Roswell - The Beginning Of The End
Author: Aislin ( goddess_number_9@hotmail.com )
Category: * Kinda AU * Umm, I don't really think there is a category for this. Couplewise.
Rating: PG-13 (mostly just cos of language)
Summary: Max and Tess go to NY with Lonnie and Rath, Liz and Ava plot to get Zan back, but they need Michael and Isabel's help.
Author's Note: I don't really have anything to say here--just read, review, and enjoy! (Please, no flaming. I've been working on this story for a loooooong time (I was grounded offline for 2 weeks, so I spent a lot of time on this story), and it's my pride and joy right now. I don't wanna see it get smashed down.) (Put your mouse on the picture!)
A scene change is this: ~*¤*~
Spoilers: None, unless I have some psychic connection with the writers that decide how close we come to the edge of our seats each week and I know how they're planning on ending the series! Let's just all hope that they don't end it for a long time (Think: how long Friends has been running!), but I think that this could be a good way to end it.
~*¤*~
Max Evans was sitting in a hot stuffy car next to Tess Harding. God, I never thought I'd be in the backseat of a car with Tess, he thought, laughing silently at the thought. Sitting in the drivers seat was Rath, the second Pod Squad's version of Michael. Next to him in the passenger's seat was Lonnie, Isabel's counterpart. They were all heading for New York City for the peace conference at the Summit. It was time to bring an end to the terror and disaster on their home planet.
Tess could feel the charge running through the air. The only word she could use to describe it was power. They were all united for a good cause, and the energy coming from the four was incredible. She could see the orange lines of energy and happiness streaming through Max's emerald green aura. Yet, in Rath's deep, dark blood red there were only tiny lines of deep green. According to what Tess remembered, deep green was the colour of wealth and greed. A worried look crossed her face. In Lonnie's purple-black aura, there were tiny lines of red and black. The colours of rage and evil, or negative feelings. However, there were still tiny specks of orange in their auras, so she assumed the different colours were only because they seemed to be more on the gothic side.
She looked down at her own aura, and saw many thick lines of orange criss-crossing the yellowy-goldness. She was satisfied with the apparent amount of energy. She glanced around at the other colours mixing in with auras. She saw a few thick strands of deep purple in Max's--the colour of sensitivity and caring. She could see his patience was running thin with Liz and her constant pushing him away. There were sparkles of pink in Lonnie's aura, a sign that she was totally content with Rath as her significant other, and didn't want it any other way. Yet what she continued to see in Rath's aura scared her. It was almost totally black--so black you could barely see the red that made it look like dried blood. Threads of dark blue and silver traced through it. Dark blue was a colour of depression, darkness and sorrow. Silver meant a number of things--maybe Rath was worried about someone seeing his true reflection, and the silver represented the mirror.
Lonnie looked back at Tess in the rearview mirror. Tess glanced up and saw heavy-lined eyes staring at her, and dropped her gaze to her lap. Lonnie smirked. That bitch is too damn easy to control. She's so meek. She'd never make it in the 'hood. Glancing over at Rath, Lonnie smiled. He saw her out of the corner of his eye, and turned to her. Controlling the wheel with one hand, he reached over to Lonnie and kissed her.
"LOOK OUT!" Tess screamed. They were headed straight for a transport truck. Rath simply turned the wheel slightly to the side, and they barely missed the truck. His kiss with Lonnie still hadn't broken.
"What the hell are you trying to accomplish, Rath? Get us all killed before we can even end the war and go home? Shit, Rath, I wanna get this war over with, don't you?" Max said, his voice low and tight with anger.
Rath pulled away from Lonnie, stared straight ahead, and slammed on the brakes. He turned around and stared straight into Max's eyes, ignoring the many cars whizzing by and shooting him the finger.
"Listen up, king. Just 'cause you and yo' queen are back there don't mean I gotta be all sappy on ya. We're gon' to NYC--you ain't gonna last long there if you keep on bein' Mr. Nice Bitch. I know what I'm don', probably could do betta than you. So just sit back there, shut the fuck up, and let me drive." Rath yelled.
Tess shrank back into the seat, afraid that maybe Rath would go out of control and try to hit her. Even though she hadn't done anything.
Max's eyes lit up with a fire Tess had never seen in him before. "No, you listen, Rath." he spat out the name as if it were laced with poison and would slowly eat away at his tongue. "You don't have to be all 'sappy' on us, but the least you could do is treat us with a little respect. Without us, you'd never get home. I don't think you want to stay here any more than the others do. And if you wanna take my job, go right ahead. I hope you don't need to sleep, 'cause you're gonna lose a lot of it worrying about Lonnie, Ava, Michael, Isabel and Tess, whether they're gonna get home, or at least get out of here before the skins declare war on this planet, too. I'll sit back here, but you better drive, because I don't think you wanna stay on this planet for much longer." Max growled.
Rath was surprised at Max's response. He, too, had seen the purple in his aura, and didn't think he had the guts to bitch back. Maybe he had underestimated Max. He floored the gas, and they took off for New York City.
~*¤*~
Liz Parker was all alone in her bedroom. It was late at night, and Ava was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Sitting on her bed with her knees pulled tight to her chest, Liz watched as her silent tears stained her blue pajama bottoms. She heard the bathroom door open, and she looked up to see Ava--well, she didn't look like Ava anymore but it was still her. She now had Tess's soft blonde curls and bright green eyes. Nearly all of her piercings had disappeared, except for one in her left ear and two in her right. The only thing that remained to prove she was Ava was the Pod symbol on her upper right arm.
"What chu starin' at, girl? Ain't you neva seen Tess befo'?" Ava asked her in her strange way of speaking.
Liz laughed despite her tears. "I've seen her, I just didn't know you could change your appearance. The others can't." Liz explained.
Ava nodded. "What chu cryin' fo'?" she asked gently.
Liz glanced over at her night table, where the pocketknife lay that Max had given back to her. Fresh tears spilled over onto her cheeks, and Ava plunked herself down on the bed next to Liz.
"Aww, don't you go cryin' on me! Here, lemme see what's so rank," Ava said, trying to make Liz smile. She grasped the brunette girl's hand in her own, and they were connected. Ava received images of Liz and Future Max, his explaining what Liz had to do. Liz telling Max she didn't want to die for him. Liz in bed with Kyle. The hurt look on Max's face. "Whoa, there, girlie. How'd ya know that the future guy ain't a shapeshifter?"
Liz sniffled, and met Ava's sparkling green eyes. Ava saw hers were only filled with pain. "He knew things."
"Like what? Dayum, girl, shapeshifters will do freakin' anything to get the flashbacks of their new shape's life."
"Ava, trust me. It was Max. He was 31 years old, he had gray in his hair, and he had a mustache. He looked a lot different, even his clothes, but it was Max."
Ava sighed. "Okay, girl, I get what chu sayin'. It was Max, he just looked a lil' diff." she paused for a moment to wipe away the tears that were building up in her own eyes. "He woulda liked you, ya know."
"Who? Zan?"
"Yeah. He and yo' Max, they ain't all that different. 'Cept they dressed diff. But they were both leaders, and still so unsu' of how to front it."
Liz saw the tears forming in Ava's eyes. "You must've really loved Zan," she said quietly.
"Neva really knew it til Rath got 'im squashed."
"Ironic."
"Yeah..."
"But Tess always seemed to be all 'You're my destiny' and everything, and you weren't...how come?"
"We was made to love each otha. Somethin' in the old double-helix, I guess. So we'd all hang togetha 'n' be able to save tha world,"
"But you didn't realize that you loved Zan until--but Tess has been after Max since she showed up in Roswell,"
"I 'unno," Ava shrugged, "Sure, I cared for Zan 24/7, but seems like Tess is wacked out or somethin'. When I came outta the pod, I saw Zan before Rath. Even tho' I was a little tyke, I knew I'd hang with Zan. But Tess wasn't with Max when they busted out, right?"
"Yeah."
"Mebbe she had a little ESP thang goin' on, and knew she was supposed to be wit Max. And afta the years she was witout 'im, her love grew stronga. Y'know, 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' or some shit like that. Then when she met up wit Max she went mad and woulda tried anything to get him away from you."
"But he wanted to be with me, not her!"
"You said Tess is all 'You're my destiny', and she wasn't about to let some human--no offense--get in her way of bein' Queen."
"Max used to treat me like a queen..." Liz murmured.
Ava didn't know what to say to that. She noticed the lines of deep blue that threaded through Liz's warm amber aura. She also saw the tiny lines of a sick-looking green. Colours of depression and sickness. Dayum. This girl really is heartbroken. "Well, girl, looks like we're both in the same mothaship here. We both lost our men, and we both want 'em back but can't have 'em."
Liz's eyes were cast down, but she looked up. "Ava--what happened to Zan's body after?"
"Dammit, I can't freakin' remember! I've got an idea."
"What?"
"I'm gonna use my brain like a VCR, and play my memories on your wall like a TV. You'll see it." Ava held her hands behind her head, and focused her power. Her hands began to glow, and withing seconds pictures were projected on Liz's bedroom wall.
Pictures of Ava, Rath, Lonnie and Zan in their sewer home in New York. The four growing up. Rath and Lonnie sitting together on the ratty couch, smiling. Zan standing behind them. Rath and Zan walking down a street with Lonnie and Ava behind them. Zan was bouncing a basketball. Rath swatting it so it headed towards the street. Rath pushing Zan in front of the oncoming transport truck--
~*¤*~
Lonnie sat impatiently in the tiny car. She didn't mind being cramped up next to Rath, it was just that she had to share the car with Tess and Max. If Max screwed up at the Summit, Lonnie swore to herself that she'd kill him--if Rath didn't first. She had little love in her heart for her king and brother, and if he wasn't necessary to get home she was sure she, Rath, and Ava wouldn't have even bothered with him. Well, her and Rath, anyway. It seemed that Ava was fond of Max, only because he and Zan were almost totally the same.
"Shit!" Rath swore as the light ahead of them turned red. Flooring the gas, he sped through the intersection just ahead of a transport truck. They nearly avoided being T-boned.
Max opened his mouth to yell at Rath, but Rath's eyes in the rearview mirror stopped him.
"Before you even squeak, bitch, listen and listen good. You're right, I do wanna freakin' get home. That's why you're gonna make the peace deal. But we gotta get there befo' they all get sick of waitin' for us to show, got it?"
"Fine, but at least be a little more careful driving. We'll be useless at the summit if we're not in one piece." Max said. He sighed, and rested his head back against the seat in the dark car.
Tess yawned, and leaned her head against Max's shoulder. He flinched. Max, what is it? she asked him in his mind.
Nothing.
Don't give me that crap, Maxwell she yelled at him, using his full name. Something's up, and I know it
I'm just not sure if Lonnie and Rath are up to something he lied.
I wouldn't be surprised, but they want to get home. I don't think they're going to do anything to us.
You're probably right. Max sighed. Tess went back to leaning on his shoulder, and this time he squashed his desire to move her. Liz, what did I do? he called out to her mind silently, an undetectable thought to Tess.
~*¤*~
Liz saw Zan being shoved by Rath out in front of the fatal truck. She cried out as he was run over, but then she studied the picture carefully. She saw his body lying on the road, his limbs either flattened or twisted at an unnatural angle. Stifling back her urge to cry and scream, Liz noticed that his body seemed to shimmer, and become transparent. Then it just floated down into the sewer grate. "Ava! Ava, snap out of it!"
Ava gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving tracks of mascara. "What? What'd you see?"
"I know what happened to his body."
"What?"
Liz explained to the alien where it had gone.
Ava shrieked with delight. "His body is with the pods! But--wait a minute--what's the dealio?"
"Nasedo was killed once."
"So?"
"We brought him back."
"Excuse me?"
"We brought him back. Well, Isabel, Michael and Max did."
"How?"
"They used the healing crystals."
"Tha wha?"
"Healing crystals. We got them out of the ship hidden in the secret government base. I can't remember how they did it, but it brought Nasedo back."
"Where is he now?"
"Dead."
"You juss said they twisted that stat."
"They did. But a skin killed him recently."
"Oh."
"Ava, don't you get it? We can get Michael and Isabel to use the healing crystals on Zan's body, and bring him back for you!"
"It ain't gonna work. He's been flatlined too long."
"It's still worth a try, isn't it? Wouldn't you like to have Zan back again?"
Ava thought silently for a few minutes. "Call Michael and Isabel. We're gonna get Zan back!"
Liz smiled from ear to ear. Ava had been such a good friend to her lately, and she felt that she deserved to have Zan back. She deserved a second chance.
~*¤*~
"So what, Liz? You just expect us to help Ava, the girl who helped Lonnie and Rath take away Tess and Max get Zan back because you think she deserves it? Michael spat into the phone. He hadn't liked the replicas since they showed up, and he wasn't exactly willing to help Ava.
"Why can't we?" Isabel asked. She hadn't seen anything wrong with Ava. She did stay behind from the New York trip because she didn't want to be with Lonnie and Rath. And that was something that Isabel could relate to. She saw the bright red lines of rage flowing through Michael's aura, and noticed the vibrant green ones running through her own. Hers were of calmness, whereas Michael's well-known bad attitude was beginning to show. Her patience was wearing thin with his selfish attitude. Screw destiny. I think it's practically unthinkable that Michael and I are meant to be together. I wouldn't be able to stand him! She grabbed the phone from Michael. "Liz, even though Michael's being a stubborn little child, I'll help Ava out. I'll be over in ten." She told her friend, hanging up the phone.
"What the hell are you thinking?" Michael yelled. He had been at Isabel's for the afternoon, because they were trying to figure out why Max had left so suddenly without telling them.
"What am I thinking, Michael? I'm thinking that you're being a stupid pain in the ass! Ava needs our help. You know how Liz feels not having Max anymore, even though we can obviously see they want to be together, and she won't let them. She could still get him back. Ava can't get Zan back that easily. Rath killed him, remember? You seem so heartless, Michael, and it's really starting to piss me off! You know I usually don't get this mad, but, Christ! Ava's been so nice to Liz, and for once she's finally able to talk to someone who knows exactly how she's feeling right now, exactly what she's going through. I want to help Ava, because she's helped Liz. And Liz is a good friend. If you don't want to help, fine. But I will." Isabel said angrily. She stormed up to Max's room and took the healing crystal's out of his bottom dresser drawer. She surged past Michael, out the door, and into Max's Jeep. He had left it behind when he went to New York, and she was free to use it seeing as he wouldn't be needing it. Stepping down on the gas pedal, she tore out of the driveway towards the Crashdown, leaving Michael standing at the door, his mouth agape.
~*¤*~
Rath kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. It would be a few days until they reached New York, and he didn't want to risk taking a wrong turn or something and setting them back a few days. Those at the Summit would definitely not be happy about their being late, whether Max was king or not.
Lonnie's hand had been resting near the gearshift, but it had started to make it's way left. He grinned and slapped it away playfully. She mocked him, and they laughed.
Max and Tess looked at each other. Rath and Lonnie laughing? There's something that they doubted they'd ever see. Yet what they both could see was thick strands of pink running through their blood red and deep purple auras. Where their hands met it was a merger of the two colours, and it was truly beautiful despite the darkness.
"Okay, gang, are we gon' stop 'n' chow down somewhe', or are we gon' drive on? Cos I know my gut's achin' for some chow." Rath asked everyone in the car.
"Food. We stoppin' at tha next restaurant." Lonnie answered him, a smile on her face.
Max glanced at Tess with a look of confusion on his face. Rath was usually a total jerk-why was he being nice now? They were both confused, but they were also hungry. "What Lonnie said." Tess told them. Rath smiled. Yet again, Max and Tess were confused.
They drove in silence for a few minutes when Lonnie spotted a Wendy's. "Rath, stop there." she ordered. He pulled the car over into the parking lot, braked, and put the car in park. The foursome got out of the car and walked into the restaurant.
Rath ignored all the other customers in line and pulled the other three up to the front of the line with him. Hearing the complaints of the customers and workers, he silenced them all with a single glance. "Yeah, I want a double cheeseburger and a Coke. Get Lonnie an orange pop and a hamburger. With bacon." he turned to Max and Tess. "Whaddya want?" he asked.
"Just two cheeseburgers and two cokes." he told Rath.
"You heard the man. Two cheeseburgers and two cokes." he told the girl behind the cash register.
"That'll be thirteen dollars and fifty-nine cents, please." the girl smiled at Rath. He slapped down a ten and a five dollar bill, grabbed the food, and walked out to the car. Max, Tess, and Lonnie followed.
"Now, here's where we stuff ourselves, and get back on the freakin' road." Lonnie said while taking her burger from Rath. He tossed two cheeseburgers at Max and Tess, and they took the drinks from his hand.
Max turned his head as he saw a police car pull into the parking lot. A police car with Roswell written on the side.
To Be Continued...