Tess, Lies, and Videotape…..

 

 

Maria was working her shift with Michael and Liz. No one was talking much, not about the orb, that night, or Max hitting Michael. Liz tried to stay away from the topic, because she could sense Maria’s anger, and she didn’t want to have to defend her boyfriend against her friend. Michael was in the kitchen, and except to talk to Maria or tell them an order was up, he barely said anything. Max and Isabel were sitting at the counter while Liz was working.

Max sees Liz and smiles. “Uh, Miss.”

Liz smiles her voice perky. “Uh, yes, sir?”

Max held out his coffee cup. “Refill, please.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Isabel gagged at the sugar sweetness of the two. “God, do you have to do that?”

Max looked at his irritated sister. “What?”

“Be so public.” Isabel gave Liz a glaring look. “I mean, it's kind of creepy.”

They all stopped talking as Valenti entered the Crashdown. Maria was wiping down a counter, and Liz quickly went to serve Jim.

“Oh, um, hi. Can I help you, Sheriff?”

The Sheriff handed over his thermos. “Just the usual, Miss Parker.”

“All righty, here you go, Sheriff.” Liz quickly scurried off to get it done, and get the Sheriff out. She was very quick, handing the thermos over.

“Thank you.” Jim said, his eyes missing nothing, noting the usual suspects, Max, Liz, Isabel, Maria and Michael. “Folks have a nice night.”

Michael finally left the kitchen and walked up to stand behind Maria. He leaned into her almost resting against her.

“He knows.” Michael said as his eyes followed Valenti.

“What does he know?” Max asked, talking to Michael for the first time since that night.

“He's got the orb.”

“Which proves nothing.” Max said, his voice adding a bite. “And if you hadn't taken it out of the apartment in the first place...”

“Oh, yeah, it's always my fault.” Maria quickly turned, ready to push Michael out of the room if it exploded in a fight, her hands gentle, but firm on Michael’s wrists.

“Blaming each other is not going to change anything.” Isabel said jumping into the discussion to diffuse a potential fight. “So Valenti now has something from our planet in his possession.”

“Even though he has it, he doesn't know what it is, right?” Liz guessed.

“We don't even know what it is.” Michael and Maria shared a look. That wasn’t true. They knew there were two, and together they were communicators. If the Special Unit could decipher what they were with only one, then maybe so could Valenti.

Liz literally jumped when Tess appeared at her elbow.

“What what is?” She smiled at Liz’s reaction. “Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything.”

Isabel gave the others a warning glare. “No, no. Hey we were just... um...” Isabel paused uncertain what to say. “Why don't you join us? Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” Tess joined Isabel and Max.

“Sure.” Isabel smiled at the girl.

“So, what were you guys talking about?”

Liz looked nervously at the others. “Can I get you something to drink, Tess?”

“Oh, thanks.” Tess answered, barely sparing Liz a glance. “Uh, Cherry coke with lime.”

Max was staring at Tess. His face slightly paled. He had a flash of himself with Tess, in the desert, holding hands.

“What's the matter?” Tess asked, noticing Max’s stare. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

“What? No.” Max visibly shook himself awake, seeing Liz, he quickly hurried off. “Let me help you with that.” Max went with Liz into the kitchen.

 

~~~

 

Biology lab was more than a little interesting the next day. Not only did Max get reassigned to help Tess catch up, leaving Liz partnerless, but Max was acting very strangely. He set himself on fire during class. Maria couldn’t let it go. The occurrence was too bizarre. In the girls' bathroom, Maria and Liz were talking, Maria exploring the strangeness while Liz tried to convince herself it was nothing.

“Liz, Max was on fire.” Maria couldn’t believe Liz missed how Max had been looking at Tess. “It’s that girl Tess. I’m telling you, something is strange.”

“No, Maria, it was an accident.”

“No, really, I did not like the way she was looking at him.” Actually Maria didn’t like how Max was looking at the girl either, but not wanting to hurt her friend, she refrained from commenting.

“Maria, Max and I are together now, and I don't have anything to worry about.” Maria shrugged, unconvinced. In her book, being with Max Evans was no great feat. The man had major problems, especially with his temper.

“Uh huh.” Maria said unconvinced. “Yeah, it must have been the assignment. I definitely thought I got a biology lesson…you know, animal attraction.”

“Maria, it was an accident. Max isn’t…he doesn’t even know her!”

Maria lifted a brow, not so sure about that. If Max could see into Liz, get flashes from her, how did Liz know he couldn’t do the same with other girls? A person who would strike his best friend in anger, especially after knowing he had a history of being abused was definitely suspect in her books.

 

~~~

 

Max and Michael were talking about the same thing in the men’s bathroom. Michael was reluctant to talk to Max, but since it pertained to alien stuff, he relented. He wanted to talk about Valenti and the orb, but Max’s mind was on BioLab and Tess.

“Michael, I'm worried.”

“You should be.”

“It's not about Valenti.” Max said irritated by Michael’s single-mindedness. “It's about Tess, Isabel's friend. I'm having these daydreams about her.”

Michael lifted an eyebrow at that. “Daydreams?”

“Yeah, where we're together,” Max said licking his lips nervously, “...you know, together.”

“I guess you're only human after all, huh?” Michael never suspected Max of having enough imagination to actually fantasize, especially not about someone not Liz…and for Michael, even Liz was a stretch.

 

~~~

 

Maria sat on the edge of a sink. “Max isn't human.” She pointed out, a fact that seemed to slip Liz’s mind often, except in the ‘gee whiz’ timing of things. “What if Czechoslovakians can't resist temptation?”

“Ok, so what you're saying is that this not only a romantic problem now, it's, you know, intergalactic.” Liz made a face at Maria’s usual overexaggeration. “Come on, Maria. Don't you get it? You know, Max and I...,” Liz voice held little conviction, “... we're really... we're really happy together, and...”

 

~~~

 

Max stared in the mirror. “It's me. I'm the problem. Something's happening to me.”

Michael made a face. “Haven't you ever had a fantasy before?” Hell, half his free time was spent fantasizing.

Max looked over at Michael in the mirror. “This is different. It's out of my control. I can't stop it.”

Michael shrugged. “We'll work it out.”

“Thanks for the compassion.”

Michael rolled his eyes. Once again, Max’s life was the main consideration. It was always about him, his needs, his desires, his wants, and concerns. There were more pressing problems, namely Valenti and the orb. “Valenti has the communicator, and we need to do something about it. This isn't the time for your sex fantasies.”

“Michael, I'm telling you, there's something weird about this. It's like she knows something about me that she shouldn't know. I mean, who is she?”

“Can you focus?” Michael’s voice raised in agitation. “I mean, focus on what's important here, Maxwell.”

“Forget about it! Why did I think you'd be any help?”

Michael shrugged. Who knew. Wasn’t like Max ever trusted him before to be in any way helpful before.

 

~~~

 

Michael saw her talking to a group of girls. Moving fast, he quickly culled her from the pack. His arm went around her waist, hurrying her off. Maria looked back at the others giving them a quick wave.

“What is going on?”

“We’ve got work. I need a lookout.”

Maria glanced at him. “Lookout?” A smiled moved over her face. “Tess?”

“You’re good,” Michael said. “You game?”

Maria snorted. “Hell yeah! It’s about time someone looked into that girl. She is highly suspicious.”

“Word. Let’s go.”

Maria looked at him. “What got you so interested?”

“That's classified.”

“Does this have anything to do with Max?” Maria said her mouth opening and then closing quickly. “I knew it.”

“I'm just helping Max out, ok? It's not a big deal.”

“I thought we were a team.”

“What do you mean?” Michael glanced at her in confusion as he popped the lock, pulling her inside.

“We've always investigated as a team.” Maria whispered loudly. “What, you’re now holding out on me?”

“Well, take it easy, Sherlock. When I find something, I'll let you know.” Michael made a gesture at her. “Shhh.”

“Shhh.” Maria said back, peeking out the door. “Make it snappy, Spaceboy. The rat patrol will be on us.”

Michael pulled a folder and quickly found the information he needed. Shoving it back in, he slammed the drawer. “You up to some spying?”

Maria mentally counted her classes left in the day, shrugging. No test. No papers. Boring. “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

~~~

 

“He’s fantasizing about her?” Maria’s mouth was open and round.

“That’s privileged information so no going off and blabbing to anyone.”

“Anyone or Liz?”

“Maria…” Michael scanned the house numbers along the residential area. “This way. It should be down the block.”

“She has a right to know. She thinks they’re happy.”

“They are…except for this. He thinks something is wrong.”

“Wrong? Like alien wrong?” Maria asked. Michael made a grunting noise. Michael found the house. He and Maria wandered up to the windows looking inside.

“They’re either are into minimalism or no one lives here.”

Michael had to agree with Maria. The house was empty. A car pulled onto the street. Michael grabbed Maria, and they ducked down behind the bushes as a military vehicle pulled into the driveway. Three men got out and went into the house.

Maria bit her lip. “Michael...,” she whispered throaty.

“I know. This ain’t good.”

 

~~~

 

Liz and Max were at the Crashdown sitting in the aliens’ usual booth. Liz, remembering her discussion with Maria, was looking for some reassurances from Max.

“So listen, you know that assignment we have for BioLab?”

“Yeah?” Liz frowned at Max’s distracted tone.

“It was kinda left a little unclear whether Mr. Steigman wanted you to be Tess's lab partner for the day or from now on.”

“I'm sure he didn't mean it.” Max sure hoped Mr. Steigman didn’t mean it.

“Because, if you're going to be her lab partner, I'm kinda stuck without a partner so...,” Liz cleared her throat, “I need to know.”

Max shrugged, uncertain what to say. “Well, I guess we'll just have to ask Mr. Steigman.”

“Right. It's just that we used to have an even number of students, and now that Tess is here, it's odd.” Liz stammered, “... it's an odd number. So, someone is going to be stuck without a partner, you know, mathematically.”

Max sighed. “Could we just stop talking about Tess?”

Michael came up to the table. “Yeah, that's probably a good idea.” He said, nodding to Maria as she went into the backroom to get them some drinks. “Can we talk?”

Max smiled at Liz. “I'll be right back.” Max went over to join Isabel at a table as Michael slid into the booth.

“Ok.” Liz voice broke, biting her lip, she looked around for Maria who had disappeared.

Michael glanced over at Liz. “She's a liar.”

Max frowned uncertain who Michael was talking about. Liz? “Who?”

“Tess. We went to her house.”

“You went to her house?” Isabel was horrified, looking at Max who sat in the booth next to her. “Why?”

“I was passing by.” Michael lied, not wanting to get into another argument with Isabel, especially not about her new friend. “The point is: it was empty. Not a single box. They don't live there. It's a cover.”

“She did just move in, Michael.” Isabel shook her head, amazing. He was amazingly dense and paranoid. Rushing around town, breaking into people’s homes? Oh, like that wasn’t suspicious. “I can't believe I finally find a friend, and you just assume she's out to get us.”

“There were military people there, Isabel.”

“Military people?” Isabel said in disbelief. “Come on, Michael.”

“Two men with briefcases and suits, and one with an M-16. They don't work at the cheese factory.”

“I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

Michael saw Max’s reaction, his instincts racing out of control. “What?” Michael asked Max, giving Isabel a hard look. He couldn’t believe her. Could she bury her head any farther in the sand? The girl was a stranger, a nobody, and Isabel wanted to defend her over them.

“Nothing.” Max said.

“Maxwell.” Michael warned. He was sick of Max’s selective sharing of information that was pertinent to all of them…to their survival.

Max sighed, leaning closer. “Valenti came to me this morning. Topolsky was killed in a fire. He thinks everything Topolsky told us could be true, the alien hunter...everything.”

Having his worst suspicions confirmed didn’t sit well with Michael. There had been a hope that he and Maria had read more into the situation then there had been, but now… “Why the hell didn't you tell us?”

“I didn't know if it was true.” Max said feeling Isabel stiffening next to him into a ball of misery. He knew she was scared, that she wanted this over…life returned to normal. “I didn't want anyone to panic and do something stupid.”

Michael took that verbal hit straight to the chops. Not anyone doing something stupid…of course, Max meant him. “Hey, I'm trying to figure out which problem to panic over: you having secret meetings with Valenti or your new girlfriend Tess bringing the Army to town.” Michael hadn’t seen Liz, until it was too late. She heard his comment about Tess, and she rushed off into the back room, not looking back. Max made a sound of disbelief at Michael. “You asked for my help,” Michael reminded him.

“Not exactly the kind of help I was looking for.” Max started to follow Liz, to straighten out the problem Michael just caused, but before he follow though, Sheriff Valenti entered the Crashdown. He walked up to their table placing the orb on the table in front of Max.

“Before you can expect somebody to trust you, you've got to trust them first.” Jim said. “Whenever you're ready, Max.” He left the Crashdown as the three alien teenagers watched him in shock.

“You're just making new friends all over the place, aren't you, Max?” Michael said sarcastically. “We need to do something about Tess.”

Isabel stared at the orb, her face losing color. “I'll check it out.”

 

~~~

 

Max walked in the rain. He didn’t know where to go, or what to do. One minute he was reassuring Liz that he only wanted her, and the next, he was kissing Tess in the rain. Stopping outside Michael’s door, he knocked, unwilling to just enter. His friendship with Michael hadn’t been the same since he had punched him, and he didn’t want to assume he would be welcomed.

“Okay, I mapped out a plan of attack, but you’ll have to check it out.” Maria was sitting on Michael’s bed with papers all around her. Michael shook his head. Maria and her plans. She meticulously laid out a plan, and they usually followed his instinct.

“You know that your plan will go to the wayside, right?”

“There is no reason to assume that! We have things to do. That Tess creature needs to be watched.”

Michael totally agreed, but the knock on the door kept him from having to admit it. “Stay here. Work on the master plan…I’ll get that.”

“You supposed to be writing your paper, buddy.”

“Yeah, well I’ll get to that too, but some things are more important than a paper about Sumo wrestlers.”

Maria frowned. “Sumo? Michael! Sophist! Dammit, where is your research?”

“What research?” Michael left the bedroom with Maria scrambling to find his backpack to check it for his notes and research. She’d have to look for a long time.

Opening the door, Michael’s body stiffened. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm in trouble, Michael.” Max said entering the apartment. “I don't know what's happening to me.”

“I'm not in the mood right now, Maxwell.”

Max rubbed a hand across his face. “I kissed Tess.”

“You what?” Michael glanced towards his bedroom hoping Maria hadn’t heard and would stay in there.

“It was like,” Max voice broke under the stress, “... it was like something was controlling me.” He grabbed Michael’s arm, hard.

Michael shrugged him off. “What's wrong with you?”

“I'm telling you that it isn't me.”

Michael didn’t know this person. He was so far from his friend. Shaking his head, he couldn’t get it clear in his thoughts. “First you talk to Valenti behind my back, and now you're kissing Tess behind Liz's.”

“Michael, you've got to listen to me, please. You're the only one I can talk to about this.” Max could feel his control slipping. He was in trouble, and Michael wasn’t listening, wasn’t helping. “I'm telling you, there's something else going on!”

“Why come to me?” Michael moved away from Max. Damn him. Guess he couldn’t talk to Liz, so he what, comes back to the old standby? “Why not go talk to your new buddy Valenti about it, alright?”

“Would you leave it alone, already? He gave us back the orb. Maybe he isn't just out to get us.”

“Yeah, right.” Michael snorted. After months of nothing but Valenti hounding them, almost getting Max killed because of Hubble, and now he was a good guy? “Sure. He's on our side. Why don't we just tell him everything?” Max was good at that. Telling their secrets to whomever he felt he could.

“I didn't tell him anything.” Max felt his heart beating hard in his throat. He had no one. No one if Michael wouldn’t listen. “Can't you understand that?”

“No, the thing I can't understand right now is that I used to admire you.” Michael couldn’t get over it. Max had changed, very slowly, but he had definitely changed, and it wasn’t for the good. “You were solid, someone I could trust. Even more that I could trust myself. And Liz trusted you. I don't know who you are anymore, Maxwell.” Michael gestured to the door. “So, why don't you get the hell out of my house, alright?”

“No, Michael, listen to me.” In desperation, Max grabbed Michael hard. He missed a look entering Michael’s eyes. A glimmering fear that was a remnant of being grabbed harshly in the past.

“Take your hands off of me.” Michael struggled with Max.

“Listen to me!” Max pushed Michael hard. “Listen to me! Michael.” They hit the refrigerator hard. Maria hearing the fight quickly entered the room.

“Get off him!”

Michael and Max both stopped, but not because of Maria’s demand. Their struggle loosened a small camera that had been Velcroed to the top of Michael’s refrigerator. They stared at it in horror.

“What the hell is that?” Michael asked, as Maria joined them. She pushed Max off Michael, staring at the small camera in Max’s hand.

 

~~~

 

“It's definitely a camera.” Max said, looking at Isabel and Michael. They were sharing their usual booth at the Crashdown.

Isabel bit her lip on the inside. “Someone's been watching us?”

“Valenti.”

Max shook his head. “It's not Valenti, Michael.”

Michael made a face of disgust. “He's sucking you in Max. You don't even know it. He's watching us...always has been. Now he's just using toys.”

“Expensive toys. This would wipe out the budget for the Roswell PD for the entire year.” Max reasoned. The video camera was digital, small, and high powered. It was far beyond Roswell PD’s budget.

Michael made a face, but accepted Max’s rationale. So Valenti was out. “Maybe it's Tess and her father. If they're FBI, they'd have access. We should check them out some more.”

“I already have. Her house was empty because they were waiting for the movers. They were staying at a hotel. Their stuff hadn't come yet. I saw the moving van. I saw the boxes.” Isabel said, leaning on the table. Michael’s paranoia was becoming contagious. “And her dad was normal...totally normal...a little dorky, but normal.”

Michael wasn’t so easily convinced. “What about the Army van outside her house? And those guys in the suits?”

“He's a consultant for the military. That's his job.”

Michael grimaced. “Yeah, "consultant" is just another fancy word for "spy".”

Max sighed in relief. “So there's absolutely nothing suspicious?”

“No.” Isabel rolled her eyes, unwilling to admit to anything, but feeling she needed to. “Well, there was this one thing. I picked up this box of photos to try and help out. She grabbed it from me. She got really weird.”

Max looked up as Liz walked by. She didn’t even bother stopping to talk to him, or make any indication that she saw him. “Liz?” Max quickly got up from the table following his girlfriend.

Isabel looked at Michael. “What was that about?”

Michael shrugged. “That guy's got bigger problems than Valenti and the FBI put together.” Michael spied Maria. Not bothering to tell Isabel anything, Michael went to chase Maria down.

Maria looked up, smiling at Michael. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, sure. I just realized my entire life has been recorded on video, by persons unknown. I’m real peachy.”

“Keen!” Maria put her hand on his arm. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Right.” Michael looked her over critically. “Of course, I’m glad to see you taking this so well.”

“Me? What’s this got to do with me?”

Michael shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know? Maybe because last week I changed in my room, and you changed in the living room…in front of the camera.”

“Oh!” Maria mouth opened in shock. “I…I was wearing…omg! I wasn’t wearing anything!”

“Really?” Michael’s brow went up. Maria had been nude in his apartment and he missed that? Damn, he really had to rethink his priorities.

“Topless!” Maria hit him on the arm. “Not completely nude. Damn, get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Topless.” Michael critically looked at Maria’s endowment. “Oh…okay, that’s okay then.”

Maria’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

Okay, maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Michael quickly sidestepped a possible discussion with Maria about being a sweaty dog boy. “Look, I just came to tell you that you might want to go find Liz. I think she might need you.”

“Oh. God, what happened?”

Michael shrugged, not wanting to rat Max out. “Just go talk to her, okay? She could use a friend.” Maria nodded. She kissed his cheek on her way to find Liz.

 

~~~

 

Maria found Liz outside her bedroom, on the stoop. She was crying.

“Liz, are you ok?”

Liz hugged her knees to herself. “No, no. Not really.”

“Michael told me you wanted to talk to somebody. That you needed a friend.” Maria looked at her friend with concern. Spaceboy had been right. Liz looked horrible.

Liz looked at Maria, tears on her face. “Max kissed Tess.”

“You're kidding!” Maria climbed through the window. “You're not kidding. No way, I cannot believe that. What a jerk. Liz, I'm sorry.” Maria took Liz in her arms hugging her tight.

“That's not even like him.” Liz reasoned.

Maria frowned. Liz was right. Max…he was a jerk with Michael, but with Liz…Maria couldn’t wrap her mind around Max cheating on Liz. “I just knew something was up with that chick.” It had to be the new girl, Tess. There was no other explanation. “No, but you're right. That is so not like Max.”

Liz wiped the tears off her face. “I'm so confused, Maria.”

Maria made a comforting sound in her throat, hugging her friend close. “What are you going to do?”

“I don't know.”

“You know that what ever you do, you know I've got your back, right.”

“Yeah,” Liz said, “it's like everything I see with my eyes tells me that he's cheating on me. But everything I felt with my heart tells me that he's not.”

“I don't know if Max is lying or what, Liz, I just... I know that you usually go with your heart, so...”

“I've got to find out what going on.” Maria nodded, her mind on Michael. She and Michael needed to find out what was going on. Her best friend, his best friend, it was the least they could do.

 

~~~

 

“All right, come check this out.” Alex said, still playing with electronic equipment.

Michael wiped his hands, leaving the Crashdown kitchen to see what Alex was doing in the breakroom. “Cool how'd you make that work?” He ate a fry from a handful he held.

“It's a wireless system. It's an integrated camera with a microwave transmitter.” Alex made a few adjustments, showing Michael how it worked.

“How'd you know about all this stuff?”

“Oh, I love this stuff. Are you kidding?” Alex laughed, looking at Michael. “Oh and listen, Michael, I mean... I don't mean to get all warm and fuzzy, but I'm really glad to be able to use what I know to help out... you know with... you know what we're doing.”

Michael popped the rest of his food in his mouth munching while talking. “Whatever.”

“Right. Anyway, it has a polarized high grain antenna with an automatic iris, and a built-in wide-angle lens.”

Michael made faces in the camera panning his face around. “That explains why my nose looks so big.”

Maria came in from the dining room joining them. “Hey, guys. What's up?”

“Hey.” Alex smiled at Maria showing her the monitor.

“Nothing. Alex is showing me his toys.” Michael said lifting a brow at Maria.

“What is that, like porn, or something?” Maria checked it out. “Ooo, I'm not as flat as I thought I was!”

Michael, more than happy to rain on her parade, made a face. “It's a wide-angle lens, so...”

“Oh.” She made a face at him, sticking out her tongue. That was twice he made discouraging remarks about her endowment. “So, you are we all set to spy on that wench, Tess?”

“Alex got it up and going, so yeah, I think so.”

Maria looked at Michael. “You got Alex in on this?”

“He volunteered.” Alex nodded to Maria. He sure did. “Plus, Alex has history with FBI types, so if she is that, Alex will be helpful.” Maria smiled seeing Alex’s pleased look at Michael’s confidence in him.

“So when are we going to do this?” Maria asked. “I thought you said you were going to finish your shift tonight.”

“I lied. This is more important. We’ve got to plant this little gem, then sit back and watch.”

“Well, you can't just break into someone's house and plant some camera.” Maria nibbled on the edge of her nail.

“I've already staked out a position in this abandoned warehouse that's in range.” Alex offered.

“No matter who we think these people are, we can't just break into their house. We've got to be smarter than that.”

Michael cleared his throat. “Okay, so you’re good at the sneaky stuff.” Michael told Maria. “Why don't you think of something?”

“About time you learned to appreciate me, Spaceboy.”

Alex looked between the two of them. “You two want to be alone?”

Michael and Maria looked at Alex, both of them frowning. “Why?” they asked in unison.

 

~~~

 

At the warehouse, Alex, Isabel, Maria and Michael watched Liz placing the camera in Tess’s house. It was embarrassing watching Liz’s nervousness. They all winced when she was talking to Tess.

“God,” Maria said. “She needs help!”

Michael had to agree. This Tess person had to be stupid not to see Liz’s nervousness. Maria’s idea to send Liz was obviously stupid. Liz was the worst liar. They were watching when suddenly, the camera went dead.

Michael moved closer. “What happened?” He asked Alex.

“The camera's dead.”

Maria bit her nail. “Oh, my God!”

Michael agreed with Maria. Her fear was tangible. “We've got to get over there.”

“And do what?” Alex asked.

“Get her out!” Michael insisted. What else could they do?

Isabel couldn’t believe Michael. “You're the one who keeps telling us how dangerous these people are.”

“What? You just want to leave her there?”

Maria intervened before Michael and Isabel got into another disagreement. “No, he's right.” Maria looked at the others. “We've got to do something. We sent her in. We're responsible.”

“What are we supposed to do, just break down the door?” Isabel asked. “What if everything's fine? What if everything's normal?”

“Are you willing to take that chance with Liz's life?” Michael asked Isabel and the others.

“No,” said Alex.

Maria already knew her answer, and so did Michael. She voiced it anyway. “No.”

“Then let's go.” Michael said.

“Wait.” Maria stopped Michael, her worry evident on her face. “You have to promise me that you are not going to do anything crazy. You're not going to put her life or yours in danger.”

“I won't.” Michael promised. Pushing her hair behind her ear, he moved his hand taking her hand. “I promise. Trust me.”

“Ok, so if we get there and everything seems cool, then let's just let her play it out.” Alex suggested.

Michael agreed. It was the best way to play it out. “Good idea.”

“Wait,” said Isabel, “what about Max?”

Maria, Michael and Alex looked at each other. What about Max?

 

~~~

 

Outside the Harding residence they moved in closer to the house, looking in through the window.

Maria saw Liz first. “There she is.”

Isabel looked around nervously. “What are they doing in there?”

“Passing the mashed potatoes.” Alex said watching Ed Hardy build a huge pile of potatoes on his plate.

Michael moved in closer to Maria, looking over her shoulder. He squinted. “Damn, that man is definitely suspicious.”

While arguing possible ways to get Liz out of the Harding house, Isabel looked over, seeing her brother coming down the street.

“Max! How did you know we were here?”

“I didn't.” Max looked the others, confused as to why they were there. “Liz called me.”

“What!” Maria hand tightened on Michael. “When did she call you?”

Max breathed in deeply, his anxiety increasing. “We have to get her out of there!”

Michael ran a hand through his hair. “We can't go in there.”

“Why not?” Max asked.

Maria held tightly onto Michael’s arm. “We could make things worse, that's why not.”

“How could they be any worse than they already are?” Max asked them. “If that really is the FBI in there, who knows what they'll do to her?”

Michael stopped Max from going into the house. “And if you go in there, we know what they'll do to you.”

Max pulled his arm free. “That's a chance I'll have to take.”

“Dammit,” said Michael as Max went inside. Running his hands through his hair, he was helpless to stop Max from doing something irrational.

Maria’s hand rested comfortingly on his back. “It’ll be all right. It has to be.”

 

~~~

 

They waited for Max to get Liz out of the house. It seemed like a lifetime before Max and Liz left the Harding household. The others, watching from the shadows, quickly moved to intercept the couple.

Maria grabbed Liz in a hug. “Are you ok?”

Liz nodded. “You know that box?” Liz said to Isabel, who had already seen the box when she had gone to the house before. “It is just full of pictures...pictures of Max.”

Isabel grabbed Max’s hand, looking nervously up and down the street. “Let's go.”

They never noticed Valenti hiding in a car taking pictures with a zoom lens of the activities outside the Harding residence.

 

~~~

 

They were all at the warehouse watching the hidden camera. Isabel and Alex manned the camera, while Max and Liz sat in a corner talking. Both of them kept looking over at Michael and Maria sleeping together on the sofa.

“You put yourself in danger.” Max said, unhappy with what happened. “Thanks for believing in me.”

“I went on faith,” Liz breathed in deeply, “...a lot of it.”

“I know.”

“You know, you still kissed her, Max.” Liz pointed out. “I don't know if there'll ever be reason enough to explain that.”

Isabel sat up suddenly from where she had been resting against Alex. “Max, Michael, come look at this!” The entire group got up and approached the camera, watching as Tess came into the room. She took the dustbin full of the pieces of the broken statue and dumped them out onto the piano.

Max and Liz moved closer. “What's going on?”

“I'm not sure.” Isabel said.

Michael and Maria untangled themselves, staring at the monitor. “What the hell?” Michael said as Tess repaired the statue that Liz had broken by passing her hand over them once and then levitating them together. Alien powers.

“Oh, my God,” Liz breathed.

 

~~~

 

Maria passed Michael the chips, as she opened her soda. “You’re worried.”

“She’s not FBI, she’s an alien.” Michael used binoculars to look at the Harding house. “You think she’s Nasedo?”

“I don’t know.” Maria sipped her drink. “What is her father? Maybe he’s Nasedo.”

“Maybe.” Michael searched for the peanuts. “Maybe he adopted her, like Max and Isabel’s parents. Maybe he doesn’t know what she is.”

“If that’s true, she pushing it. I mean her Dad works for the government. Now how whacked is that?”

Michael had to agree. “Doesn’t matter how you look at it. They’re involved with the government, and that is whacked.”

Maria made an ‘uh huh’ noise in her throat passing him the peanuts. They had pulled Jetta surveillance duty again. She glanced over at Michael.

“Listen, I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“Yesterday, with Liz.” Maria cleared her throat. “You were really great about how worried you were about her.”

Michael paused. “I wasn’t.” He grimaced. “I mean, I was, but really, I was more worried about you. If anything happens to Liz, I know you would hate it.”

“I would.”

Michael scratched his brow. “Especially since it was your idea to send her in there.”

Maria nodded. Perceptive. That wasn’t a word she normally would’ve attributed to Michael, but he was right. If Liz had gotten hurt, she would’ve never forgiven herself.

“I forget sometimes.”

“Forget what,” Michael asked.

“Forget that we’re children playing in an adult world, that we don’t always understand the rules. You’re right. It’s dangerous. If Valenti is right, then this special unit took Topolsky and killed her.” Maria glanced at Michael. “If they would kill one of their own, why would they stop at a young girl who gets in the way?”

“I told you that this could get dangerous.” Michael stared at the house. “I don’t want this for you. You should be in your bed worrying about finding Mr. Right.”

“What about you?”

Michael shrugged. “It’s different for me.”

“I don’t get that.”

“It just is.” Michael glanced at Maria. “I am what I am. I can’t walk away from this because no matter how far I walk, run, or wish it wasn’t so, they would keep coming for me. There is no out for me…but there is for you.”

Maria took his hand in hers. “You’re wrong. In this, you’re wrong. I’m in this too.”

“Maria, you don’t have to be.”

“I know.” Maria stared at the Harding house. “Maybe you were born into this, but I chose to be in it.”

“Why?” Michael couldn’t get it. They lived in fear all their lives, and here Maria and the others walked into it.

“I…” Maria cleared her throat. “I have to know you’re okay. Safe. I couldn’t walk away never knowing.”

Michael’s mouth went up in a small smile. “Thanks.”

Maria laughed. “Oh, don’t get all mushy on me.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.” Maria smiled leaning against his arm.