Huge, ginormous credit goes to dreamer19, this is exactly how I imagined it! And also, a shout out to Jake17 for helping me achieve it in the first place:) You both rock:)
Title: The Antarian Timetravellers
Author: Maipigen
Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and I mean no harm.
Couples: Canon
Rating: TEEN for now MATURE later on.
Summary: Max, Michael and Isabel have given up after losing the last of their human friends in the heated alien war. Then Max remembers how Liz once told him that the Granolith could be used as a timemachine...
A/N: This is the first time posting on RF and I must admit, I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'm doing it right...If you think I'm way off base, please let me know. Also, all thoughts are in italics.
CHAPTER ONE
Isabel's POV
The flaring pain woke Isabel up and she sat up with a hoarse gasp, clutching at her chest as her heart raced wildly. Her head pounded and all she wanted was to close her eyes and forget that horrible, impossible dream she'd had.
Wait, this isn't the podchamber? Isabel thought and looked around with disbelieving eyes.
The almost forgotten setting that met her gaze made her eyes burn and she forced herself to swallow through the big lump in her throat.
Suddenly, she heard a fast approaching sound and just as she turned her head towards her door – my door! – It burst open and Max all but fell through it uncharacteristically ungraceful in his haste.
If Isabel had had any doubts about the success of their plan, the vision of her brother in the doorway to her old bedroom in the Evans house, vanished them immediately.
This young man looked like Max before he'd been burdened with the responsibilities of a born again King. Before the White Room happened, before Liz's death...
"Oh my-"Isabel began, but couldn't continue as her eyes scanned her younger looking brother with a hunger she could feel in her very being.
"It worked," was all Max muttered.
The two siblings broke their staring contest and let their eyes linger around Isabel's bedroom. A moment later, Isabel was on her feet and she hurried over to the full length mirror by her closet.
Unable to stop herself, Isabel grinned foolishly and grabbed a chunk of her long, silky locks and turned back to the still immobile Max. "I'm blonde again."
Max didn't return the smile, but simply nodded seriously in agreement – and it was at that moment that Isabel truly realized that young they might look, but their experiences had aged them and come along with them.
"Do-Do you know when we are?" Isabel could hardly get the question through her lips and she grabbed a brush and began attacking her long, filtered locks, trying to distract herself.
Max sighed and looked behind him, obviously checking that they weren't being overheard and stepped fully inside her room. "Not yet – but I figured we'd stop by Crashdown and make some subtle observations."
"Okay," Isabel agreed and finally having done all she could to her hair, she turned back to Max and asked, "What happens now Max?"
Max's jaw clenched for a second and Isabel nearly cursed herself. Once again, I automatically put all the responsibility on Max's shoulders – no wonder, he's always so serious.
"We fix things."
"MAX! IZZIE!"
The two hybrids instantly tensed and then had to fight off their instinctive battle formations when they recognized their mother's voice. "There's a phone call for you, it's Michael, and he says it's important!"
Isabel slapped her forehead unladylike and heard Max curse softly. "I can't believe we forgot about him!"
Michael's POV
"Argh damn it! That stupid boy messin' 'round with the food. Boy! Where's the food at?"
Michael woke with a start and instantly groaned in pain. It was burning through his entire body and he gritted his teeth for a second.
"What a weird ass dream," he muttered and rubbed his eyes. In the next second, he realized two things; one he wasn't in the podchamber where he'd been last time he checked, and two; he was in a so called bedroom in a trailer he had never expected to see again.
The thin door into said room banged open and another person walked in, a person who Michael certainly hadn't wanted to see again. Ever.
"Boy! Answer me when I'm talking to ya."
Michael blinked. "Hank?"
Hank, Michael's once upon a time foster dad, who'd been killed by Nasedo, stood wobbling in the doorway looking anything but sober.
Apparently Michael's confusion served to placate the older man and he snorted in disgust and walked away without another word.
Michael slowly sat up and looked around the room again. It was like he remembered it. Small, smelly and messy with books and half finished papers lying around in-between empty take out boxes and Tabasco sauce. His dirty clothes were thrown around the place and Michael smirked before he could help himself.
Maria would have a cow if she saw this, he thought, but then his mood darkened immediately and his heart clenched in agony. Maria wouldn't see him mess up his room, she was dead and gone – which was why he was having this extremely vivid dream of the past. I'm probably passed out drunk in the podchamber, Michael surmised.
Oh crap! The pod chamber!
Max, Isabel and he had been hiding out in the one place where no one could reach them, let alone Khivar's men. Hurting desperately over the loss of the last two human's in their family. They'd broken all their own rules in their massive grief. They'd been drinking and been violently ill because of it of course, but for a few hours their memories of the past didn't hurt, so they kept doing it.
Then one day, while Khivar's soldiers had paused in their never-ending attempt of getting inside to them, Max had mentioned something about Liz telling him about using the Granolith as a time machine.
Wait – if I'm here so are Max and Iz. The thought slid through the painful memories that struggled to surface and Michael immediately reached for the cell phone, he always kept in his jeans pocket, but then he rolled his eyes at himself. Like I had enough money back then to own a cell phone…or now, I guess.
The idea of having succeeded in their time traveling plans threatened to give the half alien a massive headache and he sighed and got up. "Wonder if I can track down a payphone?" he muttered and opened the door to the so called living room.
Hank, thank God, was already passed out in his recliner and Michael used some of his future acquired skills of sneaking by soldiers out to kill him and slipped by his foster parent easily.
Once outside, Michael squinted upwards at the sun and then found a shadowy path to keep himself as unnoticed as possible. Michael smirked at his antics a moment later. If I'm really back to the past, I can afford to lose the Rambo skills just a little bit.
Michael took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadow and let the warm sun illuminate his large body. He only allowed himself a few moments though and then turned back to his search for a phone.
It took him ten minutes to remember where the trailer park had its old pay phones and when he stepped inside the booth, Michael cursed softly when he saw the out of order sign. With a quick glance around he shrugged and placed his hand on the broken machinery. A few seconds later, Michael dialed the Evans' home number.
"Evans residence." Dianne Evans' voice was cheerful and it instantly reminded Michael of Maria and he swallowed a lump of sadness before he cleared his throat and tried to remember how he'd acted as a teenager.
"It's Michael. I need to talk to Max or Isabel; it's important."
Dianne didn't respond to him, she simply let go of the phone and screamed for her children.
Michael smiled fondly. A few seconds later, the smile vanished when Max's deep voice asked, "What did you and I do the last day in Vegas?"
Good ol' cautious Maxwell, Michael's smile turned fond again, but he quickly replied to reassure his leader, his family, "We watched Braveheart – still the greatest movie ever made."
Max's sigh was loud and Michael heard him mutter to Isabel that it really was him before he asked if Michael was all right.
"I'm fine – woke up in my old trailer, that was neat."
Max again muttered something to his sister and a second later, Michael listened as she tore the receiver from Max's hands and said, "Has Hank tried anything? 'Cause I'll come over there and kick his deadbeat little behind."
Michael felt a rare twitch of his lips forming into a half smile. "No need Iz, I'm fine."
Isabel was like the rest of them, changed by the events of the last few years. Admittedly her change had started when Alex had been killed, but having to leave her husband and then watch her best friend die to protect her was just too much for the beauty and she'd grown ice cold and deadlier than ever. Now for the first time in years, she sounded human and Michael could admit that he really liked the sound of that.
"Put Max back on."
When he heard the sounds of Max being handed back the phone, Michael asked, "So what happens now Max?"
Max was silent for a few moments on his end and Michael frowned; His friend and King never hesitated – hesitation got people killed. "What's up?"
"I think we should figure out just exactly when we are and then take it from there."
Michael nodded. "Sounds cool. So will you come and pick me up? I can't exactly hotwire a car out here without anyone finding out."
Max agreed and Michael ended the call and walked out to the main road to wait. It's gonna be odd seeing them like teenagers again. All of them.
Max's POV
Max stepped out of the house and froze momentarily at the sight before him. My old jeep – we really are back, aren't we?
"Max, what's wrong?"
Isabel's voice was tense and Max shook himself out of his weird mood and shrugged as he made his way over to the vehicle he'd once ruined completely in an effort to hide some of his numerous secrets.
"Nothing, I'm just a bit freaked out, I guess." This time around, I'll be honest to my family. No matter what. The unspoken oath rang through his body and Max felt a bit better as he slid into the jeep and started the engine.
The royal siblings drove in silence towards the trailer park where Michael had lived before Hank's death. Max could feel the pull of Liz's presence growing stronger in his body every minute that went by and he still hadn't checked up on her. He fidgeted uncomfortably and shifted gears to try and hide it.
Isabel of course wasn't fooled and placed her hand on top of his on the gearshift. "Max, I'm dying to see them all too. We'll go right after we've picked Michael up, okay?"
Max nodded and sped up the car in his eagerness. Then something hit him and he glanced over at his sister with a small frown on his face. "There's one thing we haven't really thought through."
Isabel raised her eyebrows and Max elaborated with a sigh. "The whole bond between us and them were in part due to all the dangers we faced off together. This time around I'm not really gonna let all of that happen to her…I mean us."
The memory of Liz's blood from her gunshot wound so long ago propelled through Max and he quickly continued talking before the newest memory of Liz managed to fight its way through. Remembering a dead Liz wasn't something he could handle yet, even though she technically wasn't dead in this time.
"And what about Michael and Maria? They've been through so much together. At this point in time Maria is afraid of Michael's bad reputation and Michael supposedly hates her guts…Well, anyone's guts really. And you have Alex to worry about too."
Isabel smiled. "Don't worry Max. Alex was in love with me before any of this even started. At least that's what he used to tell me before Tess…" Iz's eyes darkened at the memory of Alex's murderer before she continued with a faked brightness. "And Liz and you are meant to be. As for Michael and Maria – well, something tells me that after he buried Maria back in our time, he is totally fine with being nice to her now."
Max laughed a forced laugh after his sister mentioned the burial. He fought down the picture of Michael and his own bloodied hands as they dug a grave for their wives without using their powers.
"There he is." Isabel pointed a well manicured hand forward and Max couldn't help but let a rare smile grace his features at the sight that met him.
Michael looked exactly as he used to at the height of his bad ass period. His hair was slicked upwards in several spikes and Max could barely recognize the youth in the other male's face. "This is a really weird experience," he muttered and heard Isabel's chuckled agreement.
A moment later, the jeep pulled up next to Michael and Max nodded silently. Isabel, who seemed more and more at ease in her younger body, greeted his second in command with a smirk. "Love the hairdo."
"Shut up," was Michael's response while he slid back in the jeep. "I'm going back to my regular style tomorrow."
Max pulled out on the road again and turned the vehicle around. The urge to see Liz kept growing with each passing minute.
"Are we going to Crashdown?"
Max nodded. "I have to see her alive. I can't explain it, I don't care that she barely knows me yet, but I have to make sure she's alive and well. Oh crap," the curse left his lips before he could censor it.
Isabel and Michael, who were still very used to unexpected surprises tensed up immediately and looked around to check for attackers, although rationally they both knew it wasn't likely to happen. "What?"
"I still don't know what date it is."
Michael frowned and leaned forward – at once much more relaxed. "Why's that so important Maxwell?"
Max let Isabel answer as he changed the station on the radio – suddenly anxious to find out.
"Because we have to know if Liz is gonna get shot soon."
Michael quickly understood and didn't say another word as the trio raced towards the Diner.
Ten minutes later, they drove in to the parking lot that belonged to the Crashdown and for a moment Max was afraid to go any further. What if something has gone wrong? What if she won't love me in this time? It doesn't matter; he answered his scared thoughts in the next second, as long as she's still alive, I can handle anything. As long as they're all alive and well.
He took a deep breath and finally exited the car. Michael and Isabel followed suit. After a quick look at their pale faces, Max realized that they were just as anxious and eager as he was. Especially Michael seemed almost desperate and Max reminded himself that Michael had lost a wife too in their dark future.
The other two reached the door before him and entered. Max hesitated momentarily in the doorway to give his eyes time to adjust to the different lighting.
The smell of fried food, sweat and soda rummaged in the air and Max swallowed a lump of fierce sadness at the rush of memories. We've had some good times in here…
"Max, over here!" Isabel's voice reached his numbed state of mind and Max shook himself out of the memories and quickly walked over to the booth where his sister and best friend sat.
Just as he was sitting down, Max noticed an older man folding his newspaper to leave and he hurried over to him and asked politely, "Sir, would it be okay if I borrowed your paper for just a second?"
The old man looked up at Max, who in return tried to look as unassuming and charming as possible. "Here you go young man, keep it." The man handed over the paper and exited the diner with a friendly nod to Max, who barely noticed in his hurry to check the damned paper for the date. September 18th.
"Dammit!"
The other customers looked up from their plates and Max quickly slid back into the seat next to Isabel, who looked at him with worried eyes. "So?"
Max scanned the diner with determined eyes and they landed on two quietly arguing men. That's them – that's the men who shot Liz.
"Max!" Michael's frantic voice reminded him that he still hadn't answered the question.
"It's September 18th. It's the day Liz was shot…"
The gasps from his fellow aliens were absorbed by the two men's arguing in quiet whispers. Max eyed them warily until Michael's second gasp alerted him to something else.
Two women, two young girls in fact, had just come out from the backdoor next to the kitchen. One was blond and she had a short wanna be Meg Ryan style to it and she looked teasingly down at the slightly shorter brown-haired girl next to her.
Max's breath caught in his throat as his eyes swallowed Liz Parker. His wife, his lover, his soul mate. Who doesn't know me at all yet… The thought brought some of his senses back to him and Max looked away.
His eyes landed on Michael, who was looking at Maria Deluca with the eyes of a starving man. Max discreetly kicked his best friend's shin.
"Aw, what the hell Dude?" Michael's angry eyes turned to him and Max smiled briefly.
"You two are supposed to loathe each other right now. If you keep looking at her like she's the best thing in the world, she's probably gonna hit you with a dose of pepper spray."
Isabel nodded in agreement and smirked. "It's true Mikey. Keep your tongue in your mouth until she learns to like you again."
Michael looked surprisingly stern at her and Max grinned when Michael said darkly, "I'm gonna remind you of this moment when you see Alex for the first time."
Isabel laughed and Max couldn't help but do the same. For the first time in a very long time, he felt alive again.
And then things got even better when Liz walked over to their table to serve them. She was carrying a plate of cherry cola's and Max repressed the urge to help her with her load when she juggled with the glasses as she placed them in front of each of them.
"Hi guys – I'm sorry I didn't wait for your drink order today, but you usually order this and we're really busy today so…" Liz's wonderful brown eyes looked nervously at Michael as she said this.
Max smiled widely. He could see her surprise at Michael's greeting smile. He must really look different than she's used to at this time. Maybe I should ask Isabel to help her out and see how she reacts to that?
"That's fine." Iz answered and continued with a secret smiled to Max. "We'll just have some pie when you're ready. No rush, we can wait."
Or I could just watch her do that and get the same reaction, Max thought with an even bigger smile as Liz's surprise turned to full on shock at their unusual friendliness. He remembered vaguely that before the shooting, he'd been the only one remotely polite to her and Maria by association. Judging by the looks of it, that's another thing that's gonna change this time around…
"Uhm, sure…I'll be right back." Liz muttered and hurried away. Max watched her with eyes that swam with pure adoration and longing.
"This is the best idea we've ever had," Michael whispered while his own eyes kept tracking Maria, who was weaving in and out between different customers with practiced ease.
A few minutes later, Liz returned with three slices of pie and walked away with a friendly smile to another customer.
And then the moment arrived. The arguing men at the other side of the room started arguing louder and louder just after Maria had offered them another cup of coffee. Max felt Michael tense up when one of the men stood up with a gun in his hand and they began to struggle until the gun went off.
In the next second, Michael was across the room and had pulled Maria out of the danger. Isabel used her natural authority to keep people calm and Max was already by Liz's side – healing her just as he'd done the first time. He hated himself for not reacting sooner. This shouldn't have happened, oh baby I'm so sorry.
When her eyes blinked slowly up at him with growing confusion, Max decided to go with the inevitable and use his former excuse. He reached for a ketchup bottle, broke it and poured it on her bloody belly. "You broke the bottle and you fell. Please trust me…"
Isabel grabbed his shoulder and pulled him with her. Michael followed after shooting a last look at an equally confused Maria.
They hurried over to the parked jeep. "Wow," Isabel's voice was a tad sarcastic. "We really changed things in there, didn't we?"
Michael sighed and ran a hair through his spiky hair and didn't say anything. Max shrugged and drove away with squealing tires. "At least we can try to get a better relationship with Valenti this time around now. Stop him from sending in the uniform and stuff like that."
Michael and Isabel nodded and Max turned the car around towards the Evans' house. I just hope he doesn't think we're raving lunatics instead…
TBC...
Next time in Antarian Timetravellers: Liz learns the truth, We finally hear a bit from Maria and Valenti makes an appearance.