She shivered and turned the vents away from her. She was sure he was trying to freeze her to death. It didn't matter how cool it was outside it was just as cold if not colder inside. It was true of their apartment as well as their car.

She looked at the man that she had called husband for all these years and in a familiar gesture, pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes.

He turned and quickly scowled at her for distracting him. She smiled back at him softly from where her head rested on the back of the seat and his face spread into a rueful grin. "Nervous?" He asked, taking her closest hand into his.

The woman thought for a minute and nodded. "Extremely." He kissed her hand gently but let it go so that he could concentrate on the road.

She tied her long dyed brown hair up in a knot on the back of her neck, flipped the air conditioning switch to the off position and rolled the car window down. This gained her a frown from the man beside her but she simply stuck her tongue out at him and inhaled the fresh air. It had gotten considerably warmer since they had left their home in New York several days ago. The air was thick and almost palpable but at least it held less smog.

Her arm moved up and down as she let it drift on the air currents. Noticing a road sign that was coming up, she gasped. New Mexico was only another hundred miles away. After five years, the woman the world knew as Beth was going home.

***

Greg looked at his wife out of the corner of his eye. She looked more like the sweet girl he used to know when she did things like that. Her eyes closed, she let both of her arms hang out the window and he pushed the power locks on so that it would lock all of the doors. Wouldn't want her to fall out. They had succeeded in staying alive so far. It would be rather careless of them to let something happen now.

He couldn't believe that they were going home. It was almost unreal. He knew that there was no way they could pick up where they left off with their friends and family. Too much had happened. Too much had changed. They had changed.

Beth had been crying a lot lately. He wasn't sure why but it had started two weeks before, when they had been told that they could leave. It was the one thing that she had kept from him in the last five years. Every time he would find her slumped over in a chair or curled up on their bed crying he had pulled her into his arms and begged her to tell him why she was upset. She would simply shake her head and try her best to smile for him as she always had.

In the distance he saw the sign for New Mexico. He smiled sadly as he recalled all of the "Welcome to" signs that they had seen. He would always grab her hand and try to make light of the situation by chatting about how great life must be in whatever horrid little hole in the wall they ended up in. "Well Beth, lets see what Dufur, Oregon has to offer." Dufur had been icing on the cake after Elk River, Idaho. Ten different homes in half the years.

At her gasp, he realized that she had noticed the sign and bit his lip. They would be there in a few more hours. For five years they had been denied the lives they should have had. The FBI had made sure that all choices had been taken from them as if they were the criminals.

That night, the night that brought them to this point, still haunted his thoughts and invaded his dreams. The wounds that had been opened stayed fresh as he relived it every time he closed his eyes. He knew that she hadn't had a decent nights sleep since they had been together. This was due to her own nightmares as well as his. More than not, he would wake up to find her arms around him and his head on her chest - her night shirt soaked with his sweat and tears.

Greg looked at his wife and chuckled. She was sound asleep, her mouth slightly open and her head tilted all the way back on the head rest. She had begun to breath deeply and he counted backwards from ten. As soon as he hit one she began to snore lightly.

"Predictable." He whispered and rolled his dark brown eyes. It wasn't a negative observation. In fact, she had been the only constant in his life for five years. He had come to rely on her for strength and support and had opened himself up to her more than he ever had let himself with any other person in his life.

He wasn't sure what would happen when they got back to Roswell but he knew that they would finally be moving forward and past the constant holding pattern they had been since they had been forced to leave. Yet, not for the first time on this trip, he let himself admit that it actually bothered him to think that when they did move on with their lives it wouldn't be together.

~*~*~*~

She hummed quietly to herself as she cleaned the tables off. She knew that everyone was watching her. She could feel their eyes on her. Her friends had witnessed the argument of the century and knew that she had been on the verge of tears all night.

Frowning, she picked up the damp cloth and moved to the next table. This last fight with Michael had been really bad and very public since the scene had unfolded in the back room of the Crashdown. He had been so distant lately. It only added to the fire when she had told him that she had been accepted to an east coast school. He had yelled at her, spouting off about how pointless it was to move and that the group should all stay close to home. Then he proceeded to stomp out the back door, leaving the new guy to deal with a double shift.

Lost in her thoughts, Maria turned to the last table and realized that everyone had gone. Only Liz was there in one of the booths by the kitchen, finishing up the payroll for the week. She was drifting off to sleep and her head kept slipping from where it was propped on her head. "Why don't you finish that up tomorrow?" Maria suggested.

Liz smiled up at her and nodded sleepily. "Good idea." She gathered the books and put them away as Maria went to change. "Will you lock up?" Liz asked as she started for the stairs that lead to her room.

Maria nodded distractedly.

"Don't forget." Liz smiled softly, touching her friend's shoulder.

"I won't Liz. So...planned a late night rendevous with Max for tonight?"

"Maria." She started, hoping to squelch the questioning.

"What? I don't get details anymore?"

"Goodnight Maria!" She called from the top landing.

Maria smiled sadly, wondering if maybe she should go and talk to Michael. He had plenty of time to cool off and she had to do it sooner or later.

As she went to lock the front door she realized that she had forgotten her car keys in her locker. After checking to make sure the front doors where locked and putting the key back in the cash register she dug through her locker for her keys and trudged to the back door.

She opened the door slowly. It was a cautious movement that she performed out of necessity. Usually Michael would walk her out and she knew that she would have to be extra careful since she was alone. She knew that something was wrong as she heard a scuffle in the alley across from where she was standing. The hair on her arms stood on end and her eyes went wide.

He had a gun. It was the only coherent thought that surfaced in her panic-stricken mind before a loud shot rang out in the night.

She pulled back into the shadows of the doorway as she saw him turn. His face set in an sinister grimace, Deputy Hanson walked away and Maria bit back a scream. Suddenly a hand shot out from beside her to make sure the sound wouldn't escape. Searching in the dark for the owner of the hand, she saw his eyes and she went slack with relief as she recognized him.

When they were sure the deputy had gone, the hand was taken away from her mouth. "NO!" She cried, running and collapsing on the ground beside the body. "No." She whispered. The hand that had been over her mouth now worked to check the man's pulse. Quickly he pulled away and stood, pulling her up and into his arms. He turned her face into his shoulder so that she wouldn't look at the sight in front of them as his own eyes went wide with shock. He finally remembered to breathe when he heard the sound of the sirens coming for the man that was beyond help.

Jim Valenti was dead.

~*~*~*~

He had been waiting for her. The fight with Michael had not gone unnoticed by anyone and he knew she would need a friend. He might not be the ideal candidate but Maria had always relied on her friends to see her through these things. With Alex gone...maybe she could use him as an extra shoulder.

On the off chance that Liz would be on the roof and might see him, he had stayed in the shadows. That's when he had heard it.

"Sheriff I don't think it would be in anyone's best interest for you to go and do something like turn me in."

"I don't give a shit what you think Hanson. Or is that even your real name?"

"Well you shouldn't be around much longer so I don't see the harm in telling you. My name is Hanson. Rick Hanson of the Boston Hansons. You know. A little Mafia blood goes a long way."

"Wait...Rick Hanson? I've heard of you. You ordered the deaths of that family. You had them tortured and murdered just because they turned your cousin in."

"No. Correction. They tried to turn him in. Just like you are trying to turn me in. You see how they ended up. Your son still lives at home right?"

"You leave my son the hell alone you bastard!" Valenti tried to kick to Hanson's stomach but the younger man grabbed his foot and pushed forward causing the sherif to fall backwards.

The door beside him squeaked open slowly, but luckily the men on the ground were too involved in the fight to notice. His eyes had adjusted to the dark enough so that he could see Maria as she looked on the unfolding scene with a startled expression.

A gun went off and he jumped in surprise, watching as Hanson stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothing. The look on the deputy's face made him sick. He looked like the cat that ate the canary. Too pleased with himself to notice the two figures in the doorway, the man turned to go.

~*~*~*~

Gasping for air, Beth's body jerked with her own nightmare and jarred Greg from his.

"Shit." Greg swore as he veered onto the shoulder of the road. As soon as he put the car into park, he threw his seatbelt off and turned to her, shaking her shoulders gently. When she still didn't awaken he shook her harder, knowing exactly where she was trapped and desperate to keep her from seeing it again. "Wake up!" he ordered of her.

Obediently, she opened her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Sorry." She said, not turning to meet his gaze.

Opening the door, he jumped out and surveyed the long stretch of highway that lay before them as well as the desert landscape that surrounded them. Beth followed, needing to get out of the confines of the car.

She jumped on the hood and Greg went to stand in between her legs. Putting his forehead to her cheek, his arms went around her waist and she threw her's around his neck. They sighed and reveled in the casual contact.

"At least the real nightmare is over." She tried to inject a bit of humor into her voice but it came out awkward and flat.

"Yeah. I mean...living with you for five years. I'm gonna need therapy." She laughed at him and slapped the back of his head lightly.

"Bastard."

"Bitch."

"Dick."

"Cu-,"

"Hey!" She pinched his arm. "You know how I feel about that word!" She said, chastising him.

"Geez Beth. Give a guy a break!"

Beth smiled and shook her head. "Do you think that we might need to go back to our real names?" She felt him shrug. "Well we can't be Beth and Greg Simon for the rest of our lives."

Her eyes narrowed as she felt his body go tense and he mumbled something incoherently against her shoulder.

"What?" She asked pushing him back so that she could look into his eyes. He shook his head but she pressed him as she always had. "No tell me."

"I asked...if it would really be that bad?"

"Staying Beth and Greg?" He nodded and she looked at him as if he were insane. "You want to go back to that little shit hole apartment in Manhattan and fight the ever-growing rat problem with the rest of the building?"

"No! That's not what I mean."

She went on as if he hadn't said a word. "Want to move from place to place and meaningless jobs to even more meaningless jobs at the drop of a hat? Because I certainly don't feel any rush to go back to that life!"

"Yes! I mean no! I...I mean...I would do it again. I would go back."

"What? Why?"

"Because...MARIA..." Before the words could slip from his mouth he backed away from her and turned, refusing to meet her eyes. "It would mean that I was with you."

Without waiting for a response, he moved to the other side of the car. "Wait!" She called out, not wanted the conversation to end there. He jerked the car door open but his head snapped up at her outburst. "Kyle Valenti get your ass over here!"

Shocked by the use of his name, he walked back to her like a zombie being controlled by his master. "Look at me." His eyes traveled up her body to her face. When he finally looked into the dark hazel eyes in front of him he was met with a rush of emotions. "It has to end Kyle. The have taken our identity away for too long."

Kyle's eyes flooded with unshed tears but he shook his head. "That's bullshit Maria. And you know it! The took our names. The took five years of our lives just to get a testimony. But they never took our identity!" Quickly, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

***

As his tongue slipped softly into her mouth she realized how much they always seemed to flow together. He had been her friend when she needed friendship, a lover when she needed love, and a protector out of need.

"Maria..." He sighed, his hot breath searing her cheek. "Every time we touched. Every time we made love. We have always been Kyle and Maria."

He pressed his cheek to her's and their tears began to mingle together. "Maria I want us to move on with our lives. I want you to be happy. Just don't think that because we are no longer in witness relocation and I'm going to change my name from Greg Simon back to Kyle Valenti that everything I felt as Greg isn't still here." He pulled back to look at her and placed his hand on his chest.

Maria just looked off in the distance and tried to pull herself back together. This was supposed to be a happy day and here she was ready to cry her eyes out.

Finally she heard him get back in the car and she followed his lead. Twenty minutes later the scenery began looking familiar and Maria looked at Kyle as they shared a smile. It finally hit her. They were going home!

As they passed the billboard where a little green alien held a sign saying "Welcome to Roswell" Maria grabbed Kyle's hand. He looked up at her startled by the contact and his eyes searched her's. Kyle kissed her hand as he looked past the hesitation and recognized the offering. Something of a ‘we'll see what happens'. That was good enough from him.

"Well Kyle." She began. "Lets see what Roswell, New Mexico has to offer."