::November 20, 2000. I'm Liz Parker and this is my life... writing all the pathetic details down in this journal, never again able to tell anyone what is really going on with me. How tragic.

I don't know why I keep looking at it. Or is it looking at me? So small and innocent in that unassuming gold box... one would hardly imagine that tiny gift box could hold my still beating heart... my broken soul.

Max and Liz 4-ever – ha! What a cosmic joke.

I almost told him tonight, almost told him everything to make him stay, but the glimmer in his eye made me think he wouldn't have cared at all if I did.::

***

Liz dropped her pen, angrily swiping a tear threatening to slide down her cheek. "So where are we now, Future Max?!?" she shouted to the empty room. "Max is gone and the Pod Squad is incomplete. But you got your way... he's with Tess. Hope you're happy!"

She knocked the journal from her lap; the bound book crashing into a bookshelf then leaned back against the headboard. Drawing her knees to her chest, Liz rested her head on them, sobbing freely.

"Who would be that happy you're so miserable?" a vaguely familiar voice questioned, causing the girl to bolt upright.

"What?!?" Liz's eyes were open wide in alarm. "Ava?"

The punk-styled alien with Tess's face stared back at her from the balcony window. "Sorry... didn't 'tend to have you freak," she explained in her strange dialect, honest sincerity showing on her pierced face.

"That's all right... Uh, didn't you—"

"Leave town? Some of us did. I opted to tour the traps... maybe find an alien hottie in Roswell. Can I—" she motioned to the ground she was crouching above.

"Yeah, sure... I invite you in."

Ava jumped in, surveying the area. "Girlie, I'm an alien, not a vampire," she laughed, the other girl noting how different even her laugh was from Tess's.

Observant of Liz's expression change, the punk girl sat on the bed. "There's a lot of things different between us."

The two females sat face to face, a loaded silence surrounded them.

Liz spoke first. "They're gone?"

Ava leaned forward, grateful for the end of the brief segment of quiet. "Yeah, the Soul Train pulled outta town 'bout an hour ago."

"And you stayed..." she let her voice trailed off, hoping the alien would fill in the pertinent blanks.

"Car was too tight." At Liz's blank look, Ava explained further. "Too many aliens in one car... kinda overwhelming. They only needed one Queen to complete the cards and Max was not leaving without his."

At the mention of her soulmate's name Liz's demeanor began to crumble, but she was able to stop the flood of tears that had been threatening since Max left earlier. "Tell me about your Ma–" she choked on the name, "-uh, Zan."

Ava brushed a tendril of purple black hair from her eyes, taking a moment to think. "He ain't too different from your King... kind, generous, thoughtful... and he loved so greatly I have to wonder if it hurt him." She stared off into the corner, not really seeing anything. "Sure, he felt the need to front 'round Rath, play the big man, but we were all we had. The four of us are – were a family."

"Rath said his death was a senseless accident. I'm sorry."

"So am I." Studying her crop top, short skirt, and ripped tights, a small smile formed on the alien's lips. "We must seem freakish to you here... ain't never been much into blending with the crowd." Her voice and bearing softened, "Don't 'spose I could filch a 'fit off ya?"

Liz stood and began rummaging through her drawers. "You're a little shorter than me, or at least Tess is."

Ava lifted a foot. "Platform boots."

"Oh." After a moment, the dark-haired girl had an acceptable outfit assembled. "Here you are." The other girl began to strip down. "Um, my bathroom's over..." she gestured to the open door.

"My bad, not used to this." Gathering the garments, Ava shut herself into the small bathroom. "He would like you, ya know," she called through the door.

"Zan?"

"Yeah. It woulda killed me, too. I can see it in my mind the way he would have peeped you and it causes some serious dread in my ticker."

Ava walked back into the bedroom with the appearance of a completely different girl. Her usually short hair was now shoulder length and no longer purple and black, but soft blonde instead. All the piercings were gone except for a few in her ears, and only one tattoo peeked out from the sleeves of the tight black top.

"Four Square," said Liz, touching the imprinted skin.

"You know this symbol?"

She nodded, "The symbol of the pods. It marked the pod chamber on the map." Liz didn't know why she felt the need to talk to this girl... or why she could speak so freely to her as opposed to Tess.

Ava heaved a sigh, "You're knockin' and no one's home, girlie. I ain't getting what you mean. Map?"

"I'm not the one you should be talking to... Michael and Isabel—"

"Michael and Isabel have no trust in me. I came to town and helped tempt their King astray." Her eyes pleaded with the human. "Liz? Map?"

After a moment of hesitation, Liz decided to go ahead and speak. "Last year, we met an old Indian named River Dog and he led us to a cave, where some symbols were inscribed on the wall. He told us a visitor from the stars put them there, for Max and the others to find. The stranger was named Nasedo. Nasedo was a shapeshifter sent with the pods to protect and serve the Royal Four... and he did until he was killed by a Skin."

"What is a Skin?"

"You know none of this?" Liz was amazed. "Uh, I mean, Rath and Lonnie seemed to know so much."

"We only know what we remember. The four of us have more alien in us than your four, and it led to memories of the last few moments of our lives. We ain't got much more info than that."

Liz struggled to remember everything she learned in the past year and a half. "Skins are the enemy... uh, in the war on your world, they are the ones who killed your former selves. Here on earth, they survive only by wearing human-like shells called husks. We just discovered them in the past few months."

Ava worked to absorb as much of this information as she could. "This Nasedo dude, he was from my 'hood?"

"Uh, yeah, from the planet you all came from."

"Epic."

Raising her eyebrows, Liz nodded slowly. "Epic," she repeated.

"Why are you different from the other humans here?"

"Different? Uh, well I guess because I love Max." //What else can I say to that?// she thought.

Ava crossed the room to study a picture of the alien leader and the human. "There's more. You're special... check this pic, Liz." The other teen didn't move. "Come on, don't be shy."

"I know what the photo is. It's my past."

"Neg, it's so much more." The alien waved her hand over the photograph, and then mimicked the motion in the air in front of the two of them. A pale blue light began to glow, and then an image of Max and Liz shimmered into view. The events of that day played before them, as if a movie had started.

"Max..." the Liz image chuckled, as he pulled her into the tiny mall photo booth. "We didn't bring any money."

He leaned in close to kiss her, whispering in her ear, "We don't need money... we have each other." Taking Liz's hand into his own, he pressed them both to the dollar slot, causing the camera to begin to flash.

"Max! You're so bad!" The flash ceased after six times, and the two of them fell out of the curtain door in a heap, both giggling incessantly. A moment later, two strips of pictures were spit out of the machine... and the movie faded away.

"What was that?" Liz asked.

"Every picture tells a story... that was this one's." She studied Liz's face, "We were engineered to love each other, just as we did on our planet. Only Max doesn't love his Queen... he loves you."

"He loved me," she corrected. "It's his destiny to be with Tess."

Ava rolled her blue eyes, "You wanna know something? Destiny freakin' bites. Complete tops in my list of least fav human concepts."

Unable to contain her surprise at the blonde's outburst, Liz laughed. "When you say you and Tess are different, you're not lying. I think Tess was engineered with the catch phrase, 'You're my destiny'. Kinda ironic that you don't believe in it."

"Why?"

"You loved Zan... don't you think that to be your destiny? Love him and save your people?"

"Nah, being loved by Zan was just an added perk of the job. I haven't always loved him."

Confusion clouded Liz's face, "But you just said you were—"

"Engineered to," she continued the human's thought. "I know, but my peeps have their lacks just like yours. Things don't always follow the drawing board. Remember, Max was engineered to love Blondie." Ava shrugged. "I stayed with the others because they were there... they just like me, and that was cool. Zan was the first one I saw when the pod spit me out. It just made sense that I would kick it with him. Never realized I *really* loved the guy till he got squished. Now that's irony."

"Why are you here?" Liz blurted out suddenly then blushed, embarrassed at her brusqueness. "I mean, why did you come to see me?"

"I ain't ever been alone before, girlie." Ava chuckled, lying back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "Sounds much pathetic once I said it, but I ain't lying. The other three were always there from day one 'til today. Why am I here? 'Cause I want to be with the closest person like me, and that's you, babe."

"I - I... we're not alike," the girl stammered, not really knowing what to say.

"Well, yeah, but other than the apparent alien/human thang, we are identical, Liz. There is no one else in this world who knows what it's like to love Max and Zan, they got the same essence of the dead leader of a planet millions of miles away. You are the only one who will ever know what I am feeling right now."

"I understand, but Max isn't dead."

"Ain't he? You're frontin' like he is."

Liz shook her head. "You're wrong. I'm just doing what he needs... what the world needs. I'm just following the wishes of his mother."

Ava rose up on her elbows to stare at the girl suspiciously, "His mother? What would his parents know about the responsibilities of the once and future King."

"Not Mrs. Evans... his Mother... the alien mother of Max and Isabel."

"What?" She rolled off the bed, springing to her feet. "*The* Mother? He – they – you've had contact with her?"

"Last year." Liz watched as the petite blonde nervously walked back and forth in front of her. "Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess activated these communication orbs and received a message from your planet." She stepped up, causing Ava's pacing to cease. "Are you all right? You seem troubled."

"I'm re-negging on the idea to see your Squaders... can you call a town meeting?" she asked, tense worry showing in her eyes. "You know, all the gang. Aliens and humans."

"I guess. Give me a minute or two to make the calls."

***

The gang waited impatiently at the food counter of the CrashDown, all the customers and employees gone for the night.

"She calls this important meeting and then fails to show. What's up with that?" Michael asked, irritated.

Maria, sitting on the couch cleaning the dirt from under her nails, glanced up at him. "Calm down, Michael. I'm sure she's just late."

"Besides, Max and Tess aren't even here yet," Isabel mumbled.

Alex noticed two girls through the window to the kitchen. "There's Liz and Tess now..."

***

Ava and Liz ran down the back steps, preparing mentally for a moment to face the others. Before they burst through the door, the alien grabbed Liz's arm.

"Liz... have you ever done something, or let something happen, that you regretted in the end? Something that changed everything, and you ain't ever gonna be able to take back?" she asked.

The brunette closed her eyes, the image of Max's face when he found her in bed with Kyle flashing into her head. "Yeah, Ava... I have."

"Do you think it will ever go away?"

Her answer was cut off when Michael stormed in through the kitchen door. "Hey, we're waiting." He stared at Ava, finally realizing she wasn't who he thought she was. "That's not Tess."

"I know." Liz pushed past him, dragging Ava into the dining room, to address the whole group. "Max is gone," she announced, her voice cracking with emotion.

Isabel jumped up from the stool. "What? Where is he?"

"He jetted to New York with my squad," the strange alien leaned against the bar.

"No way, Max would never go out there without talking to us about it first," Michael said. "That's what Max does... he talks and talks. No action."

"He did talk to you... more like an argument, really. Or so he thinks," Ava explained.

"What are you talking about?" asked Maria.

"It was Lonnie and Rath, uh, pretending to be you guys." The human blonde stared at her with annoyed eyes, the whole group waiting for a better explanation. "Yo, so... we can change our appearance."

Michael eyed her warily. "You're shapeshifters?"

"No." Ava sighed, realizing they would not understand until she showed them. Pushing herself away from the counter, she took two steps to Liz's side, reaching out to touch her hair. A slight glow formed, then Ava placed her hands together. The light grew in size and intensity then when it tripled in proportion she ran her fingers through her own hair. The blondness and slight wave disappeared, transforming into the same straight chestnut locks of Liz's.

"Wow!" Alex exclaimed, turning to the other two aliens. "Can you do that?"

Michael pursed his lips in disapproval. "No."

"You ain't ever tried," Ava stated matter-of-factly. She touched Isabel's pastel blue sweater and Michael's hair, with the same pale light forming between her hands and repeated the motion to her new brown hair. The result this time was shaggy short cut with a color that matched Iz's sweater perfectly.

"You're right... we have never tried that, but we can do other things," Isabel retorted. She grabbed a saltshaker, changing the contents into pepper.

Ava snickered, "You must be a total riot at parties." No one looked amused. "My bad... not the way to make new friends."

"You know what? We're not in the market for new friends, so why don't you tell us what you came here to tell us, then get the hell out of our town." Anger flashed in the male alien's eyes, causing Ava to back up into the food counter.

"Stop it, Michael," Liz stepped in between him and the cowering girl. "Ava?"

She looked up, the fear subsiding from her expression. "I'm kosh. He just went all Rath there for a sec... brought back some harsh memories."

Isabel changed the subject. "You said Max argued with your pals thinking they were us. What did they discuss?"

"You already know, Isabel."

"Vilandra..." she said, softly trailing her words off.

"And Kivar..." Ava said, knowingly. "Then a few shots were made at Max's leadership skills, or lack thereof. Rath stepped up and... "

"Acted like me," Michael added. "Wait, who's Kivar?"

The two blondes met each other's eyes, and then turned to Michael. "Uh, long story," they answered in unison.

"The main thing is that Max left Roswell to go with them to New York... this peace summit." Liz's voice was full of worry.

"Alone?" Isabel asked.

"No. Tess is with him."

"I don't care if he has the whole damn cast of the Ice Capades with him. We have to follow them." Michael had a hard bearing of determination on his facial features.

"Yeah," both Alex and Maria said at the same time.

"Wait!" Liz interjected as the voice of reason. "They have a three hour head start on us... and how are we going to explain to our parents where we are for the two weeks it's going to take us to get there, find him and come back?"

"'We're' not going," Michael said, motioning to the whole group. "We're going," this time he only indicated the three aliens in the café.

That did not go over well with the humans, with Liz as the loudest over the other two. "Like HELL you are going to leave me here!" she shouted, enraged with the very thought. Surprised at her anger, Alex and Maria stayed quiet. "I'm going whether you want me to or not... and if I have to go by myself, I will."

"Valenti," Maria said, simply.

"What about him?"

"He was able to explain to our parents why the FBI were looking for us last summer, surely he can help us now."

Isabel stood. "I'll call him."

While the tall blonde explained to the Sheriff the situation, Ava fixed her hair to look more like Tess again. Maria watched the transformation with interest. "Maybe when this is all done, you could give my boyfriend some hair pointers."

"That Brit dude?"

"Brody?!?" Maria scrunched her face. "No... Michael."

"Oh. Cause that other dude's got the hots for ya."

She sighed. "Yeah, I see that..." the teen's attitude turned bright as an idea came to her. "That's it!"

"What up?" Ava questioned, curious.

Before Maria could explain, there was a knock on the glass door at the front of the restaurant. Six pairs of eyes turned to see who could want to get into the CrashDown so late at night.

Brody himself.

"Eerie," Maria mumbled under her breath as she ran to the entrance.

"Hey..." Brody said, "Uh, I saw your lights on and thought I'd stop by and say hi." He noticed everyone watching him intently. "If I'm intruding..."

Michael stepped away from Liz and Ava. "Yeah, you are," he said, gruffly.

"Michael..." Maria turned to him, her voice a warning. "Of course you aren't. We're just having a... uh... little get together, because... "

"We're leaving town tomorrow," Liz interjected.

Brody raised his eyebrows. "You're leaving town? All of you?"

Everyone nodded. "And we thought we'd have a going away party for ourselves, uh, cause we can," Alex added, lamely.

"Oh. When will you be back?" he asked Maria, after a short pause and a strange glance at Alex.

"I don't know. We have to go all the way to New York to get Max."

"Wait! Max is in New York?"

Maria nervously glanced around for assistance. "My brother Bill asked him for help with a small problem, and his car broke down, so we have to truck out there and fix the car," Michael answered.

"I thought your brother's name was Bob?"

Isabel elbowed Michael in the ribs, for such a stupid mistake. "Oof, yeah... um... Bill-Bob. It's hyphenated."

Maria agreed. "Old family name. Bill-Bob Guerin… after his Great-Grandpa Bill-Bob. We have the part to fix the car, but we have to drive all the way to New York City to get it to him… thought we'd all take the road trip for company." Her voice sweetened, "It's sure gonna be a long ride, and I'll be away for such a long time." She reached out and stroked the older man's arm, much to the disgust of Michael. "I'll miss you while I'm gone... for a long time."

The blood rushed to Brody's face, causing him to blush fiercely. "Uh, um... why don't you... you guys take my personal airplane? It will be so much more convenient."

She jumped back in shock. "Oh, Brody. We couldn't possibly..."

"I insist. I'll call the airstrip right now, and it will be ready for you in the morning." Brody rushed out of the restaurant to get home and call, fantasizing about the repayment that Maria may offer for the favor.

Once he was gone, Maria turned to her friends, an expression of smugness on her face. "Not too shabby, huh?"

Michael didn't look happy. "Jesus, Maria... why didn't you just give him a lap dance while you were at it."

"For heaven's sake, Michael. Just be glad we don't have to spend a week in the car trying to catch up with Max," Isabel answered for the stunned blonde human. "Let's go home and get some sleep. Valenti's got our cover all worked out, and we're leaving in the morning."

The five Roswellians began to gather their things to go home, but Ava didn't move. "What are you not telling us, Ava?" Maria asked.

"Nothing," she murmured.

Michael grabbed her arm roughly, as his girlfriend continued. "I've been through too much in the past year to know this isn't nothing... now spill it."

Her eyes were wide with fear, not able to form words. Liz jumped in again and knocked Michael away. "Come on, Ava... we need to know everything."

She nodded, settling onto a barstool. "The symbols... the map... Nasedo..." The thoughts all rushed out in a jumble. "We were so arrogant to think we were the right ones all these years."

"What?"

"We thought... we thought you were too human! That ain't ever been your problem. The problem was we were too alien. Don't you see? My pod was the defective one, all of ours... Zan, Rath, Lonnie. Maybe that's why Zan is dead. Because we ain't got enough human in us."

Liz took her hand. "Zan is dead because of an accident."

Ava pulled away. "No. My Zan is dead because of Rath and Lonnie. Rath killed him! He never wanted to be in this freakin peace summit, he thought it was a set-up, so Rath murdered him." The group was stunned silent at her information. "And if Max don't follow Rath's ideas, he might squish him too."

Liz stared at her in disbelief. "Wh- why didn't you tell me this before? I trusted you, Ava... and you let Max go into a trap!"

"I didn't want to let him go, but he would have smoked me too if I went against him. This was the best way. I'm sorry, Liz. I – it's screwed to lay all this on you now, but I want you to know. Rath has to be stopped."

They all sat in silence, until Liz finally stood gathering her things again. "We'll stop him. He'll pay for what he did to Zan."

Ava looked up at her with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Liz."

"Everyone go home and get packed. We have a long flight tomorrow," Michael said, his voice brusque and businesslike.

Ava waited with Liz as all the others dispersed, a pleading look in her gaze.

"You can stay with me," the brunette finally said, once everyone was gone.

"Thank you," she repeated. "Will you do something for me?" Liz nodded, a hint of uncertainty in the head movement. "When we get Max, will you tell him what you ain't been telling him and everyone else?"

"You don't know what I'll sacrifice if I tell him the truth"

"I know he ain't no use to anyone like this, girlie... and he never will be 'til you fix what ails him. I would sacrifice the end of the world for just one more kiss from Zan."

The honesty in Ava's tone made Liz think. "I'll try. I don't know if he'll listen."