Part Thirteen

The idea came from, ironically, the book Kyle had been given as punishment. Once he had accepted the plan, he did (to his credit) go wholeheartedly into a reading phase. Tess, on the other hand, wasn't too happy with this new development. He ignored her for two days, busy reading and then much to her disgust spent the day after searching the library for other books by the same author.

She blamed this entire debacle on Maria and so in true get-even style spent this time away from Kyle with Maria, complaining and making sure Maria knew exactly how unhappy she was with this situation. That plan kind of backfired on her, as all it succeeded in doing was to bring Maria and Tess closer together - a development decided by all the guys in the group as extremely bad. Who knew what the two of them together could come up with? Definitely not good.

It was lunch at school and they 8 teens sat in a secluded section of the courtyard discussing their findings. The idea was to scan lightly the minds of all the surrounding people. A sort of dreamwalk, just not as deep. Isabel was the one chosen for the task, dreamwalking being her particular expertise. It was to discover any unusual activity. Maria of course called it 'Mind Patrol.' Michael then in reply said she watched way too much Buffy. That got them both started on an argument, with escalating voices.

"Hey, I'm not the one that watches Dawson's Creek," Maria hit back at Michael.

Six shocked faces turned to Michael.

"You do not. Please say you don't," Alex pleaded. This was ridiculous he thought. Michael is supposed to be scary. Scary people don't watch Dawson's Creek.

Michael didn't answer. That in itself was an answer. Maria didn't have the same qualms, "He likes Joey. And thinks Pacey is really cool."

"Please, Joey is supposed to be with Dawson," Liz said.

"How can you say that? Pacey is so much cooler than Dawson. Dawson is just boring," Michael spoke without thinking. The somewhat horrified faces of his friends to statement made him blush slightly and duck his head, "I'll just shut up now."

He knew it was a bad idea to watch the show in her presence. She had been making fun of him about it since she found out. Speaking of her, Maria was killing it laughing so hard she was practically on the floor. Max and Kyle were just as bad. Liz was looking insulted because he had called Dawson boring and Isabel looked dignified but amused with that face that said one more thing and she would burst out laughing. Tess, on the other hand was wearing her "you'll are strange species" look.

It took all of them at least 10 minutes to compose themselves. Even after that someone kept making small cracks about the show and that would start them all again. With lunch almost over, it was decided that Isabel, Tess, Max and Liz would use the last period of the day, which was free for study to try a daytime scan. They would mind patrol twice every few days, one at night and one during the day. The others would keep watch while Isabel went under. Michael had art and he left immediately, practically running to avoid Maria's laughter following him. Kyle headed for gym and wrestling practice and Maria and Alex left for English soon after.

The four remaining teens walked to the library and found a quiet corner on the second floor to practice. Max and Liz kept watch to prevent anyone seeing Isabel and Tess held Isabel's hand. The idea was to basically surf the surface of minds. She didn't require a picture because she wasn't trying to enter the mind of one particular person but it did require a lot of concentration. It took her a few minutes to reach the place.

She called the place the dreamscape. It was similar in her mind to an endless field covered in mist. A photograph was like directions to a person's mind or subconscious. This time she was just entering the dreamscape and wandering around, lightly picking up stray thoughts and images as she passed. The minds of those closest to her were also the nearest to her physical manifestation of herself in her mind as well.

She walked past Max, Liz and Tess's dreamscape representations without trying to delve deeper and moved further afield to those she could not recognize and began to walk, lightly scanning as she moved. Time moved differently in the dreamworld Isabel was walking in. A few seconds could take an hour and an hour could be a minute.

Tess watched Isabel carefully as she lay against some bookshelves her eyes closed, her eyelids flickering slightly. She glanced at her watch and saw that nearly 60 minutes had passed. It was time to wake Isabel up. You had to be careful when waking someone up from a dreamwalk but Tess had had plenty of practice over the summer during their practice sessions together. But before Tess could lean over to wake her friend up, Isabel sat up suddenly. She blinked a few times and then stood up in one fluid motion and in determined steps moved towards the steps to exit the library.

Tess stared at her in confusion. Isabel looked furious. Tess hurried after rapidly moving friend and moved along with Max and Liz, who had just noticed Isabel's new awake state, to stand in front of her. They three of them blocked her way down and waited for an explanation for her angry exposition.

Downstairs in another building, Kyle was changing in the locker room with the rest of the wrestling team. He had finished earlier than they had and was on his way out when he remembered he had forgotten his book in the gym. He grabbed his stuff and detoured to fetch it. It was by chance he overheard the conversation that began after his departure. One that would never be said in his presence for fear of retribution. They all knew how he felt about her. She was practically family. His sister. To say he was furious was an understatement. Kyle's hands curled into fists. But before he could do anything, the coach saw him and called him over. By the time he had finished discussing the new wrestling teams strategies, the guys had already left. Kyle stormed out of the locker rooms after them.

Part Fourteen

There were many things that were different this year. Liz had stopped working at the Crashdown. She was interning at the new Congresswoman's office. It was a toss up to who took this harder - Maria or Max. Max was so used to seeing her in the Crashdown, it was usually his reason for coming there and also the one place he could sit and watch her without any reprisals. For Maria it was more of a loss of part of their friendship. The two of them had been working together for so long they relied on the other's presence, but still her loss was overset by her happiness for her friend's new job.

Liz felt the loss as bad, but change happened, she reasoned and it was made easier by not having to see Max all the time, to not have to constantly fight the urge to run into his arms and beg him to take her back. They were friends now, her and Max - after finding Maria in the desert, but even though Tess had dropped the entire Destiny thing Liz had spent too much time away from Roswell trying to give him up to take him back now, not when he was better of without her to distract him.

For Max he still came to Crashdown everyday. It brought back memories. Michael was still there and so was Maria. Maria became his savior. She held his hand, listened to him talk and kept his hope alive. He tried to return the favor but part of him recognized that she didn't need him as much as he needed her. She seemed strong somehow - she radiated strength.

Whatever happened in the summer changed a part of her. It was easily visible, in the way she talked, the way she walked and the way she dressed. It didn't just make Michael's blood pressure rise - the longer hair and shorter skirts but it caused him, Kyle and Alex no end of worries especially when they saw the way guys stared at her. Maria herself didn't notice or if she did she didn't care.

Based on that, some of him wasn't totally surprised when he heard Isabel's explanation in the library but the rise of anger came so fast, that surprised him. Anger wasn't his thing. It was Michael's but Maria was his practically his sister. She was his best friend's girlfriend. She was his best friend. How dare they have such thoughts about her? This time it wasn't Isabel that led the way. It was Max. No one got to think about her like that without some payback.

Kyle headed out into the hallway. Before he could do anything he ran into Alex. His short explanation on his eavesdropped conversation resulted in two angry guys. Just then the bell rang and the hallway filled with students. It wasn't surprising that the six incensed friends met and concluded that the thoughts that Isabel picked up on her mind patrol were the same that Kyle overheard. No one there repeated any of what made them so furious. They merely talked around it, slightly calmer now. They were trying to decide what to do when Michael found them.

All of them immediately shut up. It didn't take a genius to figure out that telling Michael would not be an entirely good idea. If Michael was protective normally of his friends, the way he behaved about Maria was magnified 10 times. Unfortunately it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were hiding something. Subtle they were not, and Max and Kyle looked too enraged too fully hide it. Michael's expression didn't change after he heard. His eyes froze over though. One look into them and anyone with a brain would run in the other direction as fast as was humanly, or alienly possible.

All thoughts were forgotten when Michael looked up, his Maria radar alerting him of her nearness. They followed his gaze to the end of the hall where Maria was, heading towards them. It was Liz's gasp that let them know the rest. Walking behind Maria were three of the wrestling guys. The 7 friends watched horrified as the events unfolded.

One of the boys whistled. "Hey pretty girl."

"Drop dead, jerk." Maria didn't mince words.

One of the guys pinched her butt. And all hell broke loose.

It took Maria's friends 10 seconds to reach her.

It took Michael 4 seconds to get there.

It took Maria 2 seconds to twist his arm and slam him against the locker.

All noise in the hall stopped. Everyone stared.

"Touch me, again and I'll break your arm." Maria twisted it a little more to emphasize her point. He nodded in haste. She let him go and he slumped to the floor. He lay there looking up at her. She ignored him, picked up her fallen backpack and calmly walked to Michael.

His friends were not as co-operative. They stepped up right behind her. And then stopped. Michael stood there, his arms folded, his expression cold. Before Maria could do or say anything. Kyle, Max and Alex stepped up next to Michael their postures identical. The staring match between the two groups lasted a few minutes. It was conducted in absolute silence before the jocks turned around and left, ironically leaving their fallen friend lying on the floor.

Michael bent down and crouched next to the embarrassed wrestling student. He said something softly and the guy got up in a hurry and ran down the hall after his friends.

The show over, the noise level rose again everyone in the school relishing in the new topic that had just fallen into their laps. People rushed away to tell the story to those unlucky enough not to have seen it. Maria's friends stood there surrounding her slightly in shock over the incident, in shock over her display, in shock in general.

It was only when she continued walking heading to the parking lot, that they snapped out of it and followed her, rushing to catch up. They all stood at the Jetta a few minutes later.

"Hey Maria, will you be my bodyguard?" Alex broke the silence. Everyone laughed.

"Why, you need one?" Maria teased in return.

"Will you teach me that move? Man I can thrash the competition with that at the next meet," Kyle said in admiration. Wow could his sister move.

Maria laughed again, "Sure, big brother."

"Me, too," Isabel said.

"Me, three," Liz and Tess stated in unison.

Michael didn't say anything. He just looked at her but it was a look filled with a mixture of shock, admiration, love and pride. Maria stared at him and interpreted the look almost correctly. She blushed and turned around to open the door to the Jetta. She hadn't meant to throw that sleaze against the locker but it all happened so fast she just didn't think.

Maria had stopped to talk with Mrs. Burrows after English. Alex had offered to wait for her but she sent him along without her. She had just walked out the classroom when a jolt of pure rage went through her. She knew it was Michael so she headed towards him following her instincts. She just caught sight of him at the end of the hall when the jerk started to hassle her. When he touched her, she didn't think she just reacted. Two months of training and hours of practice since left her with quick reflexes. It was an automatic response. She didn't really regret it but already they were asking questions.

A discussion was in order. But not now. She evaded the immediate questions and promised to tell them tonight. At Michael's place. She was not looking forward to this meeting. But she had avoided it long enough. Maria knew this time they would never let her avoid the altercation that had been building since they had found her in the desert.

Part Fifteen

Liz was slightly in a panic. She had forgotten a file that she was working on yesterday at home. With all that had happened in school today, she had been slightly distracted. Liz just knew any second now the Congresswoman was going to ask her for it.

In desperation Liz picked up the phone and dialed a number she had dialed a thousand times before. It was Maria's fault she had been distracted going all Charlie's Angel on that idiot guy and besides what were best friends for. She hoped Maria got here with the file before she saw the Congresswoman. While the woman seemed nice most of the time, Liz saw something in her eyes that made her weary of making any mistakes. She didn't look like someone that dealt well with those that crossed her.

Maria rushed up the stairs, pass Mrs. Parker, calling hello as she raced by into Liz's room. Mrs. Parker didn't blink. Maria was a common sight in their house, as common a sight as Liz was in the Deluca household, practically a second daughter. Thirty seconds later Maria ran by again calling a farewell. Mrs. Parker smiled to herself as Maria left before she even heard the reply.

Liz was waiting for her was the only thing Maria thought of as she ran into the Congresswoman's Whittaker's offices. She paused for a quick breathe before heading to the secretary's desk to ask for Liz. After receiving directions, Maria took a chance to look around for the first time. The place was filled with desks covered in computers, fax machines and phones. There was an office in the end of the room - Congresswoman Whittaker's. Maria headed towards the desk where the secretary said was Liz's.

Liz was nowhere in sight. Towards the right a door was slightly ajar - the Congresswoman's office. Maria walked quietly towards the open door and quickly sneaked a look. She could see the Congresswoman but not much else. The woman was talking to someone. Maria moved in closer to see if it was Liz in the office. It took her a few seconds to figure out that Whittaker was on the phone. Maria began walking away when she overheard something that made her stop dead in her tracks.

Pierce. The name brought bad memories and fear to the front. Even though he was dead and Nacedo had replaced him, the man had done too much and hurt too many people. Killing him had almost destroyed Michael. Before Maria had a chance to be buried in memories the FBI trained part of her had already come closer to listen in on the conversation. She could only hear the one side.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to dump him. He's no use anymore. I can barely get any information and now with the shut down of the department, we will lose everything."

"Of course, I took precautions. Yes all the files have been copied."

"Please I have a back-up for everything." Her voice was smug.

"No, I'm sending someone to pick them up. It's too risky for my contact to bring them here."

"Of course, someone I trust."

"She's arriving tonight at 8. I stuck her in the Grange - that motel on the edge of town. Tomorrow I'll give her the identity and directions. The later the better. She'll pick up the files, hand them to me and leave immediately."

"Uh-huh. By this time tomorrow, we'll have everything we need on the royal four. It'll be only a matter of time."

"Bye. Yeah, I'll phone as soon as they are in my hands."

Maria moved back towards Liz's desk as soon as she heard Whittaker put the phone down. She looked down and saw she was about to crush the file in her hands.

'This was bad. At least it explained why the woman was on the news trying to keep the Department open after Nacedo initiated the shutdown. I have to do something.' Maria's thoughts were all over the place calculating and discarding theories. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Liz heading towards her, a look of total relief on her face. And everything that had happened today came back to her. She forgot the half-formed plan and the excitement and fear that arose since she overheard the conversation. She had to tell them everything tonight. There wasn't a choice anymore. They would all have to help if they were to intercept those files.

Maria and Liz didn't stop to talk. Liz thanked Maria and Maria left immediately. She needed to psyche herself up for tonight. At least they would be slightly distracted by the Whittaker information and I won't get yelled at so much, I hope. Who was she kidding? Michael alone was going to probably try to keep her locked up for the rest of the year never mind Alex, Max and Kyle. She really didn't know when they all become so protective? Oh yeah, it was when she got stuck in the desert.

Whatever happened the meeting had to be done by 8pm so they could find the courier in time. That gave her 2 hours to get ready and 2 hours for the meeting. Maria headed towards the desert - to her cliffs. She needed to think.

Part Sixteen A

As usual the meeting was at Michael's apartment. Six of the eight were already there. They didn't say much to each other as they waited. All of them were aware that they were thinking the same thing and that was this time they were not going to take no for an answer. Maria was going to clear up a few mysteries today, even if they all had to gang up on her. They were not going to cave. Time had been spent discussing the matter previously.

It had taken them some time to come up with a reasonable explanation for Maria always winning arguments and finally they reached the conclusion that it was because she always took them on in small numbers, usually only one or two people. There was strength in numbers the teenagers had decided and they were all going to stay strong.

The blame for the total lack of answers had also been by majority vote placed squarely on Max's shoulders. The reasoning behind that was obvious. It was his job as leader to find these things out and his new "Girlfriend" status had obvious made him susceptible to what Alex referred to as the puppy-dog-look, therefore he hadn't completed his job. As Alex had explained to the rest during one of the many discussions on strategy to make Maria give up her summer activities, it wasn't his and Liz's fault that they fell for it since they had the excuse of years of friendship. Max's counter argument that after years of friendships they should by now have figured out immunity to Maria's puppy dog look.

It was Michael who ended that argument surprisingly with his 'the look is lethal' and there is no defense argument. Even more surprisingly it was Tess and Isabel who agreed with him. It was also Isabel who finally decided that since blame had to be apportioned and Michael was protected by the boyfriend thing the blame therefore fell on Max and Liz. Liz it was decided should share blame because she was technically the best friend and should by now know. Both Max and Liz were adamantly opposed to this but were overruled quite happily by the remaining members of the group.

No one explained why Michael was immune but the one thing that was unanimous was the shock felt over Maria's continued silence. After all, as bluntly and rather unkindly put by Kyle 'The girl had made babbling an art form.' This was, of course, taken very badly by the subject's sort-of/kinda/ex-boyfriend who had been heard on many a occasion telling her to shut up. Unfortunately he didn't extend that courtesy to anyone else and that particular discussion had ended rather quickly by all to prevent a fist fight defending the honor of the 'known for her babbling' subject.

Maria kung-fu act today in school had pushed their timetable up and increased the determination of all to find out where she had been. Surprisingly without having to use any of the persuasive techniques the 7 friends had prepared Maria had agreed to the meeting and to share the information.

The door opened and they all looked up expectantly but it was only Liz. She greeted them and then sat down where Max had stood up to give her his seat on the couch. Isabel looked at her watch and sighed loudly. It appeared that all of them were ridiculously early. There was still 15 minutes before Maria was due to arrive. Still no one said anything. They were waiting. And it had all been said already.

Outside Maria had just arrived. She sat in the car for a few minutes before squaring her shoulders and climbing up to Michael's door. She stood outside the door for another few minutes planning what she was going to say. She jumped when the door was opened suddenly and Michael took her arm and dragged her in.

"Damn it, Maria. You have been standing at the door for 5 minutes not to mention the time spent in the car. We're all waiting," impatience laced Michael's tone.

"I can't decide if their little radar thing creeps me out or really impresses me," Kyle whispered to Tess.

"You and me both," Tess whispered back.

"Excuse me. But didn't we say 6. I am exactly on time. Not my fault you are early."

"Since when do you stand on ceremony before coming in? Hell, you have your own keys."

"Wait a minute. She has keys. Why does she have keys?" Max cut in. "And why don't I have any?"

"Hellllllo. Max, did you forget you're a Czechoslovakian? You don't need keys." Maria emphasized her point by lightly tapping him on the head.

Max looked embarrassed for a second before remembering the reason why. He opened his mouth to enquire again but Michael answered him before he could speak.

"I gave her the damn keys okay, Max. It's my apartment. I am allowed to that right?", his tone was sarcastic.

Isabel decided to interfere before Max and Michael gave Maria and Michael a run for their money. "Why don't we start? Maria you wanna tell us now?"

"Not particularly," came the dry answer in reply. Isabel smiled.

"You all have to promise not to yell at me, especially you Michael. And Isabel."

"Why me?" Isabel asked in surprise.

"You'll see." Maria answered cryptically, "Do you promise."

"Okay," Isabel replied. Maria looked at the rest of them.

"Yeah," Liz, Alex and Max said in unison.

"Alright, " Kyle replied and Tess echoed him.

Everyone looked at Michael.

"What? I'm not making some stupid promise I am not going to keep. She obviously did something I need to yell at her about."

"She is standing right here," Maria said, "And she is not saying anything until you promise." It was the pleading looks on the others faces that caused him to reconsider.

"How about this: I promise to try not to yell at you."

The teens turned their pleading looks on Maria this time. Like Michael she had little defense.

"Fine," she gave in.

Part Sixteen B

"You need to sit I think. It will be better." Everyone except Michael sat; squashing on the limited seating arrangements available, with Tess practically on top of Kyle perched on the end of the couch. Michael stood leaning against the wall his legs and arms both crossed.

"It's going to sound a little unbelievable, okay. Don't interrupt. It's hard enough to tell you without...just wait till it's over."

Maria stood in front of them. As she began talking she started to pace slowly in front of them. The seven pairs of eyes followed her.

"It all began after you found out about your purpose here. Michael wasn't talking to me. Liz just left. All of you were upset and distracted. Michael got it into his head he was dangerous and he had to protect me and nothing I said made any difference. He wasn't talking or willing to listen and Max and Isabel were too busy dealing with what they heard from their mother to see what saving the sheriff and Max from Pierce was doing to him. Tess was the only one who could see what was happening and at the time we didn't fully trust her and we blamed her for a lot that happened." Maria sent a apologetic look in Tess's direction.

Everyone was listening and their expressions varied and changed with almost every sentence, from guilt to understanding. No one interrupted.

"I couldn't do anything here. No one thought I could do anything at all. I was just this weird girl who freaked out regularly and babbled a lot. I was dangerous to you," Maria continued. A number of voices immediately forgot the no interrupting rule and rose in protest.

"You were never a danger to us," Tess's voice surprisingly was the loudest.

"How can you say you never do anything? You the one that comes up with all the ideas," Liz said.

"I know I didn't trust you in the beginning but I do now, have for a long time. I trust you with my life. For heaven sake you are one of my best friends," Isabel said next. The others all nodded in agreement.

"I always trusted you," Michael's voice was quiet.

"He did. In the beginning when you guys just found out. I was the one that freaked out the most. Michael hardly yelled at Max at all. And I was the one that was worried about you. Michael never questioned you. Liz, he wasn't so sure of but you... let's just say Mr. Paranoia over there didn't seem to think that you would tell at all," Isabel finished her long spiel.

Maria looked surprised; "He didn't ask you to dreamwalk me?"

"No. Isabel did that on her own," Max answered.

"Really?" Maria asked.

Michael stood on the side listening quietly.

"Yes. Really. And you know I never told them what I saw either." Isabel said.

"What you see?" Alex asked.

"None of your business," Maria stated quickly. She decided to continue before everyone got to curious about that dream.

"Anyway I decided that I was going to do something to help instead of just waiting around. I didn't know quite what to do until I came by to see Michael. He wasn't here. I knew because I couldn't feel him. I decided to leave a note for him so I went inside. I wrote it and I went to the fridge to stick it up and I saw the wallet of the FBI Agent that Nacedo killed lying on the table. I picked it up and took it. I didn't want Michael to have a reminder."

"When I got home I had already forgotten about it until the next day when I met Isabel for lunch. I took out my lunch and the wallet fell out and it was like a light bulb kind of flashed and the idea just came to me. " Maria paused and looked up at the 7 teens who were listening fascinated.

"You know me, I'm spontaneous. I kinda went with the idea," Isabel's face started to clear as she slowly figured out what Maria was saying. Liz who was also present during the identification change expression also showed comprehension.

"I had Isabel put my face on the identity. The more I thought about it the more the idea seemed workable especially after I remembered the research I did on the FBI when Topolsky first showed up."

Isabel opened her mouth and then shut it again wanting to hear the rest first. Maria continued, "Liz was leaving and Michael wasn't talking to me. Alex tried but it wasn't enough. I went for it. I told everyone except Liz that I was in Florida. I made sure I phoned regularly so no one suspected and I drove to the FBI Training Base and talked my way into it."

Maria told them everything from the self-defense and hacking skills she learned to the stuff she did with Riverdog. Her friends sat in shock their expressions changing with each word she said. At some points their mouths hung open and they had to remind themselves to shut it.

Kyle and Tess' reactions ranged from sheer shock to outright admiration. They were not as close to Maria then, not as they were now. Alex wasn't as surprised as he should have been. Being her friend for so long had its perks and he was used to Maria's outrageous ideas even though this one was a bit out there even for her. Mixed with all that was running through his mind was the fear and worry that he felt for her and the among the rest he was hurt that she kept something so huge from ure it was big.

Little of this showed on his face. It was an effort but he kept his face as carefully blank as he could, a feat only years of practiced indifference made possible.

Maria looked around nervously when she finally stopped at the point where she met the others in the desert. She glanced quickly in Michael's direction and looked away again, avoiding his gaze. She could feel the emotions coming of him. They were that strong. She looked at her other friends. She saw the shock, the hurt, the guilt, the anger and the admiration. She waited for the verdict, the reaction. No one said anything for a few minutes taking it all in. These were tense filled moments for Maria. She had stopped pacing and now in a move imitating Michael stood against the wall expectant and watchful. She still had one more thing to tell after all.

Part Sixteen C

As usual it was Kyle who broke the silence, "Damn, Ria but you sure do get around. I suppose I shouldn't challenge you to that wrestling match now especially after your Bruce Lee act this morning."

That was enough to get the rest of them going.

Liz stood up and hugged her. Maria put her arms around Liz and held her tight. It was both a plea for forgiveness and an acceptance of the apology Liz was sending.

"I'm sorry..." both of them said at the same time. Then they laughed.

"You go first," Maria said.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you and I just took of," the word came out in a rush from Liz.

"You needed to go. I knew that. So did I. I'm sorry I never told you or Alex or any of the rest of you, especially after we promised no more secrets," Maria still didn't mention Michael by name. And she forced herself not to look in his direction.

Alex got up as well with much difficulty displacing an Isabel and Max who was sitting next to him and joined Liz and Maria in the hug holding both of them in his arms. The group hug had the familiarity of hundreds before in the long threads of their friendship. Maria and Liz buried their faces in his shoulders and grabbed on tight. The others could hear light mumbling from Alex's shoulder as Maria apologized to him again, even if the words were not clear, the meaning was. Small feelings of envy arose in the watching friends, envy for the closeness the three shared and the trust and forgiveness that was so readily given.

It was a while before they let go. The others were all standing around the room except Kyle and Tess who sat on the couch. Michael still hadn't moved both his expression and his position. Maria walked up to Isabel and stood in front of her. She had a special apology to make to Isabel for using her. The two girls looked at each other but before Maria could say anything Isabel smiled and hugged her.

"You're not going to yell at me," Maria asked surprised.

"I promised, didn't I? But you do that again and I will not be responsible for the consequences. Okay?" Isabel replied.

Maria nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Besides I want lessons," Isabel continued. "In particular that move you used a Mr. Hands today at school and I figure you owe me."

"Lessons it is. Deal," Maria agreed.

"Wait I want lesson too," Tess said.

"Me too," Liz put in.

"You guys do realize that a ten mile run every morning is required. No excuses," Maria said.

"Every morning. Can't I do it every second day maybe?" Isabel asked, causing everyone to laugh.

"Damn," Alex whispered to Max and Kyle, "Now we are going to have to learn as well."

"Yeah, can't have the girls beating us up, can we?" Max sounded amused.

Everyone stopped smiling and all conversation ended when Michael finally moved. Like the Red Sea splitting, the teens all cleared the way for him when he slowly walked toward his sort of/kinda/sometimes ex-girlfriend. No one was talking. Maria sent a desperate look to Alex, Max and Kyle but they all shook their heads. They were not going to get involved in this one. They even took a step backwards just for safety. Liz, Isabel and Tess were even less help.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Michael's first words were only slightly louder than normal. Maria almost felt a sense of relief hearing them. At least the wait was over.

"You know why I did it, Michael." She was proud of herself. She sounded calm and rational.

"Yeah. I do. Obviously living in the desert has caused some sort of meltdown in you brain, either that or your blonde cells were working at higher capacities than normal," Michael's sarcasm was in full gear. His control was shaky and he was torn between wanting to shake her or grabbing her and holding her as tight as possible like he had seen Alex do. Not doing either wasn't really helping his mood.

Maria of course took offence to that. Whether it was the blonde reference or the insult to her intelligence that made her mad wasn't clear to the onlookers. What they did notice with fascination was the calm tones and reasonable sentences that quickly disappeared and the argument that followed

Tess disappeared into the kitchen for a bit at the begin of the discussion that was now in full force, and emerged carrying a bowl. She sat down on the couch when she returned and waited for the fireworks to erupt, every few seconds popping some popcorn into her mouth. Kyle took her lead and sat down next to her leaning over to steal some popcorn and promptly spat it out as the taste of Tabasco sauce filled his mouth.

Tess laughed softly and then felt sorry for him so she waved her hand over half the popcorn and the Tabasco disappeared. Alex pulled up next to Kyle and Isabel helped herself to the popcorn from Tess's side. Their heads moved from side to side as they followed the conversation between their fiery friends, like watching a tennis match their eyes on the ball.

Watching what Maria sometimes referred to as discussions, disagreements, arguments or fights depending on speaking status with her partner in crime were always interesting. Sparks flew and often the spectator felt you could just about see the electricity flow between the two and getting too close will only result in you getting burned. Today was no different if more intense than normal. For Michael and Maria fighting was as natural as breathing and half the time it was just their way of flirting.

The confrontation between the two was a long time coming and as it escalated voices rose and accusations flew back and forth covering sheer stupidity (that was Michael's to Maria) to over protectiveness and idiocy (Maria's to Michael). The couple forgot that anyone else was in the room and just went at it. In between, as was common between the two, feelings escaped and some "I love you's" were yelled at some point as reasons. Nearer to the end a few apologies may have even been said but these at lower decibel levels than the rest of the exchange.

For the witnesses it was more entertainment than going to the movies. The popcorn didn't last that long but no one was ever going to accuse Tess of not being prepared. She brought extras and because she didn't want to miss anything, popped it the Czechoslovakian way without moving. They split the new packet between the humans and the aliens.

All of them saw the power that was Maria as the argument slowly came to an end. That's not to say Michael didn't give her a run for her money. He was good but she was Maria and sooner or later everyone caved to Maria. It was the fact that she did it for him that won it for her. After she said that in a soft and unsure tone, he just stared at her a for a couple of seconds before opening his arms and enfolding her in them. Then he leaned back slightly and they met in the middle in a kiss. It wasn't a long kiss and she buried her head in his chest and he lightly touched his lips to her forehead before losing his face in her hair.

They stood like that for a while as their friends watched in silence unnoticed until Maria suddenly moved her head back and said, "Oh my God. I totally forgot. I have to tell you what I found out today. Man am I an idiot."

"That's what I have been saying," Michael put in, a smirk on his face now that the storm was over. Maria tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"This is important, spaceboy. Its about the Congresswoman."

"Okay I personally can not take any more revelations from you. They're too...see what you did to my brain. You shocked it to death. I have no vocab left," Alex said.

"Congresswoman Whittaker?" Liz questioned ignoring Alex.

"Uh huh. Remember when I came to drop of that file today, well I kind of overheard something." Maria answered also ignoring Alex. Then she told them all she heard still standing in the circle of Michael's arms.

"Okay. That's it. I am going to lock you up and not let you out ever again. You are dangerous on your own," Michael said.

"I'll help you," Max added.

"Hey," Maria stated indignantly.

"I'll hold her down. Then we tie her up as well so she definitely can't escape." That came from Kyle.

"And I think we should gag her. It will best for all if she can't speak or argue," Alex put in. All the guys looked at each other in complete agreement. Maria on the other hand didn't look as pleased.

"It's not my fault I heard this. It's Liz's. I wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for her," Maria said.

"Guys, can we please be a little serious about this. This is bad. We have to do something," Isabel's voice had a bit of fear in it.

"We should call Nacedo and tell him," Tess said.

Liz was still looking a little shocked after the new revelations about her boss. She was also a little chagrined that she hadn't discovered it herself. Max was quiet now as he considered the implications of what Maria had overheard and calling Nacedo. The others in the room also grew quiet as the ramifications of this sunk in.

Maria had the whole afternoon to think about it so she didn't say role. They left immediately from Michael's apartment to the Grange to find the woman who was supposed to pick up the files. The motel was a small one just at the edge of Roswell. It didn't take long to find her. She was the only new check-in and the only single woman. They discovered this by some basic detective work. Tess mindwarped the clerk and Kyle studied the records. Her name was Agent Megan Harris.

The two of them parked close by to her room and after making sure she was in, phoned the Sheriff to send someone to keep an eye on her. They didn't inform the sheriff the entire plan and surprisingly he didn't ask. He just sent one of his deputy's to the motel with strict orders to notify them if she left. Unfortunately being in school meant even with a rather understanding father, staying out all night with a girl was not something that would go down well and so they had to adjust the plan. In the morning the two of them would return and relieve the deputy from stake out duty.

Max and Liz were in charge of the next part. It was decided that Liz would plant a couple of bugs in the Congresswoman's office. This was mainly because she could do this early in the morning by entering the office without raising any suspicions because of her job. She would just say if caught that she forgot something and came to fetch it. Max was going along in case something went wrong and to open any doors that may need to be opened.

The next day Max and Liz arrived at the Congresswoman's office around seven. There was no one there yet so Max using a little bit of his powers unlocked the doors, both the entrance and the office door. Alex had given them two listening devices to use, one for the phone and one for the office. Both of them had to practice placing the bug in the phone many times the night before under Alex and Maria's strict supervision. With all the practice they had done, it all went smoothly. Max stood lookout at the door and Liz placed the bugs both out of sight. After a short test to see if Alex and Isabel could hear, they left for school. One of the other decisions made the night before had been that at least four of them would have to go to school to avoid rising any suspicion as would be if all eight of them were missing.

Alex was responsible for all the high tech stuff. It was his expertise after all. Isabel was his partner in crime. The teens were using the listening devices they had found after their last run in with the FBI and Nacedo. Alex and Isabel were staked out in Michael's apartment, which was within range of the Congresswoman's office. The two of them would listen in and report to Michael and Maria and Kyle and Tess. Just in case they were to skip school and stay all day. The two of them were also home base and everyone was to report to them and update them with any new developments.

****

Kyle and Tess pulled up at the Grange just minutes before Agent Harris left. The Congresswoman was already in her office based on video feed from the office device and so far nothing suspicious had been overheard. Kyle and Tess followed the agent to the Congresswoman and waited outside for further instructions.

Alex and Isabel listening in the apartment with Michael and Maria who copied and memorized all the information on the whereabouts of the FBI Headquarters and the meeting and retrieval of the files. Michael and Maria then left for the meeting while Isabel sent Tess the go ahead.

The plan was simple. Tess would mindwarp the Agent into stopping her car thinking there was a red robot and then further convinces her that she received new orders to go back home. Maria would then replace her at the meeting and retrieve the files while Kyle and Tess would return to school after only missing the first two periods. So far everything was going accordingly and a complete success. The Agent was on her way home and the only part left, and the most difficult, was Maria's role to collect the files.

Michael insisted that he go along for protection. It was the concession they had made to get to him to agree to the plan. In addition he was the only other person who had any experience in imitating a FBI Agent. Maria was all dressed up in her power suit and Michael had already adjusted his clothes. Maria's identity document had also been changed by Michael reflecting Agent Harris's details, all collected by Kyle and Tess.

The headquarters was half an hour away. It was a silent drive filled with unspoken thoughts. Michael and Maria were a strange contradiction in many ways. While both of them could be extremely vocal especially towards one another, some of their best communication was made in silence. Both of them knew what the other was thinking. It wasn't necessary to say it out loud.

Getting into the building was easy. At the entrance all they had to do was show the identity before they were waved in. Michael remained in the car ready to leave immediately or go in and help if he felt Maria ask for it. Maria got out of the car in one smooth moment. She didn't say goodbye to Michael and he didn't wish her good luck. The two of them just exchanged one glance, an emotion filled glance that said all that needed to be said before Maria tuned and walked into the building.

The building was a nondescript gray two story. It seemed like any other office building except for all the security that surrounded it. No one would have suspected it being the headquarters of an elite and secret FBI Task Force. Maria walked in, seemingly confident. Her outer appearance and expression revealed none of the inner turmoil and nervousness she was feeling at that moment. She took a deep breathe before approaching the reception and then smiled as what resembled a light breeze from within went through her. It was a message from Michael telling her that she would be fine and that everything would be okay.

After that, Michael saying that he had faith in her and that he trusted her, Maria found the rest easy. Within minutes she had asked for the contact and been ushered into a small room just of the entrance to receive the files. Maria's hair had been changed to a reddish brown color and the length adjusted by Max to match the description of the woman who she was pretending to be - one of his Girlfriend duties as Maria put it. Similarly her face matched the identification she carried. Maria didn't even blink when upon displaying it, the man the Congresswoman was paying for inside information scrutinized the identification and compared her face. She trusted Michael and he did good work especially when it counted.

Both Maria and the identification passed the test. The man handed her a small envelope containing two disks. Maria didn't open up the envelope. She just took it, smiled and said thank you, waved goodbye and walked out the building. The second Michael felt her get closer he moved the car and pulled up directly in front of the building just as Maria strolled out. She jumped into the car and at his questioning gaze gave a small smile of triumph.

Michael restrained himself from yelling in excitement even after he drove out the entrance gates. Maria on the other hand wasn't as hesitant and screamed loudly before leaning over and giving him a loud kiss. Then she sat back with a huge cat got the cream grin on her face. He just laughed in response. Before they had much of a chance to enjoy the moment, Maria's cell phone rang. It was Isabel.

****

Alex and Isabel had been sitting in Michael's apartment for a couple of hours now. Waiting was a horrible job and Isabel was bored out of her mind. They were waiting for news from Michael and Maria to see if everything went according to plan. Listening to the Congresswoman, apart from the morning meeting with Agent Harris, had proved useless so far. Nothing out of the ordinary had been said. Even Alex looked slightly dissatisfied which was strange because he loved to play with little gadgets.

Isabel had her head resting on Alex shoulder as usual when the phone on the screen they were watching rang. Without much enthusiasm Isabel and Alex both reached for the headphones to listen in on the conversation.

The conversation. It made Isabel wish with all her heart that she could go back to being bored again, back to when the hardest thing the 8 of them had to do was retrieve some files from the heart of a secret FBI Headquarters.

The strange thing was, with all this time, since the cave that they had been waiting for some move from the enemy and nothing had happened in months, part of Isabel just hoped and believed that nothing would ever happen. Even the thing with the files hadn't changed her belief, since the FBI was just an old enemy not something new.

She looked at Alex in a panic but found no comfort there. He was just as terrified as she was. Only four were left. Max and Liz. Kyle and Tess. All gone. She had to phone Michael. He and Maria would fix it. They were the strong ones in the group. Alex handed her the phone, reading her mind, the number already dialed. On the other end, Michael's voice could be heard. Isabel could hear the smile in his voice and knew that the mission had been a success even before he said anything. And she knew that the second she spoke that smile would be gone.

Part Seventeen

It took Isabel a few seconds to gather up enough courage to speak. Michael didn't notice at first. He was busy telling Isabel all about the retrieval. She waited for him to finish the sentence before saying his name, "Michael."

It was her voice that told him something was wrong. It was the same voice she used whenever she was scared and used to have nightmares about being dissected when she was younger. She used to run into Max's room where Michael was usually sleeping and stand there at the door and say his name or Max's in this really small soft tone just before she threw herself into their arms and burst out crying. As she got older she did it less and he came over less but every once in a while, even with Alex around Isabel would show up and say his name in that same tone and he always knew that whatever it was, it was bad.

"What's wrong, Izzy?" Michael was never one to mince words.

Isabel didn't know quite how to begin, "I know why she wanted the files, Michael."

"What do you mean?" he asked knowing she was stalling.

And all of a sudden Isabel knew she couldn't break the news to him. Telling her big brother would make it real. She asked to speak to Maria. Maria would tell him. The minute Maria came on the line, Isabel began sobbing and talking at the same time, her hand clutching Alex's. "Calm down, chica. Whatever it is we'll fix it."

"I can't tell him, Maria," she said between sobs.

"Okay, Izzy. You tell me and I will tell him."

"They're all gone. They took them."

"Took who? Who took them? Isabel?" Maria voice was rising in panic.

Isabel looked up at Alex and found the strength there. Her sobbing calmed down and in a voice almost expressionless as she said the words Maria had been hoping she wouldn't hear, the words she had been dreading to hear.

"They took Max, Liz, Tess and Kyle. Just before they got to school. We heard it during one of the phone calls that woman was making. They were waiting for them."

"Tell me exactly what you heard," Maria demanded.

"She was talking to someone about something being only a part success. He said that they got Max and Liz immediately but no one else showed up. They waited for a couple of hours and then Kyle and Tess came. They waited some more but since we didn't go to school today..." Isabel let the sentence fade and then after a pause started again, "She called us subjects. She said that they'd better find subjects 3,4,5 and 6 before Kivar finds out that we were not taken."

Maria couldn't say anything. She dropped the phone and turned to Michael her eyes wide and tearful. He'd heard and from her side of the conversation knew. He picked up the phone from the car seat where it had fallen. On the other end Alex took the phone from Isabel. She let him.

Alex and Michael had a short conversation. Michael told Alex to take Isabel and get the hell out of there. Maria who seemed to get her strength back added for them to take the back way and avoid main roads. Michael also gave instructions for them to call Sheriff Valenti and told Isabel who was also now listening to grab whatever she could from the flat and after a short brainstorming between the four of them decided to meet at the pod cave. At the last second, Maria remembered the files and told Alex to bring his laptop so they could figure out what was on them. They didn't discuss details of their missing friends disappearance or rescue. That could wait. Hiding and regrouping was the most important thing now.

Later they would rescue their friends and make the enemy pay.

And so one couple broke every speed limit there was to get back to Roswell, to the cave and another sneaked out a small apartment and after making sure there was no one around watching, climbed down the fire escape, backpacks on their shoulders. All four knew that it was sheer luck that they had not been taken as well, sheer luck that Maria overheard a conversation and sheer luck that they didn't go to school today. And they knew that they were being hunted and running out of time. For their friends they would be strong.

For their friends.

Part Eighteen

Liz was terrified. More terrified than she could ever recall being in her life. More terrified than she had been when Michael got sick. More terrified than she had been when she had been kidnapped by Nacedo. More terrified than when Max had been captured by the FBI and more terrified than she had been running from Pierce, bullets shooting at them.

The reason for this utter fear that was almost paralyzing was the still form that lay on her lap on the floor in square lead covered room. Her hands moved in his hair as she beseeched him to move, to open his eyes, his beautiful out of this world eyes and smile at her with that sweet smile that made her breathe catch. She pleaded and implored him to wake up and to tell her that everything would be alright.

She was all-alone. All around her was pure silence; silent except for her voice talking to Max and it had been so since they had thrown his almost lifeless body into the room with her practically crawling in after. Only once had she heard sounds, voices yelling. She couldn't make out the words or the voices and that had been two hours ago. And in all that time Max had not moved. Not when she picked up his head and placed in her lap. Not when her fingers ran all over his face looking for some signs of life, of consciousness.

Liz didn't cry. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction. She just sat there holding her soulmate in her arms and waited. Waited and prayed. Prayed that Max would wake up. Prayed that everyone else was okay and free. Prayed that she would be rescued soon.

Her mind ran back to their capture, to see if she could have done anything differently, even if her scientific brain recognized the futility of the exercise. It had all happened so fast. There had been no warning and no time to warn anyone else. Max had been driving the jeep and she was in the passenger seat. They were a little late for school because of the stop the two of them had made at the Congresswoman's office. Just before they were about to pull into the parking lot of the school, three cars ran them of the road into an alley. The alley was deserted and the two had put up a fight but they were outnumbered by at least six.

Max put up a forceshield using powers he didn't even know he had and shot out small bursts of energy at their ambushers. None of that mattered. Max ran out of energy and even though he took out at three people. Liz herself using a wrench form the car hit and injured one person pretty badly. Even now in hindsight she couldn't feel any remorse for that. It was when Max's energy levels started to diminish and the force field went down that it had gone from bad to worse.

Whoever it was that was attacking them didn't want to kill Max just capture him. Liz herself wasn't as priority and one of them had shot a burst of lasers at her. Max had seen it out of the corner of his eyes and being Max jumped in front of her, pushing her towards the ground. The burst had hit him straight in the chest and he had fallen unconscious to the ground next to her. Liz didn't fight anymore after that and gave in. They threw the two of them into a van after driving for 10 minutes arrived at a house. Liz was panic stricken because Max had not regained consciousness and almost didn't notice the method she had been escorted into the house and thrown into the room where she now resided. Her only thoughts and concern were for the boy she loved.

When the door opened suddenly Liz didn't look up. She didn't move. It was fortunate for her that no one came in and only some water pushed through. Liz waited for ten minutes before gently laying Max's head on the floor and sliding over to water and dragging it back to him. All problems, all misunderstandings, their break-up, all had been forgotten. Her only thought now was for him to wake up. She used the water to wash his face; slowly in small circles her fingers wet his face with the hope that it would cause him to open his eyes. Nothing happened but she wasn't ready to give up yet. She tried again and again every 15 minutes and waited. Waited and hoped.

****

Just two doors away in a room identical to the one Subjects 1 and 2 were in was another couple, Subjects 7 and 8. Of course they were in the dark about their titles or each other's presence. Kyle and Tess had been in the empty square room for just over an hour.

Kyle sat against the wall in one corner. Tess sat next to him, her head on his shoulder. They didn't say much. They didn't know who was listening or watching. Although they were unaware of it their capture was almost identical to Max and Liz's, except for Max's unconscious state. Tess tried to mindwarp their kidnappers but they were just too many of them for her to sustain any long-term mindwarp in order for her and Kyle to get away. The same alley that resulted in their friends kidnap was also the site of theirs. It was also the site of the two bodies that between her and Kyle they had taken out in the fight that occurred subsequent to the ambush, and the many injuries that not only the enemy had suffered.

In the end it was the fact that they were totally outnumbered, and that either would die before letting anything happen to the other that led to their surrender. They were carted of in a van clutching each other's hands and thrown into the room they currently inhabited. They may have surrendered but the two had not given up. They made enough of a fuss when being thrown into their prison to get their point across, even though Kyle was injured pretty badly and Tess was exhausted from fighting and trying to heal herself and Kyle from the worst of their wounds.

It was a long hour and more to come. They ignored the pain as much as they could and thought up escape plans while they recovered as a way to both counter the helpless feelings and fear that ran through them and to distract from the pain. The time passed and Kyle and Tess rested while they waited for Tess to gather enough energy reserves to contact the others and see if they were okay.

Part Nineteen

Alex and Isabel arrived at the cave first despite the roundabout route they used to get there in case there was anyone following. The trip was tension filled with worry for their family and fear of getting caught as well. They entered the cave using Isabel's handprint and DNA. Isabel also used her powers to camouflage the car so it wouldn't be seen in the desert unless you were up close.

They had some supplies at the cave already since the four aliens had spent many a practice session here the past summer and even on occasion camped here. Whatever else they might have needed Isabel grabbed from Michael's apartment.

Isabel paced up and down the cave while Alex took inventory while they waited. The cave was lit up using some stones strategically placed, which Isabel and Tess on a previous occasion figured out how to create a long lasting light. It took Michael and Maria another ten minutes to arrive even after speeding.

When they walked into the cave, Isabel and Alex were hiding behind a rock formation inside just in case. The second Isabel saw Michael she ran out and went straight into his arms. Alex did the same with Maria. And then Maria hugged Isabel while Alex and Michael looked on.

"Don't even think about it," Alex said as he glanced at Michael, resorting to humor as usual in any tough situation.

Michael smirked and walked towards Alex his arms wide open. Alex backed away in huge exaggerated steps his hands held out in front of him as if to ward away evil. Very few were aware of it but Alex and Michael shared the same sense of humor, ironically since they were two so very different people. Maria and Isabel both managed tiny smiles at their antics leaving the guys feeling inordinately proud of that small but major achievement.

Alex in particular was extremely relieved to see Michael and Maria. Watching Isabel pace up and down was nerve wrecking notwithstanding his calm temperament. In addition despite Michael and Maria's own feelings on the matter about themselves, the rest of the group often relied on the two of them for strength and as saviors even before Max was dragged out of the FBI by Michael and the sheriff. They were of course still the moments that Max accused Michael of getting into trouble and needing rescuing from his recklessness but Max always knew that ultimately Michael was the person you wanted on your side when you were you were in trouble. What made Michael and Maria so perfect for each other is that Maria was exactly the same. She could always be relied upon for an idea no matter how bizarre. FBI Training didn't hurt much either.

And a plan, a strategy was what they needed right now. The four of them sat down and discussed the entire situation, all they knew. Previous experience had taught them you couldn't just rush into a situation like this. You need to prepare, to plan. To get in. And to get out. They hadn't got far when the sheriff showed up in the desert. He knew the general area of the cave but not the exact location. A quick phone call to Maria's cell phone fixed that and the guys went out to meet him and bring him in.

Isabel hadn't told him exactly what was wrong and needless to say he was upset over his son's disappearance not to mention those he had sworn to protect. Catching him up on all that had happened was enlightening for everyone especially since everyone only knew bits of information and not anything in its entirety.

After the information swap Isabel attempted, for the third time, to dreamwalk Max and Tess, and again was unsuccessful. She had tried once before in the car on the way to the cave and another when Michael and Maria first arrived. Wherever their friends were, they were unreachable and each time Isabel tried, and failed she lost more hope.

After the third ineffectual attempt, Alex more to distract Isabel than anything else suggested looking at the files in the meantime while the sheriff did a little old fashioned detective work i.e. minus alien powers. He was going to tail the congresswoman in the hopes that it would lead him to his son and their friends. Unfortunately because of her status and her being so well known he couldn't trust anyone to do this for him and would have to do it himself. It had been decided that this was the best way to find them since Isabel's dreamwalks were not working. Plus as Alex said, "The congresswoman didn't know that they knew she was bad and wouldn't be so cautious and the missing files hadn't been discovered yet."

And so the sheriff left. Maria, Isabel and Alex determined that the next move should be to deal with the parents and so they three of them phoned to explained their absences. Michael didn't have to answer to anyone and it wasn't necessary to explain Tess's disappearance. Kyle's father already knew.

For Alex it was easy. He told his parents he was staying over at Michael's. They didn't complain. Isabel phoned her mum at work and said that the girls were going over to Tess's for a sleepover. She didn't use Maria or Liz because her parents knew the Parkers and Amy Deluca. Isabel also said to her mum that Max was going to stay with Michael. Diane Evans was so relieved that her son, who had been extremely withdrawn recently, was doing a social event she didn't ask to speak to him and granted permission willingly for both of them. Isabel heaved a sigh of relief when she hung up. The last thing that they needed right now was upset parents.

Maria also had it pretty simple. She and her mother had an open and trusting relationship most of the time and Maria didn't have to convince her of anything especially since she said that the slumber party included Liz, Isabel and Tess. Amy adored Liz for years, was really fond of Isabel and liked and felt slightly sorry for Tess being motherless.

Liz was the last one they had to handle. She was the most difficult and no one knew quite what to do about the Parkers. They decided by almost a unanimous vote except for Maria's to leave it up to Maria since she was the best friend. Ironically after all the disasters that had occurred in the lives of the teens, fate threw them a bone. When Maria dialed the Crashdown, desperately thinking of something to say, some excuse to explain a missing Liz, Mrs. Parker's first statement gave her an easy out.

"Maria, honey did Liz forget something for this weekend? I thought she took all her stuff this morning."

In all the events that had occurred it had totally slipped Maria's mind that Liz was going to spend the weekend at her house bonding and catching up, something that they hadn't done in a long time.

"No, Mrs. Parker. I just phoned to say that we will be at Tess's house instead," Maria said the first thing that came to her head. That was a good thing because as her undercover coach at the FBI Training had told them on numerous occasions, "If you are lying, keep the lies simple as possible and consistent." Not good advice to give to a teenager but then again these were not normal teenagers. And there were some times when it was just better to keep the parents in the dark. After all, what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

"Okay honey. You girls have fun. Tell Liz I'll see her on Sunday night."

"Sure thing, Mrs. P. Bye."

"Bye, Maria." And this time it was Maria that gave the sigh of relief.

That over, Maria took out the envelope from her jacket pocket and handed it to Alex. Doing that made her notice her clothes. Perfect for infiltrating an FBI training facility but not for sitting in a cave. It was easily fixed though. One wave of Michael's hand changed her clothes to jeans and a top and since he missed the shoes Isabel turned her high heels into Nikes.

Alex went and took out his laptop from one of the backpacks lying in the corner and put the disk in while everyone crowded around so they could see. The disk was encrypted by a simple code according to Alex. It took him a few minutes to break it and within seconds of that what had previously looked like gibberish formed proper characters and zipped files. Unzipping was an easy process and soon a number of text files appeared. There were ten files; all named using the initials of the teenagers as well as the sheriff and Nacedo, which was simply called unidentified.

All the files were pretty big except for Tess's, for which less was known about due to her lifestyle and living with Nacedo for all these years. From what the four of them could tell it contained profiles on all of them. The profiles were largely written by Agent Topolsky and were psychological profiles containing what she thought made them tick, what could be used to control them, who they cared about, their backgrounds as far as possible that could be traced and events involving them to the FBI's knowledge.

The files were unbelievably accurate. They revealed things that the teens had hard time admitting to themselves. It was obvious it was written by someone who knew them pretty well or studied them thoroughly. Reading the profiles left them all a bit shaken about the wealth of information available on them. Michael in particular took it hard. It didn't help that the files made particular mention that the one thing that could get Michael to co-operate if ever captured would be Maria. That Maria took badly. She didn't want to be his weakness. The teens reading the files missed the strengths in their own characters and focused on the weaknesses yet had no trouble recognizing those same strengths in their friends.

The sheriff's file was similar to the teens and made a few mentions of his ex-wife and Amy Deluca. It also showed the change in the sheriff's attitude towards the aliens and recognized the turning point for this as the death of Everett Huble. In addition it gave a lot of insight into the relationship he had with Kyle. Nacedo's file didn't have much of a profile. It was more of a listing of suspected murders along with gruesome pictures to go with the details. The information the FBI had on him was sketchy to say the least.

The files emphasized the strengths and weaknesses quite strongly. They were meant to be used in the case of capture and contained more than was usually required even for a terrorist’s psychological profile. The one good thing that came out of this was that this file was not in the hands of those that held Max, Liz, Tess and Kyle. It gave them some hope at least that the data on how to manipulate their friends into revealing information was not written down and freely available for use. There were only two copies of these files, to those that they had eavesdropped on and their knowledge. Nacedo had already destroyed the one, posing as Pierce, the head of the taskforce, and they were in possession of the only other copy available.

After the study of the files, Michael made an attempt to contact Nacedo. Since he saw Nacedo kill that FBI Agent with no remorse and the pictures in his file Michael had lost a lot of his enthusiasm for the alien. While he wanted and recognized the need for his help he was still reluctant to let the alien provide the kind of help he was likely to give. Whether it was a good or bad thing Michael couldn't find Nacedo. If he was honest with himself he wasn't too unhappy about that. Although Nacedo was technically supposed to be their protector, Michael wasn't too keen on the guy’s attitude to humans and in particular didn't like the way he dismissed Maria and their other human friends as irrelevant despite all their help.

Whatever the feelings he had on the matter it was unimportant for now. All that mattered was that they were on their own. And they needed to find out the location of their friends soon before time ran out. In his head he could hear a clock ticking and that pressured feeling increased. He wasn't the only one feeling it. Maria came to stand next to him and her hand reached out and met his. Across the room Isabel leaned her head on Alex's shoulder as his arm wrapped around her.

It had been an hour since the sheriff had left to follow the Congresswoman. Two hours since they had discovered the kidnapping of their friends. Three hours since Kyle and Tess had been captured and four since Max and Liz's incarceration. A lot could happen in four hours. A lot could be done to someone in four hours. Their only hope was the that the delay of the missing files which must have been discovered by now would have slowed them down and prevented an interrogation. It was all they had.

Part Twenty

The sheriff placed put his 'flashy thingies' on, as Amy and Maria referred to them, on the way back to Roswell. He figured being sheriff gave you some privileges, like breaking traffic and speeding laws when you were in a hurry. He tried not to think about what could be happening to Kyle and the others and instead focused on what he could do to help.

It was after he pulled up next to the Congresswoman's office and confirmed her presence that he realized that he couldn't just park there. It was too suspicious and noticeable. The sheriff made a U-turn and drove down the street to the closest place he knew to the office. From what he could remember about Michael's apartment there was a pretty good view from the corner window of the office. He could watch from there and would easily see if she left.

The sheriff parked his cruiser in the side alley that was on the corner of Michael's building and climbed the stairs that led to his apartment. It was the slightly ajar door that made him pull out his revolver. As in a hurry to leave as Alex and Isabel were, he didn't think that they would leave the door open. Jim Valenti stepped silently up to the unguarded door, his gun held in front of him and in one quick movement moved around the door into the room, all his senses on full alert.

Whatever he expected it wasn't what he found. There was no sign of anyone around. Not anymore. However whoever had been there had left their mark. The place looked like a hurricane had hit it. It was way beyond the usual almost neat somewhat sloppiness that Maria and Isabel allowed Michael's apartment to be. Almost everything was on the floor. The cushions were torn and there was broken glass lying everywhere. The sheriff picked his way carefully around the apartment careful not to disturb anything and trying to find out if anything was missing.

Judging by the look of the apartment whoever had been there wasn't searching for something but instead seemed angry and wanted to destroy. Jim thanked God that none of the kids had been in the apartment when they had arrived. Considering the time frame it was obvious that Alex and Isabel had left in the nick of time. It was good thing Alex had packed away all the surveillance equipment they had been using. He would have hated for anyone to find that and even worse destroy it.

Jim was standing at the edge of the room surveying the mess and contemplating phoning Michael to tell him about this new development when the decision was taking out of his hands. Out the window he saw the Congresswoman walking towards her car. She took determined even somewhat angry steps. All thoughts about contacting the kids flew out of his mind. Discovering the location of the missing ones was the most important thing. The apartment could wait.

In a few short strides he was at the door and slamming it behind him Jim Valenti ran down the steps to his car. In one quick motion he reversed into the street and took off behind the congresswoman. He kept a respectable distance behind her, with always a few cars in between him and his prey to prevent detection. It was a short drive. She drove directly to the Grange, the motel on the outskirts of town.

She got out of her car pretty quickly and slammed the door loudly behind her. Jim had to rush to park and follow ducking twice as she stalked to the entrance of the motel. He wasn't a mind reader but he had a pretty good idea why she was here.

Jim walked into the motel as obtrusively as he could. He stood behind a huge pot plant and eavesdropped on the conversation Miss Whittaker had with the clerk. Part of him even managed to feel the some amusement at the clerk's I-don't-care-if-you're-the-president look and his demand for money before revealing any information. He even had to swallow a chuckle at the distaste on the congresswoman's face as she handed the man some money and waited expectantly for the information.

"She checked out this morning at ten," the clerk said before turning around and ignoring her. The congresswoman must have realized the futileness of this endeavor and left the motel immediately. Jim ducked as she passed the plant he was hidden behind and followed her discreetly.

This time she drove in the opposite direction to one of the outer suburbs. She pulled up in a secluded cul-de-sac where a huge house lay behind big iron-wrought gates. The sheriff immediately pulled the file he had on her to check if this was her address. He was pretty sure that wherever she held the kids it wouldn't be at her house. The address was listed at the bottom of the page and in a completely different area to the one he was parked in.

For the first time since he heard the news of the kids disappearance there was a stirring of hope. He wasn't sure but he was almost positive that this was the site of their imprisonment.

The sheriff picked up his radio and called the station, "Hey Mary, find out for me the owner of 152 Prescott Drive."

"Sure thing Sheriff. Give me a minute."

"Okay got it. Lets see... a Nicholas Warren."

"Nicholas Warren? Okay thanks."

"Do you need any more information Sheriff?"

"No, I'm fine." The sheriff released the radio. Now it was time to call in reinforcements.

****

"I found it," Alex yelled in triumph. Everyone crowded around the laptop and Alex where he was sitting beneath one of the glowing stones.

"Look. Here it is. She has a brother. Nicholas. And even better, guess what Nicholas owns right here in Roswell," Alex asked the rhetorical question not expecting an answer. He continued, "A house. In Prescott Drive."

"That must be it," Isabel said excitedly.

Maria grabbed the laptop from Alex despite his, "Hey," and began typing while the others waited impatiently. A few minutes later an excited cry came from her. Alex immediately returned to his place and pushing her out the way stared at the screen to see what she had discovered. He smiled when he saw the information displayed on the flat monitor.

"Learnt that at the FBI, Maria?" he queried.

"Some. And some from you. And here you thought I never listened when you went on and on about computers," she answered with a return smile.

"Do you two mind moving past the mutual pat-yourself-on-the-back society and tell us what you found already," Michael said impatiently. Immediately Alex and Maria reached towards each other and patted each on the back before turning identical smirks in Michael's directions. Then both their expressions sobered.

"Turns out that this Nicholas who is only 15 years old by the way has been ordering a lot of lead and some major construction has been going on at no. 152 Prescott Drive," Maria said in a rush. It turns out no one needed their Maria filter to figure that out.

"Wonder what he needs all that lead for?" Michael asked.

"Don't you remember, Michael? Remember that time when we were practicing near the Reservoir and our powers wouldn't work so well. Not even mine," Isabel replied.

"The lead piping near by," Michael said.

"Must have been. Probably why we can't reach them," Isabel said.

Michael began packing all their stuff back in the backpacks and Isabel started extinguishing the lights. They left the cave a minute later. Before they could start the cars (they were taking both so all of them could return) Maria's phone rang.

Michael and the Sheriff's conversation was short but when they hung up both of them had a smile on their face. And a sense of conviction and one of hope.

Part Twenty One

Michael drove one car and Alex drove the other. Maria sat in the front seat. She took out her gun and much to the consternation of Michael opened up the gun revealing the bullets she had loaded early during the day for the file retrieval. Although he was seeing her do this for the second time, that slight feeling of disbelief and still remained. Part of him couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as he watched his, before she met him totally innocent and naïve, girlfriend handle a weapon with the mark of expertise.

Following the sheriff's instructions the two cars pulled up in the street just before the cul-de-sac. Isabel changed hers and Alex's clothes to black and Michael did the same to his and Maria's. It was necessary to take all the precautions not to be seen. The four teens walked quickly to the end of the cul-de-sac that was Prescott Drive where a quiet whisper let them know where the sheriff was.

The four friends joined the sheriff and crouched behind the huge tree that stood slightly to the side of the huge gates that blocked the entrance to the house that held there friends captive. A quick whispered conference began where everyone exchange information. The information that Maria and Alex had gathered merely confirmed the sheriff's suspicions and the congresswoman's presence made the others positive that they had the right place.

The sheriff handed Alex one of two walkie-talkies he had. "Okay, you and Maria wait out here and Michael, Isabel and I are going in," Jim said.

"Uh no way. I'm going in with you," Maria put.

"Maria you can't come in..." the sheriff was cut off before he could state his reasons. Maria suddenly remembered the sheriff wasn't aware of her training, "Sheriff, I think you are underestimating me," she began.

"Maria you could get hurt."

Maria didn't see any way to make her point clearly without going into a lot of detail. She did the one thing that would at least get his attention. She took out her gun. Even Michael laughed at the expression on the sheriff's face when he saw the weapon.

"I know how to use it. Don't worry, sheriff. It's too long to go into right now but I am fully qualified to go into a situation like this," Maria said.

The sheriff looked like he was about to argue with her when she looked him directly in the eyes and said, "Trust me, please."

The sheriff glanced at Michael, and seeing his almost unnoticeable endorsement, nodded at Maria in agreement, albeit slightly grudgingly.

"I'll explain everything later, I promise." And that would have to do for now.

The sheriff took out a rifle from his trunk and loaded the bullets. He also pulled out his gun that lay in his holster and checked that before looking at Michael, Isabel and Maria. It was time to go. Alex stood behind the tree and watched as his friends left. Two of them armed and two of them not, their powers all there was to protect them. It was his job to wait, to bring the car around if they needed it in a hurry and to communicate with, via walkie-talkie. Alex wanted to go in with them but he recognized the danger that would present to both him and his friends that could be distracted by his presence.

****

Inside the house four friends were about to storm, two couples sat terrified unaware of each other’s presence and unable to communicate with anyone. What made things worse for Tess, at the very least, is that she didn't know why she had lost the powers she had never been without since she was a little girl. Kyle was scared because he could see no way out of their situation without Tess's powers yet he was trying to be strong for the girl who seemed totally lost now that, despite a lessening in the exhaustive state she was in, still couldn't access her powers.

Max wasn't scared or terrified. He was still unconscious and had been since their capture. He was wondering around in a mist like state while his body tried to heal the massive injuries that had been done to him. Through the mist he could hear a voice calling him. It was a sweet voice one that, although he didn't recognize at the moment, he knew he had to get to. So he moved towards her voice, closer and closer. Sometimes he could hear tears in her voice and a part of him felt extreme pain at that. He moved faster and ran to stop her tears.

Liz had been sitting on the floor of her square prison for hours now, Max's head in her lap as she talked with him, pleaded with him to wake up. He hadn't moved since they had been thrown in the room but she hadn't given up yet. He would wake up that she knew, it was just a matter of when. Somewhere in her subconscious she could feel him getting closer and closer to her and that kept her going. It was a waiting game.

Two doors down, the level of terror rose suddenly as the door that held them was flung open. Two huge burly guys walked in and yanked up the two teens that were sitting against the wall in the corner of the room. Whatever they had been brought here for was about to happen. The couple refuse to let go of each other’s hand despite their captors attempt to separate them. Holding them in a tight grip the two kids were led out the room they had been sitting for hours into a long corridor. Tess immediately tried to contact max and had no success. She attempted Isabel next, holding on tightly to Kyle's hand for support, and for the first time in a long time she felt a connection go through. It wasn't a strong connection (they were surrounded by lead) but it got through.

****

Isabel, Michael, Maria and the sheriff were at the gate deciding the best way to enter when Isabel gave a soft cry. The soft faint voice of her friend in her head was the first sign of their friends still being alive they had received. Immediately all the pressure that Isabel had been holding inside her was relieved. She let Tess know about Max and Liz and told her to hold on.

On the other side Tess exchanged a look with Kyle. Without saying a word reading the new light in her eyes Kyle knew that Tess had succeeded. It was a short conversation that was hard to hold on to because of the lead surrounding the area but contact had been made and that was all they needed to hold on to.

As they neared the end of the corridor Kyle and Tess heard loud voices yelling. The closer the two got, the clearer the voices became. A woman's voice was yelling about some files that had disappeared, files that were needed, that were essential for the next phase. An agent had disappeared with the files and due to some incompetence on the part of the idiots whose job it was to retrieve such information they, both the files and the agent were still missing.

Another quick look over the two guards was exchanged and even a small grin could be seen on Kyle's face as he and Tess recognized the success of the mission that had started this whole process. The two teens were now at the end of the corridor. They were thrown into a room. This room had a table and three chairs in it. Like the square room that they had just left, it was painted entirely in white.

The only difference there was between this room and the other one was that one side of the room was covered in a huge mirror. It didn't take a genius to realize, much less the son of a cop and his girlfriend, that it was a two-way mirror. The two of them stared at their reflections in the mirror, ignoring the state that they looked, covered in bruises that were darkening and the torn and dirty clothes. Their aim was to show whoever it was on the other side of that mirror the look of pure defiance and the one that showed that whatever happened they were not about to give in.

Tess leaned over and in Kyle's ear whispered the things she had learned from Isabel. She told Kyle to be ready. And he was. But before they could deal with a rescue they had to deal with an interrogation. He hoped as did she that there rescue would come before anything really bad happened. And he wondered about Max and Liz and prayed that they were okay.

The door opened and in it walked the congresswoman. Both Kyle and Tess kept there expressions carefully blank, careful not to give a way anything that would reveal their knowledge of her involvement. She didn't say anything at first and just stood there staring at them. It was a contest to see who would last the longest. Kyle and Tess were determined not to lose.

It would have went on forever but enough time had already been wasted with the disappearance of the files. The congresswoman was furious. All her plans had been disrupted. The files were missing. Four subjects had somehow eluded capture and seemed to have completely disappeared despite various parties searching for them. Subject 1 was still unconscious and Kivar was arriving in a couple of hours expecting results that she couldn't provide. To make matters worse Nicholas had thrown 4 tantrums already and no doubt was going to throw a few more. Apparently the age of the body he now inhabited was affecting him since he was behaving more like a teenager than the second in command of one of the galaxies largest and most powerful armies. Like she didn't have enough to deal with.

And now to top it all of she had to deal with an interrogation that she just knew was going to go badly judging by the looks in these two's eyes. Plus they were the only subjects that could be interrogated and quite frankly they were at the bottom of the list. She was having an extremely bad day, which was just about to get worse.

She didn't know how right she was.

Part Twenty Two

The four rescuers didn't waste time. The plan was simple - get in and get out. No deviations. It started with Michael unlocking the front gate so that they could enter and Isabel making sure that cameras at the gate didn't show them on screen. Both tasks were relatively simple.

Once they were within the grounds of the house the four of them split up to increase their chances of escape and recovery. Isabel went with the sheriff and Maria and stuck with Michael. It was a perfect arrangement to cover all possibilities - one alien and one human.

The two groups went in opposite directions. Before they left the cave Alex had printed a copy of the blueprints to help give them an idea of where all entrances and escape routes were in the house. Getting in wouldn't be a problem but the lead inside would definitely cause difficulties. That's what the guns were for. The strategy was a very basic one. They knew that the two couple were being held separately. Each rescue team would try and get one couple and leave the premises immediately unless contacted and told otherwise. They had decided that this was the best plan to prevent any more captures and increase their chances of success. If there were any changes they were to contact Alex and inform him.

There were four entrances to the house. Three of them were accessible on the ground floor while the fourth was on the second floor and opened out onto a balcony. All five of them had memorized all the entrances in case of any emergency. Michael and Maria were to take the back entrance while Isabel and the sheriff went via the side door.

Isabel and the sheriff reached their destination first and a quick touch of the lock by Isabel had the door unlocked. The four aliens had spent a lot time this past summer practicing their powers and all of them had improved tremendously both in speed and the ability to do things they were not previously able to do. On that list unlocking a door, no matter how complicated the lock was, was an easy task for any of them.

The side door led into a long corridor. There was no one in sight but the two of them didn't linger long in the open to prevent being seen. There were a number of doors along the way. Most of them were closed. The sheriff immediately eliminated all the ones that were open as a possible holding cell for the missing teens but before they checked any of the closed rooms they needed to get out of sight. The two walked up to the first opened door and Isabel sneaked a look around a hand held in front of her ready to discharge power if necessary. They were lucky and the room was empty. Quickly they moved in and stopped to regroup and plan the search.

On the other side of the house, two teens stood outside the back door listening for any sounds that would indicate someone in the kitchen, as the blueprints suggested. There was silence and Michael turned the lock cautiously while Maria held her gun arm extended. She had placed a silencer on her gun at the last second to reduce any unnecessary sounds that would remove their surprise element if they had to shoot someone. Moving silently through the kitchen their backs to each other, Michael and Maria kept their eyes roving for anything unusual. It was their complete and utter faith in each other that gave their actions a confidence and sureness. Their first priority was to protect each other and the second to rescue their friends. Both were equally important to them.

************

Liz tried to control her outer expression and keep the excitement from showing in her face. She bent her head over Max's her hair swinging past her shoulders to cover their faces. His eyes were still flickering slightly. She just knew he was seconds away from opening them. Liz had felt him returning to consciousness for a while now and she was determined to prevent their captors from finding this out. It was their only chance to escape. Softly she whispered for him not to move. Max squeezed her hand slightly in acquiescence. His body was still weak and it was difficult for him to move anyway.

He opened his eyes a slit to find Liz's face directly above him. He could feel the soft silky strands of her hair on his cheek. She smiled at him, relief highly apparent on her face. Max attempted to smile back but it hurt too much. She smoothed his forehead with her free hand. It was wet with perspiration showing all the trauma his body had been through. Reading the questions in his eyes and knowing with that silent communication they had always shared that he couldn't talk right now Liz quietly explained all she knew of the situation. His eyes began to shadow over as Max did what came naturally to him. He worried. Being the leader always made it that he felt things deeper than the others and a loss of control was the thing he feared most in the world.

Liz comforted him as best as she could but it was hard since she was scared as well. They didn't know what had happened to any of the others, no chance to warn them or find out what had happened to Michael and Maria on the mission. Max closed his eyes again fighting for control over the fear that threatened to overwhelm him. Slowly his eyelashes flickered again as Liz watched him open them again. This time her face held all the worry she felt for him, the situation and her friends. Max's eyes showed strength this time. Seeing that, Liz felt her courage return. Whatever happened they were together and that's what mattered.

The two of them held their position. If they were going to attempt an escape there were two reasons for Max not to move. The first one was simple and a little problem - he didn't have the strength to move. The second one was more complicated. Moving would alert whoever was watching them of his return to consciousness and Max agreed with Liz that they needed an element of surprise if they were to have any chance to escape. They couldn't rely on the fact that a rescue was already underway not knowing the whereabouts of any their friends. Luckily for both of them, their plan was unneeded because it didn't stand much chance of success with the condition Max was in. Rescue was only a door away where the sheriff and Isabel were about to leave to search.

****************

Kyle and Tess were not as lucky as Max and Liz if you discount Max only recent return to consciousness. While they were not strapped to a bed like Max was during his incarceration by the FBI, they were in a lot of pain. For Kyle the pain was physical and for Tess it was emotional, watching him fall to knees collapsing despite her attempts to hold him up.

The missing files had held the congresswoman back long enough. She was prepared to interrogate without the advantage the files would have brought her. And so she did. A blind fool could see the affection the humans shared with their alien friends and she had been in town long enough to observe that. Well versed in the art of interrogation with a whole war behind her as training she knew what to use to get them to talk to her.

Her anger of all that had gone wrong was against Kyle and Tess right now and so was the pressure the woman was under. She was in a hurry for the information and they were the only two that could provide it thanks to the incompetent fools that had injured the king.

Vanessa Whittaker had started slowly to give them a chance to give up despite her doubts that that would occur. But things had progressed real fast after that. The lead surrounding the room prevented Tess from using her powers but it didn't seem to inhibit the congresswoman at all. She may have been the first alien that they had encountered beside themselves but her powers demonstrated her other worldliness. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was evil - one of the bad guys Max's and Isabel's mother had been warning them about and a real powerful one, seeing as her abilities were way beyond any of theirs.

The thing about it, even though that Tess knew that a rescue was already underway and she only had to be strong for a little while longer, she would have given in just to prevent Kyle from being hurt a second longer. Even with Kyle insisting that she not say a word Tess would have at that moment in time revealed all to the woman that was squeezing Kyle's heart slowly and excruciatingly with her powers from across the room.

Kyle couldn't breathe. He could feel himself dying. It was a feeling he recognized after being shot once. He looked up into the blues eyes of the person that made this all worthwhile as she grabbed his arms before he dropped to his knees. She was strong but not strong enough to hold up his dead weight. He knew she wanted to talk and he implored her with his eyes to hold on and be strong.

Kyle's eyes began to close slowly as he started to lose consciousness and for the third time since the interrogation began the congresswoman brought him back just to begin the torture all over again. Tess was prepared to do just about anything to stop it, the watching him die right before her eyes over and over again, except for one thing. She didn't know what the woman was talking about. Tess had never heard of the granolith before. Not from Nacedo or any of the other aliens. It was ironic that just as she was going to talk she didn't actually have any information to share.

The congresswoman was still going strong. They had been at this for a while now. She knew many that given up at the first sensation of dying yet for some reason these two seemed stronger. Even so, she could tell from the tears that were falling down Subject 8's face, that they were about to give in, but for some reason that had not happened yet. Part of her was actually beginning to believe that they knew nothing. She didn't stop. Vanessa Whittaker had at some point in her long career begun to enjoy watching and even better causing pain in others. The pleasure she received from the tears in her victims was worth a lot in her book and these two deserved it, the way she saw it. They were responsible for her having a really bad day and a little torture did improve the day so much.

*************

Up till now things on the rescue front had been going really well. They were undiscovered and had gained entry to the house. All that was about to change.

Part Twenty Three

Maria and Michael moved silently through the kitchen into the dining room. There were two exits to the room. Michael covered one and Maria the other. It happened suddenly. A man walked into the room. He caught sight of Michael immediately and opened his mouth to yell for help while simultaneously taking out his weapon and pointing it at Michael. Michael in turn raised his hand in defense but before either did anything; Maria hit the man on the head from behind with her gun. He collapsed to the ground without a sound and the two teens moved him underneath the table dragging his body so he wouldn't be seen. They then left the dining room without discovery.

Isabel and the sheriff were not as lucky. They had begun their search into the various closed rooms that lay of the corridor. The first room was empty. It was obviously a holding cell and covered in lead as Isabel discovered. However in the second room Isabel, upon unlocking the door and looking into the room, they found Max and Liz.

When the door opened, Liz and Max both didn't move until Liz heard Isabel's voice. She looked up quickly and a smile of pure relief passed on her face when she saw the sheriff directly behind Isabel carrying a rifle. They were being rescued.

Isabel rushed to Liz's side and helped her lift up Max. Putting an arm around both Isabel and Liz, Max hobbled to his feet while the sheriff stood guard. That was when all hell broke loose. Whoever it was that had been watching, a fact forgotten for a second by Liz and Max must have seen the intruders and a loud alarm began to blare. Moving quickly the four of them ran into the passage. Liz and Isabel practically dragging Max along and the sheriff covering them from the guards that had in seconds appeared.

They were only a few meters away from the side door but with the sheer number of guards that had appeared it didn't look like they were going to make. The sheriff began shooting and when he ran out of bullets pulled out his second gun. It didn't appear to help much. Whatever the guards were, most of them were not human. Shooting them didn't appear to kill them only slow them down. Isabel took front and