"So, I had a good time last night."

"Yeah, me too."

"I realize now that I've never really looked at the stars before. Not like that, like each one is full of possibilities. Any one of them could have your home planet orbiting it. It's so overwhelming."

"Yeah, I know. We've all thought the same thing."

"So, I'm confused. You said that the people on your planet are waiting for you guys to come back to save them. Um, how are you supposed to get there?"

"I don't know. I think they must be coming to get us."

"But if they're enslaved, and at war, how will they be able to do that?"

"I don't know. You know, I think that message we saw must have been recorded and stored in the orbs all this time."

"You mean like the message Princess Leah left for Obi Wan in R2D2?"

Isabel glared at him, not appreciating the analogy. "Yeah. Maybe. I don't know."

"So what are you saying?"

"Well that was years ago, decades. Maybe centuries. I mean who knows how long it took them to fly here, plus they've been lying around for fifty years. That's a long time."

"A lot could have changed."

"Maybe it's too late, and they're dead. Or maybe they're already freed and have forgotten about us."

"I see what you mean."

They sat in silence and thought about the myriad of 'what if' scenarios that could effect the outcome of the quest presented to the four young aliens a little over two weeks ago. As they sat, Maria walked in the front door. She spotted her friends and came over to their table.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey."

"Hey, Maria. What are you doing? Are you working tonight?"

"Nah, I was looking for Liz. She's not answering her phone, but I thought she might be hiding upstairs."

"We haven't seen her." Alex looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"

Maria shot a look at Isabel. "She hasn't been 'right' for weeks. I just don't understand what Max's problem is."

"Max?" This from Isabel who was ready to jump to Max's defense.

"Yeah, I mean, I had Liz all talked into making up with him, then he starts going out with Tess. I mean I thought he said he didn't even like her. Suddenly he's all over town with her? And you know what else I don't get?" she asked, changing topics. "If Tess is one of you, and Mr. Harding is Nasedo, then what's with the box of pictures you saw? I mean, they had the book. They knew about the three of you, why with all the secrecy? Why not just come up to you and say, 'Hi, I'm the shape-shifting alien you've been looking for, and this is your long-lost sister.'?"

"Liz said that box was full of pictures of Max." Alex mused, then asked,

"Why would Nasedo need a large box of pictures of him? Where did he get it?"

"The FBI?" Isabel guessed. "Maybe he took it from the agents back when they were following us."

"Why not destroy it?" Alex wondered.

"Yeah. I wouldn't leave a bunch of 'evidence' like that laying around."

"It's probably still there."

"You guys," Maria said, "I think we should go get it. I mean who knows who might get their hands on it."

"What, break into their house?" Alex was skeptical.

"There's no one there, right? I mean, Nasedo's gone, and Tess is at your house. Who would know?"

"Well, actually she's not." Isabel told them briefly about Valenti's visit.

"Wow," said Maria. "He doesn't know that she's... Right?"

"Right."

"If Valenti thinks Mr. Harding's missing, then he'll probably be over at the house looking for clues. He'll find that box..."

"Or one of his deputies."

"Then who knows what questions he'll start asking."

"You guys, we have to get that box." Maria was adamant. "There might be pictures of Michael in there, too."

"Or Isabel." The three teens looked at each other, filled with purpose. They hurriedly began whispering a plan.

Liz had a fascinating afternoon at the library. Her mind was filled with a world of fantastic possibilities. Words like telekinesis, telepathy, and clairvoyance revolved in her head. Names of humans who supposedly possessed powers that could not be explained, well as the noted scientists who studied them were becoming familiar to her. She couldn't wait to see Michael tonight. It seemed that five o'clock would never come.

She was waiting for him as he walked up to the door. They went inside, and she filled him in on all she learned. Time passed quickly as they talked. When they got hungry, they decided to have a pizza delivered.

"Ok, so I was thinking," she told him, as she reached for her fourth slice, "what we need to do is make three lists. A list of the things you can already do, I mean, can do right every time. A list of things you can do, but not very well, and the third of what you can't do or have never tried. That way we can plan how to do this."

"Plan?"

"Yeah. I like plans." She smiled at him. She reached behind her and grabbed her journal. She flipped forward to an empty page. He didn't say anything, but stared intently at that book lying innocently in her hands. How long ago was it that he stole it out of her room? Six, seven months? He had caught her writing in it late one night at the CrashDown, and was concerned she was writing things down about her 'alien encounter.' He broke into her room one day and stole it, determined to destroy it, but as he flipped through its pages, he realized he wasn't reading about the secrets he and his two friends were keeping, he was reading about the secrets Liz was keeping. She was writing about her feelings for Max, and how her life had changed since he had come into it. He was moved, and contrite, he returned it to her. It was the first time he had really believed that she could be trusted. That anyone other than Max and Isabel could be trusted.

"Michael?"

He gave himself a mental shake. Counting them off with his fingers, he gave her the short list of things he could do easily. Then came the list of things he could do, but not easily, and not all the time. She asked him about things she had seen the others do. No, he couldn't dream-walk, or give people visions. Yes, he could heal - easy stuff, but it was difficult for him. He said, "If Max hadn't been there when you got shot, you would have died. I wouldn't have been able to fix everything that was wrong with you."

Neither mentioned the fact that Michael wouldn't have risked exposure for her, either way.

Compiling the lists, Liz said, "So you and Max are better with physical things. Changing things, affecting them. But Tess and Isabel have stronger mental powers. The dream-walks, the visions."

"Yeah, I guess. I hadn't really thought about it."

As Liz began the third list; the list of things Michael couldn't do, there was a knock at the door. Liz quickly hid her journal under her sweater.

Michael got up to see who it was.

Maria, Alex and Isabel stood there. "Michael, we need to talk."

There was an uncomfortable silence when everyone noticed what they had interrupted. The pizza, the cushions on the floor told their own story. No one said what he or she was thinking, but this clearly looked like a date.

"Maria, guys, what's up?" asked Liz as she stood.

"Liz," Maria had to force her voice to work. "What are you doing here?"

"I, um, I just, um, well, we haven't seen Michael in a while, and I thought I'd stop by to say 'hi'."

"What's going on?" Michael wanted to prevent Liz from lying to Maria. They came in, carrying a familiar box. Liz immediately went over to it. They hadn't even set it down before she was reaching under the lid and pulling out a handful of glossy, black and white photos of Max. "What's this?"

"This box was the one Tess had. The one Isabel saw," Liz told him.

Intrigued, Michael looked at the box with renewed interest.

Alex filled in the blanks. "Valenti got a report that Mr. Harding was missing and picked up Tess and put her in care of the state. We remembered this box, and figured it ought to be destroyed before Valenti and his deputies got a hold of it."

"Good idea."

Liz was sorting through the pictures. Suddenly, she began pulling out pictures and stacking them into piles on the kitchen counter. Michael looked at her. "Liz, what are you doing?"

"She's probably picking out some to keep." Isabel picked up a picture of her brother. "This is a pretty good one of him." She placed it into the pile closest to Liz. Liz quickly replaced it into its original pile. "Ok, maybe not."

"Liz. Liz! What are you doing?" Maria was getting concerned. "Liz?"

"You guys, look at where these were taken." She pointed to one pile. "These were around town. Anyone could have taken them, but," she pointed to another, "these were taken from inside the CrashDown."

"Yeah," Maria said grabbing the top one. "Hey, yeah, you're right. It looks like whoever took this one was sitting near the cash register."

"How could that be?" asked Isabel. They secretly agreed it was unlikely someone had whipped out a camera and snapped a photo with no one noticing.

"No, all of these are from exactly the same place, but different days. See, his clothes are different in all of them. Sometimes you guys are with him, sometimes..." she got back to sorting, and pulling out hand fulls of pictures, quickly put them into one of four piles, then five. The other teens began helping. There were pictures of Isabel, and Michael, but Max was the main subject. Liz, Alex and Maria also showed up occasionally.

About halfway through the box, Liz suddenly made a sound like she'd been hit. The blood drained from her face, and her fingers began to tremble. She looked up at Michael who was standing across from her. "Liz?" Her gaze transferred to over his shoulder. He turned to see what she was looking at. Nothing there but his fridge. "Liz?" He came around the counter not knowing what was wrong, but she looked ready to collapse. "Liz! Tell me."

"This..." Her voice broke, and tears rolled down her face. "This was... taken... here." He grabbed her to him, as he looked at the picture in her hand. It showed Max, bare-chested, caressing Liz's face while looking earnestly into her eyes. He took all the pictures from her hand and glanced through the next couple. They were of the two lovers embracing, kissing. In the last, they were laying on his sofa. Feeling like a voyeur, Michael placed them face down in the box. He reached over and put the lid back on. She was sobbing, her arms wound tight around his middle. He stroked her hair, imagining what she must be feeling. He stared at the box and realized that who ever was able to take those pictures would have had opportunity to watch him and Maria, too. Every time they had come here to make out could be in the box as well. Fury rolled in him, and he thought of the dead FBI agent, suddenly wishing he could go back in time and kill him again, only more slowly this time. He gathered Liz closer to him. "Shh. Liz, I'm sorry. Shh. We didn't know. But it's over. It's over, and he's dead. Shh."

"He... he was watching. It's like he was here... standing right there, watching... everything."

The others stood at a loss. Through everything that had happened, Liz had never broken under the stress before. Even Alex and Maria who had known her forever had never seen her like this. Maria reached for the box, not really knowing why, but wanting to share her friend's pain. "No! Leave it." Michael stared her down.

"What's going on?" It was Max's voice behind them. "Liz!? What's wrong?"

Liz stiffened, but after a short struggle was unable to check the impulse to fling herself in his arms. They closed around her protectively. "What happened?" He looked to Michael for explanation. "Michael?"

"We just found out how long that camera was over there." Michael nodded towards the fridge.

Not comprehending, "The surveillance camera?" What possible difference could it make how long it was there. They found it, and had removed it a while ago. In fact, it was in Valenti's possession now. Why would it upset Liz so? He tried to see into her face; she was hiding in his shoulder. He looked to his friends who were standing so uncomfortably there in Michael's kitchen. Then he spotted the piles of pictures. And the box. "Nasedo's?"

"Yeah, he must have taken it off some FBI guy. Isabel, Maria and Alex just brought it over."

Isabel pointed to some of the pictures. "Pierce must have put another camera at the CrashDown. And there's one in your room, too."

"What?"

"Look at them."

"These were taken around town, probably with a real camera." Maria pointed to the largest pile.

"But these," Michael reached into the box and pulled out the last picture he had seen, "these were taken here." Liz cringed and moved closer to Max. She would have crawled inside of him if she thought it were possible. He reached out and took the photo from Michael. "Oh my god."

"Exactly."

After a moments pause, he asked Isabel, "Do you think you can find the cameras? All of them?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Get them. Alex can have them." He looked at the other teen who nodded. Alex would keep them safe, in case they needed them again in the future.

"Destroy those, all of them." He said glaring at the pictures. His pressing need now was to take Liz out of here; hold her, and try to right the wrongs he had done to her. "We'll talk about this tomorrow." Without releasing her, he bent over and picked up her sweater.

Michael was already bending when the journal fell out of the sweater's folds. He caught it deftly. Max stared speechless at Liz's journal in his friend's hand.

"Liz?" She turned to look at Michael. "I'll see you later, 'k?" He handed her the journal as she nodded.

They rode in silence back to the CrashDown. Max pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine. He turned towards her and said, "Liz. I am so sorry. For everything."

"You couldn't have known. It was before Topolsky came back to warn us. We didn't know the FBI would have bugged Michael's apartment. He'd only been living there, what? One day? How did Nasedo get them, and why didn't he destroy them when he had the chance."

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

"You're going to call him?"

"Yeah. There are some things he should know about."

"Isabel told us about Valenti."

"Look, Liz, I want you to know, that there is nothing between me and Tess. There never will be. I can't even bear to look at her. All I want is you. I need to be with you, Liz. It hurts me to be away from you."

Last week, Liz would have thrown herself at him for saying that to her. She needed to go more cautiously now, because of Tess. As long as Tess had the power to threaten her, she needed to stay away from Max. For his sake as much as hers. If Tess backed Max into a corner, there's no telling which way it could go. To protect Liz, he might give in to Tess's demands, or he might find a way to retaliate. No, until Liz could protect herself from Tess's powers, she would have to stay away from Max.

"Look, Max. Nothing has changed. She is still your destiny. I can't and won't get in the way of that." She couldn't look at him as she said it, afraid he'd see her for the liar she was. "Thank you for driving me home." She quickly got out of the Jeep and ran into the CrashDown.

Max remembered he never did ask her why she had taken her journal to Michael's.