Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell – TV Series or book.

Author's Note: So there are a few stories I'm focussing. A rough estimate for this story is that there will be an update roughly once a month, more frequently if I can, hopefully not less so. This story started off with an idea and it's grown to a full plot for the story. So I know where all of the characters will end up. Pairings are CC and some will be end-game, some won't; I won't say anymore - spoilers. I also want to re-emphasise that this is an all-human AU. I won't explain more than that – it would make the story very dull if I did. This chapter had more of Tess than I intended, and whilst she is one of the protagonist, future chapters will hopefully be more equally divided, save for certain circumstances.

A personal thank you to Her-Imaginarium and Ariya Elizabeth Cullen Black for their reviews and follows. I hope the above answers some questions (and leaves plenty more for answering in due course). A thank you to Chinagirl18 for following the story. I hope you guys continue to enjoy it.

Reviews are always welcome and constructive criticism even more so. I hope you guys enjoy it.

The Verge of Insanity

~ You make mistakes. Mistakes don't make you. ~

Maxwell Maltz

The plan was simple. It was literally as simple as she could make it. Keep her head down, blend in with the crowd, be completely unremarkable, work hard and join the FBI. Okay, so maybe the last part wasn't necessarily that simple but Tess wasn't an optimist, she was persistent and she was going to get into the FBI. It wasn't the last part that wasn't going to plan; it was the rest of it.

She'd worn a pair of jeans lacking any embellishment and a green top (not blue, because her mum always said they made her blue eyes pop and she didn't want any part of her to pop). She'd kept her newly shortened hair down, no elaborate style or clips or anything – just down. And she should've blended in with the crowd. She also would've blended in with the crowd if she hadn't sat next to the head cheerleader of her new school, Ashley.

Ashley was pretty – long blonde hair, slim figure, pretty smile. She was also not the usual stereotype. Other than the fact that she was nice, friendly and her group of friends were not just cheerleaders or the usual pretty types, she was also intelligent, a member of the debating society (how did they find anyone to debate with, in such a small town?) and she had befriended Tess instantly when they sat next to each other in the Advanced English Lit class.

That's how Tess found herself surrounded by a small group of girls, mostly cheerleaders but some not, at a burger joint that was so alien-themed, it could have been the set of a hackneyed sitcom or teen drama. ('We have to introduce you to life in Roswell,' Ashley had insisted. 'And we have to show you the best entertainment you get here,' Cathy had chimed in with a conspiratorial smile thrown at Ashley. 'Don't worry, the food's good,' Trudy had reassured her, with a roll of her eyes.)

Tess could've said no. And she should've said no, of course. This wasn't remaining in the background, exactly, but she was hungry and the first few days of a new job, her dad normally worked late and, really, what's the worst that could happen at a burger joint in a bizarro town like Roswell? She knew better than to think that but she had and she spent the next week cursing herself.

'Are you kidding me?' The blonde with the pixie-cut was shooting daggers at one of the customers, her yell of indignation carrying easily as Tess failed at hiding a smile. So this was the infamous entertainment that Roswell had to offer?

'Who is she?'

'That is one Maria Deluca,' Cathy pronounced with the dramatics that the subject herself would probably have appreciated.

'Is she in our year?' Tess looked curiously at the girl that was now actively chewing the guy out at full volume.

'She goes to the other school but yeah, I think she's in our year.' Ashley shrugged dismissively. 'We don't really know her; she just tends to be quite...well...'

The other waitress grabbed Maria and pulled her away, before bringing the food to them with a smile and manners that were in stark contrast to that of her friend.

'Wow, food's pretty good here,' Tess managed to say around a big mouthful of the burger as Ashley looked mildly disgusted and Cathy snickered.

It was halfway through her burger that things took a turn. The general din of the diner, the general white noise that they blocked as they chatted about school and the Crash party seemed to suddenly fade away as the shouting between two men escalated. Tess' eyes widen, along with everyone else's as a gun comes out of hiding and she ducks for cover. Her hands grasp for her own gun before she remembers that she'd deemed school low-risk and left it at home. Crap.

The gun goes off and for a second, she's right there when her mum died, crying silently as she shoves her face into a towel to make sure not a sound leaves her mouth. There's yelling and she blinks, shaking her head and being so grateful that nobody was hurt until she hears the loud-mouthed blonde waitress yelling a name in panic.

She acted on automatic. She'll never know whether it was because everything happened so fast or because she was numb but it feels like she blinks and she's suddenly by the waitress on the floor. There's a guy leaning over her and somebody keeping the crowds away – at least somebody else has common sense. Her hands are ready for chest compressions and all she can see is her dead mother but not this time, not this time, not this time runs through her head. Somebody calls out her name but before she can kneel, she sees the hands of the guy glowing and she's not entirely sure what's happening but the girls eyes open, the expression in them alert and the haziness totally absent as he stands up and runs.

Holy shit what just happened here?!

She herself is standing up and she finds Trudy beside her but she lets the words wash over her as her wide eyes watch the guy running away.

Who is he?

'Are you okay?' The panic is radiating off Isabel and ordinarily, Michael would have snapped at her to stop wearing her emotions so clearly but this situation is so far from ordinary and he's feeling panicked himself, even if it's for other reasons. He's startled and he lets his mouth fall open when Isabel turns her attention to him, her hands roaming over him to find any injuries, just like she had done with Max and it makes Michael feel...something. He pushes the thought away. She doesn't stop even when he tells her he's okay and it takes Max grabbing hold of her hands before she stops.

'Yeah, it's not like it's our blood,' Michael tells her sourly. That should stop any avoidance tactics Max may have had in mind.

'Blood? Who got shot?' izzy's eyes turn wide again and Michael bites back a sigh.

'Liz,' Max mutters, avoiding both sets of eyes. There's a pause for about ten seconds before...

'Max, what did you do?' There's moments when Michael thinks Iz could be an awesome mom – she's sometimes sweet and soft, sometimes fun and, times like this, she's absolutely formidable. 'MAX! What. Did. You. DO?!' Each word has her getting angrier and she has no problems letting Max know it. Michael lets the smirk on his face grow, glad to have her on his side, as she's bound to be.

'Liz got shot,' is all Max says but it's all she needs to line the dots.

'And you, what? Healed her, in front of a diner full of people?' Her voice is acid, dripping scorn in every word but the silence that greets her stuns her for the moment. 'Max, tell me you didn't...!'

'She was dying, what was I supposed to do?'

'How about not use your powers in public?' She snapped back, eyes flashing with fury but Michael could see the panic hiding beneath it.

The silence that surrounds them has none of the comfort they're used to. Isabel feels like they're on a precipice, the wrong step and it all falls apart like a house built of straw. And she's not entirely sure which family she's worried she might lose, although her dislike of Liz Parker has increased a notch, or dozen. She breaks the silence again, with the question she doesn't want to ask but has to. 'Do you think anyone saw you do it? Do you think anyone suspects?' She doesn't bother asking if Liz would tell because, honestly, the stuff he comes out with would give Shakespeare diabetes.

It's the first time Max has looked at them in the eyes but he sees instead wide, blue eyes and a pretty mouth open in shock. He had to do it, he tells himself. It was Liz, Liz with the shy smile and the warm eyes, with the heart just so good and pure and free from all the teenage trash other girls focus on. The world would be a sadder place without Liz in it, and his life would be barren without her. He couldn't just let her lie there, life slowly building away.

But then he looks at Michael, at his sister and thinks about those blue eyes. He wants to stay silent because it feels like he just chose Liz over his sister and the closest thing to a brother he'll ever have and he sees the betrayal underneath all the ire. His jaw physically hurts from moving it, his tongue feels heavy and his lips clumsy. 'Yes, I think someone saw me.'

She stared at herself in the mirror, fingers ghosting over a flat stomach that was very much intact, no bullet wound in sight. What did Max do? Who was he?