ISABEL: I'm finally ready to let someone in. And I want him to be you.

ALEX: I've been waiting to hear that, Isabel. And I want to be the only one for you, cause you're the only one for me.

(Michael appears behind them as they kiss. Suddenly she is in the desert with all the symbols on the ground. Michael is beckoning to her, then Alex.)

ALEX: Isabel. Isabel.

(At the warehouse.)

ALEX: Isabel, wake up. She's moving around.

ISABEL: Ok. Ok.

(Isabel picks up a phone and dials.)

(Outside the Harding Residence, Michael and Maria are sleeping in the Jetta.)

MARIA: Hello?

ISABEL: Maria, are you up?

MARIA: Yeah, we're awake.

ISABEL: She's leaving now

MARIA: We're on it.

(In a hallway at school.)

LIZ: I knew you weren't really falling in love with her.

MAX: That's the truth, Liz. You've got to believe that.

LIZ: I do. And now we know it's really Nasedo.

MAX: And whoever Nasedo really is, it's using Tess' body to get to me.

LIZ: Right. To manipulate you.

MAX: I can't control myself when I'm with her.

(A phone rings.)

LIZ: Yeah, we're in position. Ok. We got it. She's in the parking lot headed this way.

(They follow Tess until she goes into the girls' restroom.)

LIZ: Ok, I'll take it from here.

MAX: Wait, I don't want you going in there alone.

LIZ: Max, she still thinks I'm just your girlfriend. She'll never suspect anything.

MAX: She's dangerous. Never forget that.

(In the girls' bathroom.)

LIZ: Tess! I thought I saw you come in here.

TESS: Look, Liz, I thought we got everything straightened out last night.

LIZ: We did?

TESS: I mean about Max. We're going to try and be friends, right? All of us.

LIZ: Right, friends.

TESS: Then tell me, why is everybody following me?

(Opening Credits)

(At a merry-go-round somewhere.)

MARIA: So she didn't hurt you, or threaten you?

LIZ: No. She acted totally innocent. I'm telling you, she has no idea that we found out about her.

MAX: We can't trust anything she says.

MICHAEL: Well, maybe we should trust her. This is the fourth alien we've been waiting for our whole lives.

ISABEL: I don't think that anyone, or anything that would pretend to be a teenage girl in order to seduce Max is on our side.

MAX: Isabel's right. It's a shape-shifter. Who knows what other powers it has that we don't have. The three of us, no matter what we may discover about ourselves...we were raised human. Nasedo's an alien. Nasedo's killed. And judging from the way I felt when I was with Tess, it definitely has some kind of power over us.

ISABEL: Yeah, I felt it too. Like I was drawn to her for some specific reason. Like I had to let her in.

LIZ: Isabel, you have to fight it.

MAX: You too, Michael.

MICHAEL: You just want to deny who we really are?

MAX: I want us to stay who we really are! Don't you?

ALEX: I'm the one least involved. The one she won't suspect. I'll get close to her.

ISABEL: No! Stay away from her, Alex. Besides, we don't even know if Nasedo is Tess anymore.

MAX: Could be anyone at anytime.

LIZ: We can only trust each other, now more than ever.

ALEX: We can't just sit around and wait for her to do something to one of us.

ISABEL: Max, Michael and I will find out all we can about her, ok? We won't give her the chance to surprise us. Please, Alex, I don't want anything bad to happen to you.

MARIA: Wait, what are you guys going to do?

MAX: We're going to keep following her. Hope she reveals more to us before she finds out we're on to her. We still got the camera in her house, remember?

(At Sheriff Valenti's office.)

MR. HARDING: But who? Who would plant this in my house?

SHERIFF: You say you're new in town?

MR. HARDING: That's right.

SHERIFF: House have any previous occupants?

MR. HARDING: Brand spanking new, Sheriff.

SHERIFF: You mind if I ask what line of work you're in Mr. Harding?

MR. HARDING: Government consultant, the boring stuff, facilities management, that kind of thing. No special clearances, no matters of national security, if that's what you're thinking.

SHERIFF: You ever have any contact with the FBI?

MR. HARDING: What? Oh, Lord no, Sheriff. I'm just a guy who's trying to do his job and get along in a new town, that's all. Nobody's been in that house but me, my daughter and the movers...oh, and a couple of her friends from school.

SHERIFF: I have heard some stories about unscrupulous moving companies in town. Staking out your place for future robberies, that sort of thing. I'll tell you what, leave your information with my deputy outside. I promise I'll get to the bottom of this.

MR. HARDING: Well, thank you, Sheriff. I feel safe in your hands.

(At the Administration office at school.)

ISABEL: Hi. I'm on the Sunshine Committee this year, and we were wondering if we could just get...

ADMINISTRATOR: The what?

ISABEL: The Sunshine Committee. You know, kinda like the Welcome Wagon for new students. Helps them get along and fit into a new place.

ADMINISTRATOR: I've been here eight years. I've never heard of a Sunshine Committee.

ISABEL: I know. Isn't that terrible? A few of us though it was time to start one up. You can never have too much sunshine, don't you think? Anyway, there's a new student that just started here, Tess Harding, she's our first project. And I though maybe I could get some information about her from you. You know, her class schedule, something from her last school...anything personal that might make her feel more at home.

ADMINISTRATOR: Well, I'll have to get permission from the Vice Principal.

ISABEL: Right. Ok.

(Isabel goes behind the desk, and pulls up Tess' record while the Administrator is away.)

(At the Crashdown.)

LIZ: So that's it. Science Lab third period, hallway between fourth and fifth, and P.E.

MAX: I think that's all.

LIZ: And there was no other contact? She didn't even look at you?

MAX: Nothing.

MARIA: She's playing hard to get. It's a classic move. She ignores you, thinking it's going to make you crazy and force you to go to her.

LIZ: Are you still drawn to her, Max?

MAX: No.

LIZ: Hm.

MARIA: Which only further necessitates the implementation of my plan.

MAX: Wait. What plan?

MARIA: Oh, Operation Never-Leave-Max-Alone-For-An-Instant. That way one of us is always around in case she works the voodoo on you again.

MAX: I don't need a babysitter.

MARIA: No, you're right. What you need is a bodyguard – at all times.

MICHAEL: I don't cook for myself, you know.

LIZ: You know, Max, Maria's right. We don't know what she'll do to you if she ever gets you alone.

MAX: I told you, you don't have to worry.

LIZ: I know. Max, I'm not saying any of this because I'm jealous. It's just that...she's an alien, Max.

MAX: So am I.

LIZ: Yeah but, what if she's...

MAX: The bad kind? One of the monsters people have been so afraid of since the crash?

LIZ: I can't help it. You know, no matter how much I get to know you, Tess, Nasedo, I...she scares me.

MAX: That's why we won't let her win. So go change, we'll go back to the garage and watch her on the monitor.

SHERIFF: Isn't that against the law, Mr. Evans? I wish you'd stop doing that...hiding things from me. ‘Cause you see, I always know more than you think I do. Ed Harding found that inside his house. Now I know you put it there, and I know it's special issue FBI equipment, so the question is: how'd you get your hands on it in the first place? You know what it tells me? That Pierce and the alien hunting unit of the FBI are here in Roswell in full force, and they're paying special attention to you. How am I doing? I need you people to remember something...all of you. The more I know, the safer you'll be.

MICHAEL: Don't even think about it Maxwell.

(At the Evan's residence.)

DIANE: Oh, look, (laughing). Wait, look at this one.

TESS: Oh that is so cute.

DIANE: Oh, gosh. Oh, Izzy. Hi, honey. Your new friend, Tess, stopped by, and I just got to chatting, and the next thing I know, I'm telling all kinds of stories about you and Max when you were little.

ISABEL: What kind of stories?

DIANE: Oh, um...the road trip to Florida...and the time Max brought home that snake. Do you remember that? Who could forget? Oh, and that silly clown show that the two of you used to put on for us.

ISABEL: Mom, that's like our whole lives.

TESS: You're so lucky to have such a wonderful family, Isabel. There's so many happy memories.

ISABEL: Yeah.

DIANE: Listen, I'm sorry I rambled. Really. I, uh, I don't know. I start looking at pictures and the memories flood over me and I can't stop talking. So, I got to get to the market. You two have a good time, ok?

ISABEL: Ok.

DIANE: And, um, Tess, welcome to Roswell.

TESS: Thank you Mrs. Evans.

DIANE: Oh, please, call me Diane, won't you? And know that you're welcome here anytime. Bye sweetheart.

ISABEL: Bye. So I didn't really see you I school today.

TESS: I know, I saw you at the Administration office but I didn't have time to...

ISABEL: God.

TESS: I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you nervous.

ISABEL: You don't. You don't make me nervous.

TESS: I just want to be completely honest with you, Isabel. I feel the closest to you. You know, like we share something special. And that's why I want you to know the truth. I just don't want you to hate me for it.

ISABEL: No, I...I couldn't

TESS: I have feelings for Max, Isabel. Strong feelings. I know Max loves Liz. That's what everyone tells me. But don't you ever get signals from someone Isabel?

ISABEL: Signals?

TESS: You know... moments when you connect with someone. And there's no mistaking what's going on. Like no matter who you may be with, or what you may think, that you and this other person are destined to be together.

ISABEL: No! No, never.

TESS: Well, that's the way I feel about Max, and those are the signals that I've been getting from him. Are you sure you've never felt that way about anyone? Pay more attention, Isabel. There are signs all around you.

(Isabel's bedroom.)

ISABEL: She really scared me, Max. It was like I lost a few seconds of time, and when it was over, I wasn't even sure if what I remembered had happened or not. Is that what she did to you?

MAX: Kind of. It was like she could make my mind go places I wasn't taking it.

ISABEL: How about your body? I mean, did you feel like something inside of you was changing...like waking up?

MAX: Something primal.

ISABEL: Instinctive.

MAX: Something not human.

(Michael opens the window.)

MAX: What's wrong?

MICHAEL: I don't know. You tell me.

ISABEL: I called him. I didn't think any of us should stay alone tonight.

(Isabel has a dream about her and Michael kissing in the desert where the symbols are on the ground. She and Michael both wake up gasping at the same time.)

MAX: Michael, what is it?

MICHAEL: Isabel.

MAX: Are you ok? What did you see?

ISABEL: It was only a dream.

MICHAEL: It was only a dream.

(Downstairs at the Evans residence. They are looking at Max's drawing of the cave symbols.)

MICHAEL: That's the one.

ISABEL: Definitely.

MAX: And you're sure you both had the same dream: the rock formation, the map on the ground, everything?

MICHAEL: Yeah.

MAX: Think! Was there anything else, anything unusual? I mean...what were you guys doing out in the middle of the desert?

ISABEL/MICHAEL: Nothing!

ISABEL: Nothing important. There was this one other thing...when Tess was here yesterday, when she told me to look for signs, she made that symbol out of sugar cubes.

MAX: So it means something. If we just knew how to read this!

ISABEL: Tell him, Michael.

MAX: Tell me what?

MICHAEL: I thought I figured it out once, but...

MAX: But what?

MICHAEL: I was wrong.

ISABEL: What if you weren't? Michael used the V constellation to navigate the symbols.

MAX: How did you know how to do that?

MICHAEL: I just knew. But it didn't work.

MAX: But what didn't work?

ISABEL: The night you were drunk, Michael and I went to the public library. That's where the symbol was supposed to lead. We though that if Nasedo left us a symbol at the cave, then we should send one back to him.

MAX: Why didn't you tell me about this, Michael?

MICHAEL: You mean why didn't I get your approval?

MAX: Do you realize what you did? That's why Nasedo is here. It's why he's pretending to be Tess. You led him right to us.

MICHAEL: Yeah, I thought that was the goal.

MAX: The goal is to stay in control. It always has been. Discovery on our terms...no one else's. I mean, this whole search you've been on, didn't you ever think it could lead to this?

MICHAEL: Lead to what? An answer to every question we ever had? Maybe Nasedo is here to make things better. Oh, I forgot, what could be better than your comfortable little life in Roswell, New Mexico. Why are you so scared to be alien?

MAX: Why are you so scared to be human?

ISABEL: That's enough, both of you. Do you ever stop to ask how I feel? God. No, you're too busy deciding who's right to notice that this is happening to me, too. Oh, God. Whatever Tess did when she was here yesterday, the sugar cubes, the...I think she made me have that dream.

MAX: Let's just try to be prepared. You never know when these dreams may come again.

(At school in the Science lab.)

LIZ: There it is, Aries.

MAX: Michael's been doing this all his life, you know. Always thinking he knows better than us, but always just getting us into more trouble.

LIZ: Families can be hard.

MAX: I don't even know if that's what we are. I mean, that's what we've pretended to be for so long, but what if Nasedo tells us something different. Does Michael even think about these things?

LIZ: You are who you choose to be. Just like...just like you're with who you choose to be with.

MAX: I really want to believe that.

LIZ: Let's go look it up. Let's see...Aries, it's the first sign of the Zodiac, the key astronomical element in many ancient traditions involving, spring, the equinox, pagan ceremonies, and even Indian fertility rituals. But it's not quite the same V shape you described.

MAX: Try creating a constellation pattern for today's date.

LIZ: Oh. What was it like...um, you know, kissing her?

MAX: It was upsetting. It made me feel things about myself I didn't like. Like there was this whole side of me I never even knew about.

LIZ: The alien side.

MAX: Maybe.

LIZ: Oh, wow, it's Venus. When it's in the right place in the sky, it completes the V shape. It started moving into this formation after the last full moon.

MAX: About the time that Tess showed up.

LIZ: Oh my God, what is she doing with Kyle?

MAX: Whatever it is, it can't be good.

(In a hallway at school.)

MICHAEL: Hey.

MARIA: Hey right back at you.

MICHAEL: I've been thinking.

MARIA: Oh, great this usually involves me having to get my car towed.

MICHAEL: What? I'm talking about us.

MARIA: Us?

MICHAEL: Yeah, our relationship.

MARIA: Wait, I've never heard you use that word in a sentence before.

MICHAEL: Can we get serious here?

MARIA: Whoa, are you ok?

MICHAEL: I just...I didn't sleep much last night.

MARIA: Because you were thinking about our relationship?

MICHAEL: Yeah.

(In the janitor's closet.)

ALEX: Whoa, hey what is the emergency?

ISABEL: Alex, I've been thinking.

ALEX: Oh, this can't be good.

ISABEL: You know how I said I wanted to take things slow?

ALEX: The word glacial comes to mind.

ISABEL: Maybe it's time to melt the ice.

ALEX: Whoa, wh... what?

ISABEL: I'm ready. For a relationship, and I want it to be with you...not with anyone else I know.

ALEX: Well...there's someone else?

ISABEL: No! No, absolutely not. Only you.

ALEX: Oh, well...you know...

(In a hallway at school.)

MICHAEL: I think that we should only see each other.

MARIA: Wait. As opposed to all the other relationships we're having with people?

MICHAEL: What do you mean by that?

MARIA: No...I mean that we already are only seeing each other. Right?

MICHAEL: Yeah.

MARIA: Right.

MICHAEL: So?

MARIA: I mean, unless you've got someone on the side.

MICHAEL: No!

MARIA: Ok.

MICHAEL: No. So. Well, then if we're already doing it, let's make it official.

MARIA: Official. Like going steady, or something?

MICHAEL: Going steady.

MARIA: Ok.

MICHAEL: I just don't want anyone to ever come between us.

MARIA: Ok. You should have more of these tortured sleepless nights.

MICHAEL: Let's not talk about last night anymore.

(In the janitor's closet.)

ALEX: This is like...whoa, this is monumental. You know. I mean we...we've got to go about this the right way. You know, romance. Um, how, uh, how about tonight?

ISABEL: How about right now?

ALEX: Ok.

(They kiss. In the hallway, Maria and Michael are also kissing, and drawing a crowd.)

MARIA: Michael.

MICHAEL: Let's go in here.

MARIA: Ok.

(They open the door to the janitor's closet where Alex and Isabel spring apart.)

ISABEL: Alex and I are together now.

MICHAEL: Maria and I are going steady.

ISABEL: Great.

MICHAEL: Great.

MARIA: Must be something in the water.

(At the Evans residence.)

ISABEL: Thanks for bringing me home. I'm sorry you didn't get to finish eating your food.

ALEX: Oh, that's ok. I can have a Galaxy Melt at anytime. I know the cook, remember? Besides, that's what boyfriends are for.

ISABEL: I'm just so tired.

ALEX: Well, you said you didn't sleep well last night...maybe you're the one who's hungry.

ISABEL: Oh, I couldn't eat right now if you paid me. I just...I just need to lay down. You know, just take a little nap.

ALEX: You're beautiful, you know that? Sweet dreams.

(Isabel has another dream of her and Michael kissing. She also sees an unborn child.)

(At Michael's apartment. He's trying to map the location of the four squared symbol.)

MICHAEL: Where the hell are you?

(Tess shows up outside his window, and draws the four squared symbol on the glass.)

MICHAEL: What does that mean? Where is it?

TESS: You already know. You've been there before.

(Michael has a vision of himself as a child running past a sign for Puhlman Ranch.)

(At the Crashdown.)

MARIA: Come on, come on, come on. What else?

LIZ: Um... She has a 3.0 average from one school. 3.2 from...and...what, she has a 3.4!

MARIA: Ok, enough with the grade crap...any unusual evaluations? Like psyche stuff?

LIZ: My God, yeah, here it is: she's really a shape-shifting alien also known as Nasedo.

MAX: You won't find anything wrong in that file. Tess Harding is the perfect teenaged girl. Nasedo covers his tracks.

(Kyle enters the Crashdown.)

LIZ: Oh, he came. Look, I've got to go talk to him about Tess.

MAX: He won't listen to you.

LIZ: You know, he might. He trusted me once.

MARIA: Did you listen to him when he warned you about Max?

LIZ: I can't let him just get sucked into this without trying. Uh, thanks for coming. Can we talk?

KYLE: About what?

LIZ: Well, I saw you with that new girl, Tess.

KYLE: Oh, man! What a knockout, huh? Can't beat a blonde. Oh, sorry.

LIZ: No, she is...she is really nice. What were you guys talking about?

KYLE: Why are you so interested?

LIZ: Well, it's just that I've heard some things about her.

KYLE: Oh yeah, what things?

LIZ: Just, you know... the way she treats guys. She like leads them on, and then she just drops them cold.

KYLE: Yeah... I guess it takes one to know one.

LIZ: Well, just be careful with her. You know, if I were you, I would just stop seeing her altogether.

KYLE: What, is this like a jealousy thing?

LIZ: No.

KYLE: Ok, so it's just an everybody-deserves-to-be-happy-but-Kyle thing.

LIZ: No. No, Kyle. It's not. Please trust me, ok? I know it sounds strange, but I promise you it's for your own good.

KYLE: So it would really bother you if I just spent a little more time with Tess? Say like we happen to have a study date later tonight, or something?

LIZ: Kyle, there's things about her that you don't even know.

KYLE: Well, I like what I've seen so far.

LIZ: Just don't be alone with her, ok? She could be using you.

KYLE: That's exactly what I had in mind, but just in case you're right, what about the library? Hmm? Think I'll be safe there?

LIZ: The public library?

(At the public library.)

LIZ: Do you really think she's using Kyle as bait, I mean, just to get us to follow her here?

MAX: It's the only thing that makes sense. Look, if this is a trap, I want you to get Kyle and get out of here.

LIZ: But Max, that's why I'm here. If Tess tries any mind games, I'll be here to snap you out of it.

MAX: It's them.

LIZ: Why Kyle?

MAX: To make sure we'd notice.

LIZ: Why doesn't Nasedo come up to you all this time?

MAX: Why doesn't the Sheriff just come and pick us up? Or the FBI? No one's sure enough about us. Not even Nasedo. The risk of exposure's too great.

LIZ: Ok, you go left, I'll go right.

MAX: Wait, Liz.

LIZ: You're the one she's after, remember?

KYLE: So...ancient languages... what does this have to do with our English assignment?

TESS: Absolutely nothing.

KYLE: I was hoping you'd say that.

TESS: There's just this one book I need for my history class.

KYLE: Well, what do you say we start speaking the most ancient language known to man?

TESS: I think it's on the top shelf. Would you mind helping me up? I've almost got it.

KYLE: So, what language is this?

TESS: It's a lost language.

KYLE: Then no one will mind if we don't find it.

TESS: Time to go.

KYLE: But we just got here.

LIZ: What is it, Max?

MAX: Something about us. She wanted me to see it. That's why she brought us here.

(In Max's bedroom.)

MICHAEL: Puhlman Ranch.

MAX: What?

MICHAEL: The four squared symbol on the map, that's where it is.

MAX: I've never even heard of it.

MICHAEL: That's because the government took it over in 1947. Three guesses why.

MAX: Close to the crash site?

MICHAEL: It was the crash site, Maxwell. But it's not on any maps any more. It's like they erased any trace of it. But I can find it. The cave painting will lead us right to it.

MAX: And you just figured this out all by yourself

MICHAEL: Yeah.

MAX: Michael, if Nasedo is doing anything to you, you can't trust it.

MICHAEL: Hey, I remembered it, ok? I had a flash. You're not the only the only on who gets them. So, what happened at the library?

MAX: Nothing.

MICHAEL: What she just took Kyle there for no reason?

MAX: I said nothing happened. We'll talk to Isabel in the morning. You better spend the night here again.

(Isabel is having another dream; this time she and Michael are happy parents. She wakes up.)

ISABEL: You've seen them too, haven't you?

MICHAEL: The dreams.

ISABEL: The rock formation...the symbol.

MICHAEL: The two of us.

ISABEL: The baby. I think it's all true, Michael. I think I'm pregnant with your child. How can this be?

MICHAEL: Something weird like this had to happen sooner than later. No matter what Max wants to think, we're not human, Isabel.

ISABEL: Oh my God, Michael, what are we going to do?

(In Max's room. He is dreaming of Tess and the symbols.)

TESS: It's time. You understand, don't you?

MAX: Tell me. Tell me what I'm feeling.

TESS: I'll show you everything, and you'll remember.

(They drive off into the desert.)

MAX: This is it. This is what Michael saw in his hallucination.

TESS: We've all seen it. We've all been here before.

MAX: What do you mean, “we”?

TESS: Hold me, Max. You'll remember.

MAX: I remember you're a killer... starting from 1959.

TESS: What?

MAX: William Atherton. The one who wrote the alien book? It was about you, wasn't it? He was your friend, but he threatened to expose you, so you killed him, right?

TESS: What are you talking about?

MAX: Then who was next? Everett Hubble's wife? An innocent woman died just because she got in your way.

TESS: I've never killed anyone.

MAX: What about the other hand print pictures Valenti told us about? And how many other victims will there be after tonight? Alex? Maria? Liz!?

TESS: Nobody has to get hurt, Max.

MAX: Sure, until you get what you want.

TESS: It's not just what I want, it's what's meant to be. It's all in here, Max. Our destiny.

MAX: No! I am not like you. I live in this world. It's all I know! And I will not be a part of anything as evil as you.

TESS: Is that what you think I am?

MAX: Show me who you really are. Don't hide behind this face.

TESS: I'm not hiding, Max.

MAX: I said, show me! Shape-shift! Show me what you really look like...what I really look like.

TESS: God, Max, that's not who I am. That's not who I am. Think Max. You've seen my face before. You know who I am.

(Max has a vision of himself coming out of the pod. Isabel and Michael were already out. There was a fourth pod with a girl with blond curls. They left her there.)

TESS: You know who I am now, don't you. You understand our destiny.

MICHAEL: Hey. What the hell did you do to him? To all of us?

MAX: Michael, stop it. She's not Nasedo.

ISABEL: Then who is she, Max?

MAX: She's one of us.