I don't own Roswell or Any of its franchise. Sadly though, 'cause I bet my season four would've kicked season three out of the park…Just sayin'.

Big thanks to Marzmez for the beta help and the soothing when I suddenly got too nervous about this chapter :)

A/N What's this? Two chapters in a month, that's right! Thanks for the lovely comments I've gotten over the last while (almost 500 reviews, can you believe it?). Your words, rants and well-meant suggestions really make my day better. Now, I hope to make yours better as well; enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Isabel's POV

There was a tense, uncomfortable silence in the jeep as Max speedily drove back towards Roswell. Isabel eyed the tight grip he had on the steering wheel, preparing herself to take the wheel if his control over his powers snapped.

In the backseat Kyle and Michael were both sitting with their eyes closed and their mouths pinched tightly, both of them clearly exhausted and drained. Courtney was following them in her own car.

The thought of the female Skin, that Isabel honestly barely remembered, was enough to make her cast one more look in the rear view mirror to make sure that the Skin hadn't somehow betrayed them and called in backup on her end.

"She's one of the good guys," Michael mumbled and Isabel looked back at him with raised brows, trying to look innocent. "Don't give me that look," he added quietly, "she died for us in the original timeline and I'm sure she's willing to do it again. If nothing else, she'll be of good use to us."

Hearing that, Isabel sighed softly and turned back around. It's truly a testament to how much we've all changed, she thought, feeling sad for the purity they'd all lost one way or another during their last lives. Michael always wanted to save her if he could, but now he's prepared to use her as a shield to save us first. He'd never even contemplate using an ally or a friend like that before we went through the war.

Kyle groaned and rubbed his stomach fervently, "Damn it, Tess is totally freaking out and her state keeps me from getting some much needed shuteye."

Wisely, Isabel held her tongue. When Michael had revealed that Kyle had bonded with Tess, she'd had to swallow the urge to go hunt the other female hybrid down to kill her as violently as possible. It was still pretty inconceivable to Isabel that Tess of all people had connected so much with Kyle in this new life. They'd acted like siblings in the other timeline. At least until she killed Alex and mindwarped him to carry the body to the car, Isabel sniped inwardly before sighing heavily again.

I promised myself to let the unlived past be the past, Isabel berated herself. Besides, now that I think about it Kyle did tell me he and Tess were hot and heavy before the sibling thing kicked in…, but then he was drunk when he told me, so…Let's just hope it's not gonna be as good for her as it is for me to have a bonded human.

Isabel had only spent a few seconds thinking, but she realized she'd missed something when Kyle's shocked gasp interrupted her thinking. He looked equal parts horrified and guilty, she decided as she glanced between him and a serious looking Michael.

"What did I miss?" she asked, earning herself the attention of the duo on the backseat.

"Why didn't any of you ever tell me how to shield pain from our side of the bond? Tess has had to feel everything from my end since that bastard put the whammy on me!"

Sharing one brief look with Michael and once again noticing how tired he looked, Isabel took over explaining what she could. Gently, she began, "Kyle, we never told you any of it, or showed you for that matter, because it didn't occur to us. Despite the fact that you're family and we've lived - and died in your case - in war, you're not a genetically engineered hybrid. Tess was dead and we really had no way of knowing that this would ever happen. You two were like brother and sister, remember?"

Kyle looked ill at the idea of seeing Tess as a sister now, before he bit his lip and avoided Isabel's solemn gaze. Evidently, he still wasn't entirely comfortable thinking of Tess as more than a sister…or less.

It probably doesn't help hiscomposure that it's me telling him all of this, Isabel reasoned and turned back in her seat with a small smile of comfort, we were actual lovers once – even if it only did happen one time – so it's bound to be weird getting the knowledge from me, finding out that a lot more is happening behind the scenes than he'd ever really understood.

Speaking of behind the scenes, Isabel looked over at the eerily silent Max, finding him in the same state than before. I can't wait to find out what happened back there with Serena and why we aren't gonna go track down Sydney and the others…

With one last look at her brother and her boys in the back, Isabel slowly leaned back in her own seat, staring out at the passing scenery. She was trying to charge up her batteries, so to speak, knowing that if she kept looking at Max, she wouldn't be able to keep from begging him for answers.

Besides, Isabel's mouth twitched a little, as her right hand rubbed her sternum a little; I need to keep calm so Alex doesn't get too much on his plate. He deserves some peace and quiet.

0o0o0

It was a few hours later, the sun was setting slowly on the horizon, bathing them all in its glowing colors before it all turned dark and stars began to twinkle up in the sky.

Isabel would probably have enjoyed the sight a lot more, if her entire being hadn't suddenly been enveloped with a wave of chaotic emotions. It took her a moment, which felt like eternity, to sort through some of them, finding pure adrenaline fueled fear to be the most dominant one.

"Alex," she gasped, clenching the dashboard in front of her as she tried to come to grip with what was happening on the other end of her bond.

In the midst of her own feelings, Kyle and Michael's nervous 'are you okay's' from the backseat, Isabel vaguely noticed that Max was bent forward as well, his entire form shaking as if he too was in distress.

"Max…" she managed to whisper, bringing everyone's attention to him, but he merely grit his teeth and floored the accelerator.

The air in the Jeep compressed, became hot and smoldering, and Isabel's gasps for air did nothing to help her gain the least bit control over her own body.

"MAX!" Michael's bellow and Kyle's subsequent use of powers to somehow stop the car in the middle of the road finally reached Max enough for him to regain his senses; at least enough to stop reacting visibly and hurting the rest of them.

They sat there for several unending minutes while Isabel tried all she could to project as much calm and silent support to Alex, even as his emotions kept almost bowling her over from their massive intensity. She tried to listen to Michael's questioning of Max, who replied in short, distracted sentences like he too was being overwhelmed by Liz's feelings.

The growing panic and confusion that Alex was going through and the fact that she couldn't help him was nearly Isabel's undoing, but she reached into that unwanted part of herself that had lived through war and tragedy to find her inner strength once again.

A few more moments passed by before she felt more or less in control again. Turning to her brother, Isabel quietly asked the question that would determine what would happen next. "How far away from Roswell are we?"

Max glanced at her, briefly ripped away from his own personal torment to answer. "If we hurry, maybe half an hour, but probably a little more."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Isabel looked back at Kyle with a raised brow, "fix this damn car and let's go before we end up losing our family again."

Kyle nodded and closed his eyes, drawing strength from within before there was a slight coughing sound from the engine of the Jeep and the engine came back to life. Max didn't turn to thank Kyle, already putting the vehicle back into gear and racing onwards with a silent air of pure desperation around him.

Isabel managed one sincere smile herself, before her mind was once more caught up in whatever Alex was going through. Please, she began to pray, feeling more desperate for some kind of luck than she'd been since the time she, Michael and Max had been barricaded in the cave with the Granolith to begin finalizing their plan to travel back in time. Please don't let us be too late this time. I can't lose any one again; I can't live without Alex one more time. Please give us the time we need to save them all…

Next to her, Max's fingers kept clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel, his dark eyes trained on the road ahead, completely focused on getting to his soul mate in time and for one short second, Isabel almost felt bad for Nicholas and those who'd gone after Liz. At least, until another spike of pure fear raced through her and Isabel lost every other thought in her head that wasn't focused entirely on Alex.

We're coming, Alex, she thought, praying he'd hear her wherever he was, just hang in there for a little bit longer.

Liz's POV

"Come on, get in here," Liz was gasping, but her voice was firm as she grabbed her friend and all but shoved the bigger boy in behind a dumpster that was standing near the public library. It was as far away from The Crashdown as she'd been able to manage in an attempt to make sure the Skin, Nicholas didn't find Maria or Tess.

"Do you think they saw us?" Alex was panting a lot more than she was, but it wasn't exactly surprising. Alex was a lot of things, but an athlete wasn't one of them.

Liz dared to move out of her crouch to check, only to find that unfamiliar male Skin standing mere feet away from their hiding spot in the dark. She instantly moved back with a silent gasp of surprise. Shaking her head and gesturing to be quiet, Liz took a brief moment to think over what had made her run before the two strangers had even spoken to them.

It was hard to explain but the moment she'd laid eyes on them, Liz had known that they were Skins, despite the fact she really had no idea what that meant. A small part of her had flashed back to one of those too short memories she'd unlocked or whatever it was, during her torture at Agent Pierce's facility. That had been where she'd gotten the name of the young boy, Nicholas, and somehow known without a shred of doubt that he was the real danger to them; not the much bigger and much more intimidating figure next to him, but the teenager himself.

Liz chanced one more quick peek to see if the coast was clear to move again and breathed a sigh of relief to see that no one was around. Nodding to Alex for him to follow her, Liz slowly got back up from her crouch and immediately darted in the same direction they'd just come from.

She heard Alex right behind her and Liz was sure they'd manage to escape unscathed until suddenly she heard an undignified yelp and a curse and even without turning around, Liz knew that Alex had been caught. For one selfish second, Liz wondered if she could go on and live with herself, but her inner goodness prevailed and she slowly turned around.

Her eyes locked first with Alex, who looked terrified and angry all at the same time. His emotions seemed to be in his control, but she credited that to the fact that the large man holding him was remarkably calm and that was probably keeping Alex grounded in the midst of everything. Letting her eyes move a bit to the right, Liz's gaze landed on Nicholas.

The otherworldly eternal teenager looked positively smug. He was a little winded as well, and Liz figured he wasn't used to moving around that much. She took perverse pleasure in seeing the sweat on his face; half-way hoping that he'd succumb to the exhaustion and drop dead.

"Hello, Ava," he greeted her with a mocking bow that made Liz bristle defensively.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she responded harshly and added, "let my friend go!"

The smug look turned into a condescending smirk that danced on his prepubescent lips, "Well, I would," he said, "but he may be useful to us yet - Especially if he means enough for you to stop running away. Things will be a lot easier on all of us if you just listen to what I have to say and do exactly as I demand."

"I'm not good at following orders," Liz bit out through a clenched jaw, while inwardly her mind was running a hundred miles per hour. Ava? Why does that name sound so familiar? He's convinced I'm her, but I'm just Liz Parker…A brief image blew through Liz's mind and suddenly she had an image of a very weird looking Tess with pink highlights and piercings.

She tried to keep her facial expression completely bland even as she desperately attempted to beat down the growing rush of images flooding her mind. This is so not the time, she thought angrily, I don't have to know stuff like this right now, I only need to know that these people are evil and we're in danger if we don't figure something out as soon as possible!

Using as much willpower as she could, Liz slowly managed to push her confusing mindscape aside enough for her to concentrate more fully on the matter at hand: Saving Alex and getting away from Nicholas without leading him to her other friends.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nicholas' tone was grating on Liz's last nerves, but she didn't react visibly other than deepening her scowl, "don't see it as following orders, but giving in to my request."

"Well," Liz sighed, her heart pounding a million miles per hour in her chest, sending a no doubt staggering amount of emotion Max's way, "when you put it like that…Please let my friend go, and I'll do whatever you want."

The enemy alien was tempted, it was obvious. He barely glanced at Alex as he started to struggle more desperately. "Don't! I'm not worth it," he cried out, doubling over in pain when his captive punched him savagely in the gut to silence him.

"Alex," Liz waited till he looked up again, an idea forming in her mind "I wish you could feel what I'm feeling right now…" His eyes glinted with understanding as she continued in a deceptively sad tone of voice, "It's devastating and I don't want to feel like this anymore, so I have to try to save you – to save us all." Please let him get it, she prayed silently with baited breath.

A beat of silence went by before Alex sighed and straightened up. Nicholas and the other eyed them both with suspicion until suddenly, Alex closed his eyes and something took away their ability to concentrate altogether.

Liz was affected too, her heart constricting painfully and she didn't know whether to scream out in agony or hope for the relief of passing out. She'd hoped his newfound powers could help if he really cranked it up, but this was too much, too hard, too sad—

"LIZ!"

She was roughly, but thankfully, pulled out of her mounting despair when Alex's arms shook her wildly an undisclosed amount of time later. Glancing under his arms, Liz caught sight of both Nicholas and the other one lying on the ground, moaning with their eyes firmly shut and their hands in their hair. To her disgust there were several pieces of skin on each of their cringing faces that seemed to be in the midst of falling off. She had to look away and swallow deeply a few times to beat off the wave of nausea the sight caused her.

"Snap out if it," Alex yelled and began dragging her away from the downed aliens with as much speed as he could manage. That was when Liz noticed the light sheen of sweat on her friend's pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes; clearly it had taken a lot out of him to purposely use his new abilities and she felt a rush of guilt that finally managed to send her right back to herself again with a resounding bang.

"Come with me!" She hissed and took over the dragging part and pulled on Alex's long arm to get him to follow her. "We'll find somewhere quiet long enough for us to call for help and to warm Maria and Tess to be careful too."

Some minutes later found the fleeing duo in the only other populated area in town in the evenings; the local pool hall slash bar that Liz had a weird sense of déjà vu in as soon as she stepped through the door. The loud music and the chattering of dozens of people rattled her even as she felt grateful for their presence. A small part of her hoped that Nicholas wouldn't publicly make a grab for her, that he still needed to maintain at least some semblance of normalcy in the world.

"Do you have your cell phone with you?" she asked Alex as soon as they'd walked into the most crowded area of the room. His dejected expression told her the answer before he even spoke.

"I didn't think we'd need it, Liz. It was just supposed to be a quick walk, nothing else. How was I to know that we'd be running for our lives and—"

"Don't worry, Alex," she interrupted before his anxiety could take over his exhausted state of mind, hoping that the chaos of different emotions in the room would make sure he could take out any specific feelings to feed on so to speak. "There's a payphone in the hall by the restrooms, I'll go call Maria to warn her and Tess and you can call Isabel right after that."

Alex looked sheepish, embarrassed almost, clearly he hated not being completely in control of himself and Liz didn't blame him one bit. "I don't think we have to call Isabel and tell her anything…I….uhm," he glanced around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation, "I think my ability heightened our connection. I haven't gotten a complete handle on this power, or anything and I'm almost sure my reaction to that kid and my brief stint as a hostage kinda tipped her off big time. Her emotions are running rampant with worry, anger and fear right now. I guess it's lucky I'm so beat or I'd be hyped up on it way more than I am already."

Frowning a little at Alex's words, Liz simply nodded and asked for money to the telephone, in case her limited amount wasn't going to cut it, because Maria did have a tendency to babble incessantly during freak outs.

And let's face it, Liz thought, making her way through the throng of people around her, this freak out may be putting the other ones she's had lately to shame. I just really hope her screams won't attract attention from Mom and Dad or any of the Skins…

As she quickly dialed the number to Maria's phone, Liz pondered over Alex's words about Isabel and their bond. It's weird; she thought as she listened to the tone in her ear, I've barely felt Max since before he left. There was that odd spike of anguish and hurt earlier, but since then it's like it's just gone. Like he doesn't want me to know what's going on with him anymore after I asked for time to think…I guess our bond just isn't as strong as the other's– Hell, even Kyle Valenti is involved with Tess now for some reason and—

"Who's this?" Maria's voice brought Liz tumbling back to the present and it took her a few seconds to get her mouth working properly. Seconds that immediately kicked up her best friend's paranoia. "I swear, if you don't stop breathing heavy like a pervert, I'm gonna go all over town until I find you and then I'll definitely show you that my cute blonde self is way more than you could ever handle so stop freaking me out by calling with secret numbers and crap."

She'd probably have continued for a while yet, but Liz raised her voice as much as she dared and cut through any further rants. "Maria DeLuca, quick acting crazy and listen to me!"

"Liz?"

"Don't freak out, okay." Liz cursed inwardly when Maria's voice immediately turned up so high that dogs in Canada could probably hear it and tried again, "Maria; you need to listen and do exactly what I say, okay?"

"…O-Okay," the reply was hesitant, but firm and Liz quickly told Maria what had happened ever since she and Alex had decided to go out for a walk.

0o0o0

Nearly twenty minutes later, Liz and Alex were getting a few looks, standing as they were next to the most active pool table, where their teenage selves didn't exactly fit in with the middle-aged biker types that were playing. And it doesn't help that Alex's anxiety is affecting everybody, cranking us all up with paranoia, Liz thought, forcing herself to stop fidgeting, Or that just before we walked over here, I had a screaming match to calm Maria down over the phone…

Liz didn't get more time to think about how Maria's screech of fear and outrage most likely had awoken the entire neighborhood, considering the yelp from Tess she'd heard in the background as the hybrid was shocked into wakefulness. Just as she'd decided to go back and call her friends again, there was a sudden hush in the crowd and Liz didn't need Alex's flinch to tell her that they'd been found.

Before anyone realized what was happening, Liz grabbed Alex and they snuck out the backdoor and into the alley that ironically enough they'd both hid in earlier that night. Sadly, they didn't get far.

Nicholas' accomplice stood watch at the only escape route and Liz's heart rate went right back into overdrive the second she spotted him. It didn't take long before Nicholas showed up as well, standing mock casually behind them in the doorway.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said, smiling coldly with anger burning in his eyes. Evidently, he didn't care much for the hide and seek aspect of the evening so far. Liz didn't feel that bad about it, but she did swallow down her fear at the idea of angering the alien more.

At least we got to warn Maria and Tess, Liz tried calming herself down a bit as they all stood immobile for a long second, Alex can use his powers again when he's gotten a little more rest and I'll…I'll stall as much as I can.

"Now, Little Girl," Nicholas' tone was eerily polite, making Liz want to rebel, but she forced her instincts down. "We're gonna talk and that human of yours better watch it or else…Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal."

"Kent, make sure he can't do that shit again," Nicholas ordered and before Liz – or Alex for that matter – could do more than cry out in objection, the large Skin, Kent catapulted into movement and a few seconds later, Alex was lying unconscious on the ground, bleeding from a rather nasty looking head wound from where Kent had slammed his fist into his temple.

Liz moved to run to him, but Nicholas raised a finger and shook his head warningly. Unable to stand looking at the deceptively innocent face, she turned and stared down at her hurt friend. Please somebody find us, she prayed fervently, Alex has to get help.

"Now," Nicholas spoke again, ending Liz's brief stint into desperation long enough for her to glare heatedly down at him, "don't look at me like that, we needed to talk and with that distracting you, you'd never really listen. So, I did you a favor, Ava."

"My name isn't—"

"No, I apologize," the teenage looking alien raised his hands in fake apology, "I should call you your new name, Liz. It's just that, since I last saw you, you have changed so much that it's hard to remember you're actually you if I don't use your original name. I'll do better from now on, you have my word."

"I don't want anything from you."

"I know, but consider it a pleasantry then, because I need you to listen to me so I can report back to my boss that I did what I could."

Liz crossed her arms, thinking hard in a try to find some kind of solution, but Nicholas seemed to take her silence as agreement and stepped closer with a little bit of caution.

"Now, I'm well aware of you Antarians and your superior abilities, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't…Oh, wait; Ava has never been the biggest combat oriented person so I doubt it will have transferred over to you so much." He grinned and for one moment, Liz wanted nothing more than to be able to use some kind of powers on him, killing him on the spot, but her natural personality took over and she felt horrified over the unexplained bloodthirstiness she'd suddenly sported.

"Before you say anything," Nicholas continued, obviously not worried in the least about her supposed powers now that Alex was out from the count, "consider me a friend. I'm here to help you, believe it or not. You've always had a great tendency to follow wholeheartedly after that fool husband of yours, but I'm here to warn you that the loyalty you have for him is in vain and also," his smug smile returned tenfold before he added, "Khivar has informed me that not everyone of the Royal Four are as loyal as you are."

For some reason, Liz knew exactly what to say and before she could talk herself out of it, she opened her mouth to coolly reply, "If you're talking about Vilandra, don't bother with that spiel. She's not her anymore, she's Isabel Evans and she's got a bigger heart than all of us combined. You can't put a wedge through us anymore; she won't betray her family again."

"Well," Liz's heart constricted at the pleased tone in Nicholas' voice, "then I suppose it's good that we've got the queen and not the princess in our clutches. Now, listen here; you will tell that husband of yours to give us the Granolith or we will kill you. You will tell him to get Vilandra to join us so my boss can have his old lover back and," Nicholas grinned evilly and took one step closer to her, "here's the kicker: If you don't do anything, if you don't join of your own free will, we'll kill that boy over there, your so called parents and everyone else you care about on this wretched planet. Do we have an understanding?"

Liz swallowed heavily, frantically trying to get her allegedly brilliant mind to come up with some kind of escape plan, but it didn't seem to cooperate and she wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground and sob her heart out. Instead, she kept her head high and did the only thing she could under these circumstances.

She fought back to save her friends and family. Without a word, Liz exploited the fact that Nicholas had gotten so close to her and swung out her cast clad arm as hard as she could and slammed the would-be-boy right in the throat.

Instantly, Nicholas doubled over, clutching his throat as he gagged violently. Liz heard him croak a curse word but didn't intend to stay around him for too long. Instead, she turned just in the nick of time to avoid a vicious stroke from a growling Kent.

Liz wanted nothing more than to grab Alex and make a break for it, but she knew that it was impossible. Hopefully they'll be so mad at me that they'll forget about him and chase after me, she hoped silently and dodged another strike from the angry Skin.

Using Dodgeball skills that frankly surprised Liz more than a little, she managed to avoid capture for a little while longer and for one short moment, she thought she was going to succeed in her escape plan - Except, Nicholas proved to be a lot tougher than his youthful body seemed.

"Got you, you little bitch," he sneered hoarsely, his voice still suffering from her earlier blow. His slender arms were like steel around her waist and even though Liz immediately used some of the tricks her dad once taught her and tried to head butt the Skin, it was pointless.

"I didn't want to do this," he whispered in her ear, sending puffs of warm, moist air over her skin that sent a shiver down her spine, "but I guess you can't be reasoned with. Kent!" He raised his voice a fraction and the other Skin jogged over to them with a serious expression on his face.

Liz's eyes darted between them as they had what seemed like a silent conversation between them until Kent nodded mutely and held out a hand in her direction. Instinctively, Liz just knew it wasn't a good thing to be touched by him, that she should step up her struggles to get away before it was too late.

She did squirm and move as much as she could, not willing to give up. But even as Liz cried out in refusal to submit she knew it was futile and a mere moment later she was proven right. Kent's scaly fingers touched her forehead and everything in Liz disappeared into a massive swirling vortex of pure suffering just as someone cried out her name.

Tess' POV

She'd been asleep without any of her usual haunted dreams of Nasedo trying to get her to kill her friends, and lately Kyle. It was the sound of hushed yelling that woke her up in the end and Tess yelped a little at the sudden loudness around here. After that she groaned softly, burrowing down in the soft pillow she'd somehow wrapped herself completely around and tried to get back to sleep before her constant worry about Kyle could wake her up entirely.

"…kidding me right now? It's dangerous to you too, I'm not gonna stay here and…No…Liz!"

Maria's voice turned increasingly more panicked and Tess finally opened her eyes and saw her friend pacing furiously back and forward across Liz's bedroom floor. Considering how pained I still am, I'm betting it's hurting her right now so she must really be wired up, Tess surmised and slowly sat up to avoid aggravating the hurting bones inside of her.

Whatever it was that Kyle went through, Tess thought, running a slightly trembling hand through her curls, I just hope it wasn't as bad for him as for me…Oh who am I kidding, she sighed and bit her lip in silent worry, Kyle must have felt it ten times more than me. I hope he's okay…

"Tess?" She looked over at Maria, who stood with her cell phone limply in her right hand. The look on Maria's face managed to cut through the haze of weariness that Tess had been battling with ever since Kyle's attack.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"It was Liz calling to tell us that we're in danger." Maria seemed at the end of her rope, and Tess walked over and hesitantly placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder. Human tendencies like soothing a friend in need were still so very new and foreign to her, but she was damn well willing to give her all.

"I'm listening." Tess murmured and gently led Maria over to the rumpled up bed to sit down more comfortably.

Five minutes later, Tess was shaking and trying to beat down the selfish part of her that just wanted to flee, if not the country then at the very least the state.

"This is bad, Maria," she whispered, feeling completely horrorstruck. "Those Skins, I heard Nasedo talk about once or twice over the years. They scared him and trust me, Nasedo wasn't scared of anything. I hate to say this, but we're really in danger right now."

Maria frowned, her forefinger and thumb fingering a small bottle that Tess recognized as one of Maria's soothing oils. "So what do we do now?"

"We do as Liz said and stay here, I'll put up some kind of barricade and hope it lasts long enough to keep us safe."

"Nah ah," Maria shook her head and stood back up with a speed that Tess didn't know she had in her, "Liz and Alex are out there; they're my two best friends in the whole world. I'm not leaving them alone while I cower here in the dark. Sure, the dark is a nice place where I can hide pretty well, now that I think about it, and I sure as hell don't wanna die or anything, but…" Maria's eyes lit up with a seldom seen light that did something to Tess' innards, something that almost made her feel ashamed more than anything else as the human continued softly, "but I need to do what Liz – and Alex – would do for me and help any way that I can."

"We can't do anything," Tess murmured, only just then realizing that she too had stood up as if to follow the other blonde subconsciously. "We're just two people."

"No," Maria argued with a smile that made her look wise beyond her years, "we're one admittedly dramatic human with crafty planning abilities and one Czechoslovakian who's been raised by a serial killer. I'd say we've got just as good a shot out there as Liz and Alex do."

Tess bit her lip thoughtfully, trying to muster up the courage to exit Liz's bedroom. I've been trained for these types of situations, she rationalized as Maria slowly began to get ready, I wanted to be a part of this and I can't back out just because I'm scared now…Besides I've got Kyle to protect too. He's just a human and he's gonna need me to back him up.

"Fine," she conceded after an image of a hurt Kyle entered her mind, forcing her to admit more than ever that whatever feelings she'd developed for the sheriff's son, they were stronger than she'd ever imagined. "Let's do this."

Maria nodded with a small smile and to Tess' surprise, she held out a hand with a can of pepper spray that she'd seemingly pulled out of nowhere before pocketing it for herself. "What?" her eyes danced with subtle amusement, "Liz is an only child and a girl. Let's just say that Mr. Parker has shown both of us a thing or two over the years and believes in being prepared."

Despite everything that was going on, despite Kyle's repeated spikes of pain and guilt and whatever it was they were about to head out in, Tess couldn't help but chuckle loudly at her human friend's sheepish smile and found in that moment that Kyle suddenly wasn't the only one she was ready to fight for.

0o0o0

Walking down the street with an increasingly more desperate blonde, who was sniffing a bottle of calming drops like nobody's business in the middle of the night, was something Tess had no desire to repeat. Especially since said blonde had not stopped mumbling about how much she really hated evil Czechoslovakians in a more and more loud voice that attracted curious looks from the few people that walked near them on their way.

Finally, Tess had had enough and she turned to Maria with a raised brow. "Look," she hissed angrily, "you're not the only one who's worried, but since it was your idea to leave Liz's apartment in the first place, I'd really like it if you'd just shut up for one little second so we can hear if something's going on that isn't supposed to – you know, so we could actually help if needed!"

Maria did a great imitation of a pout that made her look like a seven year old. Tess doubted the other blonde realized it at the time though, and then she sighed after one long moment of silence. "I'm sorry, Tess. I'm just not good under pressure, I guess. Usually Liz is the one leading me in those kinds of situations…I just really worry about my friends and Michael's not doing well, I can feel it and it worries me and," Maria sighed again and once more looked way more burdened than anyone her age really should in Tess' opinion, "to be honest I'm so scared."

Tess wanted to be able to lend a shoulder for Maria to lean on, but the part of her that had been raised by a merciless guardian turned killer wanted to slap her back into the real world. There was no time for this type of behavior, she could almost hear Nasedo's deep voice in her ear and she had to repress an urge to glance around to make sure he wasn't there. Ultimately though, Tess' newfound softer side won out and she managed to smile briefly with as much reassurance as she could muster up.

"We're gonna help our friends and Michael and Kyle and the others are gonna be fine. Tomorrow we'll all be laughing about this, I'm sure. Now come on, Maria, we haven't even looked inside the place Liz called from yet."

The two girls stood immobile for a moment before Maria's lip twitched self-deprecatingly, "You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you? 'Cause if you are, you really need to work on your acting skills."

Tess shook her head in denial with a matching smile on her lips and was about to say something when she heard a brief shout not far from where they were standing. Chills travelled down her spine and she shared a quick, anxious look with Maria; that voice belonged to Liz. Before she really knew how, Tess had commanded Maria to stay hidden and had exploded into movement, all thoughts about her own pain forgotten in the face of true danger to one of her only real friends.

She ran like she'd never run before in her life, a few moments later turning a corner and freezing instantly at the sight in front of her. Alex was on the ground, unmoving and Liz was in the arms of what appeared to be an everyday teenager with a huge beast of a man leaning over her.

Just as Tess arrived at the terrifying scene, the man touched Liz and the moaning gasp of pain reminded Tess of her own short minute in pain earlier that day and without really knowing how or why, she just snapped, anger fueling her more than she'd ever felt before in her life.

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF LIZ!" she screamed and reached out with all of her being and sent a bolt of crushing power towards the male, whose right arm immediately exploded into millions of pieces, sending bits of skin, bone and blood everywhere.

The scream of agony was like music to Tess' ears and for one short second, she spared enough mental capacity to worry about the pure joy she felt at administrating pain until her attention was caught by the teenager still holding Liz like his little life depended on it.

"W-Who the hell are you?" he sneered after he'd composed himself a little from her icy glare.

"I'm the one who's going to kill you if you don't put down my best friend," Tess practically growled and watched with inward confusion as the boy's eyes suddenly widened, darting from the unconscious Liz, who still seemed to be in pain for some reason, and back to herself.

"She's human," he then murmured and Tess cocked her head a little, feeling an unprecedented and instinctual need to save Max's mate.

"Yeah, and she's my king's woman, so I'd be careful with her if I were you."

"You're Ava?" The boy seemed completely gobsmacked at the whole idea, but Tess, who recognized the name, nodded with a sneer. "B-but you're supposed to be weak, not this…this—"

He stopped and then smiled such a creepy grin and Tess felt a sudden urge to find a washroom to scrub her skin raw. "Well, you're actually the one I came looking for in the first place."

Tess frowned; watching with growing irritation as the teenage enemy unceremoniously threw Liz to the ground and firmly told his moaning partner to shut the hell up. Then, he turned his full attention to her and she had to force herself not to react outwardly.

"Now that we've found the real queen, I have a proposition for you…"

Tess crossed her arms, sensing that for the moment she or her friends weren't in any further danger. "What kind of proposition?"

The young boy grinned widely and Tess' inner alarms started blaring as he calmly told her about wanting her to switch sides. "…and as a bonus," he finished with a grand hand gesture that he might have thought looked great, but in reality made him look foolish, in Tess' biased opinion, "…none of your little weaklings friends will be hurt further, we'll even take them to a hospital to be looked at. So what do you say, Your Majesty?"

Tess swallowed harshly, her heart pumping faster and faster as her mind searched out the best response. If I do as he says, I'll be able to help Liz and Alex to stay alive…If I do as he says, I'll get the power that I've missed my whole life, fulfilling my destiny to be queen like Nasedo always wanted. She bit her lip as a sudden rush of images flashed through her mind; Liz smiling in welcome when she first came to the school, Maria's protective friendship when her fellow hybrids had been less than welcome, Kyle's warm eyes when he'd first met her, Max's solemn face as he promised to stop leaving her out of the group, Alex's worry that she'd reject him for his new power burst, Isabel's beautiful face soft in regret at hurting her feelings, and Michael's rarely seen smile as they stood in the kitchen, trying new recipes that fit their unique taste buds.

"I will kill your friends if you don't make a decision soon," the boy's eerie polite voice told her and Tess forced herself back to the present with a small jolt.

"I…" she took a deep breath and with one final glance over at her downed friends that sent a tug through her heart, Tess continued quietly, "You don't have to do that…I've made my decision."

"Great," the young looking Skin clapped his hands with a smile. "Now, Kent here will make sure your friends are taken to the hospital and we'll talk business, you and I."

"Yeah…" Tess whispered, clenching her hands roughly in growing despair as her mind battled her heart. "Let's talk business."

TBC…

A/N Hope you enjoyed that – sorry for the cliffie yet again, but if I hadn't ended it there it would've been another month before my next update due to the massive length hehe. Take a moment to comment and I'll love you forever!

Until Next Time

Ditte Mai