The girl pushed her way into Michael’s apartment and looked around.

“You look like hell. What are you doing here again?” He asked.

“You have to find Maria. You have to find her now.”

“What?” Michael could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Why? What happened to her?”

“Please,” Tess begged, “You have to find her now. He’ll hurt her. He’ll hurt the baby. Please go.”

He grabbed her arm. “Who? Who’s going to hurt her?”

“It’s Nacedo.” She said breathlessly.

“Nacedo? Why would he hurt Maria? He’s trying to protect us. I don’t understand.”

“Listen, this probably won’t make any sense right now, but Nacedo has been trying to hurt you and Max and Isabel all along. He and I… we’re your enemies. We found out about you three and we’ve been hunting you for years. We’ve been using mind control to get you to trust us. That destiny thing was all a lie. He wanted to kill you three, Michael, but now that Maria’s pregnant… he thought it might be better if he gave you a warning.”

“A warning?” Michael’s eyes widened.

“He’ll kill her, Michael. Please go to her.”

He snatched her arm again. “How do I know that this isn’t a lie? You’ve been lying to us all this time. If what you’ve said is true then why should I trust you now?”

“I’ve never had a family. Nacedo sees me as an orderly or something. Not a daughter. You and Max and Isabel have actually accepted me. And my feelings for… my feelings are more complicated than I ever thought they’d be.”

Michael eyed her suspiciously.

“You have to believe me, Michael,” She said. “You just have to.” She touched his face gently and Michael could see everything. He saw Tess running back to Roswell to find him. He saw Nacedo snatching Maria out of her bedroom and dragging her away.

He couldn’t hear anything.

There was no sound.

Maria did not scream.

Tess dropped her hand. “After I left here the first time I told him where Maria would be tonight. I didn’t think he’d really harm her. But I followed him and I saw him take her. He will kill them, Michael.”

Michael backed towards the door. He turned to face her again before he left.

“I was only jealous. I never wanted this… You have to believe me. But even if you don’t, you can hate me later. Just go now.”

He heard Maria’s silence as he ran.

***

“That’s really strange,” Liz said as she put down the telephone receiver.

Alex, Isabel and Max turned their attentions to the brunette behind the counter.

“What’s up?” Alex asked.

“I just called Maria to see if she wanted to go to the movies with us. No one answered and she said she’d be home all night.” Liz replied.

“Oh,” Alex said. “Well that’s not so bad. Maybe she’s in the shower or something.” He turned his attention back to Isabel.

“You know, she probably went over to Michael’s after all,” Max said. “He’s so protective of her. He probably just didn’t want her out of her sight and she probably went along with it just to avoid a fight.”

Isabel chimed in. “Maria? Avoid a fight with Michael?”

“That is pretty unlikely, Max,” Liz said. “It doesn’t matter though. You guys are probably right.” She picked up a broom and started sweeping.

“Yeah. And could you hurry up and close this place, Liz? We’ll be late to the movie.” Alex said.

“You know if you wanted this done faster, you could help,” Liz said matter-of-factly. “And I’m so sure that you two aren’t going to be paying any attention to the movie anyway.” Liz winked at both of them.

She went over and started sweeping by the entrance. Michael nearly knocked her down when he burst through the door.

“Have you seen Maria?” He panted.

“Maria? No. Why?” Isabel asked.

“She’s in trouble. She’ll get hurt. You have to help me find her.”

Liz came out from behind the door and faced Michael “Wait. You’ve gotta slow down. What’s happened?” She asked.

She was the closest, so she was the one he reached out to. Michael grabbed her arm desperately. Liz’s mind was instantly filled with images of Maria, Nacedo, and Tess.

~“We’re your enemies… he gave you a warning… He’ll kill them, Michael.”~

Tess’s words rang in Liz’s ears.

Max watched as the color drained from Liz’s face.

Something was wrong.

“Oh no.” Liz whispered. Michael dropped her arm.

“I’ll explain the rest later,” He said. “She needs me. I have to go to her.”

Liz was motionless.

“All right. Liz and Alex can look around town. Isabel can stay here. And I’ll come with you,” Max told Michael.

“No. You stay with Liz. Alex can stay with Isabel. I don’t want him getting any other ideas. I’ll go check my place and Maria’s.” Michael said. He turned to run to the door.

Max pulled his arm. “Michael--”

“I’m going alone, Maxwell.”

Max could feel Michael trembling beneath his hand.

Max dropped his hand. Michael ran out of the café. Liz and Max got in the jeep and sped towards town. Alex and Isabel remained at the counter.

“What just happened?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. Something is not right, Alex.” Isabel got up and walked around the counter. “What do you think Michael meant when he said that he didn’t want someone getting any other ideas?”