Liz snuck into the back entrance of the Crashdown, still with tears running down her face. Maria was in back, getting a box of Tabasco out from the stockroom when she spotted her running back up the stairs to her apartment.

MARIA: Liz!

Liz kept running up the stairs, ignoring her. Maria followed her up, and stopped the door at the top of the stairs from slamming in front of her. She ran into her bedroom, and Maria barely got to that door before it slammed as well.

MARIA: Liz…what happened?

LIZ: I really…really…really…don’t want to talk about it.

MARIA: No…what did Max do to you?

LIZ: He didn’t do anything. We just talked. I couldn’t take it anymore.

MARIA: What happened?

LIZ: Well…he told me about what happened to him yesterday, remember, when he blanked out at Javier’s house.

MARIA: And…

LIZ: He had a flash, a flash of his home planet, with her…

MARIA: Ahhh…no wonder why he didn’t want to tell you about that.

LIZ: No…but the thing was, he did tell me. He told me everything.

MARIA: Why would he want to hurt you like that?

LIZ: He wasn’t trying to, at least not directly. He wanted to tell me that it was nothing, that it didn’t mean anything to him.

MARIA: How could he say that? You left him because he had to fulfill his, you know, his path. Didn’t you see that his path was with her?

LIZ: He keeps telling me that she doesn’t matter to him; that his past is just that.

MARIA: So your problem is…?

LIZ: Well…I can’t go back to him. No matter how much I want to.

MARIA: Liz, if Max is true to what he’s saying, why not?

LIZ: Maria! Just because he wants me back now doesn’t mean that he won’t discover something else next week that will cause him to change his mind. I can’t live like that.

MARIA: But do you really think that he wants that? You two are like kismet.

LIZ: But it can’t be. I have to be strong on this one. I can’t let myself get sucked in. I’ll just get hurt again.

MARIA: But which is worse…hurting now and later, or just hurting later?

LIZ: I can’t believe you’re saying that.

MARIA: Think about it, Liz. What are you going to do? Not talk to him again? You see him every day. You want to be with him. We’re all a part of this, and it’s not going to end. He needs you, and you need him. Maybe you just have to take a step back…

LIZ: What does that mean?

MARIA: Stop living in the future. Try to live in the present for once. You had your whole life planned, and hasn’t that been turned topsy-turvy in the past year? You can’t think about what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, or next year when it comes to love…

LIZ: That’s what Alex said.

MARIA: Well, he’s a smart man.

LIZ: But…he had a vision of Tess…he felt her in his life, I just know it.

MARIA: How do you know she didn’t plan that?

LIZ: Max would have told me if he thought she’d done that.

MARIA: Besides, how many visions have you two had together? Why is that different?

LIZ: Because it just is.

MARIA: I’m telling you, Liz, you can’t fight him forever. It’s only going to make you feel worse.

LIZ: I know. I just wish that there were some other way.

MARIA: No you don’t. Think about how hard it would be if Max really wanted to be with Tess now. Could you face that? Time apart is only going to increase the chances that that might happen. You have to do something to stop that, and you’re the only one who can. So what are you going to do about it?

LIZ: I don’t know…I just don’t know.

Liz slumped down on her bed, and starting crying again. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted Max back in her life, like it had been before, but she was just setting herself up to get hurt again. Someday soon, Max would have to fight, and he would have to fight with Isabel, Michael, and Tess. Not her. The thought of Max being with anyone else, or being without her, was painful. It hadn’t gotten easier since she had left Max that day a few weeks ago at the cave. But she’d had no choice then. She had to leave him to his destiny. Had anything really changed? They all were still basically in a holding pattern. Were Alex and Maria right? Alex and Isabel, together and happy. Why couldn’t her and Max be like that? And Maria and Michael, they were getting through some of their differences. While she didn’t know what was going on with them, she knew that they loved each other just as much as her and Max did. They just had a different way of showing it. If all of them could be happy, how come she had to deny herself? That’s what she was doing now, she thought, denying herself happiness for what she thought was the greater good. Maybe Max was right, though, about their visions. Why shouldn’t their history be just as important as anything that could be between Max and Tess? She just couldn’t take it. She didn’t know what to do.

SCENE 2

The next day, Liz and Maria were working lunch at the Crashdown. Liz had been able to steady herself, throwing herself into her waitressing job, her normal routine of cleaning, dirtying, and then cleaning again, just to keep her mind occupied. She was just praying that Max wouldn’t come in. She couldn’t deal. Maria kept giving her looks, insinuating that she should take off, talk to him, but she just couldn’t do it. A whole night of thought hadn’t changed her mind, although there were times when all she wanted to do was run to him, just forget about all that she had learned in the last month. Michael was in his usual place behind the counter. Since he and Maria had come to some understanding, they were all working together again. Liz saw that Michael and Maria were giving each other their usual sly looks. Things were getting back to whatever semblance of normalcy that they shared. It made Liz feel good. She only wished that she could have the same.

At about 1, they got a surprise customer. Kyle walked into the café and slid into a booth. Liz went over to talk to him.

LIZ: Hey, Kyle, where have you been?

KYLE: You know, the usual, recovering from being shot, rifle camp, getting over a certain amount of shock…

LIZ: I know. I just wanted you to know, I’m so sorry about all of this.

KYLE: Yeah…OK…whatever.

LIZ: No, really. Things just happened so fast, just got so confusing.

KYLE: It seemed like everyone just wanted to keep me in the dark, you know, I got to be like everyone was playing “Kyle is a big idiot” or something.

LIZ: Yeah.

KYLE: I mean, the only reason I know what I know now is because of what happened that day at the Center.

LIZ: Yeah.

KYLE: My father’s been trying to explain some of the specifics to me, but I wanted to talk to you about it. So you were shot that day at the Crashdown?

LIZ: Kyle…can we discuss this somewhere else, somewhere a little less busy?

KYLE: Sure…

LIZ: OK…come on, let’s go in back.

The two of them walked through the restaurant, and went back into the stockroom.

LIZ: OK…what do you want to know?

KYLE: Start at the top.

LIZ: Well, back in September, that day at the Crashdown, I was shot. Max saved me, just like he saved you.

KYLE: Wow…it just sounds so weird to hear you say that out loud.

LIZ: Yeah, I still have a hard time putting my arms around it.

KYLE: From what I’ve heard, that’s not true.

LIZ: Kyle! Do you want to hear this or not?

KYLE: Well…yeah…but come on Liz, you and Max…that’s got to be weird. Just like Alex and Isabel. Michael, Maria…all of them…Anyway, so what else can they do…

LIZ: Well, I don’t think that I’m the best one to explain all of this.

KYLE: After all this, you still don’t want to talk to me. I don’t believe this!

LIZ: No, maybe you should talk to Max. He’ll fill you in.

KYLE: What makes you think that I want to talk to him…

LIZ: Kyle, he saved your life.

KYLE: Yeah, but knowing what I know now…it makes it just a little bit uncomfortable, don’t you think, and especially him with you.

LIZ: Kyle, Max and I…Max and I aren’t together, anymore.

KYLE: Really…what happened?

LIZ: I don’t want to talk about it.

KYLE: Aw come on…I’ve got to hear this one. What could he have done to you…no wait…I can think of a few things. That new girl, the other alien, Tess, she turn his head…?

LIZ: No…that has nothing to do with it.

KYLE: Sure…

LIZ: Kyle!

KYLE: Yeah…OK…whatever. I’m going to take off. Thanks, Liz.

LIZ: Kyle, wait up.

The two ran back out through the back door to the main dining area, and as Kyle was leaving, he ran smack into Tess, who was coming in from the street.

TESS: Kyle…hi.

KYLE: Hey…can I talk to you for a minute?

TESS: Sure…let’s sit down.

The two sat down at the same booth that Kyle left, still empty. Liz retreated back to the bar, and stood next to Maria.

MARIA: So…what did Kyle want?

LIZ: He wanted to know more about the Czechoslovakians… you know. We haven’t seen him in a few weeks; he’s had to process all of that.

MARIA: So what did you tell him?

LIZ: Well, I told him that he should talk to Max, you know. I mean, he did save his life, and Max knows more about himself than anybody, obviously.

MARIA: And…why are you all flustered?

LIZ: I told him that Max and I broke up.

MARIA: Bad move, Liz, bad move…

LIZ: Well, you know Kyle; he jumped to all sorts of conclusions, including the Tess angle.

MARIA: This isn’t good. And there they are, sitting together; this can’t be a good sign.

Meanwhile, back at the booth.

TESS: I haven’t seen you around recently. But then again, we’ve been pretty busy.

KYLE: I can imagine.

TESS: So…

KYLE: So…

TESS: You wanted to talk to me…

KYLE: Yeah…so what’s the deal with you four anyway? Max saves my life, what other tricks do you all have up your sleeves. What’s going on with you? Why are you here? You know, the basics.

TESS: Well, as you know, I didn’t come to Roswell until a few months ago…but I was born here, or some might say, engineered here…

KYLE: Engineered…?

TESS: Yeah…long story. Let’s just say that we have certain gifts, and we use them to keep ourselves alive.

KYLE: Against the FBI?

TESS: Well…them…and…

KYLE: And who?

TESS: I don’t think you’d understand…you might not be ready to hear it…

KYLE: Look, Tess, I’ve been kept in the dark for too long about this.

TESS: Well…

Tess brought Kyle up to speed, basically highlighting everything that had been happening to all of them. Kyle kept pretty quiet. He was just in a state of shock, having to take all of this at face value. When Tess was finished her tale, he sat back.

KYLE: Wow…I had no idea.

TESS: How could you?

KYLE: I guess you’re right. And all of this is true?

TESS: Yeah…and one more thing.

KYLE: OK…

TESS: You know that book that I told you about…the one that I got that day at the library when you were with me…

KYLE: Yeah, I remember. We just got there and you took off. What was that all about?

TESS: Well, that book is the story of our civilization and our quest.

KYLE: And…what was it doing at the library? I mean, I know they have lots of books there and all…but…

TESS: That’s just where Nasedo said it would be. I don’t know what it was doing there…anyway…the book talked about our past, about my destiny with Max.

KYLE: Max…

TESS: Yeah, Max and I were married.

KYLE: That must be weird. No wait, all of this is weird… So…are you two together now? I heard that Liz and Max aren’t together anymore.

TESS: No…not yet. I don’t know if I want to be with him. I mean, we have our whole lives to be together. Not to say that he hasn’t tried though.

Tess had a sly grin on her face as she said the words. Kyle thought to himself, great, just great: another pretty girl in the sphere of Max Evans. Well, maybe he had an in to all of this. Why couldn’t he get close to Tess…ruin Max’s master plan? He was definitely attracted to her and all. Besides, Max deserved to be brought back down to Earth, excuse the bad joke. If he could start going out with Tess, it might make Max jealous. He deserved that, since he took Liz from him. It was only fair.

Tess saw his thought process working. She had gotten exactly the response she was hoping for.

SCENE 3

The next morning, Michael, Isabel, and Max were in the park. Max had called the number that Nasedo had left him, and told him to meet them here if he could. Max tried to give Tess a call and tell her about it, but she had been nowhere to be found, so they decided to go ahead without her.

ISABEL: All right, where is he?

MICHAEL: He’s not coming…why would he? He only helps us on his terms anyway.

MAX: Be patient, he’s going to be here.

Max was just as worried as the rest of them that Nasedo wasn’t going to show. Why should he, if he had nothing to tell them? When they had spoken a few days ago, he didn’t offer any information concerning the details of what they were up against. Since then, nothing had really changed. They confirmed that Javier was one of them, but learned nothing about him or any kind of evil presence afoot. But anything that they could drag out of him could be huge.

ISABEL: What if he doesn’t know anything?

MAX: We have to find out. We can’t take 'you can’t handle the truth’ as an answer this time. We need help, and if he can’t provide that.

MICHAEL: We have to look elsewhere.

ISABEL: Where Michael? It’s not like alien experts are all around the place.

MICHAEL: We don’t know that, do we?

MAX: We don’t know anything.

MICHAEL: And frankly, I’m getting sick of it. We’re barely moving from step to step here. We need more than that, or we’re in trouble.

MAX: I know.

ISABEL: So where’s Tess anyway; didn’t you call her?

MAX: Nowhere to be found.

MICHAEL: I saw her at the Crash yesterday. Talking to Kyle.

MAX: Kyle?

MICHAEL: Yeah. He came to talk to Liz. He thought that she would be the best to talk to about all of this. But, Liz told him to talk to you.

MAX: Why?

MICHAEL: Well…he wanted to know everything about us. Apparently, she didn’t feel comfortable talking about it without you there. And then…

MAX: What?

MICHAEL: Tess showed up. Kyle talked to her.

ISABEL: What did she say?

MICHAEL: How the heck should I know? I only heard it third-hand.

MAX: Third-hand?

MICHAEL: Well, Liz talked to Maria, and then she talked to me.

ISABEL: So you two are speaking again?

MICHAEL: Yeah…why wouldn’t we be?

ISABEL: Never mind. Anyway, I don’t like it. Tess has an agenda.

MAX: Yeah, she does. She could be using him; she’s done it before.

MICHAEL: Well, there’s nothing we can do about that now, and Maxwell, there’s more important things to do.

ISABEL: He’s not coming.

MICHAEL: Doesn’t look like it? What do we do?

MAX: What can we do?

MICHAEL: The same as always, nothing.

Michael was getting really frustrated. They all were.

MAX: Well, whatever is going to happen will probably happen soon. It’s not like we’re going to have to go looking for it. It will find us.

ISABEL: And then?