It has begun.

Sheriff Valente is to be commended on the speed in which he ties up the loose ends generated by the sudden disappearance of Tess Harding, AKA the intergalactic Mata Hari.

A pre-dated stolen car report of Tess' SUV coupled with an altered coroners report (courtesy of Michael) changing Jane Doe to John Doe and the age from 16 to 36 is enough to deter even the most die hard detective. Still, the group remains cautious.

Nasado as Harding had already put the house up for sale and resigned his job weeks ago so any suspicions a sudden move would have caused has been extinguished.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans are curious as to why their very social teenagers have not left the house in a week but have enjoyed the family togetherness too much to complain.

Maria spends all her free time helping her mom at her shop and generally mother/daughter bonding much to the delight of Amy Deluca.

An occasional trek to the computer store is Alex's only excursion since that faithful day a week ago when the group was made privy to the mirror transmitted missive from the Quad's home planet.

The only visible members have been Teresa, Kyle and Sondra.

As a way to while away the hours at the warehouse awaiting the call from the Sheriff regarding Tess' fate Sondra, after exploring the building, decided to buy it. The third floor will be allotted for living quarters whereas the 1st floor and basement for her research. A staff position with a local hospital further ties the sisters to Roswell.

Prompted by Sondra, Teressa cuts and darkens her hair.

Teresa sighed heavily, "Sondra, its still not right," as she waves her hand over her hair for the fiftieth time trying to decide the perfect color.

Kyle has been waiting for Teresa for thirty minutes draws a deep breath and releases it. "I liked the shade two-three colors ago."

Teresa quickly changes the color to the one he inferred and turns to him for affirmation.

"It's perfect, can we go now?" his impatience evident in his voice and body language.

"I don't know Kyle, maybe it's too sho..r..t…, "A startled yep escapes her mouth as Kyle grabs her hand and pulls her away from the mirror and out the door.

Sondra laughs as her sister is being dragged out of their hotel suite by West Roswell High's all-around-jock. Who does Teresa think she's fooling? She's spent more time on her appearance this past week than she has in the last eight years, which is due in part to Kyle Valente.

Kyle walks straight to the drivers side of his car when he notices that Teresa Is just standing by the passenger door.

"Sorry, I guess I'm kind of in a hurry," as he rushes to her side, opens the door for her and waits until she slides. He then closes and locks the door before returning to the drivers seat.

In a carefully measured voice, Kyle says, "Teresa, you've been here a week, haven't you learned your way around yet?"

"I have absolutely no sense of direction," said Teresa, "but if you have somewhere to be I can always call Michael to drive me around."

"No, I don't have anywhere else to go it's just that…"dragging his gaze away from her. "Oh nothing. Forget it."

"What were you going to say?" fretfully she tugs on her earring.

Lifting his head, he gazes over at her noting the telltale flush on her cheeks, "It's just that sometimes I think that you are flirting with me and…"

She doesn't let him finish his sentence before she is out of the car and storming toward her hotel suite.

Suddenly Kyle is beside Teresa, whirling her around to face him. "What is wrong with you?" he said brusquely.

"What is wrong with me?" she yells back at him. "You'll the one who's delusional."

He pauses for a moment then adds quietly, "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm not interested in a relationship right now. There's just too much going on, he sighs and gently grabs her arm and steers her toward the car. "Come on, I'll take you to the Post Office and wherever else you need to go.

There were awkward silences in the car. Then one or both of them would rush into speech only to fail miserably at anything resembling the conversations they've enjoyed before.