He looked over at Joey and noticed her nervous look. She didn’t feel any more comfortable about this than he did. Probably worse because it was her brother who’d walked out of the church about three minutes ago... and counting.

What was Evans thinking, leaving like that? Panicked looks had passed around the room, and the murmuring grew until finally Guerin, standing up front with the preacher, put his hands up and assured everyone loudly that Max would be right back.

They seemed to feel a bit better after that. But they were still staring. At Kyle. And waiting for the groom to get his sorry ass back in here...

Which just goes to show, of course, that the whole world does revolve around Max Evans, as Kyle had often suspected.

Man, this sucks.

Kyle raised his head as a movement out the back doors caught his eye. It was Evans, carrying Liz and setting her down just beside her father. A whispering started and most people turned as Liz stared into Max’s eyes and held onto him for dear life. Max was slowly pulling away as though he were afraid she’d break if he left her.

Kyle had to grin at that. I couldn’t act that in love even if I tried. Even if it was my own wedding day. Even if it was to Liz.

Kyle rolled his eyes. What am I, like masochistic or something, Kyle huffed out a breath in frustration. Think about something else. Think about the way this starched shirt is scratching the hell out of those places on your chest... think about the talk you‘re going to have with dear old Dad after the wedding... think about how desperate you are to figure out what happened last night... that’s worth obsessing over.

Kyle glanced over at Joey, who could possibly be something else worth obsessing over. Except for the fact that she looked about ready to faint. What was it the wedding director had said? Oh yeah.

“Joey, don’t lock your knees,” Kyle whispered with a smile. Joey shot him a grateful smile.

Wow. And what a smile it is.

Kyle finally turned back to see that Max was finally down the aisle and immediately, the organist slid into the wedding march.

Kyle heard his name called from the other side of the platform, but he ignored it. Liz would be walking down the aisle toward her future husband at any second and he wasn’t going to miss torturing himself with that for anything.

“Kyle,” he reluctantly ripped his gaze away from Liz’s tense form and saw Alex, eyes about to bug out of his head, gesturing wildly at the audience. He must be completely losing it. Everyone could see Liz was standing there; it’s not like a big secret or something. Kyle’s eyes skipped around the area where Alex was pointing. Nothing unusual.

“What is it,” he turned back to Alex angrily.

But the fierce answer came from Isabel behind him, “Larry... he‘s out there. Can‘t you see him?”

Kyle’s eyes grew wide with instant fear. Where? He started searching the crowd, and as if on cue, they all stood. Kyle couldn’t see to the back... they were all in his way...

Was Larry there?

******

Max kept his eyes on Liz as she clutched her father’s arm and slowly moved toward him. In truth, he had none of the thoughts he had expected to have as she walked the aisle.

The way her eyes were trained on him, he could feel her determination keeping her walking and a gentle smile came to his face. She was so brave and he was going to make this up to her somehow... all this terrible fear on her wedding day.

But the sight of her was making him forget it all again. She was so exquisite... his dream girl. Even though the organ was loud around him, he could feel everything fading away until it was just the two of them, she, in the glorious white dress and he, calmly waiting beside Michael to claim his wife. Only Liz was looking beyond him now. Max’s smile faltered as she stopped moving, fear growing in her eyes as she seemingly tried to communicate with her friends on the platform.

Max was just turning to look behind him when he saw a blur of motion out of the corner of his eye. His mind grappled with a glimpse of Larry Trilling’s wild face, a raised gun and the violent downswing that felled Mr. Parker in an instant.

“Daddy,” Liz choked out.

And Max was in motion instantly, his mind screaming that Liz was now defenseless, standing beside a madman.

******

Alex was frozen. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he whispered as Max and Michael both sprinted for Larry.

What were they thinking? They couldn’t use their powers here...

Then Max slammed to a halt, putting out an arm to stop Michael. What had stopped them?

Alex felt his throat constrict as he looked up to see Larry holding Liz against him, the gun pressed to her neck. “Oh god,” he whispered.

“Everybody stay back,” Larry bellowed.

A few screams rang out and people ducked down into the pews.

Alex held his hand out weakly as if to stop the whole thing, the realization growing on him that there was nothing he could do. Then he heard Max’s quiet voice over the chaos. “Don’t- don‘t hurt her, please.”

Everyone quieted down immediately. The preacher stepped forward with his hands out. “Son, this is the house of God. This is not the place for violence.”

Larry’s eyes were wild and his movements jerky as he looked between the preacher and Max. He looked absolutely unhinged.

“Shut up and sit down or she gets it,“ Larry yelled in his direction. Alex blinked. He had never pictured Larry as a particularly violent sort of person. Something had pushed him over the edge...

God, Kyle had been right about him. And now Alex couldn’t decide which was worse, the possibility that Liz might get shot or the possibility that Max or Michael, or both, might lose control and prove the existence of aliens to everyone once and for all.

It was a toss-up, a lose-lose situation. And the losses were too great either way. Alex took another step forward and felt Isabel grab at his arm. “No,” she hissed.

Helplessly, he watched as Larry pulled Liz back, away from Max and Michael. The preacher had taken a seat on the front row.

Now it was a face-off between Max, Michael, and Larry. And Larry had the one thing that could make it no contest.

Liz.

“My god...”

******

Liz felt as though she might faint. A thousand ideas were buzzing through her mind, but her body was stuck in trauma mode. Every muscle was frozen and she could barely even breathe against the barrel of the gun. It pressed in against the skin of her neck as her imagination just kept rerunning the worst case scenario.

Larry would shoot her and Max would heal her, in front of everyone.

She couldn’t let that happen. She begged Max with her eyes.

Please, please don’t do it.

******

Max felt adrenaline stirring the power in him, and it was begging for release. He flexed his hands nervously. Liz’s eyes were begging him to stay safe, but he sent his own mental message back.

There is no safe without you.

“Stay back, I said,” Larry whipped his head around to make sure no one was moving in his direction. Max could feel Michael’s energy pulsing behind him, but Max wasn’t about to let him take Larry on. They had to keep the situation under control.

Larry addressed the crowd. “They did something to me, the aliens...”

Max felt his breaths start to speed up, dread pumping his stomach with acid.

“They’ve been hounding me, torturing me...” Larry was looking away and Max took advantage, moving forward slowly. Don’t think about what he’s saying.

Think about Liz.

“Because of him,” Larry turned and pointed at Max. He froze. “Max Evans is an alien.”

Max stopped breathing.

******

The shockwave of fear and anger from Liz just intensified Michael‘s own reaction. By the time he‘d gotten his equilibrium back, a familiar voice had called out in agreement with Larry‘s statement.

“That’s right.” Michael shoved away the emotions and searched the back of the church until he saw exactly who he thought it was: Justin. He was walking up to the aisle from the back. “Larry is right, Max is an alien.”

At the words, Michael’s lip curled in a snarl and fury ripped through him like a hurricane.

Traitor.

*Michael... why,* Liz’s thoughts were anguished.

I don’t know.

Michael shifted his weight forward and watched Larry, just waiting.

*Michael, what are you doing?*

Larry looked over at Justin. “You know the truth,” he said hopefully.

Go!

Michael vaulted himself forward, past Max and toward Larry-

But Larry was nervous and his head started to turn back-

Michael was too far away-

*Michael, stop!*

Larry’s eyes opened wide-

The gun swung in his direction-

“No,” Liz screamed in terror.

“Michael,” Max yelled.

He heard the shot go off just after he hit the ground, Max‘s full weight on top of him. No pain. Larry had missed?

Michael looked over to see Max’s furious eyes trained on him briefly. The gun was trained back on Liz.

Michael closed his eyes in defeat.

“I‘m not an idiot,” Larry yelled. “You both stay down or I swear she dies.“

Michael heard Max’s hissed out breath beside him. But they stayed down.

*I hate him. I can‘t stand this. I‘ll use my powers on him,* Liz’s furious thoughts surprised Michael.

No. There’s an audience. Keep still, Liz.

*Michael, don‘t let him hurt Max. Please.*

Michael nodded at her.

Worry about yourself, sis. Max is a big boy.

But her eyes were troubled as she tried to smile at him. Then her eyes went over to Max.

*Tell him I love him.*

But Larry wasn’t done yet. “Max Evans is a killer.”

There were audible gasps from several people.

“That’s not true,” Mrs. Evans’ voice rang out from behind them. “He’s my son, not an alien, and he’s no killer.“ Michael felt Max tense up, but neither of them could do anything.

Mr. Evans’ low, soothing voice traveled up the aisle as he calmed his wife and held her back. “Honey, let Max handle it.”

“You haven’t told them the worst part, Larry,” Justin grabbed everyone’s attention in a smooth, low voice that somehow still carried over the whole room.

Michael felt the rage begin to build again and he pulled his hands up under him to get ready to move again. “He abducts people and performs excruciating experiments on them. Isn’t that right?”

“No,” Liz squeaked out a cry before Larry pressed the gun harder into her throat, silencing her.

Max slowly moved up to his knees. “It‘s not true, but say whatever you want,” Max said with a carefully controlled voice. “Just- let Liz go. Please.”

Michael’s fingers dug into the rough carpet. He would rip Larry’s heart out for making Max beg like a dog for his bride’s life.

“No, you-” Larry struggled to move Liz over to his other side. He was turning sideways, trying to look at Justin while still keeping Max in his sight. Bad idea. Just behind him, Michael could see Sheriff Valenti suddenly appearing in the pew, making his was slowly toward Larry. When had he gotten here?

Liz’s eyes cut to the right, seeing the Sheriff, too.

*Oh, please...*

“You’re right,” Larry continued in an excited voice. “He does abduct people. I was abducted last night and I- I woke up this morning in pain, not able to remember anything about what happened to me.”

Michael stared in disbelief. He sounded just like Kyle.

People started murmuring.

“That happened to me, too,” Justin had reached the aisle now, a strange look on his face. “He abducted me in a big purple ship that was parked on the roof of the bowling alley. Did you see it, too?”

Michael felt his anger slipping. What the hell was Justin talking about? Max was moving slowly to his feet and Michael shifted his weight up onto his knees, trying not to call Larry‘s attention.

******

Kyle felt the tension mounting. His Dad was edging closer; Max was starting to move in and Justin was... doing whatever in the hell it was that he was doing.

Jury’s still out on that guy.

Larry was looking confused at Justin‘s words. “No, no. Purple spaceship? That’s not what- You- you stay back.”

This last part was frantically directed at Max, who was only about five or six feet away now, probably giving Larry that intimidating-as-hell glare.

Something was about to happen. Kyle looked around the platform. If that gun went off...

He reached out slowly and pulled on Joey’s arm. She jerked it away.

“Get down, Joey,” he hissed at her.

She looked at him with wide eyes and then took his hand to kneel down carefully in her long dress. Kyle looked over to Alex and Isabel and gestured for them to drop. Alex got the message and helped Isabel to the ground. That just left Maria, who was front and center and pretty much a pink sitting duck with that walking cast on.

Kyle walked over just as Justin really got going. “Yeah, and they impregnated me with this freaky alien machine and I’m going to have a baby in nine months. I think I remember Larry being there. Are you pregnant, too?”

Kyle reached out and tugged on Maria’s arm, “Come on, let’s get you down.“ Tears were streaming down her face, and she refused to look away from Liz as Kyle helped her sit.

******

The nervous laugh spreading around the room keyed Alex in to Justin‘s plan. He was camouflaging the truth with wild stories. If he could discredit Larry’s words enough...

“You’re crazy,” Larry spat out at Justin.

Alex watched in amazement as the wild, eccentric expression left Justin’s face. “Your accusations are just as crazy,” Justin crossed his arms and stared at him. “Now let the girl go. It‘s her wedding day, for God‘s sake.”

Alex could feel everyone holding their breath. Max wasn’t moving a muscle. Larry appeared to be thinking it through.

******

*Oh, please...*

Michael felt Liz’s fear and anguish.

It‘ll be okay, Liz.

“No,” Larry’s voice rang out. “I can prove it. They have the gift of healing.”

*Michael, don’t let him do it! Please! NO!*

Liz’s panicked cry barely finished echoing in Michael’s mind before he saw the gun swinging away from her.

It was headed for Max-

A sharp report rang out and then another-

******

Liz screamed on and on as the bullets tore into Max’s chest. She shoved at Larry‘s arm and the final shot went wild. Then Liz turned to see her soul mate hit the ground not over ten feet away, fighting for his life.

And she joined him- fighting, scratching, clawing against the arm that still held her.

*I can’t heal him, Liz,* Michael’s panicked thoughts reached her.

I’m coming.

Then a force slammed her to the ground. She felt her wrist bend and send a loud crack vibrating through her body, but she just kept fighting until her long gown was jerked free. It was Valenti‘s voice she heard.

“Sorry, Liz...”

She ran toward Max, only to be stopped in mid-flight. “Liz, I didn’t mean for this to happen...”

Liz fought against the hands holding her arms until they gripped tighter. She looked up to see her mother’s anxious face, tears streaming paths down her cheeks as she babbled on. “I had no idea he would do this... I swear...”

The words sunk in and Liz’s eyes opened wide. Her mother had something to do with this? Her mouth hung open and tears stung her eyes. Then, blinking hard, she shoved away the pain and her mother’s arms in one fell swoop.

“No-“

She had to get to Max. In two seconds, she was by his side, pushing Michael away and blocking him out simultaneously. She looked down at Max, her eyes wide at the blood pouring from two bullet holes, one in his side, the other near his heart.

“No, no,” Max breathed out as soon as he saw her, his brown eyes clouded with pain. “You have to-”

“Not without you,” Liz said fiercely, placing her hands on his chest. Max reached his big hands up and wrapped hers within them.

“No,” he whispered weakly. “Don’t-“

Tears sprang into her eyes. She heard someone keeping others back; Mrs. Evans crying loudly...

“Max?”

She watched in horror as his eyes closed, too quickly. His hands fell limply at his side.

Liz felt cold suddenly- bone-chilling, icy cold. She thrust her hands on his body once again. But the blood- it was pouring out of him and the sticky warmness coated her fingers.

Max‘s blood...

His life...