Roswell Fanatics

Crazy feedbackers...always wanting updates...what's up with that?

Anywho ask and ye shall receive. Here's the newest part, I'll try to get the next post out a little sooner than I did this time.

As always thanks for the feedback, you guys are the coolest.

Keep on truckin'

Syke



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was past noon when Isabel finally talked Maria and Tess into leaving the bedroom again. Maria had run back in this morning fuming about her issues with Liz. The three girls had spent the last few hours rehashing the same arguments from yesterday. Isabel could understand Maria’s anger, after all they didn’t call her Hurricane DeLuca for no reason but Tess’ animosity was a bit strange. She hadn’t been after Max for years and she obviously didn’t feel betrayed since Tess and Liz had never been friends. It just didn’t make sense. As the three girls made their way into the kitchen Michael could be heard laughing hysterically.

“Oh, man Cal…you’re gonna kill me,” tears escaped down Deputy Guerin’s cheeks as he grabbed his sides. “You’ve gotta be lyin”

Cal shook his head emphatically, “I swear, it’s the whole truth. I walked into the room and there he is in a leather teddy, matching heels, dancing around singing ‘It’s Raining Men.’”

Suddenly there was a loud thump as Max slipped from his stool and hit the floor. Isabel’s hand flew immediately to her mouth.

“Oh my God Max!”

Max slowly climbed to his feet.

“I’m alright,” he giggled still trying to control his laughter. “I just knew Tom Cruise was a cross dresser.”

“No way,” Maria gasped. “But he told me I was gorgeous.”

Complete silence followed Maria’s statement as the group glanced between themselves. Suddenly all but DeLuca burst out laughing.

Maria stomped her foot in annoyance, “It’s not funny. Michael Guerin you are gonna be in so much trouble if you don’t stop right now.”

Even her threat couldn’t stop the fit of giggles that had overtaken everyone. As they started to sober up a few errant chuckles still sounded. It felt good to really laugh again, and for once Max noticed there was less of an edge. Even though one of their friends was still gone there was nothing that could take away from the weight that Liz had lifted. While they may still be angry with the girl he knew that none of them could wish she was still dead. Max shuddered at the thought. Suddenly the sound of Isabel’s voice pulled him back to the present.

“Are you okay Max?”

The amber-eyed alien met his sister’s concerned gaze, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to get the image of Tom Cruise in a teddy out of my head.”

Cal watched Max closely figuring exactly where the king’s thoughts had been.

“Did you guys want some lunch? I could get Mason to make you something,” Langley asked motioning towards the fridge.

Maria scrunched up her nose at the suggestion, “Um…actually I was thinking of heading down to the beach to tan.”

“Ooh that’s sounds good,” Isabel chimed in. “Guys?”

Max ran a hand through his shaggy locks, “Yeah I’m up for that.”

“Maria in a swimsuit, I’m in,” Michael added earning a punch from his former girlfriend.

Tess shook her head blonde curls bouncing. “I think I’m just gonna stay here…get some sleep.”

The others stood up intent on getting packed for the day. Max stopped at the doorway and glanced back at Cal.

“Where’s Liz?”

There was an odd look on Langley’s face as he answered, “She had some things to do today, she’ll be home later.”

“Oh,” Max whispered slightly disappointed.

“Max,” Langley added taking a sip from his glass. “You should get directions from Mason to RFB, it’s usually not as crowded and has some great food off the water.”

The raven-haired boy nodded before slipping out of the room.

Langley and Tess sat in silence sipping their drinks until the door slammed signaling the gang’s departure. There was an uneasiness to Tess that reverberated throughout the space. Her ice blue eyes shifted nervously around the room. Finally Langley had to break the silence.

“I’m not like him.”

Her eyes widened slightly as she caught his gaze.

“I know…I know that Langley,” but her voice betrayed her words.

Cal sighed taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose, “You got a raw deal Tess. They were already gone by the time you hatched, you never really got to know them and to top it off you were raised by that traitor.”

Tess’ eyes closed painfully at Cal’s words.

“I should have been there for them…for you…maybe you wouldn’t have become what you did,” Cal paused momentarily.

“A murderer.”

Icy blue eyes snapped open only to find Langley’s gray one’s boring into hers.

“It wasn’t like that,” Tess choked out in an odd, strangled voice.

Langley shook his head sadly, “I know why you did what you did but.” Cal held up a hand to silence her, “I also know who you are now. He used you as a pawn in that deal with Kivar and I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

There was a stream of tears flowing down her pale cheeks. An image of Alex flashed in Tess’ mind and she let out a soft sob. She had tried so hard to forget what she had done but he still haunted her everyday. It seemed fitting that as each day passed and Tess became more human that the pain of her betrayal twisted the knife that much deeper.

“You hurt all of them Tess, you took away one of their best friends and splintered their lives…and I almost had you eliminated.”

Tess looked up at Langley in confusion, “Why didn’t you? I deserved it.”

“Yes, you did,” Cal said taking another drink. “But after everything that happened with Liz…I was afraid of what would happen to Isabel, Michael, and especially Max if they were to find out what you’d done. With him gone and no contact from Kivar, you didn’t have a leg to stand on and I decided to let you find your own path with the group. I kept a close eye on you Tess, one false move and you would have been taken care of.”

There was a short-lived silence as Tess took in the information. Four years ago she would have been appalled to learn she was being watched, she would have been defiant preaching his teachings and spitting in the face of this emotional protector. But today she knew the impact of her actions; today she knew real family, although it was still odd to hear someone voice her wrongs. For so long she had kept them hidden away but Langley knew…he could have easily outed her but he didn’t, Cal let her live, gave her that chance she’d never given Alex. With tears swimming in her eyes she met Cal’s gaze again.

“Does Liz know?”

Cal frowned, “You’re still alive aren’t you?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know, I know...I despise Tess but this is the way it has to be...damn this fic

Oh man, I almost pulled a Caelan and posted and took it away...luckily I caught my problems in time.

Sorry the pieces are short but I'm having the worst case of writers block lately.

All my fics will be updated soon but here's the next piece of WTH...thanks for all the FB you, my friends, rock.

Keep on truckin
Syke

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four friends talked quietly in the back of the car as Mason pulled up to the entrance of the beach. He had insisted on driving them because Langley emphasized the importance of their safety. Maria was the first one out of the car, as it pulled to a stop in the half filled parking lot.

“RFB?” Maria said reading the sign in front of her, “Hey Mason, what does it stand for?”

Mason finished pulling the cooler from the trunk before turning to face Maria, “You know, I’m not quite sure.” With a small chuckle Mason ran a hand through his sandy brown hair, “Everyone just calls it RFB. I’m pretty sure it’s named after Randle Furlong, he used to own everything out here…but ever since I can remember it’s just been a beach that we went to.”

Maria nodded, “Why is it so empty? It’s a beautiful day.”

“It’s semi-private as long as you have the pass,” Mason said motioning towards the windshield. “You’re allowed to enter.”

Isabel quirked her head to the side as she studied Mason usually he donned an expensive black suit, glasses, and had his hair expertly gelled back. Today though he wore a pair of blue Hawaiian print board shorts and a black tank, his hair was ruffled and looked four shades lighter without the gel…he also looked about ten years younger like that. Isabel blushed slightly as she realized she was staring but no one else seemed to notice.

“Um, how old are you Mason? If you don’t mind me asking.”

The tanned assistant merely shrugged and began carrying their belongings to the beach, “Twenty nine.”

Isabel fell in step beside Mason ignoring the playful bickering of Max, Michael and Maria ahead of them. She was suddenly curious about the man that Langley seemed to trust with everything.

“How long have you worked for Langley?”

“Awhile,” he replied cryptically setting the cooler down beside Max’s beach towel.

A slight frown marred Isabel’s face at his reluctance, “So, do you know…everything?”

Mason looked over at the tall blonde nodding softly. She gave a nod in return and glanced out over the water. She suddenly wondered how he felt about taking orders from aliens…was he even human? Was Mason his first name or his last?

“Iz!” Max’s voice broke her from the thoughts. “You gonna join us or not?”

Isabel rolled her eyes and stripped down to her bathing suit taking one last glance at Mason who was now setting up a cozy beach area for the four of them.

“Where’s Kyle anyway?” Michael asked pushing Max into the surf.

The tall blonde laughed as the water swallowed Max, “Oh, he said he had some things to do this morning…I stopped asking a long time ago.”

At Maria’s confused look Isabel elaborated, “Sometimes his powers are on the fritz. When it happens he likes to be alone, I guess it’s still kind of hard on him.”

Michael held Max’s head under water to prevent him from hearing Isabel’s answer. The amber-eyed alien still felt guilty for Kyle’s problems even though Kyle himself said he’d gladly deal with weird powers than be six feet under. Max shot up from the water glaring at Michael as his breathing evened out Deputy Guerin just smirked.

“Hey Michael,” Maria yelled grabbing his attention.

“Yeah?” He answered looking towards Maria and he realized his mistake too late.

Max lunged forward wrestling Michael onto the sand. The two men playfully tossed each other around as Maria and Isabel cheered them on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After tiring themselves out in the water they made their way back up to the beach. The site was set up with their towels, umbrellas, and cooler but Mason was nowhere in sight. Michael dropped down onto his towel and pulled a bottle of water from the cooler.

“This beach is fuckin’ awesome,” he commented before taking a swig from the bottle.

“Yeah it is,” Max agreed as he slicked his hair back. Beads of saltwater trickled down Max’s muscled back as he scanned the beach. There was a pack of frat boys tossing a football around, beautiful girls stretched out in the sun, kids building sandcastles…and a tanned blonde goddess surround by munchkins standing on surfboards in the sand…wait…Max’s attention snapped back to the blonde…”Liz?”

“What’d you say Max?” Maria asked glancing at her friend.

Max just shook his head with a small smile, “Nothing Ria.”

As soon as she turned her attention back to the other two Max stood up giving some excuse about wanting to find some food even though there was plenty in the cooler. Maria, Michael, and Isabel didn’t even seem to notice. The closer he got Max couldn’t help but smile as he watched Liz play with the kids around her. They were all laughing as the practiced standing up on their boards as Liz ruffled their hair. It was the first time Max had seen her look so carefree since he’d found her again. Suddenly his smile faltered as exotic green met amber and confusion played on her features.

“Hey,” Max whispered as he stopped a few feet away. Liz couldn’t help but take in his appearance. Max’s shaggy hair was slicked back away from his unshaven face making his eyes sparkle like gold in the sunlight. There was a deep tan covering his muscled chest and water dripped slowly off his black board shorts…ironically covered with green alien heads and the words ‘alien invasion.’

“Nice shorts,” she teased trying to ease the tension that would surly swallow them if they let it.

Max shrugged and returned her slight smile, “They were a birthday present from my mom.”

“Uh huh,” Liz said quirking an eyebrow in his direction. She suddenly realized that they still had an audience. “Okay my little surfers, why don’t you guys go play in the water and we’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.”

The kids grumbled but quickly hugged Liz’s legs and ran off towards the water.

“They’re cute,” Max whispered watching as the youngsters played in the surf. “So…when did you learn to surf?”

Liz shrugged, “Langley got sick of me moping around the house so he forced me to find something to do…hence the surfing. Turns out I’m not half bad, so I started teaching the local kids.”

“Wow,” Max smiled. “I never imagined you to be the surfer type.”

Liz gave him a sad smile, “Things change.”

His chest tightened at her words but Max tried not to show how they affected him. Liz sank down onto her own board motioning for Max to follow suit. The two sat in silence watching the carefree people around them. Max could feel the heat radiating from Liz their arms were a mere hairsbreadth away from touching if Max moved just a little…

It’d been four years since he’d touched her, four years since he’d caressed her most intimate places and Max’s mind began to wonder back to those nights after her ‘death.’ If he concentrated hard enough he could still conjure the smell of strawberries and sex. And now, knowing it wasn’t all in his head…it was driving him mad with need. He knew there was so much that still needed to be said but glancing at her now, shining in the sun he wanted nothing else but to feel her body beneath his. Liz seemed to sense his thoughts as her breathing sped up just slightly.

“Is everyone here?” Liz asked trying to shift his focus.

Max shook his head clearing the haze that threatened to consume him, “It’s just me, Michael, Maria, and Isabel…oh and Mason’s around here somewhere.”

“Speak of the devil…” Liz whispered as Mason suddenly appeared behind Max.

“Max the others are looking for you,” the comment itself was innocent enough but Mason’s tone told Max it was time to leave. Max had half a mind to stay but Liz cut off those thoughts.

“You should probably get back to them, but I’ll see you at the house.”

At Liz’s pleading look he simply stood and offered a small wave before turning back towards the others. The last thing he wanted was to push her into shutting him out again.

“We need to talk,” the sandy haired assistant whispered harshly to Liz as he watched Max’s retreating form.

OK kiddies, I know it's taken me forever and a day to update but now that school's out I'll try to get updating regularly.

Thanks to everyone who's reading, you all rock in my book Sorry this part is short but i'll be back as soon as I can with the next chapter

Keep on truckin'
Syke

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There was nothing going on Mason,” Liz hissed through gritted teeth.

Mason snorted in disbelief, “Yeah…I’m sure.”

The petite blonde let out a frustrated groan before stalking off towards the line of stores. Mason caught up to her quickly and fell into step. It didn’t take long for the two of them to reach the surf shop. There was a thick silence between them as Liz shoved her board into the backroom.

“Liz.”

She ignored Mason’s attempts to get her attention as she browsed through the new shipment of Roxy suits. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Mason, he was just as stubborn as Langley about the situation. Even though she heard the frustrated grunt behind her Liz was still surprised at the strength of Mason’s grip on her arm. He spun Liz around to face him, her eyes raked over his unreadable expression.

“What’s going on?”

His words were cold and demanding as his blue eyes searched her emerald depths. For a moment Liz could have sworn she saw panic but it was gone just as quickly as it appeared.

“Nothing Mason, we were just talking.”

The hand holding her arm dropped heavily to his side. Mason ducked his head refusing to meet her gaze.

“Don’t make all of this for nothing,” Mason whispered hoarsely before quickly leaving the shop.

Liz stood dumbly watching his retreating form with tears in her eyes, “I won’t.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max’s mind was on overload. After talking to Liz he had gone back to the group only to find everyone back in the water. When Max slipped back up to their towels for a drink he saw Mason return. Langley’s assistant sat stalk still a few feet away, he was wearing sunglasses but Max knew the distant stare behind those shades. The almost undetectable clenching and unclenching of Mason’s jaw had Max wondering about the exchange between him and Liz. Max hadn’t seen her since the beach and Mason had stalked straight to his quarters as soon as the car was unloaded. After checking in with Kyle, Max had gone upstairs for a long shower. So now he was sprawled out on the bed covered by only a thin white towel as he studied the designer ceiling. With a frustrated sigh Max stood and searched through his luggage for clothing. He haphazardly tossed on crimson basketball shorts and a white t-shirt before glancing at the clock. 10:45. They had spent hours at the beach much to the chagrin of Mason. Max ran a hand through his damp hair.

“No.”

The word was barely a whisper.

“No.”

It came again, this time a little louder. Max felt the hairs on his neck stand right before it happened.

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Liz’s voice resounded in his head as Max took off sprinting towards her room. When Max rushed through her door he stopped dead in his tracks. Liz was sitting straight up in her bed, a look of pure terror marred her features as she glanced around with unseeing eyes. The gasp that escaped him was barely audible over her whimpers. In a second Max was beside Liz wrapping his arms firmly around her and was on his back just as fast. Max didn’t feel the arm that dragged him back only the surge of fire that seemed to run through his veins and the sporadic flashes that engulfed his mind. The pain was blinding and he couldn’t help but howl against the feeling. As quickly as it came it was gone and Max opened his eyes only to find Liz clinging to Mason’s neck. He was smoothing her hair whispering softly to her but the frantic fear had still not left her. When a slight groan Max stood stepping towards the bed.

“Don’t.”

Max stilled at Mason’s growled words but Liz was still shaking, he had to help her.

“There’s nothing you can do Maxwell,” Mason said without looking up. “Just go back to bed.”

Max opened his mouth but suddenly amber met deep blue and he saw the fear in Mason’s eyes. A fear that Max couldn’t place because Mason always seemed so controlled but now he seemed frantic. A warm hand enveloped Max’s shoulder as he heard Langley’s words.

“Mason’s got her, just go back to bed.”

But Max couldn’t tear his eyes away from her petite form.

“What’s happening to her?” His voice faltered at the thought of something wrong with his Liz.

Langley shrugged, “Just a nightmare…it will pass. Pease Max, go back to bed.”

Max’s heart was tugging him towards Liz but the and on his back guided his back out the door.

“I can’t just leave her,” Max whispered softly finally glancing at Langley.

The older man just gave a cryptic smile, “She’ll be fine, really. Go to bed.”

“But-“

“Go,” Langley’s tone left no room for argument. Max turned and headed back to his room as his eyelids began to droop. He would get his answers first thing in the morning.