Title: Rhiannon
Author: Reinla
Couples: Z/L, M/M, K/A, M/OFC
Rating: Mature (language, violence, etc...)
Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. I mean no infringement by borrowing them. I promise I will return them as soon as I finish playing.
Summary: Everything changes in a moment. All it took was Tess thinking she could outsmart the Roswell crew and get one of the humans to touch the Granolith. She was wrong. Liz has been unconscious for more than three months with no signs of waking up. Even Max can't seem to heal her. What happens when someone from their past returns only for the Pod Squad to realize they weren't the ones in control?
Author's Note: So I'm super rusty with Roswell fics. This story takes place just after The Departure. I love reviews so please tell me if you think I should keep this going.

Part One:

Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night and wouldn't you love to love her?

Everything was chaos. No one expected that Tess would be the one to betray them, not at first. Since her arrival the Roswell group had changed, and not always for the better. They might be more human than alien but they were kissing vital information. Information that would have made Tess' betrayal less painful. Even now in the aftermath of the conflict they were still shocked.

Max, Michael and Isabel were ready to leave with Tess and go back to Antar, that much was clear to all of them. So when Liz, Maria and Kyle showed up the plans suddenly changed. Tess knew that she had to flee, had to return with an heir. The true king was dead so she had to settle for his dupe and hope that Khivar bought it. The others had but now it was too late to change things. The child in her womb was the product of at least one of the Kings and she couldn't change that.

There was no way that she would leave without trying to create one more round of chaos for the group. All Tess had to do was get someone that wasn't alien to touch the Granolith and the world would shatter around them. At least that was what she had been told by Nasedo all those years ago. Spotting her chance the blonde shoved Liz into the black glowing object in an attempt to supposedly get around her. One hand on the artefact and the entire cave light up like it was some giant bon fire.

When the light faded away all that remained was Liz and Max, one unconscious and one watching as the woman that supposedly was his queen prepare to leave the planet with his son. He couldn't stop Tess, she was already in the ship and the cave was starting to fall down around them. Getting Liz out and to safety was the only thing that mattered at the moment, or at least that's what he tried to tell himself. Scooping her in his arms he ran out of the pod chamber as fast as he could get before the entire place fell apart around him.

Everything was still chaos. The moment he stepped outside with an unconscious Liz in his arms his friends went crazy. Especially Maria. He wished he knew what had happened but the situation had been moving far too fast for him to actually process. Watching as the thing they called the Granolith burst forth from the top of the rock. Their one chance of going home was gone and nothing would really make that alright.

"We need to go now, before all the noise and lights draw attention." Came the commanding voice of Max as they all ran from the area. With Liz still in his arms he tried to figure out what to do. They had gotten rid of his jeep, because they weren't supposed to be there anymore. Placing her in the back of Maria's Jetta, he climbed in as the others figured out which cars they were going to take. Amber eyes watched and waited as they sped away from the desert.

That had been three months ago and things were still chaotic. Ever since that day Liz had not woken up. She'd been stuck in an endless cycle of darkness that not even the fearless leader of the Roswell crew could heal her from. That was what had everyone worried. It'd been just over three months since the events in the cave, since they had planned to leave for good and the original Podsters were still there. Waiting. Watching and waiting. No one knew how to get through to Liz, or how much longer she was going to be out.

After the first month Liz had been written off by her parents. They had a business to run and nothing would change that. They couldn't just close their only source of livelihood for the off chance that their daughter might wake up and they weren't there to find out. It didn't stop them from taking their trips, going to their conventions like they always did. To them, life was as normal as it could be even with their daughter in some sort of coma. After the third month everything changed for them. Jeff Parker couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't run the cafe with his daughter unconscious upstairs in her room. So he'd done the one thing he swore he'd never do since their family had moved to New Mexico. He sold the business.

He'd made sure that Liz would get a substantial portion of the sale if she ever woke up. Nancy Parker had no thoughts one way or another, other than that they leave as soon as possible. She'd packed up everything they owned and taken it with them. Liz's things had been packed and were in a storage facility on the outskirts of Roswell. The only problem was what to do with the body as they called it. They hadn't even been able to refer to her as their daughter anymore, just the body. No one knew what do with Liz and they couldn't leave her unguarded. Not with the threat to the aliens still out there.

The truth of the situation was harsh on all the kids. They didn't want to admit that no one wanted to help their friend and they were getting desperate to fix it. It was their own alien weirdness that had caused it. All she had done was accidentally touch the Granolith and now she was in a coma. Even Isobel couldn't dream walk her, not in the state that she was in. It was as if there was nothing but absolute darkness that was there. In the end it was Michael that took Liz in. He had an extra room and she needed a safe place to be. Not only that but everyone always seemed to be at his apartment anyway.

Tonight the group was gathered once more trying to see if the supposed Destiny book told them anything. Each night they gathered and tried to decode more and more of what was happening to them but it all still read as gibberish. They understood that they were supposed to be clones of the original royal four, sent to earth with another set and that together they were powerful. There was nothing in there that was helpful at all to their cause, nothing that would help them understand what happened to Liz and how to save her. It's as if she's there physically but mentally her mind is elsewhere.

Everyone was losing hope that she would return to them and the effect it was having on people was more than they wanted to admit. Despite everything she'd done, Liz was the glue that held the group together. Everyone thought she was Max's other half but even he wasn't so sure anymore. Yes, he was upset that Liz was gone but he didn't feel this inconsolable emptiness that he had thought he would if Liz was missing. It was as if their connection never came back, the one he'd shut off after she had betrayed him. Maria was a wreck, she'd lost her two best friends and seemed to be slowly losing her mind. Michael wasn't much better having to deal with Maria and knowing that even though Liz was safe at his place, he couldn't help her.

No one expected that the answers they needed were just on the horizon. No one expected that someone from their past would return and everything would be fine, eventually. Then again, the Roswell crew had always been a little late to the party. As everyone crowded into the living room of Michael's apartment, soft drinks, snapple and snacks around them they started to try to discuss what no one really wanted to. Plans needed to be made, they couldn't just sit there forever, waiting for the girl to wake up, or for the powers that she seemed to have to disappear.

"What are we going to do? She can't stay here forever and I know that some of the people in town are getting nosy. I overheard the new owners of the Crashdown asking the Sheriff what happened to the family. You know as well as I do that the new sheriff isn't someone to trust."

Michael's voice broke through the silence and everyone turned to look at him. He was right thought. Liz couldn't stay there forever, and they needed a cover story soon. People asked questions but they didn't need attention drawn on them. It wasn't really their fault that Liz Parker was the kind of person that everyone in town knew. They all knew her name, what she looked like, who her friends were. Worse, they knew that she hadn't been seen in person in three months, even when her parents packed up and moved away.

"What do you want us to do Michael? I've tried healing her, nothing is working. Izzy can't even get through in a dream walk. Your powers aren't going to help. Hell Maria can't even reach her and that's her best friend." Max said with a frown.

It was all true of course but then why did it matter? They'd been told that there was a chance that whatever had happened to her, would cause her to not be the same ever again. That is if she woke up. They just wanted he to wake, there's no denying that. Each member of the team cast their gaze towards the closed door that housed the shell of their friend. If she had been dead it would have been easier for them to adjust to move on.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on Michael's door. Everyone that was supposed to be there was already there, and for a moment no one did anything. Finally after a look from Max, Michael got up and opened the door. Letting out a shocked gasp, Michael moved aside so that the tiny blonde with pink streaks could make her way inside. Every eye in the apartment turned and stared at the dupe, each one wondering exactly why she was there.

"Aww cornball don't look at me like that. You know why I'm here." Her voice taunted as she cast her gaze over at Max. In a different time and place the young man might scare her but not anymore. Not since he let her dupe get away. Ava had been all over the country trying to hide out from the skins and Rath and Lonnie and now she was back. Only she wasn't alone. The person that was with her would show up in the best way possible when they least expected it.

"What do you mean we know why you are here? Last time we talked to you Ava you were taking off for parts unknown and leaving us to deal with Rath and Lonnie. Why the hell are you back?" Max's enraged voice carried through the entire apartment. He was trying to act like the king but he had a long way to go. Especially since he wasn't the true king. Only one person was.

"Chill cornball. I'm here to help wake up the sleeping beauty."
"No one can wake her up. We've tried."
"No one but the true king of Antar."

Everyone started to yell and holler at the the last sentence spoken. Each person in the room was quite sure that the 'true' king had tried. They'd seen Max attempt many times to heal Liz but nothing was working.

"What do you mean the true king? We've all watched him try to heal her, it doesn't work. Whatever happened to her isn't something that can be fixed."

Ava watched the others for a moment, her face trying and failing to take on a serious tone. It never failed to both amuse and annoy her the way that the Roswell group though they were the ones with all the power. They might have had what they called the Granolith but Max was and never would be the true king.

"I said only the true king of Antar can heal her. What is so hard about that to understand?" She knew that her voice, especially the once New York accent was different. Ava sounded as normal as the rest of them and that should have been a clue that something was up. No one really paid any attention to that, or if they did they didn't care.

"If I'm not the true king then who is?" asked Max with anger in his voice.

"I am."