I don't own Roswell or any of its franchise. I do however own this plot idea and will defend it religiously people;)

A/N So sorry for the wait, but I'm trying to finish my oldest stories first, so I can focus on this one (it's got so much potential hehe). That said, I'm really happy for all the continued support for this story, it makes me so much more eager to continue writing, despite the fact that I've been in an accident and that I have other, way overdue, stories that aren't finished yet. So this chapter is for you who reviewed, signed and unsigned alike. Thanks for the support!

This chapter is unbetaed, please let me know if there's any glaring mistakes, please!

Liz's POV

There has to be some kind of logical explanation for this. Liz thought, not for the first time, as she made her way to the restroom after her class the day after she'd stolen a cell sample from Max Evans. She was eager to get a moment for herself, the entire class had been spent sitting next to Max, who was glancing at her with a bemused smile and a peculiar look in his eyes every now and again.

She splashed some cold water on her face and watched the droplets fall down her face into the sink. Her reflection told anyone bothering to look that Liz Parker was definitely going through something. Her face was pale and her body trembled slightly as she bent over to grab some paper towels to dry her wet face.

Fortunately for Liz, no one was bothering to look at her, probably just figuring that the A+ student had received an A minus and was having a nervous meltdown like a good little girl.

Liz swallowed a hysterical giggle, she was having a meltdown, just not for the reason other people might think.

With a sigh, she straightened back up and eyed herself in the mirror again. She bit her lip and tried to get over her momentarily lack of calm. Okay, she thought and glanced around the restroom, making sure no one else was present. Max Evans' cells aren't like mine. Why is that? Is there a reasonable explanation for this?

Ever since she'd looked into the microscope and found that inhuman green cell, Liz had been possessed, as the night wore on she grew more and more convinced that she'd made the whole thing up somehow. She'd spent the whole evening in bed, ignoring phone calls from Maria and Kyle, whom she was supposed to go on a date with. The only time she'd left her room had been to go down to the diner and grab some fries. As she reached over the counter for something, her shirt had ridden up and she'd hurried to cover up the mysterious handprint that was still lingering on her skin.

The cells mixed with the reminder of the handprint was enough to make her abandon her pitiful attempt at food and she disappeared back upstairs to mull things over.

Ten minutes later, Liz was interrupted in her intense thought process by the door opening to the restroom to reveal three girls she normally wouldn't even look twice at. Today though, things would have to change, Liz told herself firmly, grasping her book bag as though her life depended upon it. The reason for that was the fact that one of the three girls was an extremely bored looking Isabel Evans.

Max's sister.

Maybe I can ask her to let me test her DNA, just to make sure that I made a mistake? Liz had to roll her eyes at herself at the thought. Oh yeah, I'll just ask her to let me take a sample from her mouth, because I'm freaking out about her brother, who may or may not even be completely human. That's bound to go over well, Liz added sarcastically, remembering the few other times she'd actually interacted with the blonde female that put the word Ice Queen to a whole new level.

Evidently she'd been staring at Isabel a bit too long, because one of her side kicks, Michelle, trailed off from her narration of her latest date and eyed Liz with nothing but contempt. "Err, excuse us, do you have a problem? It's rude to stare, Diner girl."

Liz sighed, hoisting her book bag on her shoulder. She didn't bother using her superior intellect to point out that Michelle wasn't being very polite either; too occupied with her other drama to care about the old taunts about her job in her family's diner.

Just as Liz started to walk past the glaring girl, Isabel spoke up and gave the word `cold´ a whole new meaning. "Michelle, don't talk to Liz that way."

Liz blinked; she had a feeling that the gobsmacked look on Michelle's face was only surpassed by her own. Isabel had never talked to her, except at the diner occasionally and even that had been sparse conversations about what to eat and drink, and maybe the weather if Isabel was feeling generous.

"Izzy, are you okay? You've been, like totally weird today and I don't want to catch anything if you're getting sick. I have a date with Matt tonight, remember?"

Isabel raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and stared the shorter girl down, much to Liz's amusement. Cindy was standing forgotten next to the glowering Isabel, eying her two friends with shock.

"Um," Liz interrupted the showdown and stepped closer to the exit, "it's fine, don't worry about it. I have to go anyway."

A few seconds later, Liz finally managed to escape the other girls. She sighed in relief and was about to start mulling over her Max Evans issues when a long, slender arm wove itself in-between her book bag and her arm and she looked up and meet Isabel's now much warmer eyes.

"I hope you don't mind me getting in the middle in there," Isabel said and gently squeezed Liz's arm. Liz didn't reply, frankly she didn't know how to respond to this new Isabel.

Undeterred, Isabel kept talking. "I've actually wanted to talk to you before this, I'm sorry if I've seemed…sort of cold in the past, that's not me anymore." Liz spotted something dark flash through Isabel's eyes, but didn't get a chance to comment on it before Isabel smiled brightly and looked down at her. "So, what's new with you?"

"I'm just doing what I always do. Work in the diner, spend time with Maria – she's my best friend, who-"

"I know who Maria is," Isabel interjected, once again surprising Liz, especially when she mumbled, "didn't I even act human towards them back then?"

Unable to contain her curiosity, Liz asked quietly "What do you mean?"

Isabel froze, it was suddenly clear to the brunette that she hadn't intended for the last part to be spoken out loud. She's a bit peculiar, isn't she? Liz thought to herself.

The awkward moment was stopped by the one person that Liz really didn't want to deal with at that moment.

Kyle Valenti.

He showed up out of thin air, stopping just inside her personal space. The look in his eyes was the usual mix between genuine affection, teenage lust and a bit of disappointment as well.

The last part threw Liz off and she didn't know how to react. She knew why he had a good reason to be disappointed in her. Before the summer vacation they'd been an item and she hadn't exactly been the most clinging girlfriend as of late. In fact, she admitted inwardly, I don't think I've thought about him since the shooting.

"Hey Liz," Kyle said, obviously tired of waiting for her reaction to his presence. To his credit, his eyes never strayed to the teenage goddess next to her and Liz vowed to at least hear him out. "I've tried to call you a bunch of times. I wanted to know if you were okay. We were supposed to meet yesterday, right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the words left her mouth before Liz could control it, ignoring the last of his questions guiltily.

Kyle frowned, rubbing his neck in an exasperated manner. "Well, because of the shooting that happened, of course. My dad's the sheriff, remember? It's not like he'd come home from work and not let his son know that his girlfriend was almost killed."

Liz bit her lip and looked down briefly, before locking her eyes back into Kyle's. "I'm sorry, I guess, I've just been so focused on getting things back to normal that I simply didn't think…So, err, are we good?"

Kyle's eyes warmed, almost excessively so, and Liz bit back a groan of irritation. "Yeah sure. Wanna hang after practice?"

Happy that she had a genuine excuse, Liz informed him that she had to work at the Crashdown. When his eyes quickly dimmed in displeasure at the rejection, Liz remembered Isabel's presence and realized she'd been having a conversation with Kyle and completely ignoring the school's most popular girl. She turned her head to look up and apologize and felt her jaw drop not for the first time that day.

Isabel Evans was staring at Kyle with something raw in her coffee eyes. She looked as though she was dying of thirst and Kyle was that cup of water just out of reach. Her eyes were bright and her lips were pressed together in what appeared to be an attempt to not cry.

"Isabel, are you ok-?"

"Hey Isabel."

Liz looked over Kyle's shoulder and spotted Michael Guerin. He was eying Isabel closely; evidently her emotional state wasn't lost on him either. To her surprise his eyes didn't sweep over her with the usual look of disdain. In fact she could swear that they'd stopped on her a little longer than strictly necessary before sliding back over to Isabel.

Liz didn't turn back to look at the unexpected new friend she'd gained, she was suddenly aware of the fact that in front of Michael stood her best friend and she looked absolutely furious.

And why wouldn't she be? I've ignored her ever since the incident at Crashdown, Liz scolded herself with an internal wince.

"Hey Maria."

"Don't you, `hey´ me," she spluttered and before anyone could react, Maria had started walking toward her. When she reached Liz, she unceremoniously pushed Kyle out of the way, stating that best friend trumped boyfriend anytime and started dragging Liz away to a less crowded area, which turned out to be an unused classroom across the hall.

As she meekly followed Maria, not that the iron grip the blonde had on her arm led her to believe that she had any kind of choice in the matter, Liz looked over her shoulder. Isabel seemed to have regained her senses as she, alongside Michael, was helping Kyle off the floor with a small smile on her full lips.

This day just keep getting weirder and weirder, Liz managed to think before Maria suddenly spun around and stated, "Now I'd like some explanations!"

Maria's POV

A little while earlier:

There was only a few minutes left until the bell rang and Maria was literally bouncing in her seat. On her notepad were nothing but doodles; a clear sign of her participation in the class. Her attentive span in school weren't usually the best, but neither was it this bad.

But for once there was a legitimate reason for her inability to pay attention to her droning teacher; actually there were two very good reasons, one of which were sitting right next to her and was seriously creeping her out.

Isabel Evans.

As if having Guerin wigging me out isn't bad enough, I have to have the Ice Queen staring holes into me whenever she thinks I'm not looking.

Maria swallowed down the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She tried to act as though Isabel's looks weren't literally making her skin itch. What's with people these days? Maria wondered, squirming uncomfortably in her seat when she felt Isabel's stare yet again. First there's Guerin, who suddenly goes all stalker on me, then the Ice Queen is suddenly not only interested in me, but Alex too? If they've got some sort of bet going on to humiliate us, I'll kill them. And I can get Liz to help me out; she's smart enough to make it undetectable…

The thought of Liz, caused Maria to pause briefly in her vengeance plans. She's been avoiding me ever since the shooting. I have to find her and show her that bloodied notepad I took from the floor from the diner, maybe then she'll stop ignoring me and we can focus on whatever is going on with the adopted trio…

Finally the bell sounded, interrupting her in her scheming, and Maria was halfway out the room, before Isabel even managed to grab her things. Good, Maria exhaled a breath of relief, that's one, who can't follow me. Then I only have to avoid-

"Holy crap," Maria was so deep into her own head that she didn't see the hard body in front of her, and she slammed into it with enough force to send her to her butt. Before she found herself on the cool linoleum floor, a pair of large hands took a gentle hold of her, stopping her fall effortlessly.

Maria didn't bother looking up. As if the size of that body didn't reveal who her victim/helper was; that odd feeling in her chest gave it all away. Ever since the moment in the Crashdown, where the shooting had tilted her world around and Michael unexpectedly showed up, shielding her from harm, Maria had gotten a peculiar feeling in her chest whenever he was nearby.

"Are you okay?" his voice sounded remarkably concerned and despite her reluctance to do so, Maria looked into his eyes.

"I-I'm fine," she stuttered, trying with all her might to ignore the sudden fluttering in her belly. Why is he affecting me like this all of the sudden? He's a weirdo, a dangerous, good for nothing weirdo, who's never been afraid to make my life hell since he showed up in Roswell…

For some reason Maria couldn't tear her eyes away from Michael's. He was staring at her with that new look in his eyes. The memory of the moment in the diner when the gun had gone off suddenly flashed through Maria's mind.

She'd the one closest to the two arguing men and the moment the gun was visible, her first instinct had been to call out to Liz, because Liz always knew what to do. Before the word had entirely left her mouth, Maria felt a shadow of warmth next to her and in the next second, Michael Guerin was shielding her with his own body, looking at the strangers with nothing but death in his eyes.

The protectiveness he'd shown had put Maria at ease and she'd completely forgotten that on a normal day, the angry teen scared her out of her mind with his dangerous wibe. She hadn't had a lot of time to process her feelings before she looked over and spotted Liz lying on the floor. And then things happened too fast for Maria to keep track.

The one thing she did remember was the obvious reluctance that Michael had shown when he followed his two friends out the diner.

"So," Michael's voice ripped Maria back to the present time and she repressed a flinch with great force. "I kindda wanted to apologize to you."

Maria frowned, her frown increasing when she noticed just how close they were standing in the otherwise almost abandoned hallway. She took a step back to put some distance between them, ignoring that odd sensation just above her navel that seemed to grow whenever Michael wasn't within arm's reach.

"Apologize? For what?" Internally Maria added sarcastically, for stalking me and creeping me out more than I've ever been?

Oddly enough, Maria felt like Michael had read her mind, because he sent her a smile that was a mix between mild annoyance and sheepishness. "For showing up at your house after the shooting, I know that must have seemed weird. I mean," Michael ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated all of the sudden, "Look, I'm not good with this kind of stuff. Words and all that…"

Maria swallowed a smile, suddenly she remembered a time from when they were kids and Michael had beat up the seventh grader that always picked on her. Maybe he isn't all bad, she amended to herself.

"Had this been a normal time, I would never have noticed you."

And then he goes and reminds me why he is such an ass. Maria fumed, crossing her arms.

Michael swallowed; apparently he realized that he'd messed up. "No, that's not what I meant," he hastened to explain. "I just…You're you and I'm…I was just gonna apologize for weirding you out, you probably had to take a lot of drops to keep calm and I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were all right, that's all."

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk so much." Maria commented and uncrossed her arms when Michael stopped for breath. She smiled halfheartedly and continued, "Apology accepted, just promise me not to start an apology like that ever again."

Michael grinned and the effect it had on Maria nearly made her legs turn to jelly. He looked absolutely beautiful and she had a sudden rush of…something, to her nether regions.

Michael's grin turned feral and Maria had a sinking feeling that he might know what was flashing through her mind and she started to walk down the hallway, eager to avoid any more words – and more importantly thoughts about the tall boy.

As she walked around the corner, Maria stopped at the sight before her. She barely acknowledged that Michael was standing extremely close behind her as she took in all the details.

Kyle Valenti was standing with his back to her, in front of Liz, but that wasn't the surprising thing. Maria had grown used to the jock's near obsession with her best friend over the summer. No, the thing that had literally stopped her in her tracks was the fact that Liz was standing next to Isabel Evans, looking for all the world like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Hey Isabel," Michael spoke behind her and Maria jumped when the three people in front of her suddenly turned their attention towards them.

Maria met Liz's eyes and she could clearly see that her friend was as confused about the whole thing as she was. For one brief moment, Maria felt sympathy for Liz and wanted nothing more than to lend a friendly ear to what had to be an interesting story, but then Kyle moved an inch to the right and Maria noticed that Isabel was holding on to Liz as though they'd been best friends forever.

Oh, Maria though as she felt a wave of annoyance coming over her, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I'm gonna make her explain everything!

Max's POV

Max was wondering the halls, waiting for Liz to come seek him out to get some answers to the questions she'd more than likely build up since their biology class the day before. He was in the middle of trying to remember every little detail of that day when he almost crashed into Kyle Valenti.

Kyle Valenti, who had pushed him and Isabel aside and taken the killing blow from their common enemy, who'd died screaming before Max could run over and heal him, whose death had scarred his sister like nothing else had before –even Alex's murder.

"Watch it," Kyle muttered angrily and stomped away with a blush staining his cheeks. Max blinked out of the horrid memories of the future; the future that he'd do anything to keep from happening again, and looked in the direction Kyle had been coming from.

A part of him longed to go after the man who'd grown into one of his closest friends and make sure he was in fact breathing, the other, more realistic part, reminded Max just how their relationship had been in high school and he sighed, noticing his family behind him.

Michael and Isabel stood closely together next to the lockers; they too were eying Kyle's retreating form with shadows on their faces. Apparently I'm not the only one remembering; Max thought to himself and made his way over to his fellow hybrids.

"Hey Maxwell. Ready for things to heat up?" Michael asked when Max came to a stop beside him.

Max nodded and looked at his sister with furrowed brows. She looked paler than usual and it was clear as day that the sight of her best friend had gotten to her, maybe even more than the sight of Alex. After all they'd spent more years together than she ever did with her first love. Kyle and Isabel had been the single duo and their friendship had morphed into something extraordinary until his too early death.

"Izzy," Max waited until her matching eyes met his before continuing seriously, "it's not going to happen again. I won't let it."

Michael nodded his agreement and placed a finger on Isabel's exposed arm and another on Max's and thought out to them, `We won't let it happen.´

The ability to speak silently through touch had developed between the group in the original timeline. The ability had been discovered by Liz and Max one day during a battle between some of Khivar's men and the rest of the hybrid/human group of fugitives.

Between the couples, the ability was just a matter of concentration and practice. When it was needed between the non-lovers the ability required touch, which was why it wasn't used that many times, although the unexpected power had come in handy once or twice when the group needed to come up with plans quickly and silently.

Max mentally shook off the memories that were struggling to come to the surface and nodded sincerely at Michael's words, reminding himself that he didn't need to take responsibility for everything this time around, that the others could be trusted to come up with plans of their own.

"Why haven't you talked to Liz yet?" Isabel seemed to shake off her own turmoil and focus on the next step in their discussed plan.

Max sighed. "She hasn't sought me out yet. Before, she found me and demanded answers. I don't want to risk changing too much."

Michael shrugged and gestured to an area behind Max. "Well, I say you go in there and rip her away from Maria's claws, before my wife changes too many things her own self."

Max looked questioning over at his sister, who quickly explained. Max took a deep breath and prepared to go in-between Maria and her current target. I'm an alien king and I've killed more people than I can ever count –there's no logical explanation as to why I'm hesitating to interrupt Maria Deluca's interrogation…

Again memories of the future came seeping into Max's brain. He remembered the drama queen Maria had been as a teen, her loyalty and fierce protectiveness over the years. He recalled with an internal cringe how the sweet and carefree Maria had slowly turned into their interrogations expert whenever they managed to catch one of their enemies alive.

Max used to be the best at the torture, due to his own experiences, but a few years after the group had left Roswell, Maria had developed her own ability after one time where Max had healed a stab wound to her neck.

Maria's powers had been to look into a person's eyes and show them their greatest fear and then promise to make their nightmares come true. No old fashioned torture was needed after that had developed. The horrible images that Maria was subjected to changed her into a hard shell of the warm person she used to be. She still loved them all without question, but after a time only Michael and Liz could make her laugh.

Max swallowed a lump of regret, hoping that should he ever need to heal Maria again, her ability wouldn't be the same. With one more deep sigh, Max walked over to the door that Isabel had pointed out.

As he came closer, Max felt the bond reach out from inside him as Liz got nearer and he had to stop momentarily in front of the door to get the urge to passionately attack his soulmate under control. Feeling somewhat himself again, Max quickly knocked on the door and entered the normally unused classroom.

He managed to catch Maria's hiss of, "I thought best friends told each other everything Liz Parker," before the girls realized they were no longer alone and looked over at him. To his chagrin, Liz immediately paled, looking almost scared of him and Maria crossed her arms with a fierce scowl.

"We're kindda in the middle of something here, Evans. Come back later if you need to use the room, we'll be done then."

Liz gasped and instantly seemed to fall out of her scared persona, when she slapped Maria on the arm, muttering something about behaving herself.

Max wanted to smile and use one of the usual comments he always used whenever Maria was in a bad mood, but knowing that she hadn't spent any real time with him in this timeline stopped him.

"I was looking for Liz actually." He managed to say instead and instinctively placed his feet a bit further apart, prepared for anything from the blonde.

Maria rolled her eyes and turned to Liz. "Look, I'll call you tonight, okay? Let's just talk about everything there. No, wait;" she corrected herself with another eye roll, "I'm working after school so we'll talk then."

Liz was glancing over at Max and nodded absentmindedly, it was obvious that she was feeling conflicted. Max recognized the signs easily and before she could get a chance to somehow convince Maria to stay so he couldn't corner her, he looked over at Maria and said, "I think Michael's looking for you."

Maria froze and bit her lip. She suddenly looked nothing like the torture expert Max remembered and he couldn't quite stop himself from smiling fondly at her. To his surprise he noticed that Liz suddenly looked angry and he frowned in confusion.

Before he knew it Maria had opened a window and was busy climbing out, apparently dignity wasn't a factor as she tried to avoid the other male hybrid. Max's lips twitched again and he couldn't wait to see how Michael could get her to fall for him this time around. In their other past, the ride had not been without bumps.

At least I know I won't have the same problems; Max thought with a little arrogant internal smirk, Liz once told me she had a crush on me for years before the shooting. His eyes left Maria's undignified exit and traveled over to Liz. Okay, maybe not…

The last thought flew into his mind when he spotted the way Liz had crossed her arms and was clenching her jaw and he knew that she was trying her hardest not to yell at him. What did I do? He thought and was about to ask the same thing out loud, but Liz straightened up and seemed about to speak herself so he kept quiet.

"I need to talk to you," she stated in an unusually cool voice.

Max nodded eager for his past to morph into his new future, but a moment later he was the one struggling to keep on to his dignity when Liz spoke and he felt his jaw go slack in shock.

"Do you have feelings for Maria? I'm only asking because I do know she's never said anything about crushing on you and I don't want you to get your hopes up."

After a few more seconds of trying his best to look unaffected, Max asked with forced calm, "Why do you say that?" And aren't you itching to ask about the DNA sample?

Liz blinked and looked down, but not before Max caught a glimpse of her burning cheeks. What is going on here? Has Maria talking to her really altered that much? I was so careful to follow my memory yesterday in biology class…

"Um," Liz finally began to talk and Max stared intently down at her, not really realizing that he'd stepped closer to her until now. "You just looked a lot happier to see her than I've ever noticed before."

What? Max was completely perplexed until he remembered how fondly he'd been watching Maria's haste to avoid Michael. Oh no – she can't possibly think? I love you Liz, more than anything else…

"Okay, judging from that shell-shocked look on your face, I might have gotten things mixed up a bit." Liz muttered and fidgeted on her feet, looking for all the world as though she wished the ground would swallow her whole.

"So," she took a deep breath and seemed to shake the allegations and subsequent embarrassment off, "why were you looking for me?"

"Well," Max thought quickly on his feet, coming up with a lame excuse, "you just sort of looked a bit weird today in class so I just wanted to check up on you, that's all."

Liz's eyes widened and it was apparent that she suddenly remembered about the discovery she'd made and she placed her book bag on the table, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Actually, I'm glad you mentioned that…we kindda need to talk – about everything. I have some questions."

Max nodded and knew with a fast beating heart that she was about to finally breach the subject of the healing and DNA. "Ask me anything."

Seemingly surprised about how easily he'd given in, Liz nodded resolutely and began pulling a piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. Max had a hard time not grinning like a fool when he remembered the last time they'd been in this position, even then she'd scribbled down various questions.

"All right," Liz started, "here we go. Where did you come from?"

Max smiled and took a deep breath and started answering the question. This time he was almost eagerly waiting to tell her things that hadn't even occurred to him before –especially about his powers, due to the fact that he now had a lot more knowledge about them then the first time around.

And the best part of all of this, Max thought as he delved into a more complex explanation that Liz was listening rapidly too, is that there's no way Sheriff Valenti is gonna come after us as long as I warn her about the dead bodies beforehand.

Sheriff Valenti's POV

Sheriff Jim Valenti was staring hard down at the photos in front of him. His eyes never strayed from the image of body after body branded with an odd silver handprint. A silver handprint his old man had talked about as a sign of aliens.

A belief that had shattered his family and a belief that Jim had sworn never to succumb to himself. But it was getting harder and harder and he knew why.

At first there had been the shooting with no bullet in the local diner, an occurrence he'd written off as something a little weird, but not unexplainable. Then he'd been having his after work meal at the Crashdown the night before and he'd watched as Liz Parker's shirt had ridden up and revealed the exact same handprint that he was now staring at on a dead body from the fifties.

With a sigh of frustration and disgust, Jim threw the pictures on his desk and grabbed his phone. A moment later he quietly said, "Sheriff Valenti, I need to talk to someone about something regarding a chain of unsolved and peculiar murders in Roswell."

The silence in his office was uncomfortable and Jim suddenly longed for a radio of all things to listen to, when a businesslike female voice stated, "This is agent Topolsky, how may I help you, Sheriff?"

TBC... Next time in The Anterian Timetravellers: Michael and Max bonds with Alex in gym, Maria tries to get to the bottom of things and Isabel gets a job.

A/N I hope you liked. I know there's a few timeline issues, and I know that Valenti didn't know Topolsky until after the whole Atherton deal, but that's why it's an AU. You never know what little things can change. This time Jim was the one spotting the handprint, not Kyle and when he called the FBI, it just so happened that Topolsky was the only one in that department available...good enough reason to handle the divergences? Goody;)

Now, please review, it really makes me want to keep writing and we all know it doesn't take that long anyway;)

Until Next Time

Ditte Mai