"You cheater! You liar! You…there isn't a word awful enough!"
Isabel was mad. No, Isabel was livid. Absolutely livid. Michael internally admired how she always looked so lively when mad.
"I did not cheat!" Michael defended himself, faking offense.
"There were five aces in one deck! In your hand!"
"I'm a lucky guy," Michael replied smugly.
"Oh, I'm going to-"
"Nobody's going to do anything, and you both know it," Tess interrupted them good-naturedly. "God, the two of you sound like an old married couple."
"Like we'd ever get married," Michael quickly said.
"For once, I agree with Michael," Isabel added. "You think I'd marry him?"
"Excuse me? I happen to be quite a catch, thank you very much," Michael retorted. Then, after a moment, "Why wouldn't you marry me?"
"Well, there are a lot of reasons. Your clothes, your hair..." Isabel smiled.
"What the hell is wrong with my hair?"
"Oh, Michael, so many thing," Isabel answered with false sweetness.
Max smiled at Michael's frustrated expression.
"Maybe we should quit playing cards before things start exploding," Tess suggested, looking directly at Michael.
"Yeah, it's getting late anyway. I think it's time for me to go to bed," Max told the others as he stood.
"Yeah, sure," Michael agreed.
"Come on, Tess, we can change in my room." Isabel said, standing.
"Ok, good night, guys!" Tess smiled at Max.
"Good night, Tess," Max answered, smiling slightly back.
Michael looked between Tess and Max. Sure, there was absolutely nothing there. Michael didn't doubt that Max loved Liz, but he also wasn't a fool. Tess could be gratingly persistent, but she could also be warm and kind. If they started having the kind of dreams that Michael and Isabel had, it would only be a matter of time before they were making Nasedo proud. Michael figured that it would probably be for the best if they did; Max and Liz, Roswell's own Romeo and Juliet, would only end up hurting one another more. Likewise, while Maria was a great girl, Michael knew that he couldn't love her the way that she needed to be loved. She needed Prince Charming or at least that guy from Titanic. If Michael had been on the Titanic, he would've been one of the nameless schmucks shoveling coal, trying to keep the ship afloat. Maria deserved more than he could give her; she would always be kept at arm's length with him.
Still pensive, Michael looked up and saw Isabel standing in front of him, cards in her hands.
"Here's your deck, cheater." She smiled at Michael's surprised look. Isabel turned and strode down toward her bedroom.
"See you tomorrow," Isabel called over her shoulder as she walked away.
Michael watched her, admiring her smooth gait and womanly form. When did that happen? He didn't remember her becoming a woman.
"Yeah, tomorrow," he replied in a whisper with a strangely recognizable sense of awe and wanting. He really wasn't sure what it was exactly that he wanted, but it was painfully becoming clearer.
Max watched Michael staring blankly after his sister. This was not good. Max thought they had all decided their destinies would be ignored, that they would do what they wanted to do and not what some book made of alien stone dictated. Max hadn't considered the possibility that what the four aliens wanted to do and what they were meant to do could possibly coincide. He sighed in frustration, catching Michael's attention.
"Max, you ok?" Michael asked.
"Fine. Just tired, I guess," Max answered, still distracted.
"What's up, Maxwell?" Michael questioned, knowing Max was too deep in thought for his own good.
"Nothing. I was just thinking."
"About what?" Michael pressed.
"Nothing important, just...stuff," Max answered, not wanting to start an awkward conversation that could easily end up as an argument. It had been a good night so far.
"Oh...stuff."
While self-restraint was normally not Michael's strength, the possibility that Max had been thinking about his stay with the government a few months before or Michael and Isabel's latest dreams encouraged Michael to let Max's non-answer slide.
"Let's just go upstairs and get some sleep," Max said, already walking to his room with Michael following.
"What color do you think my nails should be? I was thinking red," Isabel asked, inspecting her fingers.
"You've worn red a lot lately, haven't you?" Tess asked, carefully taking one of Isabel's hands in her own.
"Yeah. Why?" Isabel asked, studying Tess's expression.
"Maybe you should try something new. Something like...this…" Tess said, then passed her hand over Isabel's.
"That's a great color. I wouldn't have picked it out, but it works." Isabel smiled at her now dark sandy-peach colored nails.
"You're welcome." Tess smiled at her friend's praise and did Isabel's other hand.
"I'm exhausted. Are you tired, Tess?"
"Very. Is there a sleeping bag somewhere I could use?"
Isabel looked at Tess in surprise.
"You are not sleeping on the floor. You'll sleep in bed with me; there's more than enough room. I'm not letting my friend sleep on the ground."
"Thank you." Tess sounded soft, sincere. "I've never really had friends before. It's nice to consider you and Max and Michael my friends...maybe my family."
Isabel hated to think of Tess being alone for so long. She may have had the benefit of knowing more about their past from Nasedo, but Isabel always had Max and Michael. Though the three of them had always been different, they had been given the small luxury of being different together. Max and Michael had reservations about Tess when they first found out she was the fourth alien, but Isabel wanted to let Tess know she wasn't alone and bring her into their group.
Isabel and Tess got into bed, and Isabel turned out the light. The two girls lay in the darkness for a few minutes, before Tess broke the silence with a question.
"Isabel?" Tess whispered quietly.
"Yes?" Isabel answered.
"Do you remember our past?"
Isabel opened her eyes, suddenly very awake. She hadn't yet told Tess about the new dreams.
"I've been having dreams. They just started; I've never remembered anything before," Isabel nervously answered.
"Is that why we're all here tonight?" Tess asked.
"I don't know. I like us being here together. I have this feeling that we need one another...that we shouldn't be too far apart," Isabel replied candidly.
"Good," Tess answered simply.
"Good?" Isabel asked, curiosity and caution in her voice.
"Your alien side is starting to balance with your human side. Fight it and you'll end up driving yourself insane."
Isabel considered Tess's nonchalant yet loaded response carefully.
"Why would I fight it?" Isabel asked.
"Because it means that your human side, the part you've always known, will stop being the only force driving you. Your instincts will guide you, and it'll be hard for you to trust yourself. Changes are always hard to accept—for humans and for us," Tess said with a certainty that made her seem much more knowledgeable than Isabel had thought.
"What if my instincts are wrong?" Isabel asked, a note of desperation apparent.
"They won't be. When it comes time to make decisions, it won't matter how much you look like a human or that you were raised as one. All that matters is who you really are, who you once were," Tess replied, then paused. "Who you are meant to be."
Isabel felt a connection with Tess. It went beyond the normal ties of friendship; there was something electric about it. Isabel remembered the dreams she and Michael had of their past and how she had connected with him in the same strange way, though with greater intensity. It was almost primal.
A quiet but firm voice in the back of Isabel's head spoke. "Not primal, Vilandra- instinctual. You were just discussing this, weren't you?"
Isabel shook her head. It was too late at night for this.
"Hey, Max?" Michael asked from the floor next to Max's bed.
"Yeah?" Max sounded sleepy.
"Do you want to bang Tess?" Michael asked, already smiling in the dark.
"What? Tess? We're barely friends. I love Liz; she and I are meant to be together, not me and Tess. Destiny is nothing." Max sounded less certain of his words than he had in the past, but he spoke them with conviction nonetheless.
"I don't know," Michael responded, clearly trying to rile Max. "You and Tess seemed to be getting a little friendlier. Maybe the two of you are meant to-"
"Don't. Whatever was true for us in our past isn't necessarily true now. Besides, I thought you didn't believe in destiny."
"I don't," Michael said, shifting from teasing to defensive. "What if you did end up liking Tess? Would you stay away from her just to make a point?"
Max was quiet for a moment.
"Does this have anything to do with Isabel?" Max asked, surprising Michael.
"No. Why?"
"Tonight it seemed like the two of you were closer than you have been in a long time. You've been having dreams together, and now you're giving me a speech about Tess and destiny." Max looked over the edge of his bed and eyed Michael the best he could in the dark room.
"There's nothing going on between me and Isabel. I was giving you a hard time about Tess. Believe it or not, seeing you miserable all the time isn't fun for any of us—not even me."
Michael looked up at Max from the floor challengingly. Max finally laid back down on his bed.
"I wasn't trying to presume anything. It's just been a long day," Max half apologized.
"S'okay."
After a few moments, Max heard Michael laughing on the floor.
"What now?" Max asked.
"We've been in the same house for five hours and nobody's bleeding yet. We haven't even threatened each other."
Max smiled his normal, faint smile and settled into bed again.
"Good night, Michael," Max said, a sense of relaxation unexpectedly coming over him.
"Night, Max," Michael replied. For the first time in months, Michael went to bed feeling comfortable in his friendship with Max.
[Author's Note: This is the point where my original story stopped. I'm not sure if I should continue, so if anyone is reading and enjoying this story, let me know in the reviews! Maybe if I get an encouraging response, the fic will be continued =)]