Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Thirty-Six It's a Twin Thing

"She did what?" shouted Max. "You did what?" he added turning to Ava. "How could you do something like that? You put everyone in jeopardy with that little stunt. You can't go off half cocked like that!"

"I had a plan," said Ava, weakly.

"No, Ava, a plan is something that is well thought out, and takes everything into consideration. What you did was react."

"She saw and opportunity, and she took it," said Michael. "What's wrong with that?"

"Alex did a great job and totally warped Tess, and if he hadn't, I would have done it," Ava added.

"That's not the point," said Max, banging his hand on the table for emphasis. "You just went off on your own, with no consideration to how it would effect anybody else. Just like when Michael kidnapped Maria and stole her car."

"I didn't kidnap Maria," Michael said, defensively. "She just wouldn't get out of the car."

"Um, guys," said Kyle.

"Besides, we learned a lot on that road trip," continued Michael, as if Kyle hadn't spoken. "Think about everything we found out."

"That's not the point, Michael," said Max. "I'm just saying the both of you tend to go off, without any planning. We can't do that."

"Hello?" said Kyle, waving his hand at Max and Michael. "Is anybody listening to me?"

"It's easy to see that you two are related," Max continued, ignoring Kyle. "You both go off half cocked without a thought to the consequences."

"For Christ's sake, Max. Will you quit coming down so hard on the two of us. You're sitting here whining about something that happened last year, and totally coming unglued because Ava got Alex to use his powers successfully. From where I'm sitting, you're the one who's out of control here," said Michael.

"They're not just brother and sister!" Kyle yelled, stepping in between Max and Michael. "They're TWINS!"

"Kyle, do you mind, I'm trying to make a ……they're what?" asked Max.

"Finally," said Kyle, sitting back down. "I thought I was going to have to stand on my head and dance naked to get your attention. I said that Ava and Michael are twins. It's right here, in the new and improved addition of the book that we're supposed to be committing to memory. Apparently, I'm the only one who is doing that,' Kyle added.

"What!" said Michael, excitedly. "Show me where it says that." Kyle handed him a copy of the translated book with the passage highlighted, and Michael grabbed it and read it eagerly. He read silently for several minutes. When he finished, he looked up, and his face radiated a joy that none of the others had ever seen before.

"Maria, can you believe it?" he asked excitedly. "Not only do I have a sister, I have a twin. This is more than I ever expected!" He hugged Marian and then jumped up and hugged Ava as well. "Can you believe it?" he said. "We're twins!"

"Yeah, and it looks like they both got the stupid plan gene," said Maria softly, her face marred by a frown. She stood up and grabbed some empty glasses and walked out to the kitchen. Liz watched her leave and stood and slipped out behind her.

"Maria, what's wrong?" she asked her friend. "You looked so upset in there."
"Upset, me, upset? What's to be upset about," Maria said, her voice slightly hysterical. "Michael has the family he always wanted. Who could ask for anything better than that?"

"Why are you so upset about that, Maria?" Liz asked. She moved closer to her friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you think that now that he has a sister, Michael isn't going to need you any more?"

"No," said Maria, wiping a tear from her cheek. "We've known Ava is his sister for a while now, it's not that."

"Then what is it, Maria? Tell me, don't keep it bottled up inside. Oh, wait," said Liz, as she began to realize what Maria was feeling. "It's not the fact that she's his sister, it's that they're twins. That's it, isn't it?"

Maria didn't say anything; she just sniffed and pulled away from Liz. She crossed the kitchen and began to fill the empty glasses with tonic. When the glasses were full, she reached up into the cabinet and grabbed a bag of chips. She transferred all the glasses to a tray, and reached to pick it up.

"Maria, stop this," said Liz. "I can't believe you are acting like this! The only thing Michael has ever wanted was a family, and now you're trying to take his away from him. Well guess what, it isn't going to work. It's not just Ava you know; it's all of us. We're all his family. Or are you so blind, and so selfish that you can't see it?"

"Selfish?" said Maria, her voice low and angry. "I'm selfish. That's a good one. I got dragged, kicking and screaming into this whole alien mess, and here you are, telling me that I'm selfish."

"Dragged?" asked Liz, incredulously. "Maria, you wouldn't stop hounding me until I had told you what happened that day in the CrashDown. I did my best to keep you out of this whole thing, remember?"

"You bitch!" cried Maria. She turned around, and through her hands up in the air. A bolt of energy shot out of it straight towards Liz. "Liz!" Maria screamed as Liz fell to the floor. "Oh my God, Liz. What did I do to you? Max! Oh, God, Max, come here!"

Max rushed out of Maria's bedroom, and into the kitchen. He saw Liz on the ground, and his face paled.

"What happened? Who did this? Was it Tess?" he said as he knelt on the floor next to Liz.

"Maria, baby, what happened, are you alright?" asked Michael as he entered the room, with the others on his heels.

"It's not me, its Liz," Maria cried. "We had an argument, and I turned around to yell at her some more, but I, well, I blasted her."

"What do you mean, you blasted her?" asked Alex.

"Just that. A bolt of energy flew out of my hand, right at her. I did this to her," cried Maria. "I bitched and whined and complained about not having any powers, and then I killed my best friend."

"No you didn't," said Kyle. "You missed, but I think your mother is going to be pretty pissed about the giant hole in her china cabinet."

"I think she banged her head when she fell," said Max, touching Liz's head gingerly. "Yeah, right here, I can feel a bump."

"Can you heal it, Max" asked Isabelle.

"I don't think I'm going to have to," said Max. Everyone turned to look at him, and they saw a small glowing handprint appear on Liz's head. "I think the baby is taking care of it for me."

Liz's eyelids began to flutter, and then opened completely and she groaned.

"What happened?" she asked. "I feel like a tank ran over me. The baby," she added clutching her stomach. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, the baby's fine, and we just got proof positive that he's Max's kid all right," said Alex. "N-not that there was any doubt," he added when he saw seven pairs of eyes glaring at him.

"Hey, look at this," said Kyle proudly. Everyone turned to look at him and watched as he repaired the scorched hole in the china cabinet. "I fixed it!"

"Great, thanks, now could all of you leave Liz and I alone for a minute," said Maria.

"Maybe I should just take Liz home," said Max.

"No, Max. It's okay. Maria and I have a few things to clear up," Liz said softly. She waited until the others left the room, Max at the end, watching her with worried eyes. "Maria, what happened?" she asked.

"Oh, God, Liz. I was so angry with you," Maria began. "Because you were right. I was resentful of a bond that may or may not exist between Michael and Ava. I was so angry that I wanted to slap you, but when I turned around, I, Liz, I almost blew you up. I wasn't trying to do that. I was just so scared, and so angry," Maria paused.

"That you just reacted," finished Liz. "Hmmm, seems like Michael and Ava weren't the only ones to get the stupid gene," she joked.

"You heard that, huh?" asked Maria.

"Yeah, I did. I'm going to tell you something, Maria. Michael loves you. He's not the best at showing it, but he does love you. You need to talk to him about what you're feeling. He needs to know that you're afraid. Maria, are you listening to me?" She looked over at Maria, who was touching each of her fingernails one by one.

"Cool!" said Maria. "Look what I can do." She held up her left hand and displayed her fingernails, which were now painted in a variety of colors. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you saying something?"

Liz just rolled her eyes and stood up. "Maria, talk to Michael," she said as she began to walk out of the room.

"Liz, wait," said Maria, jumping up off the floor. She reached out and hugged Liz. "I'm sorry. Sorry for not listening to you to begin with, and sorry for almost blowing you up."

"Well, I can't say that the thought of you with that ability doesn't scare the hell out of me," said Liz. "If you almost blew me, your best friend up, what are you going to do the next time Pam Troy pisses you off?"