Summary: What could happen on the show Roswell dozens of episodes from now? What would it be like if the government captured Max, Michael, and Isabel? The humans-Liz, Maria, and Alex- use their dreams to help save the aliens they love.
Author's note: This is very important. I am in no way connected to anyone who has information regarding upcoming episodes of Roswell. Based on the episodes that have aired up to "Independence Day," I have written a story of what I can only imagine. This is not a spoiler.
Please review my story.
The Inevitable
PART 1
Dear Diary, Date: 10-5-00
For the first time since September 17, 1999, I can actually say things have been normal. Well, as normal as they can ever be. Alex is crazy about Isabel, but still not with her. I kind of wish all that would just come to an end. Maria and Michael celebrated their six-month anniversary yesterday. It is way passed time they surrendered to each other. And now that things have calmed down, and Nesado is gone, I can go back to spending more time on what I care about the most: Max Evans. Soulmates can never be separated. Things are great between us now. I can't imagine anything that could possible ruin the way things are going. But I'll keep my fingers crossed.
The Jeep drove down the deserted highway at forty miles per hour. Creed's "Higher" played on the car CD player while Michael Guerin mouthed the lyrics. "What if we don't find anything?" asked Max Evans, looking over at Michael, then back on the road.
"Maxwell, if River Dog says it's there, then it is. If there's any human we can trust, it's him," said Michael.
"I hope you're right," Isabel added from the back seat. Michael looked to his left at Max. He kept his eyes on the road without responding. With a low sigh, Michael increased the volume of the music.
Suddenly something large moved across the road and stopped. It was too big for Max to see over or go around it. The Jeep came to an abrupt and screeching halt. The three of them were jerked forward. "You guys all right?" Max immediately asked.
"Yeah," Isabel answered. Max looked at Michael.
"Fine," Michael nodded.
Max looked at the large, black figure yards in front of the Jeep.
Suddenly a dozen people in black ran out from behind the figure and rushed toward the Jeep. Isabel yelped. "What the-." Two of them grabbed each of their arms while a third grabbed their legs. Isabel, Max and Michael kicked at them as the three of them were carried from the Jeep.
"Max! Michael!" Isabel yelled as she struggled to give futile kicks. Max felt his heart would burst from his chest. He tried not to panic as they carried him into the mysterious, bus-looking object. "Let go!" Michael yelled belligerently. Isabel screamed in terror as they carried her in last.
"Evans. Max Evans." The teacher was taking the attendance. Liz looked over at Max's empty lab stool. She wondered where he was. Aliens don't get sick, and he had been at her house that night so Liz figured he had to still be in Roswell. Usually he told her if he wouldn't be at school, which was hardly ever. Liz thought about the pact she and Max had made. They promised not to keep any secrets from one another. So where is he? She thought.
"Hey Liz," Maria said plainly as Liz approached her.
"Hey," said Liz. In unison, they both asked, "Have you seen-?" and paused. Liz shook her head. She knew Maria was as worried about Michael as she was about Max. "Not since yesterday."
"I haven't seen Max either. And Isabel," said Maria. Liz opened her locker and put her books inside. Maria leaned against hers, leaned back her head, and closed her eyes.
"Don't worry, Maria," Liz said and closed her locker. "It's Max, Michael, and Isabel. The y wouldn't do anything that would make us worry. They're careful. They probably found something in that cave River Dog told them about." Maria's eyes shot open and she looked at Liz.
"River Dog told them something about a cave?" Maria asked. She had spent the day with her mother and missed out on Max, Liz, Michael and Isabel's trip to visit River Dog the day before.
"Uh-huh. On yeah, you weren't there," said Liz.
"Liz! Do you know what this means? They found something at that cave about their home. Or something about Nesado and now they've gone to find him. Michael won't come back."
Liz could see the tears forming in Maria's eyes. "Maria, chill. Michael wouldn't do that. None of them would do that. They would never leave us just like we'd never leave them. It's probably no big deal. Max would've told me." Liz thought about what she had just said. What if Max was still was still trying to protect Liz from the truth? What if they had found something at the cave and were planning to leave without even saying goodbye? Max loves me, Liz told herself. He wouldn't do that…right?
Alex Whitman approached Liz and Maria. "Hey, Alex," said Maria.
"What's up?" Liz said. He too wore a worried expression.
"Have either of you seen Isabel today?"
It was so quiet. Too quiet. Max stared up at the white top of the pod-like container he lay inside. If only I could read their minds, Max thought, going crazy not knowing what was happening to Isabel and Michael.
"This is not happening," Isabel cried from inside her container, which was only a few feet away from Max's. The containers were soundproof and literally unbreakable. Isabel felt claustrophobic inside of hers. Her heart was still beating uncontrollably. Why? She cried. Why is this happening to us? The tears that fell down the side of her face made her hair damp. The only thing she could move was her head from side to side. "Why?"
More and more anger grew inside of Michael as he lay inside his container. Though his heartbeat wasn't as fast as it had been before, it was still faster than any human's could be.
Suddenly Michael felt a sharp pain in his arm. From the cord connected to his left arm, a needle had just been stuck into his arm. Michael guessed it was connected to a machine programmed to take blood from them every few hours for studying. He was right. Michael closed his eyes as blood traveled from inside his arm and through the cord. Blood thieves, he thought.
Imagines flashed through Michael's mind. Maria smiling at him. Himself, Max and Isabel as little kids. The same imagines he had seen earlier that year when he was sick. Finding the signal from Nesado in the woods…theses images were comforting.
Liz wiped the table more aggressively than she realized. A day had passed and they were still missing. "Liz," a voice said. "Liz." She spun around, nearly hitting her father in the face with the wash cloth.
"Sorry, dad," she said. He shrugged it off with a smile.
"Lizzy, are you all right?" he asked. Liz knew the torture she was feeling from not knowing where Max, Michael and Isabel were was obvious to other people.
"I'm fine," she said, trying to give a convincing smile. "It's just, there's this big test tomorrow and-."
"Say no more, Liz," he interrupted. "I can handle these last few people." The Crashdown Café was practically empty. Liz decided to take the offer. She was too stressed about Max, Michael and Isabel. She needed time to think.
"Thanks, dad."
Isabel slowly closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She tried to block out the pain so she could concentrate. Since the three of them were "connected," at times, they could feel each other's emotions. That time, she felt Max suddenly calm down, then blank out as if he were sleeping. Then she felt Michael do the same. At first, it frightened her. They've been knocked out, she thought, or they're dying! Max! Michael!
She lay there for over half an hour before realizing what they were doing. Max and Michael were dreamwalking. Nice time to try it guys, she thought. Then she thought about her parents, Liz, Maria and Isabel, and how long they had been missing. She knew they would be going crazy with worry. It took a while, but Isabel finally made the connection.
The mixture of beautiful sounds and colors was breathtaking. Isabel was so used to dreamwalking that she recognized each bubble-looking orb that surrounded her. Who can I tell? She thought. Not my parents. And if she knew anything about Max and Michael, they had already entered Liz and Maria's dreams. Who could she contact that she trusted?
One of the bubbles floated past Isabel. She immediately recognized it. "Perfect," she smiled to herself, and cupped her hands around the bubble. Looking at it intensely, concentrating, Isabel entered Alex's dream.
"Liz! Liz!" a voice yelled. It sounded like it was moving toward her. Liz's eyes fluttered rapidly. Her father was shaking her by the shoulders and her mother was speaking to a 911 operator. "Lizzy!" He said. "Liz!"
"Max," she whispered, then slowly her eyes opened. "Dad?"
"Lizzy," he smiled and collected her in a tight bear hug.
"Dad, what are you doing?" she asked.
"Liz!" Mrs. Parker realized Liz was awake. She dropped the phone and joined in on the hug. "You scared me to death."
"Sorry," she said, still confused.
"We should get you to a hospital right away," he said as they let go of their daughter.
"No!" Liz protested. "No."
"Liz, you were unconscious. You need to see a doctor," her mother said.
"I'm fine," Liz said with a smile. "It was a really, really heavy sleep, that's all. I was really tired." Liz leaned off of the bed, picked up the cordless phone, and pressed the "OFF" button. "Mom, dad, really, I'm fine. Just fatigue."
"Are you sure, Liz?" Mr. Parker asked. Liz nodded. Mrs. Parker gave her a long look, then stood.
"I want you to lie down and rest then. We'll be here if you need anything," she said, kissed Liz's forehead, and walked out of the room.
"Are you positive, Liz?" Mr. Parker asked.
"I'm fine, dad," she assured him as though his question was ridiculous.
"I'll be back in a little bit to check on you," he said. "Get some rest." Liz nodded. He stood and exited the room. Liz felled back to the pillow and closed her eyes. With her hands over her mouth, she gasped, "Oh my God."
"Let me go!" Michael yelled, but his voice was mumbled by the gag in his mouth, which was covered by an unfamiliar type of tape. He was lying on a type of bed that masseuses use, but it was extremely uncomfortable. And he couldn't move. His neck, upper and lower back, upper back of his legs and ankles had been strapped down. If he started to struggle, one of the straps would send a painful shock through his body. God, help me, he thought. Help me!
The three of them get through surgery that day. Not only the pain inflected onto him hurt Max. There was also the thought that the same was happening to Isabel and Michael. Each time he thought of it, his stomach flipped.
Max could feel the one-inch by one-inch clip that had been surgically placed under the skin of his back. It stung and itched horribly. He hoped desperately that the dreamwalking they had done would lead Liz to wherever they were. The thought of dying wasn't as bad to him as the thought of never seeing Liz Parker again.
"Liz," Mr. Parker halfway opened the door and leaned into the room. "You have visitors downstairs." Liz quickly tossed her diary aside, pushed back the covers, and started toward the door. "Liz," he said.
"Huh?" she paused in front of him.
"Your robe," he reminded her. She looked down at what she was wearing-black drawstring pants and a tank she usually wore when it was hot. After Max had seen her in it a few times, she began to wear it when she was hoping he would show up at her balcony.
"Right," she nodded, walked over to her closet, and put on her robe. Max, she repeated to herself as she rushed down the stairs to the back room of the Crashdown. She pushed through the two-way doors and entered the Crashdown. "Max-."
At the counter with depressed expressions on their faces sat Maria and Alex. "Hey, guys," she said, approaching them.
"We need to talk, Liz," said Maria.
"OK," Liz said and sat at a counter stool.
"She had a dream, too," said Alex.
"Were you planning to tell us?" Maria asked.
"I didn't think you'd know. How do you know?" Liz asked.
"He was in my dream too," said Maria.
"Max?"
"Michael," she corrected.
"Isabel," Alex said, raising his hand and pointing at himself.
"I thought it was just me," said Liz.
"What'd you see?" Maria asked.
"I don't really remember everything," said Liz. "I saw Max and he...he looked scared. He was far away. He said he needed me. That they didn't have much time left. They're in danger."
"I know," said Maria. "Michael made that very clear." Maria had gotten more of the torture part of their situation. She woke up with her heart racing and her faced covered with tears. "What are we gonna do?"
"We have to find them," said Liz. "Fast."
"We have no idea where to even start looking," said Alex. Maria looked down at the floor, feeling helpless.
Then Liz said, "I know where they are."
To be continued...