Liz Parker's fingers drummed on the counter that separated the main room from the kitchen in her parent's diner, the Crashdown Cafe -- haven for all alien-themed food lovers in Roswell, New Mexico. The silver, glittery, alien antennae that went with her sea-green waitress uniform bobbed in time to the tapping of her sneakered foot.

"All right, New Guy," she said, glancing at her wristwatch. "I need that Captain Kirk and the Han Solo, like, yesterday!"

Xander Harris spared a glance at the brunette and then turned back to the sizzling grill. "Cut me some slack, Boss Lady, it's my first night on the grill without Michael!"

"Did I hear my name?"

Liz looked to see the spiky-haired alien leaning on the front counter with his trademark smirk on his lips. She jerked a shoulder toward the kitchen. "Xander's just having trouble with the grill."

"Hey!" Xander protested, placing two ready-made burgers on the windowsill. "I resent that remark! Here's your frickin' order!"

Both Liz and Michael turned to Xander and chorused. "Frickin'?"

Liz began to giggle. That was one good thing about Xander. She'd laughed more in the past two weeks -- since her father had hired the California native -- than she had all summer. She had to work hard to keep a straight face as she slid the burgers on a tray and took them to the patrons in the corner table. As she walked by Max's usual booth, she averted her eyes, as she always did. It was getting easier... until tomorrow. The first day of school. He, and the rest of them, had to be back in town by now...

Back at the counter, Michael hopped over it and walked over to peer in the window. His smirk grew wider as he watched Xander run around the kitchen, trying to do ten things at once. It brought back memories of his first night at the grill. It had been crazy for him, too. Burgers aflame and everything! But he'd had one edge. Frequent encouragement from his girlfriend... Woah! Danger, Will Robinson! He wasn't supposed to be thinking Maria-themed thoughts anymore. That particular petite, blonde-haired subject was severely off limits right now.

Liz came back up just then, dumping the tray on the counter. Her brown eyes narrowed on Michael. "All right, mister! No more doldrums tonight. You can save those for school tomorrow."

"Did you just use the word doldrums in a sentence?"

Liz blushed and was forced to nod. "Yeah, I did. But that doesn't mean my point was any less valid."

Michael decided to change the subject. "So, when can you get outta here?"

She glanced at the clock and winced as a strange odor wafted in from the kitchen. "At this point, I don't know. If Agnes ever comes back from her break, I might be able to get away soon."

"Fat chance of that happening!" Michael remarked, directing a mild glare through the door the 50ish waitress always went through to take her thirty-minute cigarette breaks.

"At least we close in thirty minutes," Liz said hopefully. "If no one else comes in..."

"Famous last words, Parker," Michael muttered from his position by the counter.

-------

She'd been in a lot of backwater, hole in the wall towns but this place...well this place was actually interesting. So a lot of things didn't interest her usually but this Roswell got under her skin.

It was like having the Hellmouth only without the breaching of dimensions and the plastic surgery. Oh and a definite plus for Roswell. No Brood Boy and no B. Not that the town didn’t have this mystical energy swirling around so thick it was like fog to her Slayer senses. It did… but not like SunnyD.

There was something else there. A different smell maybe. Whatever it was none of it reminded her of them. Those people she was leaving behind. Except for the ones that were there but she was doing a pretty good job of staying away and on her own.

One slightly callused hand touched the metal door handle and gave a slight shove. Faith tipped her head up sniffed delicately. Someone didn't know what the hell they were doing back in the kitchen. Must be Xander.

She smirked and found a seat near the kitchen window just so she could have a view of the show. In the back of her mind she knew that there was something not...human in the place but she couldn't put her finger on it. That smell again, other than burning meat, was there.

Eyes narrowed for a minute but the Slayer shrugged it off. She wasn't on patrol at the moment, she was on a dinner break and if it was dangerous she'd have known about it by now.

"What's a girl gotta do to get a cherry coke around here?"

Brow raised, she cracked a grin for Xander in the kitchen.

Liz gave Michael a disappointed look, and then walked down, behind the counter, until she was across from the new customer. The girl was striking. And she had this aura... Well, not an aura exactly -- not in the since of shining bands of colors around her body. But it was just this sense of power and confidence.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Liz put on her "serve the customer" smile and whipped out a pen and an order pad.

"She just has to ask for one." Scribbling on her order pad, Liz murmured, “Cherry Coke." Then she looked up at the brunette. "Would you like anything else with that? Our Men In Blackberry Pie is amazing tonight..."

"I'd like one of those, please." Someone who redefined blond, perky, and well-dressed slid into the booth across from Faith. Jessica didn't know the other Slayer all that well, but she had spent some time with her when she had volunteered to help investigate the situation in Roswell.

Not that that was apparent, of course. She radiated the type of personality possessed only by those who are not only extremely popular, but know it.

She flashed the waitress a movie-star smile. "Can I have a Han Solo and a Sprite, too?"

Michael groaned as more people walked in and found tables near the front. He and Liz were never going to get out of this dump tonight! Sighing, he fished an order book out of one of the aprons hanging on a hook by the back door. Catching Liz's eye, he mouthed, "Only because you need the help." Then he headed over to take care of one particularly rowdy customer sitting by the front window.

Liz flashed Michael a grateful smile as he took over one of her testier customers. As she wrote down the blonde’s order and waited for the brunette's, Liz thought, [I'll have to ask Dad to give him overtime for this one!]

The man at the table, who looked to be in his early 40's with slightly graying brown hair and a stern face, growled at Michael. "It's about time I got some service over here. I've been waiting for you people to finish my order for 20 minutes! What the hell kinda shop are you people trying to run here, boy! Huh? I'm about ready to go back there and make my own Alien Blast!"

"Yeah, I'll give you an Alien Blast, pal" Michael muttered under his breath, glaring down at his order pad. How could Liz and Mari... er... the other waitresses do this? Keeping a smile on his face while some jerk yelled at him was not really Michael's forte.

"What did you say, boy?" the customer demanded with narrowed eyes.

Michael plastered a completely unconvincing fake smile - to be honest, it really looked more like a pained grimace than a smile, but Michael was trying - on his face and replied quickly, "I said I'd go see about your Alien Blast right now, Sir."

The man nodded, seemingly satisfied for now. "That's more like it. And don't dawdle around back there, boy. I have places to go and people to see."

Michael didn't reply, he didn't think he would have been able to keep a "smile" on his face if he had. Instead, he just nodded and turned around and walked back into the kitchen. As he passed Liz, he muttered quietly, so only she could hear, "If he calls me 'boy' one more time, there's gonna be one less human standing in the way of my people's quest for total world domination."

Liz knew the feeling, but there wasn't time to expound on it right now.

Hopping over the front counter with ease, Michael popped his head through the window into the kitchen and snapped, "Were you planning on doing any actual cooking tonight, Harris? Cuz I could really use an Alien Blast sometime soon."

Xander sighed, finishing up the requested item quickly and walking over to the window to hand it to Michael. "One Alien Blast, as requested. And since when did you join the wait staff, eh, Guerin?"

"Hey, quiet down, will ya?" Michael scowled. "I don't need this spreading around town. It'll ruin my reputation."

Xander grinned mischievously. "No, wearing one of those silver alien headbands would ruin your reputation. This'll just tarnish it a little bit."

"Cute." Michael grabbed his order off the counter and turned to head back to the waiting customer. As he began to walk away, Xander saw someone sitting at a booth that he hadn't been expecting to see in a long time.

Looking over at his list of pending orders, Xander was relieved to see that it was blessedly short. "Which means it's the perfect time for a quick break!" he decided, pulling his do-rag off of his head and running a hand through his sweaty hair. Working back on the grill was not going to help win him any girls. That was for sure.

Xander walked out of the kitchen and went over to stand next to Liz and her new customer, quickly wiping his hands off on his apron as he walked. "Well, well, long time no see, fellow Sunnydale alum." Xander grinned good-naturedly at Faith. "What's the haps, oh mighty one?"

That was when he noticed that there was someone else sitting across from Faith in the booth. Liz had blocked the second customer from his view, but now that he was closer he could see who she was…

Xander did a double take when he recognized her as Jessica Anderson. "Wow, is this the SHS reunion and no one told me? I really wish I'd known, I would have dressed up for the occasion."

Xander grinned at Jessica. It was good to see both her and Faith again.

Jessica's smile got even wider. "You look fine. I like the Neo-Chef approach." Xander obviously didn't know just how many people from Sunnydale were in town, which meant she would probably have to clue him in at some point.

She filed that thought away. "I'm not exactly formal, either," she pointed out and gestured to her own outfit, which would qualify as sloppy in an Abercrombie catalog.

Liz turned to get the drinks, and listened as Xander reunited with some old friends. As she set the Cherry Coke and the Sprite down on the counter, Liz said, "So, Xander, you actually do have some friends. I was beginning to think working at the Crashdown was your whole life... and that would be sad."

Jessica quirked an eyebrow at Liz, hiding a chuckle behind her hand. The waitress was younger than her, but she seemed friendly enough.

Liz finally finished scribbling down the blonde's order and slapped it into Xander's hand good-naturedly. "And now that you have friends, you can even cook for them."

Xander rolled his eyes and grinned at Liz. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It's back to the slave pits for Xander." He started to head back to the kitchen, but Jessica's voice stopped him.

"And let me know when you get off your shift!" Jessica called after him, eliciting a grouchy look from the man at the counter.

Turning back to Faith and Jessica for a minute, Xander said, "We're supposed to close this place down in half an hour. Maybe after we get everything cleaned up and stuff, you girls could meet me somewhere. We could catch up on old times." Giving them both a meaningful look, he added, "There are some 'old friends' of ours in town that I wanted to talk to you (and maybe Aidan) about. You remember them: real night owls, always have their 'fangs' in the middle of the town's night life..."

Very aware of Liz's presence just a few feet away, Xander said, "But we can talk about all of that later. For now, I have to get that Han Solo ready for you, Your Worshipfullness." Xander winked at Jessica, wondering if she'd even caught the Star Wars reference he'd just thrown at her.

Glancing at the brunette, Liz added, "Let me know if you decide to have some food with that Coke... I'll have Xander whip it up for you." She gave Xander a pointed look.

Xander sighed. That was his cue to go back to the kitchen and start fixing up those burgers. Smiling at Jessica and Faith, Xander went back to the grill and started to get everything cooking.

"We won't keep you guys past closing. We eat fast." Jessica wasn't sure if she was speaking for Faith, but she could put away a sandwich fairly quickly. Alright. Really quickly.

Now on to the other pressing issue.

"I'm Jessica," she added before the waitress could walk away, displaying white teeth with another smile. "Is that help wanted sign I saw awhile back still good, or did Xander take the job?" She wasn't strapped for cash, but it would be nice to be able to have some money in reserve. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Xander was working here. She really did need more income.

------------

This was her home. Roswell, New Mexico. She had gotten used to it. Well just. After spending her first few months, hibernating at home, making no friends and pretty much hating the world. The reality that Roswell was going to be home, snapped Harmony out of her self inflicted isolation.

It was during a spare ten minutes, that Harmony finally decided to have a look through the town. She had heard whispers of other students' conversations that the Crashdown Cafe was the place to go. Judging by what she had learnt, Roswell, much like Sunnydale, didn't have a lot of town. The total shock she got in seeing Xander Harris working behind the counter at the Crashdown, almost rendered her speechless. However, after those initial moments, the co-incidence was too much for Harmony. She started chuckling to herself. All she could think was that she had suddenly found the 'fun' in Roswell.

She didn't approach him that night. The last thing she wanted to do was use up all of her 'fun' quota in one night. So it was a night, much like the one two days earlier, that Harmony found herself walking along the less than hectic streets of Roswell. Something she avoided in Sunnydale, but the lack of big teethed night suckers made Roswell a much friendlier proposition.

As she reached the Crashdown she was just about to enter the front door, when she froze. She couldn't believe it. She stood there. Still… Staring…

Then moving out of the front window before she was seen, Harmony ran around the corner, before slumping against the wall. After a couple of seconds she grabbed her head and pulled at her hair.

"Why? Why?" she shouted to the heavens.

Xander Harris could be fun. Faith was bearable. But to come face to face, in Roswell of all places, with Jessica Anderson...it was obvious. She had some major Karma to work off.

------------

Michael had just finished busing one of the last tables and was carrying the dirty dishes back to the kitchen in a large tub.

"Man, I hate this job," he muttered as he walked by Liz, who was chatting with a couple of the last customers. As he walked by, he heard one of them - Jessica, she said her name was - asking about a job.

He knew they'd been short handed lately, but that was just because Jose had quit and Maria was out of town. Once Michael's estranged girlfriend – or ex-girlfriend, as it were - got back in town tomorrow, they would be a lot closer to being fully staffed. Did this new girl think that she could just up and steal Maria's job away from her while she was gone?!?!

Michael placed the tub of dishes on the counter and turned back to face the table of girls, wiping his hands off on a towel. And that's when he saw her face.

She was beautiful, yes, and she looked like one of those girls who *knew* she was beautiful. But that wasn't what stood out about this Jessica girl. What stood out was how perfectly she looked like a blend between Isabel and Maria. Her long blond hair and perfect clothes were Isabel to a "T" as well the air she gave off of being one of the popular ones. But she also had a spark to her, a sense of life that reminded him of his Maria. And that's what made him actually drop his towel on the floor in surprise and have to stoop down quickly to pick it up.

After all, considering Michael's current romantic "situation", those were the last two people on earth (no pun intended) that he was ready to face. So his reaction was not surprising.

Throwing the towel on the counter, Michael walked over to stand by Liz and announced in his trademarked gruff manner, "We have another waitress already. She's just out of town. But she'll be back tomorrow."

"Michael!" Liz exclaimed, giving him her best managerial "you've been bad" look. "Don't worry. I'm not about to fire Maria."

"If it's a problem - " Jessica began. It wasn't just the boy being a bad waiter. Someone here had seriously startled him, and it probably wasn't the waitress.

And since he hadn't been facing Faith, it probably hadn't been the Slayer, either.

Turning back to Jessica, Liz said, "It's nice to meet you, Jessica. I'm Liz. I'm the manager at the Crashdown. My parents own this place, actually." Gesturing to the glowering boy next to her, she added, "And you've already met Michael."

"Yep." Jessica gave Michael a quick smile. "He handles towels well," she added, since the boy seemed to be glowering at her. She'd handled vampires. She wasn't going to take anything from a waiter with attitude issues.

That didn't explain why he had been so surprised to see her, of course.

Liz walked over to the shelf behind the cash register, where they kept the applications. She grabbed one and brought to back to Jessica as she explained, "My dad actually makes all the hiring decisions, but he might be interested in adding one more to the crew. One of our regular waitresses is out of town right now, but once she gets back and we figure out the schedules, he'll be making that decision." Giving Jessica her best employer smile, Liz added, "Feel free to fill this out, and I'll give it to him."

"Thanks." The prospective employee put the application down on the table and pulled a pen out of her small, quite fashionable purse. She intended to fill this thing out then and there.

With that, Liz said, "Now, I'll just leave you girls to your conversation."

Jessica started to nod absently, but what the wai - er, Liz - did next got her full attention.

Liz turned and grabbed Michael by the front of his borrowed apron and yanked him into the back of the restaurant. "All right, Michael! Spill. Why did you suddenly freak out to that girl? You *know* that I'm not going to up and fire Maria or anything like that!"

The door to the kitchen closed behind them and their conversation was cut off from any potential eavesdroppers.

Faith raised a brow and snapped herself out of her near coma. It was him. Eyes narrowed to slits as she looked over her shoulder at the restraunt. He could be half demon but he didn't feel like one.

"Issues much, huh?" Jessica's half-jibe died as she caught the look on Faith's face: slightly more homicidal than usual. "What is it?"

She strained her Slayer hearing just a bit to catch the conversation while sipping her Cherry Coke. Faith noted the trucker next to her eyeing her but didn't so much as flick her gaze in his direction. She was busy. Pretending to not be busy.

Turning her head to Jessica she gave slightly predatory smile. She didn't really know the girl and truth be told Faith didn't really like many people but she supposed the rich girl wasn't all that bad.

"When'd ya get in to town?"

Not that she cared.

"Couple days ago. What is it?" Jessica was nothing if not persistent. She scribbled her name down on the application and tried to look like she wasn't trying to eavesdrop.

The trucker next to her was starting to get pretty vocal about wanting service but he'd only just sat down.

"You just got here," Jessica muttered in the trucker's direction. He was eyeing her and if he didn't can it, she was going to demonstrate just why she had an almost black belt in karate.

The trucker didn’t shut up.

Faith was starting to get annoyed and unlike her evil depressing twin that lived in SunnyD she just wasn't going to cry about it. She was going to be violent. Her hand came up to the back of his John Deere capped head and gave a hard shove making him kiss the counter top hard. The thunk was audible enough but no one made a move to help him when she let go of his head and he slid off his chair to stare dazedly at her.

"Give it break and shut up."

Faith turned back to Jessica letting her eyes refocus again and shrugged off the incident. She flicked her eyes to Xander and gave a nod for him to hurry up.

"Effective," Jessica said quietly.

"You were saying?" Faith asked.

"I was asking you what's the matter," Jessica replied. "You looked like you wanted to bite that waiter's head off." [Not that you don't anyway,] she added silently.

Faith blinked in confusion for a second. She looked like she wanted to bite his head off? Whatever. She rolled her eyes wondering why the hell this was such an issue.

"Actually I think he's kinda cute."

He was. Not her type though but he was decent enough cute. One brow raised archly and then the other as she stared at Jessica. Did these people always assume she was going to freak and go off the deep end or something? Not that she wasn't riding the line as it was...

Okay well in that case she could see their point.

Faith gave the guy one more look and shrugged again. She dipped her head to the soda in front of her and snickered softly at the trucker that was edging away from her.

"Who all showed up in this place?"

"Aidan's team. And Xander, apparently." She nodded in the direction of their new waiter. "Speaking of which..."

-----------

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Michael averted his eyes from Liz's angry, yet still concerned, expression. "It's nothing," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just me being a screw up, like usual. What else is new?"

Pulling away from Liz, Michael headed into the back of the kitchen, leaving her standing there, her mouth in the shape of a startled "O". Tapping Xander on the shoulder, he said gruffly, "My fantastical debut as a waiter was a flop. Your turn." Taking the cooking utensils out of Xander's surprised - therefore lax - grasp, he added, "I'll man the grill."

Xander nodded. "Um... okay... yeah." Flashing Liz a quick grin as he passed her, he whispered, "Looks like I've been demoted." But he said it in such a way that Liz would know that he was cool with it. He didn't really want to get Michael in trouble. The guy looked seriously shaken up... like he'd seen a ghost or something.

Grabbing the finished Han Solo off of the counter as he passed and then picking up the waiting slice of Men in Blackberry pie that sat on the counter with his other hand, Xander walked over to Jessica and Faith's table and set the items down. "Here ya go, ladies."

"Thanks, nerfherder." Now that Xander's jibe had been returned, Jessica picked up half of the Han Solo and took a bite that shouldn't have even been possible with a mouth that small. She seemed to swallow it without chewing, managing to make it look dainty and delicate despite the fact that she was on her way to devouring a complete meal in under a minute.

Xander grinned and rolled his eyes. "Looks like someone's a fan of the trilogy," he murmured as he passed.

Just then, the trucker who'd started complaining loudly only 2 seconds after he got there with his friends suddenly jumped up and, giving Faith an odd - almost scared to death - look, he grabbed his two friends and started shoving them out the door. Which, to Xander's good fortune, left only Faith and Jessica in the diner.

Glancing at his watch, Xander saw that it was now only ten minutes until they were due to close. Figuring that with her hands full in the back Liz wouldn't mind if he closed early just this once, Xander walked over to the door and clicked the lock. Then he flipped the open sign over to the closed side.

Pulling his apron off, Xander walked back over to where Jessica and Faith where sitting. "Well, looks like you girls are the last customers." Realizing that they might take it that he wanted them to hurry up or something, Xander added, "But take your time. We've still got plenty of stuff to do before we leave for the night."

"Like tell me what's going on," Jessica said quietly as the last bite of pie vanished into her mouth. The Han Solo was nearly gone, too. She could have made eating contests look like fine dining - and probably won them.

"I'm guessing your staff friends aren't all that clued in, but there's been some weird stuff in the newspapers. Disappearances." She was talking softly, since she knew both Xander and Faith had excellent hearing. She wasn't worried about the others hearing her, since no one human could have heard them from all the way in the kitchen.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, they're oblivious. Which works out well for us, I suppose. Since the whole secret mission thing is much easier when it stays a secret.”

Jessica nodded, remembering the small army that had been in the know back in Sunnydale.

“Though we always seem to have problems with that part of the gig... our Clark Kent impression leaves something to be desired, doesn't it, Jess?" Xander grinned, giving Jessica a wink to let her know he was teasing her. After all, she was one of the people to see right through his supposed "Clark Kent" way back when.

Jessica responded by sticking out her tongue, which was slightly discolored from the Men in Blackberry. While Xander had been talking, the last remnants of the Han Solo had vanished, as had the Sprite, up to and including the ice cubes.

------------

In the kitchen doorway, Liz watched for a second to make sure that Xander had everything under control. She was pretty confident in the new guy, though. He might not be great on the grill yet, but he had mastered the art of waiting tables, busing tables and making change rather well in two weeks.

A second later, Liz moved into the kitchen and stood next to Michael with her hands on her hips.

"Something's wrong, Michael, and you're not telling me what it is. Do you think, after all we've said to each other this summer, that I wouldn't understand?"

Michael tried, he really did, but his emotions finally got the better of him. Throwing the spatula down next to the grill with a loud crash, he whirled around and faced his petite, brunette tormentor. "Yeah, and for how long, Liz? Huh? Because Max will be back soon, if he isn't already, and then who will be your top priority?"

Crossing his arms across his chest, he added in a nasty voice, "True love and puppy dog eyes will ALWAYS rank higher than yours truly, and you know it!"

Liz tried to tell herself that Michael was just being himself. That he was prone to regular fits of boorishness. But that didn't help this time. Sure they hadn't been good friends for more than a couple of months, but during the long, lonely summer in Roswell, Michael had become her lifeline.

He was a link to Max, that was true. She could find out how Max was doing without her, and Liz could make sure the boy she loved... had loved... loved... whatever... was all right. But long talks in the diner after hours, long walks down the scenic streets of Roswell, and, surprisingly, the ability to spar verbally, just for fun, had deepened her relationship with the spiky-haired alien into something else. Not a romance. Liz wasn't ready for that yet. But something real none-the-less. A friend.

After standing there, silent, unsure of what to say, as usual, Liz finally found her tongue. Piercing Michael with a hurt gaze, she exclaimed, "You're a fine one to talk! Like when Max and Isabel get back in town you're going to have the time to go on a walk and fight about who's the best cartoon rock star with me. You'll have your true friends back, and you, Max, Isabel and Tess will go off to pursue your destinies without any humans to tie you down." She faltered for a minute, and her last words were soft, but she knew he could hear them. "After all, if you won't let Maria in for the long haul, your *good buddy* Liz doesn't stand a chance."

Forcing the tears back -- Liz wasn't going to cry over *another* alien, or super-evolved human, or whatever they were calling themselves this week -- she turned and started walking toward the kitchen door. "It looks like things are slowing up, Mr. Guerrin. Why don't you scrub down the grill..."

Michael sighed, looking down at his hands. He'd done it again. He'd screwed everything up. Why did he seem to have such a knack for doing that?

Grabbing a couple of napkins from the dispenser, Michael handed them to Liz, who was standing by the back door.

"I didn't mean to..." Michael sighed, searching for the right words but falling inevitably short.

Grabbing a nearby towel, Michael said, "Look, I'll whip Harris into shape and we'll get all the tables wiped down. You just take it easy, okay?"

As he turned away from the door, Michael noticed a strange, zebra-striped van parked across the street. But he paid it no heed. He had work to do.

Liz watched him go and sighed. She knew the offer to clean the tables was Michael-speak for "I'm sorry." Michael was a hard person to get to know, but it was even hard to keep him as a friend. But maybe they would be able to keep the friendship that now meant so much to her alive for a little longer. Liz pushed away thoughts of what would happen when school started tomorrow. Somehow she couldn't imagine herself and Michael hanging out in the school building. Not that she didn't want to hang out with him there sometimes, but it just wasn't something she could imagine.

-------------

Harmony stole another quick glance, through the door of the cafe. Seeing Xander Harris was one surprise she could handle. But seeing Jessica Anderson there as well was a totally different. She couldn't understand that.

[Did she finally manage to steal Xander away from Cordelia? or did Xander follow her here like a puppy dog? And what was that tweako Faith doing there?]

It was all to much to handle. Shaking her head to try and exorsize the thought from her head, Harmony turned around and started the walk home. At least that was one thing that you could do in Roswell. Walk home safely at night.

But as she walked home, the thought of Faith, a slayer, being in Roswell, haunted her. And she didn't like where those thoughts were going.

******************

Jeffery Madison sighed and pushed the latest empty box away from the closet. "That's it!" he yelled triumphantly. His voice echoed around the master bedroom of his new home in Roswell, New Mexico. The master bedroom was one of the perks of being the man of the house, he supposed. "I thought the boxes would never end." He conveniently forgot about the plethora of boxes awaiting them -- him, his little sister, Amy, and her boyfriend, Doyle, their most loyal helper -- downstairs. He had decided to get his room taken care of first.

His stomach growled, and he realized he hadn't eaten in hours. The movers had pulled up early that morning, and he and Amy had been unpacking ever since. This would be their first night in the new house. The problem was, they didn't have much in the way of groceries. The only stuff they'd brought along from Sunnydale was the non-perishable items.

Hurrying downstairs and into the kitchen, Jeffery poked through the boxes and found a box of his favorite cereal, a bowl and a spoon. There was Gatorade in the fridge (a necessity when you're moving in the hot, west U.S. sun). One problem... no milk. And he really didn't feel like driving to the store right now... if one was even still open in a town this small.

"Well," Jeffery said philosophically, "I was hoping for an excuse to meet the neighbors anyway..." He grabbed a glass to use for transport, and then yelled upstairs to Amy, "Hey, Aim! Doyle! I'm going next door to borrow some milk and meet the neighbors. Meet me over there, if you want to... Or I'll be back in a few!"

With that, Jeffery walked out the front door and over to the house next door.

-----------

Amy surveyed the chaos which still was her room and sighed. "You know, I think my bother is right," she told her boyfriend who was tirelessly helping her unpack. "I think a break is highly in order." She put the now empty box down and plot on to the nearest piece of furniture suited to it. "Shall we go meet the new neighbors?"

Doyle smiled at Amy, wiping a smudge of dust off of her nose with his handkerchief. "Sure thing, Dannan. Ye know me, always ready ta be nice an' sociable when the occasion calls fer it."

Giving her a quick kiss, Doyle took his girlfriend’s hands in his and spun her around in a circle in the middle of the room before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. He smiled to himself, thinking about how perfectly she fit in his arms. At the risk of sounding like some kind of goofy romance novel, Doyle thought that maybe she'd been made just for him.

"So," he murmured softly into her ear, "Shall we go be... sociable?"

Amy would very much like to stay just where she was. She wrapped her arms around his on her waist and snuggled in his embrace. "You sure know how to make things difficult," she chided with a grin. She kissed his cheek so handily close to hers and disentangled herself from his grip, but kept possession of one of his hands. "Come on," she said with a huge foolish grin on her face. He tended to have that effect on her.

----------

The Evans had a nice-looking house, and all the lights were on... definitely a good sign.

Jeffery walked up to the door and rang the bell. A middle-aged woman answered the door and looked at him in confusion. "Yes?"

"Hi," he introduced himself. "I'm Jeffery Madison. My sister and I just moved in next door. I was wondering if I could impose on you and borrow some milk?"

Her face broke into a smile. "My name is Diane Evans. It's nice to meet you." They shook hands. "Come into the kitchen, Jeffery, and we'll get you that milk."

Jeffery followed her inside and looked around the house appreciatively. It seemed like a nice place, and from the photos that littered the area, he assumed that Diana had a son and a daughter. "Nice pictures."

Diane smiled. "Thanks. You know, you don't look that much older than my kids. You should meet them. We just got home from our summer vacation, so things are a bit disorganized." She handed Jeffery the milk container and he began to fill his cup. Diane walked to the doorway and called, "Max! Isabel! Come downstairs and meet our new neighbor!"

"Coming, Mom," Max called from his room where he was unpacking from their summer in Albuquerque. He really didn't care about meeting the new neighbors all that much, but he was making a concerted effort now that he was back in Roswell to not be such a stick in the mud.

Isabel heard her brother answer their Mom's call, but didn't move. Meeting someone new was the last thing on her mind. She was back in Roswell, where she knew they all had to face what she and Max had avoided by leaving for the summer. But Isabel knew that sitting in her room ignoring the call would only make her Mother worry.

Taking a deep breath she stood up and walked out to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Max threw the shirt he had been putting in its proper drawer on to the bed and jogged down the stairs. He saw his mom in the kitchen with a young man about his age or maybe a little older. He was handsome, or so Max was sure Isabel would say. There was a sadness under the surface Max couldn't quite figure. There was strength there, too.

"Max Evans," he introduced himself, sticking out his right hand to shake and sticking his left in his pocket self-consciously. "Welcome to Roswell."

Jeffery returned the handshake with a firm grip of his own and gave Max one of those hello nods that only a guy can do. "Thanks. It's good to be here." In actuality, Jeffery would trade being in Roswell for his father still being alive in a heartbeat, but there was no need for him to tell Max and Diane that. That was something best kept inside.

Coming back to the conversation at hand, Jeffery asked Max, "Do you go to Roswell high? My sister Amy is starting there tomorrow, and... I know this might be an imposition... but she would probably be grateful for someone to show her around a little..." He looked at the other guy hopefully, knowing Amy's shyish nature and hoping Max could help her out.

Max was about to respond to Jeffery when his sister stole his companion's attention.

Isabel stood in the entrance way, half hoping that she wouldn't be noticed, but realizing at the same time, that there was very little chance in that.

'May as well get it over with,' Isabel thought as she took a step forward.

"Hi," she said simply.

Jeffery looked up and saw the most beautiful woman he'd seen in a long time walk into the room. All thoughts of getting Max to help Amy flew right out of his head as he stammered, "H... Hi. I'm Jeffery... Jeffery Madison."

Max watched the new neighbor melt and fought to keep a grin off his face. He knew quite well the effect his sister had on the male population.

"Jeffery, my sister Isabel," he said by way of introduction. "And I'm sure we'd be happy to show your sister the sights of West Roswell." Max did not think he would be the best of escorts, loner that he was, but at least it would give him something to occupy his mind other than Liz Parker. And maybe introducing Madison's sister would give him a way to start talking to Liz that wouldn't be painfully awkward.

Now, if only the boy could keep his tongue in his mouth...

Jeffery came to himself again. It wasn't like him to be so stunned by a beauty. Flirt with them yes, but be struck speechless, not usually.

Exchanging his starstruck expression for his best grin, Jeffery walked over to Isabel and enveloped her hand in a warm, friendly handshake. "It's really nice to meet you Isabel. I'm Jeffery Madison. I just moved in next door."

Turning back to Max, Jeffery said, "That would be great. If you want, I could go get Amy and bring her over here so you can meet her..."

Diane spoke up then. "Max, Izzy, you should meet his sister. Go over there if you want to. Now, I've got to go finish my unpacking."

"Thank you for the milk, Mrs. Evans," Jeffery said.

She smiled at him. "No problem. When I need a cup of sugar, you can return the favor."

"Any time," Jeffery promised. Then Diane Evans left the kitchen, leaving him alone with Max and Isabel. Jeffery smiled at them as he waited for them to decide if they wanted to go to his house, or if they wanted him to bring Amy to their house. He was glad that they, or at least Max, had agreed to show Amy around. He thought Amy would be relieved as well, and that it would help alleviate her nervousness in a new school.

Max smiled at his mom as she passed him with a pat on the back. "Sure, I'd like to meet your sister," he said, agreeing if only to relieve the tension. "What's her name?"

Just then they heard the doorbell. Max raised an eyebrow and called to his mom, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll get it." He went to the front door. And found a high school aged girl and a young man on his doorstep.

"Hi!" Amy said brightly to the surprisingly handsome young man who answered the door. "I'm Amy Madison and my brother Jeffery said he was on his way over to barrow some milk. Did he find you? Did I come to the wrong neighbor's house?"

"No, this is the place," Max assured her. "I'm Max Evans. Please come in."

"This is my boyfriend, Doyle," Amy introduced them, having special privileges to call him Allen not open to everyone. To others he was Doyle.

"Hey," Max said to him with a brief nod.

Doyle gave the boy a nod in return. "Hello, yerself."

He and Amy followed Max into the house and Doyle closed the door behind the lot of them, trying to be polite and all.

-------------

Jeffery suddenly found himself alone in the kitchen with Isabel for a brief second. He could hear Amy, Max and Doyle out by the door, and knew they would be back in a few minutes. The old Jeffery would have used this window of opportunity for some serious flirting with the blonde bombshell. But the new Jeffery -- the Jeffery who had to be an adult and in charge of both himself and his sister's livelihoods -- wasn't quite as cavalier as the old Jeffery had been.

"So, Isabel," he said with a smile, "you go to the high school, too? I'm going to be a freshman at the university in town."

"That's nice," Isabel replied.

'What was I meant to say to that,' she thought, 'Wow!!!! You’re going to University. Sheesh!"

Noticing that Jeffrey was waiting for more of a response, she added, "Maybe I will go there in a couple of years."

Not that she really had any plans, but it seemed like a non-commital thing to say.

Jeffery could feel that he was losing her. Even worse, he'd never even had a chance. There was something in the way she looked at him. {STUPID, you? could college? to go ?I than witty more something with up come Couldn?t man.}

He was used to girls who smiled back, who were interested. Jeffery wasn't bad looking. Actually, he was pretty good looking, with thick, wavy blond hair, blue eyes, good muscles and a killer tan. Add to that a rich daddy, and he'd had to beat them off with a stick.

The thought of 'daddy' made him lose focus again. He was trying to get over his grief about his father's death. He was really trying. And he had thought he had it licked. But every time he thought that, it would rear up to surprise him again at the most inopportune moment.

Feeling the tell-tale prickling of tears behind his eyes, he quickly turned away from the stunning beauty standing next to him. He tried to smile at Isabel again, but it wound up being more of a grimace. He reached for the glass of milk on the table. "I'm just going to get this home and into the fridge. Now that Amy's here, I'll just let you guys get to know each other... thanks for helping her tomorrow and everything..."

But he misjudged and his hand hit the glass from the wrong angle. It tipped over, and milk gushed out onto the floor in a white waterfall. Jeffery closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Now, in addition to battling a grief attack, he wanted to die of mortification. Life just sucked. He should have stayed in with his boxes.

In spite of her mood, Isabel found her hand shooting out to clasp over her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to stiffle the giggle she made at Jeffrey's accident. Realising that it wasn't the nicest re-action she could have she only giggled once, before taking a step forward to help.

"I'll get a dustpan and brush," she said as she walked over to the cupboard.

Jeffery found a roll of papertowels and began sopping up the milk. He called to Isabel. "I'm really sorry about that. I guess my punishment is self-evident, though. That milk was for the cereal that I was going to eat for dinner. We don't have much in the way of groceries at my place yet." He gave her a small grin, trying to pull himself out of the doldrums he had almost sunk into. And as for his failed flirtation, maybe he would have to live by the old adage -- "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Of course, now wasn't an opportune time, but perhaps later...

After Jeffrey had mopped up most of the spill, Isabel leant down and brushed the broken glass fragments into the pan. She had no comment to make about Jeffrey's menu for the night. She just wanted him gone. After she had finished, she tipped the contents into the kitchen bin.

Turning around with a smile, she said, "All done!". The words were warm and friendly, but it was also very dismissive.

Jeffery raised an eyebrow at Isabel's dismissive tone. Not responding to flirting, sure, that was understandable. She might not like him (as much as he loathed to admit it), or she might just not be in the mood for romance. Or she was having a bad day. Or, it was even possible that she had a boyfriend. But not even trying to be friendly... Despite the warmth Isabel had turned on, the dismissal in her voice had been very apparent.

Jeffery didn't want to over-react, but sometimes the female sex just seemed to have it out for him. Of all the women he'd known in his life, they'd all screwed him over. His sister, Amy, was the only exception. Jeffery wondered if he had been born under some kind of bad karma. When a guy was continually hurt by the female sex (even his mother had been on that bandwagon when she tried to kill him), it had to mean something. And now the first girl he'd even been attracted to after his father's death seemed to dislike him so much that she hadn't even offered him any more milk. He had no right to ask for it, of course, but if he had been the lender, he would have offered.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to find that place of inner quiet in his soul. He had no business flirting, or even trying to make friends with anyone anyway, not when his emotions were still so screwed up. He should just stick to the friends he already had, apparently. Jeffery knew he was reading too much of his past into this encounter. To Isabel it probably meant nothing at all.

Then he opened his eyes and gave her a wry smile. "Sure, all done. Guess I'll have to mosey down to the grocery store after all. Maybe Max knows of one that's still open. Catch ya later." He inclined his head in a friendly nod, trying to show that he wasn't the type to hold a grudge because of her bad day, or whatever caused her to be so dismissive, and then turned toward the hallway.

Isabel returned the nod. Part of her felt a little guilty at the attitude she showed him. But in the grand scheme of things, what did it matter. She had Max, Michael and well she didn't know about Tess. As much as she liked Liz, Maria and Alex - most of Isabel's problems (and Max and Michael's) started after they become friends with the other three. The fact that she liked those friendships made it all the more confusing. To matter how she was feeling, and it did seem to change with her moods, what she didn't need was MORE friends. If she came off as a bitch, well...at least she wouldn't be putting herself or anyone else in more danger.

As she heard Jeffrey say goodbye to the others, she turned around and walked back to her bedroom. Her sanctuary. Where she felt, she belonged.

When he actually got into the hallway, Jeffery stopped to give his sister a peck on the cheek. "Aim, I'm heading home. But Max, here, said he could show you around West Roswell tomorrow if you wanted. I hope that helps."

He knew that if he stayed much longer, Amy would be able to tell that he was upset over something, if she didn't know already. He didn't really want to bother her with that, since it was all his own fault he was upset. Him and his troubled past. Isabel had just been a catalyst for his own angst machine.

Heading for the door, he gave Doyle and Max nods, and said, "Catch you later, Doyle, and nice to meet you, Max. Maybe I'll see you around." Then he walked out of the house and into the front yard.

Once outside, he paused in the Evans's front yard and looked up at the moon. There were so many more stars in New Mexico, or so it seemed. And the moon shone more brightly than it did in a California town close to the LA smog. It wasn't the day before the full moon yet, but the orb in the sky was definitely headed in that direction. If Oz was in town, and Jeffery had heard he was going to be, Jeffery wondered what the wolfy lad would do for precautions. He also wondered, idly, what would happen to Xander at the full moon. Somehow he'd never thought about that before. And standing under the stars, thinking about less personal things, was cleansing for his soul...

-------------

Amy watched her brother go and wondered what on earth had happened. He was beating a hasty retreat. She stared after him for a second and then turned to her companions.

"That was odd. Um, Max," she said deliberating changing the subject, "What year are you?"

Max turned his attention back to his company curious as to what Isabel had done to the guy. "Oh, uh. Isabel and I will be juniors. And you?"

"I'll be a senior this year," Amy said with a touch of pride. "Do you like the school?"

"Yeah, it's not bad," Max said sticking his hands in his pocket. "Hey, why don't I introduce you to my sister?" So saying, he led the way into the kitchen. "Hmph. Looks like she's gone to her room to finish unpacking or something. We just got back from Albequeque and I guess she's kinda tired." Max started to worry all the more about his sister. He had been so preoccupied with his own troubles he hadn't thought to consider how she was doing.

"So, Doyle, will you be a senior at West Roswell as well?" Max struggled with casual conversation topics.

Amy waited for Allen to answer him and wondered if she should follow Jeffery and see if he needed to talk or find out what happened or something.

Doyle grinned. "Hardly. I'm actually gonna be attendin' Roswell Elementary School." At the strange looks that statment got him, Doyle hastily clarified, "But not as a student, mind ye. I'll be teachin' a 2nd grade class there, starting in a few days. The last teacher for this particular class disappeared under mysterious circumstances, so they were kinda desperate fer a replacement. An' seein' as I used ta teach 3rd grade back in the City 'o Angels, I was a shoe in fer the job."

-------------

Cordelia had been talking to Aidan and she had deduced from his comments that Xander was working as a waiter at a local restaurant called the Crashdown. "Xander as a waiter" she had thought "This should be interesting." She had scribbled down the address her aunt had given her on a scrap of paper and now, four hours later, she was sitting in her car across the street from the restaurant.

Cordelia was dressed to perfection, far more formal than someone who was going out for a late night snack. She had spent way too much time on her hair and makeup but she wanted to look her best. Xander didn't know she was in town yet and there was always the slight, slight chance that he would be disappointed that she had followed him across a few state borders. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind though. What was she thinking? She was Cordelia Chase. What guy in his right mind wouldn't get down on his knees to thank her for coming to him? "That's right" she thought. She was finally ready to confront Xander.

However, during the time that Cordelia was trying to convince herself that her boyfriend would be happy to see her, the restaurant had closed. Getting out of the car she decided that that wasn't going to stop her. After all, she wasn't here to eat she was here to meet a friend...a boyfriend.

Glancing in the window before she entered she spotted Xander. He looked the same, a little greasy, but God...he was Xander! Checking herself when she realized she was gawking she walked over to the door and attempted to push it open, despite the CLOSED sign hanging from it.

"Here goes nothing" she thought.

--------------

Miranda Hart smiled as pleasantly as she could, which wasn't very pleasant under the circumstances. "Yes, I'm quite sure. That isn't an option."

The man - best described as redneck with a touch of belligerent biker - glared at her. "I'm tellin' you. It had fangs and it was tryin' to bite me." He leaned close enough for her to smell the alcohol on his breath. "It was one of them undead."

"And you want to sue the local sheriff for not taking care of the problem," Miranda finished. "Yes. I got that the first time." She leaned on her desk and steepled her fingers. "The problem here, Mister McCoy, is a lack of proof. In addition, I can assure you that no court in this country would convict a town sheriff for failing to guard against vampires."

Mister McCoy swore a long string of oaths that Miranda was quite sure she couldn't have repeated if she had wanted to. "Listen to me. I know what I saw and I'm alive 'cause of this." He jabbed a finger at the crude cross sewn - or possibly stapled; it was hard to tell - on his jacket. "Don' tell me the sheriff is takin' good care of us decent folk." He ended this speech with a hiccup.

"Once I see positive proof that can be verified by the courts, then I will be perfectly happy to bring your case to the attention of the proper authorities. In the meantime," Miranda added with a careful edge in her voice, "my office is closing."

The would-be plaintiff stood, said something that suggested Miranda's grandmother had had an interesting experience with a sheep, and staggered out.

Miranda blew out a long sigh and looked down at the stack of paperwork in front of her. Her notes on McCoy's potential case were, unfortunately, only the tip of a very large and nasty iceberg. Police reports, attempted murders, disappearances, vandalism of the towns, and recent reports of high teenage gangs apparently picking fights with other high teenage gangs...

A crime wave was hitting Roswell. She was sure of it. Mister McCoy may have been drunk off of his rear, but she was positive that he had indeed almost been the victim of an attack - albeit probably not a supernatural one.

She paperclipped the various documents together and dialed the sheriff's number, intent on asking him to call her in the morning. If they were on the tip of a crime wave, he would probably be up to his cowboy hat in problems very soon.

------------

Back at the Crashdown, Xander noticed someone at the door out of the corner of his eye and looked up, intent on telling them that the Crashdown was closed for the night. But he froze when he saw who it was.

"Cor...?"

Tossing his apron down on a nearby table, Xander walked over to the door and unlocked it, pushing it open. He was standing face to face with his girlfriend for the first time in months... Hell, her parents had whisked her away to Europe while he was still in the hospital after his latest run in with his father. She hadn't even been there when he'd gone before the judge requesting (and being granted) emancipation.

It had been far too long.

Forgetting pleasantries and the fact that he was a greasy mess at the moment, Xander took Cordelia's face between his hands and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

Cordelia's doubts about Xander quickly melted away as his kiss started to take over...

"Hey, get a room!" Jessica shouted good-naturedly, if a bit loudly. She also reached over and quite casually kicked Faith in the shins before she could say something that would undoubtedly be less G-rated.

An unkind word ran through her head and she was just about to return the kick with Slayer strength. Faith's brow furrowed and she gripped the edge of the counter.

"Touch me again an' I swear you'll regret it."

She could feel the Formica and wood cracking under her grip so she let go. The Slayer wasn't about to say anything to Xander and Cordelia because she didn't care what they were doing.

Not to mention the fact that at the moment she was too intent on finishing up her Cherry coke to notice them.

Xander heard Jessica's comment and laughed, breaking away from Cordelia. He rolled his eyes, grinning at Cordelia as he yelled over his shoulder at Jessica, "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Taking Cordelia's hand in his, Xander pulled her inside the restaurant and locked the door behind her.

Then he noticed the strained atmosphere between Faith and Jessica and frowned. "Everything okay over here?" he asked as he and Cordelia neared the table.

"Peachy."

"Great," Jessica said at the same time.

Faith put her money on the table for the drink and stood up. She gave Cordy a slight nod by way of acknowledgement. Of all the crew she probably respected Cordelia the most.

And that was only because the former May Queen said what she thought. Period. Hands in her back pockets she strolled to the door of the Crashdown.

"Goin' on a run."

"The door's locked," Jessica pointed out helpfully. She turned her attention to Xander and Cordelia, smiling at the other ex-Sunnydale socialite as she gathered up her dishes and her application. "I can bring these into the kitchen," she offered. "I'm sure you two have lots to catch up on and I need to give this - " she waved the application here - "to Liz."

Xander walked over to the door and unlocked it for Faith.

"There ya go, oh Slayer of my heart."

Grinning at Cordelia, Xander placed an arm around her shoulders, making sure she knew that he was just teasing with Faith.

If Xander hadn't unlocked the door for her she would have broken it. Hey better the door than Jessica's face. Annoying li...Faith cut herself off there. If she kept up thinking it she'd just turn around and get rowdy.

Silently she thanked whatever deity she was believing in at the moment for Xander's that were...you know whatever the hell he'd turned in to. Slayer/Furball/Goofball. Whatever.

Faith cracked her neck and walked out of the Crashdown with just a smirk as a goodbye. Two of the three people that knew her would take it for what it was. See ya later an' you an' me are still cool. The third...well she didn't bother to even look in that direction.

For the first time in her life she almost felt sorry for the fangs she was about to run into. Almost. Not quite. Faith's lips pulled back from her almost too white teeth in a sickeningly feral grin. Speaking of fangs...

There was one following her. This was almost too easy.

After Faith was gone, Michael walked out of the kitchen, towel firmly in hand, and came up beside Xander.

"Hey, you are still working here, aren't you?" he demanded, tossing Xander an extra towel. "Liz wants us to get started on these tables."

Xander sighed, stepping away from Cordelia. "Duty calls, again."

Cordelia just grinned at Xander, not smiled, she actually grinned. She was so happy to have him back, it didn't even matter that he was a waiter.

Jessica shot Michael a sour glare - he probably didn't have a girlfriend, much less someone as devoted to him as Xander was to Cordelia. If she wasn't a naturally polite person...

Oh, she couldn't even pretend to finish that thought. Polite only went so far and Faith had royally ticked her off, which meant she wasn't in the mood to see her friends bossed around by an antisocial -

Best not finish /that/ sentence, either.

"I'll help out," she said to Xander as she balanced her dishes in one hand. "I know you want to see your girlfriend." Not that this boy was likely to pick up on the hint.

Michael sighed, resisting the urge to grab that Jessica-girl and shake her around a bit. She somehow knew exactly which buttons to push to make him see red. Something else she had in common with Maria. And he did /not/ need to be thinking about Maria right now. It was just getting him more upset than he already was.

Finishing up on the table he was working on, Michael started flipping the chairs over and setting them on top of it, leaving the floor free to be mopped later on.

Then he took his now dirty towel and tossed it in the tub next to the cleaning supplies. His side of the store was done, except for the sweeping/mopping of the floor.

----------

Liz walked in a few moments later and saw Michael and Xander dutifully cleaning the tables. She started wiping down the counter, and cleaning the milkshake machine. She remembered a time when, in a Max-haze, cleaning the milkshake machine had been the best job in the whole world. Tonight that job sucked.

Liz noticed that the brunette was gone. She didn't see the money for her Coke right off the bat, but she hoped that it was buried under the napkins on the counter or something. Having someone stiff her right now would not help her mood. Though, if the girl did stiff her, at least it was only a Coke.

Glancing up, she noticed for the first time that a different brunette had come into the cafe. "I'm sorry," Liz called to the new girl, "the kitchen's closed now." Her kind nature took over then. "I could get you a soda or maybe some ice-cream if you want, though..."

"I'm all set." Cordelia replied "Just here for my boyfriend." she said, motioning to Xander.

"I don't know where to put these," Jessica said as she approached the counter and set the dishes down, absently wiping crumbs on her pants. She glanced at the milkshake machine and wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. Not fun, huh?"

"Not tonight, anyway," Liz muttered to herself as she finished up. Then she threw down her rag, found a small smile somewhere inside and turned to Jessica.

The blonde girl held out her neatly completed application - she hoped that Mister Giles and Aidan wouldn't mind her using them as references, since her parents weren't options there. "I don't know where this goes, either."

Taking the application, Liz said, "I'll give this to my dad, and one of us will call you when he makes his decision. It will probably be tomorrow or the next day..."

"I appreciate it," Jessica said, returning Liz's smile with a smaller one of her own. She could tell the other girl was upset about something, but she supposed working with that waiter would dampen anyone's spirits.

Glancing at said application, Liz commented, "It looks like you're new in town. Came here to go to East New Mexico State, or just because our town is *so* lovely?" A smile softened her sarcasm.

Jessica laughed, although inwardly she wondered how she was going to squirm her way around this one. She didn't like to lie, but telling Liz all about how her town was full of things out of Evil Dead was hardly an option.

"The university offered me a partial volleyball scholarship," she said honestly, "and some of my friends moved here. And getting away from my parents." It was said flippantly enough, although there was a flicker - a sort of darkening in her cheery expression - that said it was anything but.

"It's a nice town," she said after a moment staring at the counter. "Nice, normal people." Except for the vampires. At least here no one knew about them.

Liz carefully kept her face clear of any odd expression when Jessica made that last comment. Yeah, normal people if aliens counted. She was also careful not to look at Michael.

"Yup, that's Roswell. Small, normal and boring."

Focusing on what Jessica has said earlier, Liz tried to make an effort to get to know the girl a bit. It was possible that they might be working together in the foreseeable future, depending on what her dad said. "So, are you living on campus, then? I've been over there a couple of times. It's pretty small, but nice."

---------

Meanwhile, as he was cleaning up his last table - also known as the table that Faith and Jessica had occupied earlier - Xander found the money Faith had left for her drink partially hidden under a napkin. He fished it out and tossed it on the counter to be dealt with later.

Turning to Liz, he called, "If Cordy changes her mind and wants something, just charge it to my employee account, ok? It's cool." He didn't even think about the fact that Liz wouldn't know who Cordelia was. He was too excited just to be hanging with his friends and his girlfriend again. Rational thought was eluding him at the moment.

"All right!" Liz called, smiling at the new brunette she assumed was "Cordelia," and then turned to resume her conversation with Jessica. She figured that if Cordelia wanted anything she would speak up.

Looking over at Michael, Xander wondered, not for the first time, what exactly it was that made the other boy dislike him so much. One would think that, with their similar family issues and emancipated status, they'd have plenty to talk about. But Michael didn't seem to see it that way. It was like he had already filled his "friend quota" and was now carrying a neon sign around that flashed: NO NEWCOMERS ALLOWED.

Xander shrugged. Whatever. He didn't need any more friends. He had plenty... and two of them were even standing in this very room with him! He felt the excitement building up inside him again.

Tossing his towel in the dirty towel tub, Xander finished stacking the chairs up on top of the tables and then turned to Michael. "So, sweep or mop? Your choice, man."

Michael shrugged. Then, still feeling a little bad about how he'd treated Liz earlier, he said, "If you want, you can clean the grill. It shouldn't take very long. I can handle everything in here."

Xander grinned. If Michael was serious about finishing up in here, Xander might actually get out of this place at a semi-decent hour tonight! "Thanks, I think I'll take you up on that offer," Xander replied, clapping Michael on the shoulder as he passed by the other guy.

Calling over his shoulder to Cordelia and Jessica, Xander said, "I'll be done in just a little bit. No worries."

As Xander got to work getting the grill scrubbed down, Michael got out the broom and started sweeping the floors in the main room. For some reason, offering Xander the easier and quicker job had made Michael feel a little better. His sour mood had improved drastically in the past few minutes.

As he finished up the sweeping, Michael actually caught himself starting to hum some cheesy song off the radio. Something by one of those teeny-bopper boy bands that Liz liked to listen to. He quickly shut up, hoping that no one had noticed his little slip just then. He didn't need anyone thinking that he actually listened to that crap, now did he?

------

She had been asleep all day, and was now awake, cranky, and ravenous. Not a nice combination. Despite her being able to go out during the day, Tess still chose to sleep though it. Though she was an alien, she was also a vampire, and the night was her time to live. Ironic.

Wandering down a familiar street, she came upon the Crashdown. The site that often held the bain of her very existance, Liz Parker. Well, at least she had been at one time. Tess was ready to move on. Of course, destruction of her enemies in life would have to now be acomplished after her death, but after that...she was gone. Maybe New York...could there be a modeling career on her horizon? Why not? She wouldn't get old, she wouldn't change in appearance...unless she was upset...and those lines were unsightly. Perhaps something else in the entertainment industry. After all, a lifeless vampiric alien was sure to find a haven in a business made up entirely of shallow, self-loathing "people". If one could even call them that.

Her increased hearing picked up the sound of voices, and Tess quickly ran to the back of the diner to listen in.

Liz was there, and with somebody else. Excellent. What a meal the two would make.

Entering though the back door, quickly and quietly, Tess advanced on her prey.

Suddenly a thought struck her. Vampires were always thinking with their fangs...maybe, maybe the alien in her had a better idea. If she continued to live semi-normally, going to school, not revealing her more demonic side...wouldn't she be able to hurt the Roswellians more that way?

Smiling to herself, she entered the room where Liz and the other girl were.

"Liz! Liz Parker! It's been such a long summer, I've hardly seen you! Not an invitation to hang around me, simply an observation." She said.

Liz turned to face the newcomer. Her face was not welcoming. "Tess. How did you manage to get in here. I thought Xander locked up." She directed a sharp look toward the employee in question. Turning back to Tess she added, in a no-nonsense voice, "We're closed."

Jessica turned to look at the other blond girl, brows furrowing in a frown. She could have seen the tension between the two if she was blind and in a pitch-dark room.

"He did lock it," she said quietly. "I saw him."

Tess gave a look of mock-hurt at Liz's harsh rebuttal.

She didn't know the boy who was blamed for leaving the door open, but she did know that he had in fact locked it as he was told. She wasn't opposed to hurting humans though, and causing them to soak up blame for something she did...that was just a bonus. Before she could say anything he piped up.

Xander peeked over the counter from the kitchen. Raising his hands up defensively, he replied quickly, "Hey, don't look at me, I locked that door almost half an hour ago. I don't know how she got in!"

"Sure thing new kid. That door wasn't locked, and I suggest you stop *lying* to your employers. That's gonna look bad on a future resume." Tess smirked.

Jessica's hands curled into fists. There really was such a thing as hate at first sight, apparently. There was something.../arrogant/ about this girl that made Harmony look humble.

"Anyway Liz, I do know you're closed, and don't worry dear, I wouldn't eat here if I were...dead. Not my style, I prefer food that isn't named after Star Wars characters...though a particular Ewan Macgregor might make a fine desert...but that's another topic entirely. Let me get off my tangent."

"I'm sorry," Jessica said mock-sweetly. "Did you want something or did you just break in here for no reason?" Her natural inclination to crush egotistical brats was rearing its head.

Pushing the door open, Michael sauntered into the main part of the Crashdown and came to stand next to Liz, partially between her and Tess. There was something *off* about the blonde alien, but Michael couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"You heard the lady, Tess," he said, crossing his arms and fixing her with a pointed look. "Besides, isn't it past your bed time?"

Seeing Micheal walk in, Tess's grin only broadened. This was going to be a lot more fun than she had ever expected.

"Actually, and this is for the both of you, I came here because I was looking for Max...I heard he got back into town last night. Then I thought to myself 'now Tess, why would Max come to the crashdown of all places?' I mean really, he had no reason to, nothing that would intrest him here. Isn't that right Liz? He hasn't even called you yet has he." It was more of a statement than a question.

"As for you Mr. Guerin...he hasn't called you either. Why would he? Whatever he found elsewhere was probably better than what Roswell has to offer. Other than myself of course, but I don't count myself a part of this shoddy little town. I'm from places far greater, places beyond." The last words were spoken on a sour note.

Tess had heard the things the other blonde girl had said, but decided that they really didn't warrent a reply. She was hardly worth the waste of breath...well, seeing as she didn't breath, the girl wasn't worth anything really. Probably not even killing.

"And that's why you're here," Jessica said coldly. She had really, completely had it. Radiating the full menace and authority granted someone with such high social status, she stalked forward until she was standing protectively between Tess and the others.

"Here's a friendly thought: get your bleached-blond self out that door we locked up, and go do your great things. Trust me, I can make your life a living hell. Juvenile much?" The bitch-queens of Sunnydale High would have stepped back from the look on her face. Somehow she doubted that Tess would be that easy.

Liz turned wide brown eyes on Michael, Tess and Jessica each in turn. She hated Tess, there was no doubt about it, but she didn't want a blood-bath, verbal or otherwise, in the middle of her dad's restaurant.

"Guys, chill!" she exclaimed. "Do we have to revert to school-yard insults here?"

Looking at the blonde girl that spoke to her, Tess laughed. Hard. She hadn't laughed so hard ever in fact. Nothing had seemed funny up until now. All the people and the former aliens (they weren't worthy of current alien status) were all so pathetic. She almost stopped laughing at the thought that she had once cared about them.

"You know what? How about you get yourself out of here now before I snap your neck? Oh wait. That was rude of me. Get out and go to hell before I send you there myself. That better?"

Tess had stopped laughing, and was now wiping the tears out of her eyes. This girl was certianly humorous.

"All right!" Liz exclaimed loudly, before anyone else could speak. "That's it! I'm sick of this, and I don't have to put up with it in my own home." Technically, this was her home, since her family lived over the diner. "Tess, you get the hell out of this restaurant, and never come back here again. You are no longer welcome as a customer, or anything else!"

Tess shot Liz a sugar sweet smile and tilted her head to the side in a most condesending way.

"Oh that's right....you actually *live* here." She said.

Going to the front door, she stood waiting for somebody to come and unlock it.

"I don't have any desire to come back here, don't you worry. Like I said before, I wouldn't be a customer anyway, and you're boring now that nobody cares about you. At least at one time Max was a factor...now you're just....you."

Seeing the distressed look on Liz's face, Michael decided to take charge of this situation before it got completely out of hand. If anyone could talk to Tess, it was him. After all, they did share the same 'non-human status' as Maria called it.

Striding forward, Michael grabbed Tess by the arm and pulled her away from the others by a few steps. In a harsh whisper, he demanded, "Tess, what the hell do you think you're doing? You *know* that Liz broke up with our good 'ole Maxamillion. You were there when it happened. So, since you know that you don't have to worry about her any more, why are you even here?"

"Details Micheal, details. Now could somebody PLEASE let me out of here? I'm getting really sick of all of you, and this place. As for why I came here...I thought I made it clear. But knowing you, I'm not surpised you didn't follow. It was difficult, what with the way I spelt it out so carefully."

Getting annoyed, Tess was seconds away from smashing through the glass door.

Michael gave Tess a weird 'have you been abducted by the Pod People' look, which was actually kind of ironic since according to most humans, she would actually BE one of those Pod People. They both would. But that wasn't the point right now. The point was that Tess was acting very strange, not at all like herself.

"Okay, who are you and what did you do with Tess Harding?" he demanded, not letting go of Tess's arm, though he did have to relocate his grip to her wrist since she was busy struggling to get away from him. And that was when he felt it. Or, actually, when he DIDN'T feel it. It being a pulse.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, looking at Tess with something akin to horror in his eyes. "What happened to you?"

---------

Meanwhile, Oz pulled up to the front of the Crashdown cafe, and looked inside. He saw a small group of people, and noticed the 'Closed' sign. He knew Xander was there. The smell gave it away. And Cordelia too. That was interesting. He got out of his van, and walked up to the cafe door, and tried to open it, but the door didn’t budge. He tapped on the glass to get Xander's attention, or who ever else was closest. He looked in to see who all was there. One person he didn't know. Well he didn't know too many people that well yet, but there was one other person he didn't know.

Oz was on his way home to his small hotel room. He didn't plan on taking up permanent residence in Rosewell just yet. He was still going over in his mind if this was a good choice.

Scince Xander and Cordelia were the only people he really knew, he wanted to ask Xander if they were doing anything that evening. Maybe hang out, or find another place kind of like the Bronze. He left Sunnydale, and also the band. Devon had a cousin who played bass, so it wasn't too big of a problem. Maybe Oz could find a place to hang out, and maybe play a bit. But he was still needed on this investigation. He probably picked up the habit from Buffy, work and play. But play every chance you aren't doing anything.

Oz was bored in Rosewell. Nothing had come up with this new super alien vamp that he had heard about. Just the usual street vamps. He had seen worse in Sunnydale.

He tapped again on the glass door, waiting for someone to notice.

---------

Xander slipped out of the kitchen and came to stand beside Jessica, Cordelia and Liz. He watched, wide eyed, as Michael and this Tess chick argued heatedly. What was going on here? He was so clueless.

Then Xander heard a tapping from the front window. Glancing over, beyond Michael and Tess, he saw Oz standing there, trying to get someone's attention.

Xander gave the small guitarist a quick wave, but then he pointed at the arguing teens, indicating that he wouldn't really be able to let Oz in until after they finally wrapped up their little fight. Why? Because they were standing in the way of the door. And Xander *really* didn't want to get in the middle of that fight. It looked pretty nasty.

He hoped Oz wouldn't mind waiting outside too much.

---------

Meanwhile, Tess was suddenly glad that Micheal was an idiotic alien and had no idea about vampires or general mythology surronding them. He'd write of her lack of pulse to something about their respective "Destiny's" that he just didn't know about yet, and move along in his pitifully simple life, never once looking back.

"*Don't* touch me." She said harshly, and pulled her wrist out of his grasp.

It was almost impossible for her to put off the bloodlust any longer. She hoped it wasn't showing in her eyes, because right now, Micheal was looking more and more like a blood bag and less and less like an alien in a human's body. She was anxious to find out if extra-terrestrial blood really was as good as Spike had said.

Turning away from him before she vamped out, Tess unlocked the door and took an unneccesary gulp of the fresh air that hit her. It was enough to calm her down, and to send her face back into it's human guise.

"Hate to run, but I'm hungry and apparently Liz isn't ready to give me anything." Tess said.

Walking off into the night, she sniffed the warm air, hoping to track down, and enjoy her meal. So much for Nacedo and his lessons in human eteqitte. She quite liked playing with her food, and she didn't care how unladylike it was.

"I wouldn't give her anything, even if she were starving and could pay me a million dollars," Liz grumbled, giving one of her very rare "death glares" to Tess's departing back. "I really hate that girl."

The violence of the emotion she felt for Tess actually scared Liz. She had never felt this negatively about anyone in her life. It was more so now than even last spring. She didn't understand it, and the feelings she couldn't control made her feel guilty. Liz sent a longing glance toward the door that lead to the back room, where the stairs were that took her upstairs to her room. The quiet sanctuary of her room and the company of her journal. That would calm her down. She hoped.

"Join the club," Jessica muttered. She was frowning at Michael, who was looking slightly less anti-social than usual - kind of shaken, in fact. His "what the hell" earlier had confirmed that. Something about that Tess girl had startled him.

She took a step toward him, frowning after Tess. "You okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Michael shook his head, clearing away his confusing thoughts. "I must've just imagined it..." he muttered, before realizing he had an audience of one. Turning to Jessica, he tried to smile and shrug it off as nothing, but making nice with people had never been Michael's forte. "Nothing, Tess was just being... weird... that's all. She's kinda my... er... cousin, in a sense. And I've never seen her act like that."

"Weird," Jessica echoed. She would have said how much of an understatement that was, but something was pulling at the back of her mind. Something about what Michael had said to Tess...

Realizing that he'd probably just said more to this Jessica girl in the past 5 minutes than he had the entire night, Michael grimaced. Leave it to Tess to get him all shaken up and babbling at strangers. All he needed now was a run in with either Maria or Isabel and his night would be complete.

Michael found himself wishing for just a second that Maxwell was here. He always seemed to know what to say to keep Michael from flying off the handle. Well, maybe *always* was a bit too strong of a word, but it usually still made Michael feel better just knowing that his friend was there to support him.

Jessica's made-up eyes narrowed into slits. He had asked Tess what she had done with herself. That could mean anything at all, she told herself, but she had a hard time thinking so naively after her stint in Sunnydale.

[Now I'm being paranoid,] she told herself. [Great.]

Liz was surprised yet again when Jessica tried to talk to Michael. After their rocky encounters earlier, it seemed odd. But maybe after Tess, anyone else was worth a second chance. She knew, though, that she would have to get Michael alone to find out what had spooked him so about Tess. That conversation couldn't take place in mixed company.

She said plastered a smile on her face and took the silvery, bobbing antennae off her head. She hung the headband that held the accessories in the pocket of her sea green and silver uniform with pockets shaped like traditional alien eyes.

"Xander," Liz asked, "are you about done with the clean up? I'm ready to call it a night. And you can have some time to spend with your friends. Show them the sights, such as they are." She laughed a little, trying not to let it sound forced. Liz had never been a good liar. Luckily this wasn't exactly lying. It was only half-lying. Exaggerating, if you will. So she was only half bad at it.

If Xander noticed that Liz's words and laughter didn't quite ring true, he didn't comment. Instead, he took Cordelia's hand and announced, "I think I'll take you up on that, Liz, before you can change you mind and put me back to work."

Liz nodded. "Have fun guys." She wished they'd just get out of here. She and Michael needed to *talk.*

"I should probably head out, too." Jessica stepped away from Michael - who was looking decidedly antisocial now - and looked at Xander and Cordelia. "I don't want to impose or anything, but I don't have a car and the next bus doesn't come for an hour. And it's really dark out." Hopefully Xander would catch on. It wasn't like her to get this shaken up, but what Michael had said was still bouncing around in her head.

Michael took that moment of distraction to walk over to Liz's side. She looked even more upset about Tess's little dramatic show than he was. Skipping the words of comfort, since he sucked at that kinda thing anyway, Michael slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a semi-hug.

Sensing that Liz was still troubled, Michael tried to take her mind off of the Tess situation by whispering, "By the way, since I didn't get to tell you this last night during out little 'best cartoon' debate, Scooby Doo could totally kick the Smurfs' collective butts. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's a fact. Anyone who's short and blue and led by a guy named 'Pappa Smurf' doesn't stand a chance against the awesome might of the Scooby Doo Gang."

Smirking his smug little Michael-smirk, he added, "And I dare you to try and convince me otherwise, Parker."

Liz let out a genuine trill of giggles as the absurdity of his comment distracted her for a brief moment. Smacking Michael on the upper arm, she retorted, "Yeah, but Papa Smurf has magic powers. Shaggy, Scooby and Fred are just normal teenagers. What do normal teenagers know about magic anyway?"

Michael frowned, looking down at his hands. "Nothing, Liz," he replied softly. "Nothing at all."

Liz's innocent comment had just reminded him of that fact that he was anything but normal. Usually, he didn't mind that. He even relished in the fact that he could do things that ordinary humans couldn't. And the fact that somewhere, somehow, there was a place that he could call home. But tonight, he wasn't feeling that great about his 'special gifts'. Tonight, he found himself watching that Harris kid and his friends and wishing that he could be normal like them. That his biggest concern could be getting his homework finished on time or asking some girl out on a date.

It was times like this that he envied Max and Isabel their picture perfect lives. They might be aliens, like him, but they had everything he'd ever really wanted as a kid. They had parents who loved them and they never had to worry about having enough food to eat or decent clothes to wear. They didn't have to worry about paying bills and getting jobs. Yes, Maxwell had a job, but he didn't actually *need* it. He just worked for the crazy guy at the UFO museum so that he could stay on top of all the latest sitings around town.

And, of course, they'd never had to live with Hank. They'd never had to stay up all night, hiding under a pile of clothes in the closet, praying that he would just give up and pass out soon. They'd never had to skip school because they couldn't make their powers work well enough to heal all the cuts and bruises.

Michael sighed. This kind of thinking was getting him nowhere.

Grabbing his jacket off a nearby booth, Michael announced, "I'm gonna head home. See you kids later."

As he passed her, he gave Liz a pointed look and jerked his head in the direction of the back room. He knew she wanted to talk to him about something, that much was obvious, and he was tired of waiting around for the others to leave.

Once he'd entered the kitchen, Michael plopped down on one of the ratty couches that were pushed against the back wall and waited for Liz. Leaning his head back, Michael let his eyes slip shut. It had been a while since he'd had a chance to just lay down and be still. It felt good.

----------

Meanwhile, back in the main part of the Crashdown…

Giving Liz a grin to show that he was teasing her, Xander turned to Jessica, Cordelia's hand still firmly tucked away in his own. "Are you girls ready to hit the road?" Nodding his head in the direction of the front windows where Oz waited outside, Xander added, "I think we have company for the trip, even."

Oz had his hands in his pockets and he leaned against the door way of the cafe. "Hey Xander. Doing anything tonight? I'm bored. And since you have been here a little bit longer than I have, I guess you could say what Liz here said, show us the sights." Oz grinned, and waved at the small group of people in the cafe.

He didn't want to go back to his motel room yet. And plus he was practically next door neighbors with Faith. He rarely saw her, but when he did, he really didn't enjoy her company, especially when she gets flirty.

"Sure, Oz, though I have to stop by my apartment first, change clothes." Gesturing to his greasy, work clothes, Xander added, "I doubt Cor wants me escorting her around town in these stylish duds."

Cordelia grabbed the front of Xander's greasy waiter shirt and pulled him towards her, planting a kiss on his lips. Holding her hand up to show him the food residue on it she said "Yeah, its definitely time to change."

Jessica glanced at the distinctive van and grinned. "Trust Oz to keep that thing running. What's he holding it together with? Duct tape?"

"Hey, that van has been to quite a few upstate concerts in its time," Oz replied.

"With you pushing it all the way," Jessica retorted teasingly.

Oz didn't pay any attention to her. Sure the van was a bit old and messed up, but at least it worked.

Jessica lowered her voice and her smile faded. "I think we need to compare notes," she said softly, "and I'd rather not do it in front of these two. I don't want to spring vampires on them." Or on Liz, anyway. Michael needed a few smelly potions dropped on his head.

"Shall we head to the Scoobymobile?"

"Yep, sounds like a plan," Xander replied.

"Ready to go" Cordelia responded, squeezing Xander's hand. She wasn't extremely excited that Jessica...and now Oz were joining their party, but being reunited with Xander had her on a temporary high. There was even the chance that she would be nice to someone.

"I can always paint it blue and put some groovy flowers all over it." Oz smiled, but hoped they didn't think he was serious. The zibra stripped print was a bit old. He wanted to paint it a different color, but that would be a bit of money out of his pocket that he didn't have.

"Nah. I'm not into psychodelic floral." Jessica thumped the side of the van. "We could do the old Ghostbusters shtick. Or the Millenium Zebra," she added with a sly sideways look at Xander. Trust Oz to lighten the mood.

Oz turned to the van, and took his keys out of his pockets. He stepped over to the driver side door and unlocked it, then opened the big slidding door on the side of the van. It was a little messy on the inside, but it could seat all of them comfortably.

"Xand, you're gonna have to give me directions to your place. I'm still kinda new here." Oz waited for them to get in the van.

Cordelia glimpsed inside the van. It looked a looked a little...cluttered. But hey, if she could date a greasy waiter then she could handle sitting in the back of a cluttered van. You give a little, you get a little.

"And take the long way," Jessica added as she rested her feet on what she hoped was a beanbag. "I hate to be the reality-check girl, but we seriously need to compare notes here."

Liz waved as Xander and the others walked out of the restaurant, still deciding on their plans. "Bye, guys," she called after them. "See you tomorrow, Xander. And, Jessica, I'll talk to my dad and call you." When they were gone, she locked the door behind them. She looked both locks – the keyed lock and the keyless lock. Something had her extra jumpy tonight. Deciding that the restaurant was clean enough for now, she flipped off the lights and walked into the back room where Michael was waiting.

"Give me a sec to change, OK?" Liz asked him. "Alien-chic is not my favorite fashion statement." Trusting that he would wait, she ran upstairs and exchanged her uniform for jeans and a baby-T. As she pulled the red shirt over her head, she had a sudden memory flash of cornering a different alien in the band hall at school to ask him why there was a glowing silver handprint on her stomach. Shaking off the feeling, she slid her feet into some sandals and headed back downstairs.

"Where are you going, honey?" her dad called from the living room. He was watching TV with her mother.

"For a walk with Michael. I'll be back soon."

"Restaurant clean?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Don't stay out too late. School tomorrow, you know," her mother said.

"OK," Liz agreed.

"Promise?" her mother reiterated.

Liz gave her a mildly exasperated look. "Promise!"

"Be good," he dad called as she headed for the door.

"Always," Liz replied, and then she was gone. Making sure her keys were in her pocket, she hurried down the stairs into the breakroom. "Michael? I think we can get that walk in after all. Sorry it took me so long. My parents can be so over protective..."

"It's better than the alternative," Michael muttered, somehow managing to only sound slightly bitter. He was still laying on the couch where Liz had left him. It was a small couch, more of a two seater, so his feet and hair both extended slightly beyond the arm rests at each end of the little sofa.

Opening his eyes, Michael leaned his head back over the arm of the couch and squinted at Liz. She appeared upside-down to him, which struck him as funny for some reason.

Hiding a smirk, Michael asked, "So, what exactly would your dad do if he knew you spent so much time with me every night?" Michael raised an eyebrow tauntingly. "What did you tell me he called me... 'the guy with the hair' right? Should I be worried?"

"Nah," Liz answered, shaking her head back and forth. The strands of dark brown hair next to her face shook with the motion. It was nice to have her hair free again after being forced to pull it back all day at the restaurant. "I think he likes you now. He called you 'the guy with the hair' before you started working here, I think. They just want me back early because of school tomorrow." She narrowed her gave as she stared at him. "You *are* planning on attending school tomorrow, aren't you?"

Michael sighed, slumping back down on the couch so he didn't have to see her give him that *look* of hers. But ignoring her didn't make her go away. Liz was persistant, he had to give her that.

Swinging his legs over the arm of the couch, Michael planted his feet firmly on the floor and stood up. Two steps and he was at Liz's side, taking her hand and dragging her toward the door.

"C'mon, you wanted to walk, let's walk."

------------

Aidan drove down the darkened streets of Roswell in his brand new car. The vehicle still smelled new and looked new. It was a forest green Dodge Intrepid. He liked the sleek, curvy lines, and the dark color blended in well with the darkness, just the occasional hint of metallic green paint glinting under the street lights.

And there had been plenty of room in it for all his stuff... Of course, since he'd relocated from the UK less that a year ago, and been living with fellow Watcher Rupert Giles in Sunnydale since then, he hadn't had the time to accumulate much stuff.

He knew where his apartment building was. He'd studied enough maps of Roswell that he could find his way anywhere, even in the dark. Picking up his other new possession, a cell phone, he dialed the number of his land lord. The man was waiting outside when Aidan pulled up in the parking lot. Aidan signed the lease, got his key and all the pertinent information, and then walked to his new home. Apartment number 3. Three had always been his lucky number. The fact that the door was painted the same dark green as his new car was another good omen. He turned the key in the lock and walked inside.

The apartment had that new smell, too. The man said they had just re-modeled it. The carpet was new, and the walls had been freshly painted. He smiled. Aidan walked through the rooms with a practiced eye, grateful that he'd gotten what he'd asked for in his lease negotiations. The apartment lived up to it's reputation. The kitchen was small, but nice. There was a bedroom with a walk in closet, a nice-sized living room with a fireplace, windows with double locks and shutters (a must in any vampire town), one and a half baths, and -- the best feature, in Aidan's opinion, was the study, complete with built in bookshelves. It would be perfect. Now all he needed was some furniture...

After he'd looked everything over, Aidan started unloading his car. He put the boxes in corners in the appropriate rooms. He rolled out his sleeping bag on the floor in his bedroom and dropped his two perfect pillows at the head. His boxes of books -- including his personal collection and a huge stash of occult books -- went in the study. His clothes went in the closet on hangers, and he quickly outfitted the main bathroom with all the necessities -- toilet paper, soap, a set of towels and a shower curtain. He plugged his TV and VCR in and set them on a sturdy, over-turned box. He found his phone and plugged it in. There was a dial tone. He'd called a head from Sunnydale to have the phone turned on.

Taking a break, Aidan picked up the phone and dialed the number of Xander's new apartment -- they'd talked a few times over the phone since the boy left Sunnydale. He let it ring a few times, but the machine picked up.

"If you're calling for Candi's Strip-O-Gram service... THEY CHANGED THEIR FRICKIN' NUMBER! If you're calling for Xander, leave a message at the beep-a-roonie."

Aidan had to laugh at that, but when he heard the beep, he said, "Xander, it's Aidan. I'm at my new apartment. Call me when you get in, no matter how late. My number is..." After giving the number, Aidan hung up, and tried another number. The number of the motel where Faith was supposedly staying. He hadn't heard from her much since she'd arrived in town, but the manager said she was still registered. No one answered in her room, so he left a message at the desk. The night clerk said he would put the message on her door. He tried Jeffery and Amy's number, but got another machine. He would have called Oz, but he didn't know where the reticent boy was staying. The guy had just left Sunnydale, supposedly heading for Roswell, and they hadn't heard from him again. Then Aidan resumed his unpacking. It didn't take much longer since all he had was boxes.

When he'd done all he could do, Aidan sat back in the middle of the floor and surveyed the results. "Now all I need to do is go buy some furniture..." Though he didn't know when he was going to do that. Tomorrow would be his first day as the guidance counselor at West Roswell High. Wouldn't that be interesting...

--------

Faith stopped and raised her head a little to look at the moon. Not quite full which meant...nothing. She wasn't a furball so full or not it didn't mean anything to her. But it was just something to do so she could sense out without appearing to do so.

There it was again. Vampire definately. Faith wandered off the sidewalk and down a short alleyway pretending to be lost. Sure enough the vampire followed her in. Moron.

"Hey there Twinkie."

She didn't give him a chance to respond before slamming her elbow in to his face. Bones crunched and rearranged and Faith grinned a little sadistically. The sound of violence was music to her ears.

Right about that time something else entered her range of Slaydar. Faith's grip tightened on the vampire's shirt and she cocked her head to the side. If felt...like a vampire but...

Definately interested to see what could give her a run for her money she snapped the vampire's neck quickly and dropped him. The Slayer watched him flop around for a few minutes before straddling his chest and looking down at him.

"See normally I'd just stake ya and have it be over with. Buuuut since you were no fun at all you're gonna have to be punished. So open wide..."

Because every slayer wanted a fang toothed necklace. Faith pulled the large silver guilt blade out from the small of her back and held the vampire's mouth open. Whatever was wandering her way was getting closer but she still had time.

Not much though.

The noise was distant, though not too distant. Tess could hear the struggle quite clearly. A female, and a male. One of whom was killing the other. Could have been vampiric. It intrigued her. Since she had been vamped, her only other undead interaction had been with Spike. It would be nice to finally meet another one of her kind. If it wasn't...she could just kill it.

Following the noise, she came upon an alley. It appeared to be empty, but her alien senses told her otherwise. There was definitely something down there. Something worth checking out.

"Relax big nasty...this is only gonna hurt ya until I stick a stake in your heart."

Faith grinned again and and held the vampire's head still while she hacked it's fangs free. The Slayer looked at her handiwork and blinked a few times. Gold plated fangs?

She chuckled and pocketed them with a quick glance around. That annoying sense of 'it' was there. Faith could practically smell it. Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip just before she shoved the stake in the vampire's chest.

A billow of dust popped up and then started to settle down. She stood head lowered slightly, hand still tightly gripped around the sticky handle of her bloodied blade.

Tess watched as the human preformed some kind of crude dental technique on the other vampire. It was interesting. Never before had any person done that sort of thing. At least, as far as Tess knew. Normally they just screamed and tried, albeit unsuccessfully to run away.

Faith’s ears pricked slighty as she eyed the figure in the dark. Female. Definately female. And fanged. Faith adjusted her night vision a little and smirked. There was something off on this one but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle right?

Tess knew she had been found out. The girl stood with purpose, despite her lack of visable strength and bulk. That wasn't the case though, she had ripped the other demon apart like he was nothing. There was obviously some kind of inner power that wasn't apparent to the naked eye.

"Enjoy the show?" Faith asked.

Tess’s lips curled into a smile. That wasn't the comment she had been expecting.

"Oh yeah, I love a nice violent romp. That was great, I especially liked the part where you held him down and cut his mouth up. Nice touch. It did lack finesse though."

Faith raised her brows slighty and practically sneered. Great. A vampire version of Buffy. The Slayer wiped the blood slicked blade on her black jeans and tucked it back in to it's spot at the small of her back.

"My job doesn't usually require finesse."

Tess watched her replace the blade in her jeans with a certian grace that the earlier display had lacked. The gesture appeared all to familiar to the dark haired girl, and it became apparent that if there had ever been any doubt, there shouldn't have been. This was no ordinary girl.

"Your job? I see. Is this some kind of after hours training for dental assistants? I'd say dentist, but you...let's just say the lack of education is painfully apparent."

Faith’s lip curled up in a smirk that shifted quickly in to a dead blank face. She could feel the difference of this vampire. Kinda like a different vibe to her. For a second Faith almost wished she had listened to her Watcher about all the advantages of Slayer instinct.

Maybe she was like some Slayer tuning fork. Able to discern the difference in demons and vampires just by sensing them. Nah...it was true to a certain extent but she didn't actually think they had ability. And if they did the Council would never tell them about it.

Tess shifted into a more ready-stance. The other girl was obviously thinking about something a little more rough and tumble than a verbal exchange consisting of "I'm tougher than you" banter. It was odd though...the way she felt evaluated. Somebody was obviously in "the know" about certian paranormal activities.

Faith shifted slowly with a hunter...or killer's grace and leaned against the brick wall of the alleyway. Usually fangs weren't one for conversation unless they were Master vampire's and wanted to intimidate a Slayer.

This one had a newbie feel to her though. Might have just been Faith's perceptions. Kind of strange looking at a vampire that should be newborn yet get this feeling that they knew more than the average vampire. Or human. And the damn thing still wasn't attacking.

"So...who's gonna be the butch one and start this thing off first?"

She eyed the vampire and smirked again.

"You know 'cause lookin' at ya, you just don't seem the rough and tumble kinda girl to me."

"You're the one with the pants on. If you're so rough and tumble, prove it." Tess said, challenging Faith to take the bait.

Faith ignored the comment on her lack of formal schooling. Everything she needed to know she learned from the streets. No book was ever going to tell her how to duck and hit at just the right time. Or when to run when you needed to.

No book was ever going to be able to tell her how to get over her mother burning her with ciggarettes or her step dad getting overly friendly with her or how to use vampires to take out her aggression.

Playing the rules and living by the book wasn't going to do anything but make her a simpering, whiney, needy twit. She'd tried that already. It didn't work.

Faith snickered and moved with lightening speed to just and inch in front of the vampire. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in a mocking grin. She didn't make a threatening move she just stood there. Nearly eye to eye with the other girl.

Taken aback slightly by the girl's quick movements, Tess almost lost her balance. Almost. She hoped that her opponent hadn't noticed, and opted for a more aggressive stance.

She wasn't sure if she could take her. Hand to hand combat was definitely something she wasn't into, and trying to duke it out with the person she had just watched mutilate and easily kill another vampire, was seeming like a worse and worse idea with each passing second.

Not that Tess was going to back down.

"I don't think you could handle me,” Faith hissed.

"Oh no? I think I could handle you,” Tess said, stepping forward.

"But I'm not talking about fighting....are you?" Tess asked. Her lips curling into a defiant smirk.

Faith wasn't expecting that comment so it took her a second to actually react. Her hands came up and planted on either side of the vampire's head forcing her back against the wall.

They were touching and she could feel the cold off the dead body on her own overly warm skin. Faith eyed the vampire with cold calculating deep brown eyes.

"We were talkin' about fightin'?"

Tess inhaled sharply. A knee-jerk reaction considering oxygen wasn't something she would ever need again. It wasn't every day that a girl capable of easily killing vampires pinned her to a wall and said things that left her wondering if she'd really heard correctly.

Faith smirked and let a slightly lusty growl slip out between her lips. Definately wanting the vampire. Either for a kill or something else. But she wanted and she wasn't willing to check her emotions so that could be dangerous.

Why it was the human growling was beyond her, but at this point she didn't care. Tess wanted the human, and she wasn't sure if it was just for the feed.

Turning the tables on the vampire, Faith ran her tongue up the side of her neck and nipped hard right under her jaw. Faith pulled back and stepped in to the shadow as if nothing had happened between them.

It all happened so quickly that Tess barely knew what had hit her. The approach, the attack and then the retreat all in one fluid motion that could have lasted mere seconds but felt like hours.

Now, even she had wanted to breath, she wouldn't have been able to. Her lungs were just as paralyzed as the rest of her and she stood staring into the shadows, like a stunned deer in headlights. It was beyond her how a mere human could have such fire within.

"I'm gettin' a little violence happy...an' seein' as how you've been the most fun I'm gonna actually let you go before I decide to let you join dustbucket back there," Faith announced with a smirk.

Finally regaining herself, and trying to assert some kind of dominance within the situation, Tess stepped away from the wall. She started to walk away, out of the ally and into the erethral glow cast by the moon. Her pale vampiric skin shining white in the mysterious light.

"Aww isn't that just so nice of you? Don't expect the same kind of mercy from me when we meet again. I'm not going to let you off so easily." Tess taunted, and walked off.

"If it was that easy to get me off we wouldn't be standing right now."

She didn't bother to smirk because there wasn't anyway that the vampire could see her as far back in to the shadows as she was. But the tone in her voice suggested the slight sneer and smirk of amusement.

She turned to head down the opposite way and shoved her hands in to her back pockets. This time of night she was more in to a killing lust than a hunger lust so that meant it was time to get a piercing or a tattoo and call it a night.

Huh now that had so much potential....

Tess wanted to reply. She wanted to think of something witty to shout back, and leave her one up in her mind. That wasn't going to happen though. She was at a complete loss for words, and before she knew it the other girl was gone.

In an hour or so, she'd think of something she could have said and feel stupid because it never came to her when she really meant it and wanted to say it. That seemed to happen every once in awhile, and being a rare occasion, it put her in an even worse mood.

She had not only missed the feed several times, but she'd been out-bantered by a human. Nothing worse could have happened. That was until she heard his voice.

Spike emerged from the shadows as if they had conjured him.

"Been 'aving fun tonight, pet?" he asked insolently, looking to his most recent convert. Nothing since he'd met her turned out as he had expected, but so far, that was serving him well.

"Fun? FUN? No that isn't the word I'd use to describe what I've been doing tonight. Though..." She said, looking back into the ally where Faith had stood.

"It has been interesting.”

Spike looked in the direction of the retreating Slayer and had to admit he was confused. He returned his glance to Tess and raised an incongruously dark eyebrow.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Oh, nothin'," Spike said nonchalantly. "It's just that Slayers tend to be a bit more slayish when they meet vampires on the street. 'Ave you eaten yet?" So far from SunnyHell and all Spike had yet to enlighten his young protege about the whitehats and their champion. Why they decided to show up here was anyone's guess. Didn't they have better things to do then stalk him? Not that it wasn't a compliment to his terrorizing capabilities, but really, were the forces of darkness so lackidazical these days that the Scooby Gang had nothing else to do but follow him around the country. Spike sighed and focused back on the blonde in front of him. Looks like he had some things to tell her...

Tess gave him a snobbish look, and gave him the once over.

"First of all, I have no idea what a slayer is. Though that girl did do some major damage to whatever poor shmuck beat me to her. Second of all,no I haven't fed, and finally...don't think so hard. You'll get a headache."

Her sire had taught her a lot of things about being a vampire, but most of it had been interspursed with random stories about his glory days, and some crazy chick named Drusilla. The drunken rambles had become *very* tiring and lately, she just didn't have the time for him that she used to.

"Forget it. Let's feed." She said, with a dismissive gesture.

"The Slayer," Spike explained patiently as he led the way down the alley, "is the one chosen, by who exactly no one seems to know. Anyway, she is the Vampire Slayer and very capable of laying waste to many a cleverly conceived plan, not to mention your run of the mill vamp goon. She's a bloody nuisance, is what she is! What's worse there's only 'sposed to be one per generation...only one at a time. One managed to get herself half killed and through some rotten luck we have two. I thought I'd left 'em behind in the Golden State, but it looks like they've come on 'oliday or some'fin. Watch yerself," he admonished.

Looking at his surroundings again he noticed where they'd arrived. "My, my, what 'ave we 'ere?"

They had stumbled across a young amorous couple so involved in each others lips they noticed nothing else and decidedly breaking curfew. Spike adopted his true visage and gave Tess a sneer. "Shall we join them?"

At the prospect of a feed, her face shifted into it's vampiric form and Tess took a step forward.

"Stupid humans. Let's go." She said to Spike, again advancing on their prey.

-------

Meanwhile, back in the parking lot outside the Crashdown Café, Oz got in his van and sat behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition, waiting for everyone to get situated. "Everyone all set?"

Xander hopped in the van, helping Cordelia inside as well and closing the sliding door behind her. "Yep, all set."

Cordelia followed Xander into the van and found a seat on an empty milk crate. Plastering a smile on her face she said "All set back here"

Slipping into the front passenger side seat so that he could navigate, Xander told Oz, "Take a left right up there, okay?"

Oz pulled the van away from the street and did as Xander said. Oz followed Xander's directions on the way to his apartment. "So you guys know of any clubs around here? Kinda like the Bronze?"

Oz really hoped there would be a small club. He was so new in town, he kind of felt alone, even around Xander and Cordelia. They had been here longer than he had. All the smells were new, and the only place he could call home was his van. He rarely spent time in his small motel room. Faith always had music blasting, which wasn't all that bad, but at 2 oclock in the morning it was a problem. So he would end up sleeping in his van, or if he wanted quiet, or tried to write a song, he always ended up in his van. He wondered why he spent the 40 bucks a week for that room.

Jessica shook her head. "Haven't found one. I think the Crashdown is kinda it. You'd think with all the tourists..." She shrugged. Just as well there wasn't a vampire feeding ground around here.

Wow, Oz thought. It was a small cafe and if that was the place to be, it was definitely pretty sad compared to the Bronze. After that, he was quiet, keeping himself occupied with his thoughts. He didn't pay much attention to the unfamiliar streets around him, just listening to the left or right directions from Xander.

He tapped his fingers slightly to the beat of the soft music playing. He had such a hard time trying to find a decent radio station here in Roswell. A lot of it was static.

Oz hoped that there as something more to this Roswell place. Chasing Alien vampires that were believed to exist. Being around the Scooby gang for 3 years, he wasn't really surprised to see anything new. But he questioned these new kind of vamps. Faith hadn't reported anything new. Nor had anyone else. Again, he ran through his mind if this was a good idea.

Xander shook his head. "Actually, there is one place. It's on the outskirts of town. UFOnics. Some kind of club; I haven't been yet, though." Thinking it over, he added, "There's also the old soap factory on the other side of town. It's private property, but the kids still manage to sneak in and raise plenty of hell, from what I've heard."

Outskirts of town? Intersesting. Oz thought they might be able to check it out on their night on the town. But for some of them school was tomorrow. He would have to check it out himself later.

--------

Michael and Liz walked out of the Crashdown's back door and into the warm night. The streets of Roswell were pretty much deserted. Liz glanced at her watch. "We'll have to be careful. The teen curfew will kick in soon... though I guess Sheriff Valenti won't punish us too much if he catches us. He's been pretty laid back this summer. Must be the afterglow of seeing his son resurrected." Liz cut that conversational gambit short. She did *not* want to talk about Max again.

Michael nodded, staring down at his feet as they walked. Talking about Kyle just reminded him of Agent Pierce... the man he'd killed. He exhaled loudly, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

"So, Michael," Liz said, changing the subject and looking at him with a worried gaze. "What spooked you about Tess back there. That was weird."

"Oh, it wasn't anything..." Michael muttered. "I must've just imagined it, that's all." Slanting his eyes, Michael studied Liz's profile as they walked. "But... there was... something... *off* about her, wasn't there? I mean, she was acting really strange."

"Um... well... now that you mention it, she seemed a bit more... bloodthirsty than usual. That whole thing about snapping Jessica's neck, it... um... kind of freaked me out, actually." Liz glanced sideways at Michael as she clasped her hands in front of her body. "Do you think she's having an Alien God complex or something?"

---------

It was all her mother's fault.

First words out of her mouth: "Pick up some things, Maria." Not "Welcome home." Not "How are you?" Just "Pick up some things, Maria."

It was like her mother thought Roswell was going to be under siege or something. What her mother expected her to buy could feed a small army for a month.

At least it distracted her from That-Person-She-Wasn't-Going-To-Think-About.

Now if only she could balance these damn cans...

---------

Jeffery sat on the Evans's lawn for a while, staring up at the night sky. Then his stomach growled, reminding him that the reason for this outing in the first place had been to find himself something to eat.

He got to his feet and walked home to get his car keys. One of the first things Jeffery had done after getting back to Sunnydale from Ireland was to buy himself a car. Maybe it had been residual anger at his dad (both for dying, and for denying him a car before this as punishment for the boarding school incident), but Jeffery had gone out and bought the most impractical, fun car he could imagine... a bright red Camero with a black leather interior. The gang back in Sunnydale had never let him hear the end of it. They teased him mercilessly about his car. But Jeffery liked it anyway. If he had to go back, this time he'd probably get something more practical, like Amy's Saturn, but now that he had the Camero, he was going to enjoy it.

After leaving a quick note for Amy, Jeffery grabbed his keys and slid into the Camero's driver's seat. He gunned the engine a little, just for fun, and then drove away, toward downtown Roswell.

The problem was that this late in Roswell -- the Camero's dashboard clock told him it was pushing 11 p.m. -- none of the grocery stores, or restaurants for that matter, were still open. When he spotted the lights of a gas station/convenience store, Jeffery pulled in hurriedly. The places wasn't that busy, even though it was one of the only places in town still open -- foodwise anyway. Jeffery walked into the store, doubtful about what he would find to eat, but he would try.

As he walked through the store, hoping against hope this was one of those convenience stores that stocked milk, Jeffery's eyes fell on a blonde girl with full lips who was struggling with the items she had selected. At first -- considering the luck he'd had tonight -- Jeffery was going to just mind his own business, but the gallant impulses inside could not be ignored.

Taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn't going to get slapped or something, Jeffery walked over to the girl, gave her a friendly smile, and said, "Need some help?"

"Yes! Thank you!" Maria turned slightly to greet the good samaritan, which had the unfortunate effect of sending economy-sized tubs of Spam thunking in all directions.

[Great. Way to klutz.] Her face flaming, Maria shifted her gallon jug of would-be Koolaid to one arm and tried to pick up a can. "Didn't mean to do that," she muttered. "I don't drop cans on people. I mean tubs. I mean - " She sighed and resigned tried to roll a tub into reach with her toe. "Sorry. It's been one of those days. Do you mind if I start cursing now?"

Jeffery deftly picked up the fallen items, relieved the girl of a few more things and then said, "Is this all you need to get, or is there more shopping to be done?"

"No. My mom's finished stocking the bomb shelter. Kidding," she added before the boy could decide that she was one of those crazy bunker people. "I'm Maria DeLuca, by the way."

He paused, and then added, with a smile, "My name is Jeffery Madison, by the way. I just moved to Roswell with my sister."

Maria frowned slightly. New kid. She figured that one of the strange number of new kids in Roswell was behind the weird disappearances, which meant that she should start suspecting this guy.

Later. "Um, did you need anything. My mom gave me her value card, so if you're just buying something small, I can save you some money."

"It's nice to meet you, Maria. I would offer to shake your hand, but..." He smiled and nodded at his full hands. Answering her second question, he added, "I just came to see if they have any milk..." His face lightened with relief when he saw a refrigerated milk area in the back of the store. "Thank goodness! You wouldn't believe what I've gone through to get milk tonight!" He went over to the case and managed to open it and hook a gallon with two fingers.

"Don't take that brand. It's kinda gross." Maria wrinkled her nose to demonstrate the level of milk grossness and nodded to another brand. "That's okay. I think it actually comes from cows."

"All right." he said, juggling the tubs and cans and his gallon of milk. "Now, on to the cash register!" Suddenly feeling in a goofy mood -- maybe it was the relief of talking to someone he would probably never see again, someone who didn't care about him enough to snub him, someone who didn't care about his past, someone who actually accepted his kindness as it was meant, as kindness -- but he said the last line in an imitation of a hero in an old movie. Then he started blazing a trail to the cash register and the old woman running it, keeping an eye on Maria to make sure she didn't drop anything else.

Maria giggled and decided that Jeffrey probably wasn't an alien. He was too goofy and he was actually friendly. Trusting. That was it.

She dumped her tubs on the counter by the cash register, picked up a pen, and proceeded to stab her mother's shopping list, holding up her victim to Jeffrey. "I beat the evil grocery list," she said proudly. After last year, she felt the universe in general owed her some goofiness.

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