Deputy Hansen walked about the sheriff office nervously, still trying to work out what was going on. The message from the hospital had come out the blue, it wasn't everyday that teenagers came back from the dead in Roswell. Hell, it wasn't everyday that anyone came back from the dead anywhere...let alone someone who had been dead and buried for 9 months.

I better make some coffee, better make it strong The fact was that as weird as it was for him, it must be doubly weird for Jim Valenti, who had sounded like he was about to collapse when he told him on the phone. He knew the boy, he was the same age as his son and he had seen the state the body had been in. Only it hadn't been the body...not that boys anyway...

"But we definitely buried someone and the blood tests definitely said it was him..." He shook his head as he walked back to his desk. Maybe the hospital in Seattle had made a mistake. Maybe they had another Alex Whitman, it couldn't be that rare a name. He pulled out the chair and sat down at his desk. Every file the sheriff's office had on the Whitman case was sat on his desk, opened as he desperately tried to get on top of things before the Sheriff came in. He picked one of files up to read, in an attempt to distract himself from the message he had received earlier.

Suddenly the door sprung open as it was nearly torn from it's hinges by the force of the person barging there way in. As Jim Valenti got inside the office, pale and out of breath he walked over to the desk determindly as he picked up one of the files.

"What were you saying about Alex Whitman? Tell me exactly what the hospital said." Jim said as he looked at Hansen.

"I got call from the hospital, they have gotten a John Doe who claimed to be one Alex Whitman from Roswell, New Mexico." Deputy Hanson said as he handed Jim what the hospital had faxed. "The hospital ran some bloods because of the unusual circumstances with his records and they seem to match. They sent that file over..."

Jim took the paper from Hanson's hand and looked startled at it. The photo looked like Alex, and the description fitted with how one would describe him.Jim shook his head. It was impossible...it couldn't possibly be. "We buried him 9 months ago, I even saw the car after the crash and his body, how can it possibly be Alex?" Jim asked almost to himself.

"Honestly, I don't know sheriff." Hanson answered as he walked over to the coffe machine and poured a couple of cups. "But, the way it's looking...we may have buried the wrong kid. He didn't have a brother or something, maybe a cousin?"

"No, he didn't have any brothers..." Jim shook his head as he looked at the file. How could they have buried the wrong person? How could they not have known? He wearilly looked at Hansen. If this was true, Alex had been missing for 9 months going through god knows what, so the least he could do was bring him home. "Okay, this is what we're going to do. I don't want you to say anything to anyone, not one word about this to anyone, you understand, not a word."

Jim held his hand up with the crunched paper in it to emphasize his point as he looked at Hansen expectantly.

"Yes sir, I understand" the deputy answered quickly as he looked at his Sheriff. "What about the boys parents?"

Jim shook his head as he drank from his cup. "Don't tell them anything. I'll take care of this personally."

"What if someone calls for you?" Hanson asked as he looked at the files. "I mean, it's going to take you all day to get to Seattle and back."

"Ask them to leave message and tell them that I'm out. If it's urgent and only if it's urgent, you can reach me on my cell." Jim answered as he walked towards the door and put the paper sheet into his pocket. He passed through the door and looked at Hansen. "And another thing while I'm out, try to get someone to fix the door."

"I will, Sheriff. Good luck." Hanson answered with a nod as Jim disappeared.

Jim walked out of the police station. He opened the door to the car, took a seat and put the safety belt on as he considered what his next course of action should be as he began driving to the airport.

Should he call Max? It was still the middle of the night but if Alex was still alive it certainly pointed to alien involvement and Max would want to be involved. But that would probably do more harm than good at this moment, Jim considering that Tess just came back.

He shook his head as he tried to keep his thoughts clear. It was important that he stayed objectionate, no matter how badly he wanted it to be true. And, being objectionate meant he had to do his job, which meant finding out the facts before he involved anyone else. There was no point re-opening old wounds needlessly, especially ho long it took for them to heal. No, he would find out the truth first and then let the others know.

Jim looked out at the traffic sign. He hadn't noticed that he had driven almost all the ways to the airport almost on automatic. [/I]Snap out of it, Jim. Now's the time to concentrate.[/i]

He took a deep breath as he drove the remaining few miles. If it really was Alex in that hospital it shed light on another matter, it meant that Tess didn't kill him like she thought she had. Why would anyone want her to believe that she'd killed him? He shook his head as he took another deep breath. Like so much he had found out recently, nothing made sense.

~ ~ ~

It was hours later before Jim arrived at the hospital after catching a flight. As he arrived at the hospital he left the car and ran into the hospital as quickly as possible. His fatigue at having only a few hours sleep forgotten as the adrenelin surged through his body. This was it, he would find out now. Almost unwilling a thought popped into his head to answer the question he had been asking himself since the first phone call. It was obvious what the people who had set this up wanted. They wanted to divide and conquer the group. He had to hand it to them, there wasn't many better ways than to split the aliens and the humans apart than having one believe they had killed the other. But, they didn't bank on the strength of the group to survive it...

He pushed the hospital door hard and it flew open. He stomped in and put his hands on the reception desk, behind it stood a petite little brunette nurse. "Excuse me?"

The nurse looked up and asked " What can I help you with, sir?"

Jim took a deep breath. "I'm Sheriff Jim Valenti, from Roswell. I'm looking for Alex Whitman? I got a phonecall..." He pulled out the sheet of paper from his pocket. "You sent this to us as well..."

The nurse looked at the sheet and nodded her head as she spoke. "Okay, let me check the computer." The nurse said with a smile as the phone went off beside her which caused her to groan. "We had a busy night... okay here we are. You have to go down that hall then left then the second door on the right. Will you be able to find that?"

"Sure, thanks." Jim said and rushed away quickly, following the directions that the nurse had given him.

As he reached the location pointed out by the nurse he looked around, and to someone who knew their way around the hospital. "You're a sheriff Jim and you can't even find your way down a corridor..."

Jim chastised himself as he noticed a nurse coming out of a room. He walked over to her as she looked up at him with a smile.

"Can I help you, sir?" The nurse asked with a smile. "You look a bit lost."

"I'm looking for Alex Charles Whitman" Jim said quietly. "The nurse at the desk said he was down here, but I don't think I went in the right direction."

"He's in the room over there." The nurse said and started to walk in the direction in which she had pointed, she stopped outside a door and urged Jim to look through the glass window on it. "Can I ask who you are? I'm afraid I can't really let you in unless you're a relative..."

Jim looked through the window intently, sitting on the bed there was a person in a hospital gown talking to a doctor. The patient looked a lot like Alex. Alex who they thought was dead. Alex who they had buried. Alex who had been missing for 9 months.

It sure looks like Alex, he acts like when I brought him and Liz after the illegal party at the soap factory.

"Sir? I really can't let you in unless you're a relative." The nurse said to him as she tried to usher him from the window.

Jim turned to her, still shocked as he tried to speak. "I'm um, I'm the Sheriff in Roswell. You guys called me in..." He passed the nurse his badge as he continued. "Are you sure it's him? There definately can't have been some mistake?"

The nurse shook her head as she passed him his badge back. "No, no mistake. It's definitely him. After we saw his file the docs made us check it about 10 times to make sure we got it right." She walked over to the desk and looked through a file. "Here's an print from the blood test that we took from him. It's pretty conclusive. I'm sorry, but it looks like you guys got it wrong last April..."

Jim took the blood test and looked at it before looking back at the agitated youth on the bed having a heated discussion with a doctor. He turned and looked at the nurse and smiled. "Sorry? Don't be sorry...this is the best news I've had all year..."

~ ~ ~

Scene 2

Isabel stared at the pale face in the mirror as she brushed her hair. She had definitely paid for not sleeping last night. Not that it was an option when she was plagued by having to relive unbidden dreams occur over and over again. She scowled as she threw her brush onto her bed angrilly. She had worked so hard to get over things and now everything was right back to the surface again. Damn Tess. She had done the most unthinkable thing yet here she was back?

"There's definitely something screwed up with the world if this is anyones idea of justice...whatever happened to an eye for an eye?" Isabel sighed as she put her earings in.

"I think that theory on justice ended with the bible..."

Isaberl turned round abruptly on hearing the voice of her brother at her door. He chapped the door frame gently as he looked at her apologetically.

"The door was open and I heard talking...I thought we could talk..." He said quietly as he walked in.

Isabel looked at him and shook her head in disbelief. He was one of the last people she wanted to talk to after what he did. She grabbed her jacket of the bed and barged past him. "Sorry, going out...but go talk to the murderer you saved. I'm sure she'll be perfectly willing to listen..."

Max sighed as he turned around and followed her. "Isabel. Be reasonable...i don't want us to fight over this. It's stupid..."

Isabel turned and looked at him in disbelief. How could she make him understand what he did? You can't, Isabel. He's Max and he's always right, that's why he makes all the decisions and to hell with everyone else.

"You think i'm being unreasonable? Why? Because I disagree with you or because I want to kill your little murdering hussy? I mean the sex couldn't have been that good, Max that it was worth bringing her back again for? Or maybe you just like having someone around who will follow you blindly until they try and stab you in the back?"

Max took a deep breath as his face flushed slightly in anger. "Isabel, you haven't even tried to understand the situation have you? No. You have severly clouded judgement as far as Tess is concerned and I understand that. But we cannot judge someone who has been used the way she has. Now I don't understand why you are taking this out on me? I had to save her life. It would have been wrong not to."

Isabel shook her head as she looked at him. Why couldn't he understand. "It was wrong for her to kill Alex and get away unpunished..."

Max's expression softened as he heard her soft voice. "You punished her enough yesterday when you ripped through here head. I never knew you had it in you...I didn't know you could do that."

Isabel looked at him coldly as she turned away from him. "Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me, Max."

He walked over to her and touched her shoulder tentatively. "I know that, and I'm sorry...but I don't want Tess to come between us. I understand why you did what you did, surely the least you can do is extend the same courtesy? I don't want us to fight."

Isabel walked away from him quickly as she spat angrilly. "Yeah? Well you should have thought of that before you saved the life of a murdering, lying, manipulative bitch!"

~ ~ ~

Liz stood at the crashdown as she wiped the counter aimlessly. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the dream she had had the night before. It was, she had reasoned, perfectly logical for her to have a dream about her best friend after his murderer suddenly appeared. Even if it didn't feel like a dream and more like she was there...that didn't mean anything. And I'm sure Kyle thought the exact same thing when he started getting sucked into the dreams of other people...

She shook her head as she continued to wipe. This was totally different from what happened to Kyle. For one thing, Alex was dead.

"Okay, I'm going for third time a charm or else I've definitely turned invisible over night and not realised it."

Liz jumped slightly as she looked up as she was snapped out of her reverie and saw the face of an amused Serena looking at her. "Don't tell me, it's a guy?"

Liz blushed slightly as she looked at Serena. "Umm, don't I wish. I think the last few months at school have just finally caught up with me."

Serena nodded sympathetically. "Ah, the zombie months before graduation. I remember it well. Oh well, look on the brightside. In less than 6 months you are going to be a free woman...ready to take on college."

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to take on college." Liz shook her head as she exhaled deeply. "What can I get you?"

Serena smiled as she looked at the menu. "Hmm, lets see...to hell with the diet, I'll have a large chocolate milkshake and...hmm, a slice of cheesecake." She looked at Liz who wrote down the order before she sighed loudly. "You better throw a coffee in there as well...so I have the energy to go to the gym after I've finished pigging out."

Liz smiled at her as she poured the milkshake. "You know, chocolate is a good source of energy as well..."

Serena winked at her as she replied. "Ah, but chocolate is like a little magnet that tortures us lesser mortals that don't have figures like yours and Isabels. Besides, I kinda have a problem with coffee..."

Liz laughed as she put a plate with a slice of cheesecak on the counter. "You're hooked on it, right?"

Serena grinned as she looked at Liz. "I like to blame it on the late night cramming sessions instead of the fact that there's a Starbucks 10 minutes from college..."

"Well, your secrets safe with me. That'll be $3. 75, please."

Serena went into her purse and pulled out her wallet and handed money over to Liz. "Thanks. Hey, Liz...you want to join me over at a booth? Or do you have to hold the fort?"

Liz looked around the cafe and shook her head. "Nope, I can hold the fort from there...thanks."

They both walked over to a booth and sat down. Serena took a long drink from her milkshake before she turned to Liz. "So, before I so rudely interupted your train of thought, what was running through that head of yours when you were cleaning a hole in the counter?"

Liz sighed as she looked at her hands. How could she answer that? "I had a really weird dream last night and it kinda weirded me out..."

Serena looked at her concerned. "Is everything okay? I mean, I understand if you don't want to talk to me about it but...if you want to talk, I have it on good authority that I'm a good listener."

Liz smiled as she looked at Serena. It would be nice to have a friendly ear. And it isn't like she could talk to anyone else about it just now after what happened with Tess and Maria's dad. "Well, um...this is going to sound weird but, I had a dream about a friend of mine. The thing is, it felt really real..."

Serena smiled at her reassuringly. "There's nothing weird about that, everyone has dreams about people they know that weirds them out. I mean, it doesn't mean that you're going to go jump into bed with them the first time you see them. And it's perfectly normal for dreams to be confused and for..." She looked at Liz slightly uncomfortably as she continued. "For things you um...normally wouldn't consider, um...to happen. I mean...it's not like your really experimenting...or...anything...um, so..."

Liz looked at Serena quizically for a moment before clasping her hand to her mouth in disbelief as she twigged what Serena was referring to. "No...no, no...Serena, sorry. No. It's nothing like that. I mean, it's definitely not that kind a dream about anyone I know..."

Serena gave a sigh of relief as she looked at Liz. "Oh, thank god...I was kinda starting to babble to try and get the right answer." She took a big bite of cheesecake and another drink as she looked at Liz. "So, um...what was the problem with the dream? And I promise not to jump in this time before you finish..."

Liz smiled at her thankfully. "Well, the person I dreamed about is...dead. And I just can't get it out of my head...it felt so real."

Serena looked at Liz sympathetically. "Alex?" As Liz nodded her head, Serena reached over and touched her hand gently. "Liz, I know how that feels. Ever since my granddad died I've been fine for a days, sometimes weeks on end and then I'll see something, or hear something...or smell something and everything will come flooding back. I remember about 6 weeks after he died that I woke up one night after having a nightmare that he had had an accident and I went to call him to make sure he was all right and it was only after I had keyed in half the number that I remembered it was real. That he had died. I cried so hard that night because it felt so real..."

Serena took a deep breath as she looked at Liz and smiled sadly. "What I mean is, we have no idea what dreams are for...sometimes they are to let us fulfil fantasies, sometimes they are to let us grieve and sometimes they are to help us to remember people we love. Maybe something happened to you that made you think of Alex and wish that he could be alive and the dream was granting your wish for you..."

Liz looked down at her hands as she thought about what Serena had said. Wish fulfilment. That made a lot of sense, especially after Tess coming back and having to reopen old wounds. It made sense that her body would try and work out how to deal with all those feelings. And all those feeling would be better with Alex there...it makes sense. A lot of sense.

"You're probably right...it does make sense." Liz smiled at Serena thankfully but noticed that Serena still looked sad. She sighed inwardly as she looked at her. "I'm sorry about your grandpa. I know it must still hurt. When I lost my granma it was hard as well."

Serena smiled sadly. "Par for the course...as you get older you lose more and more people...guess we're lucky that we had two such great grandparents and that we got to know them before it happened..."

"Yeah..." Liz nodded her head before taking a deep breath and grinning at Serena. "Okay, I really feel like eating something with about a million calories in it. So can I tempt you to an ice-cream sundae on the house? And while we're eating them you can fill me in on college and what I should expect..."

Serena looked at Liz and grinned. "An offer like that, how can I refuse. But i'll have you know if I don't fit into my dress this Friday, Ms. Parker I'll be pissed as hell..."

Liz laughed as she stood up and looked at her. "You have a date on Friday? Is he nice?"

Serena grinned as she took a drink of her milkshake. "He's great, and that brings us nicely to the first great thing about college...all the intelligent, funny and handsome men from all over the country...it's a girls candy shop...you'll love it."

Liz smiled slightly as she began serving two sundaes as she looked at Serena. "I'm sure I will..."

~ ~ ~

"You can see him now, Sir."

Taking one last look in the direction of the Nurse's Station, Jim noticed a candy striper that looked familiar, scarilly like Tess from the rear. Is that Ava, her duplicate? Not likely. Shrugging it off, Jim opened the door to Alex's room.

The candy striper turned around as Jim walked into the room and exhaled in relief. That was close. He almost saw me. I've got to report in to the others. Ava's shift was about over, so she left to report to her contacts that Alex would be returning home at last. There was no need for her to be there anymore.

If he had not seen definitive proof that the person in this room was indeed Alex, he would not have believed that this was the same boy who once threatened to sue him for abusing his position. The boy's skin had a pallor one step above death, a slight layer of facial hair remained on his chin in the guise of a goatee. His hair was grown out to near his shoulders, making him look like he had been in a coma for a long time.

Alex turned towards the person who entered, and scrambled out of bed towards the man he once feared, but now respected as much as his own parents. Wrapping his arms around Jim, he asked the inevitable question. "How is everyone? Do they miss me? They didn't believe me. They didn't believe that I was Alex Whitman from Roswell, NM."

Helping Alex back towards the bed, Jim motioned for him to sit on the bed, while he himself took a chair and sat across from him. How do I explain what happened? "Alex, everyone's fine. No, that's a lie. To us, you died months ago. We thought you died in a car accident two days after the Prom. Everyone went to your funeral. Kyle, Michael, Max, and I were pall bearers. Maria sang 'Amazing Grace'."

Alex shook his head in disbelief and smiled at the Sheriff, clearly thinking it was some bizarre joke. "Sure. What are you saying? How could everyone go to my funeral, I never died! Unless you never noticed that I'm right here?"

Jim looked at Alex and sighed as he laid a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, we believed you were dead. If there were any doubt, don't you think we would have looked for you? Even your parents thought you were dead."

"No...it's impossible..." Alex stood up and began pacing about the floor."Fuck! I can't remember anything that happened after Liz and Maria left my house that day. Why couldn't you tell I wasn't dead?"

Jim stood up and stopped him from pacing as he looked at him. "Alex, I'll tell you why later. Do you want to go home?"

Alex's shoulders dropped and he voiced his feelings shakily, "How can I just show up on my dad's doorstep and say, 'Dad, I'm back!' I'd probably cause him to have a heart attack."

Jim looked at the boy intently. "Alex, if you want me to, I'll talk to your dad and prepare him."

"No!" Alex shook his head determindly. "No, I won't do it to him. He doesn't deserve it."

Jim looked at him in disbelief. "Alex, he deserves to know that you're alive. Liz and Maria do, too."

Alex smiled at the mention of his two best friends. He turned to Jim after a moment and looked at him. "What, you weren't going to mention Isabel?"

"I was hoping that I wouldn't have to." Jim said truthfully.

"How is she?" Alex asked with a slight smile. "How are they all?"

"She's had her shaky moments. She loved you. But she's better now...they all are. But they will be so much happier if you come home with me. Please?"

"If the doctors let me leave, I'll go home." Alex said finally as he looked at Jim.

"I'll just be outside this door." He left Alex to get in his clothes

Taking his cell phone out of his jacket, he dialed the station.

"Roswell Sheriff's Office, Deputy Hansen speaking."

"Hansen this is Valenti. The boy is Alex Whitman."

"Jim, should I notify his parents?"

"No, let me do it. News like this should come from a friend. I owe Charles that much. I've got to go."

Dialing his next call, he waited for an answer.

"Hello."

"Max, it's Jim. Are you alone?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Stay put until I get there in a few hours. I need to talk to you about something important. I need you to make sure you're alone."

"Ok. See you in a few hours. Is everything okay?" Max's voice was laced with concern as Jim shook his head. How did he answer that? "Yeah, just make sure you're alone."

Alex walked out of the room, just after Jim put his phone back away. Walking out in to the rainy Seattle day, they walked to Jim's rental car and drove to the airport. Getting caught up in a security checkpoint, they just managed to make their plane.

The trip back passed quickly, due to Alex's agitated questions about what's been going on with everyone and Jim's reassurances that everything will work out. Jim purposely left out anything about Tess, especially since Alex hadn't asked about her.

~ ~ ~

Maria parked her jetta outside of Crashdown, stepped out of the little car and locked it.
She walked to the passenger side to make that door was locked on that side as well. The last thing she needed was for someone to steal her car after the past few days she'd had.

With your luck, Maria...anything could happen...

She walked towards the doors and opened them. As she entered the Crashdown, she noticed that Liz was engrossed in a conversation with Serena.

"Hey, how's it going?" Maria said cheerily as she looked at them both.

Liz looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, Maria! Have you met Serena yet?"

Maria shook her head as Serena smiled at her. "Hi, Maria. I'm Serena, I go to school with Isabel."

Maria smiled as she walked towards them. "Hi. I've heard a lot about you..."

Serena sighed as she stood up. "Likewise. Unfortunately, i'm not going to get the chance to correct all those rumours you've heard." She winked at Maria as she stood up and smiled at Liz. "As I need to go and run off all this sugar i've consumed... I'll see you both later. It as nice to meet you Maria."

"Nice to meet you too." As Serena walked away Maria sat down and looked at Liz with a smile. "She seems nice."

Liz nodded her head as she looked at her. "She is...what are you doing in? I thought you weren't working today?"

Maria was about to answer when Jeff Parker walked over to them both and looked at Liz. "Are you planning on doing any work today or should I just get the chef to collect the orders and clear the tables?"

"I was about to start when Maria came in" Liz answered with a sigh as she stood up. "I'll start now..."

"Well, then star, please" Mr. Parker said and left for the kitchen.

Liz rose and walked towards the counter, Maria followed her. As Maria took a seat at one of the high chairs Liz walked behind the counter.

"So, what's up with Serena, and what's she like?" Maria asked with a curious smile.

Liz looked at her and nodded her head as she poured a drink for a customer. "She seems like a down to earth girl, she's really nice to talk to. Really friendly, it's just...and this is going to sound weird..."

Maria grinned at her. "What else should I expect from you Lizzie?"

Liz gave Maria a mock unamused look as she continued. "But the first time I saw her I remember feeling like I knew her but obviously I couldn't have or I would have remembered her. But now when I talk to her I always have this niggling feeling that I can't describe...but it's like it's important..."

Maria contemplated before she looked at Liz. "Maybe you knew her in a past life..."

Liz rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "Maria, even you don't believe in past lives..."

Maria smiled as she nodded her head. "That's true...but it's either that or to accept that you're just weird..."

"Thanks...I think I'll go with the weird one since that's more likely..." Liz said as she walked over to a table and refilled a customers coffee cup. "So what's going on between you and Michael?"

"Nah, not much to talk about, how about Tess, and what's happening?" Maria asked in a desperate attempt to leave the subject of Michael Gurin alone. She would think about that later.

"Well, there isn't that much to say, I can understand Max actions but I can't let it go as easy as him." Liz said while she gave one of the customers his order

"I doubt that Isabel is too happy about it either, I think the death of Alex took her harder than any of us thought." Maria said as Liz walked over and sat beside her.

"Yeah...I was really worried about her for a while there a few months ago but she seemed so much better now and this is just going to drag everything up again..." Liz said sadly as she looked at Maria. "Like it has for the rest of us..."

Maria nodded her head, knowing what Liz meant. As she did Michael walked through the door and glanced towards them.

"Hi Michael" Liz said slowly as she looked at him and then to Maria.

Maria froze at the sound of his voice, she had hoped that she would have been and gone before he came in.

Michael continued to walk past Liz and into the kitchen

~ ~ ~

Max sat at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and a sandwich on a plate, but his mind was far from thinking about the milk or the sandwich which had laid untouched on the table for nearly an hour. No matter what he did he couldn't get the events of the past few days out of his head. The return of Tess...the knowledge that his son was dead...the fact that his sister hated him...

With out a thought Max took a sip of the milk, nearly spiting it out because of its taste. He rose and walked over poured the contents of the glass into the sink before he rinsed the glass and poured some more milk into the glass before adding some tabasco sauce.

He walked back over to the table. The Sheriff wanted to see him but hadn't said about what. Maybe something was up with Tess? Maybe she's took ill again... Max picked up the cordless phone from the table, and start dial the Valenti household. It was better to be safe than sorry, and at least that way he would know what the Sheriff wanted.

As the phone on the other end of the recievor was picked up Max took a deep breath as he began to talk. "Hi Kyle, it's Max, how is Tess doing? "

"She's fine, under the circumstances, she's just got up and is having a long bath just now. She said her headaches are a lot better...probably thanks to you. Thanks..." Kyle said at the other end of the phone as Max listened, clearly relieved.

"Forget it.Listen, your dad called me, any idea what he wants" Max asked as he took a drink from his glass.

"No, I don't have a clue, he left in hurry last night, right after we came home, he hasn't called and told me why." Kyle said sounding concerned. "Why, what did he say to you? Did everything sound okay?"

"Hmm, yeah..sure...I guess, it's probably nothing then, we talk later, take care." Max said as his brow furrowed. Why would the Sheriff leave late at night without calling home?

"Max? Max...what did he say?"

Max had already hit the disconnect button as Kyle's voice echoed through the handset. Max put the phone down on the table again, still troubled by something, but he couldn't think of what it was.

He took another drink as he suddenly heard a knock on the door and walked over to open it. As he opened it he saw a nervous and pale Jim looking at him with a nervous smile.

"What's wrong, has something happened? Is everyone okay?" Max asked quickly as he stood back from the door to let Jim in. The feeling of dread washed over him as he looked at Jim's face, desperately hoping that everyone was alright.

Jim took step back from the door and sighed as he looked at Max. "Everyone's fine..." As he finished speaking he reached over and guided a figure out in front of him, clearly not knowing what to say or do.

The glass that Max was holding fell from his hand and broke on the floor as he felt blood in in his face suddenly leave it as he looked at the tall figure standing there, it couldn't possibly be? They buried him...Tess had killed him. He took another deep breath as he hesitently made his way back over to the seat without taking his eyes off Alex. As soon as he was safely seated he took another deep breath and managed to force words from his impossibly dry throat.

"H...h...hello, Alex..."

~ ~ ~

Isabel pulled Christian to sit on a bench, next to her. "That early movie was great. I haven't had so much fun in months."

Christian smiled warmly at her. "I'm glad, I love spending time with you, Isabel. I just wasn't sure I made a good first impression on you. You nearly took my head off."

"I'm sorry that I acted that way, Christian. I wasn't ready to date and I snapped." She sighed as she looked away from him as she continued. "My last relationship ended badly, plus he was my best friend."

"What happened? What made this guy …," Christian's questioning was interrupted by Isabel's lips crushing against his own. She couldn't face talking about it after everything that had happened the previous night.

"Do you feel like having an early dinner? I know the perfect place. A friend of mines parents own it."

"Sure." She seemed to be very quick to distract me and change the subject. I'm not going to pry, yet.

~ ~ ~

Max kept his eyes glued to the young man in front of him. Alex's skin was pale, an almost translucent sheen to it. Eyes that once held light and a great deal of humor, now seemed nearly vacant and unreadable.

Alex looked around Max's kitchen. The silence was finally broken. "Max, where's Isabel?"

Max cast a look at Alex, unsure of what to tell him. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to say that she was out with her new boyfriend when Alex had just come back. "Not sure...I think she's out with some people from college. Do you not want to sit down?"

Alex sighed and shook his head as he looked around like he had never seen the place before. "Max, do you mind if I have a glass of oj?"

"No, go ahead. If you want to sit down I'll get it for you?"

Alex shook his head as he got a glass from the cabinet and opened the refrigerator. As he closed the door, he noticed a note on the door:

Isabel,

Christian called. He'll pick you up at 9:00

-Mom.

Alex turned towards Max. "Christian? You could have told me, I knew she'd move on...i knew it."

Max looked at Alex's face as he tried to keep his emotions in check. It was so obvious that Alex was going through every possible emotion as he tried to readjust to what happened. "What could I have said, Alex? I've watched my sister go from the depths of grief to being almost emotionless. We all thought you were dead. Were you expecting her to mourn you for the rest of her life?"

Alex sighed as he sat down and looked at him apologetically. "No, You're right. She had to move on eventually. It just...hurts. I can remember the Prom as if it were a couple of days ago. I'm missing 9 months out of my life..."

"Jim, what happened to Alex? Why were we made to believe he was dead?" Max said as he turned away from Alex's haunted eyes.

Jim shook his head as he looked at him. "I don't know, Max. I know without a doubt that he's Alex. Here." Jim handed Max a copy of the blood tests.

Max looked at the papers and sighed. "Then who did we bury? I mean, the blood in the car..."

"Guys, did you forget that I'm in the damned room! I don't want to be discussed like last night's episode of The X-files!"

"We didn't mean to forget you were here, Alex," Jim told him, slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry...sorry." Alex took a deep breath as he looked at them both. "I just really want to go home, you guys don't need me here for this..."

Max spoke his objections to this gently. They had to work out what was going on. "No, Alex. We need to figure out what exactly happened to you."

Alex looked at Max and shook his head. His voice was quiet, but tinged with saddness and bitterness. "I'm not one of your subjects, Your Highness. I'm part of this because I chose to be. Now I choose to go home," Alex responded in a level, but fierce, tone.

Jim put his hand on Alex's shoulder supportively. "Alex, I'll drive you home. I just have to talk to your parents first. I can fill Max in when I get back."

The shrill chime of the doorbell echoed through the house. Max left to answer it leaving Jim and Alex alone..

"Alex, are you ok?"

"Of course I'm not ok. To the world at large, I'm dead. I've lost 9 months of my life. How the hell am I supposed to regain my life? My best friends have moved on. My girlfriend moved on to some guy named Christian! I just want to go home! I need to see my dad..."

"This isn't a good idea! You need to leave!" Jim looked up as he heard Max's raised voice outside the kitchen.

"I'll leave as soon as I see my dad, his cars out front! What the hells going on?" Max walked back into the kitchen with an apologetic expression, followed by Kyle and Tess. As soon as Kyle saw Alex, he made a perfect impression of a statue. Tess just stared at Alex as if she had seen a Fury.

As soon as Alex saw Tess, he screamed. "That bitch tried to kill me! She mindwarped me so much! She wanted the damned Book translated!"

Max walked towards Alex, trying to pacify him. "We know what she did, Alex."

"Then why the hell is she still breathing!" Alex started to cross the room towards Tess, but was held back by Kyle and Jim.

~ ~ ~

Liz stood at the window to the kitchen and sighed as she handed in an order. "I want to go home...I've been on all day..."

Michael looked at her and shook his head. Was she crazy? "Liz, you are home...you live right up stairs..."

Liz cocked her head and sighed as she looked at him. "No, i'm at work...if I was at home I would be upstairs with my feet up and not putting up with your foul mood..."

Michael sighed as he put some burgers on the hot plate. "Yeah, well...no one is making you stand there. Why don't you call Maria and complain to her because she's the one who's making you pull a double shift..."

"Why don't you call Maria and apologise and she won't want to re-arrange her schedule to avoid you?" Liz said seriously as she looked at him.

Michael looked at her and shook his head. "I don't want to talk to you about this..."

Liz shook her head as she looked at him. "She's my best friend Michael and you broke her heart. You broke it and I'm not sure if she'll ever be the same so you better try and fix it and to hell with you not wanting to talk about it. Because I will do whatever it takes to help her."

Michael looked down at the burgers and tossed them angrilly. "Yeah, well...go talk to her and try to explain to her that I did it for her. She would have been a lot more hurt if I hadn't did what I did. And you know what else? If I had to do the same thing I would have done it all over again!"

Liz shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, really? God, it must be good to be right all the time. It must just be Maria's problem that she can't appreciate you being right on this?"

Michael looked at her and shook his head. She would never understand, she was never in a situation that would let her understand. "I did it for her and it was better that she found out sooner rather than later! Why can't any of you understand that?!"

"Can you two please keep it down? People don't want to listen to this conversation with their food." Jeff Parker said as he walked past the two of them over to the cash register.

"Sorry, dad." Liz said as she looked at Michael who took a deep breath as he continued quietly.

"There is nothing worse than expecting more than you can get from a person and holding them in such a high esteem only for it all to come crashing down around your ears. Trust me, one day she will thank me for it. Even if i'm not with her, it will have been worth it because I would rather she hurt a little now than a lot later."

Michael looked away from her as she looked at him intently no doubt trying to work out with a good response that would paint him as the bad guy again. He looked at her expectantly as she sighed and opened her mouth to reply.

"Hey, Liz!"

Michael looked up and saw Isabel standing there with a tall guy behind her. That would be Christian. Michael immediately straightened up and looked at him.

"Isabel, hi!" Liz said happily as she stepped away from the window towards the counter. "How's it going?"

Isabel looked at Liz and smiled happily before she looked at Michael coldly. She clearly hadn't forgiven him for getting involved last night. "It's going great, just great to get out the house today."

Liz smiled as she looked at her. Christian looked at Isabel and smiled as he excused himself after apologising to Liz. As he walked away Liz turned to Isabel and smiled. "So that's Christian? He looks..."

"Like an idiot?" Michael said grumpilly from the window as Isabel glared at him.

Liz took a deep breath and shook her head as she continued. "He looks really nice Isabel. Serena was telling me that you and he were out today?"

Isabel nodded as she looked at Liz. "Yeah, we had a great day. Did you see Serena today?"

"Yeah, she was in earlier. We talked for a while..." Liz said as she accepted a payment from a customer. "She was literally patting herself on the back. She seems to be taking credit for you and Christian..."

Isabel laughed gently as she looked at Liz. "She is is she? I'll need to see her about that..."

Liz grinned at her. "I think she was just happy that the two of you were so happy...apparently she has met the love of her life and is going out with him Friday."

Isabel sighed. "Poor Serena, she meets the love of her life every other week but none of them have the energy to keep up with her."

"That wouldn't be Serena that you are talking about would it?" Christian said with a smile as he walked back towards them.

Isabel smiled at him as he sat beside her. "How could you guess?"

Christian turned to Liz and smiled. "She has the strangest body clock I have ever seen. I set her up with a buddy and he was crazy about her and they only lasted a week because she wanted to go out partying one night and meet for breakfast the next day. She seems to be able to function on about four hours sleep."

Liz smiled at them both as she walked back over to them. Isabel looked at Liz and smiled. "I should probably introduce you. Liz, this is Christian." She turned to Christian and smiled. "Christian, this is Liz."

Liz smiled as she accepted the hand that Christian offered to her. "Hi, nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you..."

Liz heard a loud bang come from the kitchen as Michael stared at the 3 of them. Christian looked confused as he looked at Isabel. "And, who's this?"

Michael looked at Isabel expectantly who just glared back at him. "That's Michael...come on, lets sit at the booth. Liz, why don't you come and join us?"

Michael sighed as the three of them walked towards the booth. It was good to be popular...

Christian smiled at her warmly as he responded. "Nice to meet you, Liz."

~ ~ ~

Tess looked at Alex not really trusting that her eyes were really seeing what they appeared to be. It was impossible...he was dead. She had killed him.

"Why the hell is she still here?" Alex screamed at them as he stared at Tess. "Don't you know what she did? She tried to kill me!"

Max looked at him and shook his head. "It's not that simple Alex...sit down and I'll explain..."

Alex looked at Max like he was insane. How could he possibly explain this? "Explain? Explain what? How can you defend her? Maybe you're glad she found the book? Is that why it's okay?"

Max looked at Alex but Jim shook his head as he looked at him to stop him from replying.

Kyle walked over to Alex and stood in front of Max. "Alex, come on...why would Max do something like that? Trust me, we'll explain it okay...just calm down. You aren't helping yourself any by getting like this. Just calm down..."

"Max could you be kind and take Tess out to the lounge while Kyle and I talk to Alex?" Jim begged Max with a pleading look

Max looked at them reluctantly, but eventually does as Jim asked and lead Tess out to the lounge, in hope of that it would calm Alex down. It couldn't do anymore harm/

When Max and Tess were outside Jim closed the door and looked at the distraught Alex and his confused son who was crouched beside Alex supportively.

"What's going on dad?" Kyle asked. "If I'd known..."

"I'll tell you later, right now we need to fill Alex in on what's happened since the accident." Jim answered as he sat down.

"Accident?" Alex said with a bitter laugh. "Murder...she made me decode the book, the book about the granolith. I used a computer program. She mindwarped me into thinking I was in Europe then when I realised what had happened and confronted her she mindwarped me again, even after I begged her not to!" He looked at them desperately as his voice lowered to a whisper as if he was terrified it would break. "I begged her not to and she did it anyway."

Kyle looked at him and nodded his head. "I know buddy, I was there..."

"She nearly killed me. She as good as killed me." Alex said, his voice slightly stronger.

Alex looked at the both of them and shook his head at their silence. "Are you listening to me, she did all those evil things, and she's sitting in there now like nothing happened!"

"Alex, we know" Kyle said awkwardly.

"You know and she's still here?" Alex asked sadly. "Why? Why didn't you make her leave? Why didn't you make her pay?"

"It's not that easy" Jim answered.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked dumbfounded. "It is that easy. She tried to kill me, what is she denying it?"

Jim and Kyle started to tell what had happened when the thought he had crashed with his car about granolith. The also told him what Nicholas had done and how what had been the result of that.

Alex at Jim and Kyle, at Jim one second and on Kyle the other, shifting his head every other second. The look on his face could be easily read, and both Kyle and Jim saw it, he didn't believe a word they told him.

"So if you knew that she killed me did you let her get away in the first place" Alex asked. "You let her get away, even though you had proof? Oh..."

"Well you see, she was pregnant with Max's baby" Jim said sadly. "It's really complicated and now is not a good time for you to hear all this."

"What? Pregnant?" Alex asked with his mouth open in shock. How could Tess have been pregnant by Max? Max didn't love Tess...he loved Liz.

"Yes" Kyle answered slowly as he looked at Alex probingly. "We all thought she would go back to Antar...that's why Max let her go. He would have killed her if she hadn't been pregnant. But, in the end it turns out that you were both used..."

"She nearly killed me, for god's sake my dad thinks I'm dead, how am I going to explain this to him?" Alex asked quietly as he stood up and looked at the window. "It'll kill him..."

Jim sighed as he looked at Kyle and shook his head sadly before he walked over to Kyle and put a hand on his back as Alex dropped his head so his chin rested against his chest. "I don't know Alex, we will come up with something...I promise it will be okay. We'll all help you through this..."

Alex lifted his head and looked at Jim. His ice blue eyes were filled with tears as he looked at him sadly and spoke gently. "Could I go home and see my dad now? Please? I'll say whatever you all want, I just need to see him...please."

~ ~ ~

Tess stood still as if she was trying to work out what she had just seen. It was impossible? It couldn't be real. She had killed him and people didn't just come back from the dead as amazing as it would be. It wasn't possible.

"How certain are you that it's Alex standing in there?" Tess asked Max as she began to pace up and down. "I mean, it could be a skin? They could have made a husk and just..."

Max looked at her and cut her off. "It is Alex, I'm certain, they took blood tests at the hospital, but I don't know what have happened to him between you putting him in the car and him being found." Max sighed as he looked at her. "I'm only guessing that Nicholas and the skins had made a husk of Alex that we buried. Did you know anything about this?" Max asked not intending to accuse her, but immediately regretting the way his words had sounded as he opened his mouth.

"What?" Tess' eyes widened as she looked at him in anger and surprise. "Are you trying to insinuate that I knew about this? That I helped set it up?"

"No, not at all, I'm just asking" Max said as he had heard her anger and raised his hands in an apologetic gesture.

"Don't you think, that if I knew he was alive, I would've tried to save him, or maybe you don't remember, I was the one blamed and hunted for his death. I've had bloody nightmares since it happened. " Tess said, she hadn't let the anger left her voice as she continued. "I was haunted by him everytime I closed my eyes. Don't you think I would have tried to save him if I knew..."

"Excuse me for interrupting, but Max I'm going drive Alex home" Jim said as he opened the door slightly and looked at them both. "He needs to go home Max, it's important."

"Yeah, I know it is. Tell him i'm sorry about earlier." Max looked at Jim and asked quietly. "Should I tell the others just now or shall we wait with that?"

Jim ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "I don't know...just let me deal with Alex and then we can deal with the others. Don't say anything to anyone until I talk to you okay?"

"Sure, just make sure he's okay. Speak to you later." Max said as he nodded his head as Jim nodded his goodbye and closed the door behind him.

~ ~ ~

"You ready for this, son?" Jim looked over at his passenger, taking in Alex's pale face and slightly trembling hands. The young man swallowed hard, and then, ever so slowly, shook his head. "Alex?"

"I...I can't do this. I can't do this to my Dad--I can't just show up again, after all this time. He thinks I'm dead, Sheriff. Dead. I don't...I mean I can't..." The dark haired young man trailed off, his eyes trained on some spot in out the window shield on the horizon.

"Alex--I know that this is going to be hard on your father, but it won't compare with the fact that his son is alive. His son is alive. Your alive. Take from me--as a father that nearly lost his own son--the fact that your alive is going to mean more to him than anything. Alright?" Jim reached out and put a stronghand on Alex's shoulder, surprised by how much the young man was trembling beneath his touch.

"Al--alright. I...let's just...I can't...can't just walk in. Will you...I mean..." Alex stumbled over
his request, his eyes still focused on the horizon.

"I'll go in first, explain to them...as much as I can." Jim promised, as he pulled into the driveway.
Shutting down the engine, the Sheriff ran his fingers across the steering wheel for a second, before turning to look at Alex.

"Alex?" Jim asked, and for the first time since they had gotten in the car, Alex looked over at him. Jim just barely managed to keep himself from wincing at the sight of the despair and confusion burned into the boy's once clear blue eyes. Alex didn't speak, just looking at the Sheriff, waiting for the older man to finish.

Reaching behind him, Valenti grabbed the plain manila folder he had taken from the police station earlier. Silently, he handed the folder to Alex, before opening the car door to climb out. As he was doing so, the young man had flipped open the folder, his eyes flickering back and forth as he scanned the contents.


"Su--suicide?" His pain ridden voice stopped Jim in his tracks, and the Sheriff looked back over at the young man, and swallowed hard. Alex looked up from the folder and looked him dead in the eye, running his fingers over the crease in the folder. "Did you believe that?"

"Son...I...I didn't know what to believe...but all the evidence... at the time...pointed to yes." Valenti shifted nervously, his right hand resting on the top of the open door.

"I...I--how could you think that? I...I thought you all knew me better then that." Alex's voice was so soft Jim wasn't sure he had heard the young man right. His features were tight, like he was trying hard not to cry, and the Sheriff's heart went out to the boy again.

"Liz, Maria and Kyle never believed it." It was the only reassurance Jim could offer him.

Alex was quiet for a long second, looking again at the file in his hands. When he spoke again, his voice was softer then it had been before, almost as if he was afraid of the answer. "And Isabel?"

"I...I can't say, Alex." Jim answered him as honestly as he could. Alex closed his eyes, and nodded, obviously not wanting to hear anymore. Valenti watched Alex for a long second, before turning and heading for the front door of the Whitman's house.

Reaching it, he took a deep breathe, and reached up, knocking loudly. Taking a half a step back, he linked his hands behind his back, waiting for a response. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Charles Whitman stood in the doorway, looking down at him. Jim couldn't stop a small smile--Alex had certainly gotten his almost abnormal height from his father.

"Chuck--may I come in?" Jim asked, wondering how he was going to go about telling this man that his son was alive.

"Of...course, Sheriff. Come in." Charles stepped out of the way, extending his hand toward the house in a welcoming manner. But his voice was strained and worried, and Jim knew that he must be expecting bad news. Jim was quite certain that the last time a police officer had been by to visit him was when he had been informed of Alex's death.

Jim stepped into the house, and Charles lead him to the sitting room. Gesturing toward the couch, Mr. Whitman took a seat in one of the recliners across from him. For a long second, Jim groped for something to say, studying Alex's father.

The man must have aged ten years in the months since his son's alleged death. His face was almost unnaturally pale, and several wrinkles had formed around his eyes. More of his hair was gray then it had been at the funeral, and a lingering sadness dwelled in the man's misty blue eyes. The horror of losing your child, Jim reflected, and prayed silently that he would never have to suffer such a fate.

"Charles...I...there's something I need to tell you. You and Alex's mother--it might be better if she was here." Jim couldn't recall a time that he had ever actually met Alex's mother--he didn't remember meeting the woman at the funeral, and didn't, in fact, even know what her name was. He noted the way Charles flinched when he said the last bit, and he wondered if it was because he has said Alex's name, or asked about his mother.

"That might be a little difficult, Jim. Largely due to the fact that I'm not sure where Jenna is at the moment--somewhere in New England, I'm sure. She always did love it this time of year." Charles answered after a moment and Jim nodded. "Why?"

Jim rubbed his chin, wondering again how he should put this. "It's about Alex. About his...death."

Charles was silently, though his knuckles had gone very white--he was clenching the arms of the chair he was sitting in. He swallowed so hard, Jim could see his Adam's apple bob from across the room. Alex's father finally spoke.

"I wasn't...wasn't aware that that investigation was still going on." He stated dully.

"It's not. Charles..." The moment of truth had arrived. "Alex...Alex is alive."

Mr. Whitman looked like he had been socked in the gut with a baseball bat. His face, already pale, had gone nearly translucent, and he slumped against the recliner like he had no backbone to hold him upright. His lips were gray, and his hands shook on the arm
rests, his misty blue eyes wide.

"What...how...we buried him. I buried my son, Sheriff Valenti. I watched them bury him. I saw his body...I...my son...my son is dead. He's dead." Chuck's voice was broken, shaking with inner tears and the pain of a never healing wound. "He's dead."

"Charles...I know...I know that we buried Alex. I...I was there too, remember? But somehow...by some miracle, he's alive. He's alive." Jim leaned forward, threading his fingers together. "I know that his must come as a terrible shock to you--" Charles cut him off with a short bark of unbelieving laughter. "But it's the truth. I wouldn't tell you if I wasn't absolutely certain that this boy was your son. That Alex was alive."

"How can this be?" Mr. Whitman whispered. "How can...how can he still...I mean...my son? How
did...the body we buried?"

"We never got a positive DNA match on the corpse in the car." Jim watched Charles flinch at the word corpse, but the Sheriff pressed on. "It was some kind of lab screw up, and there's a full investigation going on, I assure you."

"I would hope so." Charles murmured, his eyes slightly unfocused.

"However, we did get a positive DNA match on...this boy. On Alex." Valenti reiterated, and Charles finally managed to let go of the arm rests. He sank his head into his hands, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He repeated this action for a few minutes, and Jim realized that he was trying to keep from crying.

"Where is...where is Alex now?" Charles finally choked out, looking up and directly at the Sheriff.
"He's outside, waiting in the car. He didn't want... to just show up." Jim tried to explain, but the other man was already on his feet and half way to the front door. Left with nothing else to do, Valenti followed. When he reached the front door, Charles was already at the car, opening the passenger side door and looking in.

Chuck's fingers tightened on the door as he found himself staring into the eyes of his only child, the child he had thought he'd lost.

"Alex..." He whispered, his voice cracking.

"Dad." The young man replied in the same tone of voice. Charles let go of the door frame, and grasped his son's forearm, pulling Alex out of the car. For just a second, the father studied his son, his eyes filling with tears. And then he pulled Alex into a crushing embrace, hugging his son tighter then he ever had his entire life. Alex, for his part, clung to his father like a drowning man clings to a life line.

The tears that had been welling up in Chuck's eyes spilled over, and Alex wept as well, hot tears
trickling down his cheeks to stain the shoulder of his father's shirt. For several long moments, neither of them spoke or moved.

Jim watched the reunion of father and son with a lump in his throat, forcibly reminded of a time when he and his own son had had a similar one. Running his fingers through his hair, the Sheriff made his way toward his car, wondering if he could leave without disturbing the two men.

Alex caught sight of Jim, and pulled away from his father for a second, swallowing hard, trying to regain of his voice.

"I'm...I'm sorry for..." The young man started, his voice breaking, but his father cut him off, pulling him back into his embrace.

"Shhh...shhh..." Charles whispered to Alex, putting his hand on the crown of the younger man's head, holding his head to his shoulder. "It's alright, it's all alright now, son."

Father and son walked toward the house, Chuck's arm still holding his son tightly to him, as if afraid that if he let go, Alex would disappear into thin air. As they passed the Sheriff, Mr. Whitman managed a tightly controlled "Thank you. Thank you so much." before the two of them disappeared into the house.

For a long second, Jim stood by his patrol car, watching the house that Alex and his father had just went into. Mentally, he tried to work out everything that was going on, everything that he was going to have to fill the kids in on.

Sliding into the driver's side seat of his car, he started the engine and reached for the cell phone on the dash board. Pressing in the Evans number, he waited for an answer. After two rings, someone picked up, and Max's voice filled his ear.

"Hello?"

"Max. Listen...can you get in touch with the rest of the kids, and have them meet up at my house?"

"No problem. I'll do it now." The young man promised, and Jim nodded, even though he knew the young man couldn't see him.

"Alright. See you in a bit." With that, he hung up the cell, and started for his house, his mind once again whirling with how he was going to explain Alex's apparent rebirth to his friends.

~ ~ ~

Michael drummed his fingers on his knees, looking down at the floor, shifting uncomfortably on the couch in the Deluca home. He'd come right after work, knowing that he needed to do this. Amy had answered the door, her look turning slightly sympathetic when she had seen it was him, before asking him to come in. Once he had been seated in the living room, she had disappeared into the other room, saying she'd go and get Maria.

That had been fifteen minutes ago, and still no Maria.

Studying the floor like he was, he didn't notice when the pretty blonde finally entered the room. She stood still for a long moment, just looking at him, waiting for him to notice she was there. After a second, the young man lifted his eyes, and then landed on Maria.

Standing up, he rubbed his palms, which had suddenly began to sweat, on his jeans, and looked at her for a long moment. Licking at his lips, he opened his mouth, but she beat him to the punch.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice neutral. She sounded neither happy nor disgusted to see him standing in her living room, and Michael chose to see that as a good sign.

"I just...I just wanted to apologize. Again. For what happened. I didn't...I didn't do it because I
had to be right. I just...I just...I love you. I didn't want you to be hurt by him. Again."

"Michael..." Maria started, before stopping and shutting her eyes. After a second of silence, she
opened her eyes and looked at him. "Michael...if you could do what you did to me, who you claim to love, what could you do to someone you hated?"

"Maria..." His voice was choked, and he stopped, clearing his throat. "Maria..." He tried again, but she cut him off.

"I think you should go. Please." She told him, walking toward the front door. Michael had no choice but to follow. She reached the door and opened it, looking out.

"Maria. I..."

"I meant what I said, Michael. We're through. Now, will you please leave." Maria wouldn't look him in the eye, and Michael took that as another good sign.

"Maria..." Michael began, holding up his hand when she tried to cut him off again. "I'm sorry. That's all I can say--I never wanted to hurt you. But I wasn't going to stand around and let some one else hurt you either."

"Just go, Michael." Maria whispered. The young man nodded, his jaw tight, and left the house without another word. Maria shut the door, and leaned against it, fighting the tears in her eyes back. No...I won't cry over him again...no again..

"Maria honey, are you alright?" Amy asked from the doorway leading into the kitchen. Maria looked over at her mother, and moved toward her, slipping into her mother's welcoming embrace. "It's okay sweetheart...it'll be okay." She whispered soothingly into her daughter's hair, rubbing her back.

"Why did he have to do it, Mom?" Maria asked. Amy wasn't sure if she meant Michael or her father.

"I don't know, Maria. I don't know." The ringing of the telephone cut off anything else they were going to say. Amy answered it, while Maria sat down at the kitchen table, wiping at her dry cheeks.

"Hello? Oh, hi Liz. hang on, she's right here." Amy held the phone out to her daughter, mouthing "Liz" as she did so.

Taking the phone, Maria sniffed once, and asked "Lizzie? What's up?"

"Maria? Are you okay?" Liz asked, her voice worried.


"I'm fine. Just another run in with Michael." The blonde answered, and she heard Liz sigh.

"I'm sorry Maria." Liz told her

"It's okay. What's up?" Maria asked.

"I'm not sure...but Max called and asked for us all to meet him at the Valenti's. And umm...if you see Michael..." Liz trailed off.

"I'll tell him. See ya there, Lizzie." Maria promised.

"Bye Maria."

~ ~ ~

The silence was deafening.  The battlelines had been drawn.

 "So do you think we've had a mild winter?" Kyle asked to try to ease the tension in the room. Talk about being able to cut it with a knife...it's difficult to breath in here it's so thick...

 "I could care less, Kyle.  I just wish she would just go away," barked Liz as she glared at Tess, who had been sitting beside Kyle on the couch as Liz sat opposite them..

 Kyle gave Tess's hand a gentle squeeze, to reassure her that she had at least one ally in the room.  "Liz, I did a lot of things for you on blind faith last year.  Tess won't hurt anyone.  She never wanted to.  I'm sorry that you can't see it.  She was a victim, too. Remember that."

 Tess shook her head as she looked at Liz. "Kyle, let her hate me.  She always did.  Nothing is going to change it.  I could care less.  I can only apologise so often for something I had no control over... I'm tired of being made out as the bad guy."

Liz shook her head as she looked at her. "Isn't that what you are?  Aware of it or not, you killed my best friend, Isabel's boyfriend.  It may not be fair to hate you, Tess but I will never trust or forgive you."

"Liz...can we just maybe pretend that we can all stand to be in the same room as each other this once? It's important..."  Max tried to calm Liz down as he sat beside her. 

Kyle shook his head and exhaled deeply. What's going to happen when they find out Alex is alive.

 The doorbell rang and Max reluctantly got up to answer it, leading Isabel into the living rroom.  As she locked eyes with Tess, she turned on her heels and started to walk back to the door. "You have to be kidding...what, are we all going to do a group bonding session? I don't think so..." 

"Isabel, sit down." Max said loudly. He didn't need this, it was hard enough already. 

"Max, don't even think of pulling the crap you pulled after Alex died.  I'm not going to bow down to you like  I did then.  I had to end a fun date, just because you demanded an audience.  I want to be somewhere where that murdering whore isn't!"

Tess jumped to her feet and walked over to the taller alien as she looked at her angrilly. "Go then!  You were asked to be here because it was important.  If you can't stand my being in [b]my[/b] home, just leave."

 Isabel shook her head is disbelief. "You murdering tramp!" 

Tess looked at her with disdain. "I guess you were always a one trick pony, Isabel.  Things aren't always how they seem.  You know that better than anyone, Vilandra!"

 "I am not Vilandra!  I won't betray my brother this time." 

 Kyle walked up behind Tess, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her back to the couch. They did not need a catfight to add to tonights agenda.

During the exchange Jim opened the door, looked at the war in his living room and immediately walked into the kitchen and he shook his head in wonderment. If only they knew what that poor boy was going through. He poured himself a cup of coffee as he relaxed for a moment before the shit hit the fan again.

"Isabel, calm down.  Tess wasn't responsible.  Nicholas messed with her head." Max said with a sigh as he looked at her. 

Isabel took a deep breath as she looked at him and spoke through gritted teeth. "Max, that doesn't bring Alex back!"

Max turned towards Kyle and looked at him for help deperately. How did he try and respond to that? "Isabel, just...calm down, okay?" 

The doorbell rang again.  Liz answered it and led Michael and Maria into the room.

"Welcome to hell..." She whispered to Maria as Jim walked into the room. 

"We all here? Okay, I guess the best way to say this is just to say it..." A quick glance at Max was followed by three words that shocked most of the people in the room, "Alex is alive.  He was found in a hospital in Seattle.  I left to get him after Kyle and I got home.  It is him.  They did blood tests."

Liz brought a hand up to her mouth in disbelief as Isabel sat down and looked at the sheriff in shock. Maria took a deep breath as she looked around at the others. Michael was standing as though he was hearing things. She turned to look over at Max. He didn't look that surprised? She turned to look at the couch and she felt her face flush as she looked at Tess and Kyle, they knew as well? 

"Why the hell didn't you tell us he was alive, Max?  It's obvious you, Kyle, and Tess knew.  Why the hell did you keep it a secret!"

Liz looked at Maria and the to Max. She didn't know what to say, what to think. It was real...the dream was real. I saw him.

Michael walked over to Max and stood in front of him angrilly. "Maxwell, how the hell could you!  You knew how Liz, Maria, and Isabel were after it happened!  You had no right!"

"Michael, calm down! Yes, I knew. Yes, I didn't tell you right away but I was trying to handle it myself as well as trying to work out what to do and what went on!"

"Max, why didn't you tell me?  I loved him." Isabel said sadly as she looked at him. "Is this because we argued? You thought you'd punish me?"

Max looked at her apologetically and shook his head. "This didn't have anything to do with us arguing!"

Maria walked over to Tess and shook her head. "Did you know? Did you know that he was still alive?"

Tess shook her head as she looked at Maria. "Of course not, do you think I would have admitted to being a murderer if I didn't think I had killed him?" 

The arguing continued for a couple of minutes.  Finally, Jim got fed up and bellowed, "You selfish, self-centered children.  This isn't about you and your feelings!  It's about Alex and the fact that he lost 9 months of his life! Now you all profess to care about him, so how about you all start acting like it?" He took a deep breath as he looked at them all slowly in turn. "That boy woke up from a coma, he had to undergo tests, psychological analysis because they didn't believe who he was. He comes back to find that everyone believes he killed himself and that he has lost 9 months of his life. You know what he says to me? He says he doesn't think he can do it to everyone...he doesn't think he can hurt them. And what do you all do? Instead of rejoicing in the miracle you want to fight about it like school children? 'He knew first and I should have known first?' It's pathetic!"

He walked towards the kitchen. "If this is you all being his friends then I don't think much of your defination of friendship."

Admonished, the others quietly sat and listened as Jim continued.  "Let Alex get settled with his parents.  I know you all want to see him, especially Liz, Maria, and Isabel.  Give him a little time to adjust.  Maybe he'll be ready for visitors tomorrow. I suggest you all go home and try and work out where your priorities lie."

 The group left slowly and in silence as they headed for the cars and drove off.

 Isabel, sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep, was drowning in her thoughts. She had so much to work out. He was alive. She had to force herself not to scream out loud in happiness as she felt the emotion overwhelm her. Alex was alive! 

He's alive! After everything, I finally have my best friend back...the person I loved. He's alive...he's alive!

Unbidden her thoughts turned to Christian. They had had fun that day. He was a nice guy...completely different from Alex in every sense and she enjoyed being with him. He had helped her move on. But he's not Alex... No matter what I do someone is going to get hurt.  It could be Christian, Alex or even me.  I have no idea what I'm going to do.

 Liz sat in the Jetta with Maria trying to go over what had happened as she tried to work out what could have happened. Why would they try and frame Tess for the murder?

There's something we're missing.  I'm beyond ecstatic that Alex is alive, but why go through all the trouble to make it look like Alex was dead?  I hope it was just a lucky break, but I feel a storm coming.  I hope we can weather it.

After she dropped Liz off, Maria returned home and went up to her room.  Alex is back!  I miss having someone to talk to about music other than Metallica and Staind.  I'm glad I never touched his guitar.  Only one person should ever touch that fret board.  She got out the case, took the acoustic and placed it in the case with reverence. She sighed happily as she closed it for the trip it was going to make the next day. Back where it belonged. To the person who was finally back where he belonged, back to them.

~ ~ ~

It was still his room. But it wasn't, at the same time.

Alex sat on the floor of the bedroom that he had grown up in, studying the bare walls and the vacant dressers, the empty closets. Everything that had ever made this room his was gone, stripped away. Thrown away. Just like the nine months he had been gone--stripped away and thrown out like yesterdays trash. Nine months of his life gone. Everything tangible that had been his life before, gone.

Swallowing hard, he looked down at the scraps of paper he had found--newspaper articles about his death, his apparent "suicide". Articles that his father had kept. Why would anyone want to keep something like this? Why would his father keep something like that?

"Teenager Killed In Car Accident"

"West Roswell High Student's Death Apparent Suicide"

"Memorial Service Held For Teenaged Boy"

The scraps of newspaper fluttered to the ground, and Alex shut his eyes, laying his forehead on his knees. Wrapping his long arms around his legs, the young man swallowed hard, trying not cry again. Running his fingers through his hair and standing up, he crept out of his room, silently, listening for his father.

"Jenna...no, Jenna, I'm serious. It's Alex. Yes, it is! What, you think I wouldn't know my own son!?" Charles Whitman's voice carried through the house, and Alex leaned up against the wall, exhaling hard.

His mother. His father had called his mother.

It was probably a good thing to do--she was his mother...technically. And he was impressed by his father's ability to actually find her--she usually traveled around to much for anyone short of a
professional detective to track her down. Maybe Dad had called her parents or something.

"Jenna, he's HERE. He's ALIVE. Don't you wanna see him?!"

Of course not. She hadn't wanted to see him before. Why would she want to see him now? She's run off right before he entered the forth grade, and hadn't showed back up until he was nearly in eighth. She'd been here two weeks, and was gone again. And he'd actually thought she was here to stay.

"Of course you don't. You couldn't even be bothered to come to your own son's FUNERAL, could you, Jenna?"

She hadn't come to his funeral? A slicing pain built up in his chest, and he slid down against the wall, licking at his lips. Why was he surprised? She hadn't shown him the tiniest bit of interest when he had been alive, why would she have cared that he was dead.

"Yes, I know that it was hard for you to accept, Jenna. I know that it hurt that he was dead! He's my son too!"

Wow, his mother actually admitted to feeling pain over something that wasn't about her. Oh wait, it was about her. It wasn't that he was dead, it was that her son was dead. Her. Always about her.

"Do you want to see him or not? Is he different? What kind of question is that?"

Of course he was different. She hadn't seen him since eighth grade. He was bound to change somewhat, right?


"Yeah...yeah, he's a little bit different. A lot different, actually. But I guess...I can't really blame him for it. I wouldn't blame him for it."

A long silence. His mother must have a lot to say about that.

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, Jenna. Looking into my son's eyes, after thinking that I had lost him...and then suddenly having him back. It was like that old wound had been ripped open again with a blunt knife."

He didnt' need to hear anymore. Squeezing his eyes shut, Alex stood up, swallowing hard. His eyes fluttered open, and he moved silently through the hallway and toward his room. Closing the door gently, he looked around the bare room and knew he couldn't stay there. Opening the window, he slipped out, landing on his feet.

His feet automatically began walking, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, letting his feet take him where they would.

What had happened to him? Where had he been? All he could remember was Tess...mindwarping him...and then waking up in a hospital in Seattle, nine months later. That wasn't much to go on.

His feet stopped moving, and he looked around, trying to place where he was. As if he even had to think about it. The flashing lights of the crashing UFO above the Crashdown Cafe winked down at him, and Alex swallowed hard. Liz. Liz was here.

And then his feet were moving again, taking him around to the back of the building to the fire escape he had climbed so many times...before. His hands and feet still knew the way, and he climbed up, careful not to make any more noise then he could get away with.

Slipping onto the rooftop, the young man moved through the shadows the night had painted across Liz's balcony. He stopped just short of the plane of light that was spilling through her open window. She was sitting on her bed--not really doing anything, just sitting and staring off into space. He wondered if he should disturb her or just go home.

His choice was made by his hand, rather then his mind. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and tapped lightly on the window. Her head snapped up and she peered out of the window, trying to see into the curtain of the darkness.

"Who's there?" She asked, standing up and heading toward her window. "Max?"

Alex swallowed hard and stepped into the light. "Liz...please...don't scream."

The young woman stared at him for a long second, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears, her breathing fast and uneven. Her lips turned slightly blue and all the color fled from her face, making her look like a ghost
with two midnight eyes. For a long second, she just stared at him.

A strangled noise, somewhere between a sob and a gasp ripped from her throat, and she threw herself forward, and out the window, scrambling faster then he had ever seen her move before. And then she was there, her arms wrapped around him so tightly he thought she was going to squeeze the life out of him. But it didn't matter because it was Liz. She was here.

"Alex...oh my God, Alex..." Liz wept, over and over again, her hands twisting into the shirt he was wearing. He pressed himself closer to her, laying his cheek against the top of her dark hair. "I knew...I knew..." Her sentence was cut off by a breathy sob.

"I knew you didn't kill yourself. I knew it...oh God, I knew it. In my bones, in my heart...Alex...oh God, Alex."

"Liz." He murmured into her hair, hanging onto her slim form for dear life. "Liz."

For a long moment, they simply held onto one another,like their very lives depended on it. Liz's hands slid up and down Alex's back, like she had to touch every part of him, to know that he was really there, really in her arms, and not just some dream, a nightmare that she would wake crying from.

Finally, finally, they let go of one another, Liz still shaking with suppressed sobs. He looked down at her for a long second, and she stared back up at him, one of her hands moving involuntarily to her mouth as if she was trying to physically hold back the cries bubbling up in her throat.

"Liz..."Alex whispered, closing his eyes and trying to block out the image of her eyes swimming with tears the way they were. "Liz...oh God, Liz, I can't do this to everyone. I can't just...just drop back into their lives, rip open a long healed wound this way...I'm sorry Liz. I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have come here...I'm sorry."

"No, Alex, no! Please...please don't think that." Liz stepped forward, pressing her palms flat against his chest, one right over his heart. She stopped talking, feeling the steady pound of his heart against her hand. "Oh God.." She whispered, her tears spilling over. "Oh God, it's really true. It's really true. You're here. You're here. It's you...oh God, Alex..."

"Liz...I'm scared, Liz." Alex whispered to her in a choked whisper. "I don't know who to trust, or what to think or...or...I've lost almost a year of my life, Liz! And I don't know why...and I don't know...I don't..." He trailed of, his voice thick with emotion.

"Alex...shhh...shhh...it's okay Alex. It's okay."

She took his hand, threading her fingers through his and pulling him forward, so that she could set him in her lawn chair. "It's okay. I'm here, Alex. I'm here. You can trust me. Me and Maria. We're here for you. I'm here for you. I'll help you. I'm here. You can trust me."

"I do Liz. I do." Alex whispered to her, looking at her with the brilliantly blue eyes she had once thought she would never see again. Without another word, the young woman slipped her arms around his neck, pulling him into her embrace. His head resting on her shoulder, his warm breath tickling her neck, his heartbeat thudding in time with her own.

They stayed that way for a long time, as the stars shone down, promising them a better tomorrow.

TBC