Of course, they were all taking this much more seriously. Even Alex was a bit on the un-fun side tonight. He could usually count on Alex to contribute a laugh line or two when facing down death at the hands of evil aliens. He must be spending too much time with Max lately, like everyone in this freak show. Kyle rolled his eyes at the somber gaze of their un-elected, but readily accepted, leader.

“I don’t like Maria not knowing what’s going on,” Michael argued tersely. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I agree, Michael,” Max nodded at him. “When we split up, why don’t you start by finding Maria and then search the specified area?”

Specified area, Kyle crossed his arms in front of his chest and grunted. Give me a break.

But Michael just nodded. Of course, Big Kahuna uses Big Words to make up for lack of other Big Items. Kyle smirked to himself and glanced at Liz, who was, of course, gazing at Max with rapt attention and such a lovesick look...

Of course.

Kyle nodded to himself, then tuned back in.

“So, the teams each take one third of the town and do as much looking as they can without being suspicious. We’ll meet back here in two hours for a check and to re-assign areas. Michael, you and Liz should be in different groups and Liz, give Kyle your cell phone. Iz, is yours charged up?” She nodded. “Good. If something big happens, contact each other as quickly as possible. Liz and I will cover the North side of town. Michael, you and Kyle cover the South side. Alex, you and Isabel look downtown and out to the old bridge. There’s a lot of abandoned buildings down there we should check,” Max suddenly hesitated. “Maybe Liz and I should take that area.”

“No,” Isabel said firmly, standing to her feet. “We can handle it. Right, Alex?”

Alex gulped very obviously and stood slowly to his feet. “Uh... yeah. Sure.”

“Great plan, Max,” Kyle started sarcastically. “It won’t look suspicious at all for me to hang out with Michael and Maria.”

“Good point,” Max said quickly. “Maybe you should-”

“Go by myself,” Kyle interrupted. “That’s just what I was thinking, too. Better chance of being missed by the intergalactic welcoming committee. I’ll be back in two hours after I’ve covered the warehouses. You,” he said, pointing to Isabel, “and Alex skip that and just do the downtown. Break a leg.”

And he was out the door before they could object. It’s not like they really cared, anyway. As he got into his car, he heard the door open and saw Liz come running out after him. Kyle sighed and watched her walk around the front of his Mustang. As usual, she was looking way too damn good to be somebody else’s fiancee.

He looked at her through the window and rolled it down with a sigh. “Yeah, Liz, what is it?”

“Kyle,” she seemed hesitant. “Are you sure that you want to go alone? I can go with you.”

“Liz, do I look like I need a babysitter,” he ran a hand through his hair and shoved the stick into gear.

“This isn’t a game,” her dark eyes were serious.

He just shook his head again, biting his tongue. But then again, why the hell should he? “You don’t give a damn about me, Liz. Just at least let me go hunt down the bad guys with some dignity, alright? If I run into trouble, I’ll call Betty.”

Oh yeah, he could shoot an alien or two in a pinch. Betty was a kick-ass .33, one of his favorite possessions.

Liz grabbed his arm. “Kyle, don’t you dare use that gun unless you are in real danger. This girl could be Max’s sister for all we know, and if you hurt her-”

“Oh,” he addressed her with a mocking tone. “That would upset little Maxy, now wouldn’t it? So I should just let her fry me instead of defending myself, is that how you see it? Fine. Good night, Liz.” He floored it and left her standing alone in the street.

Maybe he would die tonight. And those would be the last words between them. Good, he thought, managing a tight smile. Something to remember me by.

******

Maria was shaking with anger as she parked the car inconspicuously across the road. Following Larry had been amazingly simple. He was apparently ecstatic about his new, damaging evidence against Max. He strolled up to his house with the light-heartedness of a child.

Dammit, Maria thought bitterly. They had known he was wacko. They should have been watching him. Michael had once told her how, years ago, Larry had assisted the crazed UFO chaser Everett Hubble on his quest to find the alien who killed his wife and child.

It was after talking to Larry that Hubble lured Max into a trap and would have shot him if Valenti hadn’t stopped him cold- by killing him. And now Larry had his proof. Right there in his hands.

What had Max said to Mrs. Parker on that tape?

Okay, Deluca. You know where Larry is, just get the tape. No tape, no FBI. No FBI, no dead friends. See, simple?

She raised her head to see Larry whistling his way in the door. She mumbled a few more choice words under her breath as she slipped out of the car and crept up to the house. God, she hated him.

“Where have you been,” Jennifer’s voice came screaming out at Maria, making her wince.

“Out. I was doing something important,” Larry’s mood had immediately plummeted. Too bad. “Unlike you. All you ever do is watch those idiotic TV shows all night long. I’m out there changing the world, and you’re not even living in it.”

Jennifer’s screech vibrated in Maria’s ear for almost a minute, but she continued to move around to the back of the house, following Larry’s voice as he yelled in return.

Reaching a back window, Maria slowly eased her way up until she could peek inside. The view was partially blocked by mini-blinds, but she saw Larry at his chest-of-drawers. He was yelling something and- the tape was in his hands! He had pulled it out and was turning it over greedily. When Jennifer’s voice came closer, he reached out and opened the top dresser drawer.

No, it can’t be that easy, Maria thought. The tape was plopped unceremoniously in the drawer, and then it was slammed shut, just in time for him to rail on Jennifer all the way back down the hallway.

Maria was frozen in place, staring at the dresser drawer. Right there, he put the tape right there! What an idiot!

She stood all the way up and grasped the bottom of the window. It wouldn’t budge. Maria let out an exasperated breath and then tried again. Locked.

Tears sprang into her eyes. So close... She had to get help. Czechoslovakian help. They could ease that thing open in two seconds. Away Maria flew to the car, heedless of anything except speed...

Her thoughts were a jumble of possibilities and proposed actions as she crossed the street. First, she would call Liz and get her to locate Michael. A screech of tires suddenly broke into her emotionally clouded brain and time slowed to a crawl. She had time to process the sound... and time to recognize the car... a Mustang... but not enough time to run.

The car was coming too fast. She watched in horror as it slid toward her... and connected. The force threw her up on the hood, and she rolled over and over and fell to the ground, hard on her right arm.

She screamed, unable to even process all the pain. Everything hurt. A car door flew open behind her.

“Maria,” Kyle said in a strangled voice. “Maria, oh my god...

That made no sense to her. Kyle? She felt his hands easing her up off of the pavement and she cried out. Her skin stung everywhere from contact with the pavement- her face, her arm, her leg. Turning her arm over, she saw blood collecting in a dark wave. She couldn’t see the scrape for the blood. It started dripping down on her leg steadily. The sting was penetrating deeper and deeper. And her leg was hurt bad. As she focused on it, she realized how bad it probably was. Must be broken. She started to feel faint.

NO!

“I‘m so sorry,” Kyle was whispering over and over.

She looked up at him fiercely. “Kyle, you have to do something for me, for Liz. NOW!”

******

Liz looked over at Max as they drove. He was stoically watching the streets as they crept by. Liz reminded herself to do the same. It was important.

But this felt hopeless. If the girl wasn’t out walking around the town like a zombie, how would they find her? Even in a small town like Roswell, there were too many places to hide.

Liz frowned. Maybe they were going about this all wrong. Maybe they should try to reason it out instead of trusting blind luck.

What if she were an alien, coming to Roswell for the first time? Going to the UFO Center seemed a move of desperation. Only a very confused and/or uninitiated person would go there for information. She was obviously looking for something or someone.

So let’s say she didn’t find what she was looking for and wanted to get away to re-think her tactics. Now assuming she didn’t have money for lodging, which was a safe bet because she had her bag at the Center according to Kyle, she would be then be looking for the safest place to crash. In a strange town, in the summertime...

Oh, where would she go?

Liz sighed and reached over to rub Max’s arm gently. Then it hit her. She looked over at Max. “Let’s try the school.”

Max turned to stare at her for a moment, then nodded and turned the vehicle around.

******

Kyle was a man possessed. He pounded on the door as if his life depended on it. He felt as if it might. When Larry came to the door, Kyle opened his mouth and words poured out. Words about Maria, how hurt she was and how they had to get an ambulance. Apologies, over and over again. About how stupid he’d been to be driving so fast. He was babbling, the words not even attached to his brain.

He was an idiot.

His dad was going to kill him. He’d almost killed his almost-sister.

Sh*t!

They had heard the screech of tires and didn’t hesitate to help. Larry ran out to the car; Jennifer ran to the phone. Kyle followed her inside, clutching his hand to his stomach.

“I’m gonna’ barf, is there- a bathroom,” he asked anxiously. Jennifer looked at him sympathetically and he charged off down the hall to where she pointed. He heard her voice, “Yes, I need to report an accident.”

Kyle turned on the bathroom light and then ducked into the bedroom. The top drawer of the chest of drawers.

Did Maria mean that long chest or the tall, skinny one? Dammit.

He grabbed the top drawer of the skinny one and yanked it open. The tape was on top. Kyle grabbed it and looked around frantically. He saw a piece of paper and a pen. Scrawling as quickly as possible, he took deep breaths to calm himself.

Maybe Liz would forgive him for almost killing her best friend now that he was saving Max’s life.

Maybe.

He thrust the note in the drawer and closed it. It was only a ten second long operation and Jennifer was still on the phone reporting the accident. Kyle slipped back into the bathroom and ran a little water into a cup he found there. He did some amazingly convincing retches and dumped some of the water into the toilet. Then he did it louder. And again.

The last retch was almost a real one. He had almost killed his almost-sister. A fierce desire to run out and check on her overtook him and he didn‘t fight it. He shoved the tape in his jacket pocket and flushed the toilet. Running by Jennifer, he waved a weak “thanks” and ran outside.

To the car. To Maria, bleeding on the ground. His gut was inside a blender. This was his fault.

His fault.

******

Alex wasn’t exactly proud of himself. He had single-handedly managed to un-do two years worth of investing into his and Isabel’s relationship with one dinky little conversation.

Amazing.

He looked over at Isabel as she kept her eyes glued to the buildings they were searching. Her long, blond hair shone in the moonlight. She had been his muse, his goddess for so long that he had never actually believed it could be possible that she might love him in return. Which she did, apparently. Or at least she used to, before he had that attack of chickensh*t-itis.

And now, because of his stupid insecurities, she was sitting as far away from him in the car as she could get. Granted, in his pea green Nova, that wasn’t very far. But still, the emotional distance was probably about three light years.

She was biting her bottom lip and bouncing her head in frustration, obviously having a little heart-to-heart with herself.

“Izzy, I said if it came down to it, I’d do it,” he reminded her in a calm voice.

She turned burning eyes on him. “Yeah, after you gave every excuse in the book for getting out of it.” She turned to the window and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Okay, maybe more like... four light years. Suddenly, a movement out by the old soap factory caught Alex’s attention. A blur of some kind formed and then a man appeared. He walked forward and away from them steadily.

Alex blinked several times. “Uh, Iz?”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

He watched her take a deep breath, fearing the next words out of her mouth.

“Let’s go,” she said without preamble. “He needs to be tailed.”

Alex raised his eyebrows at her. “No. That man needs to be left alone. I’m sure teleporting takes a lot out of you. I mean, he probably needs to rest, catch up on some t.v., hit the sheets early. In fact, that sounds like something I’d like to do."

“Alex,” Isabel said warningly. “You are coming very close to wienie-hood. You know that, don’t you?"

“Yeah, yeah. Sticks and stones, Izzy. Did you see what I saw? He just teleported. Do you happen to remember the last teleporting freak we encountered? Does the name ‘Doug’ ring a bell? Does the word ‘pain’ mean anything to you?”

Isabel let out a frustrated shriek and started the car by waving her hand over it. “DRIVE, or I will.”

“Alright, alright,” Alex shoved down his fear and put the car into drive. “But I do not pick up hitchhikers from other galaxies, okay? They leave handprints in the worst places...”

Okay, yeah... bad joke.

Alex eased the car forward, suddenly feeling like he was at a Star Trek Convention. “Boy could I use a good Vulcan neck pinch right now,” he muttered.

“I can help you out with that,” Isabel shot back.

Okay, no more talking or we’ll be up to five light years.

What was he supposed to do, pretend to be a hero?

Pretend to be Max?

He was honest, above all else, even the things he didn’t like about himself.