Hank is walking down the street with Alex following at a safe distance. Hank turns a corner down an alley. Before Alex can get there, a bright light shines out from the alley; then a man walks out, the same Hispanic man from Independence Day and Sexual Healing. He pops something into his mouth, pockets the small container, and continues down the street. Alex notices the man, but is curious about the light and turns down the alley. It's a dead end and no one is there. Alex looks back in the direction the Hispanic man went (which is now empty), then back to the alley. He starts looking around, behind trash bins, etc. to see if Hank is hiding, but finds nothing. Alex ends up standing in the middle of the alley looking baffled.

Cut to:

Cut to:

Michael, Max, and Isabel are standing in Michael's living room.

Cut to:

Isabel's eyes are closed and she is touching the drawing of the Desert Man. She jumps with a start as she opens her eyes and comes out of the dreamwalk.

Isabel is momentarily overwhelmed by Maria's barrage of questions, then composes herself to answer each in succession.

Cut to:

Michael, Max, Isabel, Liz, Maria, and Alex are discussing the metal book Michael found in the cave.

Isabel and Max move in closer to Michael, intrigued.

Cut to:

Max is standing before the rock wall. Somehow he just knows to reach out and place his hand on the wall, as if he had been doing it all his life. It glows silver under his hand, then the stone appears to ripple and shimmer. They all look on, stunned and amazed as it transforms itself into a doorway-like opening. There is a hollowed-out area inside, large enough for two people and a child-sized pod. Light streams in from the opening Max just made and from a small one in the ceiling of the pod chamber, which also lets in air. Max steps in and we see the egg-shaped gossamer-like pod shell he emerged from in 1989. Max stares at it, mesmerized. He reaches out to touch it and gets a flash (two moons and green clouds). Isabel, standing at the opening notices an engraving on the wall opposite the pod.

Max sees the Whirlwind Galaxy symbol Isabel is pointing at.

Cut to:

Valenti is sitting at his desk, talking to Deputy Green.

Cut to:

Larry is talking to an inebriated private from Eagle Rock military base.

His shoots his arm up towards the ceiling in demonstration, causing Larry to flinch.

Larry is practically foaming at the mouth with excitement.

Cut to:

Kyle is asking Paulie about a pretty, blonde girl who is working on the combination of her locker in the background.

Cut to:

Max is at his desk on the phone. His computer is on and he appears to be comparing pictures of military and non-military personnel to the Desert Man sketch, as Alex did in "Who Am I?".

Cut to:

Alex hangs up and starts typing on his keyboard. The monitor displays the Eagle Rock Base personnel files. He types in search criteria such as "1980" and "male".

Cut to:

Isabel is teaching Michael to slow dance. She relaxes and lays her head on his shoulder. They both seem at ease with each other. Suddenly there are a couple of flashes. First of young Michael cowering before Hank. The second of young Isabel horrified when she sees a greyling mannequin in a store. She keeps looking from the greyling to looking at herself in a mirror in the store, to back to the greyling. The camera shows their individual reactions: their eyes widen in shock. They stop dancing and separate quickly.

She heads for the door.

She exits, closing the door behind her.

Cut to:

Maria, Liz, and Kyle are talking. Kyle turns slightly on his stool and spots the new girl from school walking past the Crashdown. He stares, hesitates, then leaps off of his stool and heads for the door.

Maria and Liz, curious as to what caught Kyle's attention, make their way to the now-closed door.

Cut to:

Isabel, Alex, and Liz are sitting on the couch. Michael and Maria are sharing an arm chair. Their eyes are wide in wonder. Max is standing before them. It's apparent he has just shown them something. Alex is the first to speak.

Max does the same gesture he did in the janitor's closet and the green shield appears again.

Cut to:

Michael and Maria enter the gymnasium. We see that Maria chose to change the color of the dress to match the shoes. She looks beautiful and Michael looks amazing, having bitten the bullet and donned a black suit and shirt. The camera pulls back to reveal the school gymnasium, which is decorated for the Spring Blast-Off (with such things as paper rocket ships leaving a trail of paper flowers in their wake), and is filled with students and chaperones enjoying the festivities. The Alienettes are up on the stage, playing a fast song. They are doing a mediocre job of it, but some students are on the dance floor, enjoying it nonetheless, while others are seated at tables, talking. Kyle and Vicky are at the refreshment table. Kyle is busy eating; Vicky, who is facing the gymnasium notices Michael and Maria's entrance.

Cut to:

Max and Liz are walking towards a booth, still wearing their Spring Blast-Off finery.

Cut to:

Max and Liz sitting in the booth.

Their foreheads touch as they contemplate this.

Cut to:

Michael goes behind the curtain that divides his bedroom from the living room then returns with a plant--the same plant that he accidentally exploded in "The Witness". Its pot has been seamlessly mended but the plant itself has not fully recovered from the shock and looks pathetic. Maria's mouth drops open. He places the plant on the counter and walks back towards her.

Michael raises his arm, about to demonstrate, but she doesn't realize what he is about to do and keeps talking.

The pot explodes and Maria lets out a startled scream. She stares at the shattered pot and uprooted plant, dumbfounded.

Maria is still a little bit shaken but trying to remain calm and supportive. She takes his hand in hers.

Cut to:

Max makes his bed then he and Isabel sit at the edge of it. Liz sits cross-legged in the middle of the bed facing them. Isabel puts her hand on the drawing of the Desert Man. Max does the same. They hold hands with their free hand, close their eyes and concentrate. Liz is watching them intently, as if she is vicariously concentrating with them. Max and Isabel start to frown; it's obvious that no connection is being made. Liz seeing Max's look of disappointment places her hand on his in support and suddenly they are all in. All three feel as if they have been sucked into a vortex. Dark and disturbing images are whirling around; among them is Hank in a shallow grave with dirt being shoveled onto his face, another is of the Desert Man, in a military uniform, looking frightened, and someone's hand is on his chest. The images are so frightening that almost as soon as they got in, they break the connection. They sit there, wide-eyed and in shock.

Cut to:

Liz is on her lounge writing in her journal.

Cut to:

Isabel is sitting on her bed, knees up against her chest, her arms around her legs, and she's rocking slightly as if to comfort herself. She looks distraught.

Cut to:

Max is lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, rolling one of his healing stones in his hand like a worry stone.

Cut to:

Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Alex are all there sitting on the couch and arm chair. Maria is the first to break the stunned silence.

Cut to:

Wide angle view. Isabel is seated at a table with Alex; we do not hear their conversation. Alex collects his stuff, gives Isabel a quick kiss and leaves. Kyle, passing by, stops to say hi to Isabel; again, we don't hear their conversation. In the background the new girl is making the rounds at the various tables, introducing herself, shaking hands and moving on. Max and Liz are at another table. The camera focuses on them. We join them in mid-conversation. Their voices are low.

Cut to:

The new girl coming up behind Elana and Vanessa, who are standing by Isabel's table. The new girl taps Vanessa on the shoulder. She spins around angrily and is caught by surprise.

She reaches out to shake hands. At first glance, Elana and Vanessa are impressed by her pretty face and respond in kind, but as they shake hands they give her the once over, taking in her less than fashionable (to them) style of dress, and their demeanor changes to disdain.

Tess steps out of their way and they brush past her. Her face reflects her hurt feelings, but she recovers quickly when she notices Isabel. Isabel was observing the exchange and is looking strangely at Tess.

Isabel looks at Tess's outstretched hand then slowly takes it. Tess's eyes fill with wonder; she takes Isabel's hand in both of hers, sits across from her, and stares into her eyes. There are flashes of young Isabel emerging from her pod and of her and young Max alone in the desert as the car approaches. Tess starts beaming. Isabel gets a flash of a white sun in a yellow sky--she is speechless and looks alarmed, as if the wind has been knocked out of her. Finally she gathers her wits and slowly disengages her hand from Tess's. Tess is watching her, expectantly. Isabel is so shocked she can barely catch her breath. Finally she regains her composure and gets up the courage to ask the question burning in her mind.

The camera focuses on Tess's bright smile as we fade out.

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