Title from Find You by Ruelle ✨

Set vaguely after season 3, I guess, but let's just say Alex is still in the Air Force yet he and Kyle are technically also part of Deep Sky. Also, can we please pretend we weren't robbed of literally any and all Isobel and Alex scenes — we might not have seen it but they are borderline besties and you can't convince me otherwise.

I am not a scientist and have zero idea of how anything in the body works, so apologies for the wildly inaccurate drivel below.

Follow up to rest in peace (and give yourself to harmony)

Getting Alex out of the high security base and into a pod was the easy part. Resurrecting him on the other hand? That was a whole other, much more complicated, story. But if anyone was going to succeed, it was the same group of people that had already brought someone back to life once before.

Liz and Kyle had been working tirelessly at Deep Sky to figure out a way of pulling off the impossible. Three weeks of sleepless nights and skipped meals, they barely left the lab as they ran test after test, grateful at least for the slew of fancy tech they had on offer. Even Isobel could tell that their new playground was a huge step up from the dusty abandoned building that Alex had sourced for them last time.

She popped in occasionally to offer moral support or deliveries from the Crashdown, but even she could admit that there was very little she could contribute in that department. The complex equations that filled the many whiteboards went straight over her head and the geek-speak that took up ninety percent of their conversations may as well have been an entire alien language.

It wasn't hard to read between the scientific lines though. Even with their fancy equipment and history of alien resurrections, they had no idea of how to bring a human being back to life. Every failed simulation left them more frustrated, more wrung out and hopeless — as if they weren't trying to crack something as huge as the secret of life and death itself.

It had been different with Max. Liz had been studying their alien genetics for months beforehand, not to mention the freshly prepared corpse they had lying around containing the replica heart they had needed to bring him back.

Alex was— Alex was human. A human being with a whole new genetic makeup that they'd never seen before. The samples they had taken before putting him in the pod had revealed something different about Alex's DNA, some new mutation they could barely wrap their heads around. Something alien that had attacked his cells and, in turn, killed him.

The Air Force had been so secretive about his death, refusing to release any details, let alone his actual body. They were probably lucky that Greg had even been informed.

She had been with Michael when Alex's brother had relayed the news— could still remember the way all colour had drained from his face as the phone had fallen from his grasp. The way she had barely been able to catch him as his knees buckled underneath him. The way Greg's voice had sounded — so hollow, so broken — as she'd picked up the phone to demand what was going on, a shaky Michael leaning into her chest.

From there, she had done all she could to be of use. She'd called the rest of their friends to figure out how to at least get Alex's body back. She'd thrown the idea around that maybe, just maybe, they could bring Alex back to life. She'd made the suggestion to break into the Air Force base and had been the one to help Michael get in and out and back to Roswell to put Alex in the pod.

But now, there was nothing more she could do.

Any hope they had rested solely on Liz and Kyle's weary shoulders and it would do them no good to have her crowding their workspace. Which is why her focus had turned to the one person she could be of use to.

Softly spoken words bounced off the cave walls as she entered the mines. Too quiet to make out what was being said, the faint reassurances had become an achingly familiar welcome each time she made her way down here.

At first, Michael had been in the lab almost constantly, his science brain being worked non-stop as he searched feverishly for answers. He'd spend his days in Deep Sky and his nights in the mines and Isobel worried endlessly for his health, the dark circles under his eyes growing as the weeks passed. But for the past couple of days, he'd struggled to leave Alex's side, the need to be near him overtaking all else.

As if his heart knew that it should expect the worst.

Isobel lingered in the entrance as she watched him. His hair was wild and unruly and he was still wearing yesterday's shirt. But what made her chest ache was the way his hand rested gently against the pod as he sat cross-legged before it. His fingers grazing just in front of Alex's heart.

It was an unnerving sight — Alex floating in the pod — knowing that he was just the next in a too-long line of them to be trapped in there, waiting on a miracle cure. Her own time in the pod after being injected with Liz's serum was a complete blank but Max had told her about his daily vigils. Reading to her, talking about his day, anything to ensure she didn't feel alone. Part of her had always wished she could have heard him, but seeing Michael now, she was quite glad she hadn't been able to witness her family's pain.

Pushing herself forward, she made her footsteps loud enough as she approached, not wishing to startle him, but whether he heard her or not, Michael didn't move.

"I brought you some food." She broke the quiet with her offering, a bottled water and a sandwich made hastily in her kitchen. When he made no move to take it from her, she placed it on the ground by his feet.

"I'm not hungry." He muttered, swallowing hard just to get the words out.

"You need to eat something."

"Isobel." Michael turned to look at her, his wide eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I'm fine."

And well, if that wasn't the most barefaced lie she'd ever been told.

It would do no good trying to fight him on it. She'd spent enough time around him to know when not to push, no matter how much it hurt to see him suffering. She wished beyond anything that she could steal away every ounce of his heartbreak, but really, there was only one person that could do that now.

And though she still believed that their plan would work, there was every chance that Alex wasn't coming back from this.

In this current state of limbo, none of them had really allowed themselves to grieve. Despite their attempts — their hope — to reverse it, Alex had died. He'd been taken from them and they hadn't allowed themselves to fully feel that.

She hadn't allowed herself to feel that. On top of the loss it would mean for Michael, it would mean a loss for her too. Through everything they had faced, Alex had been a good friend and the thought of losing him forever was almost too much to bear. It sent an ache piercing through her chest, creeping into her lungs, one step from suffocating her if she let it.

And if she was feeling this, then Michael—

She knelt down next to him before he could protest, close enough to loop an arm around his shoulders. It took less time than she had expected for him to lean into her side and she stayed quiet as the tears painted tracks down Michael's cheeks.

Silently, she allowed herself to take her own comfort from his presence as they both watched over Alex.

It wasn't until hours later when Liz and Kyle burst in with handfuls of silver, shattering the carefully constructed silence, that she let a sliver of hope sneak back in. And from there it was all go. Alex was out of the pod and transported to Deep Sky in record time with Michael anxiously overseeing every movement. He asked question after question as they set Alex up in the infirmary and any other time it would have driven her crazy, but she too was desperate to know if this was actually going to work.

Liz broke it down the best she could, simplifying just enough for Isobel to follow along without feeling patronised. She walked them through the research they had conducted, the way they had looked into Rosa's and even Max's cells to try and devise a serum to counteract what had happened to Alex's prior to his death. She described how their cure was based off of Rosa's time in the pod with the hope that Alex's brief stint would have effected him enough for it to work.

And then, she explained the likelihood of the serum working. She looked Michael in the eyes and told him exactly what he didn't want to hear— that they had done everything they could think of and that, in theory, it made sense. But in practice?

"There's no guarantee this is going to work." Liz informed him gingerly, trying hard to keep it together but Isobel could see past the cracks. Hidden away in the lab had left them working with theoreticals, but with the reminder of what was at stake lying right in front of them, it was hitting Liz harder than she probably expected.

The fear, the grief, the guilt. It was written so clearly across her and Kyle's faces. This was their best friend they had been fighting to save. If they failed now—

"But it could." Michael replied with a whisper, hand still gripping Alex's tight as the other brushed away an errant tear that had fallen from his lashes. They had come so far and there was no going back. It had to work.

With a nod from Liz, Kyle prepared the syringe and slowly injected into the crook of Alex's elbow. His hands were steady but Isobel could practically hear how fast his heart was racing. He stepped back once it was fully administered and they all held their breath as they waited for Alex to take his first in almost a month.

But nothing happened.

Isobel raked her eyes over the monitors nearby, all stubbornly refusing to show any signs of life. Liz hadn't said anything about it being instant, but as the seconds ticked by, they all grew more and more uneasy. Alex remained still beneath Michael's grasp and as he ran his free hand through his curls, Isobel could see how hard he was tugging at them. Anything to hold back the scream building inside of him. Liz bit down on her lip as she scanned the notes still held in her hands, as if she could spot some missing clue that would provide all the answers while Kyle unconsciously tapped the now empty syringe against his palm as he watched Alex desperately, praying for even the smallest movement.

But still, nothing.

"You said you designed it to mirror what happened to Rosa." Michael's voice cracked as he spoke and Isobel could hear the anguish in his words. She could sense what was coming, the blame he was about to throw out in his emotionally heightened state. How comes you kept your loved one but I couldn't keep mine.

And Liz probably heard it too.

"Michael…" She started without really knowing what to say.

But Michael cut her off before she could find the words. "No— if the plan was to mirror Rosa, then you forgot something really important. Because it wasn't a serum that brought her back to life."

The tears that flowed freely made his words wet and slurred but Isobel immediately caught on to what he was saying. And she didn't like the sound of it one bit. She had already lost one brother that way, there was no way she was about to lose another.

"Michael, no—"

But there was no stopping him. He shook her off as he pressed a hand against Alex's chest. With the discovery of their new powers, they had both often wondered if Max's healing hands would end up in their own arsenal one day. They had practiced, of course, with very little success but if anyone was going to master it in their time of need, it was going to be Jones' son.

For a brief second there was nothing, no movement, no magic and the world around them stayed silent as if watching him closely with bated breath. But then the monitors flickered and a lightbulb burst overhead and Michael groaned as his hand began to glow.

He knew the risk, of course he did. They'd all witnessed what it had done to Max, the pain Max's choice had put them all through. But Isobel could see the fire in Michael's eyes, the tiny spark of hope that had all been snuffed out since Greg's phone call. He had already made his decision.

There was no Michael without Alex.

So either they both survived. Or neither of them did.