more distraction talk. Let's head to the office and I'll tell them I need a few days off to..."

Max was interrupted when his door unexpectedly opened. All three turned to look at who it was.

Donna was coming in before classes, just like she always did. When she looked up and saw the two strangers there, she froze. She looked from them to Max, frozen in place. Max looked back at her, making no effort to comfort her or introduce her... they were not the kind of friends that that was called for. He wasn't close enough to Donna to make it proper.

Donna looked away, then spoke, "I'm sorry, Max... I didn't know... I'm going."

Donna left the room quickly.

Alex looked back at Max, "Who was that?"

Max shrugged it off, "Another teacher... Donna Peterson. We hang around together... but we're not friends."

Maria nodded, thinking it only a little strange, then she stood, "Well, let's get this done so we can call Isabel... I really want to talk to her."



Doctor Hunter sat behind his desk, gathering up his notes for that day. He hated the teaching part of this undercover mission, but it was the price he had to pay. He was just getting out some chalk for the board when his door opened, "Doctor Hunter?"

Dean turned to face the office worker. She continued, "Call for you in the office."



Dean picked up the phone in the office, utterly clueless as to who it might be. "Hello?"

"Doctor Hunter? This is Devin Framps again... I need to talk to you."

"Okay... what's this about?"

"Donna Peterson... her case has just taken a drastic turn... circumstances have changed."

"Okay... when do you want to meet?"

"Today... five o'clock, my office. See you then."

Dean didn't even get to say good-bye before Devin hung up. Dean put the phone back down, and was about to turn and walk out of the secretary's office when he heard a familiar voice in the front office say, "Can I talk to the principal?"

Hunter inched closer to the doorway to listen to Max Evans. The voice of the principal was soon heard coming into the office as he called to his secretary... "my calls to the first line until we get this phone line fixed."

"Sir?" Max caught the principal's attention.

"Mister Evans? Who are these people?"

"My friends." Max replied. Doctor Hunter suspected that the principal was as stunned as he was to hear Max Evans introduce anyone as his 'friend.' The principal was duly silent a moment, then asked, "What do you want?"

Max quickly stated in more of a comment than a question, "A few days off. Starting today."

The principal was quiet another moment, then answered, "Evans... you haven't taken a single vacation the seven years you've been here."

"So I figure I'm due one... I want to take one now."

Dean was surprised. For someone who avoided people, he was very good at being confrontational when he wanted to!

The principal slowly replied, "You're right, Evans... you've deserved it. Just let us know if there's anything we can do for you."

"Thanks... I'm going to leave now if that's all right."

The principal nodded, "Sure... I'll have the secretary set up a substitute for your class."



Doctor Hunter stood before the secretary's desk, looking down at her as she called over the intercom into Doctor Framps' office to tell him that Dean was there. He instantly heard the machine answer back in a deformed voice, "Send him in."

Dean turned without an indication from the woman and entered the office of Devin Framps.

The doctor turned when he heard the door open. Instantly, Dean was concerned. Devin looked uneasy... worried.

"Mister Framps... you wanted to talk?"

"Yes... um... sit down."

Dean sat down in the chair he had before... sitting nervously on the edge as he waited to hear the reason Devin wanted to talk to him.

The doctor, standing uneasily by his window, finally turned his attention back to his invited guest. He wrung his hands nervously, then began. "Donna Peterson was originally brought to me when she was seven years old. She'd been to two other psychologists before, but had only been there for one session before they gave up and passed her on to me. They thought I might have more luck. She was involved in a tragic incident as a young girl... it left her with severe attachment disorders and trust issues. Do you remember hearing about Ricky Gret?"

"Ricky Gret..." Dean mused to himself. The name did sound familiar, and in his mind he could picture the name written out, so he must have read it at one time or another as well. Suddenly, it dawned in him, "Yeah... I think I do. I remember him being in the news when I was only twelve years old. Wasn't he a serial killer in Massachusetts?"

Devin nodded, "That among other places," then stepped closer, "there was an incerpt of him in the Wisconsin University Psychology Department Special Report."

Hunter nodded, "I remember that... I saw a back issue of it once." Dean had to readjust his thinking to remember the real name of the school newsletter, since they'd always called it the Wup.

Devin nodded, "In 1993, Ricky Gret was holing up in Massachusetts after being on the APB boards all over Mississippi and Georgia. He was passing through a park when he saw a family of three picnicking at a rest stop along the highway. The family was on their way to Texas on vacation... they'd stopped for a bite to eat and to stretch their legs. Gret pulled a gun on them... just out of nowhere, pulled a gun and ordered them to head off into the woods with him. He had a shack back there... he put all three family members in the shack... didn't let them eat... drink... anything... he just wanted to watch them suffer. Eventually, the father started to get hostile... confrontational. Gret wasn't pleased... he shot the man in front of his wife and daughter. He didn't even remove the body... let it stay in there with his family forced to see it... The gunshot alerted police who were already in the woods with search dogs looking for the travelers... they were hot on Gret's trail. He got jumpy... nervous... he had a fit and shot the woman... would have shot the little girl too, but the police showed up. Gret wasn't going to go out without a fight... he grabbed the little girl... using her as a human shield. He put the gun to her head and screamed at the cops that he would shoot her... The police were in a stand-off with Gret for two hours before it became clear that Gret was crazy... that he wasn't going to listen. They slowly circled the man... each team had a police dog. When they gave him an ultimatum, he just... he just grinned at them and holstered his gun. The cops froze... everyone just watched. Gret pulled out a knife... brandishing it to the cops and waving it in front of the girl's face. The cops took the chance... they released the dogs. Gret panicked, and before the dogs got to him, he took his knife and... he fucking sliced the girl open in the stomach... just to spite them! He just wanted to hurt her before he was killed! The girl was knocked out of his grasp when the dogs hit him... the cops pulled her away and EMT's were all over her."

Dean thought about the scene described to him. He'd heard that Massachusetts was were the infamous Ricky Gret was finally caught, but he'd never heard the details... not anything like this. It was a lot to take in... the picture in his mind gruesomely vivid. He finally asked as confirmation, "That was where he was caught, right?"

Devin nodded, "There were seven attack dogs on him... he was torn to shreds by the dogs before the cops could pull them away. They thought he was dead at first... he was so ripped up. The little girl... she was conscious the whole time... she saw Gret get ripped to pieces... saw his mangled body. God... as if she hadn't seen enough with seeing her parents killed right in front of her."

Dean winced at the thought of a six year old girl having to see all that, and he shuddered, "What happened to the girl?"

Devin sat down in his chair sadly, "Well... after several unsuccessful therapy attempts and a lot of time in the shadows, she moved to Wisconsin and became a Geometry teacher."

Dean's eyes grew wide in stunned shock. He leaned forward, the air tense. Dean took a deep breath, then whispered, "That was... Donna?"

Devin nodded, "Donna Peterson was the last victim of the serial killer Ricky Gret... the only one who survived his mass slaughtering."

Dean shivered again... how awful that had to be... how horrifying. He took another deep breath, then asked, "What happened to Gret?"

Devin grew pale, "He was taken to the hospital... everyone still thought he was dead... expecting him to be a DOA. They were shocked to find out his heart was still beating. They patched him up... was in the ICU for a year before he recovered enough for trial. The damn thing is, there was a foul-up in the evidence collection of the other murders... he couldn't be charged or held accountable for the other nine murders he committed." Devin balled his hands into fists hostily, then continued, "He got a shorten fucking sentence for the murder of Christy and Martin Peterson... claim of insanity. He was sent to prison after the trial."

Dean nodded, then asked, "What else is there? You act like there's more."

Devin nodded, grinding his jaw and trying to suppress and shudder of his own, "He was paroled a month ago... down in Massachusetts. Last week, he didn't show up to his parole meeting. He hasn't been seen or heard from in five days."

Dean stared at him, stunned, then muttered under his breath, "It's a god damn crime he was let out at all!"

Devin nodded, "I know... but it gets worse."

"What?"

"Gret... he made a lot of friends in prison... was a charmer that weaseled his way into getting anything he wanted, especially from one of the life inmates who often had contact with a reporter from the local paper... exchanging information about certain inmates and getting news for his own internal prison newsletter. We talked to him... or at least the police did and called me. He said Gret had asked him on only one occasion to ask the reporter one question."

"What question?"

"The name of the family he was tried for... the little girl's name."

Dean stood, "He's after Donna?"

Devin sighed, then answered, "Gret was not one to leave things undone. We have to talk to Donna... convince her to leave... to hide."

Dean thought back to his contact with Donna... withdrawn, silent, elusive... Dean slumped back in the chair sadly, "That could be harder than it sounds."

Devin nodded, having had her as a patient himself for years, "I know, but we have to. Donna's life is in danger."



Max threw his briefcase down on the couch, forgetting about it completely as he shed his leather jacket. Maria watched him intently as she followed him into the apartment. It was the same jacket from high school... tattered and a little older looking, but from the back, he almost looked sixteen again, and Maria was more than willing to think of it like that.

Alex touched her shoulder, obviously seeing the same thing she did as he watched Max proceed them into the dark apartment. Max tossed his jacket on the coffee table, then reached over to turn on a light. The apartment was very clean... leave it to Max to be the exception to the rule. His bachelor pad was not a pig sty, it was almost immaculate. That was when Maria noticed it... what had seemed weird about the place when she walked in. It the same way her own apartment was weird. The walls were bare. No pictures of family, no paintings, nothing. It made the apartment look temporary... like Max was continually on the verge of packing up and moving. In fact, Maria mused as Max set his handful of mail he'd gathered at the lobby area on to his dinner table, she suspected he probably COULD be packed and ready to leave in a matter of hours.

Max turned back to them, studying them a moment, then he shook his head. "I still can't believe you guys are actually here."

Maria frowned slightly, "Should we not have come? Maybe we should have at least called first."

"No," Max interjected seriously, "you never have to. You are both welcome... anytime. I'm glad you're here."

Alex stepped forward, "We're glad to be here. So... are you going to call?"

Max looked down at his hand which held the card with the patch line number on it. He sighed heavily, then nodded. He started toward his phone, then paused and thought aloud, "I haven't called her in months... I mean... it's hard to talk, you know?"

Maria and Alex both nodded, then stepped forward to stand alongside Max as he reached his phone.

He went to pick it up, but instead decided to press the speaker button and dialed the number. Maria and Alex watched and waited silently. Alex looked down at Maria slowly, noting almost sympathetically that she looked pale.

The phone rang... then rang again. Max set the card down and leaned against the counter in front of the phone.

"Hello... international patch box 231... how can I help you?"

Max jumped in quickly, "Albania, please."

"One moment."

There was a silence, and then another voice... another stranger, came on, "Albania patch line, how can I help you?"

Max again was ready with the next piece of information, "Mercy Mission directory, please."

"One moment."

Alex looked up at Max, then whispered softly, "No wonder you never call her... it's a rat maze to get hold of her."

Max nodded, appreciating his customary attempt at light humor, although things weren't really funny these days.

The phone came alive with another strange voice, "Danielle Burma... can I help you?"

Max sighed, "Yeah... I want to talk to Isabel Evans."

"Just one moment..." then a silence on the other end. Maria crossed her arms against the chill of Max's apartment, then muttered, "I guess that answered the 'are you married' question."

Max nodded, "Yeah... Isabel never got married."

They were interrupted again by the phone's speaker again, but this time the voice was distortedly familiar, "Hello?"

"Iz?" Max asked gently, as if fearful she would hang up on him... but for no real reason.

The line was silent a moment, then she uttered softly, "Max?"

"Yeah... it's me, Iz. How are you?"

"I'm... uh... doing okay. How are you?"

"Uh... fine. It's good to hear your voice again, Izzy."

"Max... it... it's good to hear from you. Why did you call?"

"Iz, could you possibly arrange it somehow so that you could come here... for a while? A visit?"

Isabel was quiet, "Max... you know I'd love to see you again... but, uh..."

Max interrupted, "Iz... Maria and Alex are here with me."

Isabel was quiet a long time... and for a moment Max wondered if maybe she'd fainted on the other end. Maria could no longer stand quietly, waiting to hear Isabel's voice again, "Isabel?"

Isabel answered shakily, "Maria?"

"Yeah... It's me. It's... it's real good to talk to you again."

Isabel made a strange noise, probably holding back tears or a scream, and she answered in a strange voice, "God, Maria... it's been... it's been so long."

"I know, Iz... it has. I came down to Wisconsin with Alex... hoping the old gang could get together again... you know, just like old times?"

Isabel was breathing unsteadily on the other end, then she whispered in a breaking voice, "Alex is there too?"

Alex stepped closer to the phone, "Yeah, I'm here, Isabel."

"Oh god..." she muttered, and then there was a muffled sound... like crying. Max became concerned, "Iz? Are you okay?"

Isabel was definitely crying, "Yeah... I'm... no, I'm not okay. I can't believe I'm talking to all of you again... it's unbelievable..."

Max smiled gently, as if Isabel could have seen that calming expression, then asked gently, "Can you come, Iz?"

"Yes... I'm coming... I'll get there, I promise."

Maria smiled, truly relieved, then she mused, "If only we had Michael..."

"Michael?" Isabel asked curiously.

Max answered, "Yeah... he's the only one we can't reach... we don't know where he is."

Isabel was quiet a long time, then she uttered in barely a whisper, "I know where he is."

Everyone stared at each other in amazement, then Maria asked hopefully, "You do?"

Isabel replied, "Yeah... I've kept in touch with him... he called me just last Wednesday."

Max was shocked and a little hurt, "Really?"

"Yeah... I'll give you his number... he has to be there... we all have to be together again."

Maria nodded emphatically, "We're not whole without Michael... he has to come."

Isabel agreed, "I have to see him, too. I want to see all of you so much," she was clearly starting to cry again.

Max tried to console her, "We will... we'll be together, just give me the number and get over here... we're already going to be paying a fortune in phone bills as is."

Isabel laughed tensely, gave him the number, then hung up the phone before another minute could be charged to them.

Max pressed the button to turn off the phone, then looked down at the paper in his hands with Michael's number on it. He still could not believe it. Michael had kept in touch with Isabel but hadn't even bothered to write to tell Max what state he was in?

Maria saw it in his face, and tried to console him gently with, "I'm sure he had a reason... not to keep in touch with you... you know Michael."

Max frowned, "I thought I did."

Alex saw the tension in the air... the bordering on sad again, and interjected quickly, "You can figure that out later. Let's not call him right now... this has been a lot for all of us to handle... let's get something to eat... or maybe something to drink."

Max nodded, just realizing he was thirsty, and he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a cherry cola. Maria saw the can in his hand and froze, staring at it. She tried to recall how many times she had gotten him one of those when they were in the CrashDown cafe... hundreds of times. She couldn't believe he still drank them. She usually outgrew phases like that. Maybe he resisted outgrowing it... maybe it made him feel like he was holding on to a little bit of the past.

He interrupted her thought with, "Hope you guys don't mind Cherry Colas... that's all I have."

Alex smiled, stepping forward and taking the can from Max's hand, "Buddy, after being your friend, I think we were all bound to at least get USED to Cherry Cola."

Max smiled, then offered another one to Maria. She took it, the can feeling heavy in her hands.

Max withdrew his own, then reached into the door of the refrigerator and pulled out a half-empty bottle of Tobasco sauce.

Alex stepped away, covering the top of his can defensively, "But we didn't hang around you THAT much, Evans... you keep that junk away from my beverage."

Max smiled, then closed the door as he motioned toward the dinner table. Maria turned toward it, only then realizing that there were six chairs at the table... six?

Maria looked up at Alex, who just seemed to notice the oddness of having five extra chairs.

Max sat down, opening the can and then opening his bottle of Tobasco sauce.

Alex went to the table, sitting down next to Max and taking a sip of his coke. Maria slowly stepped closer, sitting on Max's other side and staring at her unopened coke.

Max started to shake Tobasco sauce into his cola, not paying attention to the gazes that were on him. He knew that they were thinking the same thing they had since high school... how can he like that? Max wanted to smile to himself, but he was too preoccupied with his thoughts. He stared at his own hands as they added the bitterly hot sauce to his drink... paying close attention to the way the reddish orange liquid slopped out into the dark hole in the top if the can... making and slop...slop... sound as it hit the cola and mingled with it... two opposites melting into one.



Dean looked around the dark room. Devin had led him to an abandoned room that had been turned into the storage room, of sorts. Devin was rummaging through a stack of tapes... it looked like an old video library whose organization method had been lost ages ago. Devin at pains, finally found the one he was looking for.

He turned to a blank television and VCR on a cart and moved toward it. He turned it on, then spoke to Dean over the static, "I want you to see this."

Dean moved closer, stepping over the junk and boxes of god knows what. Devin popped in the tape, found the remote, then pressed play.

Dean positioned himself closer just as the screen was filled with a picture.

It was an office, probably a shrink's office from the chair and couch setup. The camera was coming from an elevated angle that was looking down on the room... probably arranged in the top corner of the office to get maximum coverage of the room.

There was a little girl on the couch, no more than eight years old at the most. She was sitting in the very corner of the red couch, legs drawn up into her chest and playing with her hair, but her meticulous attention was on anything but the lock in her fingers.

She was staring at someone who was standing on the other side of the room. She was watching him with wild, distrustful eyes. The man was speaking, but his voice was low and muffled... it sounded like a hum on the tape. The man stepped one step closer.

The girl jerked back against the couch, trying to press further into it... farther away from the man approaching her.

The man stopped, and the girl looked over her shoulder at the door, obviously thinking about bolting.

The man moved closer, and the girl jumped and leapt quickly to the other end of the couch... moving nervously like a caged animal.

The man... who Dean now recognized as a younger Devin, stepped closer and spoke in his low, soothing voice.

The girl shrieked... screamed like someone had grabbed her, then jumped away from the couch and started to back into a corner of the office.

Devin spoke over the tape to Dean, "This was the first session after I got her."

"This is Donna?"

Devin nodded, and Dean was watching him until the tape let out another scream. As Dean turned to watch, Devin explained, "We had to sedate her... to get her out of the office."

The tape showed the procedure. Devin stepped closer, the little girl screaming and running into walls in her attempt to escape him. She looked like a trapped gazelle. She didn't even notice if she hurt herself.

Devin, on the tape, saw she was about to injure herself, and leapt forward... grabbing her around the waist.

The girl screamed... ripped the air with her wailing, and she was kicking and flailing her arms violently... desperate to escape.

New men entered from the door, and they instantly headed toward the two struggling together.

The girl in Devin's arms was having an absolute fit. She was wriggling, screaming, clawing, crying... everything. She was terrified. She was struggling against the doctor as if she was truly scared for her life. Dean could hear it in her voice... when she failed to free herself from the doctor's grasp, she began to cry... cry and tremble visibly... even on the tape.

The other men reached the girl, injected her, then the young Devin took her to the couch, put her down, then stepped back to wait until she was out before going up to touch her again.

Dean almost couldn't watch the girl during the following minute. She was truly like a frightened animal. She tried to stand, to escape the room with the men... but the drugs were starting to take effect and she staggered.

She stumbled, caught herself on the coffee table, then tried to stand again. She fell again, this time tumbling to the floor, but she did not give up. She moaned audibly, then began to crawl drunkenly... falling over and getting up shakily... She lost her balance again, the drugs taking effect, and she drug her way to the corner behind a bookcase before she succumbed to the effect of the tranquilizers.

The screen went black as Devin turned off the machine. Dean looked up at him as the doctor slowly began, "Weekly session with her, for four years, and I never progressed much further than that. That was only once I could even get her in the office. For years right after the... incident, no one could move her from her room in the orphanage. No one adopted her, she didn't talk, she ate little. I tried to go see her there, but she was... vacant. It was only when the state was about to lose custody of her... when she turned eighteen, that I got her in my office. Four years... nothing."

Dean sighed heavily... how could he not have seen it before? When he met all the teachers, he'd seen Max Evans as the problem, but Donna was in wretched shape... how could it have gone by him?

Dean froze at the thought. Maybe he wasn't wrong. He had thought Max Evans was questionable, and maybe he still was. If Donna's problem was so severe and he hadn't noticed it, how messed up was the Evans guy?



Donna walked down the hall, then stopped at Max's door. She peeked in, knowing what she would see but checking anyway. She saw the substitute sitting behind Max's desk, reading a book.

Donna sighed, then continued down the hall, but without any real place to go. She was lost... she didn't know what to do. Every day for seven years she had gone into Max's room during breaks and between classes... she'd kept expecting one day that he'd be sick or on vacation, but he was always there. She slowly let herself expect it. She didn't like to depend on anything to stay the same, but she'd started to trust Max to be there... letting her hang out with him, be in the same room with him without having to worry about him trying to say hello, without having to worry about him getting too close to her.

She was lost now... utterly lost. She wandered the halls, passing by students who tried to greet her but she ignored them. She wondered what Max was doing... why he was gone. She couldn't believe she was thinking this, but she actually wanted to TALK to him... and if he didn't answer, that would be okay. Getting to hear him answer... that rich voice that was surprisingly soothing (whereas most voices chilled her... sent a shudder down her spine) was only a bonus, but she didn't hold on to it... she didn't expect it. She glanced back before she turned the corner, letting her eyes wistfully fall on Max's door, unsettled by the idea that there was a stranger in there... touching Max's things, sitting in Max's stool, teaching Max's class... She frowned, then turned back to make another absent lap around the school building.



Max looked around the dark apartment, listening closely for sounds of his guests. He had a spare room, and that day... to get their minds off of everything, the three of them had gone out and bought a folding bed. Alex and Maria were in the spare room now, sharing the new item. It was almost two in the morning. Max looked around again, listening to hear if they were awake... if they'd heard him, but more than anything he watched for the nightshadows. It was hard to explain... only Isabel or Michael would have understood. Max and the other two... Czechs, could see much better in the dark than humans. There was something like a whole other world in the dark, and Max watched the guest room doorway intently for the nightshadow... one that might hint that Maria or Alex had stirred and were getting up. Nightshadows were just like dayshadows, but they were darker... a blackness that Max had never seen reproduced in the light. It was like the blackness of space itself... a dark pit you could almost imagine falling into... falling and never hitting bottom.

When he saw nothing and heard nothing, he picked up the phone and pulled from his pocket the paper. He looked at the number, memorized it instantly, then went to the kitchen table and sat in his usual chair.

He stared at the phone in the darkness for a moment. He thought about turning on the light, but he didn't want to take any chances that Alex or Maria wake up... besides... he could see the numbers just fine in the dark.

Slowly, he moved his fingers over the keypad, dialing the numbers that were in his head.

He brought the phone to his ear, listening to the ringing... holding his breath anxiously.

Someone answered. It was a man's voice... he sounded like he just woke up... and then he sounded pissed.

"Uuuhello? Whoever this is had better have a damn good reason for calling me at 0100."

Max froze... he couldn't speak for a moment, then a panic that the person at the other end might hang up spurred him to free his voice, "Hello?"

"Who the hell is this? What do you want?"

Max swallowed, then asked in a whisper so as not to stir his visitors, "I was looking for Michael Guerin."

"This is he."

Max held the phone silently a moment, then slowly asked, "Michael?"

"Yes! Who the fuck is this?"

Max was stunned a moment, the force and confidence behind Michael's tone so... uncharacteristic... at least with that much zeal.

Max cleared his throat, "This is, um... this is Max."

"Max who?" Michael didn't recognize him! Max could only sit there... he could not believe it... Michael didn't remember him! He remembered a time when they could feel when the other was ABOUT to call... they felt it and knew instantly who was on the other end... just from the 'hello.' How had things turned so bad? It seemed the biggest indication of how the group had fallen apart over the years. 'Max who.'

Max was shocked... hurt... saddened... he was about to apologize and lie that he had the wrong number when the man on the other end slowly said again, "Max?" His voice was different... now it was disbelief... afraid to believe what he himself had just uttered.

Max sighed heavily, then answered, "Yeah... Yeah, Michael, it's me."

"Max... I... I don't know what to say... how did you get my number?"

Max frowned, "I talk to you the first time in nearly a year and that's all you can say?"

"Maxamillion..." Max closed his eyes. It sounded so good to hear Michael call him that again. He hadn't heard it in almost six years, "I'm sorry... I just can't believe it's you... I didn't expect you to..."

"I got your number from Isabel."

"You called Iz?" Michael seemed anxious... worried.

Max frowned again, "Yeah... she's coming here."

Michael's end was back grounded by ruffled sounds, probably the covers as Michael sat up in bed and pushed aside the blanket, "Isabel's coming back to the states? What... I don't..."

"Michael, shut up a minute." Max waited for silence, then asked carefully, "Michael... the reason I called is... wait a minute... where are you?"

"What?"

"Well, I have your number, but I still have no idea where you are."

Michael's voice had the remnants of a personal laugh in it as he replied, "I'm home... I mean, I'm in New Mexico."

Max froze a moment, then swallowed, "You're... in Roswell?"

"Huh? No... no, not Roswell... well, not really... never mind, it's not important. Why did you call, buddy?"

Max bit his lip when they tried to form a smile at Michael calling him 'buddy' again. Max took a calming breath, then answered, "I want you to come here... to Wisconsin... come visit me."

There was a long silence, then Michael responded, "Uh... Max. Listen, um... I don't think..."

"Isabel's going to be here, and Alex and Maria are already at my place."

"What?!"

Max waited for a clarification, and Michael quickly asked for one of his own, "You mean... Alex, Maria, and you are all together? And Isabel's going to be there?"

Max nodded, then answered, "Yeah... the whole gang's getting back together. Michael, you have to come. We need you here."

"Max... what brought this on? Why do you want everyone together all of a sudden?"

Max got a little upset at the tone in Michael's voice, not mention this whole thing had him agitated... unnerved. "What? Why do I have to have a reason? You guys are my best friends and I need... I want to see you."

"Okay... chill out, I was just asking, Spaceboy."

Max took a breath, "Sorry, Michael... I didn't mean to go off."

Michael taunted back, "Gandhi feeling frustrated?"

Max smiled, nearly laughed, then fell silent when he remembered the rest of the conversation that had originally followed that one line.

Michael seemed to have noticed it too, and he spoke again in a much gentler voice, "Max... I don't know if this is a good idea... I mean..."

"Michael, please... please come. I want to see you, Isabel wants you to come... and Maria wants to see you pretty bad..."

"What about Alex?" Michael teased carefully. Max smiled, then answered, "Oh, yeah, him too, but he asked me not to mention it, he doesn't want you to know how much he wants to see you again... but, yeah, he's dying to see you... bouncing up and down... nearly wet his pants."

Michael laughed, then asked rhetorically, "Well, how can I say no to that?"

Max perked up, "So you'll come?"

"Yeah... I'll come, Max. I wouldn't miss it for the galaxy."

"Me neither... see you soon, Michael."

"Bye, Max."



Devin and Dean sat in the booth, looking out over the cheesy decorations on the bar walls. They had found the first place open this late and sat down to talk, but so far they had only stared at each other and avoided the issue.

Devin was the first to bring it back up, after glancing at his watch and seeing that it was incredibly late. "How are we going to approach this?"

Hunter looked at him, knowing they had to talk about it but not wanting to. He sighed, then said, "I don't know... I can't think of anything."

Devin folded his hands in thought as he mused aloud, "The problem is... well, one of many problems is that we can't get close to her. If we... if we tell her out right... she'll probably run. She doesn't trust us... she has no reason to. Besides, her opinion of me is... less than sterling. I don't suppose you got anywhere with her?"

Devin looked up at Dean, hopeful. Dean shook his head, "Nope... stonewall."

Dean leaned in closer, "Why is that a bad thing? I mean, if she runs when we tell her?"

Devin, having about fifteen more years experience, explained slowly, "Her running and us hiding her are very different. If she runs, we won't be there if she needs help. We won't be able to tell her when he's been caught again, either. She'd just be running the rest of her life... believing he's still out there and after her. We can't screw up her life anymore than it already is."

Dean nodded, then asked, "Where could we take her? Maybe we could trick her... say she won a free vacation somewhere or something."

Devin shook his head, "I don't think so... I've worked with her enough to know she wouldn't buy that. She's more suspicious than anyone I've ever seen... she trusts absolutely no one. I mean... I've seen her argue things that were accepted knowledge but she wouldn't accept it because she hadn't seen proof of it... I'd only told her about it."

Dean frowned harder, his face aging years as he sat in the dirty bar at three in the morning, brainstorming on how to help a total 'basket case.' Dean sat back, rubbing his face with his hands vigorously, then he leaned back into Devin with more energy, "Okay... answer me this. If this were anyone else but Donna... if this were a normal case, what would you do?"

Devin eyed him, not sure where he was headed with this, then shrugged and began, "Well, if it were anyone else... but someone still wary of strangers, since that's pretty common... I'd probably talk to one of her friends and convince them to get her to go into hiding... to cooperate."

Dean thought a moment, but his thoughts were interrupted by Devin stating almost absently, "That wouldn't work with her, though... Donna has always kept people away with a twenty foot pole."

Dean was nodding agreement, then a thought hit him. He froze, afraid the thought would flee him if he did not approach it carefully. Devin looked up, saw it, and asked curiously, "What?"

Dean looked intensely at Devin, hoping he could get the thought out before it flitted from his brain... the idea so unsupported and undeveloped it seemed fragile. He slowly said, "Actually... there is one person she seems to trust..."



Max sat on his couch, staring at the chair in front of him and across the coffee table. It was empty, but it wasn't as if he was really looking at it anyway... more like through it into space. He was still sitting there when Maria stumbled into the kitchen. She didn't notice him, since he was absolutely still. She went to kitchen table, plopped into a chair, then startled when she noticed him sitting there.

She jumped, "Max! God, I didn't see you there."

She stood again, smoothing down her Muppet Baby pajamas. Max smiled slightly at them... good old Maria... never once a dull moment.

Maria moved over to the seat Max had been staring at, sat in it, then asked as she pulled her bare feet off the cold wooden floor, "How long have you been up?"

Max looked down at the glass of Cherry Cola and Tobasco sauce in his hand, and he muttered the answer, "I didn't go to bed. I couldn't sleep."

"Max? Are you okay?"

Max nodded, "Yeah... just... thinking."

Maria frowned and got that 'spaced' look on her face as she sat there quietly... now pulled into the vacuum of 'thinking.'

Both were shaken from their thoughts when Alex's voice came from around the corner, "Anyone here?"

He rounded the corner and saw them sitting there. "Oh... it was so quiet I thought you two had gone somewhere."

Maria shook her head as Alex moved around the chair back and over to the couch. Max moved over and Alex sat on the other end of the couch silently, and then the three just sat there... still as death.

Maria broke the silence with, "Well, we should probably call Michael today..."

Max took a sip of his drink, then lowered it as he spoke gently, "I did last night."

Maria and Alex both looked at him, eyes wide with surprise. Alex finally asked "Well... is his highness going to grace us with his presence?"

Max smiled faintly, "He said he'd be here."

Maria sighed, "Thank god..."

Both men looked at her. She noticed their stares, and explained self-consciously, "I just... I wanted us to be together again... all of us, so much."

Alex got up, going to the chair and placing a hand on her shoulder, "We will be, Maria... we're going to be together again."

Maria touched his hand and looked up at him. Alex looked back at Max, "Hey. Evans... should we get dressed and go out for breakfast? I got this funny feeling anything you have around here would be what we humans call 'indigestible'?"

Max nodded, knowing that he was probably right, since he usually munched on a cup of chopped Snickers with Tobasco sauce covering them... and since all the cups were already mixed together, he doubted Maria and Alex would be feeling THAT adventurous.

Max put his glass down on the coffee table as said as he pushed off the couch, "Yeah... good call. I know a nice little caf... restaurant... I go there sometimes during lunch hour with Donna..."

Maria's brow furrowed a moment, "Donna... wasn't she the one who came into your room yesterday?"

Max nodded, looking down at her and then over at Alex casually. Alex put his hands in his pockets, trying to get that 'male teasing' in his voice, "Sooo... Max, who is this Donna?"

Max caught the tone... all too well. He froze, his heart stopped in his chest for an excruciating minute. He tore his eyes away from the floor to look at Alex... he couldn't speak... he could only stare at Alex, stunned at his tone.

Alex's face fell instantly, seeing the joke had NOT gone over well, and he ducked his head and averted his eyes as he muttered, "I'm... I'm sorry, Max... I didn't mean to..."

Max nodded faintly, then looked away, staring at his empty wall. Alex gathered a breath, then looked down at Maria. She was half scolding and half saddened.

Alex cleared his throat, "Max... I didn't mean that... I'm sorry. I just... I was just playing... I'm sorry."

Max nodded again, then finally looked at Alex again as he answered weakly, "Let's go... get breakfast."



Max sat at his usual table in the cafe, looking up and still pleasantly surprised to see Maria and Alex there with him... actually in his cafe and hanging out with him like they used to. Maria was sitting next to Alex, who were both on the other side of the table from Max. He looked down at his glass of orange juice. He didn't like the breakfast food much... not enough weird items available at that time of day to make the mixtures and combinations that made the food taste good to him. He'd poured a little honey in the orange juice, but only a little, because it occurred to him suddenly that the mixing foods was really more habitual than it was for taste... nothing really tasted as clear as it used to. Everything was kind of bland... in fact, he'd tried his hand at eating regular food before when in public, and it had not even caused him to flinch or grimace even once... it reminded him of what humans said happened to them when they got a cold. For some reason, they couldn't taste when they couldn't smell, and when they had a cold everything tasted like paper. That was kind of what it was like for Max... had been for nearly ten years. Max ran his fingers over his glass, thinking 'I've never been physically ill a day of my life but have had a mental cold for nearly a decade.'

Maria looked out the window, and sighed as she commented, "This is a real pretty area, Max. But... um... why Wisconsin?"

Max looked up slowly, seeing that both Maria and Alex were hoping to start another conversation, and contrary to his train of thought where most people were concerned, he sat up this time and thought, 'I'm game.'

Max pushed his glass aside, looked out the window himself, then thought, "I don't really know. I mean, it was almost as far from Roswell as I could get..."

Maria smiled, "I think all of us made that same effort... Isabel definitely won."

Alex laughed, "No kidding... she doesn't even stay in the United States!"

Max nodded, thinking and half-smiling at the teasing Isabel was getting, then continued, "I guess I just wanted a change of scenery. You know, after a while the desert can get dull... you start to wonder if colors other than red and brown exist or if they're just something made up in a fairy-tale."

Maria laughed slightly, obviously having thought the exact same thing, then she looked down at her hands vacantly as the conversation at the table dropped again.

They were sitting peacefully, silently, when the cafe door opened and someone came in. It would not have caught their attention more than any other guest to the sparsely populated cafe, but Max had a very different reaction.

Alex looked up and saw Max was watching something over Alex's shoulder intently... looking a little stiff and defensive.

Alex was about to turn around and see what he was looking at when a deep voice did it for him, "Evans! Lookie here."

The man was soon at the table. He was a medium height man with dark hair and beady little eyes. He was wearing a collared T shirt, and he immediately LOOKED like one of those guys. He was probably a coach... sports director at the school. He had that residual lean look that suggested he had been an athlete himself years ago, but the distinctive gut of the coach was ever present. The flab of having only done yelling from the sidelines for the better part of the last decade. Still... no amount of inactivity and blubber could cushion the jock mentality.

"Evans... I'm surprised to see you here."

Max just stared back up at the man... his face impassive and unreadable. The other man frowned, then shifted as he stated loudly, "With you never being sick, we kinda figured you were dying or something."

Max shrugged, then muttered, "Sorry to disappoint you, Brad."

Brad shrugged it off, "Ahh... don't worry about it. Where's your little girlfriend?"

Max shot him a look, one that even made the jock-macho man back off and return with a less confident voice, "You know... that Peterson woman?"

Max gritted his teeth, "She is NOT my girlfriend, BRAD... You damn well know that." Brad had to readjust a moment. This was a change from the normal Max Evans. Usually Max would sit through his prodding and teasing, saying not a word in retaliation. It had boosted the jock's confidence in his own pomposity, but now he was having to deal with the fact that Max was snapping back... Max Evans taking a stand for himself... what the hell had happened to him since yesterday?

Brad regathered quickly, then chuckled loathingly, "Oh yeah... I know, I know. People who are dating usually TALK... TOUCH... you know... all those things you don't do."

"You're sharp, Brad... nothing crawls past you," Max's tone was stinging... vile.

Brad frowned at his anger, then spoke again, "Yeah, well, I just mentioned it because the way Donna mopes around the school you'd think she MISSED you... how's that for crazy?"

Max frowned at Brad, then stated matter-of-factly, "Brad... Donna doesn't MISS people... That requires LIKING people."

Brad nodded, then tapped Max daringly on the shoulder, "That's why you don't miss anyone, ain't it, Max?"

Max was struck silent at the blow... dropping his eyes to the table and losing himself in his head... unable to pull away from it just then even if he wanted to. He felt as if an incision had been made in his heart, and with every torturous beat another ounce of blood would spill out of it... leaving his heart empty and aching.

Brad hadn't noticed, of course. His swollen athlete head was full of his own pictures of self-glory as he suddenly piped back in, "Well... I'll give Donna your regards."

"Don't," Max snapped back, "because I don't send them... .we're not friends, she's just an acquaintance. Just leave me alone with my fri..." Max trailed off as he glanced at Maria and Alex.

Brad caught the word he had tried not to say, and he looked in shock at Maria and Alex sitting at Max's table, "Max Evans? Did you just try to insinuate that you have FRIENDS?"

Alex gave the jock-leader a cold glare, then answered bitterly, "Yeah... that's right. Max is one of our best friends."

Brad made a mock impressed face, "Wow, Evans, 'best friends.' Man, when you decide to jump into something you sure do it to the extreme, don't you? And who might you two honored people be?"

Maria was first to spit almost venomously, "Maria DeLuca."

Brad's face twisted, "Damn... that sounds familiar. I think... yeah... Hey! Haven't I seen your name before in one of my wife's girly magazines?"

Maria shrugged, then added coyly, "Probably... I'm in a lot of them."

Brad shook his head, surprised he'd just met someone mentioned in a real magazine before, then looked at Alex, "And you?"

Alex crossed his arms, "Alex Whitman."

"No way! The computer guru? THE Whitman of Whitman Cooperative Technologies?"

Alex nodded, "One and the same."

Brad sighed deeply and theatrically, "Damn, Evans. You sure do peel your company from the upper crust."

Max bit back quickly, "Now you understand why I never wanted to be friends with any of you."

Brad stepped back as if physically hit in the face, then frowned, glowered, then shot over his shoulder as he left, "Do us a favor and don't be in a rush to get back to work... it's nice to only have one freak in the building for a change," then he was gone.

Alex waited until the guy was well out of sight before turning to Max and whispering, "Jock... am I right?"

Max nodded, smiling faintly, "Yeah... football coach."

Maria rolled her eyes, "Those dipshits are all the same."



Donna stared down at her tray in silence. She glanced up at the empty seat across from her... surprised and disheartened to find it still empty... Max Evans still not back. She never knew lunch could be so... long. She always thought of lunch as almost fleeting... her being able to look up and see Max across from her with that look on his face. That accepting look... that he didn't want anything from her and never would. Now, without that outlet for her senses, lunch was almost unbearably long. She was picking idly at her carrots when a tidbit of the other teachers' conversation drew her into it with rapt attention.

"...Max Evans this morning." Donna stopped picking at her carrots and put down her fork to listen (and try not to look like she was listening) to what the other teachers were saying about Max.

One of the science teachers made an interested humming sound, and asked, "Really? Where?"

The coach stuffed a spoonful of greasy cafeteria chicken into his mouth, swallowed half, then began to talk through the rest of the poultry in his mouth, "In that little cafe... where him and her go to eat sometimes."

Donna shifted silently. She really hated that... people referring to her as if she weren't even there or as if she were deaf when she was right beside them. Donna's gaze flitted unconsciously to the empty chair across from her again. The other teachers would talk about her and Max a lot, even right in front of them, but it never bothered her before. Not much, anyway. The other teachers, when she was motioned toward or mentioned, would not even look at her to acknowledge her... as if she were a different species. Except Max... even though he never had a friendly expression on his face (never a smile or kind twinkle in his eye), whenever he heard the others say her name, he'd at least look at her. It was fleeting, but it made Donna feel human. Now she felt alien.

She listened, tearing her eyes away from the vacant seat to stare at her grimy potatoes while the other teachers continued to talk about her as if she did not even exist.

The coach set down his fork, rather harshly. He was still put off by Evans's attitude that morning. "You guys are NOT going to believe what happened there."

"What?" Another one of the gossip queens asked suspensefully.

The coach leaned in closer, "He was there with some people... actually WITH them... eating at the same table with someone other than her," Brad thrust a finger in Donna's direction again without giving her a second's consideration.

"No way... was he being audited or something?" another voice pipped in curiously.

Brad shook his head, "I went up to him to... say hi, you know, make sure he wasn't sick since he's been gone. He actually got snide with me!"

"Right," one of the teachers beside Brad scoffed, "Max Evans... snide? I don't think so."

"I shit you not, Chris! He SNAPPED at me... insulted me and tried to order me to go away."

"You have GOT to be kidding..." another unfamiliar voice popped in. Donna was startled, as usual, by it a moment, then remembered the shrink who was with them. She threw a scolding but brief glance at Dean, then turned her eyes away quickly when she caught that the doctor was watching her, even though he'd added into the conversation with the other teachers.

Brad became insistent that the rest believe what actually happened, "I'm NOT kidding, you guys. Evans barked at me... in his own clammy way, and then told me to leave him alone with his friends!"

One of the women who was taking a drink of soda gargled and choked, nearly spit her drink out, then coughed as she managed to force out, "What? Evans... said... friends?"

Brad nodded, his own eyes showing his remaining bewilderment, "That was my reaction. Of course, you know that Max Evans guy... wouldn't say shit if he had mouthful, so he just got silent. So... I asked the two people with him. I asked them, 'so you're Max's friends'?"

"What did they say?"

Brad moved in even closer, to stress the magnitude of his next words, "The man with Evans said that they were Max's BEST friends."

"Get out!"

"I'm serious! I was just as shocked as you are... so I asked them who they were... cause, you know, you'd want to know what kind of people Max would be actual friends with."

"Yeah... and so what did they say?"

"Well, the woman... she introduced herself as...um... Maria DeNaca? Apparently she's a famous chick in those woman magazines."

The female teacher (cosmetology teacher) who had nearly choked on her drink was cleaning up her area around her tray with her napkin, but she froze when she heard Brad's next comment. She looked up, and asked in disbelief, "Maria DELUCA?"

Brad nodded, "Yeah, that was it... you know of her too?"

The woman snorted, "She's only one of THE hottest New York fashion designers in the country! This blouse I'm wearing is a DeLucaLooks product... you mean THE Maria DeLuca is here? And she's Max Evans's best friend?!"

Brad nodded, "Apparently so... amazing, isn't it?"

Everyone nodded, then Brad dropped the bomb, "And that's not the half of it."

"Excuse me?" Cosmo woman asked.

Brad pushed his tray forward so he could prop his elbows on the table as he continued, "Well... I was surprised enough that Max was friends with a famous woman... I mean, that's a 'wow' in itself. Then I asked the man who he was. You won't believe this... he was THE Alex Whitman."

The computer teacher, sitting at the end of the table, jerked and knocked his carton of milk onto the floor. The gurgling puddle of white liquid grew steadily unnoticed, the teacher not even realizing he'd hit the carton in the first place. He looked over at Brad, eyes glazed in bewilderment, "You're serious?"

Brad nodded, looking around at the stunned faces all around him. Everyone knew Whitman Cooperative Technologies... half of their school mainframe system integrated Whitman Coop products.

The computer teacher fidgeted, not sure how to curb his nervous amazement, "God... who would have ever thought Max would have friends like that? I mean... Evans was... and IS such a... nobody. Who would've thought..."

Donna drew the attention of every soul at the table when she stood abruptly and forcefully. She pushed her chair back quickly, nearly knocking it over but instead only sliding it noisily along the tile floor.

Everyone stared at her... more than anything stunned by her expression. Her face as always so passive... pale. Her eyes now... her face was pinched... almost as if she were feeling hostile. Her color was slightly more flushed than she normally was... and they were captivated by the rarity of these discrepancies. Donna's eyes, blazing, looked at each teacher in a belittling glare, then she let her eyes settle on the computer teacher at the end of the table. To the further shock of the teachers, Donna spoke... harshly. "I'm not surprised that Max has the prestigious friends that he does... Not that any of you could ever understand that... Max is so far above any of you that you don't see just how beneath him you all are."

Without another word, and without any effort to pick up her tray, she turned and stormed out of the cafeteria. Stormed... that was the only word for it, and the teachers were further stunned... Donna Peterson actually 'storming' anywhere!

The others turned back to each other to reassure themselves that they'd survived the scathing insults, but one person did not look away from Donna. Dean watched her as she stormed out, watching her and thinking carefully. Maybe there WAS a chance to help her... just maybe it would work.



Max picked up the book on his coffee table, passed it from hand to hand a moment, then set it back down and walked into the kitchen only to wander around the dinner table in a circle.

Alex and Maria exchanged glances, both were outwardly amused but secretly a little concerned. What was wrong with Max?

Alex finally stood from sitting on the couch where he'd been sipping the Cherry Cola Max had given him when they got back from the cafe for breakfast. Alex set the can down on the coffee table, then looked up at Max, "Max?" he asked almost tentatively.

Max looked up at the two, a little startled... actually kind of forgetting they were in the same room with him. Both Alex and Maria looked a little worried. He was uneasy trying to think of why. Alex glanced at Maria, then asked, "Are you okay? You're kind of... antsy."

Max, realizing what was bothering his friends, smiled (or rather his faint smirk) in relief, then explained, "Oh yeah, I'm fine... I'm just not use to having nothing to do... I usually keep busy, so I..."

Maria finished, "Don't know what to do with yourself?"

Max nodded. Maria, turned in the recliner whose back was to Max so that her legs hung over the arm of the chair, commented, "I know what you mean... I've been driving myself crazy just sitting here."

Alex looked down at her playfully, "You don't LOOK nuts... no more than usual, anyway."

Maria made a face, then said, "You don't know how many outfit designs I've made up in my head in the last hour... I may not have to think up ANY next year."

Alex shook his head, then said, "Yeah... um, well... I think I'm going to have to strangle one of you two." He grinned at their faces, and he added, "Just to have something to do."

Max and Maria exchanged looks of amusement, their eyes sparking in a pre-smile that never occurred, then Max said, "Okay... it's obvious we're all bored to tears... let's think of something to do."



Devin eagerly answered the phone when it rang, the shrill tone barely starting its first call before Framps had the phone in his hand. "Yes?"

"Devin?"

Devin nodded, "Dean... yes... so?"

Dean sighed on the other end, "Well, I don't really know where to find him. I went to his apartment, but he wasn't there."

"Dean, we need him. We can't get Donna to come with us if he doesn't..."

"I know... I know... I'm keeping an eye out for him. I'll call you the moment I know anything."

Devin dropped the phone back into the receiver, then fidgeted nervously... waiting... thinking... and waiting...



Donna stood in the bathroom. It was empty... everyone was heading home since school was over. Donna would be too, but for a while she wanted to be alone. Usually, she'd hang out in Max's room after classes before she went home, but now with Max gone... She'd turned to the bathroom as a last resort refuge. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror, and the sight sickened her. She turned away, going to open the door and head home.

She pulled open the door, then walked briskly through the hall, bee lining for her car in the parking lot, refusing to look up or make eye contact with anyone.



Dean threw glances over his shoulder, looking to see if anyone was watching. The halls of the school were deserted, even the janitors were gone. Dean had taken his car back to his nearby motel during lunch and walked back... no one noticed the difference. Now he was alone in the school, hours after the classes had ended, and the parking lot empty... creating the illusion that the school was completely deserted.

Dean reached forward for the door handle, glancing around again. Though it had initially seemed a setback when Max Evans had taken days off, it had left open to Dean an incredible opportunity. Since it was a sub in the room, the room was not locked since the substitute wouldn't have a key to open it.

Dean grasped the handle, trying hard to shrug off the guilt that was nagging him. This was wrong... an invasion of privacy, and (if you looked at it right) illegal. Dean was close to pulling away and forgetting the whole thing, but then he thought about Donna. He had to help her... she needed it so desperately. And the only way to help her was to find Max... no matter what the means.

Dean pulled open the door, snaking his hand in first to search the wall for a light switch. He found it, then flooded the empty room with light. Dean stepped inside quickly, closing the door behind him. He felt so... criminal, even dirty.

Dean shook it off, then snuck around to the desk. He stepped behind Max's desk, eyes scanning the top of the table for anything... anything at all. Nothing... just school papers.

Dean frowned, then pulled open the top drawer and rummaged through the papers. Nothing... second drawer... more papers... nothing personal about Max.

Dean, feeling disheartened, moved on to the third drawer. Dean felt around, almost half -heartedly. Max didn't seem to keep personal things around... just papers... papers...

Dean froze... wait... that wasn't a paper... what was it? Dean could feel something smooth... not grainy like paper was.

He grasped the thin piece of material and withdrew it from the bottom of the drawer where it had been stashed under a stack of papers.

It was a photograph. Dean sat back and studied it.

The picture was not big... the size of a standard picture. Dean stared in almost disbelief at the image the photograph sported.

It was a picture of Max Evans... younger, but Max Evans. He was sitting on a grassy hill, looking up at the camera. He was wearing blue jeans, black and white shoes, and a dark green T shirt. Max was... Dean could not tear his eyes from the scene for a moment... Max was looking up at the camera... smiling. It was true... Max Evans, young, alive... and smiling!

That was not the part that had shocked Dean to absolute motionlessness. Sitting on the grassy knoll directly in front of Max, leaning back into his chest, was a girl! She looked about Max's age (in the photo), maybe even his exact age. She was sitting very close to Max, leaning back into his chest. She was wearing jeans, brown almost lumberjack looking shoes, and a red baby T shirt. Dean studied her almost more closely than he had ever even himself. She was kind of Hispanic looking... dark eyes like a doe's, and dark brown, flowing hair. Her straight and shining hair was parted slightly to the right and fell in front of her shoulders. Her soft eyes, permanently watching the camera and now the holder of the picture, pulled the eyes to her face. Her mouth was upturned in a smile... one of absolute bliss and ecstasy at being alive. Dean could almost see her leaning even more heavily into Max's larger body.

Max's arms were brought up, wrapping around her shoulders and chest, pulling her into him just as welcomingly. The visibly soft ends of the girl's hair tendriled around Max's arms... sometimes tickling his skin and sometimes nestling between the boy's arms and the girl's body to huddle in the warmth between body heats. The young woman had her own hands up near her chest, resting her hands on Max's arms as he embraced her, as if she needed to touch him with as many body parts as possible... not just her back and legs, but hands too.

Dean blinked... who was she? Max Evans and a girl?

Dean pulled out his wallet and quickly stuffed the photo into his bill fold. He put the wallet back in his pocket, then left the room... turning off the light as he left.



Max took a deep breath... he hadn't really enjoyed the outdoors in years, but today the weather was perfect, the air was fragrant with the smells of spring, and he was reunited with people he loved. Maybe only that made the day gorgeous... for the first time in he couldn't remember how long he was with people he actually loved.

He looked down at his friends. They'd all left his apartment nearly four hours ago. He'd taken them around town, showing them the town... the theaters, restaurants... anything of even the mildest interest. Now they were at the park. Everyone instantly decided the park was their favorite, and the rest of the intended tour just dropped off their agendas. Not that Max cared... he always liked the park anyway, and spending the rest of the day there with Alex and Maria sounded great to him.

Maria was sitting in one of the swings (kind of an old, decrepit swing set that children rarely visited, not with the new equipment about twenty feet away). She was rocking idly back and forth, head resting on her left hand as it grasped the chain of the swing. Alex was about ten feet away, sitting on the ground with his back to a large oak tree whose greening and budding leaves offered additional shade. Max smiled faintly... it still felt so strange to smile... after all these years, but he couldn't stop it... not when he kept realizing that Maria and Alex were actually there... actually with him. It felt almost like old times.



Jenny Westers, junior level chemistry teacher at the same school Max taught at, was on the other side of the park. She sat near the large sand box where her four year old son and his friend were digging and making sand castles (or rather, sand lumps).

Sitting beside her was her son's friend's mother, another teacher from school, Karen Brown. They were relaxing, sitting idly, when Jenny let her idle eyes scan slowly over the view of the park.

She froze a moment, uncertain of what she was seeing, then she leaned slightly forward and squinted to try to better see in the distance.

"Karen," Jenny poked her friend beside her. Karen jerked to attention at the sharp poke, then asked, "What?"

Jenny pointed in the distance, "Isn't that... isn't that Max Evans?"

Karen peered into the distance, then sat back a little stunned, "It sure is... those two must be the 'friends' Brad was telling us about. I guess it's true... hmmm."

Jenny shook her head, "That's just too weird... seeing Max hanging around other people, of his own free will. Do you think they're actually friends? I mean, do you think Max even knows what a real friend is?"

Karen shrugged, threw a glance at their kids just to check on them, then mused, "I don't know. Maybe... but it doesn't seem right. If they are his friends, where and HOW do you think he could have met them? I mean, it's not as if he started up idle chit-chat with them at some party somewhere."

Jenny chuckled, "We can probably rule that out with certainty... I don't know. Do you ever wonder about that guy?"

"Of course... who doesn't? He's a total weirdo."

"Karen... that's not very nice... and that's not how I meant. I mean... he seems basically like a nice guy... and um... he's... he's pretty handsome..." Jenny's voice trailed off and she turned her head away from Karen.

Karen popped up, "What! Wait... did you just say you think Max Evans is attractive?"

Jenny scowled at Karen, "Oh, come on, Karen. Have you ever actually looked at him? I mean, without getting hung up on how freaky you think he is? He is... good looking. I just wonder why he hates people. And then, he doesn't even hate people, just us... everyone but those two. Why?"

Karen sat back, "I don't know, Jenny, but I CAN tell you this. It would be a waste of your time to try to befriend him... something's wrong with him... nice or not and cute or not... something's not right with him."

Jenny didn't feel like more arguing, she remained silent, watching Max in the distance and thinking... wondering.



Max, who had been idly walking a slow circle around the old swing set, stopped silently behind Maria as she watched her feet toe the dirt below the swing. She did not take notice of him... she seemed lost in the world in her head. She was rocking back and forth slightly, propelled only by the momentum that one idle foot could produce. Max smirked softly and a little mischievously, then stalked forward. Maria didn't hear his advance, she sat as mindlessly as she had before. Max reached Maria and unexpectedly put his hands on her back, giving her a shove.

Maria shrieked in surprise, gripping the chains of the swing, then pivoting her head quickly to look behind her. The swing began a swaying path upward into the air, the hands left her back, and she hoovered in air before quickly falling backward. Maria looked further to see who it was.

Just as Max touched Maria's back again to give another push, Maria saw him and didn't know how to react for a moment. She knew what it was... an attempt to play, but it felt so unfamiliar Maria didn't know how to deal with it at first. She studied Max's face as he pushed her again. His eyes were smiling, even though his face was not very expressive. Maria knew his eyes too well, though. She saw the spirit behind him, remembered that this was Max... someone she loved, and then she relented and decided to take part in the tentative attempt at FUN. She giggled (softly and awkwardly at first, then more as the strange sensation of laughing became reacquainted with her throat), then turned back to face the front, pumping her legs to aid in the effort to get her really swinging high and fast.

Max laughed... oddly and unfamiliarly, but laughed. Maria was just like a little kid sometimes... just like he remembered her. Little scatter-brained, neurotic Maria.



Jenny's eyes grew wide... was she seeing what she THOUGHT she was seeing? Max was playing around... pushing the woman in the swing?!

Jenny squeaked out weakly, "Karen."

Karen looked up at Jenny, saw her expression, followed her gaze, then became stunned herself. She sat forward, as if to see better, and she muttered under her breath, "Well I'll be god damned."



Max laughed a little louder, slowly getting readjusted to the feeling of laughter coming from his own throat. He pushed Maria again, then stepped back to let her sway in the air. She had some good momentum already going, and if Max stood behind to push her anymore, he'd probably get knocked down.

Alex stood, smiling at the sight of Maria giggling and swinging in the air, and just basking in their all being together. It was so great to see Max and Maria laughing... it seemed like it had been a lifetime since either of them had really laughed... not to mention how long it had been for himself. He'd not realized how much he'd really missed them... it was great to be with them both again. It gave him a sense of purpose... as if he only now understood why he'd been made to suffer through life all those years... this moment made the torture of living worth it.

Alex came up around the back of the swing set, soon standing next to Max. Max glanced at him, then looked back at Maria. Alex smiled to himself... he saw the playful glint in Max's eye, too, and it warmed him heart and soul. He'd never thought he would have missed Max Evans so much, but now he felt as if he'd been reunited with family after years of time of apart.

Alex grinned, a thought quickly attacking his brain, then leaned closer to Max and whispered, "E.T." His tone... it was almost derogatory... as if he was out to insult Max... hurt his feelings.

Max looked quickly at Alex, seeing the teasing in his face. Max could also see in his face... Alex wanted in on the fun... he wanted to play. Max smirked wickedly, then responded in a cautionary tone, "Oh no... you're not getting away with that."

Alex smiled, seeing his request for an invitation to take part in the games was accepted, then took off laughing awkwardly. Max gave chase, toying with Alex. Max was probably twice as fast as Alex, but he taunted him... sometimes getting only a foot behind him, then dropping back to three or four feet. Max surprised himsel