~A/N~ THANK YOU to my extremely faithful and insistent reviewers! (You know who you are) You make this story so much easier to write when you review and you give me faith that people like this story. Thank you again and enjoy the chapter! It's twelve Word pages long! WOW! You will, in this chapter, learn everything that there is to know (almost) about the Max situation. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. ('em of course being Roswell. . . lol.)

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~ Three days later ~

Maria glanced quickly down at the crumpled piece of paper and memorized the numbers before driving slowly down the street until she found the correct house. She pulled into the driveway of the unfamiliar house and headed for the door. Since Maria had been in Roswell the group was hanging out at Isabel's house for the first time.

Maria quickly rang the doorbell and a few moments later Isabel answered smiling brightly at her.

"You found it!" She exclaimed as Maria entered.

"I did, it actually wasn't as hard as you led me to believe it would be." Maria said smiling as she looked around the spacious entryway.

"Liz, Alex, and Kyle are in the kitchen, I have to go upstairs and talk to Michael for awhile but you can go in and talk to the others," Isabel said pointing toward the kitchen.

"OK," Maria said nodding in agreement as she headed toward the kitchen and watched as Isabel headed upstairs wondering exactly what she had to talk to Michael about.

On her way to the kitchen Maria stopped and gazed at the pictures that lined the walls. For the first time she found herself staring into the deep soulful eyes of Max Evans.

The confidence in his eyes looked misplaced on the teenager. He had such security and she could tell what kind of a person he was immediately. Instantly Maria realized why the look in his eyes seemed so familiar, she had seen it so many times on Michael. So in control and confident of himself.

She looked one by one at the pictures, a family picture, a picture of Isabel and Max when they were younger smiling brightly at the camera, Isabel and Max's individual school pictures.

"Ria! I'm glad you're here!" Maria tore her eyes away and looked over at Alex who stood in the doorway.

"Hey Alex," Maria said smiling and trying not to let on how mysterious she thought the whole situation was.

"Come in the kitchen, Liz just made some lemonade for us," Alex said as he disappeared through the doorway. Maria followed and was greeted by the happy smiles of the three in the room right when she walked in. They all called out their greetings.

"Liz do you know where Isabel and Michael went?" Kyle asked, "we should probably see if they want some."

"They're upstairs actually," Maria piped in, "I'll go and ask if you want." She offered and the others nodded.

"Sounds good," she heard Alex say as she began to leave the kitchen.

She slowly ventured up the stairs again staring at the numerous pictures that adorned them showing that the Evans' were extremely proud of their children- now their child.

As she got further up the stairs an irritated voice could be heard and she quietly crept toward where it was coming from.

She came to the last door down the hallway and found herself at the entrance to the Den. She could clearly see Michael and Isabel as she realized that the irritated voice belonged to Isabel. Maria knew it was wrong to listen in but she slipped into the shadows anyway and listened as they feuded.

"How could you DO this Michael? You know it's wrong! How much did you tell her anyway?" Isabel asked throwing up her hands and glaring at him.

"Would you calm down Izzy? I didn't tell her much at all. I simply told her who Max was and that's all."

Quickly it dawned on Maria that Isabel and Michael were talking about her as Isabel continued.

"Oh no, that's not all. Don't forget Michael, I'm not like everyone else- I can read you. That's not all that happened so spill and don't leave anything out."

"So what if I took her out? All we did was go to dinner and then drive around for awhile. I took her to- well, I took her to Gull River," he said the last two words quietly and instantly Isabel's face grew red with anger.

"GULL RIVER! How could you take her there Michael! And how could you tell her those things! We aren't like everyone else! You can't just go and spill our secrets! You know that and I know that- Max knew that too and he died because he let too many of his secrets get out!" Isabel screeched as she quickly paced back and forth across the room.

Isabel jerked quickly toward Michael and accidentally knocked up against the couch-side table and Maria watched as the lamp that was perched upon it tumbled to the ground shattering into pieces.

Isabel gasped and Maria watched as tears sprang to her eyes, "oh no!" She yelped as sobs began to shudder through her body. Instantly Michael was at her side and he wrapped his arms around her trying to sooth her.

"Don't cry Izzy, it's alright. Don't worry, you know we can fix it." He said looking into her eyes.

Isabel shook her head, "I can't do that right now Michael. I- Max bought that lamp for mom and dad. Fix it for me please? I'm too much of a mess to do it right now." Her tone showed that she was a bit calmer as she quickly swiped her and across her eyes to wipe away the tears.

Maria watched as Michael crouched down in front of the lamp. Slowly he held his hand over it and the pieces, to Maria's surprise, began to twitch and slide closer together.

As Michael worked everything began to dawn on Maria. Slowly the pieces of the lamp sprang back into place and when Michael lifted it up it was whole and looked as if it had never been touched.

Maria backed away from the door quickly, it couldn't be true! It wasn't possible. The words from the newspaper, the words from the fight, and the many words Michael had said to her rushed back to Maria and suddenly everything began make sense.

She quickly backed up more and accidentally knocked against the wall drawing the attention from the two in the room. Michael rushed out to investigate and his eyes met hers briefly before she quickly turned and bolted down the stairs and out the door.

As she jumped in her car she could hear Michael screaming her name and trying to get her to stop. He ran out of the house as she jerked the car into the street and began heading for Maggie and Don's house. Her breath was ragged and her heart raced, pounding in her ears and blocking out the sound of Michael's tires squealing behind her as he followed her down the street.

She reached the house and quickly jumped out of the car and tried to run to the house. Michael was too quick and caught her wrist as she headed up the steps of the house.

"Maria WAIT!" He screamed and she looked back at him. Something was different and she blinked trying to get her eyes to focus. His form was blurry and all of a sudden she felt herself beginning to get tired. She stopped and looked at him once more before her legs gave out under her and the ground rushed up to meet her and the only sensation she felt was the throbbing pain in her stomach and the feel of the hot pavement under her face as she fell.

~ Some time later ~

The hours ran together in a mess of concerned voices and sensations. As Maria struggled to open her eyes she felt the presence beside the bed shift. She was glad Aunt Maggie had stayed with her while she was out and slowly she turned her head to look at her.

She opened her eyes and instantly recoiled as she saw who was actually sitting in the chair by her bed.

His eyes gazed at her and his expression alone made her tensed muscles relax a bit

"Ria," his words trailed off at her and Maria was surprised to hear him use the nick name that Liz called her all the time. "Ria," he said again this time leaning forward a bit his eyes never leaving hers.

"Michael I- I didn't hear anything I swear," Maria lied trying to cover up the fact that she had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Isabel and Michael.

Maria was surprised as an amused look filled Michael's eyes and he smiled at her warmly. "Of course you did Maria and it's ok."

"It's ok?" Maria asked relaxing a bit more at the kindness in his eyes.

"Of course it's ok. There are so many more things that we never told you Maria but I figure now there's no point but to tell you. First, are you ok? You took quite a fall earlier and you look a little pale," Maria could hear the concern in his voice.

Instantly she nodded, "of course. I'm fine," she lied smiling slightly to cover up what was actually going on.

Michael didn't look convinced but went on anyway. "OK. Maria, we've been keeping something from you the whole time. There's a whole part to the story that I never told you- that we've never told anyone outside our group.

"Back in 1947 something happened here in Roswell, a spaceship crashed. The government lied and tried to say it was nothing but a weather balloon but that's not true. The spaceship crashed and one alien dragged four pods into a cave and hid them so that they could stay there until they were ready to hatch. The pods held babies- alien babies." He stopped and waited for what he was saying to sink in.

"When those pods hatched we looked like we were seven. Isabel and Max headed in one direction, me in another, and Tess in another. Max and Izzy were found by the Evans' and I was found by a farmer. I was instantly put under control of the state and put into foster homes. The Evans' adopted Isabel and Max and Tess was found by Nasedo.

"As we grew older Izzy, Max, and I began to realize we weren't the same. We realized we were aliens and guarded our secret for many years. A few years ago, though, Liz was shot while working at the Crashdown. Max had always had a crush on Liz and Max was never the kind of guy to not help someone who was suffering so he- he saved her. Max was the only one who got the power to heal and that day in the café he saved Liz and brought her back to life.

"After the incident in the Crashdown things were never the same. Eventually not only did Liz know but Alex and Kyle found out also. Max and Liz began dating and that was when Tess came back into our lives.

"We didn't know there was another alien like us and Tess and Nasedo, the alien who saved our lives, taught us things about ourselves that we could never even venture to guess. We learned we were the royal four and we had lived before up on a planet called Antar. Max was the king, I was his second in command, Isabel was Max's sister and my wife, and Tess was Max's wife.

"Things happened in the next months that would leave scars on the relationship between us all. Max fell in love with Tess and Liz was replaced. Eventually we learned that Tess had been deceiving us all along and we sent her back up to Antar.

"Liz and Max instantly got back together and things seemed to be the way they were before. We lived happily for a few months and it seemed things wouldn't ever change.

"We have enemies called the skins who had been hunting us for years and we'd had a few encounters with them before but none like that night.

"Max got the call around seven and Nicholas, the leader of the skins, told him that he had kidnapped Liz and wouldn't let her go until what was left of the royal four showed up. So we all went and met him in the ally beside the Crashdown where Nicholas was waiting with Liz.

"The minute Max stepped up to try and save her Nicholas killed him, killed him in a way only an alien can kill someone. That is how Max died and ever since that day things have never been the same.

"It really ruined us when Liz began to see Kyle. Now I can see why she did it. She needed to escape it all for awhile and as I grew closer to you I understood more and more what she needed to get away from.

"Max was our leader Maria, he was the king. When Max died it was said that all his powers would be passed on to his second in command- me. . . and now I am the leader. I got all of his powers, well at least most of them and I make the decisions. I decided to tell you.

"It's all up to you now Maria. You know our secret and you can expose us if you want to. I told you because for some reason I don't feel you will turn us in. There's something about you Ria, you have a compassion that I've only seen in a few people in my life. In a way you remind me of Max and that is why I knew I had to tell you."

Michael finished and they sat in silence for a few moments. Maria knew he was waiting for her to tell him what she had decided to do and she contemplated what she was going to tell him. What he had said- it was unlike anything she could ever have imagined. Aliens, the thing she had so many times called a figment of crazy people's imagination. She had never believed that a spaceship had actually crashed and she had laughed when she heard stories about it.

Finally she looked up at Michael and connected eyes with him. "You can trust me Michael, I won't tell your secret to another soul as long as I live."

A smile broke out on Michael's face and he leaned over hugging her briefly before sitting back in the chair. "I knew you wouldn't Ria. I told Izzy and all of them on the phone after you fell what I was going to do and they were all so worried but I told them you wouldn't tell anyone. I knew you couldn't do that." He paused before going on, "you have to understand something now Maria. You're a part of us now. You're a part of the select few that knows the secret and you will forever be bound to us in a way that no one else will ever understand. So tell me- do you understand?"

"I understand Michael and I want you to know that you can trust me in every way." Maria said truthfully nodding her head. She meant every word she said. There was something about them all that drew her in and had made her feel connected to them in the first place. It was like she was meant to find them and she would never tell their secret.

~ A few days later ~

"Ria, how are you feeling?" Liz asked instantly as she opened the door and saw Maria standing there. The look of concern on Liz's face was genuine as she looked Maria over. She hadn't seen any of them since Michael had shared the secret with her and Maria was wondering how it was all going to work now. Nothing, needless to say, like this had ever happened to her before and she didn't exactly know what to expect.

"I'm fine Liz, don't you worry about me." Maria said plastering a smile on her face as she entered.

"Good, come on, we're all in the family room." Liz said and Maria followed her into the room and instantly every pair of eyes was on her, as if they were gazing through her and searching her soul to see if she was going to keep her promise.

"Maria," Isabel was instantly on her feet and standing in front of her. "Maria I want you to know how much it means to me- to us all- to know that you aren't going to tell anyone about us. I- I have to admit I didn't think you would keep the secret. Michael insisted you would and, well, he's the leader so he told you. Thank you Ria, you've done more than you could ever imagine for me." Isabel smiled as she quickly wrapped Maria up in a hug and from behind her she saw the rest of the people in the room.

Maria took a seat on the couch next to Michael and looked around the room as the conversation started up again. The others held no secrets now and they openly shared what they were feeling. Maria felt something deep inside her peaking out and daring to show itself to her. She felt acceptance, something she had never felt before in her life.

In a way Maria felt like an intruder listening in on them. They shared their secret, a secret so astronomical that most people wouldn't ever be able to comprehend. They shared their secret yet Maria couldn't share hers and she felt guilt beyond no belief because of that.

"So Maria we were all thinking of going to a movie tonight, you want to come?" Liz asked bringing Maria out of her own thoughts and back into the conversation.

Maria nodded, "I would love to come." She saw the others smile and again she felt the acceptance that she had felt before. There was something about them that just screamed acceptance and by the way they talked to her she could, for the first time in her life, feel that they really wanted her to be there.

"Alright, you'll pick her up right Mikey?" Isabel asked sweetly and Maria watched in amusement as Michael shot a glare at her. Isabel just laughed and looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I'll pick you up at about seven," Michael said replacing his glare with a smile as he looked over at Maria.

~ That night ~

Michael and Maria met the others outside the movie theater at 7:15 and they all bought their tickets and headed inside. They filed into a row Isabel first followed by Alex, Maria, Michael, Liz, and Kyle sat at the end near the isle and settled in as the movie started.

The movie was awkward sitting next to Michael, especially since it was a scary movie. Maria had never done well with scary movies- she was a naturally jumpy person and every time she jumped she could hear Michael chuckling beside her.

That wasn't even all. It turned out Maria was right about the whole Isabel and Alex situation and when she looked over an hour into the movie she saw them wrapped up in a tight embrace kissing. On the other side of Michael Liz and Kyle were doing the same thing and that left Maria and Michael sitting awkwardly trying to act like they weren't in the middle of two couples making out.

When the movie was over they all left the theater and headed outside.

"Well, we'll see you guys later I guess," Liz said as they stopped to say goodbye. They had come in three cars and were all parting in different directions. Maria and Michael said goodbye and headed over toward the far end of the parking lot where Michael's car was parked.

The walk to the car was silent until finally Michael broke the silence. "So how you feeling Maria? You're looking a little better," he commented as they reached the car.

"I'm feeling better," Maria lied, "but ugh, I don't want to go home." She groaned as she remembered the way Maggie and Don had been giving her the third degree ever since her fall on the day she'd found out Michael's secret.

The two climbed into the car and Michael paused before saying, "you want to just drive for awhile?" He checked his watch, "It's only nine. You have to be back at eleven, that gives us two hours if we want."

Maria nodded liking the suggestion, "sounds good. Maggie and Don have been a pain lately and I don't really feel like going back there just yet."

Michael drove them out into the desert and Maria sat, again, in silence listening to the songs playing from the radio. Finally Michael stopped and Maria looked around and the miles of desert before looking over at Michael questioningly.

"Gull River," he said with a slightly sheepish hint to his voice. Maria smiled and got out of the car following Michael the small distance before Maria heard the soft sound of the babbling river and Michael stopped and sat near the edge of the cliff.

Maria took a spot near him and sat down looking briefly up at the stars. They were so brilliant out here in the desert. In Chicago you could never see them thanks to the city lights and constant smog and she'd never really seen stars like they had in Roswell.

"She really wants us to get together you know- Isabel," Michael said chuckling. "She really wants good things for me. She worries so much about me." Maria could hear the affection in his voice and even though he acted annoyed at some of the things Isabel did Maria could tell he loved her like a sister.

"Why does she worry?"

"Because I haven't really been happy ever since Max died. It hit me hard- not as hard as Izzy but almost. I lost my best friend, you don't just get over a thing like that. After Max died and I became the leader I just shut down for awhile and didn't want to do anything. You can't imagine what it feels like to have the power I do. I mean, I am the king. . . I still can't comprehend that. I am the king of a whole planet," he shook his head and sighed.

"I can see what you mean. I don't know what I would do if I had that much power," she paused, "hey Michael, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You don't have to answer this," Maria said blushing slightly but continued out of extreme curiosity, "but what kind of powers do you actually have?"

Michael laughed, "you've been dying to know that haven't you?" She nodded. "Well, we all had different power, Izzy, Max, Tess, and I. Basically we can all manipulate the molecular structure of things. We can change our appearance too. Isabel can go into other people's dreams and Tess could make people see things that weren't really there too- that's how she got us to believe all these things. Tess deceived us."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did she deceive you?"

"It turns out, Tess and Nasedo had a deal with Kivar, the current ruler up on Antar, all along. Tess would have Max get her pregnant and she would lure all of us up to Antar and deliver not only their baby but the four of us too. Kivar, of course, wanted to kill us. He didn't want to lose his control. So Tess got pregnant and told us the lie that the baby couldn't exist on earth. We were all going to head up but Liz figured it out. So we sent Tess up in this thing called the Grenilith."

Maria nodded absorbing the information. "Wow. Well Michael, I can honestly say I've never known anyone who has as interesting of a past as yours." She laughed and heard Michael chuckle beside her. A brief silence fell after her statement and she could feel Michael's eyes on her as she sat and looked down at the river.

"I know I came off cruel when you first met me Maria. I've never been able to accept new people like the others, especially since Max died. I've guarded so many secrets for so long and when you came I just didn't know how to feel. So first I avoided you hoping that you would just go away and not ask any questions. They liked you though and I knew that they weren't going to just forget about you. So I went with Kyle and Alex that night to Liz's house on a mission to find out as much about you as possible. Well, that didn't really turn out to be a good idea.

"As I spent more time with you something started to happen and you started to do something to me, "Michael admitted. "I started to trust you. That's why I insisted to Isabel that you would keep our secret. That night we came here I was so close to spilling it all. When you heard us talking I knew I had to tell you everything and teach you to trust me like I already trusted you."

"I trust you Michael," Maria said honestly and Michael nodded.

"I know you do Maria and that means more to me than anything. Like I said earlier, I know I was cruel when you first met me but I really do like you now Maria. . . and I only hope you like me as much as I like you."

Before Maria could realize where the conversation was going Michael leaned over and slowly his lips connected with hers. Maria felt a warmth she had never known rush through her body, flowing through her veins and touching her heart making it swell with love for the boy that she had only just met.

Michael pulled away and looked her over. "That was ok right?" He asked nervously and Maria laughed.

"Of course it was alright. I do like you as much as you like me Michael. I have since the moment I met you. Even when you seemed cruel I could tell there was something about you. I noticed from the beginning the way you evaluated everything before you did it. You may not think so but you really are a good leader. I can tell that you feel that Max was a better leader than you and I don't really know if he was or not because I didn't know Max. All I know is that you ARE a good leader, whether you think so or not."

Maria watched as a smile crept across Michael's face as she spoke. "That means a lot Maria. I wish you could have known Max, he is so much like you. So kind and caring- Max cared about everyone and I have a feeling you do too." He leaned over and kissed her again.

Suddenly Maria felt a pain rip through her stomach and she groaned pulling away and keeling over in pain. It was different this time, Maria had had pains in the past but never like this. The pain went searing through her body effecting everything and making her gasp for air.

"Maria?" Maria could hear his frantic tone. "Maria are you alright?"

Maria shook her head and managed to speak. "No, please Michael. Please just take me home?" She couldn't tell him what was wrong. She couldn't risk losing the only good thing in her life.

"Maria please tell me what's wrong?" Michael said and Maria felt bad at the despair she heard in his voice.

"Michael please, just help me to the car? I need to go home." She begged. Michael scooped her up in his arms carrying her with ease to the car and without anymore questions he drove her back to Roswell.

Maria was in agony the whole way and trying not to show Michael how she actually felt. At last Michael pulled into her driveway and rushed to her side of the car carefully lifting her out and carrying her to the house.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked the minute they entered the house and she quickly jumped up from the couch as Michael gingerly lay her down.

"I- I don't know. She just all of a sudden was in so much pain. I don't know what happened," Michael said and Maria looked at him and she wasn't sure but she thought she saw a tear glisten in the light as he turned toward Maggie and Don to explain.

"Oh God no!" Maggie said and crouched down next to Maria. "Ria! Is it happening? Is it-"

"NO!" Maria screamed before her aunt could utter what was actually wrong. She looked up at Michael desperately, "please go Michael? They'll take care of me I swear. Please just go?" She couldn't hold back the tears at the way he looked at her.

Slowly he nodded his head and without a word followed Don as he led him to the door.