I don't own Roswell or Any of its franchise. If I did, I'd start a kickstarter project and make a Roswell movie like Rob Thomas is doing with the Veronica Mars movie.

Betaed by the amazing Marzmez, whose input and questions (aka. Kicks in the butt) kept me going when I was ready to throw in the towel. Thanks!

A/N *looks cautiously at everyone, ready to bolt* Hi, I'm sorry it's taken so long, but life…Just…Anyway, here's an action packed chapter for you all with just a tiny reminder of I have everything under control despite the usual cliffie at the end. Certain parts of this chapter were planned from the beginning and others just flew out of me with no regard to the overall plot. That said, just trust me, for all that's holy – Trust. Me… Enjoy!

Last Time on TATT: The Timetravellers + Courtney arrive to help Alex and Maria with the Skin, Kent, who Maria already injured. Max doles out some vengeance, shocking the humans. Nicholas suffers from delusions of grandeur because he's got Tess and is still unaware that Michael and Kyle have escaped the Skin infested town. He still thinks Kyle is Zan. When we last saw everyone, Alex could no longer handle all of the tumult emotions and fainted. I think that's all of it, let's continue the fun, shall we?

Michael's POV

They all stood still, holding their breath when Alex's power snuffed out and he went to the ground. It was eerie how the memory of the night he'd died in the original timeline kept playing on Michael's mind. Maybe it's the defeated look in Max's eyes? He pondered, tightening his hold on Maria's trembling form when the other hybrid crouched next to the unconscious human.

Or just the fact that the shit storm keeps on coming and we can't seem to stop any of it, he amended bitterly as he silently watched Max's now glowing hands dart over Alex's body to assess his current state.

"He's got a nasty head wound," Max finally said after what felt like forever. Another few moments of glowing hands and the wound vanished as if it had never been there – if one discounted the trail of dried blood all over the teenager's face and neck.

It didn't take long after the healing before Alex began to stir and the moment he did, Michael noticed Max all but run to Liz's side out of the corner of his eye. Evidently he couldn't keep himself away from her any longer, but Michael didn't blame him.

If it'd been Maria, I wouldn't have been able to keep it together for half the time he did, Michael thought and waited until Isabel had calmed down the guilty and embarrassed looking Alex enough for him to actually process things properly.

"So," Michael tried to step away from Maria, forcing away the part of him that just wanted to keep hold of her and hoping the bad things would avoid them for all eternity, but she didn't seem the least bit willing to cooperate as her grip only got firmer. "We need to think of a plan."

Courtney nodded in fervent agreement and Michael had to swallow back a mixture of sadness over her original destiny and pure annoyance since his much older self now clearly saw the blatant hero worship in her eyes. I can't believe I missed out on that the first time, he chided himself as he took a step closer to the others with Maria still practically glued to his side.

Kyle spoke up; momentarily distracting Michael from remembering the first time he'd gotten to know Courtney and her beliefs that had planted a seed of wanting the King's power all to himself that he hadn't really recognized until the time when Max had died from the hands of a homicidal rich old guy and his younger wife.

"First of all we need to get to the Granolith before the Skins do. Nicholas is bound to get there soon with Tess' help."

"Tess isn't helping him," Alex murmured and everyone's attention went back to him. Michael frowned a little when he recognized the flash of pure hope that came into Kyle's eyes before he gained control of his expression.

"Yeah," surprisingly, it was Maria, who spoke up next. "It's totally not her doing. That evil teenager with way to many issues, if you ask me, forced her hand. I heard him threaten Liz and Alex's lives before she would even consider not killing him. I was too freaked out to really understand any of it until Alex filled in the blanks for me. She only agreed to help him so Alex and Liz could get medical help."

"Yeah, but I guess he told his henchman to kill us anyway." Alex's voice was hoarse and Michael caught his eyes darting over to Max, still sitting in the Jetta with Liz. "But he's the one who ended up dying…"

Obviously, he's a little spookedat seeing the darker side of Max, Michael surmised as he too looked over at a silent Max. The former king was caressing Liz's unconscious form ever so gently; as if afraid his touch would hurt her even more. Not that I blame him really. In this life, he's still pretty innocent so any violence is bound to shock the hell out of his principles and beliefs.

"He deserved it, trust me." Courtney's voice was without any infliction and Michael knew there was an untold story there just waiting to be shared, but frankly they didn't have the time, so he took over the conversation.

"Forget about that now. We need to get a plan together before it all ends up with us dead and with no Granolith."

Kyle nodded, seemingly very eager to plan now that his tentative faith in Tess had been restored somewhat and spoke up. "We'll pile up in the cars and drive there as fast as we can, surround the rock in strategic places and take on Nicholas and his people and get Tess away from him."

"Uhm, excuse me," Maria held up a hand, "as the only conscious human who doesn't have powers, I kinda want to veto that plan – No offence, Valenti."

A rush of melancholy surprised Michael by its strength as he looked down at the woman he loved. Trust me, Baby; you do not want powers…

Maria frowned and when she spoke, Michael felt his insides twist together in nauseating fear. "Why wouldn't I want powers, Michael? I'm the weak link here, remember? If I don't get some magic Czechoslovakian mojo soon, I'm gonna be the first one they go after, mark my words."

Michael stood frozen, as Maria's obvious fear took her over and she dove into her jeans pocket and withdrew a small bottle of cedar oil that he guessed from experience was probably laced with something calming that her mom had made.

A muttered 'oh', came from Isabel and Michael managed to look over at her. Apparently she too had noticed the little moment and the fact that Maria had answered something that his mouth hadn't said. Within moments, the former Antarian princess had made her way over to him and placed her finger on his hand as discreetly as possible.

'She can hear you, Michael.'

Maria rolled her eyes and looked over at them, her bottle still firmly in hand. "Of course I can hear him, Isabel. I'm weak, not deaf."

Holy- Michael barely managed to restrain himself, even inside his own mind and tried adopting a calm expression that he kinda knew was failing miserably even without the puzzled look Maria sent his way.

He quickly thought back to the many powers they'd all discovered and built upon in the original timeline. That's right, Michael thought, wanting to kick himself for forgetting, I forgot that the bonded couples could communicate telepathically without touch…but that doesn't explain how Maria could hear Isabel's thoughts to me.

Isabel looked just as confused as he did, and Kyle's face indicated that he was beginning to realize what was going on even as Courtney kept talking about possible battle plans and Max kept on ignoring everything in favor of the woman in his arms.

She was always the strongest one when it came to that kind of communication, Michael remembered as flashes of the past came to him in vivid clarity that under normal circumstances would've gotten him ready to either stand guard outside Maria's house in case of unforeseen troubles or get him to locate Max for an intense sparring session. I can't believe we forgot about that…

"What's going on?" Maria stepped closer to Michael, eying Isabel's expression with a dubious and slightly nervous one of her own. "You're looking weird, I don't like weird, you know."

"Uh…"

"Don't you 'uh' me, Michael Guerin! I hate secrets and frankly it's too scary right now with all the other stuff that's going on." Her eyes looked up at him imploringly, silently begging for the truth and Michael found that he was just too weary to keep going with all the lies and decided to give at least a little bit of his knowledge to her.

"Apparently, since we've… bonded, you've gained one power…sort of."

"What kind of power?" Maria looked intrigued and Michael silently wished that for once she wasn't so obsessed with gaining powers. He'd lived through one life where she'd been 'gifted' with one like the other humans and unlike them;, hers had been a true nightmare that had ended up slowly killing her from the inside out.

Forcibly shoving those heartbreaking memories back to the deepest corners of his mind, Michael focused on the present and answered. "We can communicate telepathically from varying distances. Me, Iz, Tess and Max have to touch if we want to talk to each other in secret. I'm pretty sure that Alex and Liz can do it with their bonded too."

Alex blinked and straightened up a bit, realization slowly dawning on his tired face. "Oh, I've tried that too…I think. I've been hearing Isabel's voice in my head on and off, but I thought it was just 'cause of my powers that I could sense her so clearly. At least, I'm not the only one this time around." He gave a small self-deprecating grin and looked over at Maria, as if happy that he wasn't too big of a freak of nature now.

"Oh, so it's not some special just-for-me kinda thing?" Michael wanted to shake Maria until she understood that the power that she was itching to gain was going to destroy the last bit of her innocence. Having already been healed by Max, Michael was realistic enough to know that Maria would get her wish sooner rather than later. Her horrifying ability to read and project a person's worst fear into them, watching them slowly dying, a silent bystander in whatever fabricated nightmare was being made at the time was already on its way.

But I still pray every day that her powers don't come back as quickly as Alex's did – She's not strong enough for it, but I couldn't possibly convince her of that…

Using every ounce of patience he had left, Michael merely ran a hand through his hair and shrugged Maria's question away. "You're gonna get a crash course in our mind-voodoo now, so pay attention 'cause I think I've got the start of an idea for helping Tess and ending this nightmare once and for all."

Kyle's POV

There was complete silence in the car as he drove toward the pod chamber and Kyle was sure that it was the same way in the other two cars.

Isabel was sitting next to him, shooting glances in the rear view mirror at a drowsy Alex who was lying down in the backseat.

For Kyle, the tension was palpable, reminding him of all the times they'd gone to war in their last life. His fingers were white as they clenched the steering-wheel with more force than he knew what to do with.

While deceptively calm on the outside, Kyle's head was still spinning from all the different things that had happened since…well, since he'd returned from death through time and space or whatever it was, but mostly he kept thinking about Tess. His stomach clenched with anxiety, an emotion he'd felt her experience all evening he had felt a crushing disappointment when they had thought that Tess had betrayed them.

The relief that had poured through him when Alex and Maria had firmly debunked that idea was enough to make his legs quiver, and his hands had still been shaky when he'd gotten in the car to follow the Jetta. It was still quite confusing for him to suddenly have this protective instinct when it came to the girl he'd once wanted dead more than anything for betraying not only the group, but him in particular.

Another jolt of uncomfortable secondhand fear and pure hate suddenly rushed through him, and Kyle managed to send as much comfort through to his unexpected bonded before forcing himself to think about the plan they'd agreed on to help save not only the curly-haired hybrid, but the Granolith as well.

The notion of Maria being able to hear Michael's thoughts directed at her without any deeper training, like had been needed in their past lives, had spurred the idea of using the dramatic girl in the actual plan itself. It clearly hadn't been something Michael had enjoyed thinking up, let alone saying out loud, given the look of self-loathing on his face as he'd detailed what and how he wanted Maria to act once everything got going.

The churning inside of him grew downright painful for a second, distracting Kyle from his self- appointed attempt at going over the plan step by step. Kyle's body was still extremely sore from the treatment he'd gotten in the Skin infested town mere hours earlier, so the automatic tensing of his muscles that he couldn't stop whenever Tess' feelings erupted within him wasn't exactly making things less painful.

Okay, Kyle grit his teeth and added a little speed to the car when Maria's car started moving faster, hopefully we arrive at the pod chamber before Nicholas and his cronies, leaving us a little time to set everythingup…

Maria was going to climb as high as she could on the rocky exterior so she was able oversee everything that was taking place on the ground. Alex was to go with her to scope out the emotions of everyone, once things got going.

Isabel, being the best at these kinds of things, would camouflage the two humans to blend in perfectly with the surface before disappearing inside the podchamber and further in to the Granolith's hidden location, ready to protect the thing by destroying it if nothing else could be done.

Kyle's part was to stand next to Courtney, head bowed and projecting as much submission and defeat as he possibly could manage, with Michael next to him – both of them keeping the charade of being Max and Michael. Courtney would then spin a tale of having taken them both along because they'd managed to kill some of the other Skins keeping them captive, thus wanting to deliver them to Nicholas for one last punishment.

If the young looking Skin bought the flimsy tale, Kyle had to wait for Michael's touch telepathic message that he'd forwarded from Maria whether or not there were other hostiles around, before he smoked as many of Nicholas' underlings as he could. Michael was gonna provide backup.

And Max… Kyle frowned as he pulled up next to the Jetta not too far from the cave, he's gonna stay in the car guarding Liz.

The former king had blatantly refused to leave the unconscious girl's side. It would seem that seeing Liz so vulnerable and fragile had somehow spurred an instinctive, almost animalistic protective side to Max. The usually levelheaded leader seemed incapable of assisting with the plan and despite the big hurdle it was gonna be without Max's larger powers and shielding abilities, Kyle kind of understood his friend's side of things.

Courtney had gained eternal disgust from most of them when she'd turned to Michael, proudly proclaiming yet another proof that Max wasn't suitable for leadership and the general was. Maria had growled, and Michael had rolled his eyes and clearly stated that suitable of not, Max was still his king and would always be.

I almost forgot her original agenda, Kyle thought as he slowly exited the car and made his way over to a silent Michael, who was watching Maria begin to climb the rock with a look of sadness on his worn down face. She seemed so normal when we drove to Roswell, that I guessI –and the others- forgot that she's always wanted to get Michael on the Antarian throne…

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle watched as Isabel led a still tired looking Alex over to the rock and gently pushed him in Maria's direction before following herself. A few minutes later, both humans were safely hidden and Kyle could barely spot them even though he knew just where they were.

You've done it again; Kyle smiled a little, his eyes following Isabel on her descent back to the ground. Hard to believe your camouflaging abilities all began with a stupid car makeover so long ago when I was just an idiotic teen. Kyle had to bite back an inappropriate chuckle of all things when he added inwardly, and of course she used to use it on her make-up before that.

The pain of opportunities lost and the undeniable love between Isabel and him came as it always did when Kyle remembered the past, but to his surprise, it felt off – as if it was a phantom pain that was just there as a reminder and not acting like a stake through the heart.

Kyle bit his lip, his hand automatically going to his sternum, where Tess' emotions continuously bled over to him and wondered if maybe allowing the new Tess in his heart was such a bad thing?

"You ready?" Michael's rough voice catapulted Kyle out of his thoughts and he quickly straightened up.

"Yes, let's get this over and done with."

Isabel made her way over to them with a tight look in her eyes. It was as clear as day that she wasn't comfortable leaving Alex in harm's way. "I have a question," she said as soon as she stopped walking. "Do you guys think that we should tell Jim about all of this when it's over?"

"What?" Kyle's heart leapt in his chest and he just stood by as Michael immediately objected.

"We can't. He's not the same man we left behind in the war. He's not," Michael cast a remorseful glance at a silent Kyle before adding, "The sheriff we knew and loved. He's too weak right now to handle it. Let's just not do this right now, Isabel. We've got enough crap to worry about."

"Yeah," Kyle managed, his heart beating normally again at the thought of his now estranged father live a happy, non alien informed life. Even if he missed the man he'd been with every part of his being. "Dad's not gonna take it well. It's not like he's doing his own investigation this time around – and with no Pierce to torture Max, I doubt we'll see him realizing that you guys aren't evil. Or maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, but I don't want my dad involved in any of this. Not this time around."

"Okay," Isabel nodded and surprised him by hugging him firmly. "This time we'll make everything better," she whispered in his ear and Kyle chuckled darkly, but embraced her just as tightly.

"Let's spread out," Michael interrupted the moment and Kyle pulled away feeling a little better.

"None of you idiots better die on me," Kyle said, "I'm gonna kick your asses if you even think about it. Okay?"

Michael and Isabel smiled and nodded. A moment later, the female hybrid turned and left for the podchamber and Kyle followed Michael over to Courtney for some last minute preparations.

0o0o0

It was as if Tess had been let in on their plan, because only about five minutes after everyone had taken their places and gone over the plan one last time, she showed up with Nicholas and his followers.

The dark-tinted windows of the cars didn't expose how many there were inside, but Kyle guessed they were filled to capacity just in case.

Nicholas' teenage figure exited the expensive looking vehicle first, his eyes narrowing instantly when they landed on Courtney and her two supposed hostages. A moment later, Tess followed and although she only reacted visibly with a small widening of her eyes, Kyle felt her terror at seeing them.

She feels like she's gonna pass out any minute now, Kyle thought and took a page from Michael's book and tried to send a specific thought to the curly-haired former queen, not really expecting to be heard.

'Don't worry, Tess,' Kyle put all he had into it, but doubted it worked all that well when Tess merely frowned and shook her head in obvious confusion.

"Well, that was very thoughtful of you." Nicholas' tone was a mixture between smug and condescending and Kyle realized he'd completely missed Courtney's explanation for their presence in his attempt at reaching Tess.

Courtney bowed her head and thanked the Skin that she was supposed to follow unconditionally. Kyle barely forced back a grimace at the subservient way she was acting in time to act defeated when Nicholas' beady eyes landed on him with superior contempt.

"So, this is the great and powerful Zan. Or Max, I guess since you're barely more than a weak human these days."

Kyle avoided the Skin's look, knowing his own eyes would betray him by being full of fire and defiance, which wasn't what he was supposed to have at that moment. Luckily, his avoidance seemed to add certainty to Nicholas' belief that he was the top dog, so to speak.

"I can't believe you, Zannie boy. I mean, I knew you and your precious family were weak even before you got sent to this retched planet, but now you're just pathetic."

Michael fidgeted next to him, and Nicholas' attention went to the only real Antarian in his sight. "And you…Well, I don't even have to look too closely at you, your lack of intelligence is obvious just looking at you, did you know that, Rath? I guess not even the human DNA could dissolve the pure brawny idiocy that was your lot in life when I knew you."

Kyle felt Michael's finger surreptitiously touch his wrist just as he responded to Nicholas' taunts. "I don't even know you, Dude," Michael murmured in a faux tired tone of voice that just dripped of confusion, anger and fear. At the same time, his voice rang through Kyle's mind with a much more firm clarity that gave the human reason to believe that Michael's acting wasn't gonna last long.

'Maria says that Alex has felt seven people in the cars, so that makes nine. Is that too many for you?'

'Just get me a little closer to the cars, so I can suck up some of the electricity from them to get the job done.' Kyle replied, trying to look as defeated as possible, while Nicholas continued his taunts.

Tess must have gotten the fact that we've got something planned, Kyle thought even as Michael tensed next to him, obviously planning to get him closer to the vehicles as asked, she didn't even flinch when that little creep identified me as Max. Hopefully she'll catch on quick enough not to interfere when shit get's going for real…

The touch on his wrist returned and Kyle tensed up, hoping that Nicholas wouldn't see it. 'Just follow my lead.'

Before Kyle could do much of anything, Michael straightened up and barreled into Nicholas much smaller body hard enough to land them both on the rocky ground. Kyle took advantage of the planned distraction long enough to run to the nearest car. The moment his fingers touched the metal, Kyle began sucking all of the energy out of it that he could find. His entire being reveled in the power once again and if he was put on the spot, Kyle could almost admit to having the electricity caress him like a long lost lover, happy to be in his presence again, but fortunately for his dignity, that had never happened.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle managed to keep a track on what was going on around him, and just as he finished sucking up as much energy as he could from the car, Nicholas' men exited the cars with furious scowls on their faces. It was then that Kyle understood that even though it felt like ages to him, the unexpected attack from Michael and subsequent brawl had barely taken seconds, a minute at most.

"Now, Kyle!" Michael ordered, just as he sent off a blast of his own raw power at an approaching Skin, who was set on assisting his teenaged leader. Two others took the place of the quickly disintegrating Skin and Kyle knew that he wouldn't get a better window than this and sent all he could of his energy toward the attacking Skins, trusting that Courtney and Tess could handle themselves if necessary.

He was so caught up in the almost primal joy of releasing his pent up powers that Kyle didn't see the Skin sneaking up on him from behind until Tess' warning came. "Kyle, behind you!"

It happened so fast that Kyle barely comprehended it. He spun around with his arms raised for attack. Tess ran toward him with a fierce expression on her pale face. The Skin slashed at his belly and then pain exploded all around him.

"KYLE!"

Kyle sunk to the ground, feeling a great sense of horrifying déjà-vu as he watched the battle going on without him. Tess was screaming as she mercilessly struck down the Skin that had taken him out and Michael's roar of rage resonated all around them in the dawning light.

As if in a trance, Kyle raised one blood-coated hand to inspect it. The amount of dark-red blood on his fingers and palm probably should've struck more fear in him, but all Kyle worried about was the fact that he couldn't stand up and help anymore. He was feeling numb and he spared a brief grateful thanks to whomever took care of these things that he wasn't in pain this time around.

It hurt like hell last time, Kyle remembered morbidly, falling backwards to look up at the sky where the stars were slowly being driven away by the growing morning sun. I guess Dad's gonna know the truth without me this time. I just hope he handles it well and doesn't blame the guys...Dad…

"Kyle!" Tess' scent hovered over him and Kyle blinked back to the present as much as he was able. "Hang in there, please."

"Tess?" How weird, Kyle thought with a small frown, why was she here? Wasn't she evil? "Are you gonna kill me?"

"What? Kyle, come back to me. KYLE!"

"'Cause that'd suck," he murmured without giving Tess more time to talk. He was feeling more and more sluggish and confused. Images from two lifetimes rushing through him at the same time, "I kinda think I'm already in love with you…I don't wanna hate you again…Where's my dad?"

There were sounds of an ongoing struggle all around him, and Kyle knew he really should stop lying around babbling like a fool, but for the life of him, he couldn't get his limbs to work properly and a part of him was just very focused on talking with Tess and getting his dad there. He wanted his dad so much…but he was dead.

At least I'm gonna join him soon, Kyle decided with a cough that rattled his insides uncomfortably. He had a brief stint of awareness, enough to taste and recognize the coppery blood in his mouth that was trailing down his cheeks whenever he moved his lips. Enough to understand that Tess was still screaming his name next to him with a surprising amount of sorrow and to take in the fact that there was a lot more people around there'd been before he'd been taken out.

Slowly, Kyle focused his gaze past Tess' tear-streaked face and saw a lot of other unfamiliar cars around. Those hadn't been there before, he realized. Other people were fighting and they were way too much for Michael, Tess and Courtney to handle by themselves. Fuck this, he thought, I didn't go out like a wimp last time so I'm not gonna do it this time around either.

With the last bit of his strength, Kyle raised the hand that wasn't being held by Tess and pointed in the direction where most of their enemies were and fired off every last bit of his electrifying power before things turned dark.

Kyle thought he could hear Alex howl with some kind of emotion in the distance, but in that moment, Kyle really didn't give a damn. I'm just happy I went out as awesomely as I did the last time, he thought with a wry twitch of bloodied lips before everything finally turned black and he knew no more.

Alex's POV

Everything seemed to happen so fast. One minute, he was hiding with Maria; his skin still itchy where Isabel had used her powers to conceal him as much as she could. Maria was whispering furious questions to him, trying to get him to use his abilities to scope out their enemies so she could deliver news to Michael down below.

The next minute, there was hideous and furious fighting breaking out and other cars pulled up to join the battle just after Kyle of all people had been taken out. The feelings that Kyle experienced during those moments would forever be branded in Alex's mind, he worried.

Kyle's wounded mindset, Michael's agony, Maria's fear and Tess' sorrow flew into him without him being able to stop it. But, Alex knew from earlier experience that if he just breathed, he could and would slowly get a handle on it.

That was, until a new person arrived below. At first glance, he looked normal, tall and relatively well-built with dark-blond hair that ruffled in the breeze, but Alex didn't really notice his appearance because he was too busy taking in his presence itself. It practically screamed danger and if Alex had believed in auras he'd have said that this man's radiated nothing but darkness.

It quickly became too much – just too much – for Alex's already worn out mind to handle and he let out a howl of fury, fear, sorrow and frustration that commuted into one thing and one thing only; he wanted them all gone! Right now!

"Alex?" Maria's voice was cautious, but he wasn't fooled. She was petrified of the things going on inside of him, and one tiny part of him wanted to ease his best friend's worry, but the rest of him was just so tired of everything and didn't care what kind of tiny, unimportant emotions she was giving off at that moment in time.

He sat up fully, despite the fact that anyone that looked up at him would see him now. Not even Isabel's camouflage was enough to conceal his whereabouts. Maria's small hands grabbed at him and Alex downright snarled at her, watching in detached silence as she flinched roughly enough to jar the unstable rock she was half lying on. It broke off and she tumbled towards the ground with a piercing scream.

It was that shocked sadness tainted with fear Maria projected as she fell to the ground that managed to get through to Alex enough that he leaned forward and tried to grab her. He didn't move fast enough, and the enlarged eyes Maria sent to him even as she fell further and further away froze Alex completely.

His more rational side was screaming at him to do something, anything to save his friend, but he couldn't do anything other than lie there on the edge with his hands outstretched and watch Maria's descent.

Alex was half-aware of the fact that Michael had heard – and more than likely felt – Maria's scream and had tossed Nicholas to the side as if he was a mere ragdoll in an attempt to get to his love in time. Alex could almost taste the lack of hope the time-traveler had, along with the fierce determination to still try saving her despite the low hope. They both knew it was going to be too late and Alex's soft side was whimpering, not able to handle losing another one of his circle of friends.

Suddenly, something changed Maria's destiny. She stopped midair and she screeched even louder as if she couldn't quite believe what was going on. Then she changed tones and started yelling to be put down.

Alex scanned his surroundings with both his eyes and his powers until it all landed on that new arrival, the evil one that even had Nicholas' insides twisting with barely repressed anxiety.

"If I drop her now," the stranger said in a controlled neutral voice that sent shudders down Alex's spine and subsequently everyone else's as well, "she won't die. She might break a bone or two, but that's manageable even with this planet's primitive healing."

Michael's sigh of relief was more mental than physical and Alex took it in gladly, anchoring himself to it before he lost the last bit of his control again. The man spoke again and threatened that control with a mere sentence.

"Then again, I could make her go the other way and let her fall again; seeing one of these Earthlings splattered on the ground would be a nice way to start this day, don't you agree?"

His eyes met Alex's, who instinctively lashed out mentally, only to almost be swallowed by a blackness that drowned out anything else but hate and fear. It was blowing his mind apart, and Alex did his best to hold on to anything that was good and pure – pushing aside his guilt over putting Maria in her current situation, his grief, stolen from Tess, over Kyle and anything else.

Isabel, think of Isabel. Alex ordered himself, knowing that it was more than likely to fail, but then the amazing feel of her lightness and beauty began to cut through the darkness and pour into him.

'Shh, Alex,' her voice was soothing, albeit oddly strangled, and it was enough to force some sort of sense back into the normally sensible teenager. 'Just take a deep breath, please. Relax…'

'What's happening to me?' Alex returned; trying to look past Isabel's walls to see what was going on in the world that wasn't covered in ferocious darkness. 'Why can't I feel anyone else anymore?'

And then, Alex knew what was going on and he doubled his efforts of regaining his control. His powers were pouring out of him in much the same way they'd done in the school when he'd nearly killed Isabel. Several of the Skins were on their knees, a couple even disintegrating as he watched on through Isabel's eyes. The evil man, who he somehow now knew was named, Caden was showing teeth in a soundless growl, his hands clenched in obvious pain.

That didn't matter though, nothing mattered but the fact that Alex's powers hadn't just attacked his enemies, but they were latched onto his friends as well. Michael was lying on top of a moaning Maria, who'd apparently been released from Caden's mental grip. Courtney was standing up still, shaking with a bloody scratch running from her temple to her cheek. Tess was bowled over an unresponsive Kyle, her hands pressing onto his wound tightly even as the rest of her was twitching violently and Isabel…

Alex cringed; Isabel had left the safety of the pod chamber at the first feel of his distress and was lying halfway outside the entrance, her head turned in his direction even as she struggled to breathe. Evidently, her connection to him was causing her great pain, but he couldn't make out any kind of fear of him whatsoever. Just an overwhelming need to keep him safe and stop him from hurting the people he cared about.

'Take…a deep breath…shhh…' Her plea finally pushed Alex over the edge and he stood up and roared out his defiance, pushing back at Caden's oppressive energy, which he'd unknowingly multiplied, and after what felt like eternity, but was probably nothing more than a few moments, Alex broke down the walls and he could breathe peacefully again.

'I'm sorry, Isabel…Please tell them I'm so, so sorry.' Alex managed to send out, carefully sitting down safely, before he allowed himself to once again pass out from overexertion even as he felt someone very powerful draw nearer to them all.

Isabel's POV

Alex's control over his – and everyone else's – emotions slowly began to trickle back after he fell unconscious and Isabel found herself able to breathe again. A part of her took the time to realize that her reaction to Alex's new gift was bigger than the rest of them due to her bond with him. The rest of her was busy cataloguing the seemingly endless new arrivals as they continued exiting the cars all around them.

Her eyes travelled around everywhere, eager to see where she'd be most helpful. She knew their plan had fallen to pieces the minute Caden had shown up. The fear she had at seeing Khivar's second in command in flesh and blood so early in the timeline bubbled beneath her skin, but her experience with that emotion during her lives made her able to still function.

It was the sight of Kyle in the distance with a teary-eyed Tess that nearly made her come undone. Her heart was pounding and her mind faltered at the sight that she'd never wanted to see ever again. Oh God, not again – Don't let it end this way, she prayed, already running to their side in an attempt to help.

She was stopped half-way, however, by a handful of Skins that looked like they'd been through Hell from Alex's treatment and ready to dole out some vengeance of their own. Courtney lay without moving, so Isabel rightly surmised that they'd already started with the betraying Skin.

Without a word, Isabel simply flung out her hands and sent the off biggest energy pulse that she could, instantly killing three of her would-be attackers.

One of the two surviving hostiles managed to punch her hard in the face and Isabel went down, not used to those types of injuries anymore. She stayed down for a long second, dazed and aching. It gave her attacker enough time to kick her in her ribs with crushing force. She gasped and spit out a mouthful of blood at the brutality of it all.

"Stop it, you fool!" Caden's voice rang out in the desert area and Isabel sat up without hindrance, touching her bleeding nose and mouth gingerly even as her side throbbed angrily. "That's Khivar's woman – he wants her back alive so he can deal with her betrayal himself! You can kill the rest of the weaklings yourself; they've got no chance of fighting back now that the King is dead."

"I'm not Vilandra, Caden." Isabel announced hoarsely. She forced everything else out of her mind as she slowly got back up on her feet when she noticed something behind one of the people she hated most. When she briefly looked back at him, Isabel saw a flicker of surprise on the alien's face at her knowledge of his name, but didn't give him time to ask any questions. Instead, she just reached out and killed the last two obstacles in her path to Kyle and Tess with an ease that hopefully portrayed that she was speaking nothing but the truth. "I'm Isabel Evans and I'm not as weak as you think I am. None of us are. Right, Max?"

Isabel looked over Caden's shoulder again at the shadow she'd seen emerge from one of the sandy hilltops. Max didn't respond with words, but the way his eyes literally blazed into Caden as he calmly made his way down the small hill without even firing off one blast of power answered the question for him.

If I can somehow get over to Max and touch him, we could work out a plan, Isabel thought, gradually inching herself closer to her deceptively calm looking brother, whose dark eyes were still burning into Caden with a ferocity that frankly scared the crap out of her when she got a closer look.

Surprisingly, it seemed to have an effect on the bloodthirsty Caden as well, his own eyes unable to look away from the look of death Max had bestowed upon him. For one insane second, Isabel almost felt sorry for Khivar's agent as she recalled the stories she'd heard from an emotionless Max of just how he'd ended his former torturer's life.

Then the images of her brother's abused body when he'd been rescued after a two weeks stay at Caden's hide-out flew into her mind, and any and all thoughts of sympathy evaporated like they'd never even been there and Isabel even gave a soundless growl, causing a few of the nearby Skins to fidget uncomfortably.

A movement to the side alerted Isabel to the fact that Michael was once again back in the land of the living and they shared a brief look that said so many things that she knew that he too had caught a glimpse of Kyle and Tess behind her, and that he was willing to fight fast enough to hopefully be able to prevent his death a second time around.

A wave of agonizing grief tried to drown her fragile calm, but she pushed it to the back of her mind with a ruthless efficiency. We saved Nasedo when he was dead that one time, Isabel tried cheering herself up, conveniently overlooking the fact that Kyle wasn't Antarian for the time being. We can do the same with Kyle…Now focus, Isabel and be ready for whatever happens.

It was Nicholas' voice that brought Isabel back out of her grieving mind and she looked over at the Skin with bared teeth. He's responsible for all of this; if he'd just left us alone we wouldn't have lost—stop it and concentrate! She scolded herself, just as his words finally registered in her head.

"The king is dead, Caden. That boy is a nobody meant to distract you. Forget Khivar's orders about Vilandra and kill her and the idiot General and their humans. We've still got a chance if we find the Duplicate pairs."

"Idiot," Caden growled, never looking away from Max's stare. "There's a reason they're copies; they're weak and our leader cannot abide the weak as you very well know."

"But—"

"Shut up," Caden hissed. "I don't know what moron it was that your guys killed, but it sure as hell wasn't Zan. Look at this guy, Nick. Really look at him."

Nicholas barely moved a muscle, too worried about making sure that neither Michael nor Isabel advanced any further. "Fine. He's not dead yet, so kill him now, already before this all blows up in our faces."

"Kill the humans, you fucking wimp and I'll handle this boy myself, show him just who the real powerhouse here is." Caden straightened up and Isabel held her breath for a second, until Nicholas catapulted into action.

Isabel hadn't expected it, and Michael too judging from the surprise showing clearly on his face, Nicholas didn't go for the obvious target; a nearby and frozen with fear, Maria, who was lying in a half-way fetal position, cradling her right leg that seemed to be in a very unnatural angle from what was visible. No, he was moving exceptionally fast towards the only other person that Isabel had travelled through time for; the man she loved above all else.

"ALEX!" His name left her lips in a hoarse cry that did no good at all to the unconscious male, considering the bond was still completely silent from his end.

Michael didn't say anything, but he was already moving where Isabel was not and his movement jolted her into action, but even when they ran as fast as they could, shooting out energy pulses in a frantic attempt at stopping the Skin long enough to save Alex, they both knew it was futile.

Please, not this – anything but this, please! Isabel pleaded inwardly when yet another blast just narrowly missed the small Skin. I can't live without him too, please – why can't it be me instead, please?

"Please don't kill him!" Isabel screamed pathetically, her eyes burning with unshed tears that were mere seconds away from falling. "Somebody help us!" She cried out, hoping for a miracle that she knew in her heart wasn't going to happen.

And then, impossibly enough it did and the desert suddenly echoed with a pained, gurgling scream that sent a shiver down Isabel's spine at the same time her heart leapt with an almost devastating sense of relief.

TBC…

A/N I repeat: Trust. Me…

Until Next Time, let me know if you liked the chapter! Or not, I just want human contact through the internet and, wow, just realized that sounded way dirtier than I thought it would *blushes and prepares to flee the country*

Ditte Mai