Jade blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked at her watch. Her watch that she should have taken off before bed but had somehow managed to not notice since she fell asleep in her Jeep sometime just after four AM.

Sitting up a little she stretched. Her back cracked six ways from Sunday but it kinda felt good. It was pretty sad that she was getting used to sleeping in her Jeep. The small werewolf growled sleepily and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

All five feet nothing of her screamed in protest when she flung away her blanket and scooted over to the driver seat. Selling her paintings wasn't making much in this town. It was different in San Francisco, everyone was a tourist and they all wanted to buy from the little Spanish girl who was struggling for rent.

Jade had lived like a queen in SF. New York was pretty good too, hell even Miami and Orlando were good places for her work. But she wasn't there, she was in New Mexico...staring at a giant alien head billboard. She blinked and stared at it some more. Americans were funny people.

Shaking her head she started up the Jeep and pulled away from the highway shoulder. She needed a job and a real place to stay, especially now that she was up at the Res in her free time. Okay...all the time.

"So...where does a hungry, sleepy werewolf go for breakfast in a small town like this?"

To the first place she came to of course. It just so happened that she had enough money left over for a cup of coffee and a trucker's breakfast. She parked in the lot of an all night diner and wandered up to the counter to place her order.

"Bottomless cup of coffee and the biggest plate of food you can serve me."

"You sure you can handle that lil girl?"

It wasn't mean and she knew it so she smiled at the cook. She nodded to a table at the back where she'd be sitting and looked at the pie rack.

"I can pack it in. Oh...and a slice of that berry pie please."

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

Beep! Beep! Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!

As the beeps got louder and faster, Jeffery finally cracked open his eyes. He stared at his bedside clock in frustration. How could it already be 7 a.m.? It was 7 a.m.? His sleepy brain finally clicked into gear, and he realized that he'd overslept.

"The person who invented the snooze alarm should be shot!" He jumped out of bed and thumped down the hall toward Amy and Doyle's rooms.

"Amy!" he called. "Doyle! Are you up? You don't want to be late for your first day at school!" He opened his sister's door, walked to the side of her bed and shook her by the shoulder. "Wake up, Aim!"

Amy groaned. "Huh?" she asked stupidly. "Dad?" she asked. Amy had never been terribly good at joining the waking world. When she was little it was her father who'd had the unenviable task of getting her out of bed in the mornings. In that place between sleep and awake she forgot all of the events of the last six months. She pried open her eyes, not really sure why she should be so excited to have her father wake her up. Blinking away the night's sleep she finally focused in on Jeffery and for some reason that just didn't compute. "He's gone, isn't he?" she asked him quietly with the renewed revelation. She grabbed her brother in a fierce hug.

Jeffery knew just what Amy was thinking and it broke his heart a little bit. Amy had always been closer to their father than he. Something about the fact that Amy got to live with him for a year before Jeffery came home from boarding school. He'd always envied her that. He hugged her tight and rubbed her back in soothing circles.

"Yeah, he's gone. I still miss him, too. The other day I thought I heard him whistling that song he loved and opening the door. I thought 'he's going to be so mad that we're moving and didn't tell him.' What a dumb thing to think, huh? Afterwards I felt stupid *and* sad."

Loosening his grip a little bit, he gave her the best Jeffery-smile he could manage. "But the world still turns, and we've got to get moving. Do you want the first shower? Or I can go and take one of my World-Famous-Two-Minute-Jeffery-Showers..."

Amy managed a smile for her brother. "You go ahead. No point in waiting on me and my incredible slothfulness." The smiled faded out and she said, "Sorry to start your day that way, Jeff. I know you don't need any help feeling like the man of the house. Thanks for waking me." She kissed his cheek and then pushed half-heartedly on his shoulder. "Now go shower before we're all late," she admonished with a grin to let him know she was teasing.

Jeffery leaned over and gave Amy a kiss on the cheeck. "I'll be speedy!" he promised. He was still worried about his sister, but he knew that she could probably use some time alone, and all of them being late to school wouldn't help matters.

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

Oz rolled out of bed and cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. He...wasn't a morning person but he had a dream. It involved huge slabs of ham chasing him down with large neon sporks.

"Huh."

He cocked his head to one side and listened intently. Oz wasn't the eavesdropping kind but he was planning on going out for breakfast. Which meant...asking Faith to go too. Not that they were chummy but it was the neighborly thing to do.

The werewolf heard the shower so he guessed she was up. Tugging on a faded green tshirt that said 'freak' on it he ran his hands through his hair. The shirt was a present from Dev. Okay he took it from Dev because he liked it.

Oz grabbed his grey cargos and pulled them on. It only took him a minute to finish getting ready. What with the brushing of the teeth and all. Outside Faith's door he knocked quietly.

She opened the door dressed in black dickies looking alot like Fred Durst only girl. Oz nodded his approval. Sort of. It was just a tip of the head and a quirk of the lips.

"Fuzzball."

"Hairball."

"Sup?"

"Hungry?"

"You buyin'?"

"Will you stop calling me Fuzzball?"

"Probably."

"Deal."

Faith smirked and shut the door behind her. She clipped her wallet chain on to a belt loop and followed after Oz to the van. They were pretty amicable most of the time. Neither one feeling the need to over verbalize. That and there was the whole connection to the Scoobies but not really being a part of them thing.

Oz drove in silence and Faith pretty much went back to sleep for the five minutes it took to get to the diner. She woke when the van gave a dry heaving sound. There wasn't a key in the ignition and Faith was trying to figure out how the hell it was still running.

"It's an oddity of nature."

And that was the only response she got her to unasked question. Sliding out of the van with a shrug and a half chuckle she followed Oz to the diner and set herself up in a booth. She barely noticed Oz stiffen and sniff at the air.

There was something...there. Like him. He turned slowly his brow furrowing as he scanned the small diner. The hackles rose on the back of his neck and he sat distractedly across from Faith. There was another were there. For sure.

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

"Liz, honey, wake up."

Liz rolled over and buried her head deeper under her pillow. "Don' wanna..."

"School, baby. You have to get up now. You've been pushing snooze for half an hour. I could hear it down the hall."

She peeked out with one brown eye and saw her dad sitting on the edge of the bed smiling at her. She groaned and buried down deeper again. "I don't think I'm going to go, OK, Daddy?"

"I don't think so," her father replied, giving her he mock-fatherly-enforcer look. "You'll be at school on time if I have to drag you there in your p.j.'s."

Liz sat up and rolled her eyes at him. "All right, all right, I'm up."

Mr. Parker leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good girl. See you downstairs before you go?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'll brave the breakfast crowd to say goodbye to you."

"Gee, thanks." He grinned at her again, and then left the room.

Something hard poked Liz in the side as she moved toward the side of the bed. She looked down and suddenly remembered her crying jag from the night before. She took the frame and opened the back, removing the picture of the her friends with mutated Max heads. She started to crumple the picture and throw it in the trashcan, but something stopped her. Finally, she slid it into the drawer of her nightstand, underneath a book. Then she went into the bathroom for a hot shower. That was just what she needed to wash away the puffy eyes, the tear-matted funny bed hair, and her doldrums.

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

Doyle was asleep and happy that way. When Jeffery's voice woke him out of his deep slumber, he scowled. "I'm up, I'm up," he muttered, slowly dragging himself out of bed. Then he headed for the downstairs bathroom, planning on using the less-frequented shower in the house (which had two hot water heaters, one for upstairs and one for downstairs, so that others could shower in the upstairs bathroom while he was down here if they wanted to) before grabbing a quick bite to eat. After taking the fastest shower known to mankind, Doyle changed into his "teacher" clothes, which he'd brought downstairs with him, and headed into the kitchen, fingercombing his wet, slightly unruly, black locks as he walked. He put the coffee on and started looking for something to eat, settling on cereal, since someone had picked up milk the night before. He was soon munching contentedly on his breakfast and reviewing his notes for class as he waited for the coffee to be ready and for people to start coming downstairs.

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

Jeffrey ran into the bathroom, and, true to his word, was in the shower for a total of 2 minutes. How he did it, even Jeffery didn't know, but he had always been able to take quick showers. Things had only sped up when he'd been forced to shower in a communal shower in gym classes in high school. Sharing a bathroom in a dorm with lots of other guys had also contributed to his need for speed in the shower.

He brushed his teeth really quickly and grabbed his comb. Then he hurried back into his room to dress, calling, "Aim! Your turn!"

Amy took a few deep breaths and brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. She sat on her bed and pulled herself together. Just when she felt capable of actually approaching a new day at a new school she heard Jeffery relinquishing the bathroom. She'd have to get it in gear to get there on time, she realized with a glance at the clock.

She showered with all the brevity she could managed and then doned the First Day of School clothes she had assembled the night before. It was a very old tradition of hers and her last year of high school could not be without the perfect outfit for the first day. She realized what a girly thing it was, but being a girl, decided that was okay. She put on the V-necked black blouse and the long black skirt with purple flowers and interconnected green vines. She returned to the bathroom, still steamy from her shower, and emerged appropriately coiffed.

Jeffrey threw on a nice pair of jeans and a crisp, red, button-up shirt for the first day of classes and Freshman Orientation. He combed his wet hair into a nice semblance of order and then grinned at his reflection in the mirror. He looked good enough to impress both professors and cute co-eds. Jefferey had to admit he was psyched about starting college. It was like he had the chance to start over and get away from depressing stuff in at least one corner of his life. No one at this little, Roswell-based state university would know him. They wouldn't know he was rich, or that he'd had a string of broken hearts, or even that his dad had died. They would only know what he told them.

Still smiling at the thought -- Jeffery was determined to have a good day today, or die trying -- he hurried downstairs. Doyle was in the kitchen, and had made coffee. Pouring some into a car-stable cup with a lid, Jeffery said, "Thanks, man! You're a life saver! A pineapple one!"

"I've always been fond o' the red ones, meself," Doyle replied with a grin.

He carried his cup toward the living room and paused when he saw a blinking light on the answering machine. "Hey, we got a message!" He pressed the button and suddenly Aidan's voice filled the room. There were 2 messages actually -- 1 saying Aidan was in town, and another telling them about the meeting at his new office at West Roswell High at noon.

Seeing that Doyle was still there, and that he must have heard the messages, Jeffery said, "Tell Amy when she comes down, OK? I've got to run, or I'll be late for Orientation."

"Sure thing, man," Doyle assured him as the college bound Madison headed out the front door.

With that, Jeffery, coffee in hand and university information in his backback, hopped in his red Camero and pulled out of the driveway.

Amy proceeded downstairs to get the first opinion, and arguably the most important, on her outfit. Finding Allen in the kitchen, she stood in the doorway. "So, how do I look?" she inquired, posing appropriately.

Doyle grinned, standing up and walking over to give Amy a hug. "Stunnin', as usual, Dannan."

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

Isabel groggily opened her eyes as the beeping of her alarm got progressively louder in her head. With an annoyed grunt, she slammed her hand down on the alarm and tried to focus her thoughts on the day ahead.

[As long as Max is there with me, I can get through this]

Still half asleep, she made her way to the bathroom, before tiredly getting herself out of her pajamas and stepping into the shower. She stood there for a moment, letting the water cascade down her body, letting the warmth of its flow, slowly wake her up.

After her shower she got herself dressed and made her way to the kitchen, trying to find something to fill the butterflies she felt in her stomach, yet at the same time, hoping that it wouldn't make her feel any sicker than she already felt.

Max drifted to with the sound of the shower in the bathroom between his room and Isabel's. He realized belatedly that in all the concern for his sister -- and everything else in the world -- he had neglected to set his alarm last night. Luckily he was a fairly light sleeper.

He rubbed his face briskly and then got up to peruse his closet, waiting for Isabel to be finished in the bathroom. He found an appropriate set of clothing for the end of summer in the New Mexico desert and set them out. His sister finally vacated the shower and he knew she wasn't terribly on the ball this morning. It always took her longer to shower if she was nervous or unsure of herself.

He showered quickly, the joys of having a miniscule fraction of the hair his sister had, and threw on the pants and t-shirt he'd pulled from his closet. He ran a comb through his hair and then joined Izzy in the kitchen.

"Morning!" he greeted her and little too brightly for that early. "Can I interest you in some cereal and salsa?" he asked bustling around the kitchen collecting the proper components for the same.

"Do you think it will get rid of this horrible taste I have in my mouth?" Isabel replied rather sarcastically before adding, "sorry. That would be nice, thanks."

Isabel watched as her brother got out the various foods for breakfast. He seemed to be in an unusually bright mood considering today was the day he would run into Liz again.

"Is this just your special blend of denial, or have you found the secret of enternal happiness, Max, cause at the moment I could do with a healthy dose of either."

"What? A man can't greet the morning with a grin?" he asked suiting action to words. "Where is it written that everyone must wake up groggy and complaining?" He set a bowl in front of her with just the right balance of Frosted Flakes, milk and Pace Picante Sauce. If he were being honest with himself and his sister he would take a moment for introspection and discover why he wasn't as down in the mouth as he was the night before. But being that he actually was in a chipper mood, he wasn't going to spoil it with introspection. He set on his own breakfast with vest and gave Isabel a look encouraging her to do the same.

"Fine," Isabel muttered to herself, before taking a few spoonfills of the breakfast in front of her. The mixture of sweet and spicy giving her taste buds a tingle. It was obvious that Max didn't want to dwell on what would happen today.

'Maybe that's a good idea' Isabel thought as she decided to try and look positively at what the day could bring.

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

"Mrrrowwwwowowowwowwww!"

Jessica popped an eye open and found herself face to rear with her cat. She gave him a good, solid shove and rolled over to look at her alarm clock. Ten to seven.

"Stupid cat." She hauled herself out of bed, into the shower, out of the shower, and back to her closet without many problems, although her cat did try to claw her heel at one point, earning himself a kick for his troubles.

She went with the casual approach, which for Jessica meant khakis and a cropped tank top, along with the sort of tiny silver cross that was sold more as a fashion accessory than anything else. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, handled her makeup, and stuffed a banana in her mouth as, in the proud tradition of teenagers everywhere, she spent more time hunting for her keys than anything else.

It was seven thirty before she was out the door, holding the cat inside with one foot. Purse, schedule, books - yep. All there.

She wasn't nervous about college. No way. No how. Calm, cool, and collected. Yep. That was her.

With that shaky mantra running through her head, she hurried off for the bus stop.

One of his favorite songs came on the radio, and Jeffery started to sing at the top of his lungs. He rolled the windows down and let the New Mexico breeze dry his damp hair. Then he saw something that made him hit the brakes...

Jessica Anderson was sitting on a bus stop in Roswell, New Mexico. Jeffery hadn't known Jessica all that well, but she had stayed at his house for a while. He knew enough to remember they had both been seniors last year at SHS. Pulling over to the side of the road, blocking the bus stop from anyone, even the actual bus, Jeffery leaned out of the window of the Camero and called, "Hey, Jessica! You wouldn't, by any chance, be on your way to freshman orientation at the university, would you? If so, do you want a ride?"

Part of him was glad to see a face he knew, despite his bravado before. The other part of him was disappointed. There would be someone there who knew all, or most of, his emotional baggage. Would he never be free of it? But he decided to make the best of it and smiled as he waited for Jessica to answer him.

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

Zeke awoke in the shack, wishing it had all been a dream. Unfortunatly, being stuck in Roswell with a bunch of scoobys, which actually constituted a nightmare rather than a dream, was reality. Rolling off the blanket she found her boots that she had kicked across the one-room abode last night, and tried unsuccessfully to lace them. She had a horrific headache and her entire body screamed in pain with each little movement. Instead she pulled the footwear on and shuffled out into the fresh morning air.

Dragging herself along the highway she cursed silently and reminded herself to steal a car as soon as possible, because nothing sucked more than intensive walking. She was hungry and tired and generally blah which wasn't good.

Blah on Zeke usually turned into homicidal at some point, a point very short after the initial blah.

Luckily she came to the diner she had spotted last night, and stepped inside. She was too hungry to notice Faith, Oz, or even the other girl sitting on the other side of the restaraunt. Ordering quickly, she waited impatiently for her food, repeatedly dozing off, and sliding down in the booth after which she would suddenly awake and try to readjust herself on the vynal seats.

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

Xander woke up at 6:30 that morning, rolling out of bed and walking to the bathroom on autopilot. He got in the shower and let the soothing, hot water wake him up from his groggy daze.

"I've gotta go to be earlier," he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes as he got out of the shower and started searching through his closet for something to wear. He didn't have much in the way of clothing. Mainly because, with his less than stellar income as a short order cook at the Crashdown, he couldn't afford to have too much stuff. Grabbing his favorite, old pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with the words "2 out of the 3 voices in my head told me to call in sick" printed in plain, block letters across the front. Then he got dressed, finishing his ensemble with one of his prized possessions: a genuine pair of Doc Martins that he'd been able to purchase. It was one of the only brand name items he owned. Cordelia would be proud.

Grabbing his jacket, Xander headed out the door, remembering to lock it behind him. He glanced down at the new welcome mat he bought recently and grinned. It was orange with a black bat adorning it and it had, in bright letters written in that "blood dripping" style, the words "Anyone who's not a blood sucking fiend from beyond the grave is welcome to come in." He'd gotten it at a Halloween shop and thought it was pretty appropriate, considering everything. And since it was almost October, it would soon even be in season.

Xander smiled.

He had his girlfriend back, his friends were here, he was living on his own and he had a cool welcome mat.

Life was good.

Since he was carless, Xander had to walk to Rick's for his maybe-date with Cordelia. But that was okay by him. He liked to walk. Ever since the blood transfusion that he left him a slayer/werewolf hybrid, he'd enjoyed any kind of physical exertion.

He finally reached the diner at 7:15, which was pretty early by Xander time, though to everyone else in the world, he'd be concidered late since he was supposed to be here at 7 sharp.

Walking inside, he was surprised to see Faith and Oz sitting at a nearby table, which explained the odd "were" scents that he was getting. He sniffed the air, trying to be unobtrusive, and realized that the scent he was getting was not coming from Oz. Sure, he could smell both Oz and Faith, they're strong presences calling out to him like a beacon. But there was someone else. Someone who was also... kindred. A packmate.

His eyes landed on a young, hispanic girl sitting at a table in the back. That was *her*. The one he'd sensed.

Xander debated on whether or not to go over and introduce himself. Cordelia wasn't here yet and he didn't really feel like talking to Faith or Oz right now. So Xander made up his mind. He walked over to the girl's table and stopped beside it.

"Hey, um... I know this is gonna sound weird since you, like, don' even know me or anything, but... hi?"

Jade looked up from her eggs and eyed the new guy for a second. Were...kind of. A slight confused frown furrowed her brow as she stared. Not that she was meaning to stare she was just trying to figure it out. He smelled like a wolf but he felt wrong.

He could be another kind of were but...she'd been around bears, birds, dolphins and big cats but none of them felt like he did. Her ears pricked slightly and she cocked her head to one side in a completely lupine gesture.

"Hi..."

She could tell that there was another one there and it made her leery. More than one were in one spot always made her jumpy. Ever since France anyway. Jade's control slipped a little and her teeth lengthened, her eyes going from black to black with no whites and flecks of gold.

Good thing she was in the back away from people. The change was subtle enough that no one would notice unless they were looking but she didn't want them to look. Period. Or she'd be hunted again.

"I'm...just passing through, if you're going to hunt me give me a head start."

She backed that up with a low growl meant for his ears only. She was scared. Really really scared. Mostly because she was little and had been through this before. And the fact that if she changed anymore she'd look really...freakish.

Faith could tell Xander was there without looking at him. She turned her head and watched as he approached a girl. She got the feeling it wasn't on a flirt basis so she honed her hearing.

What? Slayer's couldn't evesdrop? Besides Oz was acting just as freakish. In fact she was pretty sure she just saw the tip of his nose twitch. The thought occured to her that he might go in to full shift but he quickly regained his composure.

Faith often thought about what would make an Oz freak out and shift. No one had actually heard of a werewolf shifting out of cycle but she bet it was possible. Like the things that made her rage. Sure she was Faith...except for when she got crazed and then she was just...well death.

Oz leaned back in his seat still fully alert. He felt rather than saw the difference in her. Granted there wasn't a whole lot he could see since he was staring at the back of her head. Still something changed and it smelled...primal.

A hand on his chest stilled him and he looked at Faith. She had a piece of toast in one hand and was looking at it like she'd never seen food before. So...she couldn't really be paying all that much attention to him or them.

"Relax Fuzzy. She'll bolt if ya go over there."

He blinked at Faith and nodded once. As far as he knew he hadn't even moved yet. He was intending to but Faith just knew. Kind of odd. Faith did that alot. Just know and stuff. Must be a slayer trait but he didn't really get the feeling that Buffy was that tuned in while being tuned out.

If that was even a real thought. Then again all thoughts were real. Maybe not linear but real. Unless this was unreality then thoughts would be inconsequential. So if thoughts were unreal did that mean that things he knew to be true ceased to be true when he thought them? Like the sky being blue. Or if thoughts were the only true things then did that mean that William Shatner in some odd paradimension really was wearing gold lame and singing 'stayin' alive'?

"Huh."

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

Aidan, as usual, had woken up right on time -- 5:30 a.m. to be exact. He'd taken his time getting ready and even had time to stop for donuts on his way to his first day on the job.

When he got to the school, Aidan pulled his briefcase out of the Intrepid (parked in the faculty parking lot, of course), balanced it on top of a box of office stuff and made his way -- very, very carefully -- inside the school at 7 a.m. right on the dot.

The principal was waiting for him, and escorted him to his new office. There was the usual filling out of forms and transferal of keys. The principal didn't have too much advice to give him. There were student files in a filing cabinet in Aidan's new office -- left by the previous guidance counselor, and a list of the typical first-day-of-school duties (helping transfer students get acclimatized and discussing class changes were of the highest priority) in the desk, but that was all the information Aidan could get. Apparently the job of guidance counselor was never filled for very long at West Roswell High.

Once the principal had gone, Aidan looked around the office with a smile. Sure, it was pretty bare right now, but the room definitely had potential. A few more chairs, and it could be a really good meeting place for his fellow, displanted Sunnydalians. Not as roomy as the SHS library, of course, but it would do nicely.

Those thoughts on his mind, Aidan turned to the filing cabinet and began perusing through folders. The first order of business -- even before he unpacked -- was to look up a few of the students whose names had graced Xander's bulletin board of fame.

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

Michael drug himself out of bed at about 15 minutes until 7, cursing under his breath at the injustice of having to get up this early in the morning. He was running later than he'd originally planned, so he only had time to take a speedy shower, throw on some clothes and grab a tobasco-covered pop tart before leaving. He didn't even have time to brush his hair after his shower, so he grabbed his black, knit skull cap and pulled it on over his shower-mused hair on his way out the door.

He didn't really even know why he was bothering to go to the first day of classes. He'd never bothered to go on the first day before. But he knew that if he didn't show, Liz would chew him out at work later tonight. Plus, he hadn't gotten to talk to Max yet. So maybe he could kill two birds with one stone: keep Liz from nagging him and get a chance to speak with his fellow aliens. The fact that a certain blonde haired ex-girlfriend of his would be there as well had no bearing on his decision to attend school today.

Really.

It didn't.

Michael made it to the school building in good time, walking through the front doors at 7:30, which was a new record for him. He stopped in the office, shocking the secretary when he gave her his name and asked for his schedule. Seeing Michael Guerin at school before mid-afternoon - hell, seeing him at school at *all* - was a big shock to just about everyone.

The woman behind the desk stared at him, not moving.

Michael scowled, rolled his eyes and asked again for his schedule, snapping the slack-jawed woman out of her shocked silence.

"Guerin... right..." The woman began looking through her list of files, finally plucking the right slip of paper out of his folder. "Here you go, Mr. Guerin. Your schedule."

"Whatever," Michael replied gruffly, snatching the piece of paper from her outstretched hand and heading for the office door, reading the list of classes as he went. He only got two steps before he froze, hand on the doorknob, and spoke in a quiet, but deadly, voice over his shouldeder. "I'm in Home Economics?"

Whirling around, he stalked forward and slapped the schedule down on the woman's desk. "Why the hell am I in Home Economics? I don't even cook and I will *not* wear an apron."

The secretary attempted a small, placating smile. "Maybe you'll learn something new..."

Michael's only response was: "I don't cook."

The woman nodded. "Okay, fine, just pay a visit to our new guidance counselor and he'll get everything sorted out."

Michael grunted a non-verbal reply that was the equivilant in Michael-speak of a thanks and left the office at a brisk pace. He reached Topolski's old office in just under a minute and rapped loudly on the door, trying not to think about how weird it was to be at her office when she was, in fact, dead. Without waiting for a "come in", Michael pushed the door open and strode into the office, throwing his schedule down on the desk.

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

She had barely slept. Didn't matter, her sleep requirement had been greatly decreased since the change. All that was importiant now was just that. The "now" and at the exact moment, that meant looking good for the first day of school. Clothes were an importiant and perilous matter. The wrong outfit could prove disasterous, and petty people-things were the least of her worries today. Something low-key was going to be the best choice. Low-key didn't equate ugly or frumpy.

Slipping on a pair of black pants and a light blue jersy style t-shirt with the numbers "00" on the back, she ran the brush through her curly locks a few times. The sleepy look was going to be in this year. She knew it. Putting her makeup on with practiced ease, Tess looked appreciatively in the mirror. She looked good. Really good.

Now for class. Walking the short distance to school, Tess climbed the steps in front with newfound energy. She had never been so happy to see the place. This was going to be a great year.

As for classes she had utterly no idea what made up her schedule and figured that guidance was the best place to go to get one. She made her way through the halls carefully, not wanting to see anybody she knew just yet.

Micheal. He was standing outside the counsillors office which didn't make much sense. Tess didn't think he attended school much, let alone the very first day of classes. Whatever. She'd just wait until he was gone and then go see about the schedule thing.

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

It was a new day. A chance for a new start. After the loneliness of last year, Harmony Kendall was determined to make her senior year a much more pleasurable experience. The fact that Xander Harris, Faith and Jessica Anderson were in town, made her feel a lot less comfortable, but at least she already 'knew' some people.

Okay so she didn't have the nicest feelings towards that group. She hated Jessica Anderson with a passion. She was always so sure of herself. Always poking her head and opinions into situations she should keep out of. And what was worse, they accepted her. As far as Harmony was concerned, Faith was a borderline psycho freak, but she didn't hate her. Didn't think much of her at all, either way. Xander Harris was a slightly different matter. He was the butt of so many jokes at Sunnydale High. That was until Cordelia, Harmony's former idle and Sunnydale High Queen, decided that he was special enough to leave the popular chic and play the dutiful girlfriend for a couple of years. She had wondered, even obsessed over that fact last year. What made Xander Harris so special? But just as she had managed to slightly immerse herself in their lives, Xander and Cordelia broke up, and Jessica Anderson was the cause of it. Now Jessica was in Roswell and so was Xander.

[Looks like that bitch finally won. Never thought Cordelia would give up that easily]

Thinking about Sunnydale and that last night she spent with the Scoobygang, Harmony couldn't help but remember the one thing she missed. Jeffrey Madison. Strange how in the course of one evening she could feel so close to someone. Usually that sort of closeness needed a few months of contact at least. But in those few short hours, she came to think of Jeffrey as her friend. Perhaps her only one true friend. Fate however had played its hand. With the death of Jeffrey's father he had taken off overseas and before he got back, her own life had been thrown into a spin when she found herself being carted off to Roswell. She wondered if he ever found out where she was. Sometimes she wished that she had the courage to write to him, but she had never had a 'friend' like that before. She never knew what to say.

But all of those questions were for another time. This was a new start. One that held out a number of possibilities. This was senior year. Prom, Graduation. The first thing she had decided was that she needed to do some subjects that actually interested her. Without having to impress her flock, she had finally made use of some of her god given talents and decided that she should be doing an art class. When she had talked to the administration at school about changing a couple of subjects, they had told her she would need to see the Guidance councilor on Monday.

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

"They put me in Home Economics." Crossing his arms over his chest, Michael added, "I was *supposed* to be in Art. Art was the only class I even bothered to show up for... sometimes. Why the hell am I not in Art? Are you people just *trying* to make me skip class? Because you're doing a pretty good job so far."

Aidan calmly shut the file he was reading and slid it into the middle of the student files he had pulled from the filing cabinet. Reading about Max Evans could wait until later, but there was no need for this surly young man to know what he had been doing. For all the teen needed to know, the guidence counsellor was just preparing himself for his new job.

"Art?" Aidan repeated, taking the boy's schedule out of his hands and looking it over. He'd gotten a little crash course in scheduling. "The principal told me that without a guidence counsellor the office staff was swamped doing schedules this semester. The probably just forgot you marked it as your elective choice. I'm sure we can clear this up Mr...." He glanced at the name on top of the form. "...Guerrin." He looked up at the boy, Michael, more closely. There was something about that name. Had it been on Xander's bulliten board? Had Jessica or one of the others mentioned it last night? Aidan wasn't sure, but he had heard it somewhere before.

Pulling out his folder about class availability, Aidan took a moment to introduce himself. "Michael, My name is Mr. O'Shea."

Harmony was standing outside the door, at a time earlier than she had ever been to school before in her life. This was the new Harmony. The one who wanted to do something with her life. Nothing could stop her now.

She knocked on the door and opened it, without waiting for an answer.

"Hi, I wanted to..."

That was as far as she got before her body collapsed from under her and she fell down faint on the floor.

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

Liz was just getting out of the shower when her phone started ringing. Her parents had gotten her her own line when she was in junior high and had discovered the pre-teen joys of conversing on the phone until all hours of the night.

Thrusting her arms into her terry cloth robe and tying her sash as she went, Liz hurried over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Liz!"

"Alex!" Her eyes lighted up at the sound of his voice. She had missed him all summer, and hadn't realized until now just how much. Alex had been gone taking classes on the university level, and, apparently, having too much of a ball to call his old friends. But with school starting today, he had to be back in town, right?

"I've got some news."

"What?"

"They asked me to stay awhile at the university. I got to talking with one of my profs the other night, and he's doing this Psych experiment that I just *have* to be a part of."

"What?" Her tone when from curious to a mild amount of panic. "You're staying there? But what about school? High school I mean."

"It's all cleared up." Liz could imagine Alex waving a dismissive hand to the whole idea as he talked. "The principal didn't want to go for it at first, but I've been taking Advanced classes since elementary school. My whole life has been about planning for college. And helping a world-renowned psych prof with what could be a famous experiment is my dream come true. They are sending me my assignments and some textbooks, and I'll be keeping up on my own time while I'm here. I'll be back before the end of the semester. Maybe in just a week or so. It all depends on what happens with the experiment."

"Oh." Her voice was small and quiet.

Alex seemed to realize that something was really going on. "Hey, Liz. Are you OK?"

"Yeah... I'm really... really happy for you, Alex."

"I know you, Parker. You're sad I'm gone."

"Well, yeah, but this is a great opportunity for you..."

"It's also a chance to keep me away from Roswell for a little bit longer," Alex admitted. "I'm not ready for the whole moment where Isabel sees me and looks right through me. I can't do it yet. The fact that I'll get to do this instead is like a dream I never could have imagined."

Liz nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Well, be safe, Alex. I'll miss you."

"Tell Maria for me, OK?"

"I will, but you should actually write an email now and then, OK?"

"I will." He paused. "Liz, could you do one more thing for me?"

"What?"

"Keep an eye on Isabel for me. Just make sure she's OK. I worry about her. Well, I worry about all of them, but her most of all."

"We all worry about them, Alex. I don't think she'll let me, but I'll do what I can."

"Thanks. Well, I'd better go."

"OK. Thanks for calling to let me know."

"No prob. Oh, and when you tell Maria, tell her that she better keep practicing those alternative songs I gave her before she left. When I get back the Whits will be back in full force!"

Liz laughed in spite of herself. Alex could always make her laugh. "I will."

"Bye, Liz."

"Goodbye, Alex."

Liz hung up the phone and sat there sadly for a moment. She would really miss him. Why were all these things hitting her at one time? First the Max thing, then all the disappearances around town, then the Max thing again, and now this... Finally she found the strength to get up and start getting ready for school. She had to look good today. It was some kind of rule, you had to look good the first time you saw the ex-boyfriend you couldn't quite get over after a long summer apart. Didn't Emily Post or someone say that? Right.

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

Max ate his breakfast and saw the resolve cross Isabel's face and saw the ebb of the worry and consternation which had previously held sway. He was glad she had pulled it together. He only hoped the day would not be as disasterous as it could be. Rufusing to shed his good mood, he finished his breakfast and then rinsed off his bowl and spoon. Placing them appropriately in the dishwasher, he then returned milk and salsa to the fridge and the Frosted Flakes, complete with Tony the Tiger on the cover, in the pantry.

"We'd better get going," he said to his sister proceeded into his room for his backpack. "You ready?" he called from the front door, Jeep keys in hand.

Isabel had finished her breakfast while Max went to his room. She had rinsed her bowl and placed then next to Max's in the dishwater, when she heard him call from the door.

"Hang on, I'll only be a second," she called back as she rushed to her room to collect her bag for school.

'You are way to up this morning,' she thought to herself as she came out and met him at the door.

"Ready as ever," she stated as she walked out to the jeep. When she got there she opened the door and sat in the seat.

"Here we go," she whispered to herself as she waited for Max to start the engine.

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

Aidan looked up as the new person entered the room, and his mouth dropped open in shock. Harmony Kendall lay in a dead faint in the middle of his new office! What was Harmony, of all people, doing in Roswell. Could it be mere coincidence?

"Help me! Get that chair in the corner." Aidan told Michael. Aidan sprang around his desk and pushed Harmony to a sitting position. Living in Sunnydale, and being involved with Willow for any length of time, had taught Aidan one thing -- always have smelling salts available. Pulling the small vial out of his pocket he began waving it under Harmony's nose. "Come on, Harmony. Wake up..."

As the blackness started to clear she could hear someone calling her name. Aidan, that's who it was. Harmony had only said a few words to him back in Sunnydale, but he had been nothing but kind to her.

As she opened her eyes, she could see the concerned look in his eyes.

"Aidan..?" she asked weakly, still coming back into consciousness.

"What are..." she stopped as she saw there was someone she didn't know in the room. The fact that she had now seen four of Sunnydale's crew in Roswell, meant that something was happenning and even she knew when it was time to shut up.

When Harmony was in a sitting position, Aidan got the chair himself and helped her into it. He didn't blame Michael for not acting quickly. It wasn't every day you saw someone faint dead to the floor.

"Now then," Aidan said, "that's better. Are you feeling all right? I assume you needed schedule changes, too. We can get on with that, or maybe we should take you to the nurse..."

"Ummm, I think I'm okay. I should have remembered to eat something this morning," she replied, the second part mainly for the benefit of the stranger in the room. She knew exactly why she had fainted. A little weak maybe but, seeing Aidan in the guidance councillor's office was way too much of a shock to her system. She had a lot of questions to ask, and maybe if it had been someone else who she saw she would have blurted them out. But if Aidan was here 'undercover' the last thing he needed was it being blown on his first day. Satisfied she had the answer to the situation, Harmony started to perk up.

"I just wanted to change a subject or two," she continued. She looked over at the other occupant of the room. "I didn't think that anyone else would be here this early. Who knew?" she added with a giggle.

Playing the ditz was easy for Harmony.

Michael shrugged but didn't reply, instead kneeling down beside the other two occupants of the room. The new girl had dropped her notebook and schedule to the floor when she fainted and neither she nor the guidance counselor had yet to pick them up. Grabbing the scattered items and quickly shuffling them into a halfway presentable stack of traditional first day of school supplies, he handed them to Harmony.

"You dropped these," he said, showing his mastery of stating the obvious.

"Thanks," Harmony replied, thinking it was best to keep to a one word response, rather that risk blurting out something she shouldn't.

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

Max followed his sister out the door and paused on the front step to notice that the red Camero was gone from the new neighbors' driveway, but a blue Saturn still graced the drive. He briefly wondered if Amy needed a ride, but figured she would have asked last night. For all he knew the Camero could be hers. He shrugged it off and headed for the Jeep.

He tossed his bookbag past the roll bar into the back seat and slid into the driver's seat. The best thing about this CJ7, even if it had been known to overheat on Isabel, was the lack of doors. It was just a great car. Yet another reason to be emmensely grateful to the couple that had taken them in.

A foot on the clutch and one on the break he turned the key and was rewarded with the rumble of the engine. He reversed out of the driveway and then headed in the direction of school, careful to keep to the speed limit. Granted, the head of the FBI Special Unit and the town Sheriff were both on his side, but it never paid to bring too much attention to yourself, especially in a small town like Roswell.

As they approached the school, Isabel was glad that Max ahd been quiet for the trip. She had a hard time keeping up the 'up' facade for him. But for whatever reason Max was in a good mood this morning, she didn't feel it was right to bring him down. Her trepidation grew as they pulled into the car park.

He pulled into the first free parking space he could find in the student lot and turned off the engine. "Ready to do this?" he asked Isabel.

Smiling at Max, she replied, "Sure," before she got out of the jeep.

She waited for Max to join her, feeling a lot safer if she tackled the day with support. She knew it wouldn't be long before she ran into one of the problems. Alex, Maria, Liz, Tess, even Michael. She wondered what he had been up to over the summer. While at the start it had been hard to be away from him for so long, now the reality that she would be seeing him almost made her more nervous than the thought of running into Alex. Had he changed over the summer? Did her resent the fact that Max and her had been away all that time.

Mentally groaning to herself she forced such negative thoughts from her mind. There was plenty of time for worry later.

Max climbed out of the Jeep and snagged his backpack from the backseat. He slung it over his left shoulder and then joined Isabel. He gallantly offered her his arm, getting the sense she'd need all the support she could get.

Isabel accepted Max's arm graciously. He always knew what she needed and no matter what happened today, she felt that with Max by her side she would get through it.

"Let's do this!" she condfidently announced as she walked towards the entrance of the school building, feeling as ready as she would ever be, to walk through those doors.

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

Jessica bounced up from the bus stop and hurried over to the Camero. "Thanks," she said as she slid into the passanger seat. "You saved me from Roswell's public transportation." Which she clearly didn't think very highly of.

"Jeffrey Madison, right?" she asked after a moment. "I didn't know you were here. We could hold a SHS reunion at this rate. That reminds me," she added before she could forget. "Did you get Aidan's message?"

"It's pretty amazing," Jeffery agreed. "But I came because I volunteered for Aidan's team. I figured he'd need a little magic help to slay the super vamps. And, yeah, I heard about the meeting. He left a message on our machine. If you want, I can give you a ride to it."

"Sounds good." Jessica found the seatbelt after a moment and buckled herself in, resting her books and her purse on her lap. "That's why I'm here in the middle of UFO-central, actually. I wanted to come help. I'm a very good potion-mixer," she added with a little laugh. Having no supernatural skills whatsoever had never stopped her from trying to help out.

Jeffery smiled at the thought of Jessica Anderson mixing potions. Not that he thought she couldn't do it, but it was just interesting that she *would.* If only Aura and the rest of the SHS elites could see her now. Of course, Jeffery hadn't really known Jessica that long. She'd moved to town after he left, so they hadn't interacted during his 8th-grade romance with Cordelia Chase. But she just seemed so... perfect, perhaps, was the word. From her perfect hair to the stylish watch that matched her outfit, she exuded perfection and confidence. A nice combination, to be sure, but one that made him a bit wary. Michelle, Cordelia, Harmony, his mother... the girls that exuded perfection were usually those who didn't have it. Jeffery himself was proof positive of that.

Realizing that Jessica was still talking, he bit off his wandering thoughts and paid attention.

Jeffery revved the engine of the Camaro a little and took off toward the university. "So, we're both freshmen, huh? At least now we both have someone to sit with at Orientation..."

"Ugh. I forgot about that." Jessica wrinkled her nose in disgust. "The volleyball coach already gave me the tour about ten times." She glanced down at her watch, which had the same sort of contours as a small stealth plane and had probably cost about as much. "Speaking of orientation, do you know what time it starts? I know someone told me, but I wasn't really paying attention."

"8:30, I think." Jeffery glanced at the dashboard clock. They had a little more than half an hour. "We should be OK. So, you're playing volleyball for the university? Did you get a scholarship?" He asked the last questions by way of making conversation. After all, if the two of them were going to work together on "night duty" then they had to start getting to know each other.

Jessica nodded. She recognized making conversation when she heard it, but Jeffrey had struck her as a nice guy and she should probably get to know him if they were going to be hunting down vampires and assorted nasties. "Partial scholarship. I played varsity in high school." Actually, she had been captain of the team, but she decided not to mention that. "I'm trying to get a job at this place called the Crashdown - where Xander works - so I can deal with rent and delivery pizza."

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

Amy grinned and gave Doyle a hug. "Why thank you, sir," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. She adjusted his tie, not so much because it was crooked, but because she did that with ties. "Aren't you looking professional this morning?" she teased.

"Well, tha' was the plan, anyway," he replied, giving Amy a wink.

Looking at his watch, Doyle gasped. "Uh... we're runnin' beyond late this mornin'." Gulping down the last of his coffee, Doyle put his dishes in the sink and turned to Amy. "Well, are ye ready to go? Have ye even had breakfast yet?"

"Oh, I'll just grab a granola bar. It's been one of those mornings." She went to the pantry and pulled a few Quaker Granola bars out and then snagged a Diet Coke from the fridge. "We'd better book. So, am I dropping you off, or are you dropping me?" she queried as she headed out the door to her Saturn.

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

Liz arrived at school in her favorite new outfit. She'd bought it over the summer at one of the trendy thrift shops Maria liked to frequent. It wasn't her normal style, and that was the whole point. Liz wore a black skirt that skimmed her legs at mid-thigh, but the fringe at the bottom made the skirt the requiste knee-length to meet the school dress code. A silver belt with a little shine to it, looped Liz's tiny waist. Her shirt was tight and just grazed her waistband and the top of the silver belt. It was also red. Liz had always liked red, and the warm color looked good on her. It enhanced her naturally pink cheeks and her dark hair. She'd spent the extra time -- even though it meant skipping breakfast -- to give her hair just a hint of curl. Not tight curls like she'd worn to the party at the soap factory so long ago, but big, loose curls that softened the straight lines of her hair that framed her face. She'd put on eyeshadow with a hint of silver, and a touch of red lipstick -- but not too much. She didn't want to look like Tess, who's red lipstick always screamed street walker. The outfit ended in a pair of clunky black sandals that revealed her red toe nail polish and gave her a couple of added inches. Liz was always looking for ways to increase her height. Tall grace was one of the things she most envied about the beautiful Isabel.

Hitching her bookbag over her shoulder, Liz crossed the school lawn nervously. She didn't see anyone she knew yet. That was both good -- no Max -- and bad -- no Maria. She felt a little conspicuous in her new outfit, but she knew she looked good, and that gave her some much-needed confidence. She paused outside the front doors, loitering around to wait for Maria. She hoped her friend showed up soon. Liz wanted to try out her new locker before her first class. She pulled her crumpled schedule out from her bookbag and started looking it over, both to familiarize herself with it and to look like she had something to do.

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

Aidan appreciated Harmony's quick covering. If only he'd been so quick on the uptake to pretend that he didn't know her. But Michael had heard him call her Harmony without being introduced. Aidan would have to make the most of it.

Directing the comment toward Harmony, though it was really for Michael's benefit, Aidan said, "I didn't realize you were moving to Roswell, Harmony. It's been a while since we saw each other. In fact, when I got back from Ireland and found out you'd left Sunnydale I was quite surprised." That much was the truth. Jeffery -- the one who had found out first and spread the news -- had been shocked, as well. Apparantly the two had become friends. Aidan made a mental note to tell Jeffery that Harmony was in town, but with all that was going on, who knew if he would remember?

Giving Michael what he hoped was an apologetic look, Aidan said, "Harmony and I used to live in the same small town in California. It's quite amazing to run into her here, actually."

'It certainly seems to be pushing co-incidence to an altime high,' Harmony thought, surpressing the laugh she almost made.

Michael nodded, not saying anything. But he couldn't help but give them both strange looks. The ditzy blonde chick was all chumy with the new guidance counselor? The seemed a little odd to him. No, scratch that. It seemed a *lot* odd to him. But what we he supposed to do? Nothing, that's what. He could already hear Max's voice in his head.

["Michael, you're overreacting again. Don't do something stupid."]

After all, he was naturally suspicious of new people in town, especially new guidance counselors, so he *was* probably overreacting. It was hard to keep from saying something, though. It took a supreme force of will to keep from bolting from the room.

["Gotta act normal, Michael"] There was Max's voice again. Telling Michael what he should do. Making sure he didn't screw everything up. ["We're just normal kids. Nothing else."]

He moved around behind his desk and pulled out his papers on scheduling again, trying to look official. "All right, Mr. Guerrin, here, wants to change Home Ec to art." Aidan glanced down at the sheet and blanched when he saw the note added to the entry for Art. "Um... that can be arranged, Mr. Guerrin, but you should realize that you will be having a substitute for a bit while a new art teacher is located." He had to consciously keep himself from looking at Harmony meaningfully when he completed the story. "It appears that last year's art teacher left without notice to anyone -- not the school, not his landlord, no one." Aidan swallowed and glanced at Michael. "Are you still interested in changing?"

Michael froze, almost dropping his own books on the floor. Was the world of academics just out to get him? How could the *one* teacher that Michael... well, like was too strong of a word... um... tolerated, yeah, that was better... How could the *one* teacher that Michael tolerated; the *one* teacher that had never sent Michael to the principal's office; the *one* teacher that had treated him like an adult, with respect... how could he be gone, just like that?

Realizing that the conversation was going on without him, Michael made an effort to tune back in and put his whirling emotions back under lock and key, where they belonged.

While waiting for Michael's repsonse, he asked Harmony, "And what classes were you thinking of changing?"

"Actually, I was hoping to transfer to Art as well. " Harmony responded, hoping that co-incidence wasn't suffering any permanent abuse at that point.

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

[Top two signs this year is gonna suck,] Maria thought as she pushed her way through a crowd of freshmen huddling together for mutual support. [You're late on your first day and they screw up your schedule.]

She had had a really, really bad morning - the waffles catching fire had been a particular hilight, but her snooze button breaking was also pretty high on her list. Discovering that she had been put into consumer education for the third time wasn't helping at all. No way was she letting the school get away with this snafu. She was going to give someone good, old-fashioned hell.

It looked like the guidance counselor was going to be the first target of her bad mood. Well, tough. He/she/it could consider it their initiation.

And she wasn't going to knock, either.

"Um... okay..." Micahel started, trying to think of what to say. "Well, I'm still *not* taking Home Ec, so I guess you might as well put me in Art anyway, new teacher or not." Michael hoped that no one had noticed the way his knuckles clutched his notebook tightly, turning white as his death grip on his school stuff cut off the circulation to his fingers. That was the only sign that Michael wasn't taking the news of his teacher's disappearance as well as he put on.

Harmony glanced over the boy, wondering if he would be a study partner or something just as useful. She didn't really have this whole "I'm serious about study' thing downpat, so she was kind of flying by the seat of her pants.

'He certainly seems to be passionate about Art, maybe a little to much,' Harmony thought, noticing how tightly he was holding his notebook.

Maria did knock, more out of habit than anything else, but it was the sort of perfunctory knock that somehow managed to sound rude and interrupting and really pissy. She had perfected the pissy knock. Hell, she had it down to a science.

She waited about a half-second before barging in. "I don't know what's wrong with your computers, but I - " Her rant was picking up speed and she was just about ready to dump her bad mood on the guidance counselor and the blond when she saw the other person in the room.

Great. Wonderful. Her day just kept going downhill.

"I'm not taking consumer ed a second time," she plunged on quickly, but her rant had lost most of its sheer destructive power. "Can I take art or something instead?"

Michael had never really believed in fate before. But now he did. And the worst thing about it was... it seemed to have a really perverse sense of humor, at least it did where Michael was concerned. He sighed, plopping down in one of the nearby chairs and leaning his head back until it touched the wall behind him, making a semi-loud thump. This was just what he needed right now, an encounter with the sole embodiment of most of his current problems. And to top it off, she looked good. Really good. She was wearing that skirt that he'd always liked - though he'd never actually *told* her that he liked it - and her hair looked so soft...

That was it. The universe was out to get her - and for all Maria knew, she wasn't being metaphorical. With all that destiny stuff from last year, she couldn't be sure she wasn't supposed to start this year perfectly miserable. And the fact that Michael looked really nice right now wasn't helping matters. Really, really nice.

[Stop! Don't you *even* go there. Strong, remember? Strong and in control. You're a stone wall. It does *not* matter how great she looks... or how much you miss hearing her voice as she bitches at you over the phone for the latest sin you've committed... or how much you want to just forget about this whole destiny thing and get her back...]

[You stop that right now!] Maria's inner scold was shaking its finger at her full blast. [You said you weren't going to get all wrapped up in Michael. You promised. It doesn't matter how much you've missed him. Or how cute he looks right now. Or - ]

Then, all of a sudden, his brain managed to catch up with his... er... *other* brain and he realized that Maria was asking about getting into Art. Which, of course, was the only class that he actually made a concentrated effort to attend. And which was also the class where his one favorite teacher had suddenly "vanished" or whatever. Which meant that, not only would he have to deal with all the normal crap that teachers that *weren't* Mr. Stalinksi always gave him, but now he'd have to see Maria there day in and day out. How was she always managing to involve herself in every aspect of his life, regardless of whether or not he wanted her to? Was it just a talent that she was born with? Something hereditary?

The part of Maria that wasn't being sucked under by serious - and overly friendly - emotions reached out and grabbed control. She should have worn a different skirt. Or a pair of pants. Or something that didn't make her look like a furled umbrella.

Oookay. Time to get off that train of thought right now.

Feeling the overwhelming need to say *something* to fill the silence that had descended in the counselor's small office, he blurted out, "Get in line, DeLuca."

What was supposed to come out as a "Hi" - or possibly a "You should talk, Mr. I'm-A-Big-Strong-Stoic-Alien-Drooling-Over-Isabel" - came out as a "Unless you've got a pressing class to change, I'm gonna cut. If I'm any later, Ms. Brett's gonna mark me absent. It's not like you care about attendence anyway."

She was really going to have to get control of her mouth. It seemed to be developing a nasty and sarcastic mind of its own.

Michael scowled at Maria. "Actually, I do happen to have a class to change, since you brought it up. So, if you'll excuse me..." Turning to Mr. O'Shea, Michael asked, "So, is it fixed? No Home Ec?"

Aidan looked at the new girl in surprise. Boy these Roswellians (and the Sunnydale transplants, apparently) were an art-oriented bunch! He got the print outs of their new schedules from his laser printer and handed them to Michael and Harmony. "Yes, you're both good to go. Feel free to come and see me if you need anything else." He thought about telling Harmony about the meeting at noon, but decided against it. He couldn't think of a good way to tip her off without letting the other kids in on it.

Turning to the new girl, Aidan said, "I'm Mr. O'Shea, the new guidance counselor here. I'll need to see your current schedule, then I can change the class for you, Miss...?" He waited pointedly for both the paper and her name.

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

Five minutes before the first bell, Liz realized that she had definitely been stood up.

[I can't believe Maria] she grumbled inwardly. [Only back, like, 1 day and already flaking out on me. So much for group moral support!]

Shaking her head, Liz moved into the building and headed for her first class. She paused by her new locker and twirled the combination, just to test it out. It opened and she smiled. At least something was going right today!

Liz closed her locker with a satisfying bang. It felt good to release a little of the tension that had been building up all morning. Already they day looked like it was going to suck. First Alex called and said he wouldn't be back for a while, then Maria stood her up... Liz just had a bad feeling. The only good thing thus far was her new outfit. She knew it looked good because the boys kept giving her second glances. That was fairly new for Liz. Kyle and, of course, Max had given her looks, but never the kind of looks Isabel and her crowd got. Liz was cute, not gorgeous. So it was nice to attract a little attention for a change. Of course, Liz didn't consider herself on the market right now. If one of those looks actually came to something, it would probably send her running to the nearest girl's bathroom. But in an academic and merely ego-raising sense, the attention was nice.

She turned and started walking down the hall toward her first class. At least her days were going to start off with her favorite class -- Biology. Actually, any science class ranked as great in her book. She smiled just thinking about the science lab, the place where she felt the most... in control. Something about long black tables, Bunsen Burners and the smell of formaldehyde always brightened Liz's day.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Liz's footsteps slowed to a stop in the middle of the hallway. There was Tess, standing right in front of Ms. Topelski's old office. For a brief instant, Liz was tempted to turn and run the other way, but she would not let Tess do that to her.

Tess continued to wait outside the door, albeit impatiently. There was very little purpose for her attending school and the fact that she had to wait in boring lines to do so only ticked her off. Patience was not one of her virtues. In fact, she had very few virtues. Even less than she had posessed as a pure alien. At least back then she had been loyal. Now, as a vampire, she knew that the only one you had to be loyal to was yourself. Screw the rest of them.

Liz wasn't going to talk to Tess, she wasn't. But she wasn't going to run away either. Taking a deep breath and holding her well-coifed head high, she kept walking down the hall toward the girl she loathed the most in all the world.

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

Michael noticed that Maria wasn't saying anything and smirked, one eyebrow raising until it touched the bottom of his black skull-cap. Rolling his eyes, he took Maria by the arm and moved her over to the chair that he had just vacated, sitting her down gently. "Mr. O'Shea, this would be Maria DeLuca. Maria, this is the new guidance counselor," he said, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "I'm sure you both have plenty to talk about."

Then he turned and slipped out the door before Maria could tell him off. He had to make a concentrated effort not to laugh as he closed the office door behind him...

...and almost walked right into Tess. But before he could say anything, she began talking to someone else... someone that looked familiar... Wait, was that *Liz*???

Excellent. Here was a little something that could occupy her time while Tess waited, and perhaps even provide something downright entertaining.

"Liz dear!" She called out patronizingly.

"Elizabeth, we simply *must* talk." She said, waiting for the other girl to come to her.

Michael watched as Liz walked towards them and couldn't help but stare. What was Liz wearing? She never dressed like *that.* Liz was the conservative one. His little debate buddy and Max's big time crush. Not Miss Elizabeth "Sexpot, Make-the-Boys-Stare" Parker!

One word ran through Liz's mind... and it was one that she never allowed herself to say out loud.

But there was no getting out of it now. She would have to talk to Tess or look like a cowardly idiot.

With a phony smile on her gently red lips, Liz said, "Oh, Tess, did you want something?"

She stopped right in front of the guidance counselor's office and looked Tess right in her manipulative blue gaze, bracing herself for the assault to come. But she could handle it, she told herself. She could.

Quickly snapping his jaw back in place so that he wasn't acting like a drooling idiot, Michael crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stand behind Tess, not saying anything. He waited to see if either of them even noticed that he was standing there during their little battle of wills.

When the door opened, Liz's eyes darted away from Tess long enough to see Michael standing there. For a brief second she wondered what on earth he was thinking of to wear the black skull cap (Doesn't he know it will give him hat hair?), but that wasn't really important right now. It made her feel a measure better, however, to have him standing there. Of all people, Michael, she knew, would always take her side against Tess.

Tess was getting ready to attempt something amusing. This time, she was going to try to make the little girl cry. But something odd happened. Liz, who had been acting all "resolve girl" and staring her down, lost focus. Something more interesting than Tess had caught her eye? She wondered what it could be momentarily, before she sensed him.

Her thoughts were confirmed. It was an alien. One of the others was standing right behind her. Not that it was a surprise. Micheal had been in the guidance office moments before she had stopped outside of it. He must be all done now and ready to be studious. How nice for him.

"Did I want something? Oh...just to tell you how nice you look today. Definatly an improvement over the usual." She said flippantly, and spun around walking smack into Micheal.

"Oh, sorry about that. Guess I didn't see you there." She said and smiled in a totally false and saccarine manner.

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

Harmony stood there a little surprised as Michael just walked out without answering her.

Maria didn't say anything. After her first attempt to talk to Michael had turned into something more along the lines of random, angry babbling, she decided it was better not to try a retort.

"Okay now that was rude," Harmony said as she watched Michael leave with out answering her. She turned back to the other occupants, after quickly glancing at the time on the wall. "Well, I'll be off."

Maria just waved. She didn't recognize the new girl, but she could tell her type immediately. One of the popular girls like Isabel, she guessed, only without Isabel's depths.

Or any depths, by the look of things.

"Goodbye, Harmony," Aidan said as the blonde left his office. Then he turned to the girl sitting in the chair. "Now, Miss Deluca, your schedule?" He sat poised at his computer, ready to type in her I.D. number once she gave him the paper.

"Here." Maria handed him the offending schedule. "I didn't mean to come in ranting like that, but I really can't stand consumer ed and I'm not taking it again if I can help it."]

Aidan took the girl's paper and typed in her I.D. number. Once he had her schedule on his monitor, he started adjusting it to art. Since it was the same class the other two had requested, he didn't have to look up any codes or anything. If she had requested Physics or Athletics, it would have taken longer, but he already had the art codes memorized. There was only one art class she could be in, anyway. The administration had backed the class number off to only two sections -- at least until another teacher could be found -- and the first one was full already.

She wasn't about to apologize for her rant, but since her wrath had lost some of its momentum anyway, she decided a try at civility might be in order. Unless - she looked at the name on the desk - Mr. O'Shea was a lot smarter than he looked, he probably wasn't a big threat. She decided to put him in the 'eager-to-please' catagory.

"Did they get you to replace the other guidance counselor?" she asked after a moment or two.

"I suppose," Aidan answered, hitting the button to print out her new schedule at the same time. "No one told me what happened to the last counselor." He glanced at her, wondering if she would fill him in. Everyone always clamed up where Miss... what was it... Topolski was concerned. She had left too early to be a victim of the super vamps, or so Aidan assumed anyway.

"Yeah." Maria grimaced, wishing she was better at hiding her expressions. She remembered /that/ little incident a little too well. "Um, I don't really know what happened," she lied. "I hope you do better," she added with a quick, nervous smile.

Aidan wondered breifly how to take that. Maria seemed nervous about something, but a high school student -- one unafraid to be out in the light of day -- couldn't have anything to do with a missing person, could she?

Her new schedule came out of his laser printer, and Aidan handed it to her. "Here you are, Miss Deluca. I hope this is a rant-free version of your schedule."

"Thanks. Sorry about that." She blew out a long sigh as she pocketed the schedule. "Teenage issues, that sort of thing." She stood up quickly and gathered her stuff together, feeling slightly better when she realized she wasn't going to be that late. "Welcome to Roswell High, Mr. O'Shea." Then she retreated before she could decide if she wanted to be embarrassed or angry at the world in general.

She settled for being glad to be out of consumer ed and left it at that.

"Thank you, Miss Deluca, and, please, come by again if you need anything. I'm here for more than just guidance, you know. If you ever need to talk something out, I'm always here to help. That's why they pay me the big bucks." He grinned wryly. He then turned to the task of unpacking his boxes, deciding to wait until later to peruse the student files, in case he had more students in need of schedule changes.

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

It was a relief to have Tess distracted. Liz gave Michael a tiny grateful smile, quickly so that Tess wouldn't see it if she turned back around. She seemed absorbed in Michael now.

Just then another girl came out of the guidance counselor's office. [Sure is a busy place today] Liz thought.

Liz knew that she had seen this ultra-trendy blonde girl before. She searched her memories for a minute and then remembered that, oh yeah, she had moved to Roswell during the last six weeks of school last year. She was older than Liz's group by a year, so that added to the fact that the blonde seemed anti-social and that last year at that time a lot had been going on, and Liz had never spoken to the girl. But she knew she remembered girl's name. It had been something really fluffy... What had it been... Oh yeah!

"Hi, Harmony, right?" Liz said, giving the blonde a smile. "I have to apologize for Tess here. She doesn't know when she's standing right in the way. I'm Liz, by the way, Liz Parker."

Harmony's surprise at seeing the trio outside the office, was doubled when the dark haired girl addressed her. She really didn't think anyone here knew her name. But, as Harmony surmised, this was a new year and a chance to meet knew people.

"Umm, no problem. I'm Harmony, well you knew that," Harmony added with a smile, "Harmony Kendall. Are you going in as well" she said ashe motioned to the door.

"Oh, no," Liz replied hastily. She had no desire to go back into the guidance counselor's office. It had bad memories for her. "I just stopped to say hello to my good buddy Tess here." She couldn't stop the slight riff of sarcasm in her voice when she said Tess's name. "But it's good to officially meet you, Harmony. I saw you around at the end of last year, but things were crazy then."

Glancing at Michael, who, she was sure, would have Tess well in hand, Liz said to Harmony, "I'm headed to class. If you're going this way," she made a quick gesture, "I'll walk with you."

"Thanks, that would be nice," Harmony replied. She had wanted to applaud Liz's display of sarcasm. It was almost on a level of Cordelia Chase in her prime, but she thought better of it. It was time to follow Liz's lead and see where it went.

Giving Michael a slightly apologetic yet relieved glance, Liz turned and walked down the hall. Once they were a few feet away, Liz turned to Harmony and said, "I'm sorry about using you like that. Tess... um... she's real b... er... witch. Thanks for the get away excuse." Liz gave Harmony a genuine smile. She didn't know if she and this new girl had anything at all in common, but Liz was still grateful for the excuse. Now they were far enough away that she couldn't see Tess through the throng of first day students. Though Michael's tall head, topped in the black skull cap, was still visible. "So, Harmony," Liz said by way of making conversation, "what class are you going to? I'm going to Biology..."

"Don't sweat about it. I didn't meet anyone last year, so think of it as helping both of us." Harmony looked down at her schedule, "I've got English, over the other side, so I better get moving."

She stopped and smiled at Liz. "Maybe I'll see you around later?"

Liz nodded. "Sure. It was good to meet you. Meeting new people can be... refreshing." Liz paused for a second and then made a decision. "If you don't want to it's totally fine, but I usually eat lunch in the caf with some friends. You're welcome to join us, Harmony."

Yes, Liz decided. No matter what Harmony decided, this was a good step for her. She needed to get out of the bubble she'd been living in for the past year. There was more to life than aliens!

"Thanks. I'll see you then," Harmony replied, before turning and walking away. Liz was a year younger than her, but to the new Harmony those things meant little. The fact that Liz had asked her was good enough of a reason to join. Maybe her friends would be just as nice.

"Bye," Liz called and then started walking slowly toward Biology. She wondered, briefly, who would even be at lunch. Probably Maria. No Alex. Would Michael, Max and Isabel sit with them today? Thinking about lunch gave Liz pause.

[Xander] she remembered. Liz made a mental note to ask the new cook to have lunch with them if he was free. Xander seemed like a good guy. An odd guy, yes, but a good one. Of course, some people thought Miss Topolski was nice at first, but Liz didn't want to dwell on the bad stuff. She really hoped that, at some point, something good, something untainted by the secrets she'd become much too acustomed to, could happen. And Xander made her laugh, which was always a plus.

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

Michael waited until Liz and Harmony were gone and then turned to Tess, his trademark smirk on his lips. "Well, looks like you've been working on your powers a lot over the summer," he said sarcastically. "Now you've mastered the art of making people disappear."

Michael took a step to the side, getting out of the way of the door to the guidance counselor's office. He really didn't want to have anyone else run into him from behind.

Tess smirked at Micheal.

"Did I ever tell you how funny you are Micheal? No? Maybe that's because you arn't. As for my powers..." She have him the once over and pushed him aside. He wasn't worthy then, and he certianly wasn't worthy now.

"Sure. Bye." Maria did a sort of dignified dash from the room, which was why she was able to avoid running to Michael as soon as she stepped out of the office. She did a little sidestep, hoping like hell that he - and Tess? Why was he talking to Tess? - hadn't seen her, and made a slightly less dignified beeline for her classroom. Talking to him in front of Tess would qualify as a Bad Thing.

Maria Deluca. Excellent. That would provide Micheal with enough of a distraction for Tess to make her exit without compromising, at least in her mind, the dominant stance she held at the moment.

Brushing past the girl she stood in front of the man that was unpacking boxes. How boring. Tess cleared her throat and waited for him to look up.

Aidan paused in unpacking his favorite coffee mug to see another student standing in the doorway to his office. [Another schedule change] he decided. Putting on his best new faculty member smile, Aidan said, "Hello, I'm Mr. O'Shea, the new guidance counselor. Do you need a schedule change? We've had quite the run on art this morning..."

Tess sighed her best "I'm-better-than-you-and-thuroughly-bored-by-this-discourse" sigh.

"Art. How quaint. But no actually, I just want a schedule in general. I don't care what classes I'm in. I didn't get one yet."

"Yes," Aidan said, a bit taken aback by her attitude. "Well, I need your name and/or your student I.D. number to access those files on the computer..." He placed his hands over the keyboard and waited to see if this high-and-mighty girl felt like giving him the information. Tess looked at him incredulously.

"You remind me of somebody, and no that isn't a good thing. I'm not sure who, but trust me when I tell you that whoever it is, is un- pleasent to say the least."

Walking forward into the room, she noticed a chair with a bunch of random files and boxes stacked up on it. Shoving them off, she sat down and put her feet up on his nearby desk.

"The name is Tess Harding"

Aidan was highly annoyed by this girl. He hadn't been this annoyed at a blonde since Zeke. But he didn't show any reaction. Reaction always made it worse.

He typed her name into the computer and came up with her schedule. He thought for a second about revenging himself and sticking her in auto shop or consumer ed, but he didn't. Logically, if he did that, he would be the one fixing it, thus meaning he'd have to see her again. Then again, maybe she'd actually *like* auto shop, for all he knew. It was best just to leave things alone.

When the innocuous schedule printed out, he picked it up and handed it to her.

"Here you are, Miss Harding. I trust there's nothing else?"

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

Michael watched as both Tess and Maria scurried off in opposite directions - Maria down the hall to her first class and Tess inside the guidance counselor's office - and found himself standing alone in the hallway in front of Mr. O'Shea's door.

"Well, *that* went well," he muttered to himself, not really caring if anybody overheard.

Pulling his schedule out of his back pocket and unfolding it, Michael gazed over his list of classes.

1st period - History. Dead guys. Boring.

2nd period - English. Potential to be interesting, but knowing this school it would be boring. They never read the good stuff. After all, a guy could only pretend to read The Scarlet Letter so many times without going nuts.

3rd period - PE Boring. Communal Showers and a bunch of nerds that weren't up for Athletics. It definitely wasn't Michael's idea of fun.

4th period - Geometry. He'd flunked last year. Michael sighed. That meant he'd have to actually try to pass this year because no way in hell was he *still* going to be in that godforsaken class *next* year!

Lunch - Quality time with the "gang" when Liz and Max could lecture him about which classes he skipped that day, Isabel could roll her eyes when he needed to borrow some lunch money from her but then come through for him as always, Alex could ignore him and Maria could glare at him from across the lunch table, driving him crazy with that perfume she wore... all fruity and sweet. And of course, he'd have to leave halfway though lunch just to get away from her without embarrassing himself and wind up going to Art early, where he would spend the last 15 minutes when everyone was still at lunch drawing Maria's face in his sketchbook. Same old, same old.

5th period - Art. Aside from the fact that his favorite teacher was now gone and Maria would probably be in his class with him to drive him nuts in more ways than one, it was still the high point of his day.

6th period - Biology. He'd have to get Max to help him with that one or he'd never pass. And asking Liz for help would just be weird.

7th period - Drama. How the hell had he wound up in Drama?!?!

Michael sighed again. This year was really not looking good. Not good at all.

Stuffing his schedule back in his pocket without even bothering to fold it properly this time, Michael turned and headed out of the school building. He was already almost twenty minutes late for 1st period and he didn't really even feel like going anyway. Exiting the building and heading out into the early morning sunlight, he exhaled a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding and began to simply walk, not thinking about anything. Just letting himself relax. It felt good.

But after a while of walking around campus and almost running into a few teachers that would have had a definite problem with him *not* being in class, Michael decided that he needed to get out of here. And just his luck, he had found the perfect mode of transportation.

Max's jeep was parked not 5 feet away from where he was standing. And Michael, being Max's best friend, knew were the other alien kept the extra key tucked away in the little magnetic key locker under the front bumper. Grabbing the key, Michael hopped into the jeep and started the engine, fully intending to have the jeep back, safe and sound, before lunchtime when Max might notice its absence.

Soon he was cruising down the highway, enjoying the fact that he wasn't in class. He didn't really know where he was going, he was totally content with just enjoying the journey.

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

"Oh, yeah?" Jeffery replied. "That's probably a good place to work. Right in the thick of things. I've been pondering getting a job just to get my finger on the pulse of the town, so to speak. I checked out this club last night. It's on the outside of town. UFOnics is it's name. The vamps always like those dim spots packed with teens. I might apply there, depending on how hectic my classes are and such."

"I'll have to weasel out of volleyball," Jessica admitted. "I can do junior varsity or something along those lines, but there's no way I can keep up with vamp slayage and be all intercollegiate. Wouldn't work too well."

She glanced up from examining a nail. "We're here."

Just then they pulled into the university. Jeffery was able to find a fairly good commuter parking place and inserted the Camaro in it with ease. He got out of the car, went around like the gentleman he was, and opened the door for Jessica.

"So, do you have a map in that bundle of stuff? Where do we go from here?"

"Dunno." Jessica looked around as she climbed out, spotting a student-looking guy relatively quickly. Since she had never been shy and had liked the direct approach anyway, she settled for a good, hearty bellow. "Hey, you! Which way to Frosh Orientation?"

The kid started to smirk, but something about the way that neatly penciled eyebrow quirked made him change his mind and point. Jessica smiled a thank you and nodded to Jeffrey. "Thataway. After you."

"Thank you," Jeffery replied, heading the way the guy with the neon green hair had pointed. Gesturing back at the guy as they walked, Jeffery joked, "Do you think everyone here in Roswell goes with the alien theme? Alien-themed restaurants and dance clubs, alien-green hair, vampires who think there are aliens..." Keeping his voice low, he explained, "Faith and I ran into some X-Filesian vamps at UFOnics last night. The one she questioned was quite the Believer."

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

When the food arrived, Zeke ate it with record speed. She hadn't had any sustinance in far to long, and it was good to finally feel something that she knew would provide at least a little energy. The coffee was also much needed, she could feel the caffine flowing through her veins and newfound energy causing her to look around the small diner.

How odd. Oz and Faith were sitting together at a booth across the room, making up the weirdest combination of scoobies she'd seen hang around together extra-curricularly. Most of the time the gang only seemed to interact under watcher-enforced orders, and other than that...they were on their own. The wolf-man's attention was distracted though, she could pick that up even from her distance. His eyes weren't really anywhere specific, but something about him...he was clearly honing in on the only other couple in the place.

Xander frowned. "What? Look, I'm not here to hunt you. I just figured, since we have... er... things in common," he gave the girl a pointed look, "we might want to talk. That's all."

Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that no one else had noticed the 'changes' in the girl, he then looked back at her and added in as non-threatening a voice as he could muster, "I'm not going to hurt you. But you might wanna tone down the wolfy bit, or people will start to take notice. And that's the last thing we need."

Just who she wanted to see. Xander. Getting up she sauntered over to the booth, not really noticing the girl sitting in the booth under the X-man's gaze.

"Xander! Hey, Xander!" She called out to him. Finally getting up to him, she stood right in his face gritted her teeth.

"Y'know the last time I saw you we were at that bar remember? Something like Spike, you, me, Oz...some other people that didn't make it. You remember that?" She said careful to avoid mention of Lindsey.

"'member those people with the snapped necks and the fighting and kicking? I never really felt vilified after that whole thing. I mean...you hit me! That hurts y'know? If not on the outside, it really hurts me inside." She said.

Moving as if it hurt her to much to walk, Zeke stumbled and tripped down into the booth, sitting across from the girl she had never seen before, and looking up at Xander still.

"It hurts me. Right. In. Here." She said, punctuating each word by slamming her fist against her heart.

Xander rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, I'm sure you're all broken up over it, Zeke," he retorted, sarcasm practically dripping from his tongue.

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

Max let go of his sister's arm in order to open the door for her. "We'd better hurry, or we'll be late for first period," he said, following her through the door and taking the lead through the halls.

Max kept up a pretty good clip through the thronging pulse of moving high school students. He hated being late to class, especially on the first day and it had him distracted, which was why he failed to notice the slow-moving Liz and ran right into her.

"Liz?!?" he exclaimed on impulse. "Uh, ...hi." The moment he'd both dreaded and longed for, feared and anticipated was here. And 'Uh, hi' was all he came up with. Brilliant.

Liz found herself pushed forward roughly. She pinwheeled her arms and managed to keep her balance, but her bookbag -- full of crisp, new school supplies -- fell to the ground. Luckily, the heavy-duty zipper kept all her new notebooks, pens and pencils inside where they belonged.

She stooped to pick up the bookbag and then froze at the familiar voice. Her first time to see Max and he saw her stooping down to pick up her bookbag, not standing, talking with friends and looking sexy in her new outfit! She felt a humiliated blush creep up her cheeks as she hurried to straighten up.

Max saw her lean to retrieve her things and completely without thinking, he squatted down to help her. She got it straightened out without his help and he stood when she did, his eyes never really leaving her face.

"Uh... Max. You're back. You're here. Well, obviously you're here since it's the first day of school..." [Stop babbling, Liz!] "...uh... yeah." She hitched her bookbag up onto her shoulder and tried to fake a smile.

Then a thought occurred to her that was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. "So... uh... I'm going to Biology right now..." The rest she left as an unspoken question.

Max had been her lab partner last year. They'd shared their science class with Maria, Alex and Isabel as well. She wondered if it would be the same this year. And if so, would she and Max still be lab partners? Did she want to still be lab partners with him, to see him every day? Her head screamed "NO" but her heart whispered "if you can't be *with* him at least you could see him and talk to him a *little*..."

"Oh, uh," Max managed, maintaining his conversational brilliance. He pulled out his schedule -- seeing Liz, in the flesh and dressed to kill had erased mundane things like school from his active memory -- and consulted it. When it looked like Arabic letters and actual English words again he saw "Biology" staring him in the face. He devoutly hoped it wasn't wishful thinking making him see things that weren't there. It'd be hard to explain to his teacher.

"It looks like that's where I'm headed, too," he answered her unasked question. "Shall we?" he asked gesturing vaguely down the hall.

Liz nodded, her fake curls falling in her face as she did so. Suddenly, they didn't seem like such a good idea. She pushed them behind her ear and tried to come up with an intelligble response for Max.

"Um... sure."

[Brilliant. Liz the scintillating conversationalist.] Then she got angry with herself. [Why do you even care? You broke up with him, remember? It's not like you need to get even with him or something.] Her thoughts paused again, and then she thought [I am so confused!]

But she didn't show any of that on her face, or she tried not to. To cover her inner turmoil, she tried to strike up a conversation. "So... how was... um... Alberquerque?"

"It was good," Max said, striving for nonchalance as he and Liz walked slowly down the school corridor. "It was nice to see our grandparents. It definitely made me appreciate Roswell more, though." He looked at Liz, the thing about Roswell he appreciated most, and wondered if she heard the meaning behind his words.

Liz tried and failed not to read subtext into Max's words. She sighed. Giving him up was going to be harder than she had thought. But she had to give him up, didn't she?

Striving to keep the conversation on a superficial level, Liz commented, "It would have been nice to get away for the summer. Everyone but Michael and I got to get away. I hope you called Michael when you got back, Max. He really missed you and Isabel." Liz realized that she didn't have any right to lecture Max as to what he should or shouldn't do anymore. She bit her lip to stop more words from flowing in that vein.

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

Cordelia was awakened by the loud buzzing of an alarm clock. Sliding her hand under her pillow and locating the offensive object, her fingers searched for the snooze button. Once the sound ceased Cordelia rolled back over and fell asleep.

A half hour later her eyes drifted open and she raised her hand to check out the time on the clock. Screaming, she threw her covers off and stood in the middle of the room. She had to meet Xander in 36 minutes! There was *no* way she was going to be ready in 36 minutes. Racing into the bathroom she jumped into the shower and remained there just long enough to make sure she was presentable. Hurriedly pacing around the bathroom she attempted to dry her hair and put on mascara at the same time, quite the challenge. When she was done in the bathroom she headed towards her room, but her foot slipped in a small puddle of water and she landed on her back on the floor. Slapping herself on the forehead she sighed. This was such a tragic mistake. Why had she crossed state borders, moved in with an annoying pack of relatives and changed schools, just to end up on the bathroom floor with wet hair and a tube of lipstick clutched in her hand? For Xander she told herself as she got up.

Allowing herself a few minutes to find THE outfit for school, she changed into it and started gathering her things.

"Cordelia!!" a shrill voice said from upstairs "You're going to be late!!"

"Thanks for the notice!" Cordelia shouted sarcastically "I've been having so much trouble reading these damn digital clocks lately!"

Slamming her bedroom door shut she left the house through the garage. Her aunt had asked her to drive her cousin to school. Forget that.

Cruising down the highway Cordelia finally came to a small diner with the a sign that said "Rick's" in front of it. "The must be the place she muttered."

Quickly parking she got out of the car and entered the restaurant, only to find Xander in a booth with some foreign girl. "This was so worth" she said sadly.

Cordelia had avoided going over to join Xander during his rendez vous with this new girl. She had been waiting for him to glance over at her, come running, pull her into a big hug and tell her that the girl had came, sat down and had put a spell on him to keep him seated, but his desire to see her had broken the spell and....all right, enough with the fantasy. Zeke was going over to Xander's table. If Zeke was welcome, then she was too.

Striding over to the table she plastered a nice big smile on her face and glared at Xander "Morning! Any room left for me at the table?"

Xander was surprised for a second to see Cordelia there, until his brain finally remember that he had asked her to meet him her. [Duh, Xander! Where has your mind gone?!?!] He supposed he'd forgotten during the shock of seeing another were and running into Zeke.

"Hey, Cor. Glad you made it," he told her with a warm smile. Being a guy and being totally dense, he didn't even realize that she might be mad at him for talking with that new girl. After all, Xander had just been investigating a new were. He didn't see it as anything that someone might take the wrong way.

She smirked at Xander's dumb reply to the icy glare Cordelia had been shooting his way. What a complete idiot. That was fine. It could provide some entertainment.

Slipping an arm around Cordelia's shoulders, he added, "Wanna find somewhere to talk without psycho crazies lurking about?"

Xander gave Oz a quick smile so the guy would know that Xander wasn't referring to him, but to Zeke.

"Xander! Xander how could you? You dare refer to I as a 'psycho crazy'? Or, at least one of said 'crazies'? Again you hurt me. Like burning daggers right into my heart." She shook her head sadly.

Sliding out of the booth, she stood up to her full 5'3 and loomed under him.

'That is very unconvincing.' Zeke told herself.

"Anyway, where were we before your girlfriend came in? Oh yeah, I was asking you why you kept remorselessly cheating on her. That chick over at the counter being only one of many." Again 'tsk tsk'-ing him, she wandered over closer to Cordelia.

"It'll be ok Cordy. Really. Hey, I'm a giver, I'm sure I could help you somehow. Want me to kill him for you?" Zeke offered oh-so-selflessly.

"No!" Cordelia said. She didn't care what Zeke was saying, Zeke was a loser. Leaning in closer she said "You know maybe I thought Xander was interested in Ms. Exotic Girl over there but never for a second did I think Xander would lay his eyes on trailer trash like you. Get a life Zeke." Returning to an upright position she allowed Xander to lead her to another booth.

"Um... actually... Xander is not interested in any girl except for this girl," Xander interrupted, pointing a finger at Cordelia to show which girl he was talking about being interested in. "So, why are we even having this conversation?"

Before Cordelia replied, Zeke shot a sideways, and half upside down glance over at the counter where Faith and the new girl were standing. Interesting. Turning back to Cordy, she waited.

"Actually? Yeah." Cordelia responded. "When does school start anyway? And do we plan on going?"

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

Talk? Another were talking to her instead of mauling her and leaving her for dead. Well that was a new thing. She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes. Company headed their way.

Jade shifted back just as easily in to her human form and raised her brows as the newcomer started her rant. Okay....this was something strange. Again. Jade's eyes flicked back and forth between the girl and the guy and she turned her head slightly.

Okay they were being watched by another girl who...okay very of the attractive. Jade mentally smacked herself and slid out of the booth and wandered away from the were and the girl who didn't feel quite right.

She sniffed delicately and turned her attention to the other couple sitting at a booth across the diner. Five against one. Her. And there was no where for her to go. Jade swallowed her panic so she wouldn't shift and edged toward the counter to finish up her pie.

If two or three were occupied she just might make it out of there alive. Enough away from everyone she sighed and leaned against the slightly grimy wall.

Faith looked at Oz and nodded once to his non look. She stood and wandered over to the shefur while he went to back Xander up. Not that Xander needed it but she guessed since his name was mentioned he wanted to see what was up.

Xander watched the new girl - who was definitely a were or he needed to have his hightened senses examined - leave the table and gave Zeke a glare that said without the actual sarcastic words "Thanks oh so much for running her off when I still wanted to talk to her, you're a big help... really."

Zeke returned his glare with an innocent shrug and quirk of her eyebrows.

"What?" She asked.

That was when Oz showed up at Xander's side, offering his silent strength as back up. Xander grinned at the shorter man, glad to see a familar face that didn't belong to one of his enemies.

Zeke smiled at Oz. It was good to see him again, he had been one of the most fun to abuse. He could brood almost as well as her own father when reminded of his past crimes. It was a funny thing actually.

Both Angel and Oz only commited their violent crimes while under the influence of some outter worldly dark force. Angel didn't even have a soul at the time, and Oz's had been shut down and fur grown over it. Zeke was the one who was fully coherent while killing people simply for kicks, and she was also the one who didn't regret it. Most of the time.

"So you're a were."

"You're a hunter."

"I don't hunt your kind."

"Then why are you guys here..."

"Breakfast...you gonna eat that?"

Jade blinked and eyed the girl for a long time trying to decide if she was lying or not. Which she didn't seem like she was. The small were handed over the last of her pie and fork and watched as the girl scarfed it down almost as fast as she would have.

Hot girls must grown on trees in this place. Jade shrugged that off and nodded toward the short guy with funny colored hair and the tall one that still confused her.

"They aren't going to hunt me down?"

"Not unless you hunt them first."

"Oh. I'm Jade."

"Faith. Shorty is Oz an' the tall goofy one is Xander."

"Who's the girl staring at our backs?"

"Queen C, goofball's girly."

"And the other?"

"Long story on the other one."

Faith gave her a smirk and leaned against the counter to watch the show. This could be so more than interesting. Never a dull moment with the gang.

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

Xander shrugged, leading Cordelia over to a vacant table that just happened to be positioned so that he could keep an eye on both Faith and the new girl at one side of the diner and Oz and Zeke on the other with out being too obvious about it. "School officially starts at 8, but I have first period off. So I don't have to be in class until around 9 o'clock. What about you? What's your schedule like?"

Cordelia smiled "I was supposed to get my schedule before school started? Well, I guess I'm just going to have to make an extra special trip to Aidan's office...before we make that other extra special trip to Aidan's office. You know, I'm not hating having a guidance councilor for a friend!"

She had heard Cordy's semi-rant, and even listened to her talk about school and schedules, but there was no way she was going to stay quiet any longer.

"Cordelia? Hello! Cordelia?" She shouted.

Xander was about to reply when Zeke interrupted them... again. He was getting really sick and tired of the annoying blonde. Punching her in the face was starting to sound really good right about now. The wolf inside him started to get excited at the prospect of a fight. Xander had to work hard to control the rising bloodlust. He was *not* going to get into a knock down drag out fight with trash like Zeke while Cordelia was present. No way, no how. His girlfriend deserved better than that.

"Did you think I was speaking of myself when I mentioned Xander's philandering ways? My god! Do you think I would sink that low? Oh...yeah, you did....but that's different. I have standards, something you might remember...to bad you let them go way back when. Anyway, I was't in fact talking about myself that Xander was so 'in-to'. It was some other chick. I don't even know her. Just know the score babe, that's all. Figured I'd clue you in but I know when I'm not appreciated." Zeke feigned hurt once again and slunk down as if she were recoiling from a blow.

Rising up quickly she punched Cordelia hard in the face.

"I just don't deal with it well." She said to the fallen girl.

Cordelia was about to form a reply when Zeke's fist hit her squarely in the face. Flying backwards she could only imagine that hitting the floor would hurt more than getting punched in the face, but luckily Xander caught her right before she fell.

Xander caught Cordelia before she could hit the ground from the force of Zeke's blow. Setting her down gently, Xander stood up and moved between her and Zeke, already forgetting his earlier vow not to get into a fight here.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Zeke?" he demanded, his eyes beginning to glow with a golden light as he accessed his were/slayer powers. He didn't even care that there were other people in the dinner that didn't know about the super powers club (tm). He just wanted revenge. And he wanted it now.

BECAUSE NO ONE HIT HIS GIRLFRIEND AND GOT AWAY WITH IT!!!!

Xander lunged at Zeke, tackling her around the waist and pushing her to the ground, before he began to seriously attack her, raining punches down on her face left and right. Soon he'd drawn blood, and even though somewhere deep down Xander remembered that he'd never be able to kill her - only Buffy could do that - he wanted to at least inflict as much damage as possible while he had the chance.

Despite the pain throbbing from the center of her face, Cordelia managed to prop herself up. She stared at the fight with wide eyes, she had never seen Xander like that.

Zeke watched it all happen in slow motion. Xander catching Cordelia, wolfing out, losing it, and eventually start to pound on her. She was laughing the entire time. It was hard to say what was more disturbing. The sight of such intense violence, or the girl being victimized that was clearly amused by it all. Lying motionless on cold, dirty tile she stared up at Xander. Watching his glowing eyes, eventually seeing red as blood started to flow down her face, both in her eyes and mouth, coming out of her nose and various cuts and abrasions.

The sticky fluid brought her back into a reality of sorts, and when Xander finally showed signs of tiring, she dragged herself up and jumped on him. Punching him hard in both the body and face several times, she jumped up and walked back over to a horrified looking Cordy.

Smirking at her through bloodsoaked lashes, she spit a mouthful of the red substance all over the girl.

"You 'can thank your bofrien' for tha" she slurred.

Grimacing, Cordelia turned her face away from Zeke. Her blood began to boil. No one treated her like this. Where did Zeke get the idea that she could be treated like this?

Again diving back at Xander she kicked him hard one last time. Walking over to the counter where the shell shocked waitress stood, she grabbed a big handful of napkins and wiped her face, getting most of the blood off. Her clothes were soaked in it however, but she didn't care. There was already blood on her shirt anyway. Not like she ever washed anything.

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

Jade watched the fight as if she had a clue. She didn't but from Faith's laughter she guessed this had been brewing for a long time. Part of her stirred. By far she seemed to be the oldest were in the diner and that made her Alpha. Except for the part where she didn't have a pack.

Still that part of her rose up and itched at her spine to pin Xander down and hold him still until he stopped. But...she wasn't about to move. And she wouldn't have been stopping him to save the apparently crazy girl. Rather she'd be stopping him to keep people from knowing about them.

A small nearly human growl escapsed her lips but the only ones that heard it were Oz and Faith. Oz. He was strange. Like her, just sort of trapped in to what he was. And short. She could identify.

Faith swiped a fry from the plate of the person next to her and munched it. Wow. Zeke could throw down. She smirked through the whole thing and occasionally laughed at a good hit. Other than that she wasn't abou to jump in. Not her fight number one and shewolf would run the minute everyone was distracted.

Shrugging she held up a few more napkins to Zeke. She had no beef really. Okay so she didn't like the idea of Buffy and Big Brood getting all groiny and poppin' out a kid but hey that wasn't Zeke's fault.

Plus she seriously got the impression they'd seen some seriously whacked stuff and could probably relate. Only she didn't really want to talk to an immortal. Or you know...anyone for that matter. Still she had to give the shorty credit for taking it like that from Xander. She knew what he was capable of hell...half of her was him now.

Oz stood there two seconds away from saying something. Which you know was an effort in itself. But the fight was over before he could think of anything to counter act Xander's semirage. That wasn't real. If it had been everyone in that place would be dead...and he got the feeling that Zeke and Faith would still be laughing. Disturbing.

Moving over to Xander's side he pulled his hands out of his pockets and rested a firm hand on his friend's shoulder. Just a hint of pressure to make him take notice of his surroundings. Oz didn't really want to get in to it with Xander in a pysical way because it'd lead to all kinds of pack issues. Not that...you know they were a pack.

Still there were issues there. He lowered his head a little and sniffed lightly at the bloodied floor. Realizing what he was doing and feeling suddenly sick at the idea that he was getting so feral he backed up a step.

"I think it's time to leave...Cordy? You okay to walk?"

Cordelia's eyes flashed up toward Oz. Pausing for a few seconds she finally managed to get out a "Yeah...I'll make it" as she picked herself up off the floor. Tenderly touching her face she winced as her finger came in contact with the bruised flesh.

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

The man tinkered away on his computer for what seemed like hours, Tess made sure he knew she was bothered by the wait, punctuating each click of a key with an exasperated sigh, or exaggerated hand gesture. Tapping her foot non- stop for the entire meeting.

"You trust right Mr...whatever your name is. Though in Roswell, you should be careful who you trust at all." She said with a devious twinkle in her eye.

Grabbing the paper from him rudely, she spun on her heels and walked out of his office. In the hallway she looked at her schedule for the first time. (**I don't know how you name your courses in the states so I'm just going with what I call them**) English, that would be easy enough. Nacedo had brought her up and educated her fairly well from a young age. PE...physical exertion not her thing. May as well have counted as a free period. Chemistry...boring. Earth chemicals weren't half as fun. Social Studies, easy. Those were the things she knew the most about. Last but not least...art. What the hell! Art? She was not gonig to get stuck in some stupid course where you learned how to trace your hand. She'd seen enough imprints to know what it looked like already.

Bursting back into the guidance office, she slammed the sheet down on the desk and looked at Mr. Whatever his name was with an infuriated glare.

"Art? What the hell are you thinking? Do I look like a crayola girl to you? Maybe some of the other autistic freaks like Micheal enjoy that kind of thing, but me? Do I have a sign that says "anti-social-finger-painter" on my back? I demand that you change this atrocity right NOW!" She shouted.

Aidan was getting highly annoyed now. Were all the kids in this school insane? Of the four kids who had come in for a schedule change that morning, 3 of them had done so ranting and raving. And the one who hadn't... well, 1. she had fainted, and 2. she wasn't even from Roswell. And the fact that all four changes had to do with art... well, that coincidence boggled his mind.

He got up and walked around the desk to address Tess Harding. Putting on his most icy expression, he said, "I don't know what life is like in Roswell, New Mexico, young lady, but where I'm from, we have manners, and we know how to use them. Today is my first day. I didn't make these schedules. However, I am happy to help you change it because it is my job... but it's not my job to take your unruly attitude, so if that's how you are going to act, you can stay in art for the whole year."

"Is that a threat? I mean, are you going to 'use your manners' on me and get me with them? Because that I'd like to see. I would appreciate if you would just do your job like you said, and get over yourself. Fix my schedule so we never have to see eachother ever again, and that can be that."

He craned his neck so he could look at her back. Aidan nodded. "Yes... I think a sign that says 'anti-social-finger-painter' would look great right there... I can print one up for you if you like, and you can wear it down to the principal's office. Otherwise, you can either find a grain of respect and use it, or leave quietly. It's your choice, Miss Harding."

Tess cocked her head and gave him a toothy smile.

"Send me to the principle. That's fine. In fact, I'd like to talk with admin about the horrible guidance counsillor that's threatening to put me in horrendous classes if I don't do exactly what he says."

Kicking the door shut, the glass in the frame rattled dangerously.

"What exactly you asked me to do is going to be my word against yours, and these days everybody seems willing to think the worst. Just change my schedule."

Aidan knew the "tough" kids in school liked to give the new faculty members a hard time -- test the new teachers, etc. to see how far they could go -- however, Aidan would not have suspected this little, blonde, bit of a thing as that type of a person. He could beat her up blindfolded. Aidan doubled her weight, and had at least a foot of height on her. But if Tess would not be daunted by his authority, then Aidan realized, he would just have to put his foot down.

"Fine," Aidan said, grabbing Tess by the arm, "we'll just go tell Mr. Pritchard (**don't know what the principal's name is, so I'm making it up**) about this together, and see who's word he's willing to believe!"

He pulled on her arm, and, to his utter amazement, she didn't move! Either Tess Harding was a wad of muscle underneath that tiny, blonde, bony body, or she was... something more. But it was daylight! Vampires didn't come out in the daylight. Unless there was sewer access to the school... Or maybe she was a different kind of demon... Whatever the truth was, he knew that Tess was more than she seemed. And he also knew that if he revealed his identity now, their whole mission in Roswell might be forfeit.

Tess wasn't going to let him drag her around. Not that she would have minded taking it up with the bossman, just that she minded doing so because he wanted to. If they went it was going to be her choice, not his.

He had only a split second to make his decision. He let go of her arm like he was freaked out beyond belief -- and that was mostly true, except for the beyond belief part. Letting the fear that any sane mortal had of supernatural things (the fear Aidan normally wasn't allowed to show) show on his face, Aidan scuttled back behind his desk.

"You know what, Miss Harding? I'll just fix that schedule right up for you, and we'll just pretend none of this ever happened, OK?" His fingers flew over the keys rapidly -- Aidan could type over 115 words a minute when he tried -- as he worked on the form. "What would you like to take instead of art? How about Agricultural Science. Or there's Study Hall that period. Drama also has openings..."

Tess smirked again at the man, and sat back down in the chair she had occupied before leaving the first time.

"That's a much better attutude wouldn't you say?" She asked him.

"As for courses...I've always wanted to take...auto mechanics. Yes, put me in auto mechanics." She spoke in a strangely reflective tone.

"Anyway enough about me let's talk about you. First class is...y'see, I can't even remember what it is and I'm not going anyway so let's chat. Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you come here?" Tess rapid- fired.

Aidan briefly thanked the Powers that Be that he'd had the presence of mind not to bring anything Watcherly to school with him. Yes, there was the meeting today, but Xander was supposed to be their briefing point on Roswell happenings. For all Miss Harding knew he was just your average, every day guidance counselor. In fact, the only thing that belied his identity was the Watcher ring on his finger. But the ring was innocuous enough that Giles had worn one just like it for years in Sunnydale and no one had ever been the wiser. Basically, the ring was a symbol to other Watchers, no one else.

The silver circlet flashed in the sunlight as he typed quickly, filling in her auto-mechanics request.

"Why did I come here?" Aidan said as he finished making the changes. "They offered me a job. I didn't have much choice, really. Not many schools will take a chance on a guidance counselor who's... shall we say... still wet behind the ears. I skipped a couple... er... several grades in school."

He darted an obviously nervous glance in Tess's direction, but made sure not to put it on too thick. He hit print and a few seconds later the new, art-free schedule slid out from his printer.

Handing it to her, he said, "There you go, Miss Harding. I trust that will meet with your approval."

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

"Yeah, we got in really late and then the new neighbors dropped in. It was kinda strange." Max said. "I probably should have talked to him. This is the first time the three of us have been separated since we found each other again. But really, the person I most wanted to call last night was you." He stopped walking and look at her intensely. "Liz, I really meant what I said that day in the cave. You have to believe me. I missed you so much."

Liz touched Max's arm, and -- trying to ignore the sparks that ignited in her fingers -- guided him to the side of the hallway, out of the flow of traffic. Nervously, she shifted her weight from one black, clog sandal to the other as she spoke.

"Max... of course, I believe you, but... but... things are still the same as when you left. There's still Tess, and you guys have this whole destiny thing going on, and... and... I'm not a part of that."

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

Doyle followed Amy outside, glancing at his watch as he walked. "I'd better drive. Aidan called an emergency Scooby Gang meetin' durin' lunch hour, so I'll have ta drive over from the elementary school ta make it." Under his breath, he added, "Good thing I don't have ta be in until 9 o'clock today or I'd be late." Elementary school in Roswell had actually started a week ago, but they'd been having substitutes in the class that Doyle was to teach during that week and today was the sub's last day. Doyle was supposed to sit in on parts of the class, get the tour of the school, meet the other teachers, etc. He'd actually start teaching the youngsters himself tomorrow.

Hopping into the drivers seat, Doyle took the keys that Amy gave him and started the car, heading at best possible (but still within the speed limits) speed to the high school to drop Amy off before heading to his own school. He smiled to himself as he drove, thinking about how just a few months ago, he wouldn't have been able to picture himself in such a domestic setting, but now it felt natural.

He pulled up in front of the school, noticing that it was pretty quiet since classes had probably started about twenty minutes ago. At least Amy had the "I'm a new student and it's the first day" excuse. Her teachers shouldn't get mad at her for being tardy.

"Should I pick ye up after school or will ye be hitchin' a ride wit' Aidan or someone?" He motioned to both of their cell phones, sitting between them. "Or we could leave it up in the air now an' after school lets out, ye could just call me an' let me know if ye'll be needin' a ride..."

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

Zeke took the napkins from Faith and nodded her thanks. Reaching over the counter she took one of the fountian drink hoses and pulled it back to her side. Hitting the button that sprayed only water, she got all of the blood off her face and her nose had stopped bleeding. She was soaking wet and the cuts started little trickles of fresh blood, but that didn't matter. She barely noticed. The sick puddle that covered most of the diner floor was pinkish. Watery blood was everywhere.

Finally looking up and throwing the hose back over to the horrified cook behind the counter, Zeke looked at Jade and acknowleged her really for the first time. She had attempted to during the fight but that was kind of interuppted. The girl was really, really freaked out. That was to be expected, but it wasn't in the same way as everybody else. As the humans...which left Zeke wondering what exactly her story was.

Xander felt a hand on his shoulder and had to fight the urge to reach back and break it in one clean snap. He felt like everything he saw was covered in a film of red. Part of that was the blood - Zeke's blood and a bit of his own - that covered his face, filling his nose with its coppery scent. He could feel the combination of the wolf and the slayer fighting within him, demanding release. The blood had him in a fever pitch, ready to take on the entire cafe.

Suddenly, Xander felt like he was lost, trapped inside a dark hole, unable to find his way out. Was this how Oz felt when the wolf took over during a full moon? This sense of being controlled, of being helpless? But for Oz, it all ended when the full moon as gone. For Xander, it was a constant thing. Like this surging darkness that was just waiting for him to slip up so that it could take control. A feral animal, right underneath his skin...

Xander felt his tears mingling with the blood, running into his mouth and leaving a salty/coppery taste on the back of his tongue. It shocked him into a sense of complete awareness. Gagging, choking, pressing his hands over his mouth and biting down until he tasted even more blood, Xander pushed himself backwards and away from everyone, curling up with his back to the peeling, pink wallpaper that adorned the diner walls and his knees pulled up tight against his chest.

Watching Xander crawl into the corner, and retreat almost into himself, she laughed mercilessly. It was funny enough when it was her getting her ass beaten, but now...with Xander acting like a big baby...that was even better. Not to mention the fact that his girlfriend was standing right there, watching it all.

"This mean you don't want to go another round *unc*" She said, punctuating the last word.

She turned away from him disgusted, almost snarlng, and shook her head trying to get some of the excess water off of her and out of her hair.

"Whatever. Screw this." She said and walked outside. It was *really* time to get some fresh air.

He could still see the look of horror on Cordelia's face as Zeke spit blood into her eyes.

Looking up, Xander met Oz's eyes, which looked back at him, barely blinking. Xander had no idea what Oz was thinking. What he was feeling. Whether or not he hated Xander, was disgusted by him. Xander didn't really care at that point. He just needed someone who understood what he was feeling.

He was loosing it. He was loosing control. He'd been trying to deal with this creature within him for almost 5 months and he felt like he was starting to loose the battle.

He was slowly unraveling, and soon he'd snap like a brittle bit of rope.

And then he didn't know what would happen...

Oz nodded once at Xander knowing exactly how he was feeling. You don't just accept that your whole life is different in a few months. He lowered to his knees right in a big puddle of blood. It didn't matter though.

"Xand..."

Xander heard Oz's voice, but it was so far away from everything. So removed. Xander looked up and met Oz's eyes, but he found himself not really *seeing* him. He wasn't seeing anything right now. All he could see was his own pain and confusion.

He wasn't even sure himself but for Xander Oz would do the ultimate. He'd say something that wasn't an absolute. Quirking his brow slightly he changed his mind on that. Never lie to a friend. Never lie to a sorta packmate.

"If it makes you feel better I think Cordy's digging on the whole butch thing."

Xander barked out a bit of laughter at that. Oz saying something that absurd was enough to snap him back into reality. Looking around him, he saw the blood and the broken furniture. Damn. Had he done all of that?

There wasn't anything for him to say to Xander. His hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he was suddenly aware of that girl standing behind him. She was older in the wolfy sense. Though how he knew that he couldn't guess.

Jade tilted Xander's head up to look at a few of the cuts and sighed softly. He'd heal up just fine. Better than he would have as a human. Oz looked at her in silent question and she knew she was going to end up knowing these people a hell of a lot more than she would have wanted to.

Xander met the girl's eyes and felt the connection again. Like they were the same. Like she and Oz were the only people in the entire world that could *really* understand him... and in a sense, that was the truth.

"We need to go. All of us."

Faith crossed her arms as if in protest but didn't say anything. Which was good because didn't think she'd win in a dominance fight with Faith. Not that she wouldn't try if it meant getting Xander and Oz somewhere that they could all talk. And...clean up.

Oz nodded again and put his arm around Xander's shoulder carefully. He really didn't want to get his throat torn out for being a nice guy. Then again he wouldn't want his throat torn out for being a bad guy either. It just seemed really messy and painful.

Xander allowed Oz to help him to his feet. "Thanks, man," he mumbled, giving Oz a small, thankful smile.

Then he looked around and froze. "Um... guys, I was kinda out of it there for a minute. Where's Cordy?"

A very good question. Oz looked to Jade who was pretty much unfamiliar with the gang so she wouldn't know. He turned his gaze to Faith who had this slighty furrowed brow look that he couldn't quite read.

"She's outside. I'm watchin'."

And she was. Yeah she didn't think Zeke was all that bad but at the sametime...she wasn't about to let the psycho near Xand's girlie. Not alone anyway.

Jade blinked over the three and nodded to the door. She h