Title: Twisted Fate

Rating:T

Pairing: Mi/L

Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell.

Chapter Thirteen: Emotions

Liz

Closing my eyes, I tipped my head back letting it rest on the top of the booth. I took deep even breaths and my fatigue began to creep up on me. Working a full day shift at the Crash was tiring after all. At least everyone was gone now and Michael and I were finally closing up.

The back door swung open gently and I opened one eye to see Michael putting the broom in a closet. "You still cleaning?" I asked as I closed my eyes again.

I could hear his Doc Martens hitting the ground as he walked towards me. "No sleeping on the job, Parker. Take a dish towel and help."

I laughed and lolled my head to the side. "I'm the boss' daughter, Michael. I can do whatever I please."

I shrieked when Michael effortlessly picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. Then again, I got a perfect view of his butt from back here.

Michael interrupted my beautiful sight seeing when he put me down in the kitchen and threw a dishtowel at me. "Time to clean, Parker."

I rolled my eyes and threw the towel back at him. "Time to get over yourself, Guerin. I already cleaned the kitchen."

He wiped his finger across a counter and held it up. "You call this clean?"

"For someone who has a dirty apartment," I began. Michael crossed his arms and frowned.

"What's wrong with my apartment? You said you liked my apartment."

"I love your apartment, baby. That's why Alex and I put some air freshener things in it."

His eyes practically bugged out of his head. "You what?"

"It was just some simple lemon-scented stuff."

They bugged out even more and I burst out laughing, holding my stomach. "I knew it smelled funny."

"You did not! Just because your apartment doesn't smell like *ass* anymore, you have a melt down."

Michael raised his chin. "But it was *my* ass that *my* apartment has every right to smell like!"

I laughed even harder upon hearing that insane group of words in the same sentence. My dad peeked his head into the kitchen. "What's so funny?" he asked with a smile on his face.

Michael froze in fear, which caused me to laugh even harder. "Inside joke," I choked out and my father gave me a strange look.

"I'm sure it is. Well anyway, I'm going to the supermarket to pick up some more burgers for tomorrow. I trust the two of you to lock up. You can handle that, right?"

"Yeah," I said when I calmed down.

My dad turned to Michael. "You too, Michael?"

Michael began to fiddle with his hands and I could see the sweat beginning to grow on his brow. My dad gave me questioning look and I just shrugged. I leaned back on the counter and watched the show.

"Yeah, Mr. Parker. I've got everything under control," Michael squeaked out, his voice cracking.

My dad nodded and seemed to be satisfied with his answer. When we heard the door close, Michael let out the breath he was holding.

I regarded him with an amused _expression. "Those evil aliens better beware. The fear you inflicted upon the heart of my father just now, very manly-I applaud you."

Michael laughed dryly. "Laugh it up, Parker. Those damn lemon-scented things are my next victims."

"You don't know where they are," I stated simply.

"I'll find them," Michael threatened.

The small ring of the bell sounded in the cafe`. "Hold on," I said to Michael. I walked around the corner. "Dad, what did you..."

But it wasn't my dad. It was Max.

"Forget," I finished meekly. "Max, what are you doing here?"

"If I said I was in the neighborhood, would you believe me?" he lightly joked and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Look, I just want to talk to you."

"There's nothing left to talk about, Max."

"Then don't talk. Just listen to me, alright?" he pleaded, his eyes desperate.

I shifted my weight to my right foot, considering his offer. "Now isn't a good time, Max."

Max began to speak but then he pressed his lips together in a tight line and his jaw clenched. His eyes were focused over my head. I didn't have to turn around to know Michael was there.

However, when I did turn around, I saw him standing by the counter with his arms crossed.

"We are closed, Maxwell," he said in a clipped voice.

The little muscle in Max's face convulsed and he clenched his fists. "Not exactly here for the food."

Fighting wasn't going to get us anywhere so I stepped in. "Max, can you just wait out here for a sec?"

He held his glare with Michael as I grabbed Michael by the elbow and led him into the back room. Michael jerked away from me. "Why is *he* here?" he hissed, not bothering to lower his voice.

"Well the Crashdown is a public place."

"We're closed," he countered.

"Why are you overreacting?" I asked, beginning to get fed up.

Michael's face grew crimson with anger and he threw his hands up. "Because you aren't! You were saying before how you mad you were at him!"

"I was.." I began.

"And you think that for some reason, whatever he says will justify what he did.." he said sarcastically.

"Michael, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that you'll forgive him, Liz. You always do," and he turned his back and began for the door.

"Why do you always run?" I asked. He froze and I continued. "Why can't you just stay and talk about this with me?"

"What's there to talk about?" he said as he turned to face me. "The point is that no matter what Max does, Liz, you'll forgive him. On some level, you'll *believe* that he's a good person. On some level, maybe he is. But, Liz, if you look deep down inside of him, he isn't the saint you make him out to be. That's why I don't understand why you have so much faith in the *one person* who has done nothing but let you down. He doesn't deserve it."

Licking my lips and contemplating his words, I frowned. "Maybe he doesn't, Michael. Either way, Max and I need to finish this. We have some serious unresolved issues we have to work out."

At Michael's crest fallen _expression, I sighed. "Can you stay?" I asked him.

He nodded. I gripped his hand gently and smiled at him. Michael relaxed at my gesture and together we went outside to talk to Max.

Max eyed our joined hands. "I thought we were talking alone."

Then out of nowhere, the glass door imploded. I ducked and covered my head, my hand still holding Michael's tightly. The sound of shattering glass filled my ears and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, a small pre-teen boy stood outside with his hand raised. I blinked and when I opened my eyes again, he was gone. The night air entered the cafe` without the barrier of the windows to stop it. Max slowly stood up from his crouching position. "What the hell was that?" he asked, as he approached Michael and I, glass crunching noisily under his sneakers.

"There was a boy," I said once I got my breath back. "He was outside."

Michael scratched his head. "I'm not making the connection here."

"Wait. Do you think the boy outside did this?" Max asked.

"I know it sounds strange. I may have just seen things but..."

"No. That boy was sitting outside when I was coming over. I thought he was waiting for someone."

"Are you trying to say that a little boy blew the glass off?" Michael asked.

"He wasn't little so much as he was *younger*," Max began.

"We should try to find him," I said. "He couldn't have gotten that far," and I stepped over the glass, my eyes scanning the outside area. Michael came up from behind me and began to walk towards the benches across the street. Max was running around the corner to see if he was there.

"Hey guys?" Michael called out. "You don't suppose the kid was a lizard do you?"

Max came back from the corner and shook his head to signal he didn't find anything. "A lizard?"

Max asked. "Where would you get that from?"

"Because last time I checked, humans don't shed their skin," and he held up the flaky object that in all actuality did look like a snake shed skin.

"We should call Nasedo," Max suggested. "Maybe he knows what's going on here."

"I think before we call anyone, we as a group need a course of action. How about you, Michael, Isabel, and Tess meet up tonight," I said.

Michael glared at me. He knew what I was trying to do.

Max gave Michael a strange look and didn't say anything for a while. "Alright. Meet me in my room in an hour," he said to Michael. Then he turned to me. "We'll talk later."

Michael watched at Max walked towards his house. My dad was coming up the street and ran towards us, grocery bags in his arms. "What happened to the door?"

Michael and I shared a glance. "Some kid was messing around and threw a ball, Daddy. Don't worry about it. The sheriff can look into it if you'd like."

I made a mental note to check in on Valenti tomorrow and tell him about the situation. My dad groaned. "I hope insurance covers this."

Michael

Liz shooed me away when she and her father went in to call the police. I knew Liz had the best intentions, I really did. But I didn't know if I was ready to face the group again.

The only reason I was considering this was because these snake people were attacking us. I had to keep Liz safe and I wasn't that powerful. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on Max's windowpane. Max pulled the curtains apart and opened his window.

"Hey, I saw Liz's dad when I left. Is everything alright?"

I climbed into his room. "Yeah, Max."

Isabel was sitting on Max's bed and she refused to meet my gaze. Tess was leaning against Max's bedroom door and Max was still staring at me. "What?" I barked, the tension in the room getting to me.

Isabel stood up off the bed. "We don't have any time to prepare. Our enemies are already in Roswell making *public* attacks. We have to do something."

Max nodded and rose to his full height. Like a king.

"We have to work on our powers first off. I should call Nasedo to figure out who we're dealing with."

"No," Tess said suddenly. "The FBI will be watching Nasedo just as much as they watched Pierce. They keep a tight leash. We can't be calling him for something as minor as this."

"You call this minor?" I shot back. "What do you consider major? The invasion?"

Tess pinned the three of us with a stare. "A public attack by our enemies is minor if we can't fight it. Not one of us is strong enough to fight this war alone. We need the four square. And right now, we are as dysfunctional as it can get."

Isabel and I immediately looked at each other. Tess sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? The two of you need to work out your issues and fast."

"It's not that simple," Isabel said.

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well let me try. Just humor me here. Isabel is upset because she's afraid that Liz that going to take you away from her. She's also afraid that Liz will hurt you and she doesn't want that for you. Michael is upset because Isabel isn't happy that he's happy. Then there's the resentment that no one even bothers to ask about Michael's well being. Michael is also sick and tired of being pushed around, so when Isabel told him not to see Liz anymore, he got pissed. He doesn't want Isabel to take Liz away from him. Because I don't know if you guys see it, but Michael loves her. That's what you do when you're in love. You don't want that person you love to leave you. Am I wrong so far?"

I was speechless.

Tess smiled, knowingly. "Any thing I'm missing?"

That's when we all figured it out. Tess could see what we couldn't because she was on the outside. She wasn't confused with all the emotions running in her head like we were. It was easier to see other people's problems but not your own.

Isabel looked at her feet and began to speak softly at first. "Michael and I aren't the only ones here who are dysfunctional. You and Max are too."

Tess frowned. "So are Michael and Max. We all have issues with somebody."

"Since when did you get so insightful?" Max asked her.

"Since I've been on the outside. I know I may not be the poster child for human emotions here but someone has to tell you guys. You guys are so far gone that I am forced to be the voice of reason. The four of us-we aren't friends. We are a four square. We have enough problems to drive a shrink up the wall."

And so help me God, I almost laughed.

Who knew Tess had a sense of humor?

Isabel bit back a smile and Max frowned deeply.

Tess watched the three of us. Tess could be a bitch sometimes, but she wasn't *that* bad.

I decided to give in.

"We're stuck here on this planet. We might as well get along. After we defeat these lizard bastards we can pull out all the stops and cry like babies as we talk out our issues."

I looked at Isabel and her eyes revealed no emotions. Finally, she sighed and spoke. "Nasedo wouldn't have left us alone if he thought we couldn't handle it."

I chuckled. "He just wants to be the big macho alien leader. He looks down on us just because it makes him cooler."

Tess made the strangest noise just then. She laughed. As in full-out human laughing.

Tess turned to Max and the room went silent.

The three of us had made some sort of reconciliation. Max was the only one left. Isabel and I were looking at him too now.

Max looked at each of us separately. Then he uncrossed his arms and tilted his head a bit. "I bet you he doesn't know what he's talking about half the time."

I think it was that moment that we actually had a real four square.

"Do you think he gets paid for being Pierce?" Tess asked with a smile. "Because I've been wanting some new shoes."

"I could go for a pool," I volunteered.

Isabel shook her head. "I agree with Tess. A good pair of Jimmy Choo's can do no wrong."

"On your big feet, I think they can," I mumbled.

"Michael!"

Max held up his hands. "It's almost eleven and my parents are gong to be back from that dinner soon. Maybe you guys should go now."

Isabel said goodnight and left to go to her room. Tess and I climbed out the window. "You gonna get home alright?" I asked.

Tess nodded. "I'm right down the street. I'm not exactly a damsel in distress."

When we were supposed to go to different streets, she walked in the opposite direction as me. "Tess!" I called out and ran over to her.

"What?"

"Thanks. For being the sense of reason back there."

Tess regarded with me a strange look and touched my shoulder lightly. "Let me tell you something, Michael. Human emotions can tear people apart and they suck. I never realized how it can bring people together though until tonight."

"Good night, Tess."

"Good night, Michael."