"Dad!" she heard Kyle call.

"Morning," Tess replied from the couch.

Kyle could barely get actual words out, "Yes, morning. What the hell are you doing here?"

Maria heard Tess get up from the couch, "I live here…Calvin Klein. I approve."

Maria had no idea what she was talking about. "Dad!" Kyle yelled again.

"Yo!" Maria peeked out from her sleeping bag on Valenti's floor. "People are trying to sleep!"

"You're here too," Kyle raised his eyebrows. "OK, what is going on?"

Maria laughed as she got up, "I live here."

"I got to sleep and everything is cool, but when I wake up two hot alien chicks are living in my house," Kyle looked deep in thought. "Now is this my worst nightmare or a dream come true."

"OK, Kyle, number one, Eww, put your perverted mind back into hibernation, and number two, your dad is letting us stay here because our guardian is dead and our house was ransacked by evil aliens," Maria announced and from the look on Kyle's face she didn't know whether he believed her or not. "Believe whatever you want just remember that this hot alien chick has a hot alien boyfriend who is only learning to control his powers, so accidents can happen."

"Point taken," Kyle nodded.

Maria smiled, "Now you better have Lucky Charms and Tabasco sauce because I'm starving." * * * "You're staying where?" Isabel asked as she and Maria walked down the school hallway.

Maria replied, "Believe it or not at Sheriff Valenti's. You should have seen the look on Kyle's face when he found us sleeping in the living room. It was priceless."

"Doesn't it feel weird?" Isabel laughed as she pictured Kyle's expression.

Maria explained, "Well Max thinks that since Nasedo is gone Tess and I would be safer with the Sheriff, but I think we would have been fine at our house."

"What can I say, that's big brother Max for you. He acts like that towards me, even though I'm older than he is," Isabel rolled her eyes.

Maria laughed, "You think having a little brother is a pain try having a little sister. Technically she is older but I've taken care of her ever since she came out of the pod."

"So what's Michael have to say about this? How come you two aren't playing house?" Isabel teased as she watched Maria blush a dark shade of pink.

Maria confessed, "OK, I admit he asked, but I can't leave Tess and believe me she doesn't want to live with Michael."

"I would have invited you guys to stay with us, but we would have to come up with a really good explanation for my parents," Isabel informed her.

Maria confided with a sense of relief, "I'm kind of glad you didn't because I don't think we could have handled Max and Tess living underneath the same roof."

"You're probably right," Isabel glanced at her watch to see how much time they had until the bell rang.

"Where is Max anyway I need to find him?" Maria asked before they parted their separate ways.

Isabel shrugged her shoulders, "Beats me but knowing Max, he'll find you. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Maria said taking off in the opposite direction.

* * * After school Maria decided to pay Liz a visit at Congresswoman Whitaker's office before she went back to the Valenti's. She saw Liz through the window working in the front office. "Hey, I think I know why Max and Tess were, you know together last night," Maria surprised Liz from the doorway. "He was just playing bodyguard. He was walking her home in case the, uh, killer was following her."

Liz continued with her work, "You know, you don't have to make excuses for him."

Maria was amazed on how well Liz knew her, but she tried to play it off, "Who's making excuses? I'm just trying to help him, help you, you know, help the situation."

"Did he send you here?" Liz had a glint of anger in her eyes.

Maria's eyes grew wide, "No."

"He did, didn't he?" Liz roughly walked to her desk shuffling papers everywhere.

"Not this time," Maria accidentally slipped. "I mean…no. No, of course not."

Liz looked upset, "Maria, I thought that you were my friend."

Maria sat down on the edge of the desk; "This is so unfair. I care about you both. I just want you guys to be happy and together."

"Maria, will you do me a favor?" Liz asked. "Will you keep your big fat nose out of this?"

"Message received. Man!" Maria sounded a little offended as she got off the desk.

Liz regretted what she said, "Look, I have a lot of work to do, so just…"

"Fine, fine," Maria cut her off. "You weren't…you weren't serious about the big fat nose…"

"Good-bye," Liz interrupted before Maria could get another word in.

Maria gave up for now, "Bye." She left Whitaker's office feeling like she failed with the whole Max and Liz situation. She planned on going to the Valenti's to see what Tess was doing but her cell phone rang. "Talk to me," she answered.

"Maria, it's Max," he said.

Maria couldn't believe it, "Max, speak of the devil. I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

"It'll have to wait, meet me in a half hour at the bleachers in Roswell City Park," Max told her.

"OK, I'll be there," Maria replied but he couldn't hear her because he already hung up.

"What's this all about Max, because you seriously had me freaked out?" Maria asked Max from her seat next to Michael on the bleachers.

Max stood in front of them as if he were the teacher and they were his students. "I was fired today."

"Milton fired you," Isabel was surprised.

"Not Milton, a new guy named Brody Davis. He bought the UFO center from him and he brought in some seriously heavy equipment," Max continued.

Maria asked wanting to get to the point, "So why did you get fired?"

"Because he caught me near this device," Max went on. "It was shaped like a pentagon, and it was definitely alien."

"An alien device in the hands of a perfect stranger…a stranger who just happens to buy the UFO center from Milton, or so he says," Michael said in a tight voice.

Max questioned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Michael clarified himself, "Why would Milton sell? That stupid tourist trap was his life. So one day he just sells to this guy takes the money and disappears? No, I don't think so."

Max couldn't believe his accusation, "So you're saying he killed Milton?"

"Well, after killing Nasedo, killing Milton would be like swatting a fly," Michael figured that Brody was the skin that killed Nasedo.

Isabel pointed out, "If he killed Nasedo."

"We should be sure before we jump to any conclusions," Maria spoke up. "This could all be a strange coincidence."

Michael wasn't buying Maria's theory, "Yeah, it's a coincidence that he's also interested in something that happened on May fourteenth."

Isabel jumped in, "All right, so it's the day that we got the message from our mother, but that doesn't really prove anything."

"Will you wake up!" Michael was getting frustrated with the pacifist approach. "Nasedo told us before we activated the orbs that we might be telling our enemies where we are."

"Keep your voice down," Max ordered because they never knew who could be around.

Michael grew more angrier, "Yes, sir. What do you want to do next, fearless leader?"

"Michael," Maria warned because she knew that Michael would say something really harsh.

"I'm gonna talk to Valenti…have him try to find Milton," Max planned. "Hopefully he's still alive and just on vacation somewhere. Which means he can tell us more about Brody and how he-"

Michael abruptly cut him off, "Instead of all this talk, why don't we just break into the UFO center and take the damn thing?"

Maria grew wide-eyed because she knew that Michael was serious and that he would do it if he could. Max snapped at him, "Because it's too dangerous. If he is a skin our best protection right now is that he doesn't know who we are."

"Speak for yourself," Maria muttered under her breath so no one could hear her.

Michael stated passionately, "I say that's a load of crap. But OK, fine. We got one vote for breaking in and we got one against. Isabel? Maria?"

"Don't put this on us Michael," Isabel seemed annoyed.

Michael looked at Maria hoping that she would side with him, she told him, "If this goes wrong I don't want to see you in jail again, or worse."

"We are not voting on this Michael," Max declared with a dead voice. "I've made my decision. That's the end of it."

Max was set in his ways even Nasedo obeyed him, but Maria knew Michael better than that. "You know, Maxwell, I don't remember this other life we're supposed to have lived, but I do know I was your trusted second-in-command," Michael was standing face to face with Max. "And I am pretty damned sure that you used to listen to me." Before Max could say anything Michael gave him a hard stare and walked away.

"Michael!" Maria called after him, but she didn't follow.

Isabel reassured her, "He just needs to cool off."

"Yeah, I know I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid," Maria sulked because she knew Michael too well. Even more than Max and Isabel, because Maria sees the softer, sweeter, and loving side of Michael. Still the "soldier" side of Michael has a tendency to impair his good judgment and common sense.

* * * "They don't feel broken," Isabel examined Michael at his apartment.

He winced with pain as she prodded him again, "Yeah, not to you." He glanced at Maria who was standing off to the side with her arms crossed and a look of disapproval on her face. When their eyes met Maria looked away and he didn't blame her.

"Nice move Michael," Max seethed with anger because Michael as expected disobeyed his orders by breaking into the UFO center. He nearly got caught by Brody and killed by some powerful force that escaped from the pentegram. "How many times do we have to have the same conversation? How many times do I-"

"Knock it off, Max!" Isabel cut him off with an angry tone to her voice. "All right? He's been through enough. He doesn't need a lecture."

Michael whispered to Isabel, "Thank you, better late than never."

"I just don't want to see any of us get hurt," Max lost some of his edge.

"I know," Isabel said. "But someone did get hurt. Michael nearly got killed tonight. Nasedo already has been killed; something has to be done, Max. We have to do something about Brody."

"What are you saying?" Max wanted to hear it from his sister than Michael.

Isabel didn't hesitate, "We have to kill him."

"You guys are crazy," Maria blurted out.

"Wow," Michael was impressed.

Isabel turned to Maria, "Come on Maria, it's for our own survival. And I know you have it in you because you were ready to kill Pierce."

Maria responded, "But I was completely sure that Pierce was evil."

"He used an alien weapon. What human could do that?" Isabel explained. "He's a skin…whatever that means. And he killed Nasedo and he's been stalking the rest of us. We're at war. It's him or us, and I choose us."

"Me too," Michael agreed, glad someone was on his side.

Max stood up; "Well I guess there is nothing left to say. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."