She picked up the phone hoping that Isabel, Michael, or Max was on the other end. But no such luck, just a telemarketer. She told the person on the line that her father wasn't home and that was the end of that. Tess hung up the phone, resumed cleaning and began reflecting on the day. Tess knew that Isabel, Michael, and Max were having a hard time dealing with the reality of their destiny, but Tess was excited about fulfilling her own destiny. She wanted to be with Max. She wanted to finally belong.

After Tess finished cleaning the kitchen, she went into the living room, picked up a magazine, and sat down. This house was to big for her to stay in alone. She had hoped that Michael would move in here with her, but when she brought it up to him, he said that things had to go back to normal and that meant he had to go back to his apartment.

Tess was used to being alone, but she was also getting tired of being alone. She had grown up with only Nasedo for company, always moving from place to place and never really belonging anywhere. He would tell her she had a destiny to fulfill, but never told her what that destiny was. All of a sudden earlier this year, he started taking lots of trips, more than usual. He came back from one of these trips all excited, ranting that he had finally found them. Tess wanted to know what he was talking about, but was afraid to ask. Nasedo didn't have much patience for questions. So Nasedo told her it was time to move again and this time she would meet others like her.

Tess was very excited at the prospect of finally meeting someone like herself. In the last few years, Tess had been considered popular in school, despite changing schools frequently. Tess was pretty and thus people wanted to hang out with her, but she always remained distant from people knowing she couldn't reveal her secrets to anyone. Before they moved to Roswell, Nasedo finally told Tess about Max. Nasedo had several pictures of Max, some while he was in school, at home, and at other places around town. Nasedo told Tess that Max was her preordained mate, that she and Max were created for each other. He explained that they were genetically engineered by his people and placed here on earth to fulfill an important mission.

Nasedo also had an important mission to fulfill, part of which he failed at because when he returned to cave in 1989, only Tess was left in her incubation pod. Nasedo knew that the others were nearby, but he had no way to find them, so he took Tess and raised her alone, always watching for clues on where the others might be. Nasedo had found Max just in time. The constellations were beginning to align, and when this happened Max would start seeing things pointing him toward his destiny. Tess needed to be in close proximity when this happened. So Nasedo and Tess moved to Roswell with a mission, to get in Max's life and verify the identity of Isabel and Michael.

Tess was fascinated with Max from the moment she saw his picture. The night before her first day at West Roswell High, she stayed up late looking through the pictures Nasedo had of Max. She imagined what he must be like, and began to wonder what he would do when he first saw her. Would he recognize her? Would he be attracted to her right away? Tess had trouble sleeping that night, because of the anticipation of meeting Max for the first time. The next day at school, Tess was in for the shock of her life, Liz. Nasedo knew there was something going on between Max and Liz, but neglected to inform Tess of this. After observing Max and Liz out in the quad during lunch, Tess decided that the best way for her to get to Max would be through Isabel. Luckily, her and Isabel hit it off right away. They had a lot in common, mainly quirky eating habits and guys. So Tess got close to Isabel and through her she started getting close to Max.

Tess could tell by watching them, that Max and Liz were crazy about each other. She didn't really understand why. Liz seemed like the typical goody two shoes to Tess, nothing really special about her. She was pretty, but she not that pretty. Tess was sure with time, that she could have draw Max away from her. Unfortunately, Nasedo told Tess that she didn't have a lot of time, so Tess decided to use her powers to manipulate Max. She didn't like doing this, because she wanted Max to like her for who she was, not because she manipulated him to do so. It only took two trips into Max's head to make him finally kiss her on his own. Tess still remembers what it felt like when Max kissed her. She had never been kissed like that before and when they kissed she saw things, what could only be described as Max's memories. Tess saw details about his life in Roswell, about his family and also Liz. Max had a great life in Roswell, not only did he have Michael and Isabel, he also had parents who loved him. After that kiss, Tess realized that it would take more than time to draw Max away from Liz.

But Tess wasn't giving up hope. She and Max belonged together and someday he would see that. At least Liz is out of the picture for now. Liz realized that Max had a destiny to fulfill and that destiny was with Tess, now if only Max would realize this. Tess wished she could remember her previous life with Max. According to Max's mother they were husband and wife so they must have been in love, if only she could remember everything, then she could remind Max and at last she could belong.

Tess' train of thought was broken by the phone ringing again. She picked up the phone half expecting another telemarketer.

"Yeah," Tess said tartly not in the mood to deal with those long rehearsed speeches telemarketers are known for.

"Tess, its your long lost Father. How's the home front?"

Tess wasn't surprised Nasedo was calling. He probably wanted her to ship him all of the things that he had collected over the years. Nasedo had spent his time on earth before Tess was born travelling all over the world trying to scope out the situation and also trying understand humanity. He never succeeded in understanding humanity, but he managed to collect fascinating objects from all over the world.

"Is there a reason you are calling? I'm kind of busy here." Tess said impatiently. Tess cared about Nasedo, but she would never admit. He was the only father she had ever known, but he was also never a real father to her. He taught her to use her powers and explained to her she was unlike anyone else around, but he didn't teach her what it meant to human. He couldn't teach her that because he didn't know. He didn't understand why she came home from school crying when she 10, because a boy had made fun of her on the playground, or why she was so upset when no one asked her to play in the park after school.

As she grew up, Tess realized that these things weren't all that important. She and Nasedo had to move around a lot so Tess started getting used to being the new girl in school. She used this to her advantage many times. She made up stories about her life and where she came from. She went after the cute guys in school and made all the girls jealous of her. She had made friends, but none of them were very close.

Nasedo was laughing on the other end, something he often did when Tess let her feelings show, and by the tone of her voice, Nasedo could tell Tess was upset about something. "I just wanted to see how things are going in Roswell. I wasn't sure what was happening. Is Max there?"

"No Max is not here? I'm here by myself," Tess was trying not to let her frustrations show, but she was so tired of being alone.

"Did you guys use the communication orbs?"

"Yes, we did." Tess answered quietly.

Nasedo hesitated but finally answered, "So now you know. Why isn't Max there with you?"

"Yes, we know, but we are still unclear what it all means. Is there someone or something out there that wants to harm us?" Tess asked trying to avoid the subject of Max.

"There is an enemy out there and now that you have used the orbs, they know that you are all here on earth. It is just a matter of time before they find you."

"What can we do?"

"You need to stick together and learn your powers. You have to learn how to defeat them. Which leads me back to my last question. Why isn't Max with you?"

Tess hesitated. She knew Nasedo wasn't going to let it drop, but she didn't really want to talk about it with him.

"Is he still with that girl, Liz?"

"No, Liz is out of the picture. When she found out why we were here, she decided that she couldn't stand in the way of Max's destiny," Tess explained. "But Max decided it would be best if we all went back home and acted like normal kids again. So Max is at his home with Isabel and Michael is at his apartment."

Tess was waiting for Nasedo to blow up. He liked things done a certain way. He had failed in his mission to raise the four of them together, but he had hoped he could bring them together now.

"Tess, you need to get them to understand that it would be better if the four of you left Roswell together. Tell them anything. Tell them I told you those who enslaved my home planet have ways of finding you. When you used the communicators, you sent out a beacon and they now know where you are and they will be coming after you soon," Nasedo said quietly obviously trying to maintain control.

"Is that true?"

"No, but, Tess, you have to understand. Max, Michael, and Isabel were raised by humans and those kids, Liz, Maria, and Alex, have too much influence on them. Liz may have pushed Max away, but if he is still in Roswell they are bound to run into each other. She has an influence over him which I don't quite understand. You have to get him away from her. Get them all away from Roswell, away from their families and friends."

Tess couldn't believe it, Nasedo was again asking her to do his will. He didn't seem to understand that by asking her to do this, he was just driving a wedge deeper between her and Max. She wanted Max to trust her, but how could she do that with Nasedo trying to get her to manipulate him.

"I won't do it. I won't lie to Max again. And, anyway, he wouldn't believe me."

"Tess.."

"He doesn't trust me and he never will if I try to get him to leave Roswell. He'll just think I want to get him away from Liz for personal reasons. I want to gain his trust," Tess explained. Suddenly Tess remembers that box she saw in cave. What a hypocrite she was. She wanted Max to trust her, but then kept things like that box a secret from him. She would tell Max about the box tomorrow.

But since she already had Nasedo on the phone, she might as well ask him about it now. Maybe he could tell her something that she could tell Max. "Look, there is something I need to ask you about," Tess started hoping that feeling she got from the metal box meant nothing. "I found a metal box in the cave where we healed you. It had one of those symbols on it that I'd seen in that book I got from the library. Do you know anything about it?"

Nasedo hesitated and Tess could tell he knew something, "Have you told Max or the others about it?"

"Not yet, but I was going to tell them tomorrow."

"Tess, you have to trust me. You can't tell them anything and you can't let them near that box."

Now Tess was really scared. What could be in that box that Nasedo wouldn't want them to know about? "What is it?"

"It's better that you don't know. But trust me when I say that you wouldn't want them to see it if you knew what it was," Nasedo explained. "Just make sure they don't go back to the cave for awhile. I'll go and get the box and remove it so they will never see it."

"Why wouldn't I want them to see it?"

"Trust me," Nasedo said sternly. "Look, Tess, I have to go, being an FBI agent means you're on call 24 hours a day and my pager just went off. Could you please pack my things for me? If I'm going to live here in DC, I'd like to have some of my stuff around me. Pierce's apartment is very plain and without ornamentation. The guy had no life outside of work. I'll come by to pick the stuff up next week sometime. In the mean time, you need to continue to try to get closer to Max, Isabel, and Michael. I realize you don't want to talk them into leaving Roswell, but you have to know that while they are there, you are going to have a hard time getting close to them."

"It will be hard, but we do share a connection. We come from the same place. That has to count for something, right?" Tess questioned wishing she believed that this connection they shared could over come the human relationships Max, Isabel, and Michael had developed.

"Whatever you say. By the way, be careful packing my things. I don't want to have to do a lot of repairing when I unpack them."

After that Nasedo just hung up. He didn't even say goodbye. Tess whispered "bye" then slowly hung up the phone.

Nasedo's reaction to the box had made her scared. She wanted to tell Max about it, but what if Nasedo was telling the truth. Maybe she wouldn't want Max to know what was in the box. There was only one way to find out.