A/N: THIS IS CHAPTER TWO. I'M GLAD YOU GUYS ARE LIKING IT. DON'T KILL ME FOR WHAT I WROTE HERE. THIS IS A MAX/TESS FIC SO DON'T FLIP OUT. ANYWAY, MORE REVIEWS. ENJOY.

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Maria Deluca stood quietly as she tried to say something profound to Michael. He was leaving her and this time maybe forever and it terrified her.

"I'll come back." Michael said gruffly as if reading her mind. He wasn't the kind of person to talk feelings out or say long goodbyes so he just hugged his on-and-off girlfriend and brushed a kiss on her forehead. "As soon as we get Tess back." He added and Maria nodded. That was what she was afraid of.

What if they didn't get her back?

What then?

Will they stay in Antar?

Forever?


"I still think I should go with you." Kyle insisted as he walked over to Max, who only shook his head, "Why not? Max, you need all the help you can get! It was frustrating him that he was not allowed to help.

"Because it's dangerous and we don't even know if human can survive on Antar." Max replied.

"Well, you're half human. How do you know you'll survive?" Kyle argued stubbornly.

"Kyle-"

"He will." Alex, who was standing on the sidelines watching them argue, piped in. "Antar is a three race colony. Full-blooded Antarians, hybrids and humans."  He declared with conviction.

"How do you know this?" Jim Valenti asked, shooting a curious glance at the young man.

There was something remarkably different about Alex Whitman since his disappearance. It was as if he gained a lot of knowledge about the universe, himself, and everything.  It was refreshing.

"I decoded the book, remember?" Alex replied casually, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, Tess taught me a lot of things."

"Like what?" Liz joined in. They were all there, the so called gang, in the place where the granilith was hidden. Some of them were there to leave, and some to say goodbye.

"Look, we don't have time for this." Max said impatiently, cutting all of them off.

"We didn't even say goodbye to Mom and Dad." Isabel said unhappily as she sat on the corner. Her heart ached more than she could bear. She did not want to leave and everyone knew it. She had told them as much.

She didn't want to leave their parents, the two people she cared about except for Max and Michael, didn't want to leave the life that she had built here. This was home. Not Antar or any other planet out there. Most of all, she didn't want to leave Alex. She found him again, got him back from the dead but there was no time now.

They were given a second chance and she was going to miss out on it.  Life was unfair. 

"Max is right. Let's go." Michael declared as he walked over to Isabel and helped her up.

"Max, you shouldn't do this. You don't have to." Liz interrupted hastily. "I'm sure Tess and your son are fine."

Max shook his head at her. He did not expect her to understand. A small part of him still loved her but some things had to come before Liz Parker. It was strange how things could change so easily in such a short time but right now, Max had no time to think about where his heart belongs and who with.

"They need me." He said firmly, ending the discussion. He nodded his head at the rest of his friends and motioned his sister and best friend to follow him into the granilith. None of them looked back; afraid to see the sadness in the eyes of the people that they have come to love and call family; afraid that they too would fall apart.

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"Uh, Max, shouldn't we be in Antar?" Michael asked stupidly when they stepped out of the granilith and found that they had not gone anywhere. Max shot him an annoyed glance but refused to answer.

"Yeah." Kyle agreed; confused as to why they were still on earth.

"What went wrong?" Sheriff Valenti asked, concerned.

"It didn't work." Isabel replied, slightly frustrated.

"Thank God." Liz whispered to herself in the background.

"We have to try again." Max said, refusing to answer any of them.  He was not going to give up. 

"It won't work." Alex declared matter-of-factly.

"And why the hell not?" Michael asked impatiently.

"Because this is Tess' backup. She reconfigured the granilith so that no one can use it.  Not you, Michael or Isabel or anyone with alien DNA." He explained matter-of-factly. "Don't ask me how. She never told me. Just one of the many things she learned from Nasedo."

"Great. Just great." Max hissed.  He was on the verge of losing his patience.

Michael heaved a weary sigh.  "And why couldn't you tell us this before?"  He asked impatiently, glaring at Alex.

Alex shrugged, slipping his hands into the pocket of his jeans.  "Would that have stopped you from trying?"  He retorted coolly.

"She covered all her bases." Kyle stated with a smirk. "That's our Tess." He added with obvious pride.

Max gave him a disapproving look. Tess' obvious thoroughness was not helping them right now. "Ok, plan B."

"There's a plan B?" Isabel asked, arching a finely sculpted eyebrow at her brother.

"No, but there will be." Max replied.

"Maybe this is fate's way of telling you that you shouldn't go." Liz said cautiously.  She really did not want to lose Max.

Michael scoffed. "Screw fate. We're getting Tess back. We owe her that much." He said. He felt incredibly defensive about Tess, considering that she had forfeited her life for theirs in the past and now she was repeating it again.

Max sighed. Maybe Liz was right. Maybe they were already too late and Tess was gone and so was his son. Or maybe they were all right. Despite how many assumptions he could make up in his mind, Max refused to believe that it was too late.

They had to try no matter what.

"Go home. All of you." Max said in a startlingly commanding tone. At first, they all stood there, unmoving.  "Now."  Max continued and finally they all trudged to the exit, clearing the room out one by one except for Alex.

"Max?" Alex called out from where he was standing. He had stayed behind to make sure that his friend was okay.

"Why couldn't she tell me the truth?" He asked dejectedly, pain flickering in his eyes. It would have been so much simpler if she just told him.

"Because she knew that you didn't trust her and you wouldn't understand. None of you did." Alex replied softly.  He had gone through the same discussion with Tess.  He had tried every argument in the book to get her to tell Max the truth but she was stubborn.  And she was right.  Even after all his protests, Alex knew that Tess was right.

"I guess not." Max whispered after a long moment of silence. "But why you?" He added with a small frown on his face.

"Because I listened and I caught her." Alex replied with a faint smile as he recalled the moment.

"Caught her?"

Alex nodded. "She was making her plans and I caught on. At first, she denied it and I threatened to tell all of you. I finally pried it out of her. I guess she got desperate."

"Tess was never desperate." Max said quietly, as if speaking to himself.

Alex shrugged her shoulders. "She needed a friend." He corrected himself. "We'll figure out something."

"Like what? I'm out of ideas Alex. My head hurts so much from thinking!" Max was practically yelling, out of fear, desperation and sadness.

"Get some rest, Max. Tess would want you to rest." Alex said as he walked out leaving Max to stare into space, the hurt that he was feeling overtaking him.

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Ava stood proudly on the balcony of the palace, the wind blowing back a strand of stray hair from her face. She smiled, slightly content, as she looked down at her people, her nation. Her mind drifted back to a planet on the Milky Way galaxy, light years away from where she was now. She could barely recall how long it has been since she left there, since she ran from her so called family. Time on Antar was different to Earth's.

She sighed, refusing to think of them anymore. Instead she let her eyes wander on the beauty of her planet; from the Ice Mountains on the left of her kingdom that glistened like the diamonds on Earth in the day, to the cities that were being rebuilt from ruins, to the eastern wing of the palace that housed the office of its new leader.

"Hiding from me?" A familiar voice disrupted her thoughts.

Khivar.

Ava did not look back, waiting for him to walk over and stand next to her. "How are things in the Council?" She asked, coolly.

He approached her as expected. "They were asking for you."

She shrugged her shoulders, still not looking at him. "They'll manage." She replied. She watched him from the corner of her eyes, noting his movement, mentally judging him.

Khivar nodded quietly, watching her with curiosity. "They are grateful especially to you." He finally said.

Ava looked at him and smiled softly. It was strange how things came to be, how it turned out exactly the opposite of her expectations.

Antar was a thriving planet, prospering under Khivar's rigorous rule. Most of the people still did not support him; they wanted the rightful heir to rule instead but they were still grateful for this chance to prosper again and to have someone lead the army into countless victories over their enemies. They were still fighting a war that began almost two decades ago but this time, Khivar, despite his harsh ways, was there to lead them to glory.

What was even more surprising was that she stood by him as equal ruler, Queen of Antar and mother to Lex, the heir to the throne. Her son was six months old now in Antarian calendar and he was the most pampered and protected living being in the whole universe.

To Ava, he was the reason that she was here, standing by the man that was supposed to be their enemy, tolerating him each day.

Khivar was still ruthless in getting his way but at least she was there to keep him to the right path, to guide him as they continued to flourish. She would not let him sway; let him destroy their planet again.

To Khivar, this child was the key to his endless reign over Antar. As long as Lex lived, he would rule. He was the assigned guardian to the heir and he would raise him as his own, along with Ava.

He had not intended to keep her alive but with her by his side, he was stronger. The people would accept him easier if he pleased the Queen, if she approved of him. The Council would listen to him; follow his orders as long as she was there to watch over him, over all of them.

She was their believed hero, their guardian angel.

And he liked her.

Other than the fact that she was startlingly beautiful, there was something unexplainably appealing about her. Perhaps it was the reason that she was untouchable, that her heart was guarded by a barricade impervious to any pain or affection that came her way, or maybe it was the strength inside her, the regal bravery that she carried around. Maybe it was the fact that she does not want anyone rescuing her from anything, not that she needed any saving.

"By the way, we're leaving tomorrow." He added slyly.

She looked at him curiously and was about to speak when one of the servants interrupted her, handing her son over. She cradled Lex in her arms and he automatically snuggled towards her, wanting the warmth and familiar comfort of his mother's touch.

She bent her head and brushed a soft kiss on Lex's smooth forehead.  No one would know how much she loved her child.


"Where are we going?" Ava asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him. Something felt incredibly wrong when she heard him speak, as if there was something sinister behind the statement, a larger, more dangerous plan that he kept from her.

It worried her. He was still dangerous.

Khivar smirked slightly, his eyes twinkling with trouble.

"Earth." He replied nonchalantly.