A/N: thank you so much for the reviews everyone. I'm so pleased there are still people out there who can be bothered to see how this turns out. I'm gonna keep on posting here and writing for as long as I think someone actually wants to see it. x

Chapter 29

'So that's agreed? We go straight in and get him and get out?'

Isabel nodded half heartedly. Planning someone's death like this just didn't seem right. It didn't make any difference that he'd done it to them in their past lives. They weren't him! This wasn't them. Killing someone had always ended up getting them in trouble and it never got any easier as time went on. Killing people just wasn't the right way to go!

'I say we take a break,' said Serena looking up and noticing Isabel's weariness. 'We need food and a break.'

'But-' complained Michael.

'No,' interrupted Max. 'She's right. We're not gonna get any further without a break.'

'I'm gonna get some food,' said Maria, standing up. Her eyes were still puffy from the tears she'd let fall on Liz' departure. 'What do people want?'

'Pizza…' said Kyle thoughtfully.

Michael shot him a surprised glance.

'What!' exclaimed Kyle. 'You don't think I was attempting to understand those confusing plans do you? No, pizza is much more important!'

Maria smiled weakly. 'So pizza it is. I'll go get it,' anything to get away for a while. 'Anyone want to come?'

'Sure, I will,' said Serena.

Kyle glanced at Serena, 'Yeah I will too.'

'I'll stay here and baby-sit the aliens!' added Adam, grinning.

'Baby-sit! Who said anything-'

'Come on,' said Maria dragging Kyle and Serena towards the door. 'See you in about half an hour, OK?'

''Err, Maria.'

'Yeah.'

'Do you have any painkillers?'

'Ummm yeah I think so… Yeah, sure Isabel. In Liz's room on her desk I think.'

'Thanks.'

'See you later,' said Maria, casting a last concerned glance at Isabel as she walked out of the apartment.

Isabel ran her fingers through her hair, pausing her hand for a minute on her forward where it left a trail of welcome cool. She closed Liz' door slowly behind her, thankful for the space.

Her head was pounding. She wasn't used to this much pressure. And being stuck inside this damn apartment didn't help much either! She just wanted out, just time to herself. Liz was lucky to be able to get away. I mean sure, she'd agreed to this whole destiny thing but destiny didn't have to be suffocating! Or maybe it did. Cos hadn't it been suffocating every single time she'd experienced it. There was never any room to breathe, to be alone because in destiny you were always tied to someone. Sealed together with an unbreakable bond. A bond that would just never go.

She let her eyes flit over Liz' death in search of the small pills.

She hadn't made a bad decision by staying, or at least she didn't think she had. It was just so… so wrong to be plotting someone's death. So intense, so… suffocating! It was like they were stuck in this downwards spiral now and there was no way out. Now that they destiny had been started, there was no way to stop it. But this didn't feel like a good kind of destiny, if there even was one. What good could come of death? Of war? And what good could come of the group being split? Nothing, no good.

As Isabel reached down to inspect yet another pill bottle a flutter of white caught her eye. Looking straight at it she saw Liz' small journal lying open on her bed.

I 'Las Cruses University, October 2nd 2003,

Falling… Have you ever felt that feeling. The one where you're falling, your world has no bottom, you feel sick, but there's no way to stop it, no way at all. You just have to fall until you hit the bottom. But you don't know where the bottom is and you don't know if you'll keep hold of yourself long enough to get there. All you know is that you're scared out of your mind.

I caused my fall. I caused this black hole which is slowly sucking in everything that matters to me and even everything that doesn't. It started with just us but in the end it's gonna have sucked in everything and there will be nothing left.

The physics behind why a black hole comes into being are so extensive, so hard to understand. But this black hole, this one's just so simple, so unbelievably simple. Why did it start? Because I played God. Because I played with time. Because Max and I though we knew best. Because we made a choice that wasn't ours to make.

When I was younger I always used to wonder why on earth Superman's parents forbade him to change time. Surely he could do some much more if he could adjust time just by a few minutes every time things went wrong. He could prevent those disasters so much easier if he did. He could save so many more lives. But now I understand, now I see.

If we were meant to be able to change the world we'd have all been built with a built in time machine, a personal, easy access Granolith. But we weren't, and why do you think that might be? Because our simple brains cannot comprehend the consequences of out actions. Just as a child cannot foresee that touching that flame will end in pain we cannot foresee that changing time, however well intentioned, will wreck lives and stop things happening that were meant to happen.

Future Max though he was helping the world by coming back to me. I thought I was making the greatest sacrifice be giving up Max. But we weren't doing anything like that.

We didn't stop the world from ending, we just postponed it for a few more years. Because in the end everything will finish. And isn't it better that the world runs through its natural cause and things happen the way they were meant to than that we play with them and things go wrong.

I understand time now. I understand how fragile it is. If time runs in lines then future Max and I dented this line. Never again can it flow right, never again can things run to the perfect way they were supposed to. Because of us, because of me.

We played with time and what happened? Alex died, Max got Tess pregnant, I almost died, Maria lost her dreams, Isabel never found her parents, Adam lost his brother, Serena lost her father, and Michael never found his family. Even our parents lives were destroyed by my actions. They didn't even know about the aliens, they didn't know what they were involved with. They were just innocent casualties in this insane accident.

Now I understand that time's not there to be played with. Time is sacred. Future Max told me I was changing the future. He didn't know how wrong he was. I wasn't changing the future. I was destroying it.

And it's too late now… It's just far too late.' /I