Interruptus……

Jesse and Max were packing the trunk of the car, as Isabel and Jesse prepared to leave for the honeymoon. Kyle came out of the Crashdown searching the area for a certain alien girl. They had all gone there after the reception, and Michael and the others were in the back unloading the dishes and stuff from the reception.

“Hey, guys. How's it going?” Kyle asked. “Everything ok?”

“Yeah. Fine.” Jesse closed the trunk of the car.

“You sure?” Kyle asked again.

“Yeah.” Max noticed how distracted Kyle appeared. “What's up?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Kyle pulled a face, then looked around again. “Is Isabel around?”

“Yeah, she's, uh, upstairs changing.”

“Great. Sorry.” Kyle rushed back inside to the rear breakroom.

“Kitchen,” Liz ordered Michael who was carrying dirty dishes.

“I'm not washing all these.” Michael told her.

“Go.” Liz ordered.

Kyle found Isabel pulling her aside. “Hey, what are you doing? You didn't tell them?”

“No.” Isabel shook her head. “You tell them. After I'm gone.” Isabel went to join her new husband and leave for her wonderful honeymoon.

“Hold on. Isn't this guy like an alien killer?”

“Look, I get one honeymoon, all right?” Isabel told Kyle. “He's not gonna ruin it!”

“Isabel,” Kyle stopped her again looking around furiously, “I'm all for denial as a … way of life, but you can’t just run away from this one.”

Isabel moved his hand off her. “Yes, I can.” She had no problem leaving.

Michael came out of the kitchen grabbing Kyle. “You wanna wash or dry?”

“I can’t believe she didn't tell you.” Kyle said in disbelief.

“Tell me what?” Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Where’s Maria? What did she get into?” Michael looked around finding Maria off talking privately to Isabel. He frowned as the two girls seemed very serious.

“Will he suspect anything unusual, just anything …?”

Maria bit her lip nervously. She actually had the chagrin to turn a little pink. “Isabel, it’ll be okay. All these years sharing a bed with Michael … it’s different. I can’t explain it, but there is this intensity to everything, like dreams, feelings, fantasies, and even … um, look …” Maria actually felt embarrassed by something she never bothered to share before. “Its’ intense, but in a good way, not in a way that will make him wonder as much as be … appreciative.”

Jesse interrupted them, making Maria and Isabel both jump a little. “All right, Mrs. Ramirez. Time to go or we are going to miss our plane.”

“I know.” Isabel hugged Maria. “See ya in a week!”

Michael came up to stand beside Maria, his arm snaking out to pull her near in case she took off again. “Have fun.” Michael said to Isabel frowning for a second at the knowing glance that Isabel gave him and Maria.

“What did Isabel want?” Michael asked.

Maria shrugged sniffing. “Advice about sleeping with an alien from the human perspective. Seems I am the resident expert.”

Michael face held shock. “I think she meant sexually, Maria.”

“Yeah, I know.” Maria patted him on the stomach and walked forward to wave with the others. Michael’s mouth dropped. He thought it only happened to him.

“Bye!” Isabel called to everyone as Jesse put her in the car. Jesse ran around and got into his side.

“Bye!” He called winking at his mother standing next to Diane Evans.

“We'll miss you!” Diane said.

Isabel laughed leaning over to talk to her mother across Jesse. “Mom, it's only a week. I'll call.”

Philip pulled his wife back to him. “Have a great time!”

“I'm sure she will.” Kyle said as the car pulled away.

“Everything is different now.” Diane said hugging her son to her side.

Max watched the car as it disappeared. “Yeah, it is.” His mother kissed his cheek before following her husband and Jesse’s mom back into the Crashdown where the parents were having coffee talking about how fast their children were growing up.

Michael and Maria joined Kyle and Max. “What's going on?” Michael asked Kyle, when he really wanted to ask Maria that same question, curious about what she just said … about the sex thing … with an alien. It better be him and not some other damn alien … Max? Larek? Rath? Michael’s eyes narrowed at that thought.

“Is she officially gone yet?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah.” Michael glanced down the road. No car. That looked pretty gone.

Max was slightly depressed, and he wasn’t sure why. “I'm leaving.”

“Wait. Kyle's gonna tell us something.” Michael said remembering Kyle’s comments in the kitchen about ‘her not telling them’. “Spit it out.”

“I can’t believe she didn't tell you.”

Michael was getting a little tired of Kyle, but Maria’s hand tightened on his waist. “Tell us what?”

“About Khivar.” Kyle noticed everyone’s reaction. “What, did I say his name wrong?”

“What about Khivar?” Michael demanded. Isabel’s fears about Khivar still very real in his mind.

“He's here.”

“He's here?”

“She saw him.” Kyle confirmed. “She danced with him.”

Michael’s mouth fell open. “She what?”

“At the reception. He looks normal. Looks like a human.”

Michael glanced at Max. “How does Isabel's former alien lover crash her wedding and we don't know about it?”

Kyle shrugged. Not his department. “I don't know, but he's here.” Kyle cleared his throat. “Maybe I got him on tape?”

Michael and the other went inside to find the video that Kyle and Michael shot during the reception. Maria whispered to Michael, “hey, I thought you were Isabel’s former alien lover … you know, being all engaged and all.”

Michael snorted. “Not likely … not possible. Mindwarp. I don’t stand in line, and I don’t share.”

“For a foster kid, you sure don’t share well.”

Michael glanced down at her, “ as a only child, neither do you.”

“Yeah, don’t forget that, buddy!”

Liz came to watch as the rewound the tape. They went through it slowly until Kyle found the spot where Michael was dancing with Isabel, damaging her feet and desperately looking around for Kyle. The man that tapped Michael on the shoulder and cut in to dance was there.

“No, no, that's it.” Kyle said. “Stop it. Stop it.”

“How can that be him?” Michael asked staring at Kyle, needing him to be sure. “That's him?”

Maria’s mouth opened in appreciation of the fine looking man dancing with Isabel. “Woof!” she exclaimed, checking out the man again when she noticed Michael’s glare at her. “I'm just saying.”

“So what's the deal with this guy?” Kyle asked seeing everyone’s expression.

“Son of a bitch killed us.” Michael explained.

“All of us.” Max told Kyle.

“He killed you?”

“Yeah. We don't remember a lot. In our other life, Khivar was our enemy. He was trying to take over my throne. Isabel fell in love with him and helped him overtake us. It was a bloodbath. We were all killed, including Isabel. Our genetic material was mixed with human DNA, and then we were sent here.” Max told Kyle wrapping their entire history up in a nutshell.

Kyle made a sound of disgust. “Nothing's ever simple with you people, is it?” Maria shook her head at Kyle. Welcome to the alien abyss.

“What is Khivar doing here?” Liz asked.

Michael made a face. Wasn’t that his question? “I doubt he's on vacation.”

“What are you gonna do?” Liz asked Max, not sure she wanted to know.

“What we have to.” Max said sharing a look with Michael.

“We're going to La Jolla .” Michael said using his powers to create airline tickets for him, Maria, and Max.

“First class,” Michael said picking them up and handing them to Maria. “And we're gonna kill him.”

Maria glanced at the tickets. “Aw, man! Why don’t I ever get the window seat?”

~~~

“Maria, can you put the phone away? Tell Parker to call later or not at all.” Michael suggested.

Maria shushed him. “Then what happened? Uh-huh. Of course you should be suspicious! Weren’t we always suspicious as well?”

“Maria …”

“Fine. Um, look. I’ll call you back when we land. Uh-huh. You bet.” Maria hung up. “Do you want to know, or are you’re boxers still in a twist?”

“Just spill.”

“Mr. Evans came to the Crashdown after we left, and had a mano-a-mano talk with Mr. P. They were all secretive and whispery like. Liz asked her dad what it was about, and he made up this lame lie about their tax accountant increasing their fees.”

Max woke up in his seat across the aisle from Michael and Maria. “Is that all that Liz got from him?”

“Yeah,” said Maria sniffing at Michael. She bestowed a nice large smile on Max. It was nice to be appreciated. “She said that they looked like us when we were hiding something.”

“Or it was about their tax accountant increasing his fees,” Michael suggested.

“I’ve got to go … somewhere else. Be back.” Maria left them to go find the restroom, and get rid of tons of liquid from the party.

“She’s going to get upset if you keep dissing her information.”

“She’s looking for trouble, when we have enough already on our plates.” Michael told Max.

“Why did you make her a ticket, too?” Max asked. “Habit?”

“No. Self preservation. Maria alone, would be investigating your father right now. Also,” Michael sighed, “in case you didn’t notice … this was it. My first formal date with Maria, and before the date was over I had Liz Parker ordering me to do dishes, and find myself on a plane to La Jolla . This is my date, and I am damned if I’m going to let anyone spoil it for me.”

“She said yes.” Max pointed out, not bothering to mention that Michael and Maria almost danced exclusively together at the party.

“That was a start, but I want her to say yes to other things as well.”

“Are we talking about sex again?”

Michael glanced up to see Maria rejoining them. “I’m always talking, thinking, and dreaming about sex, but no … this is something more important. Sex is a huge part of it, but there is so much more, I can’t even say.”

~~~

When Jesse and Isabel arrived at La Jolla , Isabel thought she saw Khivar across the street, but when she looked back, he was gone. They were tired when they checked in, so they lay down to take a short nap, to catch up on the jet lag. When Isabel woke, she found Jesse gone. There was a note from his. Confused by dreams of Khivar, Isabel quickly went to find him since he was late. She found him by a pool with a man.

Khivar.

Jesse had met this man … Kevin, who was Khivar on the driving range. Unable to find a reason to pull Jesse away, she joined the two men listening to them talk. Jesse told Kevin, aka, Khivar how meeting her was love at first sight.

Khivar admitted to having someone that special in his life, but his great love was gone. Missing. He was looking for her for all eternity. Khivar spun this tale of fantastical love, castles and realms, two people loving against odds. Jesse listened amused, and Isabel wanted away.

Jesse asked about the story, and despite Isabel’s pleas of it being private, Khivar shared it, his eyes never leaving Isabel’s.

“Hey, it's all right. Really. Look, to fully understand what happened, you gotta go back to the first night we met. See, we weren’t supposed to fall in love. Our families were enemies, we were at the palace, and it was one of those rare moments where they were trying to find peace.”

“The palace.” Jesse repeated, skeptical of this modern day fairytale.

“We were by the water, and … she pleaded with me not to, but I kissed her.” Isabel moved uncomfortably remembering her dream. “And that was it. From that point on, we were together. We would have done anything for each other, and we did. Till one bad night. One … one night I lost her.”

“Well, it all sounds pretty far-fetched to me.” Isabel said laughing lightly trying to brush it off.

Khivar’s eyes remained fixated on her. “But it's all true.” Isabel hated that more than anything, because she knew it was.

~~~

“I got it, Kyle.” Jim called going to answer the door.

“Ok.” Kyle went back to what he was doing.

“Hey.” Jim was surprised to see Philip Evans. “What's up, Philip?”

“Hi, Sheriff.” Philip remembered Jim’s dismissal. “Uh, Jim. Uh, listen, I feel really odd about this …”

“About what?”

“Well, I'm not sure. I've been talking to Jeff Parker, and, um … and I know this is gonna sound strange, but there's some things I need to know, and I was wondering if you could help me out. Can I come in?”

“Sure!” Jim stood aside and invited Philip inside. “Yeah, I'm sorry. Come on in. Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

“So, uh … what kinda things?”

“It's about the kids. Um …” Philip tried to narrow it to a specific question. “About Max, actually.”

“Something happened?” Jim asked concerned.

“Something's been happening for a few years now, and I don't know what it is. I'm just trying to find out more information on my son.”

“How can I help you?”

“Well … I used to see him all the time with this girl. She had blonde hair. I think she was staying at your house.”

“Tess.” Jim said breathing in deeply, feeling the pain Tess had left behind.

“Yeah. They dated, didn't they?”

“Yeah. I think. I mean, for a while, yeah.” Jim made a face, not sure how to answer that. “You know kids. Hard to keep up.”

“Yeah.” Philip seemed to give that some thought. “Where is she now?”

“She left.”

“Oh.” Philip frowned. A minor girl just leaves and no one notices?

“She went back east. She's got relatives there … an aunt and uncle.”

“Do you have a way of contacting her?”

“What, uh--why?”

Philip smiled, but there was no humor in his eyes. “I was just gonna ask her a few questions.”

“About Max.” Jim guessed.

“Do you have a phone number for her?”

“Yeah, somewhere. I've got her address here. God knows where that is. Let me ask Kyle when he gets back.” Jim said quickly covering. “And, uh … we'll see if we can’t track her down for you.”

“I'd appreciate that.” Philip said leaving. “Thanks, Sheriff.” Once again, he forgot that Jim was no longer the sheriff.

“Sure. Sure, no problem.” Jim shut the door and turned to see Kyle staring at him. He had heard everything.

~~~

“He bugs me.” Isabel told Jesse as they were dancing.

“Who, Kevin?” Jesse glanced over at the other man. “What, you think he's some freak who preys on honeymooning newlyweds?” Khivar moved his hand over a drink changing its color. Jesse didn’t notice, but he didn’t need too much convincing to be alone with Isabel. “Ok. Let's sneak out this way.”

“Jesse.” Kevin called coming up the newlyweds. “Here” He gave Jesse the drink. Kevin played it cool telling them he should leave them alone. He said and goodbyes and offered his congratulations as the drink caught up with Jesse. Sick, Jesse had to quickly leave before he lost his stomach. Thinking it was a bad oyster appetizer, he excused himself. Khivar grabbed Isabel and started dancing with her.

“What did you do to Jesse?”

“He'll be fine. Just used him to steal a moment. I've been searching for you for an eternity.”

“I'm not Vilandra anymore.” Isabel told him struggling to get out of his arms.

“Yes, you are. I can feel it. I can feel it right now.”

“You got what you wanted from me.” Isabel remembered her world, her people, her family and friends lost to her betrayal as Khivar took control. “Please, just leave me alone now.”

“Ditch the human toy and meet me by the water. Like when we first met.”

“No. No. No.” Isabel struggled out of his arms to go find Jesse, to put some distance between her and her past lover.

~~~

Liz was on the phone with Maria, who was sitting in the bathroom on the plane talking to Liz and Kyle, listening to their conversation.

“So what did your dad say to him?” Liz asked Kyle while Maria listened.

“Well, he handled it for the moment, but it's true. Max's dad is investigating.”

Maria’s voice came over the phone. “You guys, I really-- I wouldn't worry about this. Look at it from Mr. Evans' point of view. His son is practically a hardened criminal. Suddenly daughter gets married. He's trying to get a grip on his new world order.”

“Suppose he discovers the interstellar love triangle and the alien hit squad with human girl Friday winging its way to honeymoon central?” Kyle asked the phone.

“No, he won't.” Liz said.

“He might.” Kyle told Liz and then spoke into the phone just in case Maria hadn’t heard. “He might.”

There was a knock on Maria’s bathroom door. “Occupied!” She called to the door.

“Maria, it’s me. Open up.”

“Spaceboy!” Maria whispered into the phone. “Hold on.” Maria opened the door peering out at Michael and a slight line waiting for a bathroom. “Huh?” She said innocently.

“I know what you’re doing in there.”

“Using the facilities?” Maria said hopefully. Michael made a face shaking his head. He pushed inside and turned back to the other passengers.

“We might be a while.” Shutting the door, he and Maria were in the cramped bathroom. He held out his hand for the phone.

“What’s going on?” he asked the co-conspirators on the other end.

“He won't.” Liz was still reassuring Kyle.

“Won’t what?” Michael asked as Maria’s phone went dead and the overhead chimes went off asking people to prepare to land.

“Phone battery is dead.” Michael told Maria as he opened the bathroom door and led her out. People were staring at them. Michael smiled back. “Honey, you’re always so much better a few miles in air.

“Oh!” Maria said. suddenly noticing the audience. She whispered hotly at Michael on the way back to their seat about not appreciating the damage to her reputation. “I just made it.” Michael reassured her. “So how did your phone lose its battery?”

“Freak static electricity field?”

“Uh-huh.”

~~~

Back in Roswell , Liz was calling to Maria in the dead phone. She gave up and disconnected. “Phone is dead. I think Maria’s battery went dead.”

“What's this?” Kyle asked picking up a flyer.

“I don't know. What is it?” Liz leaned over Kyle staring at a missing person’s flyer.

“Guess what?” Kyle said.

“What?”

“Isabel's alien lover is a man named Denny.” Kyle held it up to Liz. “He's not from Antar.”

“No. That's how he got here.” Liz said it all coming clear. This poor man was an innocent like Brody. “Khivar took possession.”

“This guy's totally innocent.” Kyle said reading the information with Liz.

“With a wife.”

“And Max and Michael are gonna kill him.” Liz took her phone and tried Maria again.

~~~

Isabel was waiting for Jesse to come out of the bathroom. They finally ditched Kevin, aka, Khivar, and Isabel was a bundle of nerves. He was there. How could he be there? If only she and Jesse could, solidify their union, make love, then maybe she could better resist the draw from Khivar.

“Jesse, are you coming out?” Isabel asked as she had a flashback from her Khivar dream.

“Yeah. One second.” Jesse called through the door.

“Oh, Jesse, hurry.” Isabel said agitatedly to herself feeling herself slipping. Isabel glanced out the window and saw Khivar watching her room. Using her power, she melted the door knob locking Jesse in the bathroom.

Jesse tried to come out when the door stuck. “Hey, Isabel! Something's wrong with the door. Can you push it or something?”

“Um, it's stuck, honey.” Isabel said to him. “I can’t even turn the handle.”

Jesse couldn’t believe it! “How much did we pay for this hotel room?”

“Jesse, sweetheart, I'm going to go and find some maintenance people and see if they can get it open.” Isabel said through the door. “I'll be right back.”

“Isabel … Isabel, just use the phone.” Jesse told her as she let herself out of the room. Isabel walked over to Khivar.

“What have you done to me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You've taken control, used some kind of power to get me here.”

Khivar laughed. “I've done nothing.” He told her. “You're here because it's where Vilandra wants to be.”

“Vilandra is dead. She doesn't exist.”

“She does.” Khivar put his hand on Isabel’s face twisting it up to him. “Within you.”

“Vilandra betrayed my entire family. She murdered them, and I've been given a second chance, and it doesn't include you!”

“Yes, it does! Just by being here.” Khivar laughed. Silly girl, she was powerless to resist, just as before, and her being there proved it. “We can leave tonight. Right now.”

“How?” A ship? Isabel couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea of another Granilith.

“It's a new mode of transit, something we've been working on. It's better than a ship.” Khivar explained. “Just come with me.”

“No. And if you really love me, don't come back.” Khivar held her, kept her from leaving. He leaned down and kissed her.

~~~

Michael pulling Maria along as they and Max arrived at the resort. “What if he's not here?” Michael asked Max. “What if this is some wild goose chase?”

“Oh, he's here. He wants Isabel.” Max said. “Khivar's nothing if not determined.”

Maria glanced at Max. “And you know that how? Max, do you even remember Khivar, except that he murdered all of you and took your throne using Isabel in the process.”

“That’s beside the point. His past record speaks for itself.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think you have Isabel issues. Have you considered therapy for your sister obsession?” Maria asked.

“Maria, concentrate. We’re looking for Khivar.” Michael told Maria, but he glanced at Max. Maria might have a point. He was the one supposedly once engaged to Isabel, and he never reacted anywhere near as emotionally about her as Max did … actually he never acted emotionally about her unless irritated. Strange. “If this Khivar is obsessed, and I’m going to take your word for it, Maxwell since I think of all of us, you might know more about that than me or Maria, then I hope we're not …” Michael stopped talking when they rounded the corner and found Isabel and Khivar kissing, “… too late.”

Max dived for a low wall, and Maria who was frozen in one spot, her mouth opening as she watched Isabel getting all jiggy with someone not her new husband, gave a little chirp when Michael grabbed her and ducked behind the wall with Max as the three of them slowly going to their knees to peek.

“Return with me, Vilandra.” Khivar said, in such a human voice, that Maria had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

She whispered to Michael, “Don’t you think his voice should be deeper, with like a echo?” Maria repeated the phrase, ‘Return with me, Vilandra’ in a mocked up alien voice.

“C’mon,” Michael whispered hotly to her, “no one talks like that.”

“Could the two of you put this argument on hold?” Max suggested gesturing to Isabel and her alien lover.

“I'm not Vilandra.” Isabel told the man.

“You can be. We can leave all this behind.”

Max’s cell phone rang, and Maria almost screamed, but Michael quickly put his hand over her mouth pulling her into his body.

“You ever hear of vibrate?” Michael suggested to Max.

“Jesse.” Isabel said over the wall looking back to the hotel and her trapped husband inside. Trapped by her so she could meet her alien lover.

“He doesn't matter.” Khivar told Isabel.

“He does!” Isabel insisted. “He does matter.”

Max put the phone to his ear. “Max, hi. You're still alive!”

“Is that Liz?” Michael asked suspiciously staring at Max, and then at Maria. She just shrugged. This wasn’t her fault. Her phone was dead.

“I can’t talk right now.” Max told Liz in the phone, talking low so Isabel and the demon bastard from Antar couldn’t hear him.

“Max, did you kill him?”

“No.” Max told her lifting up to look at Isabel and Khivar. “I love you, but I gotta go.”

“Are Michael and Maria ok?” Kyle asked, his voice coming over the phone. “What about Isabel?”

“Max, don't kill him, ok?” Liz told Max.

“Hang it up.” Michael told Max. They were going to give away their location.

Maria had been watching Isabel and the delicious looking guy she was macking on. “Tell Liz we’ll call her back.” Maria glanced at Michael. “You know, you aliens can be real romantic at times. Who would’ve expected that from an emotionless race?”

“We do have emotions.” Michael insisted. “Most of them are … violent ones, bordering on murder, but they’re emotions.”

“He's a human being. His name is Denny Ridgley, he's married, and he's a local.”

“Are Michael and Maria ok?” Kyle insisted.

“Max, hang it up!” Michael ordered Max.

“Yeah.” Max looked at Michael and Maria looking over the wall, Michael holding Maria into his body trapping her to the wall. “Maria is fine. Michael is … better.”

“Yes, they're fine.” Liz told Kyle.

“Have they found Isabel?” Kyle asked.

“Who's Denny Ridgley?” Max asked.

Michael and Maria looked at Max in irritation as he continued to stay on the phone. Michael looked back over the wall. “They're gone!”

“Max, his wife has been putting out missing persons posters all over town.”

“Come on!” Michael told Max, helping Maria up. “They're gone.”

“I personally think that Khivar has like taken him over. It's gotta be a possession thing. Oh, my god, and one more thing. Your father, he's been going around town asking questions.”

That captured Max’s attention. “About what?”

“About you and Tess.” Liz told him as she stumbled over the other girl’s name.

“Find out what he's after. I gotta go.” Max disconnected joining Michael and Maria. “Khivar's possessing some guy named Denny.”

“So?” Michael said hurrying along with Maria as they looked in all directions hoping to find Isabel and the creature that stomped out their lives last time.

“So we can’t kill him.”

“Yeah, who says?” Michael shook his head catching the look from Maria. “Hey! I’m just saying that last time … he annihilated us.”

Maria huffed and looked past Michael at Max. “Is Liz and Kyle okay, Max?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. They miss you.”

Maria smiled deciding to ignore Michael. Why the hell did she ever agree to date him? Next thing she knew, he would be wanting to hunt Brody down to get rid of Larek.

“I was just saying,” Michael said seeing her reaction.

“You say too much.”

~~~

Isabel returned to the room to open the door and release the trapped Jesse. “What did you do?” He asked.

“Nothing,” she lied.

“To the door?”

“What-- oh!” Isabel realized he meant how did you open it, not that she broke it. “Um … the front desk. They told me that sometimes it sticks, and you have to …”

Jesse looked at her feet that were dirty. “Were you outside?”

“No. Yes.” Isabel rolled her eyes crafting yet another lie. “The maintenance guy was outside. So I had to find him to ask him about the door, and he said that sometimes you just have to lean into it and … and pull back. All at the same time.”

“Lean in and … pull back all at the same time?” Jesse said amused walking into Isabel, picking her up. “Is that what you have to do?” He carried Isabel to the bed more than willing to get his honeymoon back on track. “Now, where were we?”

There came a knock at the door. Afraid it was Khivar, Isabel got off the bed quickly.

“I'll get it.” Isabel said.

“Ignore it.”

Isabel smiled and held out her hand to Jesse motioning him to stay. “Just don't move, just …”

Jesse laid back on the bed trying to figure what he heck was happening on his honeymoon. “Whatever.”

Isabel went to the door as a female voice called, "Room Service", and she opened it to see Max, Michael and Maria standing there. Maria waved.

“Hi.” Max said.

“We're here to kill your boyfriend.” Michael told Isabel pleasantly.

“Who is it?” Jesse called from the bed.

“Room service.” Isabel told Jesse nervously slamming the door in the other teens face.

“Did you order something?” Jesse asked confused. His honeymoon wasn’t turning out exactly the way he expected.

“No. It was a mistake.”

Jesse patted the bed next to him. “Come to bed.” He gave Isabel one of his brilliantly sexy smiles.

“I really want a drink.” Isabel said suddenly as she desperately tried to find a way to get Jesse out of the room.

“What?” Jesse’s handsome face creased in confusion.

“Yeah.” Isabel liked that excuse. He would have to go downstairs. “Honey, would you be a fantastic husband and go down to the bar and get me one of those, um … fruity, pineapplely umbrella drinks?”

“What? Come on!”

“All that running around made me thirsty.”

“Well, tell the room service person.”

“He's gone.” Isabel lied.

“What's going on?” Jesse asked, not understanding what was happening.

“I'm nervous. I need to relax.”

“We have champagne.”

“Yeah, but I'm really in the mood for one of those …”

“Fruity, pineapple-ly umbrella drinks.” Jesse guessed.

“Yes. Please?” Isabel laid on the charm literally pushing Jesse to the door. “Thanks, honey.” Isabel hurried Jesse out the door and once he was gone Max, Michael, and Maria came in. “What are you guys doing here?”

“This wasn’t my idea … I’m on a date,” Maria explained to Isabel her part in the intrusion, letting the alien hit men take the brunt of it. “I love this place! It’s so romantic.”

Michael put a finger to Maria’s mouth to shush her. “Taking care of your problem.” Michael told Isabel. Khivar. He was there. Of course they would come to remove the potential threat to all of their lives.

“Why didn't you tell us before you left?” Max demanded.

“Well, I didn't expect him to follow me here.”

Michael made a scoffing sound. “He sure as hell doesn't have the hots for us, now, does he?” Michael didn’t add Maria in that, and if Khivar knew what was good for him, he wouldn’t turn his eyes on Maria … keep to Isabel. Having Larek in love with his girlfriend was more than enough. Rath … unthinkable. No more aliens!

“You can’t kill him.”

“We know.” Max said.

“We're going to.” Michael said at the same time. Michael looked at Max and made a face. “Khivar possessed some idiot.” Michael explained to Isabel Max’s reluctance to do the right thing.

Isabel looked at the group as Maria wandered around checking out the room. “Who?”

“I don't care.” Michael told Isabel and Max. “It doesn't matter. He's dead.” They weren’t getting it. The man that ordered their death, made a pact with Tess and Nasedo, was here. He might be hiding in a human form, but he was here and as long as he was … all of them were unfinished business.

Isabel glanced nervously at the door. “Look, I really think you guys should go. Because I've got this totally under control. I'm gonna get rid of him.”

“Yeah.” Michael said rolling his eyes. “You're gonna give him what he wants.”

“What?” Isabel didn’t appreciate Michael’s sarcastic tone.

“You're gonna ride his handlebars all the way back to Antar, aren't you?” Michael said as Maria wandered back close enough to his side that he could pull her back in.

“We saw you.” Max told Isabel.

“By the gazebo.” Michael explained.

Maria shrugged putting in her two cents worth. “It was all really romantic, except for the part about the guy not being your husband, and the person who murdered you and everyone in your last life. That’s … well, that’s sort of whacked.”

“Why is this happening to me?” Isabel wailed dramatically as she slid down the closed door into a pathetic heap on the floor. “Oh, I'm married! I love Jesse! I love him!”

“I know.” Max said gently.

“But I love Khivar.”

“No …” Max said shaking his head as Michael made a rude comment about her getting them all killed … again. “No, you don't.”

“Vilandra does. She wants control. She wants to go back.”

“She's gone.” Max told his sister. She was allowing a ghost to rule her.

“She's not! I wish she was! I hate her! I hate what she did! But she isn't gone, Max! She's still inside of me!”

Maria shared a look with Michael as the hysterical Isabel ranted and raved at Max. Michael pulled Maria to him, his arm was around her waist. He wasn’t Rath, and he never wanted to be. He made his choice, and he would be damned if Isabel, or Vilandra, or whoever’s lover would come and destroy everything he fought so hard for. He had just gotten to the point where he liked his life, and he planned on keeping it.

“Listen to me. Isabel! Listen.” Max grabbed her face ordering her to be still. “This is what we're gonna do. You are gonna stay here in this room with your husband. We're gonna find Khivar.”

“No! No, Max. You're not going without me. What if something goes wrong and you need me there?”

Michael couldn’t believe she was willing to risk her life, and her future with Jesse to do this. “Is this some kind of closure thing?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes. I need to get over him. I need to conquer this now!” Isabel practically screamed making Maria wince. Damn.

“All right. Ok. Ok. You stay here. We'll wait outside just in case he comes looking. If he doesn't, you leave here at dawn. Get away from Jesse. We'll be right behind you, out of sight. You find Khivar … take him someplace secluded. We'll get Khivar out of Ridgley somehow.” Max outlined the plan keeping contact with his sister, making sure she understood.

“Then what?” Isabel asked.

“I'm gonna get a t-shirt printed up.” Michael said sarcastically as Maria’s hands tightened on him before he lost his temper at Isabel. “We're gonna kill him, Isabel!”

“He's after you now, but we're unfinished business.” Max told Isabel, the point that was pushing Michael to act, the one that should be obvious to Isabel, but eluded her. “Do you understand? It's either him or us, Isabel.”

“Yes. Ok.” Isabel said agreeing as her two brothers stared at her along with Maria, all of them with doubt in their eyes, the uncertainty over whether she would betray them again.

Jesse was back. He knocked on the door to get Isabel to let him in. “It's me.”

“That was fast.” Isabel said as she let Jesse into the room.

“I'm motivated.” Jesse handed her the drink.

“Thanks, honey.” Isabel said faking a drink of the alcohol she couldn’t drink. “Ok. Um … I'll be right there.” Isabel told him as he walked into the bedroom. “I'll be right there.” Isabel gestured to the others to leave, now. Max, Maria and Michael sneaked out as Jesse goes into the bedroom.

“Are you alright?” Jesse asked.

No, she was not. Isabel cleared her throat loudly, “Just … listen to me for a second. Don't say anything. Just … let me get this out.” Isabel begged Jesse taking a deep breath. “I'm not who you think I am. I'm from another planet.”

Jesse chuckled giving Isabel an amused looked. “You mean, like, men are from Mars, women are from Venus?”

“I'm from Antar. I'm an alien.”

Jesse laughed again thinking she was joking him. “Sure. Ok.” Isabel reached over using her powers to melt a candle.

Jesse blinked. “How did you do that?”

“Max, Michael.” Isabel called out, “you and Maria can come out now.”

Jesse turned as Isabel’s brothers appeared with a nervous Maria biting her nail. She smiled encouragingly at Jesse. “W-what is this?”

“We're all aliens … well, not Maria, but Michael has given her honorary status since she is so weird.” Maria gasped and hit Michael on the shoulder who quickly whispered to Maria, putting the blame on Isabel. Isabel continued ignoring the couple. “Our ship crashed in Roswell over fifty years ago. It wasn't a hoax. It was a government cover-up. We're hybrids. Alien-human DNA. We crawled out of our secret … pod chamber about twelve years ago into the desert. And nobody knows. Not even our parents.”

“Some people know,” Michael said pointing to Max, “like his girlfriend.”

“And his,” Max said pointing to Maria who waved.

“And now you,” Isabel finished.

Jesse shook his head. “This is some weird family practical joke, right?”

Michael made a face. Yeah, his life felt like a damn joke. “Constantly.”

Max tried to help. “You know when Liz and I robbed that convenience store?” Jesse nodded, not seeing the connection. “We were after an alien spaceship hidden in the basement.”

Isabel joined in. “See, he got this girl pregnant. She's alien, too, and now he's got this kid out there.”

“The other alien girl was a total bitch who mindwarped our friend Alex to death, and she got a one way trip in a Granilith to Antar.” Maria added.

“She took my son. Somewhere out there is my son.” Max explained. “And I needed a ship to track him down.”

Jesse’s mouth just hung open. Michael pointed upward. “Out there.”

“You're not kidding!” Jesse said looking at the deranged teenagers. It was official. He married into a family of loons.

“No.” Isabel said sweetly, smiling at him. “But, honey, look, it doesn't mean that we can’t have a perfectly normal, healthy, happy marriage.”

“R-righ... right ... Right. Sure. Help!” Jesse rushed to the glass door leading outside. He banged on it. “Help! Let me outta here! I gotta get outta here! Help!” He yelled hysterically as the glass shattered as Jesse broke the door.

Isabel blinked. Her fantasy to tell Jesse ended. So that wouldn’t work. She leaned back sighing.

“Are you all right? What's going on?” Jesse asked seeing his wife laid out on the bed, not looking too good.

“You know that oyster appetizer?” Jesse nodded. “I think you're right. It wasn't such a good idea.”

“Are you sick?”

“I think so.” Isabel confessed too upset to even think about her honeymoon or anything else.

“So you won't be wanting this drink, then, right?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, that's a shame.” Jesse drank it himself. His honeymoon was turning into something he never imagined.

~~~

The three Musketeers were staking out the Ramirez room when Max’s phone rang again. Maria pouted. Her phone was dead otherwise Liz would have called her. Michael and Maria sat back together with Maria resting against Michael in his lap as Max talked to Liz.

Apparently Liz’s father remembered something, and he called Philip making an appointment the next day. Whatever Philip Evans was doing, he was slowly gathering information.

Liz and Max talked for a little while, and Max walked away to talk in private. Maria settled into Michael, wishing they could get a room, but she knew they couldn’t afford to take a chance that Isabel would leave with Khivar.

“You cold?” Michael asked concerned that she was uncomfortable.

“No. It’s nice and warm here.” Maria glanced at him. “Reminds me of that time we went camping, and you made me climb up that huge butte. We could see for miles, and that night, the stars were so bright.”

Michael remembered, his arms tightened on her. “Cassiopeia was at her northern most extension in this hemisphere.” Michael rested his chin on her head. “I’m sorry our date ended up like this.”

“Date? The wedding was over, Michael. Khivar showing up was hardly your fault.”

“Well I sort of had plans afterwards. I knew your mother was leaving immediately after the wedding, and I made arrangements for us to go for a late dinner in Santa Fe to meet her there.”

Maria turned to look at him better. “Really?” A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.

“Yeah. I know how much you miss her, and she comes down for this short break, and gets roped into Isabel’s wedding nightmare.” Michael moved her hair off her face, his one hand keeping a silky strand between his fingers. “You didn’t get to spend quality time with her. So it was sort of a surprise for both of you.”

“Khivar messed it up.”

“Yeah.”

“So why did you make me a ticket to come with you? You could’ve come with Max alone.”

“I could’ve.” Michael leaned forward to whisper to his co-conspirator in everything. “I was hoping when we took care of Khivar, we could get a little bit of fun in. This place is warm. There’s water, and …”

“I love warm places with water.”

“Right.” Michael sat back peacefully holding her. He wasn’t too great at the dating game, but he knew what she liked. Telling her about his other plans after the wedding was a tactic to hopefully keep her thinking of this excursion as the continuation of the date. It could be a long time before he found the nerve or the right circumstance to ask her again.

~~~

The next morning, Isabel left the room while Jesse was still asleep. She walked outside the room past Max and Michael without speaking. 

“Let's go.” Max said.

Michael agreed. Maria had gone for coffee, and maybe it was better to get this done without her being there. He didn’t want her to see him kill an innocent human, but one way or another, Khivar was dead. He took Michael’s life in the past, but now Michael had so much more to lose. “Come on.”

Jesse had woken up to find Isabel gone. Calling to her, he found the room empty. He went outside to find her and instead saw Max and Michael hiding.

“Max?” Jesse couldn’t believe it! What the hell was up with his wife and her brother? Jesse got a weird feeling in his stomach, a growing repulsion wondering if he really wanted to know. Maybe they could get Max to therapy discretely. “What the hell are you doing' here?”

“Jesse.” Max swore on under his breath as he and Michael faced the confused man.

“I--I said, what are you doing here?” Jesse asked, his confusion turning to anger. His brother-in-law was stalking his wife!

“Vacation.” Michael threw out there, wincing at the stupidity of it all.

“What?”

Max picked up the story having a hard time not just losing it. “Yeah. Isabel did such a good job describing the place, and we had some free time, so …”

“Hey, look, cut the crap.” Jesse told the two teen boys. “What's going on?”

Maria came around the corner carrying the coffees. She quickly saw the situation and heard the lamest of excuses. Rushing forward, she practically ran into Jesse spilling the coffees on him. “Oh god! Jesse! I’m so sorry.” Maria passed Max a coffee, then Michael, her eyes on Michael. “Baby, we’ve got to go. All the times were booked all day, and if we miss it, we’re not going to get another chance.” Maria gave Michael an adoring look as she sipped her coffee.

Max took the hint. “We gotta go.”

“Where?” Maria too? But … but, she was so sane. Jesse watched as Maria’s hand rested on Michael’s stomach and she leaned into him, kissing his mouth gently. Michael and Maria … with Max? A threesome? Max was living at Michael’s place, and so was Maria … Jesse shook his head. “Where?” he demanded.

“Scuba lessons.” Michael told the man.

“Scuba lessons?” Jesse looked at the three not believing a word they said. “Where's Isabel?!”

Michael feigned innocence as he made a face. “Dude! She's your wife.”

“Yeah, and when you find her, say hi.” Max told his brother-in-law as he looked at Michael and Maria. “We gotta go.”

“Yeah, w-- what's going on?!” Jesse demanded following them.

“Michael.” Max said as they hurried away, but Jesse relentlessly followed.

“On it.” Michael used his power to pull a wheelbarrow in front of Jesse tripping the man up.

“Aaahh!” Jesse screamed in pain and frustration, then anger.

Maria let Michael hurry her alone. “See! We’re so good!”

“We’re toast!” Michael corrected her.

“Don’t be silly. What he is going to do? Sit back and think … geez, they’re obviously here to track down Isabel’s alien lover, Khivar?” Maria made a face. “Not. He just thinks Max is an obsessive wacko with an unhealthy jones for his sister, and we are his loyal friends coming to his