Thanks to Isabel’s handy-dandy powers, her short blond hair was now auburn and hung almost to her butt. She’d braided it in two long, swinging pieces that swished when she moved. Totally fun. Maria looked back in the mirror for one last check. She looked very tame and college-townish in her sweatshirt and jean shorts. But that was what they were going for. College students on vacation. Boring - and lame. But safe.

“Yeah, you blend in real well, Pippi Longstocking,” Michael commented dryly as he came to stand behind her.

“Shut up, space boy, or should I say, ‘Biff,’” Maria grinned as he scowled on his way to the door. Instead of changing his hair color, they had just opted to comb it over and go preppy. It was so long that the edges curled over his ears slightly and he looked like a prep wanting to go retro. Between that and the frat shirt they’d found at the thrift store earlier, Michael looked completely unlike himself. All he needed was a Mercedes’ key chain.

Max had a slight frown on his face as he followed Michael. Maria looked him over one more time and hid her smile behind her hand. He was even walking self-consciously. But really, they hadn‘t done much.

First, one of Isabel’s diamond stud earrings was in his left ear, easy enough to do with alien powers. It hadn’t even bled! Next, Isabel had shortened his hair and Maria had spiked it up with gel. Then, the clothes. He was playing the part of the rebellious college jock - practice jersey with a mesh fabric below the shoulders and loose running shorts, all from the thrift store. Thank god Max’s father had insisted on buying him a decent pair of running shoes a few months ago, so he didn’t have to wear those dumb converse all-stars. They stood out like nose ring on a poodle.

Anyway, the overall picture was very unMax-like, and pretty damn hot with those abs peeking out from the mesh shirt. Liz would give her eyeteeth to see him looking like that, Maria thought with a grin. Then she frowned as she caught sight of his heavily-muscled legs. “Isabel, does Max look too hot?“

Max rolled his eyes and stared at her in annoyance.

“Oh, god, how can you even ask me that,” Isabel immediately fired back as she fixed her lip gloss in the bathroom mirror. “Of course not.”

Maria just tilted her head to the side and tried to imagine seeing Max from afar for the first time. She didn’t think anyone would recognize him as the clean-cut, All-American martyred guy from Roswell.

Well, unless...

“Max, here,” Maria grabbed his sunglasses off the table and threw them at him. “Those eyes are just way too gorgeous. That’s probably what people remember about you the most, so cover ‘em up. And, for god‘s sake, strut, boy! Remember, you‘re a stud now.”

Max exhaled loudly and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Come on, Max. Just- just be Kyle. How hard can it be?”

Max glared at her, but finally turned to walk out of the room with just a hint of a strut. Maria collapsed in giggles against the dresser. Max poked his head back in with just a hint of a smile on his face. “Was that better?”

Maria waved a hand and tried to speak. “Yeah- perfect. Perfect! You have got to show Liz that when you get back. Oh, god- hilarious.”

Max smiled and disappeared out the door.

“That, is not my brother,” Isabel said with resignation. She stood beside Maria, her head of beautiful dark brown hair tied back in a red bow.

Maria had to wonder if Isabel realized that she had basically picked to have Liz’s hair- silky, heavy, straight brown locks that fell down her back. She looked completely collegiate as well, penny loafers and socks worn with pleated shorts and a drifter sweater. Of course, she still looked beautiful. The dark coloring just made her golden skin tone stand out more. But at least the cleavage was gone for now. She wasn’t total eye candy now.

But the real point was to not have people recognize them, and she was sure that no one would. Now, on to meet the rest of the clan.

It was amazing to Maria that she took it all in stride. She smiled as she grabbed the hotel room key and turned out the light. Oh, going to meet more aliens today? No prob. But we should probably put on a disguise so no one can recognize us, just in case they might want to grab us and torture us for information. Maria sighed and closed the door. Guess it’s all in what you’re used to.

******

Liz was briskly wiping off tables when she saw her mother for the first time since the funeral. She was heading for the front door, looking pale and weak. Her appearance startled Liz and she forced herself to look back down at the dirty stains in the center of the table. She would not feel sorry for her mother. She would not. Her mother deserved every single bit of pain that she-

Her mother passed slowly by without a word, just within Liz’s line of vision. Liz was smart enough to be thankful for her silence. She honestly had no idea what would have come out of her mouth if her mother had spoken one word to her.

Liz took a few strangled breaths after the door jangled, signaling her mother‘s departure. Then she turned to eye the customers in her booths and determined that they were fine for a few minutes.

She turned and walked to the back room, counting the twenty-four steps in her head. An even number. She relaxed somewhat.

Once through the swinging doors, she found the object of Michael‘s earlier request- Justin. He was slinging burgers at the Crashdown, a temp hired to replace Michael while he, Maria and Isabel were “vacationing.”

And actually, Justin seemed to be better suited to it than Michael. It seemed to relax him. Even though his expression when he had come in was dark and angry, he looked completely at ease now. Liz watched as he moved the spatula deftly, flipping a line of burgers with a minimum of effort.

“You sure you‘ve never done this before?”

“Liz.” Justin didn’t even look up. “So, what do you want?”

Liz hesitated a moment, stunned as always by his brusque tone. She opened the connection to Michael out of sheer nervousness. “Actually, Michael wanted me to ask you if you’d remembered to pay rent for the month.” She reached over and grabbed a kitchen towel, folding it precisely.

“Tell my little brother that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of his apartment while he’s gone. He won’t get evicted.”

*Tell him it’s his ass if I do. I still report to the county until I’m eighteen.*

“You do know that Michael still reports to the county-”

“Haven’t you done enough,” Justin’s gaze was openly hostile.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You‘ve turned Joey against me somehow.”

Liz stared at him in shock, then started to get angry. “Justin, how can you even- I have so much on my mind right now and- that is absolutely the last thing I would ever be doing.” She fought herself to calm down, taking a few deep breaths.

“Whatever. Look, if my brother wants a piece of me, tell him to get his fat, hairy butt over to the phone. I’m not talking through you.”

“Fine,” she said, tossing the towel on the counter.

Justin turned back to the grill and slammed the spatula down on the grill. Liz jumped and slipped out of the room quickly.

Good grief, Michael. Just call him next time.

*Whatever. You seen your mom yet?*

Uh... yeah. She just walked right by me. I didn’t say anything.

*Listen, you don’t back down. You let her have it for me, Liz. And for Max. And yourself. This whole thing sucks.*

“Yeah,” Liz agreed out loud, then shook her head. Every now and then, she forgot Michael was just in her head.

I’m gonna’ block you again until later. It’s hard to work with all this stuff in my head.

*Yeah, we’ll be over at Christopher’s. Hurricane Deluca dressed me up like a freakin’ frat boy. And your boy has an earring and scruffy hair. What do you think about that?*

Liz had to let out a small laugh. Max with an earring? Actually... it sounded kinda’ sexy. A small smile played around her lips and she felt her body immediately respond to the image of the new Max-

*Keep it to yourself, Parker, unless you want me to join in your fantasy or something.*

Michael!

*So block me.*

Fine.

Liz pushed back a stray piece of hair. She needed to cut him off, anyway, before he could sense all the emotions swimming around in her head.

I’ll check in with you later.

*Right. Wish us luck.*

He was nervous about meeting Delia, she could tell.

Good luck.

She blocked him and then felt the anxiety settle back in her stomach. This whole Christopher thing... it all seemed too easy. Or was she just paranoid? Maybe it was from being at the Crashdown again. A wave of weariness washed over her and she sat in an empty booth.

Immediately, she thought about Kyle. Maybe she should call him and make sure he was alright...

“Lizzie,” her Dad’s voice made her look up. “Why don’t you call it a night?”

She shook her head automatically. “No, I can finish my shift, really.”

But her Dad was already waving Alex over as he spoke. “You look exhausted and I don’t want you to work yourself to death. There’s only a few more customers and Jennifer and I can handle it. Alex, take her upstairs for me, would you?”

Alex gave Liz a grin as he loped over, hands in his pockets. He was loving this. Liz smirked back at him and turned back to her father. “Are you sure, Daddy?”

“Positive. Go order a pizza or something. Ske-daddle.”

He waved them off and Alex grabbed Liz’s arm, steering her toward the stairs. “You heard the man. Let’s ske-daddle on up to the ranch and get us some vittles.”

“You already had two burgers, Alex,” Liz reminded him pointedly as he pushed open the swinging doors for her.

“Yeah, and when has that ever stopped me from having a few bites of pizza? Daddy’s orders, I might add.”

“Liz,” came a timid voice behind her. Liz spun around to see Jennifer Trilling in her uniform, following them. Her large hazel eyes were laced with tears and she wrung the rag in her hands. “Liz, just let me say this: I am so sorry about what happened, what Larry did. I feel so responsible-”

“Jennifer, no,” Liz forced herself to walk over to her and put a hand on her arm. “Don‘t think like that.”

“But it‘s true. If I‘d just stayed there with him that week, I‘d have been able to stop him.“

“No, you wouldn’t,“ Liz stressed the words as much as possible. “The only person responsible for what Larry did is Larry.”

The words rung hollow in her ears as she thought suddenly of her mother’s betrayal. Minor correction. My mother helped Larry trap Max into a taped confession, which she gave to Larry. After that, he’s responsible.

Jennifer was weeping openly. “I wish I could believe that. I never should have left him. I just- I want him back. That‘s all I want.”

Liz felt tears spring into her eyes, for which she was immediately angry. She didn’t want to be burdened with feeling sorry for Larry’s disappearance. He was dead and it was only right, after what he did to Max. Even if it was the FBI or whoever that had pushed him over the edge...

Ugh. Liz’s head was swimming with causes and effects, fear and anger. Alex’s hand on her arm steered her back toward the stairs and she heard the clipped tones as he said, “Wish we could help. Good night.”

As they mounted the stairs, he muttered, “That girl is just about as nutty as her husband.”

Liz looked back down on her, watching her sob into her hands.

******

The introductions were tense. Christopher had obviously schooled his group on proper other-worldly etiquette and, much to Max’s discomfiture, each one bowed in turn as they were called on.

“This is Shelley, my wife.“ The redhead’s brown eyes were darting around the room with nervousness as she bowed. Max sighed but Christopher went on before he could interrupt. “This is Andy, or Tug, as we call him.“ The man’s cowboy boots and easy grin set him apart from the tense group. He bowed with gusto. “And this,“ Christopher waved to the petite girl with brown, bobbed hair and luminous green eyes. “This is Delia.“ She bowed to Max, keeping her eyes on him as she bent over. There was a small smirk on her lips which made Max even more uncomfortable. As she stood back up, her eyes raked over his body with obvious meaning.

“Down girl,” Maria muttered. Delia‘s eyes shot to her with open hostility.

Christopher jumped in and pulled Delia into the hallway, asking everyone to have a seat in the living room. Max followed Shelley hesitantly, taking a seat on the couch. He watched Christopher lecture Delia, too quietly for him to hear. She obviously didn’t appreciate it. After a moment, her eyes slid back over to Max.

Max averted his eyes from her and looked around the room with apprehension. He, Isabel and Michael were seated on a long couch with Maria beside them in an armchair. The high ceiling above them gave the impression that the room had swallowed the eight people whole.

After Delia sat in the love seat across from Max, Christopher was the first to speak. “I’m sorry, Maria, is it?“

He gestured to Maria and she nodded, “That’s right.“

“Maria, you’re not one of the four, correct?“

She must’ve been nervous because her gaze shot to Max for reassurance. He nodded and she swung her eyes back to Christopher. “Yeah, I’m human. But I’ve put my name on the to-be-transformed list, if you know what that is.“

“Oh, definitely,“ Christopher’s hand slid over to Shelley’s jean-clad thigh, who was perched on the arm of the chair he sat in. “Shelley was transformed about a year and a half ago.“ The look that passed between them made Max wish for Liz again. A low sigh escaped him before Christopher‘s words sank in. “Wait, so Shelley was a human?”

“Good, Maxwell,” Michael threw out sarcastically.

Delia cackled and Christopher frowned at both of them before speaking. “Yes. My alien mate was killed three years ago- Giasalom. Melanie was her human name.“ The pall that spread across the room was palpable.

“I’m sorry,“ Max intoned gently. “Do you mind telling us about her death? I mean, did it have something to do with that FBI raid I saw when I connected to you?”

Christopher nodded slowly, but looked down at the ground. Max exchanged glances with Isabel. They had to tread carefully here, but they needed to know.

Tug spoke up before they could ask. “It was my fault.”

“It was not,“ Delia shot back with fire in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Delia,“ he said in a low voice. Tug slouched over, his elbows resting on his knees. Delia watched him a moment, then finally looked away, her eyes bright with tears. Tug looked at Max as he spoke. “She was my sister and they got her back when we lived in Reno. It was a freak thing. She just happened to be out one day alone. And that was it. By the time we figured out who had her and where, it was too late.” He closed his mouth firmly, looking as though just one more word might break his composure.

“We’d had lists of all the FBI compounds for years, because we‘d heard things,“ Christopher commented in the same dead tone. “So it was really just a matter of finding the right one in the amount of time we had. It took three tries in as many months before we found her.“

And then he was done, also fighting back emotion. Max looked back and forth between the two of them, remaining quiet out of respect for their loss.

Shelley’s quiet voice picked up the story. “I wasn’t a part of the group yet, but I know what happened. They got in easily and found Melanie’s body. She had been... experimented on and just...” She cut off and then continued with obvious discomfort. “Tug didn’t want to leave her there, so they tried to take her body with them. There was apparently a sensor hidden in her body and it triggered the alarm. They were surrounded in under a minute and-“

“We killed the bastards,“ Tug’s voice was low and gravelly. “Fried ‘em ‘til we smelled ‘em burning. So they couldn’t ever do it again.“

Max felt tears sting his eyes. His arm went around Isabel’s shoulders, who leaned against him, wiping away tears. Max couldn’t even process the horror that filled him as he considered that happening to her- or to Joey. It didn’t help to remember that Joey was far away from him right now, as was Liz. And both were without his protection.

“We managed to think clearly enough to wipe out their databank on site,“ Christopher continued seriously. “But, of course, who knows what they had put out there before we got a hold of it?”

Max felt dread growing as he realized what this meant. “When was this again?”

“About three years ago. That‘s when we relocated. We moved a few times, cutting all ties to confuse anyone who was tracking us. Finally, we ended up here. I got a job teaching at the university and that‘s where I met Shelley.” Again, they smiled at each other.

Max’s mind was reeling. The FBI had documented evidence of aliens- of them- for at least three years. He couldn’t help sending Michael a glance. After spending their whole lives fearing discovery, it was stunning to think about. But, then again, it made sense, in a way. Max had always wondered how to account for the fact that the FBI, who was rumored to know everybody‘s secrets, had never investigated Max or his friends. Their actions couldn’t have gone unnoticed- Liz‘s healing, Tess‘s disappearance, Doug‘s disappearance...

“How much do they know,” Max finally asked.

“Well,” Christopher and Tug exchanged glances. “The information we saw was pretty detailed. Very... graphic.” He stopped again, fighting to speak normally. “But they didn’t have any cumulative info, nothing on you guys, nothing on any other group besides ours.”

“Except now they have Kate,” Isabel offered angrily, pulling away from Max. “Sorry, Michael, but it’s most likely the truth.”

Max looked over to Michael, who had looked away and was blinking furiously.

“How long have they had her,” Shelley asked quietly.

“Over a year,” Max intoned, and their faces registered the same fear his mind was churning with. “But let’s don’t assume anything. If the FBI already had information from... from Melanie, why would they take another female?”

“Isn’t it obvious,” Delia shot out. “Easier to control, more emotional, weaker.”

Max gave her a gentle smile. “Not weaker. But I understand what you’re saying. It’s just that from a clinical perspective, what did they have to gain by taking Kate? Their research would’ve been redundant, pointless.”

“You’re saying it was a different group, then,” Christopher looked puzzled.

“I’m saying, maybe. Probably.” Max rubbed at his forehead wearily. “What I don‘t understand is why they didn‘t come after the rest of you. They took Melanie when she was alone, and got plenty of evidence that she was extraterrestrial. It seems to me that there should have been a purge, or some kind of-”

“Round-up,” Tug supplied suddenly. “We know. The only thing we’ve been able to figure is that Melanie... she was the gentlest soul I’ve ever known. Maybe... maybe meeting her convinced them that we weren’t dangerous.”

Possible. Max’s mind churned through all of the exceptions to that idea. But there weren’t that many. It was a comforting thought, but Max didn‘t allow himself to dwell on it long. Someone had still taken Kate and there was one member of the twelve missing. And Max couldn‘t get rid of the nagging thought that they needed to keep everyone together to be safe. As he opened his mouth to speak, he realized that everyone was waiting on him. The tension had risen in the room. The pressure made him pause.

“In light of what we’ve learned tonight, I think it’s imperative that we get everyone together.” Nods were the only response. “The four of us should leave in the morning.”

“What?” Cries from all over the room hit him at once and he stood and waited out the storm. “The others are not safe on their own in Roswell. With all the attention from the wedding and the Larry’s accusation that I’m an alien, why wouldn’t the FBI be checking it out? And if they know all that they know about us... how hard could it be to find out who’s human and who’s an alien? The day of the wedding, two people claimed to have been taken the night before and couldn‘t remember what happened to them. One of them was our friend.” Max glanced at Michael, remembering how reluctant Michael was to tell him about Kyle showing up on his doorstep, pale and shaken that morning. At first, Max had written it off as part of Kyle’s attempts to sabotage the wedding. But now, he was thinking exactly the opposite.

“Max, what do you want to do,” Christopher stood and faced him with determination.

For once, Max was glad to be able to command. He looked the group over soberly. “We need to get the others and try to locate Kate and the other member of her foursquare that’s missing. Do you remember anything about him?”

No one spoke.

“Well, we can probably assume that the orb will bring him to itself, the way it did with Justin. I’m just a little surprised that it hasn’t worked yet.”

“Maybe it has and he’s afraid to show himself,” Shelley suggested.

“Right,” Max agreed. “Another good reason to go back to Roswell and keep our eyes open. We‘ll head back tomorrow to get the others. Why don‘t we find a neutral place between here and Roswell, and meet you guys there in a week? We‘ll regroup. Until then, everyone be thinking about how to find our missing members. Surely we can come up with a good plan between all of us.”

Everyone agreed. Max felt the fear in his stomach dissipate just a little now that a plan was in place. With any luck, he would be with Liz, soon. And he would check every single inch of her body for any bruises or scratches that he hadn’t been there to protect her from.

He turned away as a sly smile pulled at the edges of his lips. He was just thinking of how to make the “checking” a little more fun...