Max went into Anna Lisa’s room. “What is it, sweetie?”

Anna Lisa stared up at him through her big, brown, tear-filled eyes. “Daddy…”

“What, honey? Are you tired? Do you want to eat something?”

Anna shook her head defiantly.

“Do you want me here with you?” Max asked, his voice revealing just how tired he really was.

Anna didn’t say anything.

“Anna Lisa?” Anna was acting different. What was going on?

“Daddy, look.” Slowly, Anna lifted her arm over her stuffed animal. She turned her small, round face up to her father, and carefully looked at him. Max looked down at her, confused. With a partly unsteady wave over the toy, Anna changed its color from white to green. Giggling, she did it again, this time adding polka dots and zebra stripes.

Max’s tired eyes widened. “Anna, what are you doing?”

The tears had stopped rolling down her round cheeks. She looked up at Max again, a proud smile illuminating her tiny face.

Max looked down at her in shock. He didn’t think Anna could be doing things like this until she was much older. He had assumed being half-human would have retarded her alien growth, not strengthen it.

He had assumed wrong.

*****

Audra stood frozen outside her door. She wasn’t sure where to go, but she knew she had to leave. All her things were in her bedroom. But her wallet wasn’t. Glad that she had slept in something other than pajamas, she grabbed her backpack, her coat and some money, and carefully left the apartment.

She would have seemed to be overreacting, if this were any other case. But something was definitely wrong. The way in which James had been talking had just paralyzed her. It was like he had been talking about her. He was talking about her to someone else at 3 in the morning. And the fact that something was telling her to run away made her want to leave even more. It seemed to make no sense.

She knew she shouldn’t be out, alone, this late at night, in the city. But something deep inside her was telling her not be in her apartment any longer.

Audra wasn’t really sure where to go. She didn’t have any close friends. She mostly spent all her time either studying or being with James. And being with James was clearly no longer an option.

She wanted to be in a public place for some reason. What place was open at 3 am, and was filled with people? Audra racked her brain. The only place she could think of was the airport.

Running outside, Audra found a payphone nearby. She felt like her every move was being watched. She opened the dangling phone book in the booth, and frantically searched for a 24-hour cab service. Luckily, she found one.

Soon, Audra was in a shady-looking taxi with an equally shady-looking cab driver. She was glad she had taken self-defense classes last year.

Within minutes, she had reached the airport. It certainly wasn’t busy, but it was nearing the morning hours. People would be there soon.

Glad she had her credit cards and a fair amount of cash on her, Audra went up to the ticket counter. There was a single person behind the counter.

“Hi. Can I help you?”

“I need to get out of here.”

“Pardon me?”

“Can I buy a ticket to somewhere?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are there any standby tickets or anything available?”

“Now?”

“I realize this is ridiculous, but you have to help me.”

The woman looked over Audra’s disheveled persona, and seemed to soften. “Let me see what I can find. I hope you have money.”

“I do.”

“Alright.” The woman sighed, and looked over her records. “Okay. We have three tickets left -- Austin, Texas; Bangor, Maine and San Francisco, California.”

“San Francisco,” Audra replied automatically. It was like something was telling her to go there.

“Ok. San Francisco it is. I’m going to need some kind of photo ID, as well as a major credit card.”

Audra handed over all her cards. As she stood patiently at the counter, she looked around. Everything was scaring her. She felt like everyone was against her. Soon, she felt the eyes of the ticket woman boring into her.

“What?” Audra asked.

“I’m sorry, but you look so familiar. Do I know you?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Did you go to school around here a few years ago?”

“No, but I’m in school here now.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“You look a lot like someone I used to know.”

Audra didn’t say anything. The woman’s familiarity had bugged her too, but she didn’t know what to make of it.

“Sorry. I guess it’s just really late, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You’re all set. Flight 977, gate 35. It boards in an hour.”

“Thank you very much.” Audra picked up her ticket and started to leave.

“Miss?” the woman called. Audra turned her head. “Good luck.”

*****

Max wasn’t sure what to do. When he had first come out of the pod, he too, hadn’t been sure what to make of his powers. But, somehow, he, Isabel and Michael all had figured out not to use them in public. But Anna was just a baby. How could he leave her at the daycare center now? People would know something was different about her. And if the wrong people found out -- namely the FBI, who had terrorized him for so long -- and took her away from him… Max didn’t even want to think about the possibility of losing the most important thing in his life.

He had no idea how to juggle this. He couldn’t give up school and work, but he couldn’t leave Anna alone either.

He needed someone with him. He needed a friend.

Max racked his brain. He didn’t know who else he could call but his sister. Picking up Anna from her crib, he hurried into the kitchen. He put Anna in her high chair, and said, “Anna, can you be a good girl for Daddy, and not do your magic tricks anymore?”

Anna giggled and shook her head ‘no.’

“Anna, sweetie, can’t you just do this for Daddy? Please? We can play peek-a-boo if you stop…”

Anna Lisa’s eyes grew wide. She quickly nodded her head and sat quietly.

Max rummaged through a phonebook that Liz had compiled a few years back. He blew the dust off of the book. It wasn’t like he actually called people anymore.

Finally, he found a number for Isabel. He highly doubted she would even be there. Knowing how ‘well’ she was probably doing, he figured she moved around a lot. But maybe he could find a forwarding number.

He knew it was late, and whoever was on the other side would be angry with him. But he couldn’t care about stupid things like that. This was important.

Max dialed the number, his hands shaky. He had to find Isabel.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

No one was picking up.

Max was about to give up when a groggy female voice answered the phone. “Hello?” she said slowly.

“Hi. I need to speak with Isabel Evans. It’s an emergency.”

“Isabel who?”

“Isabel Evans.”

“I don’t know an Isabel Evans.”

“I was told this was her number.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Do you know of any Isabels that lived here before?”

“I know an Isabel. What does your Isabel look like?”

“Um, she’s tall, dirty blonde. She was a model or an actress or something.”

“Okay. That sounds like Isabelle du Ponte. Why do you want to talk to her?”

“This is her brother.”

“You’re her brother and you don’t know what her last name is?”

“We haven’t talked in a few years.”

“No kidding.”

“Can I just have her number?”

“Yeah, sure. Calm down.” The woman rummaged for a few minutes, and finally came back on. “Here it is.” After relaying the number, she said, “It’s a Seattle number -- she runs a modeling agency up there now.”

“Is she married?”

“What?”

“Well, her last name is different. I thought maybe she got married, or something.” Max was getting frustrated, as he began to regret even calling.

“Isabel? Married?” the girl chuckled, despite her weariness. “Isabelle de Ponte is the last person to ever get married. That’s her stage name, I guess. I didn’t know her real last name was Evans.”

“Okay. Well, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” With that, the girl hung up the phone.

Max frenetically dialed the Seattle number. He had learned more in the two minutes he had talked with the girl about Isabel than he had heard in the past three years. What had happened to the bond they once had?

‘You’ll find out soon enough, Max’ he told himself.

The phone rang endlessly.

Finally, someone picked up.

“Hello?” a weary voice answered.

“Can I speak to Isabel Evans?” Max asked.

The voice on the other line suddenly went from tired to harsh. “Who is this?”

“Is this Isabel?”

“Who is this?” The cold voice that was so familiar to him made Max sure the person on the other end was Isabel.