Friday
Max sat in the CrashDown, Liz watched him, her eyes narrowed on Tess whose giggling was annoying the hell out of her. She hated them together. She love him, and she still felt like he was hers, all hers. As she stood there staring at the couple, who were completely unaware of her presence. Her phone rang. "Hello?" Liz asked. A deep voice answered. "Hi, Liz?" It asked. Liz smiled. "Yes, who is this?" She asked. "This is Bill, I showed you the super computer at Las Cruises College." He reminded. "Hi Bill, what's up?" She asked. "I found something else out, just after all of you left. Looks like that girl your friend sent the email too, just left, all her stuff and everything was still in her dorm. I talked to her roommate. She said it was family, but I thought you may want a few papers of hers, you'll have to make do with copies, I can't steal them, but it may help you in your search for his results." He finished and said goodbye. Liz smiled, hanging up.
Early afternoon
The door rang. Max got up and answered it, expecting it to be Michael, and it was. "What's up?" Max asked, looking at his odd face. "Liz found some papers that could lead them to this girl, I'm going with them." He informed Max. "Okay, so?" He asked. "I don't know, just thought I should tell you." Michael explained. Max shrugged. Michael left and got in the car with Liz and Maria. "What was that all about?" Maria asked, wondering what he had to talk to Max just before he was leaving. "Nothing, just had to drop off something." Michael explained the girls laughed, shrugging it off.
"So why would anyone want to but this place, again, please?" Maria asked. They gazed up at the broken down warehouse. "Leanna… J. Coleman is renting it, there has to be a reason." Liz reminded them. They went in. Maria kept her arms close by her side, careful not to touch anything. "Guessing not a party pad." Maria commented, stepping on broken window glass, and floorboards. They split up.
Liz called them from the far corner of the warehouse. "I found something!" She called. Maria was first to arrive. "What the hell is that!" Maria screamed, as a strange triangular device floated about a laptop, it began to make beeps, then glow. "Michael!" Maria cried. He came running and pushed it out of the way in time to see it explode. Liz took a deep breath, and gulped hard. "Thank you." She said straightly to Michael. "No problem." He said back in that same flat voice. "The laptop." Liz pulled up a document. "Look, this is it, the translation!" Liz cried. She hit the print button and began to print it out.
Early Evening
Max was outside his house, throwing garbage around, knowing that Tess would have to kill the baby in a matter of hours if because he hadn't found the way home. Isabel came walking up from around the corner. "max?" She asked, looking at the huddled mass of a person sitting of the ground. He was heaving for air. Garbage was tossed about him, and he was covered in dirt. "Tess is going to kill the baby, or I am, or I let them both die, or, just the baby, or…" Max began to cry. "I know this is what's supposed to happen, because it's our destiny, but…" Max cried too hard to speak. Isabel held her hand out. He looked up and hesitantly grabbed it. Leading him to the bridge. "Remember when your pet hamster died?" Isabel asked. "Yeah?" Max said, he couldn't believe with everything that was happening she was trying to bring up old wounds too. "Remember the next day?" Isabel asked, this time smiling. Max nodded no. She raised her hand into the air. It began to snow. "It snowed." Max said, letting a few snowflakes fall into his palm. "It was the first time we'd seen it. It snowed for days. It was disaster for everyone, but us." Isabel reminded. "We played all day…" Isabel began. "And pelted Michael with snowballs." Max finished, laughing, remembering the good times. "It was a miracle." Isabel explained. "Just like this." Max said softly looking up at the snow falling. "We'll figure something out, we always do." Isabel comforted.
Michael rode his bike up to the bridge. Isabel hopped down from the wall top and greeted him. "Maxwell, I got good news, and I got bad news." Michael began. "Bad news?" Max asked. "Who ever Leanna is, or was, she has the translation to the book." Max sighed, expressing his frustration. "Good news then?" Max asked. "So do we. And… what ever this is..." Michael pulled a large stack of papers from his pocket and a crystal. Isabel looked at the crystal for a moment then looked to Max who held the book. "What does it say?" She asked. Max turned to them. "It's the way home… we can go home." Max said. They huddled together, staring at the sky, and the surface of the planet they had come to know, to love. They all knew this day would come. They couldn't remain on a planet that was so dangerous for them. Some how none had actually thought it would ever really occur. Their departure from the only home they could remember.
Late Friday Night
Tess sat on the couch with a cup of coffee and packet of tabasco sauce in her hands. A blanket covered her shoulders. Her face was startled, almost afraid. Max stood in front of her, barely able to contain himself. "Well?" Max asked, ready to jump. Tess looked up, then back down and the heap of paper that lay before her. The translation was like some lump of coal that needed burning. "M-max, are you sure about this?" Tess asked. She stood up, the blanket falling to the ground.
Max shook his head, taking her by the arms. His smile was like a knife in her heart. "Tess? I don't understand this? You were always the one that wanted this, right? Right!" Max asked cheery like, his smile burning Tess deeper. "Yeah, yeah." Tess admitted, putting on a brave front. He hugged her and she hugged back. Tess took a deep breath, rubbing Max on his arms. She followed her own movements, as did Max. He looked at her confused. "Max." She began with a flat, stern voice, one Max hadn't heard before. "Just make sure that you know everything, before you decide what you want to do." Tess warned. Max laughed it off, and kissed Tess on the forehead, running out to talk with Isabel and Michael.
Mean while, Liz was getting drunk. All her searching had led her to a dead end. There was knock at the door. "Maria." Liz said, half leaning on Maria as she walked in. Liz handed her a glass with a tall drink in it. "Happy?" Maria teased. Liz laughed. "Uh um, yeah." Maria nodded, putting the drink down, and watching Liz pour herself an even larger drink. "You know the great, no wait! The funniest thing about all this is?" Liz asked, laughing at herself. Maria looked at her, with a crooked smile. "Now what would that be?" Maria asked, making Liz sit down. "I'm not even human anymore!" Liz blurted out. Maria snapped to attention. "Yeah I mean I was one day, the next… POOF! Not." Liz said, waving her arms about. "Okay…? Liz what do you mean, not human?" Maria asked. Liz smiled, and looked at her. "Well, first I realized that I couldn't taste bland stuff, and for awhile not much at all now just really strong stuff like tabasco sauce, and really hot chilly. Then this weird thing happened. I dropped my mother's crystal glass, I went to pick it up and it moved, the pieces. I went to touch it again and it started to mend. I made it new Maria, I have powers, so does Kyle." Liz took a deep breath. Maria sat back, tired from what she just heard. She watched Liz gulp down the liquor for a moment. She looked at her, considering weather or not to tell her something. Liz looked slowly at her. "What's up?" She asked, licking the straw from her drink. Maria nodded, she was going to say it. "Alex, when I went looking for people who had seen him I only found one guy-" Maria was cut off. "I thought you said you didn't find anyone."
Maria sighed. "Yeah, well I didn't except this one guy, I asked if he saw or knew of anything strange that our friend had done. He said no, then he mention the food." Maria explained. Liz began to sober up. "Food?" Liz asked. Maria nodded. "Yeah, he said that Alex ate tie food, lots of it, in fact everyday. Tie food is really spicy, you said that um, you couldn't taste anything but strong stuff, right?" Maria asked, thinking she was wrong. "Maria! You know what this means, somebody healed Alex, or something, right?" Liz wasn't asking she stood up and tossed Maria the keys. "We have to go, to Max's"
Maria knocked on the door. Mrs. Evans answered the door. "Maria, Liz. Max isn't here, he went over to see, Tess." She explained. They thanked her and jumped in the car. Maria took them to Jim's. Kyle said that the aliens had gone out but would be back. Liz and Maria decided o wait inside. "I have to go see dad, he's going to be coming home tomorrow." Kyle explained. "Feel free to wait here though." He called, leaving. Around 20 minutes after Kyle left the door opened. Laughing and giggling could be heard. Maria and Liz tensed up. Max and Tess, followed by Michael and Isabel came in all smiles. "Maria?' Michael asked. "Max." Liz stood up, instantly becoming calm, smart, and serious. "Liz, what are you doing here?" Max asked. His smiled faded to worry and mistrust. "I need to ask you something." Liz explained. Looking at the others. "Actually I have to asked all of you something." Liz explained. "What?" Max asked, stepping from the others. Liz took a deep breath. "Did, before, possibly months before Alex died. Did any of you heal him, something that he nor any of you told me, or us about?" Liz asked. There was great silence in the room. Then from the back of the room, stepped forward Isabel.
"I did, I healed him." She admitted. Liz was shocked. "You did? How?" Liz asked. Isabel thought a moment. "He came to me, just about a week before he died. He said he had a migraine, that no medication or treatment would work. He asked if I would try and ease the pain. It worked, or at least he said it did." Isabel explained. There was silence again. "I healed him too." Max said. "Weeks before he left for, um, Sweden." He admitted. "For the same reason." Max admitted, he looked down. "I did as well." Tess explained. "The day he died. He came to my room, he was frantic with pain. I asked why did go to Max or Isabel but, he, um, he refused, he begged and I did." Tess explained. "Tess, Alex died in the evening, when did you heal him?" Liz asked. Tess looked around. Max followed her eyes, while everyone else looked at her face in general. "The morning, early morning." Tess explained. Max saw her blink, she only blinked like that when
she was hiding something. Max looked to the others, realizing there was still no sound. "Look, well, it's late, we better go, Umm." Max gave the others a look. Isabel and Michael understood. "Yeah, better leave, real tired." Michael explained, stretching. Maria grabbed Michael by the shoulder. "Wait!" She ran after him. "What are you not saying?" She asked. Michael tuned around, the humans looked at him, and their pleading eyes. "Max…" Michael, asked. He nodded. "We're leaving." Michael explained. "I know to go home…" Maria explained. "No, leaving, earth." Michael explained. "What!" Liz accidentally blurted out.
Everyone looked to her, as if she had broken their silent world. "Liz, you don't understand what's going on, we have to leave… tonight." Max explained. He went to touch her, she backed away. "To- tonight! No, this is too fast, can't it wait?" She asked. "No, Liz, it's tonight, or never." Max explained. She began to cry. Running out. Maria followed her, they were gone. Max sighed. He turned to the others. "Say goodbye, we're going." Max ordered, taking Tess' hand.