Until We Meet Again

By: Ian K.

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Roswell, its characters or story. I just used them for fun for this fanfic. No monetary benefit will result.

Summary: A/I AU Fic. Everyone thinks Alex Whitman is dead from Tess' mindwarp. But what if someone came along and saved him? Will Alex be able to reclaim his life, including Isabel? Read and find out.

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CHAPTER ONE:

The void was all around him. He floated through it, not seeing a beginning or end. Every so often, there would be a flash of something, a false memory placed there by his tormentor, the one who destroyed him. Was this void all that is left to him? He wondered whether his mind was now gone, whether his body was just some kind of vegetable now, and his mind was trapped in this endless nothing void.

But there was a voice. It was somehow familiar, but not familiar at the same time. It told him to remember, to fight, to grow strong. He could feel the energy building within him. It was a slow process. Time passed. He wasn't sure how much time, but the voice was there, telling him to fight his way back to consciousness. Slowly, the void was being filled by memories. Real memories, not ones planted there by the fiend who had used him.

The voice told him to focus on one thing from his memory that he would hold onto the strongest, that he would fight the most for to keep. He immediately brought an image into the void of darkness. A woman, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, beautiful eyes, a gorgeous smile. He could hear her voice, remember the taste of her lips, the fell of his arms around her. The image of this woman gave him a center, a guidepost for his mental battle with the void. Finally, as time seemed to pass, the void began to fade, and a light appeared.

"Walk towards the light," said the voice who had helped him for so long.

He began to wonder if this was the voice of an angel who had been preparing him for heaven. "Do not be afraid," said the voice. "Come to the light, and you will live again."

Moving towards the light, he began to feel heavy. Everything that had been in his field of vision seemed to fade. Perspective changed. The last thing he remembered seeing before coming to consciousness was the image of his beautiful guidepost. Her name was the first thing that passed from his lips as he awakened.

"Isabel," he said.

He found himself lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. Sunlight was coming in through a window. The bed was lumpy, the sheets dirty. His body wouldn't move. Only his eyes danced around and took in his surroundings.

"Alex," said the voice.

The same voice that had been giving him strength, who had been guiding him back to consciousness, who had helped to save him from the void of nothingness. He managed to turn his head, and saw a young woman looking at him.

"You," Alex said. His voice was raw, as vocal cords strained to carry sound. "Know you."

"Yeah," she said.

"Not...Tess," said Alex, suddenly afraid.

"No," said the voice. The girl looked like Tess, but she was dressed in trashy looking clothes, had blue hair, weird lipstick, and spoke in a heavy New York accent. "I'm Ava. Remember me? Rath, Val, and me...we came to your town months ago?"

"Yeah," said Alex. "Rath and Val went to New York with Max and Tess. You didn't. You helped Liz contact Max and warn him."

"Well, I kind of urged her to do it," said Ava. "It was Val's double that did the actual helpin. Isabel is her name, right?"

"Yeah," said Alex. "Isabel."

"You said her name as you woke up," said Ava. "I told you to focus on somethin to make you fight to stay alive. It must have been her. She must mean a lot to you."

"She does," said Alex. "But...Tess, the mindwarp."

"I know," said Ava. "I've fixed the damage she did, but it took a long time. I didn't know I was going to be playing Nurse Betty to some dude for this long when I came back to Roswell."

"What happened?" asked Alex. "I thought Tess was...I thought I was a goner."

"You nearly were, dude," said Ava. "Lucky for you I came along at the right moment."

Flashback:

Ava was driving down the streets of Roswell, trying to find her way to the home of Max and Isabel, Zahn's and Val's dupes who lived in this town. "Damned," she said, slamming her fist into the wheel of the stolen car. "I can't believe I am lost in this stupid hick town."

As she pulled into the neighborhood intersection after stopping at a Stop sign, she was cut off by a car that drove past her at high speed.

"STUPID GOMER!" she yelled out of the window.

But she saw the driver, and recognized him.

"Hey, he's one of the local Royal Four's human pals," she thought. "Alex, I think his name is. If I follow him, he can tell me where to go."

Ava turned her car and followed Alex's car down the road. It wasn't easy, trying to keep up with the guy, because he was traveling at erratic speeds and blowing through Stop signs like they weren't even there.

"Is this guy on crack or somethin?" thought Ava.

He finally pulled up in the driveway of a house. Ava pulled off to the side of the road, and was about to get out and talk to Alex. But when she saw him, something told Ava not to approach him. He was walking towards the house, but seemed to be talking to himself. His body was shaking, and he was acting like he was delusional.

"Man, maybe this guy is on drugs," said Ava to herself.

She got out of the car, and crept up to a bush that was near the doorway to the house. Alex was pounding on the door. Someone opened it. Ava saw that it was her dupe that lived here in Roswell.

"Tess," she whispered to herself, while listening in.

"Alex, what's wrong?" asked Tess.

"You destroyed my mind!" yelled Alex. "You mind warped me! I know it! I never went to Sweeden! You had me decode that book!"

"Holy shit," thought Ava. "She mind warped him, and he must have broken it."

Tess was obviously scared, but acted quickly to shove Alex into the house.

"Shit, what's she gonna do?" thought Ava.

She got closer to the house, and looked in the windows. Finally, she peaked into the right one. Ava saw Alex and Tess arguing, then saw another guy come in. Alex screamed, and Tess closed her eyes. Ava knew she was mind warping him again. Then, Alex fell to the floor. The other guy did nothing, apparently being mind warped himself.

"She'll kill him," thought Ava. "No, this aint right. I remember Alex. He was an okay guy."

Ava closed her eyes, and mind warped Tess and the other guy. "Kyle is his name," thought Ava. Tess was much harder to control, but Ava was at the advantage of having slightly more strength than her, due to the fact that Tess had just been mind warping two other people.

She crawled into the window, and grabbed Alex. He was barely alive, but was still breathing. Tess and Kyle stood like statues, oblivious to what was going on. Finally, Ava pulled Alex out of the window, and closed it.

"She'll be after us if she knows I saved him," said Ava. She closed her eyes, and made them think that Alex was still on the floor of the room, and that he was dead.

Present:

"After that," said Ava. "I brought you to this cabin I found. I knew I would have to do some major work on you to bring your mind back."

"Wait," said Alex. "Does everyone think I'm dead?"

"Yeah," said Ava. "It took some doing. Only a few people actually saw your body, because it was supposed to have been in a car crash. No open casket service when your corpse looks like it had been bashed by a sledge hammer. So, I just hovered around where Tess crashed your car, thinkin your body was in it, and mind warped everyone who looked at your corpse. Including Max, when he tried to heal you."

"Why did you make them all think I was dead?" asked Alex.

"Dude, I didn't know what the whole situation was," said Ava. "I didn't know who to trust, who was in league with that bitch Tess. I wanted to help you, Alex, because I know you are Liz Parker's friend, and she really was good to me when I was here last. But, I couldn't do that if I had Tess, and maybe more people, after us. It was safer for both of us if Tess thought her little deed succeeded."

"So, you've been...working on me all this time," said Alex, who was slowly able to sit up.

"Yeah," said Ava. "Dude, your body was here, but your mind was not. It was like, lost in your brain, and couldn't find its way back because it was totally screwed up by the mind warp. I was able to control your body to feed it, but your mind. I had to sit here everyday and go into your mind, to fix it and help it find its way back. I couldn't do it for long, though. It took so much out of me. I could only do it about two times a day, for about thirty minutes each time."

"How long have I been here?" asked Alex. "How much time has passed?"

"Dude, I hate to tell you this," said Ava. "But, its...October."

"October?" asked Alex. "But I...you found me in March."

"That's right," said Ava. "Dude, it took me like seven months to get you back in shape."

Alex looked at her in shock. "Seven months!" he said. "Everyone thinks I've been dead for seven months!"

"I know that sucks, big time," said Ava. "But I had to do it. I didn't know who to trust."

Alex tried to stand up, but found his legs were too weak.

"Easy," said Ava, coming over to help Alex back onto the bed. "You haven't used those in seven months. I've used my limited healing abilities to keep your body from going completely to mush, but its still going to be like a day 'till you move around good."

"Look, Ava, I still don't understand why you did this," said Alex. "But I am very grateful to you for saving my life."

"Well, I'm going to expect somethin in return, but not now," said Ava. "I also did it because you are Liz Parker's friend. When she found me sleepin in that alley, she didn't have to help me. She could have like, just left me in the gutter. Instead, she took me in, helped me get through grievin over Zahn. I owed her. But, I am going to need some help with somethin. Not from you, necessarily, but...your friends who are not of this earth. If we can trust any of em."

"Look, not that I'm not grateful for what you've done," said Alex. "But how do I go about getting my life back? Everyone thinks I'm dead! I can't just walk back into town and say 'Lucy, I'm home!'"

"Fact is, I don't know," said Ava. "Dude, I aint been back in Roswell since I got you out. I've been goin to the market in the nearest town besides Roswell to get supplies."

"You don't know how I'm going to get my life back?" asked Alex. "Perfect!"

"Look, I did everything else, now you want me to figure that out, too!" said Ava. "What the frick do I look like, Mr. Spock?!"

"God, everyone probably doesn't know what Tess did!" said Alex. "I've got to warn them!"

"Whoa, Gomer!" said Ava. "Like you said, you can't just go back to your hood and announce your return to life! Plus, we don't know if Tess had conspirators. I mean, I know that guy Kyle wasn't willing, givin he was totally mind warped, like you. But what about Max, Michael, or Isabel?"

"No!" said Alex. "I trust them! They would never hurt me!"

"Did you trust Tess before she mind warped you?" asked Ava.

"Well, sort of," said Alex.

"I aint takin no chances here," said Ava. "There is one person in that town I trust. I'll bring her, but no one else. Tomorrow, I'm goin to town, and I'm coming back with Liz Parker."

End of Chapter One. Chapter Two coming soon.

So, have I peaked your interest in the story. If I have, please do post a review of this story. Feedback from my readers is always welcomed and appreciated. Be sure not to miss the next installment to find out what happens next.