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First Wave: "The Lost Prophesies"

Chapter two - ET Phone Home

Disclaimer: See Chapter one

"It's a dangerous business going out your front door."

- Tolkein (Lord of the Rings)

Before them loomed the opening into the cave…a cave that had been opened by a previously invisible handprint on the rock wall.

And just how the hell had Max known it was there?

"How did you..." began Liz, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"I just did, I can't explain it." He shrugged.

Michael started to make his way into the cave when Isabel stopped him "Michael, you don't know what's in there, it could be dangerous" she warned.

"We've come this far, I'm not about to leave just because of some irrational fear you have Isabel" he shrugged off her hand and walked into the opening, missing the hurt look on Isabel's face.

Liz gave her a sympathetic look and grabbed her hand "c'mon, lets go see what all the hub-bub is about."
She led Isabel in, followed by a smiling Max she never ceases to amaze me he thought to himself.

Faced with the uncertainly of what was in the cave, she was fearlessly leading Isabel in, offering support and friendship.

Max was reminded that Liz could hear his thoughts when she responded knock it off Evans, you're making me blush

He was about to respond when the boulder rolling back in place startled him, shutting out the daylight.

Before anyone could get scared the walls of the cave seemed to come alive, throwing an eerie green glow over everything, effectively lighting the cave up. They found Michael crouched near pod type things running a hand over one. Isabel recognized them straight away.

"Oh My God! Max that's what we came out of when we were six" she exclaimed, still rooted to her spot behind Michael.

Michael turned around, a pained expression on his face "there are four pods...do you know what this means?" He hesitated before continuing "there's a fourth one of us.

Isabel clamped a trembling hand over her mouth in shock, she couldn't quite grasp that there was another one of them out there, possibly alone and afraid, who knows, maybe the fourth alien had been kidnapped by the government or by some sort of alien hunter, of which she knew there were many crazies running around looking for aliens and other conspiracies.

All these thoughts were screaming across her mind, further adding to her fear.

All three aliens stiffened when a vision started.

begin flashback

Max and Isabel holding hands walking out the cave, followed by Michael.

flash

Three pods lying open, a fourth pod is still occupied by a blond haired girl, her hair floating around her serene face, she was in some sort of stasis.

flash

A young Michael turns around, wanting to go back for the girl, but they can't, there is danger and they must go...now!

end flashback

A terrified Liz ran into Max's arms when they came round "thank God, I thought something had happened to you guy's when you didn't respond, I...I was so scared Max."

Max placed a hand on her head and soothingly stroked it, if truth be told the flash had scared him too, Isabel was visibly shaken, Michael who looked expressionless was also troubled he could tell.

"We just left her, for whatever was out there that we were all scared of. She...she was my sister, I don't know how I know, I just do...and we left her."
Isabel choked over her last words, crying silently she stood there sending equally guilty and accusing looks to Max and Michael.

Michael looked away, he couldn't stand the accusations, he was already fighting his own guilt. Max watched as the guilt an accusations ran across their faces, still holding Liz, however his attention was taken away when he saw something glow briefly behind one of the pods in the distant corner. He disentangled himself from Liz and made his way over to what looked like a book.

"Max, what is it?" asked Isabel.

Everyone followed Max who was now reaching for the object, it was a book, made out of some unrecognisable metal, dull silver in color with strange symbols decorating the cover. Max tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

As if in a trance, Isabel took it from him, running her hands over the cover, in a monotonous voice she said; "The power of four must be united in stead, only then can the destinies be read."

Isabel's eyes flickered as she came out of her trance-like-state.

Michael gave her a confused look "Huh?"

Liz's nose wrinkled in thought before answering "you need the fourth Alien before you can open the book."

"Is, how did you know that?" asked Max.

"I didn't…it was like the book took control. I know it sounds weird, but that's what it felt like." She answered.

The group had formed a circle around the book when Max initially picked it up. Now they remained in that state as they gazed upon each other. Silence reigned.

LATER AT MICHAELS APARTMENT

Isabel's face scrunched up in disgust at the site of Michael shoving a slice of pizza into his mouth. "Geez Michael, you'd swear you hadn't eaten in months, and by the looks of this place, you certainly haven't cleaned in years."

Michael snorted as he continued to eat his umpteenth slice of pizza.

Max sighed from his place on the sofa "we've been here an hour and we still haven't come up with any idea's."

Michael swallowed his mouthful of food "do you think she's okay? You know, happy and stuff?"

The others looked at Michael in shock.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with 'I don't give a damn about anyone' Michael?" Asked Isabel sarcastically, obviously annoyed with Michael for some or other transgression.

"I'm serious Is, she's one of us and she's all alone out there, what if it had been one of us?"

Silence settled on the group again.

"What we need to do is get a hold of any records about a six-year-old girl found in the area around that time" suggested Max.

"Okay, but how?" Questioned the ever practical Liz.

"We break into the Sheriffs Station, maybe even all the orphanages in the area and see what records they have for back then" replied Michael, giving himself a mental pat on the back for his ingenious idea.

Isabel shook her head at him "Is that your only solution to everything? Why can't we ever do things the legal way, what happens if we get caught Einstein?"

Michael glared at Isabel "fine, you come up with a better idea then. Maybe we could whine the Sheriff to death after which we'll have all the time in the world to sift through all his records."

"Break it up you two, we're in this together remember" sighed Max in his usual position as referee.

"Why don't we try old News Paper reports for that time period, if it doesn't work out we can discuss what to do then" suggested Liz.

The three aliens smiled, pleased with the idea and the possibility of finding their lost fellow alien.

SATURDAY AT THE CRASHDOWN

"Thanks, I think I've got it"

Liz smiled "you'll be a natural, and I can even see that you're attracting us more customers than usual" teased Liz.

Blushing, Isabel left to continue her duties as a waitress at the Crashdown Cafe. Liz looked up from cleaning the counter when the bell above the door jingled to see Kyle and some of his jock friends enter.

She sighed, threw down the rag and grabbed some menus; nervously she made her way over to their booth.

"Well if it isn't Evans's little whore Elizabeth Parker" remarked one of the jocks, Jamie.

Liz's face flushed with fury and she pursed her lips to prevent herself from saying anything "did you want something or not?"

Jamie smirked "yeah how about we get together later, and you show me what all this fuss about you is."

The table of jocks erupted into laughter, the only one who remained quiet was Kyle, instead, his gaze remained focused on Liz as if he was unaware of his friends rude remarks.

Isabel strolled over to the group "oh I'm sorry; didn't you see the sign on the door? We don't serve animals." This was said so sweetly, her smile never leaving her face.

"Well if it isn't the Ice Queen, why don't you come over to my place tonight so I can thaw you out?" This came from one of the other guys, Steve.

The table erupted into more laughter, back slapping and high fives, again Kyle remained oblivious to the remarks.

Liz knew that Kyle was the typical jock, forever congratulating themselves on their wonderfulness, but she also knew that he was not like his friends. No matter what their history was, he would never join in on the rude remarks.

"Enough guys." He admonished his friends.

This served to rile them up more.

"What is it with this girl? If she's that good in the sack, maybe I should get in on this action!"

"No slut is worth this much trouble!"

"GET OUT!"

Everyone looked up to see Max Evans, fury written all over his face standing there, a few feet behind him stood Michael Guerin arms crossed and a you do not want to mess with me look on his face.

Liz tensed, the last thing she wanted was the guy's getting in a fight, when the fight would be partly her fault. Also, she knew Kyle, and there was nothing he hated more than Max.

"Or what Evans?" Demanded Kyle, earning a grin from his friends who had believed him to be beyond help when it came to Liz Parker.

Max leaned in close, his face inches from Kyle's "that, is something you don't want to find out."

His words were icy cold yet deadly serious, clearly the jocks began to get nervous as the smiles faded from their faces, the fact that usually calm and quiet Max was this furious was one indication that they did not want to find out what he was capable of, that and the fact they'd heard rumors about Michael doing hard time for murder, which was ludicrous really, but Michael was definitely a loose cannon, and they did not want to find out first hand if the rumors were true or not.

The jocks eased out of their chairs, making themselves quickly scarce.

Liz put her arms around Max and kissed him passionately "my hero!" She murmured into his mouth.

"Sorry to interrupt the love fest, but what did you guys find out?" Interrupted Isabel.

"Quite a bit. We'll all talk at Michaels place after your shifts."

Michael left to get ready for his shift as Max sat down in the newly vacated booth.

A while later the two girls were behind the counter discussing all the possible discoveries that the boys could have uncovered that they were now keeping secret.

"Pickup..hey pickup" shouted Michael.

Isabel rolled her eyes in annoyance before reaching for the plate of food that was being thrust in her direction. "You don't have to shout, grumpy!"

Michael scowled and continued to fry burgers.

Liz turned and looked in Max's direction, she caught him staring at her and blushed, his looks could get so intense sometimes that Liz often felt herself pulled into some other reality that was Max. Liz snapped back to reality when a hand was waved in front of her face.

"Helloooo, Liz, here's table sevens order."

Liz felt herself start blushing again, and quickly grabbed the plates for table seven.

THAT EVENING

Two months previously Michael had become emancipated after being physically abused by his foster father. He now had his own apartment, which was used for many of their secretive meetings, including the meeting being held there presently.

"We went to the town library and looked for back Issues of the Roswell Times."

The four friends were sitting in Michael's living room, the girls were listening intently to what Max was saying, Michael who was ignoring them was sprawled on a sofa glaring at the ceiling.

"So did you find anything?" Prompted Liz

"Yeah, there were a couple of articles for that year, the first one was about Isabel and I and then later there was another one about our adoption. The second one was about Michael; he was found a couple of hours after us I think." Max picked up some photocopies off the coffee table.

"Here's where it gets weird. A little girl was found, probably around the age of five or six, she was covered in a slight gooey substance and was incapable of speech."

Isabel felt herself shiver at the eeriness of it all, the story Max was telling her was almost an exact replica of her own story.

"Immediately she was placed in foster care with a couple by the name of Aaron and Sylvia Warton. Later, she was removed from their custody when another couple showed interest in adopting her."

"So that's good right? If that's all in the paper then you must have their names, in which case it should be no problem tracking them down!" Exclaimed Liz.

Max shook his head and continued "Actually it does mention their name, but only because they disappeared a few months later. The Whitman family were living on a ranch just outside of Roswell and had given all the ranchers the weekend off, strange as it was nobody thought anything of it until they returned the following Monday. The house had been completely burned to a crisp. No sign of anyone or anything! Although, later, it was proven that no one had died in the fire, yet there was still no sign of the family."

"So they're probably still alive, maybe they found out about her alien status and decided to leave Roswell so that no one else would find out?

But what I don't get it is how come nobody noticed that four kids were found in the desert outside Roswell during the same period?" Asked Liz.

"Well technically only Is and I were found in the desert, When Michael was found he was already close to Roswell, and apparently this girl was found months later…" he paused, unable or unwilling to continue.

Isabel stared at her brother, aware that he was trying to keep something from her. "Where Max? Where was she found?"

Michael spoke up for the first time then "outside your house."

The girls were shocked.

"Why didn't mom or dad ever say anything?" Questioned Isabel, barely holding back tears.

"It was ten years ago, we were kids, and they had no idea the importance of it" explained Max.

"She knew Max, she knew where and who we were and she found us, only to be taken away" Isabel sobbed, she could feel her heart breaking for the sister she had never met and yet the sister she already loved with all of her heart, Liz put a comforting arm around Isabel.

Michael jumped up and stormed to the bathroom, it was obvious this was upsetting him greatly, the only person who looked unaffected by all this was Max, but Liz knew he was just as upset, maybe even more because for some reason he felt responsible for all of them, Liz could tell he was just trying to be strong for his friend and sister.

The friends sat quietly, contemplating all that had been discovered over the course of the past week. It was a lot to digest and they were all feeling some form of fatigue.

Max stood up "It's getting late, maybe I should take you home?"

Isabel shook her head "take Liz, I want to stay here and make sure Michael is okay."

Nodding, Max reached for his girlfriends hand "I'll see you in a short while."

Isabel nodded, desperately trying to fight back more tears, reaching over, Liz squeezed her hand, offering comfort, for which Isabel was more grateful than she could put into words, instead she just smiled her thanks.

Max picked up his keys and guided Liz out the apartment.

In the jeep Max started the engine and pulled out of his parking space, his face masking all the emotions that Liz knew he was feeling.

"Are you going to confront your parents about the girl?"

"No, they'd just become suspicious if we did, I think it's best if they don't know anything about it."

"So what now?"

"I guess we'll just have to discuss our options, but if Michael has anything to do with it we'll probably go along with his plan."

Liz frowned, "do you think that's a good idea? It could be dangerous."

"I agree, but we might not have a choice. If the Whitman family really did make a run for it then our only clue will be at the Sheriff's Station."

Max stopped the jeep outside the Crashdown and turned to Liz, enfolding her in his arms, his lips touched hers sending sparks of electricity down his spine and causing his body to tremble in excitement.

His fingers ran through her hair, whilst at the same time deepening the kiss, Liz moaned in delight and shifted her body to get closer to Max. When Max pulled reluctantly away from her Liz felt an irrational fear at being separated from him and pulled him back towards her.

"Max don't go, stay with me please" whispered Liz huskily.

Max sighed in frustration, weighing his responsibility to his sister and his need for his girlfriend.

As always, Max chose to be responsible, even if it meant forgoing his own desperate need to be with Liz at this time.

"As much as I'd like to, I have Michael and Isabel waiting for me."

Max stopped talking when he saw the fear in her eyes "what? What's wrong sweetness?" He reached over to cup her face gently, keeping her fearful gaze locked on him instead of her lap.

"I'm not sure" she trembled "I just feel like if I let you go I won't see you again."

Max pulled Liz onto his lap and held her tightly to his chest "It's just your emotions playing with you after everything we've discovered tonight. You're associating the loss of my sister with loosing me, but I promise you this, I'll never leave you…ever. I love you too much."

Liz smiled into his chest, pleased by his words of love, yet unable to dispel her fears. She did not believe her fear of loosing him had anything to do with what happened to the fourth alien.

Maybe I'm just over tired she thought to herself.

Lifting her head she gazed into his concerned gaze.

As their eyes locked, so did their souls and Liz knew that if she ever lost him it would be like loosing a part of herself, she would be incomplete without him because he was the other half of her soul.

"I love you too."

Michael paced his apartment, angry with Max for taking so long. The night had been full of revelations, and right now his sister needed him more than his girlfriend did…yet where was he?

Before Liz had appeared on the scene Maxwell had always put the needs of his sister and his friend first. An admirable quality that Michael respected and wished he had, but since then, Max had been slipping away from them, little by little each day.

He was scared that one day Max would be lost to them completely, and with Max gone, Isabel would soon follow, leaving him alone without the only family he had ever known.

He would never admit it out loud, but he loved them more than anything in the world and sometimes he hated Liz for coming between them and other times he loved her for making Max happier than he'd ever been.

Right now though, he hated her.

They needed Max, he was their rock and they were standing in the middle of a twister of emotions and fears and he was not there to ground them.

Walking over to the sofa he watched as Isabel slept fitfully, dry tear tracks stained her face an indication of the turmoil she was suffering.

He watched in concern as she moaned, clutching the cushion to her chest.

His anger rose to boiling point as he renewed his pacing, glancing at the wall clock from time to time as the minutes ticked by.

"NO!"

Michael's heart skipped a beat at the sound of heart wrenchingly despair.

"Max!"

Immediately he ran towards to the sofa to wake Isabel up from her nightmare, before he could reach her however, she bolted upright and screamed.

An ear piercing scream of absolute terror.

For a second he couldn't move, frozen by her screams.

Her eyes sought the room, looking for him, then finding him "Michael, they have Max!"

It was said so quietly, so matter of factly that at first he thought she was sleep talking, still suffering from a nightmare.

His heart told him otherwise. Isabel was awake, and Max was gone.

Breaking out of his frozen state he rushed to her side and gripped her trembling arms. "Who Is? Who has Max?"

Isabel's eyes rolled to the back of her head in a faint. In desperation Michael gripped her more firmly and shook her hard until her teeth rattled and her gaze refocused on him.

"These men…I don't know!" Taking a deep breath she continued "the FBI, they have Max, and...oh God they're hurting him Michael."

Isabel covered her face as she sobbed.

Michael let go of her arms, standing up and ran to the phone and punched in Liz's number, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

"Hel…"

"Is Max there?" He interrupted, almost shouting out the question.

"Michael?"

"Liz, is Max with you?"

"No, he left hours ago…Michael what's going on?"

Michael felt his heart plummet to his knees as he heard the fear and confusion in Liz's voice.

Max had left hours ago.

"Get dressed, I'll be there in ten minutes."

He hung up the phone.

Picking up his motorcycle keys he pulled the sobbing Isabel off of the sofa and pushed her out the door "come on, we need to get your parents car."

It took Michael five minutes at break neck speed to reach the Evans home, by that time Isabel had regained her composure.

Slamming on breaks and pulling the motorcycle to a stop next to the curb, they both climbed off and headed for the family car.

Neither of them bothered looking for keys, it would take too long and might wake her parents. Instead, using their powers they unlocked the door and started the ignition.

Switching on headlights and slamming into gear, Michael pulled out of the driveway and drove towards the Crashdown.

This was one time he was grateful for the connection that Max and Liz shared, because that connection would be what they used to track down their missing friend.

Or at least he hoped it would.

When they reached the Crashdown, Liz was standing beside the road, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to keep control of her tears.

Bringing the car to a halt beside her, he waited as she climbed in before turning around and facing her.

"Max is missing, I need you to try and connect with him."

Barely holding herself together, Liz nodded.

Michael put the car into gear and pulled off "I'm going to try heading towards my place, maybe we can pick up a trail…or psychic spoor or something from there."

He drove slowly, taking the route Max would most likely have taken when he left Liz two hours previously.

No one spoke.

Liz closed her eyes and concentrated on forming a connection with her beloved, something she'd been trying to do since Michael had phoned her fifteen minutes before.

Nothing.

They were about a mile from Michael's apartment when Liz saw something shine briefly from the headlights of the car.

"Stop!"

Michael didn't hesitate, he slammed on breaks, causing the wheels to lock and the car to screech to a sliding halt.

All three doors opened immediately as they piled out of the car and followed Liz's desperate race.

There the jeep lay on it side, it appeared it had been forced into the alley and had overturned.

Liz reached it first "Max!"

Climbing in through the smashed windscreen she called out Max's name, hoping for a reply so that she could follow the sound of his voice as there was no light to see by.

Then two glows appeared, illuminating the interior of the smashed vehicle.

Instinctively Liz knew the light came from her two alien friends, and was immensely grateful for their presence as she searched the jeep frantically "Max!"

"He's not here."

It was Michael, his voice emotionless as he voiced what they all knew.

Max was gone.

My lover's gone,

his boots no longer by my door,

he left at dawn,

and as I slept I felt him go

returns no more,

I will not watch the ocean,

my lover's gone,

no earthly ships will ever bring him home again,

bring him home again.

My lover's gone,

I know that kiss will be my last,

no more his song,

the tune upon his lips has passed.

I sing alone,

while I watch the ocean,

my lover's gone,

no earthly ships will ever bring him home again,

bring him home again.