Did she drink the water?" Mails Wheeler demanded.

Dr. Alan Sosa was rocking back and forth in his chair, sweating and moaning every so often. Maris found him disgusting. What kind of man could be so spineless, so frightened? She was certainly paying him well enough… he had nothing to complain about. "Alan!" she barked. "Focus. Did she drink the water?"

"Y-yes," he stammered. "At least a sip or two."

"Is that enough to get the serum into her system?" Maris asked.

"I think so," Dr. Sosa replied. "I don't know. It's not like any medicine I've ever worked with. I have no idea how much it takes to affect a human."

Maris rolled her eyes. "Well, that's why we're testing it."

"I have nothing against testing on animals," Dr. Sosa burst out. "But this is wrong. This is using an innocent girl as a lab rat."

"She's not so innocent," Maris said calmly. "This serum

came from inhuman DNA found on her clothes. Don't forget that."

"So what?" he cried. "She got shot, somebody healed her. She probably thought it was a miracle! And now we're filling her body with DNA that no one has even been able to identify in two years of testing?"

"Oh, please, Alan," Maris said. "Do you think Liz Parker handed over her bloody waitress uniform of her own free will? It was taken from her. She was trying to hide it, to protect the person who healed her."

"I don't care," he said. "We have no right to use her as a guinea pig."

"You're wrong," Maris told him. "Liz Parker knows the Healer. She'll be able to withstand the serum. You'll see."

"What do you want for dinner?" Michael asked as Maria parked in front of his place. "Chinese, pizza, or cereal from the box?" He opened the passenger door of the Jetta and unfolded his long legs from the tiny car.

"How about a salad?" Maria replied, getting out of the driver's seat.

"What's that?" Michael joked.

"Michael, seriously. I don't care what we eat. But I want to talk about that kid."

"What kid?"

"Sadie." As if he didn't know whom she meant. She'd been complaining about that girl for two days now. The kid was following them, it was so obvious. And that was weird. And whenever anything was weird, Maria assumed it was some sort of threat to her boyfriend and his posse of aliens. "Why aren't you taking this seriously?"

Michael fumbled in his pocket for his keys. "Because, Maria, she's a little girl."

"Don't you remember Nicholas?" Maria demanded. The leader of the Skins had been a young boy, not much older than Sadie. Well, he'd been an evil alien in the body of a young boy. But same difference, as far as Maria was concerned.

"I just… I like her," Michael admitted. He busied himself with unlocking the door.

"What?" Maria cried.

"I think she's cute," he said, still avoiding looking at Maria. "She cracks me up. She sort of reminds me of you, in fact."

"What?" Maria cried again. Had he lost his mind?

Michael pushed open his front door and stepped aside to let Maria in. "Look, Maria, she hasn't even done anything threatening," he said.

Maria didn't answer. She was too busy staring at Sadie, who was asleep on Michael's couch. Michael stepped up beside her. "I think this is threatening," Maria said. "What is she doing in your apartment?"

"What the… " The sound of his voice woke Sadie. She immediately bolted up off the couch and stood staring at them, breathing hard. She looks like a terrified little animal, Maria thought, suddenly feeling sorry for the girl. But Michael seemed to have the opposite reaction.

He strode forward and grabbed Sadie by the arm, dragging her toward the door. "How the hell did you get in here?" he bellowed. "What do you want? Who sent you?"

"Nobody," Sadie cried. "I just tried the door to the patio and it was unlocked… "

"Why are you following me?" Michael sounded furious. Obviously he'd come around to Maria's way of thinking on Sadie.

"I'm… I'm not," Sadie said. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"Michael…" Maria took a step forward. She didn't want him to hurt the kid.

"Why were you searching my place?" Michael demanded.

"I wasn't!" Sadie cried. "I just needed a place to sleep! I haven't slept in a long time." And she began to cry.

"Michael, let go of her," Maria said.

Michael dropped Sadie's arm, but kept glaring at her. "You're the one who thinks she's a threat," he said. "Looks like you were right… she's been following me."

"I have not." Sadie sniffled. "I was following Maria."

What? Maria stared at her, stunned.

"What?" Michael said out loud. "Why would anyone want to follow Maria?"

"Shut up," Maria snapped. She pushed past him and stood in front of Sadie. "Why are you following me?" she asked.

Sadie just shook her head and kept crying.

"Sadie. Look at me." The girl raised her teary eyes to Maria. "Who are you?" Maria asked.

"I'm your sister," Sadie said.

"Hey, Liz. Your turn."

Liz gazed down at the polished wood floor of the lane. Her eyes looked glassy. This is worse than I thought, Max realized. Maybe I shouldn't have pressured her into coming out tonight. He'd talked Liz into going bowling as a way to blow off steam. It had taken about twenty minutes to convince

her, and even then she'd seemed reluctant. Max was sure it was because Liz thought this was a date. He didn't want to pressure her, so he was determined to do his best to act un-datelike. But Liz had barely even looked at him since they'd gotten here.

Maybe she's trying to think of a way to tell me that she doesn't want us to be together, Max thought. Maybe she just can't handle the fact that 1 have a son. "Um, Liz?" he said again.

Slowly she raised her big brown eyes to his. "Yeah?" she asked.

"It's your turn."

"Oh." Liz climbed to her feet and shuffled over to the ball return. "It's really loud in here," she commented. "Don't you think?"

Max listened. All he heard were the usual sounds of a bowling alley… balls hitting the wood, pins falling, people talking and laughing. "Not really," he said. "Actually I think it's kind of quiet. Must be because it's a weeknight."

Liz frowned. "Everything seems loud to me," she murmured. She picked up her ball and walked slowly to the lane. "And way too bright."

Max didn't know what to say. As far as he could tell, the bowling alley was the same as ever. "Maybe you're getting sick," he suggested. "Do you have a fever?"

"I don't think so," Liz said. "I did feel a little weird earlier today, but I thought it had passed. Otherwise I wouldn't have come out." She halfheartedly tossed the ball down the lane… and it flew through the air for about ten feet before crashing down onto the polished wood. People turned to stare, but Liz didn't seem to notice. She was gazing down at her hands in confusion.

"Liz, how did you do that?" Max cried, rushing over to her.

"My skin feels funny," she said. "Like there are little ants crawling all over me. But it feels like they're under my skin."

Max took her small hand in his own. He studied it carefully, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. What was going on? Maybe Liz was having an anxiety attack or something. "I think we should get you home," he said. "You've been working really hard this week… you might just be overtired."

Liz shook her head. "Dr. Sosa sent me home early today. I slept all afternoon because I felt strange. I can't be overtired."

"Why did you get sent home?" Max asked, surprised.

"There was a chemical spill in the lab," Liz murmured.

"What?" Max cried. "Was it dangerous? Maybe that's why you feel strange."

Liz looked up at him and smiled for the first time all night. "Of course it wasn't dangerous," she said.

Then she collapsed.