Roswell Fanatics

Here you go, guys, the whole chapter 10

CHAPTER 10


"Alex!" Maria cried. "Stop playing with us and just spit it out!"

Alex was going over what he knew in his head. He wished he could say it was totally innocent, but Tess had thrown Max for a loop. Max was ready for the oncoming mindwarp, ready to divert it so that Tess thought it was real.

What he wasn't ready for was the fact that Tess used Liz in that mindwarp.

Alex shook his head, like he was coming out of some kind of trance. There had been enough deciding what people should know and what they shouldn't. He would just tell them the truth.

"Max went to the observatory after your little fight in the cab. He knew Tess would show up, just how she'd popped up after every other bad thing had happened to him since her arrival in Roswell," Alex said. "He gave her a speech about losing everyone, having no one, and he knew then that she would make the final play in her little web of deception, and she did."

Alex sighed and looked at the people sitting around the table. Jim and Kyle were listening with great attention, and Alex knew Jim probably hadn't been filled in to this point. Maria was tapping her foot impatiently, and Liz just looked like she was going to be sick.

"She was actually one step ahead of him, because when she started the mindwarp, it wasn't her in it, it was you, Liz," Alex said.

"What? You are kidding me, right Alex?" Liz asked as Maria said something about being sick.

"Unfortunately not, and if I'm going to be honest, it worked for a while," Alex said softly. "Fortunately he came to his senses before anything was consummated."

Alex sighed, looking at the girls faces. "Max then let her believe the whole mindwarp thing, and got the hell away from her. He even threw in a one hour alien orgasm to give him time to go through that mind of hers."

"What did he fine, the seventh layer of hell?" Maria asked.

Kal snorted as he started cleaning up the breakfast dishes. Oh yes, he could definitely see why the General had become so taken with Maria. It was funny how fast life could change. Here is was, a powerful Hollywood producer, cleaning up after a bunch of small town kids in Roswell, New Mexico. The thought that Maria would make a great actress entered his mind, not for the first time. She certainly had a flair for the dramatic...

"He found out a lot, actually," said Alex. "Nasedo had been working with the skins since before they left Antar, so naturally Tess had known them and she knew the Dupes of course."

Kyle interrupted. "Wait a minute, if she knew the skins, then why did she take out half of them when they came to Roswell?"

"It was a tactic," said Alex. "To gain trust. You see, Nasedo never could believe in either lifetime that Zan or Max would not want his daughter. There hadn't been a girl born to their family in generations, ever since they lost the Granilith, so when Ava was born, he saw it as a sign that it was time for the two families to merge, time to take the power back."

Alex sighed and got another cup of coffee. "So he figured he made a mistake back in Antar by having Ava around Zan all the time, that maybe Zan had come to see her as a sister or something. This time he thought he'd do it differently. Keep them apart, bring them together when Max's hormones were kicking in. Unfortunately for him, Max was in love with someone else and wanted nothing to do with her."

"They knew they had lost a lot of trust when Tess used her powers to try to manipulate all of them," Alex continued. "Tess blowing away the skins was just a way to earn back some trust, to go another way."

"There's one part I don't completely understand," Jim said quietly. "I thought when Max saved Liz, when I started the whole investigation, that that was when Nasedo learned where they were," he finished, his guilt not lost on anyone.

"Sheriff, you were only doing what you thought needed to be done to keep everyone safe," Liz said quietly as the Sheriff smiled his thanks.

"No, he knew where they were the whole time. It's just that once Max healed Liz, he started watching more closely. For ten years they had been so careful, they had hid so well, why would he risk them all for a human girl? We all know the answer to that," Alex joked, "and once he figured it out I'm sure it scared him, scared him to death."

"Part of the reason why they kept everything a secret, part of why they didn't take them out right from the start, is that nothing added up. If Liz was in the way, why didn't they take her out right from the beginning? Or Maria, or me for that matter. They saw us as a threat too, because we might make them want to stay on Earth." Alex said.

"Killian, Nasedo, sorry, was always about having multiple layers of plans," Kal said. "When Max went through Tess's head he found out that she did in fact want to take Liz out right away, but Nasedo wouldn't let her. Liz was Plan B, so to say, and if Plan A, getting Max to fall for Tess, therefore getting her pregnant, and returning home only to kill him didn't work out, they could use Liz," Kal ended dramatically.

"To control Max," Liz finished.

"Exactly," said Alex. "But whent he gandarium incident hit, Tess was at the end of her rope as far as the Liz situation went. Nasedo knew he was losing control of Tess. She was starting to fit in, Max was being nicer, she loved having a family with the Valenti's.....But when Max went to you, was worried about you instead of her, she was livid.....She might have started her own Plan B, and Nasedo could not have that, so he offered to kill you as a bit of a peace offering between Father and daughter."

Gasps could be heard around the large kitchen table. "Things were getting to dangerous. That's when Max called in the other protectors to watch you all," Alex said.

"What do you mean....watch?" Kyle asked.

Kal sighed. "Remember how I said that we really don't change our form, only bend light to make people see what we want them to? And Liz here figured out it could also make us appear to be invisible? Well each of you have had a protector since that night that I killed Nasedo. You just haven't known it since between being other people and the whole invisible thing you'd never suspect it."

Maria looked disgusted. "Like that is soooo creepy. They could have been watching us in the shower or something," she finished, looking like she was going to be sick.

"I take great offense to that Miss," a man said, appearing out of thin air next to Maria. Maria jumped up so fast her chair went flying backwards and Kal chuckled.

"Meet Kaleb, your protector," Kal said, shaking his head.

Kaleb bowed his head to Maria, "It is nice to meet you Miss Maria, and I assure you none of your privacy was ever invaded, we were only here to protect you."

"I'm....uhhhh...so.....Well, hi," Maria finally finished and lowered her eyes to the ground. "I'm sorry about that ummm comment. It was just a bit of a shock. Uhh, thanks for looking out for me," she finished lamely.

"S'ok," said Kaleb. "By now I have gotten used to your...dramatics...." he said as everyone smiled knowingly around the table. "And it has been my honor that Rath, I mean Michael, sorry old habits die hard, would chose me to protect you," he finished as Maria blushed.

"Kal," Liz said softly as she put her hand on his, her touch making him jump in surprise, "thank you, thank you for saving me."

Kal put his other hand on top of Liz's, "It was my honor," he said. Could it be? Could these things he was feeling be true?

Kyle, as usual, broke the spell by....talking. "So what I want to know is if we were in all this danger, and Nasedo was dead, why not just confront Tess then? You had all these shapeshifters roaming around Roswell, so you obviously had the fire power. Why not end it then?"

"Kyle, they had to know everything before they made a move like that," Alex said. "And until they had all the information out of Tess's head, they wouldn't know. Was she working with Nicholas and the Dupes still? How many more skins were roaming the Earth? They couldn't just leave us with that many factors still out there."

"What did happen to the dupes?" Liz asked.

"Tess killed Lonnie and Rath back in New York. Nicholas had his own little schemes going on, and was stupid enough to trust them with the truth of their existence. They tried to bribe Tess with that info when they pulled her away from Max, and she annihilated them." Alex said. "And Ava, well we are pretty sure that Nasedo got her before the gandarium incident. She was no longer needed and might also have known the truth, even though it's not likely. She would have told us."

"Yes, she would have," said Liz. "She...she saved Max's life by telling us about Rath and Lonnie...She was a good person," she finished.

"She's what Tess might have been if she wasn't raised by a psychotic maniac," Alex said and as Maria tried to interrupt, he held up his hand. "I'm not defending her....but I do understand how being raised that way would effect you in a....negative way."

"So they needed to see what dangers still stood on Earth. As I'm sure most of the people at this table know, physical contact is the best way to make a strong connection. That's why when Tess started talking about that first kiss at Prom, Max kissed her. He got a lot of info about any remaining skins then, and he sent out the Guard to take care of them. He also learned that Nicholas was still alive, and that, my friends, was the biggest worry," Alex said.

"God I hate that bastard," said Kal. "You need to understand how those people work, Kivar, Nicholas, the whole lot of them. They are your stereotypical 'Aliens'. They do not feel remorse, they do not feel compassion. They only live for their own wants. When Kivar took on Antar, it wasn't to have control of the Granilith, but to destroy it. The power of the Granilith is what kept the other planets in line, making them afraid of Antar. Without it, he could convince the other planets to fight Antar, and he in turn would take them over. He's a sick bastard, that Kivar."

"So what happened to that little jerk?" Maria asked.

"Dead, he's dead now, Michael killed him," Alex said. "Do you remember how pissed you were that he didn't take you to the print shop? Well Tess had upped her little plan. She was afraid that Michael wouldn't go to Antar if you were around, as you and Michael had been getting along really, really well. She always thought Michael would be the easiest, and now she was starting to think he would be the hardest to convince. Especially with how distraught you were over my death. So Nicholas, the only remaining skin on Earth, was called in to take you out."

"Oh. My. God. I was going to be murdered by that little pipsqueak?" Maria asked, her voice raising a few notches.

"No, that was never going to happen Miss Maria," Kaleb said. "I could....smell him...He was lurking around the school and I informed Michael right away. I'm not strong enough to take him out, and I even wondered if Michael would be strong enough, but when he found out that you were in danger.....It wasn't pretty when he caught up with him."

Maria hung her head in shame. "And I told him I couldn't count on him......."

"He understands Maria," Alex said. "So the last of the threat was gone, and all they had to do was get the translation, get Tess on that ship, and get back home. You guys made getting the translation easy, but then when you started figuring things out faster then we suspected things kind of spiraled from there."

"I really thought Max was going to kill Leanna," Liz said quietly. "He was counting on me to figure it out, wasn't he?"

"And you didn't disappoint him," said Alex. "He would have to tell you everything then, and I think if you knew....If Maria knew....They might not have ever been able to get on that ship and go home."

Liz and Maria looked at each other, wondering the same thing. How long would they be gone?

As if reading their minds, Kal spoke up. "It would be easy to stay here, to forget about that place like I did for so many years. It would be a millennial before their technology would let them travel this far without the Granilith. Max could have everything he always wanted, well that is if you forgave him Liz, the white picket fence, the dog in the yard, the 2.5 kids. But it's their duty, and also not in any of their characters to leave people in the hands of a madman if they could stop it."

"They also wanted Tess to pay, and pay big," Alex continued. "They wanted it all to play out, my death, their betrayal. The Granilith would judge her, no all when she got in it....What her intentions were when they got back to Antar. They wanted justice for everything she has done in the life."

"Good," Maria said. One word was enough to summarize what they all thought of that.

Liz looked down at her list of questions, noticing that most of them had been answered without her having to ask them. One remained, and it was what her and Maria had been thinking before.

"How long will they be gone?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

"That's a bit more complicated," Kal said. "They really don't know what to expect when they get back there. The Granilith should be at full strength. We are assuming it took so long because more then likely Queen Serena put it in self preservation mode, meaning there is probably a shield around the castle that even the most powerful force can't penetrate."

"Queen Serena?" Liz asked shocked.

Kal smiled. "Yes Liz, that Serena. That was the biggest clue Future Max threw out there. If he knew her, his Grandmother, that meant that she was still alive and in control of the Granilith 14 years from now, meaning she was in control of it now. The Queen can command the Granilith in small ways, but not like the King, otherwise the war would have been over a long time ago."

"So they knew it was safe to go back, right?" Kyle asked.

"Yep," Alex said. "Once they get there it's a different story. The Granilith should stop Kivar easily enough, but that is the least of their problems. They have to make sure the other planets fall in line, that their is peace before they chance coming back here. They don't want a repeat performance of '47, with the enemy coming to Earth."

He took a deep breath and continued. "Max also isn't sure how much anyone knows up there, you know, about us. Liz, Maria, Kyle, the Sheriff....The whole lot of us. Nasedo could have told the people at the summit anything. It is highly doubtful, since Liz was always his back up plan, but if he did....If he told the other leaders what Liz means to Max..."

"Then I am a liability," Liz said quietly. "I can be used by them too."

"Unfortunately you are right," Alex said with compassion. "We all are. They have to be sure that everything is back in order before they come back here. Now that everything is safe here, now that all the threats have been eliminated, Max doesn't want to create more."

"Wait!" Kyle said, "Are you saying there is no more alien ambushes? No more blue blobs trying to eat us?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Alex said.

"So no more running, fighting, following strange messages and general waiting for the worst to happen and/or die?" Maria said in shock.

"Yep," Alex said simply as this information sunk in.

"I'm like going to be like so bored," Maria said with wonder.

For the first time in two days, the group of people, the family, broke out in unrestrained laughter.

Kal hated to break the spell, but he knew he had to throw a partially wet blanket on the happiness. "There is still the matter of Liz, Kyle, and Alex's impending changes. I don't need to remind any of you how dangerous the government is here," he said as they all nodded. "And I really hate to bring this up, but we have to be especially careful with you Liz. We need to make sure you can control your powers so your parents don't catch you doing anything....different...."

Liz just nodded and Maria put her arm around her. Never in the last two years would Maria have ever of thought that she'd be glad her Mother knew about the Alien Abyss.

"We have plans in place for that too," Kal continued. "First, we need to do laundry. Green laundry," he smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

"Laundry?" Kyle said. "You just told us that we have to worry about being caught by the government and you want us to do laundry? What the hell are you talking about?"

God these kids are impatient, thought Kal. "Money Kyle, we have to get money in all your hands just in case. Max insisted on it. You see, when we came here, Queen Serena was not stupid. She sent us with things that were valuable to Earthlings, things like diamonds and emeralds. They are a dime a dozen back on Antar, but here we could start a life, which is what we did."

"We were supposed to be settled and have everything waiting to bring the kids into Earth's society. Identities for them, for us. A way to live comfortably until it was time to return. The shifters divied them up and went to start their own life when we thought the pods hadn't survived. We've all done pretty well for ourselves."

"I've devised a plan to get you all payed pretty damn good," said Kal, "in a way that won't be suspicious. Alex here is already doing websites and databases for some of the major motion picture companies. Liz, you like to write. I want you and Maria to put together some stories, stories that can be bought to make into movies. Hell, if you want, write a screenplay. With your attention to detail and Maria's flair for the dramatic, I think you'd work really well together."

"Kyle, you are going to start modeling," Kal said as Kyle choked.

"Oh no I'm not. If you think I'm going to walk around in some banana hammock you are nuts," he said indignantly. "I've got to have some other skill, right?"

"No banana hammocks Kyle, just some small stuff. But then once you are 'discovered' and put in a commercial, the money will roll in," Kal said, easing Kyle's fears a bit.

"Wait a minute," Maria said. "Isn't it just going to look just a bit suspicious when all of us suddenly have all these connections to Hollywood? I mean we are just a bunch of kids from Roswell, and looking suspicious or strange when you come from Roswell is So. Not. Good."

"Not if your close friends have a powerful Hollywood mogul for an uncle," Kal said with a smile. "School tomorrow might be shocking for you, as Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess will be returning, well at least as far as anyone can tell."

What? How? Huh? could be heard from Liz, Kyle and Maria.

"The shifters are going to take their place," Alex said. "First thing that's going to happen is Max and Tess will break up. Tess will cry on the shoulder of one of the popular girls and confess that she started the lie about Liz and Kyle to break them up, and Max found out. They don't want to draw any attention by just disappearing, and since we don't know when they will be back we need to keep their presence going here on Earth."

"Enter me, who just found out his crazy sister left her three kids in the desert back in 1989, and has just caught up with them," Kal said, liking this part. "It'll be low key, of course, as Roswell doesn't exactly cause a ripple in the consciousness of the world. It'll be to hard for the shifters to keep up appearances around people that know them, so in two weeks, at the end of the school year, Tess will leave humiliated to live with her Father again, and Max, Michael and Isabel will come stay with me to get to know their family."

"We know they won't be back by the start of the school year, as traveling in the Granilith is hard on the body and should only be done every six months. They'll end up going somewhere with Kal for the beginning of the senior year, and if they still can't come back we'll just extend it." Alex said, making sure everyone understood.

"How will we know when they are coming back?" asked Liz.

"Max is going to harness some of the Granilith's energy on his birthday to dreamwalk Liz, and we'll find out more then," Alex said.

"His birthday? HIS BIRTHDAY?" Maria shouted. "That's like almost a year away!"

Kal looked confused. "I thought Max said his birthday was in four months?"

"Well, the birthday social services picked for him is almost a year away, but what he considers his real birthday is in four months," Alex said, looking at Liz.

"September 19th, the day he saved me," she said, blushing.

"So we just have to wait until then," Jim said. "Some of the shifters are going to stay, the ones that want to go back to Antar. We don't need all of them anymore, but some will stay as a just in case measure. Kal's accountants will find a way to hide money for you guys, and the rest will be at your disposal."

"So we are going to be like rich?" Maria asked excitedly. All her life her Mother had worked her ass off to take care of her. Now she could finally ease some of the burden.

"More like comfortable," Kal said. "With all you have done for Max, Michael, and Isabel, all you have done for a whole planet of people, you deserve it."

As this sunk in Liz spoke up, "So tomorrow we have to act like the shifters are really Max, Michael and Isabel. Alex will have his resserection assembly. People will start to find out about you Kal, and we just have to go back to living life like....normally?" Liz asked, sounding like she didn't believe it.

"That's exactly right Liz, except for this summer you, Alex and Kyle will be working with some of the shifters on your powers, so things won't be exactly normal," Kal said with a smirk.

"I think we've learned as much as we can learn in two days without information overload," said Kal, "and I must return to California. Even though I'm not staying here, I want you kids to know that you can call me if you need anything, anything at all." He meant it too. How in a time frame of two days he could come to care about these kids was beyond him. He must be getting soft, he thought.

"Liz, your parents think that you stayed at Maria's last night. Amy stopped by the Crashdown this morning to tell them that you and Maria had stayed up half the night talking and were still passed out. Then you came home, and went to the library to study." Jim said, recounting what Amy had told him.

It was still to weird to believe that someone could fool her parents into thinking they were her, Liz thought. She just nodded her head in acknowledgement.

"And tomorrow, the grand return of Alex Whitman!" Alex said with a cheeky grin. Oh what an interesting day tomorrow would be!

BETHANN - Yes, when Tess went to "wake Max up" she warped him so he thought he was seeing Liz, but he realized it before it was to late. There's a little more about it in this chapter since we are getting Tess's point of view.

Chapter 11

Meanwhile, back on Antar...

Tess had to squint to make out what was going on outside of this....this sphere she was trapped in. Why wouldn't Max let her out? She could see him looking at her, but maybe he couldn't see through it from the other side. This was not going to plan.

All her life, well lives really she had been controlled and used for other's purposes. Not during this life anymore. When her Father didn't return from killing Liz, she figured Nicholas had got him, he was the only one strong enough on the planet to do that kind of damage.

Maybe he had shared some of his 'Liz' knowledge with him and good old Nicky didn't think it wise she should die. Tess played it cool, because God knows she didn't want to mess with Nicholas.

Tess wanted Liz dead the first time she saw her clinging to Max. Really, she wasn't as heartless as that made her sound, but Max was hers and Liz was just a human. He was her husband for God's sake, which made Liz a home wrecker. No one saw it that way though. They saw her as the outsider trying to break up Max and poor, perfect, innocent Liz.

It wasn't until Kyle was stuck in that hive, just waiting to die, that Tess realized her Father had not removed all the blocks in her mind. The thought of Kyle dying terrified her, and she knew she shouldn't feel that way. Between her Father's disappearing act, the stress of Kyle's possible death, and the fact that he was stuck in there with Alex, she was frightened as hell. What if Alex broke through any of the mindwarps while he was down there? What if he told Kyle what she had done to him?

She really did feel bad that Alex died. He was ok, for a human. Hell he even offered to help her with the book, but Nasedo was adamant that it be kept a secret from Max. She knew it would kill him, but she did it anyway, did it to get home. Did it because her Father had told her so.

And in the end, her Father had betrayed her, as he had with everyone in his life. All her life she was raised to believe she had this husband out there, this husband that loved her more then anything, and it was all a lie. She knew this once those blocks came crumbling down.

For the first time Tess knew the truth about that past life. Oh, she knew all the mythology about the Granilith being in her family and it being time to reclaim it with her birth. She knew that there was a great war and the Queen had sent them to Earth for safe keeping, until they could return and free their people with the power of the Granilith.

But she was also told how the power of the Granilith should never get back into Max's hands, and that Kivar really wasn't that evil dictator that he was made out to be. Max was a spoiled, selfish tyrant who hadn't treated her very well. He saw her as a possession, and her Father was not going to see her pushed aside for anyone, even a King. They could do great things for the people of Antar, he had said. She would secure the heir and then go back to the planet, her Father would take care of the rest of the Royals, and her, her child, and her Father would rule the star system.

Then the blocks came down. She remembered. Her Father was a snake, and she was a pawn. He had pushed her past self to Zan every chance he got, and Zan was just not interested. Oh he was always nice, but still gave off a very annoyed feeling. Her Father had used her to try and get the Granilith, and when Zan, Rath, and Vilandra were trapped and killed, her own Father had killed her too so that she would be sent to Earth with the others.

He had killed her. Her Father. No wonder he left those blocks up to right before their "marriage". What a joke! It wasn't quite the grand ceremony her Father had told her about, where Zan took her into the Granilith Chamber and made love to her over and over until all people on all five planets could feel the bliss.

She could feel the shame, the humiliation Ava had dealt with the last two years of her life. Zan had always been kind to her, but that abruptly stopped once he was forced to marry her. He was down right rude and didn't care who was around. She had the sinking suspicion that her Father was somehow involved with the King's death, and isolated and alone, she agreed to help her Father over take the planet with whatever information she could smuggle out of the castle.

Everything started to add up about this life. Max's disdain for her, his outright dislike of her. He acted as though she were poison, and now that she thought about it, he was right.

Then things changed. Liz decided to jump in the sack with Kyle. God, did that girl have radar for who Tess cared about or what? She had almost resigned herself to the fact that the plan with Max would never work, and maybe, just maybe Kyle might make a good option. He was the only one on the planet, well on two planets really, that ever treated her as her own person and didn't want anything in return. Well Kyle and the Sheriff that is. She used to lay in bed at night, and sometimes, during a weak moment, would wonder what her life would have been like if the Sheriff had been her Dad.

With the subsequent fallout of Max finding Liz in bed with Kyle, he had turned to her. They started getting close. She started to have actual feelings for him. Perhaps they could rule over Antar together. Almost as soon as the euphoria came, it went.

The skins had come to Roswell to kill the royals. Now Tess knew they would never harm them, they needed that damn book translated, and Max was the only one that could control the receiver, unless he made Tess his Queen of course. Since that part wasn't going all that well they had no choice but to try and scare the hell out of the three royals so that they'd want to jump on the next ship leaving the planet.

So Tess used her powers to hide everyone in the bathroom, and was exhausted when they got out. Her heart leaped in her chest when Max rubbed her arm comfortingly. Then it dropped to the pits of her stomach, because Liz turned and ran upstairs and what did Max do? Followed her of course. Here Tess was, the one who had 'saved' them, and Max was going to see about Liz, the same Liz who had just betrayed him.

It was at that point that Tess knew Max would never be over Liz. In fact, she wondered if they were already bonded with the way he wouldn't stay away from her, even after she tore his heart out with a dull spoon.

Things went fast from there, and once her Father was gone, she decided to take matters in her own hands. No more. She would be no man's pawn, be used by no one else every again. She had a decision to make.

She could either tell everyone the truth, tell them about Nasedo, the plan, Nicholas, everything so that she could hopefully get forgiveness from the Valenti's and start a life on Earth, or she could up her own plan to get off this rock and rule a whole solar system.

Tess imagined she must have had more of her Father in her then she thought, because she chose the latter. Her Father had used her to try to get the Granilith back in the family, Max had used her for her fire power and knowledge, hell even Michael used her to get her powers under control.

But did any of them truly offer her friendship or love? Did any of them truly care about her or only what they could get from her? Yeah, only what they could get from her, and there would be no more of that.

Tess was in control now, and all she had to wait for was Alex to die. Now granted that sounds kind of harsh, but she knew the wedge it would draw between the humans and aliens. She knew the perpetually perfect Parker would never let it go. She wouldn't stop until she knew the truth, thus handing over the transcribed book in the process.

Nicholas had been a genius when it came to that whole set up. Tess couldn't believe it, but once she told Nicholas about Liz and the other humans she had to insist that Liz not be touched. Now that was something she never thought she would do, but she knew she needed a pissed off Max, not a grieving Max.

She did worry about Michael though. Kivar wanted all three of them. Michael seemed different since Christmas, more secure in himself and with Maria. Her 'suggestions' that he needed to stay away from her didn't seem to have any effect on him anymore. She decided it was time to say buh-bye to Maria and let Nicholas loose on her. It didn't work though, and Nicholas disappeared.

That started to worry Tess, how Nasedo and Nicholas had just vanished, but she didn't have time to worry about that. Her plans were falling into place perfectly, with a wedge the size of the Grand Canyon between Max and Liz.

When she found him at the observatory she couldn't believe her luck. He had no one. That sister of his had deserted him, Liz had deserted him, and he had no one. When he told her "I'm ready to wake up" she couldn't believe how easy this was.

Tess was not about to take chances though. She put the image of Liz in his mind and he kissed her in a way she had never been kissed. Yes, they had shared that kiss at the Prom, but it was more mechanical then anything. This kiss though, God, the passion, the love. Then she dropped the mindwarp altogether and he was still kissing her like that, making love to her like she was the only woman in the world.

Tess's fingers started tapping on the cool surface of the sphere. At least she thinks that what happened. Wait a minute....Yes, Max had kissed her at first....Touched her....But then there was something different. Could it be? No, Max can't mindwarp.

Something in the back of Tess's mind told her that he could if he was at full power and had the signature. Her heart had turned to stone when she realized he had kissed Liz before they left for the pod chamber, and it didn't compute at the time.

If Tess and Max had shared that experience, the experience that would make them each other's for the rest of their life, then how could he kiss Liz.

If it never happened he could, she thought, realization dawning on her. Her mind was all confused. He had been kissing her, touching her, removing articles of clothing. Her fingers started drumming faster against interior wall of the Granilith. Suddenly she remembers staring in space while Max has one hand on her forehead. Wait, that is not what happened. They made love.

Or did they? Something was terribly wrong. She couldn't feel the baby anymore. The baby was gone. Was the baby ever there?

'Now's not the time to panic, Tess,' she said to herself. She just had to stick to the plan.

Michael first, as he had the most destructive power and the most instinct to protect. She would get into his brain and start eating away at his cells. Isabel would be to distraught to do any good, so she would focus on Max next.

Yes, Max. That last kiss he had shared with Liz...It was the kiss of death for Max Evans. She sure hoped it was worth it.

Isabel would be easy to dispose of then. All she could do then was hope above hope that the seal passed on to her. If it didn't she'd just hope that Kivar would reward her for destroying the line, rendering the Granilith useless.

Tess watched curiously as Isabel ran to hug an older woman, then Michael bowed and hugged her, and lastly Max.

Who could that be? Tess squinted her eyes tighter and leaned towards the shell that was keeping her a prisoner.

'It couldn't be,' she thought. Nasedo told her she was dead.

Queen Serena. How was this possible? She would surely know what her past self did, even if it wasn't her fault. How was she going to warp all their minds with her there? She was powerful, very powerful and smart.

For the first time since the day Kyle fell into that hive, Tess was scared to death.

All of a sudden she felt a suction of sorts, and the next thing she knew she was finally free of her spherical prison. She thought fast, squished her eyes together tightly to make them all see her still in the sphere.

Something was wrong, it wasn't working, and she couldn't get in. She opened her eyes, and her three pod mates and the Queen were standing right in front of her. She squished her eyes tighter, which made Michael break out in laughter.

"Cut it out Tess," he roared with laughter. "This is so funny I'm about to cry, and I don't want to cry on my first day back home."

Tess backed up but was blocked by that damn sphere. "Tess, it seems you've been a very, very bad girl," said Isabel with a cold smile.

Max sighed. "Grandmother, this is Tess. She is the daughter of Ava. She is also the one that has plotted, schemed, attempted murder, used illegal powers on Royalty, planned to kill us, and basically committed every act of treason against the Crown of Antar."

"You've been quite busy while you've been on Earth Tess," the Queen glared. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"It...it wasn't my fault. I was brainwashed by my Father...I was a prisoner to his whims," she finished lamely.

"Then why didn't you stop all your crap when we had him executed?" Michael asked with a smirk.

"When you...when you what? You ordered my Father killed?" Tess said incredulously.

"Not killed Tess, executed. He has committed enough crimes to justify execution 40 times over. But he committed the ultimate sin in my book, Tess. He was going to kill Liz. YOU wanted him to kill Liz." Max said, his eyes flashing anger as he grabbed Tess's head with a strong hand. The hand seemed to spring to life as it glowed a bright burgundy color.

Tess looked terrified, but she didn't scream. When Max was finished he wiped his hand off like it had been contaminated by something dirty.

"What did you do to me?" she asked fearfully.

"I took those illegal powers away Tess, and while I was at it, I took all your powers away." Max stated harshly.

"Can we kill her now Maxwell?" asked Michael hopefully.

"That just seems to easy," said Max. "It just doesn't seem like it will make up for all the pain, all the terror she has put the people we love through."

"Well she said her brain was defective, we could throw her in one of the institutions," Isabel offered.

"NO!" screamed Tess. She knew of those places on Antar from her memories, and they were a special kind of hell.

"I think I have an idea," said Queen Serena. "Since the majority of the people she hurt are still on Earth, why don't we imprison her until they can be reached to decide her fate?"

"As always, an excellent choice Grandma," Max said. "First things first," he uttered as he placed his hand back on Tess's head.

All of a sudden names, faces,and places were getting mixed up in Tess's mind. She knew there was a girl she hated back on Earth, the one that Max loved. She was from Minnesota? Or maybe it was France, where the pod chamber was. No, the pod chamber was in Africa, wasn't it? And that other girl, God that annoying girl with the loud mouth and bad attitude that had Michael wrapped around her finger. What the hell was her name???

It slowly dawned on Tess exactly what Max did. She could not identify any of these people to anyone now.

"Is the castle secure, Queen Serena?" Michael asked.

"Of course it is," she replied. "The Granilith has been protecting it every since your departure. I imagine since the black hole opened up over the castle soldiers are laying down their arms as we speak."

Max walked to the main door of the pod chamber and opened it with the wave of a hand. Three proud, statue like Royal Guards in dark grey uniforms appeared.

They bowed gracefully to their new King. "Welcome home, Sire," the one with the most uniform patches said. Max nodded his head and thanked them.

Michael walked over to the soldiers and they crossed their right arm over their chests and stood at complete attention.

"Gentlemen, we have a prisoner of war here. She is to be placed on the high level security and is to talk to no one. Please take her to the palace prison." Michael said.

As the soldiers took Tess into custody, a wicked grin spread across Isabel's face. She walked over to Tess and leaned conspiratorially to whisper in Tess's ear.

"The irony of this situation is apparent," Isabel whispered. "Those humans you hate so much now have more power then you."

Isabel turned to walk away as they led Tess out of the Granilith Chamber. Her screams could be heard for a couple of minutes, and then silence.

Max sighed. "One problem down, four million to go," he said as Isabel wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Queen Serena, who had just digested all this information spoke up. "Who's Liz?"

TBC

Chapter 12

Max looked up at his Grandmother. Who was Liz? How could he put Liz into words?

"There is much to be done, much to accomplish, but I think it would be wise for me to catch up on the last 17 years of your lives first," Queen Serena said with a smile, judging by the kids faces that the Liz question couldn't be answered easily.

The Queen gathered her family and ushered them through the secret Granilith Chamber door. Once settled in her spacious chambers, the kids began recounting the story of their life on Earth.

She felt their fright when they were lost in the desert, felt gratitude for the two humans that took her grand kids in, felt rage at the system that allowed her nephew to be in such a horrible situation during his time on Earth. Her eyes twinkled when Max told her about seeing Liz in third grade, she felt their confusion over who they were, the terror when they finally had to trust people with their secret.

The outrage and pain she felt when she learned of the white room was only second to the fact that one of their own had planned to do way worse then that to all three of them.

She had always despised Killian, ever since the first time she met him. He had the gift to shapeshift, but instead of going in the Royal Guard like most others with that gift do he decided he was to good for that. It was one of the highest honors, but it was not good enough. She should have known something was wrong with him then.

Serena, when she was just plain old Serena, was on an outing with some friends at a local nature reserve. At 18 years old she was just about to start her life and she was so excited. Her parents owned a local store and had saved enough for her to continue her schooling. She loved learning and couldn't get enough.

With long brown hair, striking green eyes and a knock 'em dead smile, she was noticed by a lot of boys, but in her own mind she just saw herself as ordinary. Besides, there would be time for boys later. She enjoyed her studies and her friends too much to get to wrapped up in any boy right now.

It was during this very outing that her life was turned upside down. Hushed whispers told how the Crowned Prince Zion and his advisor Killian were in those very same woods, hiking. Many of the girls squealed in delight, even if the Prince was a bit older then them, he was still one of the best looking guys in the solar system, not to mention the next King.

Serena cared about none of this, so when the Prince and his friend wandered into their gathering it was more of a nuisance then anything. They had taken their nice, fun day out, one of their last since they would all be entering a more adult world after that, and made it into a circus.

The Prince was busy talking politics with some of the boys on the trip when Killian's eyes narrowed in on Serena. He sauntered over to where she was and tried to strike up a conversation, and soon became intrigued that she was not impressed with any of this royalty stuff.

It was when she tried to walk away from him that her whole life changed. Killian grabbed her arm forcefully, hard enough to cause bruising, and she cried out in pain. "What is wrong with you, Killian?" Prince Zion said as he stormed over to where his friend was.

The Prince looked down at the petite girl, her face hidden behind her long, curly dark hair. "Please excuse my friend's behavior, can I take a look at your arm?" he asked.

Serena slowly tilted her face up to look at the Prince, and when their eyes locked, she knew her life was changed forever. Not because of what Zion saw in her eyes, but because of what she saw in his. Love, possession, amazement.... He tenderly healed her arm and asked her name.

It would only take Prince Zion a week to send for her and marry her in the Granilith Chamber. No words of love needed to be spoken, no act of intimacy...The Granilith bound them immediately, and Serena's life was no longer her own, and by no choice of her own.

After initial moments of embarrassment from the girl who had never been kissed much less done these kinds of thing with a man, they fell into a comfortable life together. Serena became very close to Zion's parents and loved them immensely.

Over the years she finally came to love her husband too, mostly because of his strong need to feel her love. He understood that he had made her his wife without even telling her what was going on, and as a reasonable man he understood it would take time. But as a Prince, as Royalty he had never had to wait for or earn anything, it had always been given to him.

Serena sighed. Oh how he had tried those first few years. As soon as he learned of her love for knowledge, he had great libraries installed in the palace and the best teachers brought in to teach her. When she discovered how the Granilith could open black holes to go to other planets, he indulged her by allowing her access to these unusual places.

Basically said, whatever made Serena happy, Serena got. It was hard not to fall in love with a man like this, so kind, so loving, giving to her. The fact that he was devilishly handsome and drop dead sexy didn't hurt matters. The first time she told the Prince that she loved him he broke down and cried like a baby. She was the most cherished thing in his life, as she was the only thing that had ever come from hard work. They had many happy years together when the news came that she was expecting their first child, or children as she was pregnant with twins.

She stayed away from Killian like the plague all those years. The King knew of her disdain for his lifelong friend, and Serena could see bitterness in Killian's eyes every time she was unfortunate enough to run into him. It wasn't until years later, when she wasn't a wide eyed innocent girl any longer, that she realized she was yet another 'thing' that Killian thought Zion had taken from him.

Surprisingly enough Killian met a woman and had a civil ceremony soon after Serena became pregnant. Killian's wife was soon pregnant, and a few months after Zan and Vilandra's birth, she gave birth to Ava, a beautiful baby with light blue eyes and blond hair.

There was much excitement that soon turned to tragedy as Killian's wife was killed in a freak accident. It was such a shock, since people on Antar's life spans were usually around 150 years old. Their middle aged years didn't even start until around 90 years old. Knowing what she knew now, it more then likely was no accident. Serena took pity on Killian's little girl, and she was around quite a bit when the children were growing up.

Serena had to remind Zan of his manners on occasion as the little girl just seemed to adore him and clung to him like a security blanket. She always thought it was harmless, but oh how she had been wrong. She could see where it all went bad, around the time they hit puberty, when it became quite clear that Zan had no interest in Ava in any way, shape or form.

That is more then likely when the warps started on King Zion. They say that hindsight is 20/20, but Serena still carried the guilt that she did not see it coming. Zan was right when he said the King would never admit it could be happening, so there probably wasn't much she could have done about it. Her husband did have major faults, faults that were never directed towards her, so she had turned a blind eye to them. How wrong she had been.

"It sounds like you made some great friends on Earth," Queen Serena spoke up once they had finished telling their tale. She shook off the memories of the past as she looked forward to the future. She hoped one day she would have the opportunity to meet these young people, and the ones who had raised them. At 110 years old, she wasn't getting any younger....

"Yes we did," said Isabel with a smile. "Our parents, the Evan's, they are such great people Grandmother. To take two kids off the side of the road, take them into their home, love them, care for them, they are such good people."

The Queen smiled and squashed down the little piece of jealousy she felt. Oh if she only could have been there! It was hard for her not to call these three Zan, Vilandra, and Rath. While it was obvious they were different people, the pain she felt from losing them, it would never go away, never diminish. No one should ever have to feel the devastation of losing a child.

She had their children with her now though, and even if they weren't them, she finally didn't feel so alone anymore. The protection of the Granilith had saved her life, but it had also given her a 50 year prison sentence to the palace. They were home, and with the help of the Granilith, hopefully they could bring peace to all the worlds.

"I know you want to know everything, Aunt Serena, but we really need to know what is going on here too," Michael said impatiently.

Serena gave Michael a secret smile. "You just want this all finished so you can go get Maria," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Michael just rolled his eyes. "I'm assuming the Army had been restored? We didn't have much to begin with, as King Zion had all but dismantled it, but exactly how much do we have now?"

Serena waved her hand and a shifter appeared. "Could you take General....Michael to the war room? He needs to know of the locations off all troops, ours and theirs, and the status of where everything is."

"Happy now?" she said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Immensely." Michael said, following the shifter out of the room.

"I'm curious to see what Kathana, Sero, Hanar, and Larek have to say for themselves," Max said with a smirk.

"We had heard about the summit, but no one on Antar knew you were there. I'm sure we will be getting calls in no time saying how Kivar forced them to be there, to act that way," said Serena.

"Michael is right though, we do need to start doing things, making things happen," Max said.

"My GOD!" said Isabel. "To think I had to travel all this way just to hear you guys agree on something," she laughed.

"You're the King," Serena said with a smile. "What are you going to do?"

"First things first," Max said. "I need to take Kivar's powers away."

TBC

Next chapter....Alex Lives!

spacecowboy , I'm glad you like my Max. I've got to admit that I didn't like Max much after Season 2, I thought he was way OOC on the show and it bothered me to no end.

Timelord31 -Oh, I'm pretty sure Kivar is up to no good, but it probably won't matter much.

izzyandkyle -Thanks for the compliment about Serena and Tess. I always had that stuck in my mind, when watching the show, that Serena was the Queen.

And as for Tess, I've never hated her like I know a lot of other people do. While I don't condone anything she did on the show, I do understand where her actions came from and how she could have been better if she wasn't raised the way she was.

Chapter 13

Liz and Maria said goodbye to the Sheriff and Kyle they drove away in the red Mustang. "You aren't going to just disappear, right Alex?" Maria said, still feeling like Alex wasn't real.

"Of course not. Tomorrow I shall make my triumphant return in an assembly replacing first period. My Dad has already set it up with the school, and let me tell you, I can't wait," Alex grinned.

Kal stepped forward and handed the two girls his card. "Remember, if you need anything, just call the cell number. It is a very private number and only 6 people in the world have it." He was then taken by surprise when both girls embraced him in a bear hug.

"Thank you....thank you for everything Kal," Liz said sincerely. "Ditto," said Maria. Kal smiled and said you're welcome. He knew the girls wouldn't use that number lightly, but he was expecting at least one frantic call from each of them at some point or another for very specific reasons.................

With a wave Liz and Maria were off in the red Jetta. They rode in silence for a few miles, as Liz waited for the unleashing of Maria hysteria.

When it didn't happen, Liz finally spoke. "Aren't you going to freak out on me Maria?"

Maria laughed and rolled her eyes at her best friend. "Well, I probably should be, freaking out that is, but really what we've learned in the past two days has made things make so much more sense. Maybe I'm just relieved that we didn't lose Alex, or that things aren't so dangerous for now on Antar, but I actually feel pretty good about what we learned this weekend."

"Doesn't it bother you though, just how easy it was for them to deceive us all that time?" Liz asked. It was a question that plagued her over and over during the weekend.

"The way I figure it, they were under a lot of stress. You know when Max gave you the whole stuff in his heart being a lie speech? Think about it. He knew you were lying, he just didn't know why. Those were probably true emotions, just not coming from where you thought they were." Maria explained.

Liz sighed. "I guess. It's just all so much to take in, and I'm sure a million more things are going to pop up as we think about it more...."

"And we'll deal with it, together," Maria smiled. "Just think Liz, we have a 4 month pass out of the Alien Abyss. I mean, yeah, I'm totally going to miss Michael and even Max, but doesn't it just sound good to not look over your shoulder for once? To not worry?"

Liz leaned back in her seat. Not worry? Relax? For the whole summer? "Maria, that sounds about like heaven right now," she said, understanding now why her friend wasn't freaking out. The storm that was Maria would probably start brewing in a few days and unleash it's fury then, but until that point Liz was going to savor the moment of now.

"So what about our assignment then?" Maria asked. "I think Kal was pretty much giving us a free pass to just throw something together and his company would buy it. I think it might be kind of cool to really try it though. What about you?"

"You know what Maria? Working with you sounds great to me too. My only condition is it doesn't have any aliens in it," Liz laughed.

"Ok, I'll go with the no aliens if you'll go with the no romance. I so don't want to think of that right now," Maria said, rolling her eyes.

"Right. So no aliens, no romance. I'm voting for no wars either, even if aliens aren't involved," Liz said.

"Great, so now we just have to come up with a movie with no aliens, no romance, and no wars. We could write a suspense movie, like a thriller," Maria said, sounding more like a question then a statement.

"Sounds perfect," Liz said dreamily. The two friends started throwing ideas out at each other, sometimes laughing to the point of tears over some of the bizarre things they had come up with. If Kal had been in the backseat, he would have had a smile a mile wide, knowing his mission was accomplished. He had given them something to do that would give them time together, and time to forget all about the mess they were going through.

As Maria pulled up to the Crashdown Liz gathered her things from the backseat. "You know what? I think my creative writing book from last year has a section in how to actually format a script. If I get time, I'll go over it tonight," Liz said as she smiled at her friend. They had actually come up with a concept on the way home, and Liz was excited about this new adventure.

"Great!" Maria said. The two girls gave each other an impulsive hug. "You and me, together," Maria said. "Together always," Liz said. "I'll pick you up before school tomorrow, ok?" Maria said, "I figure we will need all the moral support we can get with Alex coming back from the dead and Alien shapeshifters taking over our friends lives."

"You say it like it's not normal or something Maria," Liz laughed. "Ok, I have to go face my parents," Liz said, dark clouds passing over her eyes.

"Just remember what Alex said Liz," Maria added. "Your parents did not do those things, it's just a vision of what could happen. Look who's judgement we are trusting. Michael's!" she finished with a loud Huh!

Liz unlocked the door in the alleyway that led to the apartment. "How was the library, honey?" her Mom asked.

"It was good, you know, really busy with finals coming up," Liz answered, heading towards her bedroom. Finals! She hadn't even begun to study, and this weekend was gone. As she reached her bedroom she noticed a box on her bed with a card attached.

She carefully took the card off the box and opened it.

Liz,

I am your protector, and my number is programmed under the name Katrina. All the other protectors that are staying in Roswell are also in here. Alex, Maria, Kyle, Jim, Amy, and Kal will also have entries. You have unlimited minutes. Please call whenever you need me.

Sincerely,

Katrina
Liz opened the box to find a brand new BlackBerry. This was certainly a nice surprise. She sat back on her bed and began reading the directions to her new toy.

After awhile of discovering the new adventures in wireless connectivity, Jeff Parker came to the doorway. "Hi Liz, did you have a good time at Maria's? Hopefully you two actually studied for a little while," he joked.

"Dad, I can honestly say we learned more then we expected this weekend," Liz said. She hated lying to her parents, even if it was just a half truth.

"Good, good. Dinner will be ready in 10, ok?" he said. Liz nodded and he left her alone again. She picked up the note and took her special brick out that held her journal. Sticking the note inside the journal, she put it back in the hole in the wall for safe keeping.

Picking up the BlackBerry, she decided to see if she had actually figured out how to use this complicated device. As it powered up, she went and closed her door. She sat back down on her bed and using the pencil like device she scrolled through the names in her contact list until she reached the name Katrina.

She picked up on the first ring. "Hello Liz, what can I do for you?" Katrina asked kindly.

"Uh hi Katrina. I just wanted to say thank you for all the things you have done for us. Also, I'm getting ready to have dinner with my parents and wondered if anything happened that I should know about, you know in case in comes up in conversation?" Liz said.

"First of all Liz, no thanks are necessary. As far as your parents go, they do know about Kal. Michael's shifter came and put his notice in today since they are supposed to be leaving in two weeks. Oh, and I had the Alex is alive discussion." Katrina informed.

"Ok, got it. Anything else?" Liz asked.

"There is one thing I found out from your parent's shifter before they left town, something that you should know," Katrina said, dreading this. "Your Dad has a bunch of information for an all girls school in Vermont, and your parents had quite an argument about it. Jeff is afraid that you are getting off track, and if it looks like things keep going that way, he is seriously thinking about sending you there, but your Mom doesn't think it's a good idea, that it isn't fair to do that to you in your senior year."

"You're kidding!" Liz exclaimed. She knew that last year she had got in trouble that night her and Max stayed out in the desert, and she knew that she didn't tell her parents as much about her life as she used to, but her grades had never suffered. She didn't look like she was doing anything more then normal teenage rebellion.

"I wouldn't kid about that Liz, so if your Dad brings up Harvard or anything like that, I would recommend not saying anything to upset him until you turn 18 in the fall." Katrina finished.

Liz said her thanks and goodbyes, and got up to go to dinner. How could she act normal around them knowing all this stuff. It did surprise her that her Mother was sticking up for her. Nancy Parker had been a hands off Mother since Liz entered junior high. Her Dad just always seemed so much more interested in her life and being a part of it.

She reached the small kitchen table as her Mother was setting a steaming caserole on the table. "I'll finish setting the table," Liz said, glad to get out of the room.

Liz came back with some plates and silverware as her Dad was sitting down. "This smells great, Nance," he said, as Nancy smiled her thanks back to him.

Her Father wasted no time. "So Michael came in to see me today Liz. Seems a long lost relative has shown up to finally claim him and Max and Isabel Evans," Jeff said, studying Liz's reaction as he passed her a plate of casserole.

"Yeah, I know all about it Dad. I've only known a couple of days, and Michael wanted to tell you himself, because he's so grateful you gave him the job when he really needed it," Liz explained, wondering how lying had ever become such second nature to her.

"Well I'm glad Michael has found someone to help him," Nancy said earnestly. "That poor boy really seems to have had it bad."

"Yes he did," Liz said quietly, "and from the sounds of it, Kal is really a great guy. They like him a lot already."

"That's great sweetheart," Jeff said. "So since there is going to be no Michael this summer does that mean we are going to have a Max free summer too?"

Liz studied her Father carefully. Was it just her, or did he sound just a bit to happy about that? "Max and Isabel are going to spend time with him too, but probably not as much as Michael. They have their parents here while Michael really doesn't have anybody," Liz said.

"That's not true Liz, he has you, Maria, Max, Isabel, and thankfully we can't leave out Alex anymore," she said with a smile. "From what I can tell you have all been very good friends to him when he needed it."

"Thanks Mom," Liz said gratefully. "Sometimes it does feel like we are a family, we are so close."

"Well now that there won't be any distractions, maybe you can start working on some of the community service things that you know you will need for your college applications," Jeff managed to interrupt and change the subject at the same time. "You should be able to fill in a lot of the blanks from the last year and a half."

"What do you mean, blanks?" Liz asked, annoyed.

"Well at the beginning of high school you were involved in a lot of school activities, but after you started your sophomore year other things seemed to occupy your time." Jeff explained.

"What, am I not allowed to have friends or to date?" Liz asked, her voice raising.

"No, no, calm down honey that is not what I am saying at all. I just don't want to see you lose site of your goals because of outside influences is all," Jeff said.

Remembering what Katrina said, Liz let the subject drop. "I haven't lost site of anything Dad," Liz said quietly, picking at her casserole.

"Good," he replied. "I was just saying that you'll have a lot of free time and I'd like to see it put to good use for your future," he said with a warm smile.

Liz figured now was as good of time as ever to bring up her project with Maria. "Actually, Maria and I are going to be working on a project together. We were kidding around, talking about something that would make a great idea for a movie, and Kal said it sounded interesting and he'd read it if we wrote it. I really enjoyed my creative writing class my Freshman year, so I figured I'd go for it."

"I didn't know you like to write Liz. What's the movie about?" Nancy asked.

As Liz started to tell her Mother their idea, her Father interrupted again. "Just as long as it doesn't get in the way of things you need to take care of," he said. "Hollywood is one thing, planning for a secure future is another."

Liz's Mom went on to change the subject by discussing something that had happened at the grocery store today, the interest in Liz's writing pushed to the side. She momentarily wondered if her Dad did that all the time, just changed the subject if her Mother was asking about things he didn't like.

She continued to push the casserole around her plate, lost in thought. "Liz? Are you not hungry?" her Dad asked.

"Oh, I'm just worried about finals and really need to be studying," Liz lied.

Jeff smiled. "That's my girl," he said. "If you want, go ahead and take your dinner in your room. I have no doubt that you'll have A's across the board."

Grateful for the chance to leave, Liz nodded, picked up her plate, and left for her room as fast as her little feet would take her. She set the plate of food on her desk and plopped down on her bed.

Just how was she going to get through the next year? She thought about how Alex had said they could run the simulation later and see if her Dad's reaction would be different.

Liz picked up her new BlackBerry and scrolled to Alex's name.

"Hey Liz," Alex said, picking up.

"Hey....I just got done with dinner with the parents," she said and let out a deep breath.

"How'd it go?" Alex asked with concern.

"Well my Dad made it perfectly clear how happy he was Max would be gone this summer, and was none to pleased with the whole screenwriting project," she said.

"Liz, how much do your parents actually know about Max?" Alex asked.

Liz thought about this. She thought back to a time when her Dad had wanted to meet her friends, when they were all going camping. Even though her Father had shown an interest, she had kept her new friends away from him all this time, like they were some kind of secret.

"Well he knows that Max comes in the Crashdown regularly, he knows we stayed in the desert all night that time, and that's about it," Liz said, the words sinking in.

"I hate to say this Liz, but if you were my daughter I'd probably be suspicious too," Alex said honestly.

"I guess you are right," she agreed. "Hey Alex, have I told you how much I'm glad your alive today?"

Alex chuckled, "About 10 times." They said their goodbyes leaving Liz lost in thought.

Maybe her Dad wouldn't have been so stubborn about the whole idea of aliens if he had gotten a chance to know Max. Maybe keeping them apart had been a bad idea. She would just have to try and be more open about it in the future.

The only nagging feeling she had left was about her Mother. Liz wondered how much her Mother's disinterest was actually disinterest or if she was just trying to keep the peace with her Father. It is funny how you can realize something and then go back and pick out a million situations that fit that scenario.

She knew her Father just loved her and wanted what was best for her, but maybe it wasn't healthy to be so rigid, to have everything so set in stone at such an early age. While she knew her Dad had a part in that by talking about Cambridge since she could remember, she knew her own stubbornness had set her on a way one path with no return ticket.

Liz would always love science, love discovering things. Could she really see herself in a lab all day for the rest of her life? When Maria and her were talking about the script, it was exciting, it made her feel alive. How long had it been since being a molecular biologist made her feel that way?

She sighed. This is probably something all teenagers go through, only they don't have to worry about intergalactic wars, all girl schools, and alien significant others at the same time.

Back in October of her Sophomore year, back when Maria was still scared to death of Isabel, Liz had wrote about change, the need for it, the need to embrace it. Depending on what happened on Antar, what happened with Max, what happened with her friends, Harvard just might not be an option right now.

And the surprising part? It didn't even phase her.

___________________________________________________

Alex laid back on his bed after his conversation with Liz. He really felt for her, how she had to continue to hide this from her parents. At least it should be easier now that there were hopefully no more enemy aliens in their midst.

The weekend had went better then he thought, and his friends had taken the revelations better then he could have hoped. Alex really didn't want to let Max, Michael, and Isabel down. Maybe it was because of the danger he was in, or maybe because he was a part of what was going on, but he really understood why they did what they did. He just hoped that once it really had time to sink in his friends would feel the same way.

Isabel. Oh, he did not want to think about Isabel. He really was keeping her at arms length when he had returned from his "trip". You could only take the hot/cold treatment for so long, and when she had turned to Grant after telling him she just couldn't be in a relationship right then it had stung. Who was he kidding, it hurt like hell.

Then Prom happened and all his defenses were brought down. 'She's such a little minx,' he thought with a smile. When it was time for his death, he went and stayed in one of Kal's properties in San Francisco.

At the time, none of them knew how long he would have to stay dead, so Isabel came up with a plan to be with him, which caused a bit of a problem between her and Max. Something told her it was worse then she let on, but it still made him grin from ear to ear just thinking about it.

Still, he really didn't know where he stood with Isabel or what would happen in the future. If you would have asked him a year ago if Isabel would give up Earth to live on another planet, he would have said no way in hell, but now he wasn't so sure. She could live where there were people just like her, and while it still might not be as freeing as she liked, with her being royalty, it was still better then knowing your own government would cut you up into pieces if they ever caught you.


Alex didn't want to think about that, especially with his impending changes, so he started to think about what tomorrow would bring. His poor Father said the phone had rung off the hook the minute the local paper hit the pavement. He finally just recorded a message on their voice mail saying that yes, Alex was alive and thanking them for their concern. He had to empty out the messages every 20 minutes or so, just so it didn't lock up.

Yes, tomorrow would be very interesting indeed.

___________________________________________________


Maria and Liz sat in her car looking at the doors to the school. They had already spotted the shifter replacing Tess walking in with the two glamour queens Isabel was friends with last year. The shifter was good, you could tell he/she was playing it up at how upset he/she was.

Both girls noticed a few looks in their direction, but they stayed in the car. "I don't know if I'm ready to see Max, even if it isn't Max," Liz said.

"Ditto, but replace with Michael," Maria said. She had spent all night thinking about the Michael situation, and she just didn't want to think anymore. Sooner or later she would have to tell Liz what happened that night before they left, but she needed to know how she felt about it first, and all she knew was she felt confused.

Liz heard the familiar sound of that old Army jeep pull up next to them. "Great, just great," Maria scowled.

"No use putting it off anymore," Liz sighed and got out of the car to face 'Max'.

Seeing him sitting in that jeep, made her suck in her breath. Hell they probably could have fooled her if she didn't know what was going on.

'Max' leapt out of the jeep and walked over to Liz. "I know this is difficult for you Liz, but I promise I'll try and make it as painless as possible," he said with a wide grin.

"Thanks, but if you want to be Max, you need to do partial smiles, not full blown ones," Liz said, relaxing. Maria had walked over to 'Michael'.

"Don't even think of trying anything just because you are Michael," she ordered. 'Michael's' face shifted for a brief second showing the face of Kaleb, then back to Michael.

"I wouldn't dream of it Miss Maria," he said, but he took her hand anyway.

'Max' looked at Liz. "Since 'Tess' probably has let half the student body know she is not with Max anymore, do you want it to appear like you and Max are together?" he questioned.

"I...I really don't know," Liz said lamely. Would she want everyone to think that?

"Well, at first Max said to make it look like you were back together, but then ammended it to leave it up to you," 'Max' said.

"Why don't we just act like friends and see how it goes," Liz said, thinking of how it would be if it were real life. If they had broken up because of a lie Tess had told, she probably wouldn't just jump back to being Max's girlfriend right away.

The foursome walked into the school, and Maria and Liz were bombarded with questions about Alex right away. As they tried to move through the sea of people that had gathered around them, an announcement came over the intercom.

"Would everyone please report to the gym for an assembly."

Liz, Maria, 'Max', and 'Michael' walked towards the gym, forgotten by the mob. "Where's Isabel?" asked Liz. "She's with Alex. Unlike Max, she did not give an option on how to act," 'Max' said with a chuckle.

They took their seats on the bottom row of the bleachers. Some girl Liz had never met before leaned towards her conspiritavely.

"I should have known all those rumors about you and Kyle were crap," the girl said. "That Tess is such a bitch."

"You got that right girlfriend," Maria said, and promptly shut up as the principal stood up to the podium.

He read the newspaper article from yesterday's paper to the student body, and in a dramatic finish announced, "And here's the man of the hour himself!"

Alex came running into the gym, fists pumping in the air. The whole gym full of students rose to their feet, giving the ressurected teenager a standing ovation.

Maria leaned over to Liz. "This is going to be a long two weeks," she said as Alex ran down the length of the bleachers, giving people high fives like he was a rock star.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys! I'm glad you are enjoying this!

In this part I am starting to explore a little into the White Room stuff and it's effects on Liz. I always thought it would change her thinking about science a little.....

Chapter 14

At lunch that day the circus that was Alex's resurrection continued. Maria found herself elbowing through people to get to their normal lunch table.

"Well yes I felt as if my life was in danger," Alex said to his captive audience. "Running from the Swedish version of our Mob was tricky, but very effective considering you know...I'm not....dead." Alex had been using the lunch hour to fill in his curious classmates on his missing time, and Maria was tired of sharing.

"As much as everyone wants to here about this, if you didn't sit with us before, take your butt somewhere else," she said crankily.

Alex gave a half shrug like 'what are you going to do' as everyone started to clear out. Liz found her way to the table with 'Max' in tow. 'Isabel' was already sitting by Alex with a protective hand resting on his forearm.

"If you ever want to be popular, just die and come back," Alex said cheekily. 'Isabel' rolled her eyes. "My GOD you're good at being her," Alex smiled.

'Michael' stalked his way over and dropped his books on the table with a loud thud. "You know what I don't get? All these people, they don't understand how great Michael is. I even have to do average on finals as not to raise suspicion," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Rath was a genius."

"Michael probably is too Kaleb, he just didn't feel the need to be bothered with school," Maria said between bites of her sandwich. "Just the fact that you are here alerts people to something being strange," she laughed.

"If you want to do good on finals you are more then welcome to take mine," said Kyle as everyone groaned. "Oh, like that wouldn't cause any suspicion," Maria said as she rolled her eyes.

Liz looked around the crowded quad. There were an awful lot of eyes on them. The Tess situation, 'Isabel' being so attached to Alex, 'Max' and Liz walking together, and Alex's miraculous comeback had made them the talk of the school.

It was funny because all Max ever did was try not to draw attention to himself, and now that he was gone he, along with the others, were the center of the high school universe.

'Max' spoke up. "My 'parents' want everyone to come over for dinner one day this week, the Sheriff too Kyle," he said. "What is a good day for everyone?"

After work schedules and other's plans were discussed, they decided on Friday. "How long have the Evans' known?" asked Liz in a low tone. "They were told right after Christmas, after Max had broke through several of Isabel's blocks." 'Max' said.

The rest of lunch went without a hitch and everyone went to finish their day. It wasn't as bad as Liz thought, but she still caught her stomach jumping when she'd see 'Max' and have to remind herself that it wasn't him. She needed to talk Maria badly and hoped they could have some girl time after work that night. So much had happened, so much had been revealed, and she really didn't know how to process everything. She had a feeling that Maria felt the same way.

Everything was ok, that is, until Ms. Hardy asked to speak with Liz after last period. "I wanted to show you something," Ms. Hardy said in an excited voice as she led Liz to a storage room in the science lab.

There were several boxes and the room was noticeably cooler. When she opened one up, it revealed fetal pigs packed in dry ice. "Tomorrow we start dissection!" she triumphantly revealed, she said visibly excited. "I know as a serious science student you have been waiting for this all year!"

Liz looked at the small bodies laying in the dry ice and suddenly had flashes of Max on that cold table, a scalpel going towards his chest. While she knew it was the FBI that had taken custody of Max, in the back of her mind she knew some of those people were scientists. People that thought it was ok to study him because he was different, because he was not human.

And as much as she didn't want to admit it, this fact had been on her mind and had shaken her to her very core because it made her think of her dream in a whole new reality.

Would she be able to do the things a Scientist does knowing what she knows?

___________________________________________________

The Crashdown was slow for a Monday, and Maria and Liz had plenty of time to discuss their movie idea. "It has to have a great twist," Maria said. "All the great ones have that NO WAY moment at the end." The discussed plot points and characters and decided to each write a biography for the two main characters.

Jeff Parker smiled at the two girls. They certainly seemed excited about this whole movie thing. Ah to be young again. When he was their age he thought for sure he'd be touring the world, riding in style, playing his music for the masses. He'd have to keep an eye on this though, because that very same dream is what kept him out of college and bound to a life of taking over his Father's restaurant.

This whole train of thought reminded him of upcoming finals. "Girls, it's so slow tonight. Why don't you take off and spend some extra time studying for finals?" he asked. Liz and Maria breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Mr. Parker.

"Do you want to study with me Maria? We could go out on the balcony," she said pointedly. Liz gave her Dad a kiss on the cheek and the girls took off for the upstairs apartment.

After they settled in and made themselves comfortable, both were at a loss for words. So much had happened, so much had been revealed. Where should they start?

"I lost my virginity to Michael!" Maria blurted out.

Liz's mouth dropped to the floor in shock. She closed her mouth, she opened it again to say something and closed it. She blinked a few times.

"Aren't you going to say anything?!?!?" Maria asked.

"I'm....I'm sorry Maria, I'm just a little shocked. Are you ok?" Liz asked with concern.

"Physically? Yes, I'm fine. Emotionally? I'm on the roller coaster from hell," Maria said. "Some of the things that Kal said......"

"Antarian Marriage," Liz whispered.

"DoyouthinkI'mmarriedtoMichael?" Maria asked quickly.

"What?" Liz asked.

Maria took a deep breath. "I said, do you think I'm married to Michael?"

"Well...." Liz started and stopped. "If what he says is true, then yes. But we aren't Antarian, so I don't know if the bond thing goes both ways?" she said hopefully. Liz's head was reeling.

"I could call Kal I guess," Maria said, really, really not wanting to do that. "I really don't want to talk about my sex life with him though....."

"You could wait until Max dreamwalks me and I could ask him?" Liz offered. "Or you could wait until Michael comes back?"

"Oh yeah Liz, I'm just the vision of patience," Maria joked. "That's it, I'm calling him. I can't take it anymore."

Maria dug out her BlackBerry and found Kal's number. "Here goes nothing," she said as she waited for him to pick up.

She was just about to hang up, thinking that Kal wasn't going to answer when she was started with a loud, resounding "WHAT!" from Kal.

"Umm, nice to hear you too Kal," Maria said sarcastically. "I've got a question"

"Shoot," said Kal.

"IfIhadsexwithMichaelarewemarried?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

"That's it? That's all you are going to say? Yes?" Maria cried incredulously.

She heard Kal sigh in the phone. "Technically he's bound to you. Don't know if it will effect you in the same way. Welcome to being the first inter species Guinea pig. I'm busy. Call me back if anything weird starts happening," he said, hanging up on her.

Maria looked at her phone in shock. "The bastard hung up on me!" she said, pissed off.

"What....What did he say?" Liz asked.

"Pretty much what you just said," Maria sighed.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment, reflecting on this new piece of information. "Well I guess we won't know anything for sure for awhile," Liz sighed. "Besides the whole...marriage...part of it, how are you? When did this happen?"

"Well, the night before they left, he planned this really romantic dinner for us. He was going to tell me that he was leaving, and was trying to be as gentle about it as possible. Huh! Michael, gentle. You know Liz, after learning about everything now that I think back Michael was more open, more well nice," Maria pondered.

"Yes, yes he was," Liz answered. "Look at Christmas. He was so worried about getting you a great gift. He stopped pushing you away around then, didn't he?"

"Yep," said Maria. "Probably because he wasn't afraid of his powers anymore, because the blocks were coming down and he remembered. Anyway, he admitted that he is the reason why I didn't get flashes, you know, like you and Max, and decided to let me see him."

"Oh Maria," Liz said, taking her hand. "It's incredible, isn't it?"

"That's obvious," Maria said laughing. "He tried to tell me he was leaving, but I was so moved by what I saw, so moved that he finally opened up, that we just kind of...you know...got carried away."

"So was it....normal?" Liz asked.

"I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was absolutely amazing," Maria gushed. "The whole, we became one thing you hear people talk about....It was like that. My God Liz I thought I would just pass out from the pleasure."

Liz smiled as Maria blushed. "And now, knowing what you know, and how he's gone, how do you feel?" she asked.

"I don't regret it," Maria said quickly. "Not one bit. I wouldn't change that experience for anything in my life, even if he doesn't come back. It just seems so much more complicated now, but I'll be ok," she finished with a smile. God it felt so good for her to finally talk about it with someone.

Liz, ever the responsible one, had to ask. "That's great Maria, and I'm so glad your first time was with someone you love and such a wonderful experience, but...but you guys did protect yourself, right?"

Maria looked at Liz. This part was rather tricky. "Well.....well, he had a condom, and we used it."

Liz smiled. What was it with Aliens and condoms?

"But....." she continued, "It kind of disappeared during the act."

"Disappeared? Disappeared? What do you mean, disappeared?" Liz asked.

"Well at first I thought maybe it was....it was inside of me," Maria said, so embarrassed she wanted to die. Yes, Liz was her best friend and they had always shared everything, but this made her realize there were some things in there life they probably shouldn't share. "But Michael said it disintegrated. At first I was freaked out because well, you know who knows if their sperm is bad for us, but he assured me that if it was we probably would have saw the effects when it happened."

"And he knew it wouldn't be hurtful to you, because he knew the whole they are pretty much like us physically part," Liz said thoughtfully.

"Yep," Maria said, "So I'm thinking now that maybe subconsciously he disintegrated it with his powers, because he was just as shocked as I was. Maybe some primal urge to procreate or something," she finished lamely.

"Oh God Maria! So you could be pregnant?" Liz asked.

Maria shrugged. "I guess so."

With that, and with all the vocabulary words Liz knew she could only come up with one thing to say.

"Shit."

As always, thanks for the feedback guys!

Chapter 15


Liz got out of her lawn chair and went and sat by Maria, pulling her in a hug. "It'll be ok, shhhhh," she said as Maria started to cry. Liz knew there was no damn way Maria could wait until she started her period to know if she was pregnant or not.

"My shifter is female, her name is Katrina," Liz said. "Maybe it'd be easier to talk to her about this." When all Maria did was nod Liz reached into her pocket and pulled out her BlackBerry.

After telling Katrina that she and Maria needed to talk to her they heard her climbing up the balcony. They weren't kidding when they said they were never far away.

A blond head poked over the top of the brick wall that surrounded the roof. She deftly hopped over it and began walking towards the girls. Liz and Maria got up to meet her. "Hi Katrina, it's great to finally meet you," Liz said, extending her hand. Katrina took it with both of her hands and shook it with pleasure. She was small, about Liz's size, and very beautiful. If you looked closely, you could tell that her size made her look way younger then she really was.

"Why is it that being an alien makes all the women be blond and gorgeous?" Maria said, shaking her head and she shook Katrina's hand. Katrina just laughed and her big brown eyes sparkled. "Thank you," she said. "Kal called me.......He thought you may want a woman's perspective. He's not real good at being sensitive, in case you didn't figure that out by now."

They all laughed and sat down. "Ummm, this is kind of embarrassing," Maria said softly, "but the night before they left, Michael and I kind of....well....went beyond?" She looked to Katrina to see if she understood, and the understanding she saw in her big brown eyes was all she needed to know that she did.

"Well, we used Earth protection known as a condom," Maria continued, "It's like a prophylactic that you...uh..."

"Maria," Katrina interrupted, "I've been on Earth for over 50 years, so I know what a rubber is."

"Right," Maria said. "So anyway, it kind of disappeared during the act and now I'm just a bit terrified that I'm like, you know, pregnant."

Katrina let out the breath she was holding. "Just leave it to Rath to go and do something like this. He never thinks of the consequences, just about what he wants," Katrina ranted. "I'm sorry, he's not Rath, he's Michael, but sometimes I think they really are the same people," she said wryly.

"You knew Rath back on Antar?" Liz asked.

"Rath was my brother-in-law. I'm married to your protector, Kaleb, who is was? Rath's younger brother. So I guess I am Michael's Aunt?" Katrina questioned.

"So Michael has family?" Maria questioned.

"Oh yes, he has a huge family. Because of his gifts and mental abilities, and how Queen Serena was his Aunt he spent a good portion of his time growing up in the palace, being groomed to take over the Antarian Military." Katrina said.

"He must have been so happy when he started remembering then," Maria said softly. "All Michael ever wanted was a family."

"Which is probably what put you in this current state," Katrina said, shaking her head. "I can connect with you and tell you if you are if you don't want to wait." Maria nodded her head and Katrina put both hands on the side of her face. "I promise I'll only look at what I need to," Katrina said as she concentrated on Maria.

"Thank God," Katrina said, as she pulled her hands away from Maria's face. "I'm happy to say that you are definitely NOT pregnant."

Liz and Maria both let out the breath they had unconsciously held.

"Thank God is right," Maria said as all went quiet. "If condoms don't work, I mean, if they disappear, how do you protect yourself?" Maria finally asked. She may have been upset that Michael took her virginity and left the planet, but she still needed to know just in case he came back.

Katrina chuckled. "On Antar we use something similar to the pill. Men can't be trusted with birth control, obviously, as they have too much instinct to ummm....multiply. I'd suggest you get on the pill," she said, and then looked at Liz, "that both of you get on the pill before they come back."

"Oh no," Liz said, "that won't be necessary. I mean me and Max, we aren't...we haven't...we're not... We just aren't anywhere near that."

Katrina raised her eyebrows, "Whatever you say," she said, not convincingly. "I'd still recommend it," she said, giving Liz a wink that caused her to blush.

Desperate to change the subject, Liz asked, "So how many of you are left here?"

"Just myself, Kaleb, and a couple others. Your parents and you don't need constant protection anymore, and Kaleb is going to be the one to work with you on your powers," she said. "How are you two doing, with school and everything?"

"Well it's strange to say the least to see them all there, not knowing it's them. Finding out that Kaleb is Michael's brother/uncle explains a lot," Maria said with a laugh.

"Yes, they are very similar," Katrina said. "I can't wait for the school year to be over. I just hate being Tess," she said, shivering.

"You are Tess?" Liz asked.

"Yes. I'm the smallest so it makes it more believable, in case I'm touched. Usually I was you when you needed to be seen. You guys didn't think your parents were totally clueless, did you? Sometimes when you'd be out on your excursions we'd replace you." Katrina laughed.

"To bad you can't be me tomorrow," Liz grumbled.

"What's tomorrow?" Katrina asked.

"We start dissection for our final grade," Liz answered. "After knowing what I know, I just don't know if I can do it."

"Liz, this is serious. If you do not think you can do it then I will replace you. A bad grade in biology of all things will not be tolerated by your parents," Katrina said with concern.

"I just need to suck it up, you know? It would be cheating," Liz said.

"You know that stuff inside out. Dissecting a pig isn't going to make you know it any better. If you think there is even a chance of not doing it, I must replace you. It is to important," Katrina said looking at Liz intently.

"Then you better do it," Liz said softly, looking at the ground.

___________________________________________________

"One day you are going to fall off that wall and break your royal neck, Max," Michael said.

Max sat on the Palace wall looking at the sunset. Since he had filled in his Grandmother on all the things that happened on Earth he hadn't had a spare moment to just think.

Chaos was prevalent in the five planet solar system. Their return had been duly noted, with three of the other planets begging forgiveness and swearing loyalty. Those same three people who tried to get him to give over the Granilith when they thought he didn't know anything.

The first thing Max did was use the Granilith to take away Kivar's powers, but it wasn't stopping his army. Yes, people were defecting in droves, but it would be a long while before this war was over.

"I've got reflexes like a cat," Max laughed. "This deja vu stuff is getting kind of creepy."

"Well at least I'm not here to comfort you on your impending marriage," Michael said wryly.

"I don't think we have to worry about any kind of marriage anytime soon," Max said sadly.

"She'll understand Maxwell. You know that," Michael said.

"It's just so much has happened, so much had been destroyed. I mean, technically I know why everyone did what they did. Why I used time travel. Why Liz pretended to sleep with Kyle. Why we deceived everyone for so long...." Max said, "but you know what? You know what bothers me? We could do it so easily. Liz and myself."

"That's not fair Max," Michael said. "You were both doing what you thought was right."

"I know," Max sighed, "but even though we were playing along, more then likely doing the exact plan our future selves envisioned, I still kept wanting her to tell me, even though it would mess everything else up. I wanted her to trust me."

A loud explosion made both men look up. "They are still trying to bomb the castle, eh?" Michael said, almost amused.

"Yeah, I guess some people just don't learn after doing things over and over that they just don't work out," Max said with melancholy.

"Oh Jesus, get over yourself Maxwell. We've all been in extenuating circumstances this last year, and guess what, we are putting an end to it once and for all. We know who we are, and what we have to do." Michael ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Trust me when I say you will have a much easier time with Liz then I will have with Maria when this is all sorted out."

Max raised his eyebrows questioningly and Michael just shook his head. After a few minutes under Max's scrutiny Michael finally broke.

"I slept with her, alright? The night before we left? And guess what? I didn't tell her we were leaving before I slept with her. There were all these emotions and feelings and I just couldn't think straight and it happened." Michael confessed.

With that, and with all the vocabulary words Max knew he could only come up with one thing to say.

"Shit."

Thanks for all the great feedback! I'm so glad you are all enjoying this!

The reunion is coming soon, there are just a few issues our characters need to resolve first. On to chapter 16. It's a short one though, sorry!

Chapter 16

Liz, Alex, and Maria were sitting on beach blankets next to Horn Lake, soaking up the sun. After an incredibly difficult last two weeks of school they had survived not only the replacement aliens but the emergence of Liz's powers.

The trouble began when the post office decided to actually be speedy and had Liz's report card in the mail that Saturday. She was a bit worried because she knew she hadn't done well on her English Lit final. Normally any student in Liz's position wouldn't worry as they could easily pass the class with a failing final grade on the final, but Liz knew that anything less than an "A" could send her packing to boarding school, if only until she reached 18 later in the fall.

She had tried to study, really had tried, but with all that was going on she just couldn't concentrate. Science, Math, History, she knew all those things by heart but English Lit had always required a more of an effort for her. In the end she wasn't able to put in that effort.

With shaking hands she opened the report card to see that she had not worried for nothing. She had gotten a C on her final, which was worth 30% of her grade, dropping her grade down to a B+.

Her Father would not be happy, seeing how Liz had a straight A record from Kindergarten. He would undoubtedly blame the fact that Max was leaving on this latest development. One thing Liz had learned since taking a good look at her Father was in his eyes she was perfect and if anything was not perfect with her it had to be someone else's fault.

So as she stood in the Crashdown wondering what she was going to do now and she knew her luck had run out when she heard her Father's voice. "Ahhh, so it has come already. Let me see all those beautiful A's Lizzy," he said happily.

Liz was in panic mode as she unsteadily handed the report card over to her Dad. She silently wished that it said all A's as she felt a slight tingle in her stomach, kind of like when you trip in a dream and feel like you are falling. Her Father's smile widened as he looked at the report card and gave her a big hug. "Straight A's again Lizzy, I'm so proud of you. Harvard, here you come!"

He handed the report card back to her and she stood at in in disbelief, as she saw perfect A's in the English Lit section. She had made a quick excuse and got the hell out of there, calling Katrina after she was in the safety of her balcony.

That had all happened just two days ago, and Liz had been pretty competent at learning how to control her powers. The most difficult problem was even in that short amount of time they had become almost like an instinct, like it was second nature to use her powers. Today was really the first day she had ventured out, feigning sickness to her parents while trying to gain control of this changing the molecular structure of things power.

"I can't imagine being Max, Michael, and Isabel...learning to control this and hiding it at their young age," Liz said to her friends. "It just feels so natural to use it. They had to of been scared to death."

"I can just imagine," said Alex. "Hey, I saw Kyle yesterday and told him about your greeness."

"How's he doing?" Liz asked with concern. Like back when he learned of the alien abyss, Kyle seemed to be taking some time for himself to deal with it. Liz, Maria, and Alex tried to give him the space he needed, but they still worried about him.

"He's hanging in there," Alex said. "I think it'll just take some time, but he'll be alright even though he did turn a bit 'green' himself when I said your powers were starting manifest."

"Well he'll like some of the side affects," Liz said, patting her tummy. "Using your core to control your powers does wonders for the muscles in that area."

"Not to mention other areas," Maria said, eyeing Liz's expanding bikini top.

Liz blushed and playfully swatted at Maria. "Jealousy is the best form of flattery," she said. Granted Liz hadn't turned into Pamela Anderson or anything, but she had slowly but surely grew a bit since Max healed her. She had grown a full 1/2 inch leaving her at a whopping 5'3 and had grown almost a cup size, which took her from the never needing a bra to she probably should wear a bra but could get away without it territory.

Katrina explained away these new "symptoms" as the energy now flowing through her veins made her body go to it's peak potential. Every human has an optimal height and weight, but since most people don't live their life eating exactly what they should and exercising as they should they never reach it. Liz's burgeoning powers gave hers a bit of a boost.

"Yeah, and look at Alex," Maria continued. "You could almost be buff."

"So I added around 10 pounds with out any effort," Alex said. "You guys just notice it more on me because you didn't see me for so long. At least we know why those damn aliens all look so perfect without much effort, well, except for Michael but he really never puts in any effort."

Maria kicked Alex's thigh, "Watch it. Spaceboy may not be my favorite person right now, but no one makes fun of his slacker tendencies but me!"

They all laughed and Maria leaned back on her elbows, watching the water lap against the beach. "You guys are all going to be perfect, and I'm just going to be old and wrinkly. You'll all be hot 80 year olds and I'll be, well I'll probably be dead," Maria finished, voicing her worst fear.

"It doesn't have to be like that Maria, you have a choice." Alex said. "Max can change you when all the stuff is settled on Antar."

Liz bit her lip. This was one thing that hadn't been discussed, and she hated to be in Maria's shoes. It was one thing to learn you would live to be 150 and not really start showing age until the time when most people are preparing for death when you had no choice, but to have that choice, to have to chose one or the other, was quite a different matter altogether. She would love for Maria to chose to become a hybrid, but she didn't feel right pushing her to that decision.

"You know you can talk to us about it Maria, while you're trying to make your decision," Liz said, "And I promise to try to be impartial."

"I know you would Liz," Maria said. "I don't even think I can wrap my brain around it yet. I mean, most of the people that I love the most are going to almost double my age, and truthfully by the time I'm in my 60's I will have a hard time keeping up with said people."

She took a deep breath. "But then there is the danger. I know that I'm in danger just because of what I know, but there will be physical proof of that danger flowing through my veins. Proof that could one day turn me into a lab rat. Then there is explaining why I look 45 at age 95. Taking on a different life to cover up that fact. Who knows if it will even be do-able 78 years from now? It's all just incredibly complicated," she said, the last part coming out as a whisper.

Maria put her sunglasses on to hide her watery eyes, and laid down on her blanket. "Enough of the Alien mumbo jumbo," she said. "Time to relax and be carefree teenagers on summer break before their senior year!"

Alex looked over at Liz worriedly and she shook her head no. Maria would need some time to come to terms with this.

______________________________________________________________________________

Tess got up to retrieve the tray that had been shoved through her slot in her cell. She guessed Antar's prison system was a lot like those back in the USA, except the walls buzzed with an energy that Tess knows would kill her if she tried to go through it.

The first couple of days there the food had been God awful and not nearly enough, but the last couple of days had seen a major improvement. She guessed that Max was getting more involved with things, and after his treatment in the white room she knew he would never treat anyone badly, even a prisoner of war.

It was a small prison, but they were let out of their cells for a bit every day. Tess had to wait until all the other prisoners were done before she could go into the open air, as all the other people in prison wanted her dead. Dead for failing to help Kivar.

My God, she had went from being the future Queen of Antar to a prisoner of war. If she could just go back to that moment, that moment when she decided to take control of her life after Nasedo was gone. If she had just chose to tell them the truth instead of what she did to their tall, lanky friend...Adam? Andrew? No matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember his name.

She could remember him though. He was a kind boy, and really funny. He had made her laugh on several occasions. She really never took the time to get to know him, as she figured he was human and what could she want from him, but now she wished she would have taken the time to know him. That he was worth it.

Being in this prison had given Tess too much time to think, to think of all she had done. She had killed that innocent boy who had only tried to help the aliens, the boy that was loyal to the end and never told anyone their secret.

No, No, No! She couldn't feel this guilt. She was carrying out her mission. She was doing what she was raised to do, but deep down she was starting to realize that what she was raised to do was very wrong.

She picked at her dinner and wondered why she couldn't realize this once she was away from Nasedo. Maybe she was just an evil person. Look what she had tried to do to Max. She realized now that Max must have known what was going on the whole time and bided his time to protect that....that...Lucy? Lauren?

God she wished she could remember. It was so hard knowing what these people were like, remembering conversations, but not what they looked like or what their names were. She remembered that Lucy/Lauren had long straight brown hair and wasn't exactly a sex kitten.

Nasedo had taught her that her blond hair and ample bust could get her pretty much any man she wanted, so she was totally shocked when Max seemed to like this perfectly plain Jane type girl over her. Hell, she even tried to tone herself down thinking he just liked that type. She started dressing in over sized coats and straightened her come hither curls.

It didn't work. Her hatred had been projected at that brown haired girl, but now she had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was terribly wrong to hate the girl. She had done nothing wrong. All she did was fall in love with a boy that loved her.

Well, fell in love with him and had sex with the boy she was staying with, she thought, tears coming to her eyes.

How she missed Kyle.

Kyle? Kyle! That was his name....And his Father's name was Jim! He was the Sheriff!

Now if she could just piece the other people together, she might have some information that could help her one day...

As always, thanks to all that are reading my little version of Roswell.

begonia9508 that is exactly what is going through my mind too with the Maria situation. My Grandpa is 95 years old, and sometimes it is really hard for him because he has watched most of the important people in his life die. It would be hard to live 150 years.

Also, with Tess, back when Max took away her powers he jumbled her brain so that while she knew what happened, she couldn't quite make out names or faces or places.

Michelle in Yonkers I think she made her decision a long time ago too, but will she realize that?

On with the story.....


Chapter 17

Isabel ushered the last of the Ambassadors out of the castle and into the transport that would go through the shield that was still protecting the castle. Security had been high, and many of the Ambassadors were shocked to find they were talking with Isabel instead of Max or Michael.

She couldn't really blame them, as Vilandra wasn't exactly the most involved Princess, well until the war started anyway. While her whole predecessor's back story made up by Nasedo and the skins didn't match up with the real story, as Vilandra never in a million years would have betrayed her brother, there were parts that were true.

Nicholas had once told her something to the effect that Vilandra was always more interested in jewels then books. This part had been true, as she had been treated like her Father's little gem. Just like Isabel in this life, Vilandra in that life had two sides to her personality. It hadn't taken long for her to figure out that most people only wanted to be around her because of her Princess status, and for the chance to get to know Zan in the case of the females.

So Vilandra had two faces, the public and the private. The only time she really felt that she could be herself was around Zan, Rath and her Mother. Her beloved Father didn't have much use for her once Killian started messing with his head, and even though Vilandra knew it wasn't her true Father that acted that way, it still hurt, and hurt bad. She had closed herself off even more after that.

It was just plain stupid for her Father to not insist on her education. If anything had happened to Zan the Granilith would have came into her possession, and Vilandra was the last in line. As this was the case, once Zan was killed Vilandra and Rath were easy targets. The fact that their signatures had been stored in the Granilith was the only thing that saved the Granilith and Antar.

Isabel sighed as she walked to the Palace garden. It had been hard enough being two different people on Earth, and now that she was here, she almost felt like she had four personalities to deal with. Who exactly was she? The ice princess who ruled the halls at Roswell High? The sister who loved her two brothers more then life itself? The spoiled Princess with not a care in the world other then the latest fashions? The Princess who did everything she could to support and love her brother and cousin?

Max noticed Isabel's perplexed expression as she made her way to the bench in the garden. "The meeting go that well?" he asked.

"The meeting was fine," Isabel replied. "After the initial shock that they would be speaking to me, and that I knew what was going on, things went as should be expected. Kivar's troops are being disbanded, and everyone is still hunting the little snake."

"Good, good," Max said, happy that Isabel was involved. "Then why the confused face?"

"Just wrapping my head around everything I guess," Isabel said. "So much has been happening that there really hasn't been time to just think....We really have never had the chance to just live our own lives, you know? We might get that chance now, and it's kind of scary."

"I know what you mean," Max said. "Before things just weren't a possibility, and you just knew in your heart that it couldn't happen. But now, now things could happen, and they might not if the other person doesn't feel the same way."

Isabel knew that Max was talking about Liz, but she also knew that he was talking about Alex. "You know, before we left, the last time I talked to Alex, he said I needed to figure out who I was and what I wanted before I should even think about what I wanted with him. After all the times I pushed him away, hurt him, I just don't know if he'll trust me again."

Max wrapped his arm around Isabel's shoulder. "He will Iz, it'll just take some time. Alex has loved you for a long time."

"Yes, but is love enough?" Isabel said. "Is it enough after they realize the cost it is to know us? Or the price to pay to be with us?"

"Trust me when I say I sympathize, except I have no idea what is going on with Liz now.....It seems selfish to worry about that when the lives of millions are hanging in the balance right now, but I can't help it. We've had meeting after meeting, discussion after discussion, fight after fight with all these 'leaders', and all I can think about is how quickly can this be resolved so I can go back to the way I was before, back to Earth to see how Liz is taking all of this..."

He took a ragged breath and continued. "We can't go back to how it was before though, can we? Whether it's fair or not, we were born to this cause, to this purpose. Oh who am I kidding, Liz hasn't kissed me on her own accord in over a year," he said, holding his weary head in his hands.

"True, but she was just pushing you away to save the world, remember?" Isabel said.

Max ran his hands over his tired face. "I know, I know, I'm just tired. It's just....I need her Isabel," he said with a voice filled with emotion. "Just like you need Alex. We just have to believe everything will work out in the end and get through all this stuff in the middle."

"And we will Max, you Michael and I, we will get through this. We have all the information now, we have allies," Isabel said with conviction.

Max smiled at his sister. "It's really weird talking to you about this stuff, you know? But it feels good. I know Liz isn't your favorite person, but thanks for listening."

Isabel wrinkled her brow in confusion, "You don't think I like Liz?"

Max shrugged, "Well, not that you don't like her, just I know she's not your favorite person."

Isabel took a deep breath. "It's....it's not that Max. Look, I know after you healed her, and even before that I was really unfair when it came to her-I never tried to know her."

Isabel had thought about the 'Liz situation' as she was fond of calling it for awhile now. It was easier calling it a situation then admitting Liz was an actual person. She admitted to herself that part of it might be jealousy, as she was used to having all of Max and Michael's attention for herself, but it was way more then that. Ever since Max had laid his eyes on Liz she had represented danger to Isabel.

Max looked at her quizzically and she continued. "As long as I can remember you were the brother who was steadfast, the rock. You did everything to keep us safe, to watch out for us, except when it came to her. All your sense of reason seemed to fly out the door once Liz was involved."

"I guess that's what happens when you fall in love," Max said softly.

"I'm sure, but I'm not just talking about the shooting and everything after that Max. When we were little, when we were just kids scared to death about who we were or what we were you were so sure you could tell her. You would get so upset when Michael and I would gang up on you to convince you not to say anything to her. I mean, we made this pact, one that you would remind me of every time I said I wanted to tell my Mom, our MOTHER Max, but even in the third grade you expressed your wish to tell Liz. Liz, but not our Mom. I really think I resented the fact that she knew and our own Mother didn't."

Isabel took a great big deep breath. "She just always scared me Max, scared me because of how you were when it came to her. Liz just came to represent danger for me, because you were the one person I could count on, the one person who would keep me safe, except when it came to Liz, and that day she was shot you proved it."

Max took a ragged breath. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, I couldn't just let her die."

"No Max, and I would never expect you to. I'm not upset that you saved her. Even then I don't think I was upset that you saved her. God all that she has done for us since then, she has just proven that you were right, that we could trust her. But at the time all I could see was you would put her life before ours, and that scared me Max, because I didn't understand how you could do that, couldn't understand until....."

"Alex." Max finished.

"Yes," Isabel said quietly.

"Well you know, it could be worse," Max said. "The ever impulsive Michael made Maria his 'wife' right before we left, before telling her that we were leaving by the way, and not telling her how Antarian marriage works of course. Depending how far they get into Antarian customs with Kal, and taking into account that Liz will be there with her list of questions, Maria just may well realize that Michael not only left the planet, but left and married her without her knowledge."

Isabel looked at Max in shock. Then she just burst out laughing. Max gave her a what? look and she said, "Forget about the Royal Guards protecting us. I think we may need to round them all up when Michael goes back to Earth to protect him from Maria, and even then I don't know if it will be enough."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Max said, laughing along with his sister.

______________________________________________________________________________

Liz layed back on her bed with a thump, rubbing her tired eyes. She had just got done with a marathon writing session with Maria. The thoughts just started flowing out of them so quickly, it was like a tidal wave. Kal was right when he said the two of them would make a great team. Maria with her creativity and wild ideas, Liz with her technical mind making them more real. Liz was actually starting to see it as something that could become a real movie rather than something to just launder some green.

Nancy Parker walked past her daughter's bedroom door and noticed her laying on her bed, rubbing her face. She knocked on the door jam quietly. "You ok Liz?"

Liz sat up and looked at her Mother. Normally she would just say fine and her Mother would move along, but she realized she didn't want it to be that way anymore.

"I just got done with a killer writing session with Maria, so my eyes are a bit tired," Liz said. "Maria isn't the best typist, so that's my job," she finished, rolling her eyes.

Nancy moved tentatively into the room and Liz moved over to make room for her to sit next to her on the bed. "You are really excited about this, aren't you?" Nancy asked and Liz nodded her head. "Do you want to tell me about your story, or do I have to wait for it to hit the big screen?"

Liz laughed. "Well, since you have the inside track I suppose I could tell you what it's about." Mother and daughter spent the next 45 minutes going over the details of Liz and Maria's movie. Nancy was impressed.

"Liz, that sounds wonderful. If this Kal person can get it into the right hands, you just might have a new career path," she said with a smile.

"Would that upset you?" Liz asked, concerned.

"Oh honey, why would that upset me? The only way I'd be upset would be if you were doing something you didn't want to do," Nancy said, searching her daughter's eyes. Liz looked at her Mom for a minute and decided it was time to really open up to her, girls school be damned.

"Thanks Mom, that really means a lot to me. It's just that sometimes I get the feeling that if I decide not to be this world renowned scientist," she said, "and not go to Harvard that you and Dad wouldn't exactly be pleased."

"Your Father can be kind of rigid sometimes Liz, but it's just because he loves you so much," she said, taking a deep breath. "You see, your Father was more like you in school. Excellent grades, huge potential. He could have wrote his ticket to any school in the country, but he loved music. Instead of college he opted to start a band, and your Grandma encouraged it. She always said you should follow your heart."

Liz smiled at the memory of her Grandmother telling her that.

Nancy continued. "We met while he was still trying to make it, still living that lifestyle. When we got married he decided it wasn't going to work out, and since he was already 27 he decided he was to old for college. Your Grandfather had just passed on and your Grandmother offered him the Crashdown. The rest is history. You came along a year after we were married, and he never looked back."

"Does he regret his life? Regret us?" Liz asked quietly.

"No, no honey that isn't what I mean at all. I do think he has a lot of what if's in his life though. What if he would have went to college? The biggest for him is what if Grandma Claudia had pushed him to do the more logical thing, the more responsible thing. I think it is easier to think of that then to think about how he didn't make it, even though he followed his heart." Nancy said.

"So he sees it as a mistake, trying for his dream?" Liz asked.

"If you ask me, he would have been tortured more by the idea that he didn't try for his music then going to college, but try to get him to believe that." Nancy said. "Even if he did go to college, can you imagine your Father as a stockbroker? Or a lawyer?"

Liz and Nancy looked at each other and burst into laughter. Liz wiped the tears that were now rolling down her face due to the amusement. "Oh thanks Mom, I needed that," she said.

Nancy pulled Liz into an impulsive hug, something she didn't do near enough. "I know I'm not the one to talk to you about college, as I wasn't exactly the best student in school," she said, looking at the floor, "but I agree with your Grandma. Following your heart is always the best."

"Oh Mom, you are exactly who I should talk to about things like that, I mean, your my Mother," she said. Nancy pulled her into another hug and kissed her head.

"Thank you Liz," Nancy said, wiping newly sprung tears from her eyes.

"For what?" Liz asked.

"For turning out to be such a fine young woman," Nancy said as she cupped her face and both women smiled at each other.

I know you are all waiting patiently for the Max/Liz dreamwalk, and it's coming, I promise. I really wanted to explore some of the characters feelings with this, so be patient with me.

tequathisy thank you so much for the comment about Isabel. I have a real hard time with her, which is why she hasn't said more then two lines in this fic...

Chapter 18a


Kyle had been running for a long time, and it was almost dusk. He found he could run longer and faster everyday. Liz had explained the unexpected benefits of their alien "boost", and he didn't know if he was happy or terrified that they had started happening to him. He hadn't experienced the tell tale growing pains in his knees since he was 15 years old, but now they had started again and he was sure he was getting taller.

At least one good thing would come from his little bout with death and alien healing.

He felt a little pain of guilt thinking about Liz and the others. True to form he needed to deal with this on his own, and it had been a month since the little pow wow at Kal's desert retreat. They had started "training" sessions two weeks earlier, and he was already noticing some differences, one which would come in handy right now.

Kyle's hearing had become magnified, kind of like how Alex could see farther, clearer and also in the dark. He could tune in to different conversations, bringing up the volume of just certain things. Liz had yet to experience any super-human senses, but Killian had explained that was usually a guy thing.

As Kyle slowed down to a jog in front of the park, he noticed Killian in what seemed to be a small argument with a girl who was around his age. If he listened in it was only practice, right?

"I don't care Dad, I told you, I don't want to meet them!" said the girl. Ahhh, thought Kyle, this must be the mysterious Kay.

During their training sessions Kyle, Alex, and Liz had learned more about Kaleb and Katrina's history on Earth. Out of all the Shapeshifters, they were the only ones that had a child while on Earth, who was now 17. She had stayed back in California with some friends when Kaleb and Katrina first came out to protect everyone, and once they decided they were going back to Antar they sent for Kay.

It was obvious she wasn't happy about it. Kyle slowed down to a walk so that he could concentrate on turning down the conversation, but it wasn't working.

"Honey, listen to me, please? They know you are here, and it's just plain rude to not introduce you to them. They're good kids, really they are. You can make some new friends," Kaleb pleaded.

Kay crossed her arms over her chest in a way that eerily reminded Kyle of Michael. "I don't want new friends, I already have friends, in California, on planet Earth, which is, by the way, my home."

Kyle heard Killian sigh. "Let's not get into this again, ok? We don't belong here, you know that," Killian said.

"Oh I know. We belong on Antar, following some kid that couldn't even keep his secret for more then 10 years. You should have left him here for awhile longer, and most of the Earth would have been turned into hybrids, not just his merry band of hodge-podges. Then we could stay," Kay said with defiance.

It was official. Kyle thought Kay was the shit.

"You are going, and that's all there is to it, and I definitely will not listen to you speak this way about our King," Killian said. "I'm going back home now, are you coming?"

Kay shook her head. "I came out here to think before you unceremoniously followed me." Killian gave Kay a 'watch it' look and she continued. "I'm sorry sir. I just need some time to think," she said as Killian walked away, done with the conversation.

Kyle sped up to a jog when he heard, "Well at least you tried to tune out our conversation after you started listening."

Shit. He was caught.

Kyle stopped jogging and turned around. Kay was standing in the middle of the park in full blown Michael pissed off pose, raised eyebrow and everything.

'Oh, what the hell...' thought Kyle as he jogged over to her. Kay was slightly shorter then him, with light brown hair and big hazel eyes. She was beautiful. 'Well that's a shock,' Kyle thought smugly.

"Beat ya to the swings," was all Kyle said as he started running full force towards the swings. Just as he was thinking he made a mistake, Kay went flying past him, beating him by a full 3 seconds.

"Impressive," Kyle said, trying to catch his breath while sitting down on the swing. "I'm Kyle by the way, the #2 hodge-podge."

Kay grinned sheepishly. "Kay," she said, extending her hand to Kyle. "I didn't mean to imply you guys were some kind of freaks, well ok, maybe I did, but that would mean I'm a freak to so in insulting you I insulted myself."

"It's ok," said Kyle. "My curiousity got the better of me when I saw Kaleb, and I thought I might be able to get some dirt on him. It could become useful in our torture I mean training sessions."

"Try growing up with those torture sessions," Kay snorted.

"Well my Dad is Sheriff, so I know all about the tough love Fatherly type," Kyle said. "How did you know I was listening?"

"I felt your signature," Kay said. "Even though my parents thought they'd never get off this planet they still groomed me to be a Royal Guard, you know, just in case."

"Does that mean your Dad knew too?" Kyle asked as Kay's face lit up with a big grin as she nodded yes.

"Well that's just great," Kyle said as he started to swing. "Maybe I'll be sick for Tuesday's session...."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Kay said, swinging along with Kyle. "He'll end up dragging you out of your house and make you train double time."

"Yeah, probably," Kyle said. "Look, Kay, we really aren't that bad. Actually we are all having a pretty hard time right now."

"Ok, so do you have parents that are trying to take you to a planet you have only heard bedtime stories about?" Kay asked.

"Well no but....." Kyle started to say.

"I mean God it is so unfair. I didn't ask for this," Kay said.

"Me either," replied Kyle.

"Is it so much to ask to just live a normal life?" Kay asked getting riled up.

"Not at all," Kyle said.

"Why on Earth would we want to go back to some planet that can't even fight for themselves without some kind of religious....thing....to help them?" Kay cried.

"You got me," answered Kyle.

"And to top it all off the 'home' planet has some kind of archaic monarchy with class systems going on. Why would I want to go there when I live in a country where opportunity is available to everyone that is willing to work?" Kay continued.

"Amen Sister!" exclaimed Kyle.

The two swung in silence for a couple of minutes.

"That felt good," Kay said.

"Yeah it did," Kyle said. "Want to go to the Crashdown?" Kay smiled and shook her head yes.

Kyle pulled harder on his chains, making him swing higher and jumped off. Kay followed suit, landing a few feet farther then Kyle.

"You just had to beat me, didn't you?" Kyle said.

"Of course," grinned Kay.

"Damn aliens," Kyle muttered as he put his arm around Kay.

She laughed. "Well at least I won't have to bow to Liz until we get to Antar," she joked.

"Why would you ever have to bow to Liz?" Kyle questioned.

Kay squeezed her eyes shut and thought 'whoops'.

Thanks for the feedback, and you just might have Chapter 19 tonight, and if not will definitely have it tomorrow.

Chapter 18 B

Max walked out of the big ornate conference room and shook Larek's hand. He still didn't trust the other alien king, but he was definitely the best one out of all of them. It was also surprising to learn that he looked an awful lot like Brody back on Earth.

Even though Larek had played a part in the betrayal on Earth, Max also knew he was the only one that fought with Zan against Kivar in the beginning. It was after decades of abuse and torture to his planet and his people that Larek had given up.

"This shall be over soon, Max," Larek said, returning the handshake. "For the first time in 50 years I again have hope. I thank you for your diplomacy after everything that happened on Earth."

Max just nodded and had the guards show Larek out. He sighed and walked towards his chambers. It had been a long day, they all were long days, but he was starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Most of Kivar's troops were either eliminated or were abandoning posts in mass. The people of the five planets, who now had hope again, were actively hunting Kivar. He would not be able to hide for long without many allies.

Just as he was about to open the doors to his chambers a guard came walking up, bowing low. No matter how long he was here he would never get used to that, and he was pretty sure that Zan found it uncomfortable also.

"General Guerin would like to see you in the war room if you please your Majesty," he said. Zan nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Thank you, I'll go see him at once."

At least he wouldn't have to have them 'summoned'. His conversation with Larek had worried him, worried him greatly. Max hadn't been sleeping well, really hadn't been sleeping as opposed to just taking naps, as he realized terrifying hole in their plan had been left on Earth.

Yes, he worried about what Liz thought of the real reason why his future self came to visit, but he was also worried about Liz and Kyle's powers. It was more natural for himself, Michael and Isabel. He worried about how they would learn to control them, how they would hide it. If they became exposed while he was away....

This worry had plagued his thoughts the last couple of days, almost to the point where he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He had never really dealt with the ordeal he went though with the special unit, and the thought of any of his friends, of Liz, going through something like that while he was so far away was slowly eating him alive.

At first he had been worried that Liz would never forgive him, and that consumed his thoughts. What would happen if she no longer wanted anything to do with him? Would Alex be able to convince her that it was all for the best, and would she forgive him for not being there to do it himself?

When he started thinking about those burgeoning powers, started thinking about the special unit, he suddenly felt so selfish. The fact that Liz might not want anything to do with him anymore should be the least of his worries. Why hadn't he blocked the powers before he left Earth? Everything happened so quickly at the end he just didn't have time to think about it. Hopefully the guards on Earth would have everything under control.

Max thought of this while he entered the war room. A long conference table sat in the middle, and the four walls were decorated with computerized maps of the five worlds. When they had first entered most of those maps were covered in red, but now they were mostly green, with sporadic red splotches. Max knew these were the areas still in chaos, still being run by Kivar.

"What's wrong Maxwell? Did the meeting with Larek not go so great?" asked Michael, who was sitting at the table with Isabel and Queen Serena, after seeing Max's crestfallen look.

"It went fine," Max said, sitting down at the head of the table. By looking at the young King everyone in the room knew he was no where near fine.

"Max...." Isabel said softly. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing...Nothing that can be helped now. So what's the reason for this pow wow?" he asked.

Michael, Isabel, and Serena looked at each other and all seemed to decide to drop it...for now.

"Well, I just thought you should know a little bit of information we found out today," Michael said. "During my visit with Kathana, I found out that in two weeks they were planning on launching 4 ships headed towards Earth, 4 battle ships full of soldiers I might add. It seems Kivar has spent the last 50 years finding a better way to get to Earth, and they had finally reached the technology level to where they could make it in five years time."

Max let out a slow breath. That would mean they had spent eight years battling these enemies on Earth before it's final destruction.

"I'm surprised we made it eight years," Max said quietly. "I'm assuming this mission has been canceled?"

"Of course. I made sure they saw it my way," Michael said. He had really come into his calling here. Michael had a purpose and he was damn good at it.

"So going back in time was the right decision," Max said. He had wondered if things were as dire as his future self had said, and hearing that four battle ships full of soldiers were about to be sent to Earth made him know that things were dire indeed. With the advanced technology plus the aliens powers, Earth wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Well considering I died I'd say it was the right decision," Isabel said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I'm sorry Isabel, I didn't mean..." Max started to say.

"No, no Max, I was just kidding. I know that messing with an entire future is not to be taken lightly," Isabel said with understanding.

Max got up and started looking at the map of Antar. All green. The country was about to hold it's first elections in over 50 years for the democratic government his Grandfather had set up all those years ago. A lot of the pressure would be off Max then, but he would still have control of the Granilith, in turn assuring he always had a say on Antar, especially when it came to military situations.

"I don't know how anyone could attack Earth," Serena said. "My fascination with that planet always stemmed from the fact that more then likely that's how we were a few million years ago. They need to be left to evolve, to grow."

"Maybe in Rath's life he didn't understand why you loved Earth so much Aunt Serena, but let me tell you I understand," Michael said quietly, feeling homesick. Antar felt right in a way nothing had ever felt right before, but Earth would always be home, his home.

"Yes, but I think you like Earth for a different reason then me Michael, namely because your wife is there," Aunt Serena teased as Michael looked uncomfortable.

"Speaking of Michael's wife," Isabel said, rolling her eyes at Michael, "What did you find out from Larek Max?"

The group, well Michael, had decided that they needed to learn what Larek knew about their relationships on Earth. Even though they were headed towards peace, all involved understood it was only the power of the Granilith that made the other planets welcome them back with open arms.

Unfortunately it would only be a matter of time before another Kivar tried to take root in their system. Just like human nature, there would always be someone that wanted power, wanted to control everything.

"They know some of it, and Larek said it was Kivar that told them," Max said sadly, turning and sitting back down at the table. "They know about our parents Isabel, and they know about Liz and Maria. Michael was right, in the future they could be used against us."

Michael got up and started pacing the room. "How would Kivar know? As far as we know Nicholas had no way of contacting Antar at will, and he would be stupid as hell to give up a trump card like that, and as much as I hate to admit it Nicholas was anything but stupid."

Isabel looked worried. "I've grilled all the leaders and none of them know of a way of contacting Earth easily besides the abductions. It would take more years then we have been alive to send a message back here to Kivar without them knowing about it."

"What about Alex?" Serena asked. "Did they know about Alex?"

"No, or at least they didn't know how close we were to him. No mention was made that him and Isabel were together," Max stated.

"That doesn't make sense!" Michael exclaimed. "Out of all the information that would be vital to Kivar, Alex and Isabel being together would have been the topping on the cake."

They all looked at each other, knowing it was true. While Vilandra had never been with Kivar, had never betrayed her brother like the story went on Earth, Kivar always had a need to possess her. More then likely the story on Earth had been created not only in an attempt to put a wedge between the young aliens, but to make Isabel think she belonged with Kivar. They had underestimated Isabel greatly.

"So the leaders say they weren't told by Nicholas at the summit about our relationships on Earth, but Kivar knew. This had to of happened before Prom, since it was quite obvious at that point that you and Alex were together," Max said.

"We first dated or whatever at the end of Sophomore year," Isabel said, "but it wasn't really known by anyone but those inside our group. We weren't really touchy feely in public until prom."

"I hate to say it, but it seems like it is special unit information," Max said. "Liz, my parents, Maria, they were the only humans they threatened to hurt."

"Someone up here is lying," Michael said, getting really angry. "One of them had to of told Kivar this information, not hear it from him."

"Unless there is someone still on Earth that is a trader," Max said. "And if Kivar is doing possessions and in contact with this person."

"Oh my God," whispered Isabel.

Michael's mind was racing. Special unit information. Before Prom. No Alex.

"Duff," Michael growled. "It's gotta be Suzanne Duff."

Suzanne Duff was the agent that came to work on the investigation with Laurie Dupree, and as far as Max and company knew the only shapeshifter that had integrated herself into the U.S. government. When she witnessed the alien happenings they thought for sure Maria, with her great skills of deduction would know something was amiss, but thankfully her concern for a shot and bleeding Michael had turned off her natural sleuthing instincts.

The shapeshifters that had decided to stay on Earth weren't given much information about the royal three, and Duff was no exception. Michael had no doubt that the ones that came to Roswell to protect the humans were trustworthy. Because of her position in the government, Duff had been left to her own devices when the others were called in.

"The only information she would have would be what she had found out from the FBI," Max said, "Which would exclude anything about Alex."

"It's time for plan B," Michael said as Isabel looked horrified. "I'm sorry Isabel, but we knew this was a possibility. Max is going to need to take possession of Alex, we've got to let them know there is an enemy out there."

Alex had been prepared for possession before they had left Earth. They had always hoped it would never come to that, but if they needed to get a message to Earth quickly that option was needed. It was still very dangerous, dangerous to Alex.

Everyone looked around the room at each other and Max stood up. "I'm going to go prepare Alex now. I promise Isabel, I'll only stay as long as I need to stay."

______________________________________________________________________________

Alex sat at his computer working on a website for one of Kal's new movies. If he got lucky maybe he'd even get to talk to Jennifer Aniston, well Jennifer Aniston's assistant. All at once he felt a pull in his mind, and became disoriented. As he was starting to feel normal again he heard Max's voice whisper, "Sorry Alex, must be done. Gather the others in a safe location, 6 hours."

'Oh God!' thought Alex. If Max was doing this there was something wrong, something seriously wrong. This was dangerous. This was only to be done in emergencies.

"Get it together Whitman," Alex spoke out loud. He whipped out his Blackberry and typed a message to all:

Everyone meet at the Valenti household in five hours. Everyone, no exceptions. Emergency situation. Please reply back that you got the message.

Alex looked at the messages pouring into his phone. He was worried, terribly worried, not about himself, but what kind of catastrophe had happened to warrant this visit. He only had five hours and forty-five minutes until he found out. It would be the longest five hours and forty-five minutes of his life.