They were happy together, everything was going well with their studies, there was just one thing missing- Alex. She missed him. It was obvious to him. She had moments where she was somewhere else. One day she delivered a bombshell to him. They had been sat on her bed together when she had taken a silver ring on a chain from her pocket and put it in his hand. He'd looked at it. It was a wedding ring. Biting her lip somewhat nervously, that puzzled him a lot; she had said where she got it. "I was given this in the Alternate reality by the other you. He knew everything and had whispered in my ear this belonged to me. It was proof I was married to the future you. I have been carrying it with me ever since." He had been surprised to say the least. She explained further "I didn't want to freak you out at the time. My head was spinning." He asked, half serious, "Should I be jealous? You have been carrying another me's ring around." She shook her head. "No need to be. It's simply out of a need to have a reminder of the original timeline." He nodded, aware of why.
It was time to change that. He took off his own ring and with one finger, engraved it with forever on the inside with their entwined symbol on the outside. He tugged her to him. ''This is a promise of forever, no matter what happens. Ok?" she nodded, they were ready for this. Sealing the promise with a kiss, he put the ring on her middle left finger, making it fit her perfectly. "Better.". They smiled at each other, her cuddling into him happily. He put the other ring away in the drawer. Then remembered something. "I still have the piece of Granolith from before." Her eyes widened. She scrambled from the bed and dug around in a box, pulling out her own piece. His eyes widened. "This was from the room I was in at Meta Chem."
She put her hand out for his piece; he gave it to her, wary of what would happen. She put the two together and both glowed together, bluey green. Then the glow surrounded her. 'Hello, welcome back Liz Parker. I wish to return. Send me the signal and I can return. You have been given a gift of power from the Queen of Antar. You are part of the Royal Four. I have someone with me from an alternate reality- another Alex. He's called Al. Do you wish to help?" The voice was as ancient as before but more impatient this time. 'Yes. What do I do?' 'Focus on the power. I will do the rest.' She focused and the glow grew around her and faded out. 'It is done.' She was about to fall to the side when strong arms caught her, checking her pulse. It was still there. She heard Michael sigh in relief.
Blinking, she came back to herself and saw him shaken, looking at her in disbelief with a shaky hand in her hair. "Why?" he asked her, his eyes full of anguish at potentially losing her. "I was acting on instinct. I'm sorry I scared you. The Granolith is coming back today to Earth, I gave it the signal. It's bringing an alternative Alex with it. I get a version of Alex back Michael, all my mistakes corrected as much as they can." She had tears in her eyes, full of relief. Her voice turned shaky "I was told Tess gave me a gift by the Granolith. I am now part of the Royal Four. I didn't know." His eyes wide, he clutched her to him. "No more alien stunts Parker, ever. You're done!" She nodded.
They both felt a change. The Granolith was returning. Liz passed out in his arms. The crystals flashed and faded out. Liz was out cold. 'Wake up!' he called out to her. She stirred. "What the..." she started to say groggily "You passed out. Is it back?" she nodded. "It's back with Al, alternative Alex." Her phone rang. She answered it. "Hello, Al, nice to meet you." Al was relieved. "I can't believe you're alive! In my reality, before it vanished, you died." Liz went pale. "In this reality, you died. I can't believe you are alive." "What happened?" both asked together, Liz grinned. "Tess happened." "Snap!" "Tess killed me in your former reality?" she asked stunned. Michael felt sick, suddenly extremely glad Liz was with him now. "Yep" was Al's cold reply. "Michael killed her in retribution." Her face turned dark. "I bet he did. When will you get here?" "Tonight. I'm in Roswell now. I'll let you know when I arrive. The back story is covered. I was adopted from the Whitman's but it was a secret. All memories will be changed. I will be at M.I.T studying computer technology." She nodded, it made sense. With a final good bye, they hung up.
She looked at Michael and grinned, her misery lifted. "Alex is back. His back story is in place. The three musketeers are three again. We'll need to let the others know soon. There was one thing- in his former world; his version of Tess killed me, not him. I don't know the full story yet. His version of you killed Tess for killing me." He sucked in a deep breath at that. Of course he had. He had been willing to kill Tess for Alex, if the other him had loved Liz as much as he did, how much further would he have gone in retribution at her death. Al would tell him. He hugged her into him further. "Tess is not coming near you again. I won't let her." Liz just rested in his arms nodding.
Maria had a dream about Alex, only he was different. She called Liz. "Why did I dream of Alex?" "That was a version of Alex; he's now in our reality. Alex is back. You must have dreamed his back story." Maria was stunned. "Liz, do you mean it, are the three musketeers back?" Liz was grinning "Yes, only he goes by Al. He'll be here in Harvard by tonight." "I'll be there by tonight." She hung up. Liz had been woken up by the phone ringing and had answered in a hurry to avoid waking up Michael. He stirred as she hung up. "Who was that?" "Maria. Al is here to stay." He pulled her back down to him. "Sleep!" She snuggled under his arm and drifted off.
They were waking up slowly, Michael turning it into a make out session getting rapidly out of hand when the door was knocked. Liz sat up "Alex." Michael rolled his eyes, Alex could wait. He couldn't. Intent on making her surrender to him all over again, she resisted him for the first time ever. "Michael, we can do this later. I just really want to hug my best friend." She pushed him forcefully off her, getting out of bed and throwing on her dressing gown over her PJ's. He rolled onto his back, put out completely and pulled the covers up again. Liz threw him his shirt and jeans. "I'm opening the door. I suggest you get changed. Don't look at me like that, I'll make it up to you later, you choose what we do." He smirked, his eyes flashing in delight and his mind full of ideas.
He got up and went to the bathroom to change. Liz opened the door, being engulfed in a hug by Al. "Thank God you're alive. When my reality vanished, the Granolith saved me. Instead of Max going back, it was me. Only things still went wrong. You were killed. Without you, the world still went to hell. The Granolith rescued me just in time. Thank God you survived!" Michael had been listening and his blood ran cold at Al's words. They had lost Liz. The world had gone for Alex. He knew how Liz felt. He'd been in her place. Liz hadn't said a word yet, she was sobbing in Al's arms. Al walked them back into the room and shut the door, wiping her tears away. "Stop crying, I'm here now and I forgive you. I get why you're crying. Do you forgive me for not saving you in time, for letting you die in a horrible car crash on the run from Tess's mind warp?"
She gasped. "That's how you died here. You were mind warped to death by Tess, who made it look like you suicided in a car crash. Of course I forgive you." Both friends sobbed in each other's arms, glad to finally have forgiveness from the other person for their actions. Michael was lost for words. The other Tess had mind warped LIZ! That meant Liz had been in Al's place in his world. He thought it through. Liz at the super computer in Las Cruces for 3 months, the other him thinking she was in Sweden, her deciphering that book, ultimately dying on the run from breaking the mind warp to tell the other him, tell the others in warning before dying alone. Her buried in Alex's spot instead. Al taking her place in the investigation. This was his worst nightmare and Al had lived it. He fought the urge to be sick. He walked back into the room and hugged her to him as close as he could, shaking at the story.
Liz was wide eyed, shaking at what she had been told. She had been in Al's place. "Why me?" she asked curiously. Michael leaned back to look at her, stunned. "WHY?! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY?! SERIOUSLY?! The other Tess killed YOU! LIZ, SHE KILLED YOU! It doesn't matter why! You died and the other me couldn't stop it from happening! THAT SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME!". He'd gone white, lost for words. Liz was trembling, white as his implications hit home hard. She sat on the bed, stunned.
Her head in her hands, she asked an understanding Al "Why?" He answered honestly, taking her hand in his sitting next to her on the bed. Michael did a double take.
"Kyle wasn't any good with them, I turned her down repeatedly, choosing to be with Isabel and you with your kind heart, especially after changing the timeline the way you did, wanted to help her stay with the group. You are the scientist, she needed that. You got played. We all did. You went AWOL a lot. You changed a lot. You weren't you anymore. When the duplicates turned up, when Rath kissed you, you risked Maria's wrath by dragging him to the eraser room. I was stunned to see you come out rather mussed up. Your grades went down. You blew everyone off, even Michael."
"You had become Tess's best friend overnight. That day when you died and it was ruled as a suicide, it was believable. Watching Maria sing at your funeral broke her heart. She never sang again. Neither did I. I refused to believe what the police said. I investigated and learnt the truth with Michael and Maria's help. You'd let clues behind for us to follow. We realised that Tess wasn't on our side and had killed you. Somehow, I don't know how, we stopped her from taking the Granolith with her. Michael killed Tess for your death and we found Ava's help. It wasn't enough. We still failed. I failed! I AM THE LAST SURVIVOR LEFT OF MY REALITY AND I HATE IT!"
Liz hugged him. "Your story is like mine, only we didn't stop her in time! The Granolith has just returned to earth. We believed you to be in Sweden, only you were in Las Cruces instead. I went AWOL after you died. It looked like suicide. I refused to believe it, only at first no one believed me! I investigated on my own. Maria thought I was nuts. Once I had proof after nearly flying to Sweden- "You did what?" Michael cut in shock, she continued, I told Maria. She believed me. We went to Las Cruces, seeing Michael on the way." She blushed as Michael said "Yes and told me you were going to a different place to where you were actually going!", still a tiny bit miffed at that! "Maria told me where you were going to as long as I didn't tell you she told me."
Liz nodded. "I know. I guessed when you turned up. I am sorry about that." Her voice full of apology. Rolling his eyes, he sighed "Finally, a damn apology! You took your time about that." He sat down next to her, holding her hand, smiling at her in acceptance of her long awaited apology. Liz continued the rest of her story. "Between the three of us, we found the books translation. I was at the lab when it came through on the computer, having a rather interesting battle of wills with Michael at the time." She blushed. "Anyway, once we realised what we had, we found Leanna's room and the address for building was there. Once there, we nearly got killed by a bomb. Michael saved us. For a second there, I had wished he hadn't saved me, she shook her head, then we got the print out and left. Tess was pregnant and the Royal Four were returning. We each reacted differently." Michael looked at her. Sean had been her reaction, her rebound.
"We realised Tess had been mind warping you and Kyle. Kyle remembered everything and we went to stop them. It had been activated. I was so relieved when Michael came out. Maria told him the truth and we rushed to stop Tess. She admitted it. Max ordered us out and let Tess leave with the Granolith and her son with Max right into the enemies hands. I couldn't say a word about what I knew and Max took away any justice for you. Then he mentioned finding his son straight away after apologising. I went on a quest with Max to help him find his son after that and Isabel is married to a guy called Jesse. I have made up for it since. I got justice for you here. I gained my own powers and Michael stopped me from leaving. We changed things and ended up here, together as a couple. That's everything."
Al was surprised to say the least. "Wow. I knew things would be different but not THAT different. Did you ever think of ending it?" he asked her seriously. She nodded "Twice. What about you?" he nodded "Twice. Once when you died and the second time out of guilt, sat by your grave." Liz's eyes went wide in shock. "Snap on both. Sean stopped me the second time around, the Thai guy on the first." Al nodded. "It was exactly the same with me." Both of them shook their heads in surprise. Michael was at a loss for words. Liz and Alex were back together again. His head spun. Al took charge "What else do I need to know?".
Michael squeezing Liz's hand took over to give her a break. "Maria's on the way here to meet you. The others have dreamt about you, so know now. What they don't know about is Liz changing the timeline. Maxwell is with Ava, raising Tess's baby Zan in Roswell, Isabel is married to Jesse in Boston, who knows the secret, Maria is with Billy normally in New York and Kyle is single." Al nodded. Liz felt sick. "Excuse me!" She ran to the bathroom. She was surprised when she threw up. Michael's hand rubbed her back. "Are you ok?" he asked concerned, she nodded before throwing up again. Shoulders heaving, she fell faint before the world spun. "Liz, what is it? Liz?!"
She'd gone white; he caught her as she fell forward. She was disoriented. "What happened?" "You nearly fainted on me. Are you sure you're ok?" "I don't know." He grimaced and helped her up to her feet. She got to the sink, eyes wide in realisation. She was due on last week. 'Bloody hell, was she?' 'Are you what?' he replied, cautiously with a hand on her shoulder, facing her. 'I'm a week late. It's probably just stress.' He went still. 'A week late for what?' already knowing the answer. 'I was due to start indulging in chocolate last week.' His eyes went wide, he knew what that meant. 'You're late late. Are you sure?' She nodded, biting her lip. Shrugging, she said "It could be stress."
Michael knew otherwise. He had been snuggling her closer to him at night and she hadn't blinked once at a hot chilli dish two nights ago. She was definitely pregnant. 'They had been careful, so when?' Liz had an answer. "I must have missed taking my pill a few times and we did forget to use protection once. I must have missed my pill that day too." Her eyes wide, she meets his scared ones. "How can we be sure?" her voice shook. His hand shaking, he pulled her forward to him, kissing her lightly. His free hand grazed her stomach lightly, stopping when he felt a connection other than her power. Her gasp confirmed it. They both knew. They rested their foreheads against each other. "What the hell do we do now?" she asked in shock. "I don't know but we'll work it out together. Either way, we're keeping it. Is that ok?" She nodded. Feeling dizzy again, she felt his arm help her stay upright. Getting her a drink, he passed it to her. Nodding her thanks, she got took a gulp of it to rinse the taste out of her mouth while he flushed the chain.
He had lead her back to the bed and a concerned Al. "So have you figured it out? I knew from the first hug. Congratulations!" Liz guessed "You have powers." Nodding at her, he said "I do have powers. Max healed me once. I should say now that in my world Michael healed Liz, not Max. Maria never dated Michael in my world; Michael was with Liz from the start. The reason he killed Tess that day was because Liz was pregnant and no one else knew but me. Tess killed his family, so Michael killed her pregnant with Max's son in retribution. It was an emotional mess. He only revealed the truth after killing Tess. Everyone was distraught." He wiped the tears from his eyes.
Liz was in shock. She burst into tears. Al comforted her. "It'll be ok. When is Maria getting here?" He directed the question towards a Michael, who was in shock at the news he was going to be a dad. "Soon. I wish I could drink." "Me too" Liz replied and he looked at her, whisky eyes ablaze. "Hell no, no alcoholic drinks for you while you're pregnant." Al sighed, "Relax will you? Half a glass will not affect her or the baby." Liz was scared, he knew that. They both were. He held her hand in support. She leaned against him. "Al, what do we know about this?" she asked, extremely glad the walls were very thick here and the windows were closed. "Hybrid pregnancies last 9 months because of the human dna mixed in with the Antarian dna. Zan was human due to genetics, so will your baby be human too. There might be powers later on but for now, there are no green blood cells." They both breathed a sigh of relief.
Maria called. "Hi Maria, you're on your way. Yes, he is here." She passed the phone to Al, who answered "Hello?" "It's Al right. You even sound like Alex. I've so missed you. This is amazing!" "Maria, I've missed you too. You'll be here in ten minutes, I'll see you then. Yes, Liz is ok." He handed it back to Liz, who said to Maria "I'll see you soon. Bye.''. It was Liz who asked "Do we tell Maria or wait?" "We wait in general if that's ok with you?" She nodded. It was. Then Kyle phoned her five minutes later asking if what he'd dreamed of Al was real and was shocked when it was. He was sent on a mission from the King to check it out for himself. He'd be landing the next morning. He hung up with a good bye.
Liz went to get changed and they meet Maria at the reception. Maria couldn't believe it. She hugged Al, Michael leading them back to his room. The three musketeers were walking together reunited behind him, Liz's joy was overwhelming. When everyone was in the room with the door locked, the three of them went into a group hug; The Three Musketeers were back together again. Michael smiled. This was the perfect ending for everyone, once they readjusted of course. His eyes rested on his family- his girl and their child. He felt so damn lucky right now! Maria noticed the new ring on Liz's finger- it was Michael's. "Liz, what have I missed?" Liz grinned "Michael promised me forever. I'm sorry Maria", aware of her friends struggle with the same man. She grinned "Don't be. I'm happy for you. Nice symbol."
Michael put his arm around Liz, connecting the three of them together, answering for her "It's our names in Antarian linked together. It was Liz's idea. I loved it and added it to both my names on her pendants." Maria and Al both "awwwed" together, making Michael roll his eyes at them and bring Liz closer to him, Liz blushing into his shoulder. Both grinned at them, eyes dancing when Michael looked at the ceiling, wrapping his other arm around Liz and laughing when Liz said she needed to breathe. Then they settled down to talk as a group, Maria learning of the differences between Al and Alex and the change between the timelines shocked her. It was official- in Maria's eyes Tess was a real bitch in both realities, having killed both of her best friends between the two realities.
They were talking about musketeer stuff now, comparing differences between the two. They all shared the same story. Michael just watched the three of them together; it was like nothing had changed at all. The only differences were Al instead of Alex and him dating Liz and her pregnant with their child. He just smirked at that thought. Liz Parker was officially all his now, he had promised her forever and he was never going to let her go. She was his family now. Liz smiled, reading his thoughts and clutching his hand, happy when he held it back. Al said "I have powers. There was one thing in my reality Liz and I did- we linked powers like an early warning system, similar to a four square. We can do it here too. We made it a musketeer thing."
Liz was about to agree when Michael put his spare hand up in protest to stop her "No! Wait a while before trying that please!" Raising an eyebrow at that, Liz thought to him 'What, wait the whole nine months?' his eyes meet hers in a whisky gaze of pleading for them to be safe, 'Yes please?' Liz bit her lip, he'd said please. 'She couldn't say no to that!' Michael relaxed at that. Maria was looking puzzled at them. Al explained "They're talking to each other in their thoughts." She nodded, watching them as their tug of eyes finished, Liz looking away first biting her lip while Michael relaxed. Al noticed this, knowing they had made a decision or so he thought.
He was pleasantly surprised when Liz spoke in his mind tentatively 'Al, hello. Is there way to do this and for the baby to be protected? I lost you once and if there is a way to be connected to you and keep you safe now, I will do it!' Michael knew she was talking to Al and tentatively knocked himself. Al let him in with a grin, Maria just felt left out! 'Parker, what are you doing here? If you're asking what I think you are asking, don't!' he pleaded with her but she stayed firm. 'No Michael, I can't! I lost Alex once and it nearly killed me! I can't risk losing him again.' 'Not even if it hurts the baby?' He argued back at her.
Al sighed out loud, alerting Maria to the silent battle going in his head between the two of them. 'Stop it please?! There is a safe way of doing this without harming the baby, as Liz has just asked. I did it at Liz's insistence in my reality as well when she knew she was pregnant in my world. My Michael backed her up there by protecting the baby himself. You can do it the same way here too and include Maria in it too or anyone else. It's safe!' getting ratty at them both.' 'Oh.' Both of them felt immediately sorry. They hugged in his mind, Michael's hand covering her tummy protectively. 'This little one is ours. You're my girl, I want you both safe. If you feel you need to do this, I will support you but let me protect our child. That is my one condition and the only thing I ask. Can you do that for me, please?' She nodded her consent. 'Ok.' 'Thank you. How do we do this?' he asked Al, who was wistfully smiling. 'I'll show you later.'
They came back to themselves to face a seriously put out Maria. Liz had a plan. "Maria, how would you like to be mentally linked to Al and me as the musketeers forever without needing to gain powers of your own? We can include Kyle and Michael too." Maria grinned, "Really, I don't need powers to do this." Liz shook her head, "No. Are you in?" Maria nodded "I'm in!" as she grinned. "We need to celebrate things tonight, whose's in?" All four hands went up. Maria put her things in Liz's room, telling Liz that she had a record contract working with Billy on an independent label, another reason to celebrate. Liz hugged her in congratulations as she told the others Maria's news. They were thrilled for her.
They had a surprise when arriving at the club- Kyle was there, having caught an earlier flight. He hugged everyone when they arrived, noting Michael being extra protective of Liz. He smiled. He meet Al. "Hello. Nice to meet you." Al shook his hand, "I go by Al, not Alex, I'm sure you've dreamt my back story and I've missed you too." He pulled Kyle into a hug. He hugged back, glad Al was here. It was like nothing had changed. He stood back to see the three musketeers back together and took a photo. Then he stepped into a group hug with them, incredibly happy to have a version of Alex back and the four of them back together again. Liz was crying, everyone was crying, even Michael was wiping a tear away. He took a photo himself for prosperity.
He stepped into the group hug, comforting everyone. Being a protector. Liz for once let him be the protector for her, for their baby, for the whole group. For that moment, she took a step back to let him do his job as Second In Command and a Protector, her Protector, as her boyfriend and most importantly, as the Father of her child. For that moment, Michael was incredibly grateful. He sent her a loving thought of 'Thank you and I love you.' 'You're welcome and I love you too. We both do.' They stepped back as a group. "Kyle, Michael, would you both like to become an official musketeer?" Liz asked them. Kyle stepped forward "Yes", Michael stepped forward, his amber eyes full of emotion as he stepped forward, looking at her, reminding her of their deal, seeing her nod, he finally said "I'm in too. Al, how do we do this?"
"Step forward and hold hands. Focus." Al told them, holding Maria's and Liz's hands. Michael held Liz's hand and Kyle's hand, Kyle holding Maria's hand to connect them all. He sent a single thought to everyone. 'Focus on this thought.' Michael protected the baby and focused on the thought, Liz joined him, then Maria and finally Kyle. Energy flowed through everyone until it finally settled in all of them. 'Hello?' Al sent out, 'Hello!' they all sent back. 'If anyone is any trouble, think out to one of us a colour and we'll send help or go ourselves or preferably both. Go.' 'Reddish Blue ' sent Liz, 'Green' sent Michael, 'Pink' sent Maria, 'Brown' sent Kyle and Al said 'Blue.' 'We can drop hands now.' They all let go.
Her roommate had been watching and had taken a group photo of them all. Liz introduced her to Kyle "Meet our next door neighbour Ailene, Kyle, Maria and Al." They all said hi. Kyle was pushed forward by Liz to Ailene. ''Kyle, buy her a drink." She winked at them. Maria was talking to Al. Their song was playing. Michael led her to the dance floor and they slowly danced in each other's arms, looking into each other's eyes. "I love you"; "I love you too." They kissed slowly but passionately, getting slowly lost in each other all over again. Everything was fine now, everyone was alive, they were together and going to be a family, they would be married someday. They both knew everything would be ok.