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.

Chapter Seventy-Five The End

"Oh, it hurts so bad," moaned Liz. She curled her body up into a fetal position on the floor of the pod chamber and moaned again. "Max!" she screamed.

Max ran into the pod chamber and fell to the floor next to Liz. Behind him, Michael, Maria and the others filed in silently.

"It's all right, Liz. Don't worry, everything's going to be all right." He cradled her head in his lap and brushed the hair from her eyes.

"It's not going to be all right," cried Liz, her eyes glazed with pain. "Something's wrong, Max. I think it may be too late."

Liz cried out again, and tried to pull her knees in closer to her body. Without a word, Max slid his arms underneath her and lifted her up.

"Oh, God!" he shouted when he saw the pool of blood on the floor where Liz had been lying."

"Max?" Liz said faintly. "It's the baby, isn't it?"

"No, it can't be," said Max. He rushed over to the incubation pods and laid her out, and covered her with the blanket. He put his hands on her stomach, closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. When he opened them, and looked at the others, they could see the anguish that filled his soul.

"Max?" Liz whispered. "It's too late, isn't it?"

Max didn't say anything; he simply nodded as tears of sorrow streamed down his face.

"He saved me, Max, our baby saved me. I didn't deflect Tess' energy bolt in time, and he stopped it, and he died because of it," cried Liz.

"Liz, he – he would have died anyhow," Max said, softly. "If the bolt had hit you and killed you, he would have died. He gave you a chance to live."

"I don't want to live," cried Liz. "Not without our baby. I- I." Liz's body stiffened, and suddenly, she began to shave violently. Behind him, Max heard Maria's scream of terror.

"Do something, damn it!" yelled Kyle. "She's having a seizure or something."

The sound of Maria's scream, and Kyle's angry voice snapped Max out of anguish. He placed his hands on Liz and focused as he had never focused before. He saw the area inside of her that was torn and bleeding. His hands heated up as he sent a healing light, and love into the dying body of his wife, urging her to fight, to live.

Several minutes passed, and Liz's convulsions slowly ended, and she opened her eyes and looked up to see her husband's worried visage above her.

"Maybe this time, you shouldn't have saved me," she said to him.

"Liz, we've lost something," said Max. "I know that I hurt so bad inside, and I also know that it can't begin to come close to the way you must be feeling inside. I couldn't lose you, too. Our baby is gone, and there isn't anything that can bring him back. But Liz, if you had died too, I don't know what I would have done."

"It hurts Max, I hurt so bad inside right now," cried Liz. "I didn't know anybody could ever feel this bad before. I don't want to feel this way, I want it to stop."

"It will Liz, in time it will. I don't know that it will ever completely go away, but it won't always hurt this bad."

"Liz, chica?" said a tentative Maria from across the chamber. "Can I hug you?"

Liz didn't say anything; she just nodded and opened her arms to her best friend. Maria ran across the chamber and held her friend tightly.

"Oh chica, I'm so sorry," Maria cried.

"I know," whispered Liz.

Maria's actions seemed to set off a reaction in the others and within moments, both Isabelle and Ava were kneeling on the floor beside Liz, while Kyle, Alex and Michael stood helplessly behind them.

Liz sobbed brokenly, cradled in Max's arms, while Maria rubbed her back. Slowly, the sobs began to subside, as Liz struggled to compose herself.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know why I acted that way. I'm okay now."

"Liz, sweetie, you don't have to be okay. Not for us," said Maria.

"Majesty?" Che'koth said quietly from across the chamber. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but the Granolith is ready. It is time."

"Time, time for what?" asked Liz, her eyes filled with fear. "You're not leaving? Not now. God, I couldn't stand it if you left, Max."

"Liz. Liz, calm down," Max said, holding her tightly. "I'm not going anywhere. None of us are. Not now, anyhow. Che'koth is going back, and he's going to take Tess, Rath and Lonnie's bodies back to Kivar."

"Oh," said Liz, quietly. She pulled away from Max, and stood up carefully, and started to walk towards the Granolith chamber.

"Liz? Do you want to wait out here with me?" Ava asked.

"No," said Liz, her voice resolute. "Tess took something very precious from me today. I think I need to see this, so that I can really know that it's over."

The group moved silently into the Granolith chamber. Max nodded to Kyle, Michael and Alex, and the four moved to Rath's body.

"Wait," said Maria. She knelt down beside Rath and pressed her hand to his face, and immediately his appearance changed from being an exact duplicate of Michael back to its original look. "I couldn't stand the thought of Michael's face going back there," she admitted sheepishly, looking at her friends.

"I'm right there with you, Maria," said Alex, kneeling down beside her. Within seconds, Lonnie's body no longer resembled Isabelle, and instead resembled the street hardened woman that she was. When he was finished, Alex stepped back and looked at his friends. "Let's do this," he said.

Max turned to Che'koth and nodded and Che'koth stepped up to the Granolith. He passed his hand over what looked like a piece of sheet metal on a pedestal next to the Granolith. The metal panel began to vibrate and slid back to reveal a control panel. Che'koth pressed several buttons on the panel, and the lights inside the Granolith changed from a glowing purple to a bright green, and an opening appeared in the Granolith itself.

Che'koth stepped away from the panel and went to stand in front of Max.

"Majesty," he said, bowing low over Max's hand. "It was an honor to assist you here on Earth."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that," joked Max.

"Max, you are a true ruler," said Che'koth. "Antar is lucky to call you king. Take care of yourself, and your warrior wife. Your losses are great, but love will see you through them."

Che'koth took Liz's hand in his, and knelt down before her. He didn't say anything, but as he stood back up, he looked deeply into Liz's eyes, and smiled ever so slightly. Liz smiled back, and Che'koth released her hand and stepped back.

"I am pleased and honored to know you all," Che'koth said as he climbed into the Granolith. Michael and Kyle followed behind, carrying Rath's body. Max and Alex followed behind them, laying Lonnie's body next to Rath's. When they stepped out of the Granolith, Michael and Kyle took Tess' body and laid it on the floor next to Rath.

Max stepped over to the control panel and pressed a series of buttons. The door disappeared, and the green light turned to silver, then to a white so bright that they had to close their eyes. When the light subsided, Che'koth and the bodies were gone.

"Well, she got what she always wanted," said Liz.

"What?" asked Kyle.

"Tess. She always wanted to go back to Antar. Now she has," said Liz.

They began to file out of the Granolith Chamber, one by one. Max waited until everyone had left and turned to Liz.

"What was that between you and Che'koth?" he asked.

Nothing, really," said Liz. "Apparently, Che'koth has a gift that he never shared with us. He can communicate nonverbally."

"And he did this with you, just now?" asked Max. "What did he say?"

"That at first he wondered if I was strong enough to be the wife of a king. Now, he wonders if you're strong enough to be my husband," she said with a small laugh.

Max smiled as he led his wife out of the Granolith chamber, though the pod chamber and out into the desert night. They stood with their friends, staring up into the starry sky.

"What do we do now, Max?" asked Isabelle.

"Live," he said, hugging Liz tightly. "Just live."

The End