But Kyle's breath felt warm like Jesse's, and his lips as soft…

She shook her head almost imperceptibly refocusing her attention on her task. Kyle's follicles were stimulated, and the mustache and goatee suddenly grew quite full under her touch. She concentrated a bit harder, and the pigment in the facial hair itself changed to a light blond. The hair felt soft under her fingers, and she had to admit that it did look flattering on Kyle's angular face, Maria's snarky comment notwithstanding. "All done," she said, moving her hands away.

Kyle touched her hands momentarily. "Thanks," he said quietly.

As Kyle and Max went to retrieve the money from Michael, Isabel noticed that Liz was staring at her rather intently. Isabel turned and walked away, toward a small grassy hillock under some trees.

She sat down and stretched her legs out, rolling her shoulders to work out the tension. Even though it had been hours since the ordeal at the mall, Isabel still didn't feel quite right.

"Hey," Liz called from nearby. She had approached so quietly that Isabel hadn't noticed.

"Hey," Isabel returned the greeting.

Liz sat down next to her, and smoothed her long, brown hair out of her eyes with one hand. "Are you okay? “

"Physically, mentally, or emotionally?" Isabel asked.

Liz grinned ever so slightly. "D. All of the above. “

"I'm still a bit sore and disconnected, and drained from using my powers for so long," Isabel said. She knew that wasn't the core of Liz's question, though.

She had never felt especially close to Liz, but over the past few months, that had begun to change. Even though Liz was one of the youngest of their group, she had taken on a more mature, almost mothering role. Isabel had seen it before in Liz's behavior with Max and Maria, and to an extent with Kyle and Michael. But it had taken a while for Isabel to warm up to Liz's emotional support.

"Mentally, I'm tired. Really dog tired." She smiled and added, "I've got less energy in my head now than Juliette Lewis uses on film. “

Liz giggled. "That's tired. “

"And emotionally… I miss Jesse. I miss having someone to snuggle with, someone to hold me, someone who tells me I'm beautiful, someone who will eat my pathetic attempts at breakfast and still smile. “

Isabel looked off into the gathering darkness, then continued. "You and Max have each other, Michael and Maria have each other, but Kyle and I don't have anyone. It's gotta be weird for him, traveling with his ex- girlfriend all the time. And I know he's got some feelings for me, too. “

Liz nodded slowly, but didn't say anything.

"And look at my life. I never let anyone in Roswell get close to me in high school until it was too late. I dated Grant Sorenson, and he turned out to be a Gandarium-possessed killer. I didn't take Alex seriously until…" Isabel's voice trailed off.

She looked away, focusing on something to the side, not wanting Liz to see the tears welling up in her eyes. "You know, everything about my past on Antar says that I'm some spoiled princess who slept around on her lover and brought down the Royal Family And according to my genetic template, I should be dating Michael. He was Rath in our previous lives. “

Liz snorted. "Yeah, well, Max and Tess were 'fated to be together' too, and we've all seen how well that turned out." Isabel heard the anger in Liz's voice; she herself hated Tess as well… for killing Alex… but she knew that her own wounds didn't run nearly as deep as Liz's.

Isabel decided to redirect the conversation. "When I met Jesse, we seemed to be so right together. But I spent so much time hiding who I really was from him… “

She put her hand up to wipe a tear from her cheek. "Max thinks that Jesse isn't 'the One.' That I was settling. That in my desire to live a normal life with a normal future, I settled for Jesse. But look at what he did for me when he found out the truth. He killed that FBI agent to protect me.

"When we left Roswell, I knew beyond a doubt that he loved me, and that I loved him," Isabel continued. "But what good is that now? I can't see him or touch him. I can't tell him what I'm feeling or ask what he's feeling. I can't even call him. “

"Can't you dreamwalk him?" Liz asked.

Isabel shuddered, but tried not to let the feelings show on her face. "The last time I dreamwalked him, things didn't… go well." That was an understatement. Isabel had seen Jesse preparing divorce papers on her, to nullify their short marriage. She still didn't know if it was his real plan, or a figment of his dreaming mind.

"So call him," Liz said simply.

Isabel looked confused. "Um, hello, not supposed to have contact. “

"Screw it," Liz said, her tone conspiratorial. "It's not like the MiBs don't know we're in Cheyenne anyhow. We're on the news\ Jesse may even have heard something. Maybe he can help us legally somehow. I don't know." Liz put her hand on top of Isabel's. "But I do know that you need to talk to your husband. “

Isabel sighed, then looked back toward the Microbus. "I just don't know…" She trailed off.

"Wait until Max and Kyle go for food," Liz said. "There's a phone booth a few blocks from here. I'll walk down there with you. It'll give Michael and Maria some 'alone time' together. You can call Jesse from there, and it will be our secret. “

Isabel swallowed hard and squeezed Liz's hand. "Thank you, Liz. “

Boston, Massachusetts Jesse Ramirez was dozing in an easy chair in front of the television when the phone rang. Startled, he sat up quickly, knocking the TV remote onto the floor. "Hello?" he said as he picked up the receiver.

"Hi. I need to talk to my attorney," the voice on the line said.

Jesse recognized it immediately. Isabel! His mind raced, and he stood up. "Can you call me right back, or are you on your one phone call? “

He heard confusion in her tone. "I can call back, Jesse, but… “

He interrupted her. "Call 617-555-3488. You got that? 617-555-3488. “

As soon as he heard her say "Yes," he hung up. Moments later, he was sprinting to the bedroom. He opened a box on a bedside table and grabbed a cell phone. Switching it on, he was gratified to see that it was still charged. A moment later, it vibrated in his hand, announcing an incoming call.

"Hello, thanks for calling me back," he said. Before Isabel could reply, he added, "Please hold while I get some paper for taking notes. “

Slipping his shoes back on, he exited the house and made his way out of the building and onto the street. He scanned the nearby cars, but didn't see anyone sitting in them.

"Isabel?" he asked, putting the phone back up to his ear.

"Yeah, it's me. What's all this about?" He heard the concern in her voice.

"Just precautions," Jesse said, still looking around the area. "I don't know whether they've still got my place under surveillance, or if they have a way to track my phone calls, but I don't want to risk it. This is a cell phone I got from a client, so the number's not registered to me. “

"Hey, you're pretty good at covering your tracks," Isabel said. A beat passed, then she added, "It's great to hear your voice. “

Jesse sat down on the front steps of a nearby apartment building. "You too, baby. It's been way too long. How are you? “

"I'm fine. We're all fine. Well, mostly fine. We had a bit of a run-in today with the police and some government guys. “

Jesse was shocked. "You're in Cheyenne? “

"Oh, no. It's on the news there, too?" Isabel sounded sick.

"Yeah, but they didn't release anyone's names or pictures," Jesse said quickly, hoping to reassure her. "I saw a quick blurb about it on one of the cable news channels. I heard the FBI is saying the incident's still being investigated as a possible terrorist action. “

"They cornered us in a mall somehow. I don't know how they found us. “


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