I don't own Roswell or any of its franchise, but if Jason K. wants to give me the rights this christmas, I'm not saying no.

Big Thanks to Marzmez, who worked wonderfully and hard to get this chapter out on this special day!

A/N Now you're probably wondering what I mean by that, but it's pretty simple. TATT's turning 3 years old today! *whoop* I can't believe I anxiously posted that first chapter 3 years ago, truly not expecting anyone to enjoy this weird idea, but you all surprised me. So despite my real life issues that I won't bore you with, I had to honor my *baby's* birthday and reward all of my reviewers and readers for 3 long years with sporadic updates and unbelievable cliffhangers:) Enjoy!

Last Time on TATT: Max, Michael, Kyle and Isabel begin their race back to Roswell to help their loved ones, whose emotions through the bonds are telling them that things aren't as peaceful as they'd hoped. Liz and Alex run into Nicholas and try to escape without luck and both end up hurt. Tess has to make a choice in regards to Nicholas' suggestion and her role in Roswell.

Max's POV

The night was still, almost eerie in its complete abandonment of sound and life. Max enjoyed it on several levels; mostly due to the fact that the silence would be yet another way to ensure no one got too close to their temporary camp.

The soft patter of steps coming from behind him was an excellent example of that fact. Max smiled gently as two familiar arms wound themselves around his waist and his wife's warm body pressed itself up against his back.

"Come back to bed, Max."

It was like he was in another body, as if he was watching himself from the outside. He could see the white knuckles on the steering wheel as he pushed the jeep to give everything it had to return to Roswell, to Liz, as fast as possible. A part of him could hear the chatter of his friends and family in the car, but it didn't register. Nothing mattered. The only thing that was clear were the memories that Serena's soul had somehow grasped and brought back to life with a clarity that sent shivers of forgotten misery, pain and longing through his entire being.

He was sitting quietly with his sobbing sister in his arms, her warm tears leaving damp evidence of her heartbreak. Around him were the others that hadn't died…yet, his treacherous mind pointed out even as his arms tightened in response to Isabel's muffled cries of mourning for Kyle.

"He didn't have to die," the words were choked and hoarse as she kept repeating them in the crook of his neck.

A small part of Max cringed at the repressed feelings the memories brought back in his weakened mental state, his sanity hanging by a thread after all that had happened recently; the possibility of losing Liz a second time very real and something he knew he'd never recover from.

His body ached terribly as he stood mutely alongside his brother in all but blood, painstakingly carving out their wives' last resting place with their hands. The sun was burning his already bleeding back, aggravating his injuries even more so. Michael eventually responded to Isabel when they brought out the body of his deceased lover, but Max couldn't find it in him to acknowledge them; the agony inside of him numbing him completely to other people's struggles. The hole had to be perfect, nothing less…

Max bit his lip until he could taste the coppery tang of blood, that particular memory wasn't one he ever wanted to think about if he could help it. He'd lost himself utterly and completely after Liz's death and begun his true crusade to extract vengeance on Khivar like never before, losing his grip on humanity more and more with each passing day until returning to the past and rediscovering his sense of self.

"Max," Serena's tinkling voice was more somber than he'd ever heard, but still, a part of him thought – hoped – that she was merely jesting even though she'd already said it three times before, "I don't want to be saved."

"You're out of your mind," Max finally managed to force through gritted teeth, "You just don't know better."

Serena raised a brow in a manner that she'd clearly adopted from Maria. "Excuse me, Mister, but I'm pretty sure I know what I know and not what you think I should know…You know?"

Unable to mimic her smile, Max merely stood immobile until her slight grin faltered at his non-reaction. When she stood motionless, he continued to speak.

"I came back to save us all, not just my wife. You're a part of my family too and if you don't want to be healed because of the possible danger, I get that, I really do, but…" Max took a deep breath before adding softly, "you deserve to live and we're all ready to step back and not let you know us in this life as long as you and the rest of the Unit are safe, Rena."

Serena's eyes darkened at the sound of his nickname for her, but she stood patiently while Max struggled to put his reasons into words. "You all died because of that war, because of us and in your case because of me. None of you deserved that life; you had all killed before you reached adulthood. Hell, none of you evenreached adulthood because that senseless war."

Max knew that if he'd been in his own body, he'd be trembling and quite possibly screaming those last few words out, but since he was stuck inside Serena's peaceful mind and his corporal body stood in her bedroom with a no doubt anxious Isabel keeping watch, Max settled for cursing inwardly.

Serena stood silently forwhat felt like an eternity to Max, who hoped that his words had somehow penetrated her shell, had given her a reason to just do as he wanted for her. Then, slowly, Serena took a deep breath and moved closer to him where she somehow proceeded to kick his shin with a lot more glee than a time traveling presence from the past really ought to in Max's biased opinion.

He didn't get a lot of time to think about that though, because next thing he knew, Serena was yelling angrily in his face. "How many times do we have to die before you pull that stick outta your ass and think things through? Why is everything always your responsibility, huh? Believe me when I say that the rest of the Unit kids completely agree with me. We talked about regrets and sorrows more times than I can even count, Max. Sure, we died in the war – voluntarily, I might add – and that sucks big time. We were kids, but like you and the others we never really had the chance of a normal childhoodonce our powers manifested or have you forgotten those pesky little things, eh? My capacity to understand Antarian technology and the ability to hack any computer in the worldmade everyone else seem stupid by comparison., Eric threw fire and was unable to control it before finding us. Do you remember that he accidentally killed his classmates on a fieldtrip when they bullied him? Let's not forget little Sydney, who's billionaire dad flinched every time they were in close contact because he was suffering from being Larek's host body and her ability to manipulate molecules freaked him out more than anything or—"

"I get it," Max held up his hand, practically growling in frustration, "we ruined your lives; I ruined everything and I'm sorry, but I just can't let you die needlessly again."

"Whoever said we blame you, Max? That's something you have to work on, my friend; not everything is your fault. Yeah, your healing gave us powers that eventually made us seek you out and join the fight so to speak, but most of us would've died as kids in Phoenix anyway. I got a lot of extra years with a family that believed in the good in people and didn't give up no matter what. It gave me a lot of hope for mankind, really."

They stood without speaking for a minute, before Max, feeling increasingly desperate, tried again, "None of you deserve to die, Rena…"

"I know that," the young woman whispered tiredly and continued gently, "You can save the others by somehow getting them to a hospital in the near future. Their condition isn't very advanced or only just beginning and in our last life, it was mostly discovered too late and if you somehow get them to a check up early on, there's a very good chance for them. Use Izzie's powers to freak the parents into getting them to a doctor or something…"

"And you, what about you?" Max knew, he just had to hear Serena say the words one more time. "What about you?"

The smile that formed on the girl's plump lips nearly broke Max's heart completely, it was heart wrenching to see her so certain and serene in the face of her own illness.

"It's already too late for me, Max. I'm going to that ward in about a week. I was the one who lived there the longest, aside from Eric. I had my life, Brother, and I spent it doing exactly what I should and when I somehow figured out a way to give this plea to you, I jumped at the chance. Also," Serena suddenly looked her age again and Max's heart clenched even more, "I really wanted to see how everyone was doing, which brings me to my final selling point."

"Oh?" Max frowned and then paled rapidly a moment after Serena finished talking.

"If you save us this time around, with your current power level then you're only accelerating things beyond your control and I really don't think a five year old fire maniac like Eric is something you'll be able to handle discreetly – I mean, he was bad enough when he was nine, right?"

"What do you mean with my current level?" Max had a foreboding feeling, but prayed his suspicions were incorrect until Serena solemnly answered his question.

"When you travelled back; you, Michael and Isabel took over your former bodies with all they entailed. That means you took over the current powers they had and mixed it with the abilities and strengths from your old life, gaining a lot more power than previously. It's something that's gonna affect you all, but since you're the only healer, Max, it means that the molecule changes that your healing brings forth in humans, happens a lot faster. It'll be faster still if you're all doing it in tandem like when you healed Michael that one time in that cave or whatever it was. The four of you were meant to work as a solitary unit and lending each other strengths whenever needed.

"That's why Alex got his powers already," Max murmured to himself, and Serena's nod of agreement settled it completely.

"Then…What about Liz? Whyhaven't her abilities showed up yet?" Max asked, finding familiarity in the way he automatically listened to the much younger Serena, whose knowledge had helped them survive far longer than was plausible in their original lives. "I healed her the very first day we showed up here, yet she's powerless."

"I don't really know that," Serena shocked him by replying. "I have an inkling only, but you'll have to forgive me if it's wrong. I think she's already got her powers to some degree but that something is blocking her."

Serena smiled, seemingly growing younger with every passing moment and half of Max dreaded the moment she'd send him away, leaving her to die even as the rest of him was itching to learn more about the many questions they'd asked themselves ever since returning.

"What do you mean? She's got powers already or what?"

"I think that she, and the other bonded humans have somehow travelled with you. I mean," Serena clarified softly, "I think that the part of their souls that you all carried went with you to this time and slowly merged with their counterparts and some of that power and the memories are buried in them all."

"That doesn't explain Kyle," Max muttered, even as a fierce hope began to lighten up his chest with pure happiness, "he's the human and he somehow came back without being healed and even without being bonded too."

Serena sighed tiredly, seeming to grow more weary with every passing second, but she still appeared willing to answer as many questions as she could, "Again, I'm not quite sure. Truly, I believe that it all stems from the fact that Tess was never meant to betray us all. That her unintentionally half-formed bond with Kyle stuck with him or something and when you all returned, it came with you through powers way more mystically than I can fathom. Heck, Max; I don't know everything and I don't wanna go the God way, but maybe it was divine intervention for good deeds or something…Just be thankful for it because Kyle was a powerhouse and you can never go wrong with that, right?"

His head wasspinning with all the information given to him, but Max managed to use his old ability to compartmentalize as much as he could and decided to plea with his surrogate child one last time.

"I love you, Rena. I don't wanna see you go."

Her small image seemed to shrink down to her sleeping counterpart's age, her hands embraced his cheeks gently and she placed a small, warm kiss on the tip of his nose. "Just promise me one thing."

"Anything," Max breathed, swallowing hard.

"When everything is over; when you've finished with the Skins and made Khivar realize none of you want to be involved in the war again…when," Serena's voice hitched a little and Max's heart went out to her, "when everything is bright and happy and wonderful…just…please don't forget me, okay?"

"Rena…" Max enveloped her tiny frame in his arms and savored the childlike scent that hit his nose, knowing that this was the last time he'd ever see her alive. "We'll never forget or stop loving you; you have my word on that, Sweetie."

He could feel her smile against the crook of his neck and imprinted the memory in his mind immediately. "Good," her muffled, childish voice said, "Because you have to go now…You're needed elsewhere."

"Wha–?"

Next thing he knew, Max felt himself being forced back out of Serena's mind and found himself standing back in the corporeal world in her bedroom, his mind desperately trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.

"Max?"

Isabel's concerned voice somehow managed to intrude on the last memory of Serena, and he forced himself to look at his sister briefly, which seemed to be enough for her at the present time. Mutely, his attention turned back on the road, reveling in the fact that they had finally arrived back in Roswell.

"I'm following Liz's whereabouts through the bond," he said quietly and advised softly, "You three should do the same with your bonded."

Kyle, Michael and Isabel all nodded in tandem and closed their eyes tightly.

I'm coming Liz, Max mentally told his absent love as he too reached out as far as his senses would let him, I'll end this war before it can start this time, I swear. Just hold on, I can't lose you too…

Alex's POV

The pain was nauseating at first; his entire body throbbed in pure agony and it took the gangly teenager a while to remember what had caused it in the first place.

As Alex slowly came back to his senses, he could feel that there was a warm, sticky feeling on the back of his head, with throbs of pain echoing out from it and he knew that he'd been injured somehow. The details were still fuzzy.

He managed to swallow back a groan when he first came too, but inwardly he was whimpering. It took a moment more before Alex realized that he was moving and a quick glance through half-lidded eyes told him what he already suspected; he was in the back of a van with Liz lying next to him.

He took another glance to make sure they were alone in the back before Alex began moving slowly over to his friend. His entire body protested every movement, but his concern wouldn't let him quit before he'd made sure that Liz wasn't seriously harmed or worse.

"Liz?" He whispered, reaching a shaking hand out to touch her neck, searching for a pulse. Before his hand connected with her skin, Liz gave a quiet moan.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the pain his movement caused him and tried bringing Liz back to consciousness. Only, as he looked closer, Alex noticed that her eyes were moving rapidly behind closed lids, she was frowning deeply and her skin was bathed in sweat.

She's obviously in agony; Alex surmised silently and gently stroked her sweat matted hair away from her face. I wonder what happened after I lost consciousness. Judging from the way she's looking right now, it can't have been good.

Alex didn't get a chance to ponder for long, he'd only just stopped trying to wake Liz up when the vehicle suddenly came to an abrupt stop and the unseen driver exited the van.

Alex's heart was beating fast and he immediately tried to multiply his feelings of fear and confusion in a hope that it'd manage to incapacitate the person about to open the doors, but to his horror, Alex's powers seemed completely drained after waking up and if he'd had time he'd have cursed violently.

"Shit," was the only thing he managed to hiss before the doors to the van slammed open and he locked eyes with the old looking alien, Kent that oddly enough seemed to have lost a part of his arm since he'd last seen him.

If he's that injured, Alex thought frantically, why the hell isn't he dead yet? What's he planning?

In the blink of an eye, Kent mimicked Alex's earlier curse and somehow managed to jump to Liz's side and hold out his remaining hand to her face wearing a twisted smile. "Don't try any of that funny crap on me again, human or I'm gonna end this little bitch right now."

Alex's insides froze in fear, but he kept an impassive face, eager to keep up the illusion that his powers were still very much available and that it was only the threat on Liz's life that kept him from using them, not his exhaustion.

"What did you do to her?" he asked instead, slowly holding up his hands to show his willingness to cooperate.

Kent's twisted smile turned downright sinister and had Alex been a lesser man, he couldn't have repressed the shiver that ran though spine at the sight. He simply swallowed a lump of dread when the alien finally replied.

"I was interrupted last time we were busy having fun together and I didn't get a chance to end my little connection with her."

"What? She's been in pain ever since I blacked out?" Alex was horrified, no wonder Liz seemed to be uncomfortable; Kent was basically still torturing her! "Stop it right now!"

"You better be more respectful to me, Boy," Kent warned, his hand hovering over Liz's face mockingly, "I can make her feel like this forever if I want to."

Once more, Alex froze mid-movement, hating his vulnerability like never before. "Just stop hurting her, please," he begged quietly and added a "Sir," for good measures.

Kent smirked and placed his hand on Liz's damp forehead in an almost tender way that made Alex want to shove the male away from her in disgust. A moment later, Liz's furrowed brow smoothed and she looked, if not peaceful then at least a little more relaxed.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief, only to gasp in shock when Kent wrapped his arm around Liz and unceremoniously began dragging her out of the van. Alex scrambled to follow suit, and had to fight back the urge to vomit as wave after wave of nauseating dizziness swept over him at the quick movements.

"Wait, what do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up and get out here, human," the alien growled, obviously now in pain himself after the hardship of carrying a still non responsive Liz outside.

Following the order to the best of his limited ability, Alex eventually got out of the van and saw, to his shock, that they were in the middle of nowhere. They'd been taken to the desert and the moon and the twinkling stars shining down on them were the only light nearby.

"W-what are we doing here?" Alex was beginning to get a bad feeling about this, his worries for Liz and her pain taking a backseat to the more immediate threat.

Kent chuckled darkly, kicking Liz over to a mound of sand. "Damn, I can't wait till your mouth stops speaking, Boy. I thought I'd done a nice enough thing to the girl there, now she won't be in pain anymore."

"What?"

"Oh shut up and get down here before I kill her right now." Kent looked menacing and all Alex could do was follow orders, trying to push past the soreness so he could try and think up a plan to save them. "I'll tell you a secret, though," the alien continued kicking Liz again so she rolled past the sand and disappeared into what Alex only now discovered to be a hole, "I hate killing small fish like you people. Your entire race is a disgrace. I have no idea what the hell it was you did to me earlier, but I'm still stronger than you and it gets boring to end your race's miserable lives all the time… Now, come here."

"You may be stronger, but I'm way smarter and I'm not gonna let you kill me without fighting back," Alex growled angrily as he struggled to grasp the small sparks of his power, "I'm not letting you kill us like animals."

"But that's exactly what you are," Kent exclaimed and bent down in a crouch with his arm reaching down into the hole towards Liz and Alex finally managed to get his fear multiplied and sent out towards the alien, but to his despair it fizzled out halfway there and did no good what so ever.

"Please…" Alex felt like crying, he was barely seventeen years old for Christ's sake and his life was only beginning.

"Don't beg, it's pathetic," Kent mocked, "I was ordered to kill you ants in secret so the former Queen Ava or Tess or whatever she wants to be called these days would cooperate with my superior. So even though that bitch took my arm, she can't be too upset about losing you weaklings… You know what, thinking about how much it will hurt her once Nicholas is done with her, I take it all back; I can't wait to end your miserable excuse of a life. Now get ready, Human!"

Unable to think of anything, spent as he was after his last desperate attempt at saving Liz and himself, Alex stayed on his knees where he'd fallen earlier without resisting. Isabel, I'm sorry, Alex thought with all his might, praying that she'd hear him and feel him before things ended for him. I'm so sorry.

Kent made his way over to him and Alex tried using one of those techniques that Liz had once taught him to close off his end of the connection with Isabel. I can't let her feel me die, he thought, especiallysince she already saw me die once before…

Alex closed his eyes, but they quickly snapped open again when a rumbling sound in the distance interrupted his artificial calm. Kent too was distracted, turning halfway around to look at something that honestly surprised Alex more than anything else.

It was a car hurtling over the ground at maximum speed and before Alex could do much more than gape unintelligently at the approaching vehicle, it slammed violently into Kent, sending the alien flying with a scream of agony.

The lights blinded Alex, so he could only make out a blurry shape exiting the car with a hurried jump. The voice told him who it was as the figure hysterically asked, "Did I get that fucker? Tell me I got him!"

"Maria?" Alex breathed out his friend's name and as the blurry figure came closer, he recognized her completely and decided to do what he'd wanted to ever since waking up. He blacked out again.

0o0o0

When he came to, Alex found himself lying on the ground with Maria crouched over him and slapping his cheek over and over again.

"Urh," Alex's groaned pathetically, upping his vocal displeasure to, "Aw, Maria, stop helping me!"

Her small hand stopped a few centimeters away from his now stinging cheeks and her eyes looked scared and just as confused as he felt. "Oh thank God, you're awake," she exclaimed after a short pause, "I think I actually killed that other guy; I can't carry Liz out of that hole over there, Tess went with that creepy kid all alone, Michael seems so tired and… and my mom's car is completely ruined on the front – there's no way she'll let me borrow it after this, I guarantee it."

"Way to prioritize," Alex muttered, slowly sitting up. He expertly ignored Maria's gasp of outrage at his quip and added tiredly, "we need to get Liz out of that hole and make sure that guy is subdued before we do anything."

"Despite the fact that you obviously don't think I'm a capable human being," Maria's tone was dark and Alex felt the wispy echo of her annoyance and hurt through the limited powers he had available even after his brief fainting spell, "but I already tied him up with some of the rope that was in the trunk and he didn't even flinch when I touched that yucky nonexistent arm of his, and I did that before I even tried pulling Liz out myself."

Sighing, Alex placed a hand on Maria's shoulder, guilty over having hurt her feelings. He knew that she put up a front with most people when in reality she really was quite vulnerable to any type of criticism from her loved ones. "Sorry, Maria," he murmured and squeezed softly.

Maria didn't move for a second, but then she relaxed her tense stance and Alex didn't even need his powers to know that he'd been forgiven. "So, let's get Liz," he changed the subject and gratefully accepted Maria's assistance at getting back on his feet. His dizziness was still present, so even with her help his movements were rather wobbly before he found his footing and made his way over to the hole Liz was lying unconsciously in.

Liz's slender frame was completely still and if he hadn't already known her to be alive, Alex would've thought she was dead. At least I got the torture to stop; Alex comforted himself and carefully began crawling down to his friend.

It took almost twenty minutes to get Liz into the Jetta's backseat. When he looked back on it, Alex honestly had no clue how they managed it given his wounded condition and Liz's complete lack of assistance.

Making sure she was as comfortable as possible, Alex then gestured for Maria to follow him back to his would-be killer to see if he was still alive. When they got to him, his quiet moans told their own story and out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Maria give a sigh of relief.

"Don't be so pathetic," Alex ordered, purposely mimicking the alien's earlier words, "I'm gonna ask you some questions and if you wanna live, I suggest you answer them."

"I'm not gonna live long if Nicholas finds out I've betrayed him," Kent sneered, his face grimacing at his pain.

Maria leaned over Alex's shoulder, only able to do because he was hunched over, "Well, you're not gonna survive one more meet and greet with my car, you know. So talk."

Alex cringed, hoping that the other Skin wasn't about to call her rather obvious bluff. Fortunately, Kent seemed distracted enough by his pain not to take in the pretty unconvincing look on Maria's pale face.

"I don't know anything—"

"Then what was with all the boasting earlier?" Alex interrupted coldly.

"Nicholas needs the Granolith and Av-Tess knows where it is, she seemed real eager to reveal everything once you were out of her sight."

Alex glanced over at Maria, who frowned and took over the interrogation. "Tess wouldn't do that unless it was worth something to her. What did you promise her?"

Knowing the answer, Alex replied before Kent could say something that would undoubtedly end with Maria restarting the Jetta in fury. "She was promised that Liz and I got help, he told me that before you got here. So she thinks she's saving our lives."

At least this time she's not some power hungry murderer that ruins my brain, Alex thought with real gratitude. If nothing else, at least Isabel and the others saved Tess' soul this time around.

The whole concept of time traveling and the alterations to his current timeline still freaked the usually very logical teenager out, but he could see the benefits at long last. Like the ones that mean we're all still alive of course, he added with an internal grin.

"So you're saying that Tess is all alone out there and thinks she's sacrificing herself for you?" Maria clarified and Alex nodded, waiting for the inevitable blowup. He didn't have to wait long. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for? We've got to save her."

A dark, hoarse chuckle interrupted them and they both looked down on Kent, his mouth twisted into a bizarre smile with bubbles of blood oozing down his chin, "Like your feeble race can even come close to our leader and Nicholas. They will never…" his voice ended in a coughing gurgle that sent a wave of pained nausea over Alex, telling him that at long last his gift was slowly returning.

"Yeah, well," Alex stood up with his eyes locked on the quickly deteriorating Skin, "we got you, didn't we? Humans or not. Come on, Maria, let's—"

Suddenly, there was a sound from the distance that Alex immediately recognized. Turning around he could already see the headlights from another car fast approaching. The question is, he thought warily, is it someone that's with us or against us?

Maria seemed to have gotten the same idea, she hurried over to the Jetta and tried starting the car just in case they needed to escape, but before the car came to life the other vehicle was close enough for Alex to sense Isabel's presence as if she was shouting out to him.

"It's the good guys," he told Maria, who immediately slumped forward over the steering wheel with relief before hurrying back over to his side, muttering something about finally seeing what had happened to Michael.

Kent gasped hoarsely for breath behind them, but no one took much notice seeing as their attention was trained on the familiar sight of the Jeep coming to a rough halt a few feet away. Mere seconds later, Isabel was out the door, meeting Maria halfway, who was on route to the just now appearing Michael. The next thing Alex knew, he had a six foot hybrid in his arms, squeezing the life out of him.

"You're okay, thank God," Isabel muttered repeatedly into his ear and under normal circumstances, Alex would more than likely have loved the closeness, but as it was, his head was throbbing and his recurring bouts of nausea finally got the best of him and he wrenched himself away from the embrace and threw up right next to them.

"Alex!" Isabel gasped his name and held a cool hand to his burning forehead, her touch filled him with relief even as her chaotic emotions of worry, guilt and love flew into him; it would seem that his slowly returning powers always worked at full capacity whenever it was Isabel near him.

Feeling a little bit more like himself, Alex carefully straightened back up. He sheepishly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, wishing he had a cool glass of water in his hands to cleanse his mouth. Alex was so caught up in the innocent desire to not have major bad breath near his sort of girlfriend, that he almost missed said female turn to an eerily still Max and ask if he'd heal his head wound.

"No, I'm fine," Alex protested and stepped back. He was instinctively afraid of the healing power that had somehow given him his abilities and given from the slight slump in Isabel's shoulders, she knew it and he felt guilty and wanted to make her smile.

"Maybe after we've dealt with that guy, okay?"

As he'd hoped, Isabel's beautiful face lit up into a smile that seemed to wipe her exhaustion off her face and Max nodded once, still completely silent.

Maria stood with Michael over by the Jeep, her arms around his waist and to his surprise, Alex saw them kiss as if their lives depended on it. Kyle stood next to them with a vaguely nauseated expression on his face, seemingly praying for the ground to swallow him whole to escape the sight, but unable to actually turn his head and look away.

It was the quick approach of yet another car that interrupted the couple and drew everyone's attention back to the present situation. The car stopped and a moment later, a pretty, young woman stepped out in a graceful motion that would look staged on anyone else.

Who's that? Alex wondered, eying the blonde with narrowed eyes. He grabbed Isabel's hand and her touch got his powers to flare to life and he instantly sent out feelers to see if the unknown girl was an enemy or friend. Before his probing powers reached her, Isabel spoke and cleared the issue on her own.

"That's Courtney; she's a Skin too, but a good one that wants to help us."

"What? If she's one of them, she's obviously just playing you," Maria yelled, finally wrenching her lips away from a seemingly rather rejuvenated Michael's, "You can't trust them, they're insane!"

Alex looked over at Isabel with a raised eyebrow, silently agreeing with his friend. Isabel sighed and quietly muttered, "We know we can trust her, okay?"

Ah, Alex thought tiredly, she's someone they knew in that other life and are willing to trust now… I wonder what she did to earn their trust…

The Skin, Courtney walked over to them, sending a brief glare at a confused looking Maria that made Alex wonder just how much trust they should give the female. When her eyes met his, Alex felt a little calmer, she looked gentler somehow than Kent and Nicholas and his senses told him that aside from some irrational emotions at the sight of Maria in Michael's arms that Alex frankly didn't understand, she was genuinely willing to help and hoping to stop her kind from ruining their lives.

"Hi." Was all she said and Alex waved awkwardly in return before turning to Max, who stood immobile and seemingly emotionless. Despite appearances though, Alex could sense that the time traveler was itching to go to Liz's unconscious form in Maria's car.

Deciding to help the other guy out, Alex gestured towards the car, "she's been unconscious since we got here, and I got the Skin to stop torturing her so—"

"Torturing her?" To say Max's tone was cold was a pretty huge understatement, but Alex soldiered on, knowing that the anger wasn't directed at him personally.

"Maria ran him over and tied him up, he's over there." Pointing behind him, Alex fell silent at the suddenly oppressing power surge coming from Max.

Alex let go of Isabel, in an attempt of minimizing his own powers, but it seemed like them touching had somehow refueled his reserves and he could feel Max's pure, raw anger directed at the downed Skin.

Fortunately for Alex's peace of mind and sanity, Max managed to reign in his feelings and then began making his way to the wounded enemy moaning more and more weakly on the cold ground.

What happened next was forever branded into Alex's memory; his being cried out in equal parts shock and fear. Max simply bent down and began searching the other man's back for something.

Kent tried fighting back, but his tied up status and wounds didn't allow him much resistance, evidently, unlike Alex, he knew just what was about to happen. Alex watched in growing horror as Max's face transformed into a deathly mask that didn't suit him and simply said, "Go to hell," before he did…something that simply disintegrated Kent into a million pieces of dust that quickly blew away in the gentle night wind.

Without showing the slightest bit of remorse over his kill, and Alex could feel nothing but a grim satisfaction brimming from the dark-haired hybrid, Max quickly made his way over to the Jetta and climbed in to Liz's side where his emotions suddenly proceeded to burst through him at such an accelerated rate, that Alex flinched and took a few steps back.

"What's wrong?" Isabel was immediately next to him, crowding him and all of the sudden it was just too much for the usually calm teenager to handle. In the span of nearly no time at all, he'd found out his girlfriend was from a very bleak future, had almost killed her by accident, been chased by two crazy aliens, been hurt and scared, he'd almost been killed himself and now this, coupled with his returned powers of empathy, it was just too much!

"Everybody stop, just stop feeling!" Alex roared and pulled his own hair to relieve some of the tension rising in him. "I can't take it anymore!"

Bitter anger so powerful he could almost taste it on his tongue burned inside him, battling it out with fear and confusion and an all consuming need for peace. In the distance, Alex heard Maria trying to calm him even as Isabel called for Max's help. The last thing he sensed, just before he felt like he was about to literally explode, was two hands and Max's presence and then everything turned blissfully dark once again.

Nicholas' POV

It's hard to believe that the sniveling Ava blew Kent's arm off like that, Nicholas thought to himself with a hint of amusement. To be honest, he'd never really liked the man and seeing the arm blown off his body as if it was made of glass had satisfied some deep urge Nicholas hadn't known was in him.

He glanced over at the stony looking Antarian, who kept insisting on using 'Tess' as her new name. She's definitely changed, he thought cautiously, before she would have waited for her husband before making any kind of major decision like this. Gotta love that human independence.

The mockery was clear even in his head, and Nicholas quickly wiped off the sneer of disgust for the human race before turning his head towards Tess.

"I really don't know why you're being so cold, Tess," he said, trying to put as much politeness into his tone as possible, "I've done what you asked in regards to those friends of yours. Kent will call me the minute they're in the E.R. so wipe that frown off that pretty face, why don't you?"

Tess' left eye twitched and her lips thinned for a moment. "If you think I'm happy about betraying my friends, you're more insane than I thought. I promised to take you to the Granolith, I didn't sign on to be your new playmate, kid."

"I'm not a kid," Nicholas practically growled, still extremely sensitive about his apparent youth even after nearly fifty years. He wanted nothing more than to escape the body he'd been given and return to his own or at the very least, a body that could go into a store and didn't have to get his underlings to buy age restricted items.

"Okay, keep your pants on," Tess taunted, once again showing the Skin her transformation from the weaker Ava from his memories.

"That's it," Nicholas whipped out his cell phone, for once not taking the time to miss his planet's much more advanced technology in his eagerness to wipe that smirk off Tess' face, "I'm calling Kent to stop him from getting help for your friends."

Petty? Yes, but his pride had been hurt and he could not stand for that – it reminded him of how Khivar treated him and he hated feeling mocked.

"No, wait!" Tess immediately froze and added insistently, "I'm sorry; I'm just not used to having friends to betray and it's hurting me… Please don't call Kent, Liz and Alex need help. I'll stop talking, I promise."

"Now was that so hard?" Nicholas didn't put away his phone and thoroughly enjoyed the panicked look in the girl's eyes as he pressed his speed dial and held the phone up to his ear.

"Are you on your way?" He asked, before the person answering even said a word.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Sir." A female woman said and continued seriously, "We've tried contacting those in town, but no one is answering. Should we send a few of us back to check on the others?"

Nicholas rubbed his chin, absentmindedly wishing for a full beard that he'd always wanted, and answered, "No, there's no time. They're probably enjoying themselves a bit too much with the hostages. I'll handle them when we get back. For now, just come pick us up, so we can call Caden and his men to meet us at the Granolith."

"Understood, Sir," the woman replied and hung up.

Nicholas smiled at the wary look on Tess' face and waited patiently for a few minutes until four big black cars pulled up next to them. He turned to Tess and opened the door of the closest car, "After you, Your Majesty."

Tess' eyes looked like he'd just offered her a swim in a tank full of sharks. Which, Nicholas smiled widely as he quickly followed the hybrid, isn't really that far off, when I think about it.

A moment later, Tess was giving directions to the driver and they took off towards the Granolith that Nicholas and his kind had looked for as long as they'd been on this retched planet.

Finally, he thought, leaning back in his seat and visualizing Khivar's pleasure and rewards for his services, the Royal Pains will be gone for good and we can go home to a world where people respect me as the fierce warrior that I am.

As Nicholas contemplated his coming triumph he almost missed the way Tess was looking at them with a very calculating look in her eyes, the proof that she may be beaten, but was in no way giving up the fight. When he did spot it, however, the Skin merely smiled arrogantly. On her own, she's weak and there's only Vilandra left to fight us and she's always been more interested in playing in the sheets than fighting so this is gonna be easy.

Not even Zan and Rath can escape my town unscathed, but I'm not telling her that until Vilandra finds us. It'll be good to see the looks on their faces when they realize that the Royal Four is no more.

Nicholas sighed with satisfaction and then concentrated on his upcoming phone call with one of the few men that he actually feared. Caden, Khivar's second in command, had been sent to Earth only a few months ago when they finally developed the perfect vessel for the powerful alien.

At least, after tonight, Nicholas thought with an anxious feeling, he won't be Khivar's second anymore, because I'm gonna be the one that will always be remembered as the true killer of the Royal Four…

TBC…

A/N So there it was, I hope this chapter answered some of the questions that I've been hinting at since... well, the very beginning now that I think about it. I'm tying the ends together before the end:) And if anyone's wondering why I'm introducing a new villain and an original character at that, well, I did mention him during a flashback that Max had of the time Serena died the first time around...If you don't remember and don't want to reread, then trust me; I'm not throwing things out willy nilly - I've truly been working towards this for a very (3 years, can you believe it?) long time.

I'd love to hear from you all to find out how or what first got you attracted to this story, enough to follow it for so long with minimum complaint? Thanks for any and all comments as always and I promise that these epic AN's are over until I finish the story and have to write the obligatory thank you speech;)

Until Next Time

Ditte Mai