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

Love Changes Everything

Chapter Sixty Somebody's Eyes are Watching

The group that met at Michael's was tense and angry. People sat around the room and stared at each other, while the Chinese food on the table grew cold.

"I don't believe it," said Liz. "You're lying. It isn't happening. You're making it up."

"No, she's not making it up, Liz," Michael said.

"This can't be happening," said Max. He stood up and started pacing around the crowded room.

"Face it, Max, it is," said Michael. "Whether you want to believe it, or not, Tess is on to us, and she's messing with our heads in a bad way."

"That's crap," said Alex. "We'd know. I'd know."

Maria threw her hands up and took a sip from her diet soda. "I give up," she said. "Nothing is going to make you guys believe us, so I guess we just have to show you." She put her soda down on the table and reached into her bag, and withdrew a handful of jewelry, and passed it to the others. "Here, put these on," she said.

The group grumbled, but put on the various rings, bracelets and earrings. After several minutes, they could feel the anger and resentment lifting from the room. It was as if someone had come in, and lifted the blinds or something.

"What just happened?" asked Isabelle.

"I don't know, but I feel it too," said Kyle.

"It was Tess," said Michael. "Somehow, she found out about the platinum, and switched out stuff with duplicates that she made."

"Well, why aren't we remembering things, like we did the first time we put the platinum on?" asked Liz.

"I don't think she's operating the same way," said Michael. "She wasn't filling our mind with false images. This time, she was just filling our minds with feelings of discontent and anger."

"And it worked too," said Max. "Michael, I was so royally pissed at you earlier today, and all you were doing is being a friend to both me and Liz. Part of me knew I was over-reacting, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was powerless to stop myself from saying those things."

"Yeah, well, it's thanks to Maria that we even know what's going on. She and I may have kept right on fighting if I hadn't seen her following the sub-defectives back from the Granolith."

"Yeah, what were you doing out there anyhow, Maria?" Liz asked, her voice belligerent.

"I went out there to contact Che'koth," Maria said, cautiously. "I had some questions, and I figured he'd have the answers."

"Questions about what?" snapped Liz. "Questions about your powers, or questions about Michael, or what, questions about me, maybe?"

Maria shrank back into the couch, unprepared for the verbal assault from Liz.

"What does it matter, Liz," she said, quietly. "I just wanted to talk to Che'koth, that's all."

Unexpectedly, Liz burst into tears. She buried her face in her hands and cried. "I can't do this anymore, I just can't,' she sobbed. "I am so sick of all the pressure, and the deceptions. It just isn't worth it."

"Liz, sweetie, relax," said Max, rubbing her back ineffectually.

"Relax!" she exploded "How the hell do you expect me to relax? Not only am I a high school student, married to the king of an alien race, I'm pregnant. And I can't even tell anyone about it, because we don't know what this baby is going to look like. It could be green, with three eyes and antennas sticking out of its head for all I know. Wouldn't you just love to see the ultrasound on that?"

Max didn't say anything; he just slumped against the couch, and stared at Liz, his face a mask of hurt and confusion.

"Jesus, Liz, what the hell is your problem?" snapped Isabelle. "Don't you think we're all worried about you? As a matter of fact, we're all terrified, but your to busy feeling sorry for yourself to see that. Did it ever even occur to you that was the reason Maria went to try and contact Che'koth? No, the only thing you can think about is YOU!"

"Isabelle, leave her alone," said Alex. "You can't have any idea what Liz is feeling or going through right now, and your shouting at her isn't going to help the situation!"

"Stay out of it Alex," snapped Liz, lifting her tear stained face from her hands. "I don't need you to defend me. I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles."

A blast of light filled the room, and the tacky bowling pin lap that Michael had sitting on an end table exploded into a million pieces.

"Stop it, all of you!" shouted Ava. "I don't know what the problem is, but this is not going to solve it. I think we should all go to the Granolith chamber now, together and try and contact Che'koth. I think we all have questions, and he's the one who's going to have the answers."

"Fine," said Liz. She stood up and grabbed her bag. "Let's get out of here, and get this over with." She walked across the room and opened the door. The force of it caused it to slam into the wall, putting a hole in it.

"Liz?" Max asked, tentatively. "Are you…what just happened?"

"I don' know," she replied, her voice laced with concern. "I just pulled the door open. I didn't use my powers or anything. God, Michael, I'm sorry, I'll pay for the damages. I so didn't mean for that to happen."

"Don't sweat it," Michael answered. "I'll fix it myself." He passed his hand over the hole in the wall, and the wallboard repaired itself. "How the hell did you do that?" he asked. "I've slammed that door plenty of times, and that's never happened."

"I don't know. I just want to get out of here," said Liz. She walked out the door, and stepped into the parking lot of Michael's apartment house, followed closely by the others. She stopped and looked at the others, her expression puzzled. "Do you feel that?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think I do," said Kyle. "It's kind of like when you have a bad headache, and the aspirin finally works. You can feel the pressure lifting off of you."

"No," said Alex. "It's like when you've had the flu. One day you wake up, and you feel, not better, but not sick."

"Yeah," said Maria. "Don't you feel it, Michael?"

"Sorry, Maria. I don't have a clue what you're talking about," said Michael. "How about you guys?"

One by one, Max, Isabelle and Ava shook their heads.

"This is getting very strange," said Max. "Let's go see if we can get some answers."