Jill shifted nervously in her seat, and shifted again.

Alex placed his hand on hers. "Calm. Down." He said in a quiet voice.

Jill shifted again.

Alex sighed. "What is it?"

"I don't like to fly."

"Jill, it was perfectly safe back in my day. So now it's probably like a thousand times safer."

She shook her head. "My feet were meant to stay on the ground. If I was meant to fly, I'd have wings."

He rolled his eyes. "Would it help if I held your hand?"

She nodded.

Alex laughed. "I just don't get it."

"Call it an inborn alien trait."

He shrugged. "Casey doesn't seem to be having a problem."

"Do you know how many aromatherapy substances her mother sniffed when she was pregnant with her? And you expect to be normal?"

"Knowing Maria, a lot. Ok. Point made. Not to mention that any of Maria and Michael's offspring is naturally going to be a little…quirky."

Jill snorted. "Casey…quirky?"

Casey came skipping down the aisle, dragging Rob behind her.

"Back so soon?" Alex joked, looking the couple.

"It's about time for takeoff. They made us take our seats." Casey said, frowning. Then she gave a little happy hop, pointing to an object on the collar of her shirt. "Look! I've got pilot's wings! But they won't let me fly the plane."

Jill groaned and turned an interesting shade of white.

"Casey, honey, you have to go to pilot school to fly a plane." Rob said, gently caressing her hand.

"You don't have to go to Hamburger University to flip hamburgers."

"Please." Jill said, whimpering. "Casey, please don't talk about flying the plane any more."

Casey shrugged, and sat down in the window seat across the aisle from Alex and Jill. "It's really all minor details. I mean really. A license? Who cares?"

"Seat belt." Rob ordered, gazing at the flight attendant's safety demonstration on the television screen in front of him.

The plane started to move, and Jill jumped.

"That's normal." Alex reassured her. "We're preparing to take off."

"Please let me live through this." Jill whispered, clutching Alex's hand.

Alex squeezed her hand. "If you're so afraid of flying, how did you get from Florida to Roswell?"

"I drove."

"You know, statically, flying is much more safe than…"

"Damn the statistics!" She snapped, squeezing his hand even harder as the plane ascended into the sky.

Rob tried breathing calmly. In and out, in and out. Soothing, nice breaths.

But those breaths didn't help too much.

He grasped at the seat pocket in front of him, till he got a hold of what he wanted. He put the bag up to his mouth and let nature take it's course.

"Ewwww" Casey said. "I can't believe you barfed!" She pushed the attendant button rapidly.

"Are you ok, Rob?" Jill asked, concerned.

The attendant, very upset, came up to the seat, where Rob was still hunched over, holding Jill's barf bag, having filled his own.

"What do you want?" She growled. "We're still ascending to our travel altitude. What is so frantic that it couldn't wait?"

"My fiancé got sick. It smells disgusting and if I have to sit next to it for another minute, I'll barf."

"Would you like me to move your fiancé to another seat?"

"No!" Casey said, her hair bobbing up and down. "I want you take the barf bag! I love my fiancé."

The stewardess took the bag and turned to speak to Rob. "Sir, feel free to get up and use the lavatories if you need to. I'll bring you a Sprite that might help to settle your stomach.

"Thanks" Rob said with a grateful smile.

Jill and Alex sat across the aisle, with identical shocked expressions on their faces.

"Your fiancé?" Jill shrieked, "You got engaged and didn't tell me?"

"Wow. Just wow." Alex said.

Casey nodded. "I got me a good one, finally, Jill! He's prone to motion sickness, but besides that, he's perfect!"

"Congratulations." Jill said, feeling a little envious of her best friend.

***

"What is it? Why won't they move the plane?" Casey said, sitting impatiently in her seat. "You did take the Dramamine, didn't you honey?"

"Yes." Rob sighed. After going through the collective four barf bags of his travel party in the first flight, he just hoped that the medicine worked.

Jill sat slumped in her seat. She was happy for Casey, she was. Rob was a great guy, and together they made a great couple. It was really romantic, how they had become a couple so soon after meeting- immediately after they found out they weren't relatives. It was like a fairy tale, with a happy ending.

Jill loved Alex dearly. But it wouldn't be a fairy tale. She thought of what she had to- thinking about the mission made her head hurt.

Casey would have a happy ever after.

And she wouldn't. So she was jealous of her cousin and her best friend. Jill had always believed in the power of dreaming, and now it seemed like everything was ending.

"I love you." Alex whispered, leaning over and putting his lean arms around her body.

"I love you." He emphasized again, kissing her face.

She let herself sink into his embrace, but a nagging thought at the back of her head reminded her that this romance was thriving on borrowed time.

***

"Car." Jill sighed, looking at the blue Jetta they'd rented. "I don't care if I never see an airplane again in my life."

"Who wants to drive?" Casey asked, jingling the keys in her hand. Rob, Alex, and Jill continued to look unenthusiastic. "Ok, I will." She chirped, and leapt into the driver's seat.

Jill climbed into the back, and put on her seatbelt. She leaned on Alex's chest. "You're comfy, you know that?"

"Yeah." He replied, patting her golden hair. "I know you're perfect."

"Next stop, home!" Casey squealed as she peeled out of the parking lot.

Rob said a silent prayer that his Dramamine would hold.

***

Alex gazed at the town, transfixed by the setting. "So this is where Jill Diane Valenti grew up."

"Yeah."

Casey checked her watch. "It's gonna be awhile before anybody's home. So what should we do until then?"

"Same thing we do every night, try to take over the world?" Alex joked.

"What?" Casey said. "And you call me weird."

"Is my Dad buried here?" Rob said in a quiet voice. He'd been silent since they reached the town.

"Uncle Max? Yeah, we can take you by the memorial." Casey said in a quiet voice.

Rob turned to his friends. "No offense, guys, but this is something I kind of have to do by myself."

They nodded sympathetically.

"I can show Alex my old High School…and then we can meet up at the Nut Hut?" Jill suggested.

"Sounds good." Rob said in a quiet voice. "Case, do you mind showing me where it is?"

"No problem." She said, squeezing his hand. "It's all in a day's work for a fiancé."

"Say about 45 minutes?" Casey asked.

"See ya then." Jill said as she pulled Alex across the street.

***

Rob looked at the stone.

Somehow, it was intimidating.

His father wasn't there. He didn't believe that the soul stayed in the body after death, and besides Max's body was there.

But this stone proved that Max Evans had existed.

Max Evans had worth. He was valued. He was loved. He was a real person.

Rob had always had images of a man in the back of his mind. The man was kind and took good care of him. The man was strong, and he could feel the love flowing from the man.

Rob had never dreamed that the man in his images was actually his father.

He'd never dreamed that he was adopted, either. He had a wonderful family. He was proud to be a Valenti. He loved Amy, who baked the best pies of any mother in his class. He loved Chad and Anna, because they were fun to torture and to spoil. He wanted to be like Jim, to be the strong and dominating family man.

Was he like Max?

He couldn't wait to talk to Jill's mom. She would remember Max, and tell him stories. Tell him how he resembled this man who died saving his only son.

He touched the headstone.

Maxwell Evans
Forever May You Live in Our Hearts
Beloved Friend, Father, Son and Brother
The Stars Will Light Your Way

No birth date, no death date.

Just a memorial.

Rob traced the raised letters.

M-A-X.

His vision blurred, and suddenly he wasn't in the cemetery anymore. He was in a white area, so pure, so fresh, so clean. Rob could feel the white when he breathed.

"Rob" An unfamiliar voice called him.

He looked up. It was his father, looking even younger than Rob was right now.

"Dad." Rob stood up. "It's you."

"Do you know how proud of you I am?" His Dad said. "I watch you, Rob. You're fearless. You're good in your job, you're good to your family. You're an outstanding boy…uh, man…and I'm glad to call you my son."

"You are? I wish I knew you…I have so many questions, and I…"

"Shhh." Max put his arm around his son's shoulders. "I only have a little bit of time here, Rob. I wish I could give you all the answers now, but you have to learn them on your own, just as I did. Keep your courage around you in the future, son. You'll need it."

The vision started to fade, but Rob fought to keep a hold on it. He didn't want to leave his father. He wanted to stay here in the white room, where everything was safe.

"The mission is only the beginning of the journey, Rob. I love you." Max said, giving him a hug.

And then Max and the white room faded away, as quickly as they had come.

Casey's arms were around him as he woke up.

"Are you ok?" She asked, her face full of concern. "I found you face first in the dirt."

Rob's eyes were bright. "I saw him, Case. I saw my father!"