Believing in Destiny (AU,CC,Teen/Mature)BookII,Pt5 4/25 [WIP

[foreverdreamer15]

Hey Everyone Thanks for the Great Feedback. I had planned to post 23b also yesterday but had to make a few changes. So I am posting that now.

Thank you

FSUMSW94
xmag: Liz and Michael grew up as brother and sister so the Parkers consider him like their own son. So Claudia called him her grandson and yeah Maria will live up to her name
KnightOwl
SweetieTeeny
XoXoDreamerXoXo
Behrsgirl77: Xan was Liz's boyfriend and 100% human. Alex found out that Xan died in a camping trip (part 19) and Isabel identified Xan's picture recognizing him from the dreamwalk. Hope this helps
con angel
roswellluver
LovinGuerin2much
CherryFlavoredChica

everyone for your great feedback and thanks to my Beta Behrsgirl77.

Ok what was that about! Liz isn't an alien or is she.

I SECOND THAT!

Well, I really don't want to answer this but this part will give you some idea about Liz.

There are 8 pods and Oh yeah, NO Dupes in this story


Disclaimer: Some of the dialogues in chapter 23bhave been taken from the episode Skin and Bones of Roswell, Season 2. They aren’t mine.

Previously

Isabel who had seen Max’s flash of disappointment suddenly asked, “How many pods were sent in the ship totally?” And Michael looked up interested.

Nacedo hesitated for a second before replying nervously, “Four.”

“The truth Nacedo,” Max ordered.

“Eight” Nacedo said sourly followed by gasps in the room and a crash as Michael fell down from his chair in shock.

******

Now onto Part 23b:

“And you never told us?” Tess asked angrily.

“You weren’t ready to know,” Nacedo said looking at the four of them.

“Who were sent in the other pods? What happened to them and where are they now?” Max asked just as angry.

“They might be your advisors or your bodyguards on Antar but they didn't inform us on Antar. Our instructions were to simply insure the safety of the pods. I hid the pods in New York but when I went back after escaping from the government they had already hatched and gone. I am still searching for them.”

“So only one person was sent in each pod?” Michael asked.

“Yes.” Nacedo said. If he was as baffled as the others by this question he didn’t show it.

“You have no idea who they are?” Max demanded again sharply.

Nacedo glanced at Michael for a second then said, “I believe one of them is part of the Royal House of Sardenia.”

“Michael’s planet?” Isabel asked puzzled thinking of the five planets Antar, Sero, Sardenia, Bellgerina and Ardenica in their galaxy that Michael had mentioned while explaining their history.

“Who is this advisor?” Michael asked getting angry that Langley had concealed all of this.

“Princess, not advisor.” Nacedo said looking at Michael. “Your sister.”

“What?” Tess cried out in shock. “But I am his sister and the Queen.”

“You both had a younger sister,” Nacedo said wearily. “I am not sure but she might have been sent in the other pod.”

“Another sister,” Michael mumbled stunned not wanting to believe him but at the same time knowing that Nacedo was speaking the truth as he couldn’t disobey Max’s orders.

“If Michael is the heir of another planet then how did he become Max’s second-in-command?” Isabel asked the question that had been bugging her since Michael told them he was the prince of another planet.

“Antar has always controlled the Granolith and Sardenia protects the Granolith. The first born of the Royal House of Sardenia is always chosen by the Granolith as the protector and hence the second-in-command of the King of Antar, who controls the Granolith.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us about the Granolith, the skins, Nicholas or Kivar?” Max hissed furiously.

“My job is to protect you, not to guide you or teach you history.” Nacedo said impassively.

“Whose job is it then?” Isabel asked livid with rage.

“The job of your advisors. The other pod set was programmed to have their previous memories.”

“And you conveniently separated them from us,” Isabel said sarcastically.

“When the ship crashed only 2 of the protectors was alive. So we separated the pods to ensure the safety of the Royal Four, which was and is my first priority. I did what I had to do to keep you all safe.”

Michael snorted at this and Max rubbed his forehead his temper rising dangerously and feeling the beginnings of a headache.

He then ordered Nacedo, “Search for the remaining aliens and you will let me know as soon as you get any information about them or about the skins or Nicholas. And you will not harm us or our family or any of our friends or humans period. Is that understood?”

“Yes your majesty.”

**********

Liz stood up tiredly after arranging the files in Whitaker’s office when she heard some voices from the front of the office.

“So, what brings an out-of-work FBI agent to Roswell? Seems like the worst place to be for a recovering alien hunter,” Whitaker asked Pierce/Nacedo.

“I might be out here hunting something else.” Pierce answered following Whitaker into her office.

“This is Liz Parker,” Whitaker said seeing Liz in her office. “She is my new intern.”

“Pleasure,” Pierce said then continued, looking at Whitaker, “I needed to see you.”

“Um, I'm just gonna go get some more folders. Excuse me,” Liz said going into the next room unintentionally brushing past Pierce. He suddenly stiffened staring at Liz.

“Well, you should have thought of that before you publicly humiliated me on TV.”

“Don't let politics come between us,” Pierce said his attention once again on Whitaker.

“Politics is the reason you slept with me to begin with.”

“Well, maybe at first. It's more than that now. You showed me a side of myself...I didn't know existed.”

“Parker, can you lock up on your way out? I'll see you tomorrow.”

Liz who was beginning to get uncomfortable since she could hear the conversation thankfully said “Yeah. Have a good night.”

“Oh, we will,” Pierce said then held his hand out to her opening his mind a little simultaneously. “It was nice meeting you.”

Liz looked confused for a second then held her hand out. The next second flashes of black and white, desert, lightening and a dead woman rushed through Liz’s mind. Shocked Liz quickly pulled her hand from Pierce’ grip, mumbled a quick bye and rushed out of the building not noticing the anger in Pierce’ eyes.

Liz slowed down as she reached the Café. She had realized sometime during her walk back home that Pierce was the Chief of the Special Unit that hunted aliens. The unit had been recently disbanded then what was Pierce doing here with Whitaker, who believed in aliens and had desperately wanted to keep the unit open? And what was with the weird flashes? Were they a premonition or something that had already happened? She had distinctly heard the name Sheila Hubble when she saw the flash of the dead woman. Who is she?

*******

Michael put on the chef’s hat and the apron his mind still reeling from all the details Nacedo had told him.

“Never thought I would see you working here Michael,” a voice said coming into the backroom.

Michael turned around in surprise and then his face split into a wide smile. “Grandma! When did you come?” he hugged her tightly almost lifting her up in his joy.

“Just a few hours ago,” she said stepping back a little to take a good look at him. “Hmm…A chef in an alien restaurant?” she asked amused.

“Yeah, I know ironic,” Michael said good-naturedly. Then he flexed his arms and said, “What? No remarks on how handsome I have become?”

“Don’t you mean how scruffy and grumpy you have become than usual?” Liz said coming behind her grandma.

“Liz!” her grandmother admonished her gently then looked at Michael proudly. “My grandson is a heart-breaker.”

Michael grinned at Liz smugly while she clutched her throat dramatically. “I think I am going to gag now.”

Michael smirked. “You are just jealous she loves me more.”

“You wish,” Liz shot back.

Suddenly someone cleared their throat and Liz and Michael turned to see Maria standing near the door looking at them expectantly. When Michael and Liz simply stared at her with identical blank expression on their faces, Maria shot them a glare and then introduced herself to Claudia.

“Hi! I am Maria, Amy’s daughter. My mom managed the café before.”

“Yeah! I know your mother.” Claudia said then looked at Maria amazed, “The last time I saw you, you were a little kid. Now wow! You have grown into a beautiful woman.”

“Thanks,” Maria blushed while Michael and Liz looked at each other rolling their eyes knowing that Claudia said that to everyone she met.

“Michael, Maria” Jeff said coming into the backroom. “There are hungry masses waiting to be fed outside.”

“It was nice meeting you Mrs. Parker.” Maria said smiling.

“Oh Honey! Just call me grandma,” Claudia said smiling.

Maria grinned. Liz’s grandmother was cool. “Sure grandma. See you later.” She then went back into the café.

“And Michael. We need to talk,” Claudia said firmly to Michael.

Michael gulped knowing what she wanted to talk about and opened his mouth to make some excuse but she beat him to it. “Come on up once your shift is over. You can stay here tonight.”

*******

“What do you mean, you think Rath might have bonded?” Tess asked Nacedo half-puzzled and half-angry. “And with who?”

“The human, Liz Parker. Well, not exactly human. But she could have changed if Rath did bond to her.”

What?” Tess asked taken aback. “What do you mean by not exactly human? An alien?”

“I mean I sensed an energy almost similar to Rath’s when I touched her. And no, I don’t think she is an alien. His energy could have made her neither human nor an alien,” Nacedo mused out aloud. “This could explain Michael’s immense power also. He is strong Tess, stronger than you; almost equivalent to Rath was in Antar. If he really came out when he was 3 then his alien side wouldn’t have developed at all. But his control and manage of his powers is nearly impeccable and it could be because he has taken a mate.”

“But she is human,” Tess said disgusted. “Doesn’t that work only if he mated with aliens?”

Nacedo shrugged, “You are all half-human and half-alien. So it could or it couldn’t.”

“Maybe that is why I am not able to get into Liz’s head,” Tess said speculatively then snarled. “But that doesn’t explain why Max is infatuated with her. I mean she is not even beautiful.”

“So I take it that you are still not together with him?” Nacedo asked disgustedly.

“Not yet but he will bond with me one way or another,” Tess said angrily.

“Anyways if two aliens mate they can share powers. I am not sure how that works since Liz is a human. But note carefully whether she uses any of Michael’s powers or not. And don’t ever use the Granolith crystals on Rath or Liz. They can sense his powerful presence and will pull him to them.”

********

“So do you mind explaining to me what you were doing these past 10 months?” Claudia asked Michael casually. They were both sitting in the deserted café downstairs after it had closed.

“I was studying art in a school in LA,” Michael answered his face straight.

“No you weren’t.”

When Michael simply looked at her for a couple of minutes without replying, Claudia sighed and said, “You were supposed to come with me and Liz to Egypt. That was the agreement so you and Liz could be safe. Instead you go off on a half-baked plan to hunt aliens. What if you had been killed? Did you even think how that would have affected Liz?”

When Michael still remained silent, she became angry, “And you say Liz is selfish. Tell me Michael, how is this any different from what Liz tried to do?”

At this Michael’s head jerked up, “This is completely different from that,” Michael said harshly. He stood up and started pacing, “I wanted to protect you all. I didn’t try to…try to…kill…” Much as he attempted he couldn’t finish the sentence without dread filling his heart and his mind going back to the awful incident. “Its my duty to protect you all. I am not like Liz….”

“Really?” Claudia interrupted him. “Going after Nicholas all alone without informing us or Langley is suicidal. And you knew that very well.”

“Nicholas would not have killed me,” Michael said bitterly.

“No. He would have tortured you killing you every day.”

And I deserved it, Michael thought angry with himself. I deserve it for being stupid enough to get found out by the skins, for leading them right to my family, for killing my friend, for destroying Liz’s life, for putting everyone I love in danger…

“Michael, honey” Claudia interrupted his internal musings softly knowing exactly what was going through his mind. “Whatever happened is not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

Michael simply snorted unbelievably.

“So you think you shouldn’t have saved Xander’s life in New York?” Claudia asked sharply.

“Huh?” Michael looked up confused. But Claudia continued, “If you had to do it again, would you have let him die?”

“Of course not,” Michael said aghast. “He was my friend. I can never do that to him…”And then he stopped abruptly knowing where she was going with this.

“Then blame Nicholas or Langley.” She said firmly. “Its neither your fault nor Liz’s.”

“What?” Michael said surprised, “It was never Liz’s fault.”

Claudia sighed once again. “You never talked with her about this,” it was more of statement than a question. “She blames herself for Xander’s death.”

“That is stupid,” Michael said running his hands through his hair agitatedly still pacing around. “She is stupid then.”

Claudia chuckled at this and suppressed the comment she wanted to make. After all Michael and Liz were too alike, like two exact peas in a pod. “Just talk to her Michael,” she said gently.

Both of them were silent for a few minutes in their thoughts, and then Claudia asked him cheerfully, “So according to Liz you seem to have made new friends?”

“What?” Michael said then added quickly, “No. Max is just some guy from class. You know me. I don’t make friends.”

“Yeah. You don’t,” she said looking at him steadily.

Michael once again started pacing nervously. He knew she knew that he was lying. Maybe he should just tell her the truth. He was scared to tell Liz and he didn’t trust Max, Isabel or Tess. And he wanted, no needed, to talk to someone about what he had learned. It was too much. Keeping secrets from Liz, from Max and the others, from Nacedo and he didn’t want to add his grandmother to the list also.

“Langley lied, Zan is alive and Max Evans is Zan,” he blurted out in one breath unable to keep it to himself any longer.

********

A.N: Hope this part gave you some answers .See you all next weekend

[foreverdreamer15]

A/N:
Hello All thanks very much for the great feedback. I know most of you are finding the fic confusing so I would like to clear atleast some of the confusion.

Okay, so these are the facts or the Truth that we all know for now. I have added a few more things about Michael to make it easier.

There really is a Royal Four Zan, Rath, Vilondra and Ava. Rath was engaged to Vilondra and Zan was married to Ava.
Rath/Michael has 2 sisters and one sister is younger to both Rath and Ava.
There are 8 pods and yes both Rath’s sisters were sent on Earth though only 1 sister/Ava is part of the Royal Four.
All of the aliens were engineered with half their alien essence and half human essence so NONE of them is 100% human. And yes ALL the aliens’ bloods are different than human ones.

Jeff & Nancy do not know the truth about Michael. Only Claudia Parker knows what Michael is. How she came to know is explained in the coming chapter. And of course Liz also knows about Michael, Langley and skins but how she came to know will be explained later. And Liz still believes that Zan and the others are dead as Michael himself found out only after he came to Roswell that they are all alive and he has not told Liz the truth yet.

Oh yeah, remember that Michael never knew he was an alien till Langley saved him from skins about a year back. Till then he just thought himself to be human with advanced and really cool abilities. Michael started having dreams about Rath’s life when he turned 16 so he does have some real memories of Rath but he never understood what they meant till he met Langley. As for why Max and Isabel don't have any memories its coz Michael is more in touch with his alien side than them.

Max and Isabel have always suppressed using their abilities for fear of being found out while Michael has always used his since they first started manisfesting. You will find out when, how and why in this chapter.
That doesn't mean he wasn't scared but at that time he still believed himself to be human with just extra abilities.

K....Hope that cleared it up

Thank You

roswellluver
LovinGuerin2much: thank you for the bump
purpleant
XoXoDreamerXoXo
Emz80m
xmag: Most of what you think are right. Nacedo revealed that Michael had another sister as Max demanded him to tell who were in the other pods. So Nacedo had no other choice than answer truthfully. And nope, Michael does have 2 sisters but they are not twins. But Michael did have a reason for asking the number of persons in a pod which will be revealed later. And the part about the Parkers and Liz is wrong but don't worry it will be explained later why Liz does have powers
kay_b: You are right. Grandma Claudia does know certain things about the aliens that even Nacedo doesn't
FSUMSW94
stargrl678
mandydemoo: Hey of course I recognize you I love your fic and yup i do have a dog in this fic though it not our Lovable Max as in yours Hope your doubts/confusion are cleared a bit by now.

for your wonderful and encouraging feedback. I am really glad that many of you are patient and like this fic...
I hope my A/N at the beginning cleared some of the confusion

Okay I will be back soon with the new part....

[foreverdreamer15]

Thanks once again everyone for your feedback and thanks to my Beta Behrsgirl77

Part 24:
Disclaimer: A few lines in this chapter have been taken from the episode Leaving Normal of Roswell, Season 1. They aren’t mine.

Part 24:

Claudia struggled to open the café door with the packages in her hand. Just as she thought of putting them down, a young man rushed towards her from the inside and opened the door.

“Thanks my dear,” she said smiling.

“Do you want me to carry some of those?” he asked shyly.

“That would be really helpful,” she said gratefully relieving some of the packages to the polite young man.

“Do you want me to put these in the booth?”

“Oh no,” Claudia gave a small laugh. “I live upstairs. I am Jef…”

“Liz’s grandmother?” he asked simultaneously following her upstairs.

She stopped then turned back to look at him her eyes twinkling, “Yes Liz’s grandmother.”

He blushed slightly but thankfully she had already started walking again. He followed her inside the apartment and then put the things in the living room.

“So how do you know my grand-daughter?” she asked teasingly raising her eyebrows.

“I …I am just her lab partner in school,” he mumbled.

“And does this handsome lab-partner have a name?”

The tip of his ears turned slightly red but he held out his hand smiling, “I am Max Evans.”

Claudia’s hand froze mid-way to the handshake but she quickly recovered and shook his hand. “Pleasure meeting you. Thank you for helping me.”

“You are welcome,” he said.

There was an awkward pause and he became uncomfortable with the way Claudia was staring at him, almost speculatively. He scratched behind his ear and said, “I have to go…”

“Stay please,” Claudia said immediately. “Have tea or a drink.”

“Oh its okay…”

“Nonsense. It’s the least I can do for helping me,” she said going towards the kitchen then turned and said, “Be comfortable. Have a look around. I will be back soon.”

This was the first time Max was inside Liz Parker’s apartment and he giddily looked around with a grin on his face. Seeing some pictures on the wall and the mantel he immediately went towards them. The first picture he saw was a family picture with Claudia, Jeff and Nancy and about 3-year old Liz sitting on Claudia’s lap clinging to her neck. Max smiled seeing the two pigtails then stopped seeing brown hair and huge doe-shaped brown eyes staring back at him. His mind immediately went to the flash in the pod chamber but he ignored it and went to the next photo of Liz where she looked to be the same age and holding a Barbie in her hand. He paused seeing the next photo of a laughing 5-year-old. Liz had her arm around a 5-year-old boy who was holding her almost protectively and smiling adoringly at her. Her eyes were shining with happiness and for the first time the smile reached her eyes.

In the next photo, Liz was dressed up as a cowboy with her hair tucked in a hat and a girl with lipstick and slight makeup was standing beside her arms folded and glaring at the camera clearly not happy.

“That’s Michael,” Claudia’s voice suddenly said and he nearly jumped with fright. Then he looked at the photo closely and saw that it was indeed the same boy in the previous photo, only dressed as a girl. A sudden grin formed on his face recognizing the patent glare of Michael.

“He blas…broke Liz’s doll house and had to play house with her for a week before she forgave him,” Claudia said laughing at the memory wondering if Max had noticed her slip but he was in his own world looking at the next picture.

Max’s heart skipped a beat when he looked at the next picture. Liz was wearing a long satin red gown with spaghetti straps that had a tight bodice with swirl-beaded netting. Her soft brown hair was piled up on her head with long strands framing her face and her brown eyes were twinkling with laughter. She was absolutely breathtaking.

“That was the freshman formal,” Claudia said smiling at the totally awe-struck look on Max’s face. “It was the first time Michael wore a tux, more like forced to wear,” she said chuckling pointing to the next picture that showed Michael wearing a tux with a painful look on his face. Max looked with surprise at the picture of Michael with slightly longer hair (imagine season 3 Michael). He didn’t even think that Michael’s hair could be anything other than spikes but the picture showed otherwise.

“Michael wouldn’t let her go alone to the dance and Liz wouldn’t have him accompanying her in anything other than a tux.”

“So Michael and Liz are really close, huh?” Max asked trying not to sound jealous.

“Yeah and really stubborn too. But I am sure you and your sister are also very close,” Claudia said casually. When Max seemed confused as to why she was saying that, she took hold of his arm and pulled him towards her room. “I have lots of childhood pictures of them. Come on.”

“Its fine. I really have to…” and then Max stopped stunned when he saw a painting on the wall inside her room. It showed a beautiful waterfall with a grassy slope on one side and a rugged cliff on the other side. Bathed in moonlight the whole place looked ethereal. But what made this different was the clear sky was a mixture of pink and purple, the water seemed to be dark green in color, and there were two moons over the cliff top.

“Where is this place?” he whispered instinctively knowing that this place really existed and wasn’t an imagination of the artist.
“Unusual isn’t it? One of Liz’s friends presented this to her on her birthday,” Claudia replied purposefully ignoring his question.
Max looked towards the corner of the painting and saw the tiny sign of the artist Tris. He lightly traced the waterfall with his finger and was hit with a sudden flash of Liz reading a card “To my dearest sis, Happy Birthday, Love Tris” and then tearing the wrapper hurriedly in excitement. Max came out of the flash just as he heard voices coming from the living room and the dribble of a ball.

“You cheated” a female voice said that Max recognized as Liz’s.

“I didn’t. Besides it’s not my fault that you are short,” the male voice finished smugly.

Michael, Max thought. Both of them moved towards the living room.

There was a short pause then a loud yell from Michael. “Damn it Liz! That hurts.”

“I am not short. And you are abnormally ta…” she stopped abruptly seeing Max coming into the living room smiling shyly at her.

Michael scowled seeing Max. “What are you doing here?” he asked gripping the basketball in his hand tightly.

“He helped me bring in the groceries honey,” Claudia said coming behind Max. “I was just showing him the painting.”

Immediately both Liz and Michael stiffened which didn’t go unnoticed by Claudia and Max. Michael shot a glare at his grandmother knowing exactly what she was trying to do.

“I have to go Mrs. Parker. It was nice meeting you,” Max said smiling at Claudia.

“Sure honey and call me grandma. And you should come again sometime. I can show you their childhood pictures.”

“Grandma!” both Michael and Liz shouted at her indignantly.

Max chuckled and said, “See you all later,” and he gave a parting shot to Michael pointing towards the mantle, “Hey Michael, cute dress.”

Michael turned beet red as Liz and her grandmother started laughing.

******

“Can’t you drive any faster? I am late for my shift. Of all the days for my Jetta to break down…” Maria muttered.

“If I drive any faster my dad would give me a speeding ticket son or not,” Kyle said wryly. “And it’s your fault the Jetta is in the shop.”

Maria glared at him. “It’s not…”

“Hey, why is the ambulance at the Crash?” Kyle asked slowing down as he reached the café that now had a crowd at the entrance. “And is that Michael and Liz?”

“OMG! What happened?” Maria asked getting down from the Mustang just as the ambulance pulled away.

******

Liz frantically tried to see through the mist surrounding her calling for her grandmother. The whole scene was eerily familiar but she steadfastly refused to think about it her only goal now to find her grandmother.

“Grandma!” she called out again, her soft voice echoing in the stillness. Just as desperation seemed to set in, the mist parted and she saw the silhouette of her grandmother coming closer.

“Honey bear!” Claudia said opening her arms and Liz rushed into them tears coming down her face.

“Shhh…. its okay” Claudia comforted her.

“You have to wake up grandma,” Liz said urgently looking at her. “Come on…” she said pulling her arm.

Her grandma looked at her sadly and softly said, “It’s my time to go….”

Liz started shaking her head, “No…No! You just have to get…”

“Listen to me Liz,” Claudia cupped Liz’s tear-faced face and held her stare. “You cannot do anything sweetheart. This is natural…”

“But you have to live. Why do you want to leave me?” Liz whimpered in a broken voice.

Claudia hugged her tightly. “I will never leave you Honey bear. I will always be with you,” Claudia placed a hand over Liz’s heart, “in here.”

Michael wearily walked into Claudia’s room at the hospital, closed the door softly and turned towards the bed. The sight that met him made his heart cold with fear. Liz’s forehead was touching her grandmother’s forehead with silent tears running down her face. Her hands were on either side of Claudia’s face and they were glowing softly. At that moment, Michael didn't see Liz or his grandmother but Liz and Xan and his heart started beating faster in fear.

“No!” His mind screamed. He would not watch her do this again. He would not loose her too. With this in mind, Michael reached to grab Liz’s hand and snap the connection instead as soon as he touched her he was also pulled into his grandmother’s mind.

Michael looked in confusion at the mist around him and then he saw Claudia and Liz hugging.

“I will miss you very much, you know that right?” Liz asked her grandmother tearfully.

“Oh Honey! I know that. But whenever you do, just remember that I will always be watching over you.”

Michael’s heart gradually slowed down as he smiled at them sadly. Realizing that Liz would come out as soon as she had said her goodbye, he came out of the connection.

“Liz, promise me something” Claudia said after a few seconds. When Liz looked up, she continued, “Promise me that you will always follow your heart, will always trust your heart.”

Liz hesitated then gave in, “I promise grandma.”

Michael looked at Liz and Claudia for a moment as if trying to decide something. Finally with a determined look on his face, he walked out of the room closing the door and then took his cell phone.

*******

Isabel looked at Max exasperatedly. “Let me get this straight. You saw a painting that shows a place that looked familiar and obviously not of this earth and when you touched it you got a flash of Liz opening it. The painting was given to her by someone named Tris, who you think is one of the aliens from the other pod and oh yeah, he is Liz’s brother? Do you really think this makes any sense?”

“Yes,” Max replied stubbornly. “What’s not to make sense?”

“How about this? Liz is definitely not an alien as proven by her very normal and human cells.”

“I know that” Max said impatiently. “It could just be whoever this Tris is, he considers her as his sister. She is not his real sister.” Max suddenly frowned thinking that Liz’s grandmother had known he had a sister. He never told her that. Then how did she know it?

“Okay, let’s assume what you are saying is true. Michael has been Liz’s friend since they were kids. So how come Michael didn’t tell us about this Tris person? I mean both Michael and Tris surely would have sensed each other like we do.”

“I don’t know” Max said confused running his hands through his hair. “Maybe Michael knows Tris but hasn’t told us anything about him. It’s not the first time he has concealed things from us.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “Good point except that Michael seemed as shocked as us if not more by the fact that there were 8 pods. And let’s not forget the other 4 aliens have their former memories so Michael would have known all about us and them if he had met an alien from the other pods.”

“What are you saying Isabel? I saw the painting and I recognize the place. I have been there before. Only someone like us could have drawn that place with such accurate details.”

Both of them were interrupted by Max’s phone ringing but they ignored it staring at each other.

When Isabel opened her mouth to say something, Max said “And don’t tell me the name Tris isn’t familiar to you?”

Isabel paused knowing what he said was true but she was reluctant to accept what he was saying without any proof. The answering machine switched on and they heard Michael’s voice.

“Maxwell, it’s me. We are at the Roswell Memorial Hospital. My grandmother had a stroke and I…I just…Do you think you can come here?”

“His grandmother?” Isabel asked puzzled but Max had already taken his keys and started moving towards his door. “Are you really going to go there?” Isabel asked incredulously.

“You heard him Isabel. Liz’s grandmother…”

“I know. Don’t tell me you are going to heal her,” she burst out.

“Of course not,” Max lied easily knowing in his heart that he would try it if it meant Liz would be happy.

********
Michael was sitting on a couch in the waiting room with his hand around a sleeping Liz running through her hair softly. Liz was curled up to him laying her head on his shoulder and one of her hands was fisted on his chest. She had cried herself to sleep a few minutes ago. Mrs. Parker had finally convinced a worried Jeff to go with her to get coffee and soda for everyone.

Max felt a pang in his heart when he saw Michael and Liz together. He suddenly wasn’t sure whether coming here was a good idea or not but he couldn’t ignore the need to see Liz and comfort her. If Michael didn’t like it then he could go to hell. Max determinedly walked up to them and then stopped seeing the tear-tracks on Liz’s face. He ached to take her in his arms and never let go.

“Maxwell ” Michael looked up at him and then quickly looked around.

“I am sorry about your grandmother,” Max said.

Michael just nodded, “Just one sec…”

Michael then gently tried to move Liz’s hands from around him but Liz whimpered and snuggled even closer to him. Michael shushed and kissed her on her forehead. Then still keeping his arms around her, he got up quietly and laid her down on the cushion of the couch. Picking up a blanket from a nearby bag that they had brought, he tucked her in and then affectionately brushed her hair from her forehead. Something twisted painfully in Max’s heart as he watched the tender scene unfold between Liz and Michael. If he had had any doubts before about the nature of Michael’s relationship with Liz, they were completely erased now. Michael loved her, plain and simple

“Come on,” Michael gestured to Max and entered Claudia’s room. Max tore his face away from Liz and followed Michael dully.

“Listen Max, I know this might seem hypocritical,” Michael said uncomfortably. “But is there any way that you could…you know…” he pointed to Claudia helplessly.

When Max looked at him with an unreadable look on his face, he rushed out, “I know that you all don’t trust me and I was horrible to you and your friends…and I...I am sorry but Liz is…we both love our grandma…”

Max sighed, “It’s okay Michael. Our life-long principles and beliefs don’t seem to matter when our loved ones are in danger,” he said softly then continued, “But what happened to Maria was something unnatural, something before her time. I can’t just heal people Michael. I am not God.”

Michael nodded silently looking at the bed. Claudia was the first person to accept him knowing what he was and still love him unconditionally. Just like his mother. And now he was going to loose her too, just like his mother.

“I can help you say goodbye,” Max said hesitatingly seeing the miserable look on Michael’s face.

When Michael nodded, Max placed his hands on Claudia’s chest and they glowed.

“Michael!” They both turned hearing the voice and saw Claudia standing near the bed. Michael looked down on the bed to see her still lying there. He slowly walked towards her.

“I am sorry I wasn’t able…” Michael began but Claudia interrupted him.

“You couldn’t have done anything Michael. My time has come.” She then looked him steadily in the eyes, “Tell Liz the truth Michael. Stop hiding things. And promise me that you will not go after your enemies alone.”

When Michael didn’t seem to answer, she sharply asked him, “Michael?”

“Okay I promise,” he then embraced her and whispered painfully. “I don’t know what I am going to do without you.”

“You will do just fine. Learn to trust others Michael,” she said giving a meaningful glance at Max. “Protect her always.”

“I will” Michael whispered his eyes slightly misting. “I love you and thanks for everything.”

Claudia kissed him on his cheek and then walked towards Max and hugged him unexpectedly surprising him. “Take care of her Max. She needs you but she won’t accept it.”

“I will” Max vowed.

Claudia touched his face gently, “You will make a great King one day Max Evans. Believe in yourself Zan.”

Max looked at her shocked as she disappeared and the heart monitor flat-lined.

*******

“You told her about yourself and also about us,” Max looked at Michael accusingly still in shock that Claudia knew who he was.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Parker were talking with the doctors while he and Michael were sitting in the waiting room. Michael tiredly rubbed his forehead with his hand. “She already knew about me. I didn’t tell her.”

Before Max could ream him out for telling about him, Isabel and Tess, Michael continued looking at the far wall, “She saw me using my powers. I was 6 and didn’t even know what I was doing.” Michael’s face turned wistful. “She took me to desert every day to practice till I could control my powers. I was so scared that I would hurt my family, Liz…” Abruptly Michael stopped looking around him. “Where is Liz?”

It was then Max realized that Liz wasn’t sleeping at the couch. With the shock that Claudia had known about him and the doctors and nurses rushing in, both Max and Michael had forgotten about her. They got up hurriedly and Michael went inside Claudia’s room. A couple of seconds later he came back frantic with worry.

“She is not there,” he said quickly walking towards the exit followed by Max.

“Relax Michael. She might have gone outside….” Max stopped holding Michael’s arms as Michael suddenly stumbled onto him unsteadily. “Whoa…are you okay Michael?”

“Yeah, Yeah I am fine,” Michael said shaking his head to clear the sudden light-headedness he felt. “I hope she didn’t do anything stupid,” Michael muttered starting to walk but the next second everything around him blurred and he fell with a loud thud to the ground.

*********

Hope you guys like it and I promise you will all know and meet Tris in the next part

[foreverdreamer15]

Hey guys! Just a heads up that this chapter mainly deals with Max, Michael and Liz. I wanted to finish this with another cliff-hanger but then I added some dreamer moments and formed a new chapter. So the next one will mostly be dreamer action. But don't worry Maria & Isabel will make an appearance and there will be candy action in the later chapters

Thank you
kay_b
purpleant
Jason's Lover
mandydemoo
XoXoDreamerXoXo
CherryFlavoredChica: Claudia told Michael to tell the truth about Max and the others and to stop lying about them to Liz. Liz connected with Claudia and met her in Claudia's mind. The connection between Liz and Michael will be explained soon
FSUMSW94
SweetieTeeny
roswellluver
xmag: Hey, hope everything goes well in your RL. Michael was thinking about his adoptive mother. He doesn't know anything about his birth/alien mother. And yeah, Maria's powers will be revealed in a really Explosive way but that isn't till a few more chapters.
LovinGuerin2much: Hope you like this part

for your great feedback.

And thanks very much to my beta Behrsgirl77 She's really fast

Oh one more thing, any conversation in italics and between the symbols ~ and ~ is telepathic - talking in their minds

*******

Part 25:

“Isabel, thank God you came,” Maria said rushing into the backroom of the Crashdown.

“Yeah well I have been waiting for the past 5 minutes. Now what is the important thing that you discovered about Michael?” Isabel said impatiently.

“Oh that…see…Michael…” Maria stuttered.

“Maria,” Jose yelled from the kitchen. “Order ready and 2 more tables in your section has been filled. Hurry up.”

Maria cringed then began hastily, “Isabel the Crashdown is full tonight because of the Orthodontist’s convention and its really busy around here and the Parkers and Michael have gone to the hospital cause Grandma Claudia had a stroke and we are a cook short and one of the waitresses didn’t show up…”

“Maria, Maria stop!” Isabel said before she could go on and on. “If you are very busy tonight why did you call me to come now?”

“Ah…about that…”Maria quickly sniffed her cedar oil to calm herself. “I need your help.”

Isabel looked at her confused and then her expression gradually changed as she realized exactly why Maria called her here. “You have got to be kidding me!”

“Maria,” Jose yelled once more and clanged the bell furiously.

“No Isabel. Please. You have to help me.” Maria pleaded. When Isabel crossed her arms and glared at her she quickly added, “You can even have 25% of my tips and look at the crowd outside. You can easily make more than a 100 bucks in tips alone.”

“75%” Isabel said.

“30%”

“65%”

“50% and you can scare away any customers you don’t like,” Maria added brightly.

*******

“What happened?” Max asked Michael who was sitting in a nearby chair with his head in his hands. “We don’t get sick Michael,” he added looking around him cautiously.

“Don’t I know that?” Michael bit out then clutched his head as he felt another dizzy wave.

“Is your friend alright?” a nurse who had been observing them for sometime came nearer and asked Max. “Maybe you should get him checked,” she said concerned.

“No, No. He is fine actually. He just…he didn’t eat properly. He’s fine now.”

The nurse now looked suspiciously at Michael who was struggling to find his balance. She then frowned in disapproval at Max and Michael. “This is a hospital not a place to party drunk. I suggest you drive your friend home.”

Michael suddenly stood up straight his eyes clear and scowled at her. “I am not drunk. Let’s go Maxwell.”

Both Max and the nurse gaped at Michael who was now coolly walking away looking perfectly healthy in complete contrast to his stumbling gait a minute ago. Max shot an apologetic smile at the nurse and quickly followed Michael outside to see him sitting in his jeep.

“Drop me at the Crashdown,” Michael said calmly.

“What?” Max said incredulously. “What the hell just happened?”

Michael shrugged and said, “No idea. I am fine now. Can you drive or not?”

“What about Liz?” Max asked angrily. “She is not at the hospital.”

“I know where she is” Michael said grimly then added nonchalantly, “You need not worry.” When Max simply glared at him, Michael cursed and got down from the jeep. “Fine. I will go by myself.”

And then to Max’s astonishment Michael started walking towards the Crashdown. When the nurse had mentioned something about being drunk, Michael had instantly understood what was going on. His suspicions were confirmed when his mind cleared once he had blocked his connection to Liz. Liz had apparently gotten drunk and her subconscious hold on her mind block had weakened, immediately opening her connection with Michael. As Michael had never blocked their connection from his end, his mind had suddenly been rushed with Liz’s feelings making him as light-headed as her. Michael didn’t even want to think how much she drank to affect him like this.

Michael took a few steps before opening the connection to sense her when he once again stumbled. He became furious realizing that he couldn’t find her without opening the connection fully and he definitely cannot find her if he couldn’t even walk let alone drive. Michael cursed, turned and then walked to the jeep having no other option.

“I am not driving till you tell me what is going on,” Max said sharply.

“Fine. Liz is drunk and I am connected with her. So me falling in there,” Michael pointed to the hospital, “was cause I felt her feelings and became as drunk as her. And now we have to find her before she does anything more stupid.”

Max simply stared at him with his mouth wide open.

*********

“Left,” Michael mumbled trying his best to see through the haze in front of his eyes as Max dutifully turned left.

Max skeptically looked at Michael who was slumped over his seat wearily. He still wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not but he hadn’t wanted to delay searching for Liz. Once he had started driving Michael had closed his eyes and garbled the directions looking pretty much drunk off his ass. Max had tried asking him questions but Michael had simply said that he needed to concentrate to sense where she is and that he would answer his questions later.

Max slowed down as he reached a house where judging by the noise level and the number of vehicles, he could clearly see that a party was going on. He looked at Michael to see him getting off the jeep with a grim look on his face now seemingly in full control of his faculties.

“I will try to find her but stay here and stop her if she does come out without me,” Michael said.

“Is she one of us, I mean is she like us?” Max suddenly asked desperately needing to know.

“She is not,” Michael answered curtly, “and she also doesn’t know about us being aliens. So don’t say anything in front of her.”

“But your connection…” Max began but Michael had already gone inside the house.

Loud music, flashing lights and the smell of alcohol greeted Michael as he neared the house. But he quickly strode towards the living room through the crowd sensing Liz as she was near, though he had blocked his end of the connection. Masses of people were grinding their body against each other.

“You know I have never seen you before,” Paulie said swaying closely with a drunk Liz. He grabbed her hand, “Let’s get to know each other baby. Come up with me,” and then turned only to find himself being roughly pushed against the wall away from Liz.

Michael growled at Paulie “She is coming with me…” He abruptly stopped seeing Liz and his stance became rigid with anger. “What the fuck are you wearing?”

Liz twirled around unsteadily, “I am hot,” she said giggling and then frowned when she saw Michael removing his outer long-sleeved shirt.

“Wear this,” he said sharply throwing it at Liz. “We are going Now!”

“Nuh…” Liz shook her head stepping back away from him. “I like it here and this smells. Yuck!” She said grimacing holding the shirt.

“Hey! She doesn’t want to go. Leave her alone,” Paulie commanded coming in front of Liz.

Michael clenched his fist to avoid blasting him. “Stay away from this,” he snarled at him fiercely and Paulie crashed against a nearby table. He then grabbed Liz’s wrist and dragged her towards the foyer.

“Let go of me,” Liz struggled but Michael ignored her. “Mickeyyyyy!” She pouted and then suddenly pulled his hair childishly with her other hand.

“Owww!” Michael turned back only to find a fist punching his face.

“Fight!” Someone yelled. The next second Michael and Paulie were surrounded by a cheering student body.

******

Max uneasily looked around hoping that he had finally lost Pam Troy. He shuddered. This was exactly the reason why he never even came near these things. He hurried towards the jeep before Michael came back, only to collide against a petite body.

His hands automatically grasped her shoulders steadying her as she held onto his jacket. “Uh…Sorry…” he began but sucked in a breath as she looked up. “Liz…” he said shocked.

“Maaax!” she giggled moving a bit away from him suddenly feeling shy.

She is Fucking Hot! That was the only thought running through his mind as he gawked at her with his mouth wide open. Liz was wearing a black strapless top that hugged her curves closely and stopped just below her breasts giving a fine view of her perfect bare mid-riff. The tight black leather mini-skirt ended mid-thigh showing beautiful flawless skin. Lots of skin, Max thought gulping as his eyes land on the black fuck-me-boots she was wearing.

“Like what you see?” Liz asked him huskily then whirled around laughing.

Shit! Max swore when he saw the top held by only two strings at the back. His eyes then widened on seeing the gorgeous chocolate brown colored hair falling around her shoulders and the doe-shaped dark wide brown eyes gazing at him heatedly with pure desire.

“I like what I see,” Liz continued openly checking him out from his nicely filled black jeans to the olive green shirt and the black leather jacket. Liz licked her lips and finished “very…very much.”

Max made an odd choking sound and his eyes almost bulged out when Liz came closer to him and scraped his shirt with her fingernail. “Give me a ride,” she said looking up at him innocently.

“What?” Max gasped out coughing forgetting to breathe.

“The Jeep,” Liz nodded towards his Jeep a few feet away and Max unconsciously sighed in relief.

“Yeah…Michael…” Max struggled to keep his focus away from the small puffs of breath on his neck. Shit! Michael was going to kill him. That one thought had Max immediately moving away from Liz and looking around them panicked. “Where is Michael?”

“Michael! Now why doesn’t this surprise me?” Liz scowled at Max. “Since he met you, he doesn’t spend any time with me and he keeps secrets from me. I am his best friend not you.” Liz glared at him. “I don’t like you very much.”

Max unconsciously smiled seeing her crossing her arms and frowning at him tapping her heels. She looked too adorable for words.

“Stop smiling,” she said poking his chest with her finger. “You may be cute but I really don’t like you.”

Max’s smile if possible got even wider. “You think I am cute?”

“You are not trying to turn him into someone like you, are you?” she asked him suspiciously.

“Like me?”

“Yeah you know gay.”

“What!” Max sputtered at the serious look on Liz’s face.

“Let’s go Maxwell. Get in the jeep Liz,” Michael said hurrying up to them with a bruised eye.

Max angrily turned to Michael. “You told her I was…” He abruptly stopped seeing Michael. “What did you do to your hair?” He asked in amazement.

“Nothing,” Michael said but seeing Max still staring at his hair and Liz giggling, he quickly took a look in the Jeep’s mirror and cursed loudly.

His hair was a bright pink color.

Liz started laughing loudly soon joined by Max’s chuckles. Michael glared at Liz knowing that she had changed it inside the house and he couldn’t very well change it in front of Max and Liz if he wanted neither of them to know that the other knows the truth about him being an alien. Damnit! No wonder the guys inside had started laughing at him.

“Enough! Now get in the Jeep Liz.”

“No,” Liz said petulantly. “I don’t wanna go with you. I don’t like the Jeep and I don’t like Max.”

Max frowned and Michael grinned hearing the last part. “The feeling’s mutual. Now get in!”

“You got to catch me,” Liz laughed running away but suddenly stopped unable to move, turned back and climbed into the Jeep glaring at Michael. “You don’t play fair. I hate you.”

Max looked between Liz and Michael bewildered. Did Michael just use his powers on Liz? The questions he wanted to ask Michael went on piling up.

Michael climbed into the back next to Liz and then frowned looking at her. “Where is my shirt?”

Max started driving and Liz suddenly sang off key “Gone with the wind” and burst out laughing.

Liz! Michael mentally shouted frustrated.

Liz suddenly clutched her head moaning in pain. ~ Stop shouting! ~

Michael turned so fast to give him a whiplash. “What?” he croaked.

~ Stop Shouting! ~ There was a pause, then ~ My head hurts Tris ~

Michael released the breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. It wasn’t his imagination. He had heard her familiar voice in his head. ~ Rina? ~ He unconsciously reverted to her nickname ~Are you …you are able to hear me? ~

Liz cocked her head at him in confusion ~ yeah! I have always heard you. ~

“Not for a long time,” Michael said quietly unable to prevent from voicing it aloud.

“What?” Max asked looking at them in the rearview mirror only to gulp seeing Liz’s legs.

“Give me your jacket Max,” Michael said.

For a second Max became scared that Michael saw him checking out Liz. But seeing only irritation not anger on Michael’s face, Max felt relieved and gave his jacket to Michael after removing it. Michael handed it to Liz daring her to not put it on. Liz sourly put the jacket on just as Michael’s cell rang.

“Mr. P…yeah…Liz is with me at my place…” Michael turned his head the other side to avoid Liz shouting into the phone.

Liz smiled at Max impishly catching his eye in the rearview mirror and the next time he glanced at her, she deliberately took a long sniff at his jacket enjoying it closing her eyes. Max’s eyes widened on seeing that and his heart started beating fast.

Liz then leaned forward making sure to keep eye contact with him and whispered in his ear, “Your jacket smells sooo good!” She then nuzzled her nose on his neck and Max’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

He quickly glanced at Michael and then whispered harshly, “Liz! What are you doing?”

Liz breathed in near him and finished sighing, “Just like you.”

“Listen Max,” Michael turned around and abruptly Max straightened away from Liz. “I need you to drop me at the Crash and take Liz to my place. If Mr. P finds out she is drunk I am dead. I will come there within half an hour. That okay with you?”

Okay with me? Are you kidding? Alone with Liz? Max jumped with joy inside but calmly replied, “sure. Its fine with me.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Liz whined. “And I don’t want to be with him. I wanna see grandma.”

Michael’s temper suddenly flared thinking of the way Liz was behaving when she had just died. “You can’t,” he said tightly.

“Why not? I wanna see her,” Liz said belligerently.

Seeing the tightening of Michael’s jaw, Max warned him, “Michael…”

“You can’t coz she is dead while you were enjoying yourself,” Michael said harshly but immediately regretted it as Liz burst out crying and Max glared at him. ~ I am sorry Rina. I didn’t mean that ~ He tried to hug her but Liz slid away from him. “No you did. I hate you.”

“I…I am sorry Liz,” Michael once again said holding her close to him.

She then looked up at him tearfully, ~ Why can’t we never save the ones we love Tris? ~

~We…we couldn’t have done anything. You know that. ~

~What is the use of having these stupid powers then? ~ She cried as Michael comforted her.

After a few minutes, Michael said telepathically. ~ You don’t want to see your dad like this Rina. Stay at my place and I will be there with you soon okay? And no powers in front of Max ~

She sniffled and said, “Okay,” much to the confusion of Max who looked at her cautiously. When Michael got down a block before the café she had fallen half-asleep. He silently changed her clothes to sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

“Max, you try anything with her, King or not I will kill you. Got it?” Michael quietly warned flexing his fist.

“I wouldn’t do anything Michael,” Max said firmly. Michael looked at him for a moment and then nodding walked off.

*******

So, how is it?

[foreverdreamer15]

Okay everyone I am gonna try to clear up some confusion...I didn't want to mention this till later in the story but hey, you guys are confused enough already so here goes...

Michael's name on Antar/ Sardenia, the whole whirlwhind galaxy etc...was Trisarath (please don't hate me ) He was known as Prince Rath and then General Rath once Zan ascended the throne...only very few people close to him called him as Tris You could all say Tris was like a childhood nickname but Trisarath had always preferred to be called as the powerful warrior Rath, the almighty General Rath...go figure

Michael calls Liz by her nickname Rina...and I am not gonna tell what that is short for


Thank you

Michael needs to start a damn confession!! LOL!!

This cracked me up but you are right..don't worry Michael will be explaining to Max soon about his connection with Liz.

FSUMSW94: Yeah Michael is Tris and he and Liz have always used these nicknames for one another
stargrl678
roswellluver
purpleant: A drunk Liz doesn't have any inhibitions and says exactly what she feels She is attracted to Max and doesn't hide it but at the same time she is also jealous of Michael's friendship with him coz she feels that Michael started lying and keeping secrets from her after meeting Max.
xmag: I guess I can understand what you are saying but I feel that telepathy is almost like any other power. Just as any power has its pros and cons so does telepathy. And any power can be abused or used in a good away and depends on the person using them. That is the same case with telepathy...for telepathic connection to exist between two individuals I feel they must have a strong mental bond and must absolutely and completely trust each other...
You are right in saying that sharing brains is frightening since we have grown up always knowing and feeling safe that our real personal thoughts and feelings are ours alone in our brain and cannot be heard or felt by others...so naturally when we find someone else can access those we freak out..Now imagine if a person right from their birth has always felt the presence of another person in their mind, has always shared their thoughts and feelings with another person, has never truly felt alone and doesn't actually know what being really alone in your own mind means; in this case when such a connection is cut off or gone suddenly, it is completely frightening for them to be truly alone for the first time... I guess they feel as if a part of them is destroyed or has died...But you are again right that if they can't close off the connection the other person might feel when you are having sex etc... which frankly sucks and is then really freaky... As i said before there are both pros and cons of such a conn...

Okay enough with my rambling...I think i might have confused you even more than before Anyways, what i meant to say was, in this fic Michael and Liz do have a telepathic connection but they can also easily block each other completely from one another...Liz is completely blocked from Michael when she is sober and has full knowledge of what is happening and hence telepathy doesn't work, in fact they can't even sense each other in this case, as you might have read in previous parts...That's how I want to portray their connection...

kay_b
SweetieTeeny

everyone for your feedback.

I really hope that atleast some of your confusions were cleared otherwise let me know, I will try to explain without giving away the actual plot...

And thanks to my wonderful beta Behrsgirl77 here's the next Dreamer part now....

******

Part 26:

Liz shifted slightly and then snuggled closer to Max. Her arms automatically coming around his neck as he picked her up and carefully walked towards Michael’s apartment trying not to wake her up. He kicked the front door shut with his foot and placed her softly on the couch in the living room. He gazed at her for a few seconds then gently brushed her hair away from her face. Unable to stop himself he lightly ran his hands through her hair. Soft as silk just as I thought, Max smiled memorizing her beautiful features. He couldn’t explain what had happened when he had seen her today. He had fallen headlong into her mesmerizing deep brown eyes and for a second something in him had recognized her, had known this was meant to be, they were meant to be. He had never felt anything like that with any other woman, not even Tess, his destined bride, Max thought with a shudder.

Helpless to resist he leaned forward and gave a feather-light kiss on her forehead and hovered over her gazing longingly. Then sighing, he closed his eyes and kissed her left eyelid softly, then her right, then moved to kiss her cheek when his lips met her lips instead. He jerked back in surprise his eyes wide open only to find himself unable to move. His eyes quickly flew up to meet brown pools of desire.

“Liz?” he gasped out alarmed.

“Max,” she sighed sleepily bringing him even closer with her arms around him and then smiled.

“Kiss me.”

Oh God! Yes! No! Yes! Say something else Max, say something other than yes, he thought frantically as her fingers gently twirled the hair at his nape. “You are awake,” he blurted out.

“Since you stopped the Jeep,” she said softly looking at his lips.

Max groaned when he saw her closing her eyes and tilting her head towards him. This isn’t right; she is drunk. She doesn’t know what she is doing. Don’t do this Maxwell. Don’t… “Mud!”

Liz’s eyes opened in surprise, “What?”

Okay, not working, not working, he thought as he gazed into her bottomless eyes. Something else, think of someone else, mom, dad, Maria, Alex, Liz, his eyes closed unconsciously and his lips touched hers softly. The sudden image of Michael barreling towards him with his hands glowing was enough to move away from her hurriedly and crash against the table behind him.

“Max?” Liz sat up confused.

Mud, Mud, Mud “Mud!” he said aloud looking at her slightly tousled hair, her red lips and her captivating gaze. “Mud-pie,” he clarified hurriedly. “We should eat.”

“But I’m not hungry,” Liz pouted and then her eyes twinkled winking at him. “Not for food anyway,” she said her eyes slowly roaming over his body lingering in a few places.

“Drink then” Max said in a high-pitched voice. “Yeah soda. I will get it,” and he nearly ran away from the room into the kitchen. He drew in a breath and tried to calm his raging body down. He was now convinced that he was either going to die a painful but happy death by Liz or just a painful death by Michael before this night was over. He really wasn’t sure what to make of Liz – one minute she was a cute child and the next, God help him, a seductive temptress. How much did she drink anyways?

“But Mikey only has Snapple,” Liz’s disgusted voice floated down to him from the living room. “I want cherry coke.”

Max opened the refrigerator only to find that Liz was right. He took two Snapple’s and closed his eyes concentrating on them. His hands glowed briefly and he closed the fridge then opened the cherry cokes. He poured a liberal amount of Tabasco into one and went to the living room only to stop in surprise seeing Liz wearing a short black tank top and sweat-pants.

“Where is your sweatshirt?” he asked looking around and wondering from where she got the tank top.

Liz simply shrugged and seeing the cherry coke in his hands, she yelled. “Yeah Cherry coke.” And grabbing one from his hands started drinking it happily. “This is very good.”

Max smiled at her and then sat on the single couch not trusting himself to sit near her. Liz frowned at him and then suddenly asked him, “Do you like me?”

“Of course I like you,” Max replied carefully wondering where she was going with this. “You are my friend.”

“A friend?” Liz asked tilting her head adorably.

Max smiled gently, “Yeah. A very good friend.”

Liz placed her cherry coke on the table and walked towards him. Max tensed when she came closer to him and then his breath left his body when she suddenly sat on his lap comfortably snuggling to him with her arms around his neck. His hands were tightly holding the armrests and his body rigid.

“Max?” Liz said softly.

“Yeah,” Max said hoarsely smelling strawberry and Vanilla. He desperately tried to keep his eyes open.

“I miss my grandma,” she said sniffling.

Immediately Max’s arms came around her and he gently rubbed her back. “Shh…it’s okay to miss her Liz.”

“I am a bad person. I wasn’t even there when she died.”

“No Liz,” Max said looking at her tearful face. He framed her face in his hands and tenderly rubbed her tears with his thumb.

“You are the most wonderful person I know. It’s always difficult to watch someone you love die and nobody blames you for not being there okay? What is important is, you and your parents know that you loved her very much. Your grandma knew how much you loved her and nobody thinks bad of you just coz you weren’t there.”

“Michael does.”

“Well Michael is an insensitive jerk,” Max said keeping the more colorful adjectives to himself. “So he doesn’t count.”

Liz giggled and Max’s heart became warmer. He hugged her close to him resting his chin on her head. “You are an amazing person Elizabeth Parker and never let anyone say anything else.”

“Thank you, Max” Liz said cuddling to him. “I like you.”

Max smiled happily that dimmed when she continued, “You are a good friend.”

“Yeah,” he said dully. They could never be anything more than friends.

“Max?” Liz said a couple of minutes later shifting her head.

“Hmm” Max replied contently with Liz in his arms. He could die happily now.

“I like you…” Liz paused, “as more than a friend.” Max’s amber gaze collided against her brown ones surprised. He never thought that she would feel like that about him. Liz’s eyes lowered shyly as she continued, “I didn’t think I would feel like this so soon after…Do you like me?” she lifted her earnest gaze towards him smiling bashfully. “As more than a friend I mean?”

Max didn’t know what to say. He was too scared that this was only a dream. He gave himself a slight pinch and then blinked at her as he repeated in his head what she told. Like her? He loved her. But did he want to bring her into his world? He intuitively knew that he wouldn’t, no; he couldn’t start anything with Liz till she knew the truth about him, about what he was. But the instant she does, her life would no longer be the same. She would have to lie to her parents and friends would have to constantly look over her shoulders for threats both human and alien and forget the meaning of safe. And Max was sure if she did become his girlfriend, her life would be in more danger, as he was the damn King. Could he selfishly ask her to give up her life just because he loved her? Moreover would she still like him, want him to be her friend if she knew what he was?

When Max simply stared at her distantly, the hopeful look in her eyes dimmed and they gradually filled with tears. The soft whimper brought Max out of his own world and he was alarmed to see Liz crying.

“You don’t…don’t like me,” she said trying to scramble away from him.

“God! No Liz,” Max said quickly bringing his arms around her tightly to prevent her from getting up. How could she even think that?

“Do you… like Maria or maybe Tess?” she asked haltingly her gaze down.

“What?” Max asked stunned. “No. I like you Liz. Maria is just my friend, nothing else. And Tess is…”

“A bitch?” Liz supplied helpfully looking at him innocently when he paused.

Max laughed, “Yeah. I don’t like them like that but I lov…” he quickly amended, “like you very much.”

“As more than a friend?” Liz asked him warily.

“Yeah, as more than a friend,” he said softly sliding his fingers through her hair.

“Really?” Liz asked him brightly with a huge smile on her face.

For a second Max was struck by her radiance. Sure he had seen her rare smiles before but this was the first time he had seen it reach her eyes.

“Yeah, really but we can’t…”

Liz squealed interrupting him and quickly hugged him tightly almost squeezing his neck. Hearing him groan slightly, she loosened her hold immediately, “Sorry.”

“Its okay…” Max began but stopped at the heated look in her eyes as she brought her face closer.

“Liz…” he whispered his gaze going towards her soft lips.

“Yeah…”Liz said just as softly her lips a mere breath away from his.

“Are you still drunk?”

“Will you stop if I said I am?” she asked closing her eyes.

“I can’t…” Max moaned closing his eyes, his heart beating fast.

The sudden ring of the calling bell had him turning his head away at the last second and Liz kissed his cheek.

“Liz… someone’s at the door,” Max said his heart rate gradually coming down to normal. He was about to kiss her. What the hell was he thinking?

“Let them be,” she said huskily into his ear and moved her hand over his chest.

“Liz, we need to…Oh God!” Max groaned as Liz slightly bit his lobe and soothed it with her tongue. “Liz… we can’t…” he sucked in his breath as her hand slid under his shirt.

“Nice,” Liz said moving her hand over his 6-pac and her mouth nibbling his neck.

Max’s eyes glazed over and he grasped her face to kiss her senseless when the doorbell sounded again loudly making him jump. In his hurry to move away from Liz, he tripped and fell over the armrest of the couch. He blinked wondering how he got onto the floor and Liz giggled seeing his confusion. The doorbell sounded again impatiently and Max’s heart started thudding in fear thinking it was Michael.

It must have shown on his face for Liz laughed and said, “It’s not Michael. He has a key.”

That did not comfort him at all as his mind immediately thought of what would have happened if Michael had indeed rushed into the room. He got up quickly without meeting her eyes and went towards the door thanking whoever was at the door for interrupting. He couldn’t believe how he had selfishly put her in danger. It wasn’t safe for them and she was drunk. She obviously didn’t know what she was doing and he had taken advantage of her. Max once again berated himself and opened the door.

His relief quickly turned to dismay when he found who was at the door.

“Tess” he said glumly.

******

Liz frowned when Max quickly left to open the door. She tried to see who was at the door but Max was effectively blocking her view. She then looked around the room bored thinking that she could maybe redecorate it and lightly touched a couch and smiled happily when the color changed from its usual dirty grey to light cream. She immediately touched the other one too turning its color also. Then her eyes fell on her purse and she eagerly opened it taking a small bottle from it. She took a small sip and then giggled. Seeing Max’s cherry coke, she took a sneak peek back only to see him still talking to the person at the door. She quickly emptied the alcohol in his cherry coke thinking he really needed to loosen up. She then looked around to throw the bottle somewhere then rolled her eyes changing it into an ashtray and kept it on the table.

“Max…” she yelled.

*******

“Hi Max,” Tess said cheerfully trying to enter the room but Max stood unmoving near the door.

“Michael isn’t here Tess,” Max said not wanting her to come inside and see Liz.

“I know. I saw him at the Crashdown. I came to see you.”

“Oh. Wait, Michael sent you here?” Max asked in disbelief.

“No. Your mom said you were with Michael. And you weren’t at the Crash. Do you know your sister is working at the Crash? Why is she stooping so low?” Then becoming irritated she said, “Move away Max. I want to come inside.”

“Ah Tess. This is not a good time.”

“Why? I can help you with whatever you were doing,” she said putting her hand on Max. This was perfect. Max was here all alone and she wasn’t going to let go of this opportunity to get close to him.

Max flushed thinking of what he was doing a few minutes before and Tess seeing the look on his face came even closer to him. “Max…”

“What are you doing?” Max grimaced and quickly pulled away from her. “Tess I am busy…”

Suddenly they both heard a giggle and a voice calling, “Max…”

“Is that Liz?” Tess asked angrily then demanded, “What the hell is she doing here?”

“She is drunk. I am just looking after her till Michael comes back.”

“I bet you are…”

Liz impatiently got up to get Max and tell whomever it was at the door to get lost. She had taken only a few steps when she stopped shocked to see Max and Tess in a mind-blowing kiss as tears gradually filled her eyes.

********

[foreverdreamer15]

Thank you

Is Rina short for Serina perhaps? Just a thought

You never know you just have to wait to find out...

Emz80m
purpleant
XoXoDreamerXoXo
stargrl678
roswellluver
extingman: Nope, Liz doesn't have mind-warping abilities so she didn't mind-warp Tess and Max to see human cells.

Is Liz Michael's little sister? If so how come her blood is human, yet she has all these alien powers?

You just have to be patient to know answers to these I know you guys have all been waiting patiently but you will get an explanation of sorts soon when Michael tells Max about his connection to Liz.

And Michael doesn't want Liz to be mixed up with anything alien related and Max being Zan, the King with aliens hunting him, he doesn't want Max and Liz getting together. He just wants Liz to be safe.

mrslaws: Welcome and glad that you love the story.
SweetieTeeny
LovinGuerin2much

for your great feedback.

And of course thanks to my beta Behrsgirl77.

*****

Part 27:

Michael wearily flipped the burgers on the grill looking at the crowded café. Mr. Parker had wanted to close the Crashdown but Michael had convinced him not to pointing out that the dinner rush would only be for an hour and they were going to close it for the next two days anyway. Maria had unusually agreed with him fully till he heard her telling Mr. Parker that they really needed another cook. Of course, Michael had been forced to volunteer and he had been working for the past 30 minutes when all he wanted to do was go home, kick Max out and deal with Liz’s stupid actions. Not that he hadn’t had fun watching Isabel screw up orders. He had laughed outright when he first saw her in the ridiculous costume taking orders but that had stopped abruptly when she had chillingly told him, “Sweet Dreams Tonight.”

And now he was tired, anxious and worried that Liz might accidentally…

“What the…” Michael suddenly stopped and bent over with the strong feelings of hurt from Liz. He had kept their connection open lightly so as not to affect him and knew that he would be able to sense any strong feelings from her.

“What the hell is Max doing?” he asked himself puzzled and then angry when her emotions in fact seemed to grow only stronger.

He went near the lockers and holding them for support opened his connection to her more. Immediately he felt the beginnings of anger.

~ Liz, are you all right? ~

~ Go away Michael! ~

~ What is… ~

~ I SAID GET OUT OF MY HEAD! ~

The next second Michael clutched his head groaning in pain.

“Damn it! Damn Maxwell!” Michael cursed straightening. He quickly opened his locker and stuffed the apron and the chef’s hat into it and grabbing his jacket and keys, shut it closed. A pissed off Liz was bad enough but a drunk and pissed off Liz was… whoever is in her range of fire is toast, Michael thought

“And just where do you think you are going?” Maria asked her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

“Out,” Michael barely gave a glance at her before going out through the backdoor followed by an irate Maria.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Maria angrily grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him back.

“Let go Blondie!” Michael said turning back annoyed.

“Can it space boy,” Maria began furiously. “You persuaded Mr. Parker to keep the café open, you said it was okay when Jose went home. And so now, you are going to stay here and cook,” she finished turning and dragging him inside.

Suddenly there was a tug and then Maria was left standing with the jacket her eyes wide and her mouth in an O. She instantly turned back only to see the motorbike speeding away from her and just when she thought it couldn’t get worse, the smell of burnt burgers reached her nose.

“AAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhh…” Maria’s enraged scream abruptly cut short when the light bulb just outside the back door, facing the alleyway exploded.

***********

Liz strode towards Max and Tess her hurt rapidly giving away to pure hot anger. How dare he, she thought glaring at them still going at it, How dare he kiss Tess when he just admitted he didn’t like her, that he liked me more? The bastard hadn’t wanted to kiss me…

Suddenly she stopped annoyed when Michael as usual tried to butt in. He never did listen to her.

~ I SAID GET OUT OF MY HEAD! ~

Pushing him from her head, Liz once again walked towards the pair furious and continuing her thoughts…but he has no problem with kissing the gerbil? Speaking of which…

“Get the hell out of here,” Liz said pulling Max away from Tess using brutal force, courtesy of alien powers.

For a moment Tess looked shocked then smiled sickly at Liz, “Max invited me here. Honey, do you want me to go?” she asked Max looking at him.

Max had a dazed look on his face when he answered, gazing at Tess adoringly. “No Tess. I am very happy that you came…”

“Oh, Shut your mouth,” Liz interrupted Max crossly and then turned to Tess. “Listen bitch,” she ignored Tess’ gasp and continued, “Michael told us to stay in here and not to allow anyone inside till he came back. So take your ugly face to wherever you came from and leave us alone.”

Liz then tried to close the door shut but Tess angrily pushed it open.

“He likes me,” Tess yelled. “Why don’t you accept that? He kissed me bitch not you.”

At that reminder, Liz grasped Tess leaving the door and gave her a good push, quickly turned, grabbed Max by his lapel and sealed her lips to his.

Max’s mind cleared the instant Liz’s lips touched his and he opened his eyes confused about the soft feeling on his lips. The next instant his eyes widened seeing Liz and he opened his mouth to say something instead his tongue met hers. Max’s hands automatically flew around her even as his eyes closed in bliss and he finally surrendered to what he had wanted to do since he met her.

Heaven, this is pure heaven, Max thought hazily as her hands playfully twirled the hair at the nape of his neck and his own rubbed her back. He had never felt so invincible and weak at the same time. Something shifted in him. The more he kissed her the more his energy gathered, trying to reach something…someone…her… Suddenly Max saw a huge burst of white light and then he was flying through endless space among thousands of twinkling stars.

Tess blinked her eyes and touched her hand to the back of her head where a bump was already forming. She healed it unable to believe that Liz, a mere human, had dared to push her against the wall. Something has got to be done about Liz. She slowly got up her muscles slightly protesting and then blinked once again at the sight in front of her eyes.

“What?” She yelled realizing that it was not a hallucination. Max and Liz were indeed kissing or more appropriately, literally devouring each other.

She ran towards them in her fury and reached to pull Max away from Liz when she was once again thrown away from them. That’s it! I am blasting her, Tess thought getting up with pure hatred in her eyes when she stopped stunned.

Max, she mentally screamed seeing a shield separating her from Max and Liz. Her eyes immediately went to Max’s and when she saw his hands going under Liz’s shirt she stifled the scream that wanted to erupt out and blasted them only to have it bounce back at her from the shield.

Two can play this game your highness, she thought maliciously taking a small crystal from her bag and closed her eyes concentrating. After a couple of minutes, she opened her eyes frustrated and saw Max still kissing Liz, unaffected by her mind warp but Liz seemed to be pushing Max away from her. Maybe I should mind-warp Liz instead, Tess thought and looked at the crystal and gasped in shock to see it glowing a bright green. She immediately looked around her fearfully knowing that Michael was near somewhere. She couldn’t afford to get caught and glaring at Max for putting up the shield, she ran away vowing to get back at Liz somehow just as the shield collapsed a couple of seconds later.

Tess never realized that the shield wasn’t Max’s usual green but was in fact white in color.

*******

“Oww….my hand, my hand…its burnt, its burnt…” Kyle yelled.

“Stop being a baby. That’s just one finger,” Isabel said haughtily.

“Do you know how important this finger is in wrestling?” Kyle glared at her.

Isabel simply snorted and sauntered away to take another order.

Kyle muttered a curse and then scowled on seeing Maria. She had threatened to accidentally let Vicky’s parents know what he was doing with their saint of a daughter if he didn’t help her. Damn her! Kyle furiously stirred something and then caught a burning smell.

“Shit! You are dead Guerin! You are so dead!” Kyle mumbled throwing the burgers in the trash.

A few tables away Maria was plotting her own revenge. Michael had not only left them all to deal with the stupid crowd but had also tried to scare her by bursting that stupid bulb though she was beyond confused as to how he did that from a great distance. Who cares? The fact is no one scared Maria DeLuca and lived to talk about it.

“I wanted a well-done burger. This is burnt,” the man told her snottily leaving the table.

“Have a nice night,” Maria yelled gritting her teeth. “A few more minutes Maria. A few more minutes. Oh yeah, then you can kill Michael. Patience.” She sniffed her cedar oil quickly. “Calm down…”

Isabel shook her head looking at Kyle and Maria. Behaving like kids humph... Isabel was so glad that she had perfected the art of remaining calm under strenuous situations. Oh yeah, you do well under shocking circumstances Isabel. Isabel mentally patted herself not realizing that she would soon be joining Maria and Kyle in decimating Michael.

******

It’s beautiful. Max looked at the tiny lights glowing around him awed at the speed he seemed to be going. What is this place? Is that…IS THAT EARTH? A second later he felt as if he was falling from a great height and immediately tightened his arms around Liz crushing his mouth to hers not noticing her squirming. A series of images flashed through his mind, desert, men rushing with guns chasing someone, the old radio tower and a beeping sound as something was buried in the desert.

Max gasped taking in a breath attaching his mouth to her perfect neck when he noticed Liz struggling to get away from him.

“Oh God, Liz I am sorry,” Max said quickly releasing her and she slid down against the wall as if unable to stand. What did he do her?

“Liz? Are you okay? I don’t know what came over me…”

“I have to go,” she suddenly said looking up at him with wide eyes.

Max tucked her hair behind her ear, “Liz I am really sorry…I…I won’t do anything like that again but you don’t have to go…”

“No,” Liz struggled to stand up, “You don’t understand. I have got to go…it’s calling me…Michael…”

“What?” Max asked frantic with worry that his kissing her had done something to her. Who knew what happened if an alien kissed a human?

“Get away from her,” said a gruff voice and Michael was then crouching in front of her pushing Max aside.

“Michael…I don’t what happened…I mean I just…” Max trailed off his heart thudding in fear that Michael was going to blast him somewhere.

~ Calm down Rina. Take deep breaths… ~

~ No Tris! It’s calling me…it’s calling us…we have to go to it… ~

~ Okay, okay. We will go but first you have to take deep breaths. Remember the meditation techniques I taught you? ~

There was a short pause then…~ I taught you that scatterbrain. Not you. ~

~ Okay fine! Just take the damn breaths. ~

Max gazed at them both bewildered. This was the second time this had happened the first being n the jeep. If he wasn’t sure he would think they were talking only with their eyes to each other. Michael got up running his hands through his hair. He knew exactly what Liz was talking about as he had also felt the pull when he came nearer to his apartment. Tess!

“What the hell was Tess doing here?” he asked Max angrily.

“Tess?” Max asked puzzled. “She never came here.”

“You were kissing Tess,” Liz accused him.

“What?” Max looked at Liz puzzled.

“Don’t lie. You invited her here and then you made out with her.”

Max cringed at the mental picture then whispered to Michael who was glaring daggers at him. “Look as far as I know Tess didn’t come here. Maybe Liz is imagining things…she is drunk.”

Michael looked at Max disgusted. “Either you are really stupid or Tess mind-warped you.”

“What?” Max asked shocked but Michael had already turned his attention to Liz.

~ Rina I will be back soon with the thing. Just stay here. ~

~ But it wants both of us, not only you. ~

~ Stay here. I will get it to you. ~ He said firmly and then turned to Max.

“I am going to Tess’ place and will be back soon.”

“But what about Liz? What just happened to her?” Max whispered.

“Tess did something,” Michael said darkly, “which is what I am going to find out now. And don’t let Liz out of this house.”

Michael quickly turned and left leaving a confused and grateful Max who was really glad that Liz didn’t tell him about their kiss. He locked the door and wearily sat down on the couch. He took a sip of the cherry coke and grimaced.

“You don’t like it?” Liz asked him and Max glanced up to see her standing near him.

“It tastes funny I think.”

“Gimme. Let me taste it” Liz then took a sip and scrunched her face. “It’s awful.” Her face then brightened. “I know the exact thing to make it better,” and she went to the kitchen.

Max took the cherry coke again thinking that if Liz found it awful it meant this was the Tabasco mixed one. He then took a big gulp and his eyes blurred. He peered intensely at the couch, wasn’t this a gray color?

“Here,” Liz suddenly came with a Tabasco bottle and poured it into the coke. She then took a gulp and smacked her lips. “This is good. Try it.”

Max obediently took the coke and finished it. “It’s much better. Thank you Liz.”

Liz giggled, “I am here doofus not there.”

“No you are here.” Max then looked confused. “But you are there also.” And then he smiled drunkenly. “There are 2 Liz’s. Now I can kiss twice as much.”

******

Michael cautiously crept into the dark and silent house. He had been waiting for the past twenty minutes for Tess to leave the house blocking himself from her and now he was beyond impatient and pissed off at Tess. He quickly went up to her room noting that she had spent most of her time there and started searching for anything suspicious.

After ten minutes of fruitless search, he cursed and then unblocked his mind trying to sense anything alien. He immediately frowned feeling some unnamed emotion from Liz. It suspiciously felt like… but before he could find out what it was he started feeling the familiar pull to something in the room and he followed it to a corner of the wall of Tess’ bedroom. He stared at it for a few seconds then frustrated started knocking on the wall not knowing what he was doing. Suddenly a portion of the floor nearer to the wall started glowing. Michael crouched down and placed his hand over the spot and the glowing intensified and he got a flash of a glowing crystal. Not knowing how to get the crystal he reacted the only way he knew.

He took aim and blasted at the floor.

*******

“I don’t care what you want to do him. But I get the first dibs on killing him,” Maria firmly said following Isabel to Michael’s apartment.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with a dead alien?” Kyle asked irritated. “No, No. You hurt him then we let Max heal him and then I kill him. Yeah I like this much better,” Kyle said nodding his head and flexing his arms.

Isabel rolled her eyes hearing the bickering between Kyle and Maria that had been going on since they started from the Crashdown. She stood outside Michael’s apartment and pounded on the door really wanting to get away from the plans of the evil duo.

“Max, Michael…” she yelled for good measure.

“Just do your genie thing and get inside,” Kyle told her impatiently.

“Yeah, do it” Maria said glaring at the door fiercely.

After a few seconds, Isabel shrugged, placed her hand on the door lock and then opened it stepping inside.

“Max what are…” Isabel then abruptly stopped staring up wide-eyed.

Maria rushed inside moving past Isabel and then stopped equally stunned. “Wow!” she said looking up.

“Make way for the man ladies,” Kyle pushed them aside entering the room and closed the door shut.

And then, “Where is the rest of the building?” he cried out looking above at the wide expanse of stars in the sky that were clearly visible from Michael’s living room.

*******

A.N: Hey Everyone! Check out my new fic
Say You'll Be Mine - viewtopic.php?t=7878

[foreverdreamer15]

A.N: Hey Guys! I am baaaaack with a new part My muse finally started working again. Hopefully it won't go away and thank you all very much for your patience and I promise you will all start getting answers from this part...

Thank you

FSUMSW94: Yeah, it was Maria's power that shattered the light bulb and ho, she doesn't know about it but she will soon
Lullaby
roswellluver
SweetieTeeny
OmegaRam1
purpleant: Yup, Liz spiked Max's drink and got him drunk.

I wonder what the white light meant...they're married, aren't they?

Nope, they aren't married but you will find out in the next part what that white light meant.

CherryFlavoredChica
LovinGuerin2much
SmileeUk
Lurkers

And welcome to new readers...i will try to update regularly...

And thanks to my wonderful beta Behrsgirl77

I hope you all remember where we left off

Part 27

“Max what are…” Isabel then abruptly stopped staring up wide-eyed.

Maria rushed inside moving past Isabel and then stopped equally stunned. “Wow!” she said looking up.

“Make way for the man ladies,” Kyle pushed them aside entering the room and closed the door shut.

And then, “Where is the rest of the building?” he cried out looking above at the wide expanse of stars in the sky that were clearly visible from Michael’s living room.

*****
Part 28:

Maria and Kyle were still looking up in disbelief and amazement when Isabel came back in, after shutting the door.

“Okay guys, I just checked outside. The building is intact, so Max must have made it look as if there is no ceiling with his powers. That means he can probably reverse it back.”

“Wait, why would Max do that in front of Liz?” Maria asked Isabel puzzled.

At that moment they heard a loud moan coming from Michael’s bedroom and Maria and Isabel looked at the door in shock.

“Looks like he is doing more than that, the lucky bastard” Kyle snickered.

“Kyle!” Isabel yelled disgusted.

“What?” Kyle held his hands up. “I am not the one in there with Liz.”

They both heard a loud gasp from Maria, who had right away gone into the room, after pounding on the door and getting no reply. A minute later she came out dragging a howling shirtless Max by his ear, followed by a giggling Liz, who was wearing only Max’s shirt.

“Oww…that hurt Maria,” Max said, rubbing his ear and glaring at Maria.

“Isabel, we have a big problem,” Maria said ignoring Max and pointing to Michael’s bedroom.

“Hey! You have brown hair and eyes,” Kyle simultaneously said, openly staring at Liz surprised.

“I can kiss it better,” Liz smiled sweetly at Max from the couch and Max immediately went near her. And to the shock of others, they both started making out.

“Whoa!” Kyle watched astonished.

“Max!” Isabel yelled unable to believe her saint of a brother was behaving like this.

“What the hell are you all doing here?” A gruff voice asked them and all three turned to see Michael scowling at them from the doorway.

“Uhm…we…” Isabel replied looking at Maria helplessly while Kyle grinned folding his hands over his chest, planning to enjoy the show. Maria, Isabel and Kyle were standing together effectively hiding the couch from Michael’s view.

“Michael…uhm…how dare you leave the Crashdown in the middle of work?” Maria asked indignantly after signaling to Isabel. Isabel casually started moving towards the couch to separate the drunks.

Before Michael could answer they heard Liz’s voice yelling, “Mikey!”

“Liz? What are you…” Michael’s face gradually darkened with anger, as he saw Liz getting up from the sofa followed by a shirtless Max.

“I think he is angry,” Max cautiously observed from behind Liz. Even in his inebriated state, he could see Michael clenching his fists and jaw and he wasn’t stupid enough to step out from behind Liz.

“No shit, Sherlock!” Kyle exclaimed from a corner, where he had gone the minute he saw Michael’s expression change. Both Maria and Isabel glared daggers at him.

“Oh! But Mikey, look what Max did for me,” she pointed up excitedly, trying to diffuse his anger and Michael’s mouth fell open in shock, as he looked up. “And see,” Liz pointed to the V-shaped constellation, “there’s our…”

Michael abruptly put his hands over her mouth, “I think you have said enough Liz.”

Liz removed his hand and continued earnestly, “But he can do magic and I think he is also like umm…”

Michael once again covered her mouth and then his eyes glowering at Max, curtly ordered everyone, “Get out,” and dragged a struggling Liz to his room.

Isabel started pulling Max to the door, “Kyle, Maria help me out here,” she hissed at them.

Michael stopped stunned, looking at his room decorated in the Antarian Royal colors of blue and gold, the colors of the King and Queen, just as Max whined behind him, “But I wanna stay with Liz. Besides, she has my shirt.”

And it was only then Michael noticed what Liz was wearing and the next second he had turned and punched Max on his nose. Both Isabel and Maria screamed, seeing the blood flowing from his nose and Liz started hitting Michael.

“Why did you do that for!?” She yelled at him but he quickly pushed her inside his room, waved his hand erecting a force field to prevent Liz from coming out and closed his door locking it from the outside, all within a few seconds. He turned back only to have something heavy land on his head.

“What the fuck!?” He looked to see a furious Maria flinging her handbag at him again and he swiftly ducked, but she still managed to hit him on his side.

“How dare you? You bastard!” Maria yelled at him swinging her handbag again, but after grappling with her for a few seconds, he pulled it out of her hands and threw it away. And then he smelt some odd smell. Seeing some glass pieces on the floor he looked at himself to see the side of his shirt wet.

“You broke my aromatic oil bottles also, you son-of-a…” and Maria started hitting him with her hands.

“Aromatic?” Michael sneered as he struggled with her to avoid her blows. “Don’t you mean disgusting and foul-smelling?”

“Max, are you alright?” Isabel asked him concerned thankful to see him sitting up. “Will you both quit it?” Isabel yelled at Michael and Maria and then seeing Kyle simply staring at them shouted at him, “Kyle, stop them!”

“Are you kidding?” Kyle asked just as Maria gave a swift kick to Michael’s shin and a punch to his nose. “This is way better than WWF.”

“Let go of me Izzz,” Max slurred trying to stand up. “Mikey,” he yelled laughing. Michael was now far away from Maria and glaring at her fuming. “I love your sister and I wanna marry her,” he said smiling dreamily.

For a second there was absolute silence, as Isabel, Maria and Kyle looked at Max shocked, wondering why he is professing his love for Tess, when he was making out with Liz before. Then Michael gave an angry roar and the next moment Max was knocked out cold on the floor, with a satisfied Michael retracting his hand from Max’s head.

“What did you do to him?” Isabel cried out shaking Max trying to wake him up.

Michael snorted, “Nothing. Just made sure…” but what he did no one found out as at that second Michael flew through the air and hit the wall with a big thud and a groan.

Kyle and Isabel turned to Maria slack-jawed, to see her right hand stretched out away from her, with green streaks running through it.

“Maria?” Isabel whispered partly from fear and partly from shock.

Maria stared at her hand completely pale and then looked up to see Michael slowly getting up. Her face split into a wide grin and she threw out her hand again, gleefully watching as a white light flew from her hand, towards Michael.

“What the…” Michael gasped out shocked and threw up his shield just in time.

“Holy shit!” Kyle cursed incredulously.

“Finally! Thank You,” Maria yelled dramatically looking up. “Isabel, watch over Max. I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

Grinning evilly Maria strode towards Michael who was now watching her warily and also scared. He couldn’t keep up his shield forever and he was already tired because of that damn crystal. Meanwhile Isabel quickly scanned Max’s head and realized that Michael hadn’t done any damage except fiercely knock him out. Max was going to have a hell of a headache when he woke up. Something seemed different in his head though, she just couldn’t figure out what it was. Startled by Michael cursing, she looked up to see Maria blasting Michael left and right with Kyle cheering her on. For someone apparently new at this, she seemed to have a really amazing aim.

“Cut it out,” Michael growled, his shield flickering.

“Not even in your dreams buddy,” Maria smirked at him, “Do you even know how long I have waited for this?” And she threw another blast at him, as Michael yelped.

Suddenly the phone started ringing and after a few rings the answering machine picked it up. “Mr. Guerin this is the landlord. There have been complaints of some ruckus going on in your apartment. You better stop all that otherwise I will be calling the cops.”

“Ignore him Maria,” Kyle called out excitedly, “Come on, blast him.”

“Kyle!” Isabel shouted, exasperated. “Maria stop it, we have to get Max out of here.”

Before Maria could answer, they all heard a sob and saw Liz standing near the bedroom’s doorway staring at Max. She hadn’t been able to hear anything because of the shield that Michael had placed in the room and she wasn’t able to concentrate enough to dissolve it sooner. She had finally opened the door and was shocked to see Max lying on the floor.

Giving an anguished, “What did you do?” she rushed towards Max and started shaking him up tearfully.

She started sobbing hysterically when he didn’t wake up. “Please wake up, wake up. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s my fault... they want me, not you. Don’t leave me please…”

Isabel and Maria exchanged confused glances. But Michael, who had let down his shield as soon as the bedroom’s door had opened, stepped closer to her fearfully. To him, the scene was eerily familiar and he knew that Liz wasn’t seeing Max at that instant; it wasn’t Max lying nearly dead in Liz’s eyes; it was Xan.

“Liz…” he said cautiously, “Max is okay…”

“You killed him,” Liz suddenly faced him with tears running down her face; “just like you did…” she abruptly stopped, but Michael’s face crumpled with pain.

“You…you think I killed Xan?” he whispered hoarsely, his worst fears confirmed.

Liz simply looked at him for a moment, and then throwing her arms around Max’s neck, she laid down on his chest crying piteously for him to wake up and not to leave her alone.

And for the first time, even with the mental block she had to prevent from feeling others’ emotions, Isabel Evans was able to feel the heart-wrenching pain in Liz’s heart and her own eyes filled with tears. She gasped for breath with the mind-numbing pain, realizing that Liz was reliving the moment, when someone she loved died in front of her eyes. But above all Isabel was able to feel her overwhelming guilt and shame; guilt that she was responsible for his death and shame that she couldn’t save him. Isabel gently ran her hands through Liz’s hair comforting her.

“Isabel?” Maria slowly sat near Isabel deathly afraid. She wasn’t sure what to make of the sudden tears in Isabel’s ears. “Is Max…is he alright? He is not…”

“Yeah, Max is fine, Maria. He’s just knocked out.” Isabel replied glancing at Maria and then continued, “She is in so much pain, Maria.”

“Did,” Kyle gulped, looking around fearfully, “did Michael really kill this Zan or whatever?”

“Dunno,” Isabel muttered and then only noticed that Michael wasn’t there. “Where is Michael?”

Maria shrugged, “He went out mumbling some nonsense. Come on, let’s take Max home.”

But as they started lifting Max off the floor, Liz once again started crying begging them not to take him away from her and then laid herself on top of him, holding him tightly, thus preventing them from lifting him. After much deliberating, Isabel and Maria, with the help of Kyle, managed to put a still unconscious Max on Michael’s bed. Immediately Liz curled up to him with her hands around him.

“What are we going to do now?” Maria asked nodding off towards the bedroom where they could still hear Liz’s soft cries.

“Let’s go home, eat and sleep before Michael gets back,” Kyle said nervously. “Anyways, I am really famished” Kyle continued, rubbing his stomach.

Isabel rolled her eyes and then said, “I have to go home and cover for Max. Let him sleep here tonight. Max can drive his jeep home tomorrow by himself and Kyle can drop us home now.”

“I’m staying here,” Maria said resolutely, with her hand on her hips.

Isabel rubbed her forehead tiredly. “Maria, I don’t want to leave you alone…”

“This is perfect Isabel. I can call my mother and tell her I am staying at your place. And as you said, you have to cover for Max also. Go, I have my jetta outside so I can get home tomorrow.” When Isabel opened her mouth to argue, Maria wiggled her fingers, “Besides I have kick ass powers now. Michael wouldn’t dare to do anything if he wants to live,” she finished with a gleam in her eyes.

*******
Dawn was just breaking as Michael returned home. He had been aimlessly riding his bike in the desert, thoughts of his past consuming him. He had always blamed himself for Xan’s death but yesterday was the first time Liz had spoken anything about it. Apparently grandma Claudia was wrong. Liz not only blamed herself for Xan’s death, but also blamed him. A shiver passed through Michael, as he remembered what Liz had done following Xan’s death. And it appeared, that this time, Liz had gotten drunk to forget about grandma’s death. His fists unconsciously clenched in anger, as he thought of how recklessly she had used her powers. He was somehow sure that Max alone wasn’t responsible for redecorating his apartment.

Michael cautiously stepped into the living room and was taken aback seeing Maria sleeping on the couch. She looked really peaceful in her sleep, completely different from the tigress that had attacked him yesterday. To say, he was surprised would be an understatement, but what Michael admired most was, she hadn’t even flinched when she found she had powers. She had coolly started blasting him, as if she was born with those powers. He had never met anyone like her. Michael’s smile froze, when he saw her stretching fully on his couch and her short top rode upwards.

Maria blinked her eyes open sleepily and freaked at seeing Michael staring at her. She immediately raised her hand towards him and demanded angrily, “What are you doing here?”

Michael’s eyebrow rose and he smirked. “This is my place. What are you doing here?”

Maria snorted, “You must be crazy if you thought that I would leave Max here, alone with you.”

“Max?” Michael looked around puzzled, “Where is he?”

“Sleeping, in your room.”

Michael nodded and then narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “And where is Liz?”

Expecting his question and his anger on hearing her answer, Maria had stood up from the couch and was now standing in front of him.

“Liz is also sleeping in your room.”

“What?” Michael exploded but the next second his anger deflated leaving him with confusion.

“But its morning,” he said blankly.

“No you numbskull. It’s the middle of the night when sane people are still sleeping,” she said looking at him pointedly and then looked up.

Michael rolled his eyes and glancing up, saw the stars. He waved his hand over it and a couple of minutes later his ceiling reappeared. Throwing something in Maria’s hands he started walking towards his room.

“Shit!” Maria exclaimed looking at the watch in her hands. “I have a shift in 30 minutes.”

Mr. Parker had decided to run the Crashdown till the afternoon, after which he was planning to close it. Maria quickly rushed to the bathroom as Michael smirked but a moment later she was back glaring at him.

“And if you even think of harming Max,” she waved her hand menacingly at him and went back to the bathroom, smirking at the look on his face.

Michael released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in. An angry Maria was usually dangerous, but an angry Maria with powers was…hot. Michael shook his head. Where the hell had that come from?

******
Isabel held the picture of Alex and Liz in her hands, with a grimace in her face. Knowing that this was the perfect opportunity to learn what had happened in Liz’s past and whether she knew anything about aliens, Isabel had dream walked her a few times. But Isabel had never expected to see what she saw: Liz Parker and her brother making out like bunnies.

God! It was enough to make anyone barf. And to make matters worse, Max also seemed to be dreaming the exact same dream. Isabel still wasn’t sure that everything was alright in Max’s head and had wanted to take a quick peek instead she had been treated to more visuals of Max and Liz.

Shuddering, Isabel touched Liz’s picture one last time, hoping to get some answers to her questions.

*******
Michael tried to calm his anger down and avoid blasting Max, instead focusing on the small smile on Liz’s face. It was the first time in nearly a year that she had slept peacefully without nightmares. Okay, so indirectly Max was responsible for it, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He didn’t want to wake Liz up yet, knowing very well what she had to face today, so Michael stared at Max intently, willing him to wake up just by his glare. Michael sighed going near them. There was no way that Max was going to get up without waking Liz up also.

Max was lying on his back with his right hand around Liz who was curled up to his side, her neck under his chin and her arm under her head. Her right hand was clasped with his left hand on his chest. For now, Michael was glad that both of them still had their clothes on and even more so that both of Max’s hands were visible.

Sitting near Liz, he gently touched her forehead connecting to her and was immediately pulled into her dream.

******

Continued in the next post...

[foreverdreamer15]

**Dreamscape **

Michael looked around the desert suspiciously. It looked familiar though he wasn’t sure when he had seen it. There was a big boulder and several bushes beside the boulder. Suddenly he heard a car coming from the road towards where he was standing and then it stopped. A man wearing a long jacket, hat and shades stepped out of the vehicle muttering something to someone inside. Michael narrowed his eyes. What the hell was Liz dreaming about and why was the man wearing sunglasses at night?

Turning to look in the direction the man was staring at, Michael drew in a sharp breath seeing a three-year-old naked boy hiding near the boulder, in the glare of the headlights. Brown eyes with unruly brown hair, Michael would recognize himself anywhere. Why the fuck didn’t he remember any of this?

Suddenly someone from inside the car started pounding on the glass and the man, muttering a curse, quickly went back and opened the door. A small three-year-old girl with doe-shaped brown eyes and chocolate-brown colored hair, wearing a pretty dress, ran towards the boulder and the little boy came out from behind it.

Michael’s heart started pounding, as he remembered with sudden clarity, what he had heard in his head that had prompted him to come from hiding. Deyu, Liz’s sweet voice had sounded in his head and he instinctively knew what it meant – Brother. Michael’s own response to that echoed in his head, Min Meya – My sister. He watched stunned as the little girl and boy hugged each other.

What the hell does this mean? As far as he and Liz knew, they had met only when they were five but this means he had seen her, known her, only a few minutes after he was hatched. Then why didn’t either of them have this memory? Michael’s first memory was of waking up in the orphanage all-alone. How had he gotten there? The man. Michael suddenly turned, to catch a glimpse of the man who had brought Liz to him. From where did he bring Liz? But before he could take a closer look at the man, he heard a sharp gasp and he quickly turned around. He only saw an older version himself and an older version Liz hugging each other. When he turned back again the scene had changed to the school playground where he had met Liz, apparently for the second time, in his life. Sighing he left the dreamscape.

**End Dreamscape**

Isabel woke up on her bed with a gasp, her breathing heavy. When she had entered the dreamscape, she had been really shocked to see the meeting between the three-year-old Liz and three-year-old Michael. Why had Liz lied to her about seeing Michael for the first time when they were five? And who was the man with her in the car? Was he her father? Does this mean the Parkers know the truth about Michael?

And then she had been stunned and also frightened to see an older Michael in Liz’s dream till she realized that it was only a dream and he couldn’t know that she was there. That was before she saw the little boy and little girl transform into an older Michael and an older Liz. Isabel’s eyes had nearly bugged out seeing two Michael’s standing there that she couldn’t avoid her gasp. And her worst suspicions were confirmed when one Michael had heard her gasp and started looking around.

Michael had lied. The bastard can dream walk.

“Oh My God!” Isabel suddenly cried out, remembering her previous dream walk of Liz, when an alien in Liz’s mind, had tried to kill her.

“It was Michael. He tried to kill me,” she said weakly and then gradually her hands clenched and her face darkened in absolute fury as she repeated, “Michael tried to kill me. And he knew all this time. Ooh! You will pay for this Michael Guerin. You will pay for this.”

******

Hope you all liked it

[foreverdreamer15]

A/N: Once again, I am really sorry guys for posting after a long time. I haven't abandoned my fics. But RL has been real busy with exams, projects and papers. But I did come up with a long part just for you all

Thank you everyone for your wonderful feedback! I hope I haven't lost many readers!

FSUMSW94: No Max and Liz didn't sleep with each other. You think Michael would let Max live if he did sleep with Liz? Nope, the man driving the car wasn't Nacedo. Nacedo didn't even know where Michael was till Michael came to Roswell.
purpleant: I hope your confusion clears a bit after this part! And you will find out what Isabel does to Michael in this part.
xmag: Yeah, this is the first time I am trying my hand at writing and I am really happy that you like my fics. Thanks!
The dream just shows that Michael and Liz met for the first time as soon as Michael hatched from his pods not when they were 5 years old like Michael and Liz believe. But Michael and Liz don't know this. This memory was in Liz's subconscious mind and Michael was really surprised to see that as he doesn't have any such memory at all.
And yeah, Michael really tried to kill Isabel when she dreamwalked Liz for the first time.
SmileeUk: Michael doesn't trust Max or the others plus he is now convinced that Tess now has her own agenda. So he is reluctant to open to others. And yeah Max was talking about Liz not Tess
roswellluver: Thanks!
CherryFlavoredChica: Thanks!

And Thanks to my patient beta Behrsgirl77. You are great!

Hope you all like this new part.

Part 29:

Max blinked his eyes open and looked up in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling. Before he could ponder about it, a terrible throbbing in his head blinded him and he clenched his eyes shut. He instinctively tried to bring his right hand to his head heal it, only to find he was unable to move his hand. Turning to his side, he painfully opened his eyes and the next second, sucked in his breath at the sight of an angel sleeping nearer to him, his pain instantly forgotten.

‘If this is a dream, I never want to wake up,’ he thought, looking at the beautiful face of Liz Parker curled up to him. He hesitatingly slid his hand through her hair. ‘Soft like silk,’ and his eyes unconsciously closed as he inhaled the sweet smell of strawberries. Liz murmured something as she snuggled even closer to him, one hand around his waist and he could feel the soft puffs of her breath on his neck. Max sighed blissfully opening his eyes and then frowned when he saw Michael glaring daggers at him from a chair near the bed. What was he doing in his dream with Liz?

“Go away Michael! This is my dream,” he mumbled sleepily, as he pulled Liz even closer to him and closed his eyes happily.

Michael growled and the next second Max’s eyes flew open in shock, as he felt someone dragging him up by his shirt collar.

“Michael?” He gasped out as he looked into the stormy eyes of one pissed off alien.

“Get out of the bed now!”

Before Max could say something, they both heard Liz murmuring and shifting slightly. Max looked at Liz and then at Michael in horror realizing this was not a dream. Somehow miraculously, he had ended up sleeping with his dream girl by his side and by the look on Michael’s face he was going to pay for it, Big Time.

“Michael, I…”

“Shh. Don’t wake her,” Michael interrupted Max harshly but his face softened as he looked at Liz.

Michael gently tucked her in and kissed her forehead and then glaring at Max signaled him to come out to the living room. Max’s heart gradually slowed down as Michael went out of the room. For a second there, he had been sure that Michael was going to blast him but thankfully the presence of Liz had saved him. His gaze once again went towards the petite beauty still sleeping beside him. Try as he might he couldn’t remember what had happened the night before after Michael left him and Liz. His mind was a big blank. Hearing another growl coming from the other room, he reluctantly got up to face Michael.

******
“Look Michael, I have no idea what happened yesterday night or how I got in your bed,” Max blurted out quickly, standing far away from him.

Michael’s smirk, when he saw Max healing his head, disappeared as soon as he heard Max’s words. He stared at him for a full minute, knowing that Liz had somehow gotten Max drunk and it wasn’t his fault. Michael grudgingly acknowledged that the first time he had seen Liz peaceful and happy was because of Max. He had felt her feelings towards Max yesterday and much as he hated it, she genuinely liked him and Max also didn’t seem to be the arrogant self-centered jerk that the Zan he remembered had been. Besides, Michael’s lips quirked a little at the thought, who could fight destiny?

“Liz got you drunk and you fainted,” Michael shrugged.

Max, who had been preparing to raise his shield at the long silence, looked at Michael in surprise. He had thought that Michael was going to kill him but he behaved now as if it was no big deal. Max looked at Michael suspiciously. The getting drunk part could explain the big blank in his mind but “I fainted?”

“Guess the Great King couldn’t handle his alcohol,” Michael was openly mocking him now. “Your sister and that Maria girl finally put you to bed.”

Max frowned not believing his story but if Isabel and Maria had indeed been there, he could ask them what really happened. Max suddenly narrowed his eyes as he remembered something he wanted to ask Michael.

“How did you find out where Liz was yesterday night? If Liz is not one of us, how are you connected to her? Is she also connected to you?”

Shit! Michael’s derisive expression was wiped off his face when he heard Max’s questions. He wasn’t prepared to tell him the truth yet. “She is not one of us Max…” Michael floundered not knowing what to say. “And no the connection doesn’t go both ways.”

“How did this connection form?” Max finally asked when Michael didn’t seem too forthcoming with answers.

“I…healed her last year,” Michael blurted out, “She was dying and I saved her but she doesn’t know that or the truth about me.”

“What?” Max asked shocked, unsure whether Michael was telling the truth or not. But if he was, then his Liz nearly died. Max became pale at the thought that he might not even have met her. “How? I thought healing wasn’t one of your main powers?” Max asked him puzzled.

“Its not,” Michael sighed, deciding to partially tell the truth. “I have known her for a long time and it was easy to form a connection to her when she…” he stopped not wanting to relieve the moment. “It is different from what you did to Maria. I somehow gave her part of my energy, just enough to bring her back from the brink of…” He wearily ran his hand through his hair and continued, “Since then, this connection has existed between us and as I am an alien I am aware of it. I can always know where she is, can sense her sometimes.”

“And is she changed…I mean is she 100% human?”

“Yes, she is” Michael confirmed looking at Max straight in the eyes.

Max quelled the sudden disappointment he felt hearing Michael’s words. At the same time he also couldn’t help feeling relieved that his suspicions about Maria being changed because of him wasn’t true.

“She is like my kid sister and if you hurt her, King or not, I will kill you Max.” Michael warned him.

Max gazed at Michael warily. While his heart had leapt at the first sentence, he was now confused. Did this mean, it was okay for him to be friends with Liz? That Michael is also okay with it? This seemed to be a far cry from the man who had threatened him with bodily harm if he even glanced or talked with Liz.

“And Maxwell,” Michael continued when Max looked at him, “you or none of your so called family will tell Liz the truth about us.”

Max simply nodded, his thoughts still on the indirect you can be with Liz part. It was a dazed and bewildered Max who finally took leave of Michael.

**********
“Are you alright Isabel?” Max asked his sister cautiously who was sitting beside him, her mouth set and eyes flashing. He easily recognized the signs though he didn’t know the reason. Isabel was mad, really mad and Michael was going to get it. He had just reached home when Isabel had burst out of their house, sat in his jeep and asked or more like demanded him to take her to Michael’s place. He badly wanted to know what had happened but one look at her face and he had shut his mouth. Other than a brief inquiry about his hangover, Isabel had kept silent for the ride.

“Perfectly fine,” Isabel replied gritting her teeth.

Max simply nodded not wanting to ask her and risk getting her wrath. Besides, he had been feeling really annoyed and angry for some reason and he wasn’t sure why when all he wanted was to be happy thinking about his morning with Liz. Suddenly he gasped at the quick pain in his heart and automatically slowed down the jeep.

“What? Are you alright?” Isabel asked him sharply.

“Yeah…I…it hurts,” he blinked, with his hand on his chest. It felt as if something was squeezing his heart and then he once again gasped at the sudden feeling of mind-numbing sadness he felt.

“Max!” Isabel cried out in fear. “For God’s sake, stop the car. What is wrong with you?”

“I have no idea,” Max blurted out harshly, as he stopped the car in the shoulder of the road.

Isabel simply rolled her eyes and removed the block from her mind, to feel his emotions. Immediately she frowned sensing conflicting feelings from him. Geez! Talk about confusion. The guy couldn’t even decide whether to feel happy or sad and he determined the fate of a planet?

Max breathed deeply as the pain in his heart lessened though he still felt miserable and heartbroken. He had no idea what was happening to him. He just wanted to lie down and sleep till whatever he felt went away. Glancing at the scowl on Isabel’s face, he sighed and started pulling off the road when Isabel stopped him.

“What?” He snapped off feeling irritable, immediately regretting it though.

Isabel looked at him thoughtfully as she remembered feeling something similar from Michael once. It felt as if she was feeling the emotions of two persons. “Max, last night Michael did something to your head to make you unconscious.” Ignoring Max’s baffled expression, she continued on, “Take deep breaths. This will only take a few seconds.”

Keeping her hands on his forehead, she connected to him easily and once more looked through his head.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked her worriedly, when she remained silent after coming out of the connection.

Isabel glanced at him wondering how to start. He was not going to like this. “Max, uhm…see, there was uhm…like a block in your head and whatever Michael did opened it.” She finished quickly.

“Huh?” Max looked at her completely bewildered.

Isabel continued on knowing that he was definitely going to get angry. “Hmm…it was just a week after mom and dad adopted us. Do you remember mom giving you the magic house?” Max simply nodded. “Well, you wouldn’t stop crying and were very sad and Mom didn’t know what to do and I didn’t want to make her sad. I heard her talking to dad that maybe you didn’t like them which was totally not true because I knew…”

“Isabel, can you get to the point?” Max interrupted her impatiently and wondering why she was pulling a Maria.

Isabel took a deep breath. “I dream walked you and found that you were crying out for someone with your mind. But whomever you did call didn’t answer back and it was like a void in your mind. It was consuming you,” Isabel looked at Max’s incredulous expression and hurried on, “I swear I only wanted to see you happy so I built a block in your mind to make you forget. I didn’t even know how I did that or how I dream walked then but after that time, you were cheerful and started adjusting to our new life.”

“What? How could you…” Max looked at her confused, betrayed and hurt.

“Max,” Isabel looked at him tearfully, “I was only six and I didn’t want to see you sad anymore, crying for someone that didn’t exist. I am sorry but I didn’t remember I had done it till now.”

Max controlled his fury at her for violating his mind instead concentrating on the other part. “Why now? What made you remember that?”

“I think you were unconsciously reaching out for Michael that day. And whatever happened yesterday night removed the block. So whatever you are feeling, I guess they are Michael’s emotions.”

Max glowered at her as if it was somehow her fault; “You mean I have some sort of weird connection with Michael?”

**********
Michael intently looked at the pale crystal on the counter. It had stopped glowing as soon as he had touched it and retrieved it from the floor in Tess’ bedroom. But the minute he had touched it, he had been nearly knocked out by the flash of a large glowing conical thing. The Granolith. He had known instinctively what it was though he had never seen it in this lifetime and he had also known that the Granolith was near Roswell. After somewhat repairing the damage to Tess’ floor, he had put the crystal in his pocket and reached home. But he still didn’t know what it was used for. And he also didn’t know why it had glowed in the first place.

“What are you doing?”

Michael nearly fell down from the barstool when he heard Liz’s voice. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway clutching her head. Well aware that he hadn’t felt her waking up, Michael quickly tried to sense her and realized that their connection had closed. Her mind block had automatically come up when she became sober. Even knowing that she wasn’t doing it deliberately, Michael couldn’t stop the resentment he felt against her.

“Why don’t you heal it?” Michael countered back with another question.

Liz looked up at him sharply and noted the stiff way he was sitting and staring at her. This was the first time in a year he had openly referred to her gifts and she knew it was deliberate.

Liz simply shrugged rubbing her forehead, “It’s only a hangover. It will go away in a few minutes. What is that?” she tried to change the topic, going near the counter.

“Just something I picked up in a shop.” Realizing that the crystal seemed to glow when it sensed both of them, Michael held it out to her. “Here take it.”

As soon as Liz touched the crystal, it once again glowed brightly and this time both of them saw a flash of the Granolith and then a huge formation of rocks. Liz immediately recoiled her hand and the crystal fell down with a loud crash but it was still in one piece.

“The Granolith,” Liz whispered to herself in shock and then turned on Michael angrily. “What the hell is that? From where did you get it?”

Michael coolly held out his hand as the crystal flew into his palm. “Are you sure you want to know?” he asked her staring piercingly at her. He now knew that the Granolith was located somewhere near the pod chamber and he once more held out the crystal to her.

“No!” Liz’s reaction was instant, as she flinched back revolted from the alien thing in Michael’s hand.

Michael correctly read her thoughts on her face and he snarled as he pocketed the crystal. “Funny, you didn’t seem to be that disgusted when you paraded around with your powers last night.”

“What? Did anyone see me? ” Liz asked horrified, though instantly knowing that they wouldn’t be sitting here if anyone had seen her using them. She only remembered going to a party. Everything after that was a blank till she woke up this morning but she also knew that Michael had somehow found her and brought her here. Her relief clearly showed on her face as Michael looked on in anger.

“Do you even realize what would have happened if anyone saw you using them? What if any skin had seen them? What…”

“They would not kill me, Michael,” Liz said flippantly, not noticing Michael’s temper rising.

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Michael exploded.

“Stop being ridiculous,” Liz said nervously, as Michael narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. “Anyways, I didn’t do it on purpose. No one saw anything. I just got a little drunk, Michael. That’s all.”

“Just a little drunk?” Michael queried dangerously.

“Would you quit it?” Liz said irritated, not paying heed to the dangerous tone in his voice. “It was only a few drinks. It’s not as if I was going to di…” and she abruptly stopped.

“As if you were going to what?” Michael goaded her. “Go on. Finish it. Come on. I dare you to.”

“Stop it, Michael. I am late and I have to go...”

But when Liz reached to open the door, Michael raised his hand and the door flung shut trapping her inside. When Liz turned to him angrily, Michael continued just as angry, “You are not running away this time Liz.”

“Really?” Liz sneered at him. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who ran away from us, from grandma, your father and everyone else, wanting to hunt little green men.” Liz mocked him.

“At least I didn’t fucking try to kill myself,” Michael snapped back, as Liz’s face turned pale.

There was a brief silence. And then, “I…I didn’t…” Liz’s hands started shaking, “I didn’t mean to…I just wanted to sleep…and it was only two…I didn’t know…”

“That’s bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing,” Michael accused her. “You knew precisely how drugs or alcohol affect us and yet you took the sleeping pills. Dammit Liz! How selfish can you be? He was my friend too.”

“I loved him,” Liz said tearfully. “You have…”

“You thought you were in love with him,” Michael shot back succinctly.

“How dare you? What do you even know about…”

“Tell me,” Michael interrupted her harshly. “Tell me, that when he was near, you felt even half of what you feel, when Max is near you.”

“What?” Liz asked him ash-faced. “What are you…”

“You were drunk Liz and I felt what you feel when you see Max,” Michael continued gently. “Xan knew that you didn’t love…”

“Stop it. Why are you doing this?” Liz whispered painfully, tears falling down her face. “I loved him.”

“Liz,” Michael drew her to him and softly rubbed her back soothing her. “What happened wasn’t your fault. Forget the past and try to move on Liz. Xan would want you to be happy…”

“Forget it? Move on?” Liz asked laughing hysterically, moving away from him “It’s easy for you to say it, isn’t it Michael? You aren’t in my place, are you? You have no idea what it is to be me, what I feel so don’t even try to…”

“It’s always about what you feel, always what you want? Isn’t it?” Michael burst out in anger. “Did you even think what your father is going through right now? He lost his mother for God sake Liz, while you were indulging yourself in dancing and drinking…”

“Go to hell!” Liz said turning, when Michael clutched her wrist turning her back again.

“You are going to listen, Rina,” and Liz balked hearing the name, that Michael ignored. “Did you know how I felt when my mother died and Hank became an alcoholic and started using me as a sounding board? How do you think I felt when I once again lost someone close to me within a few months and that I had no other choice but to kill to protect my family? And then when I thought it was over, I felt you…” Michael’s throat hitched remembering the past. “God Liz, you died! And I sensed you dying. Do you even know how that felt like?” Michael cried out. “I had no one, my only family was you and even you wanted to leave me. How do you think I felt then? So don’t even try to act as the victim here.”

Liz had started sobbing now, sitting down, her feet unable to hold her. “I’m sorry Michael. I just wanted the pain to stop, the guilt to stop…I didn’t want to leave you. You are all I have...”

“Liz,” Michael cupped her face and looked straight into her eyes. “Xan knew what he was getting into and he made his choice. It wasn’t your fault. You only wanted to live a normal life. We never knew about the skins or Nicholas or any royal shit. They were the ones searching for the royal four and they would have found out sooner or later. It is not our fault Liz,” he said angry with himself and their situation, his arms around her, rocking her gently, his eyes bright.

Michael knew that Xan’s death wasn’t truly his or Liz’s fault, yet he would always hold himself responsible for it just like Liz. He might have unknowingly led the skins to his family and friends but he or Liz weren’t the ones who killed Xan. They could play the What If game any number of times but it didn’t matter. In the end, Xan was still dead and he owed to his friend to make Nicholas pay for it.

“I just want to be normal Michael,” Liz whimpered, “normal. I don’t want any of this alien... Let’s just stay away from all that. Promise me that you won’t go after them. I cannot lose you too Michael. I just cannot.” She looked up at him with tears, “Please, promise me Michael.”

“I promise that I will not go looking for them,” Michael assured her, as she calmed down. But he knew it was a moot point. Whether he went or not, the skins would come looking for the royal four themselves and when they do, he would make sure that they disappeared permanently.

After a few minutes, Michael spoke gruffly, “Liz, I meant what I said. You are my only family and if something happened to…” he couldn’t even finish the sentence, “Give me your word, that you will not do anything stupid or insane to put yourself in danger ever again, that you will begin to live.” When Liz looked at him silently, he continued, “Try, at least for my sake…please?”

“I promise.”

Michael nodded, hugging her tight, but he was still scared of what would happen when Liz came to know about Max and the others. He couldn’t trust her not to do anything drastic, knowing her hatred for, and tendency to run from, anything alien related. And then he came to a decision. He wouldn’t tell her anything about the others for now. He wanted her to forget the past, the guilt and live in the present and if Max seemed to make her happy, well then, he would have to tolerate him for her sake. He just had to make sure that Liz doesn’t find out about the others and that’s easy, as he was sure that Max or the others wouldn’t be stupid enough to blurt out the truth to her.

******

continued in the next post

[foreverdreamer15]

continued from the previous post

****

“Will you quit it Max?” Isabel snapped at him.

Max had been glaring at her the entire drive to Michael’s place, without saying anything. In her defense, she just wanted to make Max and her new family happy. She still remembered when Max had told her that there was someone else like them and he could sense that person. For a week since they hatched, he had felt peaceful and happy, eager to meet whomever he was sensing. Isabel never believed that but then he had suddenly started crying saying the person is gone. Even now, Isabel didn’t know how and whom he had sensed. Max still couldn’t recollect what happened exactly long back even though the block was removed.

“Easy for you to say,” Max shot back, his anger fueled on by emotions not his. “You are not the one connected to Michael and having these strange feelings…” he abruptly stopped not wanting to talk about it. For the few minutes that he had felt sadness and guilt, all he had wanted to do was go and comfort that person. He cringed thinking it might be Michael. His people really had a twisted and sick sense of humor, he decided sourly.

Isabel rolled her eyes just as they neared Michael’s place. “We are not even positive whether you are sharing his emotions. But there is a way to make sure.”

“How?” Max said irritably.

Isabel’s eyes took a cold gleam, “If you feel excruciating pain in a few seconds, then its him you are connected to.” And before Max had even parked the jeep fully she took off rapidly for Michael’s apartment, her anger once again returning full force.

******
Michael wearily drank the Snapple, his thoughts far away. Liz had finally gone home about fifteen minutes back, mad at him, again. Women! Michael thought darkly. He had suggested casually that they touch the crystal one more time and she had blown up at him. He was sure that this time they would find out the exact location of the Granolith and once they did, it would unlock the memories of the royals. It would also make it easier to fight the skins. His limited memories showed the Granolith as a religious icon as well as a weapon. Liz had once more demanded that he tell her the truth about what was really going on but he had steadfastly maintained a blank look till she had got irritated and left angrily.

Michael yawned as he got up from the couch planning to catch some quick winks when his door suddenly opened with a click. Before he could even lift his hand in defense, he was flung back against the far wall for the second time in less than 12 hours.

Michael groaned as he opened his eyes painfully and then they widened in shock when he saw a furious Isabel standing a few feet away from him, with her hand stretched and palm open towards him. He unsteadily stood up scowling at her fiercely.

“What the hell is the problem with you women?” He demanded heatedly. First Maria, then Liz, and then Isabel! “I just knocked your brother out, Dammit, not kill him.”

At that reminder, Isabel once more threw him against the wall. Ignoring his cries of pain, she went closer to him, her eyes flashing.

“This is for Max and that was for trying to kill me.”

For a second Michael looked confused and then recognition dawned in his eyes as Isabel drew back in satisfaction.

“Kill you?” Max, who had by now come inside the apartment after closing the door, asked shocked. He would never realize until later, that he never felt any of Michael’s pain, which he should apparently feel, if he was connected to Michael.

“Apparently, your second,” Isabel sneered, “here forgot to mention his vast abilities also include dream walk.”

“What?” Both Max and Michael asked simultaneously.

“Guess who was the alien, that tried to kill me, when I dream-walked Liz?”

“That was you?” Max looked stunned at Michael, who now had his shield up and was looking at both of them sullenly.

And then, “You have been dream-walking Liz all this time?” Max asked him crossly. “Didn’t you even care that you are violating her privacy…”

Both Michael and Isabel rolled their eyes as Max continued on.

Michael finally interrupted him. “Look! I cannot dream-walk.” Isabel snorted at that. “We… I can sometimes connect to Liz in her sleep and be part of her dream world.”

“Yeah right!” Isabel exclaimed sarcastically. “You expect us to believe that?”

“Since you healed her?” Max questioned as Isabel looked at him surprised.

“You can also heal?” Isabel asked confused.

“Yeah.” Michael replied to Max ignoring Isabel. “I usually connect to her to make sure that the skins do not try to dream-walk her.” He now looked at Isabel and shrugged unapologetically. “I thought you were a skin.”

“That gives you the right to kill me?” Isabel asked incredulously.

“Skins can dream-walk?” Max simultaneously enquired.

“No idea.”

“Will someone tell me what the heck is going on here?” Isabel asked frustrated.

“So…uhm… does Liz knows that you are in her head?”

“For the nth time No. She doesn’t know,” Michael sighed as he finally removed his shield.

“So do you, like, sense her…I mean…”

“That’s it!” Isabel exclaimed annoyed and raised her hands making both Michael and Max unable to move.

“Isabel!” Max yelled.

“Yeah. I am still here and you both are going to tell me what is going on. Right now,” she added as she saw Max and Michael looking at each other.

********