And as far as Maria could tell, Kyle wasn't in much better shape. «What happened?» she asked anyone who might answer. Jesse blinked as though he'd been suddenly jolted awake from a strange dream. «I'm… I'm not sure. Isabel and Kyle started concentrating on the orbs and then it was like some sort of psychic feedback went off inside their heads.» Isabel was stirring, and Maria decided she didn't look so bad after all. But Kyle was ashen-faced. She knelt beside him, noticing that he seemed almost comatose. I overheard Liz thinking about the price ojmass-mindwarping the Special Unit just before she and the rest of the Scooby Gang lit the brain bomb's fuse, Maria thought. She was near panic now, but she also felt desperate to make herself useful in any way she could. I hope to heck this wasn't what Liz meant when she was thinking about «sacrifices.» She rummaged around through her duffel until her fingers found the stock of the pistol she had taken off of one of the MiBs they'd eluded back in Wyoming. Isabel now seemed to be fully awake. «Maria, what are you doing?» Maria shrugged. «I have absolutely no idea. But I can't just sit here.» «I think we ought to sit tight until we know exactly what's going on in there," Jesse said. «That sounds like a good, old-fashioned bad idea," Maria said, hefting the weapon. «For all any of us know, the MiBs are this minute getting ready to slice Michael up like a Christmas ham.» «If anybody goes in there to look around," Isabel said, holding up her hand, «it should be somebody with alien powers.» Jesse scowled. «If you think I'm gonna let you march right into the place where Liz saw you being vivisected, you're crazy.» «That wasn't me, Jesse. Remember?» «Right. And I intend to make sure it stays that way, thank you very much.» Married people, Maria thought, shaking her head as she checked the bullets in her gun. «Talk amongst yourselves, lovebirds," she said aloud. «I'm going in.» It's high time I got to do something around here. Maria leaped out of the van, ignoring Jesse and Isabel as they followed her, protesting. She began striding briskly toward the neglected-looking building as the sun painted the horizon in lapis and gold. She squinted into the waxing light, then paused in her tracks when her eye noticed some motion near the building. Isabel and Jesse had caught up with her. Isabel pointed, evidently having glimpsed the movement as well. «Somebody's coming out.» Maria strained to see who was approaching, keeping the gun at the ready just in case. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea whether she could hit anything at this range. At least it's bound to work better than trying to ElKabong the bad guys over the head with my guitar. One of the approaching figures waved, and a few seconds later Maria could see that this was Liz. The closing distance and the morning light revealed Max walking beside her, followed by Langley, whose forehead gleamed with sweat. Two men and two women, all dressed in rumpled civilian clothes, followed Langley. Max and Isabel's parents! Maria realized, happily surprised. And the Parkers! They looked so drawn and haggard from their ordeal that Maria wasn't surprised it had taken her a few moments to recognize them. Thank the gods of Little Green Men that Valenti saved my mom from whatever hell they went through. Behind the four parents walked a slight, narrowshouldered girl dressed in tattered neopunk clothing. She preceded a pair of black-clad people Valenti and Duff, Maria figured who were carrying a limp figure between them. «Michael!» Maria said, her heart skipping a beat. A seeming eternity later, Valenti and Duff carefully laid Michael down beside the van, on a bedroll fetched by Jesse. «So what exactly happened?» Maria asked after she had exchanged tearful hugs with the Evanses and the Parkers. Shelby, who had just awakened, took them aside and proceeded to fill them in on some of the events they had missed since their capture by the Special Unit. «First, the good news," Duff said, removing her black mask. «The Special Unit is taking a collective nap right now. I guess their subconscious minds need some time to process the posthypnotic commands they've just received.» «And when the agents wake up, they'll act on those orders and erase the whole organization," Valenti said. «And once they're done with that, they're not supposed to remember a thing.» «What about the… bodies?» Diane Evans asked her husband. «If those agents find what's left of those… clones of Michael and Isabel…» She trailed off, looking as though she was about to be sick. Phillip took her gently into his arms. Maria suddenly felt very glad that she hadn't actually gotten inside the Special Unit compound. «I… already took care of that," Max said, raising a single glowing hand. His voice was like a dam holding back an ocean's worth of sadness. Maria wondered what it would be like to have to dispose of the corpses of two of the people she cared about most in the world even if they weren't the genuine article. She hoped she'd never have occasion to find out. «Let's just hope nobody's left any secret backup files behind," Phillip Evans said, evidently speaking from his own special area of expertise; after all, he had been the one who'd gathered the first evidence that could have exposed the Special Unit publicly. «If something like that turns up someday, we could all end up right where we started.» Langley shook his head as he pointed his ken-teej experimentally toward the last of the departing news vans. Maria noticed that not a single blip appeared on the little alien-tracking device. «Like I mentioned before," Langley said as he pocketed the ken-teef, «I can only do this particular trick once. It won't work without a worldwide network of functioning ken-teefs. And they're all burned out now, all over the planet.» «This old world must be full of some pretty pissed-off aliens," Valenti observed. «So much for the good news," Maria said. «As for the bad…," Duff said, trailing off as she indicated Michael's still form. Maria caught Valenti's eye. «Kyle is in about the same condition," she said, pointing toward the inside of the Microbus. «Maybe even worse.» Looking worried, Valenti entered the van's side door to check on his son. «What happened to Michael?» Maria asked Max. «I think the Special Unit either stunned him or tranked him just before we brought them down," he said, his brow deeply furrowed with concern. «I hope that's all it is," Langley said. «He might be suffering from some sort of mindwarp-induced backlash. He was already unconscious when we did the deed, so that could have left him especially vulnerable to psi-shock.» «It would have been nice if you'd told me about that before we went ahead with the plan," Max said angrily. «It would have been nice to have sent out for some gourmet vegetarian pizza beforehand too," Langley quipped, sounding testy. «We all can only do what we can do, Your Highness-ness. We didn't have a lot of other options at the time, as I recall.» Max didn't seem to be in a very forgiving mood. «If I try to heal him without knowing what's wrong, I could end up making it worse.» «Maybe Isabel could dreamwalk him first," Jesse said, sounding hopeful. «She can diagnose him. Then Max can try the laying-on-of-hands.» Maria knelt beside Michael, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears. Despite the reassuring weight of the pistol against her hip, her earlier sense of helplessness returned in full measure. There has to be something I can do. She lowered her face to Michael's. He lay motionless, and seemed barely to be breathing at all. Then, impulsively, she kissed him. He grunted once, and his eyes quickly fluttered open. Her own eyes wide with surprise, Maria fell backward onto the gravel-strewn pavement beside the bedroll, stopping her motion with her backside and both hands. Michael raised himself onto his elbows, blinking in confusion at everyone who was looking down at him. «What are you all staring at? I feel like I just wandered into the last reel of The Wizard ofOz» Maria grinned as she wiped away a tear with her palm. «You gave us quite a scare, Dorothy," she said. «Thought for a moment we were going to lose you.» Max gave his old friend a wry grin. «I think you and Maria both have the wrong movie in mind, Michael.» «And what's the right one?» «King Kong» Max said. Turning to Maria, he added, "«Twas Beauty who cured the Beast.'" «You're both wrong," Maria said. «That's a misquote. And the right movie is Sleeping Beauty.» Michael sat up completely. His long hair floated about his shoulders as he shook his head. «The kiss wasn't what brought me back, doll-face. It was that Lancome lip stuff you put on back at Langley's. Pretty funkadelic. I swear, it could raise the dead.» She punched him in the arm as hard as she could, shoving him back onto the bedroll. «Hey! What did I say?» That boy is definitely sleeping alone tonight, Maria thought, fuming as she rose to return to the van. Valenti emerged from the Microbus at that very moment, his craggy face almost as ashen as his son's. «Max, I need your help. It's Kyle.» Standing near Deputy Valenti and her parents just outside the Microbus, Liz concentrated, trying once again to visualize Kyle's near future. Once again, she saw nothing. All she could do was watch anxiously as Max gently placed his glowing palm against Kyle's forehead. Isabel's dreamwalk had yielded only a few incoherent images, drawn mostly from kung fu flicks and old comic books, as near as Isabel had been able to tell. Max is flying blind, Liz thought. And no one can tell if Kyle is going to survive it not even Little Miss Dead Zone. Kyle tensed but remained unconscious as Max removed his hand. Staring at the glowing silver handprint that lingered on Kyle's forehead, Liz recalled what Max had just said about the dangers of trying to heal those whose ailments he didn't fully understand. We're just assuming that our little psi-bomb sent Kyle into some sort of shock, since he was its main conduit. Even with Langley's help and the alien orbs that Eddie had given them, she knew that the group couldn't have done it at all without access to Kyle's powers. Kyle's powers, she thought. And mine. Maybe that's it. The reason I can't even catch a glimpse of how all this is going to work out. Maybe our powers are the price of our gigundo mindwarp. Maybe they're our sacrifice. Maybe this little exercise has burned all the superpowers right out of us non-aliens. Kyle's sudden return to consciousness interrupted Liz's reverie. When he opened his eyes, he looked about as confused as Michael had when he'd awakened. But he wasted no time getting up and emerging from the van, whereupon his father clasped him in a bear hug that the Roswell Sheriff's Departments Jaws of Life couldn't have pulled apart. «Dad…," Kyle said, groaning in mock pain. «Ribs… flexing… need… oxygen… passing… out…» Valenti released his son, holding him by the shoulders at arm's length. Liz hadn't seen the deputy so close to tears since the day he'd said farewell to Kyle, just before the group's hurried departure from Roswell only a step or two ahead of the Special Unit a few months earlier. «It's really good to have you back, son," Valenti said. «Good to be back, Dad," Kyle said, smiling. «But I really think you can lose the Batman suit now.» Valenti looked down at his body armor, suddenly selfconscious. He suddenly seemed to want nothing more than to find his cowboy hat and sheriff's department jacket. Still attired in her own black battle gear minus the mask Duff grinned and stood as erect as a runway model. «These old rags? They're all the rage where I work. Speaking of which, I have a top-secret government-issue black helicopter to return to where it belongs before the Special Unit people wake up. Anybody need a ride in the meantime?» As her parents and some of the others began figuring out the travel arrangements, Liz approached Max and took his hand. No fireworks or future flashes erupted when their fingers made contact. She turned to Kyle. «How do you feel, Kyle?» «Tired. I want to sleep until the Superbowl.» Isabel, Jesse, Maria, and Michael approached them as well, as if on cue. Have we really paid the price I think we have for getting the Special Unit out of our lives? Liz wondered. Turning to Isabel, she said, «I want you to touch Kyle.» «Come again?» Isabel said. «Indulge me.» Isabel shrugged, then placed a hand tentatively on the shoulder of a confused-looking Kyle. «Kyle, I want you to try to fire up your Psychic Friends power right now," Liz said. «Try to make mental contact with me.» With a shrug of his own, he obliged her. A moment later, a look of surprise crossed his face. «Nothing. Not even a dial tone. I'll be damned.» Liz grinned. «You'll be normal, you mean.» «Must be side effect of what we did to the Special Unit," Max said. «I wonder if it's permanent?» Liz pointed to the silver handprint that was still visible on Kyle's forehead. «You just healed him again, so who knows?» Kyle grinned, touching his forehead. He rushed to the side of the van to examine his reflection in the side mirror. «So I might get some new powers? And a new origin?» «Maybe even a new costume, too," Michael offered, deadpan. «Don't get a cape, though," Kyle nodded seriously. «Right. They'd just get caught in the doors of the Kylemobile.» «You two should read more books that don't have pictures in them," Maria said, scowling at them both. Liz noticed then that Max was looking soulfully into her eyes. «What about your powers, Liz?» When she tried to marshal her powers, Liz felt a brief stabbing pain of loss. She wondered if this was what the stump of a severed limb felt like. She glanced up at the sky; the new day was turning bright and beautiful. In the distance, Liz heard a helicopter lifting off. She knew Duff and Valenti would get her parents, and Max's, safely home. That cheered her greatly. She decided that if she had indeed traded her alien abilities for the safety of her family, it would be a worthy exchange and one she would make again in a heartbeat. «I'll go out on a limb and make one final prediction," she said at length. «There won't be a lot of those prophetic flashes in my immediate future.» Then Liz heard the sound of tires grinding on gravel and pavement. She turned, as did everyone else, to see a long white limousine come to a stop beside the Microbus. The nearest window, as impenetrably black as obsidian, began to lower with a faint electronic whine. She was relieved to see that Langley was inside. Beside him sat Ava, whose lost-puppy expression made Liz forget her antipathy toward Tess, at least for die moment; Liz couldn't help but wonder if Ava would ever feel at home anywhere, and felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for her. Liz forced her gaze back to Langley, whose expression was impassive. A pair of expensive-looking sunglasses obscured his eyes. Max approached the car. «Thanks," he said simply. «Following my genetically preprogrammed commands was the least I could do. But you're not gonna get a 'you're welcome' out of me unless you give me a direct order. Now, do you mind if I have a word with the general?» Max shrugged, resembling a very tired teenager far more than he did a king. «He's all yours, Hollywood.» A grin split Langley's face as Michael approached. «I certainly hope so.» Michael eyed him suspiciously. «What do you want?» «I've got meetings to get back to, so I'll cut right to it. I always liked you back on Antar, kid. Maybe there's a place for you here in Hollywood if you want to come work with me.» Michael let out a harsh laugh. «Me? Work with you? Why?» «Because it pays for people of our… extraction to help one another out, capiscel And because you remind me of a young David Duchovny, maybe with a little more acting range. You'll need to lose that girlie haircut before I set up the agency photo session and start introducing you around to casting directors, though.» '«I want to believe, Maria said, failing to conceal asmirk «David Duchovny?» Michael's expression was a study in disgust. «David Duchovny?». Michael repeated. He sounded insulted. Langley hiked a thumb toward Max. «Kid, your fearless leader here might not be able to act his way out of a pay toilet, but I think you may be different. You could have a really bright future, say, in action films with the right connections.» Now Michael seemed merely astonished. «Action. Films.» «Say it again, with feeling this time. Mel Gibson's not getting any younger, you know.» Michael's jaw fell open. Liz wondered if Langley knew that Braveheart was one of his favorite pictures of all time. Maria, who was obviously well aware of that fact, marched over to Michael and threw a possessive arm around his shoulder. «Don't call us," she said to Langley, her eyes like sharpened steak knives. «We'll call you. After we get back home to Roswell.» Maria tried to drag him off, but Michael merely stood like a statue, apparently barely aware of her presence. «Mel Gibson?» he whispered. Langley shrugged and started raising the window. «Suit yourselves. You know where to find me when you finally make up your mind, General.» The gravel popped and crunched as the limo maneuvered back onto the road and drove off. «Mel Gibson?» Michael said as Kyle started up the Microbus and each member of the original group of six, plus Jesse, began climbing back inside. Everyone else had either left via chopper, or had departed in a car called in by Langley. «Mel Gibson?» Liz climbed into the back and took a seat beside Jesse, whose arms were entangled with Isabel's, and behind Kyle and Max, who were seated, respectively, in the driver's seat and front passenger's seat. Liz looked out the open door, where Michael and Maria still stood. Michael looked thoughtful. Maria looked impatient. Kyle gave the van's ancient, aircooled engine a good, loud rev, dropping an unsubtle hint. «We're going home now, Spaceboy," Maria said. «So get in already.» He meekly allowed her to lead him by the hand. «Mel Gibson, Maria.» «Oh, be quiet.» Yes, things are getting back to normal, indeed, Liz thought as the side door finally shut, enclosing the seven of them in a cocoon of weary but companionable silence. She was looking forward to writing in her journal again, day by day, with no clue as to what might lie ahead. 19. Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles From the clock on the wall, he knew what lay ahead. It was the same every day. «Please stand away from the door, Mr. Margolin," the voice would say. And after he had backed into the strangely yielding corner, the door would open. Someone dressed all in white white coat, white pants, white shoes, white goddamned teeth would enter and set down a soft white cardboard tray topped with a soft white paper plate filled with bland white food. Even the walls, floors, and ceilings were white. And soft. The people in the coats had told him that this was for his own protection. The softness, not so much the whiteness (truthfully, he wasn't at all certain what purpose the unrelenting whiteness served, if any). The softness suffused everything so that the room's walls and corners and edges couldn't hurt him. But he wasn't worried that any such right-angled thing might hurt him. He was far more concerned about the far more complex shapes that visited him after the lights went out. When the remorseless white receded and gave way to a comforting, stygian black. And in the crepuscular passage between the two, he could actually see them the small gray people with their long fingers and their bulbous heads and their gigantic, softball-size, oil-slick eyes, twin black holes from which nothing, not even light, could escape. Those eyes could suck the soul right out the top of your head if you let them. Margolin had a sheet of foil that he'd stolen from one of his early meal trays and kept hidden so that he could crumple it protectively about his skull during the night. Tonight, in the darkness, he smiled to himself as he adjusted his makeshift cap. As long as his silver shield was in place, the gray people didn't frighten him in the least. And during the interminable whiteness of the day, when he was forced to hide the foil cap so that the whitecoats wouldn't be tempted to take it away the way they had relieved him of his belt, pencils, and shoelaces the gray men almost never approached him. It was during the long, white daytime hours that he could reassure himself that the gray men hadn't won. That they hadn't beaten him, or broken him. That they never could beat him, or break him, or force him to bend. No matter what anyone said, he knew that the gray invaders hadn't bent his mind, though it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. Oh, how they'd tried. But he knew with bedrock certainty that they had never succeeded at least, not exactly. The men and women who came to see him each day, those who fed him and sponge-bathed him, even said as much. Mostly. Snapped was the word one of them had used, rather than bent. He hadn't much appreciated the insipidly smiling, white-clad man who had used that ugly word. So Margolin had taken one of the hard plastic cafeteria trays they now no longer permitted him to use, and had used its blunt edge to beat that man to within a bloody inch of his life. After that, nobody else ever tried to say that he'd snapped. At least, not to his face. Psychotic break following electroneural trauma, was a phrase he heard often as well. But it was too long and clinical to rouse his visceral anger the way the hated word snapped could. These last few days or maybe weeks… years? the whitecoats had taken to trying to assure him that the gray people weren't even actually here. But Margolin knew better. He knew that the small gray people were here. And not just here. They were everywhere. Sometimes, when they stalked him in the darkness, he wished they'd get it over with and simply kill him. After all, he knew they wanted to. And they could have done it, he often thought. Why didn't they? He knew that he certainly wouldn't have hesitated to wipe them out. So why didn't they kill him! What was holding them back? They were everywhere, after all. Whenever he mentioned any of these ruminations aloud, the whitecoats only smiled their most indulgent white smiles. The whitecoats thought they were so smart. But they never found Margolin's foil cap. 20. Roswell, New Mexico Ms she looked at Max, who was now truly and lawfully her husband, Liz couldn't recall having experienced a happier moment than now. He looked so handsome in his dark tuxedo, his hair finally cut short enough to hide his ever-present cowlick. Sitting beside her in the rear of the limousine, he turned toward her, caught her eye, and smiled. It was no longer the tentative, hesitant, scared smile she had first seen from him back in 1999 and earlier. His smile now was wide, confident, and full of love. He leaned toward her and they kissed. As their lips touched, Liz saw things as she had when she'd kissed Max before she had gained and lost her own powers: Stars and galaxies whirled in her mind, flashes of the journey Max and his «family» had made from Antar so many years ago. She saw herself in kindergarten, in the cupcake dress her mother had sewn for her. She saw flashes of them all in the desert, holding hands, feeling powerful. She saw herself as Max saw her: a brilliant emerald aura cascading around her, with her eyes shining like diamonds in sunlight. And then she saw herself, older, as she fussed over a little girl who sat on a stairway, her knee scraped and bleeding. A slightly older boy came over to them and passed his palm over the wound, healing it with a slight glow. Liz hugged the two children and kissed each of them on the forehead. Max pulled back and looked into Liz's eyes. «Did you see them?» he asked, his own eyes moist. «Yes," she said, feeling tears of happiness rising. «Alex and Maddie. Our children.» The opaque partition in the front of the limousine slid down, and the driver called back to them. «We've arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Evans.» Max dabbed at Liz's cheek to wipe away the tears. «Are you ready for this?» She smiled unsteadily. «I've faced evil aliens, evil congresswomen, evil government agents, and everything else that's been thrown at me since high school began. I think I can face this.» The door opened, and bright sunshine streamed in at them. Liz gathered the satin hem of her wedding dress and stepped out onto the street. Max joined her a moment later. In front of them, the small crowd erupted with cheers and whistles and applause. The front of the Crashdown Cafe had been transformed with silver and white streamers and balloons, and Sheriff Hanson had even granted the Parkers a permit to cordon off the street for one block for the wedding reception. Liz scanned the crowd and saw everyone there, still dressed in their finest from the wedding ceremony. Maria and Michael were arm in arm, as were Jesse and Isabel. Liz's father was beaming, and her mother was crying. Max's parents were nearby, similarly affected. Jim Valenti stood with Amy DeLuca, and they were discreetly holding hands. Kyle stood near Ava, who had changed her hair to a reddish color, and had lengthened it; now she looked even less like Tess than she had before. Several men with cameras busied themselves taking pictures, and Kal Langley presided over the small film crew he had hired to film the wedding and its aftermath. Suzanne Duff was also present with her life-partner, a feisty woman named Alycyn, and Brody and his daughter, Sydney, were in the company of Laurie Dupree. River Dog and his wife were there as well, as was Eddie, and the lawyer, Shelby Tremaine. Even Sean DeLuca had turned up, though he was keeping more in the background. Mr. Whitman stood in the back of the crowd near Sean, and Liz thought she saw someone else with them for a moment. But as she blinked, the young man who looked like her late friend Alex Whitman vanished from sight. Wishful thinking, Liz thought. Suddenly, Maria let out a sound that was a cross between a screech and a squeal, and rushed forward to hug Liz. Max began to laugh, and Liz did too. Jim Valenti left Amy in the company of Duff's partner, and pulled the FBI agent aside. «Glad you were able to make it, Suzanne," he said. «I know it means a lot to Liz.» Duff grinned. «Well, I feel like I really don't quite belong since I've only known her such a short time, but I was glad that she invited us.» She surveyed the crowd quickly. «It's funny that we're the only fierce black sisters here though," she said smiling. «Aw, I don't think it's tokenism," Valenti said. «But I do know that Liz appreciated everything you did for us. You put a lot on the line.» He paused for a moment, then asked, «How have things shaken down for you at the Bureau?» «No problems I couldn't handle," Duff said. «Since no one in the Special Unit quite knows what happened anymore, they can't implicate me in anything. As far as my superiors know, I had an emergency personal situation arise and I went off to take care of it. It helps to have friends in the Bureau as well.» She made air quotes with her fingers. «Langley got me in touch with a few 'special' agents.» Valenti nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. It had been a surprise to find out how many aliens actually did live amongst mankind, and where they had been «placed," even though he had spent so much of his life looking for proof that had been all around him. «So, what's the word on the Special Unit?» he asked Duff. «The Special Unit is being erased very quickly," Duff said. «The few files that weren't destroyed right after Langley's brain bomb went off are being classified or buried, and the agents associated with them are being questioned and debriefed as we speak. In a year or two, the stuff we gave Brody might be the only proof that the Unit even existed.» Valenti nodded. The news didn't come as a surprise to him, but it also didn't make him particularly happy. «So it's government cover-up time again?» «Such is the way of things in my line of work," Duff said, a hint of resignation in her voice. «I've got mixed feelings about it," Valenti said. «The purpose of the group needs to be erased, but it feels wrong covering up all the consequences of its existence. Just sweeping the Special Unit under the rug is sort of like forgetting about the Holocaust.» «Hey, you're preaching to the choir," Duff said, holding up a hand and grinning. «Member of two minority groups here, remember? There's been a lot of oppression of both African-Americans and gay people over the years that will never make the history books.» She pointed over toward Liz and the others. «But it's them we're protecting, Jim. Not the government agents who tried to destroy their lives.» Valenti liked Duff's no-nonsense view of things. He was about to agree with her, when Kal Langley ambled over, eating what appeared to be a jelly doughnut smothered in Tabasco sauce. «Speaking of protecting," Jim said, gesturing toward the producer. He was gratified to see that Langley had finally decided to take up his responsibilities in looking out for the Royal Four. He knew that Langley had initially aided them as a result of Max's commands; now he suspected that the trials of fighting the Special Unit had revived Langley's sense of duty toward his onetime charges. «What are you two plotting over here?» Langley asked with a smirk. «Nothing less than the deception of the government in exchange for a trauma-free future for these kids," Duff said. «Deception. I like that," Langley said. «I've been known to dabble in that myself from time to time.» «Speaking of which," Duff said. «I imagine that the word about our abortive 'alien expose' has reached some of your human media contacts. They must have been curious when the story didn't go anywhere. What did you tell them?» Langley pointed around the crowd toward some of the members of his photo and video crew. «Well, a few of them were already 'in the loop' and knew the score. Those who weren't… well, I am a big-shot Hollywood producer. It just so happens that I was also filming a strange combination between a science-fiction pilot and an improv reality show.» He raised an eyebrow, and added, «The real-time special effects were pretty intense, but I think we're gonna scrap the footage anyhow. Wasn't quite what I wanted.» Valenti laughed. «Guess my craggy mug isn't exactly close-up material.» «Au contraire, Deputy," Langley said. «I think your craggy features are quite handsome. And you know, I might have a role for you in this upcoming show I'm thinking of doing.» He held his hands out to either side with thumbs up, as if framing the vista in front of him. «I'm thinking of pitching a series about these alien kids who are stranded on Earth. They look normal, but because they're part alien, they feel different from all the other kids. It's kind of an alienation thing, so all the kids who feel different can identify. And there's this sheriff who at first is trying to chase them, and then becomes the protector that they should have had from the beginning. I figure either the WB or UPN would be a lock for the series. Whattaya think?» Valenti cocked an eyebrow. «So you'd want me for the part of the sheriff?» Langley patted him on the shoulder. «I don't even know if you can act, Deputy Valenti. I was more thinking of you as a technical advisor. Now I think Michael Guerin, on the other hand, has a real future as an actor. My people are already talking to his people, as they say.» Duff and Valenti laughed heartily, and moments later, Langley joined in. Maria brought a piece of wedding cake over to Sydney and Brody, then sat down in one of the plastic lawn chairs that had been set up on the sidewalk. It felt funny to be serving someone food in front of the Crashdown, rather than inside. And it seemed that an eternity had passed since she had spent her days there, waitressing in that awful limegreen dress with the silver alien apron and the bobblingalien-antennae headband. «Here you go, Sydney," Maria said, handing the girl the cake. «I got you a piece with the biggest pink rose I could find.» «Thank you, Auntie Maria," the little girl said, beaming, then sat down in the chair to consume the sweets. «Yes, thanks," Brody said, accepting his piece of cake from Maria. «I was getting a mite peckish myself. You wouldn't want to get me a Blue Moon Burger and some Orbit Rings, too, would you?» «Don't push it, Brody," Maria said with an evil grin. «Your charming British accent can charm a girl only so far.» Brody smiled at her and took a bite of cake, then surveyed the crowd. Maria watched his gaze, and saw the UFO Center was behind where Max and Liz and some of their friends were standing. «So, how are you feeling?» she asked, lowering her voice. «You know, about knowing the truth now?» Brody screwed his mouth around to one side, then the other, and finally shrugged. «It's funny. It's been inside me for so long, the knowledge that all this alien business is real, that the things I've pursued and been afraid of and dreamed about are all real. And now that I know it, I'm not scared of it anymore.» He paused for a moment, then added, «And I'm not even sure I want to pursue it any longer.» «What do you mean?» Maria asked. «Well, now that Max has blocked me off from being 'abducted' by Larek ever again, I can go back to wondering and exploring. The mysteries of the universe offer far more possibilities than the established truths. But even closer to home than that, the mysteries of this world offer many possibilities as well. And I think I want to go explore them.» Maria smiled, gesturing with her fork over toward Laurie Dupree. «With Laurie?» Brody seemed only a little surprised at the question. «Is it that obvious?» Maria shook her head. «Naw. But when you're one of the few people who's been dealing with this mess as much as I have, you learn to pick up on these things. The Czechoslovakians have changed all our lives," she said, using the pet code-name that she and Liz and Alex had always used for discreet reference to their half-alien friends. «It makes sense that you'd go for a smart woman who's not going to think you're crazy. And since I'm not available, you'll just have to go with Laurie.» «Auntie Maria, look at this!» Sydney was balancing the rose made of frosting on her fork, eyeing it as if trying to determine whether the whole thing would fit into her mouth. Brody reached over and squeezed Maria's hand. «Thank you," he said simply. Liz bent forward slightly and tensed her arm. She hadn't gotten to do this when they'd been «married» before, since the ceremony had been done so quickly, and because they'd had to fudge a few of the legal details while the Special Unit had been on their tails. But now, here she was, on her «real» wedding day and about to partake of a ritual that she always dreamed about. And then, abruptly releasing the tension in her arm, Liz threw the bouquet of flowers over her shoulder and high into the air. She turned quickly, a smile on her face, to see who would catch it. Her friends and family were gathered around, with all of the unmarried females reaching up to catch the flowers. Even little Sydney Davis was jumping as high as she could. The bouquet bounced off of Maria's hand, and went sailing over Laurie Dupree's head. A squeal of delight rang out, and the crowd parted to reveal the lucky woman who had caught the bouquet. Amy DeLuca. Maria was the first to laugh, saying, «Now maybe you and Valenti can stop living in sin, Mom!» Nearby, Kyle laughed heartily as well, and others joined in. Liz saw Jim Valenti separate from another knot of wedding guests and move toward Amy. As always, he had on his cowboy hat, but this time he was also wearing a big smile. Valenti dropped to one knee in front of Amy and doffed his cowboy hat. He fiddled inside it for a moment, extracting something, and then took Amy's hand. «Amy DeLuca, I would be most honored if you would consent to be my wife.» He held up an engagement ring, and smiled up at her. Amy smiled and crouched next to him. «You know, it's been my policy for the past few years never to hold too closely with rules and traditions.» Valenti immediately looked crestfallen, but a moment later, Amy grinned and added, «But my policy is a rule, so I can't exactly follow that now, can I? So… yes!» The group around them erupted in more clapping, whistles, and cat-calls. Isabel picked up a stack of soiled cake plates and used forks and prepared to take them into the Crashdown. «You don't need to clean up, Isabel," Nancy Parker said. «It's okay, Mrs. Parker," Isabel said. «You guys have more important things to think about than cleanup duties.» «Okay, if you insist," Nancy said, smiling at her. Isabel entered the restaurant and placed the plates and forks near the far end of the counter. It was nice to get away from the crowd for a moment and have a quiet moment to herself. «Do you want me to leave then too?» a voice asked her. Isabel whirled and saw him sitting there, next to the window, where he could look out at the others. «Alex?» «Hey," he said, smiling. «The wedding was really something, huh?» She slipped into the seat across from him and tried to take his hand. It was insubstantial, and her hand passed right through it. «You've been here the whole time?» «Here and there," Alex said. «I've been with you all at various times. Sort of rooting for you.» He gestured toward the crowd outside. «Some of them just don't know I'm here.» «Why can 1 always see you?» Isabel asked. «I don't know. Maybe it's because you and I were supposed to be the ones who got together? Maybe it's because your power threads the line between the waking world and the unconscious?» Isabel felt a pang of guilt stab her in the heart. «Were we meant to be together, Alex?» He shrugged. «Maybe. I don't know for sure. It certainly seemed like that was in the cards for us, before everything went wrong.» He looked out the window and gestured toward Jesse. «But he's right for you, too, Isabel. He's sacrificed a lot for you.» Isabel nodded slowly. «Maybe we could have been something if I hadn't been " «Shhhh," Alex said, putting his ghostly hands on top of hers. She felt a slight tingle at his ethereal touch. «Don't torture yourself over might-have-beens. I don't want you living with regrets.» He paused for a moment, then said, «I'm going away now, Isabel. There's something wonderful waiting for me, and it's time for me to let go of all of you.» Isabel could feel tears sliding down her cheeks. «Wait for just a moment, please.» When Alex nodded, she slid off the chair and exited the Crashdown. She made her way over to Liz and Maria and touched them both on the shoulders. «I need you both to come with me. Now.» They followed her without a word, though she saw the flickers of doubt on their faces. She brought them back into the Crashdown and turned to them. «Give me your hands," Isabel said, and they complied, though with curious expressions on their faces. Isabel sent a pulse of her power out to her friends, willing them to see what she had. Liz gasped first. «Alex?» «Hi, Liz. You look beautiful.» Alex smiled from nearby, where he stood beside the kitchen door. «What are you doing here?» Maria asked, tears in her eyes. «Saying good-bye to my best friends in the whole world," Alex said. «I guess you could say that I've tried to be your guardian angel, but you don't need one of those anymore. And I have to go now.» He smiled at them. «Liz, Maria, Isabel… you're going to be safe. You're going to be happy. You're going to do great things. And you will always, always be loved.» «What's it like?» Liz asked. «Where you are?» «I can't really say," Alex said, almost smirking. «I think it's best not to be in too big a hurry to find out.» Alex paused, then said, «Close your eyes.» Isabel watched Liz and Maria close their eyes, and then followed suit herself. A moment later, Isabel felt as though a wind had blown right through her. Not a chilling wind or even a real movement of air. Instead, it felt colorful and energizing and joyous and cleansing, all at once. Isabel felt the tears on her cheeks dry in an instant, and the sadness in her heart was replaced by a blossom of something that felt very much like… hope? Isabel opened her eyes, as did Maria and Liz. They were smiling now, not in happiness, but in acceptance. And she knew as she knew they did that Alex would be a part of each of them forever. Kyle saw Ava sitting off to the side, away from everyone else. She looked beautiful, but sad. He walked over to her, bringing a glass of fruit punch and a bottle of Tabasco sauce. «Here you go," he said, setting the items down on the table beside her. «House specialty. I hear it's an acquired taste.» She smiled at him shyly, and he could sense that she was a bit surprised by his kindness. «Back in New York, we were partial to mixing in chili powder. They didn't have as much Tabasco there as they seem to have out here.» «Yeah, it is more of a Southwestern thang," Kyle said with an exaggerated drawl. «So, what do you think of all this? You seem to be sitting as far as you can from the festivities.» «Well, I still don't know why they invited me," Ava said. «Don't get me wrong. Everyone's been so nice to me. The Evanses have even offered to let me stay with them for a while. But I can feel everyone looking at me out of the corners of their eyes. They don't trust me. They think I'm going to be… her.» Kyle shook his head. «I don't think Liz is afraid of you. I mean, I know she just married your husband from Antar and all, but I'm not sensing a jealous ex-wife thing going on in your head.» He grinned. «How do you know what's going on in my head?» Ava asked. «I was linked up with you for a while," Kyle said. «Back when we were fighting the Special Unit. I saw you the real you.» He took her hand in his. «I know you aren't Tess. I know you would never mindwarp us. I know that you're the Ava that Max or King Zan married back on his homeworld, the Ava that loved him for what he represented, and who helped the people she governed. You're a good person, Ava. You're not Tess.» Kyle looked her directly in the eye and smiled. «They're all willing to give you the chance, Ava. And I'm willing to help you.» He paused, then added, «And before my little speech starts getting too sappy, I'm going to make you promise that if my powers do come back, that you'll help me figure out how to use them.» «You've got a deal," Ava said, squeezing his hand. Her smile was radiant. «There you are," Michael said as he finally caught up to Maria. He had been looking for her for several minutes now. «Where have you been?» She smiled at him, but he could tell she had been crying. «I was inside the Crashdown. What's up?» «Come over here and sit down for a minute," he said, pointing to some folding chairs. «Uh-oh," she said. «This doesn't sound good, Spaceboy.» Michael sighed as he sat down. He was determined not to let her jagged little barbs get to him. «I have something to talk to you about. Kal Langley asked me to come to Hollywood with him. He says he's going to get me acting lessons and train me to use my powers fully. He keeps saying I remind him of a young David Duchovny. He's going to put me up at his mansion " Maria's eyes went wide. «What? Langley is gay? I've heard about this with that one producer guy. He hired young guys as his pool boys and then turned them into stars, but they were really his boy-toys all along the way.» Now it was Michael's turn to be incredulous. «Who said Langley was gay? I'm not Maria, what are you thinking? I swear, sometimes you can be the most insufferable jumpto-conclusions person I have ever known.» Maria crossed her arms in front of her chest. «Well, what am I supposed to think? At this highly emotional time, you announce you're running off to Hollywood without me and going to work for Langley. And meanwhile, I'll sit here and rot away in Roswell and end up going from waitressing to a job at the cheese factory until I " Michael clapped a hand over Maria's mouth as softly but as firmly as he could. «Maria, shut up. Just listen for once.» He saw her eyes narrow, and then finally her body language signaled that she was calming down. «Maria, you have been the only constant positive thing in my life for the last few years. Even when we've been fighting, or throwing accusations at each other, I always knew one thing for sure and that's that I love you.» He paused, and repeated himself. «I love you. And I want you to come to Hollywood with me. I played Langley your demo tape, and he loved it. He wants you to record an album. Your album. Your way.» He took his hand away, and when it looked as if she was going to say something, he put his finger back over her lips. «Maria, I know I'm not perfect. I probably wasn't anything like perfect even back on Antar. And I know I'll never be the kind of man you want to grow old with. But I want to keep trying.» Maria stared at him for a moment in silence, then moved his finger away from her mouth. «You're wrong about that, Michael Guerin. I think you can be the kind of man I want to grow old with.» Then Maria smirked. «But until then, I can live with you being the kind of alien I want to grow old with.» «Are you certain that's what you want to do?» Max asked. «Yeah, Max," Isabel said. «Jesse and I want to live in Boston. He's doing well there with his practice, and I could really use a change of scene.» Max was bemused. Just over a year ago he had forbidden Isabel to leave Roswell, and had threatened to drag her back here if she ever tried. Things had been very tense then, with the iron fist of the government closing inexorably around them. Now, their future seemed wide open, and keeping the Royal Four together simply didn't seem as important as it had back then. «Do you really think we'll be safe there, Max?» asked Jesse, standing at Isabel's side. «I can't see the future," Max said. «Not even Liz can do that anymore. I know that those alien-tracking ken-teejs got whammied along with the Special Unit, so hostile aliens will have a harder time finding us. If we're not all clustered in one spot, they'll have an even harder time. Still, I expect more danger to crop up for us from time to time.» He paused, and looked over at Michael and the others. «And if anybody does come after us again someday… well, I think our recent experiences have made it pretty clear that we can be pretty darned tough when we need to be. In the meantime, there's no point living in fear.» Diane Evans came over and grabbed Max by the arm. «Come on, Max. It's time to take some pictures.» She gestured to Isabel and Jesse. «You, too. Everybody in these shots.» «Okay, Mom," Max said with a sigh. He was grateful that his parents and Liz's had bounced back from their Special Unit ordeal without suffering any visible scars. As Langley's photographers checked their equipment, everyone gathered in front of the Crashdown. Max and Liz stood in the center, flanked by Isabel and Jesse on one side, and Michael and Maria on the other. On the outside of the group were their parents, and on the far periphery were Jim Valenti and Amy DeLuca, along with Kyle and Ava. Max glanced over at Liz, who looked positively resplendent in her wedding dress. He could tell that she had been crying recently, but as she looked up at him, he could see nothing but happiness and love in her eyes. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life with this beautiful woman, Max thought, a warm glow suffusing him. He looked over at his sister and Michael who may as well have been his brother and was glad to have known them not just in one lifetime, but in two. All the others there had also been instrumental in bringing him and Liz to this moment. He knew he could never repay the sacrifices that Jim Valenti, Kyle, or Maria had made. He knew the way the Evanses had raised him and the way the Parkers had raised Liz had shaped what they had both become far more than had any preordained fate. And he knew, too, that Ava, who had been his wife back on that other world in that other life had let him go so that he could be with the true soul mate to whom he belonged in the here-and-now. Max smiled as the camera flashes strobed, and for a second he saw someone else there: Alex Whitman seemed to be smiling at him, only to vanish in a subsequent burst of light. Underneath the neon sign of the Crashdown Cafe, Max turned and kissed Liz, and everyone began to applaud. October 12 This is my first entry in this new journal. I'm Liz Evans, and five days ago, my life changed… Five days ago, I finally legally married Maxwell Evans, the man I love, the man I feel I was destined to be with. Destiny is a strange word to use, given Max's past. And yet, despite all the things that were programmed into him, all the things he was supposed to be, he came to love me. Knowing Max has changed my life, physically, mentally, emotionally. He is living proof that something more than humanity exists in the universe. And yet, despite his halfalien DNA and his mysterious origins, he is fully and completely human. Most of the others have left Roswell to discover their own destinies, and to find their own ways in the world. Max and I are now on our honeymoon for real, this time and we're traveling the country. Just the two of us, together. No one chasing us, and no one sharing our vehicle or our hotel room. We're committed to spending our time just being in love. Along the way, I expect we'll also do some good in the world, like we'd planned to do before. And maybe those people for whom we do good will pass that good along. Maybe we'll all do our part to make the world a little bit better. I was once Liz Parker, and I died and was brought back to a life of peril and adventure, of sadness and happiness, but mostly a life of hope. Now I'm Liz Evans. With Roswell behind me, I'm looking forward to seeing all the roads that Max and I will travel in life, together. About the authors Andy Mangels is the coauthor of Roswell: Skeletons in the Closet and Roswell: Pursuit, with Michael A. Martin, as well as a number of Star Trek novels, e-books, and comicbook projects. Flying solo, he is also the author of Animation on DVD: The Ultimate Guide, as well as the best-selling book Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Characters, plus Beyond Mulder and Scully: The Mysterious Characters of The X-Files and From Scream to Dawson's Creek: The Phenomenal Career of Kevin Williamson. Mangels has written for The Hollywood Reporter, The Advocate, Just Out, Cinescape, Gauntlet, Dreamwatch, Sci-Fi Universe, SFX, Anime Invasion, Outweek, Frontiers, Portland Mercury, Comics Buyer's Guide, and scores of other entertainment and lifestyle magazines. He has also written licensed material based on properties of Lucasfilm, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Microsoft, Abrams-Gentile, and Platinum Studios. His comic-book work has been published by DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Image, Innovation, WaRP Graphics, Topps, MVCreations, and others, and he was the editor of the award-winning Gay Comics anthology for eight years. He has also written DVD supplemental material and liner notes for Anchor Bay. In what little spare time he has, he likes to country dance, and collect uniforms and Wonder Woman memorabilia. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his longtime partner, Don Hood, and their dog, Bella. Visit his Web site at www.andymangels.com.