Summary: Liz is getting used to being Immortal, but there are bumps on the road and a big surprise to come.

Liz Parker walked down the stairs of the alien-themed family diner called the Crashdown and pondered the IRONY of everything. Here she was dressed in a tacky "alien" outfit complete with antenna, about to work her shift as a waitress. The tourists that flocked to Roswell seemed to eat it right up—no matter how tacky or cheesy. And her boyfriend was a real honest to god Alien (or more to the point Human/Alien hybrid). Not that she had any room to throw stones, really, being as she was not completely human. Almost certainly Earth born and bred, just not completely human. As in Immortal—which was cool in a way since you could heal almost any injury, and you did not age. Not so good since she was 16 when she "died" for the first time and became Immortal—she would not age, but being 16 for possibly centuries or even millennia was not so great. Add to that, not being able to have children, and watching all those you knew and loved growing old and dying, which also meant that she would not be able to stay in any one spot for very long without people noticing the not aging part. Looking 16 was not such a cool thing either when you came right down to it. Then there was the "Game." One of the real downsides of Immortality is that what made you so, your "Quickening", could be transferred to another immortal if you lost your head—literally, as in getting it cut off with a sword. Liz had had to defend herself against a headhunter, an Immortal that lived to take heads and quickenings. Liz now understood how some could get addicted to getting quickenings, having now experienced it. The legend had it that one day, only a few Immortals would be left, and they would have what was called the "Gathering", where the last of them would battle until only one would be left, supposedly getting all the quickenings that had ever been, possibly giving that person enough power to rule the world. Liz had her doubts about all of that; being very practical and scientifically minded, she had seen the holes in that logic. There must have been numerous Immortals over the years caught in avalanches, trapped in ships sunk to the bottom of oceans, beheaded when no immortal was around to get his or her quickening, and so on. So what about those cases? No one had any answers. Not Duncan McLeod, the Immortal that had found and trained her, nor Methos, supposedly the oldest Immortal still alive at 5000 or so. So Liz had some skepticism about the game and the supposed "Prize." That, to her, did not sound all that great—you were the last Immortal alive—big deal. No matter what powers you might gain.

Liz waved to Michael Guerin, who shared this shift with her as the cook,and with Maria DeLuca her best friend. Maria and Michael definitely had some sparks going on—though sometimes with Mt. St. Maria, it was a lot more than that. She looked over and was not surprised that Max Evans was in his usual booth in her section; like clockwork on any day she was on duty, he was there. She smiled at her boyfriend as she walked up to his booth.

"Same as usual, Max?"

Max Evans smiled at Liz. No matter how often they now saw each other, whenever he saw Liz for the first time, he felt his heart beat faster. He'd had a huge crush on Liz Parker for years, and only recently had the courage to try and start something. It had turned out to be even better than he had dreamed; not only was she everything he had hoped for, but she had also opened up the world for him and his fellow hybrids to actually be part of life instead of hiding and slinking around. He looked past her at Maria and Michael, who were, as usual, sparing. It seemed to be something they both loved to do considering how often they did it, though both would deny it vigorously. Even his sister Isabel, the notorious Ice Queen of Roswell High, had thawed and warmed up to Liz, and was even starting to date Liz's best friend Alex. Their lives had gotten so much better in the last 6 months that the change was breathtaking. Of course, finding out that Liz was Immortal had been a huge jolt; then Liz telling him she had figured out that he was a type of Alien/Human Hybrid was just as big. Then Liz having to train with a sword to protect herself from other Immortals, and just a couple of months ago having to fight, kill, and then behead one that was after her own head had been as far out there as anything Alien had ever been. The Quickening that she had then gotten had been one of the most frightening things he had ever seen. Luckily, after that, things had settled down, and it had been pretty quiet these last 3 months, which Max was quite happy about. He did not know that everything was about to change.

Liz was taking a break; Max had just left after the diner had started to fill up, getting near noon on a Saturday was about as busy as it would get. Agnes had finally shown up and had thus been sent to first give Maria a break, then Liz. Liz decided to run upstairs and check on the computer program that she had running for a project she had been working on as regards searching for anything Immortal related on the Internet. She had modified a search engine, with Alex's help, to be a little more picky and precise so as to dig deeper than normal, and at the same time be more particular about what it came up with. She was just heading for the stairs when her father called to her from the back entrance.

"Liz, if you are on break right now, I need some help unloading the truck with our supplies for the week."

Liz groaned but headed his way. It was not fun, but it had to be done. She had to remember to not lug more than her share—her constant workouts had made her a LOT stronger then she had been, or looked. Being Immortal also meant keeping a low profile and lying to everyone with a cover story when needed. That was one part of being Immortal that she really hated. She went out the back door and saw her father trying to pull out a propane tank—used for the outdoor grill on holidays when the demand was just too much for the stoves in the kitchen. It was a big 100 gallon tank and not light at all. She hurried over and helped him take it off the truck. It was stuck on a piece of plastic sheathing that would be used to protect the grill when not in use. She was reaching over to move the sheathing out of the way when it came loose and hit her arm. Liz jumped back automatically grabbing her arm.

"Liz, are you ok? Here let me look at it!" said her father.

Liz realized that she had been cut rather badly, and that her quickening had already started to close the wound. But before she could try and get away, her father had grabbed her arm and was staring at it. He stared at the blue sparks swirling around the cut that despite the blood was getting smaller and smaller and finally disappeared while leaving no scar and nothing but the blood to show that anything had happened.

Jeff Parker had never seen anything like it. His little girl had had a bad cut on her arm, and it had just healed up and gone away. What looked like blue sparks or lightning or something had swirled around the cut, and it had just healed. Only the blood remained as any sign of anything. He shook his head and continued to look at her arm, which showed no sign that there had ever been a scar.

Liz closed her eyes for a moment. She had wanted to tell her parents ever since it happened, but that meant telling them the whole story, and she had just not wanted to do that. Well, now she had no choice. She reached over with her other arm and caught her father's arm getting his attention. He looked up at her with dazed eyes, clearly in shock. She pulled him away from the truck, into the Crashdown, and up the stairs to the apartment where they lived. She knew her mother was upstairs working on the books, and figured this was as good a time as any to get it over with.

Jeff allowed his daughter to pull him up the stairs and into their apartment. He was still trying to figure out what he had seen and what it meant. He sat down in the chair in the living room and watched his daughter go over to the small room off of it that housed their little office.

"Mom, could you come out here? I have something rather important to tell you and dad."

Nancy Parker got up and followed her daughter—this had to be pretty important, and Liz was not one to exaggerate such things. She found her husband sitting in the chair, rather white faced and looking dazed. She rushed over to him.

"Honey, what's wrong. You look like you are in shock. Should I call an ambulance?"

"Mom, he is ok. Just a little shocked at something that happened just now, and that is part of what I need to talk to you about."

Nancy looked at her daughter and noticed the blood on her arm. She looked up at her face and saw a grim and determined expression on it. Still holding his hand, she sat down next to Jeff.

Liz took a deep breath, and then realized that her break was almost over.

"Hang on a second, I have to tell Maria that it will be a while before I get back to work."

Liz rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. Luckily, Maria was there having one of her endless jousts with Michael.

"Maria, I am going to be late getting back from break. Dad saw something, and I am going to have to tell him."

Maria DeLuca looked at Liz with big eyes, then noticed the blood on her arm. Putting two and two together, she just nodded her head. Michael had also seen the blood, but being more practical, he'd grabbed a towel, ran some water over it, and handed it to Liz.

"Here—don't want anyone else seeing that and asking questions."

"Thanks, Michael. Hopefully this will not take too long."

Liz rushed back up the stairs, wiping her arm along the way. She found her parents just sitting where she had left them. Though her father was looking better as he gradually got over the shock. Well partially—this next part was not going to be easy.

Taking another deep breath, she sat down in the chair facing her parents.

"Mom, I was helping dad unload the truck when I cut my arm on some plastic sheathing for the outdoor grill. It was a pretty bad cut. Dad grabbed my arm, and what he saw is why he is in shock."

Liz then showed her mother her unscarred arm.

Nancy looked at her arm and shook her head. "Liz you were not cut—there is no scar and… wait a minute—there WAS blood on your arm!" She shook her head again and looked up at Liz.

Liz proceeded to partially unbutton her uniform and showed her parents her stomach.

"Just like there is no scar from the bullet that hit me 6 months ago."

Jeff and Nancy looked at her smooth unmarked stomach and blinked. Jeff was coming out of it a little, and said, "What about that scar that you had before. Where is it?"

Liz got up, went into her room, came back with something, and handed it to Jeff.

Jeff and Nancy looked at the plastic something and realized it was a scar—that was what Liz had been using to make it look like the wound that had been made when she was shot and the bullet removed.

"A Hollywood makeup artist made that for me so as to keep people from asking questions. I have not been wearing it for quite a while since people no longer ask about it."

Jeff looked up at his daughter "Why? Liz what is going on? You healed a bad cut that should have taken stitches and a couple of weeks to heal in only a couple of minutes. How is this possible?"

Liz took a deep breath and plunged ahead.

"When I was hit that day, the bullet lodged next to the right renal artery. It shifted and nicked it, and I bled out and died. An airhead nurse messed up, and the monitors were not working right, so no one noticed. I woke up a couple of hours later feeling fine—and out of curiosity, I unwrapped my bandage, and found that I had no wound—and that the stitches were just laying on the bandage. I was all confused and frightened until Duncan McLeod came by and explained everything."

Nancy frowned. "Duncan McLeod? The director of the clinic you were in?"

Liz nodded. "He actually used that as a cover. He and some friends arranged for me to be sent to Albuquerque to make sure no one asked any questions or wanted to look at my non-existent wound. It was all part of keeping my secret."

Jeff, almost afraid of the answer, asked anyway. "What secret is that?"

"I am immortal. I will never age beyond what I am now. I could live to be thousands of years old, but I will never look any older. Just about any wound that I get will be healed about as fast as you just saw. There are a few thousand at most of us around the world. We have to keep a low profile since, if it was found out, we would be in labs being poked, prodded and probably dissected along the way."

Jeff and Nancy just sat there. Liz went into the kitchen and came out with a steak knife. She showed it to both of them, then cut her arm. Nancy gasped as the cut healed right before her eyes, blue sparks swirling around it until it was gone—leaving no scar and just the blood. Jeff looked then closed his eyes and sat back. Nancy did the same. For a few minutes, there was silence.

Liz knew that she should tell them the whole story including the game but decided that enough was enough. They did not need any more shocks.

Nancy looked at her and asked "How?"

"No one knows, Mom. All immortals are foundlings. No one has ever found a mother or father of an Immortal. We just appear as babies. Then are adopted and live a normal life until our first death, which triggers our Immortality. Why this is and when it started, how it happens, no one knows. Each Immortal, if he gets to within about 50 or 100 feet, can feel another immortal. Really old immortals can feel the Pre-Immortals; they just have a much weaker buzz as they call it. Duncan happened to be driving through Roswell just after the shooting. The ambulance carrying me passed him close enough for him to feel my buzz. Duncan is one of the really good guys in the Immortal community, and he always makes sure a newbie like me is taken care of. I was very lucky he was around then. I do not know what I would have done without him."

Jeff had recovered somewhat. "I can understand why you have to hide this. You are right about what could happen to you otherwise. But why didn't you tell us before now? You have known about this for almost 6 months?"

"Because I was trying to figure out how to tell you. And I did not want you to start treating me differently. I wanted to be just what I was before—just a small town girl working in her parents' diner. Only Maria, Michael, Max and Alex, oh and Isabel too know about it. They got told because I needed help, and it just came out with them. Even now, I can tell that they look at me differently. I really did not want that to happen with my parents."

As one Jeff and Nancy got up and hugged Liz.

Nancy: "From the minute we found you out in the alley, you have been our little girl. Nothing will ever change that, Honey."

Jeff: "You have been my little girl always, and that means always, Honey."

For just a few minutes, Liz Parker felt all was right with her world—no matter what may come.

Liz was still deciding when to tell her parents about the game when she got a call from Duncan. He wanted her to come up to Seacouver for a few days to train, and also to meet some other Immortals that might be of help to her someday. He made a point of reminding her that sparing is a very necessary part of being ready for a challenge—just training and doing her KATA was not enough. Liz told him about her parents finding out part of her secret, and that that part had gone pretty well. Telling them about the Game would almost certainly not go down as easily. Duncan told her that while it was up to her, letting them know the truth would be easier for her in the long run. Not having to hide so much, and not having to sneak around would be much better, Liz knew. She was just worried about them over-reacting.

Liz decided to ask Maria, Alex, and Max for advice. Thinking it, over she also decided to see if Isabel and Michael wanted to be part of it. While Maria and Alex still had no idea about the aliens, Liz thought that having them all together might help them in their budding relationships. Certainly watching Maria and Michael go at it was pretty entertaining. Michael had shown surprising ability to answer Maria with pretty sharp quips, and of course Maria was always armed and dangerous.

She started with Maria that afternoon after they finished their Sunday shift. As they were in the breakroom changing out of the alien garb, she approached her.

"Maria, I got a call from Duncan this morning. He wants me to come up to Seacouver and train for a few days. He made the point that sparing is very important to being ready for a challenge, and he also had some people there that he wants me to meet that might help out in the future. There is no way I can do this without my parents knowing. With grandma out of the country on her latest dig, I cannot get her to give me an excuse. So I figure now is the time to tell them about the game."

Maria stopped changing and looked at Liz.

"This is a big one chica, probably a lot worse than telling them about being Immortal. They have most of the advantages in mind—now you have to give them the big downer. Your dad especially will freak."

"I know. He will probably want to bundle me off to a convent to keep me 'safe,' despite the fact that I would not last a month like that—just no way at all."

Maria snorted. "I have tried to imagine you in a convent, and it always cracks me up. Not many people realize what a sharp tongue you have, and while you are certainly no party girl, there is no way in the world or anywhere else you could stand a place like that for long."

"Yeah, anyway, I want you, Alex, and Max, and I was also thinking of inviting Isabel and Michael as well. You are all my friends and know my secret, and I figure hearing from all possible points of view is a good idea."

Maria pondered that for a while. "Well Alex and Max are a must, of course. I guess Isabel might have something to contribute, but I doubt Michael will say anything other than keep your secret as long as you can."

Liz grinned. "Just do not want to give Michael any credit at all, do you? You never know, he might surprise you."

"SURE. And an alien will walk right in the front door of the Crashdown today."

Maria could not understand what was so funny about that that Liz almost fell over laughing.

Max was in as usual that afternoon to see Liz. It was almost like you could set your watch. Liz actually was quietly very flattered to be the object of affection like that, though she would not admit it to anyone else. Max never did anything halfway, and she liked that since she was the same way herself. This time, she was not on shift, so she took him upstairs to the balcony. Luckily, both her parents were out at the moment picking up supplies. They sat down and looked over at the view which was not bad… the mountains were off in the distance, and it was a sunny day as usual.

"Max, I got a call from Duncan this morning, and he wants me to come up to Seacouver for a few days to train and spar. It's important that I keep sharp since you never know when a challenge might happen. And you really can't stay ready without sparing. So I am going to have to tell my parents about the game in order to get permission to go. I want all the gang, you, Maria, Alex, Isabel, and Michael, to meet me somewhere so we can talk about it. I figure feedback from as many sources as possible would be a good thing before I talk to my parents."

Max thought about that for a moment. "Sounds like a good idea. But why do I think you want everyone together for another reason?"

Liz smiled. Max already knew her too well. "I want the group to get to know each other better so we can all get along better. Especially with the emerging relationships that are forming. Sooner or later, Alex and Maria are going to have to know about the three of you, and this sort of thing happening more often might help out when that time comes."

Max nodded. That made sense to him. He was not sure if Maria and Michael would make it long term, their 'relationship' was pretty volatile. Alex and Isabel? Not sure there either, but he had a hunch his sister liked Alex a lot more then she let on. And he had to admit the thought of more people knowing their secret was a little scary on one hand, but on the other, being able to relax and be open with others outside their small group would be so much better.

"I will talk to Is tonight, and you can ask Michael. I think it would be a good idea."

Liz went over to the clinic after Max left. She and Cynthia had been dancing around a little about what Cynthia was and how it affected Liz for the last few months with nothing really being said or decided. Liz felt in her bones that there was a lot more to this then curiosity, but also knew that if it was what she THOUGHT it was, then secrecy was a very important thing on THEIR side as well. She had decided to confront Duncan when she got to Seacouver, but she had a hunch he had been sworn to secrecy as well. She thought that Joe Dawson was involved with it as well, but knew he would not tell her either. This frustrated Liz, but she figured that what was was, and sometimes you just have to accept it.

Cynthia was manning the front desk that Sunday afternoon as a favor to Cecilia who had a date. Cynthia was pondering her own currently dateless life rather sadly when Liz Parker walked in the front door. Now this was unusual since Liz as far as she knew had not been in the building since Duncan McLeod had gone back to Seacouver. The apartment remained empty since Duncan had decided to keep it just in case. There was no point in using the training room without someone to spar with. Cynthia had wondered some about how Liz was going to stay sharp without someone to help out. This worried her some since she knew that a headhunter could show up anytime, even here in Roswell.

Liz walked in the front door and was pleased to see Cynthia at the front desk—now she would not have to look around for her.

"Hey Cynthia, how goes the covert surveillance?" Liz just had to tweak her some on that.

Cynthia shook her head. Liz was like a dog with a juicy bone on this subject. She knew that somehow Cynthia was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, and sooner or later would figure it all out. But Joe had been firm that Cynthia was not to tell her about the watchers. So they had danced around the subject for the last few months. Luckily it had not been a big problem to their friendship. After all, who knew better then Liz about keeping secrets?

"Well this is a first. What's up?"

"I will probably be going up to Seacouver for a few days soon to train with Duncan. He has been on me about needing more than just practice and working out—I need to actually spar to keep sharp. So I am going to have to tell my parents the part about the Game. They already know about Immortals—just not that part."

Cynthia was intrigued—she had not thought that Liz had told her parents yet. "How did they find out—or did you just tell them."

Liz shrugged. "I was helping my dad unload the truck when a plastic sheath cut my arm, and he saw it happen—and then the healing. I figured that was as good a time as any to tell them both, and I did. It went OK. But now they have to find out about the real downside of being Immortal—the Game."

Cynthia was thinking about her next entry into Liz's Chronicle. This was a fairly big thing and would make it an important entry. She looked up at Liz.

"So how well do you think they will take finding out about the Game? And are you going to tell them about your first challenge?"

"My dad will probably freak. Want me to go into a convent. That is when I will tell him I have already fought once. Mom will probably be a little better about it. But whatever, it's not going to be a fun time."

Cynthia nodded. "It's not supposed to be. For every good thing there is almost always a downside. Balance and all that."

"Yeah. Sometimes balance sucks."

Cynthia grinned at Liz. "So cogently put. Thanks for letting me know."

Liz grinned back. "So will I be seeing you in Seacouver?"

Cynthia smiled slowly. "Maybe. Maybe not."

After Liz left, Cynthia called Joe Dawson.

"Joe? This is Cynthia from Roswell. Looks like Liz will be heading your way for a few days pretty soon to train with Duncan McLeod. She just let me know."

Joe Dawson sat and thought for a moment. "Liz really is pushing to find out about us isn't she?"

"I would not call it pushing—but she is persistent. She knows that I am keeping an eye on her, and she knows it's not because of Duncan. She is way too smart to think it's any coincidence that I am around so much. And I am pretty sure that long ago, she figured out that we were not all beholden to Duncan McLeod, and that is not why we helped out. So she has to figure out something else is involved. Now figuring out our name and how long we have been around and so forth is not going to happen easily if at all. But the main purpose and reason I think she already knows. She tweaks at me about it every now and then. But at the same time, it does not seem to be a big concern for her. She seems to accept it. It's just in her nature to solve puzzles and figure things out, and we are one of them that she wants to figure out."

Joe nodded to himself. That made sense. Cynthia seemed to have a good grasp at what made Liz Parker tick, and that is what a good watcher did.

"No, I don't think you need to come. She is going to be around Duncan full-time, and Richie is there as well, so there will be watchers around. They will make copies and send their notes to you about anything she does out of the ordinary while she is there."

Cynthia shrugged to herself. She pretty much thought that would be the answer, but she had to try.

"About what I figured. She will probably be looking for me, and when she does not see me after a day or so, that might puzzle her some. Or she might start looking around to see if anyone else is watching."

Joe nodded to himself. "Very Likely. I will put a bug in Richie's Watcher's ear about keeping a lower profile than normal. Since Richie also knows about the Watchers, he is pretty casual about it. So I am willing to bet that his watcher may be getting sloppy. I will put some time in observing myself in the next few days—can't let our people get sloppy—things can happen—bad things."

Cynthia grimaced as she put down the phone and stared at the wall. While it did not happen often, occasionally nasty immortals spotted their watcher and reacted badly—for the watcher. That is why they were supposed to see and not be seen. Unfortunately with Immortals that were constantly on the move, it was hard to do. Those that stayed in one place like Duncan McLeod were easier—you got used to seeing the same people around when you stayed for a while. She actually had it about as easy as a watcher could get it—her Immortal knew that she was keeping an eye on her and had no problem with it. Cynthia wondered what it would be like to have to move around a lot and never stay in one place for more than a few weeks or months. She did not know if she would like that kind of life. Her time as Liz Parker's watcher was supposed to be only while she stayed in Roswell, but she had a hunch that Joe Dawson was looking at making it permanent. In one respect, that was fine with Cynthia—she really liked Liz, and it would not be as lonely as it could be because they knew each other already. The downside of that was that Liz could lose her head at any time to a better fighter, and Cynthia really did not know how well she would be able to handle that if it happened. She now could understand how some Watchers crossed the line—they were human after all. It was very difficult after time to not identify with your immortal—especially when they were a good person like Liz was.

They had decided to meet where Liz had fought Felicia Rising. They all knew how to get there and there was no one around. It was only early October so the weather at night was still pretty warm, and they would not be there all that long anyway.

Max had picked up Michael, and Isabel had come with him. He had been a little surprised that she so readily agreed to come, and told her that. Isabel's answer had surprised him a little.

"I think it's a good idea. Ever since this all started, I have been thinking about how we cut ourselves off from everyone once we figured out we were different. It was the smart thing to do, but we did not have to go as far as we did. And I admit being able to talk with people and not worry so much about things would be a good thing. And Liz is right—sooner or later, if we stay together, and I think we will, Alex and Maria will have to know. I used to think that Maria was too scatterbrained to trust, and I now realize that that was a mistake. And Alex is pretty sharp and quiet, so there is no worry there."

Max had smiled a little at that last part. He did not think that Isabel really realized how close she and Alex were getting. Alex had come to him for advice on that, and he had told him to keep it low key and calm—that was the best way to handle Isabel.

Liz, Maria and Alex had arrived first with some chairs and a cooler with drinks in it. They had just set up when Max's jeep arrived with him, Isabel and Michael.

Liz walked up to the jeep and kissed Max, and then smiled at Isabel and Michael.

"Come on over, we have chairs and drinks. And the weather is great."

Liz stood before them and let them know what was up.

"I was called by Duncan this morning, and he wants me to come to Seacouver for a few days to train and spar. Also he wants me to meet some people he thinks might help out if the need is ever there. I am going to have to tell my parents about the game, and one of the reasons I wanted everyone here is to hear suggestions about how to do it and what to say. I also wanted to get everyone together since I think it's a good idea to do this on occasion. We are all connected in one way or another, and it is easier when you do not have to worry about someone over hearing something we don't want out there."

So they talked it over. Isabel was for being straight up with them, and to tell them as quickly and concisely as possible. The irony of that struck both Max and Michael, but she pointedly ignored their smirks. Alex agreed with Isabel (big surprise there, everyone else thought) about doing it as straightforward as she could. Maria chimed in that Liz should have her sword out and show them she already knew what she was doing with it. Michael thought that she should not tell them about Felicia Rising unless her father was really freaking out—and that of course could send him over the edge. Max agreed with Michael. Maria, who knew Liz's parents' better than any of the others, was very much of the opinion that the whole story needed to be told. They needed to know that no more surprises would be coming. Isabel thought that over and found herself agreeing with Maria; if you are going to tell it, tell it all.

Maria had set up some candles to keep the bugs away, but unfortunately it attracted something else.

A bat swooped down and almost hit Maria, who screamed and launched herself out of her chair. It came back, and Michael reacted instinctively—and blasted it.

For a moment after that happened everyone was frozen. Then Isabel groaned and slumped in her chair. Liz took a deep breath and went over to the shocked Maria and helped her up. She looked around and said.

"Well, Max, I guess it's going to happen sooner than I thought. The upside is that we are in a good place to do it."

Max looked at Isabel who glumly nodded. Michael was totally embarrassed at being the one that had outed them; especially considering he had always been the one that insisted on secrecy. So he just shrugged.

Alex had been flabbergasted and shocked. But he stood up, went over to Maria who was shaking a little, and gave her a hug. Then he went over to where he had been sitting next to Isabel, and said, "Ok, it's clear now that Liz is not the only one with a big secret. And she is right that here and now is as good a time as any. Though I can guess that Liz already knows. I can say for myself that any secret you have, I will keep just like I have kept Liz's secret; for now and always." He then reached over, took Isabel's hand, and squeezed it. She looked at him and took a deep breath, then squeezed back.

Liz stood up and took the floor. "OK guys, it's like this. The crash did happen. What happened to the other aliens, no one knows; but some pods that were on the ship were hidden where the Military was not able to find them. There they sat for almost 40 years before three 6-year-old children emerged and wondered away. Two of them were found by Phillip and Diane Evans and eventually adopted. The third was not so lucky and became part of the Foster Care system, which we all know sucks. The fact that no one was waiting for them to help or guide them at all argues that no other aliens are left or they are not around here. Also, if they had anyone watching them, that one surely would have done something about Michael's situation. They do not know much more than that. They found the pods last year in a cave, but there was nothing else there. No information or anything that would tell them why they are here or where they came from. They may never know. Each one of them has some similar powers, and each one of them has powers unique to that person. Michael as you can see is the one with the most power to blast, though they all can do it. Max can heal—but you have to be conscious for that to work, and that was why he could not help me that day—but I think it may have charged up my quickening since I revived so quickly and have a pretty strong quickening for a newbie Immortal. Isabel can enter people's dreams and sometimes control or interact with them. I have thought about it some, and think frankly that they need to practice more on their powers, and see if they have any that they have not discovered before. So that is one reason I am glad that you two now know. We can help them with that. I have been quietly searching the web to see what there is known about psychic powers, and with Alex's help, we can come up with a list of possibilities that they can try, and also try and figure out ways to help them train. I feel it's important that they be ready if something happens. You never know—there could be bad aliens around out there that might be looking for them. It seems clear to me that they were sent here to be hidden and allowed to grow up safely. But something went wrong—and whether it was an accident or sabotage, we may never know. But it's better to be on the safe side and be prepared."

Maria had gotten herself together and looked at Michael.

"Well I should have figured you were an alien from the beginning."

Michael snarked right back at her. "And that's gratitude for you. Next time, I will let the bat land in your hair."

They all laughed at that, and suddenly things looked like it would all work out.

Liz prepared herself for telling her parents about the Game by asking them to come out to the balcony. She let them know ahead of time that it was more of the Immortal stuff.

Jeff and Nancy came out on the balcony to find Liz going through what looked like an exercise or some kind of dance almost, but it was with a sword. She moved quickly and gracefully through a series of moves, and increased her speed through the exercise until at the end the sword was a blur that swished through the air.

Liz finished her KATA and walked over to where her mother and father were standing. She sat down with the sword in her lap as they, with some hesitation, sat down opposite her.

Nancy was the first to speak. "Where did you get that sword, Liz? That does not look like something easily found or inexpensive. And I know that you were doing an exercise with it—I recognized it from a documentary I saw a few years ago. You must have been doing this for a while to be that good. My question is why?"

Jeff had been very disturbed watching his daughter wield the sword with such obvious skill. Liz had said this was about Immortals. What could this mean? He needed to know.

"Liz, just spit it out. We know that this has something to do with you being an immortal. Just tell us."

Liz took a deep breath. "I did not tell you all about what it means to be an immortal. One other price we pay is that we cannot have children. Which is understandable—how horrible would it be to have children and watch them get old and die while you remained unchanged?"

Nancy reached over and held Liz's hand. She certainly knew that feeling of not being able to have children. Jeff closed his eyes in sadness. Then he opened them and asked her.

"But there is more, right?"

Liz nodded. "For as long as there have been immortals, there has been what is called by them the Game, and the Prize. The Prize is what you supposedly get from winning the game. The energy that keeps us from aging and heals our wounds is called the Quickening. There is only one way for an immortal to die permanently—by decapitation. If one Immortal beheads another, he gets that Immortal's quickening which strengthens his own. He also gains that Immortals knowledge, and the feeling of getting a Quickening is like apparently being on a drug high. There are some immortals who do nothing but go around trying to get quickening—addicts to that high. There are others just doing it to try and win the Game. The legend has it that when only a few immortals are left, they will all feel a pull to come together into what is called the Gathering. Then they will all fight until only one is left. That person will supposedly have all the quickenings of every Immortal who ever lived. Legend has it that this will give that person enough power to rule the world."

Jeff and Nancy sat there stunned by what they had just heard. Jeff looked at the sword his daughter was holding. He swallowed and looked at her.

"They fight with swords. And you are learning to fight with swords. Does that mean you have to go out and kill?"

Liz shook her head. "Most Immortals only fight if challenged. Only a small percentage are headhunters. Most of us just want to be left alone to live our long lives in peace. But we have to be ready to defend ourselves if challenged. That is what I have been doing from the first week after I was shot. Duncan trained me. First he had me wearing weights on my wrists and ankles to make me stronger. Then he had me running to increase my endurance. Then working out with a wooden practice sword, and then when my sword was finished, the real thing. He spared with me all the time he was here. He only left when he was satisfied that I was ready to defend myself."

Nancy head was swimming in confusion at what she had just been told. It was fantastic and horrible at the same time. Jeff sat there thinking. He looked at Liz.

"This challenge thing. How does it work? Are there rules, customs, and so on?"

"All fights must be one on one. There have been a few cases where cheating has happened, but not many, and those Immortals do not seem to last very long. Usually someone like Duncan takes care of them sooner or later. It is supposed to be just sword to sword, but once again, a few cheat and try and weaken their opponents by shooting them or using knives and the like. They also do not seem to last very long. Only a very tiny fraction are like that—even among the headhunters. There is one rule that no one will break. There must never be a fight on Holy Ground—and that means Holy to any religion. Legend has it—and this is one all Immortals believe no matter what—that the last time two Immortals fought on Holy Ground was in 79AD right outside the city of Pompeii."

Nancy looked up in shock. Jeff frowned, trying to remember why that sounded familiar. Nancy whispered, "You mean that fight is what caused Mt Vesuvius to erupt and bury Pompeii?"

Liz nodded. "It's an absolute belief in the Immortal Community."

Jeff was shaking his head. "That is just not possible. That is the most unbelievable thing I have heard yet, and that is saying something."

Liz was quiet for a minute. "So much about Immortals is shrouded in history and mystery and myth. Where do we come from? No one has ever identified the mother of any Immortal. And many have tried to find theirs or others. We just appear as babies. Never anything else. So maybe something else is involved—or should I say SOMEONE else."

Jeff and Nancy looked at each other then at their daughter. Their heads were still spinning.

Jeff had been thinking about what he had been told. "Liz, this part about Holy Ground? You said NO immortal will dare break that rule. Does that mean that anyone in a monastery or convent is safe?"

Liz had been waiting for that one. "As long as that Immortal never leaves the Holy Ground, yes. Of course, then you have to find one that accepts someone that will be around for hundreds of years. Which I understand is a little hard. And before this goes any further, there is NO way I am going into a convent."

Nancy was still holding her hand. "But Honey, is that not better than having to defend yourself and possibly lose your life, or have to take another?"

Liz sadly knew that she would have to tell all. "Kind of a moot point, Mom. I already have."

Jeff sat straight up in shock. Nancy gripped Liz's hand even harder as she stared at her daughter.

Liz knew it was now or never. "Remember when I went out to help Grandma? I asked her to call you with that as an excuse so that I could go away and train hard with Duncan for 4 days. A female headhunter had found out that Duncan was training a newbie and thought she could get an easy quickening. The irony of that was that Duncan was the one that found her when she first became Immortal during the end of WW2. He helped her and found her a trainer. No gratitude there at all. She showed up here, challenged me, and we fought outside of town. I won."

Jeff spoke very softly "You killed her? Took her head?"

"She would not have stopped coming after me. If I had let her live, she would have found other ways to get at me. I really had no choice. So I took her head and her quickening. From that, I found out she had been doing this for years—finding newbie Immortals and killing them. I got their memories—how scared they were. And she enjoyed their fear—taunting them before she took their heads. I stopped that. And I do not feel bad about it at all. I know I had no choice in the matter—she chose to come after me and lost. And I will do it again if I have to. Luckily Roswell is not a place many Immortals come through or care to get near. I guess all this alien stuff wigs them out. So odds are that I will not have to worry too much. BUT I have to train and be ready. Duncan called me yesterday and asked me to come out to him in Seacouver for a week to train and spar. He pointed out that I need to do this on occasion to stay sharp. And he is right."

Jeff and Nancy sat there and pondered what they had been told. Liz got up and showed them her hiding place for her sword. Then she walked over to them. "I am going inside. I know that you two need to talk this over."

For a long while they sat and thought, saying very little. What was there to say? Their daughter was part of something so big and so old. And would be, hopefully, long after they were gone.

Liz looked out the small window of the airliner as it set down in Seacouver. This was the first time she had ever flown, and it had been really interesting. Her parents had reluctantly agreed that coming here was what she had to do. Liz's sword was in a rifle case she had bought—it had gotten some interesting looks at the airport when she had opened it up. She explained that she was taking the sword which was a WW2 heirloom to someone in town to have it appraised. As good a story as any, she thought.

Duncan McLeod tried not to pace as he waited at the gate for Liz's plane to land. He knew that there was no reason to worry, but that was part of him, and he knew that it would not change. He looked up as the door opened and the passengers came out. Liz was one of the first ones out. She saw him right away as she felt his buzz and waved. Duncan smiled in relief and waved back. She bounced up to him.

"First time on a plane. I really enjoyed it. Now we just have to hope all my bags came with me."

They chatted about non immortal things as they went down to the baggage claim area. They were in luck as Liz's bags and her sword were some of the first ones to come down the line. Duncan led her out to where he had his convertible parked. Liz's eyes widened as she looked at the classic convertible.

"Wow. Kyle would just pee himself if he saw this. He loves convertibles. But isn't this kind of a strange car to have in a place that rains so much?"

Duncan grinned. Liz was certainly not boring. "I got this when it was brand new, and for some reason, I just do not want to let it go. It's a little annoying having to put up the top so much, but this car is special to me. Cannot really say why, just that it is."

Liz thought about that. Duncan was not the kind to have hunches or feelings or such; so this must really be important to him.

Duncan gave her a short tour of the city. It was really quite pretty—and so very different then Roswell or any other place she had been—which actually was not saying that much. They parked outside of the Dojo/Gym which was still called Charlie's even though Duncan now owned it. The building was brick and old—for Seacouver—which was a fairly new city. Liz liked it—somehow it fit and felt right. They went inside and up the stairs to the second floor where the apartments started.

"You got this room here Liz. It has its own bathroom and tub and shower. Take a few minutes to put your stuff away, and then come on down to the gym. My office is right off of it. Richie should be in in a little while, and you can meet Charlie. Don't worry about saying anything—Charlie is in the know."

It only took Liz a few minutes to put her clothes away—mostly jeans and shirts, though she had brought one good dress with her just in case they went out. She knew that this trip was not pleasure but serious, but you never knew when you might need a good dress. She then took her sword out of its case and went downstairs.

The Gym pretty much looked like any other that she had been in. Though there were more mats and what looked like quarter staffs and other more ancient weapons on racks on the walls. There was no ring for boxing. A few people were practicing a kata of sorts with a tall black man teaching. She stopped outside of the entry way and watched them for a few minutes. He clearly knew what he was doing.

Charlie noticed the small young woman with the sword right away. This had to be Duncan's new student, Liz Parker. She was certainly small but very pretty. And she had already taken her first head. Richie had told him the story right after Duncan came back. He was still not happy with the prank they had played on him, but he was getting over it. He walked over to her.

"My name is Charlie, and unless I am greatly mistaken, since you are carrying a sword, you must be Liz."

Liz smiled at him. She knew she was going to like Charlie.

"Not too many of us walking around with swords, I would guess."

"More than you might think. Duncan is in the office over there. Probably wants to start right away. We have a second training area out back that we keep closed off. That is where you old people do your thing." Then he winked at her.

She smiled back at him. "I am not old—yet."

Duncan was checking out the books when Liz walked in and sat down in front of his desk.

"Met Charlie. I like him. I bet he has a twisted sense of humor."

Duncan grimaced as he thought of his 'date' with Mrs. Masters. Sooner or later he would take his revenge on Charlie and Richie for that stunt. "Yes, very twisted."

Liz and Duncan both straightened up as they felt the buzz of an approaching Immortal. Liz turned around and saw a young red headed man walking towards them. "Richie I presume?"

Richie Ryan had wanted to get there a little sooner, but getting the extra supplies the Gym needed had taken more time then he originally thought. He felt the buzz and knew that there was more than one immortal in the building and figured that Liz Parker had already gotten there. He waved at Charlie and headed for the office. Sitting in the chair in front of Duncan's desk was a very pretty and petite brunette carrying a sword.

"Liz Parker, right? I doubt there are any other pretty ladies with a sword that are in a gym right now."

Liz smiled at him and shook his hand. He was a lot like Kyle in his manner—she felt right at ease with him.

"Charlie said that I would find more than I thought when I said pretty much the same to him."

Duncan shook his head. "Charlie has gotten pretty cavalier about Immortals ever since he found out about them. He probably took it better than just about any non-Immortal I have ever met. Just the way he is."

Richie nodded. "He really does not take it all too seriously. Which actually makes things easier around here, what with all the fun and games we immortals bring to daily life."

Duncan got up and motioned for Liz and Richie to follow him. They went out the side door and to the back of the gym where Duncan unlocked a door and turned the lights on.

Liz walked into what was a smaller training area than the main one, but one that was clearly meant to train the way they needed to. There were practice swords and real swords in a rack, and otherwise a very clear room.

Duncan motioned for Richie to get a sword. "I want Richie to spar with you first, Liz, so I can more clearly see what you need to work on."

Liz took a deep breath as Richie took a sword and walked into the middle of the room. She gripped her sword and got ready.

About an hour later, Duncan called for them to rest. Liz was breathing pretty hard, and so was Richie. They had both inflicted a fair amount of damage on the other—Richie doing more, but Liz getting in some cuts as well. Liz was glad she had taken the time to change into an older pair of jeans and older shirt since both were going to be pretty much destroyed before the night was over.

She walked over to the seats at the far end of the room and sat down catching the towel that Duncan had tossed to her. She gladly accepted the cold water bottle that Charlie handed her—he had come in about 15 minutes ago and had been watching.

Charlie was impressed by the newbie. She had given Richie a fair amount of trouble and Richie was no slouch. He could see why she had won her first challenge so easily. "I can see why you had very little trouble with that headhunter—she probably really underestimated you."

Liz took a deep drink and nodded to him. "I admit I played her some as well. It got her angry, and she got sloppy, and it cost her."

Charlie nodded. "Yep—one of the first things you learn if you live is that when it gets down and dirty, the first one to lose their temper loses it all."

At that moment Liz, Duncan and Richie all stiffen and look towards the open door. Charlie observed this and said. "I guess we got another one coming, right guys?"

Duncan was trying to recognize the buzz—it did seem familiar. He did not think it was Methos—as far as he knew, Methos was currently in Europe still in the guise of Adam Pierson. He wondered… just as the Immortal walked in the door.

Liz saw the Immortal and immediately felt dowdy and nondescript. Tall, dark haired, beautiful, and dressed in a designer's dress that probably cost enough to run the Crashdown for a year. She absolutely reeked of money, style and class.

Charlie had to admit that this one was a real fox—and dressed to kill. Maybe literally.

Richie's mouth dropped open—talk about dressed to the nines and in exactly the wrong place. BUT what an appearance!

Duncan shook his head, and walked over to her.

Amanda Derioux was rather pleased with herself. She always liked making an entrance, and from the looks she was getting, she had done it again. The dress had been rather expensive, but definitely worth it. Her last few capers had been very lucrative, and she had plenty of money to burn. And she liked nothing better but to burn it on herself.

Duncan carefully hugged Amanda to make sure he did not muss up her very expensive dress, and then kissed her thoroughly.

Liz was a little perplexed; obviously they knew each other well. Yet she had heard nothing about this immortal from anyone. She seemed to be comfortable here and known to at least Duncan and Richie.

Duncan turned to them and said. "Charlie, this is Amanda Derioux, a very OLD friend. Amanda, this is Charlie Desalvo, who really runs this place. Richie and I just make appearances."

After swatting Duncan for the 'old' comment, Amanda smiled and shook Charlie's hand.

Charlie smiled and said, "Well, I think I can safely say that no woman ever entered this place anywhere near as beautiful as you."

Amanda preened a little then turned towards Liz. "You must be Duncan's new student. When I heard that for the first time ever he had taken a female student, I just had to find out more. He always before either got me or Cassandra or some other female immortal to train them. Also heard that you took care of Felicia Rising. And for that I thank you. I just recently found out one of my students was killed by her. I had always thought it was another headhunter that lost his right after. I was just about to start hunting that bitch when I heard you had already given her the short haircut."

Liz was a little overwhelmed but recovered to shake Amanda's hand. "Well it was her or me, and I much preferred it to be me. After I got her quickening, I realized what a true bitch she was. That made it a little easier for sure."

Amanda nodded. "That always makes it easier when the other one is a real bad guy. You did well. And I can see Duncan got you up here to train some more. That is a good thing. BUT now that I am here, I can show you how women do things. It's different in some rather significant ways. But Duncan has certainly made sure that you have the basics down. I just need to show you a few little moves and tricks I have learned over the years so that you can be prepared for them. Women Immortals on the whole are a lot more tricky then the men are—with the men, it's so much about strength. How long can you stay?"

Liz blinked and then answered. "I am here through next Sunday. Cannot really afford to miss too much more school. I still want to go to college, and I want to be my class's valedictorian, so that is a factor."

Amanda shook her head. "You are going to have to move on from what you thought was important as a mortal. Degree's and college and things like that are not important in our world. Though as young as you are, some of that is probably not a bad thing. But you cannot let it be as vital as you once thought it would be."

Liz looked stubborn. "I know I have to change a lot of things in my life, but I refuse to give up on what I have dreamed for years. I intend to have both a top degree and a good life outside of being Immortal. I am not going to let being an Immortal dominate my life. It's just a part of it, not the whole thing."

Amanda raised an eyebrow at that. "Well she certainly is stubborn enough. Takes after you, Duncan. Maybe you have some Highland Scott in your background. Well you are still very young. One can still have dreams when you are young. As you get older, you realize what's important."

Duncan shook his head. "Leave her alone, Amanda. She has plenty of time to make decisions like that, and since she has been able to maintain her old lifestyle so far, it's better that she continue on the road she was on before she became Immortal."

Amanda shrugged. She turned to Richie. "Richie, be a dear and take my bags upstairs. I will need to change if I am going to start teaching Liz the ins and outs of female battles."

Richie blinked. How did he get picked for this? Shaking his head and ignoring Charlie's snicker, he went out to take care of it.

Duncan shook his head. "Well then go ahead and change. I want to spar with Liz some to get a better feel on what she needs to work on."

Amanda kissed him then looked at Liz. "Try not to appear too helpless in order to feed his ego."

Liz laughed at that. She shook her head. "That is something I have never figured out how to do."

Amanda rolled her eyes and said "You have a lot to learn, but luckily I know all about how to work the system. And manipulate men. That is something all women need to learn."

Tess Harding watched the scenery from the passenger seat of the car being driven by Nasedo and contemplated her situation. Supposedly, she was to be the Queen to an Alien King; that is the way it had been 50 years ago. She wondered how anyone could think that just because Zan and Ava married on Antar 50 years ago that Max and Tess would marry now. She understood about royal marriages having to be arranged; that she could accept. But in reality, there was no good reason this time. Supposedly the Royal Four were supposed to lead Antar back to the way it was before Kivar. She did not see why she had to marry someone she had never met to do that. Nasedo was very determined about this; why, he would not say. Tess had been getting more and more suspicious about that; she was beginning to believe that something else was involved. She also wondered why it took so long for Nasedo to figure out that it was Max Evans that, with his sister Isabel, had been the ones that hatched from the pods over 11 years ago. 2 6-year-olds wandering in the desert just a little ways from the pod chamber should have been a dead giveaway; not hard to find out about or to figure out at all.

Max Evans was just getting out of his jeep to head into the Crashdown for lunch (even if Liz was not there right now habits are hard to break) from his job at the UFO museum when a tall, lean man walked up to him and said, "You were once called Zan. I am here to guide you on your course to become King of Antar." Max looked at him in shock. "I have never heard of Zan or Antar—what are you talking about?"

Nasedo shook his head. "I see now that the failure of the crew of your ship was all but complete. They did manage to get your pods out and safely hidden, but they did not leave any instructions or anything else for you, did they?" Max looked around, then motioned for Nasedo to follow him back into the Museum.

After leaving the museum, Nasedo was very optimistic. They knew nothing about who they were or where they came from. So very easy to manipulate them into doing exactly what he needed them to. The only question remaining is where was the Granolith; it had to be near the pods. But from what Max had told them, there was no indication of the Granolith at all. They should have been able to feel it from the pod chamber—the granolith would have been located nearby. The fact that they had not felt anything while there, nor in the time they had spent wandering the immediate area, told Nasedo that once again something else had gone wrong. There was no way to tell where the Granolith was—and for his plan to work, they had to have it.

Max had gone straight home after stopping by the Crashdown to pick up Michael. He and Isabel had to know about this as soon as possible. Everything had changed. They now knew from where they had come from and why. Though as far as Max was concerned, this business of him having to marry this Tess was out of the question. He was going to marry Liz or no one at all.

Tess looked around the house that Nasedo had rented. Not bad, but they really needed to buy some furniture and decorate some, or people would ask questions. That tactic always worked on Nasedo, as by this time Tess had figured out how to manipulate him. From what Nasedo had told her, Michael Guerin (Rath) was working at an alien themed diner. Which was kind of funny when you thought about it. So she decided to head over there and start to get a feel of her fellow members of the Royal Four.

Michael had just finished his shift and went out back to the alley to be alone for a while. He was still reeling from what Max had told him yesterday. He was supposed to be Rath, second and soldier to the King, Zan (Max), as members of the Royal Four, who had been assassinated 50 years ago. Their DNA had been added to human DNA to bring them here and have them grow up in relative safety until they were old enough to begin the campaign to free Antar from Kivar. Tess had come out of her pod on schedule to find Nasedo waiting for her—the other pods had already been empty for some months. Nasedo, as she could remember, had not been happy. Why Nasedo had not been able to figure out where he, Max and Isabel had gone to was something that bothered Michael. His natural suspicion had been raised when Max admitted that there were certainly gaps in the story. Suspicious gaps. And Nasedo either would not or could not answer. Max was of the opinion that Nasedo knew more than he was telling but was also in the dark about other facts as well.

Tess had gone around the back of the diner looking for a back door so that she would have a better chance of finding Michael without others noticing. She realized that her luck was running good when she found him in the alley by himself.

Michael looked over at the short blond. She walked up to him and said. "Greetings Rath; or as you are called here, Michael. I am Tess, in a previous life Ava."

Michael looked at her sharply. "Max told me the story last night. I frankly find the whole thing very strange and very suspicious. Just splicing in DNA and making a hybrid does not mean that you also are able to have the personality or memories of the previous Royal Four. So how are we supposed to go about this whole saving Antar thing?"

Tess raised an eyebrow. So he was just as suspicious about this whole scenario as she was. "I think a whole lot of what was supposed to happen has not. And the changes we have undergone by growing up here instead of Antar are just as important. Frankly I have no intention of marrying Max just because we did in a previous life. This is MY life, and I will choose who I marry. There is no good reason for us to get married since we can do the job as the Royal Four without it. Being Queen is not something I want either—from all I can find out, it was a lousy job that no one in their right mind would take."

Michael smirked. "Right now, there is no way that Max would go along with that no matter what; as long as Liz is around anyway."

"Liz?"

"Liz Parker. Max's girlfriend. Her parents own the Crashdown. Just from watching the last few months, I can imagine what Max will say to Nasedo if he brings it up."

Tess considered this. As far as she was concerned, this was a very good thing. If Max was as serious about his girlfriend as Michael seemed to think, and he was certainly not someone to say something that he was not sure of, then she had nothing to worry about as regards having to marry him. She decided to let Nasedo know about this immediately—she was going to enjoy the look on his face.

Nasedo had found out where Max's girlfriend was very easily. He had gone into the Diner where she worked and had asked for Liz, as being recommended by a friend who had been there before. The aged waitress Agnes apparently thought she was shirking by visiting friends in Seacouver. Michael had told Tess that she was staying with a Duncan McLeod. He had to give her credit for being able to get that much detail from the apparently normally taciturn teen. He had not given out where she was; now he knew. It was a simple process from that point on to find out that Duncan McLeod owned a gym and apparently lived above it. Nasedo decided to act immediately to remove the only real impediment that he could see in his plans—Liz Parker.

Liz had decided to take a walk as she really could not sleep that night. Mindful of Duncan's warning, she wore a long raincoat and had her sword with her. She had just left the building and had not gone far when she realized that she was being followed. Deciding to confront whoever it was, she walked into an alley and then waited.

Nasedo could not believe his luck—she was wandering by herself late at night. He had only been there a day and already his plans were working. He followed her and saw her go into an alley—this was almost perfect. He walked into the alley to find her waiting for him.

Liz assessed the tall lean dark haired man. Well let's find out. "OK, why are you following me?"

Nasedo had to give her credit—she did not appear intimidated at all and was direct and to the point. Well that was fine with him. Apparently she knew all about the aliens—or thought she did, from what Tess had relayed from Michael.

"My name is Nasedo, and I am the one to guide the Royal Four to accomplish their mission. They should have been told immediately after coming out of the pods, but like most of the plans made, it was a failure. However, I am here now to rectify that mistake. And one problem is you."

Liz raised her eyebrow. "I am guessing you mean something about Max?"

"He will marry Tess to complete the Royal Four so that they can fulfill their destiny to free Antar."

Liz shook her head. "Why does Max have to marry Tess? That will have nothing to do with starting a revolution. And it would have nothing to do with how they do it. That is not logical, and does not sound necessary. Even if Max was willing, which he would not be."

Then so be it. I will take care of this problem right now. "So you would not step aside?"

"Only if Max asked me to, and he will not."

"Then you have no one but yourself to blame for this." And he raised his hand and sent a blast of energy right at Liz. It hit her in the chest and slammed her against the building, where she slumped down to the alley.

Liz had never felt such pain before. She managed to raise her eyes to Nasedo.

He smiled horribly at her. "I made a deal with Kivar many years ago to betray the Royal Four. All I have to do is bring an heir to the throne. Max will marry Tess, and that is all I need. Once a child is conceived, they will all die. All I need is the child. If you had just decided to walk away, you would have lived. Now you die."

Liz gave in to the darkness, but vowing Nasedo would be in for a big surprise soon.

Looking around, Nasedo picked up the body and moved it behind a dumpster. He decided to get his car and take the body to the bay and dump it there. It would be a long time before it would be found, and by then, very hard to identify. Tess would be there to comfort the heartbroken Max. Things were looking better and better.

Liz revived being jostled and realizing quickly she was in a vehicle moving. And she was probably in the trunk. Carefully moving around, she was able to pull out her sword and position herself so that the moment the trunk was opened, she would be ready.

Nasedo looked around carefully after he got out of the car near the bay. After looking around, he was able to detect where the strong currents were—just what he needed to get rid of the body. It would have been better to just blast it to dust, but he did not really have the power to do that. His blasting powers were not on the level of Antarians; they had always been the most powerful. But this would do well enough for his purposes. With luck, he would be off this pitiful world in only a few months. The body might not be found until after he left.

Liz waited tensely. The Car had stopped minutes ago. She could just barely hear what sounded like foghorns—so she had a hunch they were close to the bay. Probably where he meant to dump her body. Well he was about to find out the hard way how tough it was to keep an Immortal down for the count.

Nasedo pulled out his keys and unlocked the trunk. *This should take only a few minutes,* he thought as he opened it up, *and I can be gone.* Suddenly, he felt a great pain in his body. He looked down and was stunned to see a sword sticking out of his chest. Then it was pulled out, and the pain grew worse. He staggered back, stumbling, trying to stay on his feet when he saw the girl get out of the trunk, holding the sword. He could not believe it. She had been dead. There was no doubt about it.

Liz got out of the trunk, and stalked the stumbling, wounded alien.

"You are about to find out the hard way that I am a lot tougher then I look. I don't know if you believe in hell, but you are about to find out one way or another."

Liz, with a smooth practiced swing, beheaded the alien.

The head went rolling, and the body fell. In moments the head and body changed to a reptilian form.

*Interesting,* Liz thought. *Either a chameleon or shapeshifter. Does not matter though.* She looked around. Liz had not yet taken her driver's ed course, and what little experience she had would not be enough to get back to the Gym. Not to mention she had no idea exactly where she was and did not know the city well enough anyway. She decided that she needed to call Duncan. Unfortunately, there were no phones nearby. So she put the pieces into the trunk and managed to drive around until she found a pay phone.

Duncan arrived about half an hour later. With him were Amanda and Richie. Liz grimaced when she saw them—she really had not wanted to let anyone else know about aliens, but what will be will be.

Duncan walked up to where Liz was standing beside a car. She went over, opened up the trunk, and stood back. Duncan looked into the trunk and could not believe his eyes. What looked like some kind of two legged reptile, about the size of an average man, green with scales and the whole reptile part. And it was in two pieces, the head being separate. Richie and Amanda had come up, and their gasps let him know he was not seeing things.

It took Liz about 15 minutes to explain about aliens and what this all meant. The other immortals would have been skeptical, but the evidence was right before their eyes.

"Duncan, I have to get the body back to Roswell. No matter what he was, he was all the family Tess had. And they can blast it to dust so we never have to worry about it being found."

Duncan was still in partial shock so Amanda took over. For some reason, this did not seem to shock her all that much, and to the surprise of the others, she right away got to the point.

"Duncan can charter a small aircraft. We can box this up and just ship it as normal freight. From what I can remember, Roswell does have an airport if a small one. As long as someone is waiting for us with a truck, there should be no problem."

Liz nodded. "That makes sense. We need to find a box that we can seal right away though."

Amanda thought for a moment, and then went to the pay phone. She dialed a number from memory. "Sam, I know this is late at night ,but I need a favor NOW. And you owe me. I need a box about the size of a standard coffin that can be sealed air- and water-tight and can take rough handling. I need it at Charlie's Gym by noon tomorrow."

They had managed to get the car to the gym and the pieces out of it into the gym where they wrapped it in some plastic sheets. Duncan then took the car and got rid of it, Richie following in the convertible. Amanda was right on the phone again chartering an aircraft, promising the pilot a bonus if he got them all to Roswell by dark that next day. Liz remarked that Amanda did a real good job of spending Duncan's money. Amanda smirked at her and told her that was another lesson she needed to teach the Newbie. How to manipulate men.

Tess was wondering where Nasedo was. He had told her he would be gone for a day or two but said nothing more. Used to this, she still wondered what could be so important since he had finally found the rest of the Royal Four. She shrugged and kept at work unpacking the items she had bought the previous day on his charge card. He probably would not be happy (though she knew there was plenty of money—a large amount of gold had been sent with Nasedo as they had found out that that relatively plentiful mineral elsewhere was scarce and considered a commodity here), but she could care less. She looked up when the doorbell rang. Who could this be? She had not told any of the others where they lived yet. She opened the front door to see what appeared to be the Sheriff of Roswell.

Sheriff Valenti took off his hat as he faced the young girl. "Sheriff Valenti—I am just stopping by since I always visit people just moving into Roswell. I like to keep in touch with the community." He turned around when he heard the door opening of his blazer. Kyle got out and headed up the sidewalk. Valenti shook his head—he should have known that Kyle would want to get introduced as soon as he saw a pretty girl.

Tess decided to play it safe and invited them in—she figured this way it would look less suspicious. Besides the sheriff's son was cute.

Liz decided that flying full size airliners was the only way to fly. These small planes were just way too easy for winds to bounce around. She looked down at the ground and was glad that it would only be another hour or so. Not only smaller and less comfortable, this two engine prop plane was a lot slower than jets. They had left just after noon and would make it just in time for sunset, about 7 PM. She had gotten a hold of Max and had told him that they needed a van or truck, preferably a van, and to meet them at the Roswell Airport around 7PM. She had also told him that they needed to have Tess there. She then told him that she did not want to go into details over the phone.

Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel waited tensely as the airport. They had tried to figure out what Liz was bringing that needed a van and also clearly wanted it to be as hush hush as possible. Was it Immortal or alien related?

During his talk with Liz, Max had brought up the Immortal question. Liz had told him to use his own judgment, but that it was OK with her for him to tell Tess about Immortals. Max had decided that they really had no choice, and that Tess would find out sooner or later anyway.

Tess sat with the other hybrids still trying to come to grips with the whole Immortality part. Here she had thought that she was superior to humans, but no one had ever heard of Immortality. Being able to come back to life after death and being able to heal virtually any wound was about as unbelievable to her as aliens would be to most humans. She wondered what was to come next?

The two engine plane landed and taxied over to where the hybrids were waiting. They had Max's jeep and Michael had been able to talk Maria in to letting him borrow her mother's van. Maria had made him promise on his life to bring it back with no scratches or damage.

Duncan McLeod was the first one out that they recognized after the pilot came out. Then came Liz and a strange young man and older woman. Liz ran to Max, and after a hug and a searing kiss, she beckoned him and Michael over to help unload the big long box in the back of the plane. It took some doing to manhandle it, but they got it into the van at last, and then they headed into town. It was decided to go to Tess's place since it was out on the edge of town, and there were no houses very close—it was a new development, and not many homes had been built yet.

Once they got to the house and got the box inside, Liz went up to Tess.

"Tess, I am very sorry to tell you this, but inside this box is the body of Nasedo."

All the hybrids dropped their jaws in shock. Interestingly Tess seemed the least affected.

Taking a deep breath, Liz recounted the events of the last 24 hours. When she had finished, the hybrids sat there thinking. Tess was the first one to speak.

"I want all of you to know that I knew nothing about Nasedo having a deal with Kivar. Though now knowing that, some of the things he has done over the years make a little sense now. I always thought there was something he had not told me, but I had no idea it was anything like this."

Liz looked at her sympathetically. "From the way he talked right before I passed out, once the child was born, you were dead as well. He had no feeling for you at all. You were just a means to an end for him. As all of you were. All he cared about was getting the deal with Kivar done."

Max looked at the other immortals. "So were you guys as shocked about aliens as we were about Immortals?"

Richie shook his head. The last 24 hours had blown his mind. "I guess so. When Liz called Duncan and said she had a problem she needed help with, the last thing I expected was a beheaded alien."

Amanda nodded. "I was as skeptical about Aliens as I imagine a lot of people were about Immortals."

Duncan smiled slightly. "After all the things I have seen over 450 years, I have to admit that seeing that body was as shocking as anything I have ever seen before."

Liz was thinking about other complications. "Tess, we now have to figure out something for you. As a teenager, you need a guardian. I suppose it was too much to ask if Nasedo had ever made any plans or preparations if something happened to him?"

Tess shook her head. "He was pretty arrogant. It never occurred to him that anything like that would ever happen. Since it's clear he only cared about himself, I doubt he ever did anything. I do have access to his accounts and such—so money is not a problem. However, someone here will start asking questions before long—and I already had a visit from Sheriff Valenti. I guess he makes a habit of checking out new arrivals in Roswell."

Liz looked thoughtful. "Yeah, he always does things like that. He told my dad once that that way if the new arrivals had bad news with them, he got a jump start on it. He will certainly make a point of stopping by until he meets Nasedo. So we are going to have to come up with some kind of cover story."

Michael was looking out the window, keeping watch. "I guess a storm is brewing. The wind is picking up, and it's getting darker." He then noticed lights coming towards the house. "Oh OH, I think you have visitors, Tess. And it looks like the Sheriff."

James Valenti had no real reason to visit the Hardings—he just had a hunch he should be there. When he told Kyle what he was doing, of course he wanted to come along. Just to save an argument, Valenti gave in. The storm now brewing maybe made this not so great an idea; on the other hand, the young girl might still be alone, and he would make a point of checking on her anyway. Frankly, her guardian did not sound all that responsible. He had already decided to check into this Ed Harding.

It had just started raining when Kyle and the Sheriff started towards the house. Seeing The DeLuca Van and Max Evans jeep already there just made the sheriff more curious. Why would they be here?

The house had some fairly large trees that had been left over when the lots were built on—the developer realizing that they would be a selling point. Just as Kyle was halfway up the walk, lightning hit one of the trees, splitting it in half. One half remained upright— the other half fell—on Kyle.

Michael was the first to sound the alarm, and they all ran outside to find the sheriff desperately trying to get Kyle out from under the tree. Max, Duncan, Richie and Michael each grabbed a branch and between the five of them they were able to raise it enough for Liz and Isabel to pull Kyle out from under. The sheriff ran to his son's side. Liz looked up at Max and shook her head—Kyle was too badly injured to survive.

Jim Valenti had never felt so helpless. It was clear that his son was too badly injured to survive—even if they got him right to the hospital. But that was at least half an hour's drive in this weather. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Max and Liz keeling beside him.

Liz took a deep breath. "Sheriff, I think Max can heal Kyle. But he has to try right now before he loses consciousness. You have to let him try—it's Kyle's only chance."

Numbly, the Sheriff moved aside. He knew that as crazy as it sounded, Liz Parker would not say something like that if she did not mean it. Whatever it took to save his son.

Max knelt next to Kyle and placed one hand on his chest and the other on Kyle's head.

"Kyle—KYLE! Look at me. KYLE."

Kyle was dazed and in pain, and he thought he heard someone talking to him. He managed to open his eyes and saw Max Evans. What was he doing here? What had happened?

Max made the connection and started healing Kyle. He had never healed anyone with such injuries—and was not sure he could do it. He looked up at Liz—who silently mouthed the words, "You can do it, Max."

Sheriff Jim Valenti could not remember ever even thinking that he would see something like this. Max Evans was healing his son—he could see the wounds healing and disappearing. He could also see that it was draining Max. He just hoped he could hang on long enough.

Liz was very worried about Max. She could see how much this was draining him. She looked up at Isabel, who was right beside them. "Is there any way you can help? Feed him energy or something? This is really draining him."

Isabel took a deep breath—but it was Tess that answered. "If we all are touching, the four of us, we can feed him energy. I don't know how much, but Nasedo told me that we could do that."

Michael and Isabel moved over to let Tess get between them. Max continued to heal Kyle and they each placed a hand on Max's shoulder.

Max was feeling exhausted, but he knew he needed to make sure Kyle would live. Suddenly, he felt strength returning to him, and he immediately used it on Kyle.

The Immortals stood there watching as Max healed Kyle. Richie shook his head. "Just when I thought I had seen it all."

Max finally sat back and almost fell over—Liz catching and holding him. Kyle slowly sat up. He looked around him. "What the hell happened?"

As it was starting to rain again, they all went into the house with the sheriff and Michael helping Kyle who kept protesting he was fine but was a little wobbly, and Liz and Isabel helping Max who was pretty well drained. Tess fussed around with Kyle, having him sit in the easy chair and putting a blanket over him much to his protest. Max dropped like a rock into the other easy chair, with Liz on his lap. The rest of them sat on the sofa or grabbed chairs from the kitchen table.

The Sheriff, after making sure for the fourth or fifth time that his son was ok, finally asked the question: "OK, just what the hell is going on?" He looked right at Liz, who looked around and found everyone else looking at her. "Why does it always fall to me to explain it to everyone?" Max weakly smile at her, "Because everyone trusts you to tell the truth." Liz sighed and got up slowly and whispered something to Tess who blinked then got up and headed to the kitchen. She came back with a steak knife which she handed to Liz.

Liz looked at the knife for a moment and sighed. Looking at Kyle and the Sheriff she started.

"The day I got shot, there was a screw-up by an air-headed nurse, and the monitors were not correctly hooked up, since the bullet shifted and nicked an artery. I bled out, and I died… only to revive a couple of hours later. Perfectly healthy and no bullet wound." She then pulled up her shirt and showed the Sheriff and Kyle her unmarked stomach.

"I was very lucky in that Duncan McLeod was traveling through Roswell and sensed me as I was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He snuck in that night just in time to keep me from freaking out. For a very tiny fraction of the human population, death is not final. For me, Duncan, Amanda, Richie and a few thousand others, it's only the beginning. Our Immortality is triggered by our first death. After that, we do not age, and any wound can be healed, and if we die anyway, we revive fully healed a few hours later." Liz then took the knife and cut her arm. The stunned sheriff and his son watched as the wound healed in less than a minute, leaving no trace except for the blood.

"The downside of this is that the quickening, the energy that revives us, keeps us from aging, and heals our wounds, can be transferred from one immortal to another, but only one way. If the immortal is decapitated, then the quickening is released and flows to the other immortal. It's like a drug high, and it makes the other immortal's quickening stronger. Legend has it that one day there will be only one Immortal who will have all the quickening of all immortals who have ever lived. It is said that that Immortal will have the power to rule the world." Liz then went over to her rain coat and pulled out her sword and showed it to the Sheriff. "A couple of months ago, a headhunter, an Immortal who does just that, showed up and challenged me. I killed her and took her head and her quickening. Now I can understand how some would get addicted to that, even without the possibility of winning the prize. I was up at Seacouver at Duncan's gym getting some training in when one night, I took a walk and this man came up to me. He said his name was Nasedo and that he was an alien who was supposed to guide the Royal Four. To cut down a long story, he had the ability to project energy, and he blasted me, killing me. Unfortunately for him, I revived in the trunk of his car, and when he got to the bay where he intended to dump my body, and opened up the trunk, he got my sword in his chest in return, and then I beheaded him." She then motioned for the Sheriff and Kyle to follow her into one of the bedrooms where a long box was sitting on the floor. Liz opened the box and stood back while the Sheriff and Kyle looked and gasped. "Right after I beheaded him, he changed back into what I figured was his natural form. We brought it back here since I thought Tess would want that, and also for them to get rid of it without a trace." She then closed the box and walked back into the living room, with the Sheriff and Kyle slowly following.

"Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess are all alien/human hybrids, a mixture of alien and human DNA. Nasedo was supposed to be their guardian, but as I was dying, he boasted of a deal he had made long ago with the Dictator of Antar, Kivar. The royal four were cloned from the murdered royal four and were supposed to lead a revolution to overthrow their killer, Kivar. They were on the ship that crashed in 1947; their pods were smuggled out and away from the military and hidden. A little over 40 years later, they came out of their pods as 6 year olds. Tess came out a little later and found Nasedo waiting for her. His plan was for Tess to seduce Max, get pregnant, and then take them back to Antar where they all would have been executed except for the baby, who would have been the pawn of Kivar. Max, Isabel, and Michael had no idea about any of this until just recently. They knew they were different years ago, but only last year did they find the cave that had the pods in it, and they realized what they were."

Tess looked around and decided that honesty was the best policy at the moment.

"Nasedo once mentioned something called the Granolith. Apparently it was sent to be near the future king when he hatched and grew up. He was a little vague about it, but apparently it is a huge power source and memory bank and even a transport if necessary. I think that is how Nasedo intended to get back to Antar. He really believed it had to be somewhere near to you or the crash site. I guess it's possible that the military have it. It is not supposed to be accessible to anyone other than the Royal Four."

Liz looked at Tess. "Did Nasedo ever mention what species he was? He was a shapeshifter, clearly, but that is something that none of the rest of you can do. I am thinking he came from another planet in the same system as Antar is or maybe a nearby system."

Tess shook her head. "He never told me, but I knew he was a different species. I got the impression that he was basically a hired gun. So I guess it should come as no surprise that he sold us out."

Kyle, who had been very quiet so far, finally roused himself. "So Liz, your specialty is now real short haircuts?"

Liz looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Only for Immortals that challenge me—but I might make an exception if someone really pisses me off."

That broke the tension in the room. As everyone relaxed, conversation became general as the rest of the Immortals got to know the teens from Roswell. The Sheriff got up and went to Max.

"There is no way I can ever repay you, Max, for saving my son's life. So anything I can do to help, just let me know." Liz, who was sitting in Max's lap, had a thought. She looked up at the Sheriff.

"As far as we can tell, Tess has no identity or papers at all. She pretty much does not exist. And of course, she is a teenager, so now we have the question of legal guardianship."

Duncan overheard this and went over to where they were sitting. "I know someone that can put together the paperwork Tess will need. And he can get it done in a few days." Liz nodded. She then looked at the sheriff. "If Duncan can get that done, maybe we can also get it fixed so that since Tess's guardian died, someone else can be designated. We do NOT want her becoming part of the Child Welfare System that worked so well for Michael."

The Sheriff looked thoughtful. "I will quietly check the law and ask a few questions from an attorney I know. I think I may have an idea of what we can do about Tess's situation." He looked at Duncan. "Have that paperwork sent to me. I think with that in hand, I can fix things."

Joe Dawson put down the phone. That was a call from Amanda's watcher, which mirrored a call that he had just gotten from Richie's watcher a few minutes earlier; Duncan, Richie, and Amanda had suddenly left the gym and headed downtown in the middle of the night. The two watchers had been switching off keeping the gym covered since there were 4 immortals there at the moment. Amanda's watcher had been on duty at the time and had called the other watcher as she followed them. They found them with Liz and a strange car near the bay. They had not been able to get close enough to hear anything even with parabolic microphones. They had loaded something into the trunk of the car and had then headed back to the Gym. Later that morning, they had all taken off and gone to the airport where a small two engine plane picked them and a large box up. The small plane had NOT filed a flight plan, so there was no way to know where it was going. Joe thought about it for a while, then picked up the phone, called Cynthia, and told her to be on the lookout for Liz, Duncan, Richie and Amanda. That was the only place he could come up with.

Cynthia sat and thought for a few minutes after Joe's call. Then she got in her car and headed towards the Evans house. Passing by she saw that Max's jeep was gone. She then headed for the Crashdown, then the UFO Museum, but no trace of the jeep. Then she passed by Michael's apartment with the same result. Just to be thorough she then went by the High School in case some school event was going on but no jeep there either. Out of pure desperation she went by the DeLuca's, and noticed the van was gone but the car was there—Maria used the car whenever she had to drive. As a last resort, she then went by the Whitmans', and not only saw no jeep, but spotted Alex helping his dad with yard work. On her way to the Evan's, she had passed the clinic and noticed no one there. So she was totally at a loss to figure out where the Jeep and Max Evans were. She then checked her watch and tried to figure out how long it would take the plane to get to Roswell. She then realized that Joe had to have been off on his math as by her calculations the plane should be getting to Roswell right about now. She then sped off to the airport—and found nothing. Nosing around a little, she was able to find out a light plane had landed then almost immediately had taken off only about a half hour earlier. She went back to her car and thumped the steering wheel in frustration. IF she had gone out to the airport right after Joe's call, then she would have been there in time. She then went back and did the rounds again with the same result. After that, she went home and went to bed.

It was decided that Richie would stay at Tess's place while Duncan and Amanda would go to the apartment. They borrowed the SUV that was Nasedo's—he had used a taxi to get to the airport on the way to Seacouver. Tess admitted no use for it since she had not been taught to drive herself. Liz then realized that she had not told her parents she would be back in town 2 days early. She then looked at the clock and was shocked to see it was close to 11. The Crashdown closed at 9 every night, so by now, her parents were almost certainly in bed. So she ended up staying at Tess's place that night as well. Max took Isabel back home, then went over to Maria's to pick up Michael after he dropped off the van. Liz had told Michael not to tell Maria that she was home already—she would do that in the morning. The Sheriff and Kyle had left earlier.

Tess found herself acting as hostess to Liz and Richie, not something she had any familiarity with doing. They made it easy on her by pretty much falling asleep immediately. The next morning, she decided to see if she could cook something, and tried to make breakfast. About halfway through what she could see was about to become an epic failure, Liz came into the kitchen and was able to salvage most of the breakfast. Liz laughed that while she might have been a waitress, she had had to help out in the kitchen at the Crashdown on more than a few occasions, so she did have some experience in that area, and agreed to teach Tess the basics. Richie came wandering in lured by the smell of food not long after. After a relaxed meal, Richie looked at Liz and asked, "So do you think we can get in some sparing? I figure Duncan will have arranged flights back to Seacouver either today or early tomorrow. So this could be your last chance for a while." Liz looked thoughtful, then got up and looked out the back door into the yard which did have a privacy fence surrounding it. She looked over at Tess and said, "Do you mind? Might leave some blood on the lawn in the back yard, but that should be all the damage that we do." Tess looked intrigued at the idea of watching, and said go ahead.

Liz and Richie had been going at it for about half an hour when Tess, watching from the back porch, heard a car park in the front drive. Signaling the battling Immortals to stop, she headed through the house to see who it was. It was the SUV with Duncan and Amanda in it. She went out to greet them and told them that Liz and Richie had been sparing in the back. Duncan immediately looked around, but Tess assured him that the privacy fence meant no one could see them, and her house was at least a quarter mile away from any other house so no one could hear them either. Amanda then reached into the SUV and took out her sword, "A chance to spar out in the open and not in a smelly and stuffy gym is not to be passed up." Duncan shrugged and took out his own sword as well. Tess led them through the house to the back thinking that she would be able to really see something since everyone had told her that Duncan was truly a master.

Max had headed out as early as he could towards Tess's house to pick up Liz to take her home. Isabel had declined to come with him preferring to sleep in. Michael had also told Max that sleeping in was his personal good time, and since he had the afternoon/evening shift at the Crashdown, he wanted that extra rest. He pulled up behind the SUV thinking that they all must be in the house. But after he turned the motor off he could hear the sounds of metal on metal—and he realized that a sword fight was going on. Worried about Liz, he rushed around the back and went through the gate, then stopped in shock. Amanda and Liz were sparing, while Richie and Duncan were warming up. He went over to stand beside Tess and asked, "How long as this been going on." Tess shrugged and said, "About an hour. First it was Liz and Richie, then now you see Amanda and Liz, then Duncan and Richie will be on."

The Sheriff had the early watch that day and decided to head over to Tess's. He had discussed his idea with Kyle who was totally supportive. Now he wanted to run it by Tess. His blazer turned the corner of the street, and he noticed the SUV and Max's jeep already there. As he parked the blazer and got out, he heard the sound of metal on metal in a way he had never heard before. Puzzled, he followed the sound until he came to a gate at the back which he opened and went into the backyard. There he was astounded to see Liz and Amanda fighting, with Richie and Duncan apparently warming up. He spotted Max and Tess on the back porch and went to join them.

Tess and the Sheriff were astonished as the two women battled. Cuts healed almost immediately, slashes only a little slower, and neither was able to land a really telling blow. It looked to them like an even battle. Max noticed with pride that Liz had gotten better since her fight with the headhunter—and considering that Amanda was over 1000 years old, being able to fight to a draw was a big confidence booster for Liz. They finally called it quits, both breathing hard. Liz had already had a good work out with Richie before Duncan and Amanda arrived, and Duncan had convinced Amanda to immediately fight Liz, thereby giving her some experience at fighting a fresh opponent while not being fresh herself. It had not been easy for Liz at first since Amanda fought very differently from Richie, but she adjusted quickly, and soon gave as good as she got.

Duncan looked at Liz with approval—she had certainly improved since her journey to Seacouver. He told Liz as much. Amanda echoed that sentiment, saying Liz was a very quick study. Liz thanked them both, and then looked up at the porch and noticed Max and the sheriff for the first time. She had concentrated totally on her match with Amanda and had not noticed them come in. She walked towards them and caught a towel tossed to her by Tess, who gave another to Amanda. They all sat down to watch Richie and Duncan go at it.

The Sheriff thought he had seen pretty good sword-fighting from the two women, but realized that Duncan was in a whole different class, and that it took all that Richie had to keep it close. He was awed by the speed and power of the fight. Tess just marveled at how fast they moved and how quick they were. Max noted the difference and realized that if Liz was challenged by any Immortal even close to Duncan's level, she had no chance to survive. That really bothered him, and he began to brood about it. Liz, sitting next to him, noted the change in his demeanor and tried to figure out what had caused it. Not getting an idea herself, she decided to just ask.

"What has got you brooding, Max? I know you are, and it's got something to do with Immortals or me, so just spill."

Max blinked and looked at Liz, who made it very clear she was not going to settle for anything less than the truth. So he told her. Liz sat back and thought for a couple of minutes on what to say to Max, since she had long ago realized the same truth.

"Max, what will be will be. I should have been dead 6 months ago, so anything more than that is truly a gift. I will do my best to survive, but of course if anyone close to as good as Duncan challenges me, I am toast, and I know it. And there is nothing I can do about it, so no point in dwelling on it. You are going to have to come to grips with that and accept it, or we do not have much of a future together no matter how long I live. It could happen at any time, or it might not happen at all. You will have to accept that."

The Sheriff had decided to tell Tess what he had come up with and did while Max and Liz were talking. Tess was very surprised but agreed to think about it—and admitted that that was probably the best solution to her problem. She of course realized that they needed to keep everything possible inside of the circle of people who already knew—that was better for everyone.

Major Sam Tolner felt the usual derision as he drove through Roswell. This place never ceased to really irritate him. He was not sure why, whether it was the tacky Alien BS (that he knew to be totally untrue) or the tourists that it drew or what, it just did. However, it was part of his duty to touch base here at least a few times a year. It was the only town near dead center, and there was always a possibility something might turn up. His first stop would be the Sheriff's office; he was not a skeptic and also not a believer—just someone who was pretty good at spotting something that did not fit, and that was what Major Tolner needed. His quarry would blend in very well, but there would still be things what would stand out if someone noticed.

Sheriff Valenti was checking some of the paperwork that Duncan McLeod had sent him, and he marveled at how thorough it was, and how professional they looked. It should make what he had in mind fairly simple to execute. He looked up when one of his deputies said that a military officer was here to see him. He quickly stuffed the papers in a drawer and stood to meet the officer.

After a few minutes of pleasantry, the officer got down to business.

"Anything unusual show up recently?"

Valenti thought a minute and decided to take a chance, and to also perhaps shift any focus from the town to the outlying areas.

"Not totally sure, but I have had some reports in the last week or so that something has been going on southwest of town. Nothing definite, and every time I go out that way, I find virtually nothing, but the reports have been fairly consistent, and they are not coming from anyone that I would consider unreliable."

Major Tolner sat forward in interest. "What kind of reports?"

"Not the usual UFO stuff. Supposedly something like lightning, but only when there are no clouds, and also that it looks like a couple of places where the rocks appear to have been blown up, but I have found no traces of explosive. Of course, I would need to have seen the rocks before to be sure they were blown up, and I did not—but the appearances do seem consistent with that."

Max had told the Sheriff where they had gone last year to practice their powers but had decided that the place had too much traffic and would not be going there again. It was also well away from where the Pod Chamber was. Valenti had decided to use that place to get the Military concentrating there and not closer to town. He knew that some efforts were being made, and they appeared to be gaining strength.

Major Tolner was intrigued. This sounded like the first solid lead in a very long time. Certainly since before he had taken command of the Unit.

"I need the exact location. I can send some tech types there, and they can determine if the rocks had been altered in any way."

After the Major had left, Valenti left the office and told his senior deputy that he would be going through town on a patrol. He then did that for about an hour before stopping off at the Crashdown for something to eat and to talk to Liz.

Liz was counting the minutes until her shift ended—these weekends really needed to get longer—though with the holidays right around the corner, it was going to get even busier. She saw the Sheriff come in and sit in her section. She immediately went over to him with his usual drink.

Valenti had to smile at the costumes the waitresses there wore. If people only knew, he thought. When Liz bought him his usual drink, he quickly ordered, and with a gesture, he let Liz know he needed to talk to her. She took his order and remarked that he would probably be her last customer before her shift ended. He nodded and knew that she meant he would go out back after leaving, and she would let him in the rear door. Michael Guerin was doing cook duty, so no problem there.

Michael saw the Sheriff come in, and he had an inkling something was up. He watched Liz carefully and could just barely tell that she was more alert than usual. Sounded like the Sheriff had some news. He hoped for once it was good news, but his natural pessimism argued against it. His shift ended at the same time as Liz's, but Jose was not yet here. He hoped he got there quickly since he wanted to get any news first hand.

Liz walked out the back right as her shift ended and looked around. The sheriff was right there, and she let him in, and took him right upstairs the back way so no one could see him from the diner area. Michael was right behind him as Jose had just shown up.

Jeff and Nancy were out picking up supplies, so no one else was around. The three of them sat in the kitchen, and Liz got them both cold drinks out of the refrigerator.

Liz looked at the sheriff as she sat down. "So, good news or bad news?"

Michael smirked. Liz really got to the point quick.

The Sheriff shrugged. "Hard to tell for sure. The Major who is in charge of a special unit that I think might be alien hunters stopped by today. He usually does it a couple times a year. I got the impression he was suspicious of this area a year or so ago. It was more pronounced today—so I fed him some misinformation, but also gave him the location where Max, Isabel, and Michael did some practicing last year and blew up rocks and such. Not sure they will find anything, kind of doubt it, but it will keep them out of town and looking in the opposite direction from where the Pod Chamber is. Since that is in line with where the crash site was, I think it would be more likely to seem credible to them. They have never sent anyone other than one man in to talk to me, and I have never seen them around town otherwise, and I wanted to keep it that way. Michael, do you think they will find anything?"

Michael thought hard—he knew they had been very careful to leave no trace behind last year; all they had done was blast bigger rocks into smaller rocks. "I think we did a pretty good job of making sure that we left nothing behind—now maybe if they examine the rocks they might." He looked at Liz.

Liz had been thinking about that. "Everything I can gather and figure out indicates that your powers are mental or psychic; the power generated and focused into blasting would not have any radioactivity or anything like it, so I really doubt that the military will be able to find out anything by looking at those rocks."

The sheriff looked relieved. "I hope so. Finding nothing would be a big help in that it would cause them to look elsewhere and farther away. From what Tess said, Nasedo had stayed away from this area ever since she came out of the pod. So unless there are other aliens, they will not find anything."

Graves looked around the area in distaste—he really disliked this area. Though he did not like the entire planet, this area was high on his list of places he really did not like. However, his orders were clear: Check the area out for any sign of the Royal Four. Not that he expected to find anything; just like they had not found anything every other place they had looked. They had not even been able to find the Pods, and personally, Graves believed that they had been destroyed in the crash. They had systematically searched the area for almost 100 miles in every direction away from the crash site and had not found any sign at all. He hoped that someday the higher ups finally gave up and allowed them to go home; too many years spent here in their skin suits had worked on all of them to the point that Graves privately thought that most of his people would be useless even if they suddenly were needed.

Major Tolner had decided that he would use the info gathering mission to also get his combat teams a little field time. This area was pretty well deserted, and a couple of words to the State Highway patrol had resulted in them putting up a couple of road blocks on the only two roads leading here; they should not be disturbed. Both 12-man squads had packed full combat loads; each squad had 3 men with the special model 40MM grenade launcher that was pretty much an enlarged street sweeper capable of firing 15 rounds as fast as you could pull the trigger. A mixture of HE and the special Thermite/WP rounds should be enough to take down any alien they were likely to meet. The rest of the men carried the Super Tasers that could hit someone 50 feet away with 100,000 volts. He was pretty confident that they could handle anything that came up.

Graves had his people checking out the area where one had thought that he had found signs that someone had been blasting rocks—and not using explosives. Since those were powers that the Royal Four would have, that had prompted this look-see.

In response to word from his scouts, the Major crawled on his belly to the top of the small hill that looked down on the area that he was interested in. As part of their training, he had had his combat team do scouting exercises—and it looked like it might have paid off. He carefully trained his binoculars on the scene below. Approximately 20 people were looking around the area he was interested in—and they were not using any instruments that he could see. Instead, they had their hands out as if trying to feel or sense something. This definitely did not look right—but on the other hand, they could be some religious nuts out on a revival too. Then one of them went over to a boulder about half the size of a car that had been split down the middle and put his hand on one side—and it moved slightly. That was enough for the major. He motioned to the other two scouts to follow him down the hill.

"Alright, I think we have finally found what we have been looking for. Team 1, circle to the right; Team 2, circle to the left. When you are both in position, signal me. Then move in with tasers first, but be ready to use all force necessary. I would really like to get a couple alive, but our first responsibility is to make sure none of them get away. I am making a call right now for more support—but we all know that will be hours away. We have to handle this ourselves. Good luck and good hunting."

Graves looked up as he sensed something. What he saw was a group of soldiers coming towards him with weapons that were not standard military issue. He knew enough to know what that meant. He signaled his people to face them and fight.

Major Tolner watched the battle from the top of the hill. All weapons that were thought to be effective were down there—the remaining men and himself only had their sidearms and standard M4 weapons—not thought to be very effective. And that appeared to be correct. His men were doing well, but the fact was that except for the men with the 40MM launchers, his people had to get close to use their other weapons while the aliens were capable of shooting energy blasts from farther away. His men were using the 40MM HE to knock the aliens over and make them duck—even direct hits did not kill them, though it certainly stunned them and took them out of the fight for several minutes. The 40MM Thermite/WP rounds on the other hand killed every alien they hit—nothing could take 5000 degrees of heat.

Graves knew he had to get someone out of this trap to warn his superiors, but they were surrounded, and this military unit was armed in such a way as to have the edge over his people. He directed the men he had left to concentrate their fire on one area while several attempted a break out. He had just given the final order when a taser caught him and stunned him, making him an easy target for a WP/Thermite round.

Major Tolner assessed the situation. Several of the aliens had gotten away; probably 5-7. He had 15 bodies or what was left of them. He also had 4 dead men and 7 wounded, 3 seriously. Almost 50% casualties; command was not going to be happy about that. But he did not see where they could have done better; overall they had been outgunned; only the fact that they had taken the aliens by surprise and had them surrounded had helped. He also thought that they had not been very well prepared to fight—that was his impression anyway. And they had still caused significant casualties. He hoped that there were not that many more of them out there. Or he was going to need a much bigger team. And a better armed one for sure.

Gerold was the most senior of the survivors; with Graves and his immediate assistants dead, he was the one who would have the unpleasant responsibility of making the report. In the meantime, he ordered the rest of the skins in town to prepare to move out immediately. They could not be sure that no one had had anything that would bring the military here; it was certainly possible since no one had thought that anything serious was going to happen. There were only 17 of them left now; The 6 survivors of the battle and the 11 who had remained in town. But leaving meant leaving their almost but not quite ready new skins there—no way could they take them with them. And without them, they would be all dead in the next year. Unless a ship was sent for them, and none of them really thought that that was likely.

The sheriff took the phone call and sat bolt upright after the first few words. He waited tensely for the message to end, and then said, "Understood," and hung up. The Military had found something—something big. The State Highway patrol had informed him that the area he had sent them to was now off limits until further notice by order of the Military—no explanation given. He sat and thought for a minute, then went into his address book and checked some numbers, and then called one. The short conversation made him even more tense. More military units and—most disturbing of all—some med-evac choppers had been sent to that site. His source told him that word was some kind of training accident using top secret weapons or something had happened, and there were casualties and a big investigation—all being done as quietly as possible. That told him that just maybe the Special Unit had run into some other aliens, and there had been a battle. Something that he had not believed was in any way possible. On the other hand, from a cold practical standpoint, that meant that the Special Unit now had real targets to go after and none of them were in Roswell. And that would also make himself look like a reliable source—something that might come in very handy in the future.

Major Tolner was being interrogated by 2 Generals and several colonels. They wanted him to go over everything he had seen and everything else again and again. It was getting mind numbing. The whole area was now crawling with troops and technicians with every kind of sensor and detector imaginable. All the alien bodies and pieces of bodies had been put in sealed bags, and those bags were then put in sealed metal containers and flown out. The General in charge told him that they wanted every possible bit of evidence that anything had happened removed by nightfall. They did not dare stay much longer, or word would get out that this was NOT a training accident. The repercussions of this day would be around for a long time to come—the first time Earth had fought against extra-terrestrials.

Liz had called a meeting for all those in the know to be at Tess's house at 7pm that Friday night. There was a lot to tell everyone, and they needed to discuss what had happened. The last week had been very eventful. The only ones not invited were Jeff and Nancy since they still did not know about Aliens. Liz had thought about telling Cynthia about the aliens but had decided that it was not yet time to go that route. She had also decided the next time she saw Duncan, she was going to pin him down as regards what Cynthia did—she knew for certain that Duncan had the info about that. She had a hunch that somehow Joe Dawson was part of it as well.

Max had dropped off Michael at Maria's where he was going to borrow the van. Then he would make the rounds picking up everyone except Liz since Max would do that. It was a closed van, so no one would know who was inside. Only the Sheriff and Kyle would be coming separately. This way no one would see any of the group with anyone else. It had been agreed amongst everyone that it was better that no gatherings would be done in any way so as to be noticeable. Tess's house had a two-car garage, so both Max's jeep and the van would go inside. The Sheriff would park his blazer at the back next to the fence—no one would be able to see it from any nearby road. All anyone would see passing by the house would be the SUV sitting in the driveway exactly as it usually was. Tess had even gotten heavy drapes for the windows so that even at night, no one could be certain anyone was home.

Liz looked around the spacious living room that they had worked into a casual meeting room by putting in a large number of easy chairs and bean bags. The Sheriff and Kyle were talking to Tess; Isabel and Alex were sitting together in adjoining bean bags; Maria and Michael were going at it as usual in another pair; and she was sitting in Max's lap in one of the easy chairs. She decided to get things started.

Putting both hands to her mouth she whistled... loudly. Everyone jumped and stared at her—that was something no one had ever seen her do. She smirked at them, ignoring the theatrical way Max was rubbing his ears.

"OK people, we have a fair amount to discuss tonight, so let's get going. First up is the Sheriff, and what he has got to say is pretty big." Liz sat back down in Max's lap.

The Sheriff stood up and walked to the center of the room so that he could face everyone.

"To say this is pretty big is a rather large understatement. Last Tuesday, the Major in charge of a special unit that I suspected might be alien related came by and wanted to know if something was going on. I figured he had heard something and decided to get him away from town. Max and the others last year had done some practice blasting on rocks southwest of town, and I directed him there. That turned out to be very fortunate for us. From a couple of sources, I have been able to piece together this much: something big happened there Tuesday afternoon. All sorts of bigwig military were flown in down there, other military units came in, and most importantly several medevac flights were made; a number of soldiers were killed and wounded. Everything points to them having run into some other aliens, and a big fight occurred. The hints I have been getting, mostly from a couple of medics on those flights who had some of the wounded soldiers drugged up on pain killers that also loosened their lips somewhat, is that they ran into some aliens who started the fight and had blasting capability as well as being invulnerable to most regular weapons. They still were able to kill most of them but took heavy casualties doing it, and it looks like some of the aliens escaped. Needless to say, this has really stirred some things up. They brought in yesterday some artist sketches of what some of the aliens looked like—they appeared completely human. Now the Major was just saying they wanted to question these people and wanted to know if I recognized any of them, but I could put two and two together. I did not, by the way—it seems pretty clear they were not Roswell residents. The Major gave a couple of hints that he did not think so as well but wanted to check. Apparently, they left in a couple of vans up a side road that they should not have been able to get such vehicles through but did; I can guess how they did. That was how they got past the State Patrol road blocks. Where exactly they are based is a good question, but I doubt it's very far away. And you can bet the Military is looking real hard at everything possible to find out. Considering this unit's priority and everything, they must have complete access to all satellites, and I do not see how the aliens could have gotten very far away without being spotted. My guess is they holed up somewhere until dark, and then went the rest of the way back to their home base. This means, for the time being, that all the areas around Roswell will be under a microscope by the military, and my advice to everyone is to stay in town until things settle down. On another note, Duncan McLeod got the necessary paperwork to me as regards Tess's background, and I was able to go to a judge and request temporary guardianship of Tess until her 18th birthday. There should be no further problems there; it looks all pretty cut and dried."

Needless to say this engendered quite a few comments from most of those present. Michael was very worried that the military might start looking through town as well, but the Sheriff told him not to worry; the Major pretty much had let him know that that was not going to happen—would attract too much attention. Now that did not mean that some plain clothes investigators would not be nosing around, but they would be confined to trying to find anything really fishy looking—as long as everyone kept a low profile, there should be no problems. Maria then snarked that as long as Spaceboy (her new nickname for Michael) did not do anything stupid, they were ok. Michael snarked right back that as long as Maria kept her mouth shut, there should be no problems, but they all knew that was impossible. There were a few comments about Tess's situation, but the sheriff made it clear that the house would stay as it was—it made a good meeting point, and for that reason alone, it was worth keeping. Nasedo had paid cash for it, so the only charges would be taxes and utilities. Tess would move in with him and Kyle. Maria then tweaked the Sheriff about the date he had gone on Monday with her mom—pointing out that since Amy DeLuca knew nothing about what was going on, he was going to have to be careful there. The Sheriff just shook his head and rolled his eyes at Maria.

Liz waited until the discussion died down before signaling that she was next.

"You all know that I was in Seacouver training with Duncan and then made a sudden trip back. You also know that Nasedo was killed. What only a few of you know was that it was me that killed Nasedo. Turns out he was a traitor and had made a deal many years ago—before even coming here—with the dictator who had originally killed the Royal Four. Just to recap for those who have not gotten the whole story: around 60 years ago, the Royal Four were trying to modernize the political structure of Antar into a more democratic and modern society from its relative feudal current structure. Kivar was one of those opposed to it, and he arranged for the murder of the Royal Four. Some of the relatives and friends of them arranged for the new Royal four to be born and raised on Earth so that one day they could come back and overthrow Kivar. I am guessing that the aliens that got involved in that fight were Kivar's troops who were here watching for any sign of the Royal Four. Apparently Kivar did not want to leave it just up to Nasedo and had a backup plan in effect. Now with most of them dead and the rest either holing up or on the run, that backup plan looks pretty well fried. Anyway, Nasedo's plan was to have Max seduced by Tess and her getting pregnant; then convincing Max and the others that the baby would not survive here, and they all had to go to Antar where, of course, Kivar would be waiting, and they would be killed, leaving the baby as a pawn of Kivar. Clearly, I was in the way, and Nasedo decided to remove me one way or another, and came to Seacouver. I went out walking one night, and Nasedo confronted me, and when I told him to stick it, he blasted me and boasted about what he was going to do as I died. He put me in the trunk of his car and drove to the bay determined to toss my body in the bay. When he opened the trunk, he got my sword in his chest, and then I beheaded him. The parts changed to a reptilian type after death, so we figured he was a different species which Tess later confirmed. She, by the way, had no idea of what was really going on; Nasedo had no problem selling her out as well, and she would have been dead too."

Liz paused for breath and to take a drink, then continued.

"One thing has become very clear—there were some Antarians that went with the ship, and what happened to them, no one knows; clearly Max and the others were supposed to be informed about their status and what they were supposed to do, but never were. Nasedo had been very busy sabotaging everything he could. I think now it seems certain that there will be no one showing up to help out. Which leaves one more thing: Nasedo once told Tess about something called the Granolith, which is apparently a very powerful machine that is a combination transportation device, immense library, and who knows what else. It's also something that Kivar badly wants as well. It is supposed to go with the Royal Four and be nearby to them at all times. So we can figure it's somewhere in this area, but who knows where? It's got to be hidden pretty damn well since the military right after the crash went over this entire area with a fine toothed comb and found nothing. Max and the rest only found the pod chamber because they could sense it. Apparently they cannot sense the Granolith since they would have as well when they spent all last summer going all around this area. That's all I have. Anyone else have anything to say?"

Once again, there was some general discussion, but no one had anything else to add that was new. After about another hour, things petered out, and they started to leave. It was decided to have a get together here once a month just to discuss things and iron out any problems that might come up.

Grace carefully looked around. She could see nothing but that was not necessarily comforting; this head hunter was stubborn and very persistent and not stupid. She had just finished her latest research assignment—and would have had to have left soon anyway since after 6 years there, some would have started to notice that she was not aging at all; having become Immortal at 28, and a fairly young looking 28 as well, she could not stay too long anywhere before that became a problem. But she was used to it after all these centuries, so no point in brooding about it. She had just left her home and was heading towards the center of town when she felt the buzz and looked around. A slender young looking man was staring at her. She walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. In broad daylight and with a fair amount of traffic around, he could not really do anything. Maybe for a change this would not be a challenge. Her hopes were soon dashed as he boldly walked up to her and said "My name is Ian Calder, and I challenge you. Where and when?" She had calmly looked at him and said, "My name is Grace, and I do not fight. Go find someone else to bother." His smirk grew, and he said then, "An easy quickening is still a quickening, and I will have yours." He then walked off. Grace had sighed and made preparations. However, he had proven rather smarter then he first appeared, and so far she had not been able to shake him. She had then taken the unusual step of flying to the US; she had been a European all her life and had never seen any reason to leave, but this situation had forced her to do so. She had been careful, and this had been the only flight to Phoenix that day from Paris, and he had not been able to get on it. Since the Concorde no longer flew, there was no way he could get to here anytime soon, and she would be gone quickly. She had decided to take a rental car and drive east and take a week or so doing it. Then head back to Europe, only this time somewhere east and out of the way. With any luck, the headhunter would lose interest and go after someone else.

Ian Calder cursed the slow movement of the passengers out of the airliner. He was already almost a day behind her, and he knew she would not linger. He had to find out what she had done after getting here. What she did not know was he had paid a pickpocket to make sure a small homing tracker was placed in her purse—it was small with limited range since he had to make sure that the metal detectors at the airport did not catch it, but it would help if he got close. He had a couple of pictures of her and intended to make it look like he was a PI on a divorce case; that and some money spread around should soon reveal where she had gone.

It took him several hours, but he eventually found out which rental car agency she had used, and was able to wile out of the clerk what model and make and color it was. He had a hunch she would head east and make sure she was not followed and then probably head back to Europe; he knew if he was going to catch her, it had to be in the next few days before she went back.

Grace pulled into Roswell and could not help but chuckle at the tacky alien-themed town. Aliens were about as likely as elephants on the Moon, though her practical nature reminded her that she was in no real position to argue about the laws of improbability. She had decided to stay the night here and then head to Dallas the next day. It had been 6 days since she had arrived in Phoenix, and there was no sign of the head hunter. She checked into a motel, and then decided to just wander a little before getting something to eat. The Crashdown Café just appealed to her for some reason, so she went inside. She had just sat down in the booth and started looking around at the Alien paraphernalia scattered around when she felt the buzz. She stiffened and looked around. She could not see him—could there be another Immortal in this town? Not likely, but not impossible.

Liz had just gone on shift and was headed out to start when she felt the buzz. She stopped dead and looked around her. Maria had been about to talk to her and noticed what Liz was doing.

"What is it Liz? Is there another around?"

Liz nodded slowly and moved towards the serving area. She looked down the booths and recognized most of the people here. It was about two weeks before Christmas, and so there were not many tourists around; mostly just regulars. She focused in on a woman in the middle booth on the left side; slender, taller than her, light brown hair, and quite attractive. Somehow, Liz knew it was her. She slowly walked towards the booth pulling out her order pad.

Grace observed the very young petite brunette in the tacky alien themed waitress uniform slowly approach her with a steady gaze that was returned just as steadily. She could not be more then 16 or 18 at most; yet it seems she knows about us.

"My name is Liz. I will be your server today. May I start you out with a drink first?"

Grace quietly ordered a soda and then asked for a menu. She just as quietly said. "I do not fight. If you know about everything."

Liz slowly nodded. "I prefer not to if possible, so I have no problem with that. Have you been part of the group for long?"

Grace smiled at that. Very well put so as to not attract attention. She may be young but she is no dummy. "Some of the group have been around a long time. Do you happen to know a Duncan McLeod?"

Liz's eyes widened. She nodded. "He found me and trained me."

Now Graces eyes widened. She had heard from a couple of Immortal acquaintances that Duncan had for the first time ever taken a female student. Here of all places? "I know Duncan from a long time ago—I had heard that for the first time, he had taken a female student, but I had no idea it would be here. How did that happen?

Liz smiled. "He just happened to have been in the right place at the right time, for which I will be forever grateful. I was very lucky."

Grace nodded. "He saved me a couple of times. There are no better in our group then he."

Liz nodded. "You will get no argument about that from me."

Grace relaxed some and ordered. After bringing her order, Liz told her once done to head towards the back of the diner. Grace was intrigued and did so. There, a blond waitress directed her up the stairs to the second floor. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. A pleasant looking woman in her 40's opened the door and told her to come in.

"Liz said that you were a friend of Duncan McLeod's. So make yourself at home. We know all about things, so don't worry about letting anything out of the bag."

Grace was astonished at the ease at which Liz's parents accepted her. She asked how they found out and was regaled with the story of the shooting and Duncan finding Liz. Grace realized that Liz had indeed been very lucky since she was able to continue her life without any real change. She then asked who else knew, and was informed that there were about half a dozen locally who knew. Friends and family. Grace admitted to herself that she actually envied Liz somewhat; her beginning period was certainly much easier than her own had been; much easier than most Immortals for certain.

Liz came into the apartments and told them "Was able to get a hold of Beth who is quite happy to work the overtime. She will be over in a few minutes, and Maria told me to go ahead, that she could cover for that time."

Her mother told her that they had filled Grace in on how things had started, and that they had gotten to the point where Duncan had been training her. Liz nodded and looked at Grace. "We can go out on the balcony—it's in the upper 60's, and with the sun, it should be comfortable out there." Nancy nodded to her daughter and told her that she understood that they wanted to talk in private.

Grace followed Liz out to the area above the first floor. It was set up as a relaxing area and looked quite cozy. In the sun, it was pleasant—not too warm and not too cold.

Liz was quite happy to talk to Grace; once she found out she was a doctor and researcher, she immediately wanted details.

Grace found Liz fun to talk to, and the young woman was quite intelligent and well informed; upon finding out her dream was to get a PHD in microbiology at Harvard, she shook her head sadly.

"Such a high profile place is not a great idea, and with your age as it is, trying to stay long enough to get a PHD, it would get very obvious that you are not aging. Even with makeup and being careful it would be very risky. I can understand your dream; I have always wanted to be a doctor and relieve suffering and save lives—that is why I refuse to fight. I will not go back on that vow no matter what. It's a shame you cannot do what you have dreamed of doing; I can tell you would be excellent at either treatment or researching. You have the touch."

Liz sadly nodded. "I realize that I will not be able to do it. For a while, I was being stubborn, but reality has forced its way into my thick skull. I talked to a Hollywood makeup technician, and he told me that it would be possible to age if I was very careful into my late 20's, but it would be very hard and take a lot of work. And it would be very easy for something to happen, and it all go up in smoke. To have to worry about that every minute of every day for years would be a pretty hard row to hoe. I am still determined to go to college, but it will have to be a large anonymous university where no one will notice. And then only long enough to get my four year degree. But I am determined to get that at least."

Thoughtfully, Grace nodded. That was possible and not too much to ask for. As long as she was careful.

Liz stretched and asked Grace if she had been around town at all. Grace admitted that she had just come here from her motel. Liz then asked if she wanted a tour of the metropolis that was Roswell. Grace laughed, and said why not—she had a car, and they could just wander the town.

Ian Calder had come into Roswell not certain that Grace had come this way, but he was hopeful. He had been able to track her a little, and it seemed she was heading on a fairly straight line east—probably headed towards Dallas and getting a flight back to Europe. He knew he had to catch her in the next day or so, or she would elude him. He had noted she did not seem fond of Interstates and preferred state highways or such. That was why he had come this way.

Cynthia had seen Liz get into a car with a strange woman and head around town. The first thought that there had been a challenge faded when they seemed to be taking a tour of the town. She wondered who she was. She followed them at a safe distance.

Ian Calder was startled when the beeper went off signaling that the bug was in range. He stopped the car and looked around. He checked the controller and noticed that it was getting stronger—he looked up just as a car passed him that he recognized as Graces—and there was another woman in the car with her—and if he could be certain from the buzz, he felt another immortal. Well he might just get two quickenings today. He started to follow them.

Grace felt the buzz first, but Liz was quick to pick it up. She was able to get a quick look at the car alongside the road and knew it was the headhunter. She quietly cursed. She had been sure she had lost him. How had he found her.

Liz looked at the way Grace had tensed up and put two and two together.

"Let me guess. A headhunter?"

Grace grimly nodded and filled in Liz on Ian Calder. Liz took out the cellphone that her parents had just gotten her and made a call. "Duncan? It's Liz. What do you know about a headhunter named Ian Calder?" she paused for a couple of minutes. "He apparently is chasing Grace who is with me." Another minute went by. "Thanks Duncan. I guess somehow you will find out how it all works out. Hopefully by a call from me. Thanks." She closed her cell phone and looked at Grace. "Duncan knows of him. Says he is a pretty low level headhunter—tries for newbies and the like. Just like Felicia Rising."

Grace had heard of her. "You sound like you know about Felicia—I had heard about her."

Liz grimly nodded. "She came here after my head a few months ago, and I gave her the short haircut."

That startled Grace a little. Liz had to be pretty good to have been able to take down an experienced Head Hunter so soon into her training.

Liz directed Grace down a side road to where she knew there was a level area that would do OK for a challenge. She was glad she had taken her sword with her.

Grace parked where Liz told her to, realizing what Liz intended to do. She tried to talk her out of it, but Liz was stubborn. She pointed out that the headhunter would come after Liz no matter what as well, so might as well get it over with now.

Liz got out of the car and started to warm up. Centering herself and preparing herself as Duncan had taught her.

Ian Calder slowed and finally started. The strange young girl was already warming up with her sword. Cocky little thing. As if that would help her. He got out and took his sword and moved towards her, swinging it around to loosen up.

Cynthia had noticed the strange car following Liz and the other woman and had a nasty hunch what was coming. She slowed and parked down the road some and got out and moved closer, trying not to be noticed.

Grace got out of her car, her heart in her throat. Intellectually she knew that it was true that the headhunter would have gone after Liz anyway; she still felt responsible. She hoped Liz was good enough.

Cynthia looked through her binoculars and realized the fight was about to start and said a prayer for Liz.

Liz decided to use some of the tricks Amanda had taught her. She felt no guilt at all about using them on a headhunter.

Ian went right at her determined to end it quickly with a quick underhand stab followed by an overhand slash.

Liz saw that while he had some experience, he was also a little sloppy and lazy. That would cost him. She blocked both but allowed herself to look a little off balance and deliberately stumbled backwards.

Ian smiled. This would not take long. He pressed the attack trying to keep her off balance. He did not notice that while she seemed off balance, she was blocking every attack he made.

Grace had not watched many sword fights, but she had seen enough to realize that Liz was trying to make herself look weak; trying to lure him into making a mistake.

Once again, Liz let herself look off balance and stumble while still blocking his attack.

Calder was starting to get frustrated and decided to push things. He sped up his attack.

Liz saw him speeding it up and getting sloppy, and decided that now was the time to make her move. She blocked his next attack, and instead of stumbling backwards, moved forwards and punched him in the nose.

Calder staggered backwards astonished at what she had done and the strength behind the punch. He did not have time to think more as she went on the attack, and suddenly he was backing off trying to regain his balance.

Liz pushed harder, knowing she needed to take advantage of the moment of him being off balance. She ducked right, slashed left, then slashed downwards, hitting his right leg with a deep cut.

Calder was now worried. She was a whole lot better than he had thought and a lot stronger then he had imagined she could be. Then the pain in his leg let him know he was in deep trouble.

She saw him glance down and knew he had made the fatal mistake. She feinted with a high slash, then stabbed straight towards him—right into his chest. Then she pulled it out as he fell to his knees. Wasting no time, she made the last move with a strong straight cut—and took his head.

Grace was astonished at how quickly the fight turned—Liz had suddenly gone on the attack and had quickly driven the headhunter back; and almost as fast as she could blink, Liz slashed his leg, then stabbed him right in the chest. Wasting no time, she had then taken his head.

Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief as Liz finished off the headhunter—for that is what he had to be. She looked around and realized another person had joined her and was watching the fight. When Liz finished it, he dropped his binoculars and turned towards her. "Sam Turner. Watcher to Ian Calder—well former watcher to Ian Calder. I take it you are the watcher for the girl that just took his head?"

Cynthia nodded and noticed another car had parked next to hers and Turner's. An older woman had gotten out and was headed their way. "Rebecca Robbins. Watcher to Grace. What has happened?"

Cynthia introduced herself and Sam. "I am Liz Parkers watcher. She just took the head of Ian Calder." They all turned as the light show that was the quickening of Ian Calder moving on started.

Liz moaned as the quickening hit her, dropping her sword and going down on her knees. Images and Memories hit her. Calder had not taken as many heads as Felicia had, but he had taken quite a few. All newbies or even some who had no idea what they were. A very unpleasant little rat. She hoped he and Felicia were roasting in hell together.

Grace went towards Liz as soon as the light show ended. She helped her to her feet over to the car and sat her down on the driver's side. She wondered what to do. Then she heard Liz's cell phone go off. She took it out of Liz's bag, idly knowing that it was lucky Liz had not kept it on her or it would have been fried by the quickening. She answered it.

Duncan knew he should wait but felt that if Liz had won it would be quickly. He had to know—he had not felt this protective of any of his students and wondered if it was because Liz was a young woman.

"Is this Duncan. It's Grace. Liz just took his head. She is recovering right now—she did very well. Tricked him into thinking she was an easy mark, then took advantage and ended it very quickly. You taught her well, Duncan. Now what do we do about the body?"

Duncan sagged in his chair. Amanda and Richie were in the office with him, having heard the phone call and just as worried as he was. He gave them the OK sign and they grinned and relaxed.

"Grace, do not worry about it. The body and everything else will be taken care of. I will fill you in later. Just take Liz home. You know, it would be nice to hear from you now and then."

Liz had recovered, and when Grace turned off the phone, she looked at her. "I can see why some get addicted to it—but it just wears me out. He was a real piece of work just like Felicia Rising, and I have no regrets about taking his head. But now I just want to go home and go to sleep."

Cynthia and the other two watchers observed Grace taking Liz home and waited until they were gone before doing anything. Sam told the two of them he would wait for directions for what to do about the body—this far out from major cities he would probably have to bundle it into his trunk and deliver it. He was not sure. Cynthia told Rebecca to stay with Sam in case he needed someone to drive the other car, and she would keep track of both of the Immortal women. She knew where Liz lived and would follow Grace there and let Rebecca know. If they needed a third driver, they should let her know—there actually were several people of the Watchers in town, and they should not have to wait for long.

Joe Dawson took the call from a watcher that he knew should be in Europe. When told he was in Roswell, he felt his stomach drop, then sagged in relief when told that Liz had triumphed again. When told that Grace was with her, he looked thoughtful, and after the phone call was over (he gave them the number of the senior man in Roswell—they would take care of the cleanup), he then called Duncan. And was told that Liz had called before the fight to get the data on Ian Calder. And that Grace had answered the phone right after the fight as Liz was still recovering from the quickening. Joe smiled at that and told Duncan that for once he was ahead of the game more so than the watchers.