Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and
producers of Roswell
Spoilers: After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is
successfully rescued,
and Michael was the one who broke up
with Maria.
***
Reason has taught him nothing –
All that he knows has been given to him,
Revealed to him by the heart.
-
Leo Tolstoy
***
Isabel sat down in the hard jagged surface of rock and minerals. Taking deep breaths, she readied herself to attempt to make contact with Tess. In the back of her mind, Isabel doubted she could do it, but knew that she had to try. At this point, it was the only thing that the two could think of, that would possibly save Maxwell.
Darkness surrounded her, as she closed her eyes. Isabel felt like she was drifting aimlessly
in nothingness. Suddenly a blur of
images flashed before her. It sent a shock
to her system, and Isabel gasped in response.
Then suddenly nothing but darkness was before her.
“Isabel,” Michael’s voice echoed in the darkness. “Maybe if you think of Tess specifically,
instead of trying to reach out to her.”
The suggestion made sense.
Isabel nodded slowly and swallowed hard.
Another blur of images appeared before her, but this time it
was tinged with blue. Isabel slowly
figured out a way to slow down the images that flashed before her. She exhaled loudly, after realizing that she
had been holding her breath. As the
pictures slowed, Isabel could see a bright light appearing before her. Bringing her arm above her eyes, Isabel
shielded herself from the glare of the hovering figure. “Tess?” she called.
The figure’s bright rays intensified as it heard the name
called. Isabel didn’t know what to
do. “I know it’s you. Max needs you. We think that you can heal him.”
The figure floated towards Isabel. It spoke slowly and surely.
“Do not try to contact me again.
I will help Maxwell, but do not try to contact Tess.”
Isabel awakened from the meeting and felt drained. “I told her,” whispered Isabel to
Michael. “I don’t know if that was
really Tess, but I think it was.”
Michael studied her, and smiled warmly. “Did she say anything?”
Isabel nodded. “She
said she didn’t want me to contact her again and that she would help. Whatever that means!”
~~~
As Liz and Maria made their way towards the top of the
ridge, the pair both couldn’t help but wonder what was being done for Max. All that they seemed to be doing was sitting
around, waiting for something worse to come over him. They entered the darkened cave, into the smooth white chamber,
hidden behind one of the dark caves, a stark contrast to the earthen matter
that surrounded it. Liz knew something
was up, as her eyes fell upon Michael and Isabel.
Isabel was propped up against the white wall, and Michael
was hovering over her. “Is something up
guys?” Liz asked curiously.
Both Isabel and Michael seemed startled at the presence of
the two girls. “Liz!” Michael smiled
uncomfortably. “Uh, no. Nothing’s up.”
Liz noticed a look pass between the two alien hybrids. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but they
were going to tell her. Now. Just as Liz was about to demand an
explanation, Isabel broke in. “Liz,
Maria, there’s something we need to tell you.”
Maria peered over at Liz and whispered in her ear. “It must be something bad. I can tell by the look on Michael’s face,
it’s something he doesn’t want to let us know.”
Liz walked over and found a place to sit down beside the
two. She had a quick glance at a still
Max, who seemed to be in some sort of coma.
Liz prayed that they had found something to help him.
Maria anxiously followed Liz and made her way beside her
best friend. “So what’s up guys?” Maria
chirped.
Isabel and Michael again, looked at each other. Finally Isabel took a deep breath and said,
“I don’t want you guys to get upset, but we think we’ve found a way to heal
Max. We’ve been working on a theory
about how to help him.”
Liz grinned and clapped her hands together. “Guys!
That’s great news! I
mean, amazing!” She stood up and
started pacing in the small chamber.
“You had me and Maria worried. I
thought it might be bad news or something.”
She’d never been so relieved in her life. Maxwell would be safe. He would be hers again.
“Uh,” sighed Michael.
“That’s not all of it.”
Liz looked down at both Isabel and Michael. They both seemed quite wary. “Well, what is it? It can’t be that bad!”
Maria tugged on Liz’s jeans and motioned with her eyes to
sit down. “Well, spit it out,” Maria
groaned. “Are we going to have to break
into a highly secure building or something?”
Isabel swallowed.
“We think that Tess is the key.”
Liz closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. “No. No!” Liz repeated out loud to herself.
“It’s like when Isabel was injured. And I healed her,” stated Michael. “If there was any…”
Maria interrupted.
“That was a fluke! We don’t know
why you were able to heal Isabel.” The
blonde glared at Michael. “Like you said,
it’s just a theory! Right?”
The two traitors seemed speechless. Liz couldn’t believe they could betray Alex
in this way. “I don’t get it. What does you saving Isabel have to do with
Tess saving Max?” Her mind was whirling
and she didn’t know how to make it stop.
Michael pushed himself back and rested against the white
wall, beside Isabel. “We think that
this has to do with us being mates.
That since we were genetically created to be each other’s partners,
there is some connection between us.
This connection allows us to share a bond that connects us on another level. And because of this, our powers somehow are
enhanced when one of us is sick or dying. I
don’t know how, but I was able to heal Isabel. A power I never had before.”
Suddenly Maria stood up and screamed. “You’ve got to be kidding?” Liz watched as Maria walked towards the
entrance to the Granolith chamber.
“This doesn’t make sense. Just
because you are aliens and some wacko parents put you in a test tube pod,
doesn’t mean you are connected in some interstellar way. What proof do you have that because you two
were genetically made and, a lifetime ago engaged, that you heal each
other. Maybe Isabel just happened to
get healed by you, because that power decided to manifest itself then?”
Liz didn’t know what to make of it. As she studied Michael and Isabel, Liz knew
that they truly believed that this was the case of the matter, that this was
the only way to help Max. She
felt torn. Liz knew that if she ever
saw Tess again, she would tear her from limb to limb, a pleasure Max had denied
the witch.
Michael sighed loudly.
“Look, I know it doesn’t make sense in human terms, but we’re not
human.”
With that statement, Maria stopped in her tracks and folded
her arms against her chest. “And?”
continued Maria. “What are we supposed
to say to that?”
The fight wasn’t even about the return of Tess. Liz knew that Maria felt threatened by
Isabel. Always in the back of their
minds, Liz and Maria knew that Isabel and Tess had been created with the sole
intention of being Michael and Max’s wives.
They knew that their mission was to return to Antar. And Maxwell would have, if she hadn’t
discovered Tess’s secret. He would have
returned with Tess, if Liz believed in the party line, that Alex’s death was an
accident.
“Look,” Isabel said calmly, running her hand through her
hair. “I know it’s hard to believe, and
that if there was any other possible way to save Max, we’d find it. But we don’t know what else to do. We haven’t had any leads on a possible cure,
or even what’s wrong with him. We just
know from what the figure told me.”
Liz frowned. “What
figure?”
“Uh, did we forget to mention that?” asked Michael grimly.
Maria cocked her eyebrow and pursed her lips. “Uh, yeah.”
Isabel went on to explain the dreamscape encounters and the
possibility that this figure was Tess.
“Well, then, what more can you say?” Maria growled. “Obviously Tess is lying to you. She’s just trying to get back to earth and
make nice with you guys.”
Michael shook his head.
“I would agree with you except that she wasn’t the one who told us about
needing her to heal Max.”
Liz bit her bottom lip.
“Well, maybe this shiny figure isn’t even Tess. What if it’s Khivar or one of his plans to
get rid of Max. We know that that is
his plan.”
Isabel sighed. “I
don’t think so. I mean, she felt
familiar. The images I get seem to
verify that she is Tess.”
Maria sat down, with one knee up against her chest. “But you don’t know for sure? Right?
Besides, even if it is Tess, she could be working with Khivar. Oh, let me restate that. She could still be working with
Khivar.”
Liz hated this. She
felt like she was being torn in two directions. On the one hand, Liz wanted to believe that this was another
trick that Tess was plotting, but then on the other hand, part of her knew that
this might be the only possibility of saving Max. “Is there anyway of knowing for sure what her motives are?”
Isabel and Michael looked at each other and both shook their
heads. Liz swallowed. Then looking over at Max, Liz closed her
eyes and prayed that she was making the right decision. “All right.
Do whatever you have to do, I’ll go along with it. I’ll do whatever I can to help you with
Tess.”
Maria’s jaw dropped.
“Liz, you don’t mean it. You
can’t allow them to do this.”
Michael and Isabel looked at her strangely. “We don’t need either of your permission to
do this,” Isabel stated as she looked over at Max. She reached out and caressed his forehead. “Michael and I will do anything to save
Max. Whether either of you like it or
not.”
Liz studied Isabel.
She knew the both of them were under a lot of stress, but to talk like
she or Maria wouldn’t do the same?
“Isabel, we’re on the same team right?” asked Liz pointedly. “Maria and I are just being cautious about
the possible consequences of bringing Tess back. You have to think about this.
You can’t just trust that Tess is being honest to you, all of the
sudden.”
Isabel sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry. I just feel
like this is our only hope. It’s the
first lead we’ve had since I’ve gotten here.
I don’t want to throw it away, just because I hate Tess and
everything she’s done to us.”
Liz and Isabel locked eyes.
Both knew what they’d lost when Alex died. Liz shook her head. “I
know.”
Isabel licked her lips.
“Look, I’ve talked this out with Michael and we think this is the best
option.”
Liz peered over at Maria.
From the sour look on Maria’s face, Liz knew she hated it. Liz leaned over and whispered into her
ear. “We all know that Tess is a witch,
and we hate her for it, but maybe we can at least use her for one good
thing.” Liz motioned looked over at Max
and Maria’s gaze followed.
Maria stood up, and the other three followed suit. She stared at them intensely. “Fine.
I’ll go along with this, but let me tell you something. If she even so much blinks in my direction. I will give her exactly what she
deserves.” Maria paused a moment,
wiping a tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. “She killed Alex and no matter how many
people she saves, I will never forget that.”
Liz watched Maria stalk out of the chamber. She looked at Michael and Isabel who seemed
unshaken by what Maria said. “She’s
right you know,” Liz said softly. “We
don’t even know if this will work. If
you need a partner, why not use me?
I’ve started to control the powers that I’ve gained Michael.”
Michael swallowed hard.
“I’m sorry Liz. I just don’t
think it would work. We don’t even know
if they are temporary, or some manifestation of some genetic fluke. Besides, it could make Maxwell worse.”
Liz nodded, though she disagreed. If they were talking about someone who was destined to be with
Max, it was her. Liz fought the
temptation to state her case. Michael and
Isabel had already made up their minds.
She smiled half-heartedly and pointed to the entrance. “I’d better go see if Maria’s all right.”
As Liz left, she began figuring out, just how she could gain
enough control of her powers. Liz was
going to heal Max. She was sure that
that was the reason for the manifestation of her powers. She’d only begin seeing a definite change in
her after their night in Las Vegas.
Liz was Max’s soul mate. She
was.
~~~
Max had been in different transitioning states since his
illness left him an invalid. He’d found
everything blurring together, much to the point that Max didn’t know sometimes
whether something was actually happening or if it was a dream. Since Isabel’s visit, Max’s reality had been
much of that dreamscape. He hadn’t been
able to wake from the unconscious reality, and the sickness or disease seemed
to have left him almost paralyzed. But
now, in the dreamscape, Maxwell was able to move around, in full use of his
appendages.
There were times of nothingness, fading into several
different landscapes. Sometimes it
would be a warm almost vermilion landscape, with a red sea and jagged
cliffs. Other times, Max would find
himself in a place, very much like earth, with rolling green hills and a blue
sky that went on forever. Each place
seemed foreign to Max, but yet, familiar.
He couldn’t quite pin it down.
In the beginning when he’d just found this type of
dreamscape reality, Max saw it change at will.
Most of the time, he’d be in darkness, but there were moments. Several times, he’d had a shimmering figure
visit him. In those moments, Max seemed
to find himself thinking more clearly than he’d been in what seemed like
forever, but those visits had become infrequent and left him wanting for that
bright light. His only true lucid
moments happened when she arrived. But
each time she appeared he felt himself strengthened by her presence.
But lately, Max found himself observing scenes, like that of
a movie or a play. He could never make
out the figures but knew that he knew them.
Then one day or night, Max couldn’t tell what it was, something
changed. He’d been sitting in darkness
again, when the scenery changed to rolling hills and shore near the ocean. It was a familiar scene by now, nothing that
surprised Max. Until suddenly, he
realized he stood right beside an older version of himself. A blonde haired woman came running towards
them. It was Tess. She had longer hair, but it was definitely
Tess.
“Zan! I have been looking
all over for you!” she laughed, kissing him on the lips.
Max laughed, rubbing his beard. “But you found me Ava, like I knew you would.”
Max watched as the two ran down the grassy knoll, and made
their way down a sandy hill. Zan led
Ava down the sand bluff. Zan lifted her
down a steep incline, when he lost his footing and both went tumbling down the
hill. Max moved closer and looked down
the bluff. Tess was laughing hard and
crawled over to a serious Zan. Both
laughed and joyously kissed.
The scene faded and Max was left to ponder that moment,
whether it was a lost memory or just a dream.
The blackness then revealed a red horizon. It was a large desert landscape, with several large rocks jutting
out of the sand. It looked hot, though
Max couldn’t feel the temperature.
There were swirls of dust rising out of the flat ground that seemed to
pass through him, or not affect him. It
was a strange feeling of non-existence in this plane.
Unexpectedly the landscape changed. It became bright, with a brilliant blue sky,
a beach that went on miles. Rolling
green bluffs that he’d just seen with rocks scattered few and in between. Max stood on the sand surveying the familiar,
but modified landscape. As he turned
around to look at the rolling hills, the shimmering figure appeared at the top
of the bluff. Suddenly the shimmering
light that draped the figure turned into a flowing white robe. Where there was no face, but a bright light,
human features formed and revealed a fair woman’s face. Tess.