Roswell Fanatics

The Day That Never Ended
By Aussie_Dreamer (aka Nicki)

Disclaimer: The author of this fan fiction does not own any aspect of Roswell. Those rights belong to Melinda Metz, Jason Katims, WB, UPN, 20th Century Fox, etc. Disclaimer added by moderator.

In response to Dia’s challenge.
-The day after ‘End of the World’.
-Liz keeps repeating the day over and over.
-No matter what she does each morning she wakes up to the same day.
-Kinda like Groundhog Day
-She only starts to live past that day when she fixes things between herself and Max.
-One day she must commit suicide, run away and do the things she never had the guts to do.
-Couples: M/L, M/M, A/I, and T/K.

Author’s Notes: I decided to repost all the chapters here instead of giving you a link. There are a few changes here and there so it might be a good idea to reread the whole thing. I edited chap two entirely a few days before the board moved, so definitely reread that one.

Oh, and here's the banner bordersinsanity gave me!



And now for the story!

Chapter One
Liz woke up with a start as her alarm went off. She yawned and stretched her arms and legs as she slowly woke up. There was something different about this morning, she just couldn’t figure out what.
But as the fogginess of sleep lifted from her mind, memories of the night before came crashing down upon her. She felt the vomit rise up in her throat as she raced for the bathroom.
“Oh God…” she groaned once her stomach had been emptied. How could she have forgotten last night? It had plagued her dreams, turning them into horrendous nightmares. How could that change so quickly? Through all this, one thought popped into her head.
Max didn’t love her anymore.
What was going to be a long, beautiful and romantic relationship, quickly turned upside down as Max’s efforts to win her back were thwarted by his own future self.
“Liz? Are you up? Your shift starts in half an hour!”
Liz didn’t answer and Nancy appeared in the doorway.
“Liz, are you-” she stopped when she saw her daughter’s pale face. “Honey, are you alright?”
Liz smiled weakly. There was no way she could tell her what happened. “I’ll be okay,” she lied. “I had a nightmare last night, that’s all.”
“Are you sure? Because we can call someone in to take over for you.”
“As appealing as that sounds, I think I’ll just go to work. I’ll just have a shower and I’ll be down soon.”

The bell above the Crashdown door rang, signalling the arrival of a new customer. Liz looked up and sighed with relief that it wasn’t Max. Why would he come in? She thought bitterly. Everyone knew Max’s number one reason for eating at the Crashdown wasn’t the food.
“You ok?” Maria asked, noticing the look on her friend’s face.
“Oh, I didn't get much sleep last night.”
“You look like you got your heart stomped out. No, wait...that would be me. Well, if it's possible, you look worse.”
Liz glanced at the doorway. “Have you seen Max today?”
“He did this to you?” Maria couldn’t believe it. Had he broken up with her again?
“No, uh...well, yeah. I just...I can't even explain it.” Liz eventually said.
“You can't explain? This is me you're talking to here.”
“I just want to make sure that he's ok. But, if you see him, just don't tell him I asked. Nothing’s wrong. I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“Whatever’s wrong is about Max. What happened between you guys? Yesterday he was all set to get you back. What changed?”
“It’s…” Liz stopped, searching for the word. “Complicated. It’s really complicated.”
The bell rang again and the four aliens walked in and sat down at their usual booth.
Liz looked at Maria. “Can you take it?”
Maria shook her head. “They’re in your section. Just treat them like any other customers.”
“Does that work?” Liz asked.
“Try it and let me know.”
Liz walked over to take their order, and was surprised by the range of expressions on their faces. Max was staring at the table but she could tell he was depressed, Isabel seemed puzzled, Michael kept glancing over at Maria and Tess’ expression was oddly neutral. 'Okay Liz. Act normal.' She told herself.
“Hey guys. What can I get you?” Liz asked, pulling out her notepad.
“Cherry coke for me, thanks Liz.” Tess started, and Isabel nodded.
“I’ll have the same.” She looked at Max, who didn’t even look up. “Max will have one too.”
Liz wrote it down. “Michael?” He didn’t answer. “Michael?”
“What? Oh yeah. Same here.” He replied, still looking at Maria.
“Right. Anything to eat?”
They all ordered Galaxy Subs (well, Isabel ordered one for Max) and Liz took the order slip to Jose. She came back soon with the drinks and put them on the table.
“I’ll be back later with your burgers.”
And so it continued. Liz would rush around serving the customers, trying to keep her mind off Max, who didn’t seem to be doing too well. Well what did you expect? Bright cheerful smiles? Maria kept trying to get Liz to talk and Liz would keep brushing her off. The pod squad had finally left two hours ago.
When her shift ended a couple of hours later, she decided to go for a walk. After changing into her normal clothes, she headed for the park, and sat down at her usual bench.

Meanwhile in another part of town, Max was just leaving his house. His family had noticed his mood and they were asking questions. He didn’t want them to worry so he told them he was okay.
He headed for the park, it was the closest place he could get some clear thinking done. He was sure Liz wouldn’t deliberately hurt him. If someone had asked him even yesterday that Liz would sleep with her ex-boyfriend, he would have laughed at them. The idea that Liz would give up her virginity to anyone she didn’t truly love was laughable. That’s when his thoughts turned dark. What if Liz was only pretending to love him? What if she still loved Kyle?
No, Max decided. He would have felt it. That he was sure of.
He stopped a few feet short of his usual bench. Liz was sitting there. Why was Liz there? Wasn’t she still working? He looked at his watch, no she’d gotten off half an hour ago.
He sat down next to her. “Hey. Can we talk?”
She didn’t look up. “What is there to talk about, Max?”
“Why did you sleep with Kyle? The Liz I know would never do that.”
“Maybe that’s it Max.”
“What?”
“Maybe I’m not the Liz you know.”
Max was shocked. “Are you a shapeshifter? A Skin?”
A bitter laugh escaped Liz’s throat. “No. That would make it simple, wouldn’t it? I’m as human as Alex or Maria. I meant that recent life experience has taught me that some things aren’t meant to be.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “Max, ever since we saw that message from your mother, I’ve known we aren’t supposed to be together. That’s why I went to Florida during the summer. You needed time to get over me.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I know that now. Think back this last week Max. What exactly has happened?”
“You set me up with Tess.”
“Right. And when you wouldn’t get the hint, I told you exactly how I felt.” Liz looked at Max straight in the eyes. “Max, you need to let me go. It’s not right we’re together when your whole planet is depending on you. I’m not right for you. You need to be with Tess.”
“I don’t want to be with Tess.”
“Yeah well, we don’t always get what we want.” Liz stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow Max.”

Liz went home quickly and took the ladder up to her balcony to avoid her parents. She could just sit in her room and write in her journal, not getting disturbed by anyone.
She took out her journal and sat on her bed. Someone knocked on her door. Without waiting for an answer, Maria walked in, “Hey Liz.”
“Hey Maria. What’s up?”
“I was going to ask you the same question. You’ve been avoiding me all day. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Nothing.”
“No, see, you can’t say that to me. I know something’s wrong, and I know it has something to do with Max.”
“Maria, I’m okay. I just had a lot to deal with this past week.”
“Like what?”
“Like finding out my boss was one of the enemy.” Liz jumped at the first thing that came to her mind.
Maria looked at her friend carefully. “Are you sure that’s it? Because it seems like there’s something else.”
“I swear Maria, that’s it.” Besides the time-travelling boyfriend she added to herself. She couldn’t tell anyone what happened, not even Maria. She picked up her journal. “You can even read my journal.”
Maria looked at it, obviously considering the option, then shook her head. “No, I trust you. If you say that’s it, then I believe you.” Liz immediately felt guilty for lying to her friend. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I’m just worried that more of them are going to come.”
“If they do, then we’ll deal. We have Czechs on our side too, remember.”
“We only have four, and we don’t know how many more there are of the other side.” Maria was silent, and Liz kept going, “And we don’t know how powerful they are, and where any are hiding. Some of our teachers could be one. Some of the other students could be Skins.”
“Like Pam Troy?”
Liz smiled, appreciating the attempt at humour. “Yeah, I can see her trying to kill us. She’s hated us since forever, anyway.”
“I always thought that was because Max was ignoring her and staring at you.” Immediately Maria stopped. “Oops, sorry Liz. I know how you feel about this whole destiny issue.”
Liz was saved from replying when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Liz, it’s Tess.”
“Tess?” Maria looked up, surprised. “How did you get my number?” Liz paused. “Never mind, stupid question. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if we could talk.”
“About what?”
“Max. What you did to him. Can we talk tomorrow or something?”
“Yeah, fine. Bye Tess.”
“Bye.” They both hung up and Maria looked at Liz.
“What was that about?”
Liz shrugged. “She wanted to talk about something. She didn’t explain why.”
Maria didn’t say anything in reply. She had an idea what it was about, but she knew Liz wouldn’t want to talk about it, and there’s only so far that you can push a friend for answers before you push that friend away. So instead she changed the topic and they began talking about what they were going to do during the upcoming Christmas break.
Hours later, Maria left and Liz picked up her journal again.
The last few days have been weird, even by Czechoslovakian standards. Earlier this week, after a trip to Mrs DeLuca’s psychic (who told me Max was going to choose me, by the way), I was visited by Max’s own future self. He told me that we had gotten together, and Tess had left. Without her, though, we wouldn’t be strong enough to beat the enemy. So Future Max and I first tried to set up Max and Tess. When that didn’t work (he caught me spying on them) I made up a whole speech on how I didn’t want to die for him.
I would die for him in a second. I mean, he’s the only reason I’m alive right now. The speech almost worked, but in the end, I had to crush both of us. I pretended to sleep with Kyle, on the night that should have been mine and Max’s first time together, and Max saw us.
That was last night. Today, I had to deal with the consequences.
Maria noticed that I wasn’t doing too well, but I didn’t tell her what happened. Max tried to talk to me as well, so I had to tell him more things to get him to turn even further away from me. Tess rang me earlier as well. She wants to talk about Max tomorrow. She probably just wants to gloat about how she’s finally got him. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
I’m not sure how I’ll handle lying to everyone every day, but I know I can’t tell them the truth. I can’t tell them about Future Max and what the Granolith is capable of.
As for how I handled today, the first day of lies, I can take comfort in knowing tomorrow is another day.

Chapter Two
Liz woke up with a start as her alarm went off. She yawned and stretched her arms and legs as she slowly woke up. There was something different about this morning, she just couldn’t figure out what.
As she got ready for another day of work, she remembered yesterday’s events. Talking to Max, Tess’ phone call and her talk to Maria. She was still puzzled over Tess’ call and wondered what she knew about the night before. Did she know? If she did, how did she found out?
She was just getting into her uniform when her mom knocked on the door.
“Liz? Are you up? Your shift starts in half an hour!”
“Yeah, I’m almost ready. I’ll be down soon.”

Liz rushed around, serving the customers, checking the door for Max frequently. Would he come in with the others? Just Tess? Just Isabel? Or would he not come in at all? Did their conversation last night have any impact on him? Was he going to give up on her? The questions kept running through her mind, and she shook them off.
“Liz? What’s going on with you today?” Maria asked while they were both at the counter gettting drinks. “Something seems wrong.”
“I’m okay Maria. It’s just, well, you know.”
The blonde shook her head. “No I don’t. Is it Max?”
“No, it’s not Max.”
As if knowing he was being talking about, the dark haired alien walked in with the other three members of the ‘pod squad’. They sat down in the same place as yesterday and Liz went over to take their orders.
“Hey guys, what’ll it be?”
They ordered Galaxy Subs and cherry cokes again, and as Liz wrote it down, a strange feeling of déjà vu rushed through her. She looked at the four sitting down and realised something she hadn’t noticed before. They had the same expressions as yesterday on their faces. Max still looked upset, but she could contribute that to the talk yesterday. Michael was still looking over at Maria frequently and Isabel looked slightly confused. Had she noticed something weird going on? And Tess… she gave no indication that she knew anything. Not about the other night, or the phone call last night.
“Is something wrong, Liz?” Isabel asked, noticing the teen was still there, staring into space.
Liz shook herself out of it. “I’m okay. Just had this incredible feeling of déjà vu. I’ll be back soon.”
Liz gave the order to Jose and, after delivering the drinks, sat down for a break. She glanced over at the Czechs again. Studying them carefully this time, she was surprised to note that at least Isabel and Max were wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Max was no surprise, he was upset after all, but Isabel Evans, Queen of West Roswell High, never wore the same outfit two days in a row.
Something was definitely going on here. She looked around the diner. Maria had just finished serving a family on the other side of the room, and was now coming over.
“Hey Liz. Taking a break already?”
“Yeah, I’m kinda tired. Plus, I’ve been having this weird feeling of déjà vu all day.”
“Really? About what?”
“Everything. I don’t really know how to describe it. Like I swear Isabel’s wearing the same outfit as yesterday.”
Maria looked at Isabel then turned back to Liz. “No, she’s not. She wore a purple shirt yesterday. Remember? Pam Troy wore the same top.”
“That was Friday.” Liz said, confused.
“Yeah, yesterday. Today’s Saturday.”
“No, today’s Sunday. I remember working all day yesterday.”
“Well, either I’ve completely forgotten a whole day or you dreamt the whole thing. And I’m going to go with the last one.”
“That still doesn’t seem right. How would I have dreamt today, if it hadn’t already happened? I can’t see the future.”
“Maybe today has happened and this is a dream.” Maria suggested, then groaned. “I think I’m getting a headache.”
“Are you sure today’s Saturday?”
“Positive.” She was about to say more when Jose called out the Subs were ready. Liz quickly delivered them and went back to Maria.
“So what are you going to do? If this is a dream, I mean?”
“I think it’s too real to be a dream, so I probably dreamed the whole thing and getting details confused. Because there is no way I’m psychic.”
“Too bad. You could give me advice on Michael.” She said to lighten the mood.
“Why would you need advice? I thought you were done with him.”
“Yeah, but the look on his face…”
“Yeah, I know,” Liz sighed, remembering the other night. No, last night. That was getting confusing.
“…And plus,” Maria continued, “he’s been looking over at me all day. I know he could be waiting for Courtney, but…”
“But you don’t think he is. I agree. I think he wants to talk to you.”
Maria glanced at Michael, who immediately went back to his sub. “I’m not going to let him. He kissed Courtney.”
“True. So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”

After her shift, Liz headed to the park. She wasn’t surprised to see Max sit down next to her.
“Hey. Can we talk?”
She didn’t look up. “What is there to talk about, Max?”
“Why did you sleep with Kyle? The Liz I know would never do that.”
“Max, you have to let me go. Neither of us can move on properly until you do. You heard what your mother said. Tess was your bride. She has powers that can help you when your enemies come. I’m only a regular human girl. I can’t do anything special. You have to be with Tess.”
“I don’t want to be with Tess.”
“Yeah well, we don’t always get what we want.” Liz stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow Max.”

Liz went home quickly and took the ladder up to her balcony to avoid her parents. No sooner had she settled on her bed with her journal once more, when someone knocked on her door. Without waiting for an answer, Maria walked in, “Hey Liz.”
“Hey Maria. What’s up?”
“I was going to ask you the same question. What’s going on with you and Max?”
“Nothing.”
“No see, you can’t say that to me. I know something’s wrong, and I know it has something to do with Max.”
“Maria, I’m okay. I just had a lot to deal with this past week.”
“Like what?”
Besides the time-travelling boyfriend? She asked herself silently, and sighed. “I can’t tell you.”
“Liz, I’m your best friend. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“I know, but I promised. Let’s just say it’s been a difficult week for everyone.”
Before Maria could push for details, the phone rang. When Liz picked it up, she was surprised to hear it was Tess.
“I was wondering if we could talk.”
“About what?”
“Max. What you did to him. Can we talk tomorrow or something?”
“Yeah, fine. Bye Tess.”
“Bye.” They both hung up and Maria looked at Liz.
“What was that about?”
Liz shrugged. “She wanted to talk about something. She didn’t explain why. Déjà vu again. I swear she called me in that dream or whatever as well.”
“Weird. Nothing is ever simple, is it?”
“Never.”

Hours later, after Maria had left, Liz picked up her journal again.
The last few days have been weird, even by Czechoslovakian standards. A couple of days ago, I was visited by Max- from fourteen years in the future. He told me that we had gotten together, and Tess had left. Without her, though, we wouldn’t be strong enough to beat the enemy. So Future Max and I first tried to set up Max and Tess. When that didn’t work (he caught me spying on them) I went to his window and gave him a load of crap about how I didn’t want to die for him, and how all I wanted was a normal life. I played to every one of his fears.
I would die for him in a second. He’s the only reason I’m alive right now. The speech almost worked, but in the end, I had to crush both of us. After talking to Maria about her seeing Michael and Courtney, I pretended to sleep with Kyle, on the night that should have been mine and Max’s first time together, and Max saw us.
That was last night. Although I swear that it was the night before. Things were happening today, and I swear that it already happened. Maria thinks I dreamed it all. Which seems impossible, but I was just visited by a time travelling Czech.
Anyway, today Maria noticed that I wasn’t exactly at my best, but I didn’t tell her what happened. Max tried to talk to me as well, so I had to tell him more things to get him to turn even further away from me. Tess rang me earlier as well. She wants to talk about Max tomorrow. I think she just wants to gloat about how she’s finally got him. I am slightly reassured that she doesn’t have him yet, but I have to make sure she doesn’t leave.
I can’t tell anyone about Future Max and what the Granolith is capable of. It’s dangerous, and I don’t want anyone suffering because of it.

Liz woke up with a start as her alarm went off. She yawned and stretched her arms and legs as she slowly woke up. There was something different about this morning, she just couldn’t figure out what. Maybe it was going to be another déjà vu day.
She was just getting into her uniform when her mom knocked on the door.
“Liz? Are you up? Your shift starts in half an hour!”
“Yeah, I’m almost ready. I’ll be down soon.” Liz thought of something. “Mom?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“What’s the day today?”
“It’s Saturday, why?” Liz was shocked. Saturday again?
“Oh, no reason. Just wondering when I’m working until.”
“Three o’clock.”
“Thanks.”
Liz looked at her calender, just to make sure. It said Saturday. 'Not again. How much more can I take?'


Some of the scenes in chap 3 are from EOTW and Harvest (edited slightly, of course). But just so you know, I’m not entirely responsible for the brilliance of this chapter.

Chapter Three
“Hey, remember that Bill Murray movie ‘Groundhog Day’?” Liz asked Maria once she’d gotten downstairs.
“The one where he repeats the same day over and over again? Yeah, why?”
“Because I think the same thing is happening to me. Yesterday I brushed it off as a dream, but it happened again today.”
“What happened?”
“Well, first off, the Czechs are gonna come in around twelve and they’ll order Galaxy Subs and cherry cokes. Isabel will order for Max because he isn’t feeling one hundred percent.”
“Like Michael was?” Maria asked worriedly, remembering that day almost a year ago.
“No. Max is a bit upset at the moment. You know, that speech I gave him? And I turned down going to a Gomez concert with him.”
“You are going to explain why to me later, but go on.”
“Tess will call me tonight while we’re talking. I’ll see Max in the park half an hour after my shift is finished.”
“Hold up, why does Tess call you?”
“I don’t know. She said it was about Max and she’d talk to me tomorrow. Except it still isn’t tomorrow.”
“Are you sure you’re not crazy?”
“I’ll give you some proof. Courtney’s going to call in sick today.”
“I’ll bet. She’s probably scared of what I’ll do to her.” Maria said as the phone rang.
“Crashdown Café. Liz speaking.”
“Liz, it’s Courtney.”
“Hi Courtney.” Maria looked up. Damn, maybe there was something going on.
“I can’t come in today. I’m not feeling well.”
“That’s okay. Will you be in tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“Okay, see ya then.” Liz hung up and looked at Maria. “Well?”
“Okay, maybe there is something going on. But maybe you arranged it with her as a joke on me.”
“Why would I do that? And why would I talk to Courtney after the other night?” Liz questioned reasonably. “After what she and Michael did to you?”
Maria nodded, “I guess you have a point. So why do you think it’s happening? And why are you the only one who remembers?”
“I don’t know. I’d say this was Czech related, but I’m not one of them. Logically this should be happening to one of them.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean? I’m going to stop this. I can’t live today over again.”
“Why not? You have forever to do whatever you want. Remember what Bill’s character did? He went around having fun. He got arrested, learned how to make ice sculptures… okay, I don’t see you getting arrested- I mean, what would you do? Rob a convenience store?”
“I just want to know why this is happening.”
“Well, yeah, I want to know too, but in the meantime, why don’t we have some fun?”
“Yeah, why not,” Liz sighed, giving in. “But can I just do this time by myself? I want to try a few things- plus you have to cover for me. I don’t want my parents out looking for me.”
“Good point. Your fun will be over before it’s even started- and you don’t know how long this loop will go for. Alright, but on one condition.”
“What?”
“You take me with you next time.”
“Deal. I’m going to go and change. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Sure. Have fun!”
Liz raced up the stairs to her room and quickly changed into her normal clothes. Before her parents even noticed she wasn’t downstairs working, she was out her window and halfway down the street.
She eventually found herself walking through the park, not knowing how she was going to spend the day. Obviously it wasn’t about getting Max with Tess. She’d tried that twice already.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Liz stopped walking to watch some kids playing some kind of game. Maria was right, she needed to have some fun. Maybe she could figure out how to stop this some other time. She did have forever.

Liz arrived at the mall, armed with her parents’ credit cards, and prayed today wouldn’t be the last. If she woke up the next morning, and they were broke, her parents would kill her.
She wandered around the mall, going into random shops and buying anything she even remotely liked.
Hours later, she was sitting in the food court, surrounded by bags from various shops, when she heard a snide voice from behind her.
“Well if it isn’t Liz Parker, sitting all alone. Friends abandon you?”
Liz turned around, “Pam Troy. What a pleasant surprise. And here I thought I was going to have fun today.”
The tall blonde looked pissed off Liz hadn’t reacted to her greeting. “I was walking through the park last night.”
“Yeah, so?” Liz couldn’t see her point.
“Saw Max and Tess together. They looked pretty cosy to me.”
“Uh huh.” Liz said, trying not to react to the thought of Max and Tess together.
“Everyone knew you two weren’t going to last. After all, what would Max Evans see in you?”
Liz didn’t answer as she casually drank her coke.
“I bet they’re sleeping together.”
Liz still said nothing. She knew they wouldn’t have, so it didn’t matter what Pam said. The blonde tried getting a few more barbs in, but eventually gave up in disgust. Liz watched her walk away. Pam turned around to face her, mouth open for one last jab, when a middle aged man with a trolley came around the corner and collided with her, knocking the blonde down. Liz cracked up. Maria would love this. I think I’ll bring her here tomorrow.
She was still laughing as Pam hurriedly got up and walked away. Liz collected her things and headed home.

She arrived at the Crashdown just as the aliens were leaving.
“Hi guys. How’s it going?” she asked cheerfully.
“Okay,” Isabel answered. Gesturing to Liz’s bags, “been shopping? What’s the occasion?”
“Just felt like it.” Liz shrugged. “And now that I’ve maxed out my parents’ credit cards, I’m going to take these to my room.”
“You maxed out your parents’ cards? Why?”
“Felt like it.” Liz answered again. Looking at their faces, she decided to elaborate. “I’ve had a bit of a screwed up week and Maria convinced me to have some fun. So I borrowed the cards and went shopping.”
“Won’t your parents be mad?” Tess asked.
“Only if they notice.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Well, if they do ask me what happened, I’ll tell the truth. I was stressed out and needed a break. By the way, saw Pam Troy collide with a trolley at the mall today. Best thing that’s happened all week.”
Max’s expression turned from one of misery to one of shock. Oops. Now what will Max think about Friday night? Will he get suspicious, or will he think it meant nothing?
“I would’ve like to see that.” Isabel said, curiously noting the change in her brother.
“Liz?” Max finally asked. “Can we talk?”
“Sure, why not? Come on while I put these away.”
Max followed Liz through to the apartment upstairs, stopping just short of her room. Liz turned around to see why he hadn’t come in and saw him staring at her bed with a pained expression. Liz dumped her bags on her bed and led him down to the back room.
“I’m sorry Max, that was thoughtless of me. We’ll just talk down here, okay?”
Max nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each searching for something to say. Finally Liz spoke up.
“If you had forever to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?”
“I don’t know,” Max replied honestly. If she had asked him this even yesterday, he would know what to say. But last night just made him confused. Why had Liz slept with Kyle? It obviously didn’t mean much because she thought Pam crashing into a trolley was better. He always thought that Liz’s first time would be special and with him, but last night wasn’t. So did that mean last night wasn’t the first, or was last night a set up? His mind suddenly flashed to a couple of days ago when she had set him up with Tess.
**“It was a set up?” He asked, hurt.
“Yeah.”
“You tried to get Tess and me together?”
“Look, I know that you must hate me right now. I, um...” She stopped as Max leaned forward. He kissed her, trying to show her how he felt. Hate her? He could never hate her…**
And then there was that speech…
**“Max, you can't stop what's happening to you. I mean, your life will always be dangerous, but my life, it doesn't have to be. My life is only in danger if I am with you. I...I want to be in love with boys... normal boys. I...I want to see my 21st birthday. I...I want to have a wedding day. I...I...I want to have children...and I want my children to be safe. You know, Max, if...if you truly love me, you'll let me go. I may love you, but I...I don't want to die for you.”**
Just thinking about it hurt. He’d gone to Maria afterwards, but she’d tried to talk him out of pursuing Liz. She was apparently having problems with Michael.
Back in the present, Liz stood up. “Max, look. There's just...there's nothing left to say.”
“Except the truth.” Max stated, letting her know how he felt, letting her know he was sure she was lying. “So far, all I know is what I saw, and what I saw can't be true, because it means everything I felt in my heart for the last year is a lie.” Max said quietly, trying to get his point across. Surely she could see what he meant. “Please Liz, what happened?”
“It’s not that simple, Max. I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t tell you that either, Max. I’m sorry.”

Liz went back up to her room and listened to music until Maria came up.
“So did you have any fun today?”
“Mostly. Better than working any day. You were right, I did need to have some fun. Now if I just knew what Tess wants.”
“You mean when she calls?”
The phone rang. “Speak of the devil.” Liz picked it up. “Hi Tess.”
“How’d you know it was me?”
“Lucky guess. What’s up?” As if I didn’t know. Liz thought wryly.
“I wanted to talk to you. About Max. Can we meet somewhere tomorrow?”
“Why don’t we talk now?”
“I’d rather talk tomorrow. I don’t want to say it over the phone.”
“Well, why don’t you come over?”
“I can’t. I just thought I’d call you and let you know I think we should talk. I’ll come round before the Crashdown opens, okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” Liz hung up.
“So what did she say?” Maria asked.
“She wants to meet me before I open up tomorrow.”
“That could be a problem. And she didn’t want to come over?”
“She said she couldn’t. This is gonna drive me insane. I’m never going to know what she wants. She always says we’ll talk ‘tomorrow’. As if there’s ever going to be a tomorrow.”
“You don’t think…”
“Think what?” Liz asked when Maria trailed off.
“You don’t think she’s causing this somehow, do you?”
“I don’t think so. I mean, why would she? There’s nothing in it for her.” Tess wouldn’t do something unless there was something in it for her.
“True, but it could still be possible. What do you think is happening?”
“I have no idea.” Liz said, but after a short pause, added, “There is the possibility the Granolith is doing this, but I’m not sure.”
“The Granolith? How?”
“Well, I think that when it was ‘modified’, it screwed up somehow.”
“Modified for what? No one knows how to use it. They only just found the thing- you’ve never even seen it.”
“No I haven’t, but I will. And the Czechs will learn how to use it. I don’t know what it’s for, but I do know it has a huge amount of power.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen what can happen.”
“What? When?”
“During this last week. Why do you think I’ve been so distant lately? I had a visitor, who knew what would happen if me and Max got together.”
“What would happen?”
Liz told Maria what had happened since the visit to the psychic. “And then while we were dancing, he disappeared,” she finished. Her friend was stunned.
“Wow. Liz, you did all that, just so Tess wouldn’t leave? That is so…wow. You saved the world.”
“Which doesn’t do anyone much good if the date never changes.”
“At least the world won’t end. Either way, we win.”
“I didn’t look at it like that, but still, I am eventually going to get sick of having forever. I need to figure this out.”
“I understand that, Liz, I really do, but until you actually have had enough, don’t bother looking for answers. Make the most of what you have.”

After Liz woke up that morning, she immediately got dressed and raced down the stairs.
“You’re up early Liz.” Nancy commented.
“Yeah, I know. There’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to do today. Is it okay if Maria and I take today off?”
“I suppose we can call Agnes to fill in so Courtney won’t be working alone.”
“Great, I just hope the customers don’t get too upset. And if you get desperate, Isabel Evans has filled in for me before.” Liz added, remebering Courtney was going to call in sick.
“When?” Jeff asked. “I don’t remember that.”
“Last year, when Grandma Claudia was in hospital. So is it okay?”
“Oh, I suppose. But you’ll have to make it up to Agnes and Courtney later.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Liz quickly let Maria know what was happening and called Courtney to make sure she came into work. She was a little reluctant for some reason, and mentioning Michael was going to come in didn’t help at all. Liz couldn’t understand it- by all accounts Courtney was attracted to Michael, so why was she avoiding him? She resolved to ask him later. Maybe there was more going on than what she thought.

Chapter Four
Liz lost count of the days. She had no way to keep track of how many times the day repeated. She’d quickly gotten bored with going shopping or to the carnival with Maria (although she never tired of Pam embarassing herself at the mall), so she spent most of time hanging out in places she wouldn’t have normally. She’d roped Michael into altering her ID card so she could go clubbing. To say he’d been surprised was an understatement.
**“You want me to change your ID? Why?”
“I want to go to a club tonight. Unfortunately they don’t let people who are underage in. That’s where you come in.”
“You know what you’re doing is a crime, right?”
“It’s only a crime if I get caught, and anyway, so’s a lot of the stuff I’ve done over the last year for you guys. Are you going to change it or not?”
“Hand it over.” Liz did, and Michael swiped his hand over it. “I was just surprised. You don’t seem the kind of person who would normally do this.”
“Nope, that’s why I’m doing it. I need a change. I need some fun.”
“Alright, but I have one condition before I give this to you.”
“What?”
“Be careful. Max will kill me if he finds out I did this and something happens to you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
“Promise, Liz.”
“Fine, I promise. Now, can I have my ID?”
Michael passed it back. “Remember you promised.”**
Who would’ve thought Michael would go all protective of me? Liz thought. I’m surprised he didn’t offer to come with me.
So, for the first time ever, Liz did something that was not only fun- but illegal as well. She was right when she said nothing was going to happen to her, and decided even if tomorrow came, she would do this more often.

Liz had had so much fun, that she went again and again. She went to bars and drank, but was still cautious about what she did drink. She refused to drink anything that anyone but the bartender had been near, and even then she watched him carefully. She’d heard about date rape drugs, and had no intention of getting raped even though she’d be okay when she woke up.
She varied which bars she went to, but at every one she must have had big glowing neon signs that said ‘don’t bother me’, because no guy so much as flirted with her. It was rather depressing, actually. There she was, a young girl (but as far as they knew she was an adult) getting drunk, and no guy even tried to ask her out.
Tonight, she was sitting in a bar getting bored. She’d hoped tonight she’d get lucky. It’d be nice to know that if she ever wanted to date someone else besides Max she could at least get a number. She didn’t even glance up as someone sat down next to her- she knew it would be futile. She was doubly shocked when the guy- in a very familiar voice- told the barkeeper he’d be buying her next drink.
Hoping he hadn’t seen her face, she disguised her voice and said, “Don’t worry about it. This is my last.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive, but thanks anyway.”
“Can I at least get your name and number? Maybe I can try again some other time?” Oh, this was bad. No way am I gonna get out of this one. Why couldn’t she have guessed someone she knew could be here? It’s not as if she knew the location of everyone she knew- least of all everyone in the ‘I Know An Alien’ Club. But now to get out of here.
“I don’t think so. I’m going to go now.” Liz got up and made for the door.
“You’re not having any luck tonight, are you?” She heard the bartender say.
“Guess not. I didn’t recognise her, but she seemed familiar. What was her name?”
Oh God, please don’t tell him. Liz couldn’t stand it if he knew who she was. She hadn’t thought to have the name on her ID changed. Her hopes of leaving in peace were dashed as the bartender said , “Her ID said Elizabeth. Elizabeth Parker.”
“What?”
Liz immediately ran out the door. She heard the footsteps behind her, signalling she was being followed. I’ve got to get out of here.
A hand landed on her shoulder, spinning her around. She looked up into two very serious eyes.
“Liz, what were you doing in there?”

Chapter Five
“I was getting drunk,” Liz said honestly. “I’ve had a really weird couple of weeks.”
Jim Valenti shook his head. “Even though I’m not on duty, I’m going to have to arrest you for underage drinking.”
“Well, there’s nothing new there. Except I wasn’t drinking last time. When do we leave?”
Valenti looked surprised. “You sound calm about this. Aren’t you worried about your parents?”
“Not really. Let’s go. The sooner I get to sleep the sooner this is over.”
“What’s wrong, Liz?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“Liz, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the truth.”
“You can’t help me, Sheriff. I’ve just had a weird time lately. Tomorrow, I’m going to start figuring out how to fix it.”
“You really think you can handle whatever it is?”
“Yeah. Now, are you taking me to jail or what?”
The man sighed. “No.”
“Why not? I broke the law, didn’t I?” She couldn’t understand it.
“Yes you did, but I don’t see how it will change your attitude at all. You don’t regret what you’ve done, and this is so unlike you, I’m just going to have to hope that you will have come to your senses in the morning. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”
“Maria’s going to love hearing about this.” Liz said as she got into his car.

Liz grinned as she woke up, remembering the events of the night before. She’d thought it was pretty funny when Valenti had tried to pick her up. Although it wasn’t that funny considering he was the only guy to even try. Maybe he was desperate too.
Rushing downstairs she hurriedly explained to Maria about the time loop and ran out the door. She needed to have as much time as possible to convince one of the aliens to help her solve this thing. The question was: which one to ask?

“Come on, come on,” she muttered as she waited for the door to open. “Finally,” she said as the dorr opened. “What took you so long?”
“I was asleep. What’s up?”
“I need your help. I need to go to the Granolith today.” Liz told Michael urgently. He immediately got suspicious.
“Why?”
“Because I think that damn thing is causing a time loop on me, and until I figure out why, there is no tomorrow!”
He snorted. “Yeah right.”
“Why else would I come to you? Max is more likely to believe me, why wouldn’t I tell him?”
“To divide us up? I don’t know!”
Liz groaned. How was she going to get him to believe her? Then she had an idea. “Connect with me. See exactly what’s been happening to me.”
“And how do I know this isn’t a trick?”
“You don’t,” Liz admitted. “Just please trust me. If you don’t believe that I’m me, connect with me. Or waste time asking me questions.”
“Alright.”
Michael faced her, looking directly into her eyes. After a few moments, he looked away. “Shit.”
“What?”
“How could he ask you to do that?”
“Who?”
“Max. The older one.”
“You saw that?” When he nodded, she continued, “I guess I should’ve expected that. It’s what I think is causing this whole thing. He used the Granolith to come back in time, and now time has essentially stopped. I’ve lived through today so many times. I’ve been to the mall and witnessed Pam Troy getting hit by a trolley several times, I’ve gone to numerous bars…”
“How’d did you get in?”
“You changed my ID. You told me Max would kill you if he found out.”
“He would. Alright, let’s go, before he and Isabel come here.”

Liz walked around the Granolith slowly. It was glowing slightly and a soft humming was coming from it.
“Is this normal?”
“I guess so. It’s the same as the last time I saw it, when I took Maria here.”
“Yeah, she told me about that. If you cared so much to show her this thing, why the hell were you with Courtney in her apartment?”
“I was investigating her. I didn’t trust her.”
“And…”
“And what? Maria won’t even let me explain.”
“That’s not what I was talking about. What did you find out about Courtney? Is she just an innocent girl with a crush?”
“Partly.” He said after a long pause.
“Partly? What does that mean?”
“Exactly what I said. Can we leave it alone?”
Liz looked at the Granolith, then back at him. “No.”
“No? Why the hell not?”
“Because you hurt my best friend. I want to know if it was worth it.”
“No, okay? It wasn’t worth it,” he said quietly.
“So Courtney’s normal?”
“If you count being a Skin normal. Why she was after me, I don’t know. I’m not the King.”
“Courtney’s a Skin? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I just told you, didn’t I? So have you figured this thing out yet?”
“No. What about Max? Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Last time I saw him he was on the way to your place to take you to the concert. We know how that turned out.”
That was harsh Liz thought, remembering Max’s face when he saw her and Kyle together.
“Let’s just figure this out. Have any of you touched it?”
Michael was silent and Liz started to wonder if he’d even heard her. “I said--”
“I heard you. I was just thinking. None of us have touched it.”
“That’s weird. It’s the first thing I would’ve done.” Liz reached out towards it, and Michael’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “Ouch! What are you doing?”
“It’s alien. It might not like humans.”
Liz nodded, understanding. “Like Nasedo?”
“Like Nasedo.” Michael remembered the human Nasedo had so casually killed at Eagle Rock. He let go of Liz and lightly touched the base. He pulled it back, swearing.
“What happened? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Damn thing shocked me.”
“Did you get anything from it?” Liz asked.
“Just a quick flash.”
“What was it of?”
“You and Max…”


Chapter Six

“Me and Max? You saw me and Max?” Liz said incredulously to Michael.
“That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”
“What exactly did you see?”
“I don’t know, it was too fast.”
“Well, try touching it again. Whatever it wants, it’s trying to tell us.”
“You think the Granolith is alive?”
“I’m not sure. What I do know is that this is the thing that’s responsible for this mess, and to fix it, we need to know what you saw.”
“Alright.” Michael reached for it again, this time concentrating on finding a solution.
“Well?”
“It was different this time, I know that.”
“What was it of?”
“Still you and Max. I couldn’t see anyone else. This time you were both in my apartment. You were somewhere else in the last one.”
“Why were we in your apartment?” Liz questioned.
“I don’t know.” Michael concentrated on trying to remember. “There was some glowing.”
Glowing? Liz thought. There was really only one time she and Max had been alone in Michael’s apartment. It was last February, during all that orb crap, when the flashes started to appear. She could remember it clearly…
** They were alone in Michael’s apartment.
“Max. I need to find out where all this leads, too. Look.” Liz showed Max the rash on her shoulder, which he promptly healed.
“It's gone.”
“Thanks.”
Max moved his hand down Liz’s arm, making it tingle. He looked shocked, and Liz looked down to see what he was so amazed at. A glowing trail of light was following his hand.
“Max...do you understand any of this?”
“No.”
“Can you take your shirt off?” Liz asked boldly. Maybe she could do the same to him.
Surprised, Max answered, “can I? Yeah.”
He took of his shirt and Liz stared at his bare chest. He obviously worked out a lot, Liz thought appreciatively. She gently glided her hand down, taking it away in disappointment. “I can't do it to you.”
Max smiled at her. “I'm glowing everywhere...my toes, my heart. You can't see it. It's on the inside.”**
“I take it from the smile on your face you know what I’m talking about?” Michael asked, bringing Liz back to the present. She blushed. “Forget it. No answer needed.”
“Have you tried remembering the first flash of me and Max?” Liz asked, still red.
“Yeah, while you were in fantasy land. You were here. I think it was the future. Max looked like the one in the flashes I got from you.”
“You mean you saw Future Max and I? Was it me now or future me?”
“Future you. You looked…upset, like you were saying goodbye.”
“That must’ve been just before he came back. Okay, so now what?”
“Both times when I touched the Granolith, I got flashes of you and Max. That should mean something, right?”
“I guess. But what?”
“Well, when I got the first flash, I was trying to find out exactly what caused this.”
“And you got an image of me and Max changing the future. What about the flash of us in the apartment?”
“How to solve it.”
“So I have to get me and Max together again? Great. How am I supposed to do that?”
“Lying got you into the loop, maybe telling the truth will end it.”
“What, that the world’s going to end because we were in love?”
“Close. Tell him about his future self and what he said. Show him the flashes if you have to- though I don’t think you’ll need them. The guy’s still crazy about you, even after what he thinks you did last night.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So do you want go back to Roswell now? Get back to Max?”
“There’s something that needs to be done first.”
“What?”
“Get you back with Maria.”
“She doesn’t want me back.”
“Yes she does. To prove that I’m right, I won’t talk to Max about this, until you and Maria are together again.”
“You’ll be trapped.”
“It’ll take some doing, I’ll admit…so I’ll help you. We’ll keep Courtney away from work- she’ll call in sick anyway- and we’ll see how it goes from there.”

Liz sighed, waiting was never easy. She hoped Maria and Michael solved this quickly. She didn’t want to go through too many more Saturdays in a row.
At the moment, Maria was serving tables, and for the first time in forever, Liz was working too. From her position behind the counter, she was able to see everything that was happening. Not that anything was. The aliens hadn’t arrived yet, but they were due any minute.
The moment they entered, Liz felt that familiar rush through her body and Maria made for the back, asking Liz to handle things for a few minutes. The brunette rolled her eyes and headed for the booth where the four were sitting down.
“Hey guys!” she said cheerfully. “What can I get you today?”
“Hi Liz,” Isabel replied. “Cherry coke for me thanks.”
“Me too.”
“I don’t want anything,” Michael said, looking around the café.
“She’s in the back room Michael.”
“Who is?” he asked warily.
“Relax, Courtney called in sick. Maria’s alone back there- I even convinced my parents to go out for today.”
Liz grinned as he quickly got up and made the back room. “Not even a thank you. I’m shocked.”
“Why is Michael avoiding Courtney?” Isabel asked.
“He finally figured out she was trying to get closer to him. He wants to be with Maria…and if he tells Maria that I was the one that told him to go back there, she’ll kill me- if it doesn’t work out.”
“You trying to get them together? Why?”
“Because they really care about each other. Michael knows he hurt Maria and wants to make it up to her.”
“SHE’S A WHAT?!” Maria screamed from the back room, attracting the attention of the whole diner. “AND YOU KISSED HER?!” After some prompting from Liz, the customers settled back down again.
“Geesh, Maria. Alert the whole town why don’t you?” Liz sighed.
“Did Michael kiss Courtney?” Tess asked.
“Technically she kissed him, but he made the mistake of going into her apartment and getting caught by Maria who came over to investigate Courtney in case she was, you know.”
“Why did HE go into her apartment?”
“To investigate her, but it kinda backfired.”
“Why did they suspect her?”
“That I don’t know.” Liz looked over at a middle-aged man trying to get her attention. “I’ll be right back.”
She quickly made her rounds, delivering the orders to Jose, then went back to the table to chat with her friends.
“By the way, has anyone seen Alex today?” Liz hadn’t seen him since it was REALLY yesterday. The girls shook their heads. Max was just staring into space. “Max? What about you?”
“Huh? What?” She repeated her question and he shook his head. “Not today. I saw him yesterday afternoon, though.”
“Okay, I’ll find him later then. I have all day.” At that moment Maria stormed out of the back room.
“Liz, I have to go. I’m sorry for leaving you here, but I cannot deal with him right now.”
Liz sighed. She should’ve guessed it wasn’t going to be that easy. “Okay, it’s not that busy anyway.” Maria left and twenty minutes later Michael still hadn’t come back.
Liz went through the swinging door and found him sitting in the middle of the steps to her family’s apartment.
“Michael?” she asked softly. He moved over without a word, intending to let her walk past him. She sat down next to him.
“I know you don’t want to talk about it, so just listen okay?” She didn’t even wait for his surprised nod before continuing. “You hurt Maria, and I know you’re sorry about that. And, unlike everyone else out there, I know Courtney’s a little ‘different’.”
“How do you…?”
“Never mind that now. I’m going to help you fix this whole mess. I’m going to talk to Courtney, and try find out what she’s up to, and you are going to talk to Maria again. Just give her a little time. Unfortunately, I can’t leave here until my shift’s over.” If everything got sorted out today, she’d have to explain it to her parents.
“Why are you doing this?” Michael asked finally, not understanding at all.
“Because I promised.”

Okay everyone, here it is.
But first, some thank yous to my loyal bumpers.
Now, dreamforever88, you want a happy ending for Max and Liz? Well, I'm sure everyone else feels the same way, so I think I can manage that.
Just be warned, if any of you want nookie and wonderful romantic scenes, I really can't write that stuff. I'd have to copy someone else's scenes to make it good, and I refuse to do that. So imagine everything, okay.
nusacme, roswellluver, Itzstacie and Lisa1783, thank you for your bumping as well.
And finally, I can't mention bumpers, without mentioning not_of_this_earth. I'm touched that you care so much to constantly bump this story.

And now, on with the show.

~Chapter 7~

Liz rubbed her eyes tiredly. Getting Maria and Michael back together was harder than she thought. She knew they loved each other, but Maria was scared that Michael would hurt her again. Not physically obviously, but emotionally. Seeing him with Courtney had hurt, and Liz supposed since she was really only given one day to get over it. Maybe it would be better to solve this timeloop problem first, to give Maria time to get over Courtney.
She’d spoken to Courtney the first day she’d tried to get her friends together. Three ‘days’ later, and everything still looked impossible.
*
“Courtney, we need to talk,” Liz said as soon as the Skin had opened the door. The blonde had quickly tried to close it, but Liz had stuck her foot in the doorway so it wouldn’t close.
“I want to know exactly what you were doing with Michael.” Liz demanded, coming straight in. Courtney had no choice but to follow her. “I know you were at his place last night and he was at yours the night before. What was going on?”
“I thought you were naïve, but really Liz, isn’t it obvious?” Courtney tried to laugh it off. Liz shook her head.
“I don’t believe you. You’re the enemy. What could you possibly want with Michael- or any of us?”
“I’m not the enemy, Liz.” Courtney said, not fazed by the fact Liz knew of her alien status.
“But you don’t deny you’re a Skin?” Liz was confused.
“No. I am a Skin, but I’m not with Whitaker. I don’t follow Khivar. A lot of us don’t.”
“Then who do you follow? Max?”
“No. Our planet was on the brink of a golden age. And many of us believe there was only one person who could have brought everything back together when it all fell apart…but he saw it as betraying his best friend.”
“Who…you mean Michael? That’s why you’re after him? Because you think he would’ve been a better king than Max?” Michael was so…Michael. It wasn’t just bias on her part that made her think Max would be a better king.
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Look, I don’t know how they were in their past lives, but what makes you think Michael would be better as king? He’s temperamental, and usually does things without thinking them out.”
“As opposed to Max, who just sits around watching life pass him by, while our world is dying? We need action.”
Liz sighed. “Which will happen. But how do you suppose four hybrid teenagers are supposed to get to your planet and save it. You have a ship they can use?”
“They have the Granolith, don’t they? They can use that.”
“Alright, first Whitaker, and now you mention it. All I know about the Granolith is that it’s incredibly powerful. What exactly is it?” Besides a time machine, anyway. Was it really capable of taking them away? Of taking Max away from her?
“Only the royals have ever known. It’s a deeply kept secret. And since it was sent down here with them, it’s probably powerful enough to send them home and save us.” Wonderful. The Skins wanted it and they didn’t even know why.
“I guess.” Liz looked at Courtney, trying to discern how trustable she was. “Have you told me everything?”
“Just one more thing. Nicholas is on his way here.”
“Who’s Nicholas?”
“The leader of the Skins here on Earth. He was close to Whitaker, and is no doubt preparing for an attack to revenge her death.”
Liz muttered sarcastically, “As if my life doesn’t suck enough at the moment. At least he won’t get here in a hurry.” This timeloop could come in handy.
The alien heard her. “What makes you think that? He could be here any moment.”
“Well, I have a slight advantage over him.”
“You? He’s strong. Really strong. What makes you, an ordinary human, think you have an advantage over him?”
“Because I can prepare too, and once my current crisis is over with, I can get the others ready.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell Michael and the others as soon as possible?”
“And I will. But this is bigger than that.” After all, there was no way Nicholas could end the world permanently while the timeloop was going. It’d just be back the next day.
“What could possibly be bigger than an alien invasion?”
“That is on a need to know basis…and you don’t need to know.”
“You don’t trust me.” She stated flatly.
“Well, no. Look, I just want today over with.”
“Tell me about it. I never thought I would hate Saturday.”
“Why do you hate Saturdays?” Liz asked. Was this whole thing a result of the Skins interfering? Did Courtney know what was happening? But what about Michael’s flash? What did that mean, then?
Courtney shot back, “Why do you?”
“Nevermind. Just, stay away from Michael. He loves Maria, and is doing everything he can to get her back.”
“If he loves her so much, then why was he with me?”
“To find out information. He suspected you were a Skin, and he was right. I’ve already spoken to him, and he regrets hurting Maria, and will do anything to make it up to her.”
*
Since that conversation, she’d been preparing herself for the attack by asking Courtney questions about the Skins- their weaknesses, their base, Nicholas- everything she could think of. Looking back on it, Liz started thinking maybe she shouldn’t have even told Courtney that much about what was going on, but she kept getting the feeling that Courtney was telling the truth, that she was on their side…well at least on Michael’s side, she added to herself with a wry grin.
“So, what’s that smile for?” Maria asked.
“Oh, nothing. Is Michael still trying to get back with you?” Liz asked, changing the topic slightly.
“Yeah, all day he’s been giving me notes and flowers, begging me for his forgiveness. I’m starting to wish I’d catch him cheating on me more often- it’s definitely bringing out a romantic side.”
“So you going to forgive him?” Liz asked, hiding the hope she was feeling. She was rather impressed Michael had figured out on the flowers. The only help she had given him today was going to his place early and telling him to hurry and make up with Maria.
“I don’t know. I mean, I thought I wouldn’t no matter what, but he obviously feels bad- which he should, of course- but maybe I should just hang this over him for a few more days.”
Liz was suddenly panicked. What if Maria changed her mind over the next few days? This had to get resolved today. There was no telling what could happen. Luckily, Maria didn’t see the panic on her best friend’s face or she might have suspected something.
“Maybe,” she said noncommittedly.
There was a knock on Maria’s bedroom door and Amy walked in, holding a package.
“This was on the doorstep. It’s addressed to you.”
“Who’s it from?”
“It doesn’t say.” Amy said, handing it over. Maria and Liz looked at it.
“That’s Michael’s handwriting.”
Maria opened it up. Inside was a box with small sections- perfect for aromatherapy vials.
“Is there a note?” Liz asked. Maria picked up a small piece of paper that had fluttered out when the packaging had been ripped open.
“Dear Maria,
I’m not good at this, this is Max’s specialty, but here goes.
I know I make you mad, and I know you think I’m never grateful for anything you do. Well, you’re half-right. I’m always grateful for your help, even when I pretend I’m not. You helped me after Hank, and you saved my life. You make me realise I am cared for, that I have family beyond Max and Isabel.
I can’t guarantee I’ll never make you mad, so this is for your oils for when I do.
Please forgive me,
Michael
PS. I made this myself, no powers”
Maria looked up at Liz from the note. “Oh my god. This is the best thing he’s ever done.”
Liz was stunned. Leaving him alone and giving him longer to prepare was doing the trick. Maybe this would be over today after all.
Maria picked up the phone and dialled the number for Michael’s apartment.
“It’s Maria. I just wanted to say thank you…Don’t think this lets you completely off the hook for that thing with Courtney, but I want to know why…You don’t want to explain over the phone? …Okay, I’m coming over. Bye Spaceboy.”
Maria looked at Liz, who smiled. “I think that’s my cue. I’ll be at home. Ring me and let me know how it goes.”
“Thanks.” Carefully placing the box on her dresser, Maria followed Liz out the room.

“Liz, you would not believe what he told me!”
“What?” Liz asked trying to get comfortable.
“He told me he was investigating her in case she was…yu know, ‘unfriendly’…and he was right. She isn’t who she says she is.”
“You mean she’s a…?” Liz trailed off, acting surprised.
“Yeah! We’re going to go talk to her…soon. See what she’s after. Before we go, we have something to ‘take care of’. I just wanted to let you know how it went.”
“Well good. I’ll let you go then. And now I have something to take care of. See you later.” Liz hung up, feeling estactic. Finally, everything was going to be okay!
She picked up the phone again, dialling the number she had memorised long ago.
“Max, can we talk?”

~~~~
Hope you liked it! And I'll see what I can do about having another part up by the weekend!

Nicki

Well, I'm a MacRobbian for at least another term. I had to sign a contract, saying I'd do my best...which means I'm still locked fron the fun Internet sites at school. But, luckily for everyone...my dad doesn't usually get home until after 6, so I have a full hour after I get home from school. And tomorrow's the last day of term 1 as well.

Chapter eight is dedicated to my wonderful bumpers, who have INCREDIBLE patience.
Ala, nus, isis, mg_ros and stacie...where would I be without you?

Chapter Eight

Liz pulled out her journal while she was waiting for Max. She hadn’t looked at it after the first few times the day had repeated, but now that everything was ending, maybe it was time to update it.
Dear diary, it’s November 4, I’m Liz Parker, and finally I believe things are going to work out. While it seems only a short time since I last wrote in this, in reality, it’s been a lifetime. It started when Maria dragged me to a psychic, who lifted my hopes that Max would choose me.
Which he would have, if he hadn’t travelled back in time fourteen years to stop us getting back together. Apparently the Granolith is capable of time travel. I didn’t believe him either, until he proved it to me. So instead of ignoring the Max from the future, and getting married at nineteen in Vegas, and ‘cementing’ our relationship (Those were the exact words he used, I swear), I decided to do the right thing, and set him up with Tess. No surprise when that didn’t work, so I spent hours working on a speech, which seemed to work for a little while. Unfortunately for the world, fortunately for our relationship it didn’t, but I was forced to take extreme measures to save my friends and family.
I pretended to sleep with Kyle. It worked. Max saw us, and after a brief wedding dance, Future Max disappeared.
And that’s when things got weirder, even by Roswell standards. Today has been repeating itself. I’ve been stuck in some sort of timeloop. At first it was fun.
I got to go shopping, skip work, watch Pam Troy get bulldozed by a trolley at the mall at least five times, solve the crisis going on between Michael and Maria…and learn a few valuable things about the inner workings of Michael’s mind. No matter what he says to most people, to Maria, and even to himself…he does love her. He was so sweet in his attempts to get Maria back. I read a few of the notes he gave her. They were beautiful, and so very Michael.
In fact, it was Michael who helped me solved this. He got several flashes of Max and I from the Granolith, so maybe we shouldn’t have messed with time in the first place. If we hadn’t, Max and I would’ve been…together…last night.
Who knows, maybe tonight we can get things back on track. I know I’ve probably changed a lot because of all this. It’s gonna be hard going back to the ‘old’ Liz- the one that never got Michael to alter her ID so she could enter places illegally, the one that would skip work just to go to a cheesy carnival, and the one that would ‘borrow’ Michael’s motorcycle. (And if he ever finds THAT out…)
You know, maybe I won’t go back to the ‘old’ Liz. Sure, everyone will be shocked at the ‘new’ me, but maybe it’s time for a change. And if Pam wants to say anything, I’ll just remind her about the trolley.
Anyway, Max will be here soon, and I’ll talk it over with him before Tess rings. Here’s to the future…may we actually have one…
Liz closed her journal and leaned back in her balcony chair. Might as well be comfortable for when Max arrived.
That was the last thing she thought before she drifted off to sleep…
*
It wasn’t even ten minutes later when Max appeared over her balcony wall. He had called up softly, but he hadn’t heard or seen any response from Liz, so he climbed up anyway. What he saw took his breath away.
There was his Liz, curled up on the deck chair, and a leather covered book that he recognised as her journal sitting on the ground next to her. Max was contemplating waking her up to find out what she wanted to talk about when she shifted in her sleep, muttering softly.
He leaned closer to hear her say his name. Not Kyle’s, not anyone else’s, but his. So what was going on? He decided against waking her up. Whatever it was, they could talk about it in the morning. He carefully lifted her up and she curled against him, hugging him tightly as if afraid he would leave. Somehow he managed to get her inside and onto her bed. Not knowing how she’d fell about him seeing her undressed, he only took off her shoes and tucked her in. She looked peaceful and at ease, which was more than he could say for her behaviour during the day. She had been skittish at work, always running around with more energy and enthusiasm than he had expected from her- she hadn’t been that cheerful at work since before Tess had arrived.
He sat beside her on the bed, just watching her. The phone rang, and he answered it before it could wake Liz up.
“Hello?”
“Max, is that you? What are you doing at Liz’s?” Maria’s voice came over the phone. In the background, he could hear Michael’s voice saying, “Max is there? What the hell is he…? Foget it, I don’t want to know.”
“Michael!” Maria hissed. “Nevermind him, Max.”
“Right. What did you want? Liz is sleeping and I don’t want to disturb her.” Max said quietly, glancing over at Liz.
“Oh, I think Liz and I need to have a very long talk tomorrow over icecream. Don’t worry about it, Max. Just tell her that I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Max blushed over what Maria and Michael were insinuating had happened between himself and Liz.
“Oh, and Max? We should probably have a meeting tomorrow. We’ve learned something new over the last couple of hours about the enemy. Meet us at the Crashdown after closing tomorrow, okay? Great, see ya.” Maria hung up, leaving Max staring at the phone speechless.
He was about to leave when the phone rang again.
“Yes Maria?” Max asked.
“It’s not Maria. It’s Tess.”
“Oh…hi Tess. What’s up? Liz is sleeping so this is going to have to be really quick.”
“She’s asleep? Well, I guess that takes out my plans for tonight. Just tell her I want to talk to her tomorrow.”
“Sure. By the way, Maria just called. She and Michael apparently found out something new about the Skins. There’s a meeting tomorrow after closing.”
“I’ll be there then. Any idea what it is?”
“No, but I have a feeling it’s big.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, and Max?”
“Yeah Tess?”
“Congratulations.”
Max looked at the now dead phone, then put the receiver down. He looked at Liz, who was now moving restlessly in her sleep. He moved closer to her, hoping to calm her down.
“I want to have my wedding dance,” she cried softly. Wedding dance? Surely that was a few years away yet. He wasn’t even eighteen for a few more months.
She reached out to him and held on to his arm. He tried to move her hand so he wouldnn’t disturb her too much when it was time for him to go home but she resisted, instead pulling him closer.
He gave up the fight and lay down beside her. He’d have a lot of explaining to do in the morning, especially if her parents found her in here.
Liz wrapped herself around him again, and Max slowly put his arm around her. As long as she didn’t object to it, he would hold her all night.

~~~~

And before you ask...Liz isn't going to wake up and talk to Max. That was my brilliant idea. {Ducks as things are thrown at her}
Well, I couldn't have things easy for them, could I? That would be boring!
And I thought of a nonSeven Days crossover sequel for this, so I'll probably use that, and write the Seven Days one separately.

By the way guys, I'm sure you realise that, like everybody else who's done a post EOTW fic, I had to guess the date. I decided to do the first Saturday in November, which was about two weeks after Oct 25 ('Surprise' --> Iz's bday.) They said that S took place 2 wks before Harvest, but strangely enough, they both occured on the 25th. I don't actually know if H was October, but considering Thankgiving happened in MitC, which I think is in late November. I don't know, we don't have Thanksgiving here. Anyway, the writers of the show screwed up (what else is new?) so I had to make up a date.

Oh, and I'll try to get the next part up before I leave for my mum's on Saturday. She doesn't have the net, so you'd have to wait until after Easter when I get back. On the bright side, I might have several new parts for you by then.
Hmm...maybe I can find a public computer in Footscray...

Love to you all,
Nicki

Hi all.
Damn. Lost all the feedback...Oh well. Kath DID warn me...
I got too busy to get online to save it all.
But just so you all know, it's all appreciated very much!

So. I bet you thought I was going to give you another excuse on why I can't post at the moment.
While RL is being a bit of a pain, what with living away from parents and bills massing in my letterbox and Centrelink not giving me enough money, I have managed to work on this. So, the long awaited new chapter!
Would you believe it's been almost a year since I updated?
I forgot to bring chap 10 with me, so I'll post it tomorrow.


Chapter Nine:

Liz woke up, switching off her alarm. Surprisingly enough, she’d had a wonderful sleep last night, dreaming that Max was in bed with her.
Max! Was he still there? She looked around quickly, but there was no sign he’d been in there at all. The room looked exactly the same as it had when she’d woken up yesterday.
Oh no… Liz thought with horror, getting up to look at her calendar. Saturday. I was so close. Why oh why hadn’t Max woken her up after she’d fallen asleep?
Unless he hadn’t shown up, Liz suddenly thought. Oh my god. What if he never came? What if she had hurt him too badly that he didn’t want to see her again?
But that didn’t fit in with his actions that day. Maybe it was just that he didn’t want to meet her at her place? After all, why would he want to come back to the place where he had seen her and Kyle in bed together?
Liz picked up the phone and called Michael’s apartment. Might as well start over again.
“What?” He demanded grumpily.
“Nice to talk to you too Michael.”
“Liz? What are you doing? It’s seven thirty in the morning.”
“I know. I wanted to wake you up.”
“Why?”
“So you can have the whole day to get Maria back, duh.” Liz didn’t bother telling him Maria had told her that they’d broken up about Courtney. He probably already knew.
“If you know we’re not together, then you know why we’re not together.”
“Yeah, Courtney. I know, and I also know that you didn’t mean to hurt Maria. You really should’ve told her first what you were going to do.”
“Why do you care?”
Liz thought for a moment. No point going into the whole Future Max and timeloop thing now. “Because like it or not, the eight of us, we’re a team. We’re friends. We’re a family. Friends and families help each other. So go do whatever you think will get Maria back, and I’ll work on the Courtney thing in the meantime.”
“No, you don’t know what I found out about Courtney. She’s-”
“Different, I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”
Liz put down the phone and changed into her uniform.

As soon as her shift was over she quickly got changed and raced out the door to Courtney’s apartment.
“Who is it?” Courtney asked as she opened the door. “Oh, it’s you again.”
“What do you mean it’s me again?” Liz asked. Courtney sighed.
“Nevermind. You’re here about Michael, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah. Believe it or not Courtney, he cares about Maria. He was only trying to find out how dangerous you were.”
“I wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But he’s taken. I don’t care who or what you are, leave him alone.”
“Yeah sure. Now do you mind? I’ve got stuff to do.”
Courtney closed the door, leaving Liz standing there shocked. Usually it was her that ended the conversation. What was up with Courtney? She knocked on the door again.
“Go away.”
“Not until you tell me what you know.” She had to know something. What else could it all mean? The door suddenly opened and Courtney’s blonde head stuck out. “Know about what?”
Liz took a chance. “This damn timeloop we’re stuck in.”
“What do you know about it?” She countered, seemingly unfased by Liz’s slight cussing. She obviously didn’t know her very well.
“I know that unless we get things back on track, we are stuck repeating today over and over again.”
“You’d better come in.” Courtney moved aside and Liz passed her and sat down on the couch.
Liz just sat there quietly for a minute before asking, “How come you remember?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s because time works differently on Antar.”
“But why don’t Max and the others remember?”
“I don’t know. A side effect of them being part human maybe, though that doesn’t explain how you remember. You’re human, aren’t you?”
“100%. I don’t understand either. I mean, unless whatever’s causing this doesn’t want them to remember. It might want me to solve this without them- just with your help. Makes me wish I’d figured out you knew something sooner.”
“So what do you think is causing it?”
“Well, it’s obviously a side effect of using the Granolith to change history. That’s the only thing I’ve managed to come up with anyway.”
“What? The Granolith is a damn time machine?”
“No, we modified it. It has an incredible amount of power, and we managed to modify it enough to create a tear in the time-space continuum.”
“Who’s we?”
“Max, me I think, and someone named Serena.”
“Serena?” Courtney sounded astonished.
“Yeah, Max…Future Max, that is, said that she’s be a friend of mine someday. Why? Do you know her?”
“I don’t know if it’s the same one, but I know a Serena. So you think that the Granolith wants you to restore the original timeline, and put things back on track?”
“Yeah. Can you help?”
“I’ll do my best.” Courtney paused. “I know this is a bit much to ask, but do you think you could be my friend? I don’t really have any.”
“Sure, and I think I know what to do about this whole thing. Michael got a flash from the Granolith a while back.”
“I got a what?”
“Michael! …And Maria! What are you guys doing here?”
“And do you always just barge into people’s homes?”
“We came to talk to Courtney. Liz, Michael said that he warned you she was different, but you came anyway. Why are you here?”
“She wanted to make sure I’d leave you two alone. We started talking and we discovered we have something in common.”
“What could Liz possibly have in common with you?”
“That’s not important right now. What is important that we get to where we need to be.”
“And where’s that? And why did Liz say I’d gotten a flash from the Granolith? I’ve never touched it.”
“Once again, not important right now.”
“Tell you what. Group meeting tomorrow. Everyone’s invited, including Courtney.”
“Courtney?! Why?”
“I get it. Who better to find out about the enemy from than one of their kind?”
“That sorted? Good. Courtney, let’s go.” Liz stopped, remembering something that had been bugging her, but she’d been so distracted she’d forgotten. “By the way, have you guys seen Alex today? I’ve been looking for him.”
“Haven’t seen him.”
“Ditto.”
“Great. He was around yesterday. Courtney, do you have any idea?”
“No. I’ve been here all day. Have you tried his house?”
“Shit. No I haven’t. I’ve been kind of busy- I didn’t even think to look there. I just didn’t know why he wasn’t at the Crashdown this morning with everyone else.”
“He’s not in the habit of telling me where he is, not after yesterday.” Michael said, thinking of when Alex punched him.
“I don’t know either.”
“Courtney, change of plans.” Liz wanted to make sure Alex wasn’t in any kind of trouble before things got completely fixed.

Standing outside Alex’s garage where the Whits usually practised, Liz couldn’t hear a single sound. Which meant they weren’t rehearsing, but maybe Alex was inside. No one answered when she knocked on the door. A twist of the doorknob, however, revealed that someone was home.
“Alex? You in here?” Liz called. There was no answer, but Liz entered anyway, walking carefully through the house. Despite having an alien there ready to take care of any ‘surprises’, it was better to take precautions.
“So. Have you done any breaking and entering before?”
“There was that time with Max when my journal went missing last year.”
“I meant during the time loop.”
“Oh. No, just underage clubbing, going to bars…you know that sort of thing.”
“Wonders will never cease. Liz Parker with a false ID.”
“Temporary. Any day I want to go, I go find one of the pod squad – usually Michael – to change it for me.”
“Cool. I can do it now for you too. Did you get hit on?”
“Only once.” Liz smiled in remembrance, “Funny story about that though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was Sheriff Valenti. He didn’t see my face until after I made a quick exit. Which reminds me, I was going to send Mrs DeLuca over there one night.”
“Maria’s mom? They’re an item?”
“On and off. Alien crises tend to put a damper on romantic evenings.”
“I bet. So where is Alex? We’ve almost gone through the whole house.”
“I know, and I’m worried. He was last seen by any of us by you and Michael after punching him for cheating on Maria. Now no one seems to be home here, and the door was open.”
“Doesn’t look like there was a struggle either. Maybe he went out and forgot to lock the door. I admit he doesn’t seem the type to forget something like that, but I don’t know. Everyone has a day off.”
“Maybe. But we have to find him. I don’t want everything else sorted out, and then discover he’s been taken by Nicholas for some reason.”
“If Nicholas has him, then it’d be for hostage purposes, but he’s not supposed to arrive here for a week or so, remember?”
“What if he’s found a quicker way? You said they were just setting stuff up in Copper Summit for the Harvest, right? What if he’s realised what’s going on, and has decided to come here sooner?”
“Hey, if you and Max are a couple –sort of– and Maria and Michael are a couple, what about the others? Tess, Kyle, Alex and Isabel?”
“Well, I might be able to get Kyle and Tess to start something. Alex has definitely had a thing for Isabel for years.”
“That’s it then. Alex isn’t just a hostage, he’s revenge.”
“What?”
“Isabel was Princess Vilandra…who had an affair with Khivar. Vilandra provided information to his side.”
“Nicholas knows this and has taken Alex just in case Isabel won’t cooperate this time around,” Liz surmised, but then pointed out, “But she’s dating that archeologist Grant Sorenson.”
“The one that found the bones Whitaker was interested in? That’s weird. Why wouldn’t Nicholas take him then?”
Liz shrugged. “Maybe it’s something else. But we have to find him. We’ve been friends forever- if I ever lost him…” She trailed off.
“I’ll give some people a call. If they know anything, they’ll tell me.”

After Courtney had made the calls to her contacts in Nicholas’ group, she and Liz headed to the Granolith. Liz showed Courtney where to wave her hand so the handprint appeared. Courtney was a little worried it would’t respond to her, her being one of the enemy race and all, but either it was programmed to respond to any alien, or it knew she was on their side. They paused at the pods.
“This is where they were born?”
“Yeah. And where they activated the communication orbs that told them who they were.”
“I still can’t believe they never knew. So, the orbs got them in contact with Antar?”
“Well, kind of. It was more a recorded message from Max and Isabel’s mother, telling them who they had been. That was what got everyone suddenly focussed on Roswell.”
“Actually, Nicholas had been starting to focus here because of the supposed shooting September last year. Apparently a girl got shot and a guy healed her. Everyone knows of Zan – Max – and his healing powers. Once the beacon went out, we knew for sure the Royal Four were here.”
“Nasedo did warn them about activating those orbs. Anyway, the shooting was real.”
“So someone really did get shot? Who…it was you? Max healed you in public? How bad was it?”
“I would’ve died. He risked a lot for me.” He was tortured because of me.
“And THIS is the guy you’re supposed to get to fall out of love with you? Someone who would risk their own life for you? Was his future self stoned or something?”
Liz couldn’t help laughing aloud at the picture that was called up. Courtney was thrilled with the results. Liz didn’t seem to do much laughing. Not since she’d arrived in Roswell, anyway.
“So…you want to see the Granolith?” Liz asked needlessly, as she walked closer to the pod that lead to the strange artefact. Courtney followed her through.
“Wow.”
“Tell me about it. Every time I see this thing I get the same feeling. It’s powerful…really powerful.”
“To enable someone to travel through time, it has to be. This is why Nicholas and Khivar want it. With it, they would have complete control over our planets.”
“And it can save your people.” Liz looked at Courtney. “So go ahead.”
“Go ahead and what?”
“Touch it.”
“Why? I mean, I haven’t done anything to earn your trust. You’re only talking to me because I remember the timeloop.”
“Trust goes both ways. I believe you’re gonna help me fix this. Count it as a token of friendship.”
The blonde nodded and reached for the inverted cone. Before she touched it, she hesitated. “How do I know it’s not going to destroy me?”
“How do you know it will?” Liz said reasonably. “Anyway, the cave door let you in. It either knew you are on our side or it’s programmed to work for any aliens. On the same principle, the Granolith should save your husk.”
“What if you touched it first? It knows who you are.”
Liz nodded, understanding Courtney’s fear, and moved her hand closer. “What if we touched it at the same time? That way it knows we’re together.”
“You’re scared too.” Courtney realised. “Alright. On the count of three…one…”
“Two…”
“Three!” At the same time, they put their hands on the Granolith. A connection formed immediately.
Liz saw her and Max’s future selves saying goodbye. Then the image of a girl who was unmistakably Courtney came out of a ship, following Vanessa Whitaker and a boy Liz knew was Nicholas. Liz could feel everything that Courtney had felt at each moment. Her unwavering loyalty to the Antarian general reborn as Michael, her pure hatred for Khivar and his people, and what they were doing to their planet. Another flash- this time a small group of people, ones Courtney trusted. ‘Rath’ supporters, Liz thought. Ones who are willing to put themselves in danger for our side.
At that moment, Liz knew that she could trust Courtney with her life.
Courtney was surprised when the connection opened. All of a sudden, she could see images of Liz’s life- even things she hadn’t yet lived, she realised as the image of Future Max and Future Liz appeared. Flashes of Liz’s life became visible to her, including some intensely private moments of Max and Liz in Michael’s apartment, which made her blush- an unusual thing to happen to someone who was 50-plus years old. The final flash to appear to Courtney was one of the Royal Four and Liz in the pod chamber. Liz running away after the destiny message, letting Max go.
If the story about Future Max hadn’t done it, that one would have definitely convinced her that Liz would do anything for Max and his people.
The flashes had stopped, but the connection was still open, though this time they could both feel something else…something alive.

Hey all.
I actually wrote out this huge thing on that it was finished but I'd been having problems with lack of computers and all....
...But I had to get off the computer I was on so someone else could have their turn. {sigh} Go figure.

I'd like to thank the following people for their bumps and feedback:

mlover25 Thanks twice over!!!
creative nickname Thanks!
aerocutie31 Welcome, and thanks!
Itzstacie Thanks, and you're all about to find out!

And a special mention to Ala (aka not_of_this_earth)....

I hope you get time to read this soon!

Chapter 10

It’s the Granolith, Courtney thought in awe.
‘I know,’ Liz replied, before realising she had heard what Courtney was thinking. It must be the connection.
The Granolith spoke to them, not in words, but in emotions, in images. It told them it knew about Future Max’s reality, it knew many different realities, and it wanted to help both the aliens and the humans to live the best one. It warned them it wouldn’t be easy, but if they worked together, Earth and Antar would be saved.
It finished by instructing Courtney to call her people and getting them all to Roswell. It told Liz to call her friends, talk to Tess, and work things out with Max.
‘But what about Alex?’ She asked it. ‘I think he’s in trouble.’
The Granolith’s response was a wave of images of Alex. Him being taken from his home, coming face to face with Nicholas, and tied up to a chair in…the white room, of all places…apparently unharmed.
‘What does Nicholas want with Alex?’ Courtney asked. A picture of Isabel appeared, before the Granolith released the connection.
Courtney and Liz just stood there, alternating between staring at each other, and staring at the Granolith.
“So. I guess we do what the Granolith said. You call your people, and I’ll get the others. We’ll meet at…Max’s, I guess. His parents are out so we don’t have to worry about them. Max won’t be too comfortable at Kyle’s, considering I won’t tell him the whole truth until we have time to talk about it properly.”
“Fair enough.”
They left the pod chamber and Courtney drove them back to Roswell, dropping Liz off at her place. As Courtney drove away, she dialled her contacts.
Liz watched as Courtney left and immediately ran inside to call her friends. First it was Max.
The phone seemed to ring endlessly before someone picked up. “Hello?”
“Isabel, hi. It’s Liz.”
“Max isn’t here.”
“He’s not?” Liz asked, checking her watch. Oh, he must be at the park.
“No, he’s out. Liz, what’s going on between you and my brother? He’s been depressed all day.”
“Long story,” Liz replied. “I’m just calling to say we need to have a meeting. At your place, asap.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“Another long story, that I don’t want to explain more than once. So if you can make sure your parents aren’t home, then we’ll all meet there.”
“Why not at Michael’s?”
“Because there’s no room. I’ll be there when I can. Bye.”
Liz called Maria’s cell phone. It was a long time before anyone picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me. How’s it going?”
“Uh, good actually. Liz, do you mind if I call you back later? Michael and I were…um, talking.”
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Liz teased. “Look, I know I said we’d have a meeting tomorrow, but it’s kind of urgent we have one today. Get to Max’s as soon as possible.”
“What’s up? Does this have something to do with Courtney? What did she do to you?” Maria rushed out.
Liz shook her head, even though Maria couldn’t see her. “She didn’t do anything to me. I’ll talk to you at the meeting. I still have to call Tess and the Valenti’s.”
“Alright. But you’d better tell me everything.”
“Got it.” Liz hung up again.
This time Tess answered. “Valenti residence. Tess speaking.”
“Hi Tess, it’s Liz.”
“Just a sec, I’ll get Kyle for you.”
“That’s okay,” Liz interrupted before she could call Kyle. How humiliating. “I just wanted to tell you guys that there’s a meeting at Max’s as soon as you three can get there.”
“Three?”
“Yeah. You, Kyle and the Sheriff- if he’s not working, anyway.”
“No, Hansen’s in charge today. I’ll tell them.”
Liz’s final call was to Max’s cell. She didn’t even give him time to respond. “Max, it’s Liz. Meeting at your place asap.”

When Liz finally managed to get to Max’s, having been delayed by her parents, she discovered the group was already there.
“What’s going on?” Isabel asked.
Liz ignored her and turned to Courtney. “Are they coming?”
“Yeah. They’ll be here within an hour.”
“Who will?” Michael demanded.
“My people.”
“What?!” Maria screeched. “You’re bringing a bunch of Skins here?”
At this Max looked up. “Skins? Here?”
“Only one so far Max,” Liz said gesturing to Courtney. “But hopefully we can get a few more.” At everyone’s panicked look, she hastened to explain. “Courtney isn’t the enemy. Neither are her people. They don’t want Khivar on the throne. They’re here to help us.”
“How do you know?” Tess said.
“The Granolith told me.”
“The Granolith told you?” Michael asked sceptically. “How the hell could the Granolith tell you anything?”
“Because it’s alive…is self aware.”
“When did you see the Granolith?” Max asked.
“This morning, before I came here,” Liz explained, not wanting to go into the timeloop story just yet.
Tess shook her head, “That still doesn’t tell us how you got into the Granolith Chamber. The cave is locked against humans.”
“Let’s not get into it now.” Liz stalled any more questions. “Basically, I went looking for Alex and he’s missing. So far as we can figure, Nicholas has him.”
“Who’s Nicholas?” Isabel asked.
“He’s one of Khivar’s followers,” Courtney explained, “Very powerful.”
“Why do they have Alex? Why not one of us?” Tess asked.
Liz glanced at Isabel. “Leverage. I think if they’d had the chance, they would’ve taken the rest of us as well. Alex was the only one of us unprotected.”
“I want to know about our past lives,” Michael said, looking at Courtney. “She apparently knows everything.”
“God, Michael, could you be anymore insensitive?” Maria demanded. “Alex is in trouble, and all you can think about is yourself!”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. Courtney knows about this Nicholas, and what the war is all about. Any information might be to our advantage.”
“We don’t have time.” Courtney said. “All you need to know is that Nicholas is very powerful. It won’t be long before he uses the situation to his own advantage…if he hasn’t already.”
“What can he do?” Isabel asked.
“Everything you can…but a thousand times more. He’s had over fifty years on Earth, and he hasn’t been suppressing his powers either like you have. But the biggest threat…are your own minds.” She looked Max in the eyes. “He can reach into your mind for information. By now, he knows where you live, who your families are, what you do every day. I’m going to presume Alex doesn’t know where the Granolith is, because otherwise Nicholas would have gotten there by now.”
“But if he gets any of the rest of us…Any of you four,” Liz gestured to the aliens, “or me and Maria…would be forced into giving the location. Courtney as well.”
“How do we know Courtney won’t just tell Nicholas where it is?” Tess asked.
“I trust her,” Liz said. “The Granolith trusts her. That should be enough.”
They considered it briefly. Maria was the first to agree. Liz was her best friend…they’d known each other forever. She had to know what she was talking about, right? Kyle was next to support his ex-girlfriend. He still didn’t know what had driven the charade last night, but it had to be big for Liz to do that. And maybe it had something to do with what was going on now. Surprisingly, it was Tess that was the first of the aliens to back Liz up. She’d known her the shortest amount of time, and had seen what kind of person Liz was. Isabel nodded reluctantly- she knew Liz had hurt her brother, and it was hard to trust her after that.
Max and Michael still didn’t agree. Max loved Liz still, it was true, but she’d betrayed him with Kyle…how could he trust her now? Michael didn’t trust Courtney’s motives…she’d tried to seduce him, damnit! And now Liz Parker of all people was making friends with her?! Shouldn’t her best-friend loyalty to Maria mean something?
Liz and Courtney looked at each other. “We’re not going to get anywhere if not everyone agrees.” Courtney said, and Liz nodded.
“What if one of you connects with me?” she suggested. Max stepped forward immediately, and Liz involuntarily took a step back. It wasn’t time yet. He flinched at the rejection.
“I was thinking Michael, actually. No one can control the flashes, and there’s some things that I’d rather you didn’t see, Max,” she explained. Michael glanced at his best friend, who shrugged. He wasn’t too thrilled by the idea, but Liz had demonstrated she didn’t belong to him anymore.
The connection only went for a minute, but enough flashes appeared to make it seem much longer. Michael pulled away in shock. “What the…?” he trailed off, and was bombarded with questions as he stared at Liz.
“Michael! What. Did You. See.” Max said slowly, and Michael realised he had spaced out (no pun intended!). He glanced at Liz, who shook her head.
He turned to his friend and said simply. “She’s telling the truth.”
Max moved his intense gaze to Liz, looking at her directly in the eyes, searching. He finally nodded, seeming to have found what he was looking for.
“So, what’s the plan?” Maria asked.
“Where are they holding him? Do you know?” Max asked Liz and Courtney.
“The white room,” Liz replied. “I’m sorry, Max,” she added as his face went pale. She knew he still had nightmares about that place.
“If Nicholas is really as powerful as you say, how are we supposed to defeat him?” Isabel asked worriedly.
“The Four Square,” Courtney said.
“It amplifies your powers.” Liz explained.
“What do you mean?” Michael inquired.
“The four of you make up a complete unit. You have different gifts for the specific reason that, together, your powers increase.”
“Did you get that from the Granolith?” Max queried.
Liz shrugged. “Mostly.”
“What you’re saying is, if we connect with each other, we’ll be stronger with our powers?” Isabel surmised.
“That’s the theory.” Courtney stated.
“So we just go in, blast the Skins and get out?” Michael was slightly sceptical.
“Something like that. Here’s what we were thinking…” When Liz finished outlaying their plan, she asked, “So who’s in?”
“I am,” Michael said immediately. The others agreed more slowly.
“I’m not sure what help we’ll be,” Kyle said, pointing to himself and Maria. “If you remember, we’re fully human. So are you, Liz.”
“And you didn’t mention us is your little plan, chica.”
“I have my reasons.”
There was a knock on the door, announcing the arrivals of the other Skins. They joined the Roswellians in the living room. There were about half a dozen of them, ranging in gender and apparent ages. The leader seemed to be an auburn haired girl, about eighteen in appearance. She directed her questions to Courtney, first asking to be introduced.
Courtney nodded and complied, adding the alien names for the Four Square. When she got to Michael, they gasped.
“This is Rath?” The leader asked.
“My name was Rath?”
At the Skins’ confused looks, Courtney explained that the four aliens didn’t remember much from Antar, then continued with the introductions. She ended with Liz, who got a reaction almost as big as Michael’s.
“This is the human you told me about?”
“Yes she is.” Courtney looked over at Liz, waiting for her reaction. “This is the leader of the Skin Rebellion, Serena.”
Liz gaped, “You’re Serena? The Serena?”
“You were expecting someone else?”
“I don’t get it.” Maria said. “What’s the big deal?”
To Maria’s surprise, Liz ignored her and asked Courtney, “So the Serena you said you knew, is your leader? So do you think-”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. It’s a small cosmos, after all.”
Serena looked Liz over. “So you’re the one that remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
Maria was ignored again as Liz answered. “That’s right.”
“Do you know how to stop it?” Michael asked, surprising everyone.
“Rath? You remember too?” Serena faced Courtney. “You didn’t tell me Rath remembered too.”
“What? No, I got flashes from Liz before you came.”
“Oh, right.” Liz nodded, assimilating all the new information in her head. “Serena, is this everyone you could get?”
“This is the closest unit to Roswell. But I left messages with everyone else to come if we fail.”
“How will they know if we fail?” Tess asked.
“They will know. Now, I have a plan to rescue your friend.”
“You’re just a little late for that. Liz and Courtney already came up with one.” Tess said, and Liz explained what it was.
The brunette looked at all the Skins. “There’s just one more thing. Take note of every single detail, no matter how insignificant it might seem. Remember, I’ll need them to come up with a backup if necessary.”
“Not a problem. Anything else?”
“That about covers it.” Liz slapped her hands together. “Okay get moving. And guys? If I don’t see you tonight, call me in the morning as soon as you get up.”
“Got it.”
Courtney was surprised at the way her leader was just following along with what Liz said. Oh well, she’d be there to make sure her group followed Max during the mission if necessary. They would be tempted to follow Michael’s lead, and that would be breaking her own promise to Liz.
The humans said goodbye to the others. Tess came up to Liz, “We need to talk.”
“There’s no time now.”
“How about tonight? I’ll call or come over or something.”
“Yeah sure. This is about Max, isn’t it?”
Tess looked over at the subject of their conversation, who was trying not to meet Liz’s eyes. If he did, she would see all the love and worry he had for her. And she wasn’t with him…and she was different. Something had changed her overnight. It had to be related to the Kyle thing. Why else would she turn to him?
The short alien moved her focus back to Liz. “Yeah, it is. Well, wish us luck.”
“Good luck, though I hope you won’t need it. I practically planned this thing to death.”
“And you always gotta have a plan, don’t you Parker?” Kyle said, as he came over to talk to Tess. The change in her was instantaneous. She lit up. Hmm… Liz thought. This is great. If Tess was going to focus her attention on Kyle, then she wasn’t going to leave and Liz could be with Max.
“Liz, you okay?” Kyle asked, concerned. Liz snapped out of it, “Sorry. I just thought of something.”
“Anything we should know?” Tess asked, and Liz shook her head. It wasn’t important…yet.
Michael was the last to come up to Liz. “Hey.”
“Hey. Good luck.”
“Thanks. And thanks for, well, you know.”
That confirmed to Liz that Michael knew what she had done for Future Max. “How much did you see?” she asked, thankful no one could hear them.
“Enough. Max is a lucky guy.”
“I don’t know about that.”
Michael seemed surprised at her admission. “I do. And Max is gonna be kicking himself when you tell him what you did.”
“Why?”
“Because of what his future self asked you to do. He’ll feel guilty.”
“He has no reason to feel guilty.”
“Neither do you.”
Liz gaped at him, and he smirked. “See you later, Liz.”
“Bye.”
Michael went over to Maria, and Liz turned to face Max. She didn’t know what to say to him, but she didn’t want him to go until she did. Seeing as he wasn’t coming over to her, she moved closer to him, until they were standing a metre apart. He looked at her, a little taken aback. He glanced over to the doorway where Kyle was talking to Tess and Isabel.
“Max, I don’t know what to say to you right now. I don’t know how to tell you what’s been happening to me, how I know what I know, because we don’t have the time to talk this through right now. All I can say is that I need you to make sure everyone comes back safe. I need you to make sure that we have a chance to talk later. I need you to be safe.”
“Liz…”
“I need to fix everything, and the only way I can do that is if you come back to me.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Now he was more than a little stunned. Liz waited for him to recover- she owed him that much at least. When he had, he bent down and softly returned the kiss- on her lips.
“I will always come back for you, Liz. I promise,” he vowed, and Liz felt herself practically melt with those words, and she felt something click within as well.
Things were finally on the right track.


Okay, I'm gonna be really mean and not post chapter 11 until tomorrow. 3:50pm my time...so 23.5 hours away!

Let me know what you think!

Hi all!

Okay, I should be typing up my Media Studies homework, but I felt like I owed you guys the next chapter. Manni and Lola can wait. (In case you don't know, they're the main characters of the German movie Run Lola Run...great stuff, and somewhat similar to this sort of story...but I'm spacing here)

So first, my thank-you's, in order of appearance:

lovalien
roswellluver
PhoenixFlamez I asked Dia a long time ago about that, and she said it didn't have to happen.
polar vixen I must be doing something good if I've gotten a polarist to read this!
mlover25
kittens
creative nickname Yeah, I thought Michael should be thanking Liz, I figure that's the kind of person he is, even though he doesn't always show it.

Okay, so this chapter is dedicated to you guys, Ala as well, even though she hasn't read the new chap yets, and of course Dia.

Dia, where ever you are, I hope you read this and like it.

Chapter 11

Liz walked up to the Pod Chamber entrance, followed closely by Maria and Kyle. The aliens had been gone for more than two hours, and she was trying desperately not to think about what could be happening to them. Maria and Kyle had bombed her with questions about everything- Courtney, the Granolith, Max. She just refused to answer, saying she’d explain everything when everyone was there.
When she’d decided to go to the Granolith, her friends came with her, not wanting to sit around doing nothing.
“I have a question.” Kyle said as they stood outside the entrance. “How do we get in?”
Liz was silent. She hadn’t considered that. She’d been here so often it was hard to remember she’d never opened it herself.
“I don’t even know how the aliens get in,” he continued.
Well, that one was easy at least. “There’s a handprint. Hidden on the wall.” Liz moved her hand to indicate where it was. A bright silver handprint appeared. “Like that,” she said, surprised.
“How’d you do that, Liz?” Maria asked.
“I have no idea.” Liz put her hand over the print and the cave door slid open. “When Max healed me we made a connection. Maybe part of him is in me, and the Granolith recognises that.”
“Would it work for me?” Kyle asked.
“You said –yesterday- that you didn’t get any images from him when he healed you. I doubt he connected with you the same way, but it might still work. You want to try it?”
Kyle shook his head. “I’d rather remain in blissful ignorance that I’m anything but human, thank you.” He paused. “No offence.”
“None taken.” Liz stepped into the cave. She led them to the Granolith through Max’s pod. “I swear there’s got to be an easier way to get in.”
Kyle looked up at the alien artefact, the only one not to have seen it before. He circled it once. “So why we here again?”
Liz stepped next to the Granolith.
“Wait, Liz! Are you sure it’s safe?” Maria interrupted.
“Positive.” Liz placed her hand on the Granolith, like she had…that morning? Had it been so soon? Not another timeloop morning? It got so confusing.
A wave of …amusement?… came from the Granolith, before it welcomed her back.
‘Hi.’ Liz said. ‘Do you know how the others are going?’ she asked.
Affirmation came, along with images of Alex untied, but in the white room where Max had been imprisoned all those months before, with Serena, Michael, Isabel and a few unknown Rebels, guarded by Nicholas’ people. Then an image of Max, Tess, Courtney and the remaining Rebels keeping out of sight.
‘How did they get caught?’ She nodded mentally as flashes appeared of the caged group getting surprised and taken prisoner. She studied the layout of the factory that the Granolith showed her.
Liz removed herself from the connection to talk to her friends, still touching the Granolith. “They’ve been caught. They can’t get out. It’s hopeless.”
A huge burst of negativity hit her hard, almost bringing her to her knees. She looked at the Granolith. “So what do you expect me to do?” she demanded. “Wait it out?”
“What good would that do?” Kyle asked, ignoring the fact that she had been yelling at an inanimate – though alien – object. Stranger things had happened, he was sure.
“You’d be surprised. But I’m not going to wait. I have to get them out of there.”
“What do we do?”
“You guys are doing nothing. I’m going after them.”
Maria was alarmed. “You’ll get caught, Liz.”
“If you’re right and you do have powers from Max healing you, you don’t know what they are. You can’t control them.”
“Look at Michael. He’s had his powers for years and he doesn’t have full control.”
Liz nodded. “I get what you guys are saying, really I do…but Max is in trouble. I don’t care what I have to do, I’m getting him back!” She paused. “And the others.”
Liz felt her right hand tingling from where it was touching the Granolith, and moved her focus back to it. Responding to its promptings, she placed her left hand on the Granolith and closed her eyes. Power entered her, becoming a swirling mass of energy deep inside. With it came knowledge, on focusing and using the power it had given her. She opened her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said silently and fervently. It had just given her the way to rescue her soulmate and friends.
The Granolith’s only answer was a single flash. Although the beings were unfamiliar in appearance, Liz knew that they were her friends. Max. Isabel. Michael. Tess. Courtney. Serena. Then herself. What?! she thought stunned. ‘You’re joking right?’ The Granolith just released the connection, refusing to reopen it. Evidently there were some things she had to figure out for herself.
She let go of the Granolith and faced her friends. “Right. Drive me to Eagle Rock. We have some aliens to rescue.”

At Eagle Rock, she managed to convince Maria and Kyle to stand guard and not follow unless it was absolutely necessary. So she’d had to set a tree near the pod chamber on fire then put it out. She’d had to convince them somehow that she could take care of herself. After the expected shock, Kyle had just shaken his head, and Maria had given her best friend a look that they knew meant ‘we are so gonna talk later’.
Liz crept in. There were no guards at this point, most of them inside. She found two male Skins guarding one passageway. Both looked about early twenties. She entered the corridor casually, immediately stopped by them.
“State your business.” One commanded.
“Just here to meet a friend.” She said in a bubbly voice, before whispering conspiratorially, “Don’t tell anyone, but we’re planning a huge party for another friend. It’s their birthday tomorrow and we wanted to get set up.”
She inquired, “You haven’t seen her, have you? Blonde hair, medium height? I can’t remember if it was this entrance or somewhere else.”
The aliens looked disbelievingly at her. “Very funny, girl.” The second one said. “But we happen to know for a fact that there’s no party here.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think there’ll be a pretty huge party when this is over.” Liz put her hand up and blasted them, turning them into dust.
She moved quickly through the base, catching the Skins by surprise. She found an intersection. One led to the morgue, the other to the white room. And everything in her told her to go to the morgue. Scared of what she might find, she skulked to the door. She opened it quickly, hoping to surprise anyone who might be in there.
She did.
“Liz? What are you doing here?”
“Helping you Max, what else?”
“Liz, it’s too dangerous for you to be here.”
“How did you get this far, anyway?” Tess asked.
“Well the guards were nice enough to let me through. Okay, so I had to persuade them a little…”
“How did you ‘persuade them’?” queried Max.
“Blasted them.” Liz replied bluntly, grinning at the shocks from the group of aliens. “Long story short- I have powers. All questions will be answered after we rescue the others.”
The three Skins stepped forward. “What do we do now?” a man asked her. Liz looked over at Max, a little unsure. She had an idea of what to do, but he was supposed to be the leader. He was supposed to be the one with the plan. But the Skins seemed to prefer following her. Because she was ‘the one who remembers’. Maybe after all this was over she could get them to follow Max instead. Her soulmate seemed to understand what she was saying and gestured her to continue. He didn’t understand everything that was going on, but he recognised the fact that the Rebel Skins were willing to support Liz. And she seemed to have a plan, and he didn’t, so…
Liz turned back to the trio. “Well, I was thinking something simple. Like walking out there and blasting every enemy in sight.”
The Skins nodded.
“Sounds good to me,” Courtney spoke up. They carefully left the morgue and followed the corridor. Then Liz got tired of sneaking around. Somewhere along the line she had developed a short temper. She used her senses to guide her to the captives…and promptly blasted her way through a wall.
“Liz!” Isabel hissed. “What are you doing?”
“Taking the shortcut. I want to get this over with, don’t you?”
“How do you even know what direction they’re in?” Max asked. Liz shrugged.
“Just do. But this is the way to go.”
The three Skins (Liz found out their names were Dean, Kevin and Laura) took a defensive stance in front of Liz, ready to take action. Liz rolled her eyes. Was this some kind of hero worship or something? Had the others treated Michael like this? This had to stop. She was about to say something when a crowd of Skins came rushing towards them, alerted by the blasted wall.
“Crap.”
“Well, Liz. That’s what happens when you blast a wall of a facility controlled by the enemy,” Courtney said.
“Yeah whatever. You gonna help me blast, or what?”
“Why not?” Courtney said, destroying a Skin that was approaching Liz.
“Thanks.”
Tess closed her eyes, and the Skins started blasting in another direction, not even noticing when Max and the Rebels moved behind them to break their husks’ seals.
“Good work,” Courtney complemented them, mostly Tess. They moved across the now empty corridor and Liz blasted the next wall. And so on until they came to the white room. Liz put her hand forward and blasted into the room that was only separated from the others by a glass window.
At the noise, Nicholas and his Skins looked in their direction. “Well, now. This is a surprise. You must be Zan. And Ava. Oh, how I wish the people of Antar could see you now. Clueless teenagers, groping for their own identities. Courtney…you and your friends …such a shame, really. To pick the losing side…I thought you had better taste than that.”
“Who says we’re going to lose?” Liz asked boldly stepping forward.
Nicholas looked appraisingly at her. “Well. Who do we have here? According to the human in there, you’re Liz Parker…Zan’s very much human girlfriend. But according to my sister, you’re not with him…because of Ava.”
“Your sister?” Tess asked.
“You might know her better as Vanessa Whitaker.”
“Shit- Liz, you…”
“Was working for her, I know, Max. Hm. Wonder if Nasedo knew.”
“Of course.” Nicholas said. “And she knew who he was. Pity she had to have him killed…but he did renege on the deal.”
“What deal?” Max questioned.
Nicholas laughed sarcastically. “You’re going to love this. The four of you to return to Antar…Ava pregnant with the heir. You, Vilandra and Rath to be killed straightaway, Ava to be set up as Queen Mother, with Khivar as Regent, raising your son as his own.”
Max turned white, along with Liz and Tess.
“You don’t like that idea, do you Zan?”
“Hey!” Courtney shouted. “His name is Max. And you’d better address him with some respect. He is the rightful king of Antar. Nasedo told me about the deal- he knew I was with the Rebel faction.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Liz asked, feeling a bit sick. “About Nasedo knowing who you were.”
“It didn’t seem important anymore. Nasedo was dead, Tess didn’t know about the deal…”
“It would explain why he put so much emphasis on ‘destiny’. And why he told me to send you those images,” Tess mused aloud. Max and Liz winced in remembrance. Max because his mind had been violated ultimately because of his so-called ‘protector’. The only one he wanted to have fantasies about was Liz. Liz winced because Max had been hurt because of Nasedo. If Nasedo hadn’t kidnapped her, Max wouldn’t have followed and gotten caught by the FBI.
“Enough talking.” Nicholas moved closer. “This is the part where you beg for mercy.”
Max glanced over at Liz, then Tess, then his friends in the White Room where he had been tortured so many months ago. The nightmares had never stopped, and he couldn’t bear the thought of the same thing happening to people he cared about. He stared straight in Nicholas’ eyes. “No. This is where you give up.” He moved his hand quickly, aiming a blast at Nicholas. Energy blasts weren’t his strength, but like Michael could heal a little, he could shoot small blasts of energy. Anything stronger would take practice.
Nicholas easily deflected it. “Is that all you got?” The Skin grinned mercilessly. He waved his hand making the glass two way, and the captives looked suddenly at the window. “Max!” Isabel shouted.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“For now,” Michael said.
“What’s Liz doing with you?” Isabel asked.
“She came here on her own. She broke in, taking down a lot of the guards.”
“You defeated my guards, all by yourself?” Nicholas said Liz, surprised. “I think there must be more to you than meets the eye.” He moved his hand again, throwing all but Liz back suddenly. Max, Courtney and Tess found themselves unable to get up.
“Liz!” Max cried.
Nicholas shook his head in mock sympathy. “How truly touching.” He raised both his hands this time, using his powers to effectively pin Liz in place. Even the borrowed powers from the Granolith weren’t enough when caught off guard. She’d been trying to think of a way to rescue the others out with minimal damage. However, there was still something she could do.
Nicholas screamed in frustration as his attempts to mindrape Liz were foiled. Somehow this…human has powers of her own…strong powers. Unless…perhaps his sister had been wrong about her? After all, she had been hired on the basis she was close to Zan. But ‘Vanessa’ had never made a mistake like that before, so…it had to be coincidence. After all, the only Antarians he knew of that had been sent to Earth were Zan, Vilandra, Rath and Ava, and they were already here.
Liz studied Nicholas worriedly. What was he going to do now? He had everyone there, so it was likely he would kill someone. But who would he kill first? Max seemed the most likely, being the king. Liz got ready to raise a shield, to protect Max, Tess, and Courtney. She’d spent too much energy keeping Nicholas out of her head to manage anything more.
Khivar’s second-in-command aimed a blast at the young hybrid prince. Liz’s shield snapped into place at the right moment, but dispersed as the blast rebounded into her.
Liz collapsed on the ground screaming in pain. Voices swirled around her…
Max’s panicked voice screaming out her name.
“Well, that was a pleasant surprise!”
“Max, heal her!”
The feel of Max’s hands against her side where the blast had hit.
“Oh God, I can’t! Liz, please! I love you!”
Max’s anguished howl.
Courtney’s voice, “What will happen now, Serena?”
Her reply, “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
Liz’s final thoughts before pain and darkness consumed her were of Max.

To be continued...

Oh God. You guys are going to kill me now, aren't you?
{Sigh} Price I have to pay for cliff hangering it. I'll try and post chapter 12 tomorrow.

Nicki

Hi all.
RL sucks. I'm in more debt than...a really, really in debt person. Any analogies you can come up with would be great.
Six replies and none of you are going to kill me!
Cool magools.

Thank you all heaps!
youre my dreamgirl Tomorrow took longer than expected to get here, huh?
creative nickname Well, I hope you don't kill me after this.
PhoenixFlamez I try.
roswellluver I thought about it. I did. But I started wondering... what if she died? Where would that leave them?
kittens It's people like you that come up with great ideas, and make me want to change the story, that drive me nuts! I'm kidding, really. I do have to say this story is finished on my computer and NOTHING is going to make me change it!
mlover25 Ah, well, to find out, you must read on.

Dedicated to my bumpers, youre my dreamgirl, creative nickname, PhoenixFlamez, roswellluver, kittens and mlover25
Also to my invisible bumper Ala, and my online/offline friends puzzlechild aka gij and last, but not least, Dia.

The end is nigh, my friends...

Chapter 12

Liz screamed as she woke up, her alarm beeping in her ear. She slammed it off.
Her parents rushed in. “Liz, honey?” Nancy asked. “Are you okay?”
Liz took a deep breath. “I’m fine Mom. I just had a nightmare.”
“Alright, but if you don’t feel like working, just say so and we’ll call in someone to replace you.” Jeff nodded in agreement with his wife. Liz tried to smile at them reassuringly.
“I’m okay. I’ll be down soon.”
They exited and Liz was left alone.
Oh God she thought. What a nightmare. She’d dreamt that the day had been repeating itself because she had helped Max from fourteen years in the future change history and some enemy of Max’s had kidnapped Alex as bait. And she’d gone to the Granolith for help…and it gave her powers! But then when she’d gone to rescue Alex and the rest of the group plus Courtney and another girl who was the Serena Future Max had told her about, Max’s enemy Nicholas had blasted her and she’d died. She could still feel the pain. Wait… Liz suddenly had suspicions it wasn’t a dream.
The phone rang and she picked it up. “Hello?”
“Liz, I’m so glad you’re still alive!”
Liz touched the side where she’d been hit. “Yeah, me too, Courtney. What happened after I…?” she trailed off.
“With your shield down –and I want an explanation for that, by the way- Nicholas blasted the rest of us one by one. He had us in restrainers, so we couldn’t even defend ourselves. The last thing I remember is Nicholas aiming for me.”
“Was Max-?”
Liz could hear the alien hesitate, which was answer enough. “I’m sorry Liz.”
“It’ll be okay. At least now we know it doesn’t matter if we die.”
“Max was devastated when he couldn’t heal you.”
“I’ll be more careful this time. I’m guessing you’re taking today off?”
“Yeah. What about you?”
“I don’t think I could go if Mom and Dad paid me double. Call Serena and tell her to come down asap. I’ll call the others.”
“Don’t you want to find out if Alex is still at home first?”
She nodded, forgetting Courtney couldn’t see her. “I’ll do that in a sec. You know what really bugs me?”
“What?”
“My strongest memory of yesterday is dying…Max’s is of me and Kyle.”
“That bites. Look at it this way, though. We have the whole day to fix everything now.”

Liz sat in the Max’s living room. All the aliens were assembled, minus Serena and the remaining Rebels. Luckily Alex was still at home, so Liz had sent him to the Crashdown, only telling him that it was important and she’d explain later.
“What’s going on?” Michael asked, looking distrustfully at Courtney, who looked away.
Liz spoke to Courtney, “Did Serena give you any updates from her front?”
“No, she wanted to talk to you.” Courtney shook her head. “You’ve become a hero to my people, you know.”
“That’s not what I wanted to happen. Serena and I- we’re supposed to be friends.”
“Well, after Nicholas is dead, you can set her straight.”
The others had had enough. “Who the hell are Nicholas and Serena?” Michael demanded.
“And why would Liz be considered a hero to Courtney’s people- whoever they are,” finished Isabel.
Courtney reached up to her neck to pull a piece of her husk off. “Ouch.” She tried again, pinching the skin. “It’s not working,” she said, dismayed. Then she laughed. “It’s not working! Liz, it isn’t working!”
“I heard. How is that possible?”
“I have no idea.” Courtney moved her hand to her lower back. “The seal- it’s gone. I don’t believe it.”
“Well.” Liz said, pleasantly surprised. If the restoration the Granolith had done was sticking through, then obviously it wanted her to be okay. And the fact the seal was gone, meant Courtney’s biggest weakness was gone. But was she human or alien? Did she have powers still?
“What are you talking about?” Tess asked.
Liz and Courtney turned their attention back to the Pod Squad. “Basically, Courtney is- was, really- a Skin. But she’s not your enemy. Before you ask, I trust her. My reasons are mine and mine alone. You don’t need to know.”
“What you do need to know is that right now, Nicholas- who is the enemy- is gathering his forces at Eagle Rock Military Base. He wants you dead.”
“We propose to get him first,” a new voice, familiar only to some, concluded. Everyone looked up to see a dark red-haired girl and half a dozen others in the doorway. The six Skins remained in the background as Serena greeted everyone. She bowed to Max, allowing for his official rank (whether she would follow him directly Liz didn’t know), Michael – to his shock – received a bow also, then a salute as his official rank of second in command. Isabel and Tess, in deference of their ranks, also received bows. It was her greeting to Liz that really surprised everyone. A full bow from all the newcomers, not just Serena.
“You have much courage, Liz Parker. We are proud to know you.”
“This is about yesterday, isn’t it?”
“Yesterday…”
“…Today…” Courtney added.
“It doesn’t really matter.”
“But what does matter is that you were willing to risk your life.”
“For Zan and the others,” Serena said. “You have our eternal trust and loyalty.”
Overcome, all Liz could get out was, “does this mean we’re friends?”
The Skins laughed, and Serena nodded. “Yes, Liz Parker, this means we are friends.”

After some Q & A – and connecting with Michael, Liz had managed to get the support of the Roswell aliens. Serena had pulled her aside and informed her what Nicholas had done after Courtney had been killed. She hadn’t heard anything regarding his plans, but she thought it was likely he was still there, having insucceeded in getting Alex. They would be working out a new plan and upping their defences.
So the Roswell group did the same. They originally worked out the teams as they’d been the last time, but Liz remembered what Future Max had said about the Roswellians being a complete unit. Plus she wanted to be included, despite the way it’d worked out before. To make sure her powers were still intact, she discreetly picked up a biro from the coffee table and was thrilled when it changed into a fountain pen.
The new teams were the Roswell aliens and Serena, then Liz, Courtney (who’d discovered her powers still intact, despite her husk becoming a real skin) and the remaining Skins as well. Max, Isabel and Tess had objected to Liz being a part of the second group, but Michael had connected with her again and had agreed with her…to everyone’s surprise. He wouldn’t tell Liz what he’d seen, even when they were the last left in the room.
Serena had been right when she’d guessed Nicholas was still at Eagle Rock. He was brimming with confidence when they reached him. Shortly after Liz’s group had arrived at the white room, Max’s group appeared.
“You lot are just suckers for punishment, aren’t you?” the teenage Skin asked.
“Actually, we were more thinking of killing you. You’re not going to see this day end,” Liz promised him, with a small hint of triumph in her tone.
That got Nicholas’ attention. “Well, now. So you remember. I’d wondered if you did. Your little friend didn’t, and I can tell by his clueless face around here that Zan doesn’t.”
“I thought I told you last time to his name is Max,” Courtney said conversationally. “Of course, since he outranks you, you should call him ‘Your Majesty’.”
“Never!”
“Never is an awfully long time,” Serena said. “And we can make sure it’s eternal.”
“You know how to stop it then. Do it. Or I will make your lives a living hell.”
“I don’t think so. You’re going to die this time. Not me. Not Liz. Or King Max. Or Princess Isabel. No one but you and your followers.”
Max seemed to have realised that it was time for them to act. Imperceptibly, the Royal Four connected with each other, collecting their strength. Max and Michael raised their hands together and sent a combined blast in Nicholas’ direction. It threw him back against the wall. Recovering quickly, Nicholas stood up again and grinned.
“Is that all you got?”
Liz saw that he was in pain, and was putting a fair bit of energy into staying alive. But he had seen that Max and the others and put a lot into the blast. She pushed her own energy into Max, who looked at her, startled. She mouthed that she would explain later. Tess, Isabel and Michael, encouraged by the look of determination on him, gave Max their remaining trickles of power. Serena and Courtney were about to give him every last drop they had when Max blasted Nicholas again. This time he stayed down, and Serena ran up and broke the seal on his husk, destroying him for good.
“Well. I told him he wouldn’t see today end.”
“Neither will we if we don’t get out of here,” Courtney said pointedly.
“Are there more Skins?” Isabel asked.
“Cos I don’t think we could deal with any more. It was enough getting here, then killing Nicholas.” Tess said.
Michael looked at the Rebel Skins and Liz. “How are we supposed to defeat that Khivar guy you mentioned if it took all that to kill Nicholas?”
“By the time we need to deal with Khivar, hopefully your powers will be stronger,” Serena said.
“Liz told me you’ve been suppressing your powers in fear of being caught. You can’t do that anymore. You still have to be careful, but you need to practise more.”
“Can we deal with all this tomorrow?” Liz asked. “I’ve got things to do today, but I say we should meet up tomorrow. Fill in Alex, Maria, Kyle and Valenti.”
“No problem. Serena and I will drive these guys back to town and get them into a hotel.”
“Oh. While I think of it, take them to where you were…restored. It’s only fair that they’re okay too. The rest can be done as they come to Roswell.”
Serena gave Liz an unexpected hug. “Thank you. My people will never forget this.”
“Who could?” Liz laughed, the Skins joining in. They stopped, remembering the Roswellians were still there- and didn’t remember any of it.
They got out to the cars, the Skins piling back into their minivan. Michael looked at Liz.
“I’m not needed or anything, am I? Because I sorta want to see this.”
“And ask them a few questions too, I suppose. Sure, why not?” Liz said lightly, and Michael clambered onto the van after them. They were about to drive off when Max yelled out, “Stop!”
They peered their heads out of the windows to see what was up. “What about your bike?” Michael had ridden his bike to the Military Base.
He grinned. “Liz can drive it back.”
The van pulled off, leaving three aliens staring blankly at Liz.
“What?” she asked innocently.

End Chapter.

Thought I'd leave it on a lighter note than last time. One more chapter to go, folks.

Phone rings:

Ring, ring.

Ring, ring.

Answering machine picks up:

Hi, this is Orethena - I mean, Nicki. If you would like to join the interplanetary effort to invade and take over the Earth - I mean, leave feedback, please state your name, race, eye colour, names of all present and potential children, credit card number, social security number, the names of the people you personally know who take drugs or are communists, e-mail address and your message, after the beep. Thank you!

Beep.

Hey everyone.

First, a little update in the craziness of my life. I'm surviving my TAFE (Tertiary Accredited Further Education) courses. At least, I think that's what TAFE stands for. Basically, I'm trying to complete yr 12 at uni cos of what my old school did to me...and no, I'm still not bitter.
Though...it is the principal's final day on Friday, so I'll be telling her exactly what I think...what I've wanted to say for the last five years.
{Sigh} Life's hard. Financially, I'm screwed. Any ideas where I can come up with a month's rent by the end of this week? If I don't pay it, by brother and his fiance will lose their bond and they'll never speak to me again. Ever.
I need to hurt someone.
Hm. That old principal sounds like a great idea.

Oh well, enough about me. To get onto the more important stuff...and the only thing that's keeping me sane...Roswell, this fic, and you guys.

{{{Group Hug}}}

Okay, enough mushies. Oh wait, my thanks come in now, so there's a little more mushies to go.

roswellluver I think we're all with you there. And since I'm the author, I think I can arrange something.
Biged I don't remember seeing you around before. Does this mean you've been quietly lurking around, not letting me know what you've been thinking about this story...or are you a new person? Either way, thanks. 'Best chapter yet'? Wow. I think I'm gonna blush... Yep. There it was. As for Alex and Iz, refer to the end of my 'thank-you's.
mlover25 Hard to believe, isn't it? The final chapter...or is it? Refer to the end of the thank-you's as well.
polar vixen Thanks. I thought it was rather good. I wanted Michael to have seen flashes of when Liz borrowed his bike and comment on them- in front of the others, no less.
creative nickname Yeah, I thought Courtney and the others deserved something for being on the right side. It didn't seem fair when Courtney died on the show, so I figured 'why not?'.

I'm thinking of having a sequel...you guys might remember me thinking about it ages ago as well. Except I don't think I could make the day repeat again, but I'd need a plotline of some kind. You know, a mystery to solve, an enemy to defeat. I guess Khivar's still out there.

This chapter is focused on Max and Liz. I swore when I started this fic that the last chapter would be Max and Liz's.
The others do get mentioned, so rest assured that you won't be left out of the loop (no pun intended).

Dedication time!

To bumpers of chapter 12: roswellluver, Biged, mlover25, polar vixen, creative nickname

For everyone and everything else, refer to my author's note at the end.

Chapter 13

Liz paced her balcony that evening, waiting for Max to come. She had spoken to Alex earlier to see how he was, and although he wasn't admitting anything outright, it seemed he had a date with a certain alien princess next weekend. Serena had called (having gotten the number from Courtney) to say thanks...and was planning to officially swear fealty to Max the next day. Liz had had to keep herself from cracking up at Max's most likely reaction. He just wasn't into the idea of him being king of a whole planet. Maria and Michael were okay. Maria had called and asked her to cover for her if Amy called the next morning looking for her.
Liz's last phone call was from Tess and she'd agreed to stay in Roswell, no questions asked. She’d said that it really was better for everyone if she stayed. Liz didn’t think she’d ever forget what Tess said next.
**** “When I saw you stand up to Nicholas today, even though you knew that he was dangerous, and when I felt you give power to Max today to help us kill Nicholas, I think I understood what people have been trying to tell me ever since I got here. You and Max…you give each other strength. Without you, Nicholas would have won.”
“Tess, without me, you wouldn’t have even gonna after him in the first place.”
“Because we didn’t know he was there. That Serena was right. You’re brave and you’re willing to risk your life for Max. This whole fight…you weren’t born into it like we were, but you still give it your all. I’m not going to pretend to understand what happened last night. Why Max was so upset, and why Kyle didn’t want to talk to me either. I know it had something to do with you, but I know that whatever you did, was for all of us.”
Tess smiled. “Talk to Max. You guys belong together. I see that now.”
“Thanks Tess. You have no idea what it means to have you say that.”****
She'd been pacing for the last twenty minutes, but stopped as she heard a noise coming from the alley. Moments later, Max slowly came over the wall.
“I’m sorry for asking you to meet me here. I know it’s the last place you want to come to.”
“Why did you want to talk to me?”
“I wanted to explain. See, lately, I’ve learned a few things. Most of it relates directly to us, and though I promised not to tell, I think it’s time you knew.”
“Knew what?” Max asked. “About what was going on today?”
“No, that can wait. Max, I want to explain what you saw…it was a set up.”
“You didn’t…?”
“No Max. I never slept with Kyle. I could never do that to you.”
“Then why? Why did you make me think you had?”
Liz sighed. “You might want to sit down for this.” Confused, he did and Liz continued. “You told me to.”
“I- I didn’t tell you to…” Max protested.
“Well, not you you, but future you.”
“Future me? What are you talking about?”
“Oh god. I knew this would be hard, but…the Granolith is capable of time travel. In fourteen years’ time, the world ends, and you use it to come back and stop one pivotal point in history from happening.”
“What? Liz, time travel doesn’t exist.”
“That’s what I said, but there you were, with grey hair. Max, the other night, you serenaded me in Spanish, accompanied by a mariachi band, singing lyrics Mr Delgado at the hardware store had spent a week teaching you. You threw up red roses that changed to white as you remembered that I preferred white ones.”
Max was silent for a while.
“Apparently, the closer you and I got, the worse you treated Tess, because she couldn’t handle us together. She left Roswell, and when the enemy attacked, you weren’t strong enough to defeat them. Everyone else died. You needed Tess. So you came back to get my help.”
“I- I asked you to pretend to sleep with Kyle?”
“Well, no. That one was actually my idea. Maria and I were talking yesterday or the day before, I can’t remember which, and she told me she saw Michael in Courtney’s apartment. They weren’t doing anything at the time, but they had kissed. Maria was hurt, so that’s where I got the idea. The only way to get Tess to stay in Roswell, was if you turned to her, and the only way you would do that is…”
“…Is if I thought you had betrayed me.” Max finished, understanding.
“When the set up with Tess hadn’t worked, and it was obvious you still loved me after that speech…I had to do something drastic. So I asked Kyle to help me.”
“So nothing happened?”
“No. I did tell him we might have to fake a few kisses, but we didn’t even do that.”
Max was silent again, before speaking up again.
“You said everyone died…were—were you dead?”
“I don’t think so. You never said. All you said was that Michael died twenty minutes before you came back-”
“Michael?” Max asked, stunned. His best friend?
“And Isabel two weeks before that.”
“Oh god. How did I let it get so bad? How did we?”
“I don’t know. I guess we were so happy to get together that we didn’t pay attention to how Tess was feeling.”
“I guess not. So why did he- I come to you? Why not me?”
“Physics. If you two came into contact with each other there would be a…reaction. I can’t really explain it better than that.”
“Oh. Why are you telling me this now?”
“I couldn’t stand lying to you. I realised that I need you, and that I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t Liz,” Max replied with tears in his eyes. “Because I don’t want to lose you either. I love you too much to let you go.”
“I love you too.”
They embraced and it wasn’t long before things started heating up. Max pulled away from Liz.
“I’d better stop.”
“Why?” Liz asked, breathless from Max’s magical kisses.
“Because I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you in anyway, and I don’t want you to do anything you’re not ready for.”
“Max, it’ll be okay. I promise you I am ready. I don’t care what I told your future self, I’m ready to be with you forever.” Liz moved forward, initiating another long kiss before he pulled away again.
“If we do this, I don’t want there to be any secrets between us.”
“What-? Oh the whole thing today?” Liz asked, and Max nodded.
She bit her lip. “That’s tough to explain in words, and the flashes wouldn’t really cover it either.” She lit up. “It’s a long stretch, but it might work.” Before Max could ask her what she was doing, Liz reached out her senses, attempting to connect with the Granolith. Considering it was really powerful, it should- ‘There you are.’ She explained what she wanted and the Granolith sent an image of someone nodding. Liz withdrew to see Max staring blankly ahead as all the new information was processed. He blinked suddenly, and Liz’s anxious face came into focus in front of him.
“Oh Liz, I love you.” He spoke reverently, as if she were the most precious thing on the earth.
“You know now?”
“Yeah. You’ve been amazing.”
“Me?”
Max smiled softly, “yeah you. You’re the most incredible person I know, Liz. My heart stopped every time I saw you. I felt like dying myself when Nicholas killed you.
“I have to admit I don’t remember much after that. At least when I woke up this morning I didn’t remember the pain.” Max looked at Liz, who’d paled. “But you did, didn’t you? You remembered dying.”
“It was horrible Max. I woke up screaming and I couldn’t even tell my parents why,” she said, snuggling closer to him, his arm curling around her reflexively.
“I promise Liz, I will never let anything like that happen again.”
“I know you won’t Max.”
They kissed again and this time Max didn’t pull away. They only broke for air before continuing their long awaited reunion. Before they knew it, they were lying down on the blanket Liz had left out. She shivered slightly as Max removed her blouse, the cool November air brushing against her shoulders.
Max noticed and stopped.
“Max?”
“I want this to be perfect for you.” He picked her up, cradling her gently and carefully brought her inside, laying her gently on the bed.
Liz smiled up at him, love and sincerity shining in her eyes. “I have you. That’s perfect enough for me.”
Max smiled softly back and words became unnecessary between them as today, finally became ‘tomorrow’.

The End.