"Hey Space Boy, pull in over there, that place looks pretty good," says Maria from the passenger seat.
"Maria, it's a dive, a hole in the wall," snaps Michael.
"Exactly, those are the places with the best food, now pull in."
Michael obligingly pulls into an empty parking space, and the four exit the car and survey the scene before entering the diner.
"It looks ok to me," says Kyle.
"You're hungry Kyle, anything would look good to you right about now," says Liz.
"Look, if we're gonna eat, lets do it. This place is too much like Mayberry for me," says Michael.
Liz opens the door to the diner, and looks around. The place seems to be doing a booming business, except for the fact that there was nobody working. They walk across the sun filled room towards the man working the register.
"Hi, can we have a table for 4 please?" she asks the elderly man.
"'Jes grab a seat anywhere," he says motioning with his hand. "Don't know how long it will be though, my grill man didn't show up today, and my waitress jest up and quit this morning. Said the work was too hard. You youngsters today don't know what hard work is. Me an Nellie been running this diner every day for the past fifty years."
Liz looks at the others, an idea forming in her mind. She looks at the man behind the register. "Where's Nellie today?" she asks softly.
"Why, she'd be working right now, if the doctor didn't tell
her to stay in bed. She's been feeling
a bit tired lately."
"Well, I'll tell you what, Mr.?" Paused questioningly.
"Zeke, Zeke Mosley," says the man.
"Well Mr. Mosley, today is your lucky day," Liz says grabbing two aprons and order pads from behind the counter. She passes one to Maria, and the two girls start taking orders.
Michael sighs, and heads out to the grill and grabs a spatula. Kyle looks around helplessly, unsure of how he can help.
"Don't just stand there like a statue Buddha Boy," says Maria as she walks past him on her way to the pick up window. "These table won't bus themselves."
"Hm, what? Oh yeah, right," he says as he starts to clear tables.
As the morning progresses, the crowded restaurant starts to quiet down, and the kids take the opportunity to sit at the counter and eat while talking with Mr. Mosley. As they eat, he tells them stories about the diner, and his beloved Nellie."
"So, what exactly did the doctors say Zeke?"
"Well, they say it's cancer, but I don't believe em. My Nellie is too strong a woman to be taken down by any disease. What do those doctors know anyhow? Nellies going to be just fine. She has to be," he added brokenly.
Listening to the story, Kyle is touched by how much love this man beside him has for his wife. Jumping up of the stool, he turns to the others. "I'll be right back," he says walking out of the restaurant.
"So, tell me, why would a bunch of kids like you wanna help an old man like me?" asks Zeke.
"We like to help," says Liz with a smile. "Unfortunately, we can't stay, in fact, we'll need to be on our way shortly. Are you going to be able to manage ok without us?"
"Yep, my daughter and her husband offered to help, but they were out of town when Nellie took sick. When I told them what happened, they offered to cut their trip short, but I wouldn't hear of it. But they should be here tomorrow."
Liz is about to respond, when the screen door of the diner opens and slams shut. Kyle walks back into the restaurant, a look of panic on his face.
"Our company is here again," he whispers to the others.
"Damn it, how do they keep finding us?" says Michael as they prepare to exit out the back of the restaurant.
"You kids in trouble?" asks Zeke
"Um, kind of," answers Maria.
"Did you do anything wrong?"
"No, not really," says Liz
"You jest set yourselves right back down, and don't worry about anything then."
Michael looks out the screen door, and sees the two FBI agents he saw outside his bike shop walking into a store across the street. A young couple walk up to the restaurant and wait for Michael to move so they can enter. The young woman enters first, she has long flowing black hair, which she is wearing in a casual windswept style. As she passes the others, she looks at Kyle and winks.
They take a seat, and Liz walks over to take their order. "May I help you?" she asks.
"We'll have to cokes, and order of fries, and a bottle of Tabasco sauce," the blond man answers.
Liz quickly covers her mouth with her hand to contain the scream that wants to burst out.
"How did you know we are here? Wait, you have to leave, the FBI is in town. They've been trailing us some how."
"We know their here, Liz, don't worry. I'm never going to be separated from you again."
"Kyle let us know you were here. We were just turning down the street when he let us know about the FBI agents. We actually stayed in a hotel just around the corner from here," adds Isabelle. "And he's right," she nods at Max. "We can't get split up again. We need to stick together."
"Come over to the counter, I want you both to meet someone," she says. The three walk over to the counter. Max and Isabelle sit down, and Liz introduces them to Zeke.
"Hey Zeke," she says softly. "I was kind of thinking, you haven't been over to see Nellie all day. Why don't you let our friends, Steve and Barbie here drive you over to take a peak and make sure she's ok."
Isabelle shot Liz a look that clearly said she was going to take care of her later for the Barbie thing. "Please, won't you Zeke? We would really like to meet her, and maybe there's something we can do to help."
Zeke looks cautiously at them; beginning to wonder if letting these kids help him was a good idea.
"Zeke, remember what I said about wanting to help?" Liz asks. "Well, please, that's all we want to do, I promise."
Zeke didn't know why, but something about these kids made him want to trust them. He haltingly agrees to their plan. "But we ain't gotta drive none, it's just across the back alley."
Maria and Michael quickly pack up some food for Nellie, and Max carries it as they walk across the alley to the small house. Zeke enters first, and holds the door for the others to join him inside.
"Nellie's sleeping in there," he says, pointing to a closed door off of the small living room.
Looking around, Isabelle can see that the small home is immaculate. She takes the package of food from Max and turns to Zeke.
"Why don't you take me to the kitchen, and we'll get a tray fixed up for Nellie."
As the two walk to the kitchen, Isabelle thinks about the relationship the two have. That's how it's supposed to be, she muses to herself. Loving each other for all time, not turning traitor at the first sign of trouble.
"Now tell me Zeke, does Nellie have any dishes she saves for special occasions?"
"Yep, we have us a nice set of china," he says proudly. "Got it for her as a wedding present. But what would you want that for? We only use it on special occasions."
"Well Zeke, I like to think that every day is a special occasion, and some days are even more special than others. Maybe today will be one of those days," she says with a smile.
Isabelle quickly fixes a tray, and picks it up as Max walks into the kitchen.
"Everything ok Steve?" she asks.
"Everything is perfect, just perfect," Max says flashing a Tom Cruise grin.
"Zeke, why don't you bring this into Nellie, and we'll just head back to the diner," says Isabelle. She leans over and places a kiss on his cheek and grabs Max by the arm.
"Come on Steve, let's give them some privacy."
"Sure thing Barbie, whatever you say," he says as the two walk through the living room and across the alley.
As soon as they were outside, Isabelle turns to Max.
"Great, so now we're going to have some 70 year old woman running around with alien powers?"
"No, Liz and I figured that out a while ago. She and Kyle, and probably Valenti got powers because I was really emotionally vested in healing them. With strangers, I'm able to hold back a bit, and for some reason, the healing process is different. There are fewer flashes, there isn't always a handprint, and we have never heard about anybody developing super powers after I healed them."
They enter the restaurant through the back door and walk right into Michael's open arms.
"Maxwell, it's been too long. I was wrong, this splitting up was not a good idea."
"No Michael, we need to, it kept us safer longer, but now we have to start fighting back."
"Oh God, you've been talking to your wife, haven't you? She has some lame idea about going back to Roswell."
"She's right, it's the only way," said Max as he grabbed a fry from the warming tray. "We have to put an end to this. We haven't done anything wrong, and we're not going to run anymore. We have to take a stand, and we have to do it now, before it's too late."