She had been going crazy waiting at the Crashdown for somebody to show up. She didn't want to go home, she still didn't have a good story of what happened to her mother's car. And although Alex seemed to be determined to wait forever for Isabel to return, she was too anxious to wait for Michael. The way he said good-bye made her think that she might be waiting forever. When Liz had called, she had been glad to have an excuse to be alone for a while.

Instead of getting on the highway, she pulled to the side and turned off the ignition. "Liz, we have been driving in silence long enough. I'm not getting on this road until you tell me what happened up there. Did their ship come and ... beam them up? Did they turn into some sort of hideous monsters? Tell me." Liz had been very upset when Maria had picked her up, but in the car she seemed to have calmed down, found some sort of resolve within herself. Now as she turned to Maria the tears were fresh in her eyes. "Nasedo warned them not to try to use the communicators, but they decided to anyway. And they got them to work. It showed them this image of a woman. She said that she was Max and Isabel's mother." Liz paused and looked out the windshield into the distance, as though searching for an answer there. "She told them that there had been a war. On their planet, Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess had died." She turned to see Maria's look of confusion, then looked again at the distant mountains. "As far as I can understand, what they are now is some kind of mix of human bodies and alien 'essence.' They were sent here for protection and so they could continue to fight and maybe save their world. The communicators sent a bright light up into the sky. Nasedo says that it probably signaled their enemies." Liz took a deep breath. "But that wasn't all, Maria. You know how ever since Tess showed up she seemed to have some kind of affect on Max? Well, now we know the reason why. They were meant to be together. On their home planet they were married. Isabel is Max's sister. And Michael," She paused and looked at Maria, "Michael is meant to be with Isabel."

Maria leaned back in her seat and put her hand over her eyes for a minute. "So what you're telling me is that they are some kind of alien spirits put inside human bodies?" She looked to Liz for some kind of confirmation and got nothing. She decided for the moment to think of the part of the story that she could understand. "And Michael and Isabel? With Tess and Max the attraction was immediate. Michael and Isabel have known each other their whole lives. Don't you think if they were meant to be together they would have felt it before now?" A look of doubt passed over her face as she remembered the dreams that Michael and Isabel had shared. She had tried to forget that it had ever happened. "Well, okay. Maybe it's not too much of a surprise. But still, when Michael and Isabel were dreaming about each other, they didn't just go for it. They tried to be closer to me and Alex. It must not be what they want. Surely they have some control over themselves."

"You didn't see them up there, Maria. Nasedo didn't have to show them how to make the communicators work. They just knew how, once they were all together. It seems like the more they learn about where they came from, the more it seems to come naturally to them. Like genetics or instinct. I'm not sure they have any choice." Isabel woke to the morning sunlight streaming into her window. She looked around the room she had grown up in. Below she could hear her parents cleaning up the last of their dishes before heading off to work. This was the only home she had ever known. Lying here now it was easy to think that the last few days had just been a dream. But she knew that this was the fragile dream that might come crashing down at any second. Reality was fleeing from the FBI and learning that she was being hunted.

Most of yesterday was just a blur. She remembered coming home and telling her parents something about falling asleep at Michael's, then eating a quiet dinner and going up to her room. Neither she nor Max had felt much like talking. She was glad that school was out, her parents always let things go more in the summer. She waited in bed until she heard her parents muffled good-byes and their cars going down the street.

She peeked into Max's room before going downstairs. He was sleeping soundly. She could still see the fatigue in his face. She was glad that he really was her brother. It was good to know that one part of her life was still the same. As she was heading down the stairs the doorbell rang. She rushed to get it before it had a chance to wake Max. She was surprised at how relieved she was that it was Alex. "Hi, Isabel." He looked at her apologetically. “I hope I'm not disturbing anything." He moved as though he was going to hug her, then stopped himself. "I just wanted to come by and see how you were." "No, it's fine. My parents just left. Max is upstairs asleep. I'd rather not bother him, I think he needs some rest. Do you want to go for a walk?"

Alex nodded and followed Isabel out to the sidewalk. Isabel put her hand in Alex's as they walked in silence down the street to the park. When they came to a bench isolated from the children playing on the swingsets Isabel sat down. Alex sat down next to her and watched the children, every so often taking a quick glance at her. She knew he would wait patiently until she was ready to talk.

"We learned how to make the communicators work. They showed us a message from our mother, our real mother. She was beautiful, Alex. I've always wanted a mother that I could share all I was with. If we could find her, I could finally have a real family. But I don't know if she is even alive any more. There are people after us. They may have killed everyone on our planet. We were placed here to be protected, but by using the communicators we might have lead the people who want to kill us here."

Alex took her hand. "Isabel, I've gotten to know you and you have been everything that I had ever hoped you would be. I know you don't completely trust me yet, but I will be here to help you anytime you need me. I may not have any special powers, I'm sure not the strongest guy in the world, but I will fight all I can against anyone, anything that would hurt you."

Isabel's eyes were shining with tears as she pulled Alex close. He held her, and for the first time felt that she was actually reaching for him, not just away from something else. Isabel had been debating with herself whether she should tell Alex about what she had learned about the relationship that seemed to be destined for her and Michael. Now she thought about the time she had visited his dreams and felt the desire he had just to know her. She had known then that they shouldn't have left him out. She couldn't shut him out now.

"This is hard to tell you, I don't even know how." She thought of Liz running away from Max when she found out about his and Tess's relationship. But if she wanted Alex to love her for who she was, she needed to open up to him completely. "Remember that time, I had those dreams? I thought I was...pregnant. I had those dreams because Michael and I are, well should be, ...'betrothed.'" She waited to see his reaction.

It took a minute for what she meant to sink in. He felt like they were finally connecting, he couldn't be losing her already. But she was here with him now, telling him about what had happened. "Isabel," He brushed the hair that falling down around her face back behind her shoulders "I knew when we first got involved that things might get a little weird. I expected that at anytime you might be taken away from me. I considered myself lucky that, for whatever reason, you chose me to be with. Whatever you decide, whether it's to stay with me, or go with Michael, I will support you. Although I'd rather have you with me."