Not too long after, Logan's home

Liz observed the four children sleeping on the bed in Logan's guestroom. Seeing them, it had finally hit her just how long she'd been gone. She couldn't begin to imagine how much her family and friends had been through in the last two decades. The worst part was she couldn't really do anything about it.

She quietly shut the door and went to the living room, where Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, Alex, Tess and Kyle sat with Logan and talked. They were waiting for Max to return from her errand. She had only known her for a short time, but she'd worried for her ever since she'd awakened at Snowhill, even before, when she was still inside her, she'd never stopped worrying. But it was different now.


"Are they still sleeping?" asked Maria.

"Yeah. They're just... gorgeous," said Liz with a smile. Maria, Isabel and Tess all smiled, feeling pride. Just then, they heard the door open and close quietly. They looked up to see Max walk in, sporting a slight bruise near her jaw.

"What happened?" asked Logan and Liz at the same time, both concerned.

Max gave a small smirk and said, "Logan, can we talk?" He didn't understand why she couldn't speak in front of them.

"Something wrong?" he asked. She looked at the group, then decided she might as well just tell them.


"We have a... problem..." she said.

"What kind of problem?" asked Michael.

"I lied to you before, I wasn't running an errand." That got their attention. "As we were walking, I saw some people and... they were from Manticore... probably there to try to find you," she explained, looking to her mother.

"What?" asked Max as he got up, "How'd they know she was out?" Liz looked pensive for a moment, and then it hit her.

"Oh..."

"What?" asked Alex.

"Oh," she said again, counting in her head.

"Liz, what is it?" asked Maria.


"They've been watching me... all this time," she announced.

"What?" said her daughter.

"I never understood who he was, but now that I think about it, it all makes sense."

"What does? What are you talking about?" asked Isabel.

"There was this man... he came to visit me, once a month. He always came around this time, not for long, he'd stay for like five minutes every time..."

"And... you think he was from Manticore?" asked Logan.

"He has to be," said Max, as she nodded.


"So they know she's not there anymore. What happens now?" asked Kyle.

"They'll come after her. She's a danger to Manticore, if she speaks to the press. The other mothers were simply sent back to where they came from, no doubt they held up their promise not to speak of it, but they put her in a psychiatric facility for two decades, killed one of the other girls in front of her, she could take them down. Although I can't understand why they didn't just..." explained Max, but stopped suddenly, feeling tears.

"Kill me?" finished Liz. The room became silent.

"Maybe they've reconsidered now... which means you may all be in danger," Max said, looking to the group.


Tess got up then, approaching Kyle, who stood by the window. "Kyle, I want you to take the girls and go back to Roswell," she said, trying to stay steady in her words.

"No, I'm not leaving you here," he said firmly.

"She's right," said Michael, then turning to Maria. "Take Ricky and go with them."

"Michael..." started Maria.

"Alex, you and Jack go too," said Isabel.

"Isabel, no, we can't let you do this," said Alex, fearing for her. She smiled.

"We can defend ourselves, we can take care of this... you can't. If anything happened to you... or Jack, Ricky, Lisa or Anna..." Kyle, Maria and Alex looked to their respective spouses, then to each other and each nodded their consent.

*

The next morning, early, bus depot

Kyle, Maria, Alex and the kids said their good-byes to Tess, Michael and Isabel, when Max walked up to them, holding an envelope.

"Alright, you got checkpoint passes and tickets to get you back to Roswell. We'll keep in contact with you, don't worry," she explained, handing the envelope to Alex, already feeling a closeness to all of them. All three parents who were to remain in Seattle hugged their children goodbye one more time, and after a few more tearful kisses to their husbands/wife, the seven on their way home boarded the bus. Tess, Michael and Isabel waved to the bus as it drove off, feeling a bit of emptiness.

"Now what?" asked Max, still watching the bus.

"We go back to Logan's... We have something to tell you two," said Michael, throwing a knowing glance to Tess and Isabel.

*

Soon after, Logan's home

The scene may have seemed funny to the casual observer. Not for Max and Logan, however, who sat in shock. The four aliens sat in a row, with Liz on a couch nearby, with her daughter next to her and Logan in his chair, next to her.

"This is... wow..." was all Logan could manage.

"Guess I'm not the only one with... weird origins..." said Max, looking over the four again. None of them were very comfortable, all hated that part of the explanation. But they got over it quickly.

"Alright... so what do we do about Lydecker?" asked Logan.

"Actually... I may have an idea," said Tess.

*

The next day, the same meeting place

Lydecker walked in, immediately seeing the screen and camera. He calmly went to sit in front of the screen. Seconds later, the Eyes Only banner and the man's eyes appeared on it.

"Good morning, Mr. Lydecker. How nice of you to come."

"Well, you certainly got my attention with that message of yours."

"I thought I might."

"You said you knew where this woman was?"

"Yes," he said simply, "I will arrange a meeting, I hope you'll be kind enough to... not play any tricks, if you know what I mean."

"Of course not, I simply would like to talk to her, make sure she's okay."

"Alright then. Look into the envelope next to you, there's an address and time. Be there." And the screen went blank.

"I will," said Lydecker, to no one.