The Wild One

the search request again. He couldn't stop himself from giving a little groan when he realized he'd put two d's in and.

'Are you okay?' Ray asked. 'You didn't have to come back if something's wrong at home.'

Max sighed. 'I wanted to come back. There's nothing I can do there, anyway.'

Ray nodded. He didn't ask any questions, but he didn't walk away, either. It was clear that if Max wanted to talk, Ray wanted to listen. But if Max didn't, that was okay, too.

'It's just that my sister is getting involved with this guy…' Max hesitated. It's not like he could tell Ray what was really going on.

'A guy that you don't approve of, obviously,' Ray said.

'He's encouraging her to do stuff, stuff that she wouldn't do on her own,' Max answered.

'Do you think she's in danger?' Ray asked, his gaze intent on Max.

'Yeah. Yeah, I do,' Max answered.

Ray pulled a chair up next to Max and sat down. 'You may not like this suggestion, but have you considered talking to your parents?' he asked.

Max wished he could talk to his parents about this. They were great in a crisis. They didn't get all into blame or anything. They were really practical. They figured out what needed to be done and did it. Of course later they might do some yelling. But first they fixed things.

But Max couldn't ask for his parents' help with the Isabel situation. His parents didn't know that he and Isabel were aliens. Sure, they knew there was something strange about the two little kids they'd found wandering naked alongside the highway. And after they adopted Max and Isabel, they tried to find out their history. But they'd never come up with any answers.

Back then it would have been impossible for Max to tell his new parents the truth about himself and Isabel. He didn't know he was an alien-not until years later when he saw pictures of the debris from the Roswell crash and recognized some of the symbols from his incubation pod. He saw pictures of the alien autopsies, too. And read the stories about the government threatening witnesses to the crash. That's when he realized being aliens put him and Isabel-and anyone around them-in danger. They made a pact never to tell anyone.

Max wasn't going to break that pact now. If his parents knew the truth, they would be in danger from Valenti. Max couldn't let that happen. It was horrible enough that he had brought Liz into a life-threatening situation. He wasn't going to risk his parents' lives, too.

'I take it from your silence that involving your parents isn't an option,' Ray said.

'Not really,' Max answered. 'I guess I'll just have to deal with it myself.'

Ray stood up. 'If you ever want to tell me more about what's going on, you know where to find me.' He wandered over to the rack of pamphlets near the entrance.

I'm just going to have to keep a close watch on Isabel, Max thought. I don't care how much she hates it. I'm going to know about every move she makes. I'll get the others to help me.

But first he had to find her. Where did she go when she ran out of the house? Max hoped she went to Michael's. Or to their cave.

But he had a feeling she went straight to Nikolas.

***

Isabel burst into Michael's room. 'You have to get Max off my case,' she cried. Then she registered the fact that Maria was in the room. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that Michael might not be alone. Michael was always alone-unless he was hanging out with her or Max.

Or at least that's how it used to be. Isabel couldn't remember Michael ever even hanging out with any girl other than her. It felt a little strange to see Maria here, looking so comfortable in Michael's room.

Isabel shook the feeling away. It wasn't like Maria was going to take her place in Michael's life or anything. And Maria was one of her best friends now. All the humans-Alex and Liz and Maria-had become part of Isabel's 'family' the moment Max formed the connection between them.

Isabel had tried to explain that to Nikolas, but he didn't want to hear it. He didn't want her to even mention the humans to him. It wasn't like he hated them, exactly. He just didn't want to waste his time talking about them.

'So what has Max done now?' Michael asked. 'Did he actually want you to take your turn washing the dishes or something?'

Isabel knew Michael didn't honestly believe it was something that minor. She wanted to pour out everything to him, but not in front of Maria. For the first time since the connection she had something that she only wanted to share with her own kind. She wished Maria would take a hint and go, but she seemed totally oblivious. And Isabel was too furious to wait.

'He ordered me to stay away from Nikolas,' she burst out. 'He's always telling me what to do. Don't use your power. Be careful. Go there. Do that. Blah, blah, blah. He makes me sick. Why does he think he gets to be in charge of all of us? You're the same age as him, Michael. If someone has to be in charge, why can't it be you? Why should he automatically get to control everything?'

Michael stood up, took Isabel by the shoulders, and sat her down on the bed next to Maria. He leaned against the dresser with his arms crossed-his don't-jerk-me-around stance. 'From the beginning,' he instructed. 'And don't leave anything out.'

'Last night Nikolas and I hung out at the bowling alley,' Isabel said. 'But it was sort of after closing time.'

'Translation-you broke in,' Michael said. 'And?'

'And we fooled around. We had some food. We bowled with pool balls,' Isabel answered. She knew she had to get to the part about the security guard, but it was hard.

'And?' Michael repeated.

'And then this security guard almost caught us, so Nikolas used his powers to knock him out,' Isabel blurted. 'But he's fine. Nikolas didn't really hurt him. Liz said Sheriff Valenti said-'

'Wait. Back up. How did Valenti get into this story?' Michael demanded.

'Valenti asked Liz some questions about what happened. He thinks…' Isabel found she couldn't look at Michael or Maria.

'He thinks that an alien took out the guard,' Michael finished for her.

'Right,' Isabel admitted. She glanced over at Maria. What was she thinking? She hadn't said one word since Isabel came in.

'I guess we need to have a meeting,' Maria said slowly. 'I guess we need to come up with another plan to deal with Valenti.'

Thank you, Maria, Isabel thought. At least there was one person who wasn't going to yell at her. Maria reminded Isabel a little of Tish. They both always wanted to believe the best of people.

'Before we start working on a plan, I think Isabel has something else to tell us. Right, Iz?' Michael asked.

Damn, she thought. Michael could always do that. He not only knew when Isabel was lying, he knew when she was bending the truth or choosing not to tell everything. Michael knew her better than anyone else in the world. It's like he could see right into her soul with those sharp gray eyes of his.

'Max and Liz came home a little while ago. Nikolas was there with me. Max got all righteous, the way he always does. He started telling Nikolas what to do. And Nikolas was, like, why should he listen to Max? Which is true.'

Isabel took a deep breath. Her chest felt tight. 'So then Nikolas tried to show Max, even though he didn't have to, that he really didn't hurt the guard. He… he touched Liz and knocked her out. I think he accidentally did it a little harder than he meant to. He was angry. He just wanted to prove-'

'What?' Michael exploded.

'He knocked out Liz?' Maria cried. 'Is she all right?'

'Liz is fine. Max healed her,' Isabel explained. 'It was stupid of Nikolas. Really stupid. I'm going to talk to him about it.'

And she would, too. If she could make Nikolas understand how it felt to see Liz lying there on the floor, with those little drops of blood on her face… He would never do anything like that again. She was sure he wouldn't.