Chapter 33

Liz found herself sitting in the Crashdown next to Maria at a table. Isabel and Jesse sat across from them with Isabel holding a clipboard and Jesse looking at Isabel with fond amusement.

"So you girls need to…" Isabel started but the bell above the door rang, signalling that someone had entered. They looked up to see that Max and Michael were making their way into the Crashdown.

Max smiled when he caught sight of Liz in her causal clothes. She was wearing her demin jeans and a red turtleneck jumper. Max moved over and sat down next to her before kissing her cheek.

"Morning," Max greeted. Liz smiled as she kissed him on the lips before they turned back to Isabel as she cleared her throat. Michael just saluted to Isabel as he sat down next to Maria with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Okay, why are we here?" Michael asked.

"Lists," Maria told him and Michael's face went to horrified in a matter of seconds.

"No way, I'm not going through last Christmas all over again," Michael informed Isabel. "I do not want to go around setting more stages and looking for Christmas trees that fits your diagrams or go looking for the perfect present for people, forget it."

"Michael, I was the same as you. Lonely and miserable but then I found my calling," Isabel told him.

"Making other people miserable," Michael shot at her, causing Isabel's grin to freeze on the spot as she glared at Michael while Jesse, Maria, Liz and Max covers their snorts of laughers.

"Helping other people feel happy about Christmas," Isabel corrected before she thrusted a list at Michael. "Do everything on that list or face my wrath."

"I love Christmas," Jesse told them and everyone looked at him. "Just kicking back to watch the football and eating popcorns."

"Yeah, you'll be watching a lot of football this Christmas," Michael stated only to jerk the table when he felt a foot connecting with his shin.

"Sorry, my foot slipped," Isabel apologised.

"What did he mean by that?" Jesse asked as he looked at his wife.

"Nothing," Isabel told him with a smile. "Honey, we need to go and make sure that the turkey is being delivered to the hospital then to make sure that the tree lot has enough trees." With that, she stood up.

"Hail the Christmas Nazi," Michael saluted and Isabel shot him another glare.

"What does he mean by that?" Jesse asked.

"Nothing," Isabel informed him as they both left the Crashdown. Max just looked at Michael with an amused grin on his face.

"Man, you really need to stop pissing her off so close to Christmas," Max informed him.

"Why? It's not like you're living with her anymore," Michael replied as he took Isabel's seat and Max took Jesse's seat.

"Yeah, but we're the ones whose going round to her house for dinner on Christmas," Max reminded him.

"Ouch, have fun," Michael told him, causing Max to arch an eyebrow.

"No, you misheard me, we're going – as in you, me, mom and dad," Max amended.

"Like…" he started but Maria shoved a roll into his mouth.

"PG environment please and it's Christmas," Maria reminded him while Liz covered her mouth to prevent her laughers from coming through.

"So, what are you two doing today?" Michael asked around the roll as he looked at both girls.

"Max and I are Christmas shopping and tree hunting – Isabel is making us get a tree for the Evan's house," Liz told him.

"I'm taking you shopping for Christmas presents – I'll help you to choose," Maria told him and Michael nodded.

"Great, oh and can you make sure it's within my limits? I'm still paying Isabel of about those earrings," Michael grumbled.

"Why not sell them?" Max asked and Michael shrugged.

"I feel weird about selling earrings that once belonged to a killer," Michael admitted. Maria and Liz nodded in agreement as Michael looked over to the counter where he saw a little boy sitting on the stool, scribbling away at something. Michael frowned as he felt himself being drawn to the boy.

"There's something about that kid," Michael murmured to himself as he continued to gaze at the small boy who was drawing. Max looked in the same direction and saw who Michael was looking at.

"Oh, that's Samuel," Max told him, causing the three of them to look at her. "Isabel had him in one of plays last year. He has some sort of condition – he can't speak. His parents are trying everything that could possible help him but it's not really working," Max, explained.

"Hm," Michael nodded and Max looked at him.

"What?" Max asked and Michael shrugged.

"I don't know, for some reason I get this feeling that we need to create another Christmas miracle," Michael admitted.

"Are you saying you want to try and see if you can heal him?" Liz asked and Michael nodded. "Listen Michael, his condition is very complicated – I mean, it's not like you can just heal his voice box. It's connected to his brain and there are a lot of problems with the brain if he can't communicate properly – I mean, I think Max would have a hard time healing him – even I would have I hard time healing him."

"Can't we just try?" Michael asked. Max looked at him before sighing.

"I guess but if it doesn't work, you will need to look for your Christmas miracle somewhere else," Max warned and Michael nodded.

"Anyway, come on, let's get the Christmas shopping over and done with so that Isabel won't be biting our heads off. Max can think up some plan for the whole healing thing," Maria told them and everyone nodded as they got up and left the Crashdown for their Christmas shopping.

"Are you really going to do this?" Liz asked as they walked through the shopping mall. Max looked down at his girlfriend and sighed.

"Yes, beside it's only fair – Michael helped me last year so I want to help him this year," Max explained and Liz nodded.

"Okay, so how are you going to work this out?" Liz asked. "I mean, you can hardly go up to Samuel's parents and ask if you could heal their son."

"Yeah I know so I'm gonna do what I did in the hospital, sneak in and see if I can heal him," Max told her and Liz nodded.

"Okay, when are you planning on doing it? And how are you going to sneak in?" Liz asked.

"I'll use the window to his bedroom – I'll scout out the area and see if can spot his bedroom and figure out if they have an alarm. I'll do it on Christmas eve – kinda like a Christmas present if it does work," Max told her.

"Right, and if it doesn't work?" Liz asked.

"I'll go to Isabel and see if she could dream walk him, give us an insight to why he's not talking – maybe there's something we would be missing," Max explained and Liz sighed.

"Just don't get caught, I don't want to be visiting you in jail on Christmas," Liz told him. Max just smiled as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close to him as they finished of their Christmas shopping.

Maria looked at Michael out the corner of her eye as she drove along the roads to drop him off at home. They had finally finished their shopping and Maria was curious to his thinking.

"You can keep watching me all you like, I'm not going to morph into a green alien any second," Michael's voice interrupted and Maria rolled her eyes as she thought back to the time when she found out the truth about them and every horror alien film she had ever watched flashed before her eyes.

"I know that," Maria shot back at him.

"Then why do you keep looking at me?" Michael asked.

"Because I'm curious to why you want to heal the little boy?" Maria admitted and Michael sighed.

"I don't know," Michael admitted. "It just feels like a part of me is saying that if we do something with this boy, then something will change – something will help us figure out what to do."

"How do you mean?" Maria asked, confused and Michael shook his head.

"I'm not even sure myself. All I know is, I have to do this if I want to get past something," Michael explained.

"You mean your son?" Maria asked and Michael looked at her for a few seconds before he shook his head.

"No, amazingly no, it has nothing to do with my son," Michael told her. "Its like it's something different."

"Just…be careful – Liz is right about the brain, I'm not a biology nerd like she is but I do know that messing around with brain can go two ways so just be careful about the boy and make sure you don't get caught," Maria told him.

"Don't worry," Michael assured her and Maria nodded as she came to a stop outside Michael's apartment. "Thank you," Michael told her and Maria looked at him. "For helping me." With that, Michael got out of the car and took his bags with him before he closed the door and walked up to his apartment.

Maria just stared after him before she smiled. That was twice she heard a 'thank you' come out of Michael's mouth and it made her wonder if miracles were ever going to cease around them. With that in mind, she started up the Jetta once more and drove off.

Amy was standing in the kitchen, staring out of her window before she let out a small sigh. She was getting restless and decided to take a walk. She made her way out of the kitchen and into the hallway, where she pulled on her jacket, gloves and scarf.

"Honey, I'm going out for a walk," Amy called out.

"Okay mom, James and I will stay in the living room to watch a film," Maria called back. Amy smiled as she made her way out of the house, closing the door behind her, and she set off to her usual thinking spot.

Jim was just wandering around the town till he came to his usual thinking spot. He stood in front of the ice rink and thought to himself when a voice cut into his thoughts.

"Jim?" a female voice called and Jim turned around to see Amy sitting on the bench behind him and she smiled at him. "Hi."

"Amy, hi!" Greeted Jim. "What are you doing here?" Amy looked around with a smile before she looked at Jim.

"I come here to think sometimes," Amy explained. Jim nodded as he moved over to sit down where she was sitting on the bench. "So, why are you out here?" Jim sighed.

"I had too much on my mind so I went for a walk and ended up here," Jim explained. "You?"

"Same," Amy admitted and Jim nodded.

"Maria?" he asked and Amy sighed as she looked up into the night sky.

"Is it wrong of me to worry about her and to cast Michael into the role of the villain?" Amy asked and Jim shook his head.

"No, you are just being a mother but about Michael…" Jim started but Amy held up her hand.

"I know that Michael had a hard life but it doesn't give him the right to get my daughter involved in robberies," Amy informed Jim, who nodded his agreement.

"I agree but Michael has a personal problem that it's taking over his life at the moment," Jim explained.

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, curious.

"Do you remember Tess?" Jim asked and Amy nodded.

"Yes, the short blonde girl. I remembered that she caused problems between Max and Liz then she lived with you," Amy told him.

"Well, she and Michael got very close – the gist is, she got pregnant with Michael's child and ran away. Michael looking for answers. Apparently, the owner of the store had information about Tess and Michael went around the wrong way of getting answers," Jim explained. Amy shook her head.

"What is with the children? I mean, at the beginning it was Max/Liz, Michael/Maria and Isabel/Alex now it all seemed to be splintered off," Amy told him and Jim nodded.

"Yeah, Max and Liz got some news that they weren't happy with and left Roswell just before the summer holidays. Michael and Isabel were going through a confusing period so they broke up with Maria and Alex. Maria made up her mind that she wasn't going to wait around for Michael so she started dating James. Alex found himself attracted to Sarah and things went from there," Jim explained.

"God, Sarah – I couldn't believe that she had been killed," Amy told him and Jim nodded.

"I know, when I saw her – I knew that I had to tell Alex, god, the look on his face when I told him – I never want to see that look on any of their faces," Jim told her with a haunted sigh.

"Why does it seem like that their childhood never last long?" Amy asked. They just sat there together, not once having an answer to the question that was now hanging between them in the air.

"Are you ready?" Michael asked and Max nodded as they both made their way over to Samuel's bedroom. Max had sought out the place earlier and easily found Samuel's bedroom. Max waved his hand over the window, unlocking it before he placed his hand on the window still, using his power to disconnect the alarm.

"We have to hurry," Max whispered to Michael, who nodded as they both climbed through the window. They moved over to the sleeping boy. Max knelt down beside him and took a deep breath before he placed his hands over the boy's head and concentrated.

Michael watched as Samuel's eyes opened. He looked at both men before his eyes locked on with Max's and held his gaze. A soft white glow started up around Max's hand and Samuel's head.

Sweat started to adorned Max's forehead as his breathing picked up before the connection was severed. Samuel smile slightly at Max before he fell back to sleep. Michael looked at Max.

"Well?" Michael asked and Max shook his head.

"I can't," Max, whispered. "Something is blocking me."

"Great, we'll go to Isabel's house and see if she can figure it out," Michael told him and Max nodded as they both climbed out of the window. Max connected the alarm back on and closed the window, using his powers to close it and they both left the area.

"You want me to what?" Isabel asked.

"Dream walk him, see if you can find anything that is blocking me from healing him," Max explained. They were in Isabel's apartment. Isabel was sitting on the couch while Michael sat on the other while Max was pacing the area behind the couch that Isabel was sitting on. Isabel just eyed the two of them before she nodded.

She placed the picture on Samuel's picture – the same picture she took last year and closed her eyes.

She found herself in Samuel's head and looked around. She smiled when she saw that Samuel was playing with a trunk in front of a Christmas tree with the fire roaring in the fireplace. A thought came to her mind as she moved her finger over the mother and brought her into the dream before her finger moved over to the father and pulled him into the dream.

Isabel stood back and watched as the parents smiled at their son before they joined him on the floor. Samuel looked up at Isabel and gave her a shy smile before he turned back to his father, who lifted him up and his mother handed him the angel so he could place it on top of the tree.

Isabel left the dream with a smile, the same smile she woke up on her face.

"What did you see?" Max asked as he placed his hands on the back of the couch as Michael leaned forward. Isabel let out a small dreamy smile.

"It was beautiful," Isabel told them. Max and Michael looked at each other before they smiled.

Michael showed up at the house the next day. He saw Samuel with his parents. His father lifted him up while his mother gave him the angel. Michael watched as Samuel placed the angel on top of the tree with a bright smile.

Samuel's parents cheered as his father brought him down. Samuel looked out of the window and saw Michael standing there. Michael smiled as he waved before he placed the present on the fence before he left the house, leaving the family to enjoy their Christmas together.

Max and Liz were sitting on the bench, pulling on their skates.

"Do you think that Michael will ever see his son again?" Liz asked Max as she laced up her skates. Max looked over to her from where he was lacing up his skates and shrugged.

"I honestly have no idea," Max told her. "I hope he does but at the same time…"

"It means we might see Tess again and you don't want that to happen," Liz finished off and Max nodded.

"Does that make me horrible?" Max asked and Liz smiled softly.

"No, Tess did a horrible thing, she murdered someone and obviously we don't want to see her again because it means facing the past. It just makes you human," Liz explained.

Max straightened up and sighed.

"I just wish that Tess hadn't killed Sarah, that she hadn't made the deal with Khivar because if she hadn't, then Michael would have his son with him and Alex would be happy with Sarah instead of her being six feet under ground," Max admitted.

Liz reached over and took his hand into hers.

"I feel the same way but we can't change the past, all we can do is look forward to the future," Liz told him. Max smiled as he stood up and pulled Liz up with him. They both made their way over to the ice rink and stepped down onto the ice when Liz felt something cold land on her nose.

Startled, she looked up and saw that snow was beginning to fall. Max laughed.

"Twice in two years, must be a sign," Max told her, Liz laughed too as they both skated off, enjoying their time together.

Isabel and Jesse were curled up on the couch in front of the fire with Isabel laughing at something Jesse was telling her.

Maria was in the kitchen with James and Alex – all three of them were laughing as they baked food for the Christmas dinner while having an occasional food fight.

Amy and Jim were in the restaurant having a dinner together, finally enjoying their date that didn't involve one of them running off because they got a phone call.

Michael and Kyle were in the Valenti's house watching the football while sharing popcorn and shouting at the TV.

Max pulled Liz to the middle of the ice rink and pulled her close as snow continued to fall around them.

"I love you," Max whispered as he leaned down.

"I love you too," Liz whispered back as Max took her lips into his and they both kissed under the snowfall, enjoying their Christmas.

TBC

Writing this makes me wish that Christmas was here now.