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-Eight The Wrath of Rath

"So, this is where you hatched from?" said Rath. "Cool. What's that over there?" he asked, pointing to the sleeping bag.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Tess. "Michael used to sleep in here sometimes when his foster father was drunk and beat on him. He said he felt safe here."

"Aw, now ain't that just a special kinda stupid," said Lonnie. "Why the hell didn't he just blast the shit outta the dude and split?"

"I don't know," said Tess. "He probably stuck around out of some misguided sense of loyalty or something. Nobody ever claimed he was the brightest star in the galaxy."

"For sure he ain't like my man Rath here," said Lonnie

"Co 'mere baby," said Rath. He pulled Lonnie to him and began to kiss her, his tongue thrusting violently into he mouth. He reached down and pulled at her let. Lonnie raised her leg, and wrapped it around him.

"Will you to cut it out," said Tess. "We don't have time for this."

"Jealous," said Rath, coming up for air. "You could always join us."

"Oh, please," sneered Tess. "Jealous of you two. I don't think so."

"Yeah, that's it," said Lonnie. "You're pissed because me and Rath are together, and you can't be with Zan, cause we iced him."

"I belong with Max," said Tess, defensively.

Yeah, you wish," snorted Rath. "You know as well as we do that Nasado managed to switch all the pods back to where they belonged, except for yours and Ava's. The only reason he didn't destroy the other royals was cause he didn't get you out in time."

"Don't remind me," snapped Tess. "He reminded me of that fact almost every day. The only break I ever got was when he was with you, or out searching for the surviving protectors."

"Searching my ass," said Rath. "He wasn't searching for them, he was hunting them down to kill them."

"And he succeeded too, didn't he," said Tess, her voice tinged with pride. "He got all of them except for the one in California. He said he had taken on the role of a movie producer or something and was too high profile to kill."

"This is getting to be a friggen bore," said Lonnie. "Why are we here anyhow?"

"I told ya babe, I think that stupid Zan wanna be stole our book. We need to find it. That's our ticket home baby!"

"Why don't we just make him tell us where it is? If he ends up dead, who cares?"

"Can't do it babe," said Rath. "Much as I'd like to blast that stupid Opie grin off of his face, we can't. We need to have a four square to get back home. Four square, just like that," he said, pointing to the tattoo on her arm.

"Why don't I just try mind warping him into telling me," said Tess, nervously. "Rath is right, we can't kill him. We need him."

"Yeah, right, you need him," said Lonnie. "Try thinking with your brain instead of with your."

"Shut up you stupid bitch," yelled Tess. "You have no right to tell me what to do. When we go back. I'm going to be queen, not you!" She reached out and slapped the taller girl across the face.

"Son of a bitch," said Lonnie. She raised her arm to blast Tess.

"Stop it, the two of you!" roared Rath. "I don't have time to put up with the two of you fighting. Lonnie, chill out, and you," he said turning to Tess. "If you ever touch my woman again, I'll kill you myself."

"No you won't," said Tess. "Just like you won't do anything to Max either. You need us, remember that. But we don't need you. We still have Michael and Isabelle here. You're the ones who are expendable, not Max and I. Now can we stop this stupid fighting and figure out what Max did with the book?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," snapped Rath. "You go looking for you're little Maxie boy. Me and Lonnie are gonna split for a while, get the lay of the land and all that. We'll meet up with you later tonight, at the motel outside of town."

"Who died and made you king, Rath? You don't give me orders. Remember, you're just the second in command,' said Tess. "I'll meet you tonight, but only if I have news. I'm not going to spend any more time with the two of you than I have to." Tess turned and activated the door and stepped out into the hot desert air.

"She's really getting on my nerves. We may have to kill her," Rath whispered to Lonnie as they followed Tess outside.


The panel under the granolith slid back and Michael crawled out, followed by Maria. He stood up and reached down to help Maria to her feet.

"Did you hear that?" he asked. "We have to find Max, and warn him." He grabbed Maria by the hand and led her back out into the pod chamber. Michael opened the door to the outside and looked around to make sure it was safe before signaling to Maria to come outside. They walked around the back of the sandstone outcropping to where Michael had hidden his motorcycle. Michael stopped and kissed Maria passionately.

"Whatever happens," he said. "Remember that, and remember that I love you with all my heart."

"And I love you Space Boy," said Maria.

The two climbed on, and the motorcycle roared to life. Michael and Maria headed back into town to warn their friends