Chapter 1

"Tess killed Alex." Kyle said his face completely ashen.

"What?" Maria asked.

"She mind warped me into carrying his body and then made me forget." Kyle said in a dead tone.

"Oh my god." Maria said covering her mouth with her hands as tears fell from her eyes.

"We have to stop them from leaving with her, she has to pay." Liz said grabbing Kyle and Maria and heading for the door.

"I just hope we make it in time."

"Have you all said your good-byes?" Max asked.

"Yeah." Michael said.

"Valenti has the tape we made for Mom and Dad..." Isabel said.

"I said my good-byes and 'thank you's' to Kyle and his dad." Tess said.

Looking at the timer on the wall of the Granolith Max noted that it was almost time for their return home, to Antar. He had to admit he had a major fear of the unknown they would find there, but without any idea of how to fix the baby's problem with Earth's atmosphere they had no choice.

They had been here for nearly an hour before he realized that the timer was nearly done counting down.

"It's time." Max said.

Michael and Isabel positioned themselves across from Max and Tess. Max taking Tess hand and squeezing it, reached out and touched the Granolith's core to activate the final sequence that would lead them to Antar.

"Wait." Michael said.

Liz, Kyle and Maria ran up the desert rocks as fast as they could desperately trying to get to their alien friends before they left with Alex's killer.

They finally reached the rocks behind which lay the pod chamber and Granolith. The frantically scream and beat at the rocks hoping to reach anyone inside.

"Maxwell, all my life, I've been looking for home, to where I belong. But, I realized now, that I am where I belong, that whatever is out there isn't my home anymore; Roswell is my home. I can't go."

"Of all people, you want to stay. I won't force you to go, if this is where you belong then this is where you belong." Max said.

Max walked over to Michael and gave him a hug and whispered in his ear, "Take care, my brother."

Isabel hugged him as well, tears leaking from her eyes as she hugged her lifelong friend good-bye.

"If you want to stay, it's okay." Max said looking at Isabel.

"What you said before, You're my home too. I'm going." Isabel said.

"Take care, Michael." Tess said, with watering eyes.

Michael turned and walked out of the Granolith.

They jumped back when the rocks began rumbling and suddenly the entrance opened up to the pod chamber and Granolith as Michael stepped out.

"We have to stop them, Tess killed Alex." Liz yelled at him.

"What?" Michael said turning to go back into the Granolith.

"Wait!"

Max looked over to see Michael standing with Liz, Maria and Kyle.

"It was Tess, she killed Alex." Liz said.

"It's true." Kyle said.

"If it's true why didn't you say so before?" Max asked.

"Because she mind warped me into forgetting it." Turning to Tess, "We took you into our home, you were family."

"You killed Alex?" Isabel asked as her anger and sadness melded together at the desire to hurt what took Alex away from her grew to gigantic proportions, she lost herself in her anger.

She raised her hand to attack Tess, not remembering she was pregnant with her nephew, her brother's son.

"I didn't do it!" Tess screamed, not believing she was being accused of murder.

Max noticed Isabel's movements and raised his hand to put up his barrier to protect Tess and their baby.

Isabel's attack slammed into Max's barrier and pushed it back, but the barrier held.

"Stop! Tess couldn't have killed Alex nor could she have mind warped any of you." Max said with authority.

"Max, the Granolith is almost out of time." Tess said a bit green, both from the pregnancy and from Isabel's attack on her.

"Everyone out now!" Max ordered.

"Maxwell..."

"NOW!"

He watched as everyone left the Granolith chamber. He turned to Tess.

"Do what I do, we have to be quick about it there's only three minutes left now."

Tess followed Max as he walked over to the counter of the wall and waved his hand on the left side, where a silver hand-print lit up.

Placing his hand on the print he said, "Royal Seal, King Zan. Abort Sequence."

Tess followed suit and placed her hand on the print on her side of the counter, "Royal Seal, Queen Ava. Abort Sequence"

The timer stopped glowing and suddenly all the dots that had blacked out as it had progressed its countdown began lighting back up. When the timer was back to its original stage, the crystal controller Max inserted into the Granolith's core was ejected from it.

Max took the crystal before it fell to the ground.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"You defended me and protected me and our son."

"I will die before I let anything happen to you or our son." Max said as he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. She hugged him fiercely as they kissed.

"Let's go and set things right with everyone."

"What poof do you have?" Michael asked Liz.

"Maria's mom had this kinda relapse from when Brody took everyone hostage at the UFO center. Then when she snapped out of it, she was tapping her fingers in an odd pattern, then I remembered Kyle doing it as well. Alex was making the same sound when we last talked on the phone, the night before he died."

"We figured since Tess mind warped Maria's mom into forgetting then she could have done the same thing to Kyle, then we got him to remember what she made him forget. He saw the whole thing."

Liz continued explaining her discoveries and Kyle supplemented her knowledge with his own. The glow that had been coming from the Granolith's core suddenly stopped. Max and Tess walked out of the core and stood before them.

"Okay, so explain why you think Tess killed Alex?" Max asked.

"Maxwell, short story is Tess mind warped Alex into decoding the book and then when she tried it the last time, it killed him. Kyle witnessed the last part and she mind warped him into carrying his body."

"Murderer!" Maria screamed.

"Enough!" I have already told you she couldn't have done that." Max stated.

"How do you know that?" Isabel snarled.

Max sighed inwardly, he had hoped never to reveal this to them, he wasn't particularly proud of it, but he had needed to trust Tess.

"We all have different gifts," Max began, "As King, mine are not only the strongest, but also they have a higher degree of control over everyone else."

"What does that mean? And what does it have to do with her killing Alex?" Michael asked.

"Tess is Queen, her powers would work on anyone, however on me, they have a limited effect, random time warps, no longer than twenty-five seconds. After which I still remember what she mind warped me into."

"This is not explaining anything Max." Liz said.

"As King, I can negate her powers completely when used on others..." Max said.

"You can negate? How?" Isabel asked.

"I had Tess mind warp all of you, and when it was over, I locked your mind from her specific mind control." Max said.

Everyone in the Pod chamber was completely stunned.

"Over the past summer, I learned by accident that I could negate all of your powers at any given moment."

"You never mentioned this before." Michael said.

"One day I was about to knock on your door, when I heard Tess telling you to concentrate, followed by a loud crack as you shattered a rock."

"She helped me more than once. What does that have anything to do with it?"

"Michael, I sensed Max standing outside the door that day, I sensed him because he was using his powers. Do you remember that day when you were shattering the rocks as quickly as I put them back together? Then for no reason, you couldn't crack them anymore?" Tess said.

"Yeah, I do. It was frustrating..."

"That was me, negating your powers." Max said.

"But how?" Isabel asked.

"I am King, at least that's what Tess and I figure since none of you seem to develop the same power. It is something that belongs only to the King."

"Forget that, back to where you had Tess mind warp all of us!" Maria yelled.

"I had to trust Tess so after I learned more about my new power, I asked her to let me use it on her and to gain my trust she would have to let me make you all immune to her mind warp powers."

"Under Max's supervision, I mind warped all of you, simple things, a phone call with a telemarketer, or throwing out the trash. When it was done Max activated his new powers and traced my mind warp in you and made your minds immune. This was at the end of the past summer."

"You could have started to warp Alex before then, you could have been up to this since we met you." Liz screamed as her discoveries were shot down by Max's story.

Tess smiled, "Max thought the same thing so, I taught him to walk in your mind; similar to Isabel's dream walking, though not as limited."

"I entered all of your minds to make sure she was being honest, but please be clear on this, I only looked where her powers were concerned, I went no further in each of your minds."

"So you didn't kill Alex..." Liz said defeated.

"No, I didn't."

"But then Kyle's memory and Maria's mom's finger twitch." Isabel said.

"I am not sure, but Tess's mind warp doesn't leave psychosomatic reactions behind."

"Max!" Tess yelled as her womb was wracked with a searing pain and she fell to the ground.

Max turned and watched as Tess fell to the floor. He placed his hand over her womb and let his strength flow into their child and felt the baby respond. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted that the dried contents of Tess's pod chamber were faintly responding to his powers. He closed his eyes as new knowledge was awakened in him.

"We stopped the Granolith's countdown, but the baby still can't survive in this atmosphere. I think I know what to do, but I need your help to save her and my son."

"You aren't lying to us to protect her are you?" Michael asked.

Everyone turned to look at Michael then to Max.

"No, I wouldn't do that. I can prove what we have said is true, but I need to protect them right now."

"Alright Maxwell. But we will discuss this later." Michael said.

"Get the healing stones."

Michael retrieved the healing stones as Max placed Tess in the same place where they had brought back Nasedo. Max then went to his Pod and removed some of the dried contents and did the same with Tess's.

"Only Isabel and Michael can do this since they are the only other hybrids."

Michael and Isabel each took one stone and handed the other three to Max who placed one on Tess's womb, the other he held in one hand along with the dried membranes of the pod chambers and in his other hand he held one for himself.

"Concentrate on sending your energy to the stone on Tess, I will do the rest."

Liz watched along with Maria and Kyle, looking but not really paying attention. She was more confused than ever. If Tess hadn't mind warped Alex and Kyle who did?

The stones in Michael and Isabel's hands lit up with energy, suddenly the glow ceased in their stones and the stone on Tess began to glow brighter than either of their stones. The stone that Max held along with the pod chamber membranes began to glow as well as the membranes. The membranes began to respond and slowly merged into the healing stone.

Max then placed both stones on Tess and placed his hands over Tess's chest. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, suddenly energy surged out of his body, so much energy that it was visible as it travelled through his body and out of his hands and into Tess.

"What did you do?" Isabel asked.

"We aren't leaving, at least not yet." Max said, while continuing to release energy into Tess.

The five stones began to resonate together, pulsing and in a moment they slowly merged into Tess's womb. Max seeing the stones merge into Tess, placed his hand over her womb and released more energy into her.

Tess began to wake as the energy coursed through her system. She immediately reached for her womb only to find Max's hands already there, and an even greater surprise, no more pain.

"It's okay now. The baby will be fine. He will survive on Earth now." Max said with a tired smile.

"How?" Tess asked.

I will explain more later, but for now just wait.

Tess's eyes opened wide, she had heard Max's voice in her head, but his lips hadn't moved. She didn't need to be told twice, if he asked her for something and she could give it, it was his.

"It was just an idea, that I had when I tried to relieve you of some of the pain. I am glad it worked."

"How the hell did you do that?" Michael asked.

"It was simple, I noticed the dried membranes reacting to my power when I was helping Tess, then it hit me, we were incubated in those pods for a long time and for good reason. I took some membrane from my pod and some from hers, using the healing stones I merged them into the baby's placenta. He is in his own personal incubator." Max explained.

"What the hell is a placenta?" Michael asked.

"You're joking right?" Isabel asked dumbstruck.

"We need to get to Kyle's dad and keep him from giving our parent's that tape, Tess and I need to come up with a cover story for the pregnancy. I also need to look at Kyle and Maria's mom's mind. Something is very wrong here."

"We blew up the jeep, how are you going to explain that?" Michael asked.

"I will talk with Valenti about it. We should go." Max said.

He walked over to Tess and picked her up, turning he motioned for everyone to clear out of the pod chamber. He stopped before exiting.

"I can see why you believed, Tess killed Alex. Had I not known what I do, I would have been convinced, the evidence is overwhelming. However, you were wrong, and it is only fair you apologize. I promise you two we will find Alex's killer." Max said before turning back and exiting the chamber.

"He is right, I believe what he said about her. I don't like him hiding something like that from us, but he is right." Michael said.

Isabel's emotions and realizations suddenly caught up with her, and she began to cry.

"I nearly killed them! I almost killed my brother's son my nephew and his mother!" She wailed.

"But you didn't he protected them. He seems stronger now." Liz said.

"Yeah, you're right. He is." Isabel said, whipping a tear from her eye.

"I owe her an apology, Max was right, had he not done what he did chances are things would have been much worse." Liz said.

"Max?" Tess said into his chest.

"Yeah?"

"Wha ... how did you ... the baby I mean?" Tess said looking at his eyes.

"The Granolith ... It ... told me what to do. When we aborted the sequence, it scanned you to verify who you were, it saw there was a problem and as much as I don't like it, since I am King, it told me what to do."

"It communicated with you?" Tess said completely shocked.

Max froze in mid step and his voice changed tones as he softly said, "Ava, please let it go for now. I will reveal more when it is time."

"Z ... Za ... Zan?" Tess said her lip quivering.

Max smiled, "I remembered a bit more when the Granolith communicated with me."

Tess eyed Max with a curious eye before breaking into a grin, he was remembering her, their love.

I love him so much... Tess thought.

I know you do, and I care for you as well. Max thought back to her.

Tess eyes widened. "We couldn't communicate like this before. Even on Antar, how is this possible?"

"Later, let's go home for now." Max said smiling.

Jim Valenti had to deliver the sad news to Max and Isabel's parents about their 'demise.'

How the hell do I do this? How do you tell a parent their child is gone and isn't coming back?

A couple hours had passed since Max and the other's had parted ways with him, now here he was in his truck outside the Evan's home and dreading going to the door.

After a few deep breaths and steeling his nerves he got out of his truck and walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Great we trashed the jeep. How the hell do we get home to stop Valenti." Isabel said.

"Maria's car is too small for all of us. It would probably die trying to get all of us there." Michael said.

"Anyone have a cell phone?" Max asked.

Liz and Maria pulled theirs out; he took Maria's since she was closest.

He opened it and dialed.

"Hello, Mom? ... Yeah listen Kyle Valenti's dad is going to stop by today, could you have him call Liz's or Maria's cell phone, I need to speak with him ... ah Isabel said she was going to go to Alex's grave. Ok, I will. Love you Mom. Bye."

"Valenti wasn't there yet. He will call soon though." Max said.

"So how are we gonna get out of here?" Kyle asked.

"We seriously don't fit in my car. It's a hunk of junk." Maria said.

"Honey, Mr. Valenti has something he want to tell us." Phil Evans told his wife as she walked into the kitchen.

"Oh you're here, if I had known I would have handed you the phone." She said.

"Oh and why is that?" Jim asked.

"Well Max just called and he wanted to speak with you, that if you stopped by to ask you to call Liz or Maria's cell phones."

Jim was stunned, Max called? But they should have been gone by now, what the hell is going on?

"Mrs. Evans if you all don't mind, I'd like to make that call before we continue here." Jim said.

"Feel free." Phil said.

Valenti walked out into the living room of their home and dialed Liz's phone from his cell phone.

They still hadn't come to a decision about the journey back to Roswell when Liz's phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Liz, did Max really call home and ask for me to call him back?" Jim asked.

"Yes, he did, here let me get him on the phone." Liz said as she handed Max the phone.

"Valenti? Did you hand our parents the tape?"

"No, I was just getting around to that."

"Don't, we didn't leave and that tape tells them our secret. We have another problem we blew up the jeep and now we need an excuse for why it's missing or destroyed."

"I have to be honest, I'm glad you guys didn't leave. I can handle the rest. Where are you now?"

"We are in the desert by the pod chamber. We have only one car available and we don't all fit."

"I can come and get you, sounds like you need a ride." Jim said with a smile.

"Yeah some of us will go ahead and the rest will wait here."

"Ok, I will call when I am close by so you can get me there, I haven't been there myself."

"Alright." Max said and hung up.

"He's on his way here, Liz, Maria and Kyle you guys should leave. We're gonna wait for Valenti here, we can all meet back at Michael's apartment."

"Oh crap my apartment! I didn't pay the rent, I thought we were leaving." Michael commiserated.

"Don't you ever learn spaceboy?" Maria kidded him, she was overjoyed that he wasn't leaving, that they all weren't leaving, well maybe not ALL of them, she could have lived without Tess.

Michael just groaned and crouched down, "Just go." He said before plopping down on the dirt.

"I need to keep your phone Liz, Valenti said he would call back when he left our house, We got to him before he had handed mom and dad the tape Isabel and I made."

What neither Max could know or Jim failed to notice was that Phil had followed Jim and when he overheard part of the conversation his mind went into overdrive and all their past behavior was sending red alarms all over his mind.

"Folk's the news I wanted to share with you was that Max's jeep was stolen last night, and this morning Max and Isabel found it completely decimated off the road before the highway splits out of Roswell towards Las Cruzes."

"Oh, thank goodness nothing happened to them."

"Yes, ma'am. I was going to stop by to speak with Max about other things, however I ran into Sheriff Hanson this morning and he asked me to deliver the news to you while he got his people on the investigation so Max's insurance will pay for it. So you folks don't worry." Jim said as he shook hands with Phil and excused himself from their home.

When he was gone, Diane Evans had a doubtful expression on her face.

"Honey, something else is going on. I overheard part of Jim's conversation with Max, Max's is hiding something and Jim is helping him."

"Max said Isabel was going to Alex's grave, but the Jim just said Max and Isabel found the jeep. I think you're right Phil they are hiding something."

The Royal Four watched as Liz, Maria and Kyle got into the car and left.

"Tess ... I want to..."

"Don't Isabel. I know what you're going to say and it's not necessary."

"Yes it is. You are one of us, you're Max's former bride, my sister-in-law. And You're pregnant and without so much as hearing your side I attacked you. I'm so sorry." Isabel said with tears in her eyes.