Ripple Effect
Sophia Conrad
Chapter 1: The Pebble Drops
"I had a hamburger, when the gun went off I ran away. Did I break the law?"
- Max Evans.
"September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird..."
5 days ago…
Business was booming in the crowded Crashdown Café, the Crash Festival, Roswell's anniversary party for the 1947 crash event was being hosted that week, and the town was already filling up with the annual batch of tourists, sight-seer's and thrill-seekers. Blech.
Liz Parker, and her friend Maria, were the ones with the unfortunate task of having to serve the lot of them. Which, for this week, meant that had to field questions, make up stories and do their darn best to up the hype, no matter how much they hated it.
"Okay, I have got one Sigourney Weaver, that's for you. And one Will Smith. Can I get you guys anything else? Green Martian Shake? Blood of Alien smoothie?" Liz reeled off her usual sales-pitch. They wouldn't buy, if she didn't try. It was cheesy, but true. When one worked in the food industry, or in any job really, it was always easier if you can laugh about it later.
"No, thanks. We're good." Larry, the first tourist said.
"Are you guys here for the crash festival?" Liz asked, politely making small talk. As her Dad always said – You'll catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.
"Yeah, can't wait." Larry's girlfriend, Jennifer said. She glanced around, and then asked Liz:
"So... does your family come from Roswell?"
"Just four generations." Liz said, smiling. The tourists shared an eager look.
"Uh, well, does anyone in your family have stories about the UFO crash?" Larry asked tentatively, looking around. Liz suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, and put her game face on. Paranoid much?
"Well, I guess it would be O.K. to show you guys this..." Liz told them, keeping her voice deliberately low as she handed over her fake-alien picture. Maria passed behind her to reach a table for two, coffee pot in hand and shook her head, grinning as the pair of tourists lapped up Liz's story.
"Refill?" Maria asked the two truckers, trying to be polite.
"No, get outta here." The first guy snapped at her. Maria rolled her eyes, she could take a hint. As she walked back to the other end of the café, she overheard Liz spinning her tale. Tourists – they always fell for it. Every single time.
"My grandmother took this picture at the crash site right before the government cleaned it up." Liz told the couple she was serving, looking around to check if anybody was watching. There never was.
"Do people know about this photograph?" Jennifer asked, trying not to gape.
"Well, I know about it, and now you know about it." Liz said. Her captive audience didn't even stop to contemplate the fact that she had it in her apron pocket, or that she had just shared a supposed family secret with a pair of perfect strangers. Suckers.
"Woah! Wow!" Jennifer exclaimed in tandem with Larry.
"I'm gonna be right back, don't show that to anyone." Liz told them, joining Maria and heading over to the cash register.
"No..." Jennifer agreed, staring reverently at the photo.
"You are sooo bad girl. Oh, and Max Evans is staring at you again." Maria told her, grinning. She nodded over to the booth where Max sat with his friend Michael Guerin.
"No way." Liz shook her head, laughing.
"Maria, that is so in your imagination." Liz told her, looking over to where Max sat. She caught his eye before he quickly looked away, abashed at having been caught.
"Max Evans? This? No, uh uh… It's not..." Liz tried to formulate an argument.
"And with those cheeks?" Maria teased, pinching Liz's cheeks live an overbearing grandmother.
"Maria!" Liz's voice went up an octave as she swatted her friend away.
"And, and even if it weren't I'm going out with Kyle. I mean, he's steady and loyal, and he appreciates me." She insisted, trying to prove her point.
"Sounds like you're describing a poodle." Maria said wryly.
"...you ask me to give you another day!? You're running outta time." The man who had snapped at Maria stood up, sending the dishes on his table flying to the floor. Unlike the Alien Flying Saucers, these ones smashed in to pieces, like the china they were made of.
"Liz!" Maria shouted, scared. The majority of the restaurants patrons were now focused solely on the argument, ready to duck out of the way at a moments notice.
"I want the money today. Not tomorrow!" The aggressive trucker from earlier shouted. His companion pulled a gun, and the majority of the crowd dropped to the floor. All except for Liz. There was a loud crack as the gun went off and Liz collapsed, unnoticed for a few moments as the two men drew the attention by making a break for it.
"Liz...?" Maria called out, scared for her friend. There was no reply. Max got up from his seat and stared at where Liz lay, face going blank with shock. Michael joined him, and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him backwards.
"What are you doing? Let go of me." Max asked, clearly in shock. The girl of his dreams was dying, go figure.
"Max, go get in the jeep." Michael told him, pulling him backwards, more firmly this time. He was no use like this. Heck, Max was a shoddy healer at the best of times.
"Call an ambulance." Michael told Maria, before heading over to where Liz lay. She had definitely been shot, the wound on her abdomen bled through onto her baby blue uniform. Trying to be as unemotional as possible, Michael tore her uniform open to get a better look. It wasn't pretty.
The bullet had lodged itself in one of her abdominal muscles, preventing it from exiting her body, and had most likely torn her stomach lining. This meant that even now, the acid and bile produced there would be leaking out and burning her organs. In less than 10 minutes, it would reach her heart and kill her. A stomach wound was definitely one of the most painful ways to die. That was, if the blood loss didn't kill her first. Chances were, the bullet had also clipped the aorta, a major artery in the body that passed through the abdomen.
"Uhh...it's gonna be OK." Michael tried to reassure her, while debating on how best to fix the damage.
"Oh my god!" Jennifer, the woman from earlier screeched, and Michael turned to shout at her.
"Hey, get back!" He turned back to Liz, focusing again.
"Liz, LIZ! You have to look at me. You have to look at me." He told her, and she blearily opened her eyes, having a hard time focusing on anything. She was going into shock.
Quickly, Michael placed his hand over the wound and focused. The miniscule space between his hand and her skin lit up with a faint glow as he willed the bullet to dissolve into harmless molecules of iron and other minerals. Inside her body, her cells kicked into overdrive to repair the damage, damage that would normally take weeks to heal, that was, if she didn't die from blood loss first. The capillaries knit back together, and the acid retreated into her already healing stomach.
As he did this, Michael began to see flashes. Specifically, flashes of Liz. Memories of her childhood, playing with her friends at recess. Studying for a science project in middle school. Little things, trivial things. But what stood out the most was the memory of the little girl wearing a dress covered in cupcakes. He sighed, and pulled his hand away; satisfied that she would be fine. He looked around, and then pressed his fingers to her uniform – willing the blood to dissolve, and the bullet hole to reseal, removing all evidence of her being shot. He passed his hand over the small puddle of blood on the floor, reducing it to water.
"You're all right now. You're all right." Michael soothed the barely lucid girl, hoping she wouldn't freak out.
"Jeep! Now!" Michael shouted at Max, who still hadn't moved from where he stood by the booth. Max shook his head, turned and ran out the door, keys in hand.
"You tripped over your feet when the gun went off and hit your head, that's all. Don't say anything else." Michael told her, before racing out of the café to where Max had the Jeep waiting. The sped away, like they were being chased by the hounds of hell themselves. Dazed, Liz stood up, staring after him. What had just happened.
"Are you okay?" Maria asked her, taking in her disheveled appearance. Liz didn't answer. What could she say? A boy I barely know just brought me back from the dead? Yeah right.
Half an hour later, most of the customers had cleared out, and the Deputy from the local Sherriff's department was finishing taking statements. The front door crashed open as Mr. Parker, who was both the owner of the Café, and Liz's dad, barreled through it.
"Lizzie. Oh my God!" He exclaimed, making his way over to where she stood, a shock blanket around her shoulders.
"No, dad, dad look, Look. See, I'm fine. I just slipped. Really, I'm fine." She insisted, trying to calm him down before he went into a full-fledged panic attack.
"Are you sure?" He fussed, still trying to check her over.
"Yeah. I'm fine, really." She reassured him. A few feet away, Deputy Hanson was getting the descriptions of the men involved from Maria. She wasn't the most helpful of witness's.
"The guy with the gun was kind of like a, like a muscular Beavis. And... The other one was like a, like a beefy Butthead." Maria told him, gesturing with her hands as she spoke.
"I'm gonna need a better description then that. I'm assuming they weren't actually cartoons." The Deputy said, clearly not impressed with Maria's memory skills. Maria pulled a face.
"Excuse me." Maria said, opening up her bottle of Cypress oil as Sheriff Valenti walked into the room. He caught sight of her sniffing the bottle and shot her a look.
"Cypress Oil, it um, it reduces stress." Maria said, shrugging her shoulders. Valenti turned away to face Liz.
"You okay?" Sherriff Valenti asked Liz, who was still enveloped in her Dad's death grip.
"Yeah, thanks. I-I'm just a little shaken up." Liz said, smiling faintly.
"Sheriff, the suspects ran out just after the incident occurred. Couple of outsiders. No apparent robbery, no injuries other than the girl that fell. Just seems like an argument that got outta hand." Deputy Hanson filled him in, before turning to see the pair of tourists nosing around the back area.
"Hey, I told you two to stay outta there!" He shouted at them.
"Couple of tourists in town for the crash." Deputy Hanson explained when Valenti gave him an odd look.
"Uh, Sheriff, hi, um, I'm sorry, I really need to talk to you. I think something happened here." Larry said, trying not to fidget.
"What do you think happened?" Valenti asked, trying to be polite. You never knew, sometimes the tourists were worth listening too.
"The gunman was, was standing right over there, right?" Larry pointed to the table near the cash register.
"And the shot was fired into this direction. Now, Jen and I, we searched this entire place up and down and... I mean there's, where's the bullet?" He asked, looking back and forth between the Sherriff and his Deputy.
"We haven't found a bullet hole yet sheriff." Deputy Hanson confirmed.
"Yeah, and uh, sheriff. Before it happened, the girl gave me this." Larry said, turning Liz's prank photo over to him. Valenti took one look, and had to suppress the urge to groan. Really?
"Jeff…" Valenti said, passing the photo to Mr. Parker.
"Lizzie!" Liz's dad exclaimed.
"Yeah?" Liz replied, cringing.
"What have I told you about showing the alien photos to the tourists?" Her dad asked, shaking his head. It was hard to be angry with your teenage daughter, when she'd nearly been shot less than half an hour earlier. As he pulled her into a hug, Valenti made his way over to the booth where Max and Michael had been sitting. On the table, sat two empty bottles of Tabasco sauce. The two tourists from earlier, watched him with eager eyes.
"There were two kids sitting over here when it happened, two boys about her age. And then one of them went-"Jennifer started to say, hyped up on the adrenaline left over.
"Uh yea, that's right there were. You know that I didn't recognize them, so they must have just been tourists." Liz cut in, desperate to avoid any questions about Max and Michael.
"No, no it sure looked like that she knew them to me." Larry disagreed. Sheriff Valenti looked to Liz. She refused to meet his eye.
That night, Liz hid her uniform in a book bag, unsure of what to do with it. Did she keep it? Or should she burn it, just in case. There wasn't any visible evidence of her being shot, but even she knew that sometimes traces were left behind. As she got ready for bed, her reflection in the mirror caught her eye. On her stomach, right where Michael had put his hand to heal her was a bright silver handprint.
Liz couldn't focus. The next day she found herself sitting in her Biology class. A class she shouldn't have been in. A life she shouldn't have been living. She should have been dead, but she wasn't. Every breath she took, she owed to Michael. She hadn't asked him to save her but he had, and for that, she was thankful.
The teacher had stated the class of as usual, and for once – Liz found it hard to hear her voice. It was as if everything had just gone… surreal. She shook herself out of it, and tried to focus. Tried to forget how it had felt to have been shot, to have been healed. But most importantly, how it had felt to have had Michael's hand on her stomach, and hearing him tell her it would be alright.
"Okay, we've spent the last week talking about Genus and Phylum, and now we're going to get a little more specific and talk about the difference between species. For today's experiment you'll be working in teams of two." The teacher told them, and Liz looked up in time to see Max Evans walk in late, a pencil stuck in his mouth. He flopped down into the chair at her neighboring bench and began flipping through his textbook.
"Mr. Evans, so nice of you to join us." The teacher said, before refocusing on the whole class.
"Okay, everyone on the right prepare a slide with the vegetable sampling, everyone on the left, take a toothpick and get a sample from your cheek." As she said this, Max stilled and removed the pencil from his mouth. He raised his hand, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Mr. Evans?" The teacher asked, indicating that he could speak.
"Could I get a bathroom pass?" He asked, clearly nervous about something.
"High maintenance today aren't we?" The teacher said wryly, handing him the pass and Liz a toothpick. Max bolted, and Liz barely spared him a glance as she prepped her own cheek sample.
"It's very easy to look on the outside and say what differentiates humans from other species. But what about what's on the inside, everyone, look at the human cells and describe everything you see on your lab sheet." The teacher explained the day's lab. After she'd finished her own sample, Liz glanced over to the pencil that Max had left behind. She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't curious. Maybe he was like Michael… whatever or whoever Michael was.
She looked into the microscope again, memorizing how her cheek cells looked, before scraping the evidence left behind from Max's pencil. It wasn't the best way of doing it, but it was all she had. Quickly she prepped a second slide, this one with the cells she had just collected, and slid it under the microscope. The two slides were nothing alike. As soon as class was over, Liz bolted for the hallway, desperate for some answers. She caught sight if Max and hurried over to him.
"Max! Max! Excuse me, excuse me. Max, I have to talk to you." She took him by the arm and began to lead him toward the band room, but stopped a few second later. Michael had just walked into the hall. She dragged Max over to him and proceeded to use her spare arm to pull Michael along. Opening the door to the band room, she pushed them both inside and then shut the door behind them. The room was practically empty, save for her unofficial boyfriend Kyle who was beating a set of drums, bopping his head as he did so.
"Kyle!" Liz said, surprised. She hadn't thought that anybody else would be in there.
"Hey!" Kyle smiled, happy to see his unofficial girlfriend.
"Hey!" Liz tried not to grimace.
"Hey Max. Michael." Kyle greeted the two boys.
"Hey." Max replied, not making eye contact. This was awkward.
"Whatever." Michael grunted.
"So'd you get my message?" Kyle asked her, putting his drumsticks down.
"Oh yeah, I did. I was uh, just a little..." Liz replied, anxious to be rid of him.
"Shaken up.' Kyle finished her sentence.
"That's what I was." Liz nodded enthusiastically.
"I know, my dad told me about the gun goin' off. You okay?" Kyle said, slightly worried.
"Oh, yea I am, it was just loud and then it was over." Liz shrugged off the events of the previous afternoon. After all, it wasn't as if she'd been shot. Which was the official story.
"So you guys are...?" Kyle asked, gesturing to the three of them.
"Um, we're looking for a place... to study, for our Bio midterm." Liz covered quickly.
"Oh right. Right okay, Biology. All right, I was leavin' anyway." Kyle nodded, he wasn't really into science all that much.
"Great, um, that's good." Liz smiled at him.
"Oh, I got my costume for the crash this Friday it's great-" Kyle started, but Liz cut him off.
"Kyle. We've gotta study. Sorry." She shot him an apologetic grin, and he nodded, understanding.
"Right. See you Max." Kyle waved and left the room, humming a beat as he went.
"So... You're going out with the Sheriff's son?" Max asked her, a little bummed. Michael rolled his eyes, not looking forward to Max's inevitable pity party. Talk about no good deed going unpunished.
"Um, yeah. Well, it's kind of like this, this casual..." Liz trailed off, shaking her head to refocus.
"Okay, Max. Can we just focus here for one minute please?" She asked, and then raised her shirt to show them the mark that Michael had left behind.
"Wow." Max said, actually astounded. Michael groaned and put his head in his hands. Crap.
"Well… I should have died yesterday, and then Michael did something and I didn't. Then, I, um, I-I scraped some cells from your pencil. This is really hard to say, I'm trying to keep from blacking out here. Um, the cells weren't normal. So, Max, what I'm going to suggest to you is that we just go back to the bio lab now, so that I can take a sample so that I can see what I'm thinking is wrong, you know? That I got the wrong cells..." Liz tried to keep her voice steady.
"You didn't." Max told her, ignoring Michael grumbled of disapproval.
"Okay, um. So help me out here Max. I mean, what are you?" Liz asked nervously. This was surreal…
"Well we're not from around here." Max told her with a wry smile, and Liz nodded.
"Where you from?" She asked nervously, and Michael could only groan once more, burying his face even deeper into his hands. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! Max pointed to the ceiling with his index finger. Liz eyed him cautiously.
"Up north?" Liz asked hopefully. She was a Roswellian, born and bred – she wasn't supposed to believe in aliens. Max lifted his finger to point higher and Liz gulped.
"You're not an, an alien, I mean. Are you?" Liz swallowed had, looking back and forth between the two boys.
"Well I prefer the term not of this earth. Sorry, it's not a good time to joke." Max admitted, shaking his head.
"Yeah, I am. Wow, it's weird to actually say it." He told her.
"Okay, and Michael?" Liz asked, trying not to black out. Michael didn't bother to even look up; he just gave her the finger. Liz nodded.
"I'll take that as a yes… Okay…" Liz exhaled heavily, and then started to walk out of the room.
"Liz..." Max tried, but she shook her head, trying not to freak out. It was one thing to have a hypothesis, but it was a whole different kettle of fish to have it confirmed.
"Um, Max, you know, I have, I'm gonna be late for my US Government class, so I'm just gonna -" Max stopped her at the door, holding it shut with his foot.
"Liz, listen to me. You can't talk to anyone about this. Not your parents, not Maria. No one. You don't understand what'll happen if you do. Liz please? Now our lives are in your hands." He told her. Liz looked up at him for a moment, and then pushed him back so that she could leave. As the door shut behind her, Michael lifted his head to glare at Max.
"Well, it says right here that shots were fired but no one was injured." Alex Whitman, the third member of Maria and Liz's friendship read from the paper. He was sat with Maria in the cafeteria discussing the events of the day before.
"Then where's Liz? I mean, why is she avoiding me? Okay, first of all, Liz is never late right? She walks into homeroom today, and goes and sits next to Pam Troy. She like, hates Pam Troy and you know like, goes around admitting it openly...and...Alex are you listening to me?" Maria ranted, feeling more than a little bit lost. Liz always told her everything, and now, now Liz was avoiding her.
"Yeah, yeah, Maria I'm listening to you. But this is just you being you. All right? Liz is fine, nothing happened it's all right here in black and white." Alex tried to reassure her. It didn't work. Maria looked up just in time to see Liz pass the doorway, and head down the hall. Saying goodbye, Maria grabbed her purse and followed her friend down the hall to the girl's bathroom. She walked in to find Liz splashing her face with water, clearly trying to calm herself down.
"Hey." Liz said, catching sight of Maria.
"So I called like, 37 times." Maria told her, sounding a little sullen.
"I know, I'm sorry." Liz told her, not meeting her eyes.
"Liz, what happened?" Maria asked, concerned.
"What do you mean Maria? You were there, you saw everything?" Liz asked nervously, trying to avoid a confrontation.
"Did I? Cause um, this looks a lot like blood to me." Maria said, holding out Liz's order pad. It was dyed red with blood, something that Michael had forgotten to fix in his hurry. Liz gulped.
"What did Michael do to you?" Maria asked, and Liz dried her hands in silence. She honestly had no real answer. What exactly had he done?
After Liz had left, Michael and Max had stood there in silence for a long time. The bell rang, and they waited. The next bell rang for lunch, and finally Michael moved toward the door. If they made Isabel wait any longer, she would hunt them down and make them pay. Side by side, they made their way to the cafeteria and joined Isabel in the lunch queue, collected their lunches and sat down at a table. All the while, Isabel was talking.
"…the important thing is, to contain this. We just have to figure out what to say to Miss Scientist." Isabel decided, the control freak inside her beginning to surface. Max looked away, guiltily and Isabel frowned.
"Oh my God, you told her." She hissed at him, eyes narrowed.
"I didn't have a choice. It's gonna be okay." Max said.
"I can't believe this Max. You know, I finally feel like I have a quasi-normal existence and you two go and blow it all on some random girl!" Isabel snarled at him, before looking at Michael.
"How did you let my misguided brother do this? I'd expect this kind of stunt from you, but not him." If looks could kill, they would be 6ft under already.
"Hey don't turn this around on me. I'm not the one who told her. If he hadn't said anything, she probably woulda passed it off as a mistake." Michael grumped when Isabel turned on him
"Look, I said I was sorry." Max said, sighing heavily.
"Well I'm not. If I hadn't, Max would have tried, and he'd probably have made it worse. Then where would we be?" Michael told Isabel, who wasn't impressed.
"What the hell were you thinking Michael?" She demanded.
"I was thinking that she didn't deserve to die. Not like that." Michael glowered at her, and she began to puff up like an adder before Max intervened.
"It's not like you can talk. You use your powers all the time." Max said, as Isabel did exactly that and reheated her taco.
"Recreationally. I've never done anything like what you two did." Isabel argued.
"Don't you realize that everything has changed." Isabel asked them, looking down at her food.
"No, it hasn't." Max told her. Michael frowned, thinking hard.
"Max, she's right, we're screwed. It's time to leave Roswell." He decided, before getting up and walking away. Max and Isabel shared a look before following.
"Michael, we can't just leave." Max said as they walked out into the parking lot
"Yeah, we can. We've always known this day would come. We said when it did we'd be prepared." Michael retorted, trying to keep his temper under control.
"Michael, where are we gonna go. You know Roswell's home." Isabel said as they climbed into the beat up army surplus jeep
"Roswell's not home. It's not even in our solar system." Michael pointed out as Max started the engine.
"Well this is the closest thing we have to home right now." Max told him.
"For you two maybe, it was you the Evans found on the side of the road, not me. They're like real parents to you. My foster dad just keeps me around for the monthly check." Michael replied grumpily.
"This is gonna be OK. We should just lay low. Go back to school and act normal." Max reassured him.
"Act normal? That's your big plan Max? Don't you realize it's only a matter of time before they find us and turn us over to some government agency where they're gonna test us and prod us, and, oh yea, exterminate us." Isabel hissed as Max drove the Jeep out on to the road. He ignored her, so after five minutes of painful silence, she pulled out a CD and held it to her ear, using her powers to listen to it.
"Isabel, could you please not do that?" Max asked after a few more minutes.
"Yea, like listening to a CD is the problem." Isabel huffed, putting the CD down.
"I couldn't just let her die." Michael said softly, and Isabel gave him a pained look. He was right, nobody deserved to die like that. She just wished it hadn't happened. Not seconds later, the Sherriff's car appeared in the rear view mirror, lights flashing wildly. Michael stiffened.
"Is he pulling us over?" Isabel asked, trying not to panic.
"Max go, let's get outta here." Michael hissed.
"We can't start acting guilty." Max told them, pulling over.
"He always pulls kids over he does it all the time. It's nothing."
"Yea, nuthin'." Michael grumbled as Valenti got out of his truck and walked over to them.
"Your license and registration please." Sherriff Valenti asked when he reached them.
"Of course officer." Max complied and handed them over. Valenti looked them over before handing them back to Max, who stowed them away.
"Thank you Mr. Evans. We had a little trouble at the Crashdown Cafe yesterday. You kids be careful out there." Valenti tipped his hat.
"Yes sir." Max agreed, moving his foot back to the gas pedal. As he did so, he knocked a half-empty bottle of Tabasco, which Valenti eyed.
"Watch your speed. Arrive alive." Valenti told him, Max nodded.
"We will." He agreed. Valenti turned and went back to his car, driving off. Max went to start the jeep, but Isabel leant forward and snatched the keys from the ignition.
"Izzie, everything is gonna be okay." Max said calmly.
"No it won't. Our cover is blown. How long is it going to be before they come after us? How long?" Isabel argued, holding the keys out of his reach.
"No one is going to come for us. I mean, we don't even know if there is a 'them'." Max told her.
"What happened to our parents? What happened to everybody else on the ship? They were killed, and you know that." Isabel shouted at him.
"Liz won't tell anyone, she's different." Max said softly. Michael rolled his eyes. The guy had it bad.
"Really? So how'd she react when you told her? 'Great you're an alien that's fantastic.'" Isabel asked, furious. Max looked away, and Michael refused to meet her eyes.
"No, I didn't think so." Isabel huffed, throwing herself out of the jeep and walking away.
"Thought I was pissed." Michael muttered, before shutting up as Max shot him a glare.
That evening, Kyle walked Liz back to her house after their date. She'd had a nice time, but the whole evening, her mind had been wandering and whirring. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask.
"Well, goodnight." Liz said as they reached her door.
"Oh right, right. Listen Liz, you've, you've been somewhere else all night." Kyle said, trying not to sound cross. He was worried about her.
"I know, I'm sorry. Kyle, do you ever wonder if..." Liz tailed off. Kyle looked at her.
"Do I ever wonder what?" Kyle asked, more than a little confused.
"When you see me, do you, do you feel things." Liz asked, not really sure what she was thinking, or how to phrase it.
"Yes, of course. I feel things. Like what?" Kyle answered with another question.
"Forget it, I don't know what I was talking about. I'm just gonna go get some sleep." Liz told him, and Kyle deflated a little.
"All right." He said. She reached up to turn off the light outside her door, causing her shirt to ride up. Kyle caught sight of the silver handprint that was emblazoned on her stomach.
"Liz?" Kyle asked, and Liz hurriedly pulled her shit down.
"Uh, Maria and I were experimenting with ideas for the Crash bash. She, uh, got bored." Liz told him, instinctively covering for Michael. Max's words from earlier kept resounding in her head.
"Okay…" Kyle said, clearly not sure if he should believe her or not.
"Good night Kyle." Liz said, trying to make her point. She was still smiling though.
"Goodnight Liz." He replied, and turned to walk away. The door shut softly behind her.
Liz sat out on her rooftop balcony, starring up at the stars. It was still balmy, the effects of summer had yet to wear off.
"Liz? Liz!" Liz looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It sounded like Michael. Liz went to the edge of the rooftop, and looked over it. It was Michael.
"I have to talk to you." He said, and she gestured to the metal ladder that ran up the wall. He scaled it easily and sat on the ledge, tapping his foot against the floor. Neither one of them spoke for several moments.
"What?" She asked, trying to figure out why he kept staring at her.
"Sorry, I just , uh, I just keep picturing you in that dress, with the, uh, the cupcakes...on it. It's a little bit... odd." Michael explained.
"What?" Liz said, eyes a little wide.
"Forget it, it was a long time ago." Michael tried to cover up his slip.
"Oh my God. That's, that's right. I can't believe I actually wore that thing!" Liz exclaimed, before pausing and staring at him.
"Wait a minute. I had that dress in kindergarten, I didn't know you until the fourth grade. Did you like, read my mind or something?" Liz said, surprised.
"Uh, no, I don't read minds. When I healed you, I made this, this , I don't know, this connection. And I got this rush of images... And an image of that dress flashed into my mind, and , I knew how you felt about it." Michael told her.
"How did I feel about it?" She asked, not really sure if she should believe it.
"It was the most embarrassing time of your life. But your Mom made it for you, and she'd never made a dress before, so you wore it. Because you wanted her to be happy." Michael said. Liz could only nod in shock.
"I've never tried this before, but maybe I can make the connection go the other way. Just so you can see, y'know, that I'm not dangerous." Michael told her, moving closer.
"I'm going to have to touch you." He warned, and Liz nodded her consent. Gently, Michael pressed his hands to her temples.
"Now just take deep breaths and try to let your mind blank out." He instructed, and she did as she was told. The images were slow at first, but then progressed to a quicker pace.
A little boy running through a barren field; Meeting Max and Isabel for the first time out in the desert and running away at the sight of the headlights. The Orphanage, Hank shouting at him. School; Meeting Max and Isabel again; Running into Liz and Maria in the hallways, Teachers expressing disappointment. But most of all, and undeniable theme of loneliness that coated everything – The need to be loved.
"I could feel everything he was feeling. I could feel his loneliness, and his pain. For the first time I was really seeing Michael Guerin. He was so much more than anybody gave him credit for. So much stronger, and I felt privileged to be allowed to see what he hid underneath his stonewall façade."
"Did it work?" He asked as he pulled away, and Liz could only nod, amazed. Wow.
" It was as if he had put a force on me. It's like my whole life changed in an instant. It's just so ironic that when something like this finally happened to me, it was with an alien."
"Hey." Alex said, leaning against the door of the band room. Liz looked up at him.
"Oh, hey Alex. Have you seen my bookbag anywhere?" She asked. She'd brought it to school that morning so she could ask Michael's opinion on what to do with it, but had been to freaked out to say anything. Now it was missing.
"No, I haven't. Can I talk to you for a second?" He sounded worried.
"Yeah, what's up?" Liz asked, still looking around for the missing bag,
"Well, I'm your friend, and I'm Maria's friend to, so if you lie to Maria, it's sort of like lying to me." Alex said, fidgeting as he spoke.
"Alex, what did Maria say to you?" Liz asked, straightening up.
"Well, frankly it's vague. I mean, everything needs to be put through the Maria filter. But, she said something about how she found blood on your order book. What's going on?" Alex said, a frown marring his face.
"Alex, Maria is a total drama queen. You know that. Nothing is going on." Liz waved his concern away.
"O-okay, well, look. All I care about is that you're Okay. So you're, you are alright, you're okay?" Alex asked, double checking.
"I'm Okay." Liz assured him.
"Alright." Alex decided, nodding to himself.
"Okay." Liz said, trying not to laugh.
"And whatever happened is... over now?" Alex asked, worried.
"It is totally over." Liz assured him.
"Okay." Alex said, smiling. Liz laughed.
"Okay." Liz repeated, smiling. It was at that moment that the Principle walked in, leading Deputy Hanson. Liz's stomach turned to ice.
"There she is." The Principle said, pointing to Liz.
"Ms. Parker, the Sheriff needs to ask you some questions." Deputy Hanson said, and Liz got to her feet reluctantly. He drove her down to the Sherriff's Department and then lead her into Valenti's office. She didn't have to wait long before Valenti joined her, carrying a manilla folder.
"Afternoon Ms. Parker. Your father said it would be all right if I talked to you. I'm sorry to have to show you these." Valenti said, tossing a set of photos onto the desk. She pulled them toward her. They were photos of a body with a silver handprint on the chest. The date in the corner said 1959.
"This man was found dead, no apparent cause of death. Except that. What do you make of that mark?" Valenti said, watching her carefully.
"I have never seen anything like that before." Liz told him calmly, lying through her teeth. Like hell was she putting Michael at risk.
"Kyle said he saw a similar mark on your stomach." Valenti told her.
"It was paint. Maria and I were messing around with some costume paint for the crash." Liz replied, meeting his gaze.
"You just said you'd never seen anything like this before." He pointed out.
"Sherriff, it was on my stomach. It was upside down, it was paint. What does art gone wrong have to do with a 40 year old photo of a murder victim?" Liz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm sure you're telling the truth, but I'm gonna need to see for myself Liz." He said. Liz didn't even miss a beat, after last night's debacle, she'd done the smart thing and covered it with foundation that morning. That way she could say it had washed off in the shower.
"Sherriff, what does this have to do with anything?" Liz asked, suspicious.
"Liz, please?" Valenti said, sighing. Liz rolled her eyes and stood, yanking her shirt over her midriff to show him golden brown skin, no handprint whatsoever.
"The mark faded on the corpse too." Valenti mused and Liz frowned.
"Sherriff, it was paint. It washed off in the shower, y'know, like paint is supposed to. What is this about?" Liz pressed. Valenti ignored her.
"What do you know about a kid named Max Evans?" He asked. Liz blinked. What?
"Max Evans?" Liz asked, confused. What was he on about? It was Michael who had healed her, not Max.
"Mmmm Hmmm…" The Sherriff hummed in agreement. Liz blinked, dazed.
"Um...I don't really know him all that well." She told him the truth. Sure, he was in her bio class, and she now knew him to be an alien. But actually know him? She barely knew his last name.
"Was he one of the kids at the Crashdown that day?" Valenti asked.
"No." Liz lied coolly. The Sherriff raised his eyebrow.
"I see." He said.
"Can I go home now sheriff?" Liz asked, thoroughly irritated. Valenti pulled out a book bag and put it on top of his desk. It was the same book bag that she had put her uniform from the day before in last night.
"Just one more thing. Somebody turned in this book bag, it is your isn't it?" Valenti asked, Liz frowned.
As soon as Liz was gone, Valenti waved a government agent into his office. He'd called and left a message the night before regarding the incident in the Crashdown. Unfortunately for him, the Agent wasn't very impressed.
"A shot was fired, the girl went down, yet there's no bullet hole in the dress. I'm telling you, something strange is going on. Eye witnesses say that the girl was shot." Valenti insisted. The unnamed Agent stood up and placed Liz's uniform in his briefcase.
"What are you doing?" Valenti demanded.
"I have a flying saucer sighting in Phoenix. An accountant in Barstow who thinks he's Jesus. Both cases are more solid than this. Have this checked out at the lab; call me sheriff, if you ever have anything... real." The sneer in his voice was audible. If it wasn't for the fact that his job require he checked out these claims, he would have tossed the dress in the bin outside.
"Listen, you guys told me to call you if I saw anything. Well, my son saw that handprint." Valenti told him.
"I'm sure he did." The Agent said dully.
"What happens now?" Valenti asked.
"Have the lab check out the dress. I'm gonna handle this case in the proper manner without getting to personal. I suggest you do the same." The Agent said, turning to leave the office.
"I'm not walkin' away from this. I'm gonna be a part of this investigation." Valenti declared. The Agent turned back, hand still resting on the door handle, and looked at Valenti.
"Sheriff, do you know what everyone used to call your father? Sergeant Martian. You don't wanna end up like him." He told Valenti.
"Agent Stevens, I was 8 years old when my father discovered that corpse, my whole life I thought he was as crazy as everyone else did. Crazy to believe. Now I'm not so sure." Valenti pressed. Agent Stevens turned back to the door.
"Thank you Sheriff. Your work is done now, we'll take it from here." He said, and then left.
The next afternoon, at school, Liz cornered Max and pulled him into the empty art room.
"I need to know the truth Max. I need to know, everything. Or I'll - I'm just gonna go to Valenti and I'm gonna tell him everything I know." Liz said, putting on her best Poker Face. Everybody knew that Max was the easier one to talk to. Michael just clammed up when anybody tried to talk to him.
"Okay." Max caved instantly. It wasn't his fault that he had an uber crush on her or that he'd willingly tear the world apart to make her smile.
"Okay." Liz agreed, surprised that he'd given in so easily. She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and began to read off her questions.
"Okay. All right. Here we go. Where did you come from?" She read the first question. Max blinked.
"I don't know. When the ship crashed I wasn't born yet." He answered her honestly.
"So there was a crash?" Liz asked. Max tilted his head to the side.
"All I know is it wasn't a weather balloon that fell that night."
"The ship crashed in 1947, your 16?" Liz looked puzzled as she tried to figure it out.
"We were in some kind of incubation pods." Max elaborated.
"Uhuh… So, by 'We', do you mean just you and Michael? Are there any others?" Liz asked, deviating from her list.
"Isabel is also...uh..." He admitted guiltily.
"Okay, well that, that does make sense, her being your sister… Um, what powers do you have?" She carried on down the list.
"We can connect with people, as uh, you apparently know. We can manipulate molecular structures, and... we can..." Max trailed off, unsure of how to explain the rest of it.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Liz cut him off. Manipulate molecular structures? Max walked over to where an intricate clay sculpture of a man's face stood on a table. He passed his hand down the front of it, wiping it blank, and then raised his hand up again to revert it to normal… well, he tried to change it back. Somewhere along the line he messed up the expression and made it look like it was frowning… Uh oh. Max winced, and Liz had to fight to keep a straight face.
"That's, uh, that's how Michael healed you." Max told her.
"Can you do that too? Uh, Heal, I mean?" She was really getting into the whole Q and A session.
"Um, no, not really." He admitted. Liz nodded, taking it in.
"Max, who else knows this?" She frowned.
"No one." He replied.
"What about your parents?" She asked.
"We don't tell anyone. We sorta think our lives depend on it." Max said.
"So when he healed me, he risked all of this getting out didn't he?" Liz said, already having guessed the answer.
"Yeah." Max confirmed with a weak smile.
"Why?" Liz asked, actually curious. Why had he risked himself to save her?
"He said it was because he didn't think you deserved to die." Max told her. Liz smiled.
"Um Max, Valenti showed me this photo of a corpse. A murder victim. It had the same silver handprint on its chest." Liz explained.
"That can't be." Max gaped, staring at her in disbelief.
"The photo was marked 1959." She said quietly.
"That's impossible." Max reiterated, sounding strangled.
"Kyle saw the handprint on my stomach and Valenti somehow found my waitress uniform. Now, there's no bullet in it, but I can't be sure about traces. He just asked me if you were in the cafe during the shooting. Max, he suspects you. I don't know why, but it's you that he's focusing on, like he's just forgotten that Michael was there too." Liz told him, honestly worried for them.
"Max?" Liz asked, but he didn't look at her and turned to leave.
"I have to go." He said, heading out of the door.
"Max wait, go where? Where are you going? Max wait! Max!" Liz ran out into the hall after him, but he easily disappeared into the crowd.
He didn't stop running until he reached the Jeep, and then sped off to find Michael, and give the 411. A few minutes later, he was off back home to find Isabel. It was time to leave. He moved through the house as quickly as possible, and flung open Isabel's door. She was lying on her bed, clad in a metallic space-style outfit, one leg in the air as she pulled on the laces of her boot.
"Forget the festival. It's time to leave." Max told her. Isabel glowered at him and leant back again to finish the ties on her boots. Now he wanted to run. She packed a bag quickly, nothing flashy, only what she'd need, and joined him in his room. They went out through the window and tossed their bags in the back of the Jeep. It didn't take long to get to Michael's, and he was out the door in a flash, sliding into the back of the jeep.
"Where's your stuff?" Isabel asked him, Michael shot her a look.
"I'm wearin' it." He told her. Max pulled away from the kerb and took a left, making for the main road. As they went, he explained what Liz had told him.
"So is this picture what we're seeing is there's more of us?" Michael asked as they drove down the main road.
"One more, at least there was in 1959." Max confirmed, thinking back to the photo Liz had told him about earlier.
"Well then there's hope. I mean if we can find him, he can tell us where we came from, what we are-" Michael asked, almost excited, but Isabel cut him off.
"Michael calm down, we had one potential relative 40 years ago, all we know about him is he was a potential killer." She told him. Michael sat back in his seat, bummed.
Liz sat at home on her bed, feet tucked underneath her as she flipped through her textbooks. She hadn't seen Michael, Max or Isabel all day. Were they even still in Roswell? She turned the page, not really seeing the words. What was going on? Her bedroom door opened and Maria walked in, dressed in green and coated in sparkly glitter.
"Before I go to this idiotic crash festival I want to know everything. And if you don't tell me the truth right now. I'm going to go to Valenti myself and tell him everything I know." Maria bemoaned. Liz looked up at her.
"What do you know?" Liz asked, not ready to reveal anything by mistake.
"Well...uh, I-I know that Michael was in the diner that day, and I know that he went up to you when you were shot and like, did something to you. And I know that the one person in the world that I thought I could completely trust is lying to me." Maria said all at once, like a dam bursting. Liz sighed. It wasn't much, but it was enough.
"You have to promise me that you are not going to flip out." Liz told her, looking her in the eye. Maria shrugged.
"Flip out? Hey, it's me." She pointed out. Liz told her. Maria flipped out. She ran downstairs and out the door, screaming her head off the entire way.
"Maria!" Liz shouted, running after her. It took half an hour for her to calm Maria down and convince her to drive them to the Crash Bash. Even then, Maria babbled incessantly. It was as if there was no 'Off Switch'.
"Liz, Liz what happened to you? You were on this whole like, valedictorian path. You were on your way to be like, this world renowned scientist and I was gonna be your wacky friend. I can't be a wacky friend to someone who's already whacky! It'd be like repetitious..." Maria ranted, going 90-to-nothing.
"Maria you're babbling." Liz told her.
"I think I've earned the right to babble, all right so just deal with it." Maria snapped back, just as Max drove the jeep past them in the opposite direction. Liz let out a squeal.
"Oh my God Maria that's them! Cut a U-ie!" Liz exclaimed, and Maria nearly did a double-take.
"Cut a U-ie?" She asked, checking she'd heard her best friend correctly.
"Maria!" Liz cried, frustrated. They were losing them!
"Who are you? I mean..." Maria was cut off when Liz grabbed a hold of the wheel, and forced her to spin 180 degrees.
"Oh my God, you're a crazy person." Maria yelped, trying to straighten the car again.
"Maria I am not! Please, just catch them!" Liz insisted, worried for her new friends… friend… not-friend? Whatever Michael was to her.
"Catch them? Liz, we're in a Jetta." Maria exclaimed, doing her best. Up ahead, Max caught sight of Valenti's truck and pulled into an alleyway to avoid being seen. Maria followed, blocking him in before he had the chance to reverse.
"Great." Isabel moaned ad Liz and Maria climbed out of the Jetta. The three aliens imitated them, and they walked toward each other.
"What are they doing here? No, don't tell me there's three." Maria started to babble again.
"Well..." Liz dragged it out. Michael was going to be so mad with her.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Maria moaned, trying not to retch.
"Maria knows." Liz admitted apologetically, and Michael stared at her.
"Unbelievable." He hissed. Gone was the boy who had let down his walls with her the night before, and in his place was the angry, loud-mouthed Michael Guerin that everybody else saw.
"Look, I promise I won't tell anyone." Maria swore, terrified. Michael moved toward them, and Maria let out a little shriek, before ducking behind Liz.
"Get your car out of the way, now." Michael growled at them. Liz, bless her, stood her ground.
"I really don't think that you should try to leave. It's just gonna show people that you're guilty." Liz said, hoping to prevent him from leaving.
"Guilty of what? Saving your life?" Michael demanded angrily. Liz sucked in a breath. Fear really did do a number on people.
"Michael..." Max tried. It was actually rather pathetic.
"Look, I think I have an idea here. If we can just all work together here maybe we can throw Valenti off." Liz told them.
"We're not together. Our lives are at stake, not yours. Now move your car." Michael spat out. Maria trembled, but didn't move from where she hid behind Liz.
"Michael, this can't last forever. This secret; and I don't want it to." Max told him. Michael stated to pace like an animal in a cage.
"Look I can't change what happened. But if you run, Valenti is gonna know it's you. You'll be proving it for him. Michael, I owe you my life. Let me help you." Liz said. Michael looked away.
"She's right." Max told him, conveniently closing his ears for the last bit.
"I should've known you'd side with her." Isabel groaned. This school-boy crush that Max had on her was getting old, really fast.
"Isabel I'm not on anyone's side all right." Max tried to defend himself.
"Get on a side Max because time is running out." She shot back, irritated.
"She should move her car. I'm turning myself into Valenti." Max decided. There was a beat, and then:
"What? Why?"
"Because he thinks that I'm the one who saved Liz." Max told them. Michael glowered at him.
"Max, you said we were leaving." He wasn't about to leave his best friend behind.
"Max I can't leave without you." Isabel said, scared. They stood together, as a group of five, in silence. Finally Isabel drew in a deep breath, and turned to Liz.
"What's your idea?" Isabel asked her, resigned.
Liz stood outside Kyle's house, waiting for him to open the door. The plan hinged on him and his dorky costume. She needed a double.
"I waited for you for an hour and a half." Kyle told her grumpily.
"Kyle, I know I've been acting like a real jerk and, I'm sorry." Liz said, tilting her head down, and scuffing the ground with the toe of her shoe. She looked up at him, creating the dread effect known as puppy-dog eyes and smiled.
"Liz we don't even have to go to the crash." Kyle told her, wondering if she was trying to tell him that she hadn't really wanted to go.
"Kyle it is gonna be great okay." Liz smiled at him, and then leant in to kiss him.
"I'm gonna meet you in front of the podium in half an hour, right?" Liz decided.
"Right. Half an hour." Kyle repeated, feeling a little put out.
"Yeah." Liz agreed perkily. Once he shut the door, she hid behind a tree and dialed Max's cell number.
"We're got half an hour." She told him.
"Got it. Well..." Max answered from where he sat in the jeep, a few blocks over. He hung up and drove off to meet her. As he did so, he looked across to Michael who sat in the passenger seat.
"It won't work." Michael shook his head. They should have booked it while they could.
Isabel had gone ahead with Maria to the festival to set things up. They left the Jetta in the parking lot to scout around. No sign of Valenti yet. Yet. They made another lap of the event before Valenti showed up to park his truck. Quickly, they hurried back to the lot, careful not to be noticed by him. On their way they passed a guy dressed in suit.
"Nice mask Alex." Isabel said, knowing who it was instinctively. Maria's head whipped around instantly. What? How?
"Isabel, hey. Maria." Alex grinned as he saw them.
"Hey." Maria replied, still feeling a sense of shock.
"Uh, nice cones." Alex said to Isabel. She ignored him, following Maria to the parking lot. Everything hinged on this ridiculous plan of Liz's.
"Come on roll!" Isabel commanded, giving the Jetta a good shove.
"OK, I'm rolling." Maria replied.
"Roll!" Isabel told her.
"I'm rolling! Okay?" Maria snapped, frustrated.
"Right that's better. Keys?" Isabel straightened up, dusted off her hands and held out her hand for the keys which Maria reluctantly handed over.
"Okay, I know my mom's car doesn't look like much, but, not destroying it is the key to me and my mother's relationship okay?" Maria told her, praying that the Jetta wouldn't suffer too much damage.
"Whatever." Isabel said flippantly and got ready. Maria didn't look very happy. They didn't have much time, Valenti was already there, and he was looking for Max.
"Where is he?" Valenti asked, looking around at the crowd.
"There. What did this kid do Jim?" Deputy Hanson asked, pointing out Max, who was stood amongst the crowd, eating a corndog.
"I'll take it from here Owen." Valenti said, refusing to explain. He walked up to Max.
"I have some questions for you." Valenti told him.
"What kind of questions?" Max asked, tossing the corndog stick into a nearby bin.
"Where you at the CrashDown Cafe the day of the shooting?" Valenti tested.
"Yes." Max admitted. He had been there. So had lots of people.
"What did you do to Liz Parker?" Valenti snarled at him.
"I didn't do anything to her." Max protested. It was the truth. He hadn't done anything.
"I don't believe that." Valenti said, handcuffing Max.
"Aren't you going to read me my rights?" Max asked, wincing as the cuffs bit into his wrists.
"Do you have any?" Valenti quipped. He kinda had a point. There was a shout and a thump from two lanes over, and then Isabel put the handbrake on the car and bolted while Maria lay on the ground, acting like she'd just been hit. Liz pushed past the two tourists from the café, and turned a corner.
"Maria!" Liz shouted, running to where her friend lay on the ground. They had to make this believable. Michael, dressed up in costume, came out of nowhere, crouched beside Maria for a moment, and then took off.
"What's going on? What are you, what are you doing?" Alex asked, chasing after Liz. He came to a stop as he saw Maria on the ground.
"What happened here?" Valenti demanded, rushing over. He sucked in a breath as he caught sight of the silver handprint on her chest.
"Are you okay?" Valenti asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Maria said, trying to act dazed.
"There he goes. Sheriff, there he is. There's the guy that went up to her that's him." Deputy Hanson shouted, pointing at Michael, who rounded a corner and disappeared.
"Watch the kid." Valenti told Hanson, taking off after the disguised Michael. He lost him in the crowd, but kept searching before seeing somebody wearing the same suit. He pushed onwards and clapped his hand down on the partiers shoulder… only for it to turn out to be Kyle.
"Dad, scared the hell outta me." Kyle said, catching his breath. He looked around.
"You seen Liz around? She was supposed to meet me here like 15 minutes ago." He asked. Valenti shook his head.
"No." Valenti said, confused.
"Mmmmmkay." Kyle hummed, and then went back to looking for Liz. Valenti went to find Max, it didn't take long as he was still with Deputy Hanson. He motioned for Hanson to leave, and once he was gone, slammed Max into the side of a portable trailer.
"You think you're a smart guy don't you?" Valenti baited, trying to get a rise out of Max.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Max protested.
"Don't play games with me Mr. Evans, this is paint." Valenti snarled, holding up his hand to reveal the paint he'd found on Maria. Somewhere along the line, he'd forgotten that Liz had said her handprint had been paint too.
"You went up to Liz Parker in that cafe and you did something to her, and I need to know what it was." Valenti hissed. Max baulked.
"I had a hamburger, when the gun went off I ran away. Did I break the law? Sheriff are you arresting me?" Max spoke the truth, really hoping for a negative answer. It had been Michael who saved Liz, not that he would tell Valenti that. Let him ruin the credibility of his claim.
"No, your parents would have you out in an hour. Let me tell you something. I'm gonna find out what the truth is. You can count on it. You're a real smart guy Max. Well, so am I." Valenti told him in a undertone before walking away.
"Is everybody ready! 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Blastoff! Yeah!" The announcer reeled off the countdown and hooted in glee as the cable holding the little spacecraft released, and the decent began. The crowd shouted and screamed excitedly as it rushed down the zip line and crashed into the ground, erupting into flames and sending the burning 'alien' bodies flying.
"YEAH!" The announcer hollered. Isabel, Max and Michael stood by a metal fence, watching the flames mournfully. Their eyes hollow.
"Hey." Max said, as always, the first to notice her. Isabel looked around at her, and then returned to watching the flames.
"Hey." Liz replied, looking concerned. There was a beat, and then:
"I'm sorry." Liz said, getting their attention.
"What?" Isabel asked, confused. Liz nodded at the burning wreck.
"I said I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how you must feel about this." Liz told her genuinely. Isabel stared at her for a moment, before her expression softened.
"Thankyou." Isabel finally said, her voice sounded choked. Max took his sister's hand and squeezed it gently. They stood in silence for a minute more.
"I'll guess we'll see you at school." Isabel decided, and Liz smiled. Isabel walked off, back to where Max had parked the Jeep.
"Goodbye." Liz waved as Max followed his sister, looking back over his shoulder as if he wanted to say something. Michael was still stood transfixed, gripping the chain link fence tightly.
"Michael?" Liz asked, getting his attention. He glanced over to her, before looking back at the wreckage.
"I never got to thank you, for saving my life." Liz said softly. Michael looked up in surprise.
"Thank you." She said, and he smiled. An actual smile this time.
"You're welcome." He said, and before he could move away, she lunged forward, dragging him into a hug.
"No, really. Thankyou." Michael smiled, closing his eyes and leaning into the hug. This was actually kinda nice.
"It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened. I came to life."
30.03.2013
AN:
1) Yes, yes, I know. I'm a bad person for starting yet another Fic, without updating my other ones. Deal with it. So – this one is different from my other Parallel's, because now, instead of doing an insert, I'm changing events. In this, Michael saves Liz, not Max, and thus events begin to change. Slowly at first, and then bigger as time goes on.
2) Email Sophia Conrad at: Aspenwilder at Gmail dot com
3) Transcripts found here: www dot crashdown dot com/episodes/season1 dot php
4) In reference to the gunshot wound, I really wanted to be realistic, but to not have to go into crazy too much detail. A few years back, I read the Da Vinci Code, which did explain how a gunshot wound to the stomach was an extremely painful death, and as such, I felt the need to stress the damage done. In the TV Show, they don't make such a big fuss about it and there isn't much blood, but in real life, she would have died before the ambulance even got there. The source I used for my info was this one:www dot mitchpileggi dot net/Deep_Background/resources/medical/injuries dot htm