"So get this," Maria said waving a carrot stick, "this whole psycho episode was over a dream that he saw."

"You're kidding, right?" Isabel asked. "You can't go by exactly what you see in dreams. He's seen and been in enough of them to know that."

"Nope. Truth. He saw me with Max. But he didn't stick around long enough to find out that even though it was just me and Max in the dream, it was totally about Liz." She smiled at her friend. "Anyway, things were going really well, and then he stuck his foot in his mouth. Which is, you know, what's new? So I kicked him out and told him I would see him today."

"So basically, you're back to disgustingly affectionate?" Isabel quipped.

"We'll see," Maria said.

"Yeah, in about ten seconds," Liz said. "Here come the guys."

Alex sat down on one side of Isabel and dumped the contents of his lunch bag onto the table. Max sat next to Liz. Michael slid in next to Maria but seemed to be his old cool self.

She felt a jump in her pulse at seeing him, until she realized he wasn't going to kiss her hello. Oh well, Maria thought, at least he will be the Michael I want him to be when we're alone. She was a bit disappointed until she felt his hand on her thigh.

"So do we try to do the switch-eroo today?" Alex asked.

"I'm thinking the sooner we get Kyle out of the Clean Slate guy's hands the better," Max said.

"I know it was my idea, but I hate this," Maria said.

"It will be over soon enough," Michael said. He leaned across Maria and snagged an open packet of hot sauce from Isabel using the opportunity to slide a bit closer to Maria. His hand slipped from the top of her leg to her inner thigh, and moved higher. She shivered.

Isabel did a quick aura check on Maria. Yeah, just as she suspected, more was going on that met the eye. "Cold?" she asked slyly.

Maria shot her a look.

"The first thing we need to do is to talk with Kyle and tell him what we've come up with," Liz said. "Let's all meet at the museum today after school and head over."

"I don't think Michael should go with us," Alex said. "There is the chance that these guys might know what Michael looks like."

Michael's hand inched higher up Maria's leg, and her pulse sped up in response.

"Good point," Liz said. "I agree."

What is he doing, Maria asked herself. We're at school, for God's sake! And I have an entire half of the day before I can be alone with him and cool public image Michael could turn into her Michael. Oh my God! her mind added as his fingers began making a slow circle on her inner thigh. That was distracting enough until she felt his fingers brush past her groin. And around, and around again. She realized the conversation had gone on without her. She jerked her attention back to what Max was saying and tried to catch up.

She glanced at Isabel and found Isabel looking at her with a knowing smile on her face.

"Is that OK with you, Maria?" Max asked.

"Sure," she responded, having absolutely no idea what she had agreed to. Whatever it was, it couldn't as important as what Michael was doing.

The bell rang ending the lunch period and Maria felt as though she jumped eight feet. Isabel's smile changed to a very amused grin.

"Are you ready to go, Maria?" she asked standing up and gathering her books.

Michael slipped his hand away.

"Sure," Maria said grabbing her book bag and following her friend.

As Maria caught up, Isabel turned to her and asked, "Feeling better?"

@@@@@@@@@@@

"Kyle!" Uncle Fred yelled from his father's office. "Get in here!"

Kyle sighed and turned off the TV. Suddenly he felt very tired. He knew what they wanted. Another question and answer session. Problem was that he had already told them everything he knew about his father's project. Everything except the parts about Isabel. And Max and Michael. He stalled for a moment more.

"Kyle!" Fred bellowed even louder. "I said get your ass in here!"

"I'm coming," Kyle replied hauling himself to his feet. As he entered the office Uncle Fred and his unnamed assistant were standing by the door. Uncle Fred grabbed him as the assistant approached. In his hand was a hypodermic syringe full of a bluish liquid. Kyle started to struggle in earnest. "You don't have to do this," he said.

"Oh, I think we do," Fred getting him into a half nelson. Kyle continued to try to fight against him with no success.

"Please," Kyle begged, his eyes never leaving the needle coming toward him. "I've told you everything I know."

"Maybe you have and maybe you haven't," Fred replied as the needle slipped into one of Kyle's veins and the drug was injected. "Personally, I think you're holding out on me."

Fred continued to hold Kyle firmly until his struggles grew weak as the drugs took effect. He deposited Kyle in a nearby chair.

Kyle looked around him for something he could use to save himself, but there was nothing. The world started to swim and his eyelids felt heavy. He looked down and blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. He saw white spider-shaped creatures scuttling across the nap of the carpet. He had the urge to pick up his feet. He hated spiders. Get a grip, he told himself. You're just hallucinating, they aren't real. He blinked harder, but they didn't go away. He looked up and Fred's grinning face swirled. Kyle felt like he was falling.

"OK, kid," Fred said. "Tell me about aliens in Roswell."

Kyle tried to speak around a tongue that was too big all of a sudden. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"We've heard that song before." Fred leaned forward and put his hands on the arms of Kyle's chair and looked at him intently. "Try again."

"I'm trying to," Kyle said. "I've told you where everything is." He swallowed and tried to make his tongue behave. "I swear."

"Kyle, come on now. We know there was at least one alien at the compound. You had to know him. You were trying to turn him over to the press when people decided you were a nut case and sent you off to the padded cell."

"I don't know what happened to him," Kyle said. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep his mind focused, and it was important that he not slip up and say the wrong thing.

"He killed your father you know. Why would you want to protect beings like that?"

"I wouldn't."

"Then tell me who they are. Where they are."

"I don't know where he is. I'd tell you if I did," Kyle said.

"Alright, let's try an easier question. Where are the rest of your father's files? We've looked through everything here. Problem is that we know there are files missing. Files about aliens right here in Roswell. Did you take them somewhere? I wonder where a teenage boy would hide something he wanted to keep private?" He leaned back against the desk and folded his arms. He continued in a sarcastic tone. "We've searched the house and the attic. We even looked in that spider-filled crawlspace under the house."

Spiders, Kyle thought. His eyes went to the floor, now seething with the white spiders.

Fred continued. "We've looked under your bed. We found the Hustler Magazines, by the way. We checked out the closet and your sock drawer. We also found your secret stash of condoms. What would your mother think? Oh, never mind, she ran out on you a long time ago, so what would she care?" Fred leaned toward Kyle. "So I keep asking myself, where have we not looked, and the only place I can come up with is that you hid the files at the school. Maybe we should go to the school tomorrow and see what you have stuffed in your locker."

Kyle concentrated on meeting Fred's eye, but his eyelids kept trying to slide shut. He tried to speak again, but only a groan came out.

Fred pushed away from the chair and walked behind it. "You know," he said conversationally, "maybe if we got your little girlfriend over here for a nice visit you might be inclined to remember a bit more." Fred completed the circle around the chair and smiled down at Kyle.

That made the fog lift a bit from Kyle's mind. Isabel had been the first person who had cared about him at all since his father's death, and a long time before that. No way he was going to let these two lay one finger in Isabel. "Leave her out of this," he managed to mumble.

Fred ignored Kyle and addressed his partner. "What do you think? Think she'd accept a dinner invitation from good old Uncle Fred for tomorrow night?"

His partner grinned. "I bet she could be persuaded." He wandered into Kyle's line of sight. "You know, get that pretty girl drunk and I'll bet she would be a lot of fun. I'd like to get my hands on a piece of that."

"No," Kyle gasped.

"Then tell us what we want to know," Fred said.

"Please, I've told you everything," Kyle said. Despite his best efforts his attention strayed from Fred back to the spiders on the floor. The little white creatures everywhere now, and some where beginning to crawl up his pants leg. Panic set in along with a rush of adrenaline. He started batting at the ones on his legs, but then he realized that they were crawling up the arms and legs of the chair.

And onto him.

They were all over him. He could feel the thousands of tiny legs climbing across his arms. He abandoned his legs and frantically tried to get the spiders off of his arms. "Get them off of me!" he screamed. "Get them off!"

Fred grabbed his arms and tried to stop their flailing. "Calm down! Get what off?" he shouted in Kyle's face.