Irony
Chapter 7
Author: Margarita
Email: margarita782@hotmail.com
Category: Liz angst, slight M/L romance.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Roswell and all of the characters from the show do not belong to me. "In the End" is by Linkin Park, and all lyrics belong to them.
Author's Note: The first part of this is taken directly from the episode "Harvest." All lyrics are in italics. Parts of this piece take place in the future; note the dates at the beginning of the chapters.
Spoilers: "The End of the World," "Harvest," "Max in the City."
Summary: Liz deals with the aftershocks of her promise to future Max.
Warning: Character death.
*I had to fall
To lose it all.
But in the end
It doesn't even matter…*
April 2001, an hour later
"Max, we can't just sit here and wait for them to find us! The Skins are dangerous. We need to be prepared when they arrive." Max frowned and Tess shook her head with a sigh. "We could barely stop them last time, Max. It took all of our power, remember?"
"And even with that, they almost captured Isabel," Michael added. Isabel shuddered slightly and Alex frowned.
I sighed; this was a problem. How could I warn them about what future Max had told me without revealing anything? I sighed. "What about the Granalith?"
"What about it?" Max snapped, and I involuntarily flinched.
"Well, maybe it can help you somehow. The Skins seem to want it." I shrugged, hoping that I appeared casual.
Isabel scrutinized me for a minute, shook her head, and then turned to the group. "Liz is right. When Congresswoman Whitaker had Tess and me trapped, she kept asking me about it. The Skins do want it, although I'm not sure why." She looked at me, and then muttered, "Or how Liz knew about it."
"Fine, so they want the Granalith. What's our battle plan, fearless leader?" Michael looked at Max expectantly, but he ignored Michael and turned to Tess, which I reluctantly noticed. It's working, I thought. Max is falling for Tess. Yay.
"Is there any way to disguise the cave?" Max asked, his eyes firmly fixed on Tess'.
Tess blushed slightly and then smiled. "Well, there might be. Someone should probably be guarding it at all times." She paused, then added, "It would probably be safest if we guarded it in pairs."
Maria rolled her eyes at me and I stifled a laugh. She smiled and mouthed to me, "I wonder whom Tess wants as her partner?" She gestured towards Kyle with her eyes and shrugged.
"That sounds like a good idea," Max said slowly as he made eye contact with each member of the group. Our eyes locked for a second and then I looked down quickly, frowning at the emotions that were surfacing inside of me.
"Fine, so we'll do that, but in the meantime, we need to have a plan of action, Maxwell." Michael's face was twisted in an effort to hide his fear. I wondered who he was more afraid for – himself or Maria.
"It isn't safe, Michael. We need to stay together. We can't just go wandering around Roswell—"
"I am not going to sit around and wait to die. Now, we either make a plan or we don't. But either way, I intend to do something." Michael stood up and stalked out of the room. I watched him leave, remembering that in the old future, he had died. I wondered if he had taken his last breath alone.
"Max, you need to do something. Go talk to him," Isabel commanded. "God only knows what he'll do now."
"I will. In the meantime, someone should go out to guard the Granalith, like Tess suggested. Isabel, how about you and someone else?" Max asked.
She paused. "Tess, go with me?"
Tess looked at Max for a moment and then stood up. "Yeah, sure." She smiled at Kyle as she left the room with Isabel.
"So, anything we lowly humans can do?" Alex joked.
"Not at the moment," Max said. "Just keep yourselves safe." He looked at me as he said the sentence and I avoided his eyes again.
"Right, right," Alex said, and the four of us stood, gathering our things as we got ready to leave.
As Maria and I walked towards the door, Max grabbed my arm. I pulled away quickly in order to avoid a flash and he looked hurt for a moment. "Liz…be careful, ok?"
I half-smiled and looked up at him. "Yeah, you too." Maria tugged on my sleeve a moment later, and I turned slowly to face her.
"Liz, come on. We've got work."
"Oh, right. Keep safe, Max." I turned quickly and Maria and I walked out of the room.
