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 Forty-Nine Patience is a Virtue

Tess sat on the sofa in the deserted Valenti living room and opened the large envelope that had just arrived in the morning mail. Silently, she flipped through the pages, her eyes skimming rapidly. The faster she read, the more excited she became. Finally, she had what she wanted. Alex had translated the book for her. She could bring him back from Las Cruses, and nobody would ever be the wiser, thanks to her ability to mind warp.

"Hey, Tess," said Kyle, walking through the front door. "Whatcha got there?"

"Oh, this, nothing," she answered vaguely. "Just some college information I sent away for. I'm hoping that Max and I can get into the same school."

"Mmm, yeah," Kyle answered, walking to the kitchen. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a cold soda. "That would be kind of cool. Just remember, Buddha says that,"

"Please," said Tess, holding up a hand to stop his conversation. "Spare me the two-bit Zen crap. I have to go, I'm meeting somebody at the library." Tess picked up the pile of paper, grabbed her bag and walked out the door. Kyle waited until he heard her car start, and then slipped over to the window to watch as she drove down the road. He grabbed the phone and dialed a number.

"It came," he said into the telephone. "Yeah, hook, line and sinker. She was practically salivating when I walked in. You should be getting a call shortly. Now it's up to Michael. I'll see you later." He hung up the phone, grabbed his soda and his car keys and walked back out the door.


Michael sat in a booth at the CrashDown Café, and watched as Tess's car drove past. He watched as she parked in an available slot near the library, and went inside. He finished his soda and slid out of the booth. He walked across the café floor towards the door. He pulled the door open and felt the warm air hit him. He turned and looked back at Maria who stood by the register, and gave her a reassuring smile, before turning and walking out the door.

The hot desert sun beat down on Michael as he made his way up the library steps. Before he entered the cool interior of the library, he turned back and looked in the direction of the CrashDown. He imagined that he could see Maria watching him through the large plate glass window. Michael took a deep breath and entered the cool, dark interior of the library. He waited for a moment, giving his eyes time to adjust to the change in light. After his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, he gazed around the library, until he saw Tess, sitting in a corner, with a stack of papers spread out in front of her.

"Hey," he said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her. "How's it going?"

"Since when do you care?" asked Tess, her voice slightly suspicious.

"Well, I don't care," said Michael. "Not exactly, but I do need something."

"Please," said Tess. "You virtually ignored me since I got to Roswell, and then you have the nerve to sit down, insult me and ask for a favor in the same breath? I don't think so."

"Come on, Tess. I'm serious about this," said Michael.

"Fine, what do you want, Michael, and it better not be anything about getting back together with Maria. You don't belong with her, you belong with Isabelle."

"No, it's nothing like that. Maria and I are over, she was just a thing, you know? No, it's about my powers."

"What about them?" asked Tess, her curiosity piqued.

"I want to learn how to use them better, how to control them. I mean, I can do all these really cool things, but not when I want, you know what I mean? And Max was saying that you've done some memory retrieval things with him, to help him remember your lives together on Antar. I want to do that too. I was thinking, maybe I can remember how to read and speak Antarian, and then we can read the book. I bet there is a tone of information in there that could help us with our power, and maybe help us get home."

"Why now, Michael?" Tess asked, her voice tinged with suspicion. "I wanted to help you months ago, but you wanted no part of it. What's changed?"

"Me, I've changed," said Michael. "At one point, I actually thing Maria and I might have something going for us, and that maybe it would be okay to be here with her, but we don't. That much is obvious."

"I don't know," said Tess, her voice thoughtful. "What about you and Liz?"

"Liz, what do you mean, me and Liz? There's nothing between me and Liz, no matter what Maria may have thought. I don't even like her very much. She's the reason we're in so much danger from the Special Unit. If Max hadn't healed her, we wouldn't be in any danger!"

"What about that day in the eraser room?"

"What! That was nothing, she just wanted to whine to me about Max dumping her for you, that's all."

Tess paused to mull over the information Michael had given her, and then nodded. "Okay, I'll help you, but we have to lay down some ground rules first."

"Okay, whatever," said Michael. "I just want to get started."

"First, nobody knows about this, not Max, not Isabelle, not anybody. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, sure, but why all the secrecy?" asked Michael.

"Because I'm going to show you something, but before I do, I want to make sure you and I are on the same page."

"Fine, fine, I won't say a word to anybody. When can we get started?"

"First I want you to swear that you won't tell ANYBODY about this. I'm serious Michael."


"I promise, Tess. Jesus, what's it going to take for you to believe me?"

"I believe you Michael," said Tess, staring at him intently. He felt her probing his mind, trying to find out if he was misleading her. Apparently satisfied with what she found, Tess smiled and pushed the stack of papers in front of her, over to Michael.
"I already decoded the book," she said, proudly. "I've been working on it for months, as a surprise for Max. But now I think it would be better if you and I study it together, and then we can show him and Isabelle how powerful we could be, if they would just give up their insane desire to live out their lives, here on this planet."

"You translated it?" asked Michael. "By yourself? Tess, that's incredible. What does it say? What can we do? When do you want to get started working on our powers?"

"Calm down Michael," said Tess. "I haven't finished reading it, but as soon as I do, I'll tell you everything, and as far as working on your powers, what's wrong with now? We can drive out to the desert and start working."

"Great!" said Michael, standing up from the chair he had been sitting in. He waited until Tess walked past him and began to follow her out of the library. He turned his head as the walked past a young girl with short dark hair sitting alone at a table and nodded at her.

Tess and Michael exited the library, and the dark haired girl jumped up and quickly followed them to the outside. She climbed into the passenger seat of an old Toyota and smiled at the driver.

"She bought it," she said. "They're going out to the desert to practice."

"Great," said Kyle, leaning across the seat to kiss the girl. "Are you sure you can warp her into not seeing us?"

"No problem, Ava answered. "She won't see us, and we can get close enough to listen to her AND convince her that Michael's doing exactly what she wants."

"Let's do it, then," said Kyle, starting the car. He eased into traffic and began to drive out of town. "Here," he said, passing Ava a cell phone. "Call Liz and let her know her plan is working. Then call Maria. She must be freaking right about now."