Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Love Changes Everything

Chapter Eight - Set Up

"Are you okay, Liz?" Kyle asked.
"I'll be fine, now will you hurry up and get undressed," she shouted through the bathroom door.
"You think I'm going to be jealous of Kyle?" Future Max.
"Yes, now will you turn around, I need to get undressed. She reached to unbutton her shirt; paused, made sure the shower curtain was completely closed, and then finished removing her top. She wrapped a towel around her, slipped her pants off and opened the bathroom door.
"Stay out of sight," she whispered, and stepped into the bathroom. She climbed into bed with Kyle, and adjusted the covers so that they hid the towel from view.


Kyle and Liz talked softly while they waited. Several minutes later, they heard a scraping noise and Max Evans appeared in the window of Liz's bedroom. He took one look at the couple, dropped the Gomez concert tickets he had been holding, and disappeared from view.
"Max!" Liz cried softly, but he was gone. She buried her face in Kyle's shoulder and wept.
"Liz," Kyle began. "Liz, are you alright?"
"Get out Kyle," said Liz. "We did what we set out to do. Max Evans will never look at me again. Now just get your clothes on and get out of my house. I can't even look at you right now," she said bitterly. Kyle quickly threw his clothes on and exited Liz's room via the balcony.

As soon as he was gone, the bathroom door opened and Future Max stepped into the bedroom. "I have fought a thousand battles, but watching you do that was the hardest thing I've ever done."
"I hurt him," said Liz. "I could have very well destroyed him."
"You didn't, he's strong, but what you did, you are stronger. He'll survive; we'll all survive because of your strength Liz Parker. Maybe this is for the best."
"What do you mean?" Liz said through her tears. "How could something so painful be for the best?"
"You and Kyle, maybe you and he will have a chance now."
"How can you say that? There will never be anyone who can take the place of Max Evans in my heart. Dance with me," said Liz suddenly.
"What?"
"Dance with me. I want to have my wedding dance. I deserve to have it."

The two stepped out through the window onto the rooftop. Liz stepped into Future Max's arms and the two began to dance to the music from Liz's cd player under the starry night sky. After several minutes, Liz realized she was dancing alone. She lowered her arms, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She waited several minutes, surveying the streets below. She climbed back into her room and opened the bathroom door. "You can come out now," she said. The shower curtain slid open and Michael Guerin stepped out of the bathtub.
"You really ought to do something about that unsightly soap scum, Liz," he said.
"Shut up, Michael. "Even though it was all an act, that was the hardest thing I have ever done."
"Did it work?"
"Yeah, Max showed up right on cue. It was perfect. Wait, what was that?" Liz asked, her face worried.

Michael grabbed Liz, and threw her into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. He stood in her room, in front of the door, with his arm raised.
"Wait. Don't shoot, it's me," said Kyle, sticking his head back in the window.
"Jesus, Valenti," said Michael. "I could have killed you."
"Well, thanks for not doing that," said Kyle. "I think it really would have bugged my Dad if I had died again. Where's Liz?"
"Oh shit," said Michael. He threw open the bathroom door. "Liz, you can come out, it's only Kyle."
"Ow!" said Liz. "I banged my head on the sink when you threw me in here, Michael.
"Sorry," said Michael, unrepentantly. "But I wasn't sure who it was, and Max wanted me to protect you at all costs."
"Protect, Michael, not maim. There is a difference you know," said Liz, rubbing the swelling bump on her head gingerly.

Liz ran downstairs to grab some tonics, and some ice for her head. She signaled Maria to come upstairs when her shift was done and climbed the stairs back up to her family's apartment. Liz carefully held the cloth filled with ice up to her head. "Michael, the next time you go to save me, please don't," she said. "And don't say sorry, because I know your not. But thank you."
"Your welcome. Now, onto more pressing business. Do you think she bought it?"
"Yeah, I'm positive. Future Max said all this stuff about how strong I was, and how maybe this was all for the best. And how maybe Kyle and I could have a future together."
"Well she certainly is trying to tie up all her loose ends," said Kyle, bitterly.
"What do you mean?" asked Liz.
"Tess and I were, uh, well we had contemplated reaching a certain stage of enlightenment together," said Kyle. "I guess she just wants to make sure I'm not going to try and mess things up between her and Max."

"Kyle," what happened when you left?" asked Michael.
"I slipped into the CrashDown and checked with Maria. She said Tess she saw Tess get into her car over by the UFO Museum. I looked out and she was still there, sitting in her car, so I made a big show of getting in my car and driving away. I circled around the block and came back around just as she was pulling away. I followed her to the park, where she found Max. When I left, the two of them were sitting on a bench."
"That works," said Liz. "The image of Future Max disappeared about ten minutes after you left. I guess she wasn't powerful enough to make her mind warp thing work from a distance." Liz stopped talking to answer the phone in her room, which had begun to ring. Beyond hello, she didn't say anything at all. When the call had ended, she hung up the phone and turned to Kyle and Michael.
"That was Alex," she said. "He and Isabelle made a major breakthrough on the book. They think they have it decoded."

"Well, what are we sitting here for?" demanded Michael. "Let's get over there."
"We can't, Michael. We're supposed to wait here for Maria, and Max is supposed to call us here, and let us know if it's safe to get together. For all we know, he's still with Tess," said Liz. "Alex said he and Isabelle will be over as soon as they can. But Alex did say that we needed to put on some platinum. He didn't explain why, he just said to do it as soon as possible."
"Platinum?" asked Kyle. "Like isn't that the stuff they make nuclear bombs from?"
"That's plutonium, Kyle," explained Liz. "Maybe you really should have read my chemistry notes the other night."
"Platinum, plutonium, it doesn't matter. Where are we going to get it?"
"As much as I hate to agree with Kyle," said Michael. "He's right. That stuff is expensive."
"When my Grandma Claudia died, she left me all her jewelry," said Liz. Her wedding set was platinum, and so was my grandfather's wedding ring. We can use that for now. She got up and went to her jewelry box and removed three rings. She slipped her gave Kyle and Michael a wedding band each, and slipped her grandmother's engagement ring on her finger. As she did, she felt the blood rush from her head, and she collapsed on the floor at Michael's feet.

"Liz! Liz, wake up," she heard a voice say from a distance. "Wake up Liz. Can you hear me?" Kyle's voice faded in and out, as she struggled to regain consciousness. She felt as if she were swimming upward, through inky black water. Struggling, she broke the surface and opened her eyes. Michael and Kyle were leaning over her, with concerned looks on their faces.
"Liz, what is it, what happened?" asked Kyle.
"I remember," she said softly. "I remember everything she did."