Max sprinted toward Liz's location at full speed. When he reached the area near Northwest Texas Community College, he turned and ran along the sidewalk parallel to the building toward the alleyway from yesterday. Max peeled around the corner to his right and stopped for a moment. He noticed the scaffolding and scientific equipment, which seemed to be centered on the electrical box he overloaded the previous day. This made him nervous. He wondered if the government was responsible for bringing in the equipment and for Liz's cryptic distress call.
Still worried about Liz, Max ran lightly down the alley, being careful not to trip over any of the equipment. When he reached the corner, he saw a figure in black jeans, a white leather jacket with red accents and a white helmet. Max continued scanning down the alleyway, but it appeared otherwise empty. No sign of Liz. He followed the route she instructed him to take. The person in the helmet walked slowly forward, and Max noticed their head slightly swiveling from side-to-side. Max decided he needed to confront this person to get answers about his wife's whereabouts.
Max walked cautiously into the back alley. As frantic as he felt about Liz possibly being in danger, their experiences taught him not to let his emotions compromise his tactical judgement. He tried to move as quickly and silently as possible toward the helmeted figure. It didn't help that the person in the helmet continued to creep forward, too. Max closed to just a couple steps from within arm's length when the person in the helmet somehow became aware of his approach because they started to spin around to face Max.
Normally Max felt confident he could hold his own the human way in a fight. But with Kivar in El Quartelejo, Liz missing and no one else in the alley, Max feared the worst. He quickly raised his hand and erected his green defensive shield before the person in the helmet finished their turn to face him.
Max focused through the green, wavy energy field and saw the person on the other side removing the helmet, which didn't strike Max as a move of aggression. Perhaps they wanted to get a closer look at Max's alien ability before trying a plan of attack. Max wasn't going to lower his defenses until they made a move. Instead, the person spoke.
"Maxwell?"
Max immediately knew who it was.
"Michael?" he asked back out of surprise, not doubt.
Max lowered his defensive shield. Sure enough he stood face-to-face with Michael.
"It's good to see you," Max said with some relief over not having to battle anyone for now. "Have you seen Liz?"
Suddenly, they heard some rustling near a dumpster further down the alley. Some flattened boxes were being pushed back and Max heard her voice before seeing her face.
"Here," Liz shouted.
As Liz crawled out of her cocoon near the dumpster, Max didn't expect to see another woman emerge who apparently joined Liz in hiding. When Liz called him and said someone was watching us, he assumed she meant Ava. But with no sign of Ava, she apparently referred to this woman.
"Michael, it's good to see you!" Liz exclaimed, as she and the other woman approached them.
"Yeah, you too," Michael said, sounding slightly aloof. Max attributed that not only to the surprise of Liz emerging from hiding but also coming out with an unfamiliar stranger.
As Liz and the other woman reached them, Liz asked, "What are you doing here? Is Maria with you?"
"No, just me," Michael replied.
He still sounded distant or distracted. Max stood facing down the alley, with Michael on his left, Liz across from him and Liz's companion on his right. Next, Michael made eye contact with the other woman briefly, and then turned back toward Liz.
"Who the hell is this?" Michael asked.
"I'm Serena," the woman replied sternly, seemingly turned off by Michael's harsh tone.
"She's a friend of mine," Liz added.
Michael turned toward Max. "Is she ok?" Michael asked him.
"Actually," Max replied, "we haven't met yet, either."
Max turned toward her and smiled, "Hi, I'm Max, Liz's husband. And this is our friend Michael."
Serena shook Max's hand and glanced over at Michael.
"Hey," he offered, "sorry about that."
Serena gave him a forced smile. Max would learn more about Serena later, but for now his curiosity centered on Michael's unexpected appearance.
"What are you doing here?" Max asked.
Before answering, Michael shot a suspicious look at Serena, who definitely took the not-so-subtle hint.
"I'm going to go start packing up some of my equipment," Serena announced and she walked back toward the scaffolding setup.
"So," Max asked again, "what brought you to El Quartelejo?"
"Looking for you, actually," Michael explained. "I guess it speaks to how good we got at covering our tracks that it took me so long to pin you down."
"Michael," Liz asked, "why did you leave Maria and your child to come find us?"
Max looked back at Michael, who wore a blank expression on his face. Michael hesitated before answering the question, which struck Max as slightly out of character.
"Maria left me," Michael said quietly.
"What?!" Max asked, totally floored by this news.
Michael and Maria were as much soulmates as he and Liz. So much of the growth in Michael over the years spawned from his connection to Maria. She softened his abrasive personality and connected him to his human side. Michael learned how to be sweet and tender because of his love for Maria.
"Why?" Liz sounded deeply concerned. "What happened?"
Michael snapped at her, "I wasn't exactly father of the year, ok!"
"Oh, Michael…" Liz replied sympathetically but not knowing what more to say.
This also struck Max as out of character. While Michael didn't initially approve of Max saving Liz, even by the end of high school he came to both accept and value her presence in their lives. When the gang hit the road they all became closer, but especially the many years when it was just Max, Liz, Michael and Maria. Max and Maria actually started forging a friendship the summer Liz went away after sophomore year. But during the time the four of them shared on the road together, they became even closer and Michael and Liz truly became good friends for the first time.
Liz appreciated the way Michael treated Maria and how happy they were. Liz often became single-minded to prevent a disaster from her visions and Max's heart compelled him to always prioritize helping people. The four of them recognized Liz as the brains of the group. Michael and Liz developed a strong rapport. Michael, more emotionally detached from their life-saving work, could appeal to Liz's science-minded brain when it came to tactics about when to leave a town or what precautions to take when dispatching to make a save. Sometimes they would spend hours collaborating outside the camper by a fire. Over the years, Michael began to project the warmth and tenderness Michael always showed Maria toward Liz as well.
Max considered that the pain of breaking up with Maria could cause some of Michael's angry outbursts more characteristic of his high school self to become more prevalent again. If he split with Maria, then what kind of support system could Michael have had without him, Isabel or even Liz around? At times, Max felt uneasy about the gang splitting apart, especially the hybrids. He accepted how it all played out, and he knew that those decisions made sense at the time. Max understood that his judgement about what's truly best for everyone was somewhat clouded because, no matter what, he missed Michael and Isabel.
Max sensed that this wasn't the best time to press Michael about opening up and telling them what happened with Maria.
"So, what made you come looking for us?" Max asked Michael.
"I didn't know where else to go," Michael replied simply.
Max felt for him and smiled warmly, yet sympathetically. That's when he noticed Michael's expensive and flashy white and red leather jacket.
"This doesn't look like your style," Max mused.
"It was a gift," Michael said with a hint of unease.
This served as another clue for Max that Michael went through a lot in the last four years since he and Maria decided to finally leave the road and raise their child. A little bit of guilt began to creep into Max's mind. He understood wanting to settle down for the sake of their baby, but part of Max always believed they could all stay safer by sticking together. Michael and Maria displayed such strong conviction in their plan that Max never attempted to talk them into staying.
"I'm glad you're here," Max told Michael, "there's a lot happening."
"Get me up to speed," Michael requested.
"There's so much to tell you," Max explained. "We shouldn't stay here too much longer. But my son Zan is here."
"Really?" Michael reacted with a giddy curiosity.
Max expected Michael's first instinct would be to express some concern about that, especially given that Michael surely knew about the reported UFO crash.
"Yeah," Max confirmed, "and you won't believe this, but Ava's been raising him."
"Ava?" Michael asked.
The question was understandable, but Max got the impression Michael, who typically possessed a steel trap memory, drew a blank.
"You know, Ava," Liz reminded him, "one of the dupes from New York who stayed with us in Roswell when Max and Tess went to The Summit in New York."
"Oh, right," Michael said.
"She has a house not far from here," Max explained. "That'll be a safer place to fill you in on the rest. Plus, I'd love for you to meet Zan."
"Yeah, me too," Michael agreed.
"Michael," Liz suggested, "why don't you go grab your bike and you can follow the rest of us to Ava's in Serena's van?"
"Sure," Michael again agreed.
Michael took a step toward the scaffolding rig but then hesitated.
"I think I'll go around this way," he said, gesturing toward walking out the other side of the alley and around the college to get back to his bike. The roundabout route wasn't as direct, but he seemed aware that he didn't make a great first impression with Serena.
"Good idea," Max mused with a wry smile.
Max and Liz started walking toward Serena.
"Liz," Max asked, "are you sure about her?"
"Yes," Liz answered decisively.
"But you just met, right?" Max reasoned. "How can you be so sure you can trust her?"
"I know how strange this is going to sound," Liz explained, "but you're the one who told me she was a friend."
Max didn't know what she meant by that. Liz never shared with him the details of her encounter with Future Max, even though he once saw a vision of their wedding at a Las Vegas Elvis chapel when they visited Vegas for the first time in high school. The confidence with which Liz spoke about Serena assured Max.
"Ok," he said, considering the matter closed.
"Does something seem strange with Michael?" Liz asked.
Max hesitated to think on this. He noticed some unexpected behavior, so he realized that it shouldn't surprise him that Liz picked up on the same thing. Max still knew Michael best. Despite how Michael changed as a person since high school, he always maintained a certain hardened edginess due to being raised in an unloving household by his adoptive father Hank, who only took Michael in for the child support checks.
"It seems like he's been through a lot since we last saw him," Max reasoned. "I think it's probably good for him that he found us when he did."
Liz reached down, grabbed Max's hand and squeezed it tight for a moment before letting go. The gesture showed Max her empathy and support. He smiled at her as the couple approached Serena. By now, she packed all of her gear in either the hard shell case or the duffel and only the scaffolding remained.
"Hey Serena," Liz started, "so we're going to take Michael to a friend's house. I think you should come along. I think we can help each other between your work and our business in El Quartelejo."
Max felt spooked by this. He glanced nervously at Liz as she spoke and then looked over at Serena with wide eyes and his face otherwise expressionless.
"I'm not sure Max likes that idea," Serena noted.
Max snapped out of it. He recognized that someone else would come by to question Serena in the alley sooner or later, and he'd rather know more about her than have her talk about what happened to the electrical box to local or national authorities.
"No, it's not that," he explained, "it's just been a crazy couple of days. I ran over here and I wasn't expecting to find that Liz made a new friend or that our friend Michael was in town. We all need to wrap our heads around what's happening here. I'd love for you to join us."
Serena took a moment to consider their offer. It occurred to Max that they were all new acquaintances for her too. Whatever her backstory might be, she could reasonably be wary of trusting Liz, Max, Michael or Ava.
"Ok, count me in," Serena decided. "You all seem to know more about what I'm investigating and as long as we can exchange information, then I'll tag along. Probably not much more that I can learn from this site anyway."
"Oh, yes," Liz assured her, "we will. I promise." Liz referred to sharing information.
Serena picked up the duffel and gestured toward the hard shell case.
"Max, do you mind?" she asked.
Max nodded to show his understanding as he reached down and grabbed the hard shell case. Max, Liz and Serena took the bags out of the alley and to Serena's van. Michael reached his motorcycle and pulled up in the road near the van so he could follow them back to Ava's.
Serena drove a 2016 Ram ProMaster van with bench seats along the front that could sit three people. Serena drove, Max sat in the traditional passenger seat and Liz sat between them to help give Serena directions back to Ava's.
Serena didn't drive the short distance to Ava's in silence. She seemed intent on understanding who they were and what they knew.
"Tell me," Serena asked once Liz got her on the right road, "what brought you two to El Quartelejo? Was it news of the UFO crash?"
Liz knew Serena first and vouched for her, so Max felt content to let Liz handle most of the talking.
"Oh, no," Liz replied. "We're actually kind of road warriors. We never stay in one place for long."
"That's not the most common lifestyle," Serena observed. "Experience tells me you're either chasing something or running from something." She glanced at Liz, obviously getting to know her already, "And don't tell me it's because you just love to travel."
"We feel like we're better off not staying in any one place too long," Liz said. "Oh, turn right at the next stop sign."
Serena followed her directions and continued, "Who's after you?"
"No one, we hope," Max replied truthfully.
Their last encounter with the government occurred a couple years ago, so Max hoped that no one was hot on their trail. Given how long they'd been in El Quarterlejo without incident, he considered that a realistic possibility.
"Well, I'm going to want to hear about some of these 'unbelievable experiences' you referenced, Liz," Serena said, "and I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you'd heard about that alien signal coming out of Roswell in 2000 before, especially if you're from there."
Max began wondering how much Liz revealed to Serena already.
"It's this house on the corner," Liz pointed out. "You can turn left to pull around to the front." Serena again followed her directions. "And we will get a chance to talk more about this, I promise."
Serena parked and Michael pulled up behind her. Max and Liz led the way up the walk and to the front door with Michael and Serena in tow.
As Max entered the house, he noticed all the moving boxes he saw earlier and then some strewn about near the back of the dining room area. Much of the furniture looked ready for the moving van too. Ava kneeled near just a few open ones and taped one of them closed as they entered the unlocked front door. Max concluded that Ava used her powers to finish packing her house and felt grateful that Serena didn't walk in on her using them or know what little progress there was as of just a couple hours ago.
"Almost all packed up," Max observed.
"Yeah, moving day's gonna be tomorrow," Ava said as she glanced up at them. "Got the movers comin' and… everything."
That's when she noticed Michael. He stepped forward.
"Hi Ava," Michael greeted her cautiously.
Ava looked at him for a moment. Max knew that they didn't interact much before he and Tess left for New York with Lonnie and Rath. He didn't have a precise account for how Michael and Ava got along while he was gone. But he also knew that Rath didn't treat her well. So as odd as it must've felt for Michael to see someone so closely resembling Tess, Max reasoned Ava likely felt just as unsettled seeing Michael because he looked just like Rath.
"Michael," Ava said, "so you're here too. Did Max and Liz call you in?"
"No," Michael replied plainly, "came here on my own."
Ava nodded slowly, pressing her lips together and expressing a "now what?" look. Max sensed the awkward silence building but couldn't think of anything to add. He looked over at Liz, who shot him a "don't look at me" expression.
"Guess we almost got the whole Royal Four gang back together," Ava commented.
Max cringed. It's like Ava didn't notice Serena yet and Max already knew her well enough to know that Serena was definitely the inquisitive type.
"Ok, now I'm also very well-traveled," Serena began, almost before Max could finish his thought. "And I do know about most of the major gangs in this country. And I've never heard of a Royal Four Gang."
"It's just something we made up in Roswell with our friends in high school," Liz explained.
Ava now studied Serena carefully.
"Who are you?" Ava asked bluntly.
"Serena," she replied tersely.
"And where'd you come from?" Ava asked impetuously.
"I invited her," Liz interjected. "She's a friend. I believe we can all help each other."
Ava and Serena both seemed temporarily satisfied with Liz's olive branch, but Max didn't want to the conversation to spiral into a slew of difficult questions.
"Where's Zan?" Max asked.
"He went to go say goodbye to Nicky," Ava started to explain as she turned her attention back to taping the remaining couple boxes. "He's a younger boy Zan mentors. Zan's so quiet and shy but being a mentor is good for 'im."
"Did you say, Nicky?" Liz asked.
"What?" Max whispered to Liz, wondering what about the name "Nicky" could trigger significance to Liz.
"Nothing," Liz whispered back, shaking her head no to signal Max shouldn't make a big deal out of it for now.
Ava tore her tape and secured it along the seam of a box. She looked up at Liz.
"Yeah, Nicky's 14, I think. Zan helps him with his homework. Neither grew up with a dad so they talk about that. The whole mentor thing really brings Zan out of his shell. It's too bad we're leaving, and he won't get to mentor Nicky anymore."
"He's 14…" Liz noted quietly but not directed at anyone in particular.
Ava stopped short of taping up the last box and looked up at Liz. "Somethin' wrong?" Ava asked.
"Maybe…" Liz again appeared to say it to herself. "Ava, have you met Nicky?"
Ava thought about it for a moment.
"Actually, no. Met his mom once, though. She seemed like good people. Why?"
"Liz, what is it?" Max asked.
"I know this may sound paranoid," Liz prefaced, "but is it possible that Nicky is actually…"
"Nicholas?" Max finished with a flare of surprise, as he wouldn't have made that connection.
Ava's face turned white, "I gotta go get him!"
She began running out of the house. Max looked at Michael who looked as flustered as Max felt. When he looked at Liz she mouthed "go."
"I'm coming with you," Max announced as he chased after her.
As the two got outside, Ava ran toward her silver GMC Acadia.
"Maybe I should drive," Max offered. Ava looked skeptical. "I'll drive fast and you can give me directions, but we can't help Zan if you get into an accident."
Ava tossed Max her keys and the two ran over to the SUV. Ava seemed to know where Nicky lived and that that's where she expected them to meet. Both parents could only hope that proved true.
Ava shouted directions as Max drove as fast as he could while maintaining control of the vehicle. Finally they approached the street. Max saw Zan walking toward his friend along the sidewalk. At first they weren't close enough to see the other boy's face, but he had bleached blonde hair and wore blue jeans with a navy t-shirt with red three-quarters length sleeves. Max noted that Nicholas sported brown hair the last time he encountered him. He drove the vehicle past Zan and toward the other boy.
"That's him!" Ava shouted. Max recognized Nicholas now, too.
Max pulled up onto the sidewalk, positioning the SUV between Nicholas and Zan.
Ava, her window now rolled down, leaned out of it, raised her right hand and pushed a bright white ball of energy at Nicholas. The blast was powerful enough to kill a human, but not a Skin. The force of the attack knocked Nicolas off his feet and sent him skidding a couple inches back on the concrete.
"Mom, what are you doing?!" Zan asked, stunned to see his mom attack his friend and use her powers in the middle of the street.
"Zan," Ava commanded, "get in."
"But…"
"I'll explain later, just get in," Ava yelled.
Max threw the car in reverse and stopped when the back right door lined up with Zan's position. Zan opened the door and stepped inside. Ava turned toward the back watching him. Max noticed Nicholas rising to his feet.
"Ava, look," he called her attention to it.
"Drive, Max," Ava shouted.
Max turned around and began heading back from where they came. He glanced in the rear view mirror to see Nicolas fully on his feet and extending his arm, pointing his pointer and middle finger at them.
"Turn," Ava yelled.
Max peeled out a right turn on the street before the one they came in on. Nicholas used his power to launch a mailbox at them that collided with the house on the corner. It would've hit their SUV if they were going any slower.
"Ahhh," Zan screamed.
"It's ok, Zan, we're gettin' away," Ava shouted at him.
Max made the first left turn he could and that took him back to the route they used to get there. Ava sat quietly next to Max biting her nails. Max focused on the road and managed to take them back toward Ava's without needing any directions. He couldn't see Zan on the drive back but worried about what may be going through his son's mind.
When Max parked in front of Ava's house, without a word Ava got out of the car and opened the backseat door. Zan stepped out and Ava put her hands on his upper arms and directed him toward the front door. She would've put her hands on his shoulders, but Zan was taller than his adoptive mother. Max followed them inside.
Once inside Max noticed all the boxes stacked neatly by the front door. He recognized Liz's handiwork as she must've assigned that task to the group to avoid her and Michael needing to try to explain to Serena who Nicholas was and why he posed a threat to Zan.
As they entered, Michael, now with his jacket off and wearing a plain white t-shirt, stepped forward.
"Was it him?" Michael asked Max.
"Yeah," Max confirmed, "we got Zan out of there just in time."
"Just in time for what?" Zan asked. "Why did you do that to Nicky?"
Max and Ava exchanged a look as they both noticed Serena watching them intently, likely trying to make sense of all this drama. This made Max uncomfortable because he still didn't know much about her or what her motivations were.
"We'll talk 'bout this, but not right now," Ava told Zan.
"Zan," Liz glided in to change the subject, "these are our friends Michael and Serena."
Even without his jacket or helmet on, Zan picked up on Michael as the motorcycle rider.
"Is that your bike out front?" he asked Michael.
"Yeah," Michael said, "c'mon back here, I'll show you some cool pictures of other bikes."
Zan joined Michael toward the dining area so the rest of the group could talk about what just unfolded in the living room near the front of the house. Michael gave Max a little nod to show that he would take on the role of cool uncle to prevent someone from talking to his son about his friend Nicky before they were ready to. While Max appreciated the gesture, he found it strange that Michael would rather spend time with Zan than talk about the threat Nicholas posed.
Suddenly, Max felt overcome with a feeling of warmth and love. It distracted him away from the current moment, and a faint smile started to stretch across his face.
"Max, what is it?" Liz asked him privately, a small smile on her lips as well just from sensing Max's joy.
"Just a feeling," Max told her.
Then he brought his focus back to discussing Nicholas.
"Serena, Liz, could you give Ava and I a moment, please?"
"Sure," Serena said, "why not?" She sounded dismayed by the chaos constantly in Max and Liz's wake, often with little explanation about why events that appeared mundane on the surface spurred such urgent and dire reactions.
"It's ok," Liz told her and led her toward the opposite side of the living room. "C'mon, you were just telling us that you tried to investigate the crash site, and I'd like to know how close you were able to get."
Max and Ava remained at the front corner of the living room near where the sleeper sofa and all the boxes were stacked and catty corner to the dining area where Michael sat with Zan showing him pictures on his phone. Max noted that if Serena investigated the UFO crash site, he'd need to be filled in on that later, but his most immediate concern was talking to Ava about his son's friendship with Nicholas.
"How long has Zan been friends with Nicholas?" he demanded.
"Three, almost four months now," Ava replied, "well before the crash. I swear that I had no reason to suspect Nicholas could be in town."
"It's ok," Max said softly. They were keeping their voices down to prevent Serena and Zan from overhearing anything. "I believe you. But we need to talk about how to tell Zan the news. But harder than that… We need to find out if he shared any… compromising information with Nicholas."
"No," Ava objected, "no way. Zan would never tell anyone 'bout my powers or his."
"What if Nicholas showed Zan his powers?" Max asked.
"No," Ava contested, "Zan would've told me about that."
Max pressed on, "Even if Nicholas asked Zan to promise not to tell anyone? Is there a chance he would've kept that secret to learn about Nicholas?"
Ava hesitated. "I don't think so… But… I'll talk to him."
"Or maybe I should," Max offered.
"No," Ava said firmly, just catching herself from speaking louder, "I'm not going to let you interrogate my son."
"It's not like that," Max insisted. He was thinking about reconnecting through the flashes, but he never had the opportunity to explain to Ava about that.
Suddenly, there were three knocks on the front door. It caught everyone's attention, and they all gravitated in a few steps closer to the door. Another set of three knocks. Everyone looked to Ava to answer, and she swallowed hard before moving to the door.
Ava opened the door a sliver.
"Oh my God," a woman's voice said from behind the door.
From Max's vantage point the voice sounded somewhat muffled, but he thought he could place the voice with near certainty. He wanted to see her before letting himself believe it, though.
"No," Ava contested, "it's not what you're thinkin'… I'm Ava."
"Oh, Ava," the voice sounded relieved. "Wow, it's been a long time. I can't believe you're here."
"You're probably here to see Max," Ava said.
Ava opened the door and, as Max anticipated, Isabel stepped inside. Max moved around to the door and gave Isabel a hug.
"You're here," Max said, "I thought I sensed you near, but I couldn't be sure."
Liz came over too and hugged Isabel.
"It's so nice to see you, Liz," Isabel told her.
"You too, it's been so long," Liz said.
"Iz, I want you to meet my son, Zan," Max announced.
Max looked back and Zan stood back a ways with Michael standing over his shoulder.
"Oh wow," Isabel said, "Zan is that really…" She stepped around Max to lay eyes on Zan, but as soon as she saw Zan and Michael her tone changed, "…you?"
"Hey Isabel," Michael greeted her, notably keeping his distance and not approaching her.
"No," Isabel said to herself, "it can't be."
She raised her right hand in their direction.
"Get away from him," Isabel commanded.
Somehow Max sensed she spoke to Michael but couldn't understand the problem.
"Zan, get over here," Ava instructed.
Zan quickly walked forward, and Ava grabbed him and pulled him behind her. Max was now flanked by Isabel on his right and Ava on his left. The three stood between Michael and the trio of Zan, Liz and Serena.
"Isabel, what's wrong?" Max asked.
Isabel declared what Max should've suspected, "That's not Michael."