Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Melinda Metz, various publishers and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

AN: In my story, there is an upper-class language. The upper class language is Italian. I speak neither, nor do I write this language, due to this I use a website.

A what if - Alex did not die; Tess did not tell Max about the baby. What would you do to protect the ones you loved? And just how far would you be willing to go to achieve your aim?

Walking Away


As he rushed towards Isabel, Michael was relieved when she faded out. Turning his momentum towards the form, he started to plan his attack. 'At lest Izzy out of here.'

"No! She's gone… she can't be gone!" the form shrieked.

Stealthily moving closer to the form, Michael clenched his fist; he was prepared to assault the figure when he felt another presence.

"Michael, stop! Please… please… stop. Don't move," Tess cried out in obvious pain. He could hear her laboring in pain.

"Tess? Where are you?" Michael questioned as he tried to pay her in the looming darkness. 'Tess wouldn't have attacked Isabel, so some this else is here.'

"I'm here," Tess whispered reassuringly.

"Is this you head? Geeze, Tess. How do you live with this? Did we do this to you? Is this why Isabel can't dream-walk you anymore?" Michael asked slightly appalled.

"Michael, we don't have time for twenty questions. I could really use you help right now," Tess huffed like she just ran a marathon. A small blue light appeared about twenty feet away from him. "Please… stay where you are."

Getting a good look at her, Michael could see how gaunt she was. He watched her struggle to maintain the small light. 'She was always the fearless one; she can't be that powerless?'

"I'm not going anywhere. Tess, you don't look so hot," Michael commented as he glanced about the darkness. Gentle laughter floated his way from her. "What do you need me to do?" When her light flickered, Michael knew then the time was of the essence. "Tessa?"

"Reach for me, use your powers and reach for me," Tess whispered as her voice faded.

As her light flicked out completely, Michael forced himself to stay where he stood. Bring up his hands; he issued a bright green light from them. The light barely penetrated the looming darkness as he tried to reach her. 'She's too far away. Damn it, Michael you can do this!' he thought frantically.

"Encompass me is a perfect circle, slowly," Tess instructed her sounding closer. Michael closed his eyes and said a silent prayer as he felt his instincts take over, guiding him to do what needed to be done.

"You're doing it! Now, put your hands together," Tess praised.

A sixth sense told Michael that this was familiar, but it also told him that something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. 'Something's not right here, but what?' Michael thought until he shrugged off the feeling trusting that Tess knew what she was doing.

"Michael, put your hands together." Trusting her, he complied with her instructions. A tingling feeling under his hands surprised him. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring down into Tess's clear blue eyes. There, he saw such a deep sadness there.

"Tell everyone, to just forget about me. You can go back to your normal lives," Tess ordered.

"No way, we're going to find you. Come on Tess, tell me where you are?" Michael hissed.

"No, you won't' find me. I have been on the run ever since I left the pods. Just forget about me," Tess stated as tears slipped from her eyes.

"Not going to do that. I'm not leaving anyone behind, not this time. Beside which, normalcy is highly overrated," Michael argued.

"You don't understand," Tess sobbed.

"Make me understand. Tess, don't shut me out," Michael beseeched.

"There isn't time! It's too late, too much has already happened. I didn't shut you out. You shut me out, I'm the outsider, remember?" She sobbed, closing her eyes for a brief second before she look at him again.

"We're not alone," Michael whispered when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure move within the darkness, moving closer to Tess. He heard her gasp in surprise.

"I know," Tess answered.

"What are you whispering about? Speak in English!" the irate figure demanded.

Shock slammed into Michael as he realized he was speaking in his native tongue. His eyes widened, and in that second the morbid scene before him faded into a gruesome memory.

Instead of Tess standing before him, he saw an older more alien version of her. He could barely make out the distinct features of her face. In her eyes, he could read her fear as he felt his own for her.

"Rath remember he is still your brother," she whispered as glanced behind her. "I'm going to attempt to heal the damage that Ki'var has inflicted upon Nicholas." Michael felt himself, struggling to breathe as he watched her struggle with the darkness.

"Promise me, you'll guard Ava as fervently as you protect you king. If I should fail, she'll be the only family you will have left," his mother pleaded.

"You have my vow," Rath answered her silent request. Michael saw pride shine within her eyes.

"Rath, I love you. Always remember that." The squalls of black mist swallowed her whole. He knew instinctively that she died trying to heal Nicholas's mind.


"What have you done?" Michael whispered in horror, shock faded into anger. "What have you done?" Michael exploded, he felt like his whole body was on fire. "NO!"

"What was necessary; good-bye Rath," Tess answered as a weak smile graced her face.

"Don't you dare, Ava!" Michael roared. Building up his power he blasted it against the shield hitting it with everything he had. "Not my sister! No! Ava!" Clenching up his hand, he prepared to take a swing as Tess slowly lowered her hands.

"Don't!" Michael order as he felt his anchor fade away. "Ava!"


With barely controlled raged, Michael ripped off the bed covers. Jerking out of bed, he stared at the digital alarm next to his bed. 'Damn it! Why didn't she tell me! Why? What other secrets has she been keeping?' he thought as he stalked into his bathroom. On autopilot, Michael found himself picking up his car keys, before he jerked himself out of his trace.

"Che cosa l'inferno?" Michael whispered as he scrutinized his living room. He didn't remember cleaning up, but his once messy apartment was spotless. Looking around he found his sink clean of all the dirt dishes. 'Oh, this is not good,' Michael thought as he tightened his grip on his keys.

Swallowing the lump in his throat he forced himself to walk calmly out of his apartment. He was parking his car when he became aware of his surroundings again. 'I need to stop zoning out,' Michael thought as he looked over to the darkened house. A flicker in the window caught his attention. Growling, he moved with deadly speed and accuracy.

"Come on, open up," she hissed softly.

"Andare in qualche luogo?" Michael asked harshly as jealousy ripped though him. A loud gasp, radiated from her before she flicked on her bedroom light.

"God, Michael you scared me," Isabel whispered as she reached out of her window to grasp one of his hands. "Are you alright?"

"Sono benissimo. Chi erano voi che andate venire a contatto di?" Michael answered. With his thumb he stroked her palm.

"Michael, do you realize you're speaking strangely?" Max's voice flowed out to him from within her room. "Come around front and I'll open the door."

Slowly he tried to pull his hand away, only to realize that she wasn't letting go. Staring up into her eyes, he saw that she was afraid.

"Li ho. Ora siete sicuri," Michael whispered offering her up a soft smile. He felt her grip on him tighten as her eyes started to moisten. Using his other hand, he opened the window sufficiently enough for him to enter. With relative easy, he maneuvered himself through the window, and into the house.

"English please," Max grounded out in frustration.

"I'm speaking English," Michael snapped as Isabel wrapped her arms around his body.

"Michael, I was so scared. What was that?" Isabel whispered brokenly. "That couldn't have been Tess. And what's worse is when I woke up; I had bruises around my throat from that thing's hands."

"I don't know what that was, but I do know that it has Tessa," Michael stated as he stared at Maxwell. "She's not looking so hot."

"Any leads?" Max softly asked. "Anything?"

"It was pitch black in there. Tessa, she was there, but I couldn't track where she is. For the most part, she's fine. A little tired, nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't cure," Michael offered. He slightly prayed that Max didn't question him further.

"What are you keeping from us?" Isabel demanded as she took a small step back. "I can feel it. You're hiding something Michael."

"I… ah, I had a flashback while I was there," Michael whispered. "Tessa didn't tell us everything, maybe she was hoping that we would remember on our own. Ava was Rath's little sister."

"Oh god," Isabel whispered. "Michael, you must be worried sick."

"I'm not ready to talk about it," Michael stressed as he hugged her again. "And since I'm already here…"

"I have the bed already made," Max interrupted. "Izzy, you're going to have to let him go." Michael and Isabel reluctantly parted. "If you bring your things, you can meet us in the living room," Max offered.

"Are you still meeting Brody tomorrow?" Michael asked as he settled himself down on the couch.

"Yes, and since you're here, you get to come with us," Isabel stated as she stretched out on the recliner. "I have my alarm set for nine in the morning, so boys you better get some sleep."

"Night Izzy," Michael and Max state in union. Michael shifted and reached his arm out to Max. He wasn't prepared for the flash that happened with Max.

"Well, that was new," Max muttered when the flash ended. "We need to have our wits about ourselves." Falling into a dreamless sleep, the three aliens reunited together in their dreams.

At nine thirty, the trio strode towards the alien exhibt, the first thing that they noticed was that it was closed. The second thing that they noticed was the closed for the day sign on the door.

"Great," Isabel huffed agitated.

"Brody will be here tomorrow," Max stated as he looked around.

"Yes, he will be. He's taking his daughter to the hospital for a check up," Maria replied, startling both Isabel and Max, while Michael looked mildly amused. "Why?"

"We have some issues we need to speak to him about," Michael answered vaguely.

"And you were going to tell us," Maria accused the trio.

"I thought we were going out later," Michael grounded out as his face contorted in anger.

"We are," Maria quickly stated.

"I would have told you then," Michael stated as he spun around and headed back towards the jeep.

"He's having difficulty handling things since…"

"I know that my boyfriend is having difficulty with Alex's passing, I don't need you to tell me that," Maria snapped. "Just tell him not to be late."

Growling lowly, Max waited until Maria was safely inside the Crashdown before stalking over to the Jeep. "She doesn't seem to remember that Tess is missing." Max drove the group back to his house.

"I know and that's Liz Parker's doing. Take a deep breath, I'll seek you out when I get back," Michael stated as he got out of the Jeep.


Later that day, Michael met up with Maria while she waited for Liz to join her. The drive to Los Cruse was spent listen to Liz spew her venom about all things alien. However at the end of the day, Liz was thanking Michael for being there.

There they found out that Alex translated the alien book, making his death look more like murder instead of suicide. After spending several hours on the drive home with Liz and Maria working discussing several different reasons for Alex's murder, Michael found himself drained.

Once in Roswell, he dropped Maria and Liz off at Liz's home and slowly made his way towards the Evan's residence. Something cold gently touched his face, as he looked up into the sky; Michael was mildly amused when white fluffy flakes lightly covered his face.

"A little public, isn't it?" Michael quested, causing Isabel spin around in surprise.

"It's a freak storm, you know, who cares?" Isabel stated as she bridged the gap between them. Michael offered a tired smile, noticing that for the first time in weeks he was seeing a real smile on Isabel's face.

"Not me, I got bigger things to talk about," Michael whispered. "Maxwell, there's two things I need to tell you. First is, I've been lying to you about Maria, Liz, and the whole investigation. Instead of stopping 'em, I've been helping 'em. Second thing is, it was worth it." Reaching out he hands Max the translation and Isabel the rod.

"What's this?" Max questioned.

Pointing to the pages, Michael looked Max directly in the eye. "It's everything we've been looking for. It's a translation to the book. You know - the book."

"You're kidding!" Isabel gasped, shocked.

"Not even a little," Michael stated.

"Well what does it say?" Isabel questioned.

Absorbing the pages, Maxwell shook his head. "It's the way home. We can go home."

Staring at each other, they stood there in silence as they were slowly covered by the falling snow as they struggled with their torrent emotions.

Until Later

The next chapter centers on Tess. Where she is & who she's with. Plus… if my muse plays nice, the 'she' that has destroyed Tess's life in Roswell.

che cosa l'inferno - what the hell?

andare in qualche luogo? - Going somewhere?

Sono benissimo. Chi erano voi che andate venire a contatto di? - I am fine. Who were you going to meet?

Li ho. Ora siete sicuri. - I have you. You are safe now.