I don't own Roswell or any of its franchise - if I did, we would've gotten that fourth season;)

Huge thanks to marzmez for the quick beta assistence, impressed at the speed to be honest:)

A/N This chapter jumps right into a lot of action. I can only say that I'll try to answer more questions in the next chapter. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Max's POV

"So you're sure that this won't end up biting us in the ass?"

Michael's tone was softer and more hesitant than the words suggested, and Max chanced a glance in his best friend's direction before he looked back out at the road. "It's the best option. This way we're giving Alex the time he needs to get things straight in his head and get over the guilt of accidentally hurting Iz."

Max heard his sister's deep sigh from the backseat at the mention of what Alex had done to her without realizing it, but she didn't comment, allowing him to continue quietly, "We need to tie up the rest of our loose ends before things go off course any more than they already have."

"I, for one, am glad to be getting out of Roswell for the time being," Kyle said, his voice full of fake cheer that was obvious to all present in the Jeep. "Hanging out, road tripping and not being followed by a deathly alien army is kinda fun."

Michael turned to look at him, and Max had to fight off the smile that threatened to develop on his face when he spoke, "and your eagerness has nothing to do with a certain formerly murderous blonde?"

"Who, Maria?" Kyle quipped, and Max grinned briefly when Michael simply gave the human the finger and turned back around in his seat.

At least we're doing something proactive for once; Max thought to himself, passing the sign that welcomed people to Roswell with a small, nostalgic sigh. We've got a plan and when it's been executed things will have to slow down enough for everyone to feel at ease again…and I'll sit Liz down and tell her everything before our relationship is completely ruined.

"So," Isabel cut through the rare moment of amusement, her face clearly showing her determination to get things over and done with as soon as possible. "Let's go over the plans to make sure we're not forgetting something."

Michael shrugged, "Fine. Kyle and I go to Copper Summit to ruin those damn husks in the dead of night, and if Courtney is there, we'll take her with us."

Max took over speaking with a deep sigh, "While that's happening, Iz and I are going to go to Serena's house to heal her before she ends up in the hospital in Phoenix. She'll dreamwalk Serena's parents to make sure they don't suspect a thing. Then we'll go to Eric's house and do the same. Sydney and the rest aren't sick as of this moment in time, so we can't heal them yet." Michael shook his head with an air of frustration about him; he still didn't agree that healing the kids was the best thing for their future. Max ignored it with practiced ease and continued, "After that we'll meet up and go back home where we'll figure out if we should get into the whole business with Laurie and her family or leave it well enough alone."

Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw Michael nod, this time in full agreement and knew without looking that Kyle and Isabel was doing the same.

"All right then," Kyle broke the silence after a few minutes of quiet thinking, "before we get too giddy from being on the road again, I demand we stop at the first service station, 'cause I need me some snacks for the trip."

Max and the others chuckled; none of them had forgotten the many times Kyle's stomach had dictated their route in their earlier lives. "Sure, sure," Max muttered and pressed the gas pedal with a small sigh, oddly happy to be on the road again.

0o0o0

Several hours later, Max turned onto the street where he knew Serena's childhood home was. Isabel was sitting next to him, her eyes darting quickly around to make sure they weren't noticed. Michael and Kyle had split from them earlier, slunk away in the darkening night to steal the first available car to take them the rest of the way to Copper Summit.

For once we're not using Maria's Jetta, Max realized with a bittersweet smile, it feels almost sacrilegious considering how much that car helped us out in the past. Liz and the others always helped us too…

Max shook his head, forcing the thoughts of his human friends and loved ones out of his head. I need to be focused on what's about to happen, I can't be distracted right now.

With a massive effort, Max let his other, less human side take over and all his concentration was on the job he was about to do. The proof of his success was the tiny flinch that Isabel couldn't help but give when she met his eyes a moment after they'd both soundlessly exited the jeep.

Halfway down the street, Max stopped in front of a small, two-story building with a rusty swing set on the front lawn. Max easily recognized the house from all of the times that Serena had told him and the others stories about her life before the healing.

'It's just like she described it,' Isabel's cool touch on his arm almost burned Max as her voice simultaneously sounded in his head. 'She really was a normal little girl once.' The tone in his mind was slightly disbelieving and Max wasn't surprised. He too had always had trouble picturing the serious little all-knowing little girl as a normal kid that liked to play.

The memories of what her life had ended up like threatened to overwhelm Max, so he quickly shook off his sister's touch and used their old hand signals to convey that he was going inside the house. Isabel nodded seriously and they crept inside under cover of darkness. Max used his powers to disable the alarms, and the family's two cats were quickly and quietly encased in one of his soundproof shields to keep them from waking up the house's residents.

Three minutes later, after opening several doors and finding both of Serena's parents sleeping soundly, Max finally found Serena's room. She was sleeping just as deeply as her mom and dad, her skin pale and gaunt looking and her hair a lot thinner than he remembered. That makes sense, Max thought, all but gliding up to her bed and kneeling beside her. She wasn't sick when I really got to know her. I only ever saw her ill that one night in Phoenix.

The sight of the little dark-haired girl sleeping caused a crack to appear in Max's self-appointed armor and he had to swallow a lump of grief for the memory of the young girl that had meant so much to all of them.

"She looks so young," the whispered words left his lips before Max realized he was speaking. Isabel nodded to his right and after a quick glance at her; Max saw that she too was staring down at the little girl with sadness and awe very visible in his eyes.

"We're doing a good thing, right?" Isabel asked; her voice tight with suppressed emotions. Max couldn't speak so he just nodded and gestured for his sister to keep watch while he prepared himself for the healing.

Closing his eyes, Max took a deep fortifying breath in preparation for what he was about to do. Instead of waking the little girl, and thus alerting her to his and Isabel's presence, Max would attempt to connect mentally with her throughout the healing process.

It was something he'd barely begun experimenting on in his earlier life; the need for vengeance and killing far outweighed his natural instinct to heal. Besides, Max thought bitterly, at that point in time there weren't that many people left to heal so it didn't quite have the same appeal any more.

Don't think about that now, Max scolded himself and cracked his knuckles before gently placing his long fingers on Serena's forehead, I have to focus on what I'm about to do; I can think about the past later…

It all happened so fast that when Max thought about it later, he still had no idea what really happened the moment he carefully maneuvered his way into the sick little girl's mind. All of the sudden, instead of being in control, Max was gently led towards a bright spot in the distance. Instinctively, the time traveler struggled as fiercely as he knew how, but it was all in vain. The gentle hold on him didn't waver at all and with each breath, he was being slowly, but surely, dragged towards the foreign light.

'Don't be scared, Max.' The voice was familiar, but at the same time it was completely unknown.

What's going on here? The thoughts were swirling in Max's mind, and he hated not being in control; the last time it had happened, Tess' healing after Nasedo's attack had almost fallen to pieces.

'Just be patient,' the voice responded, as if his thoughts were no longer his own, and Max automatically prepared for battle. There was the sound of a small, tinkling laugh that was almost eerie in its familiarity, but Max refused to acknowledge it, because if his growing suspicions were correct then everything he knew would be off kilter.

'You always were the stubborn one,' the voice stated, full of gentle amusement and a love so ferocious that it almost crumbled Max's emotional shield, making it entirely too difficult to focus on and maintain his defenses.

Finally, it seemed like his unwilling journey was about to come to an end; the light all but exploded around him, and when Max could finally see again, his vision was still filled with little black dots. It took a while but eventually his sight cleared and he was able to see if his suspicions were correct.

The person in front of him wasn't a little cancer-filled girl; no, it was a beautiful young woman, whose health and power flowed out around her.

It was the Serena he'd lost in the other timeline. No, that's not right either, Max's inner voice corrected, Serena looks like she should've looked like if she hadn't been involved with aliens, war and death. Just like a normal young woman embarking on life…

"Hey, Max," Serena's voice, now easily recognizable for some reason, resonated within him. In that moment, Max longed for nothing but to run over and wrap the still tiny female in his arms and hug her tight. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her in his life.

"S-Serena…" It was a struggle to say her name, Max wanted to say so much more, but his throat had clamped up and his heart was beating a mile a minute. He didn't want to think about Isabel's reaction if she looked over at his physical body in the real world, he must have looked like he was having a heart attack.

Finally, after having swallowed past the lump in his throat a few times, Max managed to ask his most pertinent question, "How is this happening?"

Serena smiled; it was the same unbearably innocent smile she'd always bestowed upon him, and once more, Max had to reinforce his shields so he didn't fall to the ground weeping.

"Call it yet another unexpected manifestation of my powers. I guess I was more powerful than we all thought back then… but," she continued, her tinkling voice taking on a more serious edge, "but I'm glad that I got this chance, because I need you to do something really important for me."

"What?" Max asked; his entire being virtually ached to help her. In a way, he'd come to realize that he'd always seen Serena as the daughter he and Liz didn't get to have, and he loved her unconditionally. "Anything."

Serena smiled and came closer until she could touch him. She reached out and planted her small, surprisingly warm hands on his cheeks before she spoke again. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Max, because I really need you to do this for me." She took a deep breath before finishing her plea in a quiet, intense tone of voice, "Get out of my mind, leave with Isabel right now and go help Michael because he'll need it and forget you ever knew me or any of the other Unit kids."

"W-what are you saying?" Max already knew what she was saying, but he needed clarification just in case he was getting the information wrong. Oh, how he hoped that he was wrong.

"Max," Serena pressed their foreheads together, and her voice seemed to echo all around him as she quietly continued, "I don't want you to heal me."

Isabel's POV

Isabel's entire body was tense and ready for action. She'd already located a picture of Serena's parents for her upcoming dreamwalk, so other than keeping a lookout she had nothing more to do but make sure her brother wasn't using too much power.

Soon after he'd closed his eyes, Isabel realized that something was wrong. Normally when he'd tried to heal with this technique in their original time, he'd seemed blank and more like a human statue. But mere moments after connecting with Serena's still form, Max's skin broke out into a sweat and his eyebrows furrowed as though he was in the middle of hard, strenuous work. The small gasps he let out from time to time didn't exactly soothe the concerned sister any either.

Isabel was tempted to go over and lay her hand on Max's neck to connect with him, but she knew from previous experiences that it rarely ended well if she interfered, so she restrained herself with great effort. Besides, she told herself pragmatically, if I'm in there with them, I'm going to be a bad lookout in case something happens out here.

Isabel's resolve started to waver as the seconds ticked by and nothing seemed to happen, apart from the vague shine of Max's customary green shield that slowly began to form around him as the time passed. For the first time, she regretted that she'd insisted on splitting up the group. Michael would probably know what to do and if not, Kyle's unrelenting calm in crisis situations would most assuredly help her more than anything. Even if things were still a tad awkward between them, but Isabel forced herself not to think about that for the time being.

A few minutes later, all Isabel's thoughts fled her mind as Max began to moan as if in complete and utter agony. Then, with a rough gasp, Max was suddenly back in his own body, still kneeling in front of Serena's deceptively fragile frame.

"Max, are you okay?" Isabel whispered, her hands already steadying him as he stumbled ungracefully to his feet. Her worry skyrocketed when she felt him tremble furiously under her touch. "Max?"

"We have to go." He murmured with a slightly dead tone in his voice that Isabel had never wanted to hear again.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Isabel looked over at Serena, who looked just like she had when they'd first arrived. "She hasn't been healed, we can't leave yet."

Max glanced down at the little girl with an indescribable expression on his face, before looking up at his sister. "We have to go," he repeated carefully.

"But—"

"Isabel, let's go now." The steel in Max's voice didn't convince Isabel as much as the truly heartbroken look in his dark eyes. He looked like he'd been in the White Room all over again.

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly and walked closely behind Max as he made his way out of the room. In the doorway he stopped and looked back down at the sleeping child.

"Goodbye Serena," he whispered and before Isabel could do or say anything, she heard him leave the house.

"What did you do this time?" she muttered to Serena, who merely rolled over on her other side with a small adorable snort.

'Take care of each other,' Serena's voice suddenly sounded in Isabel's head as though she was standing right next to her, 'this is the only way, Isabel. Don't forget that I love you all so much.' It was as though Serena's lips touched her cheek just before an almost inaudible murmur of 'goodbye, Isabel' reached her before everything turned silent again.

When Isabel exited the house and covertly made her way back to the Jeep, she was glad that Max didn't question her about the tears running down her face.

"Let's go to Eric's house then," she said instead, transforming a CD into a tissue to wipe her face.

"We're going to Copper Summit," said Max when he started the engine. He still hadn't regained any emotion in his voice, and that, above all else stopped Isabel from demanding any immediate explanations. Somehow she already had a pretty decent idea of what had happened. Serena always was the most pigheaded of us when she saw a path in front of her…

"Okay…but you're so gonna tell me everything after this is over and we're back home." Isabel demanded instead, not breathing until Max sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah…When we get back, I'll tell you everything."

0o0o0

"I-I'm so so so sorry, Isabel," Alex's voice was hoarse and he still had trouble looking into her eyes after whatever it was that he'd done. "I'll never forgive myself—"

"Alex," Isabel interrupted, moving closer to him as careful as she could without spooking him back into the nearest corner. "I know it wasn't on purpose. I know that now. I'm the one who should apologize for what I thought and how I've lied to you for so long, but…I really didn't want you to know any of this."

For the first time, Alex's eyes lost a bit of the self-loathing and he glanced into hers quickly as if surprised. "Why not just tell us everything from the start? Apparently, we knew the truth before and handled it okay enough. Whatever happened to make you and the guys think we didn't deserve to know the truth?"

"Please don't ask me that." Isabel bit her lip, now being the one to avoid eye contact. "You all just deserved to live normal lives."

Alex's lips twitched and he explained when Isabel's eyebrow raised in a silent question. "No offence, Isabel, but ever since you started taking an interest in us our so-called normal lives went right out the window."

"Also," the gangly teen added, once more looking away from Isabel, "I can't help but question the whole for-your-own-good-spiel. Nothing good has come from all of those secrets. Besides, I know that something happened in your other life that concerns me because let me tell you, every time I ask about it, your anxiety levels spike so high that I feel like I'm about to puke."

"I thought I'd dimmed the bond a little," Isabel murmured. Alex shrugged and pointed at his head.

"I'm not using the bond right now. I think your brother's healing kinda made me into some sort of Empath…or something, I don't know. I just know that I feel what everyone around me is feeling and I have to constantly calm myself so I don't accidentally kill someone like I almost did with you."

Isabel looked around the packed diner, where she'd cornered Alex on her break and frowned. "I'm sor—"

"I know," Alex cut in, with a shadow of his usually vibrant smile on his face, "I can feel it."

The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, and Isabel watched quietly as Alex's own emotions played on his face. Sometimes he flinched when an intense emotion hit him, and she was tempted to completely re-open their connection and take on some of his unwanted burden.

She never got the chance because, naturally, Alex intercepted her intention and held up a hand. "I don't think you can handle this, Isabel," he whispered, looking her in the eye, at last, for longer than the split second that was the norm of this conversation. "I know you mean well and I'm glad you're not even the slightest bit angry with me right now…but," he ran a hand through his hair with an air of frustration about him, "I think we need time apart right now."

"You don't want to be with me anymore?"

"Isabel, the only thing I've ever wanted since I found out that girls didn't have cooties was to be with you, but as I am right now, I need to be able to control myself first. I don't wanna wake up one day after a nightmare to find that I've hurt you. I don't wanna hurt anyone."

Faced with the naked fear that Alex couldn't quite keep out from their muted bond and the slightly crazed look in his widened eyes, Isabel did the only thing she could.

"I'll be waiting. It doesn't matter how long it takes, Alex Whitman. I love you."

A few seconds after the words left Isabel's mouth, she noticed that most of the other people in the Crashdown were laughing uproariously and looked like they were suddenly having the time of their lives. Judging from the look of pure ecstasy on Alex's face, she knew why. For the first time, Isabel realized that Alex's powers weren't all bad.

She smiled softly at him, now I just need to convince him of that when he's ready.

"Iz!" The call of her name, and a gentle shake from a hand on her shoulder brought Isabel back from her sleep. She blinked and straightened up, filing the dream and memory away for later perusal so she could focus one hundred percent on what was about to happen.

"We're here," Max announced unnecessarily, and they both looked out at the sign that welcomed them to a city that neither of them had ever wanted to see again.

"Well, let's hope this time it turns out better than the last time," Isabel said as she soundlessly exited the jeep and helped Max turn it invisible to hide it from any wandering Skins. Please, she continued silently, let it turn out better this time…

Michael's POV

It was dawn by the time that Michael drove past the sign that welcomed them to the oh-so-friendly town of Copper Summit. Being back in the same space where he'd suffered one of his first personal losses, gave Michael the chills.

If it wasn't because we really need to eliminate all loose ends, he thought with a barely noticeable shiver down his back, I wouldn't have come within a mile of this place.

After they passed the sign, Kyle too, seemed to grow a lot more uncomfortable. "This sucks," he murmured after a little while, "I feel helpless going into this, you know. You don't know," he added with an eye-roll at Michael's look of bemusement, "'cause you're the one that's got powers and can pulverize anyone that even looks at you funny. Me on the other hand, am in the whole 'duck and cover' stage due to my human…err…human-ness."

"Look," Michael ran a hand through his hair, "I get it, but I know you're capable of kicking ass even without your powers. I was there when you trained remember?"

Kyle shrugged, but he did look a bit more appeased, so Michael continued, "Anyway, we need to go over the plan one more time. I have this feeling things are not going to be as easy as we think."

"Fine. Well, let me kick things off then; we're gonna go in to the nearest café or diner or whatever, act like two normal high school kids on a road trip and case the place out for any out of world activities. Then, at nightfall we're gonna go to that place where you know they're keeping their husks and one-two-three we torch the place and hightail it outta here. Easy peasy."

Michael chuckled, "right, 'cause things always go exactly as we plan, right?"

"Shut up, Dude," Kyle punched him in the arm, "I'm trying to reconnect with my Buddhism here, calmness and serenity and crap like that, okay."

"Right."

Michael smiled and turned down the main street to locate a place for their plan to begin. There was a small and old looking building that seemed like a great place to start. As he parked the car, Michael noticed the curious looks from the few people up at that early hour.

Why they even bother to act like this place is a normal town, I'll never understand, Michael repressed his natural instincts to just start blasting people apart and forced a carefree look on his face as he followed Kyle out the door.

There was a flare of worry from Maria's side of the bond, and Michael quickly squashed his side to prevent her from picking up any more from him. She doesn't need more on her plate right now. Michael sighed, his longing to be near his soulmate nearly stopping him in his tracks. He still hadn't completely overcome his need to be near her all the time after her near death experience, but she'd barely paid any attention to him after that first morning at Tess' house. She's still focused on helping Liz through her ordeal; I hope she's not going to need me until I'm back in Roswell…Of course the friendship between Liz and Maria has always been solid, so I shouldn't worry…I really shouldn't.

"Dude," Kyle's hiss in his ear brought the pondering General back to his senses, and he blinked out of his thoughts. "Try to bring your A-game, okay? Defenseless human is your only back up, remember?"

"Right," Michael nodded and took a deep, soothing breath before reaching out and pushing open the door to the diner. "Let's get this over with before I go completely crazy."

The inside of the diner seemed perfectly legitimate with the smell of grease and coffee in the air, but something just didn't feel right. It's like a perfect picture of an American diner, Michael decided as he followed an incessantly chatting Kyle over to one of the booths. It's just like it's supposed to be, but still, something isn't quite there…like a picture of a diner, but not the real thing.

Michael nodded approvingly to the Kyle when he made sure that they were now sitting in a place that oversaw the entire room, right into the kitchen and all the exits. Say what you will, Kyle, Michael thought out to his friend, powers or not, your training is just as etched into you as mine is.

"Mornin' boys," a chipper voice greeted them, and Michael plastered his fakest smile on his face, clenching his hands under the table to keep from attacking out of instinct. The voice belonged to a seemingly middle-aged looking woman with graying temples and big blue eyes that should've shone with warmth, but was just shy of genuinely creepy. Michael chanced a look at Kyle and realized that he too had recognized the woman as a danger. "What are you having? We've only just opened thirty minutes ago, so the grill ain't at its best right now, but I'm sure we'll work something out, right?"

"Sure, absolutely," Kyle beamed, picking up a laminated menu that seemed to have never been used before. Another clear sign to that Michael knew that the ever observant human had spotted too. "What about some coffee and pancakes? What do you say, Adam?"

Michael swallowed a smirk at the fake name; it was one they'd used in their earlier lives to prevent people from finding them, so he had no trouble switching into the persona he'd created along with the name. "Absolutely, Kenneth; I'm just famished. Although," Michael smiled politely at the Skin waitress, "I must say that this American cuisine still has not quite convinced me of your nation's superiority."

Kyle grinned, he hadn't lived long enough the first time around to see Michael perfect his English accent, so he enjoyed himself even in the midst of all the danger. "Well, Adam, that's 'cause your country's got a queen that thinks haggis is the best dish ever. It's gross is what it is."

"Haggis is from Scotland, Wanker." Michael pointed out with the air of an offended Englishman, who wouldn't take any slights about his queen.

"Anyway, Boys," the waitress cut in, her tone a lot less chipper all of the sudden – apparently bickering teenage boys wasn't something the Skins had much experience or patience with. "I'm gonna go get ya'lls breakfast 'fore the mornin' rush comes stumbling in."

They watched her move away as stealthily as they could while still keeping up the charade of being normal kids on a road trip. Michael reached for the napkin holder and grabbed a couple of napkins. Kyle immediately handed him a pen from one of his shirt's pockets and watched while babbling nonsense about their non-existent trip as Michael doodled on the paper.

Michael smirked inwardly as he kept on glancing around with wide eyes and a silly smile on his lips and continued to draw. It was a code that only Michael and the rest of the time travelers knew, he was planning and taking notes of all the people that couldn't quite act as well as they could.

Finally, after their breakfast had been devoured, after a quick poison scan from Michael, they stood up and Michael stuffed the napkin in his jeans pocket and went to pay.

At the register, Kyle vocally decided that he definitely needed to see more of the town and that led the waitress to loosen her lips and explain the way to the nearest motel.

Twenty minutes later, they'd paid up front in cash and checked into a room with two beds that was too pristine to ever have been used before. Another sign if there ever was one, Michael decided and then he threw himself on the nearest bed with a loud groan of frustration.

Kyle raised a brow at him and pointed at the room at large, mouthing something about listening devices and Michael cursed himself for being so stupid and irresponsible. A second later, he sent out an electromagnetic pulse that should fry any and all electric devices. Another quick flash of blue and the room was encased in a more fragile version of Max's shield to keep unwanted visitors out as well.

"Now we can talk freely," Michael murmured and he burrowed down on the bed again.

Kyle shrugged and sat down on his own bed with a sigh. "Why so glum, Chum?"

"Really?" Michael sat back up again, leaning against the headboard. "You can't tell me you don't know."

"I don't know," Kyle's smile was a tad obnoxious and Michael had to remind himself that he really wasn't a 17 year old to keep from launching one of his pillows straight into the other guy's face.

"Fine, let me just paint you a picture here, okay." Michael growled, pulling out the rumpled up napkin as he spoke. "In that diner of theirs, there were eleven so called customers, two waitresses and a cook. As we sat there for fifty-eight minutes, thirty-three people walked by the diner; some of them more than once. They were keeping an eye on us, which means they're suspicious. And powers or not, we can't take even half of them on alone. Also," Michael added with a sigh, "that's only the Skins we've seen so far. Who knows how many are in this town right now! I mean, that congresswoman that Liz worked for is only just rising up and making waves. We don't know how many Skins there are, where Courtney is or just what their psychotic leader Nicholas is up to. We don't know and it freaks me out."

Kyle sat in silence for a long while, absorbing everything Michael had just spilled. Eventually, he too leaned back on the bed's headboard with a heavy sigh. "This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"It's kinda a given at this point in time, yeah."

Another short beat of silence occurred, before Kyle just shrugged. "Well, let's make the most of this little break then, because we can't do anything until nightfall anyway. You wanna take first watch or should I?"

In that moment, Michael felt a rush of gratitude to his old friend. True, Kyle may be a liability when it came to powers, but aside from Max there wasn't any other guy he'd rather have by his side because powers or not, Kyle Valenti had proven himself time and time again to be absolutely ferocious when it came to fighting their enemies.

"I'll take the first watch," Michael offered when Kyle started to look annoyed over the delayed reply. "I'll wake you in five hours."

"Cool," Kyle nodded and unceremoniously kicked off his shoes and wrapped the blanket around him. Five minutes later, he was dead asleep and Michael kept a vigilant watch just like he'd promised.

0o0o0

"Tell me something," Kyle's whispered voice reached Michael just as he managed to open the door to the room he remembered being the one where all the husks had been. "Doesn't this seem way too easy for you? I mean, we're never this lucky."

Michael repressed an urge to smack his friend in the back of the head, "Dude," he exclaimed instead, "one doesn't go around saying that. It'll jinx us, you idiot."

"Sorry…" came the petulant response and the not at all contrite look followed soon after. "But come on, Man; it's been totally easy. We weren't accosted once since leaving the motel and now we find an unprotected lair. It doesn't fit with what you've told me of this place."

"Look, it's probably just because they don't expect us to do this. We're gonna finish the plan and then leave before anything happens. Chill for a second, and let's just…" Michael's voice trailed off as his throat clammed up with adrenaline as his eyes took in the room he'd been in once before in another life.

It did look the same, the glass tubes with the Skins' new husks were just as he remembered it, and the humming sound from the motors keeping the water the right temperature was familiar as well. What weren't so recognizable were the two Skins standing right in the middle of the room with glowering yet smug expressions on their faces.

"Hello," the female that had been their waitress earlier that day greeted coldly. Her eyes were now filled with that hate she hadn't quite been able to repress in the diner, "we've been expecting you."

"Oh crap me and my jinxing." Michael heard Kyle's muttered curse and couldn't help but silently agree.

We have to get out of this, Michael thought. What am I gonna do? I can't just start killing them; we don't know how many are up there waiting for us or if they know something that we have to know to live safely. I can't put Maria and the others at risk again…I won't!

"Hi there," Michael greeted with a small mocking wave because in danger or not, he would never let them see his growing anxiety. "To what do we owe this lovely welcoming committee?"

"Yeah," Kyle took over, having fought long enough with Michael to know his way of doing things, "we're really not that special. You're welcome to just leave and we'll say to whoever asks that you did a great job, right?" He looked up at Michael, who nodded.

"Definitely."

"Cut the bullshit, you two," the other, unfamiliar, Skin ordered.

"That's pretty harsh," Kyle pointed out and the female Skin bowed mockingly, her words freezing Michael and Kyle with surprise.

"I do apologize, Your Majesty; after living on this cesspool of a planet for so long, one's manners tend to take a backseat. I hope you and the General don't mind us." Then she cackled madly and abruptly raised her arms in a crazed movement like that of a prayer. "But then again, it's fun and I don't really care one bit what you think."

"You think I'm the—" Kyle began, only to have Michael's elbow bump into his arm.

"Don't bother denying it, Your Majesty," Michael said, casting a warning glare at his friend, "they're obviously on to us."

"Damn right we are," the woman hissed, "I can't believe our luck. We've just found out a few months ago where the Antarian Royal family sent you to and that you actually survived the incubation period, and here we are. Nicholas will be pleased when he returns, as will Khivar! I can finally stop degrading myself by portraying one of those moronic human slaves that this planet calls waitresses."

"Hey!" Michael said through gritted teeth, "don't knock on the waitresses, they're a hell of a lot more tough than your sorry, collapsing skin ass."

The male Skin bared his teeth at the insult and unexpectedly sent a pulse of raw energy towards Michael in response, and Michael only had his quick reflexes to thank for narrowly dodging the deathly blast. The female shrieked angrily and swiped her hand across the male's face, and his face's membrane immediately began to crumble away as if her nails had poisoned him.

"We need them alive, you fool! If they're dead, they're no good to us!"

The male didn't reply, he was too busy screaming out his hurt and trying to force his torn and rotting flesh back to some semblance of normal. Even Michael, who'd seen a lot in his day, had to fight off a burst of nausea at the disgusting sight.

In the next minute, Michael wanted to shoot himself; they'd just let a perfectly good escape opportunity slip right through their fingers. Judging from the sudden look of annoyed comprehension on Kyle's face as he looked at him, Michael wasn't the only one feeling stupid right then.

Fuck, what do we do now? Michael bit the inside of his cheek, for the first time just as concerned as Kyle about the human not having gotten his powers transferred with him from the great beyond or wherever it was he'd come from. If I attack, they are definitely gonna realize pretty soon that Kyle's not Max and that'll only lead them to the real king…

Michael's mind felt ready to explode as he was frantically searching through options, but he lost all train of thought a moment later, when the door opened up behind him and a voice he'd never heard sound so detached before spoke, "I've informed Nicholas of our triumphant catch of the year, Vara. What do you need me to do next?"

Slowly, inch by inch, Michael found himself turn and look at the speaker and found himself face to face with Courtney.

She looked exactly like he remembered her from their brief acquaintance in his past life; an obvious alpha female with a will strong enough to crush bricks, but for the first time, Michael saw her as what she really was; a hostile enemy out for blood. Her eyes lacked all of the admiration and awe they'd always possessed whenever looking at him. They were completely devoid of any human emotion whatsoever.

The female Skin, whose name was apparently Vara, straightened up with a smirk plastered on her face. Once again, she was the picture of smugness and Michael had to fight off a sudden urge to break her neck.

"Thanks for your assistance, I'll be sure to mention your continued cooperation to Nicholas. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear of your progress, my dear."

Courtney nodded mutely, and glanced over at Kyle and then at Michael. It was during that split second look that Michael caught it; he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been so trained in body language as he was, but there was no doubt that the quick flash of shame and vivid hatred had been something he'd imagined. Not even his imagination was that good.

Maybe she's not a hostile at all, Michael reasoned internally as he looked away to keep anyone from detecting his observation. It could be that she's spying on her own kind so she has as much as possible to offer me when she eventually decides to come find me. Was that what she did last the time?

Since Michael's life had been nothing but war for so long, it was a little hazy looking back at the memories from the short period of time that Courtney had been in his life. It meant that Michael couldn't remember exactly what had taken place down to the smallest detail, but after a moment of deliberation, he decided that it didn't matter. If Courtney's really on my side, I have to save her this time. I can't let her die for me again.

Vara brought him back to the very dangerous present, and Michael calmly did as demanded when she ordered him and Kyle to turn around. Soon after that he felt her cold, clammy hands on his wrists where she bound him in chains. Kyle's grunt of pain told Michael that the still groaning male Skin had bound his wrists a little too tightly for his liking, but there was nothing to do about it.

"Don't worry about that little pinch of pain," Vara soothed with a condescending smile, she even patted Kyle's hair mockingly. "It's merely the beginning of the kind of pain you are about to experience, Your Majesty. Despite his other faults Sirl is very good at inflicting pain."

The stiffening of Courtney beside him was the only warning that Michael got. One breath later, Kyle broke out into screams of pure agony, his voice cracking halfway as he toppled over backwards to the floor, convulsing violently with Sirl calmly following with his right hand placed on Kyle's chest.

"A pity," Vara's tone was beyond haughty as she slowly sidled up to Michael's side, "I honestly didn't think that the human DNA would turn such an otherwise strong race so utterly pathetic."

The sight of Kyle trembling and crying out in crippling pain was one of the hardest things Michael had ever seen. He'd rarely felt as helpless as he did in that moment and he couldn't stop thinking about Tess' reaction to what Kyle was going through. At least Maria is somewhat used to it, but Tess is flying completely blank…I don't think Nasedo taught her all that much about bonds of love…

Finally, when bloody foam started running down Kyle's chin, Michael couldn't stand it anymore. "Stop it! He'll die! You fucking cowards!"

Vara ran her fingers through Michael's hair, and he cringed at the unwelcome touch. "The General is speaking the truth, Sirl. We must make sure they both survive or else we'll never achieve the Granolith's location."

Sirl stepped back, removing his hand from the spot on Kyle's torso where it had been planted since the torture began. Vara looked between him and Michael, "but of course, we can spend a little time seeing if the pathetic human race's influence has ruined the formerly so admirable General; don't you agree, Sirl?"

The answering half smile that the male Skin sent Vara was disgusting, flakes of melting skin falling off his face at the movement. Vara merely returned the smile and gestured from Sirl to Michael.

He only had a few seconds to close off the connection between Maria and him as much as possible before Sirl's long-fingered hand found his chest and instantly pain practically exploded behind his eyelids. Michael lost all reason and didn't even feel himself falling to the floor in much the same manner that Kyle had just done.

Kyle's POV

It took him a while before he regained the ability to think let alone function. As he blinked into the real world again, Kyle vaguely noticed that someone else was screaming hoarsely now, and that he should probably try and help that person out, but it was as if his body was someone else's; it tingled, burned and trembled incessantly and he felt as weak as a newborn kitten. He could feel that there were tears in his eyes and his nose was runny so Kyle absentmindedly wiped it with the back of his shaking, still bound together, hands only to discover that the fluid on his face was all blood.

What the hell happened? He wondered, inching himself back on his feet carefully. Something was churning in his gut, and after a moment of weary thought, Kyle recognized it as a flare from the newly formed connection he shared with Tess. God, I hope she didn't feel all of that. I may not love her as Michael loves Maria, but I sure as hell wouldn't want her to suffer through that…

He'd never felt worse pain in his life, past and present combined and for one brief second, it shamed him to realize that he was hesitant to jump back into the line of fire to protect his friend. Fortunately, it didn't last long and Kyle made a move to jump Sirl, who looked way too content considering half his face was rotting away.

Just as he'd taken a few steps, something stopped him. A grip on his arm that made him moan with pain, evidently his abused nervous system couldn't yet bare to be touched. An unfamiliar voice distracted him from the soreness, and Kyle turned his head a fraction to look at the other female Skin.

She looked distraught, her eyes never leaving the convulsing Michael on the ground. "Don't get yourself killed, I can't protect you if you get subjected to that again in such a short time," she murmured, barely audible with the screams from Michael taking up most of the sound. "Your death will cause more pain to the General than I can allow…"

Kyle wanted to rage, ask the strange woman what the hell she was talking about, but he found it impossible to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. Michael's suffering because of me, he thought guiltily, vaguely recalling Michael ordering them to stop hurting him. I have to do something…but I'm weak, I can't do anything. I'm gonna have to watch him die like they once saw me die. Fuck, I can't let that happen, those bastards!

As the rage continued to build like a tidal wave inside of Kyle, he absentmindedly felt a nearly forgotten sensation grow inside of him; it was something he hadn't experienced in what felt like forever. The machines that powered the incubators all around him were beginning to call out to him, calling for his attention, begging to assist with his outpouring of justice.

It's…It's my powers, Kyle realized with a start, and in that moment, he felt a small spark of gratitude to Sirl's heinous act of torture because somehow it seemed to have awakened his dormant abilities.

"Hey, Freddy Krueger!" Kyle roared. It was like all his pain and fear was blown away with the knowledge of his upcoming battle. "Get your hands off of him right now!"

Sirl growled at him and pointed his free arm toward Kyle with a maniacal laugh that normally would've cautioned the cop's son, but not now. Instead he merely ripped his arm out of the seemingly friendly Skin's grip and raised both his arms in the air with a cry of pure jubilation and his eyes shut firmly as he reached out to his long missed powers.

The watery fluid in the incubators began to bobble ominously at the same time that the hum of electricity started to increase more and more. Kyle opened his eyes, knowing from past experience that they were now glowing pure white, and smiled toothily.

"It's payback time."

And then everything exploded into action…

TBC…

A/N So, yeah, I made Alex into a mutated Jasper from Twilight, only a lot more deadlier, talkative and a lot less bloodthirsty;) Reason for it being the counseling session that Topolsky gave him once, it listed him as being perfect as a psychologist and I guess I just took that one step further. I'm also aware that I'm taking a lot of artistic license with the fact that Max & co. can reach their destinations so fast, but let's just say it's okay and get on with it.

And as I said up top, I will try to answer more questions in the next chapter:) Feel free to leave a comment or two below and make my day:D

Until Next Time

Ditte Mai