I'm not going to distract you with notes now, I'm close enough now to leave comments until the end.
"So how do we do this?" Isabel asked when they were back in her dad's car and on the road to Roswell. "If Tess can make anyone forget anything and can make everybody see things that aren't real, how do we fight that?"
"There are limits to her power," Liz leaned her head against the window. "I saw it when you guys showed up last night. You were only there for a few minutes, but when you came out she was exhausted. Making all three of you see an empty room took all of her effort. She could barely walk straight afterwards."
"So, what? We just get as many people as possible in one place when we confront her?" Isabel sounded incredulous. "I mean, unless we want to announce to the world that we're aliens there's kind of a limit on how many people we can invite."
"I think…" Liz sighed, "I think that if you're expecting it, if you're prepared and fighting her, then the three of you have a chance on your own. I think she only succeeded because you all trusted her. You left yourselves open to her manipulation."
"But you said you told me it was her before." Isabel frowned. "I don't remember that so she must have wiped my memory when I was expecting it."
"Granted," Liz conceded, "I don't have a lot more than speculation to go on here. I'm guessing that she can take one of you no matter how much you fight it and all three of you if you're not expecting it, but I think that the three of you together can keep her out. And a few extra human witnesses can't hurt."
"So…" Isabel glanced at Liz, "Do you have anything other than speculation to go on with that theory?"
Liz looked at Isabel and smiled sadly, "No. Just a gut feeling. Maybe just a blind hope."
"Right." Isabel looked back towards the road.
They travelled in silence for a moment while they both pondered the situation.
"Well," Isabel announced, "We'd better have a backup plan then. Some way to get a message to ourselves in case she makes us forget. She can't get out on the Granolith today, but we can't guarantee that she won't know how to fix it or find another way off of this planet. So we have to prepare for the worst; that she'll try to carry out this plan again."
"You said Max was with her today," Liz stated, "Is he still there?"
"As far as I know," Isabel said, "I can call him and check."
"Not yet," Liz ignored her desire to hear Max's voice straight away, "We might only get one chance at getting the drop on Tess. We can't risk her finding out while she's got Max alone. Once we put some contingencies in place we can figure out the best plan."
"Okay," Isabel took a breath and then put on the turn signal. "You're right."
"Where are we going?" Liz asked.
"Michael's," Isabel replied, "He demanded that we all leave him alone with Maria all day so they could say their goodbyes. They'll be alone there and there's no reason for Tess to go looking for them."
...
Isabel glanced around surreptitiously as she helped Liz from the car. It would be sort of inconvenient if some neighbour recognised Liz as the missing girl who'd been all over the news today. Slinging an arm around the shorter girl's waist Isabel hurried her towards the door to Michael's apartment. She knocked loudly but didn't wait for an answer before waving her hand in front of the lock and pushing open the door.
"Michael?" Isabel called.
"What the hell, Izzy?" Michael's voice came from the bedroom along with shuffling noises and a small clatter as something fell to the floor. "I told you not to –"
Michael froze as he strode through the door from his bedroom, staring at the two people standing by his front door. Suddenly he was moving, rushing forwards to envelope Liz in a hug.
"What's going on?" Maria followed Michael, tugging on the hem of her dress. She made it two steps into the room before she spotted her best friend.
"Liz?" Maria moved more slowly, reaching out as if she wasn't sure the other girl was real.
"Hey, Maria." Liz whispered, disentangling herself from Michael's grip to reach for Maria.
"You're here?" Maria seemed to come to herself suddenly and then she was wrapping her arms around Liz and holding on like she'd never let go.
"How?" Maria glanced at Isabel. "How is this possible?"
"Where's Max?" Michael asked.
"He doesn't know yet." Isabel admitted.
"What?" Michael asked, "How can you keep this from him?"
"He's not the one we're keeping this from," Liz spoke up, still holding on tightly to Maria with her good hand. "But we can't risk Tess finding out until we're ready for her."
Silence followed that statement but it didn't last long.
"Tess?!" Maria burst out at the same moment that Michael swore.
"That bitch!" The vehemence in Maria's voice was almost painful. "She was behind everything? But why?"
Liz sighed, leaning heavily on Maria. She was completely exhausted and incredibly hungry and still scared of Tess and what would happen when she found out Liz had escaped.
"It's a really long story." Liz winced at the strain in her voice. "And we're starting to run out of time. Tess can make us all forget if she finds out that we know what she did, so we have to act before she finds out."
Isabel nodded, "I'll go now. You can explain the plan while I'm gone. I'll call Max from the car."
"What -?" Michael frowned as Isabel opened the door again.
"Liz will explain." Isabel assured him, and then she was gone.
Michael turned back to Liz, focussing clearly on her for the first time after the shock of finding her in his apartment at all. She looked… broken. She looked exhausted and in pain.
"Here," He reached out to help her to the couch but she hissed in pain when he touched her arm. More carefully, he tried again and with Maria's help got her across the room to sit down.
"What can we do?" He asked Liz, "Do you want a painkiller or…" He trailed off, no idea what else to offer.
"I'm actually pretty hungry." Liz admitted, smiling at him.
"Right," Michael jumped at the task, "Food. I can do that."
"Liz," Maria was looking at her friend in fear, "Can you tell us what happened? What is still apparently happening?"
Liz took a steadying breath and tightened her grip on Maria's hand. She could see Michael watching from the kitchen as he threw some kind of sandwich together.
"Tess killed Alex." Liz started with the worst. "She said that it was an accident, that he was remembering something she'd made him forget, but when she tried to mind-warp him it killed him."
Liz swallowed. It was harder than she'd expected to tell them. She could see the tears in Maria's eyes, but her friend seemed to be trying to hold it together for her.
"When I wouldn't let it go, when I said that he had been murdered, she started following me. She wanted to make sure I didn't find anything. She was on my balcony when you came to see me. She heard us talking." Liz hesitated, but plunged on. "She heard us talking about the baby."
Maria's hand went instinctively to her mouth as she realised what Liz was saying.
"She heard us talking about the father." Maria whispered, not noticing the way Michael's head whipped around at that revelation. "Oh god, it's my fault. And I kept telling Max that couldn't have anything to do with it."
"No." Liz exclaimed, "It wasn't your fault Maria. It was her fault. And… And it was my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't changed things."
Maria looked at Liz with sympathy, "This wasn't you, Liz. You acted on the best information you had at the time. You couldn't know what was going to happen."
Michael wandered back with a grilled cheese sandwich cut into bite sized pieces on a plate.
"How about we all agree it was nobody's fault but Tess," He suggested, "Even those of us who have no idea what you're talking about. Because I don't have to know what you're talking about to know that this wasn't your fault."
Liz smiled at him gratefully as she released Maria's hand to take the plate. She rested it on her lap so she could eat with her good hand.
"Can you tell us why Isabel left in such a hurry?" Michael asked as she chewed.
Liz nodded and swallowed.
"Tess can make people forget. She made Isabel forget the first time that she dream-walked me the night before last and she made all three of you see an empty room when you came to the Pod Chamber last night."
"You were at the Pod Chamber this whole time?" Michael asked while Maria shifted her grip to Liz's leg.
Liz nodded again.
"I think that if all three of you are together and you're ready for it, then Tess won't be able to mind-warp you. Or at least not all of you. But in case I'm wrong, Isabel has gone home to leave a message for herself somewhere that she knows she'll find it. So if Tess does make us all forget then Isabel will be reminded, and she can dream-walk the rest of us to remind us without Tess finding out."
"What about Max?" Maria asked.
"Max is with Tess now, so we can't risk him finding out until he's got some backup. So Isabel was going to call and suggest that everyone meet here before heading out to the Granolith. He'll call her before he leaves so we'll know when he and Tess will show up here."
Liz ate some more of her sandwich as she let them absorb the information.
"What about the Granolith?" Michael asked, "We just let it leave without us?"
"Oh, um…" Liz hesitated, realising this could be bad news to Michael, "Isabel kind of… broke it. Maybe permanently. The whole thing went dark. So… you might be stuck here forever."
Liz glanced at Maria who was watching Michael with a calculatedly unemotional expression.
Michael smiled and reached out for Maria's free hand.
"No place I'd rather be stuck." He replied.
Liz fielded a few more questions between bites before turning the questions on them. Together they related where Alex had disappeared to for three months and how they had found out what he was doing. They explained how Tess had convinced them that Liz was no longer on Earth and how Maria and Michael had conveniently shown up with the instructions for the Granolith straight away.
"God," Maria scoffed, "We thought we were so clever. We thought we'd outsmarted some evil alien mastermind. We stole some mail and avoided one really obvious bomb that came with beeping flashing warnings. Of course it was way too easy. The evil alien mastermind was using us like puppets and we just… we just did exactly what she wanted."
Michael grunted in agreement, "I feel like an idiot."
Liz finished the food Michael had given her and leaned forward to put the plate on the table, wincing again when she jostled her broken arm.
"Okay," Maria took charge, "We have to do something about that. Michael, find something we can use as a splint. And see if you can find some clean clothes or something that won't fall right off her. Liz, come on. We're going to clean you up."
Liz let Maria haul her to her feet and lead her to the bathroom.
"I could do with that painkiller now, too." She admitted.
Michael appeared with a shirt and some sweatpants that had a tie at the waistband. He stayed long enough to help Maria splint Liz's arm with a ruler and a wooden spoon before giving them some privacy so that Maria could strip Liz of the clothes she'd been stuck in for 3 days.
They kept bursting into spontaneous laughter or tears as they cleaned Liz up as best they could with washcloths. They kept their conversation to other topics, Maria told Liz about her day with Michael but avoided mentioning the fact that they'd both thought it was goodbye. They talked about the Chemistry test next week and whether Vicki Delaney had cheated on her boyfriend.
Maria was easing Liz's wrist, splint and all, through the wide sleeve of Michael's shirt when they heard a knock at the door. The pair froze, exchanging concerned glances as they listened for Isabel's voice, but when they finally heard the door open it was Max whose voice they heard.
"It's time to go." Max spoke quickly.
"Max, Tess, Valenti," Michael spoke loudly and Maria smiled, knowing that he was speaking for their benefit. "What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean what are we doing here?" Max asked. "It's time to go. We're here to pick you up."
"Where's Kyle?" Michael asked, stalling.
"He stayed home." Max replied, "He's not really necessary for this part. Now, come on. We have to get to the Granolith before it leaves."
"Why don't you come inside?" Michael suggested, "We have to wait for Isabel anyway."
"We don't have time for this!" Max exclaimed in frustration, "We have to go. We'll pick Isabel up on the way."
"I'm not going," Michael announced.
"What?!" Max and Tess spoke in unison.
"Come inside, I'll explain."
Inside the bathroom, Maria quickly finished buttoning Liz's shirt as they heard people moving into the room next door.
"Michael," Max's voice was edged with desperation, "What do you mean you aren't coming?"
"I mean, I'm staying. I found my home and it's right here on Earth. With Maria."
Maria gave Liz a smile and signalled for her to stay there. She opened the bathroom door enough to step out without giving anyone a view inside.
The four people in the living room were ranged around in clear lines of support. Michael stood in the middle of the room, between the others and the bathroom, Maria noticed. Max and Tess were across from him, closest to the door, while Valenti stood off to the side.
Max was giving Michael a look of understanding and disappointment as Maria joined them, walking over to take Michael's hand.
Max smiled and nodded at Maria, moving towards the pair to give them each a hug.
"I'm glad you've found your place, Michael," Max said tearily, "I don't like leaving without you, but I'm glad you'll be here to protect the others, too."
Tess made a frustrated sound, "Look, I hate to be the one who brings things back to reality, but we have to leave soon if we want to catch the Granolith."
"We can wait for Isabel," Michael responded, holding onto Max's arm to prevent him from returning to Tess's side. "I need to say goodbye to her too."
"Or," Tess suggested, "You could come with us and say goodbye when we get there."
"No!" Michael insisted, "Isabel will be here soon. We can wait for her to get here."
"Michael," Max frowned at his friend, "I get that this is hard, but we have to go. Delaying this won't make it easier."
"This isn't about easy, Maxwell," Michael's voice raised a notch. "I just think we should wait for Isabel."
"We have no idea how long she's going to be!" Tess was yelling now, "How long do you expect us to wait here when we're running out of time?"
Suddenly everyone was talking loudly over one another when Isabel suddenly burst through the door.
"That's enough!" She exclaimed as she quickly made her way across the room to stand beside Michael and Maria.
"Finally," Tess rolled her eyes, "Can we go now? We are on a deadline here."
"We're not going anywhere, Tess." Isabel turned to face the other girl, bracing herself for whatever was coming next.
"What?!" Tess fumed as Max turned to look at his sister.
Max nodded sadly at her, "It's okay, Iz. I thought you might want to stay."
"I cannot believe this!" Tess stepped forward, "What the hell is wrong with you people? Liz is out there! She could be dying. I thought you cared about her. Am I seriously the only one willing to risk everything for this?"
"Yeah, Tess." Liz stepped out of the bathroom. "You are the only one willing to risk everything."
Liz moved forward, ignoring the cries of shock and question from Max and Valenti; her eyes were locked on the woman who had caused all of this.
"You see," Liz continued, "The rest of us actually value what we have here. We think it's worth fighting for, worth holding on to. We gave you a chance to be a part of it. We gave you a place, a family. And you betrayed us. For what? For a throne on a far-away planet surrounded by people who wish they could kill you? For a verbal promise from a mass murderer?"
Max was frozen in shock as his eyes skipped between Liz and Tess, barely able to comprehend what Liz's words were implying. Valenti, on the other hand, was making the unpleasant connections very quickly. He moved closer to Liz's side, drawing his gun but keeping it pointed down, away from the girl that he'd welcomed into his home.
"You could have had any life that you wanted here, Tess," Liz wasn't done yet. "But you were willing to risk everything on this stupid plan. Well, now you've lost everything. Now you're nothing."
"You're the one that's nothing, slut!" Tess spat, "You think you're special just because you managed to trick Max into knocking you up? You're nothing more than an incubator for the heir and once Kivar finds out you're as good as dead."
Michael stepped forward with his hand raised threateningly, but Tess reacted faster, her arm shooting out to throw Michael backwards.
"Michael!" Maria cried out, running to his side where he'd smashed into the wall.
Green light burst into existence in the middle of the room as Max threw up a shield between them and Tess.
"Really, Max?" Tess laughed, "You may think you're the king, but I've been training since I came out of the pod. All three of you are weak."
Tess raised her hand towards the green wall fluctuating in front of Max's hand. A look of concentration came over her face as the light brightened and compressed in front of her fingers.
Isabel quickly moved forwards, leaning into Max to lend him her strength. Tess's eyes narrowed as sweat began to bead on her forehead. Their struggle became silent as Max and Isabel kept Tess at bay while Michael struggled to stand behind them and Liz and Valenti looked on from the side.
The shield seemed to be getting larger and more stable when Tess suddenly flicked her eyes to the right with a vindictive look. With one hand still focussed on the battle in front of her, her spare hand shot out in the other direction, away from Max and Isabel. Towards Liz.
Liz felt a force slam into her chest, throwing her backwards. Valenti's quick reactions saved her from a painful collision with the kitchen bench as he dived behind her, catching her as they both tumbled to the floor.
"Liz!" Max shouted, his gaze tearing away from the struggle to look towards her in a moment of distraction.
It was enough. As his attention flagged, Tess managed to break through most of his shield, tossing Isabel away from the fray.
In an instant he was shoved backwards half a metre. He refocused on the shield in front of him, but the damage was done. Without Isabel's help he could feel Tess's power pushing him back, pressing him down. He dropped to one knee as he held the wavering green light between himself and Tess. Through it he could make out her eyes. They were furious and desperate and he knew that if she got through the shield she wouldn't waste time on trying to mind-warp anyone. Liz had already pointed out that Tess had nothing left to lose. Looking at the snarl on her face he felt cold certainty sink into his bones.
She was going to kill him.
He couldn't spare a glance for the others around him to see if any of them would be able to help him. All of his attention was on the face in front of him. He barely even blinked when a loud crack ripped through the room.
Tess's eyes went wide for a second, and then Max felt himself lurch forward as the pressure she'd been putting on him vanished. He watched as Tess raised a shaking hand to her chest, fingers coming away bloody.
Instinctively, Max dropped his shield and stepped forward, reaching out to heal her, when another shot rang out and Tess lurched sideways.
He ducked as he glanced to the side to the source of the sound as a third shot came.
Liz was standing, holding a revolver in shaking hands, gasping with sobs. A single glimpse of her face had him raising his shield once more, not trusting her ability to hold the gun straight, let alone see clearly through the tears streaming down her face.
Valenti quickly struggled to his feet behind Liz and stepped forward, wrapping his hand around the gun and pulling it from her unresisting hand.
As soon as the weapon was out of her grasp Liz dropped to her knees, her hand coming to her mouth in horror.
Max dropped the shield and rushed to her side.
"I... I…" Liz was trembling, staring at the floor behind him. Max glanced back and could see that Tess was already beyond his help. He turned back to the person he could still help.
"I…" Liz was still mumbling, "I…"
"Liz?" Max tried to turn her gaze from Tess's body but her eyes stayed glued to the scene as he moved her head.
"I… I killed her," Liz's voice broke. "I killed her."
Valenti knelt next to Max, tucking the revolver back into the holster on his hip. He inspected Liz for a moment and then turned to Max.
"Max, take her into the bathroom. She doesn't need to see this." Valenti instructed, "But don't heal her yet. Her injuries are evidence."
"Evidence?" Max asked sharply, "Evidence of what?"
"Max, trust me." Valenti met his gaze resolutely. "You need to get her out of this room right now. We'll take care of the rest. Just trust me, please."
Max hesitated, horrified by the idea of Liz having to face murder charges, but knowing that Valenti was right, she couldn't stay here another moment. He nodded, scooping Liz into his arms and carrying her away from the sight of Tess, lying broken on the floor in the middle of Michael's living room.
Max settled Liz onto the edge of the bathtub.
"Liz?" He asked gently.
Tears were falling silently down her cheeks as she stared past him at something she could no longer see with her eyes. Max pushed back the myriad questions that been raised since he arrived, focusing instead on the problem right in front of him.
"Liz, look at me." He turned her head to face him, his heart breaking at the despair in her eyes when they finally met his.
"I killed her," Liz whispered.
Max reached out to brush a stray hair from her face.
"She would have killed me," He tried to reassure her. "I was losing, Liz. You saved me."
Liz shook her head, "But you would have healed her. I knew you would heal her. So I kept shooting. She wasn't a threat anymore, but I kept shooting. I killed her."
"Liz, after what she did to you…" He hesitated, "I don't even know what she did to you, what else she threatened to do. You had every reason to be scared of her, scared of what she would do if I healed her. Tess was a monster. She needed to be stopped."
"Was she?" Liz's voice was stronger now, "She said she was just following through on a plan Nasedo came up with. She was what he raised her to be. She wasn't a good person, but that doesn't mean she was irredeemable. She could have killed me. If she'd killed me then her original plan would have worked again. But she didn't. She didn't want me dead, but I wanted her dead. I thought of the life my child would have in a world - in a universe - that she was a part of, and I knew it would be hard, that we would always be afraid, and I killed her. So what does that make me?"
Max gave her a half a smile, "I think that makes you a mother."
"It's all my fault." Liz stared crying again.
"No," Max grasped her shoulders, "This is Tess's fault. She made the choices that brought us here. She chose to kidnap you. She had other options. You said it yourself, we would have given her an entire life here. It wasn't your fault that she chose this."
"It was," Liz nodded forlornly, "I made choices too."
"Well so did I," Max thought of his own mistakes, "If I had listened to you when you told me Alex was murdered then this never would have happened. God, I have made so many mistakes and they've all led us here. I swear, if I could go back and change it all I would."
"You can't, Max," Liz said wearily.
"I know, somethings are beyond even my powers." He replied sadly.
"No, I mean you can, that's why you can't," Liz answered cryptically.
"What?" Max frowned in confusion.
"I mean," Liz took a breath, "Assuming that whatever Isabel did to the Granolith to make it stop the countdown is fixable, then you do have the power to go back and change time. But you don't have any control over what happens instead. You don't have any way of ensuring that the new future you create will be any better than the one that you left. So you can't fix your mistakes by going back in time and changing your decisions, you might just make things worse."
Max felt a tremor move down his spine at her words. Already his mind was throwing different fragments of conversations and events over the last few months together. The picture it created was missing the majority of the pieces, but he could guess what it might turn into.
He couldn't seem to put together enough words to express his confusion and shock. All he could voice were the questions that most needed answers.
"When? Why?"
Liz took a steadying breath and closed her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was restrained and resigned.
"He appeared just before the Mariachi band. He said that there was going to be a war in 14 years and we were going to lose. I didn't believe him at first, but he knew you were coming with the band. He knew the future. But from the minute he showed up, the future changed, and he didn't know anything about this future. He thought Tess was the answer. He thought getting her to stay in Roswell would save everyone's lives. But in his world, she left before she could hurt anyone. In his world Alex made it out of high school."
Liz finally opened her eyes, but still refused to look at him.
"I believed him," She continued, "I helped him. I broke your heart so that there would be space in it for her. I caused this."
She looked at Max at last, "You can wonder what might have happened if you had made different choices, but I know. I know that if I hadn't pretended to sleep with Kyle then Alex would still be alive and we would have years of peace ahead of us before your enemies showed up here."
Max was silent after Liz finished her confession. All of the events of the last few months were playing over in his head in this new light. He felt betrayed and relieved and sympathetic all at once. It was all so understandable and so unimaginable. Of course she had trusted an older experienced Max. He probably would have as well. They wandered blindly through so many situations that anyone who could offer them alien related guidance felt like a gift.
He was angry that she hadn't told him earlier. They were a team, aliens and humans working together against all of this, they weren't meant to keep big alien threats a secret from each other. But he also couldn't imagine the isolation she must have felt over the last few months, after the sacrifices she'd made in the belief that she was saving all of them.
He remembered seeing her with Kyle, remembered how every instinct in him screamed that it wasn't true, that Liz would never do that. He'd been right.
So many things made sense now. But a few things he still needed to hear her say.
"Tess said…" He hesitated, trying to find the words. "She said the baby…"
He trailed off, not wanting to voice his thoughts if he was wrong.
Liz dropped his gaze again, staring at her hands.
"I thought…" Her voice trembled with emotion, "I couldn't ever be with you, I couldn't ever tell you what happened. He was pretty clear about that. I thought I had lost any future with the only man I've ever loved... But he was still there. And he was you. I… I just wanted one more moment to hold onto. I'm so sorry."
"Say it," Max begged, "Please."
Liz took a shuddering breath but when she spoke again her voice was steady.
"I slept with a future version of you who will never exist. This child is genetically yours."
Max sat back against the wall as he tried to process all of the implications of that knowledge. He had no idea what to think or feel in that moment. He certainly had no idea what to say. He was saved having to think of anything when the door opened and Valenti stepped inside.
"The police and an ambulance are on their way," Valenti told them. "There are some details of the story that we need to get straight before they get here."
Just an epilogue to follow now, and I'll be posting that up today as well.