"I'm glad you could make it, Liz," Amy DeLuca said as Liz stepped into the living room. Maria's mother had arranged herself in the armchair that looked out the bay window, and had a big blue mug balanced on the narrower arm-rest. Kyle sniffed slightly, trying to catch the aroma of tea or herbs, but couldn't pick out any one scent - the DeLuca house was a riot of aromatherapy this morning. "And I'm surprised to see you again, Kyle. Not looking to find Maria here, are you?"
"No, of course not, Ms DeLuca," Kyle said, picking his words carefully, remembering what Liz had said about not wanting to get Amy more worried about her daughter. "I just thought that you might appreciate seeing a familiar face at the moment, after Maria ditched off to go play nature games with Guerin." Liz tried to poke Kyle in the side with her elbow, but they hadn't been standing quite close enough for her to reach, so she turned her head and glared at him. "Don't look at me like that, Liz - she's my friend too, but let's call a spade a spade. She's gone camping for the weekend starting on a Friday morning, and Michael isn't in town either. I don't think it's co-incidence."
"Thank you for not patronizing me, Kyle," Amy drawled. "And why do you think that Maria decided to go 'camping', Liz?"
"I'm not sure," Liz admitted, blushing and sitting down on the brown sofa. Kyle took a seat as well, on the far side of the same piece of furniture, just in case she tried to throw more serious violence his way. "I have to admit, it's very likely that she's with Michael. Maybe I'm even hoping that they're together, that she hasn't taken off by herself."
"Now that's a reaction I hadn't expected from you," Amy admitted. "Do you really think that Michael's able to keep my daughter safe?"
"Yes," Liz replied right away. "I realize that you may be frightened about the way Michael and Maria feel about each other. I'm pretty sure that it frightens both of them too. But no matter whether Michael would rather kiss Maria or pretend that he doesn't care this week, he would never let anything or anybody hurt her, and that is something that she needs in her life right now."
"Okay," Amy said. "Has she called you?"
"Yeah, before breakfast, but we didn't talk for long," Liz said. Kyle tried not to smile, noticing how clever Liz had become about misdirection without having to tell a lie.
"And what about you and Max?" Amy asked.
"Huh? What are you asking me about us?"
"Are you scared of your feelings?" Amy asked. "You don't have to answer for Max if you haven't talked to him about it."
"But I have to give you an answer?" Liz challenged. Amy's shoulders lifted and fell. "Hmm..." Liz considered the question without any resentment on her face. "I'm... not, at least not as much as I used to be last year. Maybe we've gone through so much that it's driven away the fear. Then again - I don't know, maybe it's just become a healthier fear, the kind that's not far away from respect. Does that make any sense?"
"Quite a lot, actually. And what about you, Kyle?" Amy turned to look at him.
"I'm not afraid of Liz and Max," Kyle blurted out, surprised. That set Liz off in giggles.
"Not quite. I was asking about - what's started happening between yourself and Tess."
Tess thought about going into his room to comfort Tess when she'd had the nightmare, and biking out in the desert with her, and what it felt like when she was pressing herself tightly into his arms, their lips locked... "Yes, I love it but there's something wild about Tess. I'm not sure if it really has anything to do with her being..."
"Ahh!" Liz exclaimed, and Kyle just managed to catch himself before saying the forbidden word. Amy was looking back and forth between them now, the edges of her mouth pulled down slightly in a little frown.
"An army brat," Kyle finished after taking a deep breath. "Why didn't you want me to say that, Liz?"
"Oh, sorry, I thought you were going to say something... much ruder and not very sensitive about your girlfriend," Liz rhymed off airily. "And since I'm trying to be good friends with her for Max's sake, I didn't really want you to say it."
"Hey, do I really strike you as the kind of guy to say, umm, that kind of word about any girl?" Kyle said. "Really? I'm offended if you say yes."
"Well, no, not really," Liz admitted. "It just sort of popped into my own head, because... because it's the sort of thing I would have liked to think when we were feuding, over Max." She looked over at Amy, and their eyes locked. "Just what are you thinking about, sitting over there by yourself and not saying much, Miz DeLuca?"
"Well, trying to sort through all of the new things that I'm learning about Tess Harding this morning," Amy said. "And I hope that she wouldn't be upset that we ended up talking about her behind her back. With that in mind, you can refuse to say anything more until she's around, but - Tess' father was in the Army? I don't think that I've heard that before."
"Not really," Liz allowed. "What she told me, at least, is that he was a civilian contractor, but she seems to have had the army brat childhood, moving from base to base to base frequently. I suppose that explains some of the more... flamboyant aspects of her personality. She's used to being the new girl at school, so she's learned to make a splash and get noticed. Usually she attracts the attention of somebody who likes her and wants to be friends - like Isabel."
"Yeah, that fits," Kyle said. "And most of the time she moved on before having to face the consequences of making enemies."
"I see," Amy said. "And does this relate to why you were feuding with her, and taking joy in calling her mean names in your mind, Liz? Tess told me yesterday that she was trying to make Max her boyfriend, until you and Kyle made your Valentine's Day pact."
"Yeah, I guess that's most of it," Liz admitted, with a sigh. "Even when I'd backed off from Max and he wasn't with Tess, I guess I resented her because she'd caused trouble between the two of us. I wanted to give him a chance to really make up his own mind, to be with Tess if he came to feel that was what he really wanted, but... Okay, that's it, I'm not going to bare my heart any more."
There was a long moment of silence. "Oh, look at the time that we've spent gossiping about old heartaches and relationship fears," Kyle muttered. "We're going to be late for first period."
"Oh, I'm really sorry!" Amy exclaimed. "Go, go, go! Will it help if I write a note?"
"That would take too long to explain," Liz said. "Actually, I think we might make the final bell. Come on, Kyle." She nearly pulled him out the door, waving back at Amy with the other hand.
"I know this sounds kind of weird," Liz mumbled as he sped off towards the school, "and I'm not trying to fish for a compliment really, but do you ever think about the time that we were dating?"
"Well, sure, I guess. It was a great time in my life, but - but I knew that day I crept into the UFO center that there would be no going back to those days."
"Really?" Liz laughed. "That - that's the moment that you finally figured it out, really?"
"I guess so - it's the first time I remember saying it to myself." Kyle sighed. "I was talking to myself out loud, actually, about why I was doing so crazy, and asked if I really thought I'd get you back if I saved you from some dangerous situation involving Max and the FBI." He shrugged awkwardly.
"Well... umm, I'm glad that at least we're friends now," Liz said, and gave him a slightly awkward smile.
"I am too. Something tells me that with Tess in my life, I might need all the friends I can get," Kyle said, and Liz giggled.
#
As Max, Isabel, and Tess got out of the Jeep and headed towards the doors of the high school, nobody said anything. Tess tried to think of something non-threatening that she could break the silence, but for many paces she couldn't think of anything.
"What the..." Max breathed in a soft, really annoyed voice, cutting himself off just short of an obvious profanity. Max really wasn't the swearing type, Tess knew. "Somebody in that crowd near the steps really doesn't belong - and he's spotted us. Play it cool."
"Who's spotted us?" Tess muttered. She ran through possibilities with her eyes and her mind at the same time. Bobby Benedict didn't seem to be paying them any attention - it couldn't be Michael, back in town? No, he wouldn't be here, and Max wouldn't have reacted like this to his best friend anyway. Could it be Grant Sorenson, here to cause more trouble?
And then she saw the man in question too, and nearly forgot to put her foot down in the right spot where she could balance on it. "What's Sheriff Hanson doing here?"
"Cool," Isabel repeated icily, and Tess did her best to pretend that she hadn't seen Tim Hanson, since that was what she figured would best fit the bill of 'playing it cool' in this situation. Max and Isabel also affected a similar blind spot, until he was pretty much blocking their way and keeping up the act would be hard to credit. "Oh, hello there Mister Hanson," Isabel said, coming to a sudden stop. "Or should I call you Sherriff, now?"
"Either will do, thanks," Hanson drawled, and actually lifted his cowboy hat for a moment, holding it at an angle above his head and then taking care to set it down straight again. "Mister Evans, Miss Evans, I'm sorry to pull you away from classes like this, but Special Agent Duff would like to speak to you both right away."
"About what?" Max asked.
"Well, I'm not sure, but I imagine that Laurie Dupree will be mentioned."
"Right, I heard about that," Isabel said. "She's disappeared again, right? I've got to say, this time, I have no idea where to."
"Yeah, but we'd better just go along," Max said. "Tess, can you make sure to get my geometry? And let Alex know to look for me in second period."
Tess considered for a moment. It had become routine for her to look at anything that Max or one of her friends said in front of somebody who didn't know the whole truth about them, to examine each phrase for double meanings. The only possible secret she could find this time was 'Don't bother trying to come with us.' So she wouldn't.
"Yeah, we'll take care of you, Max. Go do what you gotta do."
"Thanks," he muttered, and Max and Isabel followed Hanson to the sheriff's squad car parked in the nearest corner of the faculty lot.
#
"Alex! There you are!" Tess exclaimed, seeing him across the hallway. "Max is in your second period history class, right?" She waved at the door next to her.
"Yeah, why?"
"I'm not sure if he'll make it partway through, or not. Hanson took him, and Isabel, to talk with Agent Duff before the bell rang."
"Oh." Alex thought about that. "And he wanted you to tell me that?"
"Yeah, he was pretending that he wanted homework for his classes - at least, I think that was pretending. I got the geometry notes, just in case."
"I got it. Isabel didn't ask about homework?"
"No - but she has her senior AP classes all morning, and none of us share a class with her."
"Did you spread the word?"
"I haven't seen anybody else but you - and I guess with Michael and Maria off on the road, it's just Liz and Kyle left."
"I'll let Liz know after second," Alex said. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," she told him, and rushed off towards the girl's changing rooms for Phys Ed.
#
Kyle didn't spot Tess in the halls until after third period, and he smiled, remembering that they both had fourth period lunch this term. "Hey, you're hanging in okay?" he asked in a quiet whisper as he drew close to her, matching step.
"I'm a little shaky," Tess admitted. "Hanson took Max and Isabel to meet with Agent Duff. What about you and Liz with Maria's mom, how did that go?"
"Umm... well enough. She ended up asking questions about you, and how you came to town. I let Liz take the lead with the explanations, and I don't think Amy suspects anything really; she was just curious, and trying to distract herself from worrying about Maria." Kyle took a deep breath. "Hey, how about you and I go off-campus to eat? We could grab some slices at Hot Tony's, I know you like it there. They even have Tabasco available for sprinkling."
Tess looked up at him. "Thanks for the offer. But, I feel like I should stay around school, until I know how Max and Isabel are doing."
"Are you sure?" Kyle pressed. "If they're back by now, they won't be on lunch break yet."
"Well, no, they won't," Tess admitted. "But they might look for me in the cafeteria on the way back, or somebody might relay a message. I just... I just don't want to be harder to reach right now, okay?"
"Sure." Kyle leaned down enough to kiss Tess on the cheek. "Mystery meat, here we come."
"Actually, I think that they have chicken strips on Fridays, though they're not the standard for fine dining." Tess wrapped an arm tightly around Kyle's waist. "I'll figure out some way of expressing my gratitude to you for enduring cafeteria food to be with me."
#
Liz passed Tess a note in English Lit, fifth period, which read: 'Max and Isabel got to school late, but everything's okay. Meet you at the parking lot gate, 3:30?' She tried to be reassured by that, and focus on her classes until the end of the school day.
She looked around for Kyle in the hallways before going outside after her last class, but there was no sign of him, and as she approached the parking lot, she found out that he was already there, talking with Alex, as Isabel stood frostily watching. Didn't it just figure that Max and Liz would be late - probably they were off in the Eraser Room or something like that.
So she went up to Isabel. "What did Agent Duff want?"
"Oh, she asked me a lot more questions about the time we found Laurie out in the woods, and when she ran away from the hospital to go to Valenti's place, that sort of thing. I think she was just fishing, trying to figure out if either of us had anything to do with this latest disappearing act. I'm just glad that I turned my phone off on the way to the Sheriff's station - Michael tried to call me, and it would have been awkward if the phone rang while I was with Duff."
Tess chuckled, even though none of this was really funny. "What did Michael have to say? Did he leave a message?"
"Let's see... they went to this crappy diner way out in the middle of nowhere, Laurie tried to run away from them there, and she's still not saying much." Isabel sighed.
"Great. So we haven't learned anything new today?"
"Well, maybe you should wait on that conclusion until Max and Liz get here."
"Yeah, that could take all afternoon."
"Or not." Isabel pointed off toward the far end, and Tess turned to look. Yes, there were young Mister Evans and Miss Parker, coming towards them at a brisk promenade, holding hands and smiling. Tess stepped closer to Kyle before even realizing that was where she wanted to be.
"Isabel says that you've both got something to tell us," Alex said as Max and Liz got within easy earshot. "Who first - Max?"
"Okay, I'll take my turn, and save the best for last. I've spotted Grant Sorenson again." Tess and Kyle groaned nearly in unison, and Isabel let out a sigh. "He came in to talk to Hanson while Isabel was with Agent Duff. Brought a gun, a big rifle that he said he'd found out in Frazier woods, near where Laurie was buried."
"Like the gun that the abductor shot at you with?" Tess asked, and Max did something that was halfway between nodding and shrugging. "But - but somebody shot at Laurie when they were taking her out of town, and we were thinking that was the same person. The site of that shooting wasn't near the woods, was it?"
"It wasn't in the news reports," Kyle muttered.
"No, and I don't think that Maria said where," Liz said. "We can ask."
"But somebody said that they were taking Laurie back to Texas," Alex pointed out. "And Frazier Woods is on the wrong side of town for that."
"Yeah, it doesn't add up to anything yet," Max agreed. "Maybe we'll be able to get somewhere, though." There was an awkward silence. "Okay, sweetie, your turn," he continued, nodding at Liz.
"Okay, at lunch, I started thinking about a few things. Those cells from the crystals that I was looking at under the microscope - they look a bit like parasites in the biology books, which infect a South Atlantic fish. But these crystals haven't tried to infect humans that have handled them - and though one of them reacted to Max that one time, he doesn't seem to be any the worse for it. So - what life-forms and environments do the crystals react to?"
"Laurie, and/or Frazier woods," Tess suggested.
"Right," Liz said, nodding enthusiastically. "Michael and Maria are with Laurie, and trying to find out more about her, though it sounds like they haven't had much luck yet. Michael and Isabel found out a few things about her in Texas. So how can we find out more about Frazier woods?" There was a pause. "We have somebody here in Roswell who seems to be an expert on them."
"Wait a second, no way," Isabel complained. "You can't ask me to go and charm Grant Sorenson again - not after I sent Valenti after him." Liz shrugged, and looked around at the rest of them.
"You don't want either of us talking to Mister Sorenson either, I think," Tess muttered, taking Kyle's hand in her hand to make quite clear who she meant by 'us'.
"Maybe that should be you, Liz," Alex suggested. "He'd know that Max is Isabel's brother, and... well, I think that he might remember me too."
"How?" Isabel asked. "He wasn't still at my birthday party when you... gave me your present, Alex." She blushed slightly at the memory, and Alex shook his head.
"Not that. Last fall before I left for Sweden - well, I tracked him down and got some stuff off my chest, which really wasn't his fault - because you were ducking me that week."
"Oh, okay." Isabel smiled slightly to herself with this revelation.
"Don't look so smug about it," Alex warned. "I'm not still that pathetic shell of a boy anymore; it's a new year and I'm a new man."
"Moving onward and back on the track," Max said. "Liz, are you up for trying to ask Grant some questions about Frazier woods?"
"Sure, I guess," Liz said. "I might have the opposite problem from the rest of you guys, that he wouldn't recognize me enough. I think I met him once, back when I was working for Whittaker, because she asked him to her office to talk about those bones, so I got him coffee. But..." She shrugged.
"Just do what you can," Kyle suggested. "Working up a subtle angle may be wasted effort, you could just say that you're interested in geology as a career path and have a few questions for him."
"Okay, yeah." Liz smiled at him.
"So, is there anything else we can do to figure out more about the situation?" Alex asked. "Grant Sorenson seems like a pretty slim source to be relying on."
"Well, we can add slimmer to slim," Isabel said, shaking her head. "Max, I know that you didn't want to try talking to Brody about this kind of thing before, but..."
"You mean talking to Larek," Max said, his mouth deepening into a scowl.
"Wait a second, who's Larek?" Kyle asked, seeing that Tess, Liz, and Alex were all reacting to the name. "Did I hear about this part?"
"Not yet I think, sweetie," Tess said. "It happened last fall. But listen, we probably shouldn't stand around here talking any more. We can go somewhere else."
"Okay, but does anybody have an idea where I'll be able to find our friendly neighbourhood geologist on a Friday evening?" Liz asked.
"That'd be me," Isabel said, actually waving.
"You just want to get out of having to defend your point of view in the Larek discussion," Max complained.
"Hey, if you speak your piece first, then I'm actually at a disadvantage," Isabel replied. "I'll face the music when I can, I promise." She turned to Liz. "If Max lends me the keys, I can drive you over to my place, and we'll plan strategy. Is that okay?"
"Sure," Liz said. "See you soon, sweetie." She gave Max a tender kiss. "And cough them up." Regretfully, Max produced a key ring and handed it to Liz, who passed the keys along to Isabel.
"So, how about you boys come with me, we can chat comfortably around the Sheriff's table," Tess suggested.
"Are there enough chairs for all of us?" Alex asked with a smile.
"Yeah, for a little while now," Kyle said, and smiled over towards Tess.
#
"Okay, so, Larek," Tess said, once they were all arranged with choice snack food and beverages. "When Max and I were in New York, we saw Brody Davis, the owner of the UFO center here in Roswell, but he didn't act like Brody, or recognize the name. He called himself Larek, instead, and negotiated at the Summit on behalf of an alien planet."
"Oh, right, you did tell me a little about that," Kyle reminded her. "That there were people who were 'abductees', with aliens joy-riding in their bodies for a little while. Larek was one of the joy-riders?"
"It seems so," Max agreed.
"Maria spotted Brody here in Roswell, about half a day before the Summit started," Alex pointed out. "She said that he didn't seem to recognize her or his name either, just kept on walking as if she weren't calling out to him. We think that was just after Larek arrived on Earth - he was still orienting, but knew that he had to get from Roswell to New York as quickly as he could."
"And at the Summit - well, Larek was the friendliest of the planetary leaders, by a long way," Max said. "He said that he'd been childhood friends with King Zan... you know who Zan was, right Kyle?"
"Yeah, the royal alien whose soul you supposedly inherited," Kyle said, nodding. "Tess filled me in on that part of the back-story, at length."
"I can imagine," Max muttered.
"Wait a second, am I missing something?" Alex asked. "Why did you tell him so much of that, Tess?"
"Well, because I was living with Kyle, and upset about the fact that Max wasn't getting with the destiny program, as I saw it," Tess said. "So I wanted to be able to complain and rant about it, and it wasn't as satisfying if Kyle didn't understand what I was ranting about, so I made sure that he could follow the reasons that I thought Max and I were supposed to end up together - whether he wanted to know or not."
"Okay, I got it," Alex said, and took a sip of his Diet Sprite.
"So, now, my big question," Kyle said. "Why are you and Isabel acting as if Larek is an available resource at this point, Max? I mean, he might be a friendly alien, but the way I understand this abduction thing, it's entirely under Larek's control. He can drop by Roswell any time he pleases and abduct Brody's body, but you can't just send him a Bat-signal and let him know that he's needed, right?"
"Well, that's the nub of the disagreement," Max said. "After I told Isabel about what Tess and I had seen in New York, she was very interested in the abduction stuff, and started working on the idea over the holidays. She even tried to backseat drive in Tess' body once, apparently, but that didn't work out too well, and none of us want to try that again until we can find somebody who knows how to explain how to do it."
"I didn't get my vote on that, but I'd definitely agree with the consensus," Alex said.
"But there's another idea that Isabel had," Max continued. "She's convinced that for the whole thing to work, Larek must have left some of his memories and other mental faculties in Brody Davis' subconscious, and maybe what she calls a low-level interstellar psychic link between the two of them."
"Oh, I think I get it now," Kyle said. "Isabel can work with subconscious minds. She's peeked into my dreams, and Liz's, and she's gotten inside your brain, Max, even when you weren't sleeping, right?" Max nodded uncomfortably. "So if she dream-walks Brody, she could maybe activate Larek's link, and abduct Larek, bringing him here to Earth, even if he doesn't want to come. But none of us want to do that unless it's a serious emergency, because Larek will probably be pissed."
"Yeah, that's about it," Max said. "After we found out that Michael and Maria left town, Isabel tried dream-walking Brody last night. She could get into his dreams, and said that she saw alien memories in them, but couldn't get through to the link, or find out just how many alien memories Brody has access to. This morning, she says that she's convinced she could do more if she was touching Brody, and he was relaxed, with his natural defences down."
"That sounds like a tall order," Tess said. "Brody's kind of a naturally defensive guy."
"I don't know, I can think of something that might be worth a try," Alex said. "That is, if we believe Isabel when she says that she can do this, and that it's worth trying."
Max blinked, and turned to Tess and Kyle. "Do you guys believe?"
Kyle shrugged. "I'd like to hear her side of this, but I'm not dismissing the idea out of hand. I've seen too much crazy alien stuff actually happen."
"Yeah," Tess agreed. "I've wanted Isabel to open up her own defences and push the boundaries of what she thought she was capable of. This is - well, it's certainly an interesting idea, though I didn't think it would be possible when I met Larek and the other Summit delegates."
"Okay." Max sighed. "Well, I think that we've exhausted the topic at hand. Is there any other club business to bring up at this time?"
About half a dozen glances were exchanged. "No, I think not," Alex drawled.
"I hope not," Tess added. "Max, there's nothing that you need me or Kyle for tonight, is there?"
Max smiled. "No, but stay near a cell phone, just in case?"
"Can do." She looked over at Kyle. "Do you have any ideas?"
Kyle thought about that. "How about a quiet night in, watching a movie or something?" Something nagged at him about that idea, and he looked around. "Okay, why isn't my dad home now?"
Tess thought about that one. "Did he mention anything to you about how his job interview went at that chemicals place?"
"No, actually, he didn't. When we talked with him last night, he was worried about Michael and Maria, so I didn't even think to ask. Dammit."
"We should give him a call," Alex said. "Kyle, what's his cell number?"
"Uh - dammit, again," Kyle mumbled.
"I've got it," Max said, pulling out his own cell phone. Kyle glared at him. "Well, I do, and I realize you're not happy about why, but I'm calling." As Max hit the button to dial out of his directory, Kyle held out his hand for the phone, and Max passed it over without hesitation.
It was a little while before Kyle talked into the phone, and when he did, the words came in a rush. "Hi, Dad, it's Kyle calling from Max's phone, long story. Just wondered what's up with you, and if you got the Metachem job. Call any number you think will get through to me." He hung up Max's phone and handed it back.
"Okay, now I'm officially worried," Tess said. "Where else can we look for him?"
