Chapter One
Max woke slowly, his body stiff from resting on the hard dirt floor. Unsure of where he was, or why, he sat up slowly and looked around, afraid he had been returned to the white room. His vision sharpened and he looked around. He was in some sort of cave, but he didn't know why.
Max pulled his legs up to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them, trying to figure out where he was, and why, but the only thing that kept echoing in his head was a foreign voice chanting 'I'll be back.'
"I'll be back," he said, trying the words out. He adjusted the timbre of his voice and tried again. "I'll be back." With that, a flood of memories came rushing back. "Terminator!" he shouted, remembering the movie he Michael, Kyle and Alex loved to watch over and over again.
This isn't the alley behind the CrashDown, he said to himself. Shit, it's the pod chamber. How the hell did I end up here?
Resigned to a long hike back to town, Max opened the chamber door and stepped out into the desert. He started walking toward the highway, but stopped when he realized he couldn't walk in the daylight. He couldn't take the chance of anybody seeing him. It would cause a paradox, according to Liz and Serena.
He went back into the pod chamber, and the door slid shut behind him, enveloping him in darkness. He wandered aimlessly around the small chamber for several minutes trying to ignore the memories of Liz that assailed his memories. Trying to banish them, he walked over to examine the pods he had ignored up to now, and received the shock of his life. Each pod contained a child.
Max stepped back in shock, trying to make sense of the scene before him. It couldn't be possible, he couldn't have traveled so far back in time. It wasn't possible. He looked again at the four children in stasis in the pods and knew it was true. He had traveled back to Roswell, but before he, Michael, Isabel and Tess had emerged from his pods.
A seed of an idea began to germinate in his mind, but he knew that he would have to find out the exact date before he did anything else. He used his powers to turn his hair blond, his eyes blue, and give himself a beard, and stepped back outside. He started walking down the highway, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. He was hoping he'd find a driver nice enough to pull over. He didn't want a ride; he only wanted to know the date.
The original plan had been for him to convince Liz to make him fall out of love with her and make him turn to Tess. This would keep Tess part of the group – part of the foursquare. But for whatever reason, he overshot his mark and ended up here. Now, he had to do something. Liz had a theory that Tess was the way she was because of how she grew up and who she grew up with. If his plan worked – no, there was no if, it had to work.
It wasn't long before a car pulled up along side of him and slowed down. Max tried to quell the fear that rose up inside of him at the site of the Roswell Sheriff Department vehicle. The window rolled down and a familiar voice called out.
"You okay, son?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Max said, forcing himself not to bodily rip Jim Valenti from the car and hug him. "A few of us are doing some desert camping, and my watch broke. I was just going to hike to the road to see if we could find someone who could tell me what day it was."
Max groaned internally at the lame cover story he came up with. If it had been anyone but Jim Valenti to stop, he would have been fine, but seeing the Sheriff again really threw him. The last time he had seen Jim, it was with a blast hole in his back, his arms wrapped around what was left of Kyle's body.
"Camping, huh?" questioned the Sheriff. "That's it?"
"Yes sir, that's it, I promise. No drugs or anything," said Max.
"I believe you," said Jim. "It's Saturday, January 16th," said the Sheriff."
"Thanks Sheriff," said Max.
"No, thank you for the promotion," said Jim. "I'm Deputy Jim Valenti."
"Oh, sorry, uh, Deputy," said Max. He paused for a second, trying to figure out what year it was. He didn't want to ask and arouse the Sheriff's suspicion, but he had to know the year. "Well, uh, thanks again," Max said.
"No problem," said Jim. "If you need anything else, just stop by the Sheriff's department and ask for Jim Valenti."
"Great, thanks," said Max, his eyes scanning the interior of the car. "Hey, uh, Deputy Valenti, do you have a newspaper or anything?"
"Yeah, actually, I do," said Jim. "It's yesterdays, but I suppose if you've been out camping for a bit, even old news is better than no news. Here you go."
"Thanks again," said Max. "Have a great day."
Max watched until the Sheriff's car was out of site, trying to quell the feeling of loss that welled up inside of him. Jim was the first adult they ever trusted, and it hurt when he died. Max had pushed all those feelings down deep inside, and seeing Jim brought them all back to the surface again. Scanning the newspaper while he walked, he headed back to the pod chamber.
Once inside, he began to work, feverishly. Using his powers, he erased the newsprint on several pages of the newspaper. Using the stump of a pencil he found lodged in his pocket, he began to scribble a message to his future self. When the message was complete, he fastened it to the rock wall, using his powers to drive the pencil into the rock.
The next part of the plan was risky. He didn't know if he should do it. Would it cause the paradox Liz and Serena had cautioned him about. He didn't see how it would, but still – physics wasn't his forte, and his lack of knowledge made him hesitant to continue.
My younger self shouldn't recognize me, so I should be safe, he mused. But do I do it myself, or wait for it to happen. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Max sat down on the ground, opposite the pods and began his vigil. Besides, if a paradox did happen, and he and his younger self ceased to exist, it would change the future anyhow. He had no choice he had to try.
It wasn't long until he saw some signs of movement in three of the pods. He watched in amazement as a tear appeared in his pod and a small hand emerged. There was a gush of fluid, and his younger self crawled out awake from his forty-year plus stasis. There was a look of fear in they eyes of the child that would become him, a fear Max remembered too well.
Taking a chance, Max moved, slowly and carefully, drawing the attention of his younger self. He held his breath; afraid of what would happen if the paradox Liz had warned him about occurred. He sighed with relief when nothing happened, and moved slowly and carefully toward the frightened child.
Max quickly shrugged off the shirt he was wearing and used it to wipe the shivering child down, trying to sooth him with his hands, since communication was impossible. The child relaxed imperceptibly in his grasp, and Max exhaled, unaware that he had, up to know, been holding his breath.
A tearing noise alerted Max to the fact that another one of them was emerging, and he turned his child self in the direction of the pods to watch. Max stepped forward and helped Isabel climb out of her chamber, and young Max rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. Almost immediately, Michael's pod began to tear, and he climbed out, looking very scared.
Young Isabel and Max moved to him and took his hands, and Max felt his breath catch watching this moment of bonding between himself, his sister and his best friend. Realizing that there was no time to lose, Max stepped forward and used his powers to break Tess' pod open. The fluid gushed out, soaking his feet, but Tess didn't move. Afraid that she was hurt, he reached in and pulled her body out and laid it on the ground. He knelt down and pressed his head to her chest and breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a heart beat.
Max looked up to see his younger self, Isabel, and Michael watching him curiously. He held his hands over Tess' unconscious body and began to use his powers to feel for damage. He found nothing, and had sat back on his heels, unsure of how to proceed when his younger self stepped forward hesitantly and knelt down beside Tess. Mimicking Max's motions, he passed his hands over Tess' body and Max watched in amazement as Tess' eyes fluttered open.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Max smiled. Obviously, these four shared a connection all ready. Now he just had to get them, all of them out on to the road when his parents drove by. Max tried to stand, and promptly fell back to the ground.
"Oh shit," he said out loud, causing stares of wonderment from the four children. "It can't be happening yet. I haven't changed things enough!" Max focused with every ounce of energy he had, trying to will his body to not fade from existence. "NO!" he shouted as watched his hand start to disappear, and then suddenly grow firm. He had no idea what happened, but he was thankful that he had a reprieve.
"Okay guys, this is what we're going to do," Max said. "Yeah, I know you can't understand me, or can you?" he wondered.
He stood up and walked carefully over to his young self, reached out and touched his face, forcing a connection between the two of them. He tried to let his other self see into the future. Seeming to understand, young Max stood quietly, trying to comprehend the strange things he was seeing, and in turn, Max was able to view some of memories of their other life that his younger self still had access to.
Young Max held out a hand, and Isabel reached out to take it. She in turn held out a hand to Michael who held Tess' hand in his, and a connection between the five was formed. He could feel their confusion as they struggled to make sense of a world they knew nothing about.
When the connection ended, Max stepped back and looked down at the four children. He hoped they understood – he hoped he understood and that he was doing the right thing. He felt reassured when Isabel released Michael's hand and took his. The gesture was so comforting, and so like his sister, that he felt reassured.
Certain that he was making the right decision, Max opened the door and lead the others to the outside world. It was difficult, traveling in the dark, across Pullman Ranch with for naked children, but he pressed on. They didn't know it, but they had a date to meet their future parents, because Max had no doubt that if Philip and Diane Evans found all four children on the road later that night, they'd open their hearts and their home to all of them, and not just Max and Isabel.
They waited, hidden from sight until Max saw the Evans car approach. He shot a small burst of energy at the car, causing it to stall. He watched as his father coasted the car to the side of the road. When Philip Evens stepped out of the car, Max gave the four children a small nudge and sent them out of the shadows, toward the car.
He ducked out of sight and watched as Philip turned his head toward the approaching footsteps. The last thing he saw before he faded from existence was Diane Evans climb from the car and gather the four children in her arms in a welcoming hug.