Title: Cross-Wired
Author: Realspacecadet and Cookie2697
E-mail: realspacecadet7@aol.com,dreambehr@yahoo.com
Category: M/L angst
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: They’re not mine. The characters of Roswell belong to Melinda Metz, the WB, Jason Katims, UPN...etc, etc.
Summary: Based on the Roswell Executives comments on the Season 2 commentary about the original plot for Viva Las Vegas...after an accident Liz and Tess undergo some physical changes, which wreaks havoc on the lives of them and their friends around them.

Chapter 1

Brody Davis ordered his lunch the same time every day.

He did it on purpose, of course, because he knew for a fact that a certain waitress worked that lunch shift. So every day, he called the Crashdown to order his sandwich (don't forget the pepperjack) and waited eagerly for Maria to deliver it. He hadn't asked her to eat with him since that first time, but sometimes she happened to stay and chat a little longer than he suspected. That was normal and accepted.

It made him very happy, even if she and that cook Michael were together. Nothing could have ever happened between them anyway, so Brody had come to the conclusion that it was just pleasant to share her company.

Today, he was so caught up in what he was doing, he missed his usual lunchtime. When he came out of the intense concentrative state that working on his latest project had put him in, he realized he was starving. His invention was complete, but it had come with a price. Maria's shift was over.

Damn, he scowled to himself. What luck.

Liz Parker came to deliver his sandwich instead. "Hi, Mr. Davis," she said politely, while looking around furtively.

"Thank you," Brody smiled. "You don't have to worry, Max isn't here." He chuckled when her whole frame relaxed, but was puzzled by the sadness in her eyes. From what he could tell, his employee and the waitress had been involved at one point, but were in the awkward post-break up stage. It was odd, but they simultaneously avoided and sought to find each other in the same breath . He wondered which of them had broken their relationship off, because he couldn't tell from the mutual longing in their faces whenever they were together.

Liz blushed. "That comes to four twenty-three, Mr. Davis."

Brody fumbled in his pocket for his wallet, and then realized he'd left it in his office. "My wallet is in the office," he explained. "Come back for a second and I'll get your money." Liz nodded. "I'm quite sorry, I know how busy the Crashdown must be."

"No, it's ok," Liz assured him. "My half-hour break is now anyway. I took your lunch to you as the last thing I was going to do, so I'm off now."

"Good, good," Brody mumbled as they walked. He reached his office and grabbed the keys for the door. Liz wondered offhandedly why it was locked, because she was almost certain it had never been so before. As Brody fumbled with the lock, Liz tried to bite back the question irking her that had nothing to do with the door.

She failed, and ventured to ask her question. "Um, where is Max, anyway? I thought he was supposed to have his shift now?"

Brody didn't turn and replied with his slight accent, "Oh, I believe he mentioned an excursion with that Michael boy. Didn't leave me much notice, but then again, he's a teenage boy." It was obvious he was having trouble with the lock, and Liz smiled. It probably needed some grease. But anyway, where had Max and Michael gone? "Bloody difficult, they are," Brody grumbled, and Liz didn't know whether he was referring to teenage boys or doors, but then the latter swung open.

She followed him, then, into his office, and gaped at the mess. "Wow, what IS all this stuff?" A work table was littered with mechanical paraphernalia, tools and metal and wires abound. On Brody's actual desk was what Liz assumed to be the final product, two great lumps of flashy metal and some cables.

"Eh, it's a project I've been dabbling in a bit," Brody hedged. "A virtual reality machine of sorts." He paused, as though considering whether Liz was trustworthy, and then added in a low voice, "I thought it might help me remember something more about my abduction."

Liz didn't even raise an eyebrow. She knew all about Brody's story from Max, their relationship most likely the reason why he confided in her. "Well, I hope it helps you," she said hesitantly.

"Thanks. Here's your money, and a tip." He moved to hand over the bills, when movement right outside the door caught his eye. Brody quickly strode past Liz to see who the uninvited guest was, not happy if someone was looking in on his personal effects. Outside the door, he saw no one, but when he turned he smacked right into the short blonde-haired intruder. It was Tess Harding. "Sorry," he apologized. "Are you looking for Max? He's not here."

"Yes, I was," answered Tess. Behind Brody, Liz walked toward the door cautiously. She knew she recognized the voice up front. What was Tess doing here? As if she knew Liz was thinking about her, Tess suddenly pierced Liz with her ice-blue gaze. "Hi, Liz."

"Tess," Liz replied evenly. They'd been getting along moderately well lately, but it didn't mean they were friends. She didn't think that was even ever a possibility, no matter how much the girl changed. Maybe it was immature and selfish, but Liz couldn't forgive the girl for taking Max away from her.

"So, where is Max?" Tess inquired of Brody, but she didn't look at him and instead peered inside his office. "He didn't tell me he was going anywhere."

Liz bit back the reply that Tess wasn't his keeper, and she wondered why she was suddenly in such a bad mood toward the blond alien. Then it hit her, and suddenly her somber mood of the past couple days made perfect sense. It was almost exactly a year.

A year since she and Max finally gave into their feelings for each other. A year since the brief period of time had passed where she'd never felt so alive, because what she and Max found in each other had woken her up, started her on a new path to the future.

She'd never dreamt that the future wouldn't include him, somehow. She was so naïve.

"Oh, yes, it's a project of mine," Liz heard Brody saying, and she came back to Earth. Tess was gazing interestedly upon Brody's invention.

"So, have you tried it out?" she inquired, blue eyes glinting mischievously.

Brody's own eyes took on a slightly glazed look, and he answered slowly, "No, but would you like to try it? The Center is pretty slow this time of day, and I should probably supervise, so I do need some guinea pigs." At the plural word, Tess looked to Liz, who flushed under her pervasive gaze.

"You want me to try it too?" she voiced doubtfully. "Tess, I don't think this is a good idea…"

Her eyes sparkled again. "Oh, come on, Liz," hedged Tess, "Where's your sense of adventure? What, do you have work?" She spit out the word distastefully, as though she never considered actually having to work to get herself things.

She truly was a royal pain, but Liz Parker didn't back down from a challenge, especially not one proposed by the person of whom her pride had been most injured by. "Fine, I'll do it," she conceded.

"Yeah, Liz," Tess drawled. "So, Brody, how do we begin?"

The messy-haired man grinned and loped over to the masses of metal. "Well," he began, these are the headsets, and they get plugged into the console. If the two of you do it, you'll both plug into the main box and be able to interact with each other in your virtual realities." Liz's eyes glanced nervously at Tess. As though sensing her uneasiness, Brody was quick to add, "Nothing that happens on the virtual plane will have any effect of your real self, don't worry. It's only supposed to encourage you to formulate sceneries that your mind creates, not true interaction." He picked up one headset. "Who first?"

"Ooh, let me," Tess replied quickly. Brody handed the gear to her easily, and she gingerly placed it over her blonde head. It seemed to fit snugly, obscuring her nose and making her look like on of those people on Star Trek, Liz thought fleetingly. Brody reached his hand out to Tess' face and fiddled with a few knobs, until he made an approving sound in his throat.

"Looks in tip-top shape to me." He sounded absolutely delighted. "Now, let me plug in this one so we don't get a power surge by connecting too much at once. Wouldn't want that to happen, would we?" Liz nodded with wide eyes, and Tess didn't seem to take much notice. As all was progressing, the brown-haired girl carefully observed, her scientist instincts kicking in on the onset of this most peculiar experiment. Brody went over to a large conductor that previously went unnoticed by Liz, and plugged several colored cords from the headset into it. "Red with blue, black with red," he mumbled. "Ah-hah."

Lights began to flash over Tess' eyes beneath the machine. "What do you see?" Brody queried.

"Just a blank," Tess replied. "White nothingness. Is that supposed to be what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah," Brody answered. "I haven't begun the simulation; I wanted to wait for Liz." At that, he picked up the matching headgear and held it out to Liz. "Here we are, Miss Parker. Try to get a nice, snug fit and then we'll be all set." Liz did so, feeling slightly imbalanced when the headset flung her into darkness, but Brody's presence next to her kept her calm. He fiddled with the knobs as he did with Tess, and then Liz felt him draw away. "Okay, here we go."

It was as though an electric current filled Liz's lithe body, and suddenly she could see again. Granted, it was only white, but without sight she felt vulnerable. It was hard to comprehend the fact she was still in the UFO center when all around her was nothingness. Finally, Brody's voice rang out again. "I'm starting the simulation. You should be able to see each other, and the machine will interpret your brain patters and attempt to create a scene comparable to what is in your head. Tess, why don't you picture something, for example, so you're not giving conflicting messages."

"Sure." Abruptly, Tess and Liz appeared in each other's fields of vision. Tess swung an arm in front of her body, as though she was testing the density of the air, but then a trail of smoke seemed to follow. Written in the smoke, Liz realized, was a message. Just in case Brody can hear, it read, this is nothing I can't do in a mind warp. Why don't you go ahead?

There was truth in that statement, but Liz wondered why Tess would have been so interested in this in the first place if the idea of virtual reality didn't thrill her in the least. Closing her eyes, Liz drew an image to mind, whatever happened to pop up.

It was Grandma Claudia, as alive and full of love as Liz strove to remember her. "Hello, Honeybear," she seemed to say, her eyes alight with pride.

"Who is that?" Tess interrupted disdainfully.

"My grandmother," Liz answered quietly. "She died last year." Tess didn't seem fazed, and Liz regretted sharing almost immediately. Tess did seem to have come a ways, but she still lacked a true family in some senses.

Tess commented, "Liz, you really are boring, aren't you. What Max saw in you I don't know. At least he's come to his senses partially." A spark of anger flamed through Liz, and she tried to keep herself under control. She needed to get out of this. Obviously, Tess was still as resentful of her as she was of Tess, and there was no need for them to share any more space than necessary. She tried to raise her hands and pull the set from her temples, when another thrum of power jolted through her and she dropped them.

"What was that?" Liz asked, hoping Brody would hear.

Tess answered, sounding a little panicked. "I felt it too, I think this thing is overheated. Here, let me get mine off and I'll unplug it." Their previous argument was forgotten, and Liz watched anxiously as Tess' hands blurrily moved to unfasten the gear. They glowed slightly and the metal seemed to be coming off, but then the whole world exploded.

Energy from Tess suddenly sizzled out in all directions, accompanied by their simultaneous screams. Liz felt lightning burn through her body and her hands clawed desperately at her head as the electrocution continued, and then everything went black.