*gasp* yes, it's an update.  Thanks to everyone for waiting so patiently for me to get my behind in gear.

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 Fifty Delusions of Grandeur

Tess grinned to herself as she walked down the halls of West Roswell High. Everything was going according to plan. Her last practice session with Michael was fantastic. His ability to control his powers was growing by leaps and bounds, and even better, she was subtly turning him to her way of thinking. Alex had decoded the book for her, and the information contained in it was very useful. The things she learned were extremely valuable, both on Earth, as well as on Antar. An added bonus was that Michael was starting to believe everything she told him. She hardly ever had to use her powers to mind warp him any longer. Michael was really starting to believe everything she told him. She hardly ever had to use her powers on him any longer. The book was right. After a while, the mind warp became firmly entrenched in the mind of her victim. Michael was doing whatever she wanted, with just the smallest shove. Yeah, she thought to herself. Michael's turning out to be really cool, it almost seems like a shame that he's going to die.
Things with Max were going really well also. That stupid little bitch Liz had finally backed off, and Alex had provided her with the information she needed to fulfill her destiny. She was close, so close to completing the pact Nascedo had made with Kivar


"We need a break," Michael said to Max. "It's too much. I feel like I've been subjected to a constant barrage of Tess lately, and if I don't get away, I'm going to explode."

"Well, you've been working with her constantly," said Max. "Maybe that has something to do with it?"

"Ya think?" said Michael sarcastically.

"Sorry, that was rather stupid," said Max.

"No, I'm sorry," said Michael. "I shouldn't have jumped down your throat like that. I'm sure it is spending all that time with Tess, but still, I'd rather do that than put up with what you've had to do. Pretending she's your girlfriend must be killing you. I don't know how you are handling that."

Suddenly, Michael found his mind filled with images of Tess kissing and caressing him. He felt her remove his shirt. Her hands began to move slowly down to the snap of his jeans. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and he began to mutter under his breath.

"This isn't right. It's a mind warp, just a mind warp. Tess is doing this, it isn't real."

As quickly as they began, the images fled his mind, and he fell back against the decrepit couch, gasping for breath.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Max. "Why is she doing this to me." "And," he added as an afterthought, "How could she do this to me? I was wearing my ring." He paused and looked down at his hand. "Shit, I lost my ring."

"I have it," said Max, struggling not to smile. "You took it off this afternoon to work on my car, remember?"

"Fine," said Michael, as he shoved the ring on his hand. "But that still doesn't explain why she tried to fill my head with all that crap."

"She didn't," said Ava, walking out of Michael's bedroom. "I did it. But Michael, do you realize that you broke through my mind warp by yourself. You did it yourself, that's so amazing!"

"I don't know whether to hug you or hit you," said Michael. "Why did you put those disgusting images in my head? I'm feeling sick just thinking about it."

"You wanted to know how I handled the romantic stuff with Tess, right?" said Max. "Somehow, Ava's figured out a way to kind of get inside of Tess's mind warps on me, and turn them back around on her."

"That's incredible," said Michael, his voice filed with mock pride. "And to think my little sister did it all by herself."

"Shut up, you big geek," said Ava, throwing a pillow at Michael. "We are twins, after all. You're not that much older than me."

Max sat back and watched as Michael and Ava bantered back and forth. He was amazed to see the how the usually dour and brooding Michael had changed since finding out Ava was his sister. At least Tess did one good thing, Max thought to himself. She brought Ava into our lives.

"Okay," said Max, pulling himself out of his reverie. "If you two are done playing, we have a couple of things to talk about."

"Sure thing, Max," said Ava. "What's up?"

"Michael somehow managed to throw off your mind warp," said Max. "The question is, how? Michael, what exactly did you do?"

"I'm not sure, Maxwell. I just knew something wasn't right, and some small part of me kept fighting against it."

"Ava, did you feel anything when he broke through?" asked Max.

"No, not really. At least I don't think I did, but I'd want to try again, just to make sure."

"I don't have to tell you how big this is," said Max. "It's another line of defense against Tess. The platinum is great, but any extra leverage we can get, the better. We better get everyone together and figure out what's going on. Maybe it means our powers are getting stronger, or maybe hers are getting weaker."

"We also need to discuss my getting out of here for a while," said Michael. "I was serious about what I said earlier. I need a complete change of scenery."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Max.

"Vegas, baby," said Michael with a grin.