Shelter from the Storm

Liz opened her eyes to find herself in a large field which was empty aside from the few grave stones that littered the green earth. She looked up to see a familiar scene, a few feet in front of her a black coffin was being lowered into the ground. Maria stood closest to the coffin tears were streaming down her face and Michael stood behind her holding her shoulders. Isabel stood next to them her eyes were red; she looked to her left where Alex stood.

"Alex," Liz whispered into the wind as a heartbreaking smile crossed her face.

Alex was crying openly and looked away when the coffin thumped against the soft earth beneath it, Kyle stood next to his father and Tess. Valenti clutched his hat to his chest and Kyle's eyes were brimming with tears, Tess looked so confused it was strange her eyes were watery and cast downward. Liz's parents stood on the opposite side of the coffin holding on to each other as if they might fall if they didn't.

"They've missed you," declared a deep voice behind Liz, she spun around to see Max standing behind her.

"Max," her voice so strangled by emotion she could barely say his name, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. "Oh God, Max I've missed you so much,"

"I know," Max's face remained solemn, Liz pulled away and kissed him softly on the lips she stopped looking deep into his eyes.

"You're not here, this is just another dream" Liz sounded defeated as she stepped away looking back to the funeral in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely as he stepped next to her and watched the scene unfold in front of them.

"Why am I here?" Liz said somberly

"Because they need you," he stated oddly

"Why do they need me?"

"Because you're different now and you can help, you can save them" he turned towards her

"Like I saved you," a sick smile crossed her face "Like I saved Alex?" Max just stared into her eyes "Or like I saved them before? By killing."

"You can't leave them or everyone will suffer,"

"I knew I would have to go back I just didn't know it would be this soon or that this would be the reason" she stared at the gravestone.

Elizabeth Parker

Beloved Daughter

Loyal Friend

"Yeah really loyal," sarcasm dripping from the sad statement

"This is your chance to redeem yourself," Max said as he walked towards the open grave, he walked to the edge of the hole and then beckoned her towards him.

"I don't know if I can go back to them," she said as she brushed past a grieving Maria

"You have to," he said as she reached the edge, she looked in to the hole to see the coffin was open and empty.

"I know," she sighed and closed her eyes as Max pushed her into the hole; she landed in the coffin with a thump "It's just... I can't stand the quiet," she whispered, a single tear finding its way down her cheek

"I know... I know," Max smiled sympathetically as he closed the coffin

She lay there silently crying as she heard the dirt hitting the top of the coffin.

"No," Liz's voice came out in a breathless whisper as she shot upright clawing at the imaginary coffin that had encased her.

"What is it?" Tom sounded tired and confused as he looked at Liz through weary eyes

"Nothing," Liz said crawling out from under the covers which felt like they were suffocating her, she stood up and tried to shake the memories of the dream from her head

"You're sweating like crazy," concern filling his voice

"Yeah... I have to go out," she said abruptly

"What? Where?" he sat up trying to understand what she was saying

"I have to go see Isabel,"

"You mean that girl who came here earlier," he furrowed his brow

"Yeah,"

"I'll come with you," he began to get out of bed

"You can stay here,"

"No I think I should come," he began looking for his shoes

"Tom," Liz's voice was firm "I have to do this on my own, she's my friend and I need to talk to her alone," he looked at her somewhat hurt by her inability to let him help "I'll be back later I just need to talk to her,"

"Ok," the defeat obvious in his voice "just don't be afraid to ask for my help... even if it means telling me the secret you've been carrying with you," Liz nodded before slipping on her jacket and her shoes and stepping out the door.

"you gotta tell someone," he whispered to himself as he fell back on the bed staring at the ceiling.

'This was smart,' Liz thought 'just wander around at three in the morning hoping you'll run into Isabel. I really thought this one through,' Liz walked across the grass glad for the lampposts that were lighting her way, she looked at the ground for a moment noticing her shoes were wet from the dew suddenly there was a fizzling noise and the lamppost in front of her went dark she looked up to see a shadowy figure with one hand on the street light.

"I've been looking for you," Liz said calmly

"I know," Isabel said quietly

"What happened... back home?" Liz sat on a bench

"Why do you care?" Isabel almost snarled "You ran away and left us to take care of everything and now you want... what? The abridged version? To put it simply everything sucks." Isabel glared at Liz as she sat next to her

Tess was critical to our survival. The four of us; Michael, Isabel, Tess, and I...we made a complete unit. We all had different gifts, and with one of us missing, we weren't as strong, and everything fell apart.

'What were they without their king?' Liz wondered sadly

"We had everything under control until a few weeks ago, that's when he showed up,"

"Khivar," Liz stated closing her eyes

"Yeah he came with some of his skin buddies, tore us up pretty good too" Isabel frowned looking at the ground "We barely beat them back,"

"But he's not done," Liz said finishing Isabel's sentence

"Yeah," Isabel looked up to the sky as if for guidance "That's exactly what he said, he said he'd be back, he promised us an army" Isabel looked at Liz

"Maria?" Liz questioned opening her eyes and looking into Isabel's

"She got really hurt, we all did... but," Isabel paused "but something was different and worse, we would have taken her to a doctor but whatever happened to her was very clearly alien... it's like some sort of sickness" Isabel choked out the words, a tear slipped down Liz's cheek as she heard about someone who had once been her best friend.

"And you think I can help her?" Liz questioned wiping the tear from her face

"We weren't sure if you got Max's powers or something," Isabel stood up "And even if you can't help her we are in desperate need of reinforcements and we could always use more aliens on our team," Isabel tried to sound nonchalant

"I'm not an alien," Liz said quietly

"Yeah... you are," Liz shook her head as Isabel spoke "Fine. Go bury your head in the sand while we all die. Newsflash Liz, Khivar knows who you are and he's got skins out looking for you and even if you can hide when he's done with us do you think he's just gonna stop? He's got a fascination for the entire human race. Just... just help us" Isabel said tiredly "We can't do it alone any more,"

"I know," Liz said

"I have three plane tickets to Roswell for tomorrow," Isabel said staring down at Liz

"Three?" Liz asked

"You, me, and your little boyfriend"

"What? No! No, I won't drag him into this"
"I'm sorry Liz, but he's not safe here, alone I told you Khivar had skins after you and I meant it. If you leave him here he will die I can guarantee you that," Isabel said forcefully while Liz just stared at the grass "I'll meet you at your apartment tomorrow at noon, make sure you're both packed and ready to go,"

"How are we getting to the airport?"

"Don't worry..." Isabel smiled "I have a ride"