Title: Revelations (part 14)

Author: Angela Rae

Category: Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex, Kyle/Tess (M) (AR)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these fabulous characters, more's the pity. They are the exclusive property of 20th Century Fox Television, Regency Television, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz and Laura J. Burns. To quote some of my favorite fan fiction authors, I'm just borrowing – I'll return them as I found them. Cross my heart!

A/N: Rated M for safety reasons… this fic is set at the end of "Destiny", ep 1:22 (with some S2/S3 canon thrown into the AR).

Thanks to Musegirl for the fastest beta turnaround I've ever seen! You're amazing!

I'm sorry for not getting this out sooner... I'm preggers with my first, so the exhaustion was kicking my butt, but I meant it when I said I would finish this one. It just might take a little longer than I thought. So, bear with me.

Anyway, let's get to the party!

"We're going to find Enigma."

"What's Enigma?" Tess asked, obviously confused.

"Are you out of your mind?" Michael's expression took frustration to whole new heights. "We're about to go to war and you want to find a party?!"

"It's this huge graduation party that the senior class has thrown every year for, like, forever." Liz answered Tess, ignoring Michael's outburst. "Maria has been obsessed with going ever since we found out about it in the fifth grade."

"Yeah, but you're only invited if you're a senior graduating that year," Alex said, then added with a grin, "or if you're an underclassman who can figure out the clues to where it's being held. But they aren't easy to solve and they're always hidden. Hence, the party's name… Enigma."

"Maria found out where the first clue was last year and we thought it pointed to the bowling alley, but we couldn't find the second clue once we got there," Liz said with a commiserating look for her best friend.

"Yes, but we will find it this year," Maria inserted, "You know what they say – 'eight heads are better than one.' And I just happen to know where to find the first clue this year, too."

"Uh, Maria, I think it's 'two heads are better than one,'" Alex grinned.

"Can it, Whitman, that's not the point. The point is that we're all stressed out and we need a break. Enigma is that break. So, get up, pick your party accessories, and let's go!" Maria exclaimed, fairly bursting with excitement.

"Hey, I'm game," Kyle raised his hand in a show of solidarity and glanced around before lowering it.

Isabel looked around the ruins of their failed party and sighed. "As much as it pains me, I agree with Maria." Then she smiled when she felt Alex kiss her temple.

"I'll go," Tess said with a shrug.

"We're in," Liz said, giving Max a firm look.

Michael knew he was sunk the second Maria turned those big, blue eyes his way.

"Alright, alright," he growled, snagging her around the waist and pulling her back to his side. He knew it made him all kinds of soft, but he couldn't handle disappointing her. "We'll do this. But tomorrow, we're back to business."

Max met Michael's gaze and nodded. "Definitely."

"Great!" Maria looped a glow necklace over her head. "I heard from Vicki Delaney that the first clue is on the football field."

(***)

It turned out the first clue wasn't all that hard to find.

Max was the first to spot the large group of their classmates gathered around one of the goalposts when they arrived at the edge of the field.

Michael took Maria's hand and Alex took Isabel's as they paired off and started to make their way across the turf. Liz grinned when she noticed Kyle sticking close to Tess and the petite blonde glancing at the jock-turned-Buddhist every once in a while with a sort of speculative look in her eye.

But when Max reached out to wrap his fingers around Liz's, she couldn't hold back a wince. She didn't say anything, just looked at him as she saw the startled realization that he'd forgotten their agreement dawn in his eyes.

She felt the hurt that lanced through his chest as he struggled not to let it flow down the link. And she had to hold herself back hard from reaching out to comfort him, digging her fingernails into her palms until they left little, white half-moons in her flesh. He let his hand fall back to his side.

Their conversation from earlier that night came flooding back.

"Max, we need to talk." Liz felt her expression tense as she sensed the rush of joy he always felt whenever he was near her.

Alarm spiked down their connection, pulling at her harder, as she tried to maintain some kind of control. Max reached to touch her, and she saw his shock when she held herself back with a grimace. "Liz, what's wrong?"

Liz shook her head, glancing over her shoulder at the others.

Michael's apartment showed the definite touch of Isabel. There were brightly colored plates and tastefully coordinated napkins and cups to the side of the table crowded next to litters of soda, vegie trays, chips and dip, quesadillas, and trail mix; and knowing Michael, there was probably even some beer in the fridge. Someone had put a Third Eye Blind CD in the player. Tess and Michael were on the couch having some kind of serious discussion with Alex, Maria had wandered into the kitchen talk to Isabel, and Kyle was sitting in the corner looking a little lost.

"Can we talk in private?" Liz asked softly. When Max nodded, she led the way into the small bathroom, closing the door behind them.

"Liz, what's going on?" Max didn't even try to keep the concern out of his voice as she felt him try to reach for her through their connection, only to discover that it was barely wider than a thread.

"I'm losing myself, Max," Liz said quietly, glancing away. There. She had said it. She blew out the breath she had been holding.

"What do you mean?" The confusion he felt was written all over his face.

"The connection between us…" she took a deep breath, before looking him fully in the face, "it's overwhelming me." She rushed to continue, "I don't know if it's because I'm fully human and you're not, or if I'm just weaker because my abilities aren't as developed as yours yet, or if it's some other part of the process that I haven't thought of, but it's happening."

Her heart started to beat like a drum, a strange panic flooding her system, as cold fear settled into the pit of her stomach. This was really happening. And she had no idea how to fix it.

Max stayed silent, frozen, as she desperately tried to explain, "It's like this wave that keeps trying to take me under. It used to be okay, I thought I could deal with it, but it's so much stronger now. Today, I was in your mind and you didn't even know it. You were in the locker room, talking to Kyle, and you were laughing at something he said." Max jolted in surprise. She couldn't have known that unless she'd been there, and he hadn't seen her since the period before. "Max, I couldn't control it and only being scared out of my mind was enough to break the connection in the end."

She cringed as she saw him realize this wasn't some kind of girlish overreaction, this was something much more serious.

"It should be the lack of control that scares me the most… but it's not," she admitted, "It's that when I lose myself in you like that," she bit her lip before continuing, "there's a big part of me that doesn't want to come back. I just want to lose myself in you forever… and that scares me." She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and the pain that ripped at him when he saw. She knew exactly what he was thinking. His worst fear was coming true. She was hurting… because of him, because of this connection between them.

Liz's next words proved that she could still read his mind, bond or no bond. "It's not your fault, Max," her smile became just a little self-depreciating, "Actually, if it's anyone's fault, it's probably mine."

"How could this be your fault?" his voice sounding harsh and forced, "The bond is because of me, because of who I am… what I am."

Liz shook her head, trying again to make him understand. "I think that's the point, Max. This connection is something from a different world. I think it's me that's the issue here. My mental abilities aren't strong enough to balance out yours. I mean, I get flashes, and I'm obviously developing some kind of precognitive ability too, but it's not strong enough yet to be your equal and I think that imbalance is affecting our connection." Liz reached up and impatiently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she furrowed her brow in thought. "The only thing I can't figure out is why this is happening to us and not the others."

That was when he told her about his conversation with Tess and what she'd said about their bond being different from the others for a reason.

"Really?" Liz asked, thinking over the new information with more than a little scientific wonder. Then she shook her head, trying to focus on the problem at hand. "But that just proves my point, Max. Tess was right," her tone was suddenly miserable as she realized, "I'm no queen. I can barely manage Maria sometimes! Just think how hopeless I'd be trying to rebuild a whole world."

Her voice lowered to a whisper, "Maybe you should have chosen Tess after all." Misery curled out from her clenched stomach and she wrapped her arms tightly around herself to keep from flying apart. What had she been thinking?

"No, Liz," Max's tone was firm, for the first time since the conversation had begun, and held no trace of doubt. "We're in this together. You promised. You said you'd never leave me again." Liz's eyes widened, recognizing her own words from that night on her balcony. "We'll fix this. Together." His eyes locked with hers, desperate for her agreement. He released the breath he'd only just realized he'd been holding when she nodded reluctantly.

Max held her gaze and asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Always." Her answer came without hesitation.

"Then we'll find a way." Max was determined. Nothing was going to take Liz from him again, he wouldn't allow it.

"Okay," Liz said, "We need a plan though." Her gaze was direct and unflinching, even though he could feel echoes of her pain through the narrow link between them, belying her earlier claims to weakness.

She was already a queen, Max knew, even if she wasn't ready to admit it yet to herself.

"Until I can figure out how to maintain my side of the bond without drowning in it, I don't think we should touch if we can help it. Just for now," she added, seeing his shocked look.

He nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

"Okay," she echoed.

Max's stomach turned at the thought, but he tried to remain focused on the goal. Liz said she just had to make herself stronger and he was going to make sure that happened, it was the only way to keep her safe.

With that in mind, he kept his distance as he followed her out the door to join their friends.

And now he couldn't help but feel like she was slipping away from him. Feeling a sense dread that he tried to fight, he would find a way to fix this- he had to. Max forced himself to step away from her and focus on the events unfolding on the far side of the field.

(***)

The other students were clustered in groups in the end zone, shining flashlights on a piece of paper that hung from the bright yellow column of the goalpost.

As Liz and Max drew closer, they saw it was one of the 'Stop the Littering' campaign PSA posters that were displayed in various places around town.

On the page, there was a big image of a hand throwing a crumpled piece of paper into a trash can marked for recycling and beneath it read the words:

RESPECT OUR TOWN'S PUBLIC SPACE.

PUT YOUR TRASH IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

A message from the Roswell Sheriff's Department

Next to the police department's emblem on the last line was a hand-written note: – Keep it squeaky clean, kids!

"What the hell does that mean?" Kyle asked, glancing at the others.

"Don't look at me," Tess said, shaking her head.

Maria looked around at the different students that huddled in groups or pairs, whispering to each other as they looked at the poster intermittently.

She waved the others to the side and waited until they formed a circle. She took a moment to give her friends a serious look, this was life and death stuff here, at least for their social lives. Then she said quietly, "Well, obviously 'Keep it squeaky clean, kids' is a deliberate clue. So what keeps it squeaky clean?"

Blank stares met her question.

"Oh, come on, guys, think!" she huffed, eyes bright with the famous DeLuca determination, "We'll never figure these clues out if we don't try. So, what do you think keeping it squeaky clean could mean?"

Kyle shrugged. "Uh… soap?"

"Okay," Maria said, "What does soap have to do with littering?"

"Nothing, really," Liz said, "I mean, you don't use soap to clean up litter. You just throw the litter away."

"Maybe it's more about symbolism? Like cleaning up the town?" Alex suggested.

"It's not that hard," Michael put in suddenly. "This one's obvious. It's the old soap factory."

"How do you figure?" Max asked.

Michael shrugged. "They basically drew a line from the RSD to the squeaky clean note. Kyle's right, it means soap. The Sherriff busted that party at the old soap factory last year. So, that's got to be it."

"Oh, my God, Michael," Maria squealed with excitement as she grabbed his hand, "You're totally right!" She was mid-victory dance, when she noticed other students suddenly looking her way. She tried to casually lower her arms. They had to be inconspicuous about this. Adopting a serious expression, she turned back to her group.

"You mean Enigma is at the factory?" Tess asked.

"No, it can't be," Liz replied, eyes sparkling with excitement, she was actually starting to get into this, "There are always at least two or three clues before you figure out the location of the party, but I bet that's where the second clue is."

"Okay, people," Maria said in a stage whisper, "Try to act normal and we'll casually walk back to our cars. If you can manage to look mildly disappointed, that's even better."

"Gimme a break," Isabel rolled her eyes, "It's just a party."

"Yeah," Maria scoffed, "just the most awesome party of the year. Now, come on."

Together they started to make their way back to the parking lot. Alex laughed when he noticed Maria's idea of "casual walking" involved exaggerated arm swinging and tone deaf whistling. Michael just sighed.

Despite Maria's obvious moves, they made their way back to the Jeep and Jetta without attracting any followers.

Max and Maria each got behind the wheel. Alex and Isabel were climbing into the back of the Jeep when Liz jumped into the back seat of the Jetta.

"I thought I'd tag along with you two this time," she said with an over-bright smile. Maria's eyebrow rose and Michael frowned, noticing Max's blank expression, but they both held their peace as Kyle and Tess quickly surveyed the seating situation. Tess opted for the Jeep and Kyle shrugged, climbing into the Jetta next to Liz.

Maria shrugged too. There was obviously drama between Gidget and Moondoggie, and her 'best friend spidey sense' was going ballistic, but now was not the time to dwell. She had a date with destiny. All other considerations would have to wait.

With that thought in mind she gunned the engine and headed for Route 70.

(***)

They split up when they arrived at the abandoned factory, figuring they could cover more ground that way. Maria had decided to take the west corner, by the large tanks and pumps. There were some pretty good hiding spots, but so far all she'd found were a few broken bottles and random glow-in-the-dark paint smears left over from the rave.

She stopped to look over one of the station gauges and pretended not to notice when Max and Liz halted on the other side of the aisle to check out one of the mixers. It was so obvious to her that they were trying not to stare at each other. A small smile touched her lips. They were so hopeless. Her first instinct was to walk over them and smack some sense into the pair of them. But now wasn't the time to interfere in whatever drama they had going. She'd give them at least a day to figure this out for themselves… after that, God help them if she had to put her nose into this situation.

Maria ducked underneath a massive pipe, still scanning for any signs of the clue, when she heard Alex yell.

"Hey, you guys! Over here!"

She ran toward his voice, sudden excitement flooding through her veins. The second clue to Enigma! As she tried not to trip herself over any of the equipment, Max and Liz followed close behind.

Maria was slightly out of breath when she found the rest of the group at the east wall. Her eyes widened at what they had found.

There, on the wall, someone had spray-painted in large, orange script:

[1, 26]

21 6 15

And next to it, but far enough apart to show it was meant to be separate, were the words:

= to the true anomaly - the mean anomaly

Her spirits fell crashing to the cold, hard cement. What the hell does that mean?

She tried tilting her head to see if maybe it made more sense at a different angle. Michael just watched her, an odd look on his face. Then, she heard a voice behind her.

"Oh my gosh, I know this one!"

Maria turned to see Liz pointing excitedly to the second part of the clue, "It's an astronomy reference. The true anomaly minus the mean anomaly is equal to the center of the elliptical orbit. This is the equation of the center!"

"Ha!" Maria exclaimed, throwing her arms around her best friend in triumph.

"I don't even want to know how you know that," Kyle said in all seriousness.

Michael snorted.

"I like astronomy," Liz smiled from over Maria's shoulder, "It's one of my favorite subjects, next to biology."

Max smiled behind her back, obvious pride in his eyes.

"Well, keeping with the mathematical theme," said Alex, stepping forward, pulling Isabel with him, "the brackets of this first part could indicate a range. So, this would mean a range between the one and the twenty-six. And twenty-one, six, and fifteen could be points within the range." His brows drew together in thought. "But what has points from one to twenty-six?"

Everyone looked at Liz.

"Don't look to me for this one guys," Liz shrugged, sighing. "It could be anything… even when you're talking a finite number of things it's still a really long list."

"Look," Tess said, "I think you're getting too detailed. This was put together by high school students, so it can't be that complicated."

"There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet," Max said quietly.

"Okay," Alex nodded, "So, what are the twenty-first, sixth, and fifteenth letters?"

It was sort of funny how they all started counting on their fingers.

"Six is 'F'," Maria said, delighted to contribute.

"Number fifteen is 'O'," Kyle added.

"And 'U' is the twenty-first letter," Alex nodded. "UFO."

"And, Liz, you said the equation was for the 'center' right?" Maria asked in an awed whisper, the pieces falling into place, "It's the UFO Center."

There was a moment of stunned silence all around.

Then Maria cried out in her excitement, "I can't believe it… We did it! We made it past the second clue! We're the best team ever!" The others grinned, watching her bounce up and down before she grabbed Michael's hand to drag him toward the doors. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"

(***)

Max went to use his key on the front doors to the UFO Center and was startled to find they were already unlocked.

"They're open," he said with surprise to the rest of the group.

"Really?" Liz asked, meeting his eyes briefly before glancing away like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't.

"Well, I for one am not waiting for a more obvious Come In sign," Isabel grasped the handle with a sharp tug and walked through the doors without a backward glance. Alex followed with a smile and apologetic shrug to the others.

Maria, Kyle, and Tess were the next over the threshold, leaving Max, Liz, and Michael out on the sidewalk.

Michael gave his best friend and the girl he'd begun to think of as one of their own a hard look. Whatever was going on between the two of them was amping up. The tension was getting ridiculous. Maria would probably be making some stupid comment about elephants right about now if she were standing next to him.

His first instinct was to make them talk, now that he had them to himself, but on the heels of that impulse came the thought that Maria was in a dark building, after hours, without him, and the realization of just how much could potentially happen in the ten minutes it would take him to get answers from these two. And Maria was the walking definition of Murphy's Law. Shit.

"I'm going in," Michael stated abruptly, vanishing through the doors.

"I guess we should join them," Max said after a moment of awkward silence. He was staring at Liz, she was staring at the sidewalk.

"Yeah." Liz took a step forward but stopped abruptly as he moved to open the door for her. She hesitated for a second before walking over the threshold. Max held himself away and perfectly still, but his eyes still closed for a moment as the sweet scent of her hair came to him as she passed by.

His knuckles when white on the handle as he struggled to control the impulse to bury his hands in those soft, brown strands and drag her against him to take her mouth with his own.

He sighed. This was going to be a long night.

(***)

The lights were on. They cast a dim glow on the cheap alien sighting photograph postcards and Area 51 Exposed! display. Max and Liz found the rest of the group standing at the bottom of the entrance stairs staring at the Center's frowning owner, Milton Ross.

"Evans." Milton leaned against Information Kiosk, crossing his arms over his yellow vest. "I had a feeling I'd be seeing you tonight. A few of your classmates showed up earlier, tried to climb in the window."

"Seriously?" Alex asked, looking startled.

"Yes, seriously." Milton mocked, his exasperation evident. "They're lucky I asked what they were after before I called the cops." He looked over the group with a thoughtful smile. "So, you're looking for Enigma, huh?"

"Yeah, we are." Liz smiled self-consciously.

"I hope you don't mind if we look around for clues." Max added, earnestly.

"No, no. Go right ahead." Milton smiled innocuously, paused, then caught Max's eye. "I still remember those wild and crazy days when I was a teen. You know… before I got serious about the calling. Proof is out there, Evans. And the world needs men like you and me to find it. But… you're only young once."

Milton waved his hand suddenly, breaking his intense stare, "You kids go have fun tonight." He turned away, saying over his shoulder, "Evans, I'll see you for your next shift on Monday."

He didn't wait for Max's reply, just disappeared up the stairs to his office.

Isabel was the first to break the tableau. "Well… that was weird."

"We should spread out again, each take different exhibits," Tess said, suddenly eager to get this over with. The others nodded and started to fan out, beginning their own conversations as they searched.

Max waited until Liz chose her own direction before following at a distance, doing his best to look casual about it.

(***)

Kyle looked over Tess' shoulder at the exhibit showcasing the supposed layout of Area 51's top secret complex. Really, it was too disturbing that any military base, top secret or not, would devote an entire laboratory to research on wormhole probing.

He sighed. This alien thing was just too weird.

(***)

Michael watched Maria, not really hearing a word she was saying. He just nodded whenever she looked over at him. He was too busy admiring the view whenever she bent over to check between the rows of neatly stacked books. It was nothing short of inspiring.

As if she could hear his thoughts, she looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. Her hand whipped out to snap her fingers in front of his face. "Eyes up top, spaceboy. We're supposed to be looking for the clue, remember?"

His expression collapsed into a scowl. "I know what we're supposed to be doing. And I like what I was looking at just fine, so where's the problem?"

Maria huffed a startled laugh. Shaking her head in mock disapproval, she turned back toward the books. She tried to regain her concentration, looking for anything unusual in the stacks, but failed miserably. He was just too hot for words sometimes.

She sighed and gave up on the boring space novels. Looking over her shoulder she smiled and pointed to an interesting pile of UFO memorabilia.

"Come on, babe. Let's see if we can find something over there."

(***)

Isabel pulled Alex into around the silly little exhibit of floating alien spaceships and into a darkened corner before firmly placing her lips to his. She loved the way he groaned and gripped her waist, pulling her into him until she was plastered across his chest. She ran her hands up his neck and slid her fingers into his hair to run her nails across his scalp and smiled into the kiss as she heard him think, Perfect. She's just so perfect. The thought came on the wave of desire and devotion that pulsed across their wide open bond.

Isabel surrendered to the feelings of love and security that she felt only in his arms. Her body clenched as tingling desire shot down through her belly, making her arch her spine to get closer to the only person she would ever trust with her whole self. Her other half. Her Alex.

They were so caught up in each other it took a moment for them both to register the giggles.

"Oh, come on you guys!" Kyle's distinctive voice penetrated the shadows surrounding them.

Breaking apart with a guilty start they held each other for a startled moment.

"Oh, God," Isabel whispered into Alex's neck as she felt him try to contain the laughter.

"Come on, Kyle," Tess's said around a wide smile trying to sound stern, "Since we're obviously the only one's taking this search seriously, let's keep looking."

Isabel felt the blush creeping up her face as their footsteps faded away.

She peeked up at Alex and they both started laughing.

"We really should keep looking," Alex said quietly, holding her hand in his as they separated. "Maria might kill us if we keep getting distracted."

Isabel could care less about Maria's need to go to some stupid party, but she loved the naughty sparkle in Alex's sky blue eyes, so she held his hand tighter and let him lead her back through the exhibits.

They were passing through the solar system display when she felt something wet brush her arm.

"Ew!" Her face scrunched up into a look of disgust at the neon blue paint streak that was soaking through the sleeve of her brand new Roxy tee. "Really?" she asked as she waved her hand over the paint and the stain disappeared.

She looked up to see Alex grinning at her.

"I love it when you do stuff like that. It's so amazing," he said.

She shook her head and laughed at his rapt expression. Sometimes he was just too cute for words.

Alex took a minute to glance around and found the little puddle of blue paint underneath the hanging mobile. Earth's only satellite had been painted neon blue.

"We'd better get Max," he said, before shouting over his shoulder, "Hey, you guys! Over here! We've got something!"

The rest of the group was quick to reach the exhibit.

"I could be wrong, but this looks out of place to me," Alex said to Max as he pointed to the Earth's moon.

"You're right," Max said quietly, "The moon is supposed to be grey on this model."

"So, someone painted it bright blue then," Tess said, "It's got to be the last clue!"

"A blue moon…" Liz said, puzzled. "If it's the last clue it's got to lead us to the destination of the party."

"Blue moon, blue moon," Maria muttered, before her eyes widened. "Holy cow."

She looked around the group and whispered, "It's got to be Blue Moon Canyon… Oh. My. God." She suddenly squealed so loudly they all startled as she began to jump up and down. "We did it! Oh, my God, we totally did it! We found Enigma!"

Michael clapped his palm to her mouth as she continued her now muffled squeals and did little cheerleader moves to express her joy.

"So, I guess we're headed to a party," Max said ruefully.

"Wild horses couldn't keep her away now," Liz answered with an exasperated grin.

Their eyes met in laughing accord for a moment before they remembered their agreement and looked away awkwardly.

"Okay, so let's do this," Michael said, still holding an ecstatic Maria.

When they all got to the street, Michael took the keys from a still freaking out Maria, and they all hit the highway heading out toward Juarez Road.

(***)

They took the turn off a few miles down the road and reached a stretch of gravel parking lot that was filled with cars. They parked the Jeep and Jetta and spilled out of the vehicles.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this!" Maria said doing a full body shimmy, with a smile so wide it could have cracked her face. "Look at all these cars! We're totally in the right place."

Michael smiled at her excitement while Alex laughed and the others just grinned.

They saw the lights strobing from over the rise and heard the pulse pounding music of techno beat in the distance.

"This could be fun after all," Isabel whispered in Alex's ear. When he reached out to pull her closer, she gave him a wink.

As they all headed to over the hill, toward the pulsing sounds, Max noticed a grinning Maria to his right.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked with an answering grin.

"I was born ready," Maria said loudly over the noise of the crowd, her eyes sparkling with excitement, as she took Michael's hand and they all went over the rise.

Thinking up those puzzles was fun! I'm super excited to write what comes next.

As always R&R is appreciated. :)