Max wore a smile on his face as he stepped out of Kyle's old bedroom, which Jim Valenti converted into a big game trophy room. While Max didn't understand the appeal of hunting and never wanted to partake, it pleased him to see Valenti's enthusiasm for something common and ordinary. No alien conspiracies or battle of wits with secret government agents.
After Max saved Kyle's life from Valenti's own stray bullet intended for Agent Pierce of the Special Unit, Valenti became a valuable and trusted ally to Max and the other hybrids. For this, Max felt forever grateful. But it cost the man a lot, something which Max, as the king, carried as a personal burden. State police investigators originally became concerned over Valenti's concerns about Max as a consequence of saving Liz's life at the Crashdown Café. Once Valenti began actively helping the hybrids by covering their tracks or giving them special access to investigations, the suspicions intensified. Everything came to a head when Isabel began dreaming of Laurie Dupree's violent kidnapping. Even though Valenti safely recovered Laurie, he failed to cover up Max and Isabel's involvement resulting in Valenti's suspension and eventual firing.
If anyone deserved a happy, alien-drama-free life, Max thought the universe owed Valenti more than anyone else. When the gang decided to leave Roswell, Max hoped all of the loved ones they left behind could blissfully live without constantly looking over their shoulder or stressing about what alien dangers Max, Isabel and Michael attracted. It seemed to work out that way for Valenti.
After years of living without Zan in his life, Max also knew Valenti must struggle with Kyle gone. It's something Max wouldn't understand if he weren't a parent himself. Even so, Max got the impression that Valenti made the most of his life in Roswell after they left, and Max liked the idea that the personal sacrifices he made in staying on the road all these years yielded something positive for someone he cared about.
As he came out into the living room, Liz brushed by Max and made her way toward Maria, who washed dishes in the kitchen. Only Maria and Isabel decided not to check out Valenti's trophy room. Max watched Liz, again happy to see her reunited with her best friend. At times over the past four years, Max sensed a void for Liz caused by Maria's absence. He always tried to support Liz as best as he could, but in some situations he knew he simply couldn't fill Maria's shoes.
Max didn't see Isabel anywhere. Once he started thinking about his sister, he somehow sensed she was no longer in Valenti's house. Max didn't really understand the psychic bond that formed between them, but he knew he could trust it. He made his way over toward Maria and Liz in the kitchen.
"Where's Iz?" Max asked Maria.
"Oh, she stepped outside to have some alone time with her hubby," Maria replied casually.
"Jesse's here?" Max asked.
At some point, the dialog caught Michael's attention, and Max realized his second in command stood right beside him.
"Did you tell Jesse to come to Roswell, too?" Michael asked Maria.
"Huh… Oh, uh, no. I haven't talked to him," Maria replied, not expecting anyone to question it. "Why? Is there something wrong?"
"How would Jesse know to find us in Roswell—especially since that's the one place we've always said we'd never come back to?" Michael asked to one in particular.
"Could Isabel have called him?" Liz asked.
Max recognized Liz trying to keep everyone grounded and level-headed. The development clearly alarmed Michael, and Max knew Liz could read his own concern despite his quiet, subtle mannerisms. He appreciated his wife's efforts not to jump to conclusions. None of this felt right to Max, though. Like Michael, he started to fear the worst.
"No," Max answered after a pause, "I don't think so. All she's said about Jesse this whole time is how she wants to keep him far away from all of this."
"I reached out to Maria but didn't exactly invite her," Michael noted and made eye contact with Maria. "In fact, I didn't even tell you we were coming back to Roswell, you figured that out."
"I don't even think Isabel would've wanted to contact Jesse," Max speculated, "at least not yet. I could sense that she was hoping we would find a way out of returning to Antar. I don't think she'd contact Jesse unless she was sure we really had to leave."
"Then, we know what that means…" Ava prompted, as the rest of the group circled together in Valenti's kitchen.
"A shapeshifter, right?" Serena said, finishing Ava's thought.
"Ohhhh, I didn't even think of anything like that," Maria whined, becoming agitated over the guilt of watching the Jesse imposter casually take Isabel away. "She just seemed sooo happy to see him, and they were having this sweet moment and…"
"Maria, Maria," Liz stepped in to calm her friend, "don't be too hard on yourself. They're trying to fool us, and nobody expects you to re-acclimate to all of this chaos on the first night."
Liz hugged Maria. Max struggled to let the reality of what happened settle in. They just got the whole group back together, and the last thing he wanted now was another prolonged absence and lengthy rescue. Max thought they lucked out with Kyle's near perfect timing leading to a fairly quick recovery of Liz. Zan stayed on Kivar's ship longer, and they learned that Kivar nearly killed him.
"Is it weird that one of Kivar's shapeshifters would come just to take Isabel and not try any kind of attack?" Zan asked.
The question spurred Max to quickly move past the shock of Isabel's capture and consider motive. Zan didn't know as much of their history, especially given that Ava seemed to shelter him from her past life and his alien heritage. It suddenly became clear to Max exactly what happened. Michael verbalized it first.
"Not if it was Kivar himself," Michael said.
"Guess you were right about him not being aboard his ship when we went to get Zan out," Ava pieced together.
"Damn it!" Max yelled while pounded his fist on the kitchen counter. "We can't just continue having someone get captured by our enemies."
Liz glided from Maria to Max and positioned herself at his side. She placed a consoling hand on Max's shoulder.
"It won't help Isabel to get frustrated," Liz pointed out, speaking softly to Max. "This must've just happened. They shouldn't have gotten far."
Liz looked back at Maria to back her up, who added, "They walked outside just a few minutes ago, definitely less than five minutes."
Max made eye contact with Liz, who looked sympathetic to Max's frustration but also hopeful. Max smiled slightly and then turned to address the full group.
"Liz is right," Max said. "Michael, Ava, let's go. The rest of you: stay here. Don't trust anyone unless we all come back as a group."
"Max, I may be able to help," Valenti started, but Max cut him off.
"You've helped a lot already," Max assured him, "but right now I need you to stay and keep Liz, Maria, Serena and Zan safe."
"I understand, but if I could just tell you…" Valenti tried to add something, but Max felt too pressed to storm after his sister and didn't let him finish.
"Sheriff, please," Max pleaded with him.
"All right," Valenti conceded with a nod to assure Max he would do everything in his power to keep the rest of the group safe.
Max, Michael and Ava rushed for the door and out to the street. Max stopped right in the middle of the road. They needed to pick a direction.
"Does this new psychic bond allow you to track her?" Michael asked Max.
"It doesn't work quite like that," Max explained, "but I am sensing… something. This way."
Max headed left and motioned for Michael and Ava to follow. He knew a small neighborhood park was nearby and something in his gut told him to start there. He couldn't tell whether Isabel sent him that suggestion or if Max could really learn to track Isabel whenever he wanted to. Neither of them fully learned to hone their psychic connection.
Max, Michael and Ava sprinted toward the park. Max wondered how long Kivar would wait to reveal his true identity after isolating Isabel from the rest of them. He wished he knew whether Kivar intended to trick Isabel into sharing the Granolith's location with "Jesse," or if he intended to negotiate a trade of Isabel's safe return in exchange for the Granolith, as he planned to do with Zan. Whether Kivar maintained his Jesse disguise may depend on which tactic he chose. Max thought about how if Kivar's deception remained intact, then he could cleverly maneuver between them, reveal the truth to Isabel, and then the full Royal Four unit could take on Kivar together.
At the moment, Max couldn't sense anything from Isabel. That worried him because their psychic connection previously worked even from opposite ends of the country. Max immediately grew concerned when they realized Kivar lured Isabel from Valenti's house disguised as Jesse. Their connection helped him get a bearing on which direction she headed. Outside of that, Max couldn't tell if some of the concern he felt came from Isabel—a sign she already found out about Kivar—or if all of it came from within Max himself. He wondered if Kivar could use his powers to disrupt his psychic link to his sister somehow. However, Max feared it meant Isabel was unconscious or worse.
As they arrived at the park, Max quickly spotted a body lying on one of the park benches. A shadowy figure stood over the bench, mostly silhouetted by a nearby streetlight. Max's gut assured him that they found them.
"There," Max said to Michael and Ava as the three of them swerved toward the bench.
"Hey," Michael called out, moving his hand up.
Max and Ava did the same as they reached the bench.
"Get away from her," Max shouted.
Kivar hopped over to the left. The move positioned him at the end of the bench opposite of where Isabel lied. Max could see clearly now that he still looked like Jesse.
Michael fired an explosively blast in Kivar's direction. Kivar dropped to the ground and rolled out wide of the bench. Max didn't know if an individual blast like that could hurt Kivar, but their approach seemed to catch him off guard. Max figured Kivar dodged out of instinct, regardless of how much damage Michael's attack could do.
"Let's attack together," Max commanded.
Max reached out and put up his green defensive shield. He could see Kivar rising to his feet through the green barrier. Michael and Ava immediately stacked their hands on top of Max's. The three of them concentrated. Max's shield quickly consolidated into a purple sphere, and they fired it off at Kivar.
Max could feel that they didn't generate as much power as when Isabel joined the move, but he expected it would connect with Kivar. Max intended to bolt toward Isabel the moment their attack landed to put themselves between Kivar and Isabel. He hoped she could wake up and help them ward him off.
To Max's surprise, Kivar managed to flip up his hand and erect a bright amber shield just in time. Kivar's shield absorbed their purple sphere. The attack dissipated Kivar's shield on contact, but Kivar came out unscathed and flashed a treacherous smile at them.
"What's wrong, Zan?" Kivar asked angrily, still in the form of Jesse. "Oh, did you think were the only one that could put up a simple shield?"
Max braced himself to put his own shield back up, expecting Kivar to mount an offensive move of his own. He didn't dare try to run toward Isabel, as that would make it difficult to pivot to a defensive position. Max expected Kivar would either fire an energy blast at them or charge them on foot.
Before the showdown could continue, a thick fog came out of nowhere, quickly sweeping through the entire park. Kivar vanished within it. It looked like it came from behind them, so Max didn't believe Kivar generated it.
"Max, come to Isabel," Liz called out.
Max hesitated only slightly. What was Liz doing here? Was it really her? Could Kivar have brought another shapeshifter in toe? All Max knew for sure is that Kivar probably wouldn't just stand there. Max knew the exact position of the bench relative to where he stood with Michael and Ava even though they could no longer see it.
"C'mon," Max said to Michael and Ava and they ran toward bench.
As they got closer, Max could see Liz didn't come alone. Valenti and Maria stood near Isabel too. This made him feel better that it was really them and not more shapeshifting tricks. How they got there so quickly and where the fog came from remained a mystery.
"Hurry," Valenti instructed, "we have to all be connected like a chain for this to work."
Valenti crouched in the middle and it looked like he placed a hand under the unconscious Isabel. Max saw Maria standing to the right of Valenti with a hand on his shoulder. Liz stood on the other side, Valenti and Liz each put their hands on the others shoulder. Max ran beside Liz and held her hand. Michael stood next to Max and Max put his hand on Michael's shoulder. Ava ran over next to Maria and Maria reached out and grabbed Ava's wrist.
"That's everyone," Liz informed Valenti.
In the blink of an eye, Max and the whole group materialized back in Valenti's living room. Serena and Zan were there too. Kivar didn't get to them and thankfully didn't join them. Isabel remained unconscious and Valenti gently set her down on the floor.
Max noticed Michael and Ava looking around with similar looks to the disorientation that he felt, while Liz, Maria, Valenti, Serena and Zan seemed less stunned.
"What the hell just happened?" Michael asked.
"Can someone explain this?" Max followed up.
Max made eye contact with Liz. She took a deep breath and stepped forward toward the three hybrids.
"I can give it a shot," Liz offered, though she sounded a little unsure of herself.