Inside the Crashdown

Past Liz walked to past Tess and then went behind the counter, "Hello."

"Hi." Tess said

"Uhm, can I help you with – have we met?"

"Uh, no, we haven't. I'm Tess Harding."

"I'm Liz Parker. You new?"

"Oh yeah, my dad and I just moved here. We were actually planning on coming here later on, but, things just happened."

"Hmmm, what does your dad do?"

"He's a military consultant and he kinda bosses them around in a way."

"Oh, sounds kewl. So, uhm, you'll be living here now?"

"Yeah, being new sucks."

"Oh? Have you done this before?"

"Only all the time. My dad's job takes him and me everywhere. Italy, Rome, Ecuador, Spain…etc. It really is a hot experience cuz I meet a lot of people everywhere I go, but it's also a bad thing cuz I leave everyone I meet."

"Oh, that's true. But, on the bright side, you get to see a whole lot of people."

Tess sighed, "Yeah."

Out back of the Crashdown

"I think I'm gunna be sick." Tess said

"What happened? Is the baby acting up?" Liz asked

"No, that is just so corny. I mean, look at us."

Liz looked in; "I know what cha mean."

"I guess it looks odd because we're not used to talking."

"Maybe. But as long as we can change stuff, everything will change."

Back inside the Crashdown

The two big, chunky guys broke out into a fight

"Uh-oh." Tess stood from her chair and walked around next to Liz, ready to take cover

"Uh-oh is right. I have to stop them, they're scaring the customers." Liz was ready to walk to them when Tess grabbed her arm

"Are you crazy! Never ever get in the middle of a fight."

One man took out a gun and pointed it to the other
Everyone screamed and ducked, the majority ran out

Liz and Tess froze to their spots

The trigger was pulled and the other countered with a punch. The gun's direction was detoured and headed straight to Tess and Liz

"DUCK!" Tess pushed Liz to the floor

The bullet rushed into Tess' stomach and she fell to the floor next to Liz

Outside

"OH MY GOD!" the two shrieked

Back inside

More screamed and ran out

Max rushed up and ran behind the counter as Maria screamed; "Call an ambulance." He ordered and she rushed off.
He knelt down to Liz and noticed that she was trying to help this other girl, a girl that felt strangely familiar.

"Liz, go help Maria stay clam." He told her

Liz nodded and ran to Maria

Max took Tess' hand and cradled her in his arms, "Look, I don't know you, you don't know me, and I'm going to help you. But, you have to trust me. Look at me," he caressed her face, "look me in the eyes…don't go to sleep! Open them!"

Tess struggled to open her eyes, and barely succeeded

"Good, now, please, let me in," he ripped her shirt open and placed his left hand over the bullet hole wound and concentrated on them

Once done…he let her go and Tess opened her eyes widely

"You-you fell, broke ketchup and spilt it all over." He stood, "Please, don't tell anyone." He ran out of the Crashdown

Tess sat sternly to the floor; she used her powers to fix her shirt, making sure that there were no blood stains, no rips and no holes.

She then stood

Outside

"Make Maria forget you, we forgot about her." Liz said

Tess nodded and made Maria forget

Inside

"Tess!" Liz ran behind the counter, shocked to see her standing, "Oh my god! Are you okay!" she squealed

"What? – Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm okay." It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that Tess was preoccupied. She stared at the Crashdown's entrance/exit with intense eyes

"Oh, thank god!" Liz hugged Tess, "I mean, you were practically bleeding to death! You were – Tess, you were bleeding. Where are all of the bloodstains?"

Tess blinked vigorously and then turned to Liz

Outside

"You should make me forget about that." Liz said

"I don't need to. Because she, uhm, I, uh…past me will." Tess said staring at the two

Inside

Tess concentrated on Liz. She was in her head in two shakes. She searched around to find what Liz had seen.
She came to it in seconds. She found images of the whole shooting…she picked out the ones where her getting shot and deleted them permanently. And she let herself slip out

Liz blinked, "Well, I want to go check on what's-left-of-the-customers."

"Okay."

Liz smiled and walked away

Tess bent down to the far wall; her placed her hand on it and stood, dragging her hand along the wall. She concentrated on the molecules in the wall and made a dent in it.

"The bullet." She realized in a whisper. She placed her hand on where the wound was and searched for the bullet's remains and urged them together, reforming it and it flying into the dent she made without a sound. She removed her hand and headed to the back door

Outside

"Holy crap!" Tess and Liz jumped up frantically

"Hold up!" Tess said, "she won't come this way. She'll think better of it."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"It would look suspicious if she left the back way. Trust me, I know how I think."

Inside

Tess made a 180.

She walked out of the Crashdown's entrance/exit saying bye to Liz on her way out

Behind the Crashdown

"So, uhm, what happened to us once uhm," Tess struggled to find the right words

"Once we accomplish what we set out to do, we just disappear. The people we are now, cease to exist."

Tess' eyes opened wide, "WHAT!" she snapped

"I told you about that."

"You never said anything about disappearing!"

"We don't stop living. Our past selves become us. Just how we are now changes. Everyone alive in our time changes. Every person born will change." She explained

Tess held her stomach, "But what about those of us who aren't born yet?" she asked hopeless and sad

Liz frowned, "I don't know what will happened to him, and I'm really sorry that it might end like this."

"He won't exist."

"Maybe. But maybe he will."

Tess shook her head, "Doubtful. If no human knows, we won't deal with the skins, Nacedo won't die, Max won't bother with the memory retrieval, and he won't remember me. No Prom kiss, no laughs, no tears, we won't get close, our son won't exist," she was frantic, her eyes were full of unsheaded tears and her head shook side to side as she spoke her words and once she finished her head was bowed

Liz took Tess' hand and said with soft spoken words and sincerity:

"No Alex dying, no Max getting sick, no deadly virus, no running away by Isabel and Michael, no stress, no debts, no baby sickness…"

Tess looked up; her tears were now streaming down her face, "But what if,"

"It'll all work out fine. And you'll know what we came here to do was completed when it's done."

She sniffed and wiped her tears away, "Where are we gunna stay?"

"I don't know. We might not need to stick around."

"True."

Random Street

Past Tess is walking down an alley and an arm suddenly gabbed hers

She was so tempted to drop kick whomever it was; and she was glad that she hadn't when she saw it was Max

"God," she breathed, "you scared the hell outta me."

"You can't tell anyone about earlier." He ordered

"Oh, about that-"

"Maxwell!" someone called

Tess and Max turned to the dead end part and there stood two people. Michael and Isabel

"Michael, Iz, I can explain," Max said quietly

"The hell you can!" Michael roared

"Max! What you did was inexcusable!" Isabel yelled

"You're endangering us for a stranger!" Michael shouted

"Woah! Are you saying what I think you're-" Tess was very suspicious

"We're-we're not from around here." Max said, "and I saved you…I don't know why though. I just knew that I had to."

"Where are you from?" she asked smiling

"Why are you smiling!" Isabel yelled outraged

"Where are you from if you aren't from around here?" she asked

"We don't know." Max said softly

"So what are you saying? You're an alien?" she laughed out

"That's not funny!" Isabel thundered

"Yes, we are." Max answered sadly

"OH my god!" Tess yelled

"Another one freaks…" Michael mumbled

"Oh my god! Max!" Tess jumped on Max and held him hard in a hug, "You have no idea how long I've been looking for you!"

"Holy shit! She's been looking for us!" Michael yelled

"No! No, I'm an…I'm…we're all the same." She said and let go of Max

"What? No, you're lying." Isabel said

"Am I?" she asked raising an eyebrow

"Yes, you are!" Michael and Isabel yelled together

"Okay, fine, check this out," Tess closed her eyes and concentrated on their minds. She decided to make the three of them see the Pod Chamber…the destiny book…their love for each other…Michael and Isabel…Max and Tess…everything alien…

And she was out

"OH MY GOD!" the three gasped

Max looked at Tess, eyes soft and rough

"Maxwell," Michael said

"Max," Isabel said warningly

Max grabbed Tess' shoulders and kissed her long and hard

He sent her flashes
Him seeing things about them at the Crashdown
What he thought about with the Prom
What he saw about their child
His now love for her

She showed him her coming out of her pod…
Meeting Nacedo
Growing up with no one
Traveling
Searching for Max and co.
Dreamwalking to find him
Mindwarping
Zapping
Healing
Trying to decode the book
Destiny

They parted slowly

"Max," Isabel and Michael said warningly

"What is it?" Isabel asked

"She's really one of us." Max said smiling