Alex sat on a stool in the medbay listening as Maggie explained once more to Jeffrey (and her mom who was listening in on the phone) what had happened out on the bluff. Her headache had subsided after taking a couple of Tylenol.

She felt the depression sinking back into her soul though. For a brief moment there she really thought her sight was coming back but now she was trapped in this world of darkness once more.

"Alex," she heard her mom say. "Why were you rubbing your eyes prior to your sight returning?"

"I just was," she replied. "I do that when I take off my glasses, it wasn't related to anything. And I never got my full sight back."

"Still, there must be a reason why it returned like it did," Eliza said through the phone. "Is there anything else you can tell us about what it felt like?"

"It didn't hurt if that is what you are asking. There was no pain," Alex said. "It just happened. One second there was nothing and then I started to be able to see. It wasn't real clear or anything and even when Maggie was holding up her fingers, I had to concentrate to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Like I said, there was no color or real definition to things. It was hazy and blurry at the edges but it was something."

"Then when you saw the headlights it went dark again?" Eliza asked.

"Yeah, I closed my eyes immediately because they hurt so I didn't know I was blind again until we stopped and I got my glasses back on."

"What about you Maggie, is there anything you can add?" Eliza asked.

"No, nothing beyond what I told you already. Her eyes were glowing and she could see."

"Can you describe the glowing again?"

"Instead of the color of her eyes it was just glowing this whitish color?"

"White? You said silver last time."

"It wasn't like pure white; it was somewhere between white and silver like it seemed to shift some. It was I don't know almost like it was twinkling."

"Twinkling?" Eliza asked. "Nothing about this has made any sense since it started. There is nothing natural about what is happening to you."

"We need to go back out to the bluffs, now," Alex said, getting to her feet.

"I don't think that is advisable," Jeffrey said. "At least until we have more information."

"Information is what I'm after," Alex said. "I went blind because of light. Light now hurts my eyes and gives me headaches. Out there, it was a cloudless night, and I'm guessing not even the moon was out tonight or atleast not fully. That is why I felt safe to take off the glasses in the first place. Because there was no light out there except for the …"

"Stars," Maggie said, finishing the thought for her. "You were looking up at the stars and your eyes – that is what they looked like. They looked like twinkling stars."

"Maybe the light from the stars in the only spectrum of light that doesn't hurt me," Alex said. "If so, we need to get back out there and test it."

…

Alex had told Maggie she didn't have to go back out to the bluffs with her as she knew she had to work the next day, but Maggie told her there was no way she was leaving now. Instead of her bike, they were traveling in the back of one of the DEO's SUVs being driven by one of the other agents. Jeffrey was in the front passenger seat as he wanted to be there to observe everything first hand. He had promised Eliza they would call her back as soon as they were out there.

"Are you going to be ok, I mean if nothing happens this time?" Maggie asked.

"I don't have much in the way of a choice but to be ok," Alex said. "But I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't matter. I didn't even have my full sight back and yet, just that little bit it was enough you know to make me happy."

"I get it," Maggie said. "I was happy for you."

Alex remembered suddenly that she had said that Maggie's smile was beautiful. While it was, she hoped it hadn't made Maggie uncomfortable that she said it. The last thing she needed was Maggie knowing that she still had feelings for her when Maggie was trying to be her friend.

"Even if I do start to see again, we will still need to run some tests," Alex said. "Mom is right, it's not natural."

"Well you did get blasted by alien," Maggie said. "Not exactly the definition of natural."

"I suppose not," Alex said. "Although for my life maybe it is more normal than I care to think about."

Maggie decided not to comment on that. She had seen Alex's face once she realize she was blind again, and she worried that she was going to spiral into depression again.

"Can I ask you a question that will probably sound stupid coming from someone in the NCPD Science Division?"

"Sure."

"The sun is star, so why do you think that light from other stars may have something to do with your sight returning?" Maggie said.

"It's not a dumb question," Alex assured her. "The sun as you know is the closest to the Earth, so the light from it has a shorter travel time. It's like how you can look up at the sun, but where you are seeing it in the sky isn't where it is exactly at that moment. You are seeing where it was, not where it is that exact second. Stars, well they are farther away so their light travels much farther. By the time it hits our atmosphere it's being bent, refracted differently than the light of the sun. That is why we see stars differently with the naked eye than we do the son."

"Ok, and please don't think I'm trying to naysay the whole star theory, but isn't just possible that you sight returned because the affect of the light the alien hit you with is wearing off?" Maggie asked. "Like maybe your sight will return on its own."

"Possible, I guess," Alex shrugged. "But that doesn't explain why my eyes were glowing."

"We're here," the driver said. A few moments later the SUV was being parked.

"Well this will either help us answer the question or I might just end up with another headache," Alex said, as she felt for the door handle and then got out.

"Turn the headlights off," she heard Jeffrey tell the driver. A moment later, Jeffrey told her it was ok to take her glasses off. She did so and immediately looked up at the sky, but she couldn't see anything.

"Nothing," she said.

"It didn't happen immediately before," Maggie pointed out. "Let's just give it some time."

Alex knew she was right, that she should be patient, but now that they were out there, she was scared – scared that what had happened before was a fluke or something that wouldn't be repeated. She wanted to be able to see again.

She wanted her life back.

She felt selfish for even thinking it because she knew that what others had already said was right – she could have a life as a blind person. There were many blind people out there who lived full lives, but she didn't want to be one of them. She didn't know if that made her a horrible person or not.

She heard someone getting closer to her.

"We could sit back down if you want," Maggie said.

Alex shook her head. "I don't think I could sit still at the moment."

"You know your bike is a really nice ride," Maggie said, changing the subject.

"That mean you want to buy it?"

"We should probably hold off on any major life decisions," Maggie said. "I mean won't you feel foolish if you sell it to me and then get your eyesight back."

"That would not be ideal, no," Alex said. "I love that bike."

"I can see why," Maggie said. "I bet it kills on a straightaway with no one else around."

"It does," Alex smiled. "Just don't tell my mom I ever opened it up like that. She's not a fan."

"Secret is safe with …" Maggie paused as Alex rubbed at her eye. "Is something happening?"

"Don't know," Alex said, but she rubbed her eye again.

"Hey doc," Maggie called out.

Jeffrey came over and he put his phone on speaker phone after telling Eliza that Alex was rubbing her eye.

"You ok?" Eliza asked.

"Yes," Alex responded. She had stopped rubbing her eyes and looked up at the sky. "I don't feel any different and so far I don't see anything."

"Yeah, but that is what happened before right? You were rubbing your eyes?" Maggie said.

Alex rubbed her eyes again, this time both of them. "It feels like there is something in my eye," she said.

"Are you in pain?" Eliza asked.

"No," she answered. She rubbed her eyes one more time but as she lowered her hands.
"Whoa," Jeffrey said, as he saw Alex's eyes. "Is that what they looked like before?"

"Yes," Maggie answered. "Can you see again?"

Alex closed her eyes once more and opened them. "Yes," she laughed. "I can see again. It's all fuzzy and not clear but I can definitely make out shapes."

"Amazing," Jeffrey said. "Your eyes, it's like Maggie described. It's like there is this silvery white sheen to them."

"Jeffrey, you need to document everything," Eliza said. "If it is indeed the starlight we need to know what it is refracting at – everything so we can try and duplicate the conditions in a lab."

Alex walked away a bit as her mom continued to give Jeffrey instructions. She looked at the sky and she could see the stars up there and she wondered if they were truly the reason why she could now see. Each star she could see was ill-defined and she knew that her full sight was far from back, but this was progress.

This was hope.

She turned and saw Maggie standing there – the other woman just looking back at her. Then she saw it – that smile.

It wasn't quite as clear from their distance, but she could tell it was a smile even if she couldn't make out the dimples.

She smiled back.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Maggie said.

She could see her hold up her hand, but Alex had to concentrate and squint a little to be sure.

"Three."

"Correct."

"I can see," Alex said. "I can see."