The Road Not Taken

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Roswell belongs to first to Melinda Metz, then to Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox. The Road Not Taken was written by the great American poet Robert Frost. All credit for that goes to him. No copyright infringement or plagiarism is intended by the use of said poem.

Author's Note: I'm really trying to stretch my wings as a writer. That's what Goodbye to You was all about. The Road not Taken is my first attempt at a pov fic. I don't know if I'll ever do another one, but I did want to try at least one.

We fought the crowd of self-proclaimed ufo-ologists in town for crash festival on our way to the CrashDown Café. We were lucky enough to get the last available booth. The restaurant was filled with alien hunters from around the world. Michael flung himself into his seat, uncomfortable at being here, but I didn't care. The only thing I cared about was Liz, Liz Parker. She was beautiful. I could sit here for hours and watch her, but unfortunately, Michael wasn't about to indulge me.

I watched her surreptitiously as she handed a customer a crumpled photograph and walked away. My eyes followed her across the café floor and I watched as she paused to laugh quietly with another one of the waitresses, her best friend Maria. I loved the way her face lighted up when she laughed. She was beautiful, but that wasn't what made her special. She seemed to be lighted from within.

I can't remember when I started loving Liz Parker. It had to be the first day I stepped off the bus at Roswell Elementary. She was there, in the playground. To say I was smitten was an understatement. She touched me that day, and my feelings for her have never changed. She smiled once more and watched Maria walk over to a table.

A sudden crash drew my attention away from Liz for just a second. Maybe if I hadn't looked away, it all would have been different; maybe I could have done something. But I did look away, and in that split second, my life spiraled out of control. I looked over to where Maria stood, and saw two customers arguing. One of them had a gun. A shot rang out in the CrashDown. Time seemed to stand still. It was like I could see the path the bullet took as it flew through the air and struck Liz. And in that instant, when I had to decide what to do, I heard my English teacher reading the poem we discussed in class the day before.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

I jumped up out of my seat, and a roaring sound filled my head. Liz was hurt. She needed help, help I could give. But if I saved her, I may very well destroy not just my life, but also the lives of Michael and Isabel. I started to move out of my seat, but Michael's hand on my shoulder held me back.

"Let me go! I have to help her!" I shouted.

"Max, what are you gonna do? You can't help her," he whispered to me, his voice all he intense for it's quiet tone.

I shook him off and ran across the room and knelt down beside her. She looked so pale, lying there on the ground, the blood seeping out of the wound in her stomach. I looked at her, and I felt my heart in my throat. How could I let her die? How could I put Michael and Isabel in jeopardy?

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

A cacophony of noise rose up around us, making it hard to think.

"Call an ambulance!" I shouted at Maria.

She didn't want to leave Liz, but she couldn't see what was about to happen. I ripped open Liz's uniform revealing the wound on her stomach. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I heard Michael telling the others to stay back, but I didn't pay any attention to him. All my attention was on Liz.

My hands started to shake as I placed them over her blood soaked abdomen. I focused – harder than I have ever focused on anything in my life. I imagined the bullet that had ripped through her body, tearing through veins and arteries, and damaging vital organs. Anger burned inside me at the thought of anybody hurting someone as good and as kind a Liz Parker. They may have hurt her, but I – I had the power to heal her.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

My fate was sealed now. A decision had been made. I stood at my own personal fork in the road and chose which path I would take. Liz would live. I could do that for her. The rest I would worry about later.

"You have to look at me," I said to her. She struggled to open her eyes, and I grew alarmed to see the light inside them start to fade away.

I used my powers, my abilities, whatever you want to call them, and I healed her. I repaired the damage the bullet caused when it ripped through her body, and in doing so, I saw pieces of her that I had never seen before. I saw inside her soul, and I loved her all the more.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Several Days Later

"Why, Max? Why did you do it. You risked everything for me," she asked. "Why did you save me?"

"It was you," I said. "It was you."

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.