Roswell Fanatics

Time
A fan fiction by Janie(the characters are based on Roswell and not mine)

rating teen
08/09/13

Liz is finding herself struggling to move on with life after she has ended things with Max, but is it just her secret desire to be with him that's holding her back or something much more then that?

CHAPTER 1

It had been a little over five months since Max had come back through time to warn her of the future. She had done her best to put distance between herself and Max but it wasn't easy. So much had happened since that night when he saw her with Kyle. She pulled out her journal and headed outside on her balcony to reread in her own words why she was continuing to lie to him. She flipped open to the entry she had written that night back in October.

How could I have actually gone through with pretending to sleep with Kyle like that. How could he travel back in time fourteen years from the future and ask me to end things with him forever? Inside my heart is breaking, seeing that look in his eyes it pierced right through me. I know future Max said that we had to change things, that we had to end our relationship so that he could be with Tess and save the world. Telling me that Michael and Isabel both die and that the skins defeat them in the war all because he and Tess are not together was like driving an arrow through my heart. What could I do, what else could I do but what he asked of me. I had to make him think I don't love him, I had to make Max believe that we were finished forever so that he would turn to Tess, full fill his destiny and save us all. I know in my head there was no other way but in my heart it still hurts so much. I wish I could just forget. My life seems like it's at a stand still. I wish more then anything that I could step through that time portal and stop Max from ever healing me...

As she finished reading she closed her journal and laid back on the lounger. The night sky was clear and she could see the stars as they came out, lighting up the sky. She took in a deep breath and thought about that night. It was still so vivid, so clear it was time to write it all out she decided, it was time to finally put words to the pain she had been carrying. She took up her pen and began :


It's been five months since that night but here I am finally putting in words what happened after Max walked away from my window that night. I fought back the tears as I got dressed and came out of my bathroom. I knew Max was gone but I saw Kyle sitting on the edge of my bed pulling on his shoes as he was getting ready to leave. “Thank you for helping me tonight.” I told him. He looked into my eyes, he must have seen how upset I was, “Liz this can't really be what you want so why are you doing this?” he asked me. I tried to smiled, “I can't explain it to you. I wish I could but it has to be this way.” I told him how Max had to follow his destiny. How he had to be with Tess. Kyle was a true friend he reached out and pulled me into his arms, he whispered into my ear, “ Liz, I don't know a thing about all this alien destiny stuff but I know you love him and by the devastating look in his eyes he loves you. Isn't that all that should matter?” I took in a deep breath and pulled away from him, “I wish it was enough but sometimes its just not.” I told him. “Sometimes fate has another plan and no matter how we want to fight it destiny always has a way of winning in the end.” I could see it in his eyes, he didn't know what to say so he told me he would be there for me if I needed anything and then he left. I waited until he was gone then I walked out on to the balcony. I stood near the edge and looked up at the night sky, it was clear for October and the stars were out in full force. I heard him as he came up behind me, I didn't have to turn I knew it was the future version of Max, “Its done, he hates me.” I told him , “He will turn toward Tess and I will be alone.” He shook his head, “No you won't, don't say that.” he told me as he walked over and stared into my eyes. “He won't hate you...” he started to say then he stopped and said “I won't hate you. I could never hate you.” I had seen the pain in his eyes, I had seen the betrayal, “Yes he will, he was so hurt.” I whispered softly. “I could see it in his eyes.” Max took my hand in his and pulled me toward him, “You won't be alone Liz Parker, not you.” He told me again, “Someday some guy is going to come along and you will have the perfect life with him.” My heart stopped and I felt as if I couldn't breath. Tears stung in my eye, “And your ok with that?” I asked him, my voice breaking with emotion. He took in a deep breath as tears filled his eyes, “No but I keep telling myself that I have to be.” he told me as he pulled me closer. “Dance with me.” he whispered softly into my ear. I laid my head against his chest and music filled the room. The two of us danced together, but as I spun back around toward him, he slowly disappeared. I reached out to touch him, to hold unto to him for one last moment but he was already gone. With tears in my eyes I called out his name, “Max." but there was no answer and there never would be again.

“Liz honey you in here?” Nancy called out as she poked her head into her daughters bedroom.

“Yeah mom I am out here on the balcony.” she called out her as she put her journal aside and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Well dad and I are about to have some dinner do you want anything?” she asked her.

“No thanks mom.” Liz called back, “I had a big lunch and I am not really hungry right now.” she told her. She waited for the sound of her mom closing her door before she got up and walked over to the balcony. She looked out over the city and took in a deep breath, so much had happened since that night. So much of life had changed all around her and yet she still felt stuck back in the past. It was as if time was holding her prisoner as punishment for what she had done. She walked back over and picked up her journal and began writing again:

Over the last five months things have changed. Maria and Michael were finally able to work out their alien/human relationship issues. They seemed happy being together now although it had taken a lot of work on both their parts. In the end I was really proud of Michael, he really does love Maria and I think he realizes she isn't going anywhere any time soon. It has been good seeing them together and so happy, it helps remind me why I am doing what I'm doing.

Alex is back now from his trip to Sweden. He has changed so much, he is calmer, more thoughtful and not so consumed with needing to win Isabel approval. Something she has taken notice of interestingly enough. Maybe that old adage is really true, maybe absence did make Isabel's heart grow fonder because she seems more interested in Alex then she ever did before. I don't know for sure where things are headed for the two of them but I hope Alex is careful. I would hate to see him get hurt again.

Kyle is still Kyle. He is supportive and helpful although I know he still doesn't understand my not telling Max that the two of us did not sleep together that night. Over all things have been calm. No threat from the government alien hit force to deal with. No one being taken off in black vans to little white locked rooms so at least that's good. There were issues with some of Max's enemies. The skins came to Roswell wanting to wage war with Max, but Tess was there for them just as future Max said she would be. She effectively took care of them all by using her powers to blow them into tiny little dust particles. It still makes me cringe to think about that. I struggled for days after it happened, the thought that I was actually breathing in the lingering remains of alien skin floating around in the air at the high school was particularly disturbing to me. Needless to say that was a very long week...We did have some further excitement when Michael, Tess, and Isabel's duplicates showed up in Roswell. They were up to no good but we didn't know that until Ava told me the truth about how Lonnie and Rath had murdered Zan. Lonnie and Rath tricked Max into going to New York City with them, they hoped they could talk him into giving the Granilith to Khivar and secure their ticket back to their home planet but Max listened to my warning and refused.

Liz stopped writing, she walked over to the edge of the balcony and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She looked up toward the skies, with the evening breeze blowing in her hair she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to retrace past events. Even though Max had been in danger that night she was the only one able to help him by communicating with him telepathically while he was in New York. She thought about what Ava had said to her, how Max had changed her and that now she was different. She had thought about that many times over the last few weeks and as time progressed she came to understand more fully what she really meant. She let out a small sigh as her thoughts returned to that night he came back from New York, to Roswell. He thanked her for saving his life and things were better between them but still she lied to him again when he asked that last time about Kyle. It never got easier, and it always hurt but she knew she had to keep the secret and live the lie. She walked over picked up her journal and went inside, she was tired, not so much physically but emotionally. She changed into her pj's and laid down in bed, that same sinking feeling washed over her as she closed her eyes. She let out another small sigh as she rolled over and looked toward the window that Max stood at that night. How long would this hurt continue, how long would she feel like life was just standing still? When would the emptiness finally go away? She closed her eyes and thought about Max, he and Tess had gotten closer, she had seen it happening. Everyday she had to fight the urge to run over to him and tell him everything, to tell him all that she had done in order to save Michael, Isabel, and the planet. That's why rereading her old journal entries had become so important a ritual to her. She needed to remind herself of what it was she was fighting for and why she was keeping so many secrets.

Morning came early and Liz found herself running behind again as she raced to make it to her first period class. The bell rang just as she ran through the door and took her seat next to Alex.

“So this is becoming a habit for you ugh?” Alex asked as he helped her with her back pack.

Liz was out of breath, “Unfortunately yes.” she told him.

“Another late night?” he asked as he opened his English book.

Liz shook her head, “No just a complete lack of sleep.” she admitted then said, “Tell me Alex have you ever had trouble getting your brain to just shut down and go into sleep mode?”

He laughed, “Not really.” he told her, “But then I am one of those individuals who can fall asleep anywhere anytime.”

Liz let out a sigh of frustration, “I so wish I was one of those people.” she told him then said, “Right now I would give anything to be able to close my eyes, clear my head and just sleep with out any thought about anything.”

Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulder, “Well since you are in honors English and we have a paper due next week the chances of that happening are pretty slim.” he told her. As soon as Alex touched her Liz began having flashes of him, they were intense and vivid like the dreams she had been having of Max. She saw Alex, he was lying on a gurney covered in blood. His heart wasn't beating and there were no signs of life in his body. She saw Max trying to heal him but it was to late, Alex was dead. She gasped and pulled away from him, as she did the flash ended.

“Liz are you alright?” He asked seeing the near panic expression on her face as she stared blankly back at him. “Liz?” he said her name again.

She took in a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heartbeat, “Yeah” she said finally, “Yeah I am fine.” she lied.

“You look like you just saw a ghost.” he told her before asking again if she were alright.

Liz tried to laugh it off, “I am fine really just a momentary laps.” she told him then said, “Probably because I did not get that much sleep last night.”

Alex nodded his head, “Well do you think you can focus and give me some ideas about where we should go with this assignment?” he asked her.

Liz smiled, “Absolutely you have my full attention.” she said as she tried to focus and take her mind of what she had just seen.

CHAPTER 2

By the time fourth period ended Liz felt completely drained. She gathered up her books and began walking toward the football fields. As she climbed the bleachers she closed her eyes and concentrated on Maria. “Can you come to the football field I need to talk to you?” she said telepathically. As she waited she took in a deep breath, sat down, pulled out her journal. She decided to write down in her journal the vision she had when Alex touched her, she didn't want to :

Today in class Alex and I were talking, he reached over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he often does and in that instant I saw things. I had these intense visions of him. I saw him dying and Max was there trying to bring him back but he couldn't. IT only lasted for a few seconds and Alex is perfectly fine but in those moments when I saw him I felt as if I had lost my best friend. I can't explain what it was. Could it be more alien powers developing or something else. I have been having these terrible dreams about Max too and this over whelming feeling that life is moving forward with out me. Sometimes I feel like time is frozen in those moments when Max saw me and all I can do is hear this relentless voice accusing me, “you've changed the future, you have placed everyone in danger and now you have to make things right. How can I though when I don't even know if what I am seeing means anything. So much has been upside down in my life since that night and all the nights after. If this is yet another alien power that I am developing as a result of Max's healing me like Ava said then what is it I am seeing???

It was the sound of Maria voice that interrupted her concentration. “So here I am” she told her as she sat down next to her. “By the way I thought we agreed you were going to call or text me on the cell phone and there would be no more talking directly into my brain.” she told her, “Its creepy and kind of still freaks me out.”

Liz let out a small sigh, “I'm sorry really I am but I needed to talk to you.” she told her.

Maria took in a deep breath, “It's fine." she told her then asked, "So whats up?”

Liz closed her journal and put it back inside her back pack. “Well first off I had another dream about Max last night.” she told her.

“Same dream?” maria asked.

Liz nodded, “Yep.

“Any new details at all?” Maria asked her as she pulled out an orange from her bag and began peeling it “anything different?”

Liz thought about the dream and tried to remember everything she could, “Max is there, your there and so is Michael, there maybe others but I am not sure. Max is really upset. He is devastated, and really angry. He is blaming himself for whatever is happening but I know its not his fault.”

“So you're there too this time?” Maria asked.

“No I'm not there.” she started to say then corrected herself, “Well maybe I am there. I still don't know for sure but I do know that whatever is happening its not his fault. I want to tell him that but he still can't hear me.” she told her.

“Anything else, anything at all?” Maria asked her.

“Yeah this time I realized that your all at the Crashdown. So whatever is happening is happening at the Crashdown.” she told her, “There something else, this time I remember hearing a voice say someone was taken. I heard someone say, taken from us, but then it all becomes a blur and I can't remember anything else.”

“Well you know it could just be a really bad dream.” she told her.

“Maria something else happened today, something really strange.” Liz told her, “In first period this morning Alex and I were talking and he was teasing me and he wrapped his arm around me and I swear to you as soon as he touched me I saw things.”

Maria shook her head, “What do you mean you saw things?” she asked her.

“I saw Alex. I mean I had a vision of him, he was laying on a gurney in the back of an ambulance and he was hurt really bad. He was covered in blood and Max was there trying to heal him but it was to late. Maria I saw him die.” she told her her voice heavy with emotion.

Maria took in a deep breath, “Liz this is getting way out of control. We have to tell Max and the others what has been going on over the past few months.”

“Maria we can't do that. I can't tell Max anything about his coming from the future or the fact that I have changed.” she told her keeping her voice low so those walking by wouldn't hear. “When these changes first started after Ava left you made a promise to me that no matter what you wouldn't say anything so please lets not have this argument again.”

Maria took in a deep breath, “Yeah I made that promise but Liz that was before you were having crazy scary dreams about Max and people being taken, and now your having full on visions about Alex dying and your awake. This has to be another alien power your developing. For all we know you maybe seeing the future.” she told her.

“Maria the problem is we don't know what it is and I just have this really strong feeling that we can't let the others know. I can't explain it to you but please we can't tell Max and the others.” she told her. “Besides it seems like it would be strange that I would develop this ability now when all the others came at once.” she told her then said, “We don't even know if there is any kind of threat, maybe this is just me slowly going crazy because my mind can't handle all these changes happening because of Max healing me.”

Maria shook her head, “All the more reason then to tell the others. Liz what if whatever is happening to you does harm you in some way.”

“I'm fine now.” she assured her, “Yeah I will admit those first few days were crazy, having my body rage a fever of 106 and melting things I touched was not easy to deal with but we got me through it.”

“Barely, your just lucky your parents were out of town when that happened.” Maria told her.

“It wasn't that bad.” she lied.

“Liz you slept for three days straight and when you were awake you had terrible headaches.” she reminded her. “You have no idea how hard it was for me not to go running to Max. I had to lie to Michael and the others and make up all kinds of stuff.”

“I didn’t mean for you to have to go through all that.” Liz told her.

“Its ok your my friend and I wanted to be there for you.” she told her, “It's just hard sometimes keeping all this from Michael. I keep thinking what if something does happen to you and its my fault for not saying anything. We don't know what were dealing with in any of this.”

“Maria I promise you I am fine.” she told her. “Please trust me. Since this all started I have been keeping really close track of how I am feeling you know that. I go to the lab, I monitor my blood cells for any changes, and I am not in any danger what I said before was just a flippant comment because of the frustration I have been feeling.”

Maria was quiet for a minute. “Ok Liz, but what if you are seeing the future and we could stop these things from happening don't you want to do that?”

“Of course I do but I can't just tell Max everything now with out knowing.” she reminded her, “He is still supposed to be with Tess and if I tell him the truth that might jeopardize the two of them getting together.” she said her voice revealing the sadness she still struggled with. “Maria remember Michael and Isabel's lives could be at stake in all of this.”

Maria wrapped her arms around Liz and gave her a hug then she smiled, “OK what we need to do is an experiment. We need to see if your actually seeing the future or just going crazy.”

Liz laughed, “How do you propose we do that?”

“Well I say we try it on me, close your eyes concentrate and see if you get any flashes. IF you don't then we know it was just moment of wild imagination if you do then we figure out what to do next.” Maria told her.

Liz looked around as some more students passed them by, “I think we will have to wait until later when were at the Crashdown, out here people will notice.” she told her.

Maria nodded her head, “Ok fair enough but once we do this you have to at least consider the possibility that we need to tell Max.”

Liz bit her bottom lip, “I will consider it.” she lied.

“Alright so instead of sitting out here by yourself how about we go join Michael.” Maria suggested.

Liz hesitated, “I'm good you go. I will catch up with you later.”

Maria stood up and pulled Liz up with her, “If you and Max are going to be “friends” then you have to at least act like your trying.” she told her, “I know you want the two of them to be together but does that mean that we can't hang out together any more?”

Liz shook her head, “Maria we are still friends we hang out all the time.” she told her.

“NO we don't Liz, fighting aliens together is not hanging out. Come on just come over and have lunch with me and Alex like we use to.” she pleaded.

Liz let out a small sigh, “Sure alright I will come for you.” she told her knowing full well Max and Tess would probably be there together. She followed Maria over to the quad were the others were laughing and eating lunch. She could see that Isabel interest in Alex was growing but he seemed oblivious to it. It was almost funny how the roles had reversed. Tess was there, with Kyle sitting on one side and Max on the other. It seemed to Liz that Tess very much enjoyed having the attention of the both of them. At least Max was no longer looking to tear Kyle apart for what he thought happened between him and Liz. She watched Max as he talked with Tess, he laughed and seemed happy. It was the sound of Micheal’s voice that interrupted her thoughts, “Liz you going to sit down or what?” he asked her.

She blinked and shook her head to clear her thoughts, just then Max looked up and their eyes met. He smiled at her but she could feel the tears already beginning to burn the back of her eyes. “Umm I just remembered somethings I needed to get done in the lab so I will catch up with you later Maria.” she said as she turned and walked away. As she reached the door she stopped and looked back. Max was the only one still looking in her direction but he quickly turned away. She closed her eyes and concentrated, “Sorry Maria, still to soon.” she told her. “I know I am a coward hope you understand.”

Maria looked up toward Liz as she heard her speaking into her mind. She shrugged her shoulders and nodded that she understood. Liz let out a small sigh and spent the rest of her lunch in solitude working in the lab. Neither of them noticed how close attention Michael was paying to the two of them.

CHAPTER 3

After lunch everyone headed back to class but Michael pulled Maria back, “I need to talk to you.” he told her as he grabbed a hold of her arm to keep her from going.

Maria leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips, “Talk as in met you in the eraser room talk, or talk talk?” she teased.

Michael smiled, “As tempting as that sounds, I really need to talk, talk to you.” he told her.

“Sounds serious is everything alright?” she asked him as she sat back down next to him.

Michael looked into her eyes then he took her hand in his, “I want you to tell me whats going on with Liz?” he told her.

Maria shrugged her shoulders as she fidgeted with the strap on her backpack. “Liz is fine.” she told him.

“Really cause she has been hanging out a lot at the lab and spending a lot of time on her own.” he told her.

Maria shook her head, “Yeah well its hard for her you know to be around Max when Tess is here.” she told him. “She is just trying to adjust to how things are now.”

“We've come through a lot together right?” he told her. “We have had our obstacles you and I but we have come through them together right?”

“Yeah we have.” she agreed suddenly feeling nervous by the serious tone in his voice.

“The reason we have come through so much together is because we have been straight with each other no lies.” he told her and waited for her reaction.

Maria didn't like where this was going, “of course trust is what every good relationship needs to be built on.” she agreed.

Michael took in a deep breath, “Then why are you holding stuff back from me.” he demanded.

Maria tried to pretend she didn't know what he was talking about, “Michael I'm not holding anything back from you.” she lied.

“Really cause I know something is up with Liz and you are keeping secrets for her.” he told her, “Maria I am not stupid, I have seen the way she is. The way she has pulled back from everyone, especially Max.” he told her then asked again, “I want to know what is going on.”

Maria was about to make something up when he stopped her, “Maria before you say anything I just want you to know if you lie to me and something major goes down...” he took in a deep breath before he continued, “If you are keeping secrets from me and not telling me the truth then you are putting what we have together at risk.”

Maria looked into his eyes, “Michael I promise you that...” she started to say then stopped, she looked away as tears formed in her eyes. She took in a deep breath and then turned back toward him, “Liz is going through somethings ok. There is some stuff that I can't talk to you about. She made me promise but I give you my word as far as I know what she is dealing with does not affect any of you.” she told him honestly.

Michael let out a small sigh, “Maria you know just because things have been calm for awhile doesn't mean it will stay that way. All we need is for the wrong people to start looking in the right places and all hell could break loose again. Liz needs to keep it together, she can't be showing up to her classes late, she can't be drawing attention to herself in ways that might expose all of us.”

Maria shrugged her shoulders, “How has she done that?” she asked him, “How has she drawn attention to any of you? Give me and example.”

“Two days ago as I was walking into the kitchen I overheard you both talking. She was telling you about some kind of strange dream she was having about Maxwell.” he began telling her.

“So she had a strange dream about Max. So what?” Maria said trying to remember the conversation fully.

“I got the impression it was more then a one time thing.” he told her.

“Michael she has had a couple of bad dreams.” she told him, “Honestly its probably because of seeing Max and Tess spend so much time together.”

“Maria I heard the two of you talking about more then just the dream. I heard you ask Liz if she thought it was another alien power?” he told her then said, “Why would you ask her that?”

Maria was quiet for a minute, she wasn't sure what to say. “Michael I can't answer that right now because if I do I will be breaking a promise to Liz and if I don't...”

“You will be keeping secrets from me.” he finished her sentence for her.

“I have to go.” she told him as she got up to leave. Michael grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her back around to face, “Maria I really don't want what ever happened between Max and Liz to happen to us and I know that their issues began when she started keeping secrets from him.” he told her as he let go of her hand and walked away.

Maria felt so confused and so frustrated, she didn't want to risk loosing Michael but she promised Liz and she would never break that promise. She needed to talk to Liz as soon as possible.

It was late, classes had let out over two hours ago but Liz wanted to stay after so she could have the lab to herself. She wanted to examine her blood cells again for any changes. She had started testing her blood not long after she first noticed the changes she was having. She opened her back pack and pulled out a small needle kit. She jabbed the end of her finger with the needle and then pressed two drops of blood unto the slide. As she looked through the microscope the results were clear, she was still one hundred percent human, there were no changes to her blood cells. She took in a deep breath, even though she was still showing no signs of cellular changes she was different. The powers that she now had proved she was different. What ever those changes Max's healing had brought about clearly were focused on the way her brain functioned and not her physical makeup. She made sure no one was around as she took out a small block of wood and held her hand out over it. She closed her eye and focused all her energy into her hand, as she did she could feel the heat begin to radiate. In a matter of seconds she was able to create a small stream of energy that shot out from her hand into the wood. She attempted to control it by moving her hand from side to side. She opened her eyes slowly keeping her focus on the energy stream as she did and was able to increase the intensity of the heat coming from her hand. She realized that with her mind she could focus the stream of energy where she wanted it to go. The sound of someone walking near the door startled her and she lost her focus, as she pulled her hand back she accidentally burned the top of the lab table. She quickly grabbed her back pack and placed it over the burn marks just as Kyle came through the door, “Hey Liz what are you still doing here?” he asked her.

“Working on a biology project.” she lied to him. “Why are you still here?”

“Basketball practice.” he told her then said, “So you have been working really hard on this project lately ugh. Maria said that its been keeping you pretty busy.”

“Yeah well you know me have to keep those grades up if I want to impress Yale.” she told him. “Or Harvard.”

He shook his head, “You know what they say though, all work and no play..” he told her then said “Prom is coming up, you should go and have some fun for a change.”

Liz shook her head, “No I don't think so.” she told him. “Besides I really don't want to be one of those girls who goes all alone and I am not going to tag along with Michael and Maria.”

Kyle smiled, “I happen to know for a fact that Max does not have date yet.” he told her.

“Really I thought he and Tess would be going together.” she told him.

“No Tess is going with me. I asked and she accepted.” he told her.

“Oh.” Liz mumbled softly wondering if this was a good thing or bad. “Still he isn't about to come and ask me.”

Kyle took in a deep breath, “Well he might if you would finally tell him the truth about that night.” he suggested again.

Liz shook her head, “Kyle no!” she told him adamantly. “I can't tell him and you promised not to bring it up again.” she reminded him.

He could see she was upset, “Hey I just thought I would pass along some information about who was going with whom to the prom that's all.” he told her then said, “Seriously Liz your one of my best friends and it kills me to see you hurting like this.”

“I'm fine.” she lied.

“Really like today at lunch you weren't about to break down in tears seeing Max and Tess together?” he told her, “It was all over your face the way you looked at him.”

Liz shrugged her shoulders, “Kyle I have no idea what your talking about. I am fine.” she told him.

“Ok you keep telling yourself that and maybe” he told as he walked over to the door, “Maybe one day it will actually be true.”

Liz watched as he left, she didn't think she was so obvious with her emotions. If Kyle had seen how upset she was, could Max have noticed as well she wondered. IF he did notice would he have still cared. She looked up at the clock it really was getting late. She needed to get home Maria would be waiting for her after her shift. She finished cleaning up in the lab all that remained was the burn marks on the table top. She closed her eye and focused as she waved her hand across the table, the burns disappeared. She had gotten pretty good at manipulating matter. OF course watching Max do it so often had helped. Liz grabbed her back pack and was just about to leave when Max walked in.

“I saw your car in the parking lot and figured you would be in here.” he said as he opened the door.

Liz smiled, “Yeah well this project I have been working on is pretty challenging.” she told him.

“Are you done or still working?” he asked.

“I am done for today.” she told him.

Max smiled not really sure what to say next, he hated that things always seemed so awkward between them now. “So what is it your working on anyway?”

“Umm its kind of boring.” she told him trying to think of what to say. “I don't think you would be interested.”

Max shook his head, “No I am interested really, whats the project?” he asked her again.

Liz could see he wasn't going to give up, “I'm studying the effects of alien influences on cells to see if there is any kind of mutation that occurs.” she told him.

Max laughed, “I assume by alien you mean foreign and not actually alien.” he teased her.

Liz laughed, “Right foreign influences.” she agreed. “So I should get going I told Maria I would meet with her back at the Crashdown.”

Max walked out with her towards her car, “Liz can we talk?” he asked her. “I mean really talk with out you running off.” he told her.

Liz stopped and looked into his eyes, “I don't run off.” she told him.

He lowered his eyes toward the ground for a few minutes and then looked back up into hers, “Yes you do. Every time I'm around you make an excuse and leave. I thought when I got back from New York City we agreed to be friends.” he reminded her.

“I am your friend, I do want to be your friend.” she told him truthfully. “I have just been busy and dealing with stuff.”

“So busy you can't eat lunch with us one day out of the week?” he asked her.

Having him stand so close was unnerving to her, she could feel her heart racing. She tried not to look into his eyes, every time she did she had to fight the temptation to tell him everything, to tell him about future Max, about how she has changed and now had alien powers and most of all how much she still desperately loved him. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes as she quickly looked away, “I didn't realize I had gotten so caught up in my classes that I wasn't around. Maria told me the same thing so I guess I should take it to heart.” she told him then said, “I really do have to get going now cause I promised Maria I would be there and I am already late.”

Max took in a deep breath, “Can I come by later, could we talk then?” he asked her. “Please?”

Liz fiddled with the strap of her back pack, she wasn't sure what to say, “I don't know how late I will be out with Maria.” she lied.

“Liz we were best friends before” he hesitated for a moment, “Before everything happened and I really miss that. I want us to be real friends again so let me come talk with you. Just hear what I have to say and I promise I won't stay long.”

Liz nodded her head, “Sure come over after eight.” she told him as she pulled her hand free and turned to leave. “I'll see you later.” she said softly.

He watched her go, there would always be a apart of his heart that longed to be with her. He took in a deep breath, if they were ever truly going to get past all that had happened between them and become friends again then they needed to work at it. He realized at lunch today how awkward it felt every time they were together and Tess was there. He didn't want his friendship with Tess to get in the way of their friendship. As he got in his jeep his thoughts shifted toward Tess, they had been spending a lot more time together. She was helping him retrieve his memories of his life on Antar. It was something he always wondered about and now finally he was finding some answers.

CHAPTER 4

It was just past 6:00 when Liz stumbled into the back of the Crashdown. She ran into Michael and her dad, Michael was just getting off work and her dad was just starting his shift. “Lizzy honey your late, Maria could use your help out there.” he told her.

“So sorry dad I got caught up in my project at school.” she told him as she passed by the kitchen.

“No worries just hurry back down so you can eat something and get out there to help.” he told her as he continued flipping burgers.

Liz nodded and turned to go upstairs, “Hey Michael.” she said as she walked by him.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she reached the bottom stair, “Liz you sure everything is alright with you?” he asked her. “Your looking really tired lately and have been spending a lot of time at the science lab.”

Liz gave him a strange look, “Seriously you too, what is it with everyone?” she mumbled, “I am fine.” she told him.

“Maybe its just that were seeing things that your not.” he told her as he let go of her arm and walked out. “Tell Maria I will be back later to pick her up.” he said before closing the door.

Liz stared after him for a few moments, wondering what he meant. She took in a deep breath and then made her way upstairs. As she closed the door to her room she looked at herself in the mirror. She did look tired but that was only because she was barely sleeping. “Liz you have to get it together, everyone is beginning to notice and that goes against the plan of not drawing attention to yourself.” she mumbled to herself as she began changing out of her clothes and into her uniform.

Maria was just about to loose it when Liz came down into the restaurant to help her, “Maria I am here, go take a break.” she told her as she began waiting on customers.

“Thank you.” she told her as she headed back into the kitchen. She grabbed herself a tall glass of ice water then sat down. She thought about the discussion she and Michael had before and what she was going to say to Liz. She knew deep down he was right, keeping secrets from each other was not a good idea. She finished her glass of water and then headed back out into the restaurant. For the rest of the night both Liz and Maria were to busy to talk but when their shift ended Liz walked over and sat down next to Maria at the counter. “So you still want me to try this, to see if I have any flashes or what?” She asked her.

Maria shook her head, “At this point I am not sure it matters,” she started to say, “I have been wanting to talk to you all night.”

Liz could tell by the sound of her voice Maria was upset, “Whats wrong?” she asked.

“Liz, Michael knows something is up.” she told her. “Today after lunch he told me he overheard us talking.”

Liz was stunned, “What did he say?” she asked.

“He heard you telling me about your dream, about Max.” she told her.

“So everyone has dreams, if that's it then...” Liz started to say but Maria interrupted her.

“Its not all. He heard me ask if you thought that these dreams might be another alien power.” she told her. “He suspects something is up.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “What did you tell him.” she asked. “What did you say?”

Maria looked intently at Liz, “I didn't tell him anything, I just said you were going through somethings that only effect you and that you just needed time.” she told her. “I told him it was because of Max and Tess getting together.”

“Did he believe you?” Liz asked.

“No, he knows there's more to it then that and he wants answers. Liz I don't want to loose him, I love him and if I lie to him he is going to know it and then...” she didn't finish the sentence as tears filled her eyes.

“Then the two of you will end up like me and Max.” Liz finished for her.

“Liz I know I promised you never to tell anyone but maybe its time. I mean what if the things your seeing are future events don't you think it would be better everyone knowing?” She told her between sobs.

Liz shook her head, “No Maria no...” she told her impatiently. She got up and walked over toward the door to make sure no one was in the kitchen and they were alone. “Maria if Max ever finds out about future Max coming, it might jeopardize his destiny with Tess.”

“So what!” Maria cried, “Come on Liz its been five months and Tess isn't going anywhere. She is a part of our lives now. Look around you, she spends all her time with Kyle maybe just maybe things have changed enough...” she told her between sobs, “I don't want to loose Michael please let me talk to him.”

“If you do talk to him and he tells Max anything, anything at all that may change the future then what?” Liz asked her in frustration.

“Liz the future isn't yours or mine to determine.” Maria tried to tell her, “Besides you don't know if Michael would say anything. I believe we could tell him and he wouldn't say anything to the others.”

Liz walked over to Maria. She took her hand and held it tight in hers. “I am going to give you the choice.”

“What are you doing?” Maria asked her as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I am going to show you what future Max told me about why I have to keep this a secret. I am going to show you why I am doing this. I'm going to try and connect with you so you can see” she told her. “So you will understand and then you can decide?”

Maria shook her head, “Yeah ok.” she agreed as Liz closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could on the things that future Max had told her about Michael and Isabel. Maria's mind filled with images, she saw Liz sitting on her balcony crying as future Max pleaded with her to help him.

“Liz you have to do this!” he told her again. His voice filled with both desperation and pain. “You have to.”

“I can't please don't ask me to.” She cried harder. “Don't you understand, don't you realize how it kills me inside to lie to him. How much it hurt telling him I didn't want to die for him.” She lowered her head into her hands, “He is the only reason I am alive.”

Future Max got up and walked toward the balcony he ran his hands through his hair and turned back to her. She was so upset, he took in a deep breath and then came back over to her. He sat down next to her and took her hands in his, “Minutes before I came back here I held Michael in my arms and watched him die. He was covered in blood there were to many wounds and not enough time to heal him. I watched him choke on his last breath as our enemies came closer. Two days before that Isabel was killed, shot multiple times. It was hours before I could get to her, she died alone in dark empty warehouse surrounded by strangers. Liz the battles they never end, its wave after wave of attacks and this was our last hope. You have to do this. You have to find a way!!”

Liz pulled away from him, “How?! What do you want me to do?” she cried her voice filled with anger and sadness.

Liz opened her eyes and looked into Maria's. The connection ended, “That's why I am doing this, that's why.” she said her voice barely above a whisper. “Maria you have to decided? Do you still think you can risks telling Michael.” she asked her.

Maria stood there shaking, she had no idea the pain and sorrow Liz was carrying with her. She suddenly felt the full weight of the burden her best friend had been struggling with. She took in a deep breath as tears rolled down her cheek. “Liz I...” she started to say but Michael came in.

Liz squeezed her hand to stop her, “Hey Michael.” she said as Maria turned and saw him standing there just behind them.

“Hey, you guys done I kind of want to get home to catch my show.” he told them.

Liz looked back at Maria, “Yep all done.” she said as she looked back to Maria. “See you guys tomorrow.”

Maria walked over and picked up her coat and keys. As she walked out with Michael she heard Liz telepathically telling her, “Please think about what I showed you Maria before you say anything.” She turned and looked back at Liz as tears stung her eyes.

Liz stood there for a few moments, as she watched them leave. She wiped the tears from her eyes and locked up before heading up to her room. She hated doing that, she hated having to show Maria those things but she didn't know what else to do. Deep down inside she wished she had never told any of it to her, she wished she could have spared her knowing the truth and just carried the burden alone. She decided that was what she was going to do from this point forward. The less Maria knew the better it would be for her.


Michael drove Maria home, “You want me to come in for awhile?” he asked her.

Maria was quiet. The images were still fresh in her mind as she turned to Michael, “Umm my mom is out of town on business for a few days so you can come in if you want.” she told him.

Michael turned the car off and followed Maria inside. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He changed the channels several times until finally he left it settled on Dr Who. He took in a deep breath, he kept waiting all the way in the car ride over to see if she would say anything about what happened but she said nothing. It was clear she was upset but he figured he should just wait until she was ready to talk to him. He looked up as she came back out and sat down next to him, “You alright?” he asked her.

Maria took in a deep breath and shook her head, “I love you Michael.” she told him as she snuggled closer to him. “I love you so much.” she said trying not to think about him dying.

Michael wrapped his arms around her and held her close, “I love you too.” he told her softly.

CHAPTER 5

It was just after nine when Max showed up at her window. Liz was sitting on her bed getting ready to write in her journal when she heard him knocking. She put her journal down and walked over to the window to open it, “Hey Max. It got kind of late I thought maybe you decided not to stop by.” she told him.

Max shook his head, “No I wanted to talk with you I just got busy.” he told her. “Can you come out, so we can talk.”

Liz nodded her head, “Sure.” she told him as she climbed through the window.

He walked back over toward the balcony and sat down on the edge. Liz walked over and sat next to him. She looked into his eyes and smiled, “So what did you want to talk to me about?” she asked him.

Max lowered his eyes toward the ground, “I guess just life in general. It feels like its been forever since we talked and I miss that.” he told her.

Liz nodded her head, “yeah me too.” she said softly.

There were several minutes of awkward silence between them while they both tried to think of what to say next. Then Max finally said, “So Kyle asked Tess to go with him to the prom.” he told her.

Liz nodded her head again, “Yeah I heard about that.” she told him. “He stopped by and saw me earlier.”

Max looked over at her, “Are you ok with that?” he asked her watching closely to see her response.

Liz nodded her head, “Yeah why wouldn't I be.” she told him.

“I guess I thought maybe the two of you might have plans to go together.” he said thinking back to seeing them together. “Or at least that you might have wanted that.”

“Oh” she shook her head, “No we don't have any plans.” she told him then said, “Are you ok with the two of them going together?”

Max shook his head, “Yeah.” he told her, “I mean Tess and Kyle are good friends and she really wanted to go. When he asked I don't think she wanted to disappoint him.”

Liz let out a small sigh, “oh.” was all she said.

Max could feel the tension between them and he hated it. He tried to think of what to say next, “So I was thinking that I probably won't go to prom.” he told her.

Liz nodded her head, “I was thinking the same thing.” she said.

Max was surprised, “Really I thought for sure you would want to go.” he commented.

“There was a time when I very much wanted to go but not now.” she admitted then to change the subject she said, “I think Michael has given in and agreed to go with Maria.”

“Well she pleaded with him long enough about it.” Max laughed. “I know he is going for her but she seems happy so...”

“Yeah their a good couple.” Liz agreed, “I am glad they have been able to work things out.”

Max nodded his head, “I think now that Alex is back he and Isabel are working things out too. I heard she asked him to the prom and there going to go.” he told her.

“That's great. Alex has matured a lot while he was away.” Liz said as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and shudder a little.

“Are you getting cold?” he asked her as he took off his jacket and offered it to her.

She smiled as he wrapped it around her shoulders. “Thanks.”

Max took in a deep breath then said, “So I have been starting to remember more of my past.” he blurted out suddenly.

Liz looked into his eyes, “Really, that’s amazing.” she told him, “So what do you remember?”

“Mostly I remember things, like smells, feelings and impressions of what my life was like on Antar.” he told her.

Liz hesitated for a moment then worked up the courage to ask, “So do you remember people? She asked him, “Do you remember Michael, and Isabel?”

“Yeah I do.” he told her. “Not so much what any of us looked like but more their energy, the spirit of who they were.” he explained.

Liz took in a deep breath, her heart began racing faster, “Do you remember Tess” she asked, “And being married to her?”

Max didn't answer right away, “Yeah I remember her too.” he said finally.

Liz smiled and looked away as tears stung her eyes, “that's great.” she lied, “Really that's amazing.”

He smiled, “Yeah Tess has been helping me retrieve my memories.” he told her. “Its exciting and a little frightening all at the same time. Its like this part of me that I have always had all these questions about I finally get the chance to know.”

Liz could tell this meant a lot to him, “I'm really happy for you Max.” she told him as she held back her tears. She was finding it hard to breath, “Wow its getting late.” she said as she pretended to yawn. “I'm sorry its just been a really long day.”

Max shook his head, “Yeah I guess it has.” he told her as he made his way over toward the ladder. “night Liz.” he said softly.

“Night Max.” she said as she walked over toward her window. She stopped suddenly and turned he was already climbing down the ladder when she ran over and called out to him. “I'm really glad you came over and we got a chance to talk.” she told him.

Max stepped down to the ground and looked up. She was standing there leaning over looking down at him. For just a moment memories of their past together washed over him and all at once he just knew. “Go to prom with me?” He called out to her.

Liz shook her head, “Yes!” she answered with out even thinking of what the consequence to herself or her heart might be.

He smiled and waved goodbye as he turned and walked away. Liz turned and walked back into her room. As she climbed through the window she realized she still had Max's jacket. She wrapped it tighter around her shoulders and sat back down on her bed. Maybe things didn't have to be as she kept imagining them, maybe Maria was right, after all Tess was still in Roswell and she did willingly accept Kyle invitation to the prom. She looked over at her journal, “Not tonight.” she mumbled to herself as she picked it up and placed it inside her backpack. “In the morning...that will be soon enough to realize what saying yes to going to the prom with Max means. For right now I just want to think about him standing there, looking up at me and smiling.” Liz pulled Max's jacket up around her shoulders and took in a deep breath, it smelled like him. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

When the first rays of sunshine filled her room she woke up and stretched, she rolled over and saw Max's jacket. She sat up and realized suddenly she had actually had a good night sleep. For the first time in weeks she had actually been able to close her eyes and sleep, there were no visions, or bad dreams. For the first time in weeks she was feeling really good, she felt hopeful and that was something she hadn't felt in a really long time. Liz got out of bed and hurried her morning shower, she got dressed and was just about to go downstairs when her mother came into her room.

“Liz I just wanted to make sure you were still alright with dad and I going away this next week?” her mom asked.

Liz nodded her head, “Oh yeah I'm fine.” she told her. “So where were you going again?” she asked not really remembering.

“We have that restaurant convention in Houston on Tuesday and will be gone until late Sunday night.” she explained.

“I remember now. Dad said Joe would run the grill and cover for him while Michael handles closing.” she commented.

“Yeah so that means you and Maria will have to work out closings as well.” Nancy told her.

Liz shook her head, “We will handle it mom.” she assured her.

Nancy smiled, she looked at her daughter, “You seem different this morning?” she commented. “Why is that, what is different?”

Liz gave her a puzzled look, “I don't have any idea what your talking about.”

Nancy eyes narrowed, “You look happy.” she said honestly. “That's it you look happy and your smiling.”

Liz felt embarrassed, “Come on Mom you make it seem like I always look sad or upset.” she told her.

Nancy walked over and wrapped her arms around her, “No always but for the past few months, you have seemed like you were carrying some kind of weight around with you.” she told her then said, “Its just nice to see you smiling again.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “Maybe things have been a little crazy with school and my honors classes and maybe I have been a little distracted but I do feel happy today.” she admitted honestly then said, “I have some news.”

Nancy looked at her and smiled, “Would this news be about prom?”she asked.

Liz nodded her head, “Yes. Max asked me to go with him and I said yes.” she told her.

Nancy laughed, “Now I know the real reason for that smile.” she teased her.

“We are friends mom.” Liz brushed off the comment, “Anyway I was wondering if you would come and help me choose a prom dress?” she told her, “We have time its still about two weeks away but I really was hoping that you would come help me and Maria pick out my dress.”

Nancy walked over and hugged her daughter, “Of course I will.” she told her. “We will plan a day as soon as dad and I get back from the convention.” she told her.

Liz smiled, “Thanks mom.” she said as she grabbed Max's jacket and headed downstairs. She was just about to go see Maria when Michael walked in, “Hey Michael.”

He just nodded and went over to his locker to get his apron. Liz could tell he was upset, she wondered if Maria said anything to him after they left last night. Michael stopped what he was doing, “Maria was pretty upset when I picked her up last night.” he told her as he reached over and grabbed a carton of eggs.

“Did she say why she was upset?” Liz asked cautiously.

He shook his head, “Your secrets are still safe, she didn't tell me anything.” he told her then said, “She did however spend most of the night crying.”

“Michael I know you think we are keeping secrets but the truth is what has been going on, it doesn't involve anyone else but me.” she tried to reassure him. “I wouldn't do anything purposely to jeopardize any of you or put you in danger.”

Michael grabbed her arm and leaned in closer, “Liz what you don't seem to understand is that if something is happening to one of us it generally affects all of us.” he whispered. “Our lives depend on all of us keeping this secret.”

As soon as Michael touched her Liz began getting flashes. He was dressed completely in black and he was helping carry a casket. He was at someones funeral. She pulled away from him and the flash ended. She blinked back tears as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen.

Michael eyes narrowed, “Liz what is going on?” he could see she was visibly shaken and really upset.

Liz was trembling, “I have to go.” she told him as she tried to understand what she had seen. She turned and moved toward the back door of the restaurant. Michael followed her and grabbed her by the arm again. He turned her back around to face him, “Liz what is it?” he demanded again. “What just happened?”

She swallowed as more flashes filled her mind. This time she saw him, Max, Kyle, and the sheriff, they were all carrying the casket together. He was upset as they carried the casket to the grave site and lowered the coffin into the ground. She tried to focus as the image began to fade, “Alex.” she whispered his name, “Alex wasn't there.”

Michael didn't understand what she was talking about but he knew she was upset, “Liz what is going on?” he asked her again, “If something is happening you need to tell me.”

Liz shook her head and blinked away the tears in her eyes, “Michael I am fine, nothing is wrong.” she told him as she pulled her arm free. “I have to go now.”

He thought about going after her but Mr. Parker came down the stairs in that moment ready for work, “Ok Michael its me and you for the morning shift.” he told him as he grabbed his order pad and apron.

Michael smiled, “sure thing Mr. Parker.” was all he said as he went back over and started making the eggs for the breakfast crowds. Something was up with Liz, the look in her eyes was shock and fear. What had come over her to cause her to react like that he wondered?

CHAPTER 6

Liz got in her car and drove to Max's house. She wanted to return his jacket. She took in a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. The morning had started out so well, she kept thinking about how Max had asked her to prom and how completely perfect it was. Standing there seeing that look in his eyes as he asked her. She had missed that look so much. Why did she have to run into Michael and have that awful vision. She tried not to dwell on it but she was still so confused by what she had seen and deep down in her heart she knew Alex was the one in that casket. Before she knew it Liz found herself pulling up in front of Max's house. She shook her head and tried to get back that feeling she had the night before as she knocked on the front door. Hello Mrs. Evans, is Max home?” Liz asked.

“Liz its so good to see you again.” Diane said as she opened the door. “He is upstairs studying I think.” she told her. “You can go on up.”

Liz smiled, “Thank you.” she said as she made her way upstairs. Max's door was just barely opened so she raised her hand to knock when she heard voice drifting out from the other side. She could hear Tess, she was there and judging from what they were saying they were probably working on retrieving more of his memories. She stood there not really sure what to do when she overheard Tess say. “So you went and saw Liz last night ugh?” she mentioned casually.

Max seemed to get uncomfortable, his voice sounded strained, “Umm yeah well we agreed to be friends and I just wanted to share with her how amazing it is that I'm actually starting to remember stuff.” he told her then asked. “How did you know?”

Tess smiled, “Because when I was trying to connect with you your mind was filled with thoughts about Liz. I saw you ask her to the prom last night so I just kind of guessed you must have gone over.” she said innocently.

Max shook his head, “Yeah well she didn't have anyone to go with and since you already were going with Kyle I just thought she and I might go as friends.” he told her. “We are just friends now, she doesn’t want anything more then that from me.”

Tess shook her head, “I know Liz will always be important to you I get that but Max you can't let your emotions” she said then emphasized, “Your past emotions get in the way of what we're trying to do here. If you really want to remember, if you really want to know who you were” she said as she took his hand in hers, “Then you have to put thoughts of Liz Parker out of your head and let me in.”

Max nodded his head, “I know, I promise to keep focused.” he told her.

Tess leaned down and gently brushed her lips against the palm of his hand, “Max we have so many memories of our life together I just want you to know what it was like, what it meant to the both of us when we were together.” she told him as she kissed him again, “as husband and wife.”

Liz heart stopped when she heard him say, “I know I want that too.” she took her hand off the door and turned to leave. How could she have been so stupid of course he had only asked her out of friendship. She let herself get caught up in the moment, when in reality this was exactly what she had wanted to happen. It was the plan after all that she would end things with him and then push him to be with Tess. She headed back downstairs with Max's jacket still in her hand. She saw Mrs. Evans as she walked into the kitchen, “Could you give this to Max later. He and Tess were studying and I didn't want to interrupt the two of them.” she lied.

Diane shook her head as she reached out and took the jacket from Liz, “Of course I can. As soon as Liz hand touched hers she saw images of Max. Diane was helping him with his tie, they were both dressed in black and very upset. She saw Diane turn from Max and walk over toward Isabel who was crying. She was also dressed in black.

It was the sound of Mrs. Evans voice that brought her back to reality, “Liz was there something else I can do for you?” she asked.

Liz looked into her eyes and shook her head no, “I'm sorry I have been feeling a little bit out of it.” she told her.

“Its alright” she told her. “IT happens to me all the time. I am always getting distracted by something or another.” she told her.

Liz nodded, “Thanks again. I should get going, I have to get to work.”

Diane showed her to the door, “I'll let Max know you brought back his jacket.”

Liz thanked her and then headed toward her car. She got in and began driving back to the Crashdown. She had to find out if these visions she was having were real and if they were what they meant. She knew Maria would be there, she hated to put more of this on her but at this point she had no where else she could go. She knew if she told Maria to much she would only get more upset and she didn't want to cause that. She kept thinking what if she were over reacting, what if none of these things she was seeing really meant anything. One thing she was sure of though, her plan to push Max to be with Tess did seem to be working. She pulled up to the back of the Crashdown and climbed upstairs using her fire escape. She really didn't want to have another run in with Michael at the moment. As she came up the ladder she saw Maria waiting for her. “Maria I am so sorry about last night.” she told her as she walked over and sat down next to her. “I never should have showed you those things. It was unfair of me.”

Maria shook her head, “No Liz it was good that you did. I needed to know,” she said as she cleared her throat, “I needed to understand why this was so important and now I do.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “So what about Michael?” she asked her. “He seemed pretty upset earlier.”
“He was, and probably will be but for now what we know only effects us so we keep it a secret.”

Liz hated the fact that she was the cause of this trouble between them, “What are you going to tell him?” she asked her.

Maria looked over at Liz and shrugged her shoulders, “What can I say?” she told her, “If I tell him what has been going on and he lets any part of it slip to Max then he could end up dead.”

Liz leaned her head on Maria shoulder, “I am so very sorry I brought you into this.” she told her again. “If I could I would do it all differently.”

Maria shook her head, “Don't be.” she told her, “I will just explain to him that you are going through some things tell him he is going to have to trust me. If he loves me then he needs to understand this is how it is for now.” she told her then said, “That is assuming you haven’t had any more dreams or visions about Max or anyone.”

Liz hesitated for a minute, she didn't want to lie to her best friend but she knew the only way she could protect Maria was to keep the truth from her. “No actually I didn't have any dreams at all last night.” I slept really well and everything seems normal again.”

Maria looked at her friend intently, “Really Liz, your not just saying that to make me feel better?” she asked hopefully.

Liz shook her head, “No really things are better.” she told her, “In fact Max asked me to go to prom with him and I said yes.”

“Oh my gosh that's so great. I wanted the four of us to go together so much and now we can.” she told her. “You have to let me come with you to buy your dress.”

Liz smiled, “Yeah of course. I asked my mom to come too.” she told her.

“So things really are going to be ok then.” Maria breathed a sigh of relief. “Maybe that flash you had with Alex was just a fluke. You know because you were tired.”

Liz smiled, “Well we can always test things out to see.” she told her, “Give me your hand and I will see if I get any flashes from you.”

Maria hesitated for a moment, “Ok but Liz if you do no matter what you have to tell me. I don't want you going though this stuff alone.” she told her.

Liz nodded, “Of course I will tell you. I promise.” she lied as she took Maria's hand in hers and closed her eyes. She tried to focus on her to see if she could see anything but there were no flashes.

Maria watched her intently, “Anything?” she asked finally.

Liz opened her eyes, “Nothing. I didn't see anything.” she told her then said, “Let me try one more time. I just want to clear my head and not focus so much.” she told her as she held unto Maria's hand and cleared her mind. As soon as she did her thoughts were filled with images of Maria. She was dressed in black standing over an open grave. She was very upset as she sang Amazing Grace. As she finished singing Isabel laid a single red rose on top of the casket.

“Well did you see anything that time?” Maria asked hoping the answer would be no.

Liz smiled and cleared her throat, “I didn't see anything Maria. What ever it was with Alex must have been a fluke like you said.” she told her. She turned away and walked over to the edge of her balcony and tried to fight off the tears that threatened to fall.

Maria was so relieved, “Ok then, this is good right?” she said as she got up and walked over toward the window. She stopped and looked back over at Liz, “You alright?” she called out to her.

Liz sniffled in and shook her head, “Yeah I'm just so relieved that it was nothing.” she told her as she turned back toward her. She kept her head down so Maria couldn't see the tears that were threatening to fall.

“Well I am going to go down, my shift starts in five.” Maria told her as she climbed inside and headed downstairs.

Liz climbed in through her window and then locked her bedroom door. She sat on the end of her bed and laid her head in her hands. The flashes were coming stronger now she knew she couldn't ignore them forever. IF what she was seeing was true then Alex was going to die, and judging from how everyone looked it was going to happen very soon. What was she going to do, who could she turn to? She pulled out her journal and began writing:

Its been exactly seventeen hours since I last spoke to Max and in those precious few hours my life has gone from hopeful to utter confusion and hopelessness. How in such a short time can everything turn upside down and make no sense. Seventeen hours ago I was happy, hopeful, and thinking maybe life was finally going to get back to normal but then fate played her cards and life has all come crashing down. I had more visions today, actually I had a lot of them. First there were visions of Michael, then Max's mom, and finally Maria. In each of them I could sense the sadness, the pain and loss they were feeling. I don't know if what I saw is real or not but I do believe they are some kind of warning to me, a warning of what could be about to happen. If what I saw was really Alex's death, how does he die? Is it an accident? The FBI or aliens? And more importantly how can I stop it from happening...

Maria came downstairs to begin her shift. She looked for Michael but he had already left for the afternoon. She pulled out her phone and sent him a text, “Please come over tonight.”

She waited but there was no response. She glanced up at the clock and headed out into the restaurant. It was busy and probably going to be a very long afternoon and night.

It wasn't long after she started working that Liz came down and then Alex and Isabel showed up together. She watched as they came in, they looked really happy together. She stood there by the soda machine and watched them as they sat down together. Alex was her best friend if what she was seeing was really some future event that was about to happen and she didn't do anything to stop it she would never forgive herself. It was the sound of Maria voice that interrupted her thoughts, “Liz you ok?” she asked her as she waved her hand in front of her face.

Liz shook her head and smiled, “Yeah I'm fine.” she told her, “I was just watching Alex and Isabel together. They seem to really be hitting it off now that he is back.”

“I know, she is like really into him now.” Maria told her. “I think they make such a cute couple.”

They do don't they.” Liz agreed.

Maria phone buzzed and she turned to Liz, “Michael set me a text can you get their order so I can answer?”

Liz nodded, “Yeah of course.” she told her as she walked over to Alex and Isabel table. “So what can I get the two of you?”

“Well I want an out of this world club sandwich and cherry coke.” Isabel told her. “With extra Tabasco sauce of course.”

“And I will have the same thing minus the Tabasco sauce.” Alex told her.

“Ok I will have it for you guys in just a few.” she told them as she walked over to put in their order.

Maria was still in the back on the phone when Liz came in, “So is he going to come over to see you tonight?” She asked her.

Maria shook her head, “I don't know all his text said was, “busy not sure tonight works for me.”

Liz let out a small sigh, “Ouch, that's sounds like he is still angry.” she told her, “I'm really sorry.”

Maria smiled, “Its ok.” she told Liz. “We will work it out.” she said trying to sound more positive about it then she was actually feeling.

A few minutes later Jeff called out Alex and Isabel’s order. Liz took it out to them. “So here you go.” she told them as she placed their food down on the table. She was just about to leave when Isabel grabbed her hand to get her attention. Instantly Liz mind was filled with visions of Isabel, she was going to prom with Alex, wearing a long strapless red dress. She looked amazing and so happy. They were dancing together. The flash ended as quickly as it started. She looked at Isabel and smiled trying to keep anyone from noticing.

“So Liz, Max said the two of you are going to prom together.” she asked her.

Liz nodded her head, “Yeah” she answered trying not to focus on what she had just seen. “he asked me last night.” she told her.

Isabel smiled, “I was thinking maybe we could all meet here before prom,” she told her, “You know so we can get pictures of everyone together.”

Liz shook her head, “Sure that should be fine.” she told her as Maria came over.

“So what are we talking about?” she asked.

Alex sipped his soda, “Prom” he told her.

Maria smiled, “One of my favorite subjects.” she told them then asked, “Isabel what color of dress are you going to wear?”

She looked over at Alex and smiled, “I already picked it out. I got it yesterday.” she told them, “I am wearing a long strapless red dress.”

Liz dropped the tray in her hands, stunned by what she had just heard. The loud crash to the floor made everyone look including her dad who poked his head through the kitchen door. “Sorry, just lost my grip there.” she told them as she picked up the tray.

Maria could tell by the look on her face it was more then that but she didn't say anything. “Red is a good color on you.” she said then turned to Liz, “What about you, what are you going to wear?”

Liz didn't answer right away, so Maria asked her again. “Liz what color of dress are you looking for?”

Isabel laughed, “Yeah we don't all want to end up wearing the same color.” she told her.

Liz took in a deep breath, “I'm not sure I was thinking, maybe green or blue?” she told them.

“You should totally wear black.”Maria told her. “You will look amazing in a little black dress.”

Isabel shook her head, “Yeah you would look great in black, I saw one to at Current Trends, they have this whole prom dress selection and they had some really nice things. You should check it out.”

“Yeah I will.” Liz told them not really focusing on the conversation.

“What kind of dress are you getting Maria?” Isabel asked.

“I am going with the fairy tale look, my mom is helping me make it and its all off white, very free flowing very earthy.” she explained.

Alex cleared his throat, “Well I am wearing pink cause I just know it will bring out the color in my eyes.” he teased them.

Isabel threw a potato chip at him, “Is our conversation to girly for you?” she laughed.

Alex shook his head as he took another bite of his sandwich, “Yes actually it is, I could loose my man card for just being at the table while you talked of dresses and hair styles.”

“Technically no one mentioned hair styles.” Maria laughed, “But we will let you guys eat your lunch in peace.” she told them as she pulled Liz away. She pulled Liz over toward the kitchen and whispered softly, “What was that all about did you have a flash when Isabel touched you?”

“No I just dropped the tray.” she lied. “I promise you Maria I didn't see anything.”

Maria looked relieved, “Good.” was all she said as two more customers came in and they both got busy.

Liz stood just inside the kitchen waiting for her next order to come up. She looked out toward Alex and Isabel. She had seen Isabel in her red dress before she had said anything about it, could it have been a coincidence? She wanted to believe it was but a part of her knew that sooner rather then later she was going to have to face the heartbreaking truth that the visions she was having of Max, and Alex were of the future.

“Liz table three order is up.” he called out to her again.

Liz jumped, she had been lost deep in her thoughts, “I'm sorry dad. My mind was a million miles away.” she told him as she took out the order. The rest of the afternoon and into the night the restaurant stayed really busy so there wasn't much time for her to stop and think about what had happened. It was well past eight when the last customers left and Maria and Liz began the tedious chore of clearing dishes and cleaning up. She looked over at Maria, “so have you heard back from Michael at all?” she asked her.

“He sent me a text a couple hours ago and said he would catch up with me tomorrow.” she told her.

“Oh Maria you should go talk to him” Liz told her. “I can finish cleaning up.” She told her.

Maria took in a deep breath, “No I am not going to bale on you with all this work to do.” she told her as she carried a tray of dishes into the kitchen.

Liz followed behind her, “Its fine really, besides all I have to do is load the dishwasher, run it, empty it and take care of the grill.” she told her. “You should go and talk to him, besides we don't want him going to Max or the others telling them something is up and having to deal with even more questions.”

Maria shook her head, “Yeah ok. Thanks.” she took off her apron and grabbed her purse and jacket, “So I will talk with you later let you know how things go.” she told her.

Liz smiled, “Sounds good.” she waited until Maria was gone then she checked to make sure both her parents were upstairs before she used her powers. She walked over to the dirty dishes and held her hand out over them, instantly they were cleaned. She turned to the grill and did the same thing, when she pulled her hand away it looked as if it had never been used. She took in a deep breath and glanced at her watch, it was just going on nine hopefully not to late to go and see Isabel. She grabbed her keys and headed out the back door.

CHAPTER 7

Michael was just about to go to bed when he heard someone knocking at his door, “Yeah just a minute.” he called out as he opened it.

“So going to bed at 9:00 o'clock was what was so important you couldn't come over and talk to me?” she asked as she walked into his apartment.

Michael step out of her way, “Just come on in then.” he said in frustration as he closed the door.

Maria walked over and sat down on the couch, “Why didn't you want to see me?” she demanded to know.

“Because I know your not going to be straight with me about Liz and I just didn't want to deal with this tonight.” he told her.

Maria gave him a puzzled look, “What do you mean, deal with what?” she asked.

“The drama.” Michael took in a deep breath, “I didn't want to deal with the drama and I know the inevitable argument that we are going to have.” he told her.

Maria smiled, “We're not going to argue Michael.” she told him. “We can talk this out.”

He walked over and sat down on the chair across from her, “Really alright why don't you start then by explaining what happened last night. You and Liz must have talked cause you were really upset.” he reminded her.

Maria shook her head, “Except that, I don't want to talk about that.” she told him.

Michael just shrugged his shoulders, “What ever this is pointless.” he told then said, “Just go home Maria.”

“I was upset because Liz shared some things with me about herself, person stuff about what happened between her, Max, and Kyle.” she told him half the truth. “And I just really don't want to talk about it because I gave her my word that I wouldn't.

“Fine then, tell me about what I overhead you say to her at the Crashdown about having alien powers.” he asked her.

“It was nothing. She was having some really strange dreams about Max and I thought maybe they were alien related.” she explained, “You know like how Isabel can dream walk I thought maybe someone was doing that to Liz or something but the dreams are gone now. She is absolutely fine.”

“She told you that?” he asked her.

“Yeah she did.” Maria told him honestly, “So everything is fine.”

“Ok if that is true then what was that all about today?” he asked her.

Maria shrugged her shoulders, “I don't know what happened today?” she asked him

“Liz came down this morning, we were talking and then she just blanked out.” he told her. “It was like one minute she's talking to me then the next minute she just standing there staring at me like I am a ghost or something.”

Maria eyes narrowed, “When she blanked out on you were you two touching in anyway?” she asked him.

Michael shook his head, “No, it wasn't anything like that Maria” he told her misunderstanding what she meant.

Maria quickly clarified, “No I didn't mean it like that.” she told him, “I mean did you like touch her to get her attention or bump into her anything like that?”

Michael took in a deep breath, “yeah I grabbed her by the arm.” he told her then asked, “Why?”

Maria wasn't sure what was going on, she took out her phone and sent a text to Liz. “We need to talk.” then she turned her attention back to Michael, “If your telling me that Liz acted that way then I honestly don't know what is going on. I talked to her again today and she told me she was fine. She told me everything was completely fine.”

“Do you believe her?” he asked.

Maria took in a deep breath, “I'm not sure what to believe right now.” she told him.

Michael could see that she was worried, “Maria if something is going on with Liz then we all need to know about it.” he told her.

Maria hesitated for a few minutes then said, “Liz has been having these dreams like I told you and they have been really disturbing for her. In the dreams she keeps seeing the same things over and over.”

“What she seeing?” he asked her.

“She sees one of us get taken.” Maria told him, “She doesn't know by who just that one of us is taken.”

“So if its just a dream whats the big deal why the big secret?” He asked her.

“Because Liz said she felt like it was some kind of warning.” she told him.

“A warning from who?” he demanded to know.

Maria didn't know how much she should tell him, “I don't know, she doesn’t know.” she told him in frustration. “She only knows that she keeps having this same dream over and over every night and each time she sees a little more of what is happening.”

“So the two of you think that someone is causing her to have this dream as a warning?” Michael asked trying to understand.

Maria looked at him, “Honestly Michael I don't know. At this point I am really confused. She told me she was fine and now you tell me she is blanking out on you...” she told him feeling really upset. “I am going to go home, and wait for Liz to call me.” She got up and walked over toward the door.

Michael got up and followed her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back, “Maria who was the dream about, who did Liz think was going to be taken?”

“I told you I don't know.” she let out a heavy sigh, “That's the truth I don't know. I only know that it was one of us” she told him in frustration as she headed out the front door. She could hardly believe Liz would lie to her but maybe she was.

Isabel sat down on the front porch, “So can you stay awhile longer?” she asked him as he was just about to leave.

Alex glanced at his watch and thought about it, “It is getting late and I kind of have some things I need to get done.” he told her.

Isabel smiled, “Please I just thought it would be nice to sit and talk for awhile.” she told him.

Alex sat down, “Fine for a little while.” he agreed. “So what do you want to talk about?” he asked her.

“Well how about you tell me this project your working on?” she asked him.

“It would bore you to tears.” he told her.

“No it wouldn't besides I am interested in hearing about what your doing.” she assured him.

Alex smiled, “You are a liar Isabel Evans.” he teased her then said, “It really isn't anything special, some computer software I have been working on since Sweden. I am almost done with it.”

Isabel laughed, “Its sounds interesting” she tried to sound convincing.

Alex laughed, “Oh you are such a bad liar.” he told her then said, “Its actually not all that interesting but once I am done with it and if it all comes together then I will be able to use it as a part of my admissions thesis for college.”

“Oh so you too are thinking about college already.” she said.

“Yeah well college acceptance can be really tight so I have been planning for awhile where I want to go.” he told her.

“And where would that be?” Isabel asked him.

“Stanford University.” he told her. “They have an amazing program there and I think it would be a good fit for me.”

“See I envy you, your so confident in what you want to do and where you want to go.” she told him, “Meanwhile yours truly has no clue what she is going to do.”

“You will figure it out.” he told her, “Isabel your an amazing person you will figure it out.”

She leaned over and laid her head on his shoulder, “I hope so.” she told him. “You know I still haven't told anyone about graduating early. I don't really know how Max or the others will take it.”

“I am sure they will be proud of you.” he told her then he pointed over toward the night sky, “Look there, see that?”

Isabel looked to where he was pointing, “Yeah its beautiful what is that?” she asked as the star he was pointing at grew brighter and brighter and lite up that part of the sky.

“That is a super nova.” he explained, “It's a star that is exploding as it comes to the end of its life cycle. It's closer to earth that’s the only reason we can see it.”

“Its amazing.” she said softly as she looked up into his eyes. Alex looked down and smiled. In that moment she so wanted so much to kiss him but she held back remembering her promise not to push things. She cleared her throat a little and asked, “So what do you think about me wearing red to the prom?”

Alex laughed, “Oh we are now back to that topic?” he teased her.

Isabel laughed, “No I just wondered if you had any thoughts on it.” she asked innocently.

Alex looked over at her and let out a small sigh, “I think Isabel, that seeing you in red will make me have to work all the harder to keep my promise of being just friends.” he told her honestly.

“Good.” she said as she leaned over and tried to kiss him.

Alex pulled back and stood up. “I should go.” he told her.

She could see he was upset. “I'm sorry Alex I just got caught up in the moment, all the talk about the stars and prom.” she lied. “It was romantic and I got carried away.”

“Isabel its not that I don't want to be with you like that.” he told her. “Its that I can't be with you like that. I can't go back to that place. We are friends and today was fun lets just keep it that way ok?”

She shook her head as she fought back the tears, “Yeah of course.” she told him, “Friends is good.”

Alex nodded his head, “Ok so I am going to go. I will see you Monday at school.”

“Yeah.” she agreed as she watched him turn and leave. She quickly wiped away a few stray tears that threatened to fall, then turned to go inside when she heard someone calling her name.

“Whose there?” she called out unable to see through the darkness.

Liz walked up closer and into the light, “Isabel it's me, Liz.” she said as she came toward her.

“Oh hey Liz.” Isabel smiled, “What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yeah I just kind of wanted to talk to you if that's ok.” she told her.

“Ok you want to go inside or sit out here?” Isabel asked.

“Is Max home?” Liz asked.

“No I don't think so why?” she asked her.

“No reason we can go inside and talk it probably be a little more private that way. Voices have a tendency to carry in the night.” she told her.

Isabel shrugged her shoulders, “Ok lets go up to my room.”

Liz followed her as they went upstairs and into Isabel room. Isabel walked over and sat down on her bed then she motioned for Liz to take the chair, “So what did you want to talk to me about.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “Actually its about your ability to dream walk people. I was wondering do you ever get like full on visions when your awake of people?” she asked then said, “I mean besides when Max was in the white room and New York City.”

Isabel looked at her intently, “Well technically you connected with him NYC I just kind of helped boost the connection.” she told her then said, “But other then those two times no I haven't. It always works best when they are asleep, its like their guard is down and I can get in and see what they are seeing and feeling.”

“Have you ever seen anything from a dream and then have it actually happen?” she asked her, “Like seeing something from the future happening in a dream and then it really does happen in life too?”

Isabel shook her head, “No nothing like that.” she told her then asked, “Why all the interest all the sudden.”

Liz smiled, “Just curious you know cause of what happened before.” she lied. “Its just been on my mind ever sense Ava said Max changed me.”

“Oh when I dream walk someone its usually me just getting a glimpse into what they are seeing and feeling.” she told her.

“Ok well thanks for talking with me.” Liz told her as she got up to leave. “Oh before I go can I see your dress?” she asked. “It sounded so beautiful the way you described it that I got curious.”

Isabel got up and walked over to her closet, “Oh yeah you can see it.” she told her as she pulled it out of the bag.

The dress was the exact same one that Liz had seen in her vision. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach as she stared at it. Finally she said, “It is amazing. Alex will be floored.” she told her.

Isabel smiled, “I hope so.” she mumbled to herself.

Liz tried to smile as the reality of what this meant sank in deeper. “So how are you thinking of wearing your hair?” she asked.

Isabel took in a deep breath, “I was thinking of wearing it up, just a really simple updo I don't want it to look busy.”

“That’s sounds really great.” she told her. “Really you will look amazing together.”

“What about you?” Isabel asked, “How are you thinking of doing your hair?”

“I don't know I haven't decided for sure. I was thinking of wearing it down with just a few loose curls maybe.” she told her.

“That will be really pretty.” she told her.

Liz got up and walked over toward the door, “I should go its getting late.” she said as she turned to leave, “Thanks for everything.”

Isabel shook her head, “No problem, see you at school on Monday.”

Liz glanced at her watch as she came out the front of the house. She was just about to head home when Max pulled up.

“Liz is that you?” he asked as he got out of his jeep.

“Yeah hi.” she said disappointed that she ran into him. She had been hoping to avoid him.

“My mom said you came by earlier you should have said something.” he told her as he walked over toward her.

Liz shook her head, “Yeah well you were busy with Tess and I was just returning your jacket so it wasn't a big deal.” she told him.

“Still you could have come in.” he smiled.

Liz cleared her throat, “You seemed kind of busy and I didn't want to be a third wheel.”

“We were just talking about” he started to say but she finished for him.

“Yeah I actually overheard by accident. I was going to come up and see you but as I got by your door I heard you talking with her about your past. It was pretty clear that I didn't belong there.” she told him as she took in a deep breath.

“Liz it was nothing really it was just..” he started to tell her but she shook her head, “Seriously Max its fine. I mean the two of you were married your going to have those kinds of memories of each other, I get that.” she told him.

Max wasn't sure what to say he could see she was upset, “It wasn't like that,” he tried to tell her. “Come inside lets talk. We were just working on retrieving more of my memories that's all. It didn't mean anything like that.” he tried to tell her.

Liz suddenly felt overwhelmed by the kindness in his voice, she found herself overcome with emotions as tears welled up in her eyes. “No really its fine.” she said trying to hold them back. “I think I just need to get home, its late.” she told him as she turned to leave.

Max called out to her, “Liz wait, please.”

She didn't say anything more, she just hurried into her car and drove away. Max could see she was upset. He thought about going after her but decided to wait and give her some time. What ever it was she wasn't willing to talk to him about it now. Again he found himself feeling completely confused by her.

It was almost ten thirty when she climbed in her bedroom window and laid down on her bed. She heard her cell phone go off again. She picked it up it was Maria. Judging by the amount of text that she had sent Liz figured out that Michael must have told her she had been behaving strangely when they talked that morning and Maria must have figured out that she was still having flashes. She took in a deep breath and put her phone on silent. She pulled out her journal and scribbled out her frustration:

Dear Max you never said how painful this would be when you came from the future. You never told me how alone I would feel fighting this battle on my own and that is what I am doing now. I am fighting a war with an unknown enemy and no idea of who to turn to or trust!

As she finished writing she shoved her journal in her back pack and laid down on her bed. She was exhausted and completely confused as she rolled over looked at that same window where it all began and cried herself to sleep.

Max knocked on Isabel bedroom door and waited for her to answer. “Can I come in and talk to you?” he asked as she opened the door.

Isabel nodded her head, “yeah sure come in.” she told him as she walked back over and sat down on her bed. “So what's up?” she asked him.

“Its about Liz, she was here earlier wasn't she?” he asked her.

Isabel nodded her head, “Yeah she was here.” she told him.

“Why?” he asked her. “I mean what was it about?”

Isabel shrugged her shoulders, “she wanted to know about my ability to dream walk. She wanted to know if anything I have ever seen in someones dreams has ever actually come true in life. I think she was asking about premonitions.”

Max shook his head, “Why would she be asking about that?”

“She said she was curious about it and has been since Ava told her that you changed her and that she was able to connect with you while you were in New York.” Isabel told him.

Max took in a deep breath, “How did she seem to you?” he asked her, “I mean did she seem alright?”

Isabel nodded her head, “Yeah she seemed fine. I mean we ended up talking about prom dresses before she left so it wasn't like a really deep conversation between us. I think she is really happy that you asked her to prom.” she told him.

Max was quiet for a minute, “Isabel would you do me a favor, would you dream walk her for me?” he asked her.

Isabel hesitated, “Max I thought you didn't want me going any where near Liz dreams.” she told him. “I remember you making it really clear that I was not suppose to ever go into her dreams.”

“I know I asked you that before but now I am asking you to.” he told her, “Will you do this for me. Just go in and then tell me in the morning if there is anything worth telling.”

Isabel could see he was worried about her, “Max what is this all about?” she asked him.

Max shook his head, “honestly I am not really sure I just have this feeling that something isn't right and I could use your help finding out what it is.”

Isabel nodded her head. “Ok.” she told him just before he left her room. Isabel laid down and opened up her year book, she thumbed through the pages until she came to Liz's picture. She placed her hand over the picture and then closed her eyes focusing all her energy on Liz.

CHAPTER 8

Isabel focused all her energy on Liz and tried to enter her dream, she was having difficulty at first it was almost like Liz wasn't really there and yet she was. After several attempts she was finally able to make the connection and found herself inside Liz's dream.

Everything was blurry and it was difficult to see at first what was happening. She knew they were at the Crashdown but she wasn't sure where everyone was. She found herself in Liz room, she called out to her but there was no answer. She walked out of Liz's room and down the stairs, the place was torn apart, run down and abandoned. It was dark as she made her way down the stair case. Isabel's heart began racing as she got closer to the kitchen. She thought she heard voices but she still couldn't find Liz anywhere. She went through the kitchen and pushed open the door to the restaurant where she saw Max, Michael, Maria, and Tess standing there. The restaurant was different, it was looked just like it did the last time she was there but the kitchen was destroyed. Maria was crying she was upset and Max was really angry. Isabel could feel his anger, it was intense and beyond anything she had every felt, it frightened her. She took in a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart, she still couldn't see Liz anywhere. She called out to Liz again but there was no answer. She was just about to go back upstairs to search the other rooms when she heard Maria, “What happened here?” she cried. “Who did this?”

Michael looked at Maxwell, “It was probably Nicholas, it was..” he started to say but Tess cut him off.

Tess shook her head, “No this was the special unit I have seen this tactic used before.” she told Max, “You know what this means, you know what they will do to her. You know how they will torture her, the way they tortured you!”

Maria turned to Michael and began crying all the harder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He looked over at Max, he could see the anger in his eyes, “Max we don't know what happened here and we can't just assume...” he started to say when Max interrupted him.

“Look at this place Michael, there aren't any signs that this was done by aliens! Tess is right this was the special unit and we are going to do what ever it takes to get her back...”

Isabel pulled back from the restaurant and moved into the kitchen, she could feel the anger inside of Max, it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She heard a sound coming from outside the back of the Crashdown, the room suddenly became dark, damp and cold. She called out to Liz again but there was still no answer. She finally reached the door and opened it only to step through into another building. It looked almost like a prison, there was a long corridor and the lights were dim but she could see Liz running just ahead of her. She watched as Liz went from one cell to another searching it one by one until finally she came to the last cell. Liz went inside and Isabel followed but nothing could have prepared her from what she saw next. There chained to the wall Isabel saw herself. Liz rushed over to her, “Isabel its alright.” she told her as she quickly tried to free her. “I'm going to help you. I'm going to get you out of here right now.” She told her.

Isabel watched herself as Liz tried to help her, she was pleading with her, begging her not to let them hurt her. “Liz is that really you?” she cried then said, “You have to stop him, you have to stop Max!”

Isabel sat up suddenly to the sound her alarm going off. She took in a deep breath and tried to clear her head and calm her pounding heart. The nightmare Liz was having was more frightening then anything she had ever gone through. She climbed out of bed and headed into the shower. When she came back out she heard Max at her door. “Come in.” she called out not sure what to tell him.

“Did you have any luck?” he asked her as he stepped into her room and closed the door.

Isabel shook her head, “Yeah I was able to get into her dream but Max I don't think what I saw really meant anything. I think she was just having a really bad dream” she told him.

“What was happening?” he asked her.

“That was just it, when I stepped into her dream it didn't make any sense to me.” she told him. “It was a a typical nightmare, we were all in it and she was trying to help us, but I really don't remember anything else.” she lied to him then said, “I am sorry. I couldn't be of more help.”

Max shook his head, he wasn't really even sure what he had hoped to find anyway. “No its fine. Thanks for trying though.” he told her.

She smiled, “Everything is alright with you isn't it Max?” she asked him thinking about what she had seen in Liz's dream and how angry he was, and how freighted she was of him.

Max nodded, “Yeah I fine.” he told as he got up to leave, “I better get ready for school.” he said as he left her room.

Isabel hurried to get dressed, she wanted to try and catch Liz before classes and find out what was really going on. She didn't know what was happening but she did know that wasn't any kind of ordinary dream she had. It felt more like a vision or some kind of connection that they had shared.


Liz got up early after another fitful night of sleep. She told her parents that a friend was in need of some help and that she had to take the day to go be with her. She wasn't really sure where she was going to go but she knew she had to go some where she could be alone and think. The walls were closing in and she needed time to figure out what to do next. Maria had sent her text and phone messages all night, none of which she answered. What was she going to tell her, that she was having future flashes of everyone and oh by the way Alex is about to die. That should go over really well she thought to herself. Maria didn't need to go through the same heart ache she was dealing with at the moment. She knew she had some time, prom was still a little over two weeks away and she had the vision of Alex and Isabel at prom together so he would be fine until then. She got in her car and headed north on highway 281 out of town. She wasn't even really sure where she was going she just needed sometime alone to clear her head and think things through before she faced Maria and the others. She was exhausted, the dreams came back again last night and they were more vivid and clear then before. This time she saw that Tess was there and she was talking about someone being taken. Was it Alex who was taken, is that how he dies she wondered? It was so strange the dreams she had the night before were somehow different, but she couldn't completely understand how.

She took in a deep breath and tried to clear her head. What she really needed was someone to talk but who could she trust she felt like she was out of options. If she told Maria she would be putting her on the spot with Michael and things were strained enough between the two of them. How could she tell the others what has been going on with out revealing to Max the truth about her and Kyle? It was clear that what she had done changed time because when Max came back he told her that in their future Alex danced at their wedding and now she was seeing visions of him dying. This was her fault that his life was in danger, some how she had to keep these things from happening. She turned off on a long dirt road that seem to lead out into the middle of the desert and pulled off the side . She looked around not really sure what she was doing there. She got out of her car and sat down on the hood to look out at the desert. It was beautiful and in a strange way peaceful. The skies were bright blue with no clouds in sight and she felt the wind blowing softly through her hair. She thought about Max and the dreams she had been having. She thought about Alex and the visions of him dying. Could they be connected and if they were how? She was lost deep in her thoughts and didn't notice as someone came up behind her.

“Liz, is that you?” a familiar voice called out to her.

She turned around to see an old friend on horseback not far from her, “River Dog?” she said his name unsure if it was him.

“Yes its me, it has been a while since I last saw any of you.” he told her as he came closer.

“Yeah it has been a while.” she told him as he got down off his horse and walked over toward her. “What are you doing out here, do you live near by?” she asked him.

“Yes not far from here.” he told her. “What are you doing up here?” he asked her, “Are you alone?” he could see that she had been crying and she looked very upset.

“Yeah I just needed some place to go where I could clear my head.” she told him.

“Is everything alright?” he asked her.

She looked into his kindly old eyes and shook her head, “No.” she mumbled softly. She needed someone to talk to so desperately that she couldn't hold back any longer.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he asked her.

Liz nodded her head, “Your probably the one person I could talk to about this.” she told him as her eyes her eyes filled with tears. “The one person I can trust.”

He turned toward his horse and whispered into his ear. The horse seemed to understand and ran back in the direction he had come. “Come I will ride back with you to my house and you can tell me everything that has happened.” he told her as he walked toward the car.

Liz wiped her eyes, “What about your horse?”

River Dog shook his head, “He will make his way home again.” he assured her.

Liz followed his directions and drove the short distance down the road to his home. She was surprised as she pulled up outside of his house, it was beautiful. The landscaping was amazing and there was a small river that ran along the side of his property. It was so peaceful. As she got out of the car she took in a deep breath, “Would you mind if we walked for a bit?” she asked him.

“Of course, I will show you one of my favorite spots its not far.” he told her. As they walked along she told him everything that had happened. She shared with him how Max had returned from the future and told her of the consequences that the two of them being together had caused. “If that wasn't bad enough the past few weeks I have been having these strange dreams and visions about Max.” she told him then said, “And now I have these visions when ever I touch my friends, I keep seeing things about my friend Alex. In them he dies and I don't know what to do.”

River Dog looked at her thoughtfully, “Perhaps it is possible that you are seeing things from the future because of the disruption in time that Max's coming here has caused.” he told her.“It could be.” he told her then said, “Time as all things in our world around us is apart of the balance and order of things. When Max traveled back through time he disrupted that balance and now it is up to you to repair the damage.”

“I don't know what to do. I don't know if I should go and tell the others what is happening or if by doing that I could further cause damage and make things worse.” she told him honestly.

River Dog smiled, he could see the burden she carried was great and the confusion was clouding her ability to see things as they were. “It could be that you are tired and feeling overwhelmed by what has happened recently. I can see in your eyes that your heart is very heavy.” he told her, "My grandmother use to tell me that in life we struggle with many things. She said that these struggles were challenges meant to make us stronger. If we faced these struggles then we will become stronger but if do not face them those struggles can overcome us. Liz you have to look inside yourself now. You must find that inside of you which makes you strong and hold on to it. IT will help you to see things clearly so that you will know how to best help your friends."

Liz stopped walking and lowered her head, "Right now I am not sure if I can." she told him.

River Dog took her hand in his and lead her over toward the edge of the river, it was truly beautiful. The water ran down along the back of the property. There were big tall pine trees on both sides with the mountains just beyond that.

“It's so beautiful here.” she told him.

“I often come here to think about life, and death.” he told her. “Liz you remind me of someone I once knew, she was strong like you but she always felt things very deeply and that is not always good. You have carved a path in life now that will cause you to walk on alone with out Max but that may not be what your time line was suppose to be. You will not know until you find a way to clear your mind and truly search your heart.”

Liz tried to smile, “How,” she asked him, “how do I do that when everything around me seems to point in so many differing directions.”

He smiled, “Come with me.” he told her as he headed back toward the house. Once inside he motioned for her to sit down on the couch. “I will make you some tea.”

Liz looked around the room, it was beautifully decorated. The Indian art that hung on the walls spoke of his history and the history of his people. One piece in particular caught her eye, it was a painting of a young Indian maiden.

River Dog made his way back into the room, "Here drink this it will help you to feel better, it is a
special blend that has been past down among my people. It will calm you and help you to see."

Liz sipped the warm liquid, it tasted wonderful like honey and spice, and it did help her to feel better. “Your artwork is amazing, is it a local artist?” she asked.

River Dog smiled, “Most of these are my works, they are not the best but they are comforting to me. Rather like old friends.” he told her.

“Oh but they are really good.” She said pointing over toward the painting hanging just over the fireplace, “Who was the young woman in the painting, she's beautiful.” Liz couldn't take her eyes off the painting. The young maiden was beyond beautiful, she had long flowing black hair, large brown eyes, and beautiful bronzed colored skin. She stared into her eyes, somehow they seemed familiar to her. “What is her name?”

CHAPTER 9



River Dog took in a deep breath and he looked over at the painting, "She was my one true love, her name was Hala, it means strong and beautiful. I met her when I was a little older than you are now. It was the summer of my twenty-first year and I was working on my uncle's ranch at the time.

One afternoon I was working out in the pasture by my self, when I heard the screams of a young woman. I ran to see what was happening. I was shocked at what I saw. Hala was lying on the ground, her face bleeding and there was a man standing over her. He had a strange object in his hand. I did not know what the object was, but I heard him say, "Now that I have this there's only one thing left to do with you," then he reached out his hand towards her. I could not see what it was he was doing but I thought he was about to shoot her with a gun so a picked up the largest rock I could find and I hit him over the head with it. To my amazement he did not bleed, he fell to the ground with out a sound disintegrating into many tiny particles that looked like human skin. As he disappeared the object he held in his hand fell to the ground, so I picked it up." he explained to her.

"What happen to Hala?" Liz asked.

"She had been beaten very badly, so I picked her up and carried her back to my Uncles house. I knew that the man I had just killed was not of this Earth, that he was another visitor. I laid Hala in my bed and cleaned up her wounds. She was weak and kept mumbling something about a place called the Granilith. She spoke of the crystal object that I had picked up and of great danger. I knew at once that she too was different because her wounds healed so quickly and she spoke of many strange things while she was unconscious. I stayed with her and I was there when she woke up. I told her not to be afraid that she had nothing to fear from me. I handed her the crystal object that she had spoken of when she was hurt and told her what had happened. In time she grew to trust me. She told me her name, and that she had traveled very far through space, she said that her home was on another planet called Antar."

"That is Max's home planet." Liz told him.

River Dog continued, "The man that had tried to kill her was an enemy of her home planet she called him a skin although she herself was not one of them. I spoke to her of the other visitor I had met when I was much younger, the one called Nasedo. She told me that she was not like him, that she was created to be a protector for the children, she called herself a hybrid. She said that she was created part human, part alien and sent to this planet in order to watch over and protect those who had come before her. She told me that the skins wanted the crystal because it was the key to the Granilith. It was then that I learned that the Granilith was not a place but a device her people used to travel through time and space. She said it was a very powerful machine sent here along with the others in order to protect the people of her planet from further invasion by the skins and their great enemy, Khavar She said she was the last protector sent to watch over those who had come before her and that her enemies were trying to stop her."

"Do you think she was sent along with Max and the others?" she asked him.

River Dog shook his head, "I do not believe so." he told her, "She said that it was discovered that there was a traitor among the first ship sent to Earth and that the elders of her planet sent a second ship. A rescue ship to save the little ones and to stop the traitor from helping Khavar When she arrived she searched for a very long time trying to find them but it was of no use." he told her and continued on, "She said that her mission now was to keep the skins from ever getting a hold of the Granilith or the keys that activate it. She said that millions of lives on her home planet as well as the earth depended on her keeping it safe and that she was prepared to die in order to keep it safe. I promised her I would keep her secret and she stayed here with me. I fell in love with her from that first moment I saw her. I kept her secret and told no one of her true identity. Time passed and I began to hope that we could have a life together. She was everything to me." he said as his voice became heavy with emotion.

"What happened to her?" Liz asked him.

"It began several years after we were married." he told her. "Hala had a dream, she called it a vision of what was to come. She often had visions it was her gift to see things like that. In this vision she saw that one day a young girl would come into my life and she would have need of the crystal. This girl would be special and together with another would become a guardian of the crystal. She said that I should keep all that she had told me a secret until that day when the young girl came to me and then I should give it to her only. I did not think much of it but she was so certain that I gave her my promise. After that she seemed to feel better again, months passed and she had no other visions or dreams so I believed we were safe."

"But you weren't safe were you?" Liz asked but she could see in his eyes what the answer was.

"No." he told her, "The dreams began again, they were stronger and more vivid. She would not tell me all that she saw but I could tell that she was frightened by them. It was not long after the dreams came back when it happened. Hala was home, and when I came back I found the house was torn apart. It was obvious that some one was looking for something. I ran through the house calling her name but she did not answer. I found her as she lay dying there in the garden by her rose bushes. She told me that the traitor had found her and that he came for the crystal. They struggled but he overpowered her and she was unable to defeat him. Hala kissed me one last time and told me that she hid the crystal and she made me promise not to give it to anyone but the girl she had seen in her vision."

Liz placed her hand on River dogs hand, "Why didn't you tell Max and the others about this?"

River Dog closed his eyes, "When Max came around I was unsure of what to do. I sensed that he was different and that there was good in him but I had made this promise to Hala many years ago and she was very determined that I keep the crystal until the girl in the vision came to me alone and had need of it. You see Liz I always felt that there was more that she wanted to share with me, but she was afraid. I think she was afraid for me, that if I knew to much they might come after me also."

Liz took in a deep breath, "Do you think that this crystal she hid might some how be connected to the dreams I have been having and my friend Alex?" she asked him. "We know where the Granilith is now and the skins have returned they want it. I believe they will do anything to get it. Do you think its possible that the reason I have been seeing these things is because I was suppose to come here today to see you?"

River Dog hesitated for a moment, "I must think on these things that you have told me." he told her.

"There is something I will show you, something that you must see for yourself" he said then asked, "Will you come back tomorrow, I will have it ready then?"

Liz nodded her head, "Yes of course."

"Liz will you promise me not to speak to Max or the others about this until we have talked again. I know you are already carrying much burden but I ask you as a friend to trust me." he asked. "The things that I have yet to share with you may not be for the others but I do believe they are meant for you and the path you must take."

Liz shook her head, "I will be here tomorrow morning and I won't say anything to anyone. You have my promise." she told him.

As she was getting ready to leave he said, "Liz you must control your emotions no matter how deeply you feel them. For the sake of your friends and those you love you must find a way to clear your mind and come to terms with what you are being led to do. The balance in your time-line must be restored and you alone we have to make the choice how best to do that." he told her.

Maria kept her eye on the clock and the front door to the Crashdown, every time it opened she looked to see if it were Liz. She was distracted and finding it more then a little difficult to focus. It was the sound of Michael voice that caught her attention, "Maria, seriously take this order over to that table its been ready for over fifteen minutes." he snapped at her.

Maria turned and grabbed the plate. She took it over to the table and apologized, "I am so sorry for this taking so long to get to you. Tonight's dinner is on me." she told them as she walked back over to the kitchen.

Michael shook his head, "what is with you tonight?" he asked her.

"Liz still hasn't shown up." she told him.

Michael knew she was worried but since she still had not told him all that was going on he was really struggling on what to say or how to help, "You haven't talked to her have you?" he asked.

Maria took in a deep breath, "No not yet. She wasn't at school all day and she hasn't answered any of my calls. " she explained. Just then the door opened and Kyle came in with Tess.

Maria walked over to the booth they sat down at. "Kyle can I talk with you for just a few minutes?" she asked him.

"Yeah sure." he said as they walked over toward the soda machine. "Whats up?"

"Have you seen Liz today at all today?" she asked him.

No I haven't seen her in a few days actually." he told her. "Isn't she suppose to be working with you?"

Maria shook her head, "Yeah she was suppose to but then she told her mom she had a friend who was having some problems so she took the day off and she has been gone all day. I have tried to reach her but she hasn't been answering her cell phone."

Kyle could see she was upset, "Is something wrong?" he asked "Liz is alright isn't she?"

Maria nodded her head, "I think so, I mean she seemed alright when I talked with her but it's not like her to not call me back or ignore my text messages." she told him.

"Have you asked Max or the others if they have seen her?" he asked.

Maria shook her head, "Michael has been here all day with me and I called Alex he hasn't heard from her either."

Kyle took in a deep breath, "Well if I hear from her I will make sure she calls you." he told her. "Try calling Max, maybe they are finally working things out and spent the day together."

"Thanks Kyle." she said as she went back to work.

Tess smiled at Kyle as he came back over, "What did Maria want she looked kind of upset?"

"She just wanted to know if I have seen Liz?" he told her.

"Isn't Liz here today?" Tess asked rather surprised.

"No I guess not." He told her.

"That's odd isn't it." she commented, "I mean she is always usually here."

Kyle shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe she's with Max today." he told her.

Tess looked up at him, "Do you think so?" she asked. "I mean I thought they weren't really getting along that great."

"I think they may finally be working things out." he told her, "After all he did ask her to prom didn't he?"

Tess shook her head, "Yeah he did." she mumbled to herself.

Kyle didn't notice the look of agitation on her face, "So what do you want to eat?"

Tess wasn't listening her thoughts were preoccupied with Max, "Do you know for sure, that Max and Liz are becoming close again?" she asked him.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know for sure, but I have eyes and I can see." he told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"Come on seriously anyone who looks at the two of them when they are in the same room can see they are head over heals in love with each other." he told her. "Seriously if ever two people were meant to be together it's those two." he told her.

Tess took in a deep breath, "Well I don't see it." she told him defensively.

He laughed, "That's just because you don't want to." he told her then said, "So are we getting dinner or not?" he asked her.

Tess nodded her head, "Yeah, of course we are." she told him just as Isabel came in.

"Hey have either of you seen Liz? I have been trying to reach Liz all day, is she here?" Isabel asked.

Kyle shook his head, "No Maria was looking for her too."

Isabel took in a deep breath, "Maybe she is with Max." she said.

Tess shook her head, "Why would she be with Max?" she asked sounding more agitated then she meant to.

Isabel pulled out her cell phone to see if she had any messages, "Because he has been really worried about her." she told her then said, "I will see you guys later." she told them before she left.

Kyle looked at Tess, "See everyone but you can see how much he loves her still."

Tess didn't say anything, she was too angry.

CHAPTER 10



It was past eleven when Michael looked up at the clock and let out a small sigh, "Alright I'm done and going home." he told her. "The grill is clean and the dishes are done."

"So that's it, your just going to leave?" Maria demanded.

"There really isn't much point in me hanging around here." he told her.

"No I guess not." she told him as she walked past him and out the back kitchen door.

Michael locked the back door and hurried over to Maria as she was getting into her car, "What, so your ticked at me now cause Liz didn't call you?" he demanded.

"No I am not ticked at you." she snapped "I just thought " she started to say then stopped.

"Thought what Maria?" he asked her.

"I guess I just thought you could be a little more supportive right now." she told him as tears formed in her eyes. "You could have offered to stay with me until Liz gets back."

Michael took in a deep breath, "See Maria I don't get what the big deal is cause you keep telling me everything is fine with Liz and that she's just going through some stuff that she needs to work out on her own." he told her, "If everything is fine then whats the big deal she spent the day with her friend and hasn't called you back so what?"

Maria shook her head in frustration, "I really hate you." she yelled at him.

Michael walked off toward his motorcycle. "No you don't" he called out to her as he got on his bike. He turned and looked at her, "When you want to tell me what is really going on and why your upset then I will listen." he told her then rode off.

Maria hit the steering wheel in frustration, "Oh I do hate you!" she yelled out before she shut her car door and drove off.

Liz climbed in through her bedroom window just after eleven. She was exhausted and just wanted to get some sleep. Before she could crawl into bed she heard someone tapping at her window, she turned and saw Isabel standing there. She walked over and let her inside, "Isabel what are you doing here?" she asked her.

"I have been waiting to talk to you all day." she told her.

Liz could see she was upset, "Why?" she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Liz last night Max asked me to dream walk into your dreams." she told her coming straight to the point.

"And you did?" Liz said feeling her heart pounding.

Isabel shook her head, "yeah I did." she admitted.

"Why? Why would you do that?" Liz demanded hr voice filled with anger. "Why would Max ask you to do that? What I dream about is my business!"

Isabel took in a deep breath, "He asked me to do it because he was worried about you." she told her, "He said you have been upset and he was worried something was wrong." she told her then said, "Liz I saw your dreams and they were..."

"Upsetting." she finished her sentence for her as she walked over to her chair and sat down.

"Yeah well that's putting it mildly." Isabel nodded, "What I felt was way more than a dream. It was like you were having some kind of visions."

"Isabel it was just a really bad dream that's all it didn't mean anything." she told her.

Isabel shook her head, "Liz what I saw and felt in those dreams was more terrifying to me then anything I have ever seen in my life so you need to tell me the truth. You need to tell me what is going on."

Liz took in a deep breath and shook her head, "Isabel I don't know what the dreams mean. I don't even remember them really, just bits and pieces."

"You came to me and asked me about my ability to dream walk it was because of these dreams wasn't it?" she asked her. "You have been having them for a while haven't you?"

Liz pulled her hand free, she thought carefully about what to say, and how much to reveal to her. "Yes." she finally admitted, "But it's like I said I only remember some of the dreams and the rest is just vague feelings of..."

"Fear." Isabel told her. "That's what you were feeling. I know because I was feeling it too."

"You remember everything don't you?" Liz asked suddenly realizing that Isabel might just be the one person who could help her with all of this. "You have to tell me what you saw in my dreams."

Isabel walked over and sat down on the bed, "Liz I didn't fully understand what I saw. At first I couldn't find you anywhere. I was here in your room and I went looking for you downstairs. The kitchen was torn apart, almost looked abandoned but then I heard voices, and walked out into the restaurant..." she told her.

"You saw Max, Michael, Maria, Tess and me and we were all talking right?" Liz filled in the part she remembered.

Isabel shook her head, "No. Liz you weren't there, the others were but you weren't there." she told her.

"I had to be there, I remember this part of the dream so clearly." she told her.

"I don't know why you can remember that and not other things but you weren't there." she told her again.

"Tell me what else you can remember happening." Liz asked feeling more confused then ever, "So you remember anything about Alex, was he in my dream at all?"

"No." Isabel told her. "Tess was telling Max that the special unit took her, she used the word her. Than she said that she would be tortured just like Max had been. Michael didn't think it was the special unit, he believed it might be aliens but Max believed Tess and he was so angry." Isabel told her, "I have never felt that much anger and hatred from him before, it frightened me."

Liz took in a deep breath, "Isabel are you sure I wasn't there?" she asked her again. "I had to be there."

Isabel looked down toward the floor, "You were there in part of the dream." she started to tell her, "Seeing Max like that just was so frightening that I had to get away from him so I came back in through the kitchen. I was calling for you and I heard a noise out the back door. I thought it was you so I went over and opened the door but the dream shifted and I was in a different building. It was like a prison or something. You were there and you were searching from cell to cell looking for someone. I could hear crying so I followed you. When you got to the last cell you broke open the door and..." she stopped talking as the memory and feelings overwhelmed her again.

Liz could see she was upset, "What did you see, who was in the cell?" she asked.

Isabel took in a deep breath, "I was in the cell." she told her as tears formed in her eyes.

Liz walked over and sat down with her, "So maybe that was why Max was so angry in the dream, maybe it was because in my dream you're taken and he is worried about you." she tried to tell her.

"Liz I wasn't afraid of the special unit or of other aliens." she told her, "I was afraid of Max, actually I was terrified of Max."

Liz was stunned, "I don't understand?" she shook her head in confusion. "why would you be so afraid?"

"I don't know." she told her then said, "But I was, and Liz I was begging you not to let him hurt me."

Liz didn't know what to say, "Did you tell Max what you saw?" she asked her.

Isabel shook her head, "No I just said you were having a bad dream and nothing else." she admitted, "What I saw in him, the anger that he was carrying it shocked me. I wasn't ready for that from him and I just didn't know what to say."

Liz took in a deep breath, "Isabel please don't tell him anything more. I can't say that I know what is going on but I am trying to figure some things out." she told her.

"I'm not going to tell Max anything but Liz I think he is in danger. I don't know how to explain it but I think you and I need to try to explore your dream further." she told her.

Liz didn't know what to say, it didn't occur to her to ask Isabel for help with her dreams. She assumed she would demand to know more than Liz felt comfortable telling her. "If I agree to do this you have to promise me that you won't talk to Max about anything we see."

Isabel nodded her head, "In your dreams your afraid of him too aren't you?" she asked thinking that was the reason Liz didn't want Max to know what was happening.

Liz bit her lip, "Lets just say I don't want to say anything until I know what is really going on." she told her.

Isabel understood, "I promise not to tell Max but Liz if this turns out to be a vision that your some how having then we need to at least go to Michael." she told her.

Liz shook her head, "yeah ok but we don't do anything until after tomorrow." she told her.

"Why what happens tomorrow?" she asked.

"It's just something I have been working on myself to better understand these dreams. I can't really talk about it now but I will tomorrow." she told her.

Isabel nodded her head, "Alright. I will see you later than." she told her, "Liz be careful.

She nodded her head, "You too." she told her as Isabel climbed out her window and left.

Liz pulled out her journal and began writing down all that Isabel had told her. Its was late when she finally laid down in bed, closed her eyes and fell asleep. After a few hours of tossing and turning she got up and walked out on to her balcony. River Dog was right she needed to get a clear head and process through what had happened so she would know best how to help her friends. To much was at stake for her to mess this up. The flashes of Alex, the dreams, and now Isabel seeing and feeling some of the same things she was from those dreams, it was all just so much to carry. She looked up at the stars and thought about how beautiful the night sky was. She missed those times when she use to come out at night just to watch the stars with out the thoughts of wars, alien kings and interplanetary take overs hanging over her head. She took in a deep breath and was just about to go back inside when she heard someone coming up the ladder. She stepped back into the shadows waiting to see who it was, her hand stretched out just in case. To her surprise it was Max, he stepped over the ladder and began walking toward her window. "Max is that you?" she called out as she stepped out of the shadows.

Max took in a deep breath, he looked like the kid who got his hand caught in the cookie jar, "yeah its me." he told her as he walked over toward her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"You weren't at school today so I just thought I would come by and check up on you." he explained.

"You thought you would come by and check up on me at 3:30 in the morning?" she asked him.

Max didn't respond right away, "Liz the other night you were upset and then you didn't come to school today so I just wanted to make sure you were alright. It's not like I come over here and watch you every night or anything." he lied.

Liz laughed, "So you haven't ever come over and checked up on me before tonight?" she asked him.

Max sheepishly smiled, "Well maybe once or twice I have." he told her.

Liz could feel herself being drawn in by him. She had to keep her mind focused right now so she tried to calm her racing heart and said, "Well I'm alright." she assured him.

Max walked over to her and took her hand in his. "Really because you seemed really upset last time we were talking about Tess and I wanted to make sure you are really alright." he told her.

"I'm sorry I reacted the way I did." Liz told him feeling her resolve about to crumble, he was being so kind and understanding.

Max held her hand in his, "See that's what I don't understand, why did you react the way you did, if all you want is for us to be friends."

Liz took in a deep breath, "I guess because deep down I haven't..." she started to say when she suddenly began getting flashes from him. Her mind was suddenly filled with images of Max, he was at the Crashdown and he was angry. Really angry. He was talking to Michael, "I will do whatever it takes." he told him.

"Even if that means killing innocent people are you ready to go there, really?!" Michael yelled at him.

Max pulled his arm free, "I will do whatever I have to Michael! Do you hear me whatever I have to!" he yelled.

Liz began shaking as she pulled her hand free from his. She wasn't sure what that was she just saw. Max was so angry so filled with rage. She had never seen him like that before. For the first time she was truly afraid of him.

"Liz is everything alright?" he asked her. "You look like you're a million miles away?"

She backed away from him, "Umm I think you should go." she told him then said, "thanks for coming over." she told him as she walked back over to her window.

"Liz wait, did I say something to upset you just now?" he asked her as he took a step closer.

She back further away from him, "No." she told him then said, "I'm just really tired, haven't been getting much sleep and I just want to go back to bed." she lied.

He shook his head, "Ok sure." he relented as he moved over toward the ladder, "Liz if you ever need to talk I will always be here for you." he told her.

She nodded her head, "I know." she said as she watched him leave. Liz climbed back inside her room and locked her window. She didn't know what it was that she saw in her visions she only knew that whoever that Max was, he wasn't her Max and it frightened her more than anything. Now she felt like she understood what Isabel was attempting to tell her earlier.


Tess waited for Max to come by and pick her up for school but he was already late. "I wonder where Max is this morning." she said out loud as Kyle came into the kitchen.

Kyle grabbed his lunch, "come on with me, I will give you a ride." he told her. "Max is probably running late, my dad said he saw his jeep over at the Crashdown late last night."

"What?" she asked feeling frustrated, "What time did he say he saw Max there?"

"Not sure just that it was on his usual patrol. He always swings by the Crashdown when Liz parents are away to keep an eye on her. He said that Max was over there kind of late so maybe he just overslept this morning or..." he told her purposely not finishing the sentence.

Tess narrowed her eyes, "Or what?!" she snapped at him.

Kyle laughed, "Well like I said its clear they still love each other so maybe he stayed the night, after all her parents are away."

Tess shook her head, "I'm not even going to respond to that." she told him as she looked over at the clock again.

Kyle walked over to the door, "So are you coming with me or walking?" he asked her.

Tess looked up at the clock again, "Go start your truck I will be right out." she told him. "I have to finish making my lunch." She grabber her lunch and took in a deep breath. She couldn't believe Max didn't show up, and the fact that he was at Liz's made it all the worse.

CHAPTER 11

Maria pulled up to the back of the Crashdown early, she wanted to talk with Liz before school. She used her key to get in and went straight up to Liz room. She knocked as she opened the door, “Hey it's me are you in here?” she called out.

Liz came out of the bathroom, “Hey Maria.” she said as she hurriedly put on her shoes and grabbed her keys. “I know you have been trying to call me but I have been really busy you know.” she told her.

Maria shook her head, “Yeah I completely understand how hard it must be for you to take two seconds and call your best friend back.” she told her sarcastically.

Liz took in a deep breath, “Maria I don't really have time for this.” she told her as she headed down the stairs.

Maria followed behind her, “Well make time.” she snapped at her.

“I can't not now.” she told her as she headed for the door.

“Liz if you don't talk to me I am going straight to Michael and I am telling him everything.” she threatened.

Liz stopped and looked at her, “Maria you can't do that.” she told her.

“I don't want to but Liz but you lied to me. You said you weren't having any more visions or dreams but you did.” she told her. “Michael told me how you were behaving strange the other day and then you just avoid me for two days. I am not stupid I know something is up.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “OK yes I did lie to you, but it was because I saw how upsetting this is for you.” she told her, “I didn't want you to have to lie to Michael because of what I told you. I just don't want to come between you guys. Maria I can't deal with knowing I could be the cause of the two of you ending up like Max and I.”

Maria could see she was telling her the truth, “Liz your my best friend of course I want you to tell me the truth but I get why you were trying to protect me.” she told her as all the anger went out of her voice. “I'm a big girl I can handle this and we both know you can't deal with it alone so tell me what you saw, was it Alex?” she asked.

Liz shook her head, “Maria I did have some more flashes but I still am not really sure what they mean. You have to trust me OK.” she told her. “Please don't say anything to the others and I promise I will come back and talk to you about everything later today.”

Maria asked her, “Wait, where are you going and who are you meeting?”

Liz shook her head, “I can't tell you that, all I can say is I hope to have some answers after I meet with this person.” she told her then said, “You have to trust me please.”

Maria nodded her head, “OK.” she told her reluctantly, “I will trust you, but I want answers later, no lies, no trying to protect me, just the truth.” she told her.

“Maria I am really trying to do the right thing in all of this.” she told her, “I hope you know that.”

Maria gave her friend a hug, “Liz I know you think you have to go through this alone but you really don't.” she told her, “If I am not the one who can help you then reach out to Michael, or Isabel but just don't try to do this alone.”

Liz wasn't sure what to say. She took in a deep breath and nodded her head, “I will be back later today.” she told her.

Tess walked up to Max's locker and waited to see if he would show up. It was almost time for the bell when he finally did. She took in a deep breath and smiled, “So guess you forgot something this morning.” she told him.

Max looked at her and shook his head, “What are you talking about?” he asked still trying to shake off the fatigued feeling he was struggling with.

Tess smiled as she struggled to keep her anger under control, “You were going to pick me up remember.” she reminded him, “For school today.”

Max closed his eyes and shook his head, “I am so sorry Tess.” he told her. “I must have forgotten.”

“That's OK” she told him. She looked at him and asked her voice filled with concern, “What's going on Max? You seem kind of tired.”

He took in a deep breath, “Yeah I didn't get much sleep last night.” he told her.

“I hope everything is alright.” she told him.

“Yeah it's fine.” he told her as he got his books out of his locker.

Tess smiled, “I can always tell when something is bothering you.” she told him than said, “I always could even back on Antar when you were troubled I could see it in your eyes.” she told him. “I hope you know you can always talk to me about anything.”

Max hesitated for a moment, “It's Liz.” he told her, “I guess I am just worried about her.” he told her.

Tess tried to hide her anger, “Max it's understandable that you would still have those kinds of feelings for her. The two of you shared a lot in a really short time but I hope as you remember our time together that you begin to see that we do belong together, here as well as on Antar.” she told him.

Max shook his head, “Tess you have been amazing, you have been a good friend to me, you have helped me retrieve my memories and answered a lot of question about who I was but I don't want to lie to you.” he told her then said, “For me, for the person I am now I will always care about Liz.”

Tess took in a deep breath, “Max what about us, don't shut me out now please not when we are so close , not when you're just about to remember who you were and what we meant to each other.” she urged him. “I know you care about Liz but honestly she made her choice didn't she. I hate to bring up painful memories, but she is the one who slept with Kyle. She chose him over you, but I am here and I always will be.” she told him as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She looked into his eye and then walked away. As she headed down the hall she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and made a call, “I want you to proceed with our plan.” she told them. “I don't care what Nicholas said, I am the queen and I am ordering you to take her. I want it done now and I don't want any excuses do you understand me!” she told them. “You have two days and then she better be gone!”

Liz made the long drive to River Dogs house, it was just past ten when she got there. He was waiting for her as she pulled up the driveway, “Hello Liz.” he smiled.

“Hello.” she said as she got out of the car, “I hope I am not to early?”

“No not at all.” he said as he walked over to her car, “If you will drive I will give you directions on where we are to go.” he told her as he got in the passenger seat.

“Sure.” she agreed as they began the drive down toward his uncles ranch house. It wasn't far but it was more isolated away from the reservation and other houses.

“Tell me Liz did you have any more dreams or visions after we spoke yesterday?” he asked her.

Liz nodded her head, “I did yes. I had the same dream of Max and I had vision this time too.” she told him. River Dog was quiet as she told him what she saw and the dreams she had. He listened carefully but did not give her any answers. When they arrived at the house a storm moved in and the skies had darkened. The wind picked up as they stepped out of the car. The house was beautifully landscaped from the outside, “Does your uncle still live here?” she asked.

“No my uncle passed away some years ago. He had no other family so he left this place to me.” he told her as he unlocked and opened the front doors. “Come in I will show you around.” he told her as they walked in the front door.

Liz looked around in amazement, there were pictures of Hala everywhere. She truly was beautiful. These paintings are amazing.” she said as she took the time to examine each one.

“I still paint her, even now after all these years. I paint her from my memories.” he told her. “This is where I come to be close to her. I don't live here because there are to many ghost but I do come here to care for the gardens and when I want to be near her.” he said.

Liz walked from room to room and grew more amazed by the paintings. Each one captured the surrounding area with such love and care that brought tears to her eyes. The emotions behind them were strong, and she felt overwhelmed by the intensity captured on the canvas. There was much pain, sorrow, and regret in many of them but there was something more, there was love.

“Liz come this way.” he called out to her. She walked down the hall and into a large open room. It was beautiful with long tall windows that flooded the room with light. There were french doors that opened onto a lovely patio and just beyond was the most perfect garden she had ever seen. “Was this her garden?” Liz asked as they both walked outside.

River Dog shook his head, “Yes it was. She loved it here. She loved the roses, I believe they reminded her of her own home she told me once that there was a flower very much like our rose on her planet.”

Liz smiled, “It's so beautiful here, so peaceful.” she told him as she looked at her surroundings. The garden set just off the patio and was lined by a large hedge on one side and small white fence on the other. The fence opened up into a lovely yard and beyond that was large barn. As they stood there talking a very beautiful young girl came walking toward them. Liz turned to look at River Dog, “who is that?” she asked.

“She is my daughter, she has come to help you.” he told her

Liz looked closer at the girl as she came near then she looked at River Dog, “Shes your daughter, you and Hala had a daughter.” she said simply.

River Dog shook his head, “Yes she looks very much like her mother.” he said as the girl came up to greet him.

“Hello Papa.” she said as she greeted him with a kiss. She looked over at Liz and then turned back to her dad, “I understand why you wanted to meet me here now.” she said as she turned back to Liz. “Hello, my name is Serena.” she said. “I have been waiting a very long time to meet you.”

Liz was stunned she turned toward River Dog, “When Max came back to me from the future he said that I would meet someone named Serena and together we would work out how to make time travel possible.” she told him.

“My mother for told of this meeting many years ago.” Serena told her. “Have you shown her yet?” she asked her dad.

He didn't say anything instead he walked back into the house watched as he took out an old and worn rolled up canvas and handed it to her. “I believe you are the girl from Hala vision.” he told her.

Liz took the canvas and slowly opened it. She stared in disbelief at the painting. It was a picture of her, she looked exactly like the portrait. Even the clothes she was wearing that day were a perfect match to the painting. “You painted this...” she said trying to comprehend fully.

“I did, over twenty years ago. Hala described you in great detail. She sat with me for hours to make sure I got even the smallest details right. She said it was vitally important that I never give the crystal to anyone but you. She said that you would go through many things and to have courage for the one you love is in the greatest danger, more danger then he has ever been in before.” He told her.

Liz cleared her throat, “What I don't understand is how did Max have this in the future, how was he able to come back in time to tell me about the war, or about Michael and Isabel?” she said as she walked over and sat down, “I wouldn't even have come here yesterday if he hadn't come from the future and yet she saw all of this years ago.”

River Dog looked intently at her, “Perhaps Liz the future is not set and that is why you must go now and find a way to fix things. Each day we make a thousand decisions that effect us and those around us. You now have an advantage to those around you. You know that the choices you make will have a long and lasting affect on those closest to you. The answers you are looking for are hidden in time itself and only you can discover who your enemy is. By doing so you will be able to repair the damage that has been done, you will restore balance to the time stream.”

Liz handed him back the painting, “Why didn't you tell me any of this before, when I first came to see you?” she asked him.

“Because Hala said you would come seeking answers, she said you would speak to me of the future and only than I would know it was the right time to give you the crystal. When you came to me before you did not speak to me of the future so I knew it was not yet time” he told her.

Liz shook her head, “what now?” she asked him not sure what to do.

“Liz, I do not believe that you are meant to give the crystal to Max. I believe that you are to use it to save your friends and to restore the balance in time.”

“How can I do that. I don't know what I should do?” Liz said as she tried to understand.

River Dog looked at her and smiled, “Liz I think if you consider what you have been facing since Max came to you from the future you will see that for you time has slowed, you have been unable to find peace. You have been trapped, you are seeing glimpse of the future but which of these events are as they should be and what is a result of the time stream being broken. That is what you must seek to find out. This journey is yours, you must restore what you have done, you must find a way to change things and bring balance and harmony to time itself.”

Liz shook her head, “I don't know if I can.” she told him.

“I don't think my mother understood all that she saw in her vision.” Serena told her then added, “ I do know she shared with me how dangerous the times would be for me and you. I think my father is right, from what you have told him your friends maybe in very real danger. I know you don't know me but we will need to trust each other if we are going to help the others.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “I will do what every I need to help Max and my friends.” she told her.

“Does that include riding a horse?” Serena asked her as she began walking toward the barns. “The crystal isn't here. I know where it is but we can only get there on horse back.” she told her.

Liz took in a deep breath, “OK” she said as she turned back toward River Dog, “Will you be coming with us?”

He shook his head, “No, from this point on my part in this journey is done. The two of you must go on now.” he told her. “Just remember you must find the strength within yourself. Serena will help you if she can but in the end you must decide what seems best to do.”

Liz turned and followed Serena into the barn. She wasn't sure what she was getting herself into but deep down she knew she was supposed to do this. Once in the barn she waited as Serena put the saddles on both horses. “Can I ask you a question?” Liz asked her.

Serena shook her head, “You want to know if I am like Max and the others?” she said

Liz nodded her head, “I don't mean to be rude but I guess on some level I have always wondered if it would be possible...” she started to say, “If someday in the future Max and I had a child what would it be like?”

Serena was quiet for a moment, “I'm not exactly like them.” she told her, “I consider myself a mutant, part human, part alien, a hybrid. I defiantly have human DNA from my dad, but I can use a larger portion of my brain then other humans. I can do things that other humans can't do.” she explained.

“What can you do?” Liz asked then clarified, “I mean what abilities do you have?”

Serena synched up the saddle and handed Liz the reigns to her horse, “I can manipulate matter, I can use energy as a weapon, I can speak telepathically and I can place a suggestion into a persons mind and they will obey it.” she told her as she finished working on her own horse.

“What do you mean you can place a suggestion into someones mind?” she asked tying to understand, “Are you talking about mind control?” she asked her.

Serena smiled, “Pretty much.” she told her then said as she got on her horse.

“How exactly does that work?” Liz asked as she hesitated in getting on the horse. “I mean how do you place the suggestion into someones mind?”

Serena didn't answer her instead she asked, “Are you going to mount up so we can go before it gets to late in the day and those storm clouds let loose on us?

Liz looked up at her horse, “Did I mention I have never ridden before?” she took in a deep breath and told her.

“Are you afraid of riding?” Serena asked then, “If you are the horse will not respect you.”

Liz laughed as she tried to stick her foot into the stirrup. She struggled and it slipped back out as the horse moved away from her. “Its not his respect I am looking for.” she told her, “I just don't want him to throw me off his back.”

Serena looked intently into Liz eyes then calmly spoke, “Liz take control of him.” she told her, “Take the reigns into your hands, put your foot into the stirrup and pull yourself up into the saddle. You can do this, you know you can, he won't harm you.”

Without thinking Liz took the reigns into her hands and climbed up into the saddle. Once she was on the horse she smiled and reached out gently running her hands through the horse's mane. “OK where are we headed.” she asked no longer feeling afraid.

Serena smiled, “This way.” she told her.

Liz did exactly as Serena and followed her as they made their way out into the desert.

CHAPTER 12



Maria hurried over to the Crashdown after school. She hoped Liz would be back by then and the two of them could talk. She spent most of the afternoon helping Michael with the dinner crowd but she couldn't help but worry when Liz still didn't show up.

Michael called out to Maria, “Order up for table 5.” he told her as he placed the burger and fries on the counter.

Maria grabbed them and took them over to her customers then she headed back into the kitchen. “Its been really busy all afternoon out there.”

Michael walked over, “Well you can thank Liz for not showing up for that.” he told her.

Maria took in a deep breath and shook her head, “Just let me know as soon as she gets here will you.” she mumbled as she went back out to wait on customers.

Serena and Liz had been riding for a little over an hour when they finally came upon the place that she remembered coming to as a child. It had been a long time since she was last here with her mother but she never forgot the large mountain of deep red rock that held the ship. “This is the place.” she told Liz as they got down off the horses.

“Are you sure?” Liz asked. As she looked around the place was isolated.

“Yes, her ship is inside the mountain.” she told her. “come on, it will take the both of us to get inside.”

Liz got down off her horse and patted him on the head, she could smell the rain in the air. She looked off toward the south as dark thunder clouds filled the sky. “Riding wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Once I got in the saddle I felt like I had been riding all my life.” she told her as they climbed along the side of the mountain together.

Serena smiled, “You did great.” she agreed with her. It was always like that when she used her power of suggestion with others, they followed her directions exactly with out ever knowing that they had been manipulated into doing so.

Liz was having trouble keeping pace with Serena, “How exactly do we get into this ship?” she asked her as they climbed higher up the side of the mountain. The wind was beginning to pick up and the rain had started to fall.

“Its not much further.” Serena told her as she made her way across a small stream. She stopped just near the top of the mountain. “This is the place.” she said reaching out her hand placing it on the smooth surface of the large cliff side. “Now you need to do the same, then focus all your energy on the door opening.” she told her.

Liz shook her head, “Serena I'm not” she started to say, “I'm not like Max and the others.” she told her.

Serena smiled, “I know you're a mutant like me.” she told her “ My father told me the story of how Max brought you back after you were shot. When he did that, when he brought you back he changed you. You are not alien but you have alien capabilities.”

“So then anyone who has been brought back, or born of an alien visitor is a mutant?” Liz asked her trying not to laugh.

“Pretty much.” Serena agreed. “I know its sounds kind of cheesy but it's how I deal with who I am, you know.”

Liz looked at her, “Well how many of us out there can there be?” she remarked not really being serious.

“Surprisingly a few more then you might think. My mother told me that even when she was readying to leave Antar, others were doing so to escape the wars and the ruthless rule of Khivar. She called them refugees.” she told her, “Now come on place your hand next to mine and focus.”

Liz lifted her hand and placed it next to Serena's. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on the door opening. As she did a connection was made between the two of them, their hands began to glow a soft white light as the rock began to move and the door way opened. Liz took a step back, “It worked.” she said amazed by what had just happened.

“Of course it did.” she told her as she stepped inside, “Come on.”

Liz followed her inside, “How come it worked?” she asked Serena. “You said I was like you because Max brought me back but how could that have worked just now.”

Serena stopped, “I am not completely sure I understand the science behind it except to say that when he brought you back from that line of death a part of himself was left behind in you. That part of who he is, the alien part opened up much more of your mind and you are beginning to be able to see the effects of those changes now. You have the ability to see the future what else are you able to do?”

“I can use energy as a weapon like you, I can change matter and speak telepathically.” Liz told her then said, “But the others don't know. I thought it best not to tell them for now.”

“That was probably smart.” Serena told her. “Especially since you don't know who your real enemy is right now.”

Liz's thoughts went back to the ship's door, “OK I understand that I have changed, but still how was I able to help you open the door to this alien space craft that has been here since before I was even born?”

Serena smiled, “Well the locking mechanism is based off of your DNA and mine. Once the scan read the signature pattern in your DNA and mine it unlocked the door and here we are.” she told her.

“OK makes sense but how did it know to look for my DNA. How did this technology know my DNA?” Liz asked her.

Serena explained, “It knew my DNA because my mother programed it that way. She programed the ship so that once I placed my hand here, it would begin the unlocking sequence. I was the first key and now you are the second key. The ship's computer now knows your DNA and opened for us. No other alien or human life form will ever be able to open it, only the two of us."

“So she really did plan for all of this down to the very last detail all those years ago.” Liz commented. “that is amazing, and all this based off of a dreams she had?”

“My mother had many visions. It was her ability to see things that were going to happen in the distant future.” Serena explained. “After she had the last dream about you, she stopped sharing her dreams with my dad and I. I think she knew her killer was coming for her soon and she didn't want us to be in danger.”

“It must have been really hard for you to lose your mom. I'm sorry.” Liz told her.

“It was at first, I was devastated. I remember crying for weeks but my dad has been amazing with me. When he realized that I had special abilities he made sure to protect me. I have gone to school on the Indian reservation and spent most of my time there.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen you around school?” Liz commented.

“I think my dad thought it would be best to have no contact with you until this moment in time.” Serena told her then said, “We should get moving.”

Liz nodded her head as the two of them made their way further into the ship. It was amazing how intact and completely preserved it all looked. The computers the lights all seemed to be working. “This is amazing.” she told her. “Its still in perfect condition after all this time?”

Serena looked around, “My mother said that one day those she was sent to protect would come with many questions and that they would find some of their answers here. I only wish I could still remember everything she told me but its kind of blur now so much time has passed.”

Liz followed her the rest of the way down a long corridor and through several sets of doors. The last door opened to a large room with computer screens and controls. Serena walked over to the middle of the room, she took off her necklace and placed the stone inside a small opening on a pedestal. Once the stone made contact the pedestal it lowered into the floor and opened a small panel along the side wall. Serena walked over, reached inside and removed a book and sphere shaped crystal about 8 inches long. It began glowing as soon as she touched it. She turned and handed it to Liz. “here.” she said as she walked back over to the pedestal and removed the stone.

“This is what activates the Granilith, this is what makes time travel possible?” she asked as she examined it more closely.

“Yeah I think so, but I don't think that time travel is the only purpose to the machine itself.” Serena told her. “I know its very important and that it must never fall into the hands of our enemies. My mother gave her life to insure that this is protected. Like I said she told me many things but its been so long.”

“How old were you when she died?” Liz asked her.

“I was five years old.” Serena told her. “That day is just kind of blur to me now, I have tried to remember it over the years but each day that passes the memories fade more.”

Liz could see that talking about it was painful for her so she changed the subject, “The power that this little crystal holds is amazing.” Liz told her. “It kind of frightens me to even think about it.”

“I know what you mean.” Serena told her as she waved her hand in front of another small panel, when it opened she pulled out two perfectly shaped rounded stones and carefully put them in her back pack.

“What are those for?” Liz asked.

“They are healing stones.” she told her. “We may need them although I am not entirely sure if I remember how to use them.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “So what do we do now?” she asked as she followed Serena out of the Crashdown.

“Liz you know what we have to do.” Serena reminded her.

“Right I have to repair the damage done to the time line.” she said as she took in a deep breath then asked. “How exactly are we going to do that?”

Serena shook her head, “I am not sure how but, we have all of time at out finger tips to figure it out.” she told her.

“Serena I can't get into the Granilith. I am not even sure if I remember where it is.” she told her. “If we do find it how do we get in. I have only seen Max or one of the others open the door.”

Serena smiled, “Well then when the time comes we will need one of them.” she told her as she opened the door to the ship and stepped out into the rain.

Liz followed her out , “I thought I was suppose to do this alone, that it was my journey to make with out them?”

“I think it is something you will have to do, as my father said you made the choice that caused the time shift now you will have to make the choice to fix it. Who ever you go to you must be sure you can trust them.” Serena told her. “This is your journey and you must make it no matter what the cost or the danger, you understand that right?”

Liz nodded her head, she was quiet for a while as she considered who she should go to, “I know we can trust Michael, and he won't try to stop me when he knows everything. I think we will have to tell Isabel too, she already knows some of what is happening and she can help us better understand my dream.”

“Alright then lets go and talk to your friends.” Serena told her.

Michael could see that Maria was worried about Liz. As each hour past she grew more and more quiet. “Do you know who she went to meet today?” he asked.

Maria shook her head, “No. I only know that she said it was really important and that we would talk later.” she told him.

He took in a deep breath, “Go try and call her again I will clean up out here.” he told her as he picked up the dishes from the tables.

Maria went into the kitchen and dialed Liz number again. There was no answer. She looked up at the clock it was already past eight. She was just about to go back out to the restaurant when Michael came in, “She is still not answering.”

Michael took in a deep breath, “What time do you have to go get your mom at the airport?” he asked her.

Maria sighed, “soon.” she told him, “Like really soon.”

“Do you want me to go so you can stay here and wait for Liz?” Michael asked her.

Maria was tempted by the offer but knew her mom would ask to many questions and then that would just be a whole other mess to do with, “No my mom would not go for it.” she told him then said, “But you could stay here and wait until Liz gets here and then let me know.”

Michael wrapped his arms around her, “Sure thing.” he told as he leaned down and kissed her. As their kiss ended he told her, “Go get your mom and I will call you as soon as Liz gets here, and don't worry everything will be fine.” he told her.

Maria hesitated for a moment, “Michael she is really dealing with a lot of stuff because of Max and Tess, so don't push her to talk just call me OK” she pleaded with him.

Michael shook his head, “I won't say anything to her.” he told her then said, “But you and I still have a conversation that we need to finish.”

Maria shook her head, “I know.” she told him as she grabbed her keys and jacket before leaving.

Michael walked back into the restaurant and saw Isabel at the door, he walked over and let her in, “What's up?” he asked her.

Isabel stepped inside, “I got a text from Liz, she said she would be here soon and wanted me to come over. She said she needed to talk to you and I.”

Michael was surprised, “she has been avoiding both Maria and I all week now she wants to talk to the two of us?” he said then asked, “did she mention Max at all?”

Isabel shook her head, “No and I think I know why but lets just wait until she gets here.” she told him as she went and sat down at the counter.

CHAPTER 13

After what seemed and endless drive Serena pulled up in the back parking lot of the Crashdown, “So this is where you live?” she asked Liz.

“Yeah, this is home.” She said as she looked around for Maria's car. “I don't see my friend's car, she must have left already. Michael is still here though, and Isabel sent a text saying she would be here.”

“Hopefully they won't be too shocked by we have to tell them.” she said as she pulled the car to a stop and they both got out. Serena looked over and saw Liz standing there, “Are you alright?” she asked her.

Liz shook her head, “Yeah I'm fine.” she told her then said, “it's strange though.” she said softly.

“What's so strange?” Serena asked her.

Liz took in a deep breath, “I guess it's just the realization that this is all really happening.” she told her as she walked into the back of the Crashdown. She stopped and looked at Serena, “about what you said in the car just now, about them feeling shocked...”

“Yeah what about it?” she asked.

Liz swallowed then said, “Michael can be” she searched for the right word.

“Abrasive.” Serena said. “And stubborn.”

“Yes actually.” Liz told her then asked. “How did you know that?”

“I was there the night he first came to see my father.” Serena explained, “My father tried to discourage him, he tried to tell him he could not take part in the sweat but Michael was stubborn and abrasive then as well.”

Liz nodded, “He hasn't changed all that much so.” she warned her.

“This should be interesting than.” Serena told her as they walked into the restaurant.

Michael was there cleaning up and Isabel was sitting at the counter. “Nice of you to finally show up. Maria has been freaking out wondering where you were.”

Liz swallowed, “I know and I am sorry. Where is she now?” she asked.

“Her mom came back into town so she had to go pick her up at the airport.” Michael told her. “You need to call her.”

“I will call her later but right now I need to talk to the two of you.” she told him.

Isabel watched as Liz and Serena walked over and sat down at the counter, “Liz what's going on?” she asked her.

Michael stopped what he was doing and walked over to sit down, “Whose your friend?” he asked looking over at Serena. She seemed familiar to him but he wasn't sure why. She had long dark black hair, deep brown eyes, and she was very pretty.

“My name is Serena, we have met before Michael.” she told him. “You know my father River Dog.”

Michael eyes narrowed, “I don't remember him mentioning any daughter.” he told her.

“Michael, you can remember me if you try.” Serena told him, “Think back to that night you came to see my father, you saw me there.” Serena told him as she placed the suggestion in his mind. “remember you saw me.”

“Yeah I remember seeing you now.” he told her, “I didn't know you were River Dogs daughter.” he told her, the memory now clearly in his mind then said, “So you know who we are then?”

“I know that your like other visitor who have come.” she told him then said, “My mother was like you.”

Michael looked intently at her, “Your mother..” he started to say but Serena interrupted before he could finish.

“My mother was from Antar, she was human hybrid just like the both of you.” she told him.

Michael looked over at Liz, “This is what you and Maria have been keeping a secret?” he asked her.

Liz shook her head, “Not exactly.” she told him.

“What do you mean not exactly?” he demanded. “Liz this is a big deal finding other aliens who are like us is something we should all know about.”

“Michael is right you should have told us about this.” Isabel told her.

Liz took in a deep breath, “I just found out about Serena myself and that is why I am here now.” she told them both, “I have so much more to tell you but I need you to listen until I'm done talking and then I will answer as many questions I can.” she told them.

Michael shook his head, it was clear he was angry. “I'm listening.” he told her.

Liz was just about to begin talking when Serena stopped her, “You also need to promise to keep everything you learn here to yourself. The fewer people who know whats happening the safer they will be.” she told them.

Isabel nodded her head, “I won't say anything to Max or the others.” she promised.

Michael took in a deep breath, “Fine tell us what this is all about.”

Liz explained in detail every thing that had been going on. She told them about future Max coming to her, she told them about how she pretended to sleep with Kyle so Max would turn to Tess. She told them about her powers and the visions she was having. “So once I realized that what I was seeing was actual future events that could be about to happen I knew I had to figure out what to do, who to tell and I just ended up in the desert where River Dog found me.” she told him.

“That's when he told you about Hala and the crystal?” Michael asked.

“Yeah and the visions she had about my coming one day.” Liz told him.

“So Serena took you to this ship and you have the crystal now?” Isabel asked them.

Serena nodded, “I have it in a safe place yes.” she told them.

“Liz we have to tell Max and the others about this.” he told her.

“Michael we can't if we do you and Isabel are going to die.” she told him.

“Yeah and if we don't Alex is going to be killed.” Isabel told her as tears filled her eyes, “We can't let that happen.”

Liz took in a deep breath, “I don't want anything to happen to Alex either that is why I am here now talking to you both.” she told them then said, “I know you want to tell Max but deep down inside I know we can't. Isabel you felt it too when you dream walked me the other night. You felt it.”

Isabel nodded her head as she wiped her eyes, “Maybe she is right Michael, maybe this time we do this without Max.” she said thinking about how she felt in that dream.

Michael couldn't believe the two of them he was just about to protest when Liz told them, “After Isabel left last night Max came over and I had some flashes when he touched me. I saw the two of you fighting Michael. Max was so angry, in my vision you said he was going to kill innocent people and he said he didn't care he would do what he had to do.”

Michael took in a deep breath, “So what do we do then. How do we handle this?” he asked them.

Serena told him, “My mother told me that time is like a river, it has been bends, curves and paths that it will take but it must always be allowed to reach its detestation.”

Michael shook his head, “Yeah well that sounds really deep but what the heck does it mean?” he snapped.

“Its means that when Max came back in time and I changed things I interrupted the flow of time. I created an imbalance in how things were suppose to be.” Liz explained, “When Max came back he told me that Alex was at our wedding. That we all danced all night so my changing things has caused there to be an imbalance in the flow of time and I have to fix that.”

Isabel brushed her hair away from her face, “How exactly are you going to fix it Liz?” she asked.

Michael took in a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, “Liz this is crazy we don't even know who we are fighting against or how you can fix this.” he told her.

“That's why I need help.” she told him, “I need you to take me to the Granilith.”

Michael shook his head, “Liz if you use this crystal and travel back in time you could make things worse.” he told her.

“I know but we have to try we can't just do nothing.” she told him, “If I can figure out where the threat is coming from then maybe we can stop it.”

Michael got up and began pacing around, “Ok say I do this. Say I take you to the Granilith, we don't know how this crystal works. We don't even know how to use it.” he told her.

Serena pulled the book out of her back pack, “Perhaps this could help us. My mother left it for me.” she opened it and showed it to Michael, “It is written in your language from your home planet.”

Michael walked over and looked at the writing on the page, “Yeah I recognize the writing there’s just one small problem I have no clue what it says. I can't remember how to read it.” he told her.

Serena showed it to Isabel, “Does it seem familiar to you?”

Isabel stared at it intently, “It's like Michael said I know I have seen it before but I am not sure what it says.” she told her.

“Serena you said your mother taught you how to read this language can you remember any of it at all?” Liz asked her.

“I remember some of it. I think maybe enough to help but I am not sure.” Serena told her.

“Then we are back to square one.” Michael told them both as he sat back down.

Serena thought for a moment, “There is one who can help us but there will be risk involved.” she told them.

Liz took in a deep breath, “Who?”

“His name is Adhay, he is very old and wise.” she told them, “I have heard many say that he can interpret dreams, and give understand to those who search for meaning. I can have my father arrange for us to meet with him as soon as possible.”

Michael looked over at Liz and then back to Serena “What is the risk?” he asked.

“Adhay will be my guide leading me into the past, helping me to retrace my memories.” she told him. “There have been stories of those who when faced with their past find it so painful they become lost and can not find their way back.” she told him.

Liz looked over at Isabel, “You have to help me with my dream, you have to help me see if we can understand what happens.” she told her.

Isabel shook her head, “I will do anything to help keep Alex and Max safe.” she told her.

Serena nodded her head, “Ok then.” she said as she pulled out her cell phone and stood up, “Let me make this call to my dad and then we can put our plan in motion.” she told them as she walked away so she could hear.

Michael leaned forward, “Are you sure about this Liz?”

“Michael I have to do this, it maybe the only way to save all of you.” she told him.

“Does Maria know about all of this?” he asked her.

Liz shook her head, “No, not all of it.” she told him. “She knows about my powers, and Max coming from the future but she doesn't know about Serena, the visions or Isabel dream walking me. She doesn't know that I found the crystal or that I can see the future.”

He let out a heavy sigh, “This is crazy I can't believe we are actually sitting here talking about sending you into the past to fix a broken time stream.” he told her just as his phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked down at the number. “Its Maria.”

“What are you going to tell her?” Liz asked him.

Isabel shook her head, “I don't think we can tell her whats really going on.” she told them. “Liz she is your best friend she will never be able to deal with letting you put your life at risk.”

"I know.” Liz said as she looked over at Michael.

He shrugged his shoulders then asked, “What do you want me to tell her?”

“Isabel is right we can't tell her anything more, she will freak out.” Liz told him, “You saw how upset she got the other night.” she reminded him, “And that was just because I told her about the flashes imagine how upset she will get when she knows they are real future events.”

He let the phone go to voice mail. “I really wish I didn't just give her that long speech about not keeping secrets.” he mumbled.

“I will call her, I will tell her that you and I talked and that everything is fine.” she told him “If she gets upset with anyone let it be me.”

Michael weighed his options, considering the fact that there was another alien threat out there that they needed to deal and knowing that she would freak out he decided keeping her in the dark was the best way to proceed. “I will handle it.” he told her then asked, “So what powers do you have, I mean besides the flashes?”

Liz felt strangely uncomfortable talking about it, “Umm I can speak telepathically to others.”

“How does that work?” He asked her.

“I just concentrate on what I want to say into your mind and you can hear me.” she told him with out talking.

Michael heard her say each word inside his head, “That could come in handy.” He told her.

Isabel asked, “Can you talk to the both of us at once telepathically?”

Liz smiled, “I don't know, until now I have only talked to Maria that way and she wasn't really happy with me for doing it.” she told them then said, “Serena can speak telepathically too. I wonder that you four don't?” she said thinking about it, “You know Serena said that when Max changed me he opened up a part of my mind I had never used before but yours are already open, you already use those parts of your mind. I wonder if speaking telepathically would just be like learning another language for you?”

Michael took in a deep breath, “It's possible, maybe because we were all raised with humans our powers are stunted.”

“You could work on it, try seeing if it works.” she suggested.

Isabel shook her head, “It could come in handy in the days ahead since we need to keep this between just us.”

Michael nodded his head, “So what else can you do?” he asked Liz.

“Well I can manipulate matter the way you can and you know about the flashes.” she told him.

He could see she was feeling awkward, “How did it happen?” he asked, “I mean did you just wake up and had all these changes.”

Liz shook her head, “No, after Ava,” she started to say then corrected herself, “After I helped Isabel reach Max in NYC, I didn't have anything signs or changes for a while, but then things started happening. I got really sick for a few days, high fever, extremely painful headaches, incredibly thirsty and I kept melting everything I touched.” she explained.

“What about your parents?” He asked her, “How did you keep it from them?”

“They were out-of-town when the worst of it happened.” she told him, “Maria helped me keep it from everyone else.”

“This all happened a few months back when she said you had the measles or something like that ugh?” he remembered how strange and adamant Maria was that none of them come by and see Liz.

“Yeah.” Liz smiled, “She was great she stayed with me and took care of me.”

“You must have been freaking out why didn't you go to Max?” Isabel asked her.

“Because if I had he would have tried to heal me and then when we connected he would have seen...” she told him.

“He would have seen his future self here with you.” Isabel said realizing for the first time how much Liz had gone through over the past several months, “You took a huge risk Liz you could have died.”

She took in a deep breath and cleared her throat, “I had to protect Max” she told him, “And you and Michael.”

Michael didn't know what to say, it was clear that more then anything she was fiercely loyal to Max and her friends, “I don't know what to say.”

Isabel walked over and hugged Liz, “I don't think thank you could ever cover it, but thank you.” she told her.

Before Liz could say anything Serena came back over to them, “We can meet with Adhay in tomorrow night. He will be waiting for us at my ranch house.” she told them.

Michael nodded his head, “Ok, I think we should start with Isabel you paying a visit to Liz again. Serena if you can please try to just keep working on remembering what the book says and Liz, you should try to see what more you can find out from Alex.” he told them then said, “I am going to go over and see Maria.” he told her. “I will tell her you're safe and that you told me everything and that so far the flashes are not reliable.” he said then looking at Serena, “I think for now the fewer people who know about you being one of us the better.”

Serena nodded her head, “Not a problem. We will just say I am a friend from the reservation that you met before in need of a place to stay for a while.”

Michael was just about to leave, “Liz I need to know, in the flashes you have had of Maria is she ok?” he asked.

She shook her head, “She was safe Michael.” she told him.

Isabel took in a deep breath, “I will head home and hopefully see you in your dreams.”

“Isabel try to remember as much as you can because so much of what I am seeing is nothing but a blur as soon as I wake up. Its like I have the memory and then it's snatched away from me.” she told her as she walked over to the door.

“I will.” Isabel told her then she said, “Liz I want to be there when you go see Alex tomorrow.” she told her.

“Yeah of course.” Liz sad as Isabel left and she locked the door.

CHAPTER 14

Michael pulled up to Maria's house, he could see that her lights were still on. He didn't want to deal with her mom so he made his way around to her bedroom window. He knocked and called out to her quietly, “Maria I need to talk to you.”

Maria jumped at the sound of someone by her window, she pulled back the curtains when she heard Michael voice. She opened her window and let him inside, “I got a text from Liz she said you were on your way over.”

“Yeah I asked her to let me come talk with you.” he told her.

“So what is going on, did she talk to you at all?” she asked not sure how much Liz might have told him.

Michael nodded his head as he walked over and sat down on her bed. Maria walked over and sat down next to him. “Is your mom asleep?” he asked her.

Maria nodded her head, “Yeah she was exhausted we can talk she won't hear anything.”

Michael took in a deep breath, “Liz told me about Max coming from the future and her powers.” he told her.

Maria waited to see if he was going to get upset with her, “Michael I wanted to tell you but,”

He interrupted her before she could finish, “Maria I know why you didn't.” He told her, “I know you were trying to help Liz and you were protecting me.”

Maria wrapped her arms around him, “Michael I just couldn't bare the thought of loosing you.” she told him honestly.

“I know.” he told her.

“So where was Liz today and what about her flashes” she asked “Has she had any more?”

Michael took in another deep breath, “She hasn't had any that matter.” he lied then said, “And we still don't know if they are real or not. She doesn’t know if the flashes that she has been having really mean anything.”

“Maybe there like some kind of bad dream or something except she is having them when she is awake?” she said trying to understand what could be happening. “She said she was going to meet with someone who might be able to help her, someone who might have some answers as to what was happening.”

“I don't think she was able to find out anything.” he told her, “I only know that she said it was a dead end and I don't think we should push any further on that.”

Maria pulled away from him, “Your ok with that?” she asked him, “I mean she was gone for two day.”

“Maria she said it was a dead end and I believe her.” he told her.

“Ok” Maria said as she took in a deep breath, “Are you at least going to tell Max and the others what has been going on?” she asked,

Michael shook his head, “No she asked me not to and I think she is right for now we keep this to ourselves.”

Maria got up and walked over to her window to looked out, “What about Alex, what about her dreams? she asked him.

“Like I said I think we have to see if these dream and flashes are real future events that are going to happen or if something else is going on.” he told her, “In the mean time I will stay close to Alex keep my eyes on him make sure everything is alright.” he told her.

Maria turned and faced him. She was quiet for a minute, “This is so not like you to wait and see that's usually Max's way of handling things not yours.” she told him.

“Well maybe Maxwell is rubbing off on me.” he told her as he reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to himself. “We have to be careful but Maria if we go to Max now with out knowing for sure he will start asking questions you know that” he told her. “He always does when it comes to Liz and she is really afraid that he will find out about future Max coming.”

Maria smiled and stared into his eyes, “So then your not upset with me for keeping these secrets from you?” she asked trying to understand his sudden change in attitude.

“I didn't say that I like what you did but I understand why you did it.” he told her then said, “Maybe it was unfair of me to expect you to tell me everything in the first place.” he admitted. “I care about you and I just don't want to lose you.” He pulled her closer and captured her mouth with his. Maria gave into his kiss even though some part of her doubted that he was telling her the truth. As their kiss deepened and he began caressing her back, she moaned softly then pulled away from him, “My mom is here remember.” she reminded him.

“So you said she was sound asleep.” He said as he continued kissing her neck.

Maria tried to catch her breath, “Yeah she sleeps really sound when we all we are doing is talking, but kissing and extra curricular activities she will wake up, her mom radar goes off, trust me.”

Michael let out a frustrated sigh, “Ok then tomorrow you come to my place after work so we can pick up where we left off.” he told her.

Maria kissed him one more time before pushing him toward the window, “I could be persuaded to come by if you cook something really great to eat for dinner.” she teased him.

“Fine.” he said as he gave her one final kiss and then left.

Maria took in a deep breath, she knew there was more going on then he was saying. She decided to get up early and go see Liz, she didn't like having her boyfriend and best friend keeping secrets from her.


Liz was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. It didn't take long before the dreams began, this time she was watching the others as they stood talking in the Crashdown. She could feel her heart racing as she watched Max and Michael arguing. Her sleep grew restless as the images in her dream intensified.

Isabel found herself inside Liz dream, she started in the bedroom just like before and made her way downstairs to the restaurant. Just like before there was no sign of Liz anywhere, although she could feel her presence all around her. She walked out into the Crashdown and found Max yelling at Michael, there was so much anger and hatred inside of him as he turned back around to face a young man in uniform, who was tied to a chair. Max walked over and held out his hand, he shot a force of energy into the solider. “Now tell me what I want to know.” he said his voice was cold and determined. Isabel was stunned, she couldn't believe what she was seeing, she watched in horror as Max continued torturing him. “Tell me what I want to know or I will kill you right here.” he threatened him. Isabel could see the hatred and pain in Max's eyes as he reached out and shot full force of energy into the mans chest. The mans entire body shook with pain as the energy current went through him. “If I were you I would start talking the pain only gets worse.” Max told him as blood rushed out of the mans nose and both his ears.

Michael reached his hand out and grabbed a hold of Max arm, “Its clear he doesn’t know anything.”

Max turned to him, “If you don't have the stomach for this part of the mission Michael you can always leave.” he told him.

“Max you have to stop you’re killing him.” Michael told him.

Max pulled his arm free and glared at Michael, “I will kill every single one of them until I find out where they are holding her.”

Michael shook his head, “Max's you have to listen to me...” he started to say but Tess interrupted him.
“Max I told you Michael was a sympathizer.” she told him as she shot a force of energy from her hand toward Michael.

Michael held out his hand and instantly a shield went up all around him as he backed away from them, “Max I am telling you don't go down this road once you do you can't ever come back.” he warned him.

Max shook with anger, “You know what they are doing to her, you know and yet you defend them.” he yelled at Michael. “You are no friend of mine! Run Michael and don't ever come back here because the day you do I will kill you!” he yelled at him.

Isabel's blood ran cold as she moved into the kitchen and away from Max. Tears ran down her cheeks as she called out for Liz. She heard the same noise as before and ran over to the back door, she opened it, she saw Liz and herself, this time they were facing Max. “Who are you?!” he yelled at her as he raised his hand ready to take his shot.

Liz looked at him, tears streaming down her face, “Max its me!” she cried out to him.

Isabel jumped up in her bed, she was shaking, her heart pounding, she grabbed her cell phone to call Liz.

CHAPTER 15




Liz walked out into the restaurant, “Here you go.” she said as she put the plate down in front of Serena. “I hope you don't mind eggs and ham.” she said as she sat down across from her to eat breakfast.

“This is fine thanks.” she told her as they both began eating.

“I sent a text to Isabel letting her know I am going to see Alex this afternoon.” she told her. “I wanted to see if I get any more flashes from him.”

Serena took a bit of her eggs, “How are you going to keep him from knowing what your doing?” she asked.

Liz shrugged her shoulders, “I get the flashes from touching people. I just have to remember not to react when I do, and then I don't think anyone will realize what I am up to.” she told her.

“What about Michael and Isabel are they still planning to go with us to see Adhay?” Serena asked.

“Yeah I think so.” Liz told her.

“Did you and Isabel talk about your dream?” she asked changing the subject. “I thought I heard your phone go off sometime around 4:30 this morning.”

Liz drank her juice then answered, “Yeah. She called and we talked, she helped me remember every detail of what happened in the dream.”

“What did she see?” Serena asked her.

Liz shook her head, “Lets just say the things she told me about Max, I just can't believe he would ever do. The person he becomes is a stranger to me. I have to fix this..” she started to say, “Whatever it is that is happening with our time stream, I have to keep these things I am seeing from happening.” she told her.

Serena took in a deep breath, “Liz we will fix this. We will stop whoever is doing this and make it right.”

Liz grew quiet for a minute, “Serena why are you helping us?” she asked her. “This isn't your fight, you don't even know Max and the others.”

She instinctively picked up the necklace that her mother gave her and began fiddle with it,“Because my mother asked me to,” she told her then said, “Because its the right thing to do, and because in some ways I am very much connected to them.”

Liz was just about to say something more when she looked up and saw Max coming in, “Max.” she said surprised to see him there.

“I just wanted to stop by and see you.” he told her, “You weren't at school the last two days.”

“Yeah.” she tried to think of what to say, “I was busy helping my friend Serena.” she said pointing over to her. “Max this is Serena.”

Max nodded his head, “I don't remember seeing you around school before.” he said.

Serena smiled, “You wouldn't have, because I don't got to school at Roswell High.” was all she said. “Liz I am going to go up and work on our project some more.” she told her as she grabbed her back pack and headed upstairs.

Liz grabbed their dishes and turned toward the kitchen, “Did you you want some breakfast?” she asked as she made her way over toward the kitchen.

Max followed behind her, “No I just came to see you.” he told her then asked, “So who exactly is Serena? I don't remember you mentioning a friend by that name.” he asked her.

“Oh she's a friend I have known for awhile, she is staying with me. Somethings came up at home and she needed a place to crash for awhile so I said she could stay here.” Liz told him then asked, “So what did you want to talk about?”

“I probably sound like a broken record but you have just really been on my mind. I know something happened the other night you pulled away from me so fast like I was a complete stranger and I just want to make sure everything is alright between us?” he told her truthfully.

Liz felt bad for how she treated him, it wasn't his fault she saw those things. She put the dishes down and then walked over to him. She took his hand in her and smiled, “I am so sorry that I was so out of it Max. I was really tired and I suppose I was just really shocked to see you there.” she lied, “But I am fine now and I am really glad you came to clear things up with me.”

Max smiled, “I am to.” he told her. “So about prom.” he started to say.

Liz looked into his eyes, “Yes, what about it?” she asked, “Haven't changed your mind about going together have you?”

Max shook his head, “No not at all.” he assured her. “I wanted to talk to you though because Isabel suggested that we all come here for some group pictures before the prom and I think that's a great idea but..” he said.

Liz laughed, “But?” she repeated what he said, “Max just tell me what you want I am open for just about anything.” she told him.

Max reached up and brushed the hair away from her face, “But I was just kind of hoping the rest of the night could be us.” he told her, “You know just you and me.” he clarified. “It's just that we have had so little time together and like I said before I really do miss that. You are my best friend even after everything that has happened I don't want to lose that and I feel like your slipping away from me.” he told her.

Liz was really touched by what he had just said, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. As he hugged her back her mind was suddenly filled again with images of him. She saw things from her dreams and she pulled back from him as tears filled her eyes. “Max.” she whispered his name.

He searched her eyes, he could see she was really upset, “Liz what is it?” he asked her.

She stared into his eye trying to make sense of what she saw and the person who was standing in front of her. In a moment of weakness she wrapped her arms around him and held on as tight as she could, “Promise me we will always be friends. Promise me that no matter what happens we will always be there for each other.” she whispered softly as tears filled her eyes. “I don't ever want to lose you Max.”

Max wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, “always.” he said softly in her ear. “You won't lose me.” he assured her.

Maria walked into the kitchen and saw them there,“hey Max, do you mind if Liz and I talk.” Maria told him. “sorry to interrupt but it is really important.” she told them both.

He shook his head, he hated leaving her but didn't know what else to do. “I will come and see you later.” he told Liz as he headed out the back of the Crashdown.

Liz quickly wiped her eyes and shook her head, “Yeah that would be really great.” she told him. She looked over at Maria. She took in a deep breath and tried to hide how shook up she really felt inside. Liz could see she was angry, “Maria whats wrong?” she asked her.

“You said you were going to come back and talk with me last night and instead you pour out your heart to Michael?” Maria accused her.

“Yeah well I got back much later then I thought and Michael was here. I just felt so bad for the rift I was causing between the two of you I thought I would come clean and tell him the truth.” she told her. “Things are better now right?” she asked. “Things are good between the two of you?”

“Yeah Michael is completely fine. He isn't upset with me, he thinks we should take a wait and see attitude to make sure your flashes are real and he has no problem not telling Max and the others about any of this.” she told her.

“Maria I'm confused you act like that's a bad thing.” Liz told her. “I thought that was what we wanted all along, was to bring him in on what has been happening and not have the others find out what is going on.”

Maria shook her head, “Its not a bad thing but it sure as heck isn't normal for Michael which leads me to two possible conclusions.” maria told her, “One I am in some kind of alternate universe where Michael is completely rational and understanding, or the both of you are lying to me about what is really going on.”

Liz shook her head, “Maria you know I wouldn't do that.” she told her feeling sick inside. “Maybe Michael is just finally maturing you know. You always said you wished he would be more understanding and now he is and your still unhappy?”

Maria took in a deep breath, “Liz just promise me that as we move forward you won't shut me out.” she told her, “You are my best friend and I just don't want you going through this all alone. It's not good for you too.”

Liz smiled, “Maria I am fine really. I haven't had any more bad dreams and no flashes.” she lied again.

Just as Maria was about to say something Serena came down. “Liz before you go see Alex I have something I need to show you about that project we are working on?” she asked as she came down the stairs.

Maria looked up and her mouth nearly dropped open, she cleared her throat and asked, “hello, I'm Maria who might you be?” she asked.

Serena smiled, “I'm Serena.” she told her, “A friend of Liz's.”

Maria eyes opened wide in shock, “Serena!” she said louder then she meant to, “The Serena from the ...?”

Liz shook her head, “Maria!.” she cut her off then motioned for her to be more quiet.

Serena looked at Liz, “Liz and I met through my dad.” she told her, “River Dog.”

Maria was more confused then ever, “That's where you were, you were at the Indian Reservation meeting with River Dog, why?”

Liz looked at Serena, “I will be up in just a few minuets to help you with that project.” she told her.

Serena nodded, “Sure thing.” she said then turned to Maria, “It was really nice meeting you.” she told her before she left.

Maria smiled, “It was nice meeting you too.” she said as she watched her go back upstairs. She looked at Liz, “You weren't going to tell me about Serena were you?”

Liz shook her head, “Maria I wasn't trying to keep her a secret from you.” she told her.

Maria folded her arms across her chest, “Does Serena know that one day she helps you create a time machine?”

Liz shook her head, “No of course not.” she lied.

“So she wasn't here last night when you and Michael talked.” Maria asked her.

“No she doesn't know anything about that.” Liz told her.

Maria took a deep breath, “So what is going on, what are you helping her work on?” she asked.

Liz shook her head, “Its nothing. I met her when I went to see River Dog. She is his daughter and they had a falling out. He was worried she might take off so he asked me to let her stay for a few days. Considering who she is and our future friendship I agreed, It has nothing to do with aliens at all.” she told her.

“So you really aren't having anymore flashes or anything?” she asked.

“No everything is fine.” she told her then said. “I wanted to go and see Alex for awhile just to make sure I wasn't getting any more flashes from him can you cover here?”

Maria nodded her head, “Yeah go ahead.” she told her.

Liz smiled, “Thanks.” she said as went upstairs to change and then went to wait for Isabel.

CHAPTER 16

Maria was just about to go out into the restaurant when Michael came in. He took his helmet off and hung up his jacket. "Hey." was all he said as he put on his apron.

Maria walked over and slapped him on the arm, "So why didn't you mention Serena last night?" she asked him.

Michael shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't think anything of it." he told her.

"You didn't think it was important to tell me that the girl who is some day going to help Liz create time travel just happened to show up at the Crashdown last night?" Maria snapped at him.

Michael could see she was upset, "No I didn't think it was a big deal, it's not like they are creating time travel tomorrow. Liz said Max came from ten years into the future. So Serena being here now doesn't really mean much." he reminded her.

"I suppose you didn't notice that she was absolutely gorgeous either?" Maria asked him.

Michael took in a deep breath, "Maria I didn't mention her because I didn't think it was important." he told her. "It's not like she is anyone special." he lied. "She staying with Liz end of story."

Maria glared at him in frustration, "Now who isn't being honest." she snapped at him as she headed out into the restaurant to begin her shift.

Liz got into the car as Isabel pulled up, "So Max came by this morning." she told her as she put on her seat belt.

Isabel nodded her head, "Yeah he said he was going to come see you again." she told her then asked, "How did that go?"

Liz took in a deep breath, "I had more visions." she said, "When he touched me, I got flashes like before." she told her, as tears filled her eyes. "Isabel what could drive him to do those things?"

Isabel bit her lip, "I think it's pretty clear that the only thing that would drive him to that kind of anger is having someone take you." she told her.

"Me?" Liz shook her head, "If the dreams are about future events than they can't be about me because I am in them."

Isabel shook her head, "No you're not, not really." she told her. "Think about it Liz, both times I dream walked you, you were not in the dream until it shifted near the end." she went on, "You said yourself that it didn't really seem like a dream to you, that at first it was more like a memory of someone telling you something. I know this sounds crazy but what if you have been having future flashes of what is going to happen to you?"

Liz shook her head, "Is that even possible?" she asked.

Isabel laughed, "What isn't possible at this point, I mean seriously." she told her trying to keep her emotions under control, "I am an alien from another planet, your human who has had their brain altered by an alien, my brother time travels and we are going to go try to figure out who is going to kill the guy I love by touching him and seeing his future...I think at this point just about anything and everything is possible!" she told her.

"yeah ok." she said. "It's clear the sooner we have this meeting with Adhay and I go back and fix things the better off we are all going to be." she told her.

"Liz you can't just ignore the dream, somehow it's apart of this." she told her, "What ever happens to you is just as important because it's the one event that turns Max into the monster we both saw in the dreams and the flashes."

Liz nodded her head, "So I will stay on guard and hopefully we have time to do what needs to be done." she told her.

Isabel pulled up into Alex's drive way, "What about Alex how are we going to do this?" she asked her.

"I have to be touching him to get the flash so somehow we have to work that in." she told her.

Isabel raised her eyebrow and shook her head, "This is going to be an odd visit for him then ugh?"

Liz took in a deep breath, "Pretty much." she told her then said, "We should have brought Serena."
"She has the ability to make people do things, she can place a suggestion in their mind and make them respond to it." she told her.

"That would have been helpful." she agreed as they went over to his front door and knocked.

Alex opened the door and smiled when he saw Isabel there too, "So what's up?" He asked, "Why are the two of you are showing up on my doorstep this morning?" he said as he let them in.

Liz and Isabel followed him into his room, "I was hoping you could maybe help us decode this writing I found yesterday." she said as she pulled out a paper with the symbols that were in Serena's book.

Isabel smiled, "I told her about the work you were doing on the computer creating a program to decipher languages, thought maybe you could help." she said.

Alex reached over and took the paper from her hand, "Yeah." was all he said as he read over it.
"Where did you get this?" he asked her.

Liz shook her head, "We found the symbols out near the Indian reservation and Isabel used her powers to make a copy of it." she told him.

"Yeah I thought that maybe I recognized it as the same symbols from my home planet but I wasn't sure." Isabel told him.

"It might be, it's not like anything I have ever seen before." he told her.

"Maybe you could scan it and run it through your software?" Isabel asked him.

Alex shook his head, "I guess I could try." he told her, "but I haven't fully finished getting all the bugs out so I don't know if it will work." he told her as he sat down and pulled his chair up to his computer desk. He opened two different programs and began scanning in the page. Isabel pulled another chair up and sat down next to him, while Liz stood behind him. As the two of them began talking she placed her hand on his shoulder. Instantly her mind was filled with images of him working on his computer, he was trying to decipher a book. Liz tried to see what it was but it was too blurry. She closed her eyes and focused harder, this time she saw Alex, he was at Kyle's house and he was arguing with Tess. He was yelling at her and he looked really upset and then the flash shifted and he was on the gurney covered in blood.

"Umm Liz what are you doing?" Alex asked her.

Liz opened her eyes, and saw Alex staring at her. She quickly put her hand up to her head and pretended to be dizzy. "I'm sorry Alex I just felt really dizzy there for a minute." she lied to him.

Isabel got up and moved over to her, "Do you feel ok, maybe you should drink some water?" she suggested.

Liz nodded her head, "Yeah that sounds good." she told them both. "Alex could you get me a glass of water?"

"Sure thing." he told her as he left and went to get it. Isabel looked at Liz, "Did you see anything?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah I did." she told her just as Alex came back into the room. She took the glass from him and drank the water gone. "I feel better now." she told him. "Thanks so much."

Alex smiled, "Well I am glad your feeling better." he told her then said, "I can't really do much for you with those symbols. My guess is they are alien but what they mean I have no clue." he told them.

Isabel shook her head, "It's alright." she told him as she picked up the paper and handed it back to Liz. "At least you tried." she told him then said, "We have to get going but if it's alright I would like to come by maybe hang out with you tonight?"

Alex hesitated, "I have a lot of work I needed to get done on my project." he told her.

"I am going to wait in the car." she said as she headed toward the door. "See you soon Alex."

Isabel waited until Liz was gone then she turned to Alex, "I know you're busy but I just really need to talk with you about us." she told him. "Please don't make me beg, let me come over so we can talk." she told him.

Alex took in a deep breath and looked into her eyes. He still cared for her deeply, "yeah of course you can come." he told her finally giving in. "I will be home all night, we will talk."

Isabel walked over and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I will see you later." she told him.

Michael finished his shift just as Isabel and Liz came back into the Crashdown. "So what did you find out?" he asked them as he took off his apron.

Liz motioned for them to follow her upstairs, "We should talk upstairs." she told him. Once they were in her room Liz told them what she saw with Alex. "So from what I saw he is trying to decipher a book that looked a lot like this one." she said pointing to the one Serena had. "And he and Tess had a very loud fight before the flash shifted and he was..." she hesitated to finish because of Isabel.

"he was dead." Isabel finished her sentence for her.

Liz could see the how upset she was, "I am so sorry Isabel." she told her as tears filled her own eyes.

"Guys lets keep it together here," Serena told them, "He isn't dead yet." she reminded them.

Michael shook his head, "She's right we can't let our emotions get the better of us." he told them then said, "We know that Alex is going to die sometime after prom, but we don't know by who or how."

Liz shook her head, "Some how Tess is involved, that I am sure of." she told him, "Alex was way beyond upset in that flash, he was angry but there was more to it" she tried to describe it, "he felt hopeless like his life was already over when he was talking to her."

Isabel forced the tears back down, "I am going to go stay with him tonight." she told them.

"What about our meeting with Adhay?" Liz asked her.

"You don't need me there and I just really need to be with Alex right now." she told them.

Michael shook his head, "yeah ok." he understood how she was feeling.

Liz looked at Michael, "What about Maria?" she asked him.

"Yes what about Maria?" Maria said as she came into the room and saw them all there. "I knew there was more going on then you were telling me." she told them as she came in and shut the door.

Michael let out a heavy sigh, "Look Maria there is nothing going on we were talking about this book that Serena and Liz found that's all." he told her trying to sound convincing.

She shook her head, "How stupid do you think I am?" she snapped at him.

Michael was just about to argue with her when Serena stood up and walked over to Maria. She looked her directly into her eyes and said, "Maria you will go down to the restaurant and wait for Michael. You will forget everything you just saw and heard." she told her, "You won't even remember coming up here."

Maria eyes blinked, she turned and left the room without saying another word. Serena turned back to the rest of them, "I think Liz and I should go alone to see Adhay. It will be better for you to stay with Maria." she told him.

Michael walked over to the door and watched as Maria went down the stairs, "What did you just do to her?" he demanded to know.

"I planted a suggestion into her mind that she couldn't resist obeying." she told him.

"How exactly did you do that?" he asked her.

"I can use the power of suggestion to make people do things." she told him, "I gave her a suggestion that her mind had no trouble obeying and she did what I asked her to."

Michael eyes narrowed, "She's fine, she won't be hurt or have any bad effects from it?" he asked her.

"You didn't have any bad effects from it when I used my powers on you." she told him.

Michael walked back over toward her, "When did you use your powers on me?" he demanded to know.

"When we first met, I suggested that you remembered the time we met before when you came to see my father." she told him, "And then you."

"So then I never really did meet you that night?" he asked her.

"No you did see me but it was such an unimportant memory that it was buried in your mind. I just suggested that you be able to find it and you did." she explained, "Look Maria is safe, she is sitting downstairs waiting for you and has no memory of coming up here. That's a good thing because it will keep her safe." she reminded him.

Michael nodded his head, "yeah ok."

Liz glanced over at the clock, "It's getting late, we should be leaving soon." she told Serena. She looked at Michael and Isabel, "We meet here first thing in the morning and go from there."

Isabel nodded her head, "I only hope this works." she said as she headed over to the door, "See you."

Michael looked at Liz, "Be careful, remember we don't know exactly who or what is coming for you." he told her. "Send me a text let me know when you get back." he told her then he left.

CHAPTER 17

Michael walked out into the Crashdown and called out to Maria. She was sitting at the counter waiting for him, “Maria you ready?” he asked her.

She turned to him and smiled, “Yeah, I was just waiting for you.” she told him as she walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “So did you happen to see Liz? Did she mention how things went with Alex?” she asked as they headed toward her car.

Michael shook his head, “Umm yeah she said it went great. No flashes at all.” he told her as they got into the car. He kept a close eye on her to see if she brought up what had happened upstairs. “Did you see Liz at all today?” he asked.

Maria shook her head, “Just this morning but not since she came back from Alex's.” she told him.

He was shocked, in Maria's mind she seemed to have no memory of what happened before with the others. He thought about how Serena said she used her powers on him and realized he never questioned how he suddenly remembered her. It was just like she said, she told him to remember and he did.

Maria looked over at Michael, “you do believe Liz don't you?” she asked him.

Michael shook his head, “Yeah.” he told her then asked, “Why?”

Maria closed her eyes and sighed, “It's just that usually when it seems like something really bad is about to happen it's because something really bad does happen.” she told him. “I just keep thinking why would she be having those dreams for weeks on end and then all the sudden they just go away.”

“Maria, did you just say that Liz had been having these dreams for weeks now?” He asked her.

Maria nodded her head, “Yeah, it's been at least a month since they started.” she told him.

Michael tried to think back, “So when was it that she had that first flash she told you about with Alex?” he asked her.

Maria shook her head, “Why all the questions I thought you said everything was fine?”

“It is fine, just tell me how long ago it was?” he told her.

Maria tried to think, “I guess about a week or so, maybe over a week.” she told him.

Michael shook his head, “How long until prom?” he asked her.

Maria took in a deep breath, “A little over two weeks away?” she told him. “Why, Michael what is going on?”

He turned the car around and headed back toward the Crashdown, “We have to warn Liz.” he told her, “I think her dreams and flashes get stronger the closer it is to the time when they are about to happen. That's why the last part of her dream with Isabel was so vague and she couldn't remember it. It's an event that isn't about to happen yet, but the rest of it...her being taken and Max beginning to change that is going to happen soon, like really soon.” he told her as he hit his hand on the steering wheel.

Maria looked at him, “What are you talking about?” she demanded to know.

Michael took in a deep breath, “Liz is in danger.” he told her, “I lied, she has been having dreams still and Isabel has been helping her understand them.” he told her, “Right now Liz could be in real danger, someone is coming for her and when they do Max is going to become this whole other person.” he told her as he pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Maria. “Call Liz and keep calling her until she picks up.”

“You lied to me!” she couldn't believe him, “So Liz has been lying to me too?” she demanded to know.

Michael shook his head, “Maria, not now!” he told her as he hit the gas and accelerated. “Call her on my phone so she knows to pick up and I promise I will explain it all to you.” he told her.

Liz, and Serena pulled up to her ranch house. Serena pulled out her phone and shut it off, “You have to shut off your phone.” she told her. There can't be any interruptions during the ceremony.”

Liz pulled out her phone and turned it off. She took in a deep breath and thought back to the time when Michael was sick. “Have you done this before?” she asked Serena.

Serena nodded her head, “yes when I was about five years old after my mother died.” she told her.

Liz swallowed, “Did it help?” she asked her trying to calm her nerves.

Serena thought for a moment before she answered, “I was having really bad nightmares and remember that it gave me peace.” she told her as she got out of the car.

Liz followed Serena around the back of the house and into the field where Adhay was waiting for them. He built a large fire in the pit when they came up, “hello Serena.” he said as he stood up and extended his hand to Liz.

“Liz this is Adhay, he is going to be helping me retrieve my memories.” she told her.

Liz reached out her hand and shook his. “Hello.”

“It is nice to meet you.” he told her. “I can see that you both have much on your hearts this night.” he told her as he let go of her hand and motioned for them to sit on the mats that were near the fire.

“Did Serena explain to you how this will work?” he asked.

Liz nodded her head, “Yes she told me.”

“Then you both know how important this ritual is to our people and not one to be undertaken lightly.” he told them as began placing more wood into the fire. They both nodded their heads and he continued, “Lets us begin.” he told them then said, “The fire is very important, it provides the energy which our ancestors will use to speak with us.” he told them as he carefully placed several large rocks in the fire. He began by telling them a story of how their ancient for fathers had been able to retrieve memories and understand dreams by looking into the mist that rises up when life giving water is pour upon the fire rocks. “Often our ancestors will come and talk to us in this way.” he told them. He looked over at Serena. “You are searching for answers but they are locked away from you. They are buried deep inside your memory, answers only your mother can give you. I can help you find those memories if you are willing.” he told her as he took a small cup dipped it into bucket of water, and poured it out over the rocks. As he did he began to speak in his native language, then he reached into a bag and filled his hand with tiny grain like particles. He held it up to the sky and then threw it on to the fire which caused it to flare up even higher. He spoke again in his native language as he continually poured water upon the rocks a cup full at a time. “Please close your eyes now and hear the answers to the questions you have been searching for.” he told her. “Serena you have come to seek understanding. I can help you remember but you must clear your mind of all things and do not be afraid.” he told her. Serena closed her eyes and concentrated on her mother and the times they use to spend with one another. She became overwhelmed by emotions as her mind was instantly filled with memories of her mother. She thought about the games they would play, how her mother taught her to use her abilities and then the stories she would tell. Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered happier times when they were all together as a family.

“Serena you are remembering many things from your childhood, many happy times but that is not what you search for.” Adhay told her, as he poured more water unto the fire rocks. “you must look further to that one memory that you have locked away, only there will you find the truth.” he said as he poured more water over the rocks and began to cry out in his language louder.

Serena suddenly opened her eyes and saw her mother standing there in the mist before her. “Mama.” she cried out.

“I am here Serena. I am here with you always.” she told her.

“Mama I miss you so much.” Serena cried as tears formed in her eyes.

“I know you do but you have to be strong for me.” her mother told her. “You have to remember everything I told you.” she said.

Serena held back, she shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can't mama.” she told her. “I can't it hurts to much.”

Adhay poured more water on the rocks, “Serena it is your choice the doorway to your memories is open but you must step through. Only you can choose to walk this path.” he told her.

Liz looked over at Serena, she looked like she was locked in some kind of trance. Her heart was pounding as she tried to stay calm. The fire grew to twice its size as Adhay placed more wood around it. “You must help your friend.” he told Liz. “you must give her strength or she will close the doorway and it will be locked forever.”

“Serena, what you look for is through the door but you must cross through, do not let your fear rule your heart.” Adhay told her.

Liz could feel her heart racing, she didn't know what else to do so she closed her eyes and focused all her energy on trying to connect with Serena. She reached out and grabbed her hand and held it tight, as she did a soft light formed between the two of them and a telepathic bridge was created. Liz could see Serena standing there frozen in fear, she walked over to her and took her hand, “I will go with you through the door.” she told her. Serena looked at Liz and then at the huge door that stood just a few feet in front of them. It was dark on the other side and she was so afraid to go through. Liz could sense her fear, “Serena if we go together I can help you find your way back.” she told her. “Trust me.” she whispered softly. Serena looked at Liz and then began walking forward into the doorway. As she crossed the threshold she was a little girl again. She looked up at Liz and smiled, “That's my mommy over there.” she told Liz as she reached up and pointed to a woman sitting near some rose bushes. “she is so beautiful.”

Liz eyes filled with tears as she realized she was seeing Serena's memories. “She is very beautiful.” she told her.

Serena pulled Liz along until they came up to Hala, “Mommy this is my friend Elizabeth.” she told her. “Remember all the stories you use to tell me about how I would one day meet her.” she said her voice filled with excitement. “She finally came.”

Hala looked at her daughter and smiled, “I do remember and now you must remember everything.” she told her as she gave her daughter a kiss.

The scene before them changed Liz was no longer holding Serena's hand she was watching her with her mother. Hala sat in the rose garden telling her daughter stories of her home planet. She pointed up in the sky, “Mommy lived very far away and came a long way so she could be with you and your brother.”

Serena eyes grew bright with excitement as she looked up at her mother, “I have a brother?” she asked.

Hala wrapped her arms around the little girl and held her close. “You do and one day you will meet him.” she told her.

Serena smiled, “does papa know about my brother?” she asked her voiced filled with excitement. “What's my brother's name?”

Hala laughed, “yes papa knows about your brother.” she explained, “I told papa all about him when we first met. On my planet we use to call him by the name Rath but he on Earth you will know him by the name Michael.” she told her so the little girl could understand. “Rath was a brave and mighty warrior, just like you will be one day.”

“Mommy why can't I meet my brother now.” Serena asked her. “I want to meet him so we can play hide and seek together.” she told her then said,“Where is my brother?”

Hala's eyes filled with fresh tears as she cleared her throat, “he is sleeping now but he will wake up soon.” she told her, “And then mommy will go and find him and bring him home to live with us.” she told her.

Liz's breath caught in her throat, Hala was Michael mother on Antar. That was why she agreed to come here and be their protector. She watched as Hala took Serena and sat her in her lap. She pulled out the book and began teaching her the to read. “Remember what I tell you Serena, it's very important. One day you must read this book all by yourself.”

Serena focused her eyes on the book, “I will remember mommy.” she told her as she listened carefully

Liz could feel the heat from the fire grow stronger around her as the vision suddenly changed. Liz could feel how afraid Serena was, her heart was pounding as she was crying. “Run and hide Serena don't let the bad man see you, hurry!” her mother told her. Serena didn't want to leave her mother's side but she had to obey her. “Mommy I love you.”

I know you do sweetheart and I love you. Now go, run and hide!” Hala told her. Serena let go of her mother's hand and ran off in the direction of the barn. She found a spot not far from the gardens and hid beneath some loose hay. She watched with tears streaming down her face, as a man came into the gardens and began yelling at her mother. He was evil and he wanted the crystal, but she told him nothing. Serena cried out as her mother was killed and then the vision abruptly ended.

Liz opened her eyes, she was still holding Serena's hand, “Are you alright?” she asked her as the connection between them ended.

Serena wiped the tears from her eyes, “Yeah.” was all she said at first.

Adhay looked at them both as he poured one last cup of water on the fire rocks, “You have faced your fears Serena, you have walked through the shadows and now the memories once lost to you have returned.” he told her. He looked at Liz and smiled, “You have realized something very important here tonight. The bonds of friendship is very strong and the challenges that we face in life can be overcome when faced together.”

Liz nodded her head, “Thank you.” she told him as both she and Serena got up and walked back over to the car. “Are you sure your alright?”

Serena nodded her head, “I remember now why I blocked out all those memories, I didn't want to watch it happen again. Seeing her die and be taken from me was so painful.”

Liz shook her head and wiped the tears from her own eyes, “I am so sorry that you had to relive it.” she told her.

Serena took in a deep breath, “No don't be.” She explained, “By facing that I now remember why I have that connection to Michael, he is my brother and I can help you defeat the man who killed my mother.”

“You remember how to read the book?” Liz asked.

Serena shook her head, “I remember enough of it.” she told her as they got into the car.

CHAPTER 18

Liz looked over at Serena, "Do you want to tell Michael about you being his sister?" she asked her.

Serena shook her head, "Not right now." she told her, "I think it would be a distraction to everything else that is happening."

Liz understood, "I understand." she didn't want to push her into doing something she wasn't ready for. "So I think I should call Michael and let him know to meet us at the Crashdown." she told her as she pulled out her cell phone and saw the messages. "Something is wrong," she said. "Michael has called about twenty times."

"Did he leave a message?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, on his last call he left a message." She told her as she played it for them both to hear, "Liz this is Micheal. Don't go back to the Crashdown, meet me at my apartment and I will explain everything to you then."

Serena looked over at Liz, "That doesn't sound good." she told her.

"I will send him a text telling him we are on our way." Liz told her as she typed in the message.

"Are there any messages from Isabel?" Serena asked.

Liz shook her head, "No just the one from Michael." she told her. She suddenly had the overwhelming feeling that everything was about to go very bad and there was no way she could stop it.

Isabel pulled up to the side of Alex's house and turned off her car. She was just about to go inside when she saw Tess walk out the front door, carrying something but she wasn't exactly sure what it was. She thought it was strange that she would be at Alex's at this time of night. She waited until she got in Kyle's truck and drove away before she went over to Alex's bedroom window and knocked on it. When he didn't come she knocked again and called out his name, "Alex it's me Isabel are you in there?" she waited but there was still no answer. She went around to the front door and knocked on it, but it pushed open as she did. She poked her head inside and saw Alex standing in the middle of the room alone. He looked almost as if he were in a trance of some kind and he was mumbling something but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She went over to him and shook him, "Alex are you alright?" she asked him. "It's me Isabel."

He just stood there looking straight ahead with a blank expression on his face. Isabel shook him again, "Alex your starting to scare me." she told him.

This time Alex grabbed a hold of her and began pleading with her, "Please you have to help me." he told her. "Please I can't fight it, hurts to much."

Isabel wrapped her arm around him and helped getting him over to the couch, he was shaking uncontrollably. She held him in her arms and whispered softly, "I'm here Alex. I won't let anyone hurt you." she promised him. "Tell what happened."

"Isabel I'm so lost" he told her as he laid his head against her shoulder. "It hurts so much." he told her as he closed his eyes trying to shut out the pain.

Isabel held him closer, "Who did this to you Alex?" she asked him. "Who did this, was it Tess did she do this?"

Alex reached his hand up to his head and squeezed his eyes shut. The pain in his head grew too such intensity as he tried to fight against the control Tess had over his mind. "It hurts so much!" he yelled out in agony as he stood up and began pulling at his hair. "Make it stop!" he cried but the pain only intensified until he passed out. Isabel was crying as she frantically took out her cell phone and called Michael.

Liz and Serena pulled up to Michael apartment, they knocked and waited for him to open the door. "So what's going on?" Liz asked.

Michael pulled them inside and closed the door. "Liz the dreams and visions you have been having are about you being taken. Isabel was right." he told her.

Liz shook her head, "How do you know that?" she asked him.

Michael took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, "After you left I was talking to Maria and she mentioned that these dreams have been happening for weeks now." he began to explain his suspicions about what was going on. Liz and Serena listened as he told them that once he realized that her dreams may be intensify the closer they get to them actually happening. "Maria and I went back Crashdown to wait for you. When we drove up the back alleyway and we saw at least six men all dressed in military fatigues getting out of two unmarked vans and heading into the back of the Crashdown. I don't know who they were. I wanted to wait and check things out further Maria was getting so upset at that point that I came back here to wait for you." he told her.

"Where is Maria now?" Liz asked.

"She's in the other room, she was so upset that they were going to take you." he told her. "I finally had to give her something to help her calm down, she passed out about twenty minutes ago."

Liz began pacing back and forth, her heart was beating so fast she felt like she could hardly breath, "What are we going to do."

Serena looked over at Michael, "We need to get to the Granilith, that's our only chance now of stopping this."

Michael shook his head, "Agreed." he said as he grabbed his jacket. "Do you remember how to make the Granilith work? Did Adhay help you." he asked Serena.

She nodded her head, "I remember enough." she told him as they both walked over to the door.

Liz took in a deep breath, "What about Isabel and Alex?" she asked them both. "Alex is still in danger and we don't know from who."

Michael shook his head, "Yes we do." he told her as he walked back over and pulled her along with them. "Isabel called me a few hours ago. She said Tess was at Alex's house when she got there. She said Tess didn't see her but that once she left and went inside Alex was in this kind of trance like state mumbling and when she shook him he snapped. He was in a really bad way, he kept saying he was in terrible pain and begging her for help. She tried to help him but then he just passed out. When he woke up he acted like nothing had ever happened. She asked him about Tess and he insisted he didn't see her at all that day. She maybe mind warping him or using some other kind of mind control on him, we don't know at this point."

Serena got in the car as did Liz and Michael, "So then Tess is behind this whole thing?" she asked.

Michael shook his head, "I don't know, seems like a lot is happening for her to be working alone." he told her then said, "If she is doing this on her own then she has to be working with the special unit because those guys that we saw coming for Liz meant business. They were dressed in full gear, wearing night vision goggles and were carrying M-16's." he told them.

"What if there not the special unit?" Serena suggested. "What if they are skins working with Tess? What if in the future she mind warps Max into thinking that the special unit took Liz and killed Alex, when it was really the skins the whole time."

"Why what would she gain?" Michael asked her.

"She was at Alex's house, he has been working on a decoding program you said. What if that is just a cover. What if Tess is uses Alex to decode the book Nascedo left so she will know the location of the second crystal. I know from my mother that there are two crystals that control the full power of the Granilith." Serena told them then said, "If she can convince Max that the special unit has Liz maybe she thinks he would turn to her."

"Doesn't make any sense, he already is turning to her." Liz reminded them. "He has been turning to her since I ended things with him five months ago. If it is Tess then there has to be more going on."

"Well there is only one way to know for sure." Michael told her, "You have to travel to the future and find out who is behind all of this. We need to know if Tess is working alone or with someones help."

Liz took in a deep breath, "Max came back to me from the future, he said he had to be with her why would he do that if Tess is the traitor?" she told him, "This isn't making sense."

Michael pulled up outside of the pod chambers and got out of the car. "Liz we can stay here trying to figure this out all night or you can do what you know you have to do. Go in, use the Granilith, travel a few weeks into the future and find out what is happening!" he told her, "Then use the Granilith, come back here, and lets end this before it has a chance to happen."

Liz followed Michael into the Granilith chamber, "Maybe now is not the best time for me to do this." she told him, "If Max thinks that I have been taken then he will do all those terrible things I saw in my visions. He will become that person!" she warned him. "Let take some time and talk with him first."

Michael shook his head, "Liz we need Tess, or whoever else is behind this to believe you are gone and out of the picture so they will move forward with their plan. That is the only way we have the advantage in this is if they think we are still in the dark to what is happening." he told her, "Isabel and I will be here, your only going a few weeks ahead we should be able to contain Maxwell for that long."

Liz was just about to protest when Serena stopped her, "Liz he is right, think about it. If Tess is the one behind this and she thinks she is about to be caught she will run or do something worse. At least this way we have the advantage. We go into the future find out what their plan is and bring that information back here so we can stop these things from happening and you can fix the balance in time." she told her.

Liz stomach churned as she struggled over what to do. "Michael what if something goes wrong." she told him.

Michael grabbed her arm, "Liz we're past the point of going to Max, this is our only choice now you have to do this!" he told her. "If you go back to the Crashdown who knows what Tess will do to you, to Max, and to Alex. This is the only way!"

Liz reached inside the back pack and pulled out the book and gave it to Serena, "Tell me what I have to do?" she said as tears formed in her eyes.

Serena opened the book and began reading through the pages at an accelerated rate. After several minutes she closed the book and gave it back over to Michael. "Liz place the crystal near the base of the Granilith, there should be an opening, place it carefully into the slot, narrow end first." Serena told her as she walked over to the computer and looked over the controls, "I think I understand how this works." she told her as she began keying in the date and coordinates.

"You think, you're not sure?" Liz asked her.

Serena hesitated for a moment, "No, I know what to do." she told her. "I just wish I had more time to go over it that's all." she told her.

Liz took the crystal out of the back pack and placed it in a small opening near the base of the transport platform. "Ok its done." she called out to her as power began surging into the Granilith transport chamber.

Liz took in a deep breath, she turned to Michael and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Please take care of Max, and Maria for me." she told him. "Don't let them hurt Alex."

Michael hugged her back nodded his head, "I will watch over them." he promised.

Liz pulled back from him, "My parents." she said realizing they wouldn't be spared the weeks of worrying about her while she was.

Michael looked her in the eyes, "Liz this is the only way. You have to go." he told her again.

She nodded her head, "Yeah I know." was all she said as she turned to Serena, "Thank you so much for your help." she told her. "I don't know what I would have done with out it."

"Well lucky for you I am going with you so you wont have to find out." Serena told her as she finished keying in the data.

Liz shook her head, "I thought I was suppose to do this alone." she told her.

"While you were gone with Isabel I found your journal and read through it. I noticed something really strange." she told her then said, "The further back in your journal you go the more clear it becomes, you have done this before." she told her.

"That's not possible." Liz told her.

"Yes it is." she insisted, "Liz I read your journal from beginning to end, and the one thing that I realized was there were many overlapping entries. In each entry you wrote about things that were happening in different degrees of detail, it was like you were reliving it over and over again. I didn't understand until tonight with Adhay, when he spoke about how important friendship is. Then I realized each time you went through this, you went alone and some how it all seemed to begin again." she told her then added, "so this time it's going to be different, we go together. Besides you helped me now its time for me to return the favor." she told her. "So I'm going."

The Granilith began spinning as a stream of light shot up from its center. The power it drew increased a hundred times over as Serena took Liz's hand in hers and together they walked into the light. They stood there as their bodies adjusted to the time vortex surrounding them. Serena knelt down and removed the crystal from its base and placed it inside the back pack, "We will need this to get back." she yelled out to Liz. Instantly they were transported through time into the future.

Michael stood there for a few moments waiting as the Granilith powered back down and the light stream disappeared. He took in a deep breath then he got in his car and headed home. Tomorrow he would have to explain this all to Maria, and some how he and Isabel were going to have to watch over both Alex, and Max without Tess knowing.

CHAPTER 19

Tess stood in the back of the Crashdown restaurant as the skins searched the place looking for Liz. She was just about to leave and abort the plan when her cell phone went off, “Nicholas I am here now but there is no sign of Liz anywhere.”

“It doesn't matter we are right on schedule proceed as planed. Make it look like Liz has been taken by the special unit and then make sure Max and the others believe it.” he told her.

“But what if Liz shows back up we don't know where she is?” Tess told him.“Liz won't show back up for a very long time to come.” he told her, “We have more then enough time to convince Max that Liz is being tortured and soon to be killed by the special unit.”

“How can you know that for sure.” she demanded to know.

“Because I do.” He snapped at her. “Now be a good girl and follow through with our plan and remember you're the one who pushed this date forward in the first place.” He looked down at his computer screen, as a large energy surge spiked for a brief moment, near the Granilith's location, then vanished.

Tess hung up the phone and shook her head in frustration. The first thing she was going to do once she was back home and established as queen was to have Nicholas killed in the slowest, most painful way she could think of while she watched. She took in a deep breath and then yelled out, "Make it look like the special unit took her. Make sure your seen on the security footage out back, but use your heads don't make it to obvious."

Liz and Serena landed as the energy stream dropped them just outside the Crashdown. There was a large flash of light and then it was completely dark. Liz tried to get to her feet, she realized they were in the alley near the kitchen doorway. She slowly got up, her entire body felt like it had been through a battle with a punching bag and lost. She looked over and saw Serena, “Are you alright?” she asked as she made it to her feet.

Serena nodded as she got to her feet. It took a few minutes for her to catch her breath. “Yeah.” she told her then asked, “Where are we?”

“I am pretty sure this is the alley behind the Crashdown.” she told her as she walked over to the door way. It was locked shut so she held out her hand and focused her energy on unlocking it. Once the door opened they stepped inside, it was dark so Liz tried to flip on the lights. “They aren't working.”

Serena held out her hand and focused her energy to light up the surrounding area. The Crashdown was a complete mess, it looked like it had been torn apart and abandoned.

Liz walked over and picked up some broken dishes, “What happened here?” she mumbled as tears filled her eyes.

Serena shook her head, “I don't know.” she told her as they made their way into the restaurant. There were no signs of people anywhere.

Liz pulled out her cell phone from her back pack and tried to call Michael, “Its not working.” she told her as she tried to call Maria, “Maria number isn't working either.” she said as she walked over toward the front of the restaurant and looked out toward the front street. The entire area looked empty. “Something is not right here.” she told her.

Serena shook her head, “I tried to call my dad but there was no answer its saying the number is disconnected.” she told her.

“Where are my parents?” Liz asked out loud as she went into the kitchen and headed upstairs. The entire second floor was torn apart and abandoned. She ran back downstairs and called out to Serena, “We have to get to the Granilith something went wrong.” she told her as she came back out into the restaurant. Her breath caught in her throat as two armed soldiers stood there holding Serena at gun point.

“Get your hands up!” they yelled at her.

Liz immediately put her hands in the air, “What's going on, who are you?” she asked.

One of the soldiers came over to her, “Shut up!” he yelled at her. “We will ask the questions, what the hell are you two doing in the hot zone?” he demanded.

The other soldiers shook his head, “Call it in Tom, these two could be spies which means there are probably more coming our way.” he told them.

“We are not spies.” Liz told them. “My name is Liz Parker and I live here.”

The first soldier laughed, “No one has lived her for at least fifteen years.” he told her.

Serena looked at Liz, “Did he say fifteen years?” she repeated what he said.

Tom walked over to her, “I said no talking!” he told her as he pointed the gun into Serena face.

Serena looked in his eyes and very calmly said, “Put your gun down, we are no threat to you.” she told him.

The other soldier turned toward Serena, “Tom what are you doing?” he yelled at his partner as Tom lowered his weapon.

Serena told Tom telepathically, “These two are just lost, they are not a threat to us.” and Tom repeated what she said word for word to his partner. “These two are just lost, they are not a threat to us.”

"Tom she is doing something to ya, she is one of them!” He yelled at his buddy as he held his gun fixed on Liz. “You better stop what you're doing to him right now or I kill your friend here!” he yelled at Serena.

Liz held out her hand and shot out a force field in front of her. “No I don't think you will.” she told him, trying to keep her heart from racing out of her chest.

Serena smiled at the other soldier, she told him very calmly, “I am not hurting your friend and we don't want to hurt you. It's like I said we're a little lost that's all.” she told him.

The soldier backed slowly back away from Liz and Serena until he was near the door then he turned and ran. Liz lowered her hand and walked over to Serena. Tom was still standing there in front of her. Serena took in a deep breath, “Tom you know we are not a threat to you, so you can answer our questions.” she told him.

Tom seemed to relax as he looked at Liz, “So the two of you are lost?” he asked.

Liz nodded her head, “Yes we are.” she told him. “Could you tell us what happened here?” she asked him while Serena ran over and kept watch at the front door to see if there were any other soldiers coming their way.

Tom shook his head, “No one lives here anymore. This whole area is a hot zone, has been since the war began.” he told her.

Liz looked over at Serena, “What war is that?”

“The alien wars.” he told her simply. “You really are lost if you don't know about the alien wars.”

Liz's heart began beating faster, “We have been away for a really long time.” she said then asked, “Who are you fighting exactly?” she asked.

“We are fighting against the Antariens, how can you not know about this stuff? The war has been raging for the past 10 years.” he told her.

Liz shook her head, “That can't be." She said as tears formed in her eyes.

Tom took in a deep breath, “Look my buddy is going to be back here soon with an even bigger patrol.” he told them. "So you two should let me call this in before things get out of control."

Liz pulled Serena aside, “Can you keep control of him for much longer?” she asked.

Serena shook her head, “Once I place a suggest in his mind he will have no choice but to act on it.” she told him. “We are safe he doesn't see us as a threat.”

Liz looked over at him, “Even still could you tell him that he trust us completely.” she told her then said “Just to be sure.”

Serena nodded her head, she walked back over to Tom, “Tom you know you can trust us completely.” she placed the commend into his mind. “We are not the enemy and you trust us.” she told him. “Go to the door and keep watch for your friend.”

Tom smiled at Liz as he picked up his weapon and then walked over toward the door where he stood guard. “We are clear for now.” he told them.

Serena whispered to Liz, “What now?” she asked her.

Liz shook her head, “We have to get back to the Granilith and try to get back to our time.” she told her, “Something must have gone wrong with the Granilith.”

“We can't stay here.” she told Liz, “those other soldiers will be back soon.”

“Lets go out the back try to find a car.” Serena told her.

“What about him?” Liz asked.

Serena walked over to Tom and calmly told him. “You will stand here keeping watch at the door until your friends return then you will forget everything that has happened.” she told him.

Tom nodded that he understood and kept watch while they both headed toward for the back door through the kitchen. Just as Liz was about to open the door it swung wide and more soldiers stepped inside. They both stepped back as the leader barked out commends. Liz looked at him carefully, "Kyle is that you?” she said thinking she recognized him even though he was wearing night vision goggles and looked older.

Kyle pulled the goggles off and shook his head, “Well boys we have ourselves another clone.” he told the others.

Liz shook her head “Kyle I am not a clone.” she told him. “It's me Liz.”

Kyle shook his head, “Sure.” he said as he pointed his gun at her, “I have heard it all before.” he told her as he pulled out a small hand-held device and then put it up next to Liz's head and then Serena's. They both were rendered unconscious as soon as the shock wave hit them. “And that is how you deal with these alien clones.” he told the younger soldier that had alerted them. “Now go get your buddy Tom, have him checked out by the medic and then head back to base and next time don't give them the chance to talk or let your guard down.”

“What about these two?” the other soldier asked.

“Standard protocol, bring them back to base, let Michael question them, then we will delete them.” he told him. “lets go boys if these two were dropped in the hot zone, you know others won't be far behind.”

Michael stood in his office looking over a series of maps, “I know what Kyle reported in, but Isabel has already spent six long months in that hell hole of cell I don't want to postpone this mission again.” he told Jim.

“Michael I know how your feeling I want to get her out of there too but at least wait here, question these prisoners and make sure we still have the tactical advantage.” Jim told him.

Michael took in a deep breath and was just about to argue when Maria came in, “Jim can I speak with Michael alone.” she asked.

Michael knew that look in her eyes, had seen it many times before, “It's alright Jim, will you give us a few minutes here.” he told him.

As soon as he left Maria turned to Michael, “I heard Kyle found another Liz clone.” she told him.

“Yeah he did.” he told her as he walked around the desk over to her, “But Maria we both know it's not really her. They have tried this same old tired trick for the past five years and every time what happens?”

“It turns out to be a clone, but...” Maria started to tell him.

“But what?” he asked trying not to sound frustrated, “it's not going to be any different this time.” he told her as he wrapped his arms around her. “You're just setting yourself up for the inevitable pain all over again.” he warned her.

Maria pulled away from him, “No Michael this time is different. I heard the report.” she told him, “Liz wasn't alone. There was another girl with her, an Indian girl with long black hair.” she told him. “What if it really is Liz and Serena finally showing up after all this time. Please just this time do this for me and question them yourself.”

Michael took in a deep breath, “Maria if I hold off on this strike I will miss my window of opportunity to get Isabel free.” he told her.

Maria looked into his eyes, “Just wait 1 hour for the them to come and see if it is her.” she told him, “If there is even a small chance that it is Liz and she can reach Max maybe we can finally have peace again.” she said as tears formed in her eyes. "please."

Michael was just about to argue with her when his office door swung open and a very excited little boy came running in, “Mommy! I lost my first tooth!” he yelled as he jumped up and down holding it out in front of her.

Maria smiled, “Well yes you did.” she said as she used her shirt to wipe some blood off his chin.

Michael walked over and scooped his son up into his arms, “Let me see that tooth little man.” he said as he examined the now toothless smile of his young son.

Maria brushed the hair from the little boys eyes, “Did it hurt when it came out?” she asked him.

Michael looked at his son then over at Maria, “It didn't hurt at all did it Alex?”

The little boy shook his head, “Not one bit, I'm a strong man like my dad!” he told Maria.

Maria laughed, “alright strong man we better go get you cleaned up.” she said as she reached over and took him out of Michael arms, “It looks like it's still bleeding just a bit.”She walked over to the door, "Think about what I said one hour before you it may make all the difference." she told him before shutting the door.

Michael watched as the two of them left. He took in a deep breath and thought about what Maria said. It had been so long since he last saw Liz and Serena. So much had happened since they left that night.He walked over and sat down at his desk. He thought about what Maria said and knew deep down she was right, it could be the real Liz and Serena finally showing up after all these years or it could be that Nicholas had finally been able to break Isabel down by torturing her. Either way he had very little time left and a difficult decision before him.

(I moved chapters 20-23 to page six to help with reading as requested. Sorry if story format was difficult to read)

(Chapters moved here)

CHAPTER 20

Michael sat at his desk looking over the blueprints of the underground base that Max and Nicholas built up around the Granilith. It was almost impenetrable but he did think that there might be one weakness. It was the sound of someone knocking on his door that got his attention. “Come in.” he called out.

Kyle opened the door and came into the office with three other guards and two young girls. One looked like Liz and the other Serena. Michael stood up and walked over to them. They were both handcuffed, “Where did you find them?” he asked Kyle.

Kyle was about to tell him when Liz interrupted, “He found me at my house” She told him, “We landed just outside the Crashdown in the back alley.”

Michael eyes narrowed, “I was asking my men, not you clone.” he snapped at her.

Liz shook her head in frustration, “I am not a clone!” she yelled at him. “Michael look at me, you were just there with me at the Granilith chamber!”

Kyle shook his head as he shoved Liz, “She is a lot more vocal then any of the others that's for sure.” he told Michael.

Michael motioned for Kyle to stay with him, while he dismissed the others. “We will be fine.” he said as the three guards left the room. Once the door was closed he turned to Kyle, “Did you make sure to have them both checked?” he asked.

“Yeah we did a full scan sweep on both of them before we even came back to base. They both checked out, no tracking devices of any kind on either one of them.” he told him.

Michael looked up at Liz. He took in a deep breath, “Why are you here, what is your objective?” he asked Liz.

“You know why we came here.” she told him, “we were suppose to come a few weeks into the future to find out who was trying to kill Alex and who set me up to be taken by the special unit.”

Michael walked over and leaned against his desk, “So what happened?” he asked her. “What went wrong?”

Serena shook her head, “We don't know what went wrong. We were suppose to only go a few weeks ahead in time but I must have set the controls wrong because clearly a lot more time has passed.” she said sarcastically.

Liz looked at both Michael and Kyle, she realized for the first time how much they had aged. Kyle more so then Michael but clearly a lot more time had gone by since they stepped into the portal. Tears filled her eyes, “I told you that night,” she yelled at him, “I told you this would happen!” she cried, “I told you, if I left with the special unit showing up to take me that Max would become everything that I had seen in my visions, but you said you and Isabel could keep that from happening. You promised you would protect them!”

Michael looked over at Kyle, “Take the handcuffs off.” he told him as he realized that this was really Liz standing there in front of them.

Kyle looked over at Michael, “Are you sure you know what your doing.” he asked as he walked over to Serena and began unlocking her cuffs.

Michael shook his head, “Kyle this is the real Liz.” he told him as he tried to keep his emotions under control.

Once the handcuffs were off of, Liz broke down in tears, “Michael what happened here!?” she cried as she looked into his eyes.

He shook his head, “You didn't come back.” he told her simply. “I was wrong, I didn't have a back up plan and I should have.” he said.

Liz could see the pain in his eyes, she ran over to him and hugged him, “I'm so sorry I wasn't here to fix things.” she cried as he wrapped his arms around her.

Michael reached his hand up and brushed her hair back away from her face, “It's not your fault Liz.” he told her. “I am the one who made you go that night.” he said as he took responsibility for what had happened.

Liz sniffled in as Michael let her go. She turned to Kyle, and she tried to smile, “So you look pretty good for a middle-aged guy.” she teased him.

Kyle's eyes filled with tears but he quickly brushed them away, “So Parker it's really you after all this time.” he said as he opened his arms and wrapped her up in a big hug.

Serena walked over to the desk near Michael and looked down at the blueprints, “So what is exactly going on. That other soldier Tom, told us you were at war with aliens from Antar.” she told him.

Michael shook his head, “That's right.” he told her as they all sat down. Michael explained what had happened after Liz and Serena went into the time stream. Liz and Serena listened as he told them about Tess and how she used mind control over Max to make him believe that Liz had been taken by the special unit and how that eventually led to his alliance with Nicholas and an all out alien war. “I didn't realize how strong of a hold Tess had on Maxwell. She had been mind warping him for months even before you left. She was causing him to have dreams of you being taken so that when it actually happened he was so tied up with guilt he didn't know which way to turn. Isabel and I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't listen. It didn't take long before his guilt turned to anger, and then his anger turned to revenge.”

Liz eyes filled with tears, “And Alex?” she whispered almost to afraid to ask.

Kyle put his hand over hers, “He died about three weeks after you left.” he told her, “We were pretty sure at that point that Tess was mind warping him to get her hands on the second crystal what we didn't know was that she had been using him for months. His mind was so weakened that he had a full on break down, we think Tess killed him to cover up what she had done.” he told her. “She made it look like an accident, she left evidence to make it appear to Max like the special unit had taken him out.”

Liz began crying, “So it's to late, she has Max, the other crystal, and the control of the Granilith.” she whispered softly.

Serena shook her head, “No it's not to late!” she told her, “I know this is hard for you but we can't give up now. We still have the our crystal, we can go back and stop this from happening.” she told her then said, “That was why we came to the future in the first place, five weeks or fifteen years it doesn't make much difference.”

Kyle looked over at her, “Except that we don't have the Granilith anymore. Nicholas, Max and Tess do and its pretty heavily guarded.” he told her.

Serena took in a deep breath, “Then we make sure that we don't get caught when we go in.” she snapped back.

Kyle was getting a little annoyed, “Look...” he stopped mid sentence, “What is your name anyway and who are you?” he asked realizing that he had never actually met this girl.

Michael looked over at Kyle, “This is my sister, Serena.” he told him.

Serena turned and looked at him, the shocked look on her face said it all, “Who told you?” she asked.

“River Dog told me just before he died.” he told her. “He wanted me to know that my mother came here to fight for me and that I should keep on fighting too. He wanted me to know that there were things worth fighting for and that one day if his little girl made it back she would have something to come back too.” he told her.

Serena eyes filled with tears, “I would have told you but we only just found out tonight,” she said then corrected herself, “That night when we left and there was already so much happening.”

Michael shook his head, “It doesn't matter now.” he said as he took in a deep breath, “Having you both here changes everything.” he said as he leaned forward in his chair. “We were about to go in on a rescue mission, Max is holding Isabel.” he told them.

Liz wiped her eyes, “Why is he holding Isabel?” she asked him.

“Because she wouldn't join him in his crusade against the humans. After Alex was killed Isabel went to a really dark place for a while, she knew it was Tess and tried hard to get max to see it but he wouldn't. Tess had her claws in to deep. She had Max so convinced that the special unit had you locked away in the white room and that they killed Alex that he couldn't see the truth staring him in the face.” he told her.

“He even had my dad and I believing her lies until Michael and Isabel told us what was really going on.” Kyle told her.

Liz cleared her throat, “I should have told Max everything that night then none of this would be happening.” she told them.

Serena shook her head, “No Liz if you had told him then Tess would have known and things would be even worse than they are now.” she told her.

“How could it be worse than this?” Liz snapped at her out of frustration.

Serena got up and walked over to her, “Think for a minute.” she told her calmly. “Think about what I told you just before we left.” she repeated herself again. “We have done this before. We know what is going to happen, even if it's just bits and pieces we know.” she reminded her.

Michael looked at Serena, “What are you talking about?”

Liz realized what she meant, “My dream, I know exactly where Max is holding Isabel but we can't go rushing in there after her. He is expecting that.”

Kyle shook his head, “how can you know that?”

“She can see the future, in her dreams and through flashes.” he told Kyle. “So what do we need to do?” he asked her.

Liz looked over at Serena, “We need to change things up.” she told Michael. “What ever your plan was to rescue Isabel throw it out, we have to do things differently.”

“We have less than twenty-four hours before Max transfers Isabel to Khavar if we don't go in for her tonight then he is going to send her back to that animal.” Michael warned her.

Serena took in a deep breath, “Alright then we go, but a part of the plan has to be to get Liz to the Granilith.” she told him.

Michael looked at his sister and smiled, “Anyone ever told you, you can be abrasive and stubborn?” he asked her.

She nodded her head, “Yeah my mother always did, she said I reminded her of my big brother.”

Deep down he knew she was right, but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving Isabel behind, “Alright we do this your way. You and Liz tell us what you want to do and we will do it.” he told her then said, “But we aren't leaving Isabel behind, if this all goes south I am not doing that to her. This time we have a back up plan.”

Liz shook her head, “Agreed.” they all gathered around the base blueprints while Kyle explained the tactical advantage to the assault they had originally planed. Liz looked over the building schematic and shook her head, “This is all wrong, this is not where Isabel is.” she told them.

“The Intel on this is good, I scouted these areas myself.” Kyle told her.

Serena shook her head, “Well you must have made some mistakes because this is not the area that Liz wrote about in her latest journal entry.” she told him.

Kyle was frustrated, “Michael you can not seriously be planing to trust this whole mission to a dream Liz had over fifteen years ago and some journal entry that she read.” he said pointing over at Serena.

Serena corrected him, “I read the entry yesterday and Liz had the dream just last night,” she reminded him.

“Yeah well I spent the last two months scouting that area and I am telling you it's right.” Kyle snapped at her.

Michael took in a deep breath, “Kyle would you take Serena out to the arsenal, get her geared up and make sure she knows how the Gauss rifle works.” he told her.

Kyle was about to protest but he saw by the look in Michael eyes and knew it would do no good to argue. “come on.” he told her reluctantly.

Liz sat looking at the blueprints as Michael closed the door, “Liz you said you know where they are keeping Isabel can you show me on here where that is?” he asked her.

Liz pointed to another area, “Michael I remember in my dream walking through this large open room, it had weapons stored in it and then this short hallway that lead down to the Graniltih chamber. Isabel was down this way, you go through two sets of double doors and then there is a long corridor, she was locked in the last cell on the left.”

Michael took in a deep breath according to our latest recon mission that area is still under construction.” he told her.

“When was that?” she asked.

Michael looked over at her, “a little over a week ago.” he admitted.

Liz turned the blueprints toward her, “Michael if Serena is right and Nicholas some how does know your coming then lets change it all up.” she told him. “You lead a group here to attack the armory, have another group attack here” she pointed on the map, “where the skins hibernation chambers are, and then send Kyle and Serena in here to rescue Isabel.” she told him.

“But I thought in your dream you were the one who got her out of the cell.” Michael told her.

“That's exactly why I won't be the one doing it this time.” she said trying to remember as much as she could from her dream and what Isabel told her.

“What about you and Serena getting to the Granilith,” he told her, “I know that Serena is right that should be the main focus of the mission. If we can get you two back to that night you left we can keep all this from happening.”

Liz looked up at him, “No I understand why you need to get Isabel out and I wouldn't do it any other way. Once Serena and Kyle get Isabel free, I will meet back up here near the Granilith with her and hopefully we will it back home.” she told him.

Just then the office door opened and a small boy came running in and up to Michael. “Daddy, mommy said I had to wait to show you my toothless smiled but I ran away from her.” he told him, “I was really quiet and she doesn't know I am here.”

Liz was stunned, “you have a son!?” she asked with out thinking.

Michael almost laughed at her reaction, “yes.” he told her, “Maria and I got married and then this little fellow came along.”

Liz smiled as fresh tears filled her eyes, “Maria as a son.” she said her voice barely above a whisper as she looked at the little boy. He was beautiful, he had sandy blonde hair like his dad, and beautiful hazel green eyes like his mom. She thought about Maria and how she had left things with her the last time they talked, “Is Maria here, can I see her?”

Michael hesitated, “I don't know.” he told her as he called for one of the guards to take his son back to Maria. He waited until the little boy was gone and closed the door, “Liz, Maria had a really difficult time after you left, she was really depressed and then when Alex died she lost it all together. She ended up leaving Roswell and didn't speak to me for three years.” he explained, “I'm just worried if she sees you now and then things don't work out, I don't know if she could handle loosing you all over again.” he told her.

Liz wiped the tears from her eyes, “Of course, I understand.” she said as she walked over and sat down, “So much has changed, so much as happened and I haven't been here to be apart of it.” she told him then asked, “What's your little boys name?”

“Alex.” he told her, “Maria really wanted to name him that.”

Liz smiled, “That's a great name.” she told him. “He looks just like you.”

Michael took in a deep breath, “Liz you need to know, Alex and Maria are the two most important things to me in this world. They are the only reason I am here doing what I am doing, so when we go in there tonight I have to know your committed to this battle until the end.” he told her.

Liz swallowed, “I am Michael. I will do whatever needs to be done.” she told him.

“Max will be there.” he told her, “If you come up against him you have to be ready to kill him because he will kill you.”

Liz took in a deep breath and she got up and walked over toward the window, she looked out at all the people working and getting ready for the planned attack. She turned back around, “Have you had to face that choice Michael since all this began?” she asked.

Michael shook his head, “When we lost Isabel.” he told her her. “I hesitated and he put three bullets in me. The only thing that saved my life was Kyle rushing in and using his powers to put up a force field around me so that my men could pull me out.”

Liz was stunned, “He shot you!" she could hardly believe it. She turned to look at Michael, "You really think he would actually try to kill me?” she asked him.

“Liz his mind is so messed up and they have created so many clones of you and sent them in to attack him he wouldn't even know that it was you. He would just assume you're a clone and shoot.” he told her. “I think that was Nicholas plan keep the truth from Max just in case you ever did come back.” he told her. “So I need to know, can you do what needs to be done? Even if it's Max standing at the other end of the gun your holding?” he repeated his question.

She shook her head, “yes.” she whispered softly.

Michael took in a deep breath, “There is one more thing you need to know.” he told her, “you said you have the other crystal with you?”

Liz, “It's in my back pack. Kyle took it.” she told him.

“What ever happens tonight, you can not allow Max, Tess, or Nicholas to get a hold of that other crystal. If you can't make it to the Granilith then destroy it. Use your powers and blow it into a million pieces.” he told her then said, “If Nicholas gets it and Max has access to both crystals he can use them to open a portal between the Earth and Antar. It will mean an all out invasion. Khavar will send his armies and they will come and take over the planet. They will enslave the human race and life as we know it will be over.” he warned her.

Liz took in a deep breath and shook her head, “I understand and I know what I have to do.” she told him.

CHAPTER 21

Liz spent the rest of the day studying the blueprints of the building they were about to strike. She kept thinking about what Michael said about just doing what ever she had to, to get to the Granilith chamber. She thought about the plan, it was sound but there was still something that kept nagging at her. It felt like there was something that she was missing. There was something that kept eating away at her. She took in a deep breath and decided she needed to get some air. Serena was still with Kyle and Michael had gone to speak with his other officers about the attack plan. She made her way out of the Michael office and headed toward the edge of camp, she stopped near the perimeter fence and looked out over the desert. The sound of distant gunfire rang out now and then, she took in a deep breath and thought about what had brought her to this place. She watched as the sun slowly began to descend in the sky.

"Liz?" she head a familiar voice call out to her.

She turned and saw Maria standing there, "Maria!" she said as tears filled her eyes.

Maria ran up to her and hugged her, "I told Michael that this time it was going to be you." she told her as she kissed her on the cheek. "I just knew it was finally going to be you."

Liz held on tight to her friend, "Maria I am so sorry for not being there for you." she told her.

Maria shook her head as she let her go, "It's ok." she told her, "Really it's ok."

Liz looked around to see if Michael was near by, "Michael didn't want me to see you, he was worried about you." she told her.

"He does that." she told her. "He worries about me but I am stronger than I look."

Liz smiled at her friend as tears ran down her cheeks, "Yeah you are." she told her. "A lot stronger than I ever gave you credit for. I saw your boy, he is so beautiful."

Maria smiled, "He looks like Michael" she said then laughed, "he acts like Michael sometimes too."

Liz looked around her, "Do you live here" she asked. "I noticed a few families all around here, even though Kyle said this was their base."

Maria nodded her head, "Yeah. Some of the wives stay close by with their families. Michael keeps us close, it's the best way to insure our safety." she told her then said, "I saw you leaving Michael's office and I knew he would only allow that if you were the real Liz and not another clone." she told her.

Liz smiled as fresh tears formed in her eyes, "I didn't ask Michael I didn't have time," she admitted, "But my family, my mom and dad?" she said dreading the answer, "are they..?"

Maria could see the sadness in her eyes, "No Liz, I promise they are fine." she told her. They were moved out by the military after the treaty was signed with Michael."

"The treaty?" she asked.

Maria nodded her head, "Yeah the peace treaty, Michael and the special unit began working together to try to contain Max, Tess, and Nicholas. After that Roswell and the surrounding area became the hot zone and the military relocated all the civilians to California, Nevada, and Utah." she explained. "Your parents live in Oregon now. They keep in touch with me." she told her. "They don't know what happened to you, there just never seemed to be a way to tell them and Michael thought for their safety the less they knew the better it would be for them."

Liz was relieved, "He's right not to tell them." she said then asked, "And your mom, is she still here?"

Tears formed in Maria's eyes as she shook her head, "No my mom didn't make it. She was a part of the resistance and Nicholas tried to use her to get at me and Michael."

Liz hugged her again, "Oh Maria, I am so sorry!"

Maria held her, "Liz it's alright. I'm in a good place now. I have Michael and Alex. I don't blame you." she told her as she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, "So you're going with them tonight?" she asked trying to change the subject.

Liz nodded her head, "I have to try." she told her.

Maria shook her head, "yeah of course." she said as she wiped her eyes again. She was still unable to believe it was really Liz standing there in front of her.

Liz looked out over the desert as the sun began going down and all that remained were the last few rays of sunlight, "It's strange isn't it." she said as she thought about Max. "I ended things with Max so that he could be with Tess in order to keep all of this from happening and in the end it happened anyway."

"It's not your fault Liz." Maria told her, "It really isn't, you had no way of knowing. None of us did. Nascedo and Tess, they played us all from the very beginning."

"I keep thinking if only I had known then what I do now." Liz told her, her voice heavy with regret.

Maria took her hand in hers, "Liz you can't do that. You can blame yourself for any of this." she told her, "Nicholas is behind this, he is behind all of it." she said her voice filled with frustration. "To him it's just a game. That's what it has always been to Nicholas, a game and we are just pieces he keeps moving around until..." she said as her voice trailed off.

Liz stood there silent for a moment. It finally clicked in her mind, this was just a game to him, "Until..." she whispered to herself as she finally saw what she had been missing. "Until we stop playing his game!" she told her. "Maria that's it, that is exactly it."

Maria didn't understand, "What are you talking about." she asked her.

Liz turned to her, "Where is the arsenal I have to find Serena right now." she told her.

Maria told her where to go then said, "Liz no matter what be careful so much has changed." she told her. "People you once trusted have changed." she warned her.

She hugged her friend and whispered into her ear, "I will see you again very soon." she told her just before she took off in the direction Maria showed her.

Kyle pulled out a Gauss rifle and handed it off to Serena, "Here take this." he told her.

Serena took the weapon and pointed down toward the floor, "You know this isn't necessary." she told him. "I have had training with firearms besides it's not really my weapon of choice." she told him.

"Yeah well it's always good to have a back up plan." he told her. "Sometimes it's not just one or two enemies you're facing, sometimes its twenty and while my abilities have saved my butt more than once in an all out fire fight I will take my rifle here to cut down the enemy every time." he told her.

Serena looked at him, "I didn't know you were a mutant too?" she laughed.

"Mutant, that's a pretty good name for how I feel most days." he told her. He liked her smile and the way she handled herself. She was confident and strong to bad he was so much older then she was.

Serena looked at him intently, "Yeah you would think having alien powers would make like easier but instead it just kind of makes it confusing." she told him then asked, "So at some point Max must have healed you too, like he did Liz?"

Kyle shook his head, "yeah he did." he told her, "There was a time when Max Evans was a really good guy, but that was before Tess got a hold of him."

Serena took in a deep breath, "Seems like this Tess person is the bane of everyone's existence." she told him.

"You could say that." Kyle laughed.

Serena pointed the rifle down at the target and took aim, "Why not just shoot the witch?" she said as she pulled the trigger hitting the center mark perfectly.

Kyle smiled, "You do know how to use a weapon." he said. "I'm impressed."

Serena handed it back to him, "I told you I did." she said then asked, "You didn't answer my question why not just shoot her? If Tess is the problem take her out of the equation."

Kyle took in a deep breath, "We had a chance to do that a long time ago but I allowed sentiment to get in my way. I had feelings for her and she used those feelings to mind warp me and deceive me. I didn't believe she was all that Michael and Isabel said she was at first. I thought they were lying it wasn't until I saw first hand what she was capable of that I joined the fight against Max." he told her.

"Well if we get the opportunity to change tonight maybe we can correct that mistake." she told him.

Kyle smiled, "You seem really confident for someone who is so young." he told her.

She laughed, "Kyle I am the same age as you," she told him, "We're just on different times of lines right now."

"Well then I am sorry I didn't get the chance to know you back then." he told her.

Serena was just about to say something when Liz came in. Liz looked at Kyle, "Can I talk to Serena for a just a minute." she asked.

Kyle shook his head, "I think Michael wants us in the command center." he told her. "I just heard the call over the radio." he said. "I can take you both there now."

Liz looked at Serena then back at Kyle, "I need just a minute." she said.

Kyle nodded his head, "Ok I will wait outside." he told them.

Once he was gone Serena asked, "Liz what is it? What's wrong?" she asked her.

"This is." she told her then said, "All of it is wrong, it feels off to me some how. I can't explain it but this whole planned attack to get Isabel out it's to expected." she told her.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked her.

"I don't know exactly I just know it's not the right move." she said as she bit her lip."

"Well Michael seemed pretty determined to rescue her and I don't think he is going to change his mind." she told her.

"I know and I am not saying he should but we need to do this different." she told her as her mind kept working on a plan.

"Different how?" Serena asked.

"I will explain it all to you but I need to know your with me." she told her. "What I am going to suggest is going to sound crazy."

Serena shook her head, "Liz you know where I stand, I believe this has all happened before so the more you changed up the better." she told her, "At this point I support crazy."

Liz smiled, "Ok then let's go see Michael." she told her.

Kyle escorted Liz and Serena into the commend room where Michael and several others were all gathered. She looked over at him as he was going over the plans and somehow she just knew, "Michael can I talk to you?" she said as she walked up to him.

Michael shook his head, "What is it?" he asked her as he stepped away from the others.

"I can't go with you on this mission." she told him. "What I mean is, I can't help you rescue you Isabel."

He looked at her intently, "Liz you are the only one who knows exactly where she is." he reminded her.

She shook her head, "I know and I'm sorry. I will show you what I remember but Kyle will have to go alone." she told him.

He shook his head, "What about you and Serena?" he asked her, "What are the two of you going to be doing?"

She took in a deep breath and told him. "I am going to see Max."

"Liz I told you already he will kill you!" he told her trying to keep his voice down low so the others wouldn't hear.

"I know he probably will." she told him.

Michael shook his head in frustration, "How does that help us, " he demanded, "you're not making any sense."

"Michael you have to trust me. I know what I am saying sounds crazy but I also know in my heart it's what I have to do. I know Max will attack me, he may even kill me but it's what he does after that I am counting on to end this!" she told him as tears formed in her eyes. "You have to let me do this, you have to let me try." she told him.

Michael looked over at Serena, "What about Serena, if she is with you Max will just start shooting and then there won't be any hope of rescuing Isabel or getting the two of you back to the Granilith." he told her.

"Serena is going to be busy doing something else for me, something vitally important." she told him. "What I need for you is to hit Nicholas hard, follow through with what we talked about. Take out the hibernation chambers, go for the airfields, attack the base itself and get Isabel out of there, do it all and keep Nicholas busy while I go to Max." she told him. "Please you have to let me do this."

Michael took in a deep breath, "Alright." he told her, "Just do me this favor, promise me if you make it back you will tell me everything that happens..." he corrected himself, "has happened. This is to big a burden for you to carry alone."

She nodded her head, "I promise, I will tell you everything." she told him.

CHAPTER 22

Michael led the way into the Skins base, he looked over at Kyle, "Ok this is where we split up." he told him. "Take a small group of men with you and go to the location Liz showed you, set one small blast device to blow through that outer wall and take Isabel out that way to safety. Keep going and don't look back until you get her back to the base." he told him.

Kyle nodded his head, "Understood," he said then he turned to Liz, "I will be praying this works!" he told her as he kissed her on the cheek.

Liz hugged him tight. "be safe Kyle." she told him as she let him go.

Michael looked at Liz, "Are you sure about this?" he asked her.

Liz nodded her head, "Yeah." she told him, "I know what I am doing Michael, you have to trust me."

Michael took in a deep breath, "Alright I will do my best to hold Nicholas and the others off and away from that area of the base while you and Serena do what you need too. Good luck!" he told her.

"Thank you Michael for everything." she told him as she was about to leave.

Michael grabbed a hold of her arm, "Liz if you make it back, if this works and you can change things..." he started to say

Liz knew he was thinking of his son, "I will make sure you know how much you loved them both." she told him.

He hugged her tight, "See you soon." he whispered into her ear.

Liz held him then said, "See you soon Michael!" she told him as he let her go and left with the others.

Serena took in a deep breath, she took off her necklace and handed over to Liz, "Just in case." she told her.

Liz shook her head, "Serena why are you giving this to me?" she asked her.

"I want you to take it with you, my mother gave it to me to keep me safe I want you to have it." she told her then said, "Don't argue with me, take it!" she told her.

Liz eyes filled with tears, "I will keep it safe for you." she told her, "Stay in touch, keep me posted on your progress."

Serena shook her head, "I will." she told her as she headed down a long corridor. Liz watched her go the she turned and went to look for Max. She used the scanning device that Michael gave her, and made her way down the long corridor. She carefully checked each room until she came to the one that showed life force readings for Max. She put the scanner away then made sure the area was clear and stepped inside the room. Max was standing on the other side of the room with his back to her. Her heart was racing as she called out his name, "Max."

He turned and saw Liz standing there. "How did you get in here?" he demanded as he held up his hand ready to attack.

Liz kept her hands just out in front of her as tears filled her eyes. She struggled to find her voice. So much time had passed and he looked so different, "Max I am not a clone." she told him. "I came here from the past to try to help you." she told him.

"Lies, it's all lies!" he yelled at her. "Michael sent you here, he knows Isabel's time is short so he sent you here to attack us while he tries to help her escape." he shook his head, "Well it won't work!"

Liz looked into his eyes, "Michael didn't send me. No one sent me, it's just me." she told him as she walked slowly toward him. "I came here to talk to you. I don't want to hurt you. I came from the past to try to figure out what was happening to you. I came to try to help you." she told him.

"Then you're on a suicide mission." he told her as he shot out a beam of energy at her.

Liz took the hit full force in the chest and was thrown backward against the wall. She struggled to pull herself up, "Max you once told me that this, all of this was about you and me. You said you could never forget about me, that you could never get over us...remember that Max, we were at the Crashdown" she told him as tears streamed down her face, "You said you didn't care about your destiny, your planet, or anything else. You said all you cared about was me. You said you were coming for me!" she told him as she struggled with the intense burning pain.

Max felt his heartbreaking all over again. To see her standing there, so young-looking just like she did all those years ago before he lost her. "Your not Liz, they never are. It's just another trick, another attempt by Michael to take what he knows is mine!" he yelled at her as he shot another energy stream directly at her chest.

Liz fell backwards again, she could barely breath, but she looked deep into his eyes, "Max I'm not going to fight you because I know deep down inside if you search your heart you know its me." she told him.

Max held out his hand again but stopped, he looked into her eyes. Could it possibly be her this time, she knew things, she said things that he had only ever shared with Liz, his Liz. More than anything he wanted it to be her but there had been so many other disappointments before, he was struggling inside and she saw that, "Max remember the night we ran from the special unit, the night we spent together trapped in that van. I told you I wished I could go back in time to stop you from saving my life. I told you that when you saved my life your life ended." She fell back down to the floor as she struggled to talk and breath, "You told me that day was the day your life began. You told me that knowing me made you human, you told me that I was your destiny and that you loved me." she closed her eyes as the pain intensified, "That was the first time you told me you love me Max." she whispered as she reached her hand out toward him. "Max if I am going to die then don't let me die alone." she pleaded with him. "Please Max just take my hand, I don't want to lose you." she cried. "don't let me lose you."

He dropped his hand and rushed over to her side, "Liz is it really you?" he said as tears formed in his eyes. "After all this time, is it really you?"

Liz reached up and touched his cheek, "I love you Max." she said as she coughed and struggled to breath. "I came for you." she told him her heart gave out and she lost consciousness.

Max shook his head, "No!" he cried as he reached out his hand and placed it over her chest. He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on healing her. "Liz please I'm so sorry!" he cried as he tried to heal her. "Please don't die!" he said as his hand began glowing and visions of everything that had happened to her filled his mind. Slowly the energy from him engulfed her body and her wounds were healed. She looked up into his eyes, "Max's you saved me."

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. "I am so sorry!" he cried, "so very sorry!"

Liz kissed him and brushed his hair away from his face, "Max it's alright, everything is going to be alright now." she told him.

Max pulled away from her, "No it's not." he told her. "You don't know what I have done, the person I have become."

Liz reached out to him, "Yes I do and I still love you." she told him, "Max its not to late. Help me, tell me where Nicholas keeps the other crystal and then help me get to the Granilith. Help me get back to our time so I can fix things and keep all of this from happening." she pleaded with him.

He couldn't look her in the eyes, "Liz I have killed so many people..." he started to tell her as the guilt of what he had done washed over him, "I betrayed Isabel, and Michael." he couldn't hold back the pain as it all came rushing out and he broke down.

Liz held him in her arms and whispered, "It wasn't you Max." she told him, "It was never you."

Just then the door opened and Tess came walking in. She saw Liz standing there in his arms and yelled. "Max you know it's not the real Liz! You know it's just another clone sent by Michael to try to kill you." She raised her hand ready to attack Liz.

Max pushed Liz behind him, "It's over Tess, no more of your lies." he yelled at her. "I know this is Liz and I know everything that you have done. I know about the lies and the mind warping. It's over!"

Tess tried to reason with him, "No! Max your confused. You just think its her because Michael has told her what to say but it's not." she tried to persuade him.

Max held up his hand, "I am warning you Tess I won't let you hurt her." he yelled at her "Not ever again!"

Tess saw it in his eyes, he meant business, "We were so close, we were so close to having everything we wanted and then you let this witch ruin it!" she yelled at him.

Max shook his head, "Non of this is what I wanted ever!" he yelled at her. "You did this with Khavar and Nicholas, this was always about you."

Liz held on to Max as he moved them closer to the doorway. Max shook with anger, "You lied to me, everything you ever said to me was a lie! You used me for your own purpose!"

Tess shook her head, her eyes flashed with anger, "What about her, she lied to you too. She told you that she slept with Kyle remember that Max, she pushed you away to be with me so she is just as much to blame as I was!"

Liz shook her head, "I only did that because I thought I was saving Michael and Isabel." she yelled at her.

Max held on to Liz, "We are leaving here Tess and if you try to stop us I will kill you!" he warned her.

"What about me Max, what about the past fifteen years?" she cried. "I am your wife, I'm pregnant with your child!"

Max looked at her with disgust, "I don't care about any of that now."

Tess screamed out in frustration, "Because you have her again!" she yelled "Why? Why was it always her, why not me?" she demanded to know.

Max looked down at Liz, "Go now to the Granilith" he told her, "Go back and fix this."

Tess shook her head, "No! You can't let her escape! I won't let you!" she shot out a stream of energy that hit Max and Liz knocking them both down. Then she walked over toward Liz and focused all her energy on killing her.

Liz held out her hand and put up a force field around them as Max shot Tess with such force she flew backwards across the room hitting the wall on the other sides. Her rib cage broke upon impact, she looked over at Max her eyes filled with tears and she whimpered, "But I am carrying your child." she said barley having the strength to breath. "You would kill your own child!"

Max shook his head, "I will do whatever I have to save Liz and the others!" he told her as tears streamed down his face. Then he turned to Liz, "Nicholas keeps the crystal and the book together in a safe in a room not far from the Granilith chamber." he told her. "The locking mechanism will open if you put in the day we met."

Liz looked down at Max and saw that he was bleeding really bad from the wound very near his heart. The force of Tess's energy blast had hit him and spared her."I can't leave you." she cried "I can't lose you."

He reached his hand out and brushed away her tears "You didn't lose me, you saved me!" he told her. "You gave me back myself before I destroyed everything now go please."

Liz kissed him one last time then she grabbed the back pack and ran toward the Granilith chamber. She kept going and didn't look back. She hoped more than anything that Serena could hear her as she telepathically told her where to go for the crystal . She ran down a long corridor and then through two sets of doors. There were alarms going off, she could hear bombs exploding in the distance. The building shook with each wave of attack. She ran into the large room and two doorways lay before her. She kept her eyes on the door that led to the Granilith looking for a sign from Serena that she had gotten the information she needed. She closed her eyes and focused, "Serena did you find it?" she asked her telepathically. "Did you find it Crystal."

"The combination isn't working." Serena told her.

"It has to be right. He said the day that we met..." she realized he wasn't talking about that day at the Crashdown he was talking about his first day of school. She telepathically gave her the correct date as tears rolled down her cheeks.

CHAPTER 23

As she continued making her way to the Granilith chamber Nicholas and several guards came running into the room. Liz spun around and shot three of them with a blast of energy destroying them at once. The one thing she learned was to shoot and then ask questions. She pulled out the crystal from her back pack and held it up in front of Nicholas. "I will destroy it!" she yelled out to him.

Nicholas saw the crystal and motioned for his guards to stand down, "If you do that you have no hope of ever getting back and we both know that is what you want more than anything. You want to go back to that night and warn them all to keep this from happening!" he told her.

Liz took in a deep breath, "Right now Nicholas I just want to see your plan crumble before your eyes and save my planet." she told him.

He laughed, "Oh Liz you're not a very good liar!" he told her. "See I know you Elizabeth Parker, I have studied you for a long time now. Each time we play you change things up just a little bit but in the end it always comes back to this moment!" he told her.

Liz shook her head she was confused, "What are you talking about?" she demanded to know.

Nicholas sighed, "We have been reliving this same time stream over and over again. You keep going back trying to get it right while I patiently waited for all the pieces to fall into place and now they finally have!" he told her.

"Your lying, your just hoping I won't destroy this crystal!" she yelled at him.

He nodded his head, "Your right I don't want you to destroy it." he told her then said, "Your also right things have been different this time around, I have had to do a lot of adjusting. Having Michael and the others attack different locations at once was a smart move but you are still so predictable, coming here to go and try to save Isabel. I knew you would never leave your friend behind." he told her.

"If what you're saying is true I would remember all of this, I would remember coming here over and over again." she told him.

Nicholas laughed, "You probably have remembered small bits and pieces but your human mind can't retain it all, even with Max changing the way your brain works doesn't allow it to have the ability to remember it all. When you go through the transportation portal and step backwards in time, everything that has happened gets erased including your memories. " he told her then said, "This has always been a battle between you and me Liz. One big grand game of chess and I have to admit you have been a worthy appoint, but tonight the game ends and I finally win!"

Liz slowly began walking toward the Granilith door and Nicholas shot and beam of energy near her foot. "Oh Liz now that is rude, are you trying to leave before we finish our discussion!?" he asked her sarcastically.

Liz took in a deep breath, she kept her eyes on the other door, waiting for Serena to come through. "Tell your guards to pull back." she told him as she held up the crystal and motioned that she would destroy it. "If what your saying is true, and I will just keep forgetting then there is no point in me even trying to go back." she yelled at him. "I might as well just destroy the crystal now at least I will have the satisfaction of stopping you!

Nicholas shook his head, "Liz I can see now that things are a little different this time." he said as he realized she was seriously thinking of destroying the other key. He motioned for his guards to drop back then turned to her, "Your upset, you have been through a lot." he told her sounding almost as if he truly cared. "But if you destroy that crystal then you kill all of us, everyone within a thousand miles will die, the power that crystal holds is beyond your understanding."

She laughed hysterically, "You have taken everyone I love from me. I have nothing left so I might as well die, at least I know I will be taking you with me! " she screamed at him.

Nicholas shook his head, "No you don't mean that. Your still up to something, you have a few more moves left in this game." he told her trying to keep her talking. "Don't you want to know why?" he asked her.

Liz shook her head, "I already know why, if you get your slimy alien hands on both keys you can open the portal and let Khavar invade the Earth and I will not let that happen!" she told him.

Nicholas could see she was getting more desperate, "No Liz that's not what I was talking about." he told her very calmly. "I was talking about why Max came to you in the first place. Why did he travel back in time and tell you he had to be with Tess if she is a traitor?"

Liz realized, it suddenly became so clear, "You sent Max back from the future to see me, this was all you from the very beginning."

Nicholas smiled as he took a few steps closer to her, "Yes now you're seeing the bigger picture." he told her, "It's all apart of a very clever plan that I have been working on for a very long time. Of course each time you have come back, I have had to adjust or modify things just a bit but this time, this time every thing has fallen exactly into place and finally we will be able to move forward."

Tears filled her eyes and she thought about all the pain that she had gone through, that they all had gone through, "Why?" she yelled at him, "How did you do it, Max would never have willingly done that? He would never have come back and forced me to do those things unless he believed what he was telling me was true."

Nicholas smiled, "Oh he did it willingly, and there were no clones involved. No I knew with you two it had to be the real deal. You had to be with the real Max from the future or you never would have believed it. The bond you two share was just to strong." he told her. "As for the why, that's simple, I realized even though I had the one crystal there was no way to break you and Max apart. Tess was never going to be able to break the bond the two of you shared, so I used her. I told her to run away and I let you and Max be together. That first time you two were so happy. You had your little apartment, you were married, and life seemed to be going so wonderfully. You had just found out you were pregnant and Max was worried about you. That's when I brought Tess back. She showed up with a long and sad story to tell about how she had been captured and tortured by the special unit. She told him how all of you were still on their radar and how much danger you were in. She began mind warping Max then slowly as your pregnancy progressed she made him think that at any moment you were going to be taken. It was perfect, I of course did my part I sent in my soldiers dressed as the special unit to make things look real."

Liz took in a deep breath and focused all her energy on Serena, "Are you coming soon do you have the crystal?" she spoke to her telepathically.

"I have it." Serena told her. Just a little longer! Nacedo changed the writing in the book, it's not alien its Navajo" she heard Serena say in her head.

"Can you read it?" Liz asked her praying that the answer would be yes.

"Hell yes!" she told Liz telepathically. "Be there soon!" Liz's heart began beating faster as she shook her head, "Even if you did all of those things Max would not willingly come back and make me end things with him."

Nicholas smiled, "He would if he believed Tess was really captured by the special unit, he would if he thought his precious Liz was next, and he especially would if he believed the one very important lie that traveling back in time would save you!" he told her then said, "And he did believe it, especially after I had Alex taken and killed."

"You vile scum!" she yelled at him as she grew more and more angry. "Alex did nothing to you!"

"True, he was collateral damage but it worked beautifully. Max went to Tess for help, and thanks to the information feed from me he traveled back in time and got you his beloved loyal Liz to end things with him. He did it all hoping that he would be able to keep you safe and let you live a normal life. From there it was easy. I began creating this world all around him where you were taken by the special unit tortured and killed. Max was so convinced that they had you. The whole thing went even better than I could have hoped for not only did he willingly travel backward in time to try to save you by making you think you had to end things with him, but now he was actually becoming an ally because of his hatred for those humans that took his precious Liz away from him. When I saw how I could use his anger, I had Tess use her mind warp on himm and he was filled with the desire for vengeance. He has killed for us many times over the years." he told her. "And very soon he will wage all out war with the people of this planet. He will willingly open the portal between our two planets using both crystals and allow Khavar to finally come claim his victory, and get me off this rotting heap of a planet." he said as he stepped closer toward her.

Liz laughed, "There are two things wrong with that plan Nicholas. One I have the crystal and will destroy it if you keep coming closer to me." she told him.

Nicholas stopped advancing, and took in a deep breath, "What's the other problem?" he asked her.

"Max won't help you now. He knows the truth!" she told him, "You know what they say about the truth Nicholas...it will set you free!" she laughed then said, "And Max's mind has been set free from Tess's control. He won't help you not now not ever!"

Nicholas narrowed his eyes, "I don't believe you." he told her, "you're bluffing." he said, "Just like you're bluffing about destroying the crystal!"

"No she's not." Max said as he came through the door behind him and shot an energy blast at the last two remaining guards killing them instantly.

Nicholas spun around to see Max standing there. He looked back over at Liz, "You went to Max?" he accused her.

"Like you said Nicholas its a game of chess and the best move in a game is an unexpected one!" she told him."When Max healed me, we connected and I let all of my memories flood into his mind. He knows the truth!"

Max shot an energy beam at Nicholas with his last remaining strength. It was enough to stun him and send him spiraling backwards. Liz ran over to Max, "I'm so sorry. I love you." she told him as she kissed him. Max felt her warm tender lips pressed against his and with his last breath he whispered, "I love you Liz Parker." he said barely able to breath, "now go."

Tears steamed down her face as she stood up and looked over toward Nicholas. He was already regaining his strength as he held out his hand and hit Liz with an energy blast in the shoulder. The force ripped through her like a bullet as she fell forward and cried out in pain. She lost her grip on the crystal as she fell. Nicholas got to his feet and walked over to retrieve it.

He looked at Liz as she lay there bleeding, "You think you won because you were clever enough to go to Max!" he laughed, "You haven't won, even if Max is gone I still have Michael..." he told her has he held out his hand ready to kill her.

Liz shook her head, "Michael will never help you, he will never willingly do anything for you." she told him her voice filled with hatred.

Nicholas sighed, "Poor stupid Liz do you really think I haven't thought of that already. You may have changed things with Max but all I have to do is kill Michael and the seal that passed to him from Max will pass to his son..." he told her "Then I just kill everyone that little boy loves and in a few short years he will do exactly what his Uncle Nicholas asks him too!"

Liz was bleeding and struggling to stay focused, her shoulder was on fire the pain so intense. She struggled to sit up as Nicholas shot out another energy burst toward her. This time Liz held out her hand and created a force field holding Nicholas back as Serena came busting through the door.

"Hey Nicholas!" Serena yelled at him as she used all her power to shoot a blast of energy directly at him. "Looks like you lose!"

He stood there stunned as his body absorbed the shock from her energy blast, he looked back over to Liz, "You didn't come alone." he said as he reached up and held his hand to his chest," but you always come alone..." he said as he fell to his knees as the crystal slipped from his hand and then he disintegrated into a million tiny little pieces.

Serena rushed over and helped Liz to her feet. Liz picked up the crystal as they made their way toward the Graniltih. Just as they were about to get into the Graniltih chamber a group of guards came running up behind them. One of them shot at Serena hitting her in the back sending her crashing to the ground.

Liz yelled out her name and then without thinking she turned in an instant holding up her hand she shot a stream of energy out with such force that the remaining guards were blown into a pieces. With tears streaming down her face she knelt down next to Serena who lay dying. "We are almost there." she told her. "It's just a little further and we will be home."

"Liz I won't make it back you have to go, you have to save your friends." Serena whispered as pressed a small piece of paper into Liz hand. "You going to need this." she told her as she struggled to breath, the pain in her body was so intense that she fought to stay conscious.

Liz tried to help her, "Serena if you don't go with me now you will die here." she told her trying desperately to help her in spite of her own wounds.

Serena took Liz's hand and held it tight, "Liz listen to me, you have to go, you have to do this. It's your only chance to save Max and the others. Khavar will just keep coming!"

Liz shook her head, "I'm so sorry." she told her friend as she looked into her eyes.

"It's alright." Serena told her, "I have faith in you to make the right decision, now go."

Liz could hear the guards coming toward them when suddenly she realized, "It can't end like this, not with you being left here, not with you dying! If it's all a dumb game then I can cheat!" she told her as she held tight to Serena's hand, "Make me remember, before I go back make me remember."

Serena didn't understand and her breathing was becoming more difficult, "Liz please you have to go.." she choked out the words as the guards were almost upon them.

"Serena listen to me there is still a chance if you tell me to remember, plant that memory in my mind so I can carry it with me. Do it!" She cried in desperation.

Serena closed her eyes and with all her strength she had left she placed the suggestion into Liz subconsciousness. With her last breath she whispered, "Remember..."

Liz grabbed the crystal and then ran into the granilith chamber, locking it behind her. She could hear the guards just outside the door as she keyed in the numbers on the computer pad and waited for the portal to open again. The door opened just as she stepped in the time stream the guards came rushing in spraying the room with bullets, as Liz disappeared so did they...

CHAPTER 24

Moments later Liz pulled herself outside of the Ganilith chamber and into the outer room. She grabbed her back pack and pulled out the healing stones that Serena had given her. She crawled over to the healing chamber and laid the stones out to create a half circle just as Serena had shown her. Then she lay down inside the chamber and closed her eyes hoping this would work. The pain in her body intensified briefly as the chamber itself became active. She struggled to catch her breath as wave after wave of energy washed over her. She closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face, all the memories of the past washed over her as she attempted to hold on to every little detail. When the process ended she was exhausted but she made herself get up. She still had so much to do before she could finally repair the flow of time and once again bring back balance to their time stream. She keyed into the Granilith the coordinates to the Crashdown and punched them in and then she stepped into the transporting field, moments later she landed just outside her bedroom window. She saw herself standing there in front of the mirror, she was getting ready to go and see the fortune-teller with Maria. It was still early she had time but she couldn't waste it. She remembered that day so well, later that night Future Max would come to her and it would all begin again. She took in a deep breath she held her hand out toward the door and closed her eyes, instantly the door locked. She slowly opened the window and stepped inside. Liz saw herself in the mirror standing just behind her, she jumped and moved back away from her, "Who are you and what do you want?!" she demanded to know.

"I'm you from the future. I have somethings I have to tell you and I need you to listen very carefully." she told her younger self.

"Your not me, its not possible time travel is not possible." Liz cried as she ran for the bedroom door and tried to open it.

"I am you and your going to sit down and listen we don't have much time before Maria is going to show up." she told her younger self.

Liz struggled with the door, "Your a shape shifter, you can't possibly be me."

She smiled at her younger self, "Ask me anything, anything at all?" she told her, "Ask me something no one else could ever know but you, something so completely secret that you have never told anyone, not Max, not Maria, no one." she told her then said, "Then when I answer your question you will know I am telling the truth and then you have to promise to sit down and listen."

Liz turned and faced herself, her heart was pounding out of her chest, "Ok if you are who you say you are how did you get here?" she asked her.

She shook her head, "That's not the question and you know it. The question that no one else can answer, that only you know" she said as she walked over to the chair and sat down, "The question is what did you do that night after Max healed you, after everyone went home when it was just you sitting alone in the dark trying to understand what had happened to you." she stared intently into her eyes, "What did you do that night ?"

Liz swallowed, "You can't possibly know the answer to that questions." she told her. "I never told anyone about that night."

She got up and walked over to her bed, she knelt down on her knees and then said, "You prayed." she told her. "just like this, in this exact spot."

Liz was stunned she walked over and sat down on the bed as she watched herself get back up and sit back down in the chair. "You really are me."

"I came from the future, the how is kind of complicated but it all begins here in this moment." she began telling her about the future, the past, River Dog, Serena, and Max. Over the next hour she told herself everything in as much detail as she could remember and when she finally finished she took in a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair then said, "Now its time."

Liz looked at her unsure of what she meant, "Time for what?"

"My coming here isn't enough to fix the balance in time, it will just keep fracturing if that's all I do. The only way to repair the time stream, the only way to fix everything is for you and I to merge into one person again. This is the moment in time when everything happened, when everything changed and the only way to repair it is for me to sacrifice myself." she told her as tears formed in her eyes.

"You mean" Liz started to say but stopped she already knew the answers, she could feel it somehow deep inside she knew what this meant. "What will happen to me?"

"Our time lines will merge and you will move forward with your life as it should have been before Nicholas intervened." she told her.

"And you will cease to exist." Liz finally said it out loud. "The future version of who you are will no longer be, you will die."

"Its what has to happen in order to save them" she told herself, "In order to save Max and the others I have to do this."

"Will I remember you, will I remember any of what you just told me?" Liz asked her.

"I don't know." She told her honestly, "If there is any real hope of this working then I have to believe you will otherwise there is a chance it could all start over again." she said then she pulled out the slip of paper Serena gave her, she walked over and placed it the dresser. "this is important."

Liz eyes filled with tears, "This is all so strange, your me and your about to die."

She wiped her eyes and smiled, "At least I won't be alone." she told herself as she walked over to the middle of the room.

Liz nodded her head, "What do I do?" she asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I set the Granilith to activate when we both touch this crystal." she told her as she pulled the white crystal from her back pack. "There is no date, or time programmed in, in theory it should just merge the two of us because we are from differing time lines back together into this time here and now, ending my life and allowing you to go on and live yours."

Liz took in a deep breath as she stood up and walked over toward herself, "In theory?"

"Yeah." she said as she held on to one end of the crystal and held it out to her.

Liz looked at herself standing there she could see the pain, and sadness in her eyes as she slowly reached out her hand toward the crystal, "I'm afraid."

She sniffled in as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, "Me too." she whispered softly.

Liz hands were shaking as she grabbed hold of the crystal. A flash of light shot out from the center of the crystal and engulfed the two of them together at once. The last thing she heard was her own voice calling out to her "Remember!" and then everything went black as she slipped to the floor and lost consciousness.

Liz woke up to the sound of someone calling her name, she opened her eyes and pulled her self on to her bed just as her mom came into her room, "Liz honey are you still going with Maria and Alex this afternoon?"

Liz shook her head and she tried to focus her thoughts. "Umm, that was the plan." she said then changed her mind, "But something has come up that I have to do." she said.

"Oh Maria will be so disappointed, she has been talking about the three of you going to the carnavel all week." Nancy told her.

"Yeah I know and I feel really bad but I have to do this, another friend really needs me and I promised I would be there to help." she told her. "Would you let Maria know when she comes by and tell her I will call her later?"
"I will let her know." Nancy told her as she picked up her basket of dirty laundry. "Liz honey are you alright?" she asked as she looked over at her daughter, "You look tired, you're getting enough sleep right?"

Liz nodded her head, "Yeah I'm fine mom, really." she told her as she got to her feet and went into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, she did look tired and her head was throbbing. She made her way back out into her room grabbed her jacket and headed out her fire escape. She got in her car and drove to Michael house.

Nancy was finishing the laundry when Maria came in, "Hey Mrs. Parker is Liz around?"

Nancy turned and shook her head, "I'm sorry Maria, Liz isn't here. She said to tell you she is really sorry but a friend called and really needed her help so she had to go. She said she would call you later."

Maria sighed, "Did she say which friend it was?" she asked.

Nancy tried to remember, "She probably did but I don't remember now." she told her. "I am sorry I know you were really looking forward to going."

Maria shook her head, "It's alright, Alex will go with me." she told her. "Thanks Mrs. Parker. She called out as she headed back into the restaurant. She walked over to where Alex, Max, and Isabel were all sitting, "So Liz is not going after all." she told them.

Alex shook his head, "I thought she wanted to go."

"Yes well her mom said a friend called and Liz rushed out to go help her. She said she would call me later." Maria told them. She looked over at Isabel, "you want to come along, it's going to be fun."

Isabel thought about it then shrugged her shoulders, "Sure I don't have anything else to do." she told them.

They were making plans to go when Kyle walked in, "Hey so what is everyone up to?" he asked.

"Alex, Isabel, and I are going to the carnival, you want to come along?" Maria asked.

"Yes, I have been bored out of my head all day. My dad is busy and Tess is being moody again so it would be great to just have some fun." Kyle told her.

"What about you Max?" Maria asked, "Liz isn't going to be home so you will have to surprise her with the Gomez tickets tomorrow." she told him.

Isabel nudged him, "If I am getting roped into this then your coming too." she told him.

Max laughed, "Fine." was all he said as they all got up to leave.

Michael heard someone knocking at his door, he half expected it to be Maria as he opened it, "Maria I told you I do not want to go see some fortune-teller!" he yelled as he opened the door.

Liz was standing there, she looked really out of it and tired. "Michael I need your help." she told him as her head began spinning.

"Liz what the heck!" he said as he helped her inside. "Are you alright? are you sick?" he asked as he helped her over to the couch.

"Not exactly." she told him as she waited for the fatigue and dizziness to pass. "Could I get some water do you think?" she asked.

"He went into the kitchen and came back out with a tall glass of water, "Here you go." he said as he handed it to her.

Liz took the glass and finished off the entire contents then asked for more, "Please could I get some more." she said as she handed him back the glass.

Michael got her another, "here." he said as he handed it to her. "Liz whats going on?"

She finished the second glass of water then took in a deep breath, "Michael I need your help. It's alien business, it can't wait and we are going to need shovels." she told him as she got to her feet. She wavered just a little but he helped steady her.

"Liz you don't look like you're in any condition to go anywhere." he told her then said, "In fact you look like you should be in bed."

"Bed does sound really good but not yet." she told him as she walked over to the door, "I will be fine. I have a very long story to tell you." she told him.

Michael wasn't sure what to think, "Liz seriously you're not looking good."

She looked at him and laughed, "That is what I like about you most Michael you always say exactly what is on your mind." she told him then said. "Trust me you're going to want to hear what I have to say." she told him as she lead the way down to her car. She handed him the keys, "You drive it will make it easy for me to catch you up."

Michael took the keys and got in. Liz got into the passengers seat, she looked over at him and took in a deep breath, "Something happened to me today." she began, "I had a visitor come to see me.."


CHAPTER 25

Maria, Alex, Kyle, Isabel and Max all sat down inside the fortune tellers tent. "This is so beyond lame." Isabel told them.

"No it isn't." Maria told her, "Believe it or not there is a lot of science behind this process."

Alex laughed, "Really Maria what kind of science would that be?"

"The science of parting you from your ten bucks to hear someone tell you a bunch of stuff that may never happen." Kyle interjected.

Maria shook her head, "Max you believe don't you?"

He looked over at her but before he could say anything Madam Sophie came into the room, "So we have some here who would like to know there future?" she said as she sat down. "I hope you all know there can be great risk involved in knowing what fate has planned for each one of you. There is always the chance that what I will tell you here today could be fearful and terrible news." she warned them then said, "Knowing this risk do you still want to proceed?"

They all shook their heads yes, so she sat down at the long table and motioned for each one of them to do the same. "I do not collect a set fee for my services." she told them, "I only ask that if you find any help in the information that I share with you then leave a donation outside in the chest near the entrance way." she told them.

Maria sat down on the far left side of the table with Alex, then Max, Isabel and Kyle on the far right. Madam Sophie looked at each one of them very carefully then she took out a deck of cards and carefully began shoveling through them. "Please tell Madam Sophie what it is you have come to inquire about." she asked.

Maria nudged Alex, "You go first." she whispered softly.

Alex cleared his throat, "What is in my future?" he asked her.

Madam Sophie stared into his eyes, "May I hold your hand?" she asked him.

Alex reached his right hand out toward her as she grasped hold of it and looked it over carefully. She narrowed her eyes, "There is some danger for you, some threat perhaps, it is unclear. You will be asked to do a work that is very important to your friends and in the process you will fall in love again but it is unclear if this love will ever be yours. You must learn to guard your heart." she told him.

Alex looked over toward Isabel and then back to Madam Sophie, "Who will I fall in love with?" he asked.

Isabel sighed and rolled her eyes as Madam Sophie took a closer look at Alex hand, "It is not so clear at this time. She is a mystery, shrouded in uncertainty, there is much you will go through with this girl but you must be careful." she said as she let go of his hand.

Max reach out his hand deciding to go next, "What is my destiny?" he asked her.

Madam Sophie shook her head, "Please the left hand." she told him, "For you I must look at the left hand." she said has Max changed hands and she took hold of his left.

Isabel shook her head, "Why do you need to see his left hand?" she asked.

Madam Sophie continued to look at Max's hand, "Because his destiny involves the heart. There are two young women, one you love very deeply but the other holds your interest as well. One is your destiny to be with, the other will lead to much pain and sorrow. There is only one path that you can take and you must choose it wisely." she told Max as she let go of his hand and began shuffling through the cards in her hands. She closed her eyes and waited for a few minutes then she choose a card with out showing it to them and slipped it into an envelope. Before giving it to Max she said, "This is for your eyes only. You will know when to open it. Remember this young man sometimes the past is best left buried." Max took the envelope and held on to it.

Maria held out her hand, "I will go next." she said as she looked over and both Kyle and Isabel who seemed skeptical.

Madam Sophie looked at Maria hand she examined it for several minutes and then said, "What is it you are wanting to know?" she asked her finally.

"I want to know if I should just end things with my on again off again boyfriend and move one?" Maria asked her.

Madam Sophie laughed, "This is a question only you can answer. You know him, you know his heart and the road to continue on with him will be difficult even challenging but only you can say what you should do."

Maria sighed, "But I don't know what I should do." she told her, "Am I just wasting my time?"

Madam Sophie shook her head, "My dear it is not for me to say, I can only tell you if you choose to remain on this path with him you will have great love." she told her.

Maria smiled, "Really!" she said excitedly.

Madam Sophie smiled, "Yes you will have great love, but it will require of you much work and even more patients."

Maria took in a deep breath, "Thanks." was all she said somewhat disappointed in the answer.

Madam Sophie looked to Kyle next, "What about you young man what questions do you have today?"

Kyle shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "Surprise me." he told her as he reached out his hand to her.

Madam Sophie looked long and hard at Kyle's hand then she narrowed her hands, "There is someone very close to you that you have given much trust to. I must warn you this person is not deserving of your trust and could cost you much pain in the future. Be careful young man to whom you give your heart." she told him, "There is another who you know but do not know. You will find her very mysterious and you must choose who to trust and believe." she said as she let go of his hand.

Kyle laughed, "Well that was particularly cryptic wasn't it."

Madam Sophie clarified her meaning, "I do speak these things lightly. It is up to you what you will do with what you learn here today."

Kyle nodded his head looked over to Alex, "Ok well I am ready to go on the spinning nightmare whose with me?"

Alex stood up, "I'll go." he told him. Then he leaned over to Max, "Come on you know you want to."

Max laughed, "Sure why not." he said as the three of them left.

Madam Sophie looked at Isabel, "You do not believe?" she told her.

Isabel suddenly felt uncomfortable, "Not really." she told her, "No offense I just don't really believe in things like fate or destiny."

"I am not surprised." Madam Sophie told her, "You guard your heart very closely so you let very few others in. It has hardened you."

Isabel was a little taken aback. "That's a rather harsh thing to say to someone you just met."

Madam Sophie held out her hand, "Allow me to read your hand today. I want nothing in return, no donation."

Maria nudged her shoulder, "Come on Isabel what can it hurt?" she asked.

Isabel sighed than reluctantly held out her hand, "Fine." she said as Madam Sophie took hold of her hand.

She looked closely at her hand then she looked into Isabel's eyes, "I'm sorry I was mistaken. I can not see anything of your future." she told her abruptly and then stood up. "Thank you for coming enjoy yourself at the carnival.

Isabel narrowed her eyes, something was off. She followed Maria out of the tent and over toward the ride the others had gone on. For some strange reason she felt like Madam Sophie had lied to her, like she had seen something but didn't want to share it. She stood there for a minute then pretended that she left something back at the tent. "Maria I will be back in just a few I left my keys on the table back there." she lied.

Maria nodded her head, "I am going to get some cotton candy." she told her "You want some?"

Isabel shook her head, "No, it's to sweet for me." she told her as turned to walk back over to the tent. She looked inside but there was no one around. She stepped into the tent and called out, "Madam Sophie are you here?"

Moments later she appeared, "You have come back?" was all she said. "I told you I could see nothing."

Isabel shook her head, "I don't believe you. You saw something why don't you want to tell me?" she said.

Madam Sophie took in a deep breath, she began trembling, "What I saw can not be for one so young so I chose not to reveal it." she told her honestly.

Isabel was intrigued, "Please just tell me what you saw."

Madam Sophie looked at her intently then she sat down and motioned for Isabel to do the same, "What I saw had more to do with your past then your future but they are closely tied together." she told her. "What you have suffered in your past keeps you from letting others get close to you."

Isabel nodded her head, "Please go on."

"You carry a burden, it is a heavy burden buried deep within your heart. You have loved deeply but you were betrayed." she told her then said, "This betrayal has cost you much. You blame yourself for the death of someone close to you but the fault is not yours." she told her.

Isabel eyes filled with tears as she quickly tried to blink them away. Madam Sophie continued, "You are afraid of loving, your heart has been scared deeply and so you push others away from you. There is one who loves you, who could help you to mend your heart, if you would allow it, but the chance may pass you by sooner than you think." she told her then she said, "I am sorry if what I have shared causes you confusion, you are very young and yet your past speaks of someone who has lived for much longer. It is strange."

Isabel swallowed, "Thank you." she said before leaving the tent. She stopped and the little donation box and pulled a ten-dollar bill from her wallet she looked around then concentrated on changing the ten to a hundred before dropping it into the box.

Liz stopped digging for just a moment to take another drink of water. Michael looked up at her, "You sure you're ok?" he asked her again.

She nodded her head, "Yeah I will be fine." she told him "Been through this before." she said trying to make light of what was happening inside her body.

Micheal motioned for her to sit down, "Yeah but even you said that it is happening faster and sooner than before." he noted.

Liz sat down and took in a deep breath, "That's true, but then I just merged time lines a few hours ago with a version of myself that's been alive longer then I have so maybe this is normal for me."

"How can you joke about it?" he asked her surprised by how easy she seemed to be with it all.

Liz sighed, "I guess because right now I have to just keep going. If I stop and spend any real-time thinking or dwelling on what has happened I seriously don't know if I will get up again." she told him as tears stung the back of her eyes.

Michael continued digging, he wasn't fully convinced that they were going to find anything. After all her story had been pretty incredible but he knew Liz Parker and making up fantastic stories was not her thing so here he was. "What if we don't find anything Liz then what?" he told her. "It is possible that what ever you're going through physically, whether it be alien or not may have caused you to pass out and have a really strange, confusing dream."

Liz stood up and began digging again, "You don't believe that Michael." she told him "If you did, you wouldn't be here helping me right now."

Michael was just about to say something more when he hit something hard, "Help me dig here." he told worked together until the metal box was completely uncovered. Michael reached down and lifted it out of the hole, "Guess it wasn't just a crazy dream."

"Guess not." she told him as she climbed up out of the hole. There was a lock on the outside that could only be opened by keying in a code. Liz took in a deep breath and opened the slip of paper that Serena had given her.

"Do you know how to open this thing?" he asked her.

"Just give me a minute." she told him as she read the numbers out loud. "Key this in, 6,9,2,0,0,1,1,7."

Michael did as she told him and the lock opened. "So Alex was the one who translated the book that led to this thing?" he asked her as he pulled it out of the box.

"Yeah of course he was constantly being mind warped by Tess at the time." she told him. "Then she just murdered him in cold blood when she was done with him."

Michael shook his head, "Do you know where that book is now?" he asked her. "Does Tess already have it?"

"I am pretty sure she does but it won't do her any good." Liz told him.

"Why did she need Alex in the first place why not just read it or give it to Nicholas to read?" Michael asked her.

"Because Nascedo changed the writing in her book, he knew that his time was limited and he was only of so much use to them. My guess is he figured by changing the language he could use it as a bargaining tool. He changed the language and used the Navajo Indian alphabet to write it all out. There are only a few people left who know how to read this book and I happen to know one of them very well."

"Serena." he said as he reached in and pulled out the crystal.

Liz nodded her head, "Yep."

Michael looked at the crystal carefully. It was a solid black cylinder shaped object that had some alien writing on it. "So this can control the Granilith?"

"It is one of two crystals that when used with the Granilith makes time travel possible. It also makes transportation possible." she told him as he handed it over to her. "It is also a very powerful and potentially deadly weapon that could be used against us and the entire planet if Nicholas and Khavar got their hands on it."

Michael took in a deep breath, "So now what?" he asked, "you take this one and put it in the ship with the other one?" he asked her.

Liz nodded her head, "That is the plan but first we have to fill this back in and make it look like it hasn't been disturbed." she told him. "At some point Nicholas is going to give Tess the order to use Alex to decipher the book she has and then they will come here looking for the crystal but they won't be able to find it."

"About Tess what do you want to do about her?" He asked her. "We have to protect Alex from her."

"What do you think we should do?" Liz asked him. "From what I know she was being used by Khava and Nicholas but I doubt we could turn her. She is clearly obsessed with Max and being queen and proved she would do anything to get what she wants" she told him then said, "Taking her out is always an options but it will attract a lot of attention from our enemies. Maybe there is wisdom in keeping her close, you know what they say...keep your friends close."

"But your enemies closer." Michael finished her sentence for her. He took in a deep breath, "Liz after everything that she has done to you do you seriously think you could handle having her around and not want to rip her head off?" he asked.

Liz shook her head, "I don't know. I know she is a threat to Alex and the rest of us and if she is here where we can watch her with out her knowing we are that gives us and advantage." she told him, "We have to keep her from Alex though."

"Then we watch her." he told her.

"Sounds like a good place to start." she agreed as they finished filling in the hole. Once they were finished Michael reached out his hand and focused his energy over the dirt and made it appear as if had not been disturbed.

He looked at Liz, she was different. It was clear what she had gone through had changed her. "Your not the same person Liz." he told her truthfully.

Liz thought about it, "your right I'm not." she told him then said, "I guess living the same year over and over again has a way changing a person."

Michael stood there for a moment, "Why did you come to me? Why not go to Max?" he asked her.

"Because Max has been compromised by Tess, she doesn't have control of him yet but lets just say he is conflicted." she told him then said. "I knew I could trust you Michael. I have seen who you become, and I knew you would give me the wisdom I needed to continue in this journey, that you wouldn't hold me back." she thought about how much more she should tell him then said, "besides you asked me to tell you. It was the last thing you said to me just before we attacked Nicholas's base. You made me promise not to carry this burden alone and to always come to you."

Michael took in a deep breath, "What about the others, you said Max has been compromised, is it possible the others are too?"

Liz nodded her head, "Once we talk to Serena she can help us find out if any of the others have been mind warped or are under Tess control. I think its safe to assume Isabel, and Maria are fine, not so sure about Alex, or Kyle." she told him.

He shook his head, "It's a lot to wrap my head around." was all he said as he got into the car.

They were both quiet as Liz drove toward River Dog's ranch. Liz was still attempting to adjust to all that had happened. For her it was strange to suddenly wake up and have all these memories of things that happened and yet didn't happen. She decided for now it would be best if she just kept going until everything was done then she would deal with it all.

Michael took in a deep breath as he tried to reconcile his mind to everything that he had just learned over the past few hours, "I don't know how your coping right now." he told her, "Just knowing everything you said is true and trying to deal with the reality of it all, that I have a half-sister, that my mother came to earth in hopes of finding me, that Max and I actually came to fighting against each other and Maria and I..."

Liz glanced over at him, "Will one day have a beautiful son. She loves you Michael that was the one thing you made sure I knew was how vital she was to you. She kept you going after Max turned, she supported you through Isabel's capture, she gave you the one thing you have always wanted most." she told him, "she gave you a family."

Michael didn't say anything for a while. He was lost in his thoughts just as much as Liz was in hers. Finally he said, "What about you Liz how can you deal with this without going crazy?"

She smiled, "I think I have really dealt with it yet Michael, ask me again in a few days how I'm doing" she told him as they pulled into River Dog's drive way. "I have no idea how they will react to us being here." she said as they made their way up to the door.

CHAPTER 26
Liz took in a deep breath and knocked on the door, River Dog was there, he answered. “Hello Liz,” he said calmly as he opened the door and let them inside.

She looked around but Serena wasn't there. “Hello.” she said.

“Come in both of you.” he motioned for them to follow him as he led them into the living room. Michael looked up at the paintings on the wall. With out being told he knew it was Kahoma. It wasn't that he recognized her as his mother, it was more to do with her eyes, there was something there in them that told him that was his mother.

“I was going to say it has been a long time since we have seen you, but it almost seems as if you knew we were coming here today.” Liz told him as she sat down on the couch.

River Dog sat down across from her while Michael walked over to get a closer look at the paintings. “I did know that you would be coming to see me again.” he told her.

“Do you know why we have come?” she asked him.

River Dog nodded his head, “Yes, you have completed your journey.” he told her, “You have taken away the imbalance and the river of time is flowing again.”

Liz was stunned, “How did you know that?” she asked.

Just then, Serena came through the doorway, “Because I told him your story.” she said as she came into the room.

Liz turned toward her, “You remember what happened?” she asked.

Serena shook her head, “Not exactly.” she told her as she handed Liz her journal. “I found a package on the front door this morning with a note written in my hand writing telling me to read it.” she told her.

Liz took her journal and opened it, “Inside she had written all that had happened to them.” Tears formed in her eyes as she looked up at Serena, “How did you get this?”

Serena smiled, “According to my note once I had the white crystal I used the Granilith and sent this to myself. I woke up this morning and I found your journal here on the door step. I have spent most of the day reading.” she told them. “So much has happened but I remember the stories my mother told me when I was younger and when I told my father about it he confirmed that my mother spoke of you coming one day.”

Liz took her journal and began looking through the pages, “All this time that I kept going back because I couldn't get it right, it was all written down here in my journal.” she told her as she closed the book and put it in her back pack.

Serena took in a deep breath and looked over at Michael, “So you are Michael, we met once before but you probably don't remember me.” she told him.

Michael walked over and sat down next to Liz, “Yeah I do, it was when I first came to River Dog you were there.”

She smiled, “Yeah I was.”she told him then said, "So Liz told you everything?" she asked him.

Michael nodded his head, "Pretty much."

Serena arched her eyebrow, "So you know who I am and who she was?" she asked him as she pointed over toward the painting of their mother.

"Yeah she told me." he said as he looked over at the painting, “She was beautiful.” he said trying to hold back his emotions.

River Dog stood up, “She was very beautiful.” he told him then said, “Would you like to know more about your mother?”

Michael looked up at him, “Yeah I would.” he told him. River Dog motioned for him to follow him and the two left the room and headed out toward the gardens.

Serena took in a deep breath, “Michael seems uncomfortable around me?" she told her.

Liz shook her head, "Don't let it bother you, I think he is just still trying to process it all."

Serena nodded her head, "Did you tell him about Maria and their..." she started to say.

"Their son?" Liz finished her sentence for her, "Yeah I did, he asked me to make sure that his younger self knew how vitally important they were to him so I told him. What he does with that information now is up to him but somehow I think he will always end up with Maria."

Serena took in a deep breath,"My father wasn't completely right, we aren't done with this journey just yet are we?” she said changing the subject.

Liz shook her head, “No.” she told her “Not just yet. I used the information you gave me to find the white crystal, Michael and I dug it up and now I think the safest place for it is with the black one in your mother's ship.”

Serena stood up, “Do you remember where it is?” she asked.

“Well the last time we did this, I had to ride a horse for what seemed like forever to get to the place where the ship is buried.” Liz told her.

Serena smiled, “It won't take that long this time.” she said as she headed out to the barn with Liz following behind. “We can take these.” she told her as pulled the cover off of two ATV all terrain vehicles.

Liz laughed, “Why didn't we take these the last time?” she asked her.

“These are new.” she told her, “It's so funny but my father bought them just over a week ago and had them delivered. When I asked him why he said he didn't know why but that he felt one day they would be useful.” Serena looked at Liz, “It's strange isn't it?” she began, “I mean we have only just met and yet after reading your journal and all that we have been through I feel like I know you better than anyone else in my life.”

Liz smiled, “In some ways you do know me better than any other person.” she told her as they got on the ATV and rode off into the desert.

It was late when Isabel and Max got back home from the carnival. Isabel's mind was still preoccupied with what the fortune-teller said to her. She went into her room sat down on the edge of her bed.

Max followed her into her bedroom, “So it was pretty lame what that fortune-teller said ugh?”

Isabel took in a deep breath, “Not sure actually.” she told him, “After you left she said some things to me that just got me thinking.”

Max could see she had something on her mind, “Thinking about what?” he asked her.

“About us.” she told him then said, “About what we were like before we came here?” she said softly. “For so long all I could think about was wanting to find a way to get back home but now I am not so sure. What if what we left isn't worth going back to?”

Max reached for the envelope Madam Sophie gave him, “I have been thinking about that as well.” he told her.

Isabel laughed, “Oh that's right she gave you one of those cards ugh?” she remembered, “Have you opened it yet?”

Max shook his head, “No not yet.”

“Don't you want to see what's inside?' she asked him.

Max shook his head, “As strange as it sounds I don't think I do.” he told her, “I actually feel like I know what I want and what I want is a future with Liz. I don't need a fortune-teller to tell me that.”

Isabel smiled, “Maybe that’s the best way to be Max, just forget about all this destiny stuff and follow your heart.” she told him.

Max handed her the envelope and smiled, “That's really good advice maybe you should take it yourself.” he told her as he got up to go into his room.

“What do you want me to do with this?” she asked.

“I know it sounds strange but in some way I kind of have a feeling that after you open it you will know what to do with it.” he told her, “Good night.”

Liz and Serena made it to the ship in considerable less time than they did before. “That made things easier.” Liz told her. “Remind me to thank your dad.”

“I will.” she laughed as they made their way up the side of the mountain and into the ship.“So what happens from here?” Serena asked as they walked into the ships control center.

Liz was quiet for a minute, “Well Michael and I are going to need your help. I don't know if Tess has mind warped Alex or Kyle and I think I know a way that you can help figure that out.” she told her as she followed her over to the control panel. “As much as I would like to kill Tess, it will draw too much attention we have to watch her but I can't do it alone.”

Serena smiled, “Kyle could be of help?” she said.

“If she hasn't mind warped him in any way up to this point.” Liz told her. Then she smiled, “He won't remember you. You know that right?” she told her.

Serena shook her head, “I know.” she told her as she took the pendent from around her neck and placed it in the lock. “Reading about how I knew him before is kind of strange because I have no memories of him, but I am looking forward to meeting him again.” she said.

“Well at least this time you two will be the same age.” Liz told her.

Serena smiled, “That should make it easier to be close to him. You know so I can help monitor Tess.”

Liz smiled, “Yeah of course that is your only motivation ugh?”

Serena she told her, “Lets just say I don't mind that Kyle's and I will have a chance to get to know each better with out bombs exploding all around us. Besides someone has to stay close to him to find what Tess is up to.” She said then asked, “What about your friend Alex?”

“Maybe we could give Tess another option for decoding her book instead of Alex. What if I have a new best friend who just happens to read Navajo show up at the Crashdown one day.” Liz suggested. “We could say we met over summer?”

“I think it would be better if I am the new transfer student who just happens to be in most of Kyle's classes and not necessarily your new best friend.” she told Liz.

“How are you going to manage that with the school and the admission process.” she asked her.

Serena smiled, “I'm not you and Michael are going to.” she told her. “Just plan a midnight visit to the school and put Serena Brooks into Kyle's classes. Then I show with my transfer papers.” she told her, “I will be transferring over because I have had some difficulties fitting in at my present school and the guidance counselor felt a change in environment would be best.”

Liz nodded her head, “Ok that's a good plan.” she told her then said, “You get to be the new mysterious girl with a difficult past.”

Serena laughed, “Works for me” she told her as she turned the locking mechanism. The panel on the wall opened and Liz took out the black crystal and placed it careful inside the safe. Then she reached in and took out her journal and placed it inside as well.

“Your journal, don't you want to keep it?” Serena asked.

“For now I think this is probably the safest place for it. If it were to fall into the wrong hands it could be disastrous.” Liz told her. “Besides thanks to you I remember everything I need to this time.”

Serena closed up the panel, “Are you going to tell Max everything that has happened?”

Liz took in a deep breath and thought about it before she answered, “I want to tell him everything,” she told her, “But honestly I have to be sure of what to say and how. There is a part of him that is still very conflicted where Tess is concerned. I want to help him learn about his past without him ever needing to go to her. Do you think that we could make that happen, did your mother say anything to you that might help them know who they were?”

“My father has a lot more he could tell Max now that he has full filled his promise to my mom.” she told her, “I will talk to him, let him know that you will be bringing Max over to his house soon, but for now I think its vital that we keep Tess in the dark as much as possible. I don't want them to know about my connection to Michael or to my dad.”

Liz shook her head, “Agreed.” she said as they made their way back out of the ship.

CHAPTER 27

Liz woke up in the middle of the night, she had a terrible dream. She was shaking as sweat dripped from her forehead, and tears formed in her eyes. She picked up her cell phone and sent a text to Max, "I need to see you."

She waited holding her phone in front of her, "Is everything alright?" he texted her back.

"Yeah, but can you come over?" she texted him. "I really need to see you."

"Be there in ten." he wrote her. Liz got out of bed and slipped her shoes. It was a cold October night, she wrapped her quilt around her shoulders and went out side on her balcony to wait for Max. Her heart was racing, as she paced around. The images in her dreams were so real so frightening. Watching her friends die over and over again, remembering how it felt to lose them all she was overwhelmed. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say to him she only knew she had to see him, to be with him and know he really was safe. It was the sound of Max's voice that got her attention and interrupted her thoughts.

"Liz is everything alright?" He asked as he came up her ladder. He saw her standing near her window, he could see she had been crying. "Liz?" he said her name again as he began walking toward her.

She looked up into his eyes and without thinking dropped the blanket and ran over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight as she could, burying her head into his chest as the tears flowed down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, "Liz what is it?" he whispered softly, "Whats going on?" he asked her, his voice filled with concern.

Her eyes were red, and puffy from crying, "I don't want to lose you Max." she mumbled softly. "I don't ever want to lose you."

Max didn't understand, "I'm right here." he told her. "Your not going to lose me."

"Promise we will always be together." she pleaded with him. "Promise me no matter what anyone ever says."

Max didn't know what was upsetting her but he promised, "I'm not going anywhere." he told her as he held her face in his hands, "I told you, I love you and I don't care about anything else. You are my destiny."

She searched his eyes, "Max I want to believe you. I want to know in my heart that everything you just said to me is true but..." she started to say as she began to tremble and shiver from the cold.

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, "We should get you back inside." he whispered. "It's freezing out here." He walked over and picked up her quilt and brought it over to her. Then he led her inside, they both sat down on her bed.

Fresh tears filled her eyes as she searched for what to say to him, "Stay with me please." she asked. "I had some really terrible dreams before and I don't want to be alone." she told him honestly.

Max kicked off his shoes and leaned back on her bed. He pulled her back with him, and held her close, "Do you want to talk about the dreams?"he asked her.

Liz sniffled in, "I dreamed I lost you, and it broke my heart." she told him.

Max closed his eyes and held her tighter, "I'm not going anywhere." he told her again, "I am never going to leave you." he promised as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

Liz looked up into his eyes and whispered, "I love you Max."

He leaned down and gently brushed his lips across hers. "I love you too." he told her as he kissed her good night. Liz laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before she fell sound asleep. He didn't know what brought about this change of heart in her but he knew that this was where he belonged. He knew that Elizabeth Parker was his destiny and he would fight anything or anyone that ever tried to come between them again.

The sun made its way up over the horizon and shone bright through the bedroom window. As Max woke up, it took a few minutes for him to remember where he was. He slowly opened his eye and looked down to find Liz wrapped up in his arms laying next to him. He thought about how right it felt waking up with her there, about how much she meant to him. He thought about how desperately he missed her while she was away all summer and he knew deep down inside it didn't matter what Nascedo said, his destiny was his own and more than anything else he wanted to be with her.

Liz slowly opened her eyes. She looked up and saw Max staring down at her, "Hey." she whispered softly.

"Hey." he smiled back.

Liz reached up her hand and brushed his hair away from his eyes. "You stayed?" she said as she stared into his eyes.

Max shook his head, "You asked me to." he said as he ran his hand through her hair and down along her cheek.

"I did." she smiled, "So now what?" she asked him. "Where do we go from here?"

"Well if your asking me if I want to be with you, then yes." he told her honestly, "I want to be with you more than anything."

Liz leaned over toward him, "I want that too, more than anything." she told him. "But what about Tess?" she asked him.

He shook his head, "Liz, Tess doesn't mean anything to me. I promise you that." he told her. "I love you." Max captured her lips with his own, and kissed her.

Liz knew it wasn't that easy, she pulled back from him, "Max I'm not asking you about your destiny, I'm asking you about your past." she told him. "My deepest fear is that one day you are going to wake up and regret being with me, that you are going to want to know that part of you that Tess says she can show you." she told him. "Just knowing that there is a possibility that you could some day choose her over me, it hurts inside."

Max took in a deep breath, "Liz I trust you completely. I am asking you to trust me. I am never going to leave you, but if you need something more from me, some kind of proof then just tell me and I will do it." he told her. "I meant what I said you are my destiny, not Tess, not anyone else."

Liz was quiet for a moment, she took his hand in hers and looked deep into his eyes, "Would you stop meeting with Tess, would you just be here with me?" she asked him as she pulled him closer toward her.

Max looked deep into her eyes, "If your asking me to give up who I was so that I can be with you now then my answer is yes." he told her, "I meant what I said I don't care about any of that, I care about you."

Liz shook her head, "Max its not that I don't want you to find out about who you were its just that I want us to do it together. I think I can help you find some of the answers you're looking for without Tess." she told him.

Max leaned in and captured her mouth with his, as their kiss deepened Liz pulled him closer and held him in her arms. He ran his hand down across her shoulder as she held him close. It was only the sound of her mother coming down the hallway that made him jump away from her.

Liz laughed, "Don't worry she is just going down stairs to help my dad open the Crashdown." she told him as she pulled him back down toward her.

"Maybe I should go?" he said as he laid there looking into her eyes. "I don't want to start something we can't finish." He told her then he captured her lips with his and pulled her closer into his arms again.

Liz couldn't believe how right it felt to have him hold her, to have him kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as their kiss deepened and felt her heart begin racing. She knew what she wanted was to be with him but now wasn't the best time with her parents right down stairs. She forced herself to regain control and ended their kiss. "You probably should go." she told him as he moved away from her.

He got up and slipped on his shoes and pulled on his jacket, "I want to see you later." he told her as he walked over toward her bedroom window.

Liz got up and walked over to him, "You will." she said as she gave him a quick kiss, "In about ten minutes when you come around to the front of the Crashdown and I let you to have breakfast with me."

Max grabbed her around the waist and kissed her one last time, "I love you Liz Parker."

"I love you too." she told him as she pushed him out, "Now go." she told him, "I am hungry and I have big plans for us today."

He smiled then he walked over to the balcony and climbed down the ladder. Liz turned and walked over to her dresser, she picked up her cell phone and sent Serena a text. "Change of plans, bringing Max to see your dad today. Will he be ready?"

"I think so, I guess the better question is, will Max be?" Serena responded. Liz took in a deep breath and put her phone back down on the dresser, "Alright Nicholas...it's your move." she mumbled to herself before she went into the bathroom to get dressed.

(Thank you if you read this story. I had a lot of fun writing it. I do plan to continue on with it but for now hope you liked it