Web of Deception (CC ALL MATURE) COMPLETE 11-3

[kj4ever]

A great big thank you for the beautiful banner made by the talented Drogyn !!!


Title- Web of Deception

Disclaimer- I don't own Roswell, and mean no infringement. It is owned by Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, UPN, WB, etc.

Category- CC, ALL Set at the beginning of Departure

Rating- Mature

Summary: What happens if all that appeared to have happened after "The End of the World" was an elaborate plan, but instead of being executed by Tess, it was executed to capture her in her webs of deception?


This is my first try at a Fan Fic so here goes nothing!

Chapter 1
"Do you have a 20 on your charges Major?" the young General boomed into his cell phone.

"Yes sir! I think they are about to figure it all out." The Major was worried. What if they figured it all out too soon?

"Do not, I repeat DO NOT let them expose our current mission. Where is their location now?" The General was fuming. Why did those two have to be so damn smart?

"It seems they are on their way to the Valenti's," replied the Major.

"Listen to me, and listen to me carefully. You are not to break cover unless they find their way here before 05 00, you got that? Keep tailing them, and if necessary, stop them by revealing yourself."

"I got it. I won't let you down sir," replied the Major.

"For the love of God stop calling me sir. Oh, and good luck with explaining the last 7 months to them after we're gone. I'm holding you personally responsible if they are still pissed off if we get back……WHEN we get back." The General said his goodbyes and tossed the cell phone into the air, blowing into a million different pieces with the wave of a hand.

The General couldn't help but shiver. He'd rather go fight a war on an alien planet than explain what had really been going down in Roswell the last 7 months to those two. His new "Major" really had his work cut out for him.

"Oh what the hell," the Major muttered to his counterpart Kal. "Now where are they going?" The two girls had run out of the Valenti household with Kyle in tow. He carefully started following being the battered red Jeta. One thing he did know, these kids had gotten awfully smart in the last couple of years when it came to being followed. He could not break cover now.

"Please don't head toward the pod chamber, please don't head towards the pod chamber," the Major chanted to himself. "Is the incantation some type of Earthly military strategy?" Kal asked his counterpart with a smirk.

"Oh damn, that's exactly where they are going!" the Major said, ignoring Kal. "If it looks like they are getting close before 05 00, I'm running them off the road."

"Like HELL you will," screams Kal. "Look, your "mission" might be to make them understand the last 7 months, but mine is to protect them. Do you realize what will happen to me if she so much as has split ends in her hair when he gets back? Do you?

Kal tried to calm himself down. "Look, you just don't realize…..You didn't know the King before. Imagine how he feels about her, how protective he is of her times 1000 and you will get a general idea of what I am talking about."

"We can't let them get there before they leave, can't you see that?" the Major argued. God why couldn't Kal realize this? He had been a civilian for too long obviously.

"Ok, ok," Kal muttered. "I'll tell you what, you run them off the road, but you get to tell the King that you ran a piece of crap car off the road carrying the love of his life at 75 miles an hour."

"Well, maybe running them off the road won't be necessary," the Major said nervously. "We can always go to Plan B."

"What exactly is Plan B, Major?" Kal said.

"Please don't get to the pod chamber before they leave, please don't get to the pod chamber before they leave, please don't get to the pod chamber before they leave," chanted the Major.

"Oh Bloody Hell," muttered Kal. What did he ever do to deserve this?

In the end the two royal military personnel didn't have to run interference with the red Jeta. The three humans got to the door of the pod chamber just as it started rumbling with a great power within.
Kal and the Major sat at the bottom of the mountain watching the three humans pound helplessly against the pod chamber door. Their anguished cries could be heard all the way down the mountain, and it made the Major's heart break.

The ground started trembling with a force greater then before, and Kyle grabbed the two girls, forcing them down the mountain while large boulders tumbled from the jutting rock formation. They fought him, trying to go back, but luckily he was stronger then the two of them.

The Major could see the girls with his enhanced vision. He saw their dirt and tear covered faces twisted in pain. "Please let them forgive us, please let them forgive us…" he whispered to himself as they made their way down the mountain.

Once Kyle was almost to the bottom of the mountain he released the girls, and a big explosion rocked the Earth as a big black hole seemingly swallowed the top of the rock formation. The three humans were forced to the ground by the sheer force, and by the time they looked up again it looked like nothing had happened.

"They are gone, and they do not even know the truth," Liz whispered sadly. Maria wrapped her arms around Liz and cried silently. Only Kyle seemed to notice the two men as they approached.

"Uh….uh….guys?" Kyle stammered. The two girls turned tear stained faces to see what Kyle was yammering about.

"Wha…Who…How…You…" Maria blinked once…twice…

Finally Liz was the one to break the spell with one word, even if it was just a whisper.

"Alex?"

[kj4ever]

Chapter 2

Liz tilted her tear streaked face to look at the men standing before her. It couldn't be possible. No, no way. Alex was dead. She watched them put him in the ground. Well, she watched them put his casket in the ground. The car accident had made viewing the body impossible. But Max, Max had saw him, right? Max tried to heal him in the the hearse. He would have known if it wasn't Alex. The dental records matched. Everyone had confirmed it. By all reasons of logic, Alex was dead.

So who was this standing in front of them?

Kyle placed his body in front of the two emotionally beaten girls. "Look, I don't know who the hell you people are, or what you are, but the Big Kahuna is gone. Buh-Bye. Gone to the great big Antar in the sky. Whatever your beef is with them, it has nothing to do with us anymore." He couldn't believe this was happening. Max had rode off into the sunset with Tess and their kid, taking all the known alien fire power on Earth along with him, leaving just Kyle to protect Liz and Maria. "Just leave us alone!"

Maria just stared at Alex in shock. It sure looked like Alex, if maybe a bit bigger, wiser looking. "Oh. My. God. You guys are shapeshifters, right? And if watching the people we love take off with the bitch from hell who killed our best friend isn't bad enough, you have the incredibly bad taste to shapeshift into said best friend? What the hell is wrong with you people? Are you really this heartless? Do you think we are stupid or what?"

Alex took a tentative step towards his friends, as they took a step backwards. "Guys," he said softly, "It is really me. I'm not dead. I never was. I very well could have been if it wasn't for Max, but I'm telling you, it's me."

"Wait, wait, wait. So now you are trying to tell me that not only are you not dead, but Max let us believe all this time that you were? He let us be in all this pain knowing full well that you were alive? I don't think so, Max would never do that," said Liz.

"Sometimes we let the people we love be in pain if we think it is for the greater good," Kal eyed Liz as she looked to the ground. "Connect with him. Then you'll know for sure he's telling the truth."

"Oh I don't think so buddy boy," Maria yelled. She had had enough. "God what is wrong with you people. Just leave us alone. Haven't we been through enough. And who the hell are you supposed to be? You look like my Uncle Ed in really expensive clothes, and no offense or anything, but if I don't think many people would look like my Uncle Ed on purpose if they could like shapeshift into like whoever they wanted."

Kal smirked at Maria. This young girl certainly had a fire about her. No wonder the General became so taken with her. "Just do it Liz, and let's save the dramatics. I have enough of that in my real life. My name is Kal, Kal Langley, Hollywood Producer, Anatarian Royal Protector...." Kal waves his hand dramatically in the air, "Take your pick."

"NO!" Liz shouted. "NO! I am so not doing this right now. If you are going to kill us, kill us. Connect with him? I can't just connect with people, I have only been able to connect with Max, and guess what, he's gone. Gone with his wife," she said the word as if it caused her pain. "His...his pregnant wife..." Liz couldn't take this anymore. "He's just gone," she whispered as she rubbed her tired hands across her dirty face.

"Well for being so smart, you are wrong about an awful lot. Alex is not dead, Tess is not Max's wife, and she sure as hell isn't pregnant. And you can connect with Alex, it's one of the gifts Max gave you." Kal said, eyeing the girls for their reaction.

Liz stared at the man in disbelief. "What? What are you talking about?"

Kyle gently took both girls by the arm. "We are out of here. If you want to kill us, then by all means, kill three defenseless teenagers while they are at possibly the lowest moment in their life, but I will not stand here and watch you use their pain to try to gain their trust."

Kyle, Liz and Maria started walking briskly to the Jeta. "Wait!" screamed Alex. This so was not going how it was supposed to go.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. He was so going to regret this. "Kyle, your buddies started calling me Alice in 6th grade because when I was changing my shoes for gym my toenails were painted hot pink, something that Maria did in my sleep while we were camping out on Liz's balcony. I didn't realize it until everyone started laughing at me in the locker room." The three kids came to a stop and slowly turned and looked at Alex.

"One time in 5th grade you two talked me into playing house and I had to be a girl because Maria had been spending "Quality Time" with her Mom and said her house didn't need a man in it. I had to borrow one of Mrs. Parker's dresses because Liz's were way to short...." Kyle snickered, he just couldn't help it.

"Look, I know what you are thinking. Someone mind raped me before I died and they know all of this, but so help me it's really me you guys. My death was faked to protect everyone, to catch Tess in her little web of deception. Liz, one time you told me you just needed just one moment from me to totally change a situation. That's what I'm asking of you now."

Alex took a step towards his three friends. They seemed to be wavering. God he hated seeing them like this. Alex reached out and touched Liz's arm. "Liz, please......."

The moment Alex touched Liz's arm she knew he was telling the truth. The images came fast and hard. Alex watching his Father teach in a big lecture hall. Boys teasing a young, skinny Alex. Alex sitting on a stool at the Crashdown with a very young Maria and Liz. Alex seeing Isabel Evans for the first time. Alex painfully realizing he has pink toenails while a locker room full of boys laugh. Alex playing with his first computer. Alex hurt because he knows Liz and Maria are hiding something from him. Alex looks at a tear stained Liz while she tells him that Max, Michael, and Isabel are not from around here. Alex and Isabel star gazing. Alex sitting at a table near an amazing pool going over a bunch of papers with Max and Michael......

"Alex?" Liz whispers. "ALEX!" Liz throws her arms around Alex and hugs him as hard as her small body can manage. "It's ok, it's ok," Alex says as he strokes her hair. "Guys," Liz says as she looks over at them, "It's really him. I saw....I saw... I would just know if it wasn't him, like when I knew Nasedo wasn't Max." Liz's whole body is now shaking with sobs as Maria throws herself at Alex.

"I hate to break up the little family reunion, but we better get out of here before the Calvary arrives. You know, with the whole black hole opening up and causing the Earth to tremor like an earthquake," Kal says as he heads towards the black SUV Alex had been driving earlier. "You three follow us in that...thing," Kal says distastefully as he opens the driver's door.

"Oh, and Major Alice, you better get in the SUV," Kal chided. "You need to be behind the tinted windows, as you're resurrection can't be for a couple of days yet."

"I so knew I was going to regret saying that," Alex groaned as he tried to disentangle himself from Liz and Maria. "It's alright, everything is going to be alright, but Kal has a point....We have to get out of here."

The three emotionally exhausted teenagers climbed into the Jeta and followed the other vehicle. As they drove in stunned silence, Liz's mind was racing. What did all of this mean? Alex never died, and Max knew. That Kal guy, he said Tess wasn't Max's wife. Did he mean now, or before back on Antar? Wait....He said she wasn't pregnant. Did that mean that Max never slept with her, or did he sleep with her but she just lied about the pregnancy?

Did they really go back to Antar, or were they still in the pod chamber? Why would they take off to another planet with someone who had lied about being pregnant, someone they obviously knew they couldn't trust? Liz rubbed her temples as she felt a splitting headache coming on. To many questions, not enough answers.

Maria was the first to break the silence. "Liz....Liz....Are you sure that was Alex? I mean really sure? This is all just so impossible."

"I'd bet my life on it Maria," Liz stated with conviction.

"I...I...I watched him die. I carried his body to the car Liz. God don't you think it has haunted my every moment since I broke out of the mindwarp? Don't you think I'd know what was real and what wasn't?" Kyle said, "Maybe this isn't real. Maybe we are all just delusional."

"Kyle. Kyle!" Liz had to snap him out of it. Yes, none of this seemed real, or even possible, but one thing Liz had learned in the last couple of years was that the unreal could turn real in a heart beat, along with the impossible becoming possible. "I'm telling you that's Alex. I know it with every fiber of my being."

"And what I don't understand is how did Max know about this? How could he let us believe he was dead if he knew about it too?" Maria said, trying to make heads or tails of the situation.

"Michael knew too," Liz stated quietly.

"WHAT???" Maria yelled. "He knew, Maria, I saw it in the flash that Alex gave me. Max, Michael and him were gathered around a table reading something, like they were planning something," Liz said.

"Huh! I so should have known some crazy alien.....crap....was going on. Spaceboy was being to nice, to kind. I mean really, what, for the rest of my life am I going to have to wonder what kind of alien bitch slap I'm going to get every time Michael acts like a decent person?"GOD, how could they even do that to us?" Maria said, even more upset now, if that was possible.

The group rode the rest of the way quietly as all their minds raced at the speed of light. They followed the black SUV as it turned into a driveway of a big ranch about 30 minutes outside of Roswell. Kal's hand came out of the window and scanned a card to open the large gate, allowing them access to the rest of the long driveway. "Here goes nothing," Maria muttered as she followed through the gate up to the big house that sat about a mile from the road.

As they approached the big circular driveway in front of the impressive looking house, Kyle saw his red Mustang sitting out front. "What the hell is my car doing here?" he asked. The front door of the house opened up and out walked none other then his father, Sheriff Valenti. "Oh God, not him too," Kyle cried, his head in his hands.

Alex walked over to the Jeta and put his arms around the girls. They followed Kal as he walked into the big front door of the house. Kyle just stood staring as his Father in disbelief. "Come on Son," Jim said as he hugged his son. "We have a lot to cover, and everything will make sense then, I promise."

The five of them made their way out to the backyard, to the large table next to the pool that Liz had seen in her flash. Kal came out a moment later with refreshments. "We might as well get comfortable, because we are going to be here awhile," he said as he looked at the rag tag group before him. Liz and Maria were clutching Alex like he might disappear without any notice, and Jim's hand was resting comfortingly on Kyle's shoulder.

For a moment they all sat in silence, trying to process what was going on. Even though they had time from the drive over to the ranch to think of possibilities, the three teenagers were still at a loss. Finally, Liz spoke.

"How long has this been going on? Did Max really heal Alex in the hearse? I mean, we know what Tess did to him. We know tat she warped him until his brain couldn't take it." Liz looked straight into Alex's eyes with all the hurt and pain she was feeling. "How long have you all been deceiving us?" she whispered.

"I think I should take this one," Kal said. "Alex has known since Max first found out about Tess's little plan to warp him into decoding the book. The sheriff has known since yesterday, and I have known since, oh about the time Future Max paid you your little visit."

Liz looked at Kal with complete horror written all over her face. "How do you know about that? I never told anyone but Maria."

"Future Max? What the hell are you talking about," Kyle shouted. "I'm out of here. That's it, isn't it? I've officially lost it." Jim put pressure on Kyle's shoulder. "Sit down, son. You haven't lost it, I promise."

"Max told me about Future Max Liz. Present day Max I mean," Kal said, gauging Liz's reaction. "That's impossible," Liz stated. "Maria would never tell Max about that."

"I swear Liz, I never said a word to anyone, not even Michael. I would never betray your trust like that, NEVER. I knew how important it was, how important to the world," Maria said as she squeezed Liz's hand. Liz squeezed back in assurance. She knew Maria would never even do that to her.

"Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on here?" Kyle yelled. "Who the hell is Future Max? What the hell does this have to do with Alex dying? What does this have to do with you all letting us believe these horrible things?"

"Do you want to take this one Liz?" Alex asked quietly.

Liz looked at Alex, not sure if she should proceed. She was so used to keeping this horrible secret, the secret that would save the world. Alex nodded his head encouragingly. Liz moved over to sit next to Kyle and took his hand in hers.

"Kyle, do you remember when we staged our little, ummm act for Max?" Kyle nodded his head numbly. "Well, the reason we did that was because a future version of himself came to me and said I needed to make him fall out of love with me. Tess ended up leaving Roswell because of how much Max resented her interference in our relationship, and Earth was taken over by their enemies because without Tess they weren't strong enough to fight them. I tried setting him up with Tess, but that didn't work. He caught me and it just made him love me more. I tried to tell him that I didn't want to die for him, but he didn't believe me. Staging our little tryst was my last resort, my last hope that I could save the world."

Kyle looked into Liz's devastated eyes. He wanted to tell her she was crazy, but he saw she was speaking the truth in the two dark brown puddles of pain.

"I....I thought it worked. Max pulled away from me. He started getting closer to Tess. He took her to New York. When did he find out about this Kal? WHEN? Oh God, was it all a mind warp? Was it not real?" Liz was close to a complete breakdown.

"Liz, Future Max was very real. It was him. The only thing that wasn't real was his intentions. No version of Max would ever want you to be apart." Kal sighed. This was going to be harder then he thought.

Alex glanced over at Liz. This was his mission, his job every since Michael aka Rath had made him an Antarian Major. She was the strongest person he knew, and he knew she could handle this.

"Liz, let me explain, please?" he said and Liz looked over at him and simply nodded.

"When the Royal Four were sent to Earth, they had their predecessors memories encoding into their brains. Now if you can imagine a six year old waking up with all those memories, it would be kind of hard to have them blend in with Earth's society. The people that engineered them put blocks in their brain. Their protectors would release these blocks as they grew, slowly releasing what they used to know."

"But we failed them," Kal sadly stated, showing emotion for the first time that day.

"Be fair to yourself, Kal. Max, Michael and Isabel told you they don't blame you one bit." Alex said comfortingly.

"Oh great, just great. The Ice Princess was in on this too? Next thing your going to tell me is that my Mother was staging I know an alien club meetings in her stock room," Maria shouted.

Alex held his hand up. "Please, just let me get through this next part before interrupting," Alex cupped Maria's chin. "Please Maria?" he pleaded. Maria nodded her head and Alex continued.

"When the protectors went back to the pod chamber to check on their charges, all they found was four sacs with skeletal looking children in them. They thought the experiment didn't work. They thought their mission had failed. They were doomed to spend the rest of their days on Earth, knowing their was no way to save their planet."

"But how?" Kyle asked. Jim breathed a sigh of relief that Kyle was actually processing the information and not totally incoherent.

"We were mind warped," Kal said softly. "We thought the children were dead. I mean, mind warping wasn't even a possibility. That power was made illegal centuries ago. If someone was born with it, it was removed."

"Removed? How can alien powers be removed?" Maria asked incredulously.

"Did Michael ever tell you that Nasedo told him his powers were human?" Kal asked Maria. She nodded and he continued. "Well if the powers come from the brain, then with a few well placed laser cuts they can be stopped. Unfortunately, they can also be added, which is what I suspect happened."

"So you are saying that Tess mind warped you from her pod? How is that even possible?" Liz asked. It seemed every question they had answered brought up ten more waiting to be fulfilled.

"Tess didn't do it Liz, her Father did," Alex said. Now was as good of time as any to drop the bombshell. "Guys, Tess's Father was Nasedo, and needless to say he was not a protector to anyone other then Tess."

With this revelation all hell broke loose. Kyle got up and started pacing. Maria was going on and on about nothing in the last year and a half was as it seemed. Liz dug into the sides of her hair and pulled, like she was trying to make this last bit of information go away.

"STOP!" Alex shouted. "Look, I know this is hard, I know it is unbelievable, but please, just let me get through this." He calmed a bit and said, "Liz? Liz? Let me explain what this all has to do with Future Max, ok?"

Kyle sat back down, and Liz and Maria took deep breaths and turned towards Alex. Jim was yet again utterly amazed at how resilient and strong these kids could be. If he was their age he didn't think he'd be able to handle all of this, and he was raised with a Father that swore their were aliens walking the Earth.

"Nasedo, or Killian as he was called on Antar had stowed away on the ship that came to Earth. He had one goal for his daughter in her last life, and it was the same in this one. She would be Queen, and she would gain complete and utter control over the King." Alex paused as he waited for the teens to process this bit of information.

"He developed a plan. First, he got rid of all of the protectors, making them think the royal four were dead. Then, he stunted Tess's pod so she would come out a bit later then the other three. He watched Max, Michael, and Isabel leave their pods. As soon as he saw the Evan's pick up Max, he went back and got Tess. All he ever cared about was that Max was safe. Tess would gain her memories through the years, and when the time was right, they would show back up in Max's life with all the questions he would undoubtably have."

"Divide and conquer," Liz whispered. "That's right," Alex said, putting an arm around Liz. "They were sitting ducks, so to speak."

Alex let out a long breath and continued. "They would have no clue if what they heard from Nasedo was the truth or not. He would be their only link to their past, and be totally at his mercy, or so he thought. He didn't count on the formerly passionate less King falling for a little brown eyed girl in the third grade." Alex smiled. He liked this part.

"You saved them Liz," Alex said compassionately. "In the last timeline and hopefully in this one, but with a better ending. You see, in the last timeline Max didn't know about the protectors. He didn't know about the lies from Tess and Nasedo. He did know that he loved you though, and once you guys ummm what did Future Max call it? Cemented? Nasedo and Tess knew their plan was pretty much hopeless. They went to the dark side, well darker side. Even though they were already in with the enemy they totally joined them after that."

"But Nasedo was already dead when Max and I uhh ummm cemented," Liz blushed.

Alex held up his hand in a gesture to quiet her. "No he wasn't Liz, and he was very much alive until a couple of months ago." Gasps could be heard around the table at this revelation, and Alex continued.

"In the first timeline, Max's memories were released when Michael and Isabel died. It was a pain so great it broke right through the blocks in his brain. Even though the last life was hard, as they fought their enemies, he was still ok because he had you. Once the blocks were brought tumbling down he realized how terribly wrong everything went. He knew of all the lies he was told. He knew they had manipulated the situation to their advantage, but it was to late. To many had died, to much destruction on Earth. With his Zan memories also came knowledge....."

"Knowledge of the Granilith," Liz said.

"That's right," Alex replied. "He knew he had to change it, and he knew he only had one shot. The Granilith is very powerful, but even it has it's limits. He could either use it to stop the then current enemies on Earth and finish his days on a half destroyed planet with the love of his life, or he could go back and try and try to change it. Granted, that would be a huge gamble, but I'm pretty sure he was gambling on you Liz, and Max knows that he will win every time when it comes to you."

"He knew Tess was the enemy, didn't he?" Liz said as Alex said yes in agreement. "So if I'm understanding you right, I'm thinking that Max came back in time to get me to devestate him enough to make his past memories come to the surface earlier in the timeline?"

"That's right Liz. The only thing that could hurt him as bad as Isabel and Michael's death would be to lose you. To lose you completely, especially at that point and time."

"But he didn't trust me enough to just tell me that," Liz stated quietly. Tears began to roll down her face as she realized just how far all this deception went.

"Liz, how good of a liar are you??" Alex asked. Liz just looked at him and shruged her shoulders. "That's what I thought. Too much was riding on this Liz, don't you see? Even if Future Max told you the truth....Even if the plan went wrong and you told Max all about Tess and Nasedo...He still wouldn't have access to his memories, and the Granilith. He still wouldn't have a hope in hell without those things, and all would still be lost."

Maria had been surprisingly quiet and collected during all of this. "Can I speak now, Major Alice?" she asked. Alex rolled his eyes and gave her his consent.

"Ok, so I just want to make sure I got this straight. Nasedo and Tess have been playing us all since like before we were ever freakin' born. They brought about the end of the world because Tess couldn't have her precious Max, so Max came back and destroyed Liz to save said world. Now call me crazy, but I'm assuming as soon as Max became, oh I don't know Max with a twist he caught on to all that was happening and knew about the whole Future Max visit but played along."

Maria got up and started pacing. She looked over at Kal. "How am I doing so far?"

"Pretty damn good," Kal said, impressed.

"So," Maria continued. "I'm guessing that Max with a twist let loose those little...what were they called? Oh yeah, mind blocks in Princess Isabel and my idiot boyfriend, which would mean they both knew this was going on too." Maria glared at Kal and he nodded.

"Well isn't this just great! Just abso-freakin-lutely wonderful. Poor Liz has had the whole weight of the world on her shoulders for 7 months. I've felt guilty as hell for not telling Spaceboy about the whole End of the World deal, and Kyle's been living with a deranged version of I Dream of Jeannie. And all the while they all knew. They KNEW what we were going through. I swear, if Michael isn't on Antar I'm gonna kick his ass all the way there myself."

The thought of this brought Liz out of her silence. "Where are they Alex?"

"You guys have to understand, you were always protected, all of you," Alex said as he looked at a totally defeated Kyle. "As for where they are," Alex glances at his watch, "I would guess they would probably be on Antar by now, or at least going through the last black hole. I'd like to think they are in the middle of Tess's public execution, because you know a guy can dream."

Maria was stunned. "So they really went back?" she asked in a small voice.

Alex sighed. "They had to. When the memories were released they also remembered their home, their people. They aren't those people from back then, but they do carry their burden, their purpose. If any of us are ever to have any peace, Kivar must be stopped. That's why they went back, and they are really hoping that once they free their planet you all will have forgiven them enough to let them back into your lives, whether it be here or on Antar."

Kyle hadn't spoken for a long time. He played with his fingers in his lap, looking at them like they were the most important thing he had ever seen. "So everyone had a noble purpose except for Tess. The girl that lived in my home. The girl that I loved and thought of like family." Kyle looked up with unshed tears in his eyes. "She did all of that just to get control of some stupid planet, without a care about Alex's life, my life, anyone's life?"

Kal looked at Alex. "I think I better take it from here. Tess never cared about her planet or anything else other then Max. She did love him, or rather was brought up thinking that, just like in her last life she was brought up thinking that Zan was her everything. The problem came into play when she discovered in both lives that Max and Zan didn't feel the same way, even though she was raised to believe he would share a love so great it would be written about, sung about....A love to last for all time. In fact, both versions of our King could barely stand the sight of her, and that, my friends, was the beginning of the end in both lifetimes."

Kal got up from the table in full Hollywood producer pitch mode. "I think it's time you all learned about what really happened on Antar. Does anyone need anything before I begin?" The group at the table sat transfixed and shook their heads no.

"Picture this," Kal said, holding his hands out making a make shift picture frame, really getting into his element. "There's this planet in a galaxy just 6 black holes from here. A very unhappy Prince, who unbeknownst to him was about to become King, was being forced into a marriage to someone who had hounded him since the day she could talk. His only joy came from his sister, best friend, and his Mother whom he adored with his whole heart. Little did they know about how they were being deceived by the King's advisor, who was about to become the Prince's Father in law. Little did they know how their peaceful galaxy was about to be torn apart by him and the madman that plotted with him."

"Imagine a planet with strikingly violet skies and trees that seem to reach the heavens. A place where technology and nature's beauty live side by side...."

And with that the five people around the table were transported into a world where everything is not as it appears. A world on the edge of either great peace or furious fighting. They were about to know what the truth really was..........

[kj4ever]

Thanks for all the feed back everyone! I promise some of those questions will be answered soon. I have a lot of this written already so an update or two should happen daily for awhile.

I know it's heavy on the dialog, but I'm used to writing scripts which is not real big on direction and exposition of course. I can't afford to start any bad habits for my other writing job, so you all can be like the director and use your imagination! On with the story:

Chapter 3

"It's like watching a hologram movie," Maria whispered to Liz. They were very much aware that they were still in Kal's backyard, but in front of them a gorgeous castle came into view. There were rolling hills with lush green grass and strange but breath-taking flower gardens.

"Wow," Alex said. When he noticed the two girls funny looks he stated, "Hey, I didn't get to see this either. I just got the cliff notes version."

"Sshhhh" shushed the Sheriff. A young man was sitting on a stone wall over looking a beautiful orange sunset. The violet sky mixed with the orange sunset in a startlingly awesome view. He rested his hands and head on his propped-up knees, deep in thought.

"One day you are going to fall off that wall and break your royal neck, Zan," Michael, or Rath I suppose said. It was funny. You could certainly see the resemblance in both of them, enough to know who they were. Little changes made it obvious they didn't share the exact same DNA with their predecessors, but it was almost like brothers who look incredibly alike. You just know they are related.

"I don't think so Rath, I've got reflexes like a cat," Zan joked. When he noticed Michael's confused expression he elaborated. "It's an Earth expression."

"I should have known," Rath said as he sat down next to his friend. "Your Mother and her preoccupation with Earth will always amuses me." Rath looked over at his friend, debating on the real reason why he wanted to talk to his friend.

"I heard the news about your upcoming marriage to Ava," Rath said as Zan winced. "Are you ok? What are you going to do?"

"What do you think I'm going to do Rath, I'm going to marry her," Zan spit out. "Look, I'm sorry; I don't mean to take this out on you. My Father is the King. His word is law. It is my duty to obey and learn until I am King."

"Zan? Zan?" a female voice called from around the corner. A tall, beautiful twin of Miss Isabel Evans rounded the corner and Alex did a quick intake of breath.

"Oh thank the heavens, there you are," she said with concern written all over her face. "I was so worried when I heard about…well…Ava…the marriage." Vilandra placed an arm around her brother. "Are you ok?"

Zan didn't answer and just stared into space. Rath spoke up. "You know you have your options Zan, and even your Father cannot take those away. You can always go with the civil ceremony and skip the shots. All you have to do then is pray like Hades that the right girl comes along."

Vilandra dropped her arm from her brother in defeat. "Is it really that bad Zan? I mean, I heard from Ava herself that she has aroused you."

Zan looked at his sister like she was crazy. Just as he was about to say something Rath cut in. "What? Ava aroused you and you didn't tell me? I've been feeling sorry for you all this time and it happened? I mean damn, I've never had that happen yet and I am around women all the time, not locked up in a castle like you."

"I assure you she is mistaken. No one has ever been able to arouse me." Zan sneered.

Maria spit her mouth full of soda all over the table as Liz choked on hers. Kyle proceeded to laugh himself silly. "I can't believe they are talking about this! With their sister! And look at them, they have to be 20 years old, and if they are talking about what I think they are talking about that is So. Not. Possible. It's just wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. My ears are like….bleeding…" Maria gushed.

Kal, who had been filling the table with snacks waved at hand at the alien cinema, putting it on pause. "Nice trick," Alex said. Kal bowed gracefully.

"We've been going at this for hours kiddies. Why don't you take a stretch and relieve anything that you might need to relieve and we'll get back to it in a minute. Then Uncle Kal will point out all the bullet points of Antarian marriage and sexual relations."

Everyone slowly stood up from the patio table and stretched. Maria and Liz walked arm and arm towards the bathroom. "Are you ok Liz, this is a lot to take in," Maria said.

"I'm fine Maria. We just need to listen to the details and decide where to go from there." Liz stated.

"LIZ! Come on, this is me here. We have been lied to by them almost half as long as we've known their little secret. They have purposely let us be hurt, hurt bad Liz. Not oh he didn't call me but the oh hey your best friend is dead kind of hurt. The you have to push me to the ho from hell and we can't be together kind of hurt. This is not a calm situation Liz. This is a freak out situation. This isn't even the Alien Abyss anymore. This it the Alien… the Alien…What is bigger then an Abyss Liz, because that's what this is. Alien whatever is bigger than an Abyss, and we are swallowed whole by it."

"Maria, come on Maria….. I know this is hard, God is this hard, but we are going to get through it, and we are going to get through it together. Just think Maria, we have Alex back. It's been like a piece of us was missing all this time. Unless they tell me someone else has died, nothing can be worse then that, nothing. I've spent the last month thinking about how I changed things….About how Alex was alive in the other timeline." Liz tried to hold back the tears. "I've lived with the knowledge that I killed Alex Maria, and him being here has given me such joy, such hope, that I know I can make it through the other stuff, and you can too."

"Liz, you so did not kill Alex so don't even go there. You tried to save everyone. I'm just glad this conversation is pointless now, and you're right about one thing…..We have our Alex back and we'll get through it. It's just that something happened between Michael and I last night and I just don't know how I feel about it now." Maria smiled sheepishly. "I'm just a little bit more erratic then normal I guess."

"What happened?" Liz asked Maria with a worried look on her face. "It's nothing, nothing compared to this stuff. Now's not the time Liz, we'll talk about it later, ok? I just can't go there right now." Liz quietly whispered ok and squeezed Maria's arm.

When the girls returned to the table everyone was waiting on them.

"Let's begin. Now I'm only going to say this once. No stupid questions, no juvenile comments," Kal looked pointedly at Kyle, "and we'll get through this real quick. This is just as uncomfortable for me as it is for you, and I'll try to use as much tact as possible. If there are any genuine questions at the end I'll answer them. Here we go."

Kal sat down and lit his cigar. "Antarians are very much like humans, in fact, if you were able to stick around another millennia or so you would probably see humans developing powers and green blood cells," Kal explained. 'Or maybe sooner if these male Antarians keep bonding with humans' he thought to himself.

"There are two ways an Antarian couple can get married. They can either pledge their love during an intimate encounter, or they can have a civil union. Why the need for a civil union you might ask?"

"Our blood is green because of our energy. Now if I were to lose a bunch of blood, one of you could give me a blood transfusion and it would work just fine. The energy that flows from the powers in our brain gives off a distinct symbol, almost like a second set of DNA. A male Antarian instinctively, almost in a primal way can sense this from a woman and know who would make a good partner for furthering the next generation."

Kal gauged the reactions of the people sitting around the table to be sure he hadn't lost anyone and continued. "This bred out the whole spreading of the seed urges like the ones that human men have. You meet a compatible mate; you know it because you become aroused. Now this isn't like an every day occurrence. The goal of all Antarian men is to meet that woman, and a lot really do. But some never do, so instead of them being alone with no umm relations, a shot was developed to help in that area, as a way to help people with civil unions enjoy that part of life also."

"Like Alien Viagra?" Kyle asked. "Kyle……….." the Sheriff warned. "No, its ok Jim, the boy is actually right on target with that one. Thank you Kyle," Kal said.

"No problemo. So Max needs Alien Viagra? I mean Michael asked him if he was going to use the shot," Kyle said with a smirk.

"You just had push it, didn't you?" Kal asked, exasperated. "That was not Max, but Zan. And he was with Ava, not Liz. I'm assuming if Liz would have been on Antar back then things would have been quite different," Kal said as Liz blushed furiously.

"Anyway," Kal continued, in a traditional ceremony, and I'm not talking about the civil one, when the two are united their energy symbols mesh. On Earth you might know it as an aura. They become the same, and everyone knows they are together. In a civil ceremony sometimes it will happen after a couple of rounds of shots, or sometimes it never happens. No one really knows why. Either way, once this happens, the melting of the energies, it is permanent. There is no divorce."

Maria tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "But what did Michael… I mean Rath mean about praying the right girl comes along? He made it sound like there was almost hope for poor Zan."

Kal looked at Maria tiredly. "You are really exhausting, you know that? I'm getting to that part. There is a third way to get married on Antar, but only the King can do it. The Granolith can marry them, and it is done instantaneously. Their energies are brought together at once, and it is irrevocable. Zan's Grandfather made a declaration that any civil union that had not been consummated would be null and void if the Granolith declared a King married to someone else."

"So if Zan only had a civil ceremony with Ava, he would still have a chance to find love, one that was morally and legally supported by the Monarchy and the Antarian people?" Liz asked.

"B-i-n-g-o, give the lady a prize," Kal exclaimed. "Now let's get back to the story, it's about to get really good." With a wave of his hand the alien hologram jumped back to life.

"Why would she tell you that then Vi?" Rath roared. "This isn't right, Zan, there is something wrong. Something very wrong. I can feel it."

"I…I don't know why she'd make it up. I mean, she said even her Father had told her he had witnessed Zan's arousal in her presence," a very confused Vilandra said.

"Killian," Rath growled. He was up and pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. "I should have known. I just don't trust him Zan, we've got to do something."

Zan sighed and jumped down to face Rath. "You know my Father will not listen to one negative word about Killian. There isn't anything we can do," Zan said, totally defeated. "I'm not going to pretend that any of this makes any sense, why my father is so set on me marrying Killian's daughter…"

The three royals seemed to all have the same light bulb moment at once. "Zan, you need to talk to Mother about this. I know that since you've gotten older she's promised to not interfere in your decisions as much, but Rath is right. We have to figure this out before it's too late," Vilandra pleaded.

"I don't want to put her in the middle of this, Vi," Zan stated quietly. "You know how Father can be when he feels he's been disobeyed."

"But Mother was really close to Grandma and Grandpa Zan. You know how they were together. There wasn't a King, it was the two of them, ruling side by side. Heavens think about it, will you? Why did Grandpa make that rule when there hasn't been an arranged marriage in centuries? Why would any King need an out?" Vilandra cried.

"Your Grandma had the gift of precognition, didn't she Zan? What if they made that rule for you? I'm begging you Zan, for the first time in your life put yourself before everyone else. Hell, put us before you. Who knows what's up Killian's sleeve. Just think if a man like that had any kind of control over the Granolith….It was taken from their family before, and maybe they are just trying to get it back." Rath was angry now, really and truly angry.

Zan sighed in defeat. "If I promise to go talk to Mother, will you promise not to do anything hasty Rath?" Zan knew well and good how spontaneous Rath could be. He didn't want to see him do anything that even Zan himself could not repair.

"I'll promise if you go talk to her now," Rath swore. Zan nodded in agreement and turned to leave. Vilandra came up to him and through her arms around him. "Some way we'll get through this, I promise. Together, the three of us."

"Thanks Vi," Zan said, none to convincingly. He headed over to his Mother's chambers like a man walking to his death.

"Why all the death threats?" Vilandra asked Rath suddenly. "What do you mean, death threats?" Rath asked.

"Haven't you ever noticed that whenever there is a big party, you know, the kind where there will be lots of eligible girls, there is a sudden death threat against Zan and he either makes a quick appearance or doesn't go?" Vilandra asked.

"Yes, I've noticed it but I never questioned it I guess. We are talking about the safety of the future King after all, but it is suspicious. I'm going to get to the bottom of this Vi, just wait and see," Rath promised.

"Raath," Vilandra started, but Rath interrupted her. "I'm not going to do anything stupid Vi, but I'm sure as hell not going to sit around and watch Zan get played like a puppet. I will find out what's going on."

Maria looked uncomfortable as alien cinema Vilandra and Rath hugged each other in a tight embrace. "Have I ever told you that you are my favorite cousin?" Vilandra asked.

"Not nearly enough," Rath said as he playfully punched Vilandra in the arm. "You're going to pay for that, Rath!" Vilandra exclaimed.

"Really, you and what army? Oh wait, the army will be listening to me in a few years. I suggest you hurry." The two cousins walked arm in arm off the screen, playfully teasing each other like brothers and sisters do.

"Oh. My. God. Nasedo and Tess tried to make them think they should be "together" and they are related," Maria shrieked.

"Shhhh, Zan is going up to his Mother's door." Liz chastised.

Zan walked up to a big ornate door and hesitated before he knocked. Suddenly the scene faded out and faded back in with a little boy sitting on an elderly man's lap.

"Grandma says you make her feel like she has butterflies in her tummy," the little boy told the old man.

"Did she really now, Zan?" he asked, an amused look in his eye. "Well then I think it's ok if I tell you a secret. Sometimes I think I have a bunch of bats in my tummy when I'm around her," he winked.

Little Zan looked surprised. "Also, sometimes when I'm busy, the connection we have, that I told you about, well it gets pushed to the back of my mind and I won't sense her coming towards me. I'll catch her out of the corner of my eye and my heart about leaps out of my chest. For just one moment my breath is totally taken away."

"Umm Grandpa, you sound like this is a good thing? It sounds kind of scary. Butterflies, bats, not being able to breathe…" Zan said with big, open eyes.

"I suppose it can be scary at times Zan, love always can be scary. But it is also the most amazing and incredible experience ever. I hope you get that some day Zan, I hope you get bats in your tummy."

The old King gives little Zan a hug and sends him on his way. Just as the scene is returning to Zan at his Mother's door, Kyle breaks the spell.

"So why do they all look human Kal? I mean shouldn't they be three feet tall and green?"

"Kyle!" Alex, Maria, Liz, and Jim yell in unison. "What? I got a bit lost during the mushy part so I had time to think." The girls wiped their eyes as Alex muttered, "No wonder you have problems with women."

God this was going to be the longest day ever, thought Kal.

[kj4ever]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I'm so glad some of your are enjoying my story!

As far as Maria and consequences, I'm sure that's going to come into play soon enough

Chapter 4

"Alright, real quick, because I'm sure it has been driving Liz crazy since I said we could have a blood transfusion from a human," Kal looks at Liz who smiles and shrugs her shoulders, "We most certainly have never been three feet tall and green," Kal said indignantly.

"As I said before, we have simply just been around longer then humans," Kal continued, "And we are like you in almost every way."

Now the Sheriff, who couldn't be silent any longer spoke up. "Kal, we have been fed these images from the government for years. I've also had a lot of conversations with Michael, helping him deal with the whole Pierce situation. Michael told me that Nasedo couldn't get through the security at Eagle Rock. Said that he had no skeletal system. Are there two different kinds of races?"

Kal didn't want to get into this right now, as he knew it would shock and anger everyone even more. There really was no way around it, and as he looked to Maria he suddenly wished he had duct tape for her mouth. This was really going to set her off.

He decided to do it quick, like pulling off a band aid. "Ok, if you were in the dark about the alien thing, what would you be more afraid of, a little green man or someone that looked like you that had our kind of powers? Someone that couldn't be spotted by the naked eye?"

Liz looked thoughtful. "It really was writers of the science fiction stories that came up with those images, wasn't it? Then the government ran with it as to not cause wide spread panic?"

"Exactly Liz," Kal said. "And as far as what Nasedo told Michael in Eagle Rock.....We don't exactly "shapeshift" as people like Hubble called it. We mearly have a gift that can bend the tiniest fragments of light, making you see what we want. Yes, we look different, but our form is still the same."

"This is how you are making the alien cinema, right Kal?" Liz asked. His smile told her she was right and she continued. "Then that means you could probably make yourself invisible too. Couldn't Nasedo have walked right in there and got Max out at any time?"

Here goes nothing, thought Kal. "Yes he could have. Who led them to Max to begin with? Why do you think he took you Liz? He wanted Max to follow. He led them right to him and handed him over on a silver platter, let him be tortured, and then made damn sure that only the "Royal Four's" power could save him."

After Kal's announcement you could have heard a pin drop. He expected a lot of things, but dead silence was not one of them.

Alex was the one to speak. "Guys? Maria? Liz?" he questioned as he took each one of their hands in his. "I know that this is a bit premature. You are both really just getting over the shock of me being you know, not dead, and are learning all these new things. I know that once it all sinks in and the shock value is over I very well might end up dead," he chuckled softly.

"But what I want you to think about... before killing me, that is," he continued, "Is how that...that...Monster let Max stay in that White Room. Max even thinks that while Nasedo was MIA he was actually watching him be tortured. Granted we never trusted him or Tess, but we had no idea the kind of evil we were facing. None. When I heard this story, I knew I had to go along with Max's plan. I'd rather see you hurt then dead."

Maria and Liz both looked down at their hands in silence.

"Perhaps we should continue with the Antarian history," Jim said softly.

Kal focused his powers and suddenly the alien cinema sprang back to life. Zan gently knocked on his Mother's door. "Mother?" he called.

"Come in sweetheart," his mother answered.

As the big ornate door opened and a woman perched on a red silk covered window seat staring at the same sunset turned to smile at her son. It was a smile that lights up a room. It wasn't only Alex that realized it was an Isabel Evans knock your socks off smile......

"Do you have a moment Mother?" Zan asked as he headed towards his Mother's window seat.

The Queen patted the seat next to her, "For you Zan, always. Come, come join me."

Zan sat down and gave his Mother a sad smile. "So I guess you've heard about my upcoming nuptials," he sad sadly.

"Yes I have Zan, no matter how hard your Father tried to keep it from me," she sighed, taking one of Zan's hands in her own. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm ok considering." Zan stated.

"Considering?" the Queen asked.

"Considering my Father has offered me up to an arranged marriage to someone I don't have the least bit of attraction to, someone I can barely have a conversation with, and his only explanation is that it is for the best."

A knock at the door interrupts the discussion. The Queen quickly gets off the window seat and grabs Zan's hand.

"Come with me Zan," she whispers. "Quickly now."

The Queen walks over to a doorway that leads into a large walk in closet filled with fancy dresses. She goes to the far back wall, and waves her hand over the surface. A glowing hand print appears, and she presses her hand upon it.

A doorway magically opens, and she ushers Zan through it. Once on the other side, she repeats the process and the door closes.

"I didn't know this was here," Zan says. "Shhhh now," the Queen says. She grabs Zan's hand again and ushers him through a long, dark hallway, walking very quickly.

As they come to a long, winding staircase Zan whispers, "Mother, where are you taking me?"

"To the Granilith Chamber," she says as they jog up the stairs. Once at the top, the Queen wipes her hand across the wall and another handprint appears, and after opening the secret door, the Mother and Son find themselves in the Granilith Chamber.

"They won't bother us here Zan, It's sacrilegious. I'll bet whomever was at the door in my chambers was there to rush you away to visit your Father."

Zan walked up to the big, humming, glowing sphere and lightly ran his fingers over it. "It's been a long time since I was here," Zan said softly.

"To long," his Mother replied, "and I'm afraid much of that is my fault," she said sadly. Zan started to interrupt, but the Queen just held up her hand.

"No Zan, I have let things go on long enough. Your Father, he's changed, he's different, and unfortunately as King there isn't a whole lot we can do about that," she sighed. "For the last few years, he's kept you away from me, away from communing with the Granilith and I should have done something, something....more."

"Rath, Vi and I were talking about that today. I swear it has something to do with Killian. He wants the Granilith, doesn't he, and he's going to use me to get it." Zan asked as the sphere went from a bright white glow to a deep yellow glow and back again.

"I'd say that's your answer Zan," his Mother smiled. "It always has had a special connection to you."

Zan got up and began pacing around the Granilith. "All we need is a plan Mother, you got to have a plan."

Maria snorted and elbowed Liz. Liz just rolled her eyes and continued watching.

"We've all been so wrapped up in petty stuff these last couple of years," Zan said as he dropped to his knees in front of the Granilith. "He's been having us chase our tails, fighting amongst ourselves to where we just didn't see....just didn't pay attention to what was important."

The Queen watched her son in fascination as he placed both hands on the Granolith. It began glowing bright, vibrant colors as the chamber seemed to swirl along with the rainbow of colors.

"Do you have the samples Mother," Zan asked almost robotically.

"Is it really going to come to that?" the Queen asked in shock.

"Yes Mother. We need to do this, and do it before the civil ceremony. Otherwise my heir will be made from my DNA and Ava's, which is exactly what Killian wants, I just know it."

The Queen sighed. She knew when she gathered the samples from Earth along with Zan, Vilandra, and Rath that it might come to this. It was a time-honored tradition, protecting the Granilith from being taken into the wrong hands, but no one had ever used it.

If they placed the samples in the Granilith now, and if Zan only married Ava in a civil ceremony afterwards, there would be no need to change the samples.

The Queen pulled three vials from her pocket and kneeled down next to her son. Placing one hand on the Granilith she raised her other hand with the vials like an offering to the glowing sphere. Small sparkly stars swirled around the vials and they disappeared from his Mother's hand.

"It is done," she said quietly.

Zan lowered his hands and stared at the Granilith thoughtfully. "Do you think we could still get a mind warp signature from the Granilith?" Zan asked. Slowly he touched the surface of the sphere again and it faded to a dull black.

"Of all the things that could be going on, I didn't think it would be that," his Mother said. "That power is evil, it has been forbidden for centuries, and if that is what has been happening to your Father........."

"Then it will be over soon," Zan finished for her. "Father will never agree to be tested. His arrogance will see to it. He'd never admit to a weakness like that, or we wouldn't be in this position to begin with," Zan said bitterly.

"Zan, Zan look at me," his Mother said, touching both sides of his face. "Please remember how your Father used to be, not how he is now. If he's been warped the last few years he is no longer the man we knew. It is not him."

"But he still won't get better because warped or not, he'll never admit to it, admit he needs help," Zan said sadly.

"You remember that Zan, remember that always. Your Grandfather was possibly the greatest King this land has ever seen, and do you know why? Because the power that came with being King and keeper of the Granilith humbled him, not empowered him. He respected it in a way your Father never understood."

Just then the two heard the sliding of a door from the opposite side of the chamber. "Go Mother, go now. It has to be Father," Zan said, knowing that only the King, Queen, or Crowned Prince could open the chamber door.

"No matter what he says Zan, do not traditionally marry her. Remember, it is not your Father," she said as she hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you too," Zan whispered as she went out the way she came.

"ZAN!" a voice bellowed through the chambers. "There you are. We have been looking for you everywhere."

The King had walked into the Granilith chamber with what looked like a slightly younger Ed Harding and someone who was identical to Tess.

Zan approached Killian. "How dare you enter this sacred place," he growled as he sent Killian back through the doorway with a small blast.

If Ava was worried about her Father, she sure didn't show it. She just stood there, staring at Zan like he was the only man in the world. Zan shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"Ava, you do not belong here either, please exit before I have to use force," Zan said quietly.

"There is no reason for Ava to leave Zan, as I've decided your wedding day is now," the King smirked.

"Fine!" Zan said and stormed out of the Granilith Chamber. His Father followed hot on his heals.

"Just where do you think you are going?" his Father yelled furiously. "I just ordered you to marry her NOW."

"As I shall," Zan spit out, "As soon as I find someone to perform the ceremony."

Ava looked completely devastated. "A Civil Ceremony? Zan, you can't mean that. I love you Zan! We are supposed to be together! It is our destiny!"

Every single person sitting around that patio table groaned. If they never heard the word destiny again it would be to soon.

"No it's not Ava, it's something sinister, something wrong, and I will find out what it is if it's the last thing I do!" Zan screamed.

He wasn't expecting the heavy handed slap that caught him across the face. "Listen to me, you ungrateful little brat. If you do not marry her in the Granilith Chamber, I will never forgive you. NEVER!" the King bellowed.

"Then that is how it shall be," Zan said, standing toe to toe with the large man who shared his eyes.

"Sire!" Killian exclaimed. "You must do something. You cannot let him shame my daughter like this!"

"You know good and well that I can't force him Killian," the King said, wavering slightly on his feet.

"Are you alright Dad?" Zan asked, concerned. "I'm, I'm fine son..." the King said rather disoriented.

Killian bolted into action. He ran down the corridor and came back with one of the cleric that stayed in the rooms near the Granilith. "The King has ordered Prince Zan to marry my daughter, right your Majesty?"

"Yes, yes of course," the Kind said, rubbing his forehead. The ceremony took less then a minute, with each party vowing to marry the other. Ava was in tears and Zan was livid.

As the Priest declared the ceremony a success, the King fell to the ground with a thud. "Father!" Zan screamed and ran to his side, but it was to late. The King was dead.

Zan slowly got up and turned to face his new Father-in-Law and bride. There was no longer the look of a defeated young Prince, but the rage and power of a King.

"You...Killian....I know you had something to do with this, and I will find out the truth, so help me God," Zan spit out.

"Your Majesty," Killian said, bowing lowly, "You are just upset, and I will be happy to serve you as I did your Father."

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL," Zan boomed. "What, are you going to warp me like you did my Father?"

Gasps could be heard from all the people that had gathered due to the commotion. "That is a strong accusation, Sire, and I truly hope your emotion state is the cause of you spreading such slander."

Zan turned to one of the Royal Guards. "Please send for my Father's physician. I want to know exactly what caused his death," he said as the guard bowed and scurried away.

He turned towards another one and said, "And I was this man," he said, pointing at Killian, "out of this castle RIGHT NOW. He is NOT allowed to return."

"Sire, I beg of you....My daughter is the Queen. Am I not allowed to see her again?" Killian asked.

"Let's get one thing straight Killian," Zan seethed. "Ava is not the Queen and never will be. She will not have my body, so she will not get the seal. I will count the days until I can find someone to marry in the Granilith so that I can be rid of her."

It was at that moment, that very second, that Ava, who almost looked innocent before, took on the glaring, hateful eyes of Tess.[/b]

[kj4ever]

Just a small chapter....I'll probably update with a longer one tonight.

Chapter 5

The alien cinema faded from view and Kal sat down. "I'm guessing you know what killed Zan's Father, right?"

Everyone nodded. "It was the mind warp, wasn't it?" Liz said.

"Yes, yes it was," Kal said, "Except they couldn't prove it. Rath begged Zan to execute Killian for it anyway, but Zan refused to start his reign acting like a dictator. That his word was the final decision to everything. Despite being a Monarchy, Zan's Grandfather had set the planet up to give the people more of a voice in things. Zan's Father had gone a long way to under mind that, and Zan wanted people to know he was different."

"So if Zan would have just executed the bastard things would have went the way they were supposed to go," said Maria thoughtfully.

"I suppose so, except he would have been killing an innocent man, or at least so we think." Kal said.

"Innocent? After all that crap he did to the King?" Kyle asked.

"Well, yes, he was far from innocent, but from what we can tell, we don't think he did the final warp that killed him. At that point, with his daughter just married in a Civil Ceremony, he wouldn't want the King dead," Kal said.

Maria, Liz, and Kyle looked at each other. "Ava...." they said together. "Give the children a gold star," smirked Kal.

"God, and to think I almost felt sorry for her," Maria said. "Well, as much as you can feel sorry for the hoochy. I mean, it really seemed like she was this little puppet for her Father. And the way that Max well Zan talked to her after the wedding, which sucked ass by the way-what the hell kind of royal wedding was that-I just can't image someone you love talking that way to you."

Liz looked down at the floor. She could. She remembered her cab pulling up to take her to the airport when she wanted to go to Sweden. She remembered the way that Max talked to her. How did those actions fit into all of this?

"The royal wedding did 'suck ass' as you said," Kal smirked. "A Civil union by a member of the royal family is a disgrace. When Killian said he shamed Ava he was right. She was a laughing stock after that. Now mind you most of that was her own fault, as she had spent years telling people how much Zan loved her and how she would be Queen. She was almost 19 years old at the time of her wedding, so she was old enough to make her own decisions, much like in this life. She would have to be dellusional to think that Zan loved her. Yes, he was always kind to her, even when she was being a nuisance. It wasn't in his personality to be mean until pushed to the breaking point, which would be the wedding and Ava's declaration of 'Destiny' and love."

Uncomfortable talking about this part of things, Liz changed the subject. "Well why would Ava want the King dead? Wouldn't having him around to manipulate help her as much as Killian?"

Kal sighed. "Ava was never smart enough to think things through Liz. She was a spoiled, selfish brat, and I'm assuming when the King did nothing to stop the Civil Union she punished him. His brain was mush when they tried to find the imprint, which is why they couldn't prove that Killian did it."

Jim spoke up. "What is this imprint deal? I've only received the short version of all of this and I didn't quite understand that part."

Kal smiled. Leave it to an officer of the law to want to know this part. "If someone changes you physically, like how a mindwarp changes the brain, it will leave an imprint. Remember when I said that we have two DNA signatures, the physical one and the one caused by our energy? That imprint is the energy signature. Kind of like Alien CSI evidence. "

"Most assuredly Killian would have enough charges against him for an execution just for what he had done, but Zan wanted to do things right. His Grandfather was perhaps one of the greatest kings we ever had, and Zan idolized him in every way. Not that his Father was a bad King, but he did have some undesirable qualities, that's for sure. He was very arrogant. He acted like the power of the Granilith was his birth right, not his privilege, before any mindwarping came into play."

"So that's why Zan said his Father would never get tested...He would never admit to a weakness?" Kyle asked.

"Oh good God no. I sometimes wonder if he knew what was going on some of the time and just wouldn't admit it, tried to fight it himself. He was handed over a kingdom smack dab in the middle of a golden age. There was peace, the planet was prosperous. This was all because of Zan's Grandfather of course, but the King decidedly thought it was because of himself," Kal said, not able to hide the disgust from his voice.

Kyle nodded in understanding and Kal continued. "There was a reason that most of the mind control powers were bred out of the species. They are incredibly dangerous." Kal noted Kyle's scared expression and knew he was thinking about being warped to carry out Alex's body. "But they are only dangerous if a constant thing or if done for years at a pretty regular basis, like what was happening to the King."

"A constant thing like if you warped someone for a month to decode a book?" Maria said quietly.

"Yes, that sort of thing," Kal said.

"So Tess knew it would probably kill Alex and didn't care," Liz said softly.

"But it didn't work Liz, Max saved me," Alex said.

"What, so all's well then ends well?" Maria said, frustrated to no end. "I thought you said we were all being protected? How is that being protected?!?!"

"We were Maria, honestly," Alex said. "I really was going to go to Sweden. I just had to get out with all the alien stuff, the Isabel stuff going on. Maybe it was selfish of me, but I needed that time. Max was relieved because it was one less person to worry about, but this time Tess was one step ahead. She got me at the airport."

"How did Max find out?" asked Kyle.

A dreamy expression crossed Alex's face. "Isabel. After a couple of weeks she missed me, so she decided to see if she could dream walk me even though I was so far away. It was just pure luck that she caught me during one of my naps. Tess was a slave driver and didn't let me sleep much," Alex laughed, trying to make light of the situation. "She knew what was going on immediately, and Max and Michael came to Las Cruces...The alien Cavalry came to save the day..."

"So you're ok, right Alex? Like no weird Alien mumbo jumbo going on in your brain now, right?" asked a panicked Maria.

"I'm perfectly fine, Maria. I'm not the same as before, but I'm fine," said Alex.

"What do you mean, not the same?" Liz asked.

Alex so did not want to get into this now, but there was no other choice. "It took a lot to heal me, Liz. There was already so much damage. I'm changed now, like how Ava was talking you were changed."

Liz looked at Alex with understanding. "You feel different, don't you?" she said softly.

"Yes I do...and I am different. No powers have manifested yet, but they will. Liz..." Alex looked over at Kyle, "Kyle...We are all going to change. Change to be more like them....."

Kyle looked like his world was going to end. "I knew it! I knew something was different and now I'm going to be this freak! What am I, and alien? A human? What?" he cried.

"Kyle," Alex looked at him with compassion, "We will still be human, just evolved a few million years more."

Liz had enough for one day. "Look, it's starting to get dark and my parents have no idea where I am. I just want to go home, and now we have to figure out how to explain our absence again....."

"You are all staying here tonight," Kal said. "Your parents are none the wiser." He sighed. "Some of you have been replaced by your protectors, so you've been around all day according to them."

Chaos broke out around the table. "STOP," Alex yelled. Out of all the things he had to explain, this would be the hardest.

"Look, Max, Michael and Isabel knew they were going to be gone for awhile, and they knew you would need more then Valenti for support and back-up. They decided to tell all the parents that could be deemed trustworthy."

"And just how could they tell that?" Maria asked. She was pretty sure her Mother would end up in an institution if she ever found out about the Alien Abyss, and she didn't like the way Kal was being so secret squirrel about who's parents knew.

"Michael has a power now, well I guess you could explain it as a advanced simulation. He can run scenarios through is mind and come up with an outcome that is pretty damn close to what would really happen. From what we can tell it's 99% effective." Alex explained.

"So who knows?" Liz asked.

"Well, the Evans know....." Alex said, not wanting to go on with this conversation. How could he tell his best friend what had happened during the simulation of her parents. How could she tell her best friend the horrible reaction and total lack of understanding?

How could he tell Liz that her parents thought she was a monster?

[kj4ever]

Chapter 6
"So in Michael's little mind games did my Mom end up totally cracking or what?" cried Maria. "Huh! This is great, just great. All of you are going to be just like them with secret alien powers, all your parents are going to know, and I'm going to be just stuck on the outside by myself!"

"Maria, sniff some cedar oil," Alex said and took a deep breath. He was going to try and tell them as little as possible, but knowing Liz, she would want the whole story. That needed to be done in private. "I guess I should start with my parents. Seeing as how I'm supposed to be dead and all, I'm sure you are wondering how we are going to pull that one off."

"The thought had crossed my mind," Liz said dryly. She didn't like how Alex was going around the issue of who knew and who didn't. Her parents were reasonable, weren't they? Well her Dad was. She knew her Mom and her had always had trouble connecting with each other, but her Dad could usually set her straight. Liz thought about Maria's comments about her Mom cracking up. Only Liz knew about those little pills Nancy took a couple of times a day. She just always seemed so fragile, so close to the edge at times.....Maybe it was her Mother that wouldn't be able to take it after all.

"I'll just come right out and say that my Dad knows. He didn't at first, he only knew the story that everyone else is going to get, that I was in the witness protection program. I supposedly saw something I wasn't supposed to see in Sweden, and when I came back home I was going to be safe. A few well placed threatening calls after my return, and my Dad was convinced to go along with the whole fake my death thing. There was no other way. Tess knew I should be losing it soon, that my mind was going to go. We couldn't chance her finding out about Max, Michael and Isabel knowing the truth, it was just to soon."

"Ok, wait," Liz said exasperated. "I don't care how many powers Max, Michael, and Isabel have. Faking someone being in the witness protection program is just too much. How would they pull that off?"

Alex chuckled. "One word. Hanson. The naive replacement for the sheriff. We convinced him it was the only way to keep me safe, to fake my death. My "uncle", who is really a shapeshifter kind of insinuated he was an FBI agent, telling him this was necessary. Technically when it all comes out we will just look like we over reacted, that there was no threat. The FBI was never involved, so it might get an embarrassing write up in the local paper, but that's it. Hanson was so stoked to be participating in something big he never checked his credentials."

Jim continued for Alex. "There was never a death certificate filed, or no insurance claims were made. Nothing they did was illegal, so Hanson won't be able to press any charges. He might have egg on his face for awhile, but it'll all blow over. There's going to be an assembly at school on Monday explaining the situation, and it'll be in the paper on Sunday. We don't want to send anyone into shock when they see Alex, and have to give everyone time to find out the truth."

"So how did your Dad take the news Alex?" Liz asked.

"He's so pumped. Max said that once the troubles back home are resolved that he can visit Antar. Now at first he wasn't so ecstatic, he just kind of took the information, thought about it a lot, and calmly asked some questions. Then he was pretty cool, especially when he found out we had saved the world three times already."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh Alex?" Maria asked, remembering how Alex took the news. "We saved the world three times?" Liz asked.

"Well, yeah, two times thanks to Kyle with Maria's help, and once because of you," Alex said. "The first time was when the whole time zone catastrophe happened. You see, the reason the skins wore those husks wasn't technically because of our atmosphere. It was because time is to slow here. Their cells move so much faster then the way our time works that they just explode. The husks kept them together so to speak. The energy flowing through Max, Michael, and Isabel protected them against the whole time warp thing, but it wouldn't have for long. They only would have survived a couple of days if Maria hadn't destroyed the whole alien penis extension on the billboard. Considering all the skins were about to die, I'd assume they would have left it up so that they could live, and the whole alternative dimension stuff would have slowly spread through the world, wiping out the human race."

As the group sat in awed silence he continued. "The second time was with the gandarium. Since we have already explained the whole they are not so much different then us stuff I'm sure you know the gandarium was not used to bridge the gap between their alien/human cells. It was a chemical weapon brought by the skins to Earth. Nasedo talked them into releasing it to try and get Max off the planet, but Kyle and his pyromania tendencies saved the day again." Jim put his arm around Kyle and whispered how proud he was of him.

"Wait, wait, wait," Maria exclaimed. "What about Laurie Dupree, her Grandfather? He looked just like Michael!"

"Yes, he did and he was Michael's donor, which is why they infected Laurie. It would go with the whole story Larek was about to feed them. They could have chose any human, but once they found Laurie they knew it would fit the hybrid crap they had been feeding everyone." As they all started to shout questions, Alex stopped them. "Yes, Larek is an enemy."

He let this sink in before he continued. "Grandpa Dupree was just simply a doppelganger of Rath. When they looked for human samples, they tried to find people as close to Zan, Vilandra, and Rath as they could. That's why you only see slight differences between them and Max, Isabel, and Michael."

"The third time was Future Max," Alex said softly. "I know you all have a million questions probably, but let's get through the whole parents thing." He had to do this before he lost his nerve.

"So my Dad knows everything. He's still a bit shell shocked, but he realizes that by telling anyone it would put us all in grave danger. After Max told him about the White Room, he knows what would happen. He knows our government is just not prepared to be open about how Liz, Kyle and me are changed. We'd probably end up in the same place."

"It was amazing really, how much Michael's simulation matched up with what happened, and my Dad was this biggest risk. Michael needs to know the people somewhat, and he really didn't know my Father at all. His results would be more accurate with Ms. Deluca and the Parkers because he had been around them more." Alex said. "In the end, they left it up to me. If it didn't work out, Max could always mindwarp him. I decided to take the chance."

Alex ran his hand through is hair and took a deep breath. "Liz, I am so sorry, but your parents didn't see it the same way."

Liz and Maria both let out the breath they were holding. This meant that Maria's Mom knew.

"What happened Alex?" Liz asked in a small voice. Alex studied her carefully. He was surprised that she was taking this so well.

"Your Mom was actually pretty calm about it Liz, but it was more like shock. She really didn't say anything. But your Dad...Your Dad kept insisting that it was to dangerous for you, that there had to be a way to turn you back to normal, that if someone in the government knew they could help change you back-that you had goals, you were meant for something special. I'm so sorry Liz, but in the simulation the first thing your Dad did once he was alone was to call the FBI and spill everything."

Liz just stared straight ahead with an intense focus. She had thought her Mom might not be able to handle it, but not her Dad. If she really thought about it, her Dad was pretty cool about all the strange things that happened in the last two years, but none of them had really kept her off the whole Harvard bound track. What if that all changed and she wasn't the perfect little girl going to the perfect school getting the perfect grades?

"Did he know that I'd be dead if Max didn't heal me?" she cried. "Did he know how much Max risked, how much he screwed up his life by doing that?"

Jim got up and went over to Liz. He knelt down beside her. "Liz, as a parent I know the most frightening thing is the thought of losing your child. You don't even think it's possible, you can't even comprehend it. If I wouldn't have saw Kyle get shot and Max healing him, I don't know if I could process that as a reality. It would be more like some horrible bedtime story rather then something that could really happen. The way your Dad reacted, it was out of love, not something to just punish Max or to hurt you."

"You still have a choice Liz. When Max gets back we can try it for real, but if it starts going the way Michael predicted then he won't be left alone and he will be mindwarped. You have time to think about it, and if you want we can discuss all the details later, in a more private setting." Alex said quietly, squeezing her hand.

"What do you mean, she wants a day care center built on set?" Kal boomed into his cell phone. None of them had noticed Kal taking a phone call a bit away from the group. "I'm paying that primadonna 20 million dollars and she can't hire a freakin' nanny to watch those freaking' brats in her trailer? Tell her no way. In fact, tell her we have her husband's ex-wife on deck if she doesn't like our answer," Kal said with a gleam in his eye. That should get to her, he chuckled to himself as he slammed the phone shut.

"So sorry about," Kal waved his hand dramatically at the phone, "that. Hollywood can really be a bitch, ya know?"

"I want to know Alex, and I want to know now," Liz stated purposefully.

"Why don't I show you all to your rooms, and Alex and Liz can take a little walk?" Kal said. Everyone nodded in agreement and Alex took Liz's hand. "Come on Liz, I could stand to stretch my legs."

It was dark now, but the full moon and stars lit the property with an eerie beauty. Alex and Liz walked hand in hand in silence. The desert landscape stretched before them in all it's glory. Liz looked up at the stars.

"They are really up there," she stated as Alex nodded. "They are coming back as soon as it's safe Liz. They promised."

Liz kicked a loose pebble on the ground. "Tell me about my Father Alex."

Alex cupped Liz's chin. "Please remember how much he loves you," Alex whispered softly. "Please remember that this all didn't really happen, that it is just a possibility of what could happen." Liz slowly nodded and Alex continued.

"Michael ran the simulation a lot of different ways but they all ended the same. He really likes your Dad, Liz, and I think it blew him away. We all thought that if anyone would not take it well that it would be Ms. Deluca. In the end the only one she was mad at, well is still mad at is the Sheriff for keeping it from her. I'm pretty sure he still has the bruises," Alex chuckled.

He took a deep breath and continued. "I think it is like the Sheriff said Liz, that your Dad couldn't process that you were actually dying. He was almost ok with everything until the part of you being changed. They tried it once without him knowing, and he was ok for a bit, but then he turned Max in to keep him away from you. Liz, your Dad just kept saying that Max was a monster and he changed you on purpose. That he had seen Max watching you all those years, and that he wanted to make you like him so that he could have you."

"So if he thought Max was a monster, then he thought I was going to be a monster. That's really what you are saying, isn't it Alex?" Liz asked while a tear ran down her face.

Alex couldn't lie to her. "I guess so, in a round the bout way," he said with compassion, "but not that you, Liz, the daughter that he loves would be a monster, but that Max, the evil alien, had changed his daughter, had made her that way on purpose so he could, I don't know, claim you or something. He really didn't do these things Liz, you have to remember that. You can't see him different because of this."

"How can I not Alex?" Liz cried. "The minute I wasn't his perfect little daughter anymore he turned his back on me."

"That's where you are wrong Liz, he did not turn his back on you," Alex said. "He turned his back on Max for sure, but not you. He wanted to help you. He was just naive enough to believe that some how, some way, the government would find a way to protect you. I mean, that is what they are supposed to do, right?" Alex said, "Liz, he acted that way because he loves you so much."

"I'll try Alex, I really try not to let this affect....things," she said. "I just need to process everything." She playfully punched him in the arm. "You're pretty smart for a dead guy," she said, trying to make light of the situation.

"About the whole me being dead thing Liz," Alex said, "I'm really glad that we are alone. I kind of wanted to talk to you in private, you know, without Maria around about things."

He took a deep breath, trying to not let his emotions get the best of him. "You'll never know how much it means to me...The things you did so that my death wouldn't be ruled a suicide."

"Oh Alex, I could never even let that happen," Liz exclaimed.

"I know you couldn't, or at least we should have known you couldn't. We thought it might make a wedge between you and Max, causing Tess to 'comfort' him, getting to the whole seduce him and get pregnant part of the story, but no one ever thought you would figure out as much as you did, that you would push and push until you got to the truth. We underestimated you Liz, and for that I'll always be sorry," he said quietly. "Well, not all of us. Michael of all people knew."

Liz drew Alex into a hug. "You have nothing to be sorry about," she whispered. "Well, maybe the whole letting us think you were dead part but we'll get to that in a few days after we've had time to let this sink in," she chuckled. "I never really let myself grieve I guess. I just knew something wasn't right....."

"You were willing to give up everything Liz, everything. Max, even Maria in a way. You knew how it was hurting her, your investigation, but you kept on going. And even though I was dead you still acted like the best friend a guy could ever have," Alex finally broke down into tears. "You did that for me Liz," he said in awe.

"Oh Alex, you would have done the same for me! Once Maria got her emotions under control she would have done it too Alex," she said, not wanting Maria to look like a bad friend.

"I don't know Liz, I don't know if I could be that strong if Isabel told me that I'd lose my friendship with her. If Maria told me that I didn't care about anyone but myself," Alex wiped away his tears and groaned. "I've been hanging around girls for too long," he chuckled. "Just admit it Liz Parker, you are one special person."

"Yeah, yeah," Liz joked. "We better head back before everyone starts worrying." The two friends linked arms and slowly walked back towards the house.

"So are they like different now?" Liz asked, bringing up the white elephant in the room. "You know, now that they have their memories back?"

"They are the same people Liz," Alex said. "Max is not Zan, Isabel is not Vilandra, and Michael is not Rath. It more like they are those people's children with the knowledge of their lives. When Maria said Max was Max with a twist, she was right. He's the same person Liz. Kind, protective, even still a bit shy," he smiled. "But he's also powerful now. You can almost feel it radiating off of him. He's more confident, more self assured, and the guy definitely knows what he wants and how to lead. You almost feel like you need to stand up straighter in his presence. I guess I felt it before, but he was trying to hide it from Tess."

They reached the door to the house and Alex hugged Liz again. "I know out of everyone you probably have the most questions about today," he said, running a hand through his hair. "Hell, we probably brought up more questions then answers," he joked. "What I think we really need is a good night's sleep and then we can get down to business of answering those questions."

Liz's mind was reeling. Oh she had questions alright. When did Max exactly know about Future Max? How did the dupes fit into all of this? When/How did Nasedo die? What exactly was this granilith thing and why was it so damn important to everyone? What happened to Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess when that black hole swallowed the rock formation that housed the pod chamber?

She didn't know if it was possible to get a good night's sleep after all of the revelations today, but one thing was certain. Liz Parker was going to be making a list of questions and by God they were going to be answered.

[kj4ever]

I'm really not sure how this works, as I am very new to fan fic, but I think people make a chapter with an A and B when they want to put part of the chapter up?

Anyway, that is what I'm going to do now...lol If I am doing something wrong or not following fan fic etiquette please let me know! I'm learning here

As far as the feedback...Thank you all so much! I really didn't expect to much, as this was kind of written by the seat of my pants so to speak. Unfortunately I don't have the time to really do rough drafts before the final drafts, so all I really have is an outline of what is going to happen.

Now Eric asked was it safe to assume something, and I must say, it's not safe to assume anything in this fic. You are on the right path with that one though....

On with the story!

Chapter 7 A

Alex awoke the next morning feeling slightly refreshed and a whole lot relieved. Carrying this secret for all these months took more of a toll on him then he imagined it would. He couldn't imagine living as Max, Michael and Isabel had lived, with so many secrets, and Liz, God Liz with the whole Future Max scenario.....

Everything would be ok now he had to tell himself. As long as they were together, and everyone knew the whole truth, they would see their way back to each other. Maybe it was Destiny after all, just not the one they had thought.

He yawned and walked into the big kitchen, where he found a somewhat weary looking Sheriff and son. "You guys decide to stay here last night?" Alex asked.

"We weren't really up for the drive home," the Sheriff answered. "What he's trying to say," said Kyle, "Is that I wasn't up to going home...home to where she used to stay. God I may have to sleep on the couch forever rather then go back in my room."

Alex eyed Kyle guiltily. He had to admit that out of all of them he didn't think all this would affect Kyle that much. Granted he had become a bit deeper with his study of Buddhism, but maybe Alex was prejudice just enough from all the years of torment he had received at the hands of Kyle's friends. If Alex thought back hard enough, Kyle never participated, and on more then a few occasions told the others to knock it off.

Kyle was a good guy, good friend, and loyal to the end. If Alex could make him feel better, he was sure going to try.

"In this world hatred can never be appeased by hatred. Hatred can be appeased by love. This is the eternal law." Alex said.

The Sheriff just shook his head, "ET Tu, Brute?" Alex laughed. "You have a lot of time on your hands when you are supposed to be dead," he explained.

"So what are you trying to tell me Whitman, that I shouldn't hate Tess?" Kyle asked incredulously.

"No Kyle," Alex said softly. "What I'm trying to say is the love that Tess felt from you and your Dad....It might have been the only time in her life that she didn't feel that hatred. That need to manipulate. You two brought out who Tess could have been, given a chance," Alex stated.

"Riiiiiight," Kyle said. "We were such good influences that she thought she killed you and used me to put your body in the car. If she cared at all, how could she do that to me? To us?" Kyle said, gesturing to his Father. "We took her in, treated her like family, and that's how she repays us?"

Alex sighed, "Kyle, believe me, I saw Tess at her worst. Max would have me talk to her when I supposedly wasn't being mindwarped. She was not stable, almost psychotic towards the end. She had one mission, and one mission only. Get prego, go home."

Alex walked over and fixed himself a cup of coffee. "Even in that state, even with how desperate she was, she never warped you. Do you know how easy she could have used you to get at Max? She could have tried to push you towards Liz again, and could have tried to push Liz towards you, but she didn't, did she? After Christmas Max had a bit of a hard time staying away from Liz, and trust me, Tess noticed. She could have reinforced all the bad memories for Max by making some knew ones, but she didn't."

Kyle thought about this. "Yeah, well it didn't matter when it came down to the end, did it?"

"She probably felt she had no choice, Kyle. Those were the only times she ever touched you, and she lived in your house for what, 8 months? And she never warped the Sheriff, not once. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'd almost go so far to say that she didn't want you to know what she did to me because of what you would think of her, not Max and the others." Alex said. "At that point she thought Max was in the bag. Totally committed to his 'alien' side. Who knows if she thought it would even make a difference?"

"It makes sense, son," Jim said. "Do you know what the last thing she did before she left Kyle? She took the money from Nasedo's accounts and payed off our house."

The Sheriff continued. "She thought she was sick son. Max had her convinced of that to keep her away from everyone that last day. But she still made the trip to the bank to do that....Now she didn't tell anyone of course, but I suppose that is the only way she knew how to say 'thank you' or maybe even 'I love you guys too'. There is no one that is totally good or evil Kyle, and it brings me just a little peace to think maybe we brought out some of the good in Tess."

"Maybe you're right," Kyle sighed. "Even if she did that out of guilt it would at least mean she still cared a little bit."

Just then the doorbell played a beautiful melody. "That must be Amy," the Sheriff said, getting up to answer the door. "If I'm not back in 20 minutes, call Kal and tell him I'm the one that needs protection."

Alex and Kyle laughed as he headed for the door. "You know, Max wanted to bring someone else in to help, and I get the feeling I was only drafted because of the whole they had to save me from death deal. I think Max would have chose you," Alex said.

"Yeah, right Whitman. I don't know about that," Kyle said, remembering a time when Max told him flat out to his face he didn't trust him. "He's told me before just how much he trusts me," Kyle said as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm assuming you are talking about the human disappearing act that happened over Roswell? Kyle, Max was still confused then. He knew something was up, that you and Liz were lying, but he didn't know why. He didn't know why you would hurt him so bad on purpose. He understands now, I promise," Alex said with purpose.

"I suppose you are right, and Alex, if you ask me, they got the right man for the job. I probably would have just told Maria and Liz this is what happened, suck it up, or I'll make you run laps," Kyle joked. "You are just a little bit more diplomatic then me."

"Well it also doesn't hurt that I didn't tell the Bad Ass Alien King that I got to second base with the love of his life," Alex joked. Kyle's jaw dropped. "How did you know about that?"

"I saw it when he was healing me," Alex laughed. Just then Liz and Maria entered the kitchen.

"What did you see Alex?" Liz asked.

"Nothing!" both Alex and Kyle answered together.

Kal shuffled into the kitchen wearing a silk robe and smoking a cigar. Maria waves her hand in front of her face frantically, "Those things are going to kill you."

Kal gives Maria an incredulous look and takes another drag. "We don't get sick remember? And good morning to you. Hail, Hail, the gangs all here and all of that."

Just then the Sheriff and Amy Deluca walk into the kitchen, deep in discussion. "Now Jim, I understand why the kids didn't tell me, they are just kids and this is huge! But you Mister, you should have known better." Amy spies Maria and goes running to her, embracing her in a tight hug.

"There's my little Nancy Drew!" Amy exclaims. "Mooooom, not in front of the ApeShay IfterShay......" Maria seethes.

Kal snorts. "I come from a planet that managed to save their royal family by placing embryos in pods and sending them across the universe. Yet this one thinks I won't understand pig Latin."

Amy gives Kal a dirty look and Maria rolls her eyes. "Mom, this is all just really weird, weird that you know. I mean, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I never told you, but I just couldn't. It wasn't safe."

"Oh Maria," she says, running her hands through Maria's hair. "I can't believe all that you've been going through. I can't believe aliens exist. Even though I'm really mad that you felt like you couldn't come to me, I understand. I mean I couldn't tell my parents when I was dating that drummer when I was 15, so I can imagine if he were an alien...."

"MOM!" Maria exclaimed. Sometimes there was such a thing as to much information.

[kj4ever]

Chapter 7B

Jim interrupted the awkward Mother/Daughter moment by placing the large basket of muffins Amy had brought for everyone. He also pulled out a newspaper and threw it on the table.

"Look Alex, your resurrection has started!" Jim exclaimed, pointing to the front page headline that read, "Local Boy's Stages His Death Due to Swedish Crime Ring."

Kyle snorts, "Man is that just going to be embarrassing for Hanson and your Dad." Alex gives Kyle a look, "Well, it's better then being dead!"

Kal goes to the cabinet and pulls out some plates as Liz rummages through the refrigerator for drinks.

Maria grabs and plate from Kal and picks up a muffin. "So Mom, who told you about the Alien Abyss?"

"My favorite little wrestler of course. Maria, he was so cute. For a some kind of alien military leader he looked like he was going to throw up the whole time. I think that is the only thing that kept me calm, that he was so scared," Amy said.

Maria laughed. "I bet. He always has been a bit nervous around you. Just exactly how long have you known Mom?"

"Just since yesterday Maria," Amy answered. "He came over after he asked you to come over last night."

"You probably have a lot of questions then, because he couldn't have told you everything," Maria said, dreading the upcoming inquisition.

"No, I think I know about everything there is to know. It was strange though, him telling me with those flashes. It only took about 5 minutes and I knew everything. It was the next couple of hours that were rough," Amy laughed.

Maria choked on her muffin. "Michael gave you FLASHES?" she asked incredulously.

Amy simply shrugged her shoulders. "He said that was the most efficient way, and frankly I'm kind of glad because he probably wouldn't have made your date if he had to try and explain it all, you know, with actual words. That's how they told Mr. Whitman too..."

Liz looked down at her muffin and started picking at it. Here was Maria, talking to her Mother out in the open about the alien abyss, and she was going to have to still keep secrets from her parents.

As if sensing Liz's change in mood, Amy reached out and touched Liz's arm. "How are you holding up honey? I'm very proud of you you know," she said softly.

Liz smiled at Amy. She always loved her, and sometimes connected with her better then her own Mother. "I'm ok Ms. Deluca. It's a lot to take in, and we don't seem to have the benefit of 5 minute flashes," Liz tried to joke.

"Liz, the thing about your parents....It's not forever. Maybe once you are older you'll be able to tell them, you know? They just think so highly of you, have such big goals for you. Your parents are a bit more straight laced then me. I was raised in an era that didn't trust the establishment," Amy said as she elbowed Jim, "With good cause, it seems."

"Hey!" Jim cried. "I told you Amy...."

"Don't you Amy me Mister. It is going to take a lot to get you out of this trouble," she says, poking his chest.

"Yes Ma'am," the Sheriff said.

"Wait a minute," Liz said. "If you knew about everything then what was going on last night? Your finger tapping is what clued us into Tess killing Alex, well, trying to kill Alex," she modified.

"I was breaking out of the warp. Even though Michael showed me what happened, I still had that memory in here," Amy said. "Michael told me it would happen, and it just happened at the right time. I'm so proud you figured it out!"

"So you are really ok Mom?" Maria asked, worried. She remembered the way she took it herself.

"Am I ok that my only child is dating an alien warrior? Am I ok that she has been in danger numerous times because her relationship with alien warrior? Am I ok that enemies from another planet were just walking around the Earth waiting to start some kind of war? No, I'm not exactly ok with it, but I really don't have a choice but to deal with it. I know the kind of danger you all would be in if anyone from here found out, and quite frankly I'm proud as hell of all of you, how you've dealt with it, how you've kept us, the parents, safe," Amy said.

"Thanks Mom," Maria says, hugging her. "It really isn't as bad as it seems," she said as her Mother raises her eyebrows. Damn, just how much did Michael show her? She opens her mouth to speak but closes it, thinking it might just be better to let it be.

"Anyway," Amy says as she disentangles herself from Maria, "I have some deliveries to make. I just wanted to drop off some breakfast and make sure you were alright."

Everyone says their thanks and Maria tells her Mom she'll see her later at home. "Well that wasn't very painful," Alex says, surprised when Amy leaves. "Yeah, but I'm not home and alone with her yet," Maria joked, wondering if her Mother could really be this cool about it.

"So I have this list of questions," Liz said as everyone gathered around the breakfast table to enjoy the hot, fresh muffins. Kal and Alex groaned as she continued. "Kyle, Maria, do you want to take a look at this and add anything?"

"I'm sure you got the bases covered Liz," Kyle said, "You always do." Maria shook her head, "I know everything I want to know is on that paper," Maria said, well almost everything. She'd have to ask Kal about the other thing later, in a more private setting.

"Alright then, if there are no objections, we should get started?" Liz said and Alex noddded his encouragement.

"Ok, my first question is what is the granilith? Why is it so important?" Liz asked.

Alex looked to Kal for help. Kal waved his hand, showing a bright white sphere that seemed to pulsate with power. "This is the granilith, and it is important because it has great power." That was simple enough, Kal thought.

"Wait, that is so not the granilith. Michael showed it to me in the pod chamber. It is a coney thing, not a ball thing," Maria said. "The 'coney thing' in the pod chamber is not the granilith," Kal said, exasperated. He now figured that nothing would be simple with these kids.

As everyone went to protest Kal held up his hand. "The granilith never left Antar. The machine in the pod chamber is simply a receiver, used for transportation between Antar and Earth. A century or two ago, it was learned that the granilith had the capability to open black holes, making space travel across millions of light years go by in seconds. As long as the ship had a receiver on it and was placed at the destination, you could get back."

Kal took a deep breath. "Kyle, how does reincarnation work?" Kal asked.

"Well once the spirit has left the body..." Kyle started to say and Kal interrupted him. "No Kyle, I mean how does it work? What is the science behind it? What exactly does Buddha do to decide how billions of people end up when they die?"

Kyle looked at Kal with a loss. "Well I really don't know," he said. "It's the same with the granilith. We don't know how it does what it does, but we do know what it can do," Kal said.

"The person in charge of the granilith, the King of Antar, can somehow harness it's energy to do things that are beyond our normal capabilities. Make it rain over half a planet during a drought, build buildings in the snap of a finger, grow crops at a moments notice," Kal said. "It's power reaches all five planets in our solar system, but only one planet ever had control of the granilth, Antar."

Kal picked up another cigar and lit it. He just gave Maria a "whatever" look when she fake coughed. "As you can imagine, the other planets always had a bit of a jealousy thing going towards Antar. Oh, they had no problem asking for favors, but still resented so much power being in one families hands."

"Didn't you say that at one time the granilith was in Nasedo's family?" Liz asked, looking over her questions.

"Yes it was. About nine hundred years ago Zan's family overtook them and the granilith declared his blood line the new keepers. King Oren was not using the granilith as intended. Yes, the granilith can give, but it can also take. While it may be able to stop a drought, it can also flood a planet in a heart beat. He used it as a terrorist weapon to rape the other planets of everything he wanted."

"King Zied, Zan's Great Great Great Great Grandfather was the only one brave enough to take him on, to stand up to him. As soon as he opened the pod chamber door everyone knew a new King was born, as only the King and Queen can access the entryway to the chamber. He was fair with his power. He set up a congress of the planets to discuss things everyone needed from the granilith. While it is powerful, it does have it's limits. It needs to recharge after doing big things, so everyone couldn't just have what they wanted all the time."

Liz looked at Kal thoughtfully. "So that is how the pods got to Earth? That is how you got to Earth?"

"Yes it is, Liz," Kal said. "Zan and the others didn't die right after the King died. They went through a couple of years of pure hell until that happened. Right before the castle was about to fall the Queen organized some of us to go on a mission to Earth. She said the granilith had informed her that they needed to be reborn there."

"You see, on Antar, children are born in pods much like the way Max, Isabel, and Michael were born. The baby is transferred between the Mother to the pod during the first week of gestation. The parents can then decide when they want the child to be born. Do they want a baby? Do they want a five year old? Most go for the five or six year old, as that is when our powers start to kick in."

"Oh my God!" Maria exclaimed. "They leave their kids in pods because it's like more convenient?"

"Well it sounds really bad when you put it that way," Kal chuckled. "The Royal Three's embryos were put in pods and put into stasis, around the time you saw Zan's Mother put their material in the granilith. You see, it has the power to transfer memories once the person dies. The minute they die, the granilith activates the pod to start growing. Some even say the soul is transferred, but that can't exactly be proven."

"The Queen programmed blocks in the children, knowing too much information at once could really make it hard for them to blend in on Earth. A few of us were given the knowledge of how to remove those blocks. What we didn't know was that Killian had taken some of the embryonic fluid and cloned them, making another set of pods."

"So that's where the dupes came from?" asked Jim.

"Yep, say what you want about Killian, but he sure as hell knew what he was doing. We all under estimated him." Kal sad sadly.

"Well why did they add Ava to the mix? She wasn't his 'true' wife, right?" Kyle asked.

"Well while she wasn't his traditional wife she was his wife none the less. When she demanded to have the back up made they had to comply as part of the laws of our land." Kal said. "Zan didn't think he was above the law, whether it was a good idea or not."

He surveyed the room to make sure all this was sinking in. "There was a lot I obviously didn't show you yesterday about that life, and frankly I don't think you want to see it-you don't want to see your friends die. Anyway, after the wedding Ava just kind of disappeared into the background. Of course she made a few ill fated trips to the King's bedroom and was promptly removed, but after that she just kind of stayed in the shadows, made herself invisible."

"And gave all the information she could find to her Father," Liz said. It was amazing how much that life was like this one. At first Tess came on so strong with Max, but then she just kind of stayed in the background, willing to be a bit player unless she was needed.

"Exaclty," said Kal. "Her Father was plotting with Kivar, the dictator from a rival planet. Kivar hates the granilith because it is a power he can never touch. If he couldn't have it, no one could. Killian was just trying to get the Royal Three killed, hoping it would transfer the seal to Ava, traditional wedding or not."

"Then Killian and Ava would be the saviors of all, and the power would be back in their family. I'd guess that Killian was in cahoots with Kivar the whole time, he always was one to ride the fence." Kal said with disgust.

"The granilith is smarter the that though, and has a back up system. If a King or Crowned Prince doesn't have an heir, they can add their essence to the granilith in an emergency type situation. When they die, the King's child will be given the knowledge his predecessor had since they won't be around to help them learn all they need to know."

"So Max isn't really Zan, is he?" asked Liz. "He is Zan's child....." she said with wonder.

"That's right," said Kal. "Remember they wanted to do it before the marriage? They didn't want the child to be made from Ava and Zan. The Mother chose Earth specimens because there wouldn't be any ties from the five worlds to the granilith. Also, Antarian DNA seems to over ride human DNA, thus making almost clones of the originals."

"When the time came, when the Big Fall happened, we were ready. The black hole would only be open for a couple of seconds, and we had to fly the ship into it before it closed. We would be forced to follow behind the granilith transport, thus taking us to Earth. The entry was a little rocky, let me tell you," Kal joked.

"Unfortunately for us Killian had stowed away the other pods and himself, and we were clueless. With so many shapeshifter energies floating around it was to hard to tell there was a different one on board."

"How many shapeshifters came to Earth?" asked Kyle.

"Twenty, not counting Nasedo," said Kal. "The worst part was a few of the enemy ships had followed us too. Fortunately they lost suction around the 5th black hole, thus the reason why they didn't make it to Earth until 1959."

"So Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess just took a transport to Antar and are there right now?" Maria asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's right," said Kal.

Liz thought about this. Max wasn't Zan, so Tess wasn't his wife. But he still had all the responsibilities of the King, right? Oh how she wished she knew what he was doing now.

Granilith Chamber-Planet Antar

Michael, Isabel and Max walked around the granilith, looking at it in awe. Suddenly a loud pounding could be heard as they saw a frightened and frustrated Tess looking at them from inside the granilith.

"How long you planning on keeping her in there, Maxell?" Michael asked.

TBC

[kj4ever]

Previously............

Granilith Chamber-Planet Antar

Michael, Isabel and Max walked around the granilith, looking at it in awe. Suddenly a loud pounding could be heard as they saw a frightened and frustrated Tess looking at them from inside the granilith.

"How long you planning on keeping her in there, Maxell?" Michael asked.

Chapter 8

Max thought about this. How long would he keep her in there? Until hell froze over? Until he lost the urge to choke the life out of her?

He glanced at his watch. They would be on day two of discussions back on Earth. He would give anything to have been able to tell them himself, but he had to eliminate all danger first, and that was more danger then any of them had ever suspected.

Max didn't have a cruel bone in his body, so it might have surprised some when he waved his hand in front of the granilith and removed the pregnancy mindwarp. Tess grabbed her stomach in surprise, losing her "connection" with the baby. He knew she had to be wondering if she had just lost it, or if it was all fake, but he didn't care. Let her wonder just a bit more.

He could see the tears streaming down her face as she shouted (but they only saw her lips move) "Max! There's something wrong with the baby!"

Normally he would feel bad for someone in that position, but Tess had used up all his sympathy a long time ago. When he first started breaking through the blocks, he didn't jump to any conclusions about her as she might have been just as much of a victim of Killian as they were.

At first he really thought this was true. She bonded with the Valenti's and almost seemed like a new person being in a loving family, the only reason he didn't remove her from their care. Looking back he is so thankful that she truly cared about them, because what she could have done to them made him shiver. Max never would have forgiven himself if anything had happened to the Sheriff or Kyle while he played out the little game of deception with Tess.

Whether it was true or not was soon forgotten by the fact that once she knew Max wouldn't be truly hers, she went into Plan B at the speed of light. She put Alex's life at risk, hell she might as well of killed him because she knew a mindwarp that big would eventually kill him. She just simply didn't care.

Now Max knew the majority of the warp came from Nasedo, but oh she had helped, and if she truly wanted to be one of them she would have told them what was going on to save Alex. When Max and Alex staged the little death scene in Kyle's room, she almost looked like she felt guilty. Max could barely believe it when she so nonchalantly used Kyle to carry the body out, not to mention to make it look like a suicide and frame an innocent girl.

That had been all Tess Max knew, because Nasedo had been dead since the gandarium altercation. Kal had killed him when he found him lurking outside Liz's balcony, obviously ready to make Liz the next underground victim.

Max wasn't big on giving orders, even with the knowledge of his predecessor or Father or whatever Zan was to him, but the one that was to be followed at all costs was the maximum punishment for anyone who put Liz's life in danger.

The thought made Max quiver. All he had done to keep them all safe, and Nasedo had come very close to getting Liz. It was after that he called in all the protectors. Even though most of them had moved on with their lives and were a part of Earth now, he had to do it. There was a bit of guilt involved, disrupting their lives like that, but if they were to really make Earth safe he needed Liz and the others safe. To many people knew about how much they meant to him, and it could be used against him.

Well, and there was that other thing. If something ever happened to Liz, Max didn't think he would be much good to anyone.

Alex and Max had bonded during his "time in Sweden" and his subsequent "death". Max had always liked Alex, but after really getting to know him better, he realized just how much he had taken his friendship and loyalty for granted.

He had taken to calling Max the Bad Ass Alien King, and it always made him think of Liz. Here he was, fighting a whole race of aliens that want nothing more then for him to die, trying to keep his friends alive while deceiving them, planning strategies to save his home planet, and dealing with an ex-wife from hell who just wanted to get pregnant and kill him. He could deal with all of this, but it took a 17 year old girl, barely over 100 pounds, to bring the Bad Ass Alien King to his knees.

Even though he knew that night was a lie, even though he knew his future self had used the Granilith to break his mind blocks, it is still painful as hell to think of that night. When he saw Liz in bed with Kyle, looking like they had just....he still couldn't even think it to himself. It scared him to no end that one person could effect him like that, because that night, before the blocks started falling, he wanted to die.

Max had sat on the park bench totally distraught and confused. For a moment he thought he was losing his mind as all this information seemed to be coming at him at once. Surprisingly enough it was Tess that helped him through that. When she had came and sat next to him, he didn't want her to leave because she was the only thing at that moment in time that seemed real.

Then she touched his shoulder, and two and two started to add up to four. He started to put the information together with things that had happened to them ever since Tess and Nasedo had shown up in their lives.

Things like Nasedo's death, and how he had the cartoon look of the stereotypical alien before he died. If Tess had her memories, she would know he wouldn't look like that. Max began to piece things together. Zan never loved Ava, yet his "protector" and Tess both insisted he did. About the only thing he figured out that night was that Nasedo must be alive, and Tess and Nasedo were the enemy.

His wheels were turning then though, and he was going on pure instinct that they could not know what was happening to him. Hold your friends close and your enemies closer and all that.

Which is why he took Tess to the summit. He had realized by then that mindwarping was not only illegal but extremely dangerous, and he was worried for Liz. He was actually surprised that they hadn't tried to take her out already, so that meant they still needed her for something, but he still wasn't going to leave her alone with her while he traipsed across the country.

The summit, what a joke! Larek acting like he was his friend, the other's trying to get him to hand over the Granilith. When Liz mentioned the Granilith Max knew exactly what had happened with the whole Kyle situation. His future self must have used the old Alien Do-Over as Michael liked to call it.

The Granilith has great power, and if at full power can be used for time travel, but only once in a King's lifetime. He remembered discussing it with his Mother during the Big Fall on Antar, but neither of them had the faith that his Father could be convinced of what was going on.

It still made him chuckle that he didn't think a King of a Galaxy and keeper of one of the most powerful tools in the Universe could deal with what would need to be done to change the future, but that he would put his faith in a 17 year old girl from Earth.

Even as he worried about that fact, it stopped when he finally got the vision he was hoping for, the vision of what had happened to Liz. It was during midnight services, and he had held her hand and told her he believed in her, which he meant with all his heart. Getting flashes didn't require the passion and intensity they once needed now that he was almost at full power, and there was one thing that made him have faith that everything would work out, and that his future self was not crazy.

It was one word actually.

Max broke out of his thoughts as the secret door to the Granilith Chamber opened. The Queen, looking quite a bit older, stepped out and Isabel ran to her, embracing her tightly.

Michael was next, bowing low. "My Queen," he said as she looked exasperated at him.

"Do you not have all your memories back by now?" she asked, a bit perturbed.

"Of course I do. Hello Aunt Serena," Michael laughed, knowing full well how much she hated him calling her "Queen."

There was the word, Max smiled as he went to embrace his Grandmother.......

TBC

[kj4ever]

Again, thanks for all the comments! I really appreciate knowing that someone out there is reading this!

Nice to see you over here IzzyandKyle!!

Timelord31- The Queen and the Aunt and the Grandmother are all Serena. If Max is Zan's son, then Zan's Mother would be his Grandmother.

If Rath was Zan and Isabel's cousin, then The Queen would be his Aunt, thus Michael's Great Aunt. Sorry if it was confusing! I didn't want to call her Serena earlier in the story because it was a surprise...lol

I wasn't planning on bringing Max into the mix yet, but I started thinking it was unfair to not know where they were and if they were ok or not for 8 chapters.


Meanwhile, back on Earth...........

Chapter 9

Alex could tell that Maria, Kyle, and Liz were still digesting the fact that Max and Co. had taken off and were on some strange planet 4 million light years away. Hell, he couldn't even fathom it yet.

Kyle was the one to break the silence. "If this Granilith thing is sooooooo powerful, why didn't they just use it to stop the whole war? I mean, it can grow crops, send memories to embryos, it slices, it dices, why couldn't it stop a war?" he asked in between bites of his muffin.

Kal spoke up. "When the war really got into full swing, about six months before the Royal Three were killed, the Granilith was still pretty low energy wise. Surprise among surprises, Zan's Father had used up most of the energy right before he died. Coincidence? I think not. As I said before, it has it's limits, and it needed to recharge."

"Does it take around 50 years to recharge?" Liz asked. Kal knew there was a reason he liked Miss Parker. "Now you are starting to put it together," Kal said proudly.

"So that's why they were in the pods for so long," Maria mused. "They didn't want them coming home until it was at it's full potential."

"Now that Max is back in control of it, the war should be over in no time, right?" Kyle asked.

"Yes and no," Kal said. "It's more complicated then that. Except for the summit there has been no communication with home. Now that you know that Larek and the other members were not allies, you can understand why nothing they said can be believed. More then likely Kivar has been pillaging their planets all this time and while they want it to stop, they still don't want Max's family in charge of the Granilith."

"Why?" asked Liz. "It sounds like Zan's family always did a lot of good, so why would they want someone else to take it over?"

Kal sighed. Intergalactic politics always gave him a headache. "The other Monarchies are still pissed at Zan's Grandfather. He really weakened the power royalty had over Antar, and the other planet's people kind of demanded the same type of government, which is kind of like what we have in America." he said. "Why do you think civilizations so advanced would still have an archaic system like Kings and Queens? Because Antar, keeper of the Granilith did."

"So when the other planets demanded more of a voice, the royalty of those planets took it a bit personal?" Jim asked.

"Exactly," said Kal. "In there eyes, what was next? A Granilith Congress made of commoners? That was still made up of Royalty, so I'm sure they were thinking that was the next thing to see democratized. So between losing their way of life and power and just the fact that they might not get the help they always wanted from the Granilith, there were always a lot of hard feelings."

"Being in charge of the Granilith seems like a pain in the ass," Kyle said, as his Father elbowed him.

"Not the most eloquent way to put it, but I'd agree with you on that one," Kal said. "So, do we have any more questions about the Granilith," he said as he watched them shake their heads no.

"Great," he injected, "What's next on that list of yours Liz?"

Liz looked at her list. Future Max, the Dupes, Nasedo....She almost didn't want to know the answers to any of them anymore, so she decided to go with the big one.

"How did Max find out about Future Max?" Liz asked in almost a whisper. She still couldn't believe that he had known about it all that time. All the heart ache, all the self doubt which practically turned into self hatred when Alex died, he had known.

Alex got up and moved next to Liz. "He knew most of the time Liz," he said softly. "Once the mind blocks broke, he kind of pieced together the message that Future Max gave you, and decided that more then likely you were not to know of what was to come."

"Why would he, Future or present Max, think that?" Liz cried incredulously.

"Why did you think that present Max didn't need to know?" Alex asked back, causing Liz to look at the ground. "Because you thought it was for the best, for everyone, right?" he said, more as a statement then a question. Liz just nodded.

"Well it was the same for Max." Alex said with conviction, hoping he was getting through to Liz. "When Future Max came back, it alerted Kal to the fact that he was still alive."

Liz started to ask how but Kal silenced her. "Do you know what kind of an energy it takes to time travel. I felt it, all the way in California, and I knew it had to be something with the Granolith, I just knew it. Thankfully Nasedo just thought it was Max blowing off steam because of your encounter with Kyle, but when Future Max disappeared, I felt the time line shift, or change if you will."

"So you rode into town to save the day?" Kyle asked.

For the first time since they had met Kal, he showed true emotion that could not be denied, and that emotion was shame.

"No," he said quietly, staring at his lap. When Maria gasped in shock, he broke out of his revelry.

"I like my life on Earth," Kal stated. "Antar wasn't bad, and being part of the Royal Guard was an honor, but here, here I really found myself, my calling. I live to tell stories, and at first I tried to dismiss the time shift, that it was impossible, but as time went on I couldn't deny it anymore, couldn't deny who I was anymore. I came to Roswell right after Thanksgiving and found Max right when he got back from the Summit."

Kal took a deep breath. "Back on Antar, doing something like that, especially if Zan's Father was still alive, I'd hate to think of what would become of me. But Max, Max understood," Kal said in amazement. "I think he's spent so much time wanting to be normal that he understood why I wouldn't want to go back to my old life. He also insisted that any of the other Guard that had moved on with their lives not be involved unless it got to dangerous."

"How he lived through the harvest and when the skins came to Roswell I will never know," Kal said. "He was still so confused when I found him. Bad things were happening everywhere, he knew Nasedo had to be alive, and he didn't know where Tess fit in with all of this. He was frantically trying to get flashes off of Liz, but she wouldn't come anywhere near him. He knew she was pushing him towards Tess, and he knew Liz and Kyle had lied."

"How did he know we had lied if he didn't know about Future Max yet?" Liz asked.

"When you went out on your own when everyone decided to stay together at the Harvest, you two had a little altercation, did you not?" Kal asked as Liz nodded yes.

"Things were a bit intense, and he got a flash when he was walking away. He saw you telling Kyle that his boxers stayed on and you saying you needed him to know that nothing was going to be consummated..." Kal said. "He just didn't know the why part yet, but he did know that you devastated him on purpose with a lie."

"Which is why he said he didn't trust me," Kyle said thoughtfully.

"More then likely," Alex spoke up. "Then the skins came to town....Things were happening quickly and he was trying to put all the things in his head into something that made sense. Imagine getting 22 years worth of knowledge in a matter of minutes. Max was messed up big time."

Alex got up to get another cup of coffee. "By the time the Dupes rolled into town, he had sorted through enough of it to kind of know what was going on. He knew there was never a plan to have back ups, that the Granilith wouldn't allow it. He knew that had to have come from Nasedo, because when he got flashes from them, they totally believed the story Tess had been preaching since she set foot in Roswell. He had made duplicate versions that really believed the story being fed to the originals."

"He also remembered how dangerous mindwarping was, and how Tess should definitely not have that power," Alex said, sitting back down with a steaming cup of joe. "It made him worry about you Liz, about all of us really, so he took Tess to the conference. He staged that little 'I need to let you go' speech and gave you the pocket knife back, just so he could feed it to Tess as a flash later on."

"On top of that, he was pretty sure some time travel had went on at that point," Kal included. "When you warned him about the Granolith, he knew there was no way you would know that unless someone had told you, someone that would know."

"Once he got back from the summit, he was stronger, more sure of things. He knew more, had sorted through more things in his head. The time travel scenario was the only one that made sense, and he knew you had staged the Kyle thing to unblock his brain, he just didn't understand why you didn't tell him after it happened."

"Because I didn't know," Liz said. "Why didn't Future Max just tell me we needed to traumatize him? Why didn't he just tell me that Tess was an enemy and Nasedo was alive? I could have done the same thing I did but then be there for him when he was going through all that confusion, I could have explained!"

"It had to be part of the plan," Alex said, "A plan more then likely your future self was involved with," Alex pointed out. "Max, Michael and I contemplated on this one a lot. We kind of came to the conclusion that if Max, at that stage, was told right away, he would just take Tess and Nasedo out before he got his wits about him. That couldn't happen. They needed to know everything they were planning before anything could be done about that."

Kal looked at Liz. "Max finally got the full Future Max vision at Christmas, when he was haunted. He was feeling guilty that he couldn't stay away from you, feeling guilty about that family that lost their Dad. You were on the balcony and he came to talk to you about his visions of the Father, you slightly touched him and that was it. He saw it."

"Just the fact that Future Max didn't tell you made him think he shouldn't. The fact that he kept pointing out that Tess needed to be with him was just a clue to watch her, as Max knew his future version had to of known about her and Nasedo. Neither one of them would simply leave town because of him being in love with a human. The only way back is through the opening of the black hole, so they had to of went and joined forces with the skins, well more then they already were." Alex explained.

"He couldn't stand hurting you Liz, which is why he said he wanted to try the friendship thing when he got back from the Summit. He said he would ask you for the last time about Kyle, half hoping you would tell him whatever had happened. To be honest, he was just as hurt that you deceived him then as you are probably feeling about him now." Alex said gently.

"And the friendship thing, that was the beginning of the end," said Kal. "Tess and Nasedo had hope before that, hope that you were out of his system. But when he seemed to forgive that, when he started talking to you again, it kind of made them panic, to say the least."

"That's when they let loose the gandarium," Alex said. "Max, Kal and Michael had already averted one disaster, that being my umm death, and now they were on number two. It really would have wiped out the Earth too, except for the Antarians. It doesn't like the way they taste, as Max put it. It doesn't like the energy that flows through them is the more scientific answer."

"Why would they even do that?" Liz asked. "If Max didn't know how to work the Granilith, then they would just be stuck here with no one."

"Ahh, but the translation was almost done. It was still running on the super computer after I got home, waiting to be emailed to them. Nasedo isn't really the computer type, and figured it would be done before the gandarium took effect. Who wouldn't want to get off the planet if everyone was dying? The little snag was Tess wasn't pregnant, but they were starting to give up on that notion, once again."

Alex got up and started pacing. "Before Isabel dream walked me, I would have coherent moments, and Tess would talk to me. Sometimes I think she almost wanted me to talk her out of all of it, but she was a totally different person if Nasedo was there. She told me about the grand plan, to get pregnant and turn Max, Michael, and Isabel over to Kivar. She had talked herself out of feeling guilty about it, because they didn't accept her, care for her. I get the feeling that she thought no one did unless they wanted something from her."

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for her," cried Maria. "She has done more damage than anyone, and that bitch better pay."

"Oh, I'm quite sure she's going to pay," said Alex. "And there is a big difference between feeling sorry and understanding. Did you know she did ask me to decode the book, told me she could get me access to the super computer and everything. And guess what? I was going to do it. They only thing that stopped me was she said I couldn't tell a soul, and I refused to do it behind Max, Michael, and Isabel's back. That's when she took drastic measures, well her and Nasedo did."

"Then the gandarium scare hit, and at the time they had no idea what it was. You really did save the day Kyle, and you Liz, with your mad science skills," Alex said. "But then when Nasedo tried to kill Liz.........."

All hell broke loose. "What" "When" "Where" could be heard by the various voices sitting around the table.

"Do you remember when Max wouldn't leave the Crash because he was afraid of a stranger that would do something to a defenseless person Liz?" Alex asked as she nodded.

"And who came to the door?" he asked. "Sean Deluca," Liz said. "He wanted to eat, but he did kind of back down when he saw Max."

"That wasn't Sean Deluca Liz, it was Nasedo," Kal said. "Max knew it, and called me immediately. I was staying a couple of towns away, 'scouting for a new location for a movie', and he needed me to watch you. There was no reason for Nasedo to take a chance like that, especially when he knew you got flashes. He was up to no good."

Kal took a deep breath before he continued. "I thought it would take forever for you and Alex to finish looking at those slides, and when the real Sean showed up later I thought maybe you'd put two and two together. Thankfully you didn't, because that night Nasedo came to your balcony with a bag similar to the one he buried Laurie in. We think he was going to feed you to the gandarium next."

"Oh my God!" Maria exclaimed. "How did you stop him?"

"I killed him," Kal said in an even tone. Everyone around the table except for Valenti looked shocked. "No offense or anything, and by the way thank you for saving my best friend's life, but how can you say that so simply, like it's no big deal to kill?" Maria questioned.

"Because it was justified," was all the Sheriff said, and Kal slowly nodded in agreement. "Sometimes when you are the one to protect everyone, you have to do things out of the realm of your morality Maria, and you just learn to live with it," the Sheriff said in a knowing tone.

Kal bowed his head towards the Sheriff as a way of saying thanks. "I did what needed to be done, and with all the pain, all the trouble, all the lives lost, and all the chaos that man has caused, it was an honorable act," Kal said. Maria nodded, but didn't look like she totally understood.

"This is also when Max realized his friendship was putting you in danger. Yes, they relaxed a bit and even went to Vegas, but he knew he was going to have to start getting closer to Tess, closer to knowing what she had planned. He was pretty sure the skins were all dead, he knew Nasedo was dead, so she was the last factor. He had to be sure that all threats were gone before he went back to Antar, and the only way to do that was to do what was originally planned by his future self, getting close to Tess." Alex said.

Liz winced at this reference. "So why did he come back in Vegas? Why did he go to Prom with me?"

Alex smiled. "Ahhh, the joys of being a man's greatest strength and weakness at the same time. Michael was livid when he found out you were going to Prom with Max. He said that when you told him the story of buying that dress a year ago, he couldn't not take you."

"Vegas was another story," Kal continued for Alex. "He had just seen your wedding day from a previous lifetime, how could he not come back to you?"

"That was real?" Liz whispered. She always thought that maybe it was, but to know it was almost brought her to tears.

"Yes it was Liz," Alex said softly. "So he took me to Prom to what, annihilate me by kissing Tess?" Liz asked bitterly.

Alex rubbed his forehead. "I believe you had just given him the whole suffocating speech, right? The whole move on with your life speech."

"Yes...but," Liz started to defend herself. Why had she done that? In the middle of Prom?

"I bet you are wondering why you did that now," Alex said. "Now that Tess is far away I might add."

"She mindwarped me?" Liz asked sickened.

"No, but with mindwarping comes a power that can be much more dangerous. Not physically mind you," he added after seeing the look of horror on Maria's face, "but dangerous to a person's free will. Tess never mindwarped you, and all we can think of is she thought Max would find out and it would Piss. Him. Off. But the power of suggestion so to speak..."

"I just kept thinking that he was going to remember loving Tess, that he was going to want her again. I kept thinking it over and over while we danced," Liz said.

"Max knew, Liz, and he also knew if she was doing that that Tess was getting desperate and things were getting dangerous." Alex said.

"The cave! That day, at the cave! You know, the day they saw the message from their Mother? I remember Max telling me it doesn't change anything, but all I could think about was it would be selfish for me to distract him from helping all those people....over and over...." Liz exclaimed. She had wondered once she was in Florida why she ran from him when he needed her most, but figured her gut instinct was the best and she was just having doubts because she missed him. It was Tess all along........

"She used it a lot we think," Kal said. "It is hard to detect, and doesn't leave much of a signature, but once we started breaking Michael and Isabel's mind blocks lose after Thanksgiving there was a lot of incomplete signatures, the kind left by suggestions."

"After going over what they could be, Michael seems to remember thinking he had to give Maria up for her own safety, over and over. Isabel had the same thing, only with me," Alex said, looking a bit pissed off.

"So is that what the back and forth thing was with him?" Maria cried. "Well, maybe not at first, but once Tess was here it was probably all her," Kal said.

"Anyway," Alex continued, "Max had been working with Tess and feeding her a bunch of false flashes, like he had been daydreaming about her. My impending death was almost upon us, and Max, Michael, Isabel, and I all rolled the dice at the fact that Liz would not leave it alone, causing the perfect scenario for Tess to seduce Max."

"Once I died, everything fell into place. You didn't believe it was an accident, the line was drawn between the humans and the pod squad, and Tess was ready to move in and make the kill. People like her thrive on that kind of chaos, and she was more then willing to become the safe oasis for our little boy king." Alex said.

"Alright," Liz said, "I understand how everything happened so far, but why was he so mean when I was going to go to Sweden? Wasn't I doing what he wanted me to do? He was downright vicious."

"What happened the last time someone tried to get on a plane to Sweden?" Alex asked. "He was scared to death Liz. He still didn't have the whole story from Tess, and he wouldn't until that night......."

"What exactly happened to make Tess think she was pregnant?" Kyle piped up. He was getting tired of all of this and just wanted answers.

"Well," Alex said and looked at Kal nervously. Kal just put his hands palms up toward Alex as to say 'it's your show'.

"Well......" he said again....

At this point Maria wondered just how far Max was willing to go to get the information he needed from Tess......

TBC