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 Fourteen –Future Max Comes Back

"Liz!" shouted Max, holding out hand in the direction where Liz had disappeared over the cliff. Michael rushed past him and threw himself on the ground, hanging over the edge of the cliff.
"I can almost reach her," he gasped. "Max, keep it up! Kyle, Alex, get over here and help me." Kyle and Alex rushed to Michael's side and looked over the edge of the cliff. Without another word, they grabbed Michael's legs and lowered him further over the edge.
"Okay, I've got her," he grunted. "Pull me back, slowly." Kyle and Alex backed away slowly from the edge of the cliff, dragging Michael with them. Inch by inch the eased back and Liz slowly came back into view. Michael gave one final tug and Liz landed firmly on solid ground.
"Liz!" cried Maria, breaking free from Isabelle's grasp. "Oh my God, Liz, what happened?"

Liz sat on the ground, gasping for breath, her face deathly white. She tried to speak, but couldn't form the words. Instead, she sat on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.
"Max?" asked Michael, his voice filled with awe. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" asked Isabelle.
"There was like this force field kind of thing, it caught Liz," said Kyle. "Max you saved her life, again." Max didn't say anything, and knelt down on the ground and took Liz into his arms. He pushed her hair off her face and held her tightly.
"Liz, can you talk to us now?" he asked. "What happened?"
"F-Future Max," she whispered. "He was here, talking to me. It was him."
"But how, how could he appear. I thought he was supposed to disappear once you convinced me not to love you anymore. And how is Tess doing this to you? Aren't you wearing your ring?"
"My mother reminded me to put it away last night. I didn't want to make her suspicious, so I put it away. I forgot to put it back on before I left this morning," Liz said.

"Do you think this means she's on to us?" questioned Isabelle.
"We'll worry about that later," said Max, firmly. "Liz, what did Future Max have to say?"
"He said that he was just an image that was programmed to come back from the future to remind me how important it was to stay away from you," she said. "He said he programmed the image to come back even before he came back to see me. He said it was important for me to remember that the lives of everyone he loved depended on me keeping you away from me, and keeping him a secret. He told me again how important the granolith was and that I should keep it a secret. I just couldn't seem to separate him from you, and that's why I kept backing away, and the next thing I realized, I was falling. Max, how did you stop me?"

"I'm not sure," Max admitted. "It's sort of something I've been working on. Tess is really big on talking about our past lives on Antar, and according to her, Zan could make this kind of protective force field. Up to now, I haven't been able to do it very well. I didn't think about it, I just reacted, and it worked."
"God, it was amazing," said Michael. "Like some giant green glowing spider web. I wonder what else we are capable of?"
"I'm sure there are more answers in the book," said Alex helpfully. "There are still some parts of it that I haven't translated."
"Can you get on it right away?" asked Max.
"Yeah, as soon as we get back to town. But what are we going to do about Tess? I mean do you think she knows we are out here, or was this just some random warp she did on Liz?"

"It doesn't matter either way," said Max. "We need to do damage control. Did any of you get any feeling she was trying to warp any of you?" They all shook their heads and Max continued, "I didn't, so I'm guessing she just targeted Liz. Let's head back to town and I'll hook up with her and try to spin this to our advantage. I'll take her with me to meet Rath and the others so we can plan our exit."

The group started towards their cars and prepared to head back to Roswell. Max reached out and held Liz back. Once the others were out of earshot, Max fished into his pocket and pulled out a ring. He took Liz's right hand in his, and slipped it on her finger and kissed her. "I want you to wear this, all the time, Liz. Don't ever take it off. It's for your protection. The band is made of solid platinum. Liz looked down at the ring, and the hand it was on and tried not to frown. She remembered the promises she and Max had made to each other.
"Thanks Max," she said softly, her heart breaking a little.
"And this," he said slipping a necklace with a platinum floating heart with a diamond in it's center around her neck, "Is because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanted to get you an engagement ring, but I didn't think your parents would react very well."
"You're probably right," said Liz, beaming at him. "It's beautiful," she said, looking down at the heart. "I love it, and I love you."


Max pulled the Jeep up to the curb where Tess stood waiting for him. He killed the ignition and waited while she climbed in.
"Sorry I took so long," he said grumpily. "Remember that phone call I got this morning when you were at my house. Well, it turns out, it was Liz, trying to pull a fast one on us. She got everyone together for an emergency meeting to try and convince me not to go to New York with you."
"Oh Max," said Tess. "Why does she hate me so much? I never did anything to her. She was the one who hurt you so badly."
"Forget her," said Max. "She's nothing to me anymore. A fact I made sure she realized once and for all. Now come on, lets go meet the others and tell them we'll go to New York with them."

Max started the Jeep and he and Tess drove off to meet with Rath, Lonnie and Ava. Over breakfast, Max and Tess told them they'd return to New York with them.
"Righteous," said Rath. "Man you will love kickin it in New York. It's got this Mayberry berg beaten hands down!"
"Ya, and like there's a million things to do. It is so far away from this nowheresville that you're livin in now, you may never wanna come back," added Lonnie.
"So, we'll leave tonight then?" asked Max.
"Yeah, we need to jam. The summit meets on Thursday," said Rath.
"Great," said Max, trying to act excited. "If we drive straight thru, we may get there in time for Tess and I to see some of the tourist type things."
"How cornball," muttered Lonnie under her breath. "Yeah," she said with false enthusiasm. "You'se two will love doin that."
"Pick us up at my place," said Max. "A little after seven tonight. We'll be waiting." He stood up, and through down enough money to cover the bill, pulled Tess up by the hand and walked out.

"Max, wait!" Tess cried. "We can't just leave them like that. We need to make plans."
"We did," said Max. "They'll pick us up around seven, and we'll go to New York."
"No Max," said Tess, wrinkling her nose slightly. "We need to stay and talk with them and make some concrete plans."
"You're right Tess," said Max abruptly. "I guess they just got to me with their Mayberry cornball routine. Tell you what, why don't you go in there and set everything up. I'll wait out here."
"No Max, I really think you should come inside too," Tess said.
"Alright," said Max, "But just give me a second, they really do annoy me."

Tess smiled at Max and stood on tiptoe to press a kiss on his lips. Max smiled and watched as she walked back into the restaurant. Max watched through the plate glass window as Tess talked with Rath and Lonnie, her hands moving as she gestured towards the window. Even from where he stood outside, Max could see the malicious glitter in her eyes as she talked. After several minutes Ava stood up and walked outside.
"Hey," said Ave as she walked out the door.
"Hey," Max replied.
"She's going to betray you. You do know that don't you?"
"No she won't," said Max. "Tess loves me."
"No she doesn't, she just wants you, and she'll do whatever it takes to get you. But," she added speculatively, looking at him, "You already know what she can do, don't you?"