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

Chapter Twenty-Three Four Squared

The next morning, the group met at the same pancake house that Alex had gone to with Tess. After their orders arrived, Max explained n an expressionless voice what he had seen when Tess kissed him.
"How do we know they aren't just more images planted by Tess?" Maria asked, her arm wrapped protectively around Michael.
"We don't k now for certain," admitted Max. "All I do know is that it didn't feel forced, like the other images. It felt real, more real, more genuine. Anyhow, I managed to show Michael the images, and he drew some sketches of what I saw. Ava, "he continued, turning towards the other girl, "I was wondering if you would look at them for me. You seem to remember the most about our other life. I was kind of hoping something would ring a bell with you.

"No way!" exclaimed Ava. "Do I look like a friggin Magic Eight Ball to you? Come on Kyle, I wanna blow this joint." Kyle slipped his arm around the petite blonde and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head vehemently several times, then slowly nodded.
"Okay," she acquiesced. "I'll look at your stupid pictures, but I ain't makin any promises."
"We're not asking for any Ava, we just want your help," said Max, his expression grateful.
"Guys," said Maria suddenly. "Let's not do this here."
"Maria," snapped Michael. "What's wrong with here? We're all here."
"Well, we can be in a here that's elsewhere too," said Maria. "I'm just not getting a good feeling about being here. It's like the vibes are all wrong or something."
"Go sniff some cedar oil or something will you," said Michael. He turned to ask Liz to talk some sense into his girlfriend, but Liz was throwing money down on the table to cover their bill. Michael's gaze moved to Isabelle, who was shrugging into her coat and grabbing her purse. Ava stood poised by the side of the table, ready to walk out of the restaurant.

"So, I guess we're leaving then," said Alex.
"Forget it," snapped Michael. "I'm not leaving."
"Then don't," said Maria, sliding out of her chair. "Go ahead, do your stupid withdrawal thing, I don't care, I'm not sticking around." Wordlessly, Kyle and Alex stood up from their seats and began to follow Maria as she stormed out of the pancake house. Liz hung back to look at Max and Michael.
"Michael, won't you just listen to Maria. She could be right you know, she's gotten feelings like this before. We were at a party one time, and she was positive we should leave. Right after we did, the police and the parents showed up. Half the freshman class was grounded for a month."

"I don't care," said Michael, his voice adamant. "I'm staying."
"Whatever," said Liz. She nodded to Isabelle and Ava and the two walked out of the restaurant and joined the others by the car. Liz turned to look at Max.
"Max, what about you?" she said asked.
"Liz, I believe Maria, and make sure she realizes that. But I don't feel right leaving Michael here by himself. I'll hang here with him, and we'll talk for a while. We'll catch up with you in a bit." Liz caught her lower lip between her teeth for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, but be careful, both of you," she said. She spun around on one heel and walked out the door to of the restaurant to where the others were waiting.

"Michael, what the hell was that all about?" demanded Max, once Liz was out of earshot. Around them, conversation swelled and ebbed with the arrival of new customers. Max toyed with the knife in front of him; the sweet smell of syrup was so thick, that he wanted to gag.
"Look, I believe Maria believes that something isn't write, but unless I see it, I don't believe it."
"Well believe it," said Max, pointing to the door, where Tess stood. "Here comes trouble."


Liz waited until Isabelle parked the Jeep, because serious conversation was next to impossible when riding in the open-air vehicle.
"Are you alright, Maria?" she asked, concerned for her friend.
"Michael Guerin is such a jerk," sniffed Maria,
"Maria, you already knew that," said Liz.
"Yeah, well, he's more of a jerk than usual," said Maria. "But, in a way, I can't blame him. He's lived his whole live trusting his own instinct. It isn't easy for him to trust anybody. He's getting better about it, but sometimes, he regresses."

"Maria, listen," said Isabelle. "Michael was a jerk back there, but try and see it from his perspective, warped though it may be. For years, the only person he ever had to count on was himself. He wasn't even very good at trusting Max and I. Now, suddenly, he has all these people who know his secret. He's trying, but sometimes, he messes up."
"Did any of you think that maybe he's the one who's right?" asked Ava, as she approached the Jeep parked next to Kyle's car. "Zan trusted Lonnie and Rath, and look what that got him; dead. Maybe we're all just better off not trustin nobody."

"That's too bad," said Kyle, his voice full of hurt. "Maybe if you let somebody in, you'd find that it's a nice feeling
"Yo, Kyle, man. I didn't know you was right behind me like that," said Ava, her face red.
"So, it doesn't sound like it would have mattered if I was or wasn't," said Kyle. "According to you, you don't need anybody. I guess that includes me." He turned abruptly to Isabelle. "Why are we here? I can think of better places to meet than beside this big pile of rocks."

"Well, Kyle, it's funny you should mention trust," said Isabelle. "I'm trusting you, and everybody else with something." She passed her hand over the side of the large sandstone outcropping, a glowing handprint appeared, and a panel slid back, allowing them access to the chamber inside the rocks. Isabelle led the way in to the pod chamber, and then into the chamber that concealed the granolith.

"Wow," said Ava, walking around the chamber. "It's real."
"What is that thing?" asked Kyle.
"It's the granolith," said Isabelle. "But beyond that, we don't know much of anything. But I brought you all here, to lay our proverbial cards on the table. We need to work together, and to trust each other. Resentment and secrets won't do anything but hold us back. Now I can't speak for Michael, but I trust all of you, and I know you'd do anything to protect us, and I hope you know that I'd do anything to protect you."

"Nice speech sunshine," said Ava, her eyes flashing. "But how do I know it's true?"
"You don't," said Liz. "But I've known Alex, Maria and Kyle most of my life, and I know I'd trust them WITH my life." As she spoke, Liz reached out and took one of Kyle's hands in hers, and Alex's hand in the other. Instinctively, the two guys reached out to grab Maria's hands, the four of them creating a square around Isabelle and Ava. The granolith began to glow slightly, and Liz became aware of green bolts of energy shooting from her hands, into the hands of Kyle and Alex. She watched as they traced a path through their bodies and traveled into Maria's body.

Liz became aware of a soft humming noise that came from the granolith, its low even pitch was soothing, and helped to eliminate some of the fear she was feeling. She felt herself relaxing, and images began to fill her mind, but they flew too fast for her to identify them. She allowed herself to relax even more, and let the images and the sound fill her.

Isabelle looked at her friends, and she panicked. She tried to break through the square made by her friends, but she couldn't release their grasp. She ducked under Alex and Maria's arms and then turned and looked at the granolith. The light in it dimmed a little. Holding her breath a little, she ducked back under Alex's outstretched arm and stood facing him. She glanced up at the granolith and noticed that the light inside of it grew slightly stronger. She reached out and grabbed Ava by the arm, and pulled her out of the square. The light in the granolith faded to almost nothing, and the humming noise disappeared. As one, Alex, Kyle, Maria and Liz released their hands, and the light in the granolith disappeared completely.