Liz pushed through the swinging door into the back room. Maria was sprawled on the couch, taking a break from her shift. She took one look at Liz's face and held out her arms. "Come to Mama," she said.
Liz threw herself onto the couch next to her best friend. "I had to get away from Max," she told Maria.
"Why?" Maria asked.
"Because he's all mopey about my new job at Meta-chem," Liz said. "He thinks it will keep me from spending any time with him, so he resents it."
"He said that?"
Liz sighed. Max would never say anything unsupport-ive. But she could tell what he was thinking. "No. But he doesn't have to say it. He's right."
Maria frowned in confusion. "About what?"
"About Meta-chem," Liz replied. "This job will take up all my time, so I won't be able to see him."
Maria studied her for a moment. "You don't sound too upset about that," she said. "I'm thinking you want the time away from Max. Am I right?"
Liz nodded miserably. She loved Max more than anything, but it was just too hard to be with him. "I need some space to think, you know? I need to figure out whether I should start dating Max again."
"I thought you'd already made that decision," Maria said. "We all assumed you two were back on again."
"We were," Liz said. "I mean, we had that one date… "
"And then Max went all freaky-alien on you and started obsessing over his son," Maria finished for her. "So we're back to the King Max and Queen Tess issue."
Liz sighed. "Max told me he wanted to start over, that he wanted to forget about Tess. But now that he knows his son has been born, he feels he has to go after him. It's his number one priority."
"And you think he should put you first?" Maria asked.
"No, of course not," Liz protested. "Max has a child out there, and he's in danger. He wouldn't be the Max I love if he didn't put his child's welfare above everything else."
"But…," Maria prompted.
"But I don't know if I want to be with someone who can't make me his highest priority," Liz admitted. "I love Max, but that doesn't mean it's healthy for me to be with him."
Liz put her head on Maria's shoulder, and the two girls sat in silence for a moment.
"So what are you gonna do?" Maria finally asked.
"I was thinking today that maybe I need to find my own
life," Liz said slowly. "One that's about what I want and not about some guy and his needs."
"Sounds like a plan," Maria said.
Liz sat up straight. "It is a plan. From now on I'm going to concentrate on my new job and my goals for the future. And the Max thing will just have to work itself out."
She met Maria's gaze. Her best friend was smirking at her.
"What?" Liz demanded.
"Your plan is to hide at Meta-chem so Max can't find you and make you all swoony."
Liz stood up and tossed her hair defiantly over her shoulder. "Exactly. Nothing bad can happen if I'm stuck in a lab all day."
2
Are you ready for Liz Parker to start?" Maris Wheeler asked.
Dr. Alan Sosa was pacing around the office, looking agitated. "I still don't see why she has to work here. We already have everything we need from this girl."
"She was the first one healed by the Healer," Maris said. "The guy literally repaired her gunshot wound just by touching her, at least that's the theory. So I'm thinking she must know something about him."
"Maris, you already have the waitress uniform with Liz Parker's blood on it. That's the most important thing she'll be able to contribute to your search for the Healer."
Maris regarded him coldly. "The name is Ms. Wheeler," she reminded him.
He threw up his hands. "Fine. Ms. Wheeler, I respectfully suggest that we're putting ourselves at risk bringing this girl into Meta-chem."
"I never realized you were such a coward, Alan," Maris remarked. "I'm simply trying to hedge my bets. If she
knows who the Healer is, maybe we can find out from her. And if not, we can use her as a guinea pig."
Alan stopped pacing. "What?" he said.
"I want you to test your serum on her," Maris informed him. "She'll be in your lab every day, so you'll be able to monitor what effect it has on her."
"That's crazy," Alan said. "We haven't even tested it on actual guinea pigs! We don't even know what it's made from."
"It's made from the Healer's DNA," Maris said.
"DNA taken from corrupted cells found on two-year-old fibers lifted from a waitress uniform," Alan said disgustedly. "You have no idea where that DNA came from!"
"Don't be so dismissive, Alan," Maris snapped. "It took millions of dollars and not a few criminal misdeeds to get that waitress uniform from the FBI. It's the only physical evidence we have of the Healer."
Alan frowned. "You don't know for sure that it's the Healer's DNA."
"It's unrecognizable DNA," Maris said. "We don't know what this Healer is… an alien, an angel, I don't care. But he doesn't have the same genes we do."
"Even if what you're saying is true, we don't know that his healing power has anything to do with his DNA," Alan protested. "We have no reason to think that turning his DNA into some sort of serum will have any healing properties at all."
Maris took a deep breath. Why did Dr. Sosa have to be so difficult? He was a brilliant genetic scientist, but not much of a strategic thinker. "Look, Alan, my husband is getting older and sicker by the day. I have to face the fact
that I may not find the Healer in time to save him. So I have to have a Plan B."
"The serum," Alan said miserably.
"Exactly. You were kind enough to turn the Healer's DNA into a serum for me. And now you're going to be kind enough to test it on Ms. Parker."
"You have money for lunch in the cafeteria, right?"
Liz stared at her father, trying to keep a straight face. "Uh, yeah," she said.
"And you'll call me when you want to come home?" Jeff Parker added.
Now Liz did laugh. "Yes, Dad," she said. "It's not the first day of kindergarten, you know. It's just a new job."
Jeff nodded. "I know. But it's so important! This is the first step to the career you've always wanted. This job could land you an acceptance to any college you want next year."
Liz kissed him on the cheek and opened the car door. She didn't want to think about next year, about leaving Roswell… and Max. "Bye, Dad," she said, climbing out and shutting the door behind her.
"Good luck, honey," Jeff replied.
Liz looked at him through the car window. He just kept grinning at her.
He's going to wait until I'm safely inside, Liz thought, amused. Her father was treating her like some fragile china doll. If he only knew the things she'd been through in the past two years, he'd realize she could take care of herself just fine. With a wave, she turned and headed into the new building.
Meta-chem even smelled new. The halls were bare, the
floors waxed and shiny under the soft fluorescent lights. About twenty feet away, some moving guys were unloading boxes of lab equipment in front of a thick steel door. A few of the boxes were labeled HAZARDOUS.
Liz wasn't sure what to do. No one had told her where to report, and other than the moving guys, no one was in sight. Taking a deep breath, she headed toward the moving cart. "Excuse me?" Liz called.
One of the guys… a short man, but solidly built… turned at the sound of her voice. In the process, he banged the box in his arms against the wall. From inside came the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.
Liz winced. "Sorry," she said. "I just… "
"What's going on out there?" cried an agitated voice from inside the lab.