Roswell Fanatics

Title: Subconscious Love
Couples: M/L primarily
Rating: Teen-Adult
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Roswellian. The Roswell characters are the property of Melinda Metz, brought to our viewing pleasure by Jason Katims.
Summary: Finding it very hard to move on without Max in her life Liz takes Tess up on an offer of oblivion to their relationship. Takes place 4 years after End of the World.

Chapter 1... Wasn't there something I was supposed to remember?

She felt someone watching her. Not that that was an unusual occurence, she had always had these odd chills, and felt that there was someone in the distance, watching her every move. It felts as if she was never truly alone. Liz chaulked it up to being constantly harrassed by her best friend, Maria DeLuca, but she never could quite shake the feeling that it was something much more.

Liz brushed the piece of hair off of her shoulder and tried to refocus on her calculus assignment. It was so easy to make the numbers work, and she marvelled how Maria always scoffed at how hard it seemed to be. The thought of Maria twigged Liz to the realization that Maria should be there by now. They had made plans to eat and study which mostly meant talking about the last big party on campus, or shoes or Liz's love life, anything but actually studying.

Liz once again drifted away from her calculus book in an attempt to remember if Maria had said the name of the coffee shop where they would meet, to make sure she wasn't in the wrong spot. But Maria hadn't specified, and this was where they always hung out anyway. Liz then looked through the crowd, trying to avoid the glances of the people sitting at the tables so they wouldn't think she was looking at them. She was just looking for her friend.

~

Maria couldn't believe who she saw in front of her eyes. She hadn't expected to see him here, certainly not in this town which was pretty much only known for its university.

"Michael."

Maria silently chastized herself for saying the name outloud... she had planned on hiding in a corner until he passed hoping that he wouldn't notice her, but instead she had sought him out. She silently prayed it would be someone else as he slowly turned around and focused on her. And for a moment she thought it was someone else. But only for a moment. The short buzz cut and sunglasses he was sporting almost hide his identity from her but Maria knew him better than that.

"Maria, I've been looking for you. We should go talk." was all he said before reaching out and taking her arm and practically pulling her into a small jeep which was parked practically on the sidewalk.

"You always get in strange men's cars that easily?" asked Michael, not even breaking a smile or not really even looking at her. "I might not even be me, I could be a clone or a shapeshifter. You should know to be more careful."

Maria's instinct to lash out in anger or disgust at Michael's behaviour was overcome by a feeling of almost intimidation. And the sinking feeling that she really didn't know the man driving the car beside her at all.

"Michael." was all she managed to say.

Michael didn't even respond, he just put the car into gear and took off. "I'll let you know when we get there." was all he said.

~

Liz picked up her cell phone and dialled Maria's number. She was really late now and while that was usual Maria behavior she usually at least did her the courtesy of calling and letting her know what boy had detained her from being there. It was so easy for Maria, she seemed to move from boy to boy, always enjoying a steady flow of admirers. Not that Liz was jealous, she supposed she could have a groove of boyfriends, but just one was all she really wanted. But mostly she tried not to think about it, she was more focused on her education. Maybe if she found a guy that was worth it. But up to this point in her life, at 21 years of age Liz had never found a guy that seemed worth it to her. There had been a few promising prospects, but always something had felt wrong. She had always felt she was cheating herself when tempted to settle with anything but her ideal.

Liz had the strange feeling that Maria suspected she was in love with Alex. Though she had never tried to set them up and he was 100 of miles away now at some prestigious computer school. But once a drunk Maria had flippantly told her that, "there all wrong for you because you keep comparing them to him, even if you don't know it." Liz had tried to trick the him out of Maria but she only clamped her mouth shut and refused to speak any more.

Liz closed her phone, Maria usually answered after 2 rings if she was going to answer at all, and it had already rung 10 times. Liz began to worry about were Maria could be. She was now over a half hour late, which was late even under Maria standards.

~

"We're almost there." declared Michael as he turned the jeep off unto the closest exit. "This could take awhile though, so if you have some guy waiting at home for you, you might want to give him a call and let him know you have other plans."

"And what would I tell him?" asked Maria, beginnig to get nervous by the lack of information Michael was willing to share with her. "Not that it matters, there's no service out here anyway," added Maria as she took out her phone and flipped it open.

"Guess he'll just have to worry then." replied Michael, still focusing on the road in front of him instead of the woman beside him.

"Guess so." added Maria, she didn't feel particularly in the mood to admit to Michael that she hadn't anyone in her life. That she hadn't really let anyone get close to her at all since he had walked out of her life 3 years ago. Sometimes she really thought Liz was the lucky one.

End of Chapter 1

Thanks everyone so much for your comments... they mean so much
As for all the questions hopefully this part will clear up a few of them.

Chapter 2. It was like a high school reunion, but....

Maria quickly jumped out of the jeep and ran after Michael into the delapitated house which was sitting in the middle of a field that seemed like it had long ago been abandoned. She tried not to focus on the fact that she felt like she was in the opening scenes of a horror story.

"What's inside?" she ventured to ask but Michael merely motioned to her to keep up with him.

Maria hesitantly stepped into the house and was floored by the scene in front of her. There was Max, lying on the ground with a green shield projected around him which seemed like it was being controlled by Isabel who was standing beside him. Kyle was pacing around the other side of the room. And there was another man, who looked a maybe five years older than the rest of them, standing beside Isabel and she seemed to be leaning on him for support.

"What's going..?" Maria was barely able to get the words out of her mouth, but in the meantime Michael had already ran to the other side of the room, picked up two crystals and returned to Maria's side.

"We have to heal Max." was all he said as he handed her one of the crystals and Kyle and Isabel quickly took there positions around Max.

Maria just looked at them with shock. It had been a long time since she had participated in a healing and she wasn't sure if she even knew what she was supposed to do. "But what?"

Michael just looked at her seriously and she quickly fell into her place around Max, trying to remember what exactly she had done last time.
She had just fed Michael images that day and she supposed she would have to do the same today. She grasped the crystal and began to feel the energy and warmth surrounding the room. She thought about the UFO museum and tried to send an image of the alien dolls her mother used to make to Max. Then she thought about the kitten she had sneaked into her house when she was a little girl. She sent Max that image too.

"It's taking too long." she heard someone say, and she dimly realized it was Isabel, only she wasn't saying it, she was thinking it. "Don't give up hope." was Michael's thought response, "We've got to get through to him. Everyone, just keep trying."

Maria found herself loosing her focus with the blurr of everyone's encouraging thoughts and tips, and periodic silences when they were just concentrating on making Max better. Suddenly she became dimly aware that she was supposed to meet Liz. She tried to refocus her thoughts but it seemed as though the energy around her was prying for more. She thought about the first day she and Liz had met, the day Liz had confessed to her she was in love with an alien, that day at the Crashdown.

"He's stirring." came Isabel's thoughts, breaking through to Maria who still couldn't tear herself from her train of thoughts, she was no longer sending them, it seemed like she was being read instead. She could see herself in her mind the day Liz had told her what she planned to do. That day seemed so long ago and yet everything in front of her seemed so new. Like she was seeing it for the first time.

"Maria, I know you don't like what I'm going to do, but I need to do it. I go through everyday feeling like my dreams are gone. I feel like I gave up on everything. I feel empty inside."

"But Liz, you won't even have memories."

"Sure I will, I will remember that I have the best friend in the world. I will remember the cute but shy guy who was my lab partner in biology class. I won't remember that I gave him my soul only to find out that it wasn't enough. I won't remember the way he looked when I ripped his heart out. I won't remember how it felt when my future disappeared forever. I will remember that I want to be a world class microbiologist, that I want to travel and see the world. Those dreams used to mean something, but they are pale in comparision unless I do this."

"But what if Tess messes up Liz? I'm worried about you."

"I know Maria, but she's my only choice. Besides, she told me she knew what it was like. To be always chasing an impossible dream. She's really not as bad as I'd like her to be sometimes."

"He's conscious." came Michael's voice breaking Maria from her reverie. This time he was actually speaking it and Maria realized that the energy that had surrounded her was suddenly gone and Max was slowly opening his eyes.

"Isabel, Trevor help me keep up a shield." commanded Michael and Isabel and the man beside her quickly complied. While the three of them quickly reinstated the green glow that had been shining around Max when they first arrived Kyle walked over to Maria.

"What's going on?" she asked him, and thankfully Kyle was much more forthcoming then Michael.

"I don't know much either. Isabel just picked me up a little while ago. Then we teleported here, definately an alien technology I could get used to, but it feels pretty weird. She told me a little of what was going on while we were waiting for Michael to get back with you. They only have the one teleporter and I guess you were closer. Plus it's not instant like they show you in the movies. I was in some weird limbo for at least 10 minutes."

Maria glared at Kyle.

"Okay, so maybe you don't want to know everything about the teleporter right now. I don't really know much, except Max was supposed to be on Antar with Tess. Isabel, Michael and Trevor, that's the other guy, were here waiting for Max and Tess to send someone to pick them up or beam them up or something.. They all didn't go with Max and Tess to Antar in the first place because Trevor wanted to explore Earth for a few days. He's an Antarian I guess. Then instead of them being picked up Max here was beamed down in this shape. Heck, they're not even sure it's Max. That's why they put up the shields. They tried to heal him with the crystals but they needed the five points of the star. That's where we came in."

End Chapter 2

Hey, thanks for the comments everyone. Just to clarify this fic pics up after End of the World so that anything that happened in the series after that hasn't necessarily happened in my timeline. But I'm not promising all roses either.


Chapter 3... Just trying to be me, whoever that is

"Maybe we shouldn't of put up the shield." said Isabel, crouching over Max who had opened his eyes only to faint upon the sight of the green glowing mass surrounding him.

"Well, maybe we should retry the healing?" suggested Kyle, breaking into the conversation of the three aliens who were huddled together around Max discussing what they should do next. They merely nodded their heads at Kyle's suggestion and kept talking amoung themselves.

"I think being around aliens all day really hinders their people skills." commented Kyle, sitting back down beside Maria on an old couch that had seen better days. "I guess I'll just sit here and wait until they are ready to beam me home."

"At least you get beamed, if I have to stand another silent drive with Guerin I think I'll shoot myself." Maria didn't want to admit to herself how much it had annoyed her that he didn't even have the common curtesy to try to make small talk with her on the way over. Especially when he had come to her for help. Sure he was worried about Max, but that didn't excuse his behaviour, at least not to her.

"I sense a rant." joked Kyle, noticing the wrinkle in Maria's nose and the frustration written on her face.

"It's just, how dare he. How dare he treat me like he can just come and find me when he needs me for something. He left. They all left us Kyle. Went off to find their way home. Do you know he didn't even say goodbye properly? We spent all night after graduation talking and sitting under the stars. We fell asleep right there under the stars and when I woke up, he was gone, with just a note in his place. It didn't even say he was sorry. Just that all things had to end and it was better for him to find his destiny now than to be forced into it later." Maria tried to recover the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes while Kyle tried not to notice them.

"I don't think they told any of us." said Kyle, remembering how it had felt to come home the next day from the big graduation bash and realize that Tess wasn't living there anymore.

"Where am I?" suddenly came Max's voice from behind them, prompting Kyle and Maria to jump up and turn around to face the rest of the group, Maria hastily wiping away her tears.

"You're in a house Maxwell." replied Michael, looking at him steadily, waiting for Max to reply. "Do you know how you got here?"

"I ... no I don't." he replied slowly, looking from person to person. "I don't even know where here is."

"What do you remember?" asked Isabel.

"I don't remember anything. I don't know how I got here, or I, I don't even know my name." Max looked around bewildered around the room at everyone. "What are you doing to me? What was that green light?" Max eyed the star shape written on the floor of the house, "Is this some kind of sick ritual?"

"Max, this is going to be hard to take but your an alien." replied Michael as Maria merely stared at the boldness of his statement. And the shocked look on Max's face that seemed to indicate that it was not he, but Michael who had lost his mind.

"He means your here illegally." Maria piped up before Michael could go on freaking the hell out of Max. "You know, an illegal immigrant. So we couldn't take you to the hospital without getting in trouble. You hit your head, after a big night of partying. So we all stayed here to take turns watching you. Make sure you didn't fall asleep. But you went into delusional state for awhile even though we tried so hard to keep you awake. You must of seen the green light then. You were mumbling something about it. Very jumbled though. We were going to give in and take you to the hospital but you woke up."

Michael glared at Maria signalling her to shut up while Kyle tried to keep a serious face on after that story. "Yeah, I did seem to be having some weird dreams or something." agreed Max, and everyone let their breath out slowly as he seemed to be buying Maria's version of events for the moment.

"Why the star though?" he asked and everyone sucked their breath in again.

"It's just a decoration, it's always been there." piped in Isabel. "Oh, I'm your sister, Isabel." she added after a pause. It felt very odd introducing herself to Max and she wondered if the man in front of them really was her brother. She would dreamwalk him tonight, to make a connection now would only frighten him.

"Well, I don't want to overwhelm you all at once Max, so I will let you and your sister talk for a few minutes while the rest of us go whip up some food." declared Michael, walking out of the room, motioning Maria and Kyle to follow him.

"Thanks Maria, now he doesn't know he's an alien. It's going to take him a lot longer to remember this way if we can't use our powers on him."

"I'm sorry Michael, but he looked like he was going to faint again, and if you don't have his trust you won't be able to help him at all."

"Well, that's all fine and dandy but incase you didn't notice we're not exactly stocked up here with human rations. He's going to start wondering pretty quickly how we live around here. This place is only made half decent when given a bit of power. So until he remembers his powers I guess you're going to have to babysit him."

"What? How am I going to explain to him that he has to come home with me?" asked Maria, fearing what Michael's response was going to be before he even said it.

"Just tell him he's your boyfriend, and that you live together." replied Michael, a funny smirk forming on his face. "You might even be able to convince him to marry you for his green card."

"Why can't he live with Kyle?" retored Maria, ignoring Michael's comments. "Well, Kyle lives halfway across the country and we have to teleport him there would be one reason." replied Michael.

"Well, I don't exactly live alone." countered Maria.

"Well then, looks like you may be going through an ugly confrontation with the man of the house when you bring back your amnesiac fiance." replied Michael, no longer smirking but looking slightly adgitated.

"I didn't say I lived with a man. I live with Liz, and how am I going to explain to her how her lab partner from high school got turned into an illegal amnesiac alien?"

"I guess the same way you told Max that he should stop asking Liz what went wrong in their relationship to make her run to Kyle, because she decided just to wipe his memory from her mind."

"There was more to it than that." countered Maria. She didn't agree with what Liz had done but Michael didn't know about Future Max so it wasn't fair for him to judge Liz.

"Really? Cuz to me it seems like she didn't want to face what she had done so she just ran from it. All this after Max risked his life saving her and she repeatedly steps on him."

"Well, I guess the two of you have more in common than I thought."

End Chapter 3

Again thank you so much for all of your comments. I apologize if this part is a little bit too Isabel/sci fi centric for those who just want to see Max and Liz meet up. I promise that part is coming up in the next chapter. :>

Chapter 4… Antarian royalty is so overworked….

“Let’s stay civil here people.” came Isabel’s voice as she walked into the midst of Michael and Maria who were just staring angrily at each other. “We have to think about Max and whatever it is you too are arguing about can wait until we handle this.”

Michael and Maria both looked at Isabel feeling slightly foolish, both knowing how hard this must be for her. “Your apologies are accepted.” said Isabel walking into the midst of the three of them to explain the latest development with Max. “Tess has been teaching me some mindwarping practices, but I’m not very good at it yet. I can’t give Max back all his memories or erase any by a long shot but I did twig a few from the last few minutes. Instead of telling him he was an alien you told him he was your friend, Michael. I left him believing Maria’s story about hitting his head and us watching him through his delusions. That’s about all I changed, and I hated doing that to Max.” Isabel paused for a few seconds to recover herself before continuing. “Then I just told him that I was his sister and a little about growing up in Roswell when we were little. I suggest each of you go in and tell him who you are so he feels a little bit more comfortable.”

“I will go in now.” acknowledged Michael. “But what should I tell him? We can’t keep him at this place in the state it is in, and we can’t exactly fix it with our powers around him either. I think he should stay with Maria but how can we explain that. Especially since she’s staying with Liz.” Maria noticed the bitterness in Michael’s voice when he said Liz’s name.

“Just tell Max that you’re his best friend, Michael. Maria and I will figure out something.” said Isabel and with that Michael went into the other room to try his hand at comforting Max.

“He’s right you know.” said Isabel, looking at Maria. “We can’t let him stay here and we can’t let him stay with someone who doesn’t know who he is either. So we’re going to have to figure out a way to convince him that he’s going to your school and should be staying with you.”

“Well, why don’t you just tell him that the big party you had got him evicted from your guy’s apartment. That you were going to school there together and sharing an apartment. Then you happened to run into Maria who you knew from high school and she offered to let you stay with her until you find a new place.” offered Kyle and both Maria and Isabel turned to him suddenly. “Don’t look so shocked guys, I do have a good idea once in awhile.”

“Thanks Kyle.” said Isabel, and then she looked at both of them. “I mean, thanks to both of you. We really needed you in there. I’m sorry if we were a bit… we’re just used to managing on our own.” Both Maria and Kyle smiled at Isabel, knowing that it had never been easy for her to acknowledge that she needed anyone’s help. It seemed odd though, as if while Michael had just grown bitter and harder to deal with, that Isabel had actually become softer.

The group moment was interrupted by Trevor who had just left the living room to give Michael some time with Max. “Isabel, I just told him we were dating. I think that is best. That way if he remembers things from earlier on he won’t wonder why I was never around when we were little. I told Michael to do the same.” Kyle and Maria looked at Trevor with sudden interest wondering what exactly this strange Antarian man played into the picture of things. Isabel merely smiled at him and nodded her head. “That’s best.” she agreed and Trevor returned her smile. “Well, I think I will go get some food for Max before he wonders what you are all off doing.” and with that Trevor wondered off into the other room.

“So, Isabel, an alien romance is in the air?” asked Kyle, beating Maria to the question. “I think so.” said Isabel, and doing something neither of them had ever seen her do, she blushed. “At least, it seems that way. He’s done so much for me.” she added.

“Really? I thought he just showed up on Earth like a week ago.” commented Maria, finding it strange that this man had won Isabel over so easily. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean…”

“He’s Michael’s brother.” Isabel answered, surprised at how quickly she felt she had to defend him, how it almost hurt her that they would suspect him of being anything but the wonderful person he was. The person who had finally shed some light on the truth about Vilandra. “I know it looks suspicious, him showing up here, helping Max get home and then Max showing up like that, but he was just as surprised as any of us. He hasn’t just showed up on Earth either. He’s been here for almost two months. He spent a lot of time with us explaining things about Antar before sending Max and Tess back.”

Both Kyle and Maria were taken aback by Isabel’s words and slightly confused. “You say he’s from Antar? How is he Michael’s brother if you guys were reincarnated on Earth? He only looks a few years older than us.” asked Kyle, while Maria just mulled things over in her head. If Isabel was with Trevor, did that mean she and Michael were never together?

“It’s not odd for people to be reincarnated on Antar. In fact Max and I have been reincarnated a total of 20 times at least. In fact King Zan and Queen Ava had ruled over Antar for centuries, their children ruling in those times when they were….. regenerating. Just this time we happened to be made half human and sent to Earth because we were under threat. Trevor died about 5 years before the rest of us and so he was reincarnated on Antar as normal procedure. The Royal Family is always reincarnated.”

“Who exactly does the Royal Family include?” asked Kyle, slightly confused by Antarian practices, and suddenly grateful that he lived in a country that limited how long one ruler could remain in power.

“Zan and Ava are always reincarnated together because they ruled equally as King and Queen. As Zan’s twin, born slightly later the first time I guess, I was always reincarnated as well, whoever my chosen betrothed from the last lifetime got a second chance too. I’m told it wasn’t always the same person the second time around either. Vilandra was lucky to be given that choice.”

“Interesting.” commented Maria, “But that doesn’t explain why they reincarnated Trevor.”

“Trevor was Vilandra’s first husband in our last life before this one. Vilandra loved him more than any of the others. They say after he died she just stopped caring about what happened to herself. She married Rath because he was his brother and it was common practise for young widows to marry their deceased husband’s brother. When Vilandra found out that Kivar was trying to cause trouble by seducing Ava she threw herself at him to prevent it. When he found out she was still in love with Trevor, he killed her and, well, everything really went wrong from there.”

End Chapter 4

Okay, I apologize that this part is so short. I had about 5 pages that I had to scrap because they just weren't right. Anyway... here's what I have for the moment.


Chapter 5… Alien invasion at the old apartment complex

Liz woke up, and suddenly remembered that she hadn’t heard Maria come home that night. While Maria was a notorious make out slut she had never actually spent the night with any of the guys and since she hadn’t called to check in Liz was suddenly worried. Liz looked at the clock, “2:15” declared the shining lights. She decided she would get up and check if Maria had gotten home safely, hopefully she would be safely in her room and Liz’s mind would be put at rest.

As she opened the door to her bedroom she tried to orient herself in the dark. But as she stepped out into the living room she felt her knee collide with something sharp and metallic that shouldn’t be there. In her early morning grogginess she was unable to keep herself from falling unto whatever was in her way, which fortunately for her was the extended hide-a-bed in the living room. Unfortunately for her, someone was in it.

Max found himself pulled out of a restless slumber due to a sharp pain in his legs. He turned on the lamp which was beside the couch and looked down to see a shocked brunette trying to pick herself quickly off the bed.

“I fell, I didn’t think….” started the girl, but she suddenly stopped. “Max Evans?!”

“Yeah, that’s my name. You know me?” the guy asked, and Liz just starred at him surprisingly. He didn’t remember her? They had been lab mates in high school. How do you just forget that?

“Yeah, we went to high school together.” replied Liz, unintentionally using her disappointed voice with him. For some reason it bugged her that he could have forgotten her. Plus she still had residual anger over him not being her lab partner in grade 12 biology. That year when she went to ask him he had conveniently already had a partner. Which was too bad for him because his new partner was a stoner guy who wasn’t half as scientifically abled as herself.

“Oh, I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I have amnesia.” he explained.

“Are you serious or is that just a really lame excuse?” asked Liz, surprised at her own rudeness.

“It’s the truth.” replied Max, suddenly wondering what it was he had done in the past to earn the hatred of this beautiful girl.

“Oh, well, I guess you have an excuse then.” acknowledged Liz, feeling slightly ashamed of her behavior. “But do you remember why you are here?”

“Well, I guess I was having a party, and Maria was there. So when our landlord kicked us out she said we could stay here.”

Liz looked at him dumbfounded. Maria had asked a guy they had barely known in high school to stay with them after he was stupid enough to get evicted from his own apartment.

“We?” asked Liz, suddenly picking up on the plural tense. So maybe this made sense afterall. Max had always hung out with Michael, Maria’s high school boyfriend. Though that had ended after graduation when Michael just left town, ripping Maria’s heart out.

“Me and my sister,” Max struggled to remember her name, “Isabel.” he declared almost proudly.

“She’s here too then?”

“She was, but she decided to go back and stay with our other friends. She said she’d be back first thing in the morning.” explained Max. “We’ll go looking for a new spot so we’re out of your way quickly.”

“Okay.” said Liz, turning around to go back to her bed, satisfied that Maria was okay until she got to her tomorrow. How could Maria just let an almost complete stranger stay in there living room? He didn’t even know himself. It seemed dangerous and stupid to her.

“Liz?” asked Max, as Liz was turning and he waited until she turned back around before he finished his request.

“What did I do to make you not like me?” he asked, suddenly curious to find out more about himself. So far he seemed to be crazy partier and now it seemed perhaps he was a jerk too.

“Nothing.” replied Liz, feeling more ashamed by the tone of his voice and the sincere regret she heard in it.

“Really?” he asked.

“Wait a minute, how do you know my name?” she asked, suddenly suspicious of his story again.

“I, I don’t know.. Isabel must have mentioned it.” he said, even though he had no recollection of Isabel mentioning Liz’s name, just that Maria had a roommate. “And you’re sure I didn’t do anything? Cuz I would gladly apologize.”

“That’s okay.” replied Liz, suddenly feeling stupid about the whole lab partner thing. It had been so long ago and she really didn’t understand why it had bothered her so much. “And of course you’re willing to apologize to me, I’m letting you stay under my roof.”

“That’s true.” replied Max, giving Liz a wide smile and for a moment she felt almost grateful for Maria’s fallacy.

“Well, I guess I’ll head back to bed.” replied Liz, feeling awkward, and suddenly aware of the fact that Max wasn’t wearing a shirt under the light sheet that was covering him.

“Okay, well, I’ll see you in the morning.”

End Chapter 5