Disclaimer: I don't own the series Roswell or the original characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.
A/N: Be sure to check out the message at the bottom of the chapter. And thanks to Alexia for beta-ing...again! Thanks :-)
Hold on
The doors of the diner flew open and a breeze came swiveling in - a breeze that was too gentle to force open the doors like that. Maria took a step back, pulling Michael with her because she was still clinging to him. The breeze, though it was of a usual morning temperature, felt cold to them and sent chills creeping down their spines, speeding up their heartbeats with every inch they slithered downwards. A silence took over as their breaths seemed to have caught in their throats because of the fear that had revealed itself to them, though some managed to hide it well. They could hear their own heartbeats echo within their ears, causing their hands to shake and bodies to tremble, afraid of who would walk through the doors and the message they would bring. They listened as hard as they could for something out of the ordinary, but all they could hear was the rustling of the leaves and the sounds of cars passing by. Everything seemed normal, but they knew that nothing around them was. Finally, one of them picked up a pair of approaching footsteps and he signaled for the others to be on their guards. It took only seconds for a familiar figure to enter - a figure that made them narrow their eyes and clench their fists, ready for a fight.
''Nicholas,'' Max said, the tone of his voice reflecting the anger that was now racing through his body. ''Where's Liz?'' He took a step towards the Skin, but came to a sudden halt when he raised one of his hands and sending him a warning look.
''I didn't come here to pick a fight with you.''
''You took Liz so it's kind of too late to play nice, don't you think?'' Kyle said as he glared over at Nicholas.
Nicholas snorted and looked at Kyle with a look of disdain on his face. ''You know, I could just simply kill you, but that would be a waste of my powers.'' Nicholas turned his head and met Maria's eyes, causing her to tighten her grip on Michael's shirt. ''The same goes for you, princess.''
Michael's eyes darkened at Nicholas's words and it took all the willpower he had to keep him from going up to Nicholas and punching him, wanting to feel his skin against his fist as he brought it down on his face.
''The truth is, I could have killed Liz if I wanted to and I would have, but because I needed her to get to you,'' Nicholas paused to turn his head and lock eyes with Max, smiling at the anger in them, ''I spared her. If only she knew how much you cared.'' He caught Tess out of the corner of his eyes as she crossed her arms, a look of envy barely meeting her face.
''Can I kill him now, Maxwell?'' Michael asked, clenching and unclenching his fists just to keep his hands occupied; he felt his blood boiling with fury, knowing that he would lose control of his powers if he stopped holding on to his patience.
Nicholas laughed at Michael's words. ''You can try, but I can't promise you that your girlfriend will be alive once you reach me.''
''Michael,'' Maria started, shooting one of her death glares in Nicholas's direction, ''kill him. I'll be fine, trust me.''
Tess took a step towards Maria, but stopped when she saw Nicholas glare at her. She nodded and once again blended in with the rest of the scene.
''No,'' Max said firmly. ''He said that he didn't come to fight and since he hasn't attacked anyone yet...''
''Not physically anyway,'' Maria murmured.
''...since he hasn't attacked anyone yet, I suggest we let him answer our questions,'' Max finished.
Nicholas sighed. ''Fine.''
''Where's Liz?'' Maria asked, letting go of Michael and taking a step towards Nicholas.
''She's safe.''
''Why should we believe you?''
Nicholas eyes lit up at the sound of the familiar voice and smiled. ''Vilandra...''
''Actually, I go by Isabel now,'' she returned, crossing her arms and looking directly at him as he approached her. ''Why should we believe you?''
Nicholas rolled his eyes. ''Did she have any scratches on her in the picture? Was she bleeding?'' When no one said anything, his smile turned into a grin. ''There's your answer. Your precious Liz is safe and sound, don't worry too much about it.''
Max gritted his teeth at Nicholas's answer. ''How do we get her back?''
''Yeah, what do you want, Junior?'' Kyle asked.
''Vilandra, of course,'' Nicholas asked. ''Still beautiful as ever.'' He reached out his hand to touch her, but Isabel turned her head away, taking a few steps back at the same time. He pulled his hand back and smiled. ''I suggest we make a trade.''
Michael shook his head. ''No.''
Nicholas looked over at him. ''Still protective of your bride, aren't you?''
Michael was about to answer, but Isabel cut him off. ''Let's hear him out. We want Liz back, don't we?'' When no one said anything, she nodded. ''You were talking about a trade?''
''I never knew you were such a good negotiator. Guess you do learn something new every day.''
''Cut the small talk, Nicholas,'' Isabel said.
Nicholas nodded. ''As you wish, my dear.'' He turned around so he was facing the rest, too. ''I want to trade Liz for Vilandra so I can take her home with me to Antar.''
''No,'' Max said, loud enough this time for everyone to hear.
''You do want Liz back, don't you? In one piece?'' Nicholas said. When Max didn't say anything he continued. ''If you do, then you'll meet me tonight at the Pod Chamber. Let's say around eight-ish?''
Max remained silent as he thought about what Nicholas had just said. He was caught up in his thoughts and Nicholas knew exactly what he was thinking about.
''And before you let your thoughts wander even more, I never said that I was keeping Liz at the Pod Chamber and if you even so much as come near it before it's time, I'll know and Liz will also know, trust me... So, do we have a deal?''
Once again Max shook his head. ''No, I won't choose between Isabel and Liz, you don't deserve that.''
''Max,'' Tess said, surprising everyone because she hadn't said anything since Nicholas had entered The Crashdown, ''take the deal.''
Nicholas nodded at her. ''I knew there had to be at least one smart one in this group. Now, I would love to stay and chat, but unfortunately, Liz is waiting for me. I'll see you all tonight.''
As soon as Nicholas disappeared from the diner, Max turned around and roughly grabbed Tess by her arms, not caring that his grip was just a little too tight.
''What made you think that you could say yes to his offer? There are things to take into consideration, Tess! Isabel's safety, Liz's safety! Were you even thinking about that?!''
''You're hurting me,'' Tess said. ''Let me go.''
'''Not until you tell us what exactly you were thinking to sacrifice one for the other.''
''We are not going to sacrifice anyone. I have a plan! Now let go of me!''
Max hesitantly let go of her. ''A plan?''
Tess nodded. ''We'll do as he asked, we'll meet him at the Pod Chamber and we take Isabel, but we won't trade her. We won't have to.''
''What do you mean?'' Isabel curiously asked.
''I can use my powers to make him believe that he is seeing Isabel and while I keep him busy, you can get Liz,'' Tess explained.
''That's an excellent plan!'' Maria remarked. ''And it'll work, right, Max?''
''Yeah, it'll work,'' he answered, eyeing Tess.
''Okay, so we have a plan. Now all we have to do is wait,'' Kyle said.
''Wait,'' Maria repeated. ''Is that what we do until then?''
Max shook his head. ''No, we should just go to school. It'll make the time go faster.''
''Maybe for you,'' Maria said, ''but it'll just make me more nervous. I'll just call in sick and be nervous where no one else can see and ask questions about it.''
Max nodded, understanding what she meant and also knowing how Maria could get.
Maria looked over at Michael. ''Michael, would you mind if I stayed at your place? My mom's probably home and...''
Michael made her stop talking by reaching for her hand and entwining their fingers, causing her to smile. She handed him the keys to her car.
''You better drive.''
Max watched them walk out of the diner hand in hand, an image that made him regret every fight he ever had with Liz. He knew that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to Liz. He was distracted from his thoughts when he felt a hand place itself in his - a hand he grabbed a hold of because he needed the comfort.
''She'll be okay, Max.''
He turned his head and locked eyes with Tess for a couple of seconds, wishing that it was someone else.
REVIEW! Please? :-) Okay, so this chapter wasn't that evenful, but crucial to the upcoming chapters because of the deal they made. And I know that Tess didn't really a say a lot in this chapter, but that does have a purpose and she did come up with the plan to save Liz, right?
This seemed to have become a standard message at the bottom of every one of my fics, but I am just saving you the 'agony' of wondering... Anyway, for anyone of you that cares, I also updated my Trory Torn, my new Lit Homeboy and I put up a new Trory one parter, Follow My Lead. So, if you have the time or interest... Thanks :-)