Fateful Moments (CC ALL,ADULT) Part 55 COMPLETE Dec 13 2008

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 1
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Rating: TEEN up to and including part 10, then intermittently ADULT and MATURE.
Category: CC M/L, M/M, A/I
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'
Dedication: For Lealea, Kat, and Borders. )

Shipper warning: Rest assured that a happy ending for our favorite dream couple will be in the offing before the end of the fic. Stargazers and Candypeople have no reason to fear here. )



(Isabel):

I didn't look up when the bell attached to the front door of the Crashdown cafe rang out. I didn't pay attention to the footsteps crossing the dining room to my table. To be honest, I only barely twigged when he said my name.

"Huh?" As I looked up, my eyes slowly coaxed each other into focus. "Alex??" A second's pause to make sure it was him. "Alex! How did your studying go?"

"Let's not bother with the lame excuse, Isabel," Alex said, dropping casually to the chair opposite mine. "I think we both know I wasn't studying for any big Robert Frost test tonight."

"Then..." I glanced away to check the clock. Twenty-five after eleven in the evening. Somehow it all fell into place.

"You wanted to see if I'd wait here all night, just on the off chance that you'd come by?" Alex nodded slowly. "Well, I'm here, aren't I??" I couldn't possibly have admitted that I *had* lost hope that he'd show up, but had been too tired by then to move, could I? Besides, that wasn't entirely the point.

"Yeah, you're here," Alex agreed with a smile. "And so am I, now." He reached out and took my hand into his, and somehow that simple touch took my breath away more than any kiss in my life.

"You know that I'm crazy about you, I know," Alex said, looking deep into my eyes. "And you know that it's burned me. If you want to start something up again, I have to know that it isn't going to be like before."

Oh, no. Somehow I knew that I was not really in the right state of mind to be making a solid commitment. But it would totally ruin the moment, and maybe more, to admit that to Alex. Plus... well, hadn't I worked this out to myself already?? 'Being of sound mind and body...' as the saying went, I had decided to pursue things with Alex, and I was *not* the kind of girl to make a decision like that lightly. So... yes, I would trust my own judgement now, while I was *not* of definitely sound mind. "I know, Alex. I know that you've been there for me ever since you've come into my life, and I want to be there for you. I want to always be there for you." Oh, god, I was repeating song lyrics now. Time to shut up, Isabel.

Alex seemed to have come to the same decision. He scooched over from the chair to sit on the long bench beside me, wrapping one arm around my shoulders and brushing a locks of hair out of my face with the other.

'Kiss me,' I mouthed silently to him. I felt like I was always making the first move and kissing Alex. This time, I wanted to be the kiss-ee.

He did.

It's funny how the things that end up changing the course of your life happen to you when you're not expecting them. Well, you'll see what I mean.

-------

(Tess):

Mrs. Evans smiled politely and turned away to call up the stairs: "Max! Tess is here to see you." Max appeared quickly enough, smiled when he saw me, and soon enough, the two of us were sitting alone in the Evans family den.

Before I could begin, Max blurted out what had obviously once been a carefully prepared speech. "Tess, I don't think we should jump into anything. Yeah, I know the 'moment' we had at the prom was intense, and I do have feelings for you, but it was really such a long time ago that I fell in love with you, and so much has changed and everything's complicated now. So, to sum up, I think we should take a break before..."

"That's nice to know," I broke in, "but I didn't come here tonight to talk about us. Well, not 'you-and-me' us, at any rate. I..." I didn't have strength to form the words any more, so I just tossed the computer printouts over to Max without a word of explanation.

He picked them up and browsed through each sheet slowly. "Tess, what's all this about??" he asked once he had gone through the full cycle.

"It's an article I printed out off the Web," I explained slowly. "About these 'Quantum' computers they have down at the University of New Mexico in Las Cruces and how they've been using them to break codes and decipher unknown languages."

"Yeah, I got that much," Max clarified with a shake of his head. "What I'm missing is the reason you're showing them to me."

Is Max really that dense or is he just playing dumb?? I let his statement hang in the air for long seconds, trying to figure out which. "I thought it would be obvious," I finally said. "We have a book written in an unknown language, or at least a language that no-one we can trust seems to understand. A book that hopefully holds the answers to a lot of our questions, if we could decipher it."

Max nodded slowly. "Are you proposing that we go up to Las Cruces and ask the computer scientists if they want to translate our alien book?"

I shook my head at him. "No, mister Devil's advocate, of course not! I'm proposing that we find a way to use those computers and translate it ourselves!!"

There it was. Max nodded. "Okay. Well, leaving to one side the practical issues involved in faking our way into a research project at a major state University... there's the question of how to actually use these machines. I mean, I know my way around windows, but I'm pretty sure that a quantum cryptography computer is way over my head. Yours too."

"I know," I conceded. "But I'm not sure it's over the head of some of your friends..."

-------

(Alex):

"One of the earliest uses to which electronic calculating machines were put to was code-breaking, and for more than fifty years they've been kept on the job," I read aloud quietly, letting the words sink in. "But Doctor Jonas Pryor and his team at UNM (Las Cruces) are taking this old idea to a new level. Using a totally new kind of computer processor, thirty of the most talented computer scientists in the southwest, and some revolutionary new theories about how to quantify the idea of 'language' so computers can understand it, Doctor Pryor's project is progressing towards developing a cryptograph program capable of translating a foreign language without a dictionary for it - long the holy grail of computercrypters." I shook my head silently at that last non-word.

"'There's nothing magical about the basic idea,' as Pryor explains. 'A language, fundamentally, is a mapping from a common set of core ideas into patterns of letters - words. Of course there are uncounted trillions of possible 'languages,' but once you actually have a sample of text in a particular language, you don't need to go very long until there is only one possible mapping, or a few closely related ones, that remain consistent with that sample. Of course, the number of calculations you have to make to isolate that language are truly mindboggling, but that's what the quantum processors are there for.'"

"So..." Tess Harding said, staring right at me. "Can you do it?"

"Can I do *what*, exactly??" I countered. "I can follow the code listings that were included with this article. But they were obviously chosen and simpified to be read by average... college students. Whether I could actually use these quantum computers... well, there's really no way to know ahead of time. Speaking of which... do you have any ideas as far as actually getting *into* this project?"

"We're working on that," Max said, sharing a glance with Isabel and Tess. "If we figure out a way, will you go in??"

I looked over at Isabel myself. "Are you sure you really *want* to know what this book says about you??" I know it didn't work this way really, but subconsciously I tend to blame the damn 'Book' for the Michael/Isabel stuff last spring and Isabel's pregnancy scare.

She reacted to the question like she'd been burned, for an instant, which surprised me. What was Isabel scared of finding out? But after letting that reaction pass, she nodded seriously. "We *have* to understand where we came from. You can understand that, can't you??"

I looked over at Max, and he nodded in agreement. "Then I'll do everything I can, of course."

"Any idea what it would TAKE to become a part of a research project like that?" Isabel asked in an aside.

"I dunno," I admitted. "Aside from stumbling upon a key formula or equation that they need... and what are the chances of that??"

"Well, you never know," Max said with a soft laugh. "Can you find out more about what they're doing from here in Roswell? Maybe something that they might need??"

I wasn't sure I wanted to know what Max was planning. "I should be able to."

Tess smiled at me. "Thanks again for all of this, Alex."

Then someone came close to our table, and the subject of conversation beat a hasty retreat to the lunch menu.

-------

(Maria):

So... I was sitting in the dining room after school, working on some stupid geography term paper, when the doorbell rang. As I got up to answer the door, I wondered who it could be. Michael was on shift at the Crash right now... and that pretty much finished the list of usual suspects, not that Spaceboy is especially big on ringing doorbells.

I wasn't quite prepared to see Jim Valenti out there when I peeked out of the little window set into the front door. As I opened up said door, he did a double-take and put something small and dark back into his jacket pocket.

"Oh... hey Maria! Is yer mom around?"

"No, Mister Valenti," I said, shaking my head for emphasis. "She's down in Hondo all day, meeting with a prospective client. Should I leave her a note on the bulletin board that you dropped by?"

"Yes, th..." Valenti caught himself in mid-phrase. "Actually, Miss DeLuca, I'd consider myself much obliged if you did no such thing." He must have been able to tell how surprised I was. "You know, keep this just between you and me for now." And with a tip of the hat he wasn't wearing today, he headed off back down our front stairs.

"Okay, that was weird," I muttered as I closed the door and headed back into the living room. My geography stuff was still strewn across the dining room table, but I couldn't focus on that right now. Valenti comes by, not knowing that Mom is out of town, and doesn't want me to tell her he was here. Well, *why* didn't he know she would be gone. This trip wasn't a secret or anything... Mom was excited about maybe getting some more business. So... had he intentionally not said anything about today? That kinda fit in with the rest of the secret-ey stuff.

Then there was that mysterious thing Valenti had tried to hide when I opened the door. Looked like a tiny black box. And there was a third... or was it fourth? ... thing that was bugging me about Valenti's visit.

Then that last clue hit me, and with it the answer to this minor mystery: Valenti had been *flexing one knee* before I opened the door!!

I took off like a shot, geography homework forgotten. I have no memories of locking the front door behind me, though I later found out that I had -- guess that just to show you how things become second nature. Anyway, aside from some blurry imagery of dashing down the streets of Roswell in a mad panic, the next thing I recall is bursting through the kitchen door of the cafe and puffing over to the grill, where Michael had stopped flipping galaxy melts and was staring at me like I was a crazy lady.

Well, by this point I was *way* too worked up to worry about playing into type. After checking to make sure that no-one else was around, I burst out with "Mister Valenti is about to ask my mom to marry him!!"

Spaceboy paused and let that news sink in for a moment. "So??" was his first response. "I mean, you like Jim, right?? Heck, *I* like Jim... and considering he was the sheriff up until two months ago and was at one point crusading to expose me as an alien... goes to show you that he's an okay guy."

"Yeah, I know that he's an okay guy!" I replied, trying desperately to keep my voice below shriek level. "But that isn't enough when we're talking about *marriage* here!"

"It isn't?"

"God, no! They aren't serious enough to be thinking of marriage. I mean... yeah, they've been on and off for a little more than a year, but that's exactly my point! They've never acted like it was anything more than a casual thing. And I think it's a little more than co-incidence that James Valenti junior, career lawman, has lost his job when he suddenly comes to the decision to remarry. It's like he's on the rebound from his career, and everybody knows you should NEVER jump into big commitments on the rebound. Lastly... well, this is a little selfish, but my mom's just getting by, and the way Kyle tells it, the Valenti family is sinking fast." I sighed. "It's horrible to say it, I know, but I don't want to get dragged down with him."

Michael was smiling and shaking his head. "What??" I barked at him.

"Well... I hate to say it, but don't you think you might be over-reacting, just a bit??"

"No!! I mean... well, think how everybody would react if they found out that WE were getting married!! That's really what it would be like."

"But they're not 'getting married' yet," Michael said. Wait a second - since when does Michael get to be the voice of reason?? "You say that you think Valenti is going to ask, but your mom hasn't said yes. She's a pretty together lady, deep down. If there are that many reasons that it's a bad idea, she'll..." And then he trailed off.

"Yeah, she'll *what*, exactly?" I cracked back, and sighed. "Tell him no, puncture his ego and drive him away forever??"

"Well... she might be able to find some way to squelch it short of that," Michael mumbled feebly.

"Plus..." I sighed. "Amy DeLuca might be a 'pretty together lady'... I'd like to think so. But she's starting to creep up on the big four oh... a single mother with a wild and crazy teenage daughter..." make a silly face, "and she's been lonely for a long time, I know. There's a lot of reasons she might jump at Valenti's offer that don't necessarily make it a good idea."

"Oh, damnit, wait a second..." Michael flipped over a burger and looked at it critically. "Orders up!!" He slapped two patties that had a little too much black on them by *my* standards into buns and took it over to the dining room window. "Agnes, orders up!!" He shook his head, took an order slip from the window, and started putting some unsuspecting crashdown customer's food on to cook. "What makes you think that a popping of the question is imminent anyway?"

I opened his mouth to explain, then stopped short. "You'd better not make fun of me for this, Guerin."

"I make no guarantees."

"He was flexing his right knee before I opened the door, he put what looked like a jewelry box in his jacket when he saw it was me, and he didn't want me to tell my mom that he had stopped by." I could see a broad smile fighting to get to Michael's face. "Fine, don't believe me. In fact, I'll bet you... that we find out he WAS going to ask my mom to marry him if she was at the house today."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you!!" Michael quickly disclaimed.

"Then why were you almost laughing??"

He stepped in close to me and leaned down to kiss me on the forehead. "Because you're so cute when you play the little detective, DeLuca."

Nothing had prepared me for that. "Oh."

"So... maybe you should give Kyle a heads-up on your little theory," Michael went on. "See if he can find any corroborating evidence. Plus, if you're right... I'm sure he's gonna need all the advance warning he can get about becoming your step-brother."

I laughed a little at the notion. "Maybe later." I hopped up onto an empty table. "For now, I think I like it right here. So, did you hear about Alex and Isabel??"

"Oh, my god. She couldn't shut up about it today at school..."

-------

(Liz):

I leaned against the railing a little, breathed in the fresh air of a cool snap by Roswell April standards, and watched the little people and cars bustling around the street.

I'd come up here to try and get some 'perspective' on my problems, as corny as that sounds. For the last few days since the dance, I'd been able to avoid thinking about Max and Tess kissing by throwing myself into coaching Alex with his Isabel problems. But he wasn't having 'problems' per se any more, which left me right back where I had been. Plus... the two of them had been inseperable all day whenever I'd seen them, talking, whispering, giggling occasionally. Max and Tess Harding. Obviously I had pushed him into her arms for the last time.

But that was the point, wasn't it?? That was exactly what Future Max had strong-armed me into doing, using every trick of emotional blackmail he could think of. To get me to reject Max soundly enough to nudge him into Tess' orbit. He had understood more about what made me tick than I do myself, yet... from fifteen years' of experience living with me in the future, and he used that advantage without the tiniest scrap of mercy. I hated what he made me do, but there was no question of saying no. The bastard pushed my buttons a little too well...

"Hey!" I jumped a little, recognizing the voice, but couldn't bring myself to look away from the street far below. "Is this a private mope, or can anyone join??"

I finally broke away. "Sean! What on earth are you doing here??"

"I know you a little too well, Parker," Sean DeLuca replied, reaching out to rub my shoulder briefly in a familiar gesture. "I remember way back when you and Maria were just little brats, how you'd sneak up here when I'd broken your doll or some kid at school was picking on one of you." He smiled wryly. "So I guessed you might be bummed enough to come back... after trying a couple of other places first where you *weren't.*"

I couldn't fight back the giggle at Sean's self-deprecation. "God, I haven't been here for years and years. I guess I haven't had a bad mood that moping around on my balcony wasn't good enough for until now."

Sean wrapped an arm around my back, in a nice way, and we watched the little ant people for a while. "So... you never did tell me what went wrong at the dance." That was right. I'd been far too upset to get into it after seeing Max and Tess frenching in the hall outside the gym, and running over to the bowling alley... I'd just made a wisecrack about bowling being an addictive sport and before I knew it, we were lane-dancing.

"You didn't find out anything about it from Maria?"

Sean shrugged expressively. "I haven't asked. She hasn't volunteered."

I sighed. For Sean to have gotten caught up to speed by Maria would have been less awkward in a way, but I wasn't going to avoid the issue. "Well, let's see... I told Max..." Uh-oh. How to phrase this part of it in a way that wouldn't spoil the 'Czechoslovakian factor' for Sean?? "Umm... well, to make a long story short I told him that I couldn't stay in a holding pattern with him and that we should let go. I went to hang out with Maria, because Michael didn't take her... and later I saw Max and Tess kissing outside of the gym. That's about when I took off and I... I found you."

"Oh, man." Sean sighed. "That must have been rough. But... if it's worth anything, and it probably isn't, I think you were right... right about the holding pattern, and that it was time to move on. Of course, I could be thinking so because that decision happens to work in my best interest..." He shot me a silly, goofy grin. "But I don't think so."

I laughed. "Okay... Mister Sean DeLuca... I guess it's my turn to ask you a tough question."

He turned to face me. "If you insist... ask away."

I took a deep breath, not quite sure if I was actually going to ask what I had been thinking of. I'd wondered before, but never really had the nerve. "Just what did you do to end up in juvie??"

Sean made a face. "God, I wish you hadn't asked me that."

"Come on," I said. "Whatever it is, it can't be worse than some of the things that I've heard. Or imagined."

Sean grimaced a little at that. "Didn't you find out anything about it from Maria?"

I laughed very quietly. "She hasn't volunteered. I didn't ask."

"Well, I'm not proud of this." He sighed. "Actually, I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of, but the one that they actually caught me at was..." He broke off again, obviously not sure how to phrase it, and then blurted out, "Drugs, okay?? It was drugs."

I opened my mouth, but somehow there was nothing that I can think of saying. "I didn't use the stuff myself," he quickly disclaimed. "I just... I knew a guy, and even though I could tell it was a bad guy I'd buy stuff from him to sell at the school. It was easy money, and I never had any problem finding people who wanted to buy... most of them found me, actually. And it wasn't something I did all the time, just every now and then, but..."

"But that excuse didn't go over too well with the cops when they caught you in the act?" I finished.

"Now that you mention it, no." Sean sighed. "You probably don't want to have anything to do with me, know that you know, huh?"

"You'd be surprised." I whispered, reaching out and brushing a little hair away from his face... at least, where there SHOULD have been hair. I tried to make it look like I was wiping a little bit of dirt away.

And then he kissed me.

I meant what I told him. You say the words 'dealing drugs' and everyone shies away, but we've all of us done things that we're not proud of, just like Sean. If anything, I respected him more, for trying to put that behind him, for admitting it to me.

So why did I feel a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when I kissed him?

"So," he said casually once the kiss was over. "I could do with a bite. Wanna try that pizza place over on Crailey street?? My treat?"

I thought about it. "Ah, sure, what the heck."

As we headed over for the stairs, Sean asked, "So, how are classes going? You said you had that special English seminar with Miz whats-her-face."

I chuckled. "Ahh, it's not doing too bad. Once you get used to how obsessed she is with Petrarchan sonnets the rest just kinda falls into place, y'know??"

-------

(Alex, again):

I ran my hands along Isabel's arms as we sank deeper into a french kiss, curled up on the couch. When I felt slim, soft fingers run through my hair, I hoped that I hadn't died and gone to heaven...

Oh, give me a break. I've been waiting for years to be able to say something like that!!

Anyway, an incredible minute or two later, after we'd broken for breath, Isabel looked over at me and shook her head a little. "This whole 'book' thing has popped up at just the worst possible time," she muttered. "I know I was a little carried away when Max and Tess first came to us with the idea, but you don't have to do it, Alex. Really you don't."

"Don't worry about it," I assured her. "I'm happy to do it. I *want* to do it."

"Why??"

The question caught me off guard a little. "I dunno... because I always enjoy getting into the middle of a caper?" After a pause, another reason occured to me. "Because knowing you, and Max and Michael, has changed my life in such an incredible way, and so I want to do something special for all of you."

"You don't have to do anything like that, Alex," Isabel replied, smiling at me. "It's not as if the 'changing lives' thing hasn't gone both ways, you know."

"I know," I admitted. "But I still want to, okay??"

"Well, as much as I hate to let you go now that I've finally found my way back to you... I guess it's alright with me," Isabel replied with a straight face.

I couldn't help laughing at that, and I lay a little closer to her on the sofa. "I don't think there will be that much 'letting go' involved," I countered. "It'll be weeks at least before the preparations are done and I can go to Las Cruces. School will be out by then and you can come up and keep me company, Miss Evans."

"Hmmm..." A broad, lazy smile crossed Isabel Evans' face as she contemplated that. "I'll need an alibi, I suppose."

"*You've* got an easy one, miss high school graduate," I reminded her. "Taking some summer courses to see if you're actually ready to start college in the fall. My parents may be tougher."

"Oh, we'll figure out something to tell them," Iz assured me. "We've got time, remember??" She sighed happily. "We should do something this weekend. Something special, you know."

"I do..." I chuckled. "In fact, I think I have just the thing." I pulled out a little folder from my pants pocket and handed it to her.

"What's thi-- Oh, my god. Tickets to the Beth Orton show on Saturday??" She looked over and stared incredulously at me. "When did you get these??"

I shrugged. "Monday."

Her eyes grew even wider. "Monday?! Monday when you were playing it so cool with me?" I managed to nod. "Well, I gotta say I'm impressed."

"Thank Liz and Maria."

"Actually, I'd rather not mention it to them," Isabel laughed. "This is going to be so amazing, thank you."

"Happy to do it," I beamed.

"So..." Isabel stretched out beside me, let out a long, contented sigh. and then perked up. "Oh, you had some close encounters website you wanted to show me?"

"If it's the right time for it." I know Isabel didn't want to have 'alien stuff' intrude on her life when she isn't in exactly the right frame of mind.

"Nah, it's cool." She got up and gestured for me to precede her to the computer.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 2
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'
Dedication: This part is to Martina, Britt, and jeremiah

(Max):

After carefully loading up a tray with items that seemed not too likely to upset the palate, I looked for a place to sit in the crowded West Roswell cafeteria.

Oh, there was Maria! And Kyle, and Tess, and quite a few empty seats near them. I headed over to the nearest, which happened to be next to Tess. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

Maria got up quickly, shot me a cross look, and stalked off. "Ouch," I whispered. Since the fallout from prom, I've gotten the impression that Maria is intentionally boycotting Tess and I, as people in the same vicinity. If I'm walking to class with Tess and say hello to Maria, she ignores me, and pretends that nothing's wrong later. Yesterday Maria and I were hanging out in the quad, talking about new CDs we were excited to listen to, when Tess came up, waved hi, and sat down on the other end of Maria's bench without interrupting us. A sentence later, Maria says she has to go and walks away. This was the first time I'd seen her with Tess since the whole thing started, but otherwise it fit the pattern perfectly.

I was losing patience with the routine. I understand that Maria is Liz's best friend, but if she has a problem with me and Tess she should say something, not play elaborate games of cold shoulder. I mean, I don't know whether anything is happening between Tess and I, or if it will, or if I want it to. But I'm pretty sure it's between me and Tess, not anybody else's business. Not even Liz's, by this point.

"You'll have to excuse Maria, she's a little upset right now," Kyle mumbled through his sloppy joe, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, I know," I agreed, starting in on my own lunch.

"Really?" Tess piped up, flashing me a brief and friendly smile. "Who told you about it?"

"Well, I guess no-one really told me," I said, surprised at the question. "It wasn't very difficult to guess what was bugging her."

Kyle gave me a doubtful look, and then jumped a little in realization. "Max, we're talking about my Dad maybe asking Maria's mom to marry him. Is that what you're talking about?"

I blinked in surprise. "Well, no." I guess I had jumped to conclusions, maybe the me-Tess thing wasn't the *only* reason why Maria ran off so fast. "Umm... excuse me for asking, but just why is this upsetting news? I mean, Jim and Amy make a great couple. I'm..." I trailed off uncertainly.

"Yeah, she's a good influence on my Dad," Kyle allowed. "But Maria's pointed out a lot of problems with the situation that probably escaped the notice of our dearly dating parental units. There's the financial situation, pracitcal issues... and I'm just not that wild about having Maria for my sister."

"I'm not even sure where I'd fit into this happy little family," Tess pointed out.

"Where would we all live?" Kyle ranted. "Both the DeLucca's house and ours are tiny little two-bedrooms, no way a total of five people could move into either of them. And the real estate market in Roswell sucks for any kind of trade-up."

"Hey, I've got an idea," Tess said, grinning at Kyle. "Amy can move into Jim's room, you can take your own back, and Maria and I can live together in the DeLucca house. It'd be like a sorority of two."

"They would *never* let either of you get away with that," Kyle chuckled.

"Hey," I said, struck by a sudden thought. "What happened to the house Ed Harding bought in Roswell last year? I guess I kinda forgot about it."

"After you dragged me off kicking and screaming to the Valenti's?" Tess kidded. We all knew it hadn't really been like that. Tess had not been eager to remain in that house after a skin - presumably either Vanessa Whittaker or Courtney Devlin - had burgled it looking for evidence of Harding's activities as Nasedo or clues to the identities of the Royal Four. And after we had settled things with the Skins of Copper Summit, the fact that Ed Harding had disappeared and Sherrif Valenti had taken in his teenaged daughter had spread around town sufficiently that it would seem strange for Tess to move back out.

"I'm pretty sure that the money for the mortgage is still coming out of his account," Tess said softly. "That's almost tapped out by now though - he never expected to stay this long in Roswell without making more arrangements, and his Army salary was cut off long ago, of course."

"What have you been doing in Ed's finances, anyway?" I asked in an aside. I didn't even know Harding had money stored away, though it makes sense, he was always anal about preparedness and so on.

"Just doing my part to help keep the wolf away from the door," Tess mumbled. "Well, *somebody's* part, anyway -- I know that isn't my money, and a lot of it may be blood money for all I know, but at least it's something I can do." She sighed. "And most of it's gone into the mortgage, as I said."

"Just how big is that house, anyway?" Kyle asked. "I don't think I've ever seen it."

"I was inside, once, but I didn't get the grand tour," I said, gesturing for Tess to field the question.

Tess sighed. "Three bedrooms, two bath. Ed liked his space. I think it would do for all five of us... Maria and I could share a bedroom."

"And once we've moved in, we could sell the other houses to get money for making the payments," Kyle said, getting into it.

"That's only if we move in right away, and who knows what the wedding timetable would be," Tess pointed out. "If the bank forecloses on Harding House, the door swings shut."

"It's a good idea, though," I put in. "You should mention it after the engagement officially begins... or if Maria's information was a miscue, it couldn't hurt to let Valenti know about Harding House... just to see what he thinks."

"Yeah," Tess agreed softly. "Well, that's enough family finance for me. Who has anoter topic for conversation?"

-------

(Michael):

As I left the high school behind, I noticed a familiar figure emerge from the thinning crowd about a block ahead of me. Quickly and quietly, I increased speed to catch up with her, sneaking up behind the girl as she continued walking away, tapping one of her shoulders and then ducking around the other way.

I didn't fool Isabel for a second though, as she instantly turned her head right to stare me in the face, without having even gone towards the left for an instant. (Her left shoulder being the one I had tapped.) "Hi, Michael."

"Whoa!" I exlaimed, surprised. "Tell me I haven't tried this trick THAT often!!"

"Not really," Iz admitted, as I fell into step beside her on the sidewalk. "I dunno, I guess I just had a vague sense you were around even before I saw you, so when I felt the touch on my shoulder I knew exactly what kind of stunt you'd pull."

"Wow," I admitted, impressed. "Do we think this is a... a Czechoslovakian thing?" I whispered, kinda liking using Maria's word for us. "Knowing I'm there without seeing or hearing me?"

"Could be." Isabel shrugged. "Or maybe I just picked up your musk subconsciously," she kidded me. "So... how's everything been?"

"Pretty good," I admitted, then noticed something. "Hey, where's Alex? The two of you have been joined at the hip for the last few days."

"He's putting some extra time in at the computer lab," Isabel admitted, blushing shyly. "Maria?"

"Yearbook committee meeting," I explained, a little piqued by the implication that Maria and I are ever inseperable. I mean, things are going okay at this point, but we've never even at our best been one of those couples that HAVE to be around each other ninety percent of the day. A little Maria DeLuca goes a long way, I've noticed.

"Hey, wait a second... computer lab?" I added after a moment. "Computer lab? Does that have anything to do with the... the whatsit, the translating computers thing that Maxwell told me about??"

"I think so," Iz agreed. "He didn't say anything straight out... but then we weren't really alone when he mentioned that he wanted to stay late after school, so he couldn't talk freely."

"Okay. So, what's the deal here? I couldn't seem to follow much of what Max was explaining."

"I don't know too much about it either," Isabel said. "Just that there are these special computers up at the university in Las Cruces - and special software too, that they're developing - that might be able to analyze the alien book and logically..." she waved a hand vaguely, "compute what it's saying, or whatever. I couldn't really understand it either. But Alex says it may well work."

"Cool, I guess," I sighed. "I still don't really get why we can't read it ourselves."

"It's not an instinctive thing, Michael. Language has to be learned... for those of us not of the electronic persuasion, that is; and there's been nobody to teach it to us. I don't think even Nasedo knew... either that or for some weird Nasedo reason he didn't think it was his place to teach Tess."

"Yeah, well? There've been so many other aliens running around this year..."

Isabel smiled. "Well, the dupes probably don't understand it either, for the same reasons as us. Larek... might, but given the problems with bringing him here to Earth, I don't think he can help us out with this one. He might not even be able to read it when he's in a human host anyway. That leaves... the skins, and do you REALLY want to hand this over to Nicholas or one of Kivar's other henchlings and ask them what it says??"

I groaned. "Point made, Mrs. know-it-all."

"Whoops, I kinda got off on a rant there, didn't I?" Iz made a cute little I'm-sorry face, like she used to when we were younger.

"It's okay. So... you and Alex, huh? Back and tighter than ever."

She smiled. "Yeah. Well maybe not 'than *ever*', but we're getting there. I dunno, it just... when I'm around him, everything feels right and I can't understand why I let it take me so long to get back here, you know??"

I grinned back at her. "Yes, I think I'm familiar with the feeling, even though it didn't take *me* NEARLY as long." Isabel backhanded me in the shoulder lightly.

"Yes, but you and Maria keep losing time 'cause you flub things up with her every other month," she teased me. I just smiled. We walked along together silently for a little while.

"What do you think about this Max and Tess thing?" Isabel piped up suddenly.

"I dunno," I admitted. "Maria's really upset about them kissing after the dance... because she says Liz was really broken up about it. Myself... well, when I see them around, it's not like they're a couple. Just that they're around... together. But Max hasn't been saying anything about it."

"I kinda wish he and Liz could sort things out," Iz commented. "You and Maria have done it, Alex and I -- I think. Max and Liz had the big soulmate thing going on. If they can't get past a few little obstacles... well, what hope do the rest of us have, you know?"

"I think I know," I agreed. "It would be cool for them to hook up. The original gang, back to where we were heading before all this destiny garbage got in the way. But... well, Max keeps reaching out to Liz and getting his hand slapped away. And I don't understand why she's still doing it anymore. What's she so scared of?"

"Tess?" Isabel grimaced, making a face.

"I'm not so sure. Liz is a smart person, and if you and I can tell that whatever he might feel for Tess is nothing compared to the way he still feels for Liz, surely she's got the hint too." I thought about it for a second. "Maria's kind of accidentally let slip that she knows some big secret about Max and Liz that she absolutely, *positively* cannot tell me under any circumstances. Surprisingly, she's actually managed to keep a lid on it since then."

"What were the odds," Isabel replied with a small laugh. "Well... what context was this secret in?? Did she say anything else about it?"

"Hmmm... something that happened between them, sometime between when Liz came back home from the summer and... um, and the harvest. I don't think I can pin it down any more than that."

Isabel mmmm-ed back in response as she thought. "Maybe they *did* it!!"

I blinked back in surprise. "You think? C'mon, Max would have told us about that."

"Even if it was really weird and ended incredibly traumatically for both of them?" Iz continued. I opened my mouth to say something, but when I looked over I could see a familiar twinkle in her eye. Iz was trying to tease me.

"C'mon, stop that," I said, shoving her playfully. "We don't have enough information to form a guess, and it probably isn't any of our business anyway."

"Okay." Isabel sighed. "So, what's up between you and Maria these days, anyway?"

I blinked in surprise. "Oh, haven't you heard?" Now it was Isabel's turn to be surprised, and as I reviewed things I realized that there might not have been a grapevine path to her yet. "About Maria's mom and ex-Sherrif Valenti??"

"Nope... what about them??"

"Oh, Maria's got the notion into her head that Jim is about to ask Amy to marry him," I said, as we headed down the street towards my apartment. "She's all worked up about it, convinced that the merger would be a hasty idea. She even had a 'summit meeting' with the Valenti kids at lunch about it, and when you think about what it would take to get Maria to willingly sit down with Tess, gives you a clue how seriously she's taking the whole thing."

"Wow, yeah," Isabel agreed. "What do you think? Is he actually going to do it?"

"I've leaned to believe in Maria when she's done her detective work," I chuckled, remembering how she had figured that the deed to the Dupree house held the key to getting past Laurie's greedy relatives. "Somehow I think if it does happen, they'll find a way to make it work."

"Yeah," Iz agreed. "Those two families do have a way of doing that... imagine how good they'll be at it if they become one big family."

-------

(Liz):

The front door to the Whitman house was open, so I called in. "Um, hello??" No response. Ahh, well. I stepped inside and headed up to knock on Alex's door.

"Isabel??"

"Sorry to disappoint," I laughed, walking into the room. "You said in your message that you wanted me to come over. What's the 'up'?"

Alex smiled slightly, and gestured for me to sit down on the bed while he swiveled the desk chair to face it. "It occured to me that I'm not sure how good you are with computers."

"Oh, not too good at all," I quickly disclaimed. "I know how to run a few programs, but aside from that you can count me firmly in the 'computer illiterate' category."

"Why is that?" he asked in an aside tone of voice. "I mean... you're great with just about any kind of science you've been exposed to. I'd think computer science would be a natural."

"I dunno, I guess I've never really seen the fascination with them. Science, to me, is about understanding the natural world. With computers, you're getting more and more into a world that people have built inside these strange machines. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything, that's just how I feel about them." Alex's face had dropped after I called them strange.

"Your loss I suppose... except that it's mine too. I could really have used your help on this stuff if you'd been up to speed." He waved a few papers around.

"What's 'this stuff'??" He passed the pages over to me, I rifled through them, but couldn't immediately make much sense out of them... long listings of what looked like computer code and even more indecipherable prose... research papers about some sort of computer science? I've read a few academic journals in my time, but as I said I tend to stick to physics, biology, chemistry - you know, the basics. "In plain english please??"

Alex chuckled softly. "Well, there are these experimental computers at the state University in Las Cruces that can decipher unknown languages - at least, theoretically. Max and... the gang... were thinking maybe they could decipher... 'The Book.'"

Ah, yes, 'The Book.' Capital T, capital B. At least Alex hadn't called it the Destiny book to my face, as if by their mere existence those pages gave Tess the right to Max's love, and forced Michael and Isabel together to boot. And... "Level with me, Whitman. Whose idea was this really?"

Alex grimaced. "Well, I'm not completely sure, but I think Tess may have had something to do with it, yeah."

For a second, I couldn't think of what to say. And then, all of a second, it was pouring forth. "Every time I'm out, *they pull me back IN!!*"

Alex was staring at me. and then he laughed. "Liz... just answer me one question, for my own peace of mind. Was that even an attempt at an italian accent??"

I giggled myself, softly. "Not consciously." Alex smiled at me, and I sighed out loud. "I don't want to have ANYTHING to do with that damn Book!!"

"Well, no-one is telling you you have to," Alex reassured me. "Especially if you don't know much about computers."

"Why are *you* in on this??"

Alex took a long moment before he started answering that question. "Isabel told me she needs to know," he said slowly -- carefully. "I can understand that. I can't even imagine what it's been like for her, for all of them actually, not knowing where they came from all these years... not *knowing* for sure. They've come across bits and clues, but that isn't the same. Maybe this book is just another clue, or maybe it'll actually be the root she needs to reconnect her to her heritage. I have to try."

"Even if what it tells her is that she's Michael's soul-mate??"

"I don't believe that, not that it'll really change her mind," Alex continued softly, though I could tell the trace of fear was buried deep underneath his voice. "Michael and Isabel have been friends, have been practically brother and sister long enough that I don't think either of them could ever make the jump to lovers. They've had months now since they first found out that they were a couple, in their past life, and they've chosen not to go down that road again. Michael's chosen Maria again. Isabel's started dating me again. I have to have faith that she can stand by that choice."

I sighed. All of that sounded very good for him, and even for Maria, but it didn't comfort me one bit. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to your computer stuff. Except..." I couldn't finish that sentence.

"Yeah, Liz??"

"If you *do* need my help... don't be afraid to ask for it."

"Are you sure about that?"

I breathed deeply, doing a gut check. "Yeah. For Isabel's sake... and Max's too, I want to help."

Alex smiled. "I don't need to do any more on this right now. You wanna go down to Senor Chao's, play a game of pool or something??"

I smiled, pushing back the rush of memories of Max that threatened to bowl me over. "I'd like that. Except... what if Isabel comes by here, looking for you?"

Alex laughed. "That's a risk I'm prepared to take."

I got up from the bed, pushing another chair close to Alex's computer. "There's one thing I *do* know about computers... how to find a pool game on the internet. We can play right here..." I reached over and tapped an address into the keyboard.

-------

(Tess):

"I still say it could work," I insisted fiercely as we walked through the alley gate into Valenti's back yard.

"C'mon Tess," Max sighed. "Just think about it. How many people you'd have to mindwarp to convince everybody that counted that Alex was some... some computing teenage genius visiting from another university. You know that I have nothing but the highest respect for your talents, but large numbers and forced repetition on different individuals over a short time period are your biggest weaknesses. You told me so yourself."

I had to admit that Max was right, which was so annoying because my plan would have been *SO* cool. If it could have worked. "Okay then, what's your angle?" We were inside now, and I looked around to see if anyone else was about, even though the chances of anyone being here in the Valenti house who wasn't in on the secret were slim to none.

But as it happened, there was no-one around at all. Except for Max and me. I always liked the sound of that. Nevertheless, and Max chewed over his answer I started leading the way up to my room, both in case Jim brought Amy home and, well, for the sake of the atmosphere.

"I dunno, I just think that we need to bring these people something real," Max decided. "Something that they need. Then we can lie through our teeth about how we got it if we need to... quite frankly I'm not sure if they'd even care."

"So what, we find some poor guy - or girl for that matter - who invented a gizmo that the university geeks need, and scam her or him out of it? Without even letting that person know that they were being scammed? Or maybe we can just whip um an electromagnetic processing booster with our alien powers."

"It doesn't have to be a tangible 'thing', like hardware," Max corrected. "Maybe just an idea." He sighed. "I know, it isn't much of a plan, yet, but I'm all planned out." He dropped down into the small armchair I'd bought last month, while I crossed my legs lotus-style on the bed.

"Well, I've got a new topic," I said, taking a deep breath to nerve myself up. "A few days ago... the night I came to you with all this Quantum project stuff, in fact, you told me that we were riding off of high emotions from the dance, and that we should take a break, or something like that. When do we get off of break?" I tried to smile innocently at him.

Just as I had been afraid of, Max's face twisted into an awkward attempt at a smile. "Eeeeehh..." was the only sound that came out of him.

"That's not really something that a girl wants to hear," I teased him.

Max smiled again, this time more naturally. "Okay, Tess, here's the thing. You know that I like you. All other things being equal, I think I'd probably say sure, let's jump in and give it a try. See if we *really* have true love waiting for us or not."

I took a second to digest this. "'All other things being equal.' Why do I get the feeling that that's just a euphemism for 'if there wasn't something else'?"

"Because you know me well by now," Max agreed, shaking his head. "Well, let's forget the euphemism. There IS someone else. Tess, I've already found true love, and I'm not ready to give up on it yet."

"Even though for most of a year, Liz Parker has done nothing but run away from you or push you away?"

"Even though," he confirmed. "I think love can be a scary thing as well as a beautiful one, and movies have taught us that the big love tends to bring big obstacles with it." Max laughed very softly. "To be honest, I don't know exactly what Liz is scared of - I haven't been able to get her to tell me. And that's beside the point. I'm not ready to walk away from what we had. And that means I'm not ready to start anything with you, despite what we did at Prom. That was probably already crossing the line, especially considering who caught us kissing."

Now this was news to me. I didn't know that anyone had walked in on Max and me, which meant that whoever it was had left without making a scene. Not Maria, then. Liz herself? I couldn't be sure, and didn't want to ask Max.

"Can you accept where I'm coming from, Tess?" Max asked softly, probably misunderstanding what I was thinking about.

"Yeah, yeah I can," I assured him quietly. "I'd be lying if I told you it was what I wanted to hear, but I can understand. I hope you don't take offense to the comparison, but it sounds like how I feel whenever someone implies that I should give up on what I feel for you." I forced a deep breath, as if making sure that my system didn't rebel against me and wither away despite what I was about to say. "So go ahead and take all the time that you need, Max. If you..." Breathe, damnit... BREATHE!! "If you and Liz get everything sorted out, I'll... try to find some way to be happy for the two of you. If not... well, this may be beyond obvious, but I'll be waiting."

Max smiled a little sadly. He could see how much this was tearing me up inside, and I think that hurt him too, but he was damned and determined to follow through on what he had told me. Somehow, I actually think I admired that, crazy as that sounds. "Thanks, Tess. Your... blessing... means a lot to me, for this." He stood up and looked around nervously. "I should probably go now."

"Yeah. Th-thanks for stopping by." Try as I might, I couldn't keep the quiver out of my voice. The sarcasm was mostly purposeful.

"Are you sure?" Max asked. "You're going to be okay??"

My heart, as torture-tested as it was from this whole conversation, melted a little at the simple concern in his voice, and for a second I wanted to tell him anything just so he would stay and be nice to me. Play hard on the vulnerability card, maybe, and see if I could use that to maybe even change his mind. The 'better judgement' category vetoed that plan, though. I treasured the respect I've earned from Max this spring too much to risk it all on a foolish caper like that. Better to get him out of here before my willpower cracks, though. "Yeah, g'wan with yah," I called, waving him out of the bedroom and trying my best to force a smile.

He left, without another word, and I collapsed back onto the bed, trying not to break down in tears. Somehow... the whole damned scene... I meant what I had said, but I felt -- I don't know. I wanted to go find Kyle and kiss him like he's never been kissed before. 'Trim his lamp' maybe, even. But there were two problems with that. One... Kyle thinks of me as a little sister now, apparently, and two, whatever my chances with Max are, they'd go down two notches if he found out that I was skanking about and hitting on other guys so soon after we had this talk.

I dunno, I guess I just wanted to feel... desirable. Flirting with Kyle always used to be good for that, especially when Max got that moony look in his eye, talking about Elizabeth Sara Parker... well, that was out. And I really didn't *want* to go trolling for guys just so I could feel hot, if it came to that. I just... wanted this to hurt less.

I rolled over and started fantasizing about other worlds. And other lifetimes.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 3
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'
Dedication: This part is to shari, dymond, and the ever-mysterious roswellluver

(Michael):

"Spaceboy??"

The nickname brought me gently out of unsettling dreams with dark rooms and a stranger who looked like me. "Huh, what's going on??" I realized that I had fallen asleep on the couch, chemistry homework still spread out all around me. I looked up at Maria, who sat smiling down on me from the arm of the comfy chair. "How did you get in??"

"Your door wasn't locksd," she told me with a slight smile and a shake of her head. "I'd mentioned that I was going to come by once my shift finally finished, so I didn't think you'd mind. Didn't realize you'd be..."

"No, don't apologize," I pre-empted. "For one thing, better you than a robber wandering in while I'm snoozing, huh??" I yawned. "Sorry... I didn't even realize I was so tired."

"Well, science assignments have that effect on me too," Maria joked, moving a textbook from the couch and perching it as best she could on the coffee table, on top of my big green binder, so that she could sit down beside me, in just that way she does where my arm kind of automatically falls down around her shoulders. It felt... nice. "So, I've made a decision."

"You have?" I repeated, unable to help the smile forming on my face. "And what's that??"

"I'm not gonna drive myself crazy about my mom and her relationship with Jim Valenti. Marriage or not." She sighed. "It's not like anything I can do would really change their minds, so any worry I put into the whole situation is just wasted effort."

I tried to sit up to look into Maria's face, which was a little like a dog chasing its tale considering that she was resting her head against my shoulder, so I gave it up before someone got hurt. "I have to ask - who are you and what did you do to the real Maria DeLuca?"

She laughed. "I hope you don't mean that literally, because I'm just about as real as you get." She sighed. "But I guess I'm tired of it, stressing out, making myself crazy over every little thing. What will be, will be, you know??" After a second, she very obviously changed the subject. "So, how did the chemistry go? Make any headway before fatigue did you in?"

"I... I think so." I tried to reach out to the coffee table to get my binder, but in the position we were in, it just wasn't do-able, and I really didn't want Maria to have to move, so I gave it up. "Believe it or not, these organic molecular structures are actually starting to make sense. Even the benzene-rings." I yawned. "Still haven't finished all the homework exercises for tomorrow's class, though."

"You're really making an effort, aren't ya, Guerin," Maria observed, then added, "mind if I ask why??"

"Not sure," I admitted, and then realized the answers. "Because I'm tired of my teachers giving me crap when I bump into them trying to find someone when a crisis is going down. Because enough people look down on me already without adding 'high-school dropout' to the story of my life." I thought a little more, then added one last reason in a rare moment of honesty. "Because I kinda feel the need to do *something* to prove to you that I'm not an absolute and total screw-up."

"Ohhh..." Maria managed to curl around enough to face me. "First off... you do realize that you don't have anything to prove to me, right?? You're not a loser... you're my space-boy and I love you. You know that, right?" I nodded, silently. "But... I'm proud of you for trying to turn something around in your life like this. And I'll be even prouder if you pass all your courses for this spring." She kissed me sweetly on the cheek.

"That's the plan," I agreed, sighing at all the make-up work it would entail. "Now come here, earth-girl." I brought her lips to meet mine and we went from there.

-------

(Liz):

I had been wandering, a little aimlessly, ever since I left Alex's place. I didn't want to go home yet, but where else to? Not Max's house, for obvious reasons.

So I found myself walking past the DeLuca house, and muttered to myself "Why not?" Maria had probably gone over to Michael's apartment after her shift ended, but Sean might be around.

Sean DeLuca. I still wasn't quite sure how I felt about him. Was he a rebound guy or something more? Well, in any event, given that Max and Tess were busy making plans to translate their little book, I felt like tonight was a fine moment to do a little rebounding.

"Oh, hi Liz," Mrs. DeLuca said when she answered the door. "No, Maria isn't back yet. You could probably find her at Michael Guerin's... but then again, unless it's important maybe you'd better not." She smiled tolerantly.

"Um, actually Mrs. DeLuca, I'm here looking for Sean." Amy blinked with a little surprise at that - I guess she hadn't realized how much time her black sheep nephew and I were spending together. "Is he around?"

"You could try the garage, as far as I know he's been in there all day," Amy smiled a little. "Trying to keep that bug of his out of the junkyard... and without paying a professional mechanic."

I laughed. "Well, look at it this way - you never know when you might need someone handy with a car."

"Yeah... if only I can decide whether I'd trust him trying to fix the Jetta," she joked back. "Well, you know the way, don't you??"

I did, of course, and soon I was standing in the doorway to the garage. All that could be seen of Sean were his boots, the rest disappearing underneath the car, which is all the more surprising since a VW bug is hardly any longer than Sean himself is.

"Hey hey, knock knock," I called out.

"Who's there? Liz, is that you??"

"Why don't you come out and see??" After a second, more of Sean rolled into view, and then his face, smeared here and there with brown and black stuff, but he smiled when he saw me and I couldn't help but smile back. "How's the patient doing, doctor mechanic??"

"It looks pretty bad, but I think I can pull her through," Sean told me with that irrepressible grin. "How are you doing tonight??"

"Ah, you know. Same old, same old. Nothing much seems to change."

"Oh, so you mean..." Sean cleared his throat, and when he spoke again his voice was slightly higher-pitched than normal and trembling with fake emotion. "Your life is FALLING apart!?" I just stared at him. "Sorry, I just... I *had* to mock you for that once. It's out of my system now, I promise." A series of giggles started to escape me as I saw the funny side of it.

"No, no, no," I assured Sean, sitting down in an old rickety chair while I tried to get my breathing back to normal. "I'm doing considerably better than *that*, so I guess some things definitely do change."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"So..." I pointed over to the bug, its hood still propped up. "What happened to your wheels, anyway?"

"Well, let's see... basically the car was a pile of junk when I bought it, and this morning I seem to have had a chain reaction of things go wrong... do you really want to sit there and listen to me talk about auto repair, Liz??"

"Well... I guess not 'want' as such," I admitted. "Though I wouldn't mind if you wanted to talk about it."

"Well, your classes are going to be finished pretty soon," Sean said in a non sequitur. "Got any big plans for the summer holidays?"

"I'm not sure, I hadn't exactly thought past finals," I admitted. "I'd love to travel, but this summer might not be the best time for it. I'll probably just hang around Roswell, taking some summer courses or working at the Crash." I looked over at Sean. "Yeah, I know, I know, such are the excitements in the life of Liz Parker. So, tell me, Sean Deluca, do you have any plans for the future? I mean, I know that right now you're probbably focusing on just trying to keep your life together on the right side of the law, but you must have hopes for something more than a part-time job and crashing at your aunt's house, yeah?"

"Sure I do," he agreed, heading towards the door before he caught my questioning look. "I've decided I'm done in here, by the way," he added in an aside. "The patient won't get any worse overnight, and seeing you standing here looking so pretty makes a guy realize how filthy and hungry he is." As we headed back into the DeLuca house proper, Sean returned to my question. "Aunt Amy is pushing me to save up for courses at the vocational college. If I can get some more hours at the store, I could swing class a few days a week and still probably float my own apartment, if I settle for a dump."

I ignored that last bit. "So, what kind of vocational classes would you want to take? Or should I guess 'auto mechanic'?!"

"Nah, tinkering around with cars as a hobby is fine, but I don't think I could cut it as the real thing. Maybe electrician. Hang on a sec." Sean stepped inside the bathroom, but didn't close the door as he started to fill up a sink with hot water. "Of course, the kind of job I'd really like to have they don't have a course for at Roswell vocational Training Institute."

"Of course," I agreed from out in the hall. "So what's that?" But Sean was busy soaping his ears.

"What was that?"

"I asked what the job you really want would be."

Sean busied himself washing his face, and just when I was about to repeat the question a third time, he blurted out, "You have to promise not to laugh at it."

"Why... of course I won't laugh, Sean."

"Private Investigator."

I was speechless for a few seconds, and had to firmly choke down some nervous giggles. "Well, that's certainly unique. But somehow I can picture you as a dick... a private dick, I mean. A Sam Spade."

Sean shook his head, and started filling the sink up again, which he had just drained out. "Not like in those old books from the twenties and movies like the Maltese Falcon... though that was a pretty cool movie, I have to admit. A private eye for the twenty-first century.

"Well, of co..." I broke off somewhat awkwardly, as Sean pulled his T-shirt up and over his head. "Umm, uhhh..." C'mon, girl get your head back in focus. I struggled to ignore Sean Deluca naked from the waist up, or at least to be aware of it only casually and unemotionally. "Well, obviously you're not gonna be a stereotypical thirties private eye, because they only exist in the movies..." Sean was leaner than Max was, but his torso and arms still showed some nicely defined muscle groups.

"I dunno what it is," Sean continued as he lathered himself down, seemingly oblivious to the show he was putting on. "Possibly the thrill of action - not that I'm some death wish danger nut - and putting my brain to work trying to catch *real* scumballs. I'd never make it as a cop... don't have the discipline for it. I don't think I could ever work in a chain of command. But a lone wolf investigator kind of thing... working on behalf of those who have nowhere left to turn... okay, I realize this is sounding way too much like the opening narration to 'The Equalizer.' But cool, nonetheless." He finished rinsing himself off. "Uh, I hate to ask this, but could you get me a clean shirt while I dry off??"

"Um... shirt?" I repeated, still sounding *way* too clueless. "Uhh... from where?"

"My knapsack should be beside the couch," Sean answered with a smile.

"Sure, then, no problem." I hurried into the living room, spotted the unobtrusive canvas rucksack sitting there, opened up the top flap and started looking for shirts. Ah, blue, this would look nice on him. When I had gotten back to the bathroom Sean had almost finished toweling himself off. But he wasn't the only guy waiting for me there.

"Max!!!" I almost launched the shirt towards the ceiling in my surprise. "What are you... why... how..."

"I've been looking for you," Max Evans said softly in that understated yet intense way he talked sometimes. My heart swelled with some kind of emotion that I couldn't put my finger on at the time. **Dammit, heart, now is not the time.** As if to underscore that fact, Max glanced significantly in the direction of shirtless Sean, not asking for an explanation, just noticing.

Belatedly I tossed the blue shirt the short distance into Sean's waiting arms. "Thanks," he said while scrambling into it. "Feels good to be at least halfway clean after all that grease and grime."

"Mrs. Deluca let me in," Max commented in the awkward silence. "Said if I was looking for Liz, I should try looking for her in the garage with Sean."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," I blurted out, then realized it was an iffy case since that had been a direct quote. Oh, well. "Sean was fixing his car when I came, but then he called a break to come in here and get cleaned up."

"Umm... okay," Max said after a moment, and then turned to me. "Liz, I need to discuss something important with you. Alone."

I looked at Sean, and he was shooting me a concerned look, like 'If you don't wanna waste your time with this guy, just say the word and I'll show him da door.' I almost laughed out loud.

"Okay," I started, hoping it was a clear enough agreement to call Sean off. "Well, should we... I dunno, step into the back yard or something??"

Right then, the doorbell rang faintly, (hmm, why hadn't we heard it from here when Max came to the door? Oh, yeah, the running water would probably have downed it out. Or draining water, yeah, that fit the timing better.) Amy Deluca's voice called from up the stairs "Hey, could one of you kids get that? I'll be down in a minute."

"I've got it," Sean said, pushing politely between Max and I. (Boy, how's that for symbolism?) "At least I'm temporarily part of this household."

Max shot me a look and nodded his head both towards the back and front of the house. I shrugged and pointed in the direction of the front door. No sense in going off to have our talk in private if whoever had come to the front door was looking for one of us. Given the pattern of visitors to the Deluca house so far tonight, that seemed more than likely.

By the time we got to the front hall, Sean had already opened the door, revealing Jim Valenti on the other side. "Well, hello Sean. Is your Aunt in?"

"Yeah, Mister Valenti. Said she'd be down in a minute. Won't you come in?" Sean backed away from the door, and I could see that he was smiling broadly. Max seemed to be trying to hide a goofy grin. What was going on here?

"Thank you." Jim stepped inside, closing the door, and noticed Max and I standing there. "Mister Evans, Miss Parker?" His polite nod seemed forced.

It was at this point that Mrs. Deluca appeared at the top of the long open staircase in the front hall, still wearing the casual clothes that I had seen her in earlier - a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Her face practically shone when she caught sight of her most recent visitor. "Jim!! What are you doing here?"

"I have something to ask you," Valenti replied, still shifting nervously. "C'mon down here before my nerves give out."

A puzzled but intrigued look on her face, Mrs. Deluca hurried down the stairs. "Should we make ourselves scarce?" Sean whispered over in a voice that only Max and I could even notice.

"Only if one of them asks," Max murmured back. "I'd rather not miss this moment if I don't have to." It was definite - both of them knew something about what was going on that I didn't.

"Amy," Valenti started as she stepped down the last stair, taking one of her hands lightly in his. "I think you know that I... how much you mean to me, Amy, and it's something that I've had trouble saying for a lot of years now. But I've had a lot of time to rethink my life and my priorities, and I've come to the decision that I always did best when I let my actions speak for me."

There was a slight pause, and I think Amy and I might have realized what was going on at the same moment. "I know that I don't have much to offer you any more, except for everything that I feel about you, but I know that we could make it work with half of that." All of a sudden, James Valenti the second was down on one knee, an opened jewel box in his hand. "I know that we've both been down the road of marriage before, and had our hearts broken for our trouble, but when you love someone as much as I love you, you don't let something lie that stop you. Will you marry me, Amy??"

She was stunned speechless for a few seconds, and then a resolved look crossed her face. "Yes. Oh, yes, Jim. I would be DELIGHTED... and *honored*... to become your wife." Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and Valenti stood back up and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Once the tender clinch was done, with one arm still wrapped around Valenti, Amy stretched out her left hand towards the jewel box, third finger widely seperated from its neighbors. Jim did the honors.

"It's gorgeous, Jim," she said, examining the token of his love. "Where on earth did you get it? I mean..." She trailed off - we all knew what she meant. The Valenti extended family had just been getting by ever since he had been fired by the city council.

"It was the ring that Grampa-ray gave my Nona," he whispered back, or at least I think that was it. "I tracked down my Aunt Bethany and she agreed that you should have it, since you're going to become part of our family."

It was at that point that Max stepped up towards the happy couple, right hand stretched out. "Congratulations. Mrs Deluca." Amy extricated herself from her new fiancee just enough to accept Max's congratulatory handshake. "Mister Valenti. I wish you all the happiness in the world. No-one deserves it more than you guys." After the handshake with Valenti ended, Max paused and then said casually, "Have you thought at all about where you're going to live after you're married?"

-------

(Alex):

I was sitting on my bed, halfway through my third runthrough of the differential phonematic isolation subalgorithm, surrounded by printouts I'd made from the Quantum project website and scratch paper, when the telephone rang. By sheer reflex my hand shot out to the bedside table and picked up the cordless handset. "Um... hello?" I said uncertainly. Was it one of mom's baking club friends?

"Alex, hi." The voice was Isabel's. "How's it going?"

"Slow enough that I'm glad I have an excuse to put aside the proximity indices and transciption invariants for the night," I replied. The clock radio belatedly informed me that it was well after midnight. Again. "And you? How was your, umm..." c'mon, Alex, think, "...thing tonight? The... er... something to do with university?"

"The scholarship committee meeting?" Yeah, that was it. Isabel had gotten tapped as a student board representative for some nonprofit foundation that gives out scholarship and college grant money, mostly to inner-city kids from places like Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The idea being that as a honors high school student herself, she'd be able to help judge exceptional candidates, but because they didn't cover Roswell she'd be unlikely to run into a conflict of interest. "Mostly long and tiring."

"Oh, did you have to drive long?"

"No, they met right here in Roswell - almost half the board members live in the area. Just a lot of student records to go through and listening to arguments from people dead-set on deciding one way or another."

"Sounds... tiring, yeah," I agreed with a sigh, and stretched out, lying back on the pillow. "So... we've got the concert on saturday... what about tomorrow night? Big Friday date night... wanna make any plans?"

I could almost hear Isabel smile across the telephone line. "Yeah, that'd be really great. Something really fun. Got any ideas??"

I blinked in surprise. "Something *fun*?"

"You heard what I said, Whitman." Isabel's unmistakeable laugh rang over the line. "What's the matter, you don't have any clue how to have a good time?"

"Actually, I do have one notion," I admitted. "But it'll have to be a surprise."

"Ahh... so I have to trust you, is that it? Well, I can do that. Tomorrow night, I put my fate into your hands."

I couldn't resist the setup. "Mmmm, that sounds like fun."

Isabel laughed again, and then deliberately changed the subject. "Say, you don't know anything about what happened between Max and Liz last fall, do you?"

"Um... I know quite a bit about what happened between them last fall," I reminded her. "I was right here, getting the play by play from Liz of every little detail. Is there something in particular you're asking about? There was an awful lot that happened between them in those few months."

Isabel giggle. "Something secret. Michael said that Maria let slip she knew something in confidence about our favorite soulmates that she couldn't ever divulge, even to him." Isabel sighed. "Of course, if you're sworn to secrecy as well, I can respect that, even though I haf vays of makink you tok."

"You probably do," I admitted. "The thing is, I don't think I'm in the loop on this particular secret. Any hints as to what kind of surprise it is? Time frame??"

"Sometime between, uhh, my birthday party," Isabel let out a loud groan at the very thought, "and, um, the harvest? After all, something drove a pretty bid wedge between Max and Liz back then."

"No, can't think of anything," I confirmed. "Unless you count the infamous 'Kyle incident', and that isn't exactly a secret, is it?"

"No, no it isn't, you're right. Hmm... you know, I'd forgotten about that. Wonder if Maria's secret relates to it somehow."

"I don't have a clue," I admitted, a little tired of talking about this.

"Sorry," Isabel said softly. I blinked in surprise.

"Umm... sorry about what?" I asked, half in disbelief.

"For pushing the subject." I was speechless for a moment, almost disbelieving that Isabel had been so sensitive to my tone of voice.

"It's okay," I assured her quickly. "So..."

"I dunno, it's late," Iz agreed. "I wish you were here."

"I do, too, come to think of it."

"Where are you?" she asked suddenly. "I mean, right now. Are you in your room??"

"Actually..." I smiled as I looked around and stretched out a bit. "I'm in bed. And you?"

"Me too." Isabel giggled wickedly. "What are you wearing??"

"Isabel!!"

"What??"

"I..." I struggled to put my thoughts in order. "Well, for one thing, it's a little corny, and for another... well, we've only been back together again for a few days now."

"Relax," she whispered reassuringly. "We don't have to go that far. I just thought it'd be fun."

"Uhh... okay," I finally decided. What the heck, sounded like it might be fun. "Well... I'm wearing a button-down white shirt..." I had had an appointment with my guidance counselor today at school, "and blue jeans. What about you?"

Isabel laughed softly. "Well, I've got a blue blouse and dark blue skirt on... do you remember the time Micahel invited us all up to Tucson to meet Laurie?"

"Yeah, yeah." The mental picture came loud and clear... one of the few really nice moments to come out of the past few weeks. Max, Isabel, Michael, Maria, and I had all gone up for a formal dinner in the fancy house that Michael's DNA-sister had inherited,

"I lean over, brush a little hair out of your face... and kiss you, very gently and softly, on the lips."

"Mmmmmmmm...." I let that sit for a while, enjoying the imaginary kiss, and then took my turn. "I look up deep into your eyes, running one hand through those silky tresses of yours. I memorize every curve and detail of your face." I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves. "Slowly, slowly, I lower my face to the ivory skin of your neck, kissing it, and then sucking on it a little."

"Oh, Alex." A low, throaty moan came over the telephone line. "That feels so good. Nibble at it! Nibble on my neck."

"I'm nibbling," I assured her. "Taking your skin between my teeth gently, softly... Letting you feel them stimulate you. How's that??"

"Incredible." Another sigh. "I'm running my hands over your arms. Across your chest. Feeling the grace of your muscles... teasing you with each touch."

"Don't tease me too much, beautiful lady," I warned her. "I'm working my way up to your right ear... leaving a trail of kisses along your neck as I go."

"Oh, hang on a second, let me take these earrings off," Iz warned. "Keep sucking on my neck."

"Sure."

"Okay now, you're good."

"I nip on your earlobe lightly," I say, taking in a deep breath, "then kiss it.. mmmmm... massaging you with my lips."

"Ooooooooohhhh..." Isabel groaned. "Okay, my turn. I unbutton your shirt about half-way... pulling it away from your left shoulder, and start running my tongue along your collarbone."

"Unhhhhhh..." was all I could manage for a few moments. "Ohhh, that's great baby."

"I start running my lips down your chest... and then back up to your throat."

"My hands are rubbing the base of your neck. Kneading the muscles there."

"Ohhh... thanks, I really needed that. Let's see... where were we. Right... I tear open your shirt a little bit further, and lean down to suck on your... nipple."

"Whoaa!!!" Just hearing her say the word sent a shock through me, not to mention the mental imagery added onto the rest of this phone makeout session.

"You like that, don't you?!"

"Yeah... I have to say I do."

"What else do you like??"

I gathered my nerves once again. "I roll us over so that you're the one lying on your back. And run my hand over the front of your blouse."

"Ohhh... oh, that's nice, Alex. Oooh!!"

"I untuck it from the waist of your skirt and start to slide my hands up under your top."

"Ooohhh... that's even better."

"I..."

"Alex??"

"What?"

"I'm really sorry... but I think I need to get off the phone now. I can't *wait* to see you tomorrow."

I sigh a little bit. "Okay. Sweet dreams."

"Like I could help it." She paused. "You're not mad, are you?"

I smiled to myself. "No, no I'm really not. Thank you. This was an incredible idea."

"I know. Sweet dreams, loverboy." The phone clicked off.

I pushed the 'END' button and unsnapped my jeans, getting ready for... bed.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 4
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Liz):

I sat down on the wooden bench with a bit of a thump. "Okay, Max, what's this thing that it's so important we talk about?" He stayed silent at me for a second, staring at me so intently with those deep, gorgeous brown eyes...

Wait a second, I just remembered, I need to catch you guys up a little first before we get to that point. Okay---

Amy was able to put together a nice little spur-of-the-moment engagement party. Grape soda, little powdered donuts, and cashews were the refreshments. Amy called over to Michael's apartment to tell Maria to come home, and Michael came over too, to congratulate the happy couple, and Jim invited Kyle and Tess over as well.

When the party was over, Amy had realized how late it was and was insisting that everyone who didn't live in her house get driven straight home. But Max made this impassioned plea about how he had come overe there in the first place to find me and talk to me about something extremely important. Finally Mrs. Deluca relented, though she said that she's driving us home as soon as we're done and she's not letting us off her property in the meantime. So that's why I'm sitting on a wooden bench in the DeLuca backyard. Amy is probably calling my parents and Max's right now 'so they don't worry.' Valenti took drive-home duty for Michael and his own crew.

Okay, so now I've pretty much caught you up. I asked Max what was so important, he looked at me soulfully for a few seconds and admitted, "I'm not quite sure where to start."

"At the beginning is traditional," I pointed out. "Some might say it's become cliche, but I don't hold with that." I was getting a little giddy and struggled to control it, since Max had obviously gone to a lot of effort to set up a venue for a serious conversation.

"I don't think I need to tell you about the beginning, do I?" Max said, smiling slightly. "You were there, after all."

Oh. So it was going to be another one of THESE conversations. God, I don't think I have the energy to figure out a new way of turning Max down. "Max..."

He must have been able to read the tone in my voice. "Don't... just don't, okay? At least let me babble on until I think I've said most of what I need to say." He took a deep breath and spun around with his hands in his pockets before locking his eyes onto my face again. "I can't let you go, Liz."

"That doesn'..." I started, but Max cut me off.

"It has to," Max insisted. "It *has* to change things. Doesn't it? I... I have to get us back, the way that we used to be. How do I do that??"

"Maybe you can't," I answered with a sigh.

"I've called things off with Tess..."

"Oh god, Max, no..."

"What do you want from me??" he exploded. "I mean... you can't stand Tess... that's clear. And yet you keep pushing me towards her. Which means that you're pushing me out of your life too, because it's clear that nothing could ever be the same between us if I really did get together with Tess, not that that's..."

I groaned and looked up into his eyes. "Max... you *belong* with Tess, not with me. It tears me up inside, but I know that that's what's right."

"WHO ARE YOU..." Max's eyes were staring right through me, "TO MAKE THAT DECISION???"

That stopped me for a second, I mean, obviously I had no right myself to force one interpretation of Max's destiny on him. And even Future Max's decision... well, how long did I have to hold onto that? It had been six months since he had come, and gone. Six months since the timeline had changed.

No... I still had to stay the course. Unless I could be almost certain that something meaningful had changed. I looked up and realized that Max was staying silent too, an awkward pause surrounding the both of us.

"Max, I'm sorry, I don't have any right to decide your life for you, but..."

He cut me off. "I've told Tess that I can't go any further with her... not until you and I settle things, and when I say 'settle', I don't mean you arguing me out of this. At least give us one more chance, Liz." He reached out a hand to me.

Something odd struck me about that. "You told Tess... how did she take it??"

Max made a face. "Well, she wasn't particularly happy, as you might guess, but she accepted it. She said if we worked everything out, she'd try her best to be happy for us."

Somehow, that got to me, as nothing else Max had said got to me. I hated that, but there it was. If Tess had really come to terms with the concept of us... did that mean that Max and I could get back together without driving her away from the group? Was this the 'something changed' that I had been looking for??

Max groaned again. "WHY does Tess' opinion mean more to our relationship than mine does??" he complained, obviously seeing a tiny bit of what I was feeling in my face.

"It's not that," I sighed. "For one thing, your opinion has never been that much in doubt. But Tess... well, she's your wife, or she was. If we're going through with this, it would have to be with her understanding and acceptance. That's the least respect I can pay to your marriage vows, even in a weird situation like this."

"Don't lie to me," Max whispered. "You were never very good at it."

"Okay, then I won't!!" I flared. "But then don't ask me for the truth, because that is something that I can't tell you. As far as what you wanted to talk to me about, you and me... I'll think about it, okay? That's as much as I can promise at this point; it's been a long day and a long night. I may want to talk to Tess about it too."

"Okay," Max said, nodding slowly. "Be discreet with her about it though, okay?? I hurt her pride some tonight, I think, and forcing her to repeat some big declaration of surrender to you could be even worse."

"Well, duh," I sighed, though that was a mental image I'd have to revisit later as a fantasy. I stood up.

"Can I ask you one last thing before we go inside and Amy drives us home??" Max asked.

I tried to hide a smile, guessing what was coming. "Ask."

"One kiss."

A part of me was telling me I shouldn't, yet, but I couldn't refuse Max that... or myself, to tell the truth. I stepped into his arms and his lips came down to meet mine, softly and sweetly.

FLASH. It was... it was myself, with short hair and wearing some kind of leather outfit, watching Max who seemed to be inside a giant inverted cone... that was future max! Was I... watching Future max go back in time using the granilith? Watching future myself watch him go??

The kiss broke. I couldn't help but ask... if Max had happened to see the same thing I had, he would have questions. "Did you... did you get a flash??"

"I was seeing you and Kyle, all over again." Max's voice was hurt. "Why should I still be seeing that?" He took a deep breath. "You??"

"Ummm..." Quick, think of something. "You in the white room."

Max sighed again. "Okay, let's go."

My mom was waiting when I walked into the closed-down cafe. "So... why did you and Max Evans have to stay late after the party?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure I can explain that." I looked at her. "Maybe I don't even know myself. Why don't you ask Max? He was the one who insisted on it, the one who convinced Miss Deluca."

"It's pretty late." I shot her a look. "Yeah, I know, I know. As a mother, though, I'm required to say that in a situation like this. So... Max Evans. He's crazy about you. It's easy to tell."

"I guess it is," I sighed.

"And are you still crazy about him?" I looked away from her.

"You know, as you said, it's really late. Can we do the female bonding thing some other time??"

"Sure. Sweet dreams, baby."

-------

(Maria):

I walked to school the next day. It was *supposed* to be one of my days to have the Jetta, but all of a sudden my mom had 'errands to run', (translation, acquaintances to visit, tell she was engaged, and show off Valenti's grandmother's ring to.) Ah well. If anyone deserves to be able to make some people jealous, she does.

As I approached the crossing of Wilton and Sandstem, I saw Michael loitering against the streetlamp pole. I couldn't quite believe my eyes as I hurried up to him. It was the spot that we often met at when we both had to walk to school, but...

"How did you know I'd be walking this morning??" I kissed him hello quickly.

"Just a hunch," Michael smiled. "That Amy would suddenly find a very pressing need for the wheels this morning."

"Well, I guess your intuition has been proven right once again," I told him with a grin as we headed on towards the school.

"So has yours," Michael replied. I shot him a look, not sure what he was talking about. "That Valenti was going to ask your mom to marry him? And that she would say yes?"

"Oh, right, that," I laughed. I had started to think of that as a foregone conclusion, but it was nice to think of it as a testament to my detective skills.

"So... it's offcial, huh??" Michael sighed. "How do you feel about it? Still think it's a bad idea??"

"Nah, I'm over that now," I replied, somewhat surprised that it was true. "I'm happy for her. For both of them."

Spaceboy thought about that for a second. "Cool. So am I." Short pause. "So what now??"

I giggled. "In what context? You, me, and this conversation? My mom and mister valenti?"

Michael was shaking his head ruefully. "I don't know, I just wasn't sure what else to say."

I smiled back at him. "Kyle volunteered to try and get his dad apprised of our notions for the housing situation without clueing him in that any of us saw this coming. After that, the ball's in their court as far as that." I sighed. "God, it's such a beautiful day. You wanna ditch?"

"Better not. I didn't spend all last night slaving away on my chemistry homework just to blow off class, and there'a a big geography test today."

"Oh, right, I forgot about chemistry." I lightly thumped my forehead for dramatic effect.

"We... we should do something tonight, though," Michael added, straining for uber-casual.

I almost stopped walking. "Really. Like what??"

"Not sure," Michael shrugged. "You got any ideas??"

I thought hard. Was Michael giving me a 'blank cheque date' here?? Only one way to test it. "Well... we could go see 'Bridget Jones' Diary.'"

He tried to conceal his reaction. "Umm, sure, yeah, I guess. If you want." His voice was not exactly level.

I threw an arm around his shoulders. "You're sweet. But you don't really have to do something you don't wanna do for me."

He smiled goofily back at me. "Naw, it'll okay. That Colin Firth guy is pretty cool, actually."

When we got to the school, Michael excused himself to do a little last-minute studying for his geography test, so I headed over to Liz's locker for a catch-up session. We haven't seen that much of each other lately... Liz has been wrapped up in her own thing and so have I, I guess; my thing being stressing over the proposal thing. But it was time to make time for my best and oldest friend.

She was staring into the inside of her locker as if it had turned her into a braindead zombie. "Uh, hello? Earth to Liz Parker??" I joked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh... Oh, hi, Maria," She smiled that quintessential Liz smile at me. "Sorry, I didn't notice you."

"'Sokay," I assured her. "What were you zoning out about??" She didn't say anything for a second. "Does this have anything to do with Max wanting to talk with you after my mom's engagement party??"

"Yeah, you could say that." Liz sighed, took one last book out of her locker, closed it, and stepped close to whisper to me. "This is *HUGE*, and I don't know what to make of it." She paused for a second. "I think I know what you'd make of it, though."

I could feel my eyes grow round. "Really??"

She giggled. "Well, I've got a guess anyway. Any idea where we can talk in private for a moment before class?"

"The eraser-room is probably a no," I joked. "Umm... oh, I don't think there should be anyone in the purple room right now. And if there is, we can tell 'em we're actually working on schoolwork and kick 'em out." We headed down to the purple room, a small chamber near the auditorium backstage, and sure enough it was deserted. Liz sat down with me on the small couch and told me what Max had told her, about his decision to fight for one last chance with Liz, about how he had told Tess that that was what he had to do.

"Well, I think you're probably right, you know what I'm going to say," I agreed, "because it's what I've been either saying or wanting to say for nearly a year now. Give Max his chance. I really do think that things have changed enough that 'the end of the world' isn't a concern."

"And what about Max's past with Tess, his destiny?" Liz asked. "I want to believe that's not a factor anymore, I know Max believes it, but how can I be sure? I've lost Max before, I've given him up, but it's taken a worse toll on me every time. If I give my heart to him again, and destiny takes him away from him... how could I survive that??"

"You're Liz Parker," I reminded her. "You can survive anything. As far as giving your heart back to Max... I'd suggest taking it one step at a time, for now. Max isn't looking for any big dramatic gestures now, he's just asking for a new beginning. As long as you stop shutting him out of your life... whatever is meant to be will be."

"I... I think I get what you're saying," Liz said after a moment. "Thanks." And she leaned over to hug me. "So... how are things going between you and Michael right now, anyway?"

"Pretty great," I bragged. "He's even made plans to take me to a complete and utter chick flick tonight!!"

"Will wonders never cease," Liz laughed. "Which movie, someone like you?"

"Bridget Jones," I replied. Liz blinked and nodded in agreement.

"Hope you have a great time."

"Yeah, me too." I stood up. "Well, much as I hate to admit it, trig is calling me, and you'd probably better go to your AP english class."

"Yep." Liz smiled at me as we left the room. "You know, we haven't spent too much time together lately, Maria. We should make it a point to do something."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I thought about it. "Oh, we could go up to that spa in Artesia that my mom likes. Make a day out of it tomorrow."

"Oh, that sounds perfect," Liz moaned. "Okay... see ya!!" And she took off for the stairwell.

(Isabel):

Tess came into European history perhaps four seconds before the bell rang, and she looked... well, at the time I wasn't sure how to describe the way she looked, but certainly not at her best. Our seats are right beside each other in that class... (I think we were discussing something dreamwalking-related that first day that Mister Hyde drew up the seating plan,) so once the lecture on the root causes of the Russian revolution had gotten off to a good roll, I tore a sheet of lined paper out of my binder and wrote her a note. (Okay, you caught me, I didn't *tear* as such, I carefully unsnapped the rings and removed a page. Satisfied??!)

Me: 'So, I hear I missed out on something of a shindig last night.'

Tess: 'Oh, yeah. Shins were dug, all right.'

Me: 'What's buggin' on U??'

Tess: 'Do you really want to know, or are you just writing that to be polite?'

Me: '(pause.) Yeah, I really do want to know. If you don't mind writing to me about it.'

Tess: 'It's about Max....'

(She passed the paper to me at this point, but I just passed it back to her with a nod.)

Tess: 'Okay, just giving you fair warning.'

Me: 'It's okay... I don't mind.'

Tess: 'He shut me down last night. Said that he still wasn't ready to give him and me a shot, because he wasn't ready to give up on you-know-who yet.'

Me: 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

(Continuing on the flip side of the original sheet.)

Tess: 'Are you really??'

Me: 'Well, I'm sorry for your sake. I can't say that I'm surprised, or...'

Tess: 'Go ahead, finish it. Or what??'

Me: '...Or that I don't hope the best for Max and Liz.'

Tess: 'I know. Apparently I hope the best for them too.'

Me: 'You do??'

Tess: 'Not really... or at least I'm not sure. I said something like that to Max... I could tell he really wanted me to say something encouraging and positive, so I did. But... on one level I really do want to see Max happy with whomever he truly loves most. And I don't hold anything against Liz any more. But if they live happily ever after... what about me?'

Me: 'I know. It's a messy situation -- I care about all three of you guys now. But you're stuck in a love triangle, and there's really only one way those ever end happily. One person... or possibly all three people... have to move on and find love with somebody new.'

Tess: 'And it looks like I'm the front runner in the odd-girl out competition. Happen to know any cute hybrid guys that you could set me up with? '

(New page.) Me: 'No, afraid I don't... why hybrid? Would you have a problem with dating a human guy, Harding??'

Tess: 'Umm... I'm not sure. I mean... you've found a great one in Alex and I'm happy for you. There was a time I might have been open to something happening with Kyle... but he sees me as a sister, so nothing's ever going to happen there. Outside of the group, though... there are too many things that could go wrong. Would I tell him our secret or not, just to take an example?'

Me: 'Good point. On the other hand, do you think there wouldn't be issues with some new hybrid guy that just showed up too--'

It was right at that point that Mister Hyde called out my name, scaring me half to death, considering that we had been writing notes mentioning the word 'hybrid' and our secret, among other things. But he didn't ask me to read the notes out loud or anything like that... (I was all set to use my powers on them in public, I'm not sure whether to disintegrate them or try to change the writing, but thank god I didn't have to.) He just asked me a question from the reading... something about the russian political factions that the Marxists were struggling against or something, and after I had babbled my way to some kind of answer he made a note in his journal and continued on with the lecture. (I'm pretty sure I gave a bad enough answer to cost myself a participation point in that class, but compared to the alternatives I still count myself lucky.)

After that scare, Tess and I didn't write any more notes, and she took off as soon as Mister Hyde dismissed the class, so I didn't follow her. Once I had gotten all of my own things together and walked into the hallway, a pair of hands suddenly lowered over my eyes. "Guess who?"

Like it was even a challenge. "Alex, how did you get here from gym so quickly?"

Alex uncovered my eyes again and swooped in for a sweet good-morning kiss. "Alas, I could not attend physical education this morn, for that I had to prepare the arrangements for tonight, my Princess."

"Bad boy." I rearranged my books so one hand was free and brushed a bit of hair away from Alex's forehead. "Is it still a surprise?"

"Of course it is!! I'll pick you up at your place at four." Alex laughed. "Oh, and wear pants. Not loose ones."

I swatted him. "Horndog!"

"No, no, there's an actual reason for that," he assured me. "You'll see."

I shrugged and let it drop for now. "Any word on the... you know, the computer stuff?"

"Yeah, actually I was able to put some time in this morning before nine." Alex laughed. "I was *hoping* to get the arrangements for our date settled then, but the... the place wasn't open. So I've got some notions for how you guys might be able to get me into the project. I was thinking of calling a meeting about it for lunch today, actually -- you, me, Max, Tess, Michael if he wants to join us."

I frowned. "Might be better not to include Max and Tess at the same time. They had a... thing last night. It could be awkward. Tess was really upset in class just now."

Alex thought about that. "Well... which one, then?? This quantum computer thing was Tess' idea. But Max is... well, he's like 'the boss of you.' It doesn't seem right to leave either of them out."

I nodded, appreciating the dilemma. "Maybe you should talk to Max, mention that I was concerned about this and see what he thinks. He may back out and say that you or I can brief him later. Or whatever. If he's 'the boss of us,' let him make the tough decisions!" Alex laughed at that.

And then the bell rang, and we had to quickly kiss goodbye and rush off to our next classes.

-------

(Tess):

We were in bioology class, working in partners on a bunch of research questions about how human cells work, (I think I see a little bit of irony there,) when Kyle, who's my partner in this class, suddenly whispered, "I kinda get the impression that you've been avoiding me and not talking much when we're together. Like you're uncomfortable around me all of a sudden."

I took in a quick breath. "You're not exactly wrong."

He nodded. "It's the sister thing, right? I blurted it out and now you're not sure how to take it." He sighed. "It's okay, Tess, I get it."

I blinked in surprise. "You get what?"

"That you don't feel the same way," Kyle explained quietly. "That you look at me and don't think of a brother, just this annoying guy that you're kinda-friends with and you have to live with. Believe me, it's okay."

I shook my head at him. "For one thing, Kyle, to me you're much much more than a 'kinda friend.' I'll admit I was surprised to hear you say that. For one thing, I kinda still thought you had the hots for me." I giggled nervously. "But I'm getting used to the notion, although I suddenly feel very aware that if we've become brother and sister to each other, it means that our friendship can't proceed in a *different* direction." Okay, you've thrown out the line. See if he takes the bait.

"Yeah," Kyle agreed calmly. "Okay... what do you have for this cytozoan thing?" And with that conversation turned firmly back to biology.

As the two of us headed out of the biology lab, Alex Whitman walked up to me. "Can I have a word?"

"That's my cue," Kyle said, flashing that trademark grin and turning to go. Well, thank you very much Alex. That was my chance to try to steer the conversation back, now that we weren't in class anymore... but maybe it's better that I didn't, after all.

"So... what can I do for you, Alex?" I sighed.

"Meeting at lunch, my progress report with project Quantum," he whispered. Oh, right... that. I'd almost forgotten about my little idea what with all of the Max/Liz stuff.

"I've already talked to Max..." Alex continued. "He wants to come, but will stay back if it would be awkward for you."

"Why would it be awkward for me?"

"That's just what he told me." Alex must have been able to tell that that line wasn't cutting any ice with me. "Okay, Isabel mentioned that you and Max were in an awkward place. But I don't know any of the details."

I sighed. "Well, I think I'd be okay with Max there. I don't want to cut him out of my life or anything, after all." Pause. "Who else is coming?"

"Um, me of course, Isabel and Michael."

I nodded. "That it?"

"And you and Max. Why??"

"Would you mind if I invited Kyle? He's got a devious mind that may come in handy."

Alex considered a moment. "Fine by me, and I don't think any of the others would mind. Except possibly Kyle himself," Alex chuckled. "Ooh, I'd better be jetting. See you, eleven-fifty, 'the usual place.' And he took off.

To be continued...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 5
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Max):

"Okay, um, thank you all for coming," Alex said quietly. We were all gathered around a picnic table near the barbecue joint out near the highway... the same one that Michael, Isabel and had been occupying when I told them that I'd let Liz in on our secret, I suddenly realized. The very table. We came back to this place every so often. Of course, the table was a lot more crowded today. "I, um, assume that we're all familiar with the objective."

"'...make an ass out of you and me,'" Kyle quoted succintly. "I dunno about anyone else, but I for one have no clue what I'm doing here. As usual."

Tess jumped in to remedy that. She was sitting next to Kyle, having made no attempt to get remotely near me when we were taking our places - more like the opposite. Not typical for her, but probably predictable considering what I told her yesterday evening. "It's about the Book. Remember... remember the time I took you to the library?"

"Umm... yeah, actually," Kyle said, blushing a little, undoubtedly remembering that day. I had the uncomfortable feeling that I might be flushing a little myself - Liz and I had gone to spy on Tess and that Kyle for that trip; Liz had argued that the only reason that Tess would have chosen to go anywhere with Kyle was to get our attention, to send a signal to me. She had done that: I could still remember Tess there in the library, standing on top of a chair in the last stack, Kyle steadying her from the ground, as unseen to him she reached into a hidden handprint and brought out the Book.

"We can't read it, but we think it holds some of the answers we need," Tess explained. "There are these big crypto-super-computers in Las Cruces that can supposedly translate unknown languages - if he can get them, Alex may be able to use them to translate the book."

"*Might,*" Alex corrected Tess with a smile. "But first, I would need to get access and learn how to work with the Quantum machines. They're under the sole access of a highly exclusive research project at UNM Las Cruces."

"So..." Kyle thought about that, and turned back to Tess. "You can't just mindwarp him in?"

Tess shook her head. "To create a truly realistic framework to convey the illusion that Alex belonged there without any basis of reality would require a lot more precision control than I can lay claim to. For one thing, I can't think of any way to do it without creating false memories - and though I've experimented with doing just that by mindwarp, I haven't gotten to the point where the results are terribly convincing yet." She smiled feebly.

"Max's notion was to find something that would be of value to the project," Alex put in. "I think that's our best shot, it's the way research groups like that tend to work, though most may not admit. If a lowly high school student from Roswell, New Mexico is part of a package deal that's advantageous to the project, he'll quickly become part of the project." He smiled slyly. "If he wants to be, at least. I've managed to drag up three things that we might conceivably be able to deliver... all of them are relative long shots, but no-one said this was going to be easy, huh??" He took out a letter-size printout and passed it to Tess, who happened to be the next around the circle to his right.

"A recognition equation for language forms," she read off doubtfully, and looked at Alex.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Given a string of characters - any kind of characters - encoded as numbers, a simple scheme to measure how much it does or doesn't look like a language. Like something that was all the same character repeated over and over again wouldn't qualify, or something that was too equal in its distributions." He shrugged.

Tess passed the sheet off to Kyle, who scanned it himself, and then picked up where Tess had left off. "Two, build a longer quantum chain. Alex?" He waited for the explanation.

Alex nodded. "The computers use quantum chains to solve tens of thousands of equations at once. But processing time is still at a premium, and for each additional quantum added to the chain, it roughly doubles its multiprocessing power."

Kyle passed the sheet along to Michael, but he didn't move on to the third point. "And how are we supposed to discover anything like that??"

Alex groaned. "I don't know! This is a brainstorming list... and I had to work pretty hard to come up with this much." He looked around to make sure that no-one else was within whisper distance. "I mean, god, you guys are the aliens! With molecular manipulating powers, I might add. Why's it so hard to believe that you just might be able to come up with a longer quantum chain??"

Max reached out and took the sheet from Michael. "And this is just a preliminary list, right, Alex?" Alex nodded, a little warily. Whoops, I'd kinda put him on the spot there, hadn't I? "I mean, other things may pop up, right??" No big response. I looked down and read the third item out loud. "Generalized algorithm for simplifying a symbolic logic stream."

"That's the key to the whole process," Alex said slowly. "They use a hypothetical translation of the language to build an insaely complicated stream of symbolic language from the sample text. If they can simplify that stream, they can use it to generate a meaning, but there's no straightforward way of simplifying symbolic l..."

"Can I be excused?" Michael muttered, waving a hand sarcastically. "My brain is full." Kyle and Tess didn't seem to be paying much attention either, and Isabel's look of rapt attention was probably the mandatory girlfriend variety.

**Why the heck SHOULD he be helping us out,** I wondered to myself. Alex is going to all of this trouble for the four of us, and they can't even be bothered to listen, never mind help out.

Alex nodded slightly, and Michael got up and left the table. Kyle followed suit. Tess looked around and pulled a paperback book out of her bag, opening it halfway into the saga of Geomancer.

After a few long seconds Alex and Isabel gt up too. I hurried to catch up with them.

"Alex, man... I'm sorry. I think they want to help, but things were just getting a little too jargon-y. Why don't you take the weekend off, recharge your batteries?"

Alex exchanged a shy glance with Isabel. "That was pretty much the plan anyway. But thanks, man." He smiled at me. "I do understand. It's just... frustrating, ya know?"

"I do." Pause. "Well, I think I'm gonna go back to campus. See ya later?"

My sister's arm was snaking around Alex's waist. "Yeah. I think we're going to hang here for a while," he said. Isabel waved gooddbye with her other hand.

I looked back towards the table. Michael and Kyle were tossing an old football around, and Tess was totally wrapped up in her book. I thought about going up to her and asking her if she wanted a ride, but what Isabel had said easlier about Tess being deeply hurt by my rejection rang in my ears. Probably better to give her some time come to terms with things before trying to mend the fences, so to speak.

So I got into the Jeep all by myself and drove off. There were another two of 'our' cars here, and five people yet. I had come over by myself. Everything would work out fine.

But somehow the drive seemed a little lonely.

The lunch break wasn't nearly over yet, so the hallways of West Roswell High were pretty empty. Not deserted... every so often you'd see someone searching through their locker, a student or teacher quickly making their way from point A to point B, (wherever those points might be,) someone sitting on the floor with a small puddle of homework spread about them, or the odd couple stealing a little quiet time.

And then, across the corridor from my locker, about fifteen feet towards the bio lab, her attention apparently riveted on a Shakespeare text, was none other than Elizabeth Parker.

Neither of us said anything or even made a gesture of greeting at first. But I could feel her watching me as I opened the locker and started looking for my geography binder. "Liz."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to wait nonchalantly in this particular stretch of corridor for half an hour?"

I smiled and turned around. The book was closed now, held at her side, and she was walking towards me. "Surprised it was worth the trouble."

Liz smiled warmly and didn't reply to that directly. "So, what did you rush off for in such a hurry?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I could see your taillights on my way out of english, as it were," Liz's smile seemed a little more bittersweet now. "Headed in the direction of the west parking lot. It didn't seem worth trying to stop you."

"Oh." I looked into Liz's face, she didn't seem to be angry, just maybe a little disappointed in not being able to spend more of her lunch hour with me. Or was I reading too much into this out of hope? "Big meeting at Chico's taco stand. The computer project... um, did anyone tell you about that?"

"Yeah," she nodded, looking straight into my eyes, and it was like I could see that old spark, just a little. "Alex filled me in last night. I begged off helping - not really great with computers."

"I don't think any of us are, except for Alex," I admitted. "We can still use all the help we can get."

"I'll think about it," she said, so softly it was almost a whisper. She was close enough that if I reached out I could touch her now, but I didn't. "I didn't wait for you here to talk about the latest Czechoslovakian caper, you know." Now she was whispering indeed, but I could hear her without any difficulty.

I closed me locker door. "No, I didn't think you had," I whispered in agreement. "Why *did* you wait??"

"Because you waited for me," Liz replied softly, and then shook her head slightly at the cheese factor. "What you said last night... I understand what you mean. But... but I'm not ready for anything but a new beginning, and a slow start. Until I know in my heart that it's right, that you really were meant for me. Or maybe more to the point, me for you."

"I can live with a slow start," I murmured, hoping deep down that I really could. "How about we have lunch tomorrow? Is that slow enough?"

"Ye---" Liz looked at me apologetically. "Yes, it would be slow enough, but I can't make it tomorrow. Plans with Maria, 'girl's day off' kinda thing. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I assured her.

"Sunday?"

"Uh... sure, sure. I would't miss it. Umm..." What's a good place for a nonthreatening Sunday lunch? Isabel had mentioned something... "The olde towne restaurant? One-thirty??"

"I will meet you there," Liz agreed, a big grin on her face.

"You sure? I mean, I can pick you up, if you want..."

"No," Liz replied, a little too quickly and definitively. "I mean, I can get there fine," she assured me a few seconds later, much warmly.

"I can't wait," I said, smiling. "So, umm... can I see you at the Crashdown tonight? Not for a thing," I quickly disclaimed. "Just in the mood for a Galaxy Melt and hanging out with an old friend."

Liz smiled. "I'll be on shift. And you know you're welcome any time."

I smiled back, and looked for a new topic. "Hamlet?" I waved at the book, still clasped between the fingers of Liz's left hand. "Are you covering that in your AP english class?"

Liz shook her head. "No, as geeky as it sounds, I'm reading this on my own."

I nodded. "Cool. How'd you like it?"

"It's interesting. Title character kinda reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on who..."

-------

(Michael):

"I got it... I think." Completely caught up in the primeval race between earthbound man and airbound football, I almost didn't realize that the race path was leading straight towards an off-angle collision with the picnic table until too late. At the very last instant, though, I was able to modify my dive so that it would carry me onto the bench seat butt first. The ball sailed into my waiting arms, my rear end and back registered their complaints about seperate impacts on the bench and table, and my right arm accidentally nudged Tess slightly as she read. "YESS!!!"

"Hey!" Tess countered, emerging from 'Geomancer' with a sour look.

"Sorry." I looked back the way I had come, and Kyle was jogging in our direction, an exhilarated look on his face. "Nice *get*, man!! Oh, the squad could use you!!"

I laughed at the thought. "Yeah, because I'm SUCH the team sports type, huh?" Kyle nodded, acknowledging my point.

"Hey, what time is it?" Kyle looked around a little, then bent down to peer at the watch on Tess' wrist. "Ooh, almost fifth period. We'd better motor, man."

"Yeah." I looked around and realized that Alex's car and the Jeep were gone, and Isabel was nowhere to be seen. She must have left with one of them - probably Alex, of course.

"You wanna ride, Tess," Kyle was asking as he got his keys out.

"Duh!!" She groaned. "Do you think I wanna be stranded here all afternoon?!" Double take. "Actually it's tempting, because it's an excuse not to have to go to afternoon classes. But no." She picked herself up and headed over towards Kyle's car with us.

After a second or two, it occured to me that I was forgetting something. Then I realized what it was. "Shotgun!!" That earned me another glare from Tess, but so what? Kyle and I were, wonder of wonders, getting along pretty well right now, and I didn't want to get stuck in the back seat. If Tess had a problem with that, she should have called it herself.

-------

(Alex):

I checked the clock on the stereo as I pulled up in front of the Evans house. 3:59 on the dot. I smiled and got out of the car, and met Isabel about halfway up the front walk.

"So, since they're *so* important for the surprise, how are my pants," Isabel asked with a grin, and spun about slowly. She was wearing some kind of khaki pants - close fittng but thick and solid - so perfect for what I had in mind that I wondered if she'd figured out the big surprise.

"They're fine," I said with a smile, kissing her on the cheek. "Shall we be off?"

"Not without a better kiss," my sweetie replied with, amazingly, a straight face. She proceeded to deliver a quite thorough kiss hello on the lips.

"Well," I mumbled, and smirked at her. "Now that that's taken care of." I waited until she had opened the passenger side door and stuck one foot inside the car before I snuck up behind her and looped the over her ears and across her eyes.

"Alex!!" she squealed in surprise, trying to tug the blindfold off, but I held it tight and stayed out of the way behind her. "Alex -- is this *really* necessary?"

"It is if the surprise is going to go perfectly," I told her earnestly. "Otherwise, you seeing where we're going could spoil the secret. Now, we can do without it if you insist, but..."

"Okay, okay, okay?" Iz grumped. "Just tie the damn thing already." I looped the cloth into a square knot behind the back of her head, and watched as Iz lowered herself carefully the rest of the way into the seat. "Plus," I quipped before shutting the door, "I love the thought of having you all helpless, at my mercy." Isabel laughed at that thought. We both knew that Isabel wouldn't need any tool but sweet talk to reverse the ploy and have me at HER mercy, if she chose to. Hmmm... remember that idea for later. I have to admit, I loved it when Isabel sweet-talked me.

As I turned the corner off Isabel's street, she sighed. "If you're gonna keep me blindfolded like this, Whitman, yer gonna have to talk to me, or I'm gonna go crazy here."

"Well, if I HAVE to," I joked back. "Hmm, well, what should we talk about this time??"

"Something completely different," Isabel suggested. "Something you've never mentioned, maybe. Something I have no clue that you're interested in, maybe."

"Hmmm..." That was tougher than it sounded. "Lets out music... computers... you... graphic novels, perhaps??"

"That sounds good," she agreed.

"Um, okay. Er... well... I have to say, I'm not quite sure where to start."

"When did you start reading them?" Isabel prompted, and things started to fall into place.

"The fall I turned eleven. There was a comics cavern down the street from the junior high school."

"Yeah, I know the one you mean," Isabel agreed.

"You do?" I asked, surprised. "Ever actually been inside? I'm just curious."

"Actually, yes!" she said. "Back when we were in grade school, Max was a total comic book geek too," she laughed, and I could tell that the term was meant affectionately - for both Max and I, "and I'd go up with him when he wanted to spend some of his allowance. Back then, we were still a little nervous about being alone, without each other in public. Or one of our parents, or Michael." She sighed, smiling. "But this was supposed to be your story. Graphic novels?"

"Yeah. I'd been going up to the cavern while I was still in the junior school, just like Max, but when I was in sixth grade the owner started stocking graphic novels, and I thought they were so cool - like the perfect mix between comics and paperback books. The artwork - the storylines..."

"Have you ever tried to draw one yourself?" Isabel asked.

"Oh, no. Not the visual artist type myself. I've actually written a few storyline ideas that might work for a G N, but they'll never go anywhere."

"What's your favorite graphic series ever?" Isabel shot off next. She really seemed to be getting into the role of 'interviewer.'

I froze for a long moment, then realized that I had to tell her. "It... it's called 'Mission Infinity.'"

"Why did you hesitate?"

"I had to think about my answer."

"Not really - not like that," Iz accused. "You knew right off what the answer was, but had to hesitate before actually mentioning it to me. Why??"

Boy, she was good at reading my reactions - and blind, at that. "Well, the Mission Infinity series - it's about a group of alien lifeforms stranded in our solar system, and the young humans that they recruit to help fight off an invasion of *evil* aliens."

Isabel laughed "Okay, okay, got it. Well, tell me a little more about the storyline."

I'd gotten up to the first fight against the 'Red Rock Running' GORC when we arrived. I parked the car and walked around to Isabel's side. "Can I take this stupid bandanna off yet?" she griped as I opened her door.

"Come on, you've made it this far," I said as I helped her out of the vehicle. "Just a few minutes more."

"It smells like a farm," she noticed. "Alex, did you take me to a *farm*??"

"Not quite," I chuckled, though that had been a close call. I checked in as quietly as I could, led my blindfolded girlfriend over in the direction indicated, and checked to make sure everything was as perfect as possible before uncovering her eyes.

"Horses!?"

"Yep." The first glimpse Isabel got of my surprise were the two horses I had reserved, standing in their pen. Th lady I had called this morning at the stable had assured me they were great ones, and they certainly looked it. "Surprise." And I kissed her.

"We... we're going riding? That's the surprise!?"

"Part of it, yeah," I said, a mysterious tone in my voice. "You *do* know how, right?" I knew she did - I'd heard from Max about Iz taking riding lessons when she was younger and even going up to a horse camp in the summertime.

"Do *you*?!"

"Oh, don't worry about me on a horse," I assured her. "I've got a few surprises up my sleeve yet."

"Okay... I call him!!" She pointed to one of the horses gleefully.

"Umm... but Isabel -- that's the stallion."

"So? Don't tell me you're one of those people who think that people can only ride horses of the same gender! I called him. You get princess over there." She laughed.

"Okay, okay, you win." I climbed over the stile, packed a few essentials in the mare's saddle bag and managed to mount - a bit unelegantly, but it worked. Isabel jumped off the fence onto Thunder's back.

"Okay, mister 'Surprise,' she called out while Thunder trotted around happily in a circle. (I guess any guy of whatever species would be happy enough, having Isabel in such close contact with him.) "Where to next??"

I didn't answer while I led Bluefall (the mare,) over to the gate and the attendant let all four of us out. "The path we need to get on is down there." I pointed, even though I knew it couldn't be seen... across the dusty desert plain you could just make out a hint of the grassy valley that we would be riding down into.

Iz shrugged. "Okay." And we set off. After a little bit, as I managed to draw up beside her, she asked "So, how about you spill. I never would've thought of Alex Charles Whitman as a horse person. How did'ya learn to ride??"

I smiled. "It was about five years ago, actually. My dad got a grant to study, um... well, it had something to do with immune responses in animals of the equine family. Trying to understand why they can't come up with vaccines to some particularly nasty infections that horses can catch.

"He pulled me out of my first year at Woodrow Wilson junior high, and we went to this Equine biology research centre northwest of Albuquerque for more than nine months. The place was like one huge ranch, except instead of farming or herding or being there for tourists to go to or whatever, it was meant for scientific experimentation. It wasn't long before I was learning how to ride - it was one of the only things to do around there, and the only way to get around. I haven't ridden much since we got back from there, but I guess I haven't forgotten that much." I smiled a little.

"Wow." Isabel was silent for almost a minute. "I never guessed at any of that stuff - I don't think I even realized that you weren't in school with us for nearly a year, though I have to admit I didn't really know you back then."

"Or I you. It's okay." I could still remember the first day I paid attention to Isabel - the second day of freshman year at West Roswell High. She had left junior high graduation the spring before a lanky, tall tomboy and returned a teenaged, nubile lovely.

"So your dad's, what... a zoologist??" Isabel asked after a long moment, breaking me out of my daydream.

"Immunology is his specialty."

She nodded. "And what's he doing in Roswell, when he isn't getting grants and dragging you to the far corners of the state??"

"He's in research and development for PharmTech." The drug company was one of the lesser-known big employers here in Roswell.

"And... before you guys moved to Roswell??"

I had to think about it for a second. "Associate professor at U S C, I think. Why??"

"Well, now I think I have a notion where your brains come from," she said teasingly. "I dunno, somehow your dad never seemed that formidable. I know I've only met him a few times, and he seemed nebishhy, but not... you know." I think I shrugged, and Isabel continued to search for the right words. "Not no-kidding-around SMART."

"Well, I'm not sure if you aren't jumping to a few conclusions to call my dad's brain 'Formidable,'" I laughed, "but I'm not sure I can disagree with the conclusion either. Maybe you should get to know him a little better and make your own decision."

"I'd like that," she said, nodding. "Oh, hey, there's the path."

There, indeed, it was. We cantered over and carefully started picking our way (or our horses' way, I suppose, since they were doing the bulk of the work,) down the slope. "You know, you should mention some of your ideas to Michael," Iz remarked casually.

She had lost me completely. "Umm -- my ideas about what??"

"For a graphic novel. He doesn't like to make a big deal of it, but Michael really does have quite a talent with sketching when he sets his mind to it."

I was stunned. "But, well... taking as a given that he'd be able to draw a graphic novel, what makes you think he'd be interested. In one of MY ideas, in particular??"

Isabel shrugged slightly. "Call it an intuition. I know how incredible your ideas tend to be, and I know what Michael likes. Just think about it, okay."

"Uh... sure," I agreed as we continued on into the valley.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 6
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: chrisk@fanfiction.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Maria):

I was in high spirits as I blew in through the front door that day after school. Well, until Mom called out my name from the living room. Then I got a sinking feeling.

"Um, I've got homework," I fibbed. Well, actually I did, but it wasn't like I was really about to do it Friday afternoon before dinner, really.

"You can do it later. This is important, Maria."

I hung my bag and my jean jacket up carefully, buying as much time as I could, and slowly walked into the living room. Sure enough, mom had serious face. I carefully lowered myself into a chair, wondering what it was this time. Another lecture about all the time I'd been spending doing 'homework' with Michael without actually having much homework to hand in to school? The thing with Brody? Had she figured out something about Arizona?? Or had someone squealed about the junior class prank??

"Now, I've spoken with Grace about this," Mom starter, "and though she's disappointed, she understands where I'm coming from with this decision." Hoo, boy, this sounded big. She was talking discipline over with her best girlfriend, now? What, had she decided to put me into Saint Agatha's for my senior year??

"Maria, it would mean so much to me if you'd agree to be my maid of honor." Mom blurted out.

I had already rehearsed a boilerplate objection well enough that I got as far as: "Mom, that's totally unfai... WHAT??"

"I know you probably think it's corny or 'camp' or something to have my own daughter standing at my side, but..." she sighed and stretched out a hand to, ever so gently stroke my cheek. "There isn't anyone in this world that I feel closer to. And there isn't a person in this world that I'd rather share this honor with. Please say you'll do it."

It was a long time before I could work up the presence of mind to say anything at all. And then, what was there to do but say, "Yes. Yeah, mom, I'd love to."

She beamed. "Great." A quiet moment. "You wanna go out for dinner or something? To celebrate??"

"Can we afford to?"

"Maybe not, but who cares?" Mom smiled, and I knew that somehow everything would be all right.

"Okay, sounds good to me." I smiled. Needed to remember to be home in plenty of time for Michael to pick me up, but that'd be okay, right?

-------

(Max):

I could tell that there was a goofy grin on my face as the crashdown bell rang out above my head. I couldn't wipe it away - maybe I didn't want to.

Agnes was... wait a second, did Hell freeze over? Agnes was actually talking to customers, taking an order!! Anyway, she was on the left side of the dining room, as I came in, so I slipped into a booth along the right wall, as close to the kitchen as one was free.

Sure enough, in just about a minute Liz came up to the table, smiling about as widely as I was, I think. "Good evening, sir. Would you care to order a drink to get yourself started??"

I just couldn't stop staring at her. She was wearing the usual uniform dress, of course, the pale bluey-aqua one with white fringe around the V neck, and she even had the alien antennae on. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and...

"Umm... that wasn't supposed to require that much thought. Uhh... Max??" I shook back out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just... never mind." I nodded at her, feeling a little foolish. "My usual."

Liz's slightly worried look vanished and she beamed. "Cherry cola, on the rocks. Coming right up." And she hurried off, so quickly that I couldn't get another word in.

I had only just opened up the paperback book that I had brought with me, though... (Forward the Foundation -- I knew that Liz would be busy working and not able to spend much time with me, so I brought something else to do,) Well, anyway, I had just gotten to page two when my cherry cola was placed onto the table in front of me.

"Why thanks, miss." I winked up at Liz. "By the way, when's your break??"

Liz pouted. "In a half an hour, but I won't be able to hang. Gotta run up to Penny Danning's place to give her some books for her history project, now that I'm done with them."

"Well... I could give you a ride," I offered.

"Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that," Liz admitted. She seemed indecisive for a moment, but then shrugged. "Hey, what the heck. I'd rather not have to walk all the way up to East twenty-third street and back again." She looked into my eyes. "Thanks, Max."

"You're very welcome," I told her. "Ohh, someone wants you, I think." Down the row I could see some other customer trying to flag Liz down.

"OOps --" but she didn't turn away, quite yet. "Ready to order, sir??"

"Ummm..." ooh, better not get anything much or I might not be done by the time Liz's break was done. "Just an order of galaxy fries for now, thanks."

"Sure, right away." And then she was off, swinging by the other table first before taking my order over to the kitchen window.

The galaxy fries arrived before Hari Seldon had fininished his briefing with Yugo Amaryl, and after that was the Joranumite rally and the argument with Dors Venabilli. I admit I lost track of time somewhere in there.

"Okay."

"Okay, what, Liz??" I asked, taking a note of my place and closing the book.

"Okay, I'm ready to go, driver." I looked at my watch - sure enough, half an hour had passed since Liz had first met me at the table.

She looked different too. Liz was still wearing the uniform dress, but she had her coat on overtop and the googlies barette was nowhere to be seen. She had an armful of heavy-looking books with her.

"Okay, ma'am," I quipped. Soon we were in the front seats of the Jeep and peeling back out of the Cafe's parking lot. "So... Penny Danning, huh??"

"Um, yeah," Liz said, shrugging slightly. "I don't know her that well, just to say hi to, and talking about school assignments and that kind of thing."

"Ahhh." There was a brief silence. "I guess none of us really have normal friends, at least not any more, huh??"

"Yeah, I guess not," she agreed. "That's just kind of the way it goes."

There was another awkward silence, and then we were approaching Penny's place and Liz was giving me the directions, and Liz ran out to deliver the books, and there wasn't really a chance to talk until we were on our way back again.

"So, ummm..." I muttered, and then sighed. "Trying to think of something to say that wouldn't be a downer. As you might guess, no luck."

Liz laughed, that laugh that almost does sound like a bell, and that always makes me fall for her again. "Well... any big plans for this summer??"

I sighed and made a turn. "Naw, not really. Probably working a lot of extra hours at the UFO Center. Gots' ta get paid, ya know??"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that."

"Of course, if things go well, I hope to be spending a lot of time with a certain waitress from the Crashdown, if you know what I mean," I teased.

"I'll make sure that Agnes keeps her schedule open."

"Liz!!" I swatted at her with one hand, but only got seat belt. "Seriously... you took off so quickly last year, I never got to share summer in Roswell with you."

"Maybe we'll get to spend summer someplace else, too." She sounded wistful as she said it. The travel thing. See the world. Would I always be stuck here, babysitting the Granilith??

Sooner than I expected, it seemed, we were walking back into the cafe. I headed over to re-take my seat - only to realize that a couple of junior college students seemed to have stolen it. Fortunately, there was another booth free, two down.

"So, ready for dinner now?" Liz said, wipping out a menu and taking off her coat.

"Not until I see alien antenna," I joked.

Liz sighed. "Okay, okay... I'll go in back and g--"

She had started to turn away, but I reached out and touched her hand lightly, and she stopped. "Sheesh, that was a joke."

The look on Liz's face said 'We are not amused,' but her tone of voice was still friendly. "Okay, then, what are you having?"

"Comet tails, Saturn rings and a phaser blast," I rhymed off. The comet tails were a kind of grilled chicken strips.

"Comin' up, sugah," Liz quipped, and dashed away.

When she delivered my food, the googly eyes were back, of course.

-------

(Alex):

"Are we there yet??" Isabel called out teasingly as her horse carefully picked its way down the valley trail.

"Almost," I said, and silently urged Bluefall up to a slow trot. I wanted to make sure that we would be there before the sunset well started.

And then... there we were - practically. The trees on each side seemed to fall away, and the valley spread out before us, and the desert beyond. The sun was just staring to think about nudging seriously close to the horizon.

And not more than eighty feet away, there was a flat plain in the middle of the hillside, and it was there that I led the way -- tied up my horse on the rail that had been set up for exactly that purpose, and grabbed a few tasty carrots out of the saddle bag as a treat for her. Isabel and Thunder were right beside us by that point, of course.

"Oh... oh my god, Alex," Isabel breathed. "It's so beautiful... and how did you get this all set up ahead of time??" Three log benches were arranged in a triangle around a spot that had obviously seen many campfires, and fresh wood was arranged and ready. A cooler and a picnic basket were sitting just past one of the benches.

"I didn't actually do much by myself," I admitted. "A lot of this has been here for years, and the specific prep for us, tonight... well, I called in a favor." I smiled at Isabel, shooting for 'enigmatic'. Isabel's horse was tied up and munching on his own treat by now. "You wanna help me get the fire going?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Isabel shot back with a grin. Stretching her arm out with a dramatic gesture, she pointed her palm at the teepee of wood - and a strong flame burst out among the kindling, setting the tinder burning brightly. The old coals glowed slightly, and there was no mistaking that the larger pieces of wood were starting to burn slowly.

I chuckled and blushed, a reaction which always seemed to set in when Isabel used her powers so obviously in non-life-and-death situations, especially when I wasn't expecting it. I did tend to forget that she was capable of stuff like that.

Soon we were roasting hot dogs on sticks over a roaring campfire, and watching the sunset. Isabel was sitting beside me on one of the benches and kind of leaning into me, and I had my left arm around her. It was a perfect moment.

"So... how did you find out about this riding... ranch?" Isabel hmmed in slight frustration. "Riding stable? What do you call it anyway??"

"I think riding stable," I confirmed, "even though there's obviously a lot more to the operation than the stable. And to answer your other question, a guy in the computer gaming club at school told me about it."

"Really??" Isabel turned to look at me sidelong. "I didn't think those gaming geeks ever went out and got fresh air, never mind riding."

"They have a horseback capture the flag game every Sunday afternoon," I explained. "It's very popular actually. You wanna come back and play sometime??"

"Maybe, but not this weekend I don't think," Isabel said quietly. Turning her wiener critically, she brought it out of the fire for a closer inspection, and stretched over to grab the bag of buns. "You gonna leave that in there??"

"Little longer," I told her. "I like 'em well done."

"Well, you leave it in there much longer and it's either gonna be a cinder or burst into flames," Isabel replied. "Or both."

"Nah, I haven't been sticking it right down near the coals like you."

Isabel just shot me a look and suddenly I decided that if I kept pushing the issue, my hot dog WOULD burst into flames or turn into a cinder or both - even if Isabel had to use her powers to do it. I dropped it, and Isabel started annointing her dinner with the ritual tabasco. Soon I was munching away on mine too.

"Well, I've shared a lot about my life since I came to pick you up this afternoon," I told her jokingly. "How about it's your turn now??"

Iz considered that. "Well, there's ALREADY a lot you know about me that very few people do, Mister Whitman."

"Not that. About your normal life."

"Well, let's see... I like everything to be just so, especially at Christmas. I was a cheerleader in junior high,.. Love history... used to collect--"

"Wait, what was the one before that??" I said with a smile.

"Oh, the history thing??" Isabel chuckled softly. "I dunno, ever since I was a really little girl, I've loved reading about the past. I devoured all of my mom's old college books, even articles from my dad's encyclopedia. It didn't matter whether it was american revolutionary, napoleonic france, england in the middle ages... I soaked it all up."

"I wonder if part of what drew you to history was that you didn't have a connection with your own past," I whispered softly.

"Yeah. That's what my dad said too," Isabel agreed. "But he didn't mind - he was just glad I was reading something, I think. And I used to play make-believe about being a historian and discovering something really amaxing that nobody knew anymore had happened. Interviewing people, looking through old books..." She smiled. "It sounds corny I know."

"A little, but that's good," I teased back. "I'm tired of being the dork in this couple."

Isabel swatted me playfully. "Alex!! You're not a dork!"

"Sorry, but I had to make you say it."

Another swat, a little harder this time.

-------

(Tess):

I felt so nervous as I walked up the street towards Max's place. This was practically the first time we'd spoken since he told me he was chasing after Liz again. According to the hybrid grapevine, they had a lunch date for Sunday, so I guess that plan hadn't completely blown up in his face.

But I'd realized something today. True love or no, I loved the fact that Max and I were actually getting to know each other, and I didn't want to stay away from him forever. And well, that's why I was walking over to his house late on this particular evening.

When I actually caught sight of the house, my jaw dropped wide open. Not because of the house, I should clarify, it wasn't anything about the actual house the startled me. Just something that came into view at the same time. Whoops, I should say someONE.

It was Max, of course. He was out in the driveway, an outdoor floodlight illuminating the area, shooting hoops into one of those little home basketball... net things. I'd never really thought about Max as a jock, and I guess he's not, but I gotta say, he looks pretty incredible when he's in action. Graceful. Strong. Powerful. A little sweaty. All that good stuff.

He didn't notice me at first. I walked a few paces down the driveway and kept watching him. He dribbled down to a particular point, then turned around and mimed facing off against an opponent. He kept bouncing the ball for a moment motionless, then faked left, broke right (or something like that,) leapt up into the air, and let the ball leave his hands while he was at the peak of his flight. It bounced once against the rim, then against the backboard, and ever so slowly it fell down through the net.

I must have let out a 'yeah!!' of enthusiasm, because he turned and looked at me. "Well!!" He blinked in surprise at seeing me. "Umm... well, what are you doing here??"

I said the first thing that came to mind - well, it was something I had been thinking about on the way home. "Well, it's been a few days since we've done a memory session, so I was wondering if you wanted to get back to it??"

"Ohh. Ummm..." Max only had to consider for a moment. "Actually, no, I don't think I'm going to be doing those any more."

The announcement, as unimportant as Max tried to make it seem, knocked the breath out of me. There was no question as to the reason behind Max's decision. "Because *she* doesn't like it."

"W... Well, you can understand why. It's something that she associates, with... well, with the two of us."

"Oh- okay." I turned away instinctively - at least, I don't think I was really meaning to go anywhere. I felt something grab at my wrist - Max's hand.

"Don't go. We can go inside and watch television or something."

I could feel the sweat on his hand, not much of it, just a little. "And what if Liz tells you that she doesn't want you doing that either??"

"Then I'd tell her that she was over the line," Max said softly, and I looked up at him. I could actually see my reflection in his eyes -- something about the way the light was behind me I think -- but that didn't help me know what Max saw when he looked at me. "I know that there's no love lost between you and Liz. But..." he sighed. "I love Liz, but you're a part of my life. Liz is going to have to accept that." His tone allowed no alternatives.

I smiled gratefully. "Okay." He turned to lead the way in. "You better get yourself cleaned up a little." OOh - didn't really need that internal picture.

-------

(Liz):

The night ended up slow... of course. As soon as Max took off, I actually had some free time that I could have spent with him, if he had been there. When I was finally off shift, I headed into the back - and there was something poking through the grille of my locker in the back room. Note paper.

"Hey, was someone in here??" I called out to Nicky in the kitchen.

"Yeah, um... some guy," Nicky said unhelpfully. I took out the paper and started to read:

Hey, Liz.

Well, I've heard. I can understand why you weren't in a big hurry to tell me - or maybe you were just trying to figure out how to break it to me, I dunno. You and Evans are trying it again.

I'm happy for you. I wouldn't have thought I would be, but I really am. Hope things work out well for the two of you. I know you wouldn't have said yes if you didn't know that some part of you still loved him. I really like you Liz, but I'm not gonna stand in the way of that.

I hope that we can still hang out and be friends, but I'm not gonna push that. Come by when you want - I'm not going any where.

Sean.

I opened up the locker, grabbed my t-shirt and headed upstairs to change, smiling.

* * * *

"Oh, right," I asked Maria, kicking myself mentally for not bringing it up earlier, like on the drive here. "How was the blank cheque date with Michael??"

"Ohh... alright I guess," Maria sighed a little. We were both lying in the mud bath now... definitely a weird sensation, with this goop covering all of my body up to the neck. "Wasn't as much fun as I was expecting it to be, I guess."

"Oh, why not??"

"I dunno. The movie wasn't that funny, for one thing. Too fortysomething." Maria sighed. "And I realized that getting the upper hand over Michael isn't really cool unless he's trying. He just gave me this. Takes all the challenge out of it."

"Ah well," I sighed. "What's next after this??"

Maria thought about that a second. "Up to you - shiatsu massage? Peach oil body wrap??"

I laughed. "The peach oil is tempting... have you had the massage??"

"Of course. DEFINITELY recommend it." Maria laughed. "Okay, so... you ready for your big date with Max tomorrow??"

"Maria!!" I couldn't help but sigh a little. "Yeah, I'm ready. That's why I said for it to be Sunday... and in the middle of the day." I chuckled a little.

"Have you got something special to wear?? This really is something of an occasion."

"IT'S LUNCH!!"

"It's your big reconciliation lunch. I'm not saying inappropriate... just something that looks good, in a tasteful way. Make him pleased that he went to all this trouble - remind him what he loves about you. Apart from your beautiful soul, of course." Maria smirked over at me.

"Oh, Maria." Somehow I couldn't muster any more than shaking my head at her.

* * * *

(Kyle):

"Oh, hey Tess." I had walked into the living room, and she was just kinda sitting there on the couch, staring out the window.

It took a long moment before she seemed to realize I was there. "Oh!! Hey, Kyle." She shook her head and smiled at me. "What's going on??"

"Oh, not much here. How're you holding up? I know you're going through a rough patch with Max..."

"Not as bad as it could be," she insisted. "But yeah, it was a big disappointment." She paused for a moment. "Any idea where your dad is??"

"Over at his fiancee's place," I shared, sitting down on the couch. "They're going over plans and stuff, and I think we all know what the *stuff* entails." That got a laugh out of Tess, at least. "Oh, I got asked to be an usher, by the way. You may get tapped for a horribly ugly bridesmaid dress."

Tess smiled at that too. "Did he say who he was asking to be his best man??"

"Yeah, Owen Blackwood, which doesn't surprise me. He's been one of my dad's best friends for years. Though, I have to admit it's an odd image to picture old deputy Blackwood and Maria walking back down the aisle arm in arm, as maid of honor and best man." Snicker.

"Well, that's the way it goes I guess," Tess agreed. "So, do ya wanna do something??"

Hmm. "Like what?"

Tess shrugged. "I dunno, we could get out the old gamestation and play some cloudquest or something."

I sighed. "Okay, okay. I'm bored too."

-------

(Max):

"So, you actually think you can do it?" Michael deflected the air hockey puck just instants away from it slipping into his goal. "Date Liz, stay friends with Tess, and keep the entire situation from melting down??"

"I've gotta try," I muttered after sending Michael's shot back at him with a side to side bounce, and we started volleying it back and forth. "The weird thing is, I think Liz wants Tess to be okay with the two of us dating more than I do."

"Well, you know I'm wishing you the best of luck, man." Michael grunted with exertion as he ricocheted off one of my slapshots right back at me. "I'm just glad that there isn't nearly that level of angst anymore between Maria and me."

"Oh, right, how did the movie night go last night?" I *reached* halfway across the table to do a stunning zigsag shot, and Michael brushed me away slightly.

"None of that. Oh, the movie?? I think I liked it better than she did, which is weird since it was her choice. But she had her fun afterwards." Michael laughed softly.

Suddenly the puck came rocketing across the table at me, and I just wasn't prepared for it. I should clarify at this point that we were both playing without the paddles - using only our kinetic powers to bounce the puck back and forth. It's a really good training exercise for accuracy and mental endurance. and I gratefully let my balance cycle down for a rest as I manually fished the disk out of the little metal basket on my side of the table. "Okay, that's four to two for you."

"Getting slow, your majesty," Michael smirked. "So, any news from Alex about the quantum computer thing??"

"Nope. He's taking a well deserved weekend off."

"With Isabel."

"Well, they were out horseback riding last night and they've got the big concert tonight. Aside from those two dates, I don't think they've been inseperable." I put the puck back down on the air hockey table, close to my goal, and psyched my powers back up again. "You ready??"

-------

(Isabel):

The doorbell rang, and I hurried up and through the front hall, excited. Alex's mouth dropped open when he saw me.

"W-w-wow," he managed after a moment. "You... you look --- incredibly hot!!"

"Well, thank you." I had taken the opportunity to dress up a little - it wasn't every day that my boyfriend takes me out to a rock concert - well, Beth Orton is more on the folk rock side I know, but still.

I was wearing my tight black leather pants, a red spandex halter top, and red four inch heels. I had put on a thin gold bracelet, corkscrew earrings with little rubies at the ends, and a choker with a blue topaz hanging from it. My hair was down, just slightly curled, and I was pleased that Alex appreciated the effort.

"You look pretty sexy yourself." Alex did, too. He was wearing tight black jeans, (not *too* tight,) a wife-beater top, and his hair was spiked up a little more than usual, with gel. "How are we doing on time??"

He looked at his watch. "We'll be alright to grab some food before the show starts, if you want."

"Hmmm." I thought about that. "Yeah, I could eat. You wanna go by the Crash??"

Alex considered that himself. "Yeah, okay." He smiled and extended his arm to me as I stepped over the threshold.

We talked about trivial things on the way over to the cafe - school assignments, old times. (A year and a bit ago, which is about as old as old times get for the two of us.)

"WHOA!!" The shout rang out as we walked through the front door - well, as I walked through. I verified the source of the exclamation... Kyle Valenti - and waved teasingly at him as Alex and I walked up to our favorite booth, which was fortunately empty.

Maria came up to take our order. "Hello, strangers, welcome to Roswell," she chirped, supressing giggles. "Y'all in town for the big concert??"

"Yeah, yeah, very funny DeLuca. I get it," Alex replied.

"How... how do you know my..." Maria pretended to fan herself in shock. "Alex?? Isabel?? Why, I didn't recognize you two, trashed up like that."

"Don't pay any attention to her, Alex," Liz called over. "I think you guys look great, and I *know* that Kyle agrees with me."

"Who looks great??" came Michael's voice from the kitchen.

"Okay, enough of all this," I said, cutting though the hubbub. "We're in a bit of a hurry. Umm... I'll have a galaxy burger, a cherry coke, and... Alex, do you wanna share an order of saturn rings??"

"Sure," he agreed. "Galaxy burger for me too, no pickles, extra tomato, and a lemon soda."

"That'll be comin' right up, dahlings," Maria mugged, and sauntered away. I grinned at Alex, and soon we were playing the word association game while waiting for our food.

It came pretty quickly, and we ate in silence for a little bit. About a minute or two after the burgers had come, I heard steps coming up to the table and a throat cleared. "Good evening," a deep, suave voice sounded. "My name is Michael and I'm your chef this evening. I just wanted to come by and ask if everything was perfectly satisfactory."

I groaned. "Take a good look at the outfits, Michael, and then go away." I posed a little, stretching out on the seat.

"It's not that," Michael insisted, though I saw his eyes roaming across my figure a little. "I just wanted to come and wish you a great time at the concert. Nobody deserves it more than you two." He rubbed my shoulder with brotherly affection and gave Alex a high five.

"Thanks, man," Alex told him.

Soon the meal was over, we paid up at the counter, where Liz offered us her congratulations as well, and then quickly drove over to the county hall. There was a long line of ticket-holders waiting to get in, of course, and I started to get bored as we stood in the queue.

"You know, it's weird -- I got the weirdest sensation about this concert this afternoon," I mentioned. "Like... like a premonition, or something, except a bit vaguer. It was the strangest feeling."

"Oh, really?" Alex whispered into my ear - another strange feeling, but a good one. "What was it about, or could you tell??"

"That we... that we might not have made it here," I whispered back softly, aware of the people all around us.

"What, like the car might have had a bad flat tire or you might have taken too long to get all dressed up?" he teased me.

"No - more fundamental. Like we might never have gotten back together. Even maybe... like something horrible might have happened to me. Or to you, I guess."

"Huh." Alex frowned a bit about that thought. "Well, we're together, we're both fine, and we're here, right??"

"Oh, yes," I agreed. "Definitely."

"Then let's make the most out of it."

Soon after that we reached the gate, Alex surrendered the tickets to get torn in half and accepted the stubs back, and we started inside to figure out where our seats were.

"So, did you really mean it??" I asked as we looked up an aisle to see if the seat numbers fit a pattern we could use. "That you wanted me to come up to Las Cruces this summer?? Assuming that you get in, that is."

"Well, of course, what, am I really going to turn down the company of my beautiful girlfriend while I'm in exile??"

I grinned a little. "Well, it might be a little intense. A little bit of a commitment. Spending all that time, out of town together. Of course, if we're boyfriend and *girlfriend*," and I couldn't entirely choke down a giggle here, "then I guess that shouldn't be as much of an issue, should it? It's just... well, we've never talked about that, have we??"

"What, going steady?" Alex blinked. "Ummm... well, I guess I kinda thought it was a little early. We've only been together for a few weeks, after all. But... I'm up for it if you are, I mean - are you kidding?? Like I've really had the jam-packed social schedule, apart from you."

"There was Leanna, in Sweden," I reminded him. "Ohhh, I think we're here."

"What??" I pointed at the row that would contain our seats. Pretty good location, too.

"So, um, yeah. Leanna. I mean, that was fun, but it was totally a summer love type thing, except in the winter time. I mean, really, dating a girl who lives more than five thousand miles away?? New meaning to the term 'long distance relationship.'"

"Ahh," I muttered as I sat down, feeling a little disappointed. Is that the only reason Alex chose me? Geographic proximity??

"Plus," he whispered in my ear. "You've spoiled me for dating human beings, Isabel Evans." I'm sure I blushed.

The warmup act came on about then - some Texas folk band, they seemed pretty good. We grooved along, and then there was a break before the headliner was ready.

"So, what do you want to do after the show," I whispered to Alex.

"Umm... don't have any ideas. You??"

"Yeah, I've got a notion," I giggled. "But I'll tell you later. Oooh, something's happening."

An announcer had walked on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen. all the way from Norwich, England... BETH ORTON!!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 7
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: chrisk@fanfiction.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Kyle):

I took another deep breath, my eyes still closed, and hummed softly on no musical tone. I'm not kidding you; I was just about to achieve a profound awareness of my connection to the cosmos when he spoke to me.

"Kyle -- I'm sorry to bug you but I need your help."

I cracked one eye open. "No worries, Max: if I really wanted to meditate undisturbed, I should have picked a more private venue than the Crashdown Cafe, huh?"

"Thanks, man." The sarcasm flew right over his head, unsurprisingly. "Come on."

I groaned as I stood up, picked up my two books, (the latest in my series of Buddhism primers, and a volume of Edgar Allen Poe poetry, which I've discovered is conducive to an awareness willing to look beyond the material world.) "Where are we going?" I asked, a bit peevishly I admit.

"I'll tell you once we're on the way," Evans said unhelpfully. His Jeep was in the Crash parking lot, of course, and it didn't take long for the two of us to board and Max to get us under way.

"So?? I think we're on the way."

"Okay." Max nodded. "There are reports on the internet that strange 'blue glass crystals' have showed up on the ground near Glencoe."

I got as far as "So, why the hell do we c..." before the point got through. Blue crystals. "Gandarium?"

"That's what we have to find out," Max said.

"And if that underground river beneath Frazier woods continues west..." I realized.

"It would pass pretty near Glencoe," Max finished. "Since you and Alex got the best look at them from inside the cave, I thought you might be able to help sort the situation."

"What were the odds that out of Whitman and I, he'd be the one who gets to go out on a hot date with a fast blonde and I'm the one who's free for chasing down killer alien crystals," I complained. Okay the odds weren't that much in my favor, considering how little dating action I'd seen this year, but still...

"You might want to rethink that term," Max commented, "consider that it's my sister who has the pleasure of Alex's company this evening."

"Huh??" Ohh... the fast blonde line. "I might, but I won't," I quipped. There was an awkward silence after that.

"So... just the two of us riding into unspeakable danger??" I sighed.

"Well, this might be bad luck, but I don't really expect danger," Max sighed. "Nobody's been attacked by these things in Glencoe yet. If there's any problem, we just boot out of there and call for the cavalry."

"Hmmm... and why didn't we bring the cavalry with us??" I mused out loud. "Michael... is on shift and you don't think this is worth getting him in trouble over. Your darling sister... as we mentioned earlier, off on a hot date. Tess... well, I guess you're still feeling awkward around Tess and don't want to spend a huge amount of time around her in a car."

"Maria and Liz, see above under 'on shift,' and possibly a bit of 'feeling awkward' in Liz's case, since you guys haven't had your big lunch..."

"Your point being??" Max snapped, a little annoyance in his voice.

That I'm the only one Max seems to be willing to inconvenience for this 'important mission,' himself included?? No, that isn't really being fair - I do have special knowledge to contribute, and I really wasn't doing much this evening. "Sorry man, just running my mouth off. No big."

"S'alright, man." Short pause. "So, what's new with you, man?? Aside from all this stuff with your Dad and Maria's mom?"

I sighed. "Not too much, unfortunately. I need to get myself a life."

"Along the lines of what??"

Thought about that for a bit. "Not really sure. A date wouldn't hurt... even a girlfriend. And a non-alien related way to spend my time. Maybe a job that I can actually stand..."

There was a really awkward silence at this point, which got less awkward but no less silent. And then we were passing the sign that marked the town of Glencoe.

I'm not even going to detail the hours, literally, of searching ground for little blue crystals using flashlights. Don't exactly recommend that to anyone. Long story short, in the end we found some, approached one very carefully, and started poking at one very carefully.

"No response, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything," I reminded him. "There's only one way of being sure to get a rise out of these guys." I brought out a little glass jar.

"You're prepared," Max said, nodding in the flash light. "Knew I brought you along for a reason."

"But that's the question," I told him. "Are we ready?? These gandarium guys are all connected. If we try to suffocate this one, his buddies might rise up in anger, and there's a lot of them around, and your powers don't work on them."

"Hmmm..." Max thought about that. "Go back to the car first?"

"Protection, a little distance, and the ability to hopefully outspeed them? Yeah, I wouldn't say no to that."

So we did just that... the car was parked a few minutes' walk away. Got in, turned around to face the best escape route, arranged the rear windows as best we could... "Okay, we're just stalling at this point," I noticed.

"Okay, man, go ahead." Max gestured again.

Talk about an anticlimax. I sealed out little blue friend in, and nothing. No jumping around or anything. We both stared at it for a long moment.

"Do you think it's already dead?" I asked.

"I dunno, thought these guys crumbled into powder when they died, or melted or something." Max looked at it. "But it doesn't seem to be breathing."

I nodded. "So... what do we do now??"

-------

(Alex):

"So..." The show had let out, and as Isabel and I approached my dad's car in the parking lot we were both still pumped up from the rush. "Where to next?"

Isabel got into the passenger seat and thought about that for a moment. "Not really hungry again... wanna go back to my place and hang??"

Her tone was sexy and teasing, but I realized that she could have suggested my place, where there were probably no parents due till morning, if she really wanted to be alone with me. At the Evans house, Max would probably be around, and maybe her parents too. But I didn't feel any real disappointment about that... right now I just wanted to be around her. "Sure, sounds cool."

And yes, there were a few lights on in the Evans house as I pulled up to a parking spot on the street not far away. We headed up the front walk and Isabel used her key to open up the door.

"Huh," she muttered after standing still in the vestibule for a few seconds.

"What is it?" Isabel moved aside to let me get in, and I realized that she was holding a little post-it. "Mom and Dad: all-nighter study session with Kyle V. Love you. Max."

"On a saturday night?" I said doubtfully. "Pulling an all-nighter before his big lunch with Liz?!"

"Max doesn't even have any classes with Kyle... well, except for Health, and nobody ever needed to pull an all-nighter for that," Isabel continued.

"Can you think of any place that Max would leave a message for you alone??" I asked, curious about this minor mystery. "Where your mom and dad wouldn't, or couldn't, find it?"

"Do you think the real story might be alien-related??" Iz asked idly, and I nodded and shrugged a little. "Well... there's the answering service on our line. Don't think mom or dad know the passcode." She hurried upstairs, and I followed, checking out the bootie on the way. (Hey, in those pants it was practically impossible not to.) Iz put on a sudden burst of speed when she hit the second floor and by the time I got to the door to her room, she had already finished dialing in.

"Yeah, there's a note from Max..." she confirmed softly. "Something about blue crystals in Glencoe that almost definitely *aren't* gandarium, but he's checking them out anyway."

Ahh... that explained the Kyle Valenti connection, kinda. I kept standing there, expecting Isabel to get off the phone, but she didn't for a while, listening and pushing a button or two every so often the way people do when they're using an answering service. Finally she took a soft breath and hung up.

"What was the rest about?" I asked quietly.

"Mom and Dad," she said, indicating a chair opposite from where she was sitting on the bed. "The reception went late and they're both a little tipsy, so taking a cab to a motel there in Clovis." She looked up at me, those deep and rich brown eyes locked onto me like a cruise missile. "Nobody will be back here before dawn. We have the whole house to ourselves." She laughed deep in her throat, a sexy laugh. "Whatcha wanna do about it??"

I must have made quite an idiot out of myself in less than two seconds without saying a word, because she grinned at me and shook my head. "Wasn't supposed to be a scary question. Tell you what... why don't we get out of these fancy concert clothes -- you can change into some of Max's old things, I'm sure he won't mind. Then I'll whip us up a couple of cappuccinos and we can talk over coffee... how's that??"

I had to smile. "It sounds great, actually."

So... well, that was exactly what happened. Comfy clothes and frothy coffee down in the Evans kitchen. I picked a big T-shirt and some jeans that I didn't think Max would mind me wearing, and Iz was wearing casuals that were actually almost the same, allowing for the differences in styles for guys and girls. She smiled at me over the cup that she had taken her first sip from.

"Okay... my first thought was this," she started. "We've got a fairly unique opportunity here, and it's tempting to wonder just how far we could go with it. But I'm sensing that you're a little uncomfy with that line of thought."

"A bit," I allowed. "You know me... I'm the cautious type." Iz laughed softly at that. "You know how much I feel for you, but... we've only been together, really, for what, a week and a half?"

"This time," Isabel allowed. "Though I'm not sure that I'd really want to put forward last year as evidence that we're mature enough and have been through enough to handle an, er, 'adult' relationship."

I smiled back wryly. "Right now I don't feel like anything more carnal than a good old-fashioned make-out session... which isn't to say that I don't have a fantasy to play out involving the two of us in an empty house."

Iz quirked an eyebrow at me. "Ohh?? And what might that be??"

I thought of how to say this without sounding too corny, then gave up and just blurted it out. "I want to lie down and hold you in my arms all night long... that way maybe I can wake up and really believe that you're not just a dream."

Her eyes twinkled and she made that quiet breathy 'aww' sound, and I knew that I'd scored some romantic brownie points... not that I really cared at the moment. "Well, all that *definitely* sounds good to me. So. ummm..." she hesitated. "Anything else, or should we get to the old-fashioned makeout session??"

I laughed. Pure Isabel... and she was grinning at me teasingly. "Finish coffee first," I reminded her, holding up my cup, which was still more than half full. "And... I don't think you ever finished telling me about your passion for history."

-------

(Maria):

I sighed, reached out to my night-table, grabbed the cordless phone handset, and punched speed-dial one. After the string of quick tones beeped their way through and the ringing sound came and went once, there was a click and a soft 'Hello?'

"Hey, it's me, Maria," I said quietly. "I know it's late... did I wake you up??"

"Naw..." Michael's voice was a laid-back drawl. "I was still up... writing a letter to Laurie, actually... there's been a lot recently to catch her up on." Maria smiled at that thought. "I kinda thought you'd be catching up on your sweet dreams and beauty sleep by now, though... isn't it after one thirty??"

"Don't I wish I were," I complained. "I've been trying, but I just can't get to sleep. No idea what's wrong."

"So you thought you'd call... and if I were sleeping you'd wake me up to keep you company??" he teased.

"I... I was going to hang up if you didn't answer on three rings," I countered, more than a little lamely I know.

"It only takes one."

"Not with you... you sleep like a sack of dead potatoes, spaceboy, I know from experience. Takes a lot to wake you up."

He laughed softly and dropped the subject. "So... whatcha wanna talk about??"

"Not sure," I said. "Mom went out to dinner tonight with her *fiancee*." I pronounced the word with an excessively french accent. "I kinda think they're in the need of some more alone time... like an all-nighter, or a weekend away together. The thing is..."

"That they've got two and a half teenage kids, and they need to be ultra-careful about the example that they're setting," Michael finished with a snort.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Personally, I don't see what the big deal is... they're engaged, they're in love, they've known each other forever. And, as you pointed out, they've got households to run, and people to take care of. Why shouldn't they get a little time for each other... and a chance to do what we all know that they want to?"

"Beats me," Michael said. "So... we're both off-shift tomorrow night, right?? You wanna do something, grab dinner and go out for a drive or something?"

"Sounds great," I agreed. "Oh, we can go up Winston Road and park on the point... watch the sun go down - whatcha think?"

"Sounds beautiful," Michael agreed with a sexy laugh. I think he's finally figured out how sunsets make me feel romantic, heheh. "Do you want to eat first, or afterward? I need to know when to pick you up to catch the sunset."

"Umm... not sure if I care-- after might be easier..." I started, and then something registered. "Michael, we're not taking the bike. *I'll* pick YOU up, in the Jetta. Mom owes me some wheel time."

"Yeah she does, and you don't need to use it with me," he told me softly but certainly. "I'll see to the wheels, don't worry. *Not* the bike."

"Umm... okay," I whispered. I kinda liked this take-charge Michael Guerin. "So, we'll eat after... do you know when you'll be picking me up?"

"Call you tomorrow, little past noon, and let you know?"

"Sounds great to me." All of a sudden at that moment a tremendous yawn let itself out of my mouth. As it died away I could hear Michael's tender laughter over the line.

"Sounds like calling me worked on your insomnia," he observed aloud.

I checked myself for a moment... it's possible to yawn big and loud and still not feel sleepy, after all, but he was right. Something had relaxed me thoroughly, and I felt as if I might drift off to dreamland before I even hung up the phone.

"Yeah, I think you're right," I admitted. "Write hi to Laurie for me. Sweet R-rated dreams, spaceboy." Ohno! Had that actually just come out of my mouth?

But as far as I could tell in my suddenly foggy state, Michael seemed amused and intrigued. "You too, babe."

"G'night," I managed before putting the phone back somewhat shakily onto the nightstand and stretching out under the covers. That's the last thing I really remember before morning.

-------

(Max):

"Okay... I think that that's enough," I finally admitted. "They're dead, they're all dead, everybody's dead Dave."

The Red Dwarf reference got a chuckle out of Kyle, as I had hoped it might. We had gone back and forth, putting nine more Gandarium crystals to the suffocation test, with no different results. "So for some reason, Glencoe is covered with dead Gandarium."

"Seems so," I admitted. "Either that or they're a completely different kind of crystals."

"I don't believe that one," Kyle told me. "These things almost killed me... I can tell it's the same thing, or it was before it died. I can smell that much?"

"Umm... literally?" I took a cautious sniff.

"No!" Kyle shot back, and then paused doubtfully. "At least I don't think it's literal." He sampled the aroma of the air himself. "No, it's not *literally* a smell, it's a vibe, okay?"

"Sure, fine," I said, glad enough to agree with him on this. "Dead gandarium they are. So the question becomes... what do we do next?"

"Trying to clean them all up would be a huge job, and I'm dog tired already," Kyle observed. "Is there really much chance that someone can find out something they shouldn't from the... bodies? Like unshakeable proof that they're the remains of alien life forms that could be used to create alien-human hybrids?"

"Umm... I dunno," I admitted. "We never did find out that much about the Gandarium except for what Larek said, and he didn't cover bodies."

"Well, let's take it back to basics," Kyle said, unscrewing the lid of the jar. He took out the crystal and handed it to me. "You spent untold hours upon hours staring at these things through a microscope, right?" I nodded. "And saw some pretty strange stuff. Well, I noticed that you threw the desktop model scope into the backseat before you dragged me off on this jaunt - take a good peek, and see if you can see any of the same stuff."

"Actually, that microscope's been in the car for nearly a month," I confessed. "I keep meaning to take it back into my room, but you're right, that's a good idea." I looked around. "We'll need a space with a little more room and better lighting, to make any decent observations, though. Not to mention some privacy."

"Hope you've got enough cash for the motel room, then," Kyle quipped.

-------

(Tess):

I can very vaguely remember drifting back and realizing that I was awake again, lying on my stomach in Kyle's room. (I've gone to sleep every night in this room for seven months plus, except for field trips... but I still never think of it as mine.) I groaned softly, turned over, and blinked until the softly blue glowing letters of the LED clock came into focus. 3:46 am.

I had been dreaming. The thought came to me suddenly, and continued to bounce through my brain as I sat up, wrapped the big huge quilt around myself to ward off the chill of the desert night that always seemed to blow its way into Jim Valenti's little house, and stood up. As an afterthought I jammed my feet into the cute little fuzzy pink bedroom slippers that Amy DeLuca had given me for Christmas, and plodded on out into the hall.

What had the dream been about? At first I couldn't remember anything more than the nebulous but quite definite sensation of having been dreaming, which I've always found frustrating. I headed into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator.

One tiny slice of raspberry ripple cream cake was still sitting in the box. I knocked it over onto a plate, reached up into the cupboard for Worchester sauce to anoint it with... and had a very intense impression flash into my head. Max!!

So the dream had been about Max. (Finished sprinkling the cake down and grabbed a fork.) Well, Max but not quite Max. Er, not the Max I knew exactly, but somehow, quintessentially Max regardless. Was it about Zan and me, back on Antar?? No, that didn't seem to quite fit either.

I settled down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table in the darkness, trying to relax and let more of the dream come to her, since concentrating intensely on it would be almost certainly self-defeating. Took a bite of the cake and smiled at the mixture of fruity and savory flavours.

Loss... a sense of incredible loss had suffused the dream. I had lost Max... except that now that I thought about it, I wasn't exactly me, or I hadn't been in the dream. (Why not?? I've lost Max in real life, haven't I? And after having seemed so close to winning his heart...)

Well, if I hadn't been myself in the dream, then who had I been? Ava? No. Liz??

Yes, that fit my impressions of the dream. But why should Liz be so sure, in the dream, that she's lost Max? She's GOT him, or as good as. The big starting over date would happen today, and somehow I was sure it would be a success.

The cake was almost finished by now. Well, I guess the dream didn't really seem to be about the here and now, come to think of it. (Pretty crummy excuse for a dream, all vague feelings and presentiments. I prefer the ones where I'm a frickin' Amazon princess, even.) But yeah, it could have been about the past, sure. Like... well, I guess like last fall, when I was pulling out all the stops to make any kind of an impression on Max, (I admit that much,) and he caught her with Kyle. Hmm...

So, what did the dream mean?? Was it some subconscious hit of guilt because I had tried to take Liz's boyfriend away... and made her life hell for about a year, to be honest?? But hey -- Max was *my* husband before he was Liz's girlfriend... wasn't he??

And then, a new thought struck me. Was it possible that I was dreamwalking... that I was reliving a nightmare that Liz had been having about the past?? It didn't seem likely. I've never dreamwalked before... I'd tried several times, actually, and it's never worked. From what Isabel's said, it isn't really like dreaming... you go into a dreamwalk from being awake, you literally walk around in someone else's dream, and you remember it very well afterwards, because you were awake at the time, not sleeping yourself.

Of course, there was that weird stuff in January with Michael's 'sister' Laurie, when she was being held captive by Grant/the-queen, but that wasn't really dreamwalking, I don't think. It was more like she was getting long-distance flashes, some of which happened to come in while she was asleep.

Was I getting flashes of what Liz was feeling??

I wandered out into the living room. The couch was empty.

"Kyle, where the heck are you??" I asked. His jacket was missing - come to think of it, I didn't remember him coming home last night.

-------

(Alex):

When I woke up, the twilight was just starting to glow at the edges of Isabel's window.

The make-out session had been every bit as hot as either of us could have hoped, I think. Lip lockage, hot and heavy. Buttons unbuttoned, hands everywhere. The kind of necking frenzy that's a staple in teen melodrama and you so seldom have an opportunity for in real life.

After all of that, I expected that it would be difficult to... to relax and get any sleep, if you know what I mean. (Okay, I took care of a little business in the bathroom, and I think Iz might have as well - not sure about that - but still. Side note: I did think about asking if she wanted me to... to do it without leaving the room, if she wanted to watch, but I guess I didn't have the nerve. Maybe it's better that way anyway.)

So, where was I? Oh... expecting it would be difficult to relax and get any sleep. But something weird happened... as I lay there with her, this strangely peaceful sensation seemed to roll over me like a wave. It might have been all in my imagination, it might have been something weird and alien. (And yes, I know, I've actually fallen asleep with Iz in my arms before, but that was a very different situation, hiding out in the warehouse, and we were supposed to be taking turn watching the monitor for any sign of activity in Tess and Ed Harding's house. Not that there we didn't end up both asleep near the end, but the point is... definitely a stressful night, which may be a factor.)

Anyway, it was a very pleasant if slightly numb sensation, and I started to get really sleepy very quickly. This may sound really corny, but when I was really dozy it kinda felt like it was Isabel's love that was washing around me and surrounding me. I was hardly aware of my body any more, and I hardly missed it.

Now, as the morning threatened to break outside... well, not threatened, but it was as if morning was starting to talk tough and brag a bit... anyway, most of the magic had worn off, though I still thought I felt a trace of harmony and one-ness with the universe. On the other hand, there was a restlessness deep in the back of my mind somewhere, and I carefully slipped my body out of Iz's embrace and headed out to the upstairs den that Isabel and Max shared. (Must be nice to have a successful lawyer for a father... the Evans house is really pretty fancy, though it doesn't look like much from the outside.)

I'd have to ask Isabel whether she felt anything like I had while we were falling asleep... though I might want to be vague first so that I could abort instead of looking like a total idiot if she had no clue what I was talking about. Hmmm... making some kind of nice breakfast would be a cool idea too, but not yet really. I sat down at a desk and began to doodle around with the linguo-semantic algorithms that I'd learned out about while researching the Quantum project. I'd been working on them so hard all week, but after the briefing yesterday at lunch had kinda self-destructed, I'd done my best to put them out of my mind and concentrate on relaxing - and on Isabel. Now I guess they were bubbling back into my mind.

I'm not sure how long it took. I don't even remember anything much other than the vague sensation that something incredible was falling into place. I do remember staring there and looking at the sheets of paper, four of them, my handwriting covering them in the dim lamplight. "Oh, my god. I don't believe it."

"What is it, Alex??" By some cosmic coincidence, Max was standing at the door to the den, or maybe he had been waiting there for a while, watching silently until I had spoken. Isabel was just behind him. I wondered briefly if Max had jumped to the wrong conclusion about what I was doing there so late at night, or really, early in the morning, but right now that was almost totally beside the point.

"Um, err..." Without being able to put a proper word together, so much as a sentence, I got up and passed the papers to Max. He scanned them, but the confusion was immediately visible in his eyes.

"What the heck is this??"

"It's..." my voice broke, as if it could hardly stand to say the words. "It's what's gonna get me into the Quantum project. It's an algorithm that I'm almost certain they're desperately searching for."

"Where... where did you get it??" Isabel asked softly.

"He came up with it himself," Max guessed, with more than a touch of pride. "All this time you were looking for what was almost beneath your nose, Whitman. The answer was you."

"I could have told him that," Iz whispered, crossing into the room and wrapping an arm around me.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 8
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: chrisk@fanfiction.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Isabel):

"Hmm... anyone up for miniature sausages??" Max asked whimsically.

"No, thank you," I declared immediately. "We've got bacon in the nuke, that's quite enough fatty protein."

"Well, I won't say no to a few," Alex put in. "That is, if they're not too much of a pain to fry up."

Max thought about that. "I can throw in a handful between pancake batches."

"Sounds good to me," Alex agreed, fussing over the skillet with a spatula.

"Speaking of which, those are starting to smell really good," I mentioned quietly.

"They'll be ready in a few minutes," Alex agreed, lifting up one flapjack by a rounded corner to take a peek at its underside. "Until then, hold your horses, sweetie."

"I don't do the 'waiting thing,'" I teased, throwing a seductive pout in his direction. "Oooh... I'm gonna cut up that honeydew that mom bought on friday... that's fair game by now."

"Sounds good to me," Max agreed. "What about you, Alex? Are you a melon man??"

Alex dropped his spatula, his eyes wide. Max's face creased in confusion as Alex bent down to retrieve the utensil, and then a short burst of laughter escaped.

"What??" I asked, staring at both of them in turn. My Alex was pretty embarrassed, and not just from not being quite sure what to do with the spatula. Max had gone all chershire cat on us.

I got out a fresh flipper and gestured to the sink, where Alex quickly tossed the old one. "What's so funn..." Right then I figured it out. "Oh."

"I dunno," Max teased. "Not sure I approve of my only sister dating a guy whose brain is clearly in the gutter."

"Heh," I breathed in an obviously fake mimicry of a chuckle. "*YOU* don't get a vote, mine only brother." It was a cheap gag, and more than likely Max had, on some level, set Alex up for it on purpose. But I knew he loved Alex almost as much as I did, if not in the same *way*, of course.

Soon enough, breakfast proper was underway, and once we'd started eating, the quiet briefings began as well. Alex told us a bit about the computer al-go-rhythm that he'd worked out that was going to get him in the door at Las Cruces, (though there was little enough about it that either Max or I were really capable of grasping about it at the time.) Max asked him what the next step was.

"I've got the number and email address of someone in Las Cruces, courtesy Tess," Alex mentioned as he got up to check on the next batch of pancakes. "Someone who I don't think will be mortally offended if I drop a bomb like this on him on Sunday. I'll give him enough to make it clear that I've got the full answer, but hopefully not enough that anyone there can fill in the blanks themselves easily. See what the reaction is."

Max nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

Alex smiled, and brought the big skillet over to the table. "Pancake, sweetie? You didn't take any from the first batch."

"Huh?" It was a little hard to follow the question through the little pleasant shock from Alex calling me 'sweetie.' "Umm, yeah, two please, and could you grab the strawberry ice cream from the fride-freezer and toss it over when you get back over that way??"

"Umm... sure..." He served out my two pancakes, put one on Max's plate and the last on his own, and headed back to replace the frying pan on the stove. "Ice cream?" He retrieved said pink confection and quietly couriered if over, instead of throwing it as I'd said, and then returned to pour some new batter into the pan for the next batch.

"Uh, yep." I took a fresh grapefruit spoon and scooped out two tiny little dabs of ice cream, putting one on each pancake and smushing them down a little so they started to melt quickly, the runny mixture going all over, with a little help. I cut a one-sixth wedge out of one pancake, well annointed with melted ice cream, and popped it into my mouth. "Mmmmm."

"Huh," Alex hmmed. "I thought all of you guys' dietary quirks involved spicy stuff."

"Not all of them," I corrected him. "In fact, I feel as if lately the appeal of Tabasco has been wearing off. Maybe it was just a growing-bodies thing. How 'bout you, Max???"

"Ummm." Max thought about that for a second. "I hadn't really thought about it, but you could be right. Can't remember the last time I got a serious craving for a Tabasco-caramel fix."

Then Max started to tell us about what he and Kyle had really been up to all night. How he had found out about a sighting of mysterious blue crystals west of town; how he had recruited Kyle and the two of them had spent all night investigating.

"Gandarium??" I repeated, subtly horrified. Our prior encounters with the Gandarium had been one of the strangest things that had ever happened in Roswell, as far as I knew - and that was saying a lot. And what the Gandarium queen had done to Grant Sorenson... and how Alex and Kyle had nearly died in that cave. Not to mention the theoretical fact that they embodied a viral plague that would have devastated all humanity if they'd been able to finish infecting Laurie Dupree... that was a fact I'd repressed enough that I couldn't really grasp it at the moment.

"Maybe dead Gandarium," Max agreed slowly. "Kyle swears that they are. But I couldn't find anything to substantiate even that much. I cracked a few apart and looked at it through a microscope... tried to burn part of one, even ground a few into powder and tried a few basic chemical tests. As far as any of that indicated, they were just garden-variety blue quartz." He sighed. "Oh, and we tried to suffocate a bunch of them, just to be on the safe side. No reaction. So I decided it was safe to just leave the rest of them out there."

"I don't really see what else we could do anyway," Alex mentioned, "so just as well. With all of them out there... I don't want to think about what it would take to gather them all up."

"It wouldn't be that hard," I mentioned. "Not with..."

"That's what I'm talking about," Alex pointed out. "You guys doing your thing... in public, when just about anyone might see or take pictures. No thanks."

I thought about that, and quickly changed the subject. "So, dear brother mine... you've been up doing mad experiments on blue crystals all night?? And this is the big L day." I wasn't sure if I was saying L for love, Liz, or lunch, but the meaning was pretty clear in any case.

"Yeah," Max agreed. "I'm gonna be heading off to cra..." Suddenly, of course, just as he was in the middle of that sentence, something interrupted.

"Hello, Evanses??" Someone rapped on the back door, which Max must have left ajar when he came in, because it swung in about a foot or so.

"Uh, yeah??" I called out after a second.

The door opened further and in stepped Michael, with a little bit of Maria visible behind him. "Morning, Evanses... Whitman," Michael added, noticing Alex sitting at the table.

Suddenly, I realized how this must seem to them... the three of us having breakfast, quite early on a weekend morning -- and Alex was still wearing some of Max's old clothes. So it seemed like time for a pre-emptive strike. "None of your business," I warned him.

"Hey, wasn't asking... just brought Maria by to see if anyone was up for a little home-cooked breakfast... but it looks like you already beat me to it." He smiled.

"Help yourself," Max told Michael. "Hi, Maria." She had followed Michael in and swung the door most of the way back closed.

Michael was peering in the pancake batter bowl. "Not that much left," he observed out loud.

"Then feel free to mix up some more," I pointed out. "Maria, do you want some yogurt??" I'd tried to convince Max and Alex to try it, since I'd gone to all the trouble of cutting up a banana and strawberries to stir into it, but they'd stood firm.

"Oooh, with fresh-sliced fruit!!" Maria grinned and dug in.

"Hey, anyone he..." it was another voice at the door, and it swung open quickly to reveal... Tess. There was a moment's silence as she took in the scene... Max, Alex, Maria and I gathered around the table, Michael grinning at us as he measured out pancake mix... and her face fell. "Never mind. I didn't mean to bother you guys." And she stepped back, halfway out the door in a single motion.

Another moment of stunned silence, and suddenly I realized that I was getting up and rushing after her. I'm not quite sure why, or why it was me... I hope I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Maybe Max and everyone else noticed me going first and decided to leave it to me.

By the time I got out the door, Tess was halfway to the street. "Wait!" I called out.

She kept going for a few seconds, then half turned around and paused. "Why??"

"Because no-one in there wanted you to go away," I blurted out. "I understand that you're feeling awkward about the whole thing, but... we're just hanging out, having a big sociable breakfast together. Now, you were wanting to come talk to either Max or me, or you wouldn't have come here. What's scaring you off??"

"Well, Maria's never been my biggest fan," Tess admitted, turning the rest of the way around, "but I guess you're right. It was just... more people than I was expecting." She smiled. "And I wanted to talk to both you and Max... if that wouldn't be too much trouble."

"Uh, sure," I agreed, as Tess walked over to close the gap between us, and I turned around to walk with her back to the back door. "I mean... fine by me, but you'll have to ask Max. He was saying something about wanting to get some sleep."

"Oh, right, he was out with Kyle, checking out those crystal sightings," Tess agreed as we headed back into the kitchen.

"Yeah, how did... you spoke with Kyle??"

"Just a little, when he came in," she nodded. "Well, it's alright if Max can't join in. I guess it was really you I wanted to ask about this anyway..."

At this point, it was Tess' turn to be interrupted, because Alex called out "Think fast!!" and she had only about a second's reaction time to catch a large plate in her hands before it went sailing past her. As soon as the plate was secure, Michael flipped a big pancake up into the air in a perfect trajectory to land on it.

I won't go through the rest of the details of breakfast because, as fun as they were, they're not really relevant and I've kind of babbled on and on. Alex and Maria left about twenty minutes later to put in some face time with their families, and Michael settled down with our reference books to do some background research for his history assignment.

Max agreed to listen to what Tess had come to talk to us about, with the provision that he couldn't talk for long. She quickly told the two of us about the strange dream experience that she had had... full of emotional sensations and only very faint imagery. She didn't want to go into great detail, but put the first question to me quickly: did I think that Tess had accidentally been dreamwalking??

I thought about it for a bit, and told her no. I've had dream experiences myself that were like that, I think that everyone has. But when I dreamwalk someone, it's always as if I'm literally there, it feels very real. Even when I was dreamwalking Max in the white room, the scene was distorted around me, because he was so drugged, but I was somewhere. And when I had whatever dream-flashes of Laurie, that had been kind of similar, and not like what Tess had been describing.

"So, do you think this was just an ordinary dream??" Max asked her. "Or maybe... some new alien power or effect, not really related to the dreamwalking??"

"I... I really don't know how to tell," Tess admitted. "Well, Max, you'd better go and get your rest, I think."

"Yeah." He smiled at both of us. "I hope you figure it out, Tess."

"Thanks. Good luck with Liz today."

Both of us stared at her. "What, you didn't think I'd heard about that??"

Max was speechless, so I spoke up. "Well... not really, but that wasn't the shocker. Did... did you mean that??"

"What, the good luck??" Tess asked, and I nodded. She paused for a minute, getting it. "You know what? I really do. It hasn't been the easiest thing for me to accept, but... you deserve to be happy, Max, and if getting back with Liz is what makes you happy, then I hope you get her back. And..." Tess' voice broke a bit, and I could see tears brimming in her eyes. "And I think she deserves you."

Max stood there for a second, obviously touched. "Thanks." He hugged Tess quickly, and then took off.

"Um, so..." Tess turned to me, obviously trying to look far more together than she really was, yet. "Got any plans for this morning that I can bum along with??"

I only had to think about that for a second. "Actually, yes. I was going to go to church. Do you want to come??"

Tess didn't say anything for a long time. "You know... yes, I think I'd like that."

* * * *

(Max):

I waved the waitress away before she even took three steps towards the table with her water pitcher. For future reference, one reason not to show up for a date forty-five minutes early, especially if you were nervous to begin with, is that long before that time is up, you start to convince youself that the staff at your rendezvous location of choice is starting to think you're getting stood up. Either that or that you made up the part about meeting someone entirely. And even though it's totally crazy, you start to wonder yourself if the person you're meeting won't show up...

Well, live and learn. I thought that coming to the restaurant would make me feel LESS nervous. As you can probably kinda tell, it hasn't exactly worked out that way...

"Max?" The voice brought me out of my inner thoughts, and yes, it was *the* voice, the single most important one in my entire universe. I looked over, at Liz! (Yes, I think Liz Parker deserves an exclamation point for nothing more surprising or unexpected than being herself. Which is still pretty surprising to me, if not exactly unexpected by now... but I'm just babbling here in the parentheses.)

If it's okay with you, though, I'm going to spend a few paragraphs on Liz's description here before moving on. And if it's not okay with you... well, there's nothing really that you can do about it except skip ahead or stop reading. Plus, this was kinda the way it felt to me at the time, that my world slowed down and all that I was aware of was her.

She smiled at me and took off her coat, hanging it up on the hooks on the wall just past our table, and I could see that her dark hair was loose and straight except for a single, fairly thick braid that ran right down the back of her head. She was wearing a lightish blue skirt that went down almost to her knees, and a thin short-sleeved lavender sweater. Tiny blue jewels glittered at her earlobes, but her neck, arms and hands were free of any adornment, except for a plain gold ring on the second finger of her right hand.

She looked absoutely... um, what's a stronger word than gorgeous??? (Checks a thesaurus.) Is this all there is? 'Ravishing?' A good word for Liz quite a lot of the time, but not quite apropos. 'Exquisite?!' Not that she isn't, but it sounds like a little china figurine that somebody's grandma collects. Okay, I'm settling for 'really gorgeous,' but you guys are my witness that I tried, alright??

"Glad you could make it," I babbled enthusiastically as she sat down.

"Yeah, like I'd miss this," Liz shot back, a wide grin across her face. "Not quite one thirty by my watch... you weren't waiting long I hope?"

"Of co--" The denial kind of gurgled away in my throat. "I was too anxious to wait; let's speak no more of it," I urged.

She didn't completely manage to stifle a chuckle. "Of course. So what looks good?" Liz picked up the menu that had been sitting near her place for too long.

"Ummm..." I had definitely been staring at the menu for minutes at a time while waiting, but at that instant I couldn't remember a thing. Desperately I scanned through the entrees. "You could have a slow oven-baked pizza," I suggested after a few seconds.

"Hmmm... I'm kinda in the mood for pizza, but..." She definitely seemed more than uncertain.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Well, YOU know how I like my pizza," she muttered. I must have looked as uncertain as I felt, because after a short moment. "Pizza was meant to be... party food, you know. Long slices out of an *enormous* pie, loaded down with just about everything good in the world... plenty of cheese and sauce, and just a little oily around the edges." She grinned, and I smiled back, remembering this spiel, though I wasn't sure from when or where. "A place like this, though, is just going to make tiny little well-behaved, stuck-up-tight 'proper' pizzas, you know??" I nodded. "All tasting of flour around the crust and with each single piece of topping in its place. I'm not wild about SEEING the pizza come to that today, never mind eating it."

I smiled. "We could always take off and hit Mario's."

"We'd be a little over-dressed," Liz pointed out. "No, this place, as long as we steer clear of the 'za. Hmmm..." And she fell to examining the menu in silence.

I did the same, now looking for something that I'd like rather than attepting to make a selection for Liz.

"So, what were you up to with Kyle last night?" Liz asked conversationally.

"Umm, err..." I stalled out for at least two reasons. One was that I didn't know Liz, or anybody, had noticed me sneaking into the Crash last night to recruit Kyle's help with the gandarium excursion. Two, it wasn't really a question that I could answer here, though of course Liz had no way to know that. Three, I wasn't quite sure what I would say even if I could have spoken freely.

After a second or two's silence, Liz looked up from her menu, catching my gaze... and broke into silent giggles. "Tell me later?!"

I laughed quietly myself. "Count on it." Another short pause, and then I remembered one piece of news I should be able to convey safely, here. "Oh, Alex is getting in touch with Lax Cruces today. He thinks he's found a way in."

Liz blinked in shock, and then brightened. "Already!? He was telling me that it could take weeks or months."

"Well, he's our Scotty," I quipped. "Gotta divide all time estimates by eight, or more." I shook my head and continued again, more seriously. "He says he just woke up this morning and he had it... the idea for some brilliant algorithm." I was tempted to mention something about WHERE he woke up, but that fell too far under the heading of gossip. Wasn't really any of Liz's business what Alex and Isabel were or weren't doing unless one of them chose to confide in her... my own privilege to meddle, as Isabel's brother, probably didn't reach as far as I've been pushing it lately.

"Cool," Liz decided. "I think I'm going to try the broiled ham platter. You??"

"Gimme a minute," I said, and turned my attention back to the menu again.

* * * *

Lunch went fine. Liz seemed to really enjoy her ham and trimmings... I tried an oven-roasted chicken with fusili and tomato sauce, and we shared some sponge cake drizzled with caramel sauce for desert. (That was fun.)

After settling the bill, I didn't really want to leave things at that. The two of us were getting along pretty well, but there was still all kinds of awkwardness, unsurprising after everything that had happened between us in the last year. I didn't want to have the date end without a kiss goodbye, and I didn't want to make a move until the time was definitely right. All of my instincts were telling me that I had to wait.

Fortunately, Liz seemed to feel the same way, or at least to have no objections whatsoever, so we started walking past the shops and old buildings along North Richardson avenue, just enjoying the afternoon together.

"So... I think we're reasonably secure," Liz murmured softly. I looked around and realized that she was right. Nobody was particularly close or heading in our direction, and a soft conversation out of doors is generally one of the best ways to deliver private information.

"Okay, well, it's nothing to worry about... Kyle and I were checking out blue gandarium crystals last night, but they're definitely dead and as far as I can tell, there's no way to tell that they're of alien origin any more."

Liz thought about that for a second. "Elaborate," she asked quietly after a minute, so I told her more about the strange newsgroup posting on the nm.weirdness list (which I've been keeping my eye on for about two years,) and how Kyle and I had gone to Glencoe and seen the crystals littering whole fields.

"Hmmm..." Liz muttered, frowning. "I don't doubt what you said, that they aren't dangerous, I'm just wondering how they got there. Even if some of the gandaria's bodies didn't melt completely when the queen was destroyed, how would they have ended up like that??

"Umm." Liz was right, and I hadn't really thought about it like that. "Is there something percolating through that brilliant head of yours other than a vague general worry??"

"You know me too well," she muttered. "Just this: what if those blue crystals were planted there on purpose? To scare you, maybe spook you into doing something reckless? Like using your powers to clean up the mess and maybe getting yourselves exposed??"

"Wow." That seemed to make sense. "But who?? Who would know about the Gandarium and want to use that knowledge against us like that??" The list of suspects was short, and highly disturbing.

"Come on, I'm sorry I said anything about it," Liz said after a moment. "You can plan strategy later. Right now, you're all mine. Come on." I didn't argue, I let her grab me by the hand and lead me down the cross-street at a near-run for several blocks, until we got to the park.

"Oooh, what do you have planned now?" I teased her.

"You'll never guess." Liz led me to an arrangement of outdoor furniture not quite nestled underneath the line of trees that bordered the park... small seats each bracketing concrete tables, each of which had a grid of eight squared by eight in alternating colors centered. She had me sit down on one mini-bench facing the nearest table, she took the other, and started fetching small figurined out of a concealed recess... a set of chess pieces, both colors, and rather improbably complete. (Given that all of this was in public, and the possibility of a stray bishop getting lost or taken away seemed so plausible, but not about to argue with it.)

With my help, she arranged them all in the standard starting position, and then nodded at me. "Okay, your move??"

"You want to play chess??" I repeated, somewhat surprised even after all of this buildup. She gave me the puppy-dog eyes and a pout, which seemed to be a complete over-reaction since I was just checking, but it's a combination that I've never been able to resist. "Okay."

I moved the king's pawn two spaces forward and waited for her response.

* * * *

(Alex):

I lay down on my bed, pleased and breathing hard with the released tension. And then the phone rang.

For a second I froze. Had something gone wrong? Had they decided that what I had wasn't worth anything after all? I forced myself to calm down and pick up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Alex, I'm dying of suspense here." It was Isabel's voice. "What happened."

The sense of relief was so strange that I laughed out loud. "I've spoken with Doctor Pryor himself," I told her.

"The... the guy from those original reports that Tess showed us?" she confirmed a bit doubtfully.

"The very one," I agreed. "The head of the Quantum project. And he wants it. He may already want me for my own sake, but he definitely wants what I've got."

"That's great," Iz told me. "So what happens next?"

"He's coming up to Roswell to have dinner with my parents," I said. "Day after tomorrow, at which time I'm gonna do an informal walkthrough, and we'll discuss the idea of me coming up after finals and doing some work as a junior member of his team. Oh, and by the way, my Dad is really excited about this - he's taking me to get a notarized copy of my work put in his safe-deposit box tomorrow. He doesn't know the real reason why I want to get in there, of course."

"I should hope not," Iz told me. "Well, this is great!! Do you have any idea when you're going to be heading down to Las Cruces for real?"

"Umm..." I paused to take stock. "We're coming into the last week of classes, right??" Isabel made a little uh-huh sound of agreement. "Two weeks of finals after that... and I remember tha I didn't have any finals scheduled over the last few days of finals. If everything goes okay with Pryor, hopefully I can head off around then... Thursday two and a half weeks from now."

"Okay," Isabel said thoughtfully. "I took a look at available summer courses... art history and intro philosophy start in three and a half weeks, and my parents said it was okay if I wanted to enroll. The applications deadline is Wednesday."

"You sure about this?" I asked her. "Taking courses just to have an excuse to keep me company up there?"

"Well, not *just* to keep you company, I'll admit." Isabel giggled. "I'm looking forward to taking these courses for their own sake. But being on campus with you, hundreds of miles away from our parents, is definitely a bonus."

"We may get hundreds of miles away from our parents, but their nosiness will probably still be able to follow," I added. "My mom figured out that I'm dating someone, and Maria let your name slip. There's probably going to be a dinner invite for YOU in not too long. And I'm sure she'll figure it out if we both happen to be going to Las Cruces this summer."

"I know," Isabel agreed. "I'm not talking about anything that we couldn't tell our folks about... er, at least, anything we REALLY couldn't tell them about." She laughed softly. "We agreed we're not ready for that, right?? But... just to be near you, for all that time, and not to have to worry about all the little moments that are only embarrassing when your parents walk in..." She sighed contentedly at the thought.

"Yeah," I agreed, and there was a pleasant moment of silence. "So, what are you up to tonight??"

"Ummmm... oooh, gotta work on that history paper," she sighed. "I've been so excited about the concert and everything this weekend that I've fallen behind schedule. If I bomb out... well, then I wouldn't be graduating early after all."

"Good luck," I wished her. "I think I'm just gonna veg out, maybe surf the web a little."

"You deserve it," she assured me. "I wish I could do the same."

"'Bye."

"I love you, Alex." There was a short silence as those words hung in the air, and then the line went dead. I paused in thought, grinned, and stretched out on my back, letting my mind go blank, or nearly. Iz's face kept creeping in, which was no bad thing.

* * * *

(Liz):

The sun was setting over Roswell as we headed back down Main street towards the Crashdown. Max and I had spent all afternoon together... chess in the park, and a little cloud-watching, talking about all sorts of stuff as we wandered through the quiet city streets... Max insisted on going by Mario's to buy some pizza slices for dinner, after my little rant in the restaurant at lunch. The whole date had been... well, enchanting.

"Come on," I told him, suddenly excited, and led the way down the last stretch of sidewalk and along the side of the building until we had come to that familiar wrought-iron ladder. "I'm in a skirt, so you go up first." Max smiled at that, and headed up, and I have to admit I stole a peek, even through the fancy pants he was wearing were loosely fitting and didn't give me a very good view.

Soon, were were both standing... there. THE balcony. This was where we had had our first kiss, this was where I had written so many fervent diary entries ever since that day in the cafe when Max had saved my life. I looked up at the wall that had once born the blazon of his affections - a large red heart shape with an arrow sticking into it, and our initials, M E + L P. He had inscribed that with his alien powers the night I agreed to go out on a blind date with another guy... even made it glow. Of course, he'd been very drunk (which, for a hybrid, apparently takes only a tiny dose of alcohol,) and had been in control of neither his emotions or his powers.

All this and a dozen other memories swept over me as I stood there, just as twilight was sweeping across the city below, though a gorgeous trace of the sunset could still be seen. I turned to Max. "Do... do you have something to ask me??"

Max smiled a little. "I feel as if I've been doing all the asking, and all the chasing, lately. Shouldn't it be your turn?" he teased me.

I didn't argue, though it took me a long time to frame the right words. "Max, would you... do you really want to -- to try to start over again, where we... where we were, more or less, before things started to go wrong last spring??"

He smiled broadly. "Incredibly much, yes I would." And he stepped towards me, still a little tentative.

I nodded slightly, and that apparently resolved all of his uncertainties. In just a few short seconds I was in his arms, and I was kissing him, and one of his hands was up in my hair the way I always love, and...

And a wave of imagery rushed into my brain. I almost cringed, expecting something disturbing or unsettling, but it wasn't, this time. Not even anything new or surprising. Walking together, hand in hand, at the Meskaliko reservation, as Max told me something about him or Michael or Isabel. Heading into the cafe, the morning we had found the orb, the time my parents very nearly grounded me for a decade after they found out I'd been out all night with Max.

And... and something new, but still not disturbing, or at least it didn't seem so. Max and myself, still, this time standing together on the path heading up the mountain towards the pod chamber. Everyone was there, kind of watching us -- Michael, Maria, and Tess further uphill, looking down. Looking upwards from down the hill - Isabel, and Alex, and Kyle. Jim Valenti, and Amy DeLuca, and even... not Tess again, surely. Possibly -- Ava?? She didn't look like Ava the last time I had seen her, but somehow I think it was her.

I couldn't tell what was going on between Max and I -- I knew it was significant, possibly pivotal, but there wasn't any movement or sound. Just a snapshot picture, or a rotating perspective actually, while the scene remained perfectly still. And then it was gone again.

"Did you..." I mumbled without breaking the kiss. "Did you see anything??"

"No," Max muttered, flicking his tongue against the outside of my lips. "Just felt you. Did you get a flash?"

"Yuh-huh," I replied as he swung me around against the wall. "Tell you about it later."

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 9
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Alex):

"Good morning!!"

The first thing that I was aware of was hearing the words. The second was two fingers touching my forehead lightly in a zig-zag pattern... as if each contact were a footstep walking across. Then the brush of soft hair against my right cheek, lasting just a second, before it was swept back away.

I took a moment to wake up more fully, and opened my eyes. "Isabel... what are you DOING here??"

As her face slid into some approximation of focus, I could see Isabel grinning. "What do you think, silly... giving you a proper goodbye."

Oooch. "Don't remind me," I muttered - probably a little grumpily. It was June seventh, and a little later this morning, my Dad would be driving me down to Las Cruces and helping me move into a residence room at the university that had been arranged by Doctor Pryor and the quantum project. Isabel would be going up as well, as we'd agreed, but not for nearly a week -- she still had one final exam to write, AP history, and then would be attending the graduation ceremonies of West Roswell along with people who had always been a year ahead of us.

Until next Tuesday... or maybe even Wednesday, I'd be very much alone up there. Well, except for several thousand summer school students, five hundred instructors, and four hundred researchers, none of whom I really knew. The point was, Iz and I had been nearly inseperable over the past three weeks or so, and I was already missing her, or realizing how much I WOULD miss her as soon as I left.

I sat up a bit, rubbed my eyes, and noticed that Isabel had sat down at my desk chair, looking a little sad and sorry, as if she'd taken my comment a little too seriously. I got up, only a little self-conscious about my plaid pyjamas... (Well, she'd seen them before, the bottoms at least, the time she woke me up to ask me to kiss her on the porch and 'generate some information'...) I smiled as I squatted down next to the chair and then I kissed her on the lips.

"Thanks for coming. The more I can see your face today, the better."

She smiled back. "Okay... well. You need to get washed and dressed -- or do you usually have breakfast first??"

I thought about it a second. Isabel was already dressed -- a sleeveless red top and a long black skirt that managed to show off her legs nicely -- and hanging around her too long in my pj's would seem weird. "No... now's good." I headed over to the dresser and quickly found the clothes that I'd been meaning to wear today. They were about the only things that hadn't been packed up already, after all.

"Is there any last-minute packing I can help with??" Isabel asked as I took a quick look at myself in the mirror on the back of my door. Oooooh... serious bed-head, that's not pretty.

"Ummm... packing?? Yeah, actually, if you can just take everything from the top two desk drawers and try to get it all into that black bag over there. Ohh... and I had to leave most of my CD collection behind, but you can take a look and see if there are four or five more that you think I'm gonna need," I teased her, and then made a quick exit.

So... I got myself showered and combed and dry and clothed and all that, and Isabel was done and chatting with my mom by the time I got into the kitchen. Breakfast was... well, I don't really remember much about breakfast, to be completely honest... I guess there was so much other excitement in the air that I just didn't really notice eating. Isabel mentioned after everyone was done that she wanted to take a walk with me.

"Ahh... want to say a few goodbyes in private??" my mom teased us.

"Just... j-just be back by ten-thirty to start loading up the car," my dad said, smiling and shaking his head a little at us. (I wonder exactly what he was thinking.)

"Don't worry, Mister Whitman," Iz said, her smile betraying a secret, if not two, that she was holding to herself tightly. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Isabel took me walking down the street. I was wondering if she had any particular destination in mind, but she didn't seem to. As soon as we turned the corner onto Estralita and were completely out of any possible sight of my house, she surprised me with a lusty kiss. That answered one question, maybe.

But neither of us really felt that comfortable getting into a big makeout session right here about a block away from my house, in public, and we just kind of walked around for a little while, doing the 'I'll miss you so much,' 'I'll miss you more,' 'No I'll miss *you* more' thing. I wished her luck on her history finals, she wished me the best in getting settled and started with the quantum computers, and we traded a little bit of news about the other members of the gang. Max and Liz's last outing had gone very well it seemed... he'd taken her to this new fancy French restaurant that just opened on North Virginia street -- and it looked like the two of them were well and truly back to the couple that they had once been.

I was glad to hear it... certainly out of all the people I can think of who really deserve some angst-free happiness, Liz Parker and Max Evans are right up there on the list. It's been so hard to see stupid stuff keeping them apart this whole year, when anyone can tell how much each still loves the other.

Once Isabel and I had gotten to the point of playing I spy to pass the time as we walked, I decided that everything important that needed to be said was said, and after stealing another quick kiss, I took the next turn for home. I remember noticing that Isabel checked her watch discretely, like she was trying not to have me notice if possible, before following without a word.

I found out what that was about once we were in sight of the driveway. All of my packed luggage had been neatly loaded into my Dad's car, and a card table had been set up on the front lawn with cans of pop and salty snack foods. The whole gang was there - Max, Michael, Maria, Liz... even Kyle and Tess. "Hey, I thought you said you were going to keep him busy longer than that," Michael called out as we got near.

"What can I say??" Isabel shrugged, smiling. "He's a smart cookie and he catches on quick. Once he started to head back, I figured you'd had enough time and trying to pull a diversionary tactic would just make him suspicious." She turned and beamed at me.

"A surprise goodbye party??" I confirmed, taking the cola that Kyle offered me.

"Seemed like the least we could do," Tess agreed. "Considering what you're doing for us."

"Well thanks." I turned to Liz. "Should I take your appearance as a sign that you approve, Miss Parker??"

She giggled. "I wouldn't go that far - not that it's really my place to approve or disapprove. But how could I turn down showing up at your farewell party??" She hugged me quickly. "Get that code cracked and hurry back, 'cause I'm gonna miss you."

"Well, I for one am officially jealous," Kyle announce to me with a tremendous (though not *quite* actually painful) clap on the back as soon as Liz's hug was finished. "Getting to spend the summer at the UNM-Las Cruces campus, which even in summer has got to be swarming with co-ed foxes." He winked at me and Isabel. "Too bad you're already tied down!!"

It was a great little moment. We fell to the refreshments and basically just hung out until my Dad finally ventured out and mentioned that the two of us had probably better get going. I said the rest of my goodbyes -- and re-said a few that had kinda already been covered, and jumped into the shutgun seat, craning my head to watch my friends waving and hooting until they were gone.

"So, Alexander," my dad said softly as he made his way towards Main street. Oh-oh, this sounded like trouble. "I was talking with Jeff Parker the other night, and he mentioned that your friend Isabel is going to be graduating early, and that she's been accepted for some trial summer classes at Las Cruces." There was a thick silence in the car all of a sudden that the noise of the engine could never possibly cut through. "Were you planning on mentioning that to myself and your mother, ever??"

-------

(Maria):

"So..." Michael whispered to me as I was still looking in the direction that Alex had left. "Got any plans for this Saturday?? Afternoon, evening..."

"Well... Isabel and Liz were talking about going up this weekend to pay Alex a surprise visit this weekend," I mentioned, turning around just in time to see the disappointed expression on his face. "Why??"

"Come on," he muttered, gathering me in with an arm around my waist and smoothly walking me away from the others, down the street that Alex's house was on. "Do you remember anything about Hal Carver??"

"The Air Force pilot who saved you guys' life when you were just a tiny little bit of a pod... and taught you the meaning of Christmas??" I teased. "Yeah, I recall just a little. Why do you ask?"

"He's coming back to New Mexico - he's going to be in Albuquerque on Saturday -- I just found out this morning," he told me. "I thought you might like to really meet him - I know you kinda saw him in the Crashdown that day that he was telling me his story, but you were so busy that day that you hardly said a word to him that wasn't about his food, and that doesn't count." A pause. "But if you'd rather go up to visit Alex..."

"No, no..." I interrupted, truly touched. Knowing Michael as well as I did by this point, it was clear to me that Hal Carver had meant something very important to him -- something that he wanted to share with me. "I can go up and visit Alex all I want once classes are over. I'd love to meet Mister Carver." After a second, I asked "What brings him to Albuquerque, anyway??"

I looked up at Michael and saw that he was grinning. "Well, after he left the Air Force..."

"After he ran away with the military police after him for breaking into a restricted area??" I clarified.

"Potato, peh-tahh-to," he pshawwed. "Anyway... he ended up in Albuquerque, not sure what the hell to do... but, well, because of Betty he tracked down a newspaper office and asked them if they had a job - any job. Started off sweeping floors in the 'Journal' office, then working in their mail room. Ended up one of their best snapshot artists, and in about two and a half days, some association or another is going to give him and two other people awards for excellence in journalistic photography."

"Awww... that's kinda cool," I said, smiling at the thought.

"Now, um..." Michael paused as we walked along. "The timing could be a problem. I really want to stay for the whole awards dinner - he told me he can get two tickets easy - but that'll be pretty late and it's a long drive back from Albuquerque to Roswell."

I thought about that... yeah, could be tricky. Driving around the state at all hours of the night was one thing when there was some desperate alien emergency up, (and not much fun even then,) but I wasn't wild about it otherwise. But I didn't want Michael to have to leave early on my account, and the alternative was... "Well, maybe we could give my mom some kind of excuse about why I'll be out all night, and... well, you know, find somewhere to sleep not too far from the city."

Michael apparently couldn't resist a smirk. "Drag you into one more motel room??"

I couldn't help laughing a little myself. "No funny business," I quickly disclaimed, though I was wondering if I might want to change my mind about that on the spot. It was never romantic to let the guy know beforehand, of course... even pretty decent types like Michael never understood that a girl's first time should be about the MOMENT... oh, god help me, I'm actually thinking about having my first time - with Michael - this weekend - in a motel room. Clearly I needed to consult with Liz about this, see if I was way off base. "Just the two of us going into the city to spend some time with a friend of yours, and sleeping there instead of driving back for four and a half hours in the middle of the night when we're both tired."

"Of course," he agreed smoothly. "I'm glad you wanted to come."

"I'm glad you asked me," I told him sincerely.

"Maria??" I had been looking over at Michael so fixedly that when I turned away to look at the person that had said my name, my head swam for a few seconds. It was... "Tess... how did you??" I looked around us, confused. Suddenly I recognized an alleyway and the minor mystery of how she got there ahead of us was solved - it was the same backlane that ran behind Alex's house, accessible from his yard through a wooden fence gate - Tess had just gone around the opposite direction that Michael and I had.

What wasn't as clear was... why? "Yes?" I told her, keeping my voice carefully neutral.

"I was... wondering if I could ask for your advice with something," Tess said in a very small voice.

"Hey, that sounds like my cue to leave," Michael said, smiling nervously at both of us.

I reached out and grabbed at his arm, without saying a word. Tess noticed it. "Please," she added, an odd intensity and... and *vulnerability* in her voice, as hard as that was to believe with Tess Harding.

Slowly I let go of Michael, and nodded at him once, very slightly, and he nodded back and quickly made himself scarce. I turned back to Tess, trying not to talk too harshly at her. "What is it??"

"Ummm..." Now that Tess had me all to herself, she didn't quite seem to know what to say next. "First off... I wanted to -- apologize," she started, the words coming so slowly from her that I could almost picture them getting dragged out, a few at a time. "I've been nothing but a royal bitch to you - and to a few other people - since the day I showed up in Roswell, and I guess it's long past time I started to change that."

I stared at her for a long moment. The expression 'you could have knocked me over with a feather' seems pretty relevant to that moment. After more than ten seconds, some semblance of good manners finally asserted themselves. "Um... apology acccepted, yah - and thanks." Silence for a moment. "Mind sharing what's led you to this sudden epiphany??"

Tess started to flush. "Oh, this and that..." she mumbled evasively. "The fact that even though Alex is pretty high up on the list of people I've treated like dirt, he's going off to Las Cruces -- and he HAD to have figured out that it was my idea." Well yeah, but he probably went because of Max and Isabel asking him to, I noted silently. "The inescable fact that you and I are going to be effectively part of the same family soon. Liz's reconciliation with Max."

"Ah," I noted... though it seemed to me that there was something on this subject of her motives that Tess was still holding back. "And you want to make peace with Liz for the sake of your friendship with Max??"

"Partly," she agreed readily enough. "Liz hates me, doesn't she? I've given her enough reasons to... I never really meant to hurt her - not on purpose." Tears were falling down her cheeks all of a sudden, as we walked down the alley. "I was jus... was just so sure..."

"Sssh." Without ever deciding to, I spread out one arm and wrapped it comfortingly around Tess' narrow shoulders. It was just some kind of automatic reaction. "You... you aren't currently taking up a spot on the list of Liz Parker's favorite people, I'll admit that much, but to tell you the truth, I don't think she hates you." Not that she isn't entitled to, I admitted silently to myself, but... "She's not the kind of person who hates easy."

Tess smiled at that... a shy, open smile that looked nicer that any expression I'd ever seen cross her face. "So... does that mean you think she'll accept my apology too -- assuming that I can gather up enough nerve to make it??"

I had to laugh at that. "Yeah, I think your chances with that are good."

We headed back through the back yard to the driveway. Cleanup for the party was almost done by this point, though both Tess and I found some way to pitch in a little, and then Tess gave Kyle a ride home. I snagged Isabel for a short private chat before she left, too.

"Yeah, what is it?" Iz asked with a smile as we headed over to the other side of the Whitman front yard.

"The day trip up to Las Cruces on Saturday to surprise Alex??" Isabel nodded. "I won't be able to make it after all. Michael invited me to, uhh..."

"Hey, say no more," Isabel assured me.

"I'm really sorry to cancel after I said..."

"No, really, it's okay," Isabel assured me. She turned a bit and both of us realized that Max was waiting none too patiently for her. "Is that all?"

"You should invite Tess to come up with you..." I blurted out all of a sudden. Isabel's eyebrows went straight up.

"Even though Liz is coming too? Heck, why would Tess even WANT to come along??"

"Trust me," I heard myself saying. "I'll square things with Liz -- just ask her." Isabel shrugged, and nodded, then hurried back over to the Jeep.

Liz was waiting when I got to the Jetta, of course. "We've got a fair bit to talk about, girlfriend," I told her as I got behind the wheel.

-------

(Liz):

"Oh, my god," I babbled, more than a little stunned. "You're really thinking about it?"

"Not 'thinking about it' as in making plans," Maria quickly disclaimed as she started to head across town. "I'm just... having urges."

"We've *all* had urges," I reminded her. "Trust me. Never-gonna-happen urges or... well, what??"

"Ehmmm..." Maria didn't answer for a long moment. Maybe a moment and a half. "urr, it 'could' happen."

"Wow," I admitted. "Not meaning to throw anything back in your face, but it wasn't that long ago you were bound and determined to be the last teenage virgin, if necessary. Mind if I ask what changed??"

"Hmm... fair question, but I'm not sure if I have a good offhand answer," Maria said.

"Who wants 'offhand?'" I laughed. "Got nothing but time."

So Maria thought about it for several streets. "Things have been going well between Michael and I lately... like *really* great, but that's not a good reason. It makes me shiver sometimes if he only touches me, but that's not a reason."

"Okay..." I said, trying not to prompt too much. Letting Maria work through this in her own time.

"I've been thinking a lot about us, though," she said after a pause. "I love him so much, Liz, but on some level I know that no matter how much I love him or he loves me, we may get seperated. I may not get happily ever after with Michael, or even the big wedding day with a gorgeous dress and all of our friends there. So... I want to make the most of every day I do get with him, and to share as much as I can with him. Does that make any sense??"

"It was possibly the coolest thing I've ever heard," I told her, nodding. "I hope that when it's right, everything works out for you."

"You'll be the third person to know," she promised, laughing silently. "So... what're you up to today? You don't have any exams do you?"

"No," I told her. "Since it's such a nice day, Max and I were going to go down into the ravine, see if the waterfall's going -- but that isn't until later."

"Awww..." Maria moaned... did I detect a note of jealousy?? (And this from the girl who had just told me so much about her great relationship?) "Well, I've got the trig final, but that isn't until one thirty... you wanna hang at my place?? I've got something I kinda wanna show you."

"Uh, okay... what is it??"

"Ohhh..." We were getting close to the DeLuca house already. "Just a few lyrics I've been working on that I wanted your opinion on."

"Song lyrics??" I paused. "Gee, I'm flattered, but..."

"Come on," Maria replied. "Deny it all you want... we all know you're a wordsmith."

-------

We hung around at Maria's place for a couple of hours... I did take a look at Maria's lyrics... and though I'm not sure if I qualify as a wordsmith, I think I was able to come up with some cool thoughts. She even brought out the acoustic guitar from her band camp days and played one for me... it was really good!! (Where did she find the time to get back into music, what with all that's been going on around here lately??)

We had lunch too... Mrs. DeLuca showed up at the house and we ended up all helping to put together a big tuna macaroni salad, along with cokes and potato chips... it was great fun.

Amy offered to drop me off wherever I wanted to after taking Maria to the school for her exam, but I decided to walk -- it was such a nice day outside, and I wasn't in any hurry. I wandered down the streets towards the Crashdown cafe, where Max was supposed to pick me up at a quarter to three. Stopped in at Thomasson's and browsed around the videos for sale rack - almost checked out with "O brother where art thou", but decided to save my money for a little while longer.

-------

I looked up from 'The Naked Sun' as a clear knock rang out from the apartment door... smiled to myself, and very definitely did not get it, though I closed the paperback with a bookmark in it and put it down on my desk. From where I was sitting I was out of sight of most of the living room, which suited me fine - I wanted to listen to this without being obvious.

The knocking started again, half-heartedly, and stopped suddenly as the door swung, almost silently open. "Max??" It was my father's voice.

"Umm... yes, hello Mister Parker," Max replied somewhat nervously. I stifled a giggle as much as I could. "I'm... I'm here for Liz."

"Ohh? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would make it the third time in less than forty-eight hours." Max made an indecisive sound. "And yes, I'm counting last night even if Liz was already outside by the time you pulled up."

"Perfectly correct, sir," Max said with forced politeness. "I, um..."

"Oh, come on Max," my mother's voice joined the conversation. "He's just giving you a hard time. He thinks it's his duty as a father." I could hear someone sitting down - probably on the couch. Couldn't really tell who. "So... what're you and Liz going to be doing this time??"

"Ohh, ummm -- a little hike down into the ravine." Max sounded really uncomfortable... I'd better go out and rescue him. Well, maybe a minute or so more.

"Ohh, a picnic lunch??" My mom asked. "Well, kinda late for lunch..."

"Not a picnic, really," Max clarified. "I brought along a few snacks -- but basically it's just a hike."

"Where *is* Liz, anyway??" my dad asked. "I'd have thought she'd have showed up as soon as she heard the door..."

Okay, that was definitely my cue. I stood up, took one last check in the mirror and headed out into the living room. "Hey hey, sorry -- it took a moment for me to climb out."

It was my mom who was sitting on the couch. Max had been standing around nervously, and he hurried over to join me quickly, (and with a little look of relief on his face, which made me feel guilty for having left him alone with my parents for so long.) He made a slight gesture of leaning over, as if he were about to kiss me hello, but changed his mind in an instant. I'm not sure if my parents would have even noticed it.

"You look nice," I told him softly. Max was wearing khaki chinos and a that light blue button-down shirt that always looks so nice on him. He smiled and nodded, taking a moment to look at me in turn. I had put on my semi-nice jeans and a yellow t-shirt, and taken my hair down out of the ponytail.

"Have a great time," my mom said as we waved our goodbyes and headed back towards the door.

"Don't worry," Max replied, still a little nervous. "I'll have her home by suppertime."

"Awww, why'd you have to go and promise that," I teased him quietly once we were down on the stairs and out of sight of my parents.

"Well, I didn't..." Max started, and I cut him off by reaching up and kissing him on the neck. (He was a few steps behind me on the stairs, which made the manoeuvre easier to pull off.) "I guess I wasn't thinking."

Actually, I was okay with the afternoon being a no-pressure outline, even though I realized that I was feeling kind of playful. (As witness leaving Max alone with my parents for as long as I did, and the teasing.) We headed quickly out to the parking lot and into the jeep, and Max pulled out and started driving west out towards the ravine. "So, how was the book??"

"Uhh... what??"

"You said you had trouble climbing out," he reminded me. "That's an expression you only ever read in connection with a book, right??"

I took in a breath, surprised that Max had noticed that little tidbit. "Pretty good, an old favorite. But I'm appreciating parts of it on a new level now."

"Cool," he said, "So, exactly where am I going??"

I explained the directions, as far as the old road where we'd have to park and continue on by foot, at least.

"Okay," Max said, and drove on in silence for a while. "Thanks."

"For what??" I asked, smiling over at him.

"For... for sharing a little piece of yourself with me like this. I've gathered what this place - the whole ravine area, the waterfall clearing in particular, means to you. It's special to you... and I get the feeling that you weren't ready to open yourself up enough to take me there last year."

"Uhhh... yeah, I guess," I agreed. This place certainly had memories. It was where Maria and I had first met Alex, for one thing... and where Alex and I had shared a curious kiss, in the last year of junior high. I pushed THAT thought out of my mind as quickly and as hard as I could, not wanting to dwell on kissing any other guy while I was sitting right beside Max. (Ooops - Alex and I promised that we'd never tell anybody else about that... well, you guys will keep my secret, won't you??)

"So... what snacks did you bring??" I blurted out, as Max approached the ravine along the old road.

"Nothing too fancy," he admitted. "Those little juice boxes you like -- peanuts, a few apples... and a few treats and some candy." He grinned over at me. "You can see for yourself once we get out."

Soon enough he parked, just as the forest trees were starting to appear, and I hurried into the back to see what the treats were that he'd packed. All great stuff - m&m's, skittles, and marshmallow rice snacks... good travel snacks that wouldn't melt easily (Not that today was very warm for late May in New Mexico, but still...)

At this point I took the lead, heading for the gap between trees where the pathway down into the ravine started. As soon as we stepped in, everything seemed to change, even the sunlight looking totally different as it fought to shine in between the trees. This place had always been a sanctuary, a place that I felt I could go when I needed to run away from the world. And Max was probably right - no matter how close I'd felt to him last year, I had never even thought of sharing this secret with him back then.

"Wow," Max breathed, carefully exploring on ahead of me, having to watch his step lest he trip over the roots that always threatened to overgrow the dirt path. "I can see why you loved it so much." He seemed as enthralled as I was the first time I had ever come here.

"This ain't nothing," I told him with a laugh, and pulled him onward. Past the spot where I'd first really met Alex, without a word. (I'd been chasing a salamander for a fifth grade science project.) When the path started to double back in a ragged Z shape, I pulled back a branch, trying to remember in exactly WHICH direction away from the easy route we had to go here. It had been so many years... yes, that way, through that patch of tall grass had to be the way. "Come on," I told Max, who'd been looking at me doubtfully. "If we don't get to the waterfall clearing, nothing else makes a difference."

"Are you sure you know the right way??" he said, a touch plaintively. But he smiled and followed me as I made my way carefully into the forest itself (if not directly into the worst of the bushes and branches.)

It wasn't far like that. Soon enough the glade opened up in front of us, as if by magic. Sure enough, the river was flowing enthusiastically, the rain that they had gotten further up yesterday feeding it, (though Roswell itself had gotten but pitiful drops.) A stream of flowing water leapt off of the seven and a half foot height, and plunged impressively into the pool at the base of the tiny crag.

"Isn't it incredible??" I asked Max, turning towards him, and noticing as I did so how the trees and the mist surrounded the clearing, just as they always had in my memory. The look on Max's face was transported. Impulsively, I stepped up to him and kissed him, energetically, passionately, one hand straying teasingly under the edge of his shirt where it had gotten untucked at the waist at some point during our walk through the forest. He kissed me back eagerly.

TO BE CONTINUED...

[Chrisken]

Title: Fateful moments, part 10
Author: Chris Kenworthy
E-mail: kelworth@chriskweb.net
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Roswell, more's the pity.
Spoilers: Up to the beginning of 'Cry your name'

(Michael):

A sharp knocking rang out on my door, and I called out "It's open," before getting up. Once I'd taken a few steps away from the chair, I could see a very grouchy looking Kyle Valenti standing just inside my apartment.

"What is it??" Kyle snapped. As I tried to settle on an answer, Kyle continued, "what horrible alien disaster have you summoned me to help with THIS time, sir??" And he shot off an extremely sarcastic salute... (possibly the full Rimmer!)

"Ummm... that message that I left on your answering machine wasn't meant to be a summons, Kyle," I explained. "It was an invitation."

"An invitation?" Kyle thought about that phrase for a second. "An invitation to what?"

"To nothing in particular," I tried. "To here. To come over and... I dunno, hang out or something??"

Kyle was acting like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Hang out??"

"Well, yeah, if you didn't have anything better to do," I added. "I know that we haven't really gotten along well in the past, but I can't see any reason why we couldn't be friends, now." Shrugged.

"You're assuming that I'd *want* to be friends with you," Kyle said.

"No I'm not," I protested, but while Kyle stared at me I couldn't come up with an alternative for a long moment. "I'm... I'm just making the first move," I finally muttered. "If you don't have any interest, you can just walk right back out that door... I won't be offended or anything."

"Hmm." Now Kyle was the one actually giving the idea some serious thought. "You still got that old game console hooked up??" I kicked under the coffee table where Maria had finally gotten me to put it when it wasn't actually in use, instead of on TOP of the table.

"NHL breakaway??" I suggested.

-------

(Tess):

"Do you think they'll have him scheduled for anything today?" Liz asked. "You know, big important computer stuff that'll take hours..."

"C'mon, Liz," Isabel replied. "It's his second day there, or third or whatever, and it's the weekend. Worst comes to worst..." she smirked a little. "We 'kidnap' him. They'll understand."

Liz snorted. I might have too, a little bit, but I didn't chime in. It was nice of Maria to arrange for me to join in on this little expedition, but I didn't really feel comfortable enough with them to join in on the rapid-fire back and forth banter. At least not when I had to keep my eyes on the road...

"You've got the directions to his residence and the room number?" Liz asked Isabel for the third time, (and we were only twenty minutes out of Roswell.)

"Yeah," Isabel assured her. "Right here." She tapped her purse.

"But what if he isn't anywhere near there?" Liz said, rambling to herself as much as talking to Isabel. "It won't be that early by the time we make it to Las Cruces and the campus. And he's new there and doesn't know anybody... probably none of his neighbors would know or care where he might have gone... that's if he even HAS neighbors in the dorm... it's probably pretty empty. Did you that spring exams have been over for a week already at all the New Mexico universities??"

"Liz," I broke in before she could come up with something new to worry about... "Relax! We found Max in an abandoned army base... Isabel found a girl buried in the desert. I think we'll be able to find a friend of ours on a college campus."

Liz laughed. "Yeah... I guess you're right at that. Between the three of us, we do have our talents."

We drove on in silence for a little while. What vehicles were being used by whom had been a subject of a fair bit of discussion during the plans that surrounded Maria pulling out of the trip to Las Cruces and me tagging along. The original plan had been to use the DeLuca family Jetta, and she had offered to lend it out, but the old thirdhand car that Michael bought three weeks ago was still more than a little temperamental, and nobody was eager to trust themselves to it for a road trip to Albuquerque so soon. Isabel had asked about borrowing the Jeep from Max, but I volunteered my wheels... I wouldn't be needing them for anything else today, would I, after all?? And here we were. Not quite the three amigas yet.

"So," I blurted out suddenly. "Does anybody know anything about this Carver guy?? I mean, I've picked up that Michael met him last fall when he came to Roswell for some Air Force reunion thing... can't say that I was paying any attention at the time. Guess I was a little too obsessed with the big G... it was immediately after you discovered 'it', right Isabel?" Iz nodded.

"Yeah -- all I really know is that right after doing his history makeup project with Hal Carver was the first time in months upon months that Michael was nice to me," Liz put in. "Even *apologized.* And he brought Maria up to the rocks right around then... showed her the Granilith."

"He told me a little about Hal's story," Isabel put in. "Afterwards... around the time that you and Max were in New York," she quickly added the last part, as if I'd get upset that Michael had shared information with her and not with me. (And for the record, it doesn't upset me -- I know that Michael and Isabel are very close, though they haven't defined their relationship the way that I expected them to. Like Max and me... but can't get myself started on THAT train of thought right now...)

"Broad strokes, Hal Carver was an air force captain, stationed here in Roswell at the time of the crash. Saw some things, a couple of which he didn't like. Started working with an investigative reporter, Betty Osorio, to uncover the whole truth."

"Oh," Liz breathed, sounding as surprised as I felt. "What happened next?"

"A friend of Carver's... *woman* friend," Iz coughed a little, "was harassed by military police. A witness, a young nurse who said that she'd been recruited to assist at an alien autopsy, disappeared without a trace. That's when Carver gave Betty copies of confidential documents... about armed forces personnel who'd been killed at the crash site and that the service was covering up the real cause of their death with some story about a car crash."

It was my turn to mumble "Wow."

"Carver's best friend, Richard Dodie, betrayed him, pretended to have doubts about the cover-up himself to draw Hal out, to get the details of Betty's story out of him. The story was suppressed and Betty died... another 'tragic car accident.'"

I was starting to get really angry here, listening to all these things that had happened so long ago. It sounded like special unit tactics... and this was probably about when the special unit had been set up. What was it, that could get humans to kill each other like this... Fear? Patriotism?? An impulse to protect those close to them?

"Before she died, Betty had mailed Hal something," Isabel continued, her voice sounding very far away. "A lead - a clue that she sent to him for safekeeping. A key, and an address on the base. Both of them for where the air force brass was hiding the very center of the Crash mystery."

I looked up at Isabel in the rear view mirror. My hands were shaking slightly and I kinda wanted to pull over, but we were on a super-tight schedule today. And I didn't want her to stop telling the story at this point.

"He found the pods," Isabel continued. "Out pods... ours and the dupes'."

"Then that's how Michael knew that there was another set," Liz realized. "When Ava and the others showed up, he said he'd known there was another set."

"Yeah," Isabel agreed. "That's why he told me about all this - I asked him point blank why he had said that."

"What happened next," I reminded her.

"Two aliens had already gotten inside just before Carver did," she said. "Protectors, we both assume - one of them who would eventually be known as Ed." She looked up at me, as if knowing that this had to be hitting me hard. "Carver let them take the pods out, covered for them when it looked like other people were about to find them, and vamoosed out of the base as fast as he could. That's pretty much it."

"So he saved all our lives, probably," I said slowly. "Or kept us from growing up in a place like the White Room." I still couldn't fight off a shudder, just naming it.

"Yeah," Isabel agreed. "That's why Michael has a soft spot for the guy... and why meeting him gave Michael a new perspective about humans." She smiled at the thought. "Me too, come to think of it, in a very small way." Liz grinned, but didn't say anything.

In that spirit, I piped up. "Guys... I j-- just wanted to say thank you. For letting me come along." Awkward pause. "It... it means a lot to me."

Liz and Isabel traded a look. "Happy to have you, Harding," Liz drawled, not without warmth. That girl keeps surprising me.

-------

(Max):

I found a place to park the Jeep near a little valley between two outcroppings of a rocky hill, and looked around as best I could. No sign of another living creature as far as the eye could see. Guess that was good enough.

I hadn't been quite sure what to do today, with all of my friends having other plans. Michael and Maria were getting ready for their big trip down to Albuquerque.

Liz, Isabel, and Tess took off before the crack of dawn for Las Cruces... and I very much got the feeling that they'd rather have the drive down be a female bonding time... of course Tess would be uncomfortable being around Liz and I as a couple, and it's been hard for the two of us to stop acting couple-y whenever we're together lately. I want Tess to get comfortable with my girls, especially now that she's making a big effort, and so reluctantly I kept myself from hinting around for an invite for the ride down.

Even Kyle was busy today - another shift at the garage. He's working so hard to pick up the slack with his father losing his position and everything. And Brody was very firm that he didn't need my help today. So I decided to take a little 'me time' and focus on something that I've been meaning to do for a while.

And... no time like the present. I'd walked about fifty feet away from the Jeep at this point, slightly down but mostly along the same level. Leaning down to pick up a heavy, solid rock, I called the green energy shield into existence and chucked the stone straight into it.

It was a strange sensation, and kinda tiring - not because the rock was a heavy impact on the shield -- considering that this thing has bounced back several rifle bullets in a row, I'm pretty sure that wasn't the problem. It was more like... trying to keep the shield up and exert my muscles in the usual way was... it was almost like trying to trying to walk in two different ways at once.

Hmmm... was that a firm limitation or was it something that I just wasn't used to?? This could be important... being able to run while keeping the shield up, or even fight off someone who was in the midst of friends while using the shield to ward off other bogeys. I tried a few more times... not just throwing things into it, but running around and stuff while keeping the shield up, and it seemed to get easier... kinda, but it was also tiring me out seriously. I decided to move on to another exercise... after all, this I could do in my room, as long as I was sure my parents wouldn't barge in or anything.

The main reason that I had come out here was really for a little offensive training. Over at Copper Summit, the skins were able to shoot energy blasts, which it's always seemed to me could be useful, although they couldn't be safely used in public. (There aren't many of our powers that CAN be safely used in public, after all.) Michael's trained in cracking rocks, but even that isn't quite the same. So I looked around, and saw a piece of a dead tree branch sitting up on a ledge about fifteen feet away, right around shoulder level. Looked like a perfect target. I stretched out my hand, pointing at it with my wrist a la spiderman, and tried to *shoot* something at it. Nothing. Hmm... I tried pointing with the fingers first. Nothing. Oh well.

Just as I was starting to bring my arm down, though, I caught a slight sense of something. Froze while I tried to put my finger on it. It was like... like an invisible string stretching from the tip of my middle finger to the branch. I 'pulled' on it experimentally, but nothing happened. Not like the string snapped, not like it stretched... more like it played out a little more, on some tiny fishing line - it wasn't under any but the tiniest bit of tension, but it was still making a connection.

Huh now. I stretched the arm out fully, letting the invisible line play in as much as it could without actually stepping further towards the branch. Now... I don't think I intentionally started this first part. I just became aware -- aware of a tiny flow of heat energy down the line, towards the branch. There wasn't any visible effect, but I somehow knew that part of the branch was getting slightly warm.

Well, what if I upped the amount of heat?? No sooner had I made the mental decision that my legs and the fingers of my other hand started to shiver... they were cold, really. And I could feel the flow increase to a... to some sort of a gush, even though I still couldn't see it as any more than a tiny shiver in the air. After just a few seconds, the branch burst into vigorous flames.

Well, now. THIS looked like it could come in handy. I spun around, pointed at a rocky outcropping, and instantly felt the invisible line fling out and attach itself right where my gaze hit the stone. Okay... this time I concentrated on sending a *burst* of energy, and not just heat energy. White light radiation, electric charge, kinetic potential force... possibly a few other things that I'm not sure if I could put into words.

The results were certainly impressive. A small white ball, crackling with energy, flew through the air, following that invisible targeting line. When it collided with the outcropping, both of them exploded... my energy burst and that section of the outcropping. Little pieces of gravel rained down on the ground, and for a few seconds there was a lot of dust and smoke in the air.

Okay... looked like so far so good. But what if I wasn't able to use the 'targeting line'? Somehow I could tell that if I wanted to use energy bursts to batter down someone's force wall, the same way the Skins were trying to do to my shield in Copper Summit, the targeting line would not be able to 'stick' to something that wasn't made of matter. For just a second, I brought the shield back with my right hand, and tried to target it with the left. It was only when I tried that I realized that so far I'd only done targeting with the right before, but the shield seemed to be happier when I was calling it up with the right hand, and as it turned out, didn't seem to matter so much for targeting. But indeed, the invisible line bounced off the shield, fell to the ground, and retracted itself back into my fingertip after a few seconds. (I guess it couldn't *stick* to the ground unless I wanted it to.)

Okay, Wiped out the shield and cleared my mind for a new experiment. This time I just let the line fly out nowhere in particular and immediately sent the white energy burst out after it. It worked, and after a second I realized that I had the ball of white fire under a kind of remote control... that I just needed to think about it turning in another direction, (or to a certain extent, change its speed,) and it would respond. A little too eagerly. Kind of like trying to push a feather around with a forklift, if that analogy makes any sense.

I tried to stop the ball in mid-air, because that would have been REALLY cool, but it just wouldn't slow down that much, like it always had to be on the move. So I crashed into the ground after flying it around a little, and the little explosion was definitely worth a nine out of ten for intimidation.

Well, there was just one thing that I wanted to do while I was out here. Some time I'd have to get Michael out and practice together - I hope he'd still be interested in stuff like this, even though he's... well, I'll just say it, he's turned into a bit of a softy lately. (Not that I'm insulting him, I've been kinda waiting for Michael to mellow out for years, but I didn't expect it would happen this quickly.) Focusing carefully, I *pushed* down on the ground underneath me, trying to rise smoothly into the air.

Ir worked -- for about a second. Once my feet had actually left the ground, I had a bit of trouble pushing straight down... I drifted over a way, and started to tilt, and ended up crashing back to earth quite awkwardly. But the second time I managed to get about nine feet off the ground, fly twenty yards without losing control, and land very smoothly in the drivers' seat of the Jeep.

-------

(Isabel):

I recognized him immediately and hurried over before he had a chance to turn around and spot me. Somehow I was struck with an irresistible impulse to re-enact the cliche. Slipping my hands down over his eyes I bent over, (flipping my hair back to keep it from brushing his head as well as I could,) and whispered throatily "Guess who-oo??"

He laughed to himself and didn't answer for a moment, (while the two other guys at the table got a case of bug-eye.) "Isabel Corinna Evans... what are you DOING here today??"

I let my hands fall back at that point, and he got up and turned around to look. By this point Liz and Tess had come up and were standing to either side of me, back about a step and a step and a half respectively. I leaned in and gave him a long, (well, fairly long,) slow kiss hello on the lips.

After many long seconds I realized that I hadn't even answered his question... well, not really. "We just wanted to come down to surprise you."

Something about that seemed to puzzle him. "It's a four and a half hour drive, each way. You went to all that trouble just to come keep me company for a bit?"

"Well, yeah," I agreed. I'd travel a lot further than that for Alex's sake, if I had to. "I knew that you'd probably be feeling a little homesick by now... unless I'm wrong about that."

"Not really; it's great to see all you guys... how late can you stay??"

"Probably around seven thirty, that way we'll be back home by midnight."

Alex started to open his mouth to give a reply, when someone else spoke first. "Whitman, man, where are your manners? Introduce us to these lovely ladies!!"

Alex laughed at his new buddy's reaction, and everyone else there chuckled or giggled softly. "Guys," Alex started, stepping aside to conduct the honors, "you have the honor of meeting... Isabel Evans, my beautiful and fascinating girlfriend," I smiled and waved slightly, "Liz Parker, one of my oldest and best friends == and Tess Harding, another member of our gang." There was a short silence, and then Alex apparently felt compelled to add, "The girl to guy ratio isn't normally this high, but apparently only friends with a double X chromosome decided to come down today."

"Needed to have a girl-talk-safe atmosphere in the car for the long drive," Liz put in playfully. "You know how it is. Oh, and Maria sends her regrets, she wanted to come, but got an offer she couldn't refuse for a different road trip."

"Different??" Alex repeated.

"Up to Albuquerque," I said. "We'll get into that later - don't think you've completed the other half of the intros dear."

"What??" For a second Alex didn't seem to realize just what I was prompting. "Oh right... ladies, I'd like you to meet Mitch Sanders, a neighbor of mine in Rhodes hall." That was the guy who'd piped up to ask for introductions, a fairly conservative looking student type with short curly blond hair, maybe about two years older than Alex... having just finished his freshman year maybe. "And Luis Ramirez, my orientation advisor with the Quantum project." This was a friendly Hispanic man in his mid-twenties with silver-rimmed glasses - definitely the grad student type -- he hadn't said a word since I came up.

"I hope you're not busy or anything," Tess said, somewhat tentatively.

Alex turned to look at the guys. "Not really... we'd come over here for brunch..." he indicated the used food containers still on the table, "and kinda started chatting, usual getting to know you stuff. I had my introduction to the Quantum stuff yesterday, nobody much is working on it now except for Doctor Pryor himself." He turned to the guys, picking up a few disposable items from the table as he spoke. "You guys don't mind if I split and take my girls on the grand tour, do yas??"

Luis nodded his agreement formally. "So nice to meet you all," he murmured in a voice that had a noticeable spanish accent, yet was definitely cultured and sophisticated.

Mitch didn't seem nearly as happy to agree... (possibly loath to let Liz and Tess out of his sight without having a decent chance to hit on either of them -- I'm assuming that the same doesn't apply to me after he heard I was off the market,) but he clapped Alex on the back and wished us all a fun afternoon. Alex thanked him, thought a moment, and then led the way off heading almost completely away from the direction we'd arrived from.

"So... Albuquerque?" Alex asked once we'd been walking.

"Huh??" It took a few seconds to sort that one-word query into its proper place. "Uh, yeah... em, does the name 'Hal Carver' mean anything to you??"

Alex didn't argue the non sequitur, but concentrated a moment in thought. "Can't say it does. Why??"

"Then it'll take a while to explain. Michael and Maria went up to meet an unusual friend of his; I guess we can leave it at that for now." Alex shrugged, looking a little curious but not about to argue the point.

"Ummm... where are we going Alex?" Tess asked.

Alex stopped, and got one of those thinking looks on his face. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure," he admitted, and after a few seconds he dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it - a map of campus. "What do you guys wanna see first??"

-------

(Michael):

"Maria, Henry Carver. Hal, my girlfriend Maria DeLuca." The two of them smiled at each other and shook hands. It was a few hours yet before the awards dinner would begin, and we had just gotten into Albuquerque. Hal had suggested that three of us meet at a coffee shop that he knew of, to talk and spend some time together first.

"Right, we met at that cafe back in Roswell," Hal said. "The one where Parker's diner used to be." That got a bit of a snicker from both of us, but he continued on without noticing. "So glad to have the pleasure formally." And with a twinkle in his eye, he brought Maria's hand up towards his head and kissed it roguishly.

"Oh brother," Maria chuckled. "I'm gonna have to keep a watchful eye on you ALL evening, aren't I??"

"Seems only fair," he winked. taking a moment to look her up and down appreciatively. Maria was wearing a nice dress for the dinner tonight, in muted purple and blue print, and she did look VERY cute and attractive. I fought down a completely inappropriate surge of jealousy... Hal was a fairly old man, a good friend, and he was only teasing the both of us, I was sure.

"So nice to really meet you too, Mister Carver," Maria told him belatedly, and we found a table, sat down, and ordered some beverages. "So... you must have a lot of memories of Albuquerque, Hal."

He laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I lived here for... huh." He paused, doing a little math in his head. "Forty-four years I guess... from forty-seven until 1991, when I retired and made the big move down to Florida." He laughed a little to himself. "Most of that time I was living up in this small apartment just a little west of downtown... third floor. Probably anyone else would have said that it was a dump, but --" He shrugged. "To me, it was home."

"You lived alone all that time??" Maria asked, with a bit of an odd expression in her voice.

I'm not sure if Hal caught the weirdness, but he laughed a little bit. "Yeah, lifelong bachelor. Never did manage to fall in love and get married, though not for want of a bit of trying." He looked from Maria to me and back again... and I wondered if he thought of Betty Osorio when he looked at Maria, the same way I thought of Maria when Hal was telling me about Betty. "I didn't seize the day when I had the chance," he muttered softly, "and I wasn't watching out for the one I loved when she really needed me. Every day since I've regretted those two things."

There was a bit of an awkward silence, and Maria reached out to pat his hand, silently, supportively, a pensive expression on her face. Our drinks showed up right around then... coffee black for Hal, kiwi teawi Snapple for me, and a strawberry herbal tea for Maria. Hal looked around to see if there was likely anyone who could overhear us after the waiter left. Practically no-one was in this half of the shop.

"How've things been going for you lately, Michael??" he muttered. "Did you ever find those -- those friends of yours? The other four you were so interested in when I mentioned that they might be out there?"

I scowled at the veiled reference. "Umm... yeah, we've met up, but it didn't go so well. Frankly, it might be better if you hadn't saved their butts after all."

Hal almost spit out a mouthful of coffee. "Do you really mean that, Michael?"

"Not really. I mean, I know that you didn't have any idea who or what were in those sacs... you could never have told the difference between us and them anyway."

"Leaving that aside," Hal continued softly. "These people are... like you. They'd probably have been killed in as horrible way as you can imagine if they hadn't been taken away from that room. Are you saying you could live with that??"

"They're not good people, Hal," I insisted stubbornly.

"It's easy to say that, especially when you haven't been in their shoes."

"But even so..." I groaned, trying not to be too loud about it. "Okay, maybe I wouldn't have wanted them left there. But still... two of them, they killed one of their own before we even found them. Probably around the same time that we we met last fall. Then they very nearly killed my best friend." He sighed. "The last of them, the fourth... I guess she's okay."

Hal blinked a little in surprise, and then nodded. "Your best friend... is he all right? I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"He's fine," I assured him.

"I'm glad," he said. "Any other... problems??"

"Not too recently," I assured him. "There was... well, here isn't the place," I decided, realizing that a few tables not too far away had started to fill up. "We can go for a walk in a bit, talk more about it then."

"There's... there's something interesting going on right now, actually," Maria blurted out. "May give us all a few answers."

Hal nodded with interest, but didn't press for any more details. "So, I know that school has just let out... you're both still in school, right?"

Maria nodded. "Just finished junior year."

"Got any big plans for the summer?"

"Not really." Maria sighed. "Probably both of us will be working long hours at the cafe. Gots to get paid, y'know?"

Hal blinked in slight surprise. "You work there too, Michael??"

"Yeah." I nodded ruefully. "Fry cook."

"You didn't mention that... Is that how the two of you met??"

I couldn't keep down the laugh as that question brought back a rush of old memories... Maria and Liz confronting us in a dark alley as the three of us were on our way to run away from Roswell. Standing there in the hallway at the moment I realized she had lied her ass off to Valenti to cover for us... the time I stole her car. "No, that was a lot earlier. In fact, Maria and Liz really helped me get that job, right after I got emancipated."

"You're eman..." Hal broke off, evidently connecting the mental dots between what he already knew about me and this new factoid. "Got it."

"Of course, at some point this summer," I said, returning to Hal's question, "I think Maria's going to be standing as maid of honor at her mother's wedding."

"God, I hope not," Maria remarked, earning her an odd look from the two of us. "Not saying that I hope the engagement breaks off or anything -- just that rushing for a summer wedding feels like a mistake to me."

"Not a big fan of the guy??" Hal put in.

Maria cocked her head for a second. "No, it's not that. Mister Valenti's cool and all. It's just..."

"Valenti??" Hal repeated in surprise.

"Yeah," I mentioned. "Son of the deputy Valenti you told me about." I remembered Jim Valenti senior's part in the tale, including the parts about Hal's sometime lady friend Rosemary that had gotten him so upset at the time. "Who isn't doing so well lately, as you might have heard."

"Yeah," Hal mentioned. Seeing that all of us had finished our beverages, he muttered, "Let's walk," and quickly the table was cleared. "Killed an innocent man, ended up in an institution... I caught the basic details. Hell, our paper covered the story."

"What you might not know," Maria whispered, "was that Sheriff Valenti senior was framed. He didn't fire that shot, but was railroaded away because he knew too much, including who did."

"Oh," Hal said, weighing that over and not coming to any conclusion about it. "So... what's this new development you were telling me about??"

And we walked carefully off into the Albuquerque streets, lost amidst the bustling city.

TO BE CONTINUED...