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 Nineteen – Deceptions

"Max, can you help me with something?" asked Tess softly. Max looked up from the notes he was studying.
"Tess, when did you get here?" he asked.
"Just a minute ago, your mother let me in," Tess replied
"Oh, well come on in then," said Max, pushing his chair away from his desk. "You were saying something about a favor?" he prompted.
"Yeah," said Tess, smiling slightly. She walked over to him, straddled his legs, and sat down in his lap, facing him. She looped her arms around his neck and leaned in and kissed him deeply. "I have a favor, a really big favor. I need to borrow the destiny book from you for a while."

Max suppressed a shudder as Tess kissed him again, and her tongue snaked its way into his mouth.
"Why do you want to borrow it?" he asked when she ended the kiss.
"Well, I've been having these dreams of our life on Antar lately, and I keep seeing images of me, reading. I can't remember what it is after I wake up, but I'm hoping that maybe if I look at the book right after I wake up, it will help me to remember. Please Max?" she wheedled, leaning in to kiss him again. Max suffered her kiss silently, raging to himself because he knew he would have to give into her request.
"Sure Tess," he said, standing up and sliding her from his lap. "I don't have it here. The book is locked away, but I'll get it too you tonight."

"Thanks Max," said Tess as she leaned in to kiss him fully on the lips again. As they kissed, Max saw flashes that Tess imprinted in his brain. He saw their wedding day; swimming in a Jell-O ocean, and a green sky with double suns. As she deepened the kiss, he began to receive other images; ones that he didn't think were controlled by Tess. He saw Tess meeting with a strange man, and making love to him passionately. He saw soldiers storming a palace, and bodies strewn over the ground. He saw Michael's lifeless body, his eyes staring at nothing, and Isabelle being whipped, her lifeless body being left for scavengers.
"Max, what is it?" asked Tess, sensing his withdrawal.
"N-nothing," he said, recovering quickly. "I was just getting some flashes of our life on Antar. I can't believe we really swam in an ocean like that," he said, forcing a laugh.
"We did," said Tess. "It was one of our favorite things to do!"
"I'm really glad I'm starting to learn more about our lives together on Antar," said Max. "But if I don't get back to studying, I'm not going to pass this test, and then I won't have a life here on Earth."
"I get the hint, Max," said Tess with a laugh. "I'll leave you to your studying. You won't forget about the book, will you?"

"I won't," said Max, rising from his chair. "Come on, I'll walk you to the door." He escorted Tess to her car and watched while she drove back out of site. He walked back into his room and went over and opened the window.
"Come on in Michael, she's gone."
"Hey, Maxwell," said Michael, as he climbed through the window. "How long did you know I was out there?"
"Not long," said Max. "I caught a glimpse of you in the mirror. You heard, I assume?"
"Yeah, she wants the book, but I knew that anyhow. I heard back from Alex after their morning meeting. Are you going to give it to her?"
"Do I have a choice?" Max asked ruefully.
"Not that I can see," said Michael.
"I didn't think so," said Max. "Listen, Michael, I need your help with something."
"What? If it's killing Tess, you already know I'm in."
"No, it's not that. I want to try and give you a flash of something I saw, and I want you to try and draw it for me."
"Jesus, Maxwell, you don't think small, do you?"
"I'm sorry, Michael. But I saw something when Tess killed me, and I don't think it was something she generated in my head."
"When she WHAT? When she killed you?"
"Sorry, I meant kissed me," said Max.

Michael reached over to the desk and grabbed a notebook and pencil, and sat down on the bed. "Okay," he said. "How do you want to do this?"
"I don't know," said Max, honestly. "I guess I'll just try grabbing your hand and seeing if I can pass the flash on to you." As he spoke, he grabbed Michael by the hand, and tried to concentrate on the image of the man he saw making love with Tess. Max tried to focus only on the stranger, and not of the vision of Michael lying on the ground, dead, but the image crept into his mind, no matter what he did. He could feel Michael trying to pull his hand out of Max's grasp, but he wouldn't let go, until Michael reached around with his free hand, and punched Max in the jaw. The connection severed, Max rubbed his jaw where Michael had hit him.
"I'm sorry, Michael," said Max. "I didn't mean for you to see everything."
"My God," said Michael. "What they did to Isabelle, I can't believe it."

"Michael," began Max.
"Yeah, I know, I saw it," said Michael, referring to his own death. "But that doesn't seem as important as protecting you and Isabelle."
"It's funny," said Max, though his voice lacked any humor. "I wasn't worried about myself either. All I could think about was you and Isabelle."
"And I'm sure if Isabelle saw the flash, she'd be more worried about us than herself," said Michael.
"Did you see the other person?" asked Max. "The one with Tess?"
"Yeah, I did," said Michael. "Do you have any idea of who he is?"
"No, do you think you can draw him?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to try," said Michael. He bent down and grabbed the notebook that had slid off the bed. He sketched rapidly, and then passed the notebook to Max.
"Is this him?" he asked.
"Yeah, it is," said Max, his stomach sinking as he looked at the image. "Can you round everybody up?" he asked Michael. "I think we need to have another meeting."
"Sure thing," said Michael. "The quarry again?"
"No, your place, I think. I want Ava to take a look at this sketch. How's she settling in, anyhow?"
"Great," said Michael. "I like knowing that I have a sister, and her and Valenti are getting pretty tight too. I'm having fun playing big brother, threatening to blow him up if he messes with my sister and all that."
"You better watch it, Michael. Kyle's probably going to start developing powers too. He may be able to blow you up if you don't watch out."
"I know that, and you know that, but Valenti hasn't realized it yet." The two friends laughed together for a moment, before becoming serious once again.

"You round everybody up," said Max. "I'll go pick up some take out. How does Chinese sound this time?"
"Yeah, and the spicier, the better," said Michael. "Alex added an entire bottle of jalapeno's to his ice cream sundae today at the CrashDown. He said he was really craving spicy food after his meeting with Tess."
"Great," said Max. "Another side effect of her mind warps. Okay, I'll get a double order of General Gau's Chicken." He watched as Michael climbed out the window and jumped onto his bike. Max picked up the drawing off the bed, and stared at it with a sense of foreboding. He folded it up, and slipped it into his back pocket, grabbed the keys to his Jeep and headed out of the house