You Can Never Go Back

Author: Sunnycouger (foolofatook_@hotmail.com)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: You all don't honestly think that I own any of this do you? Roswell and all its characters are property of Melinda Metz and Jason Katims..I just take them out to play sometimes...

Category: CC

Summary: This is a future fic when the aliens get a chance to go “home” and the story follows each of their reactions to the news and their final decision.

Authors Notes: Follow up to When It's Time To Leave Home and The War.

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Bridges Chapter 1

The darkness had eventually subsided as the morning sun began to break through the dense night sky. A new day was about to begin. And lives were about to restart. It had only been a few hours since they had returned home. And for the first time in 4 years..they all had made the journey back...together.

Maria looked outside her window at the rising sun and for the twelve time she closed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure that everything was real...and not another fantasy. As she opened her eyes she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her waist and she immediately felt butterflies start in her stomach. It was all real. The pain could now stop and she would be able to start living again. He was here and they were together, nothing would prevent her from keeping it that way.

Michael had watched her as she stood at the window. The early morning sun made her glow as it bounced from her skin. It had been so long since he had seen her; he didn't want to look away in case it was all a dream. Like so many he had had in the four years he had been away from her. He walked over towards her and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. It had been so long since he had been able to do this. It felt right. It felt like it always had...it felt good. As she leaned back into his embrace she smiled at him as she spoke.

"I knew you'd come back for me."

"I promised I would didn't I?"

"Yeah, I just..sometimes I thought..that maybe..you.."

"wouldn't come back?"

Her silent nod through her tears confirmed the statement; he turned her round and looked at her. They hadn't spoken much since he had gotten back; she had no idea what things had been like away from here. She could only imagine, he would never tell her the grim reality. It was the past and he had no intention of letting her see it...ever. He searched for the right words to say to comfort her.

"I would never leave you alone...I promised you. Besides it was you that helped me get through the years. This..."

he reached into his pocket and pulled a necklace out of it.

"...reminded me what I had waiting for me. Thank you for guiding me home Maria, without you...I wouldn't have made it back."

She began to smile broadly as the tears openly flowed down her face. As she gently fingered the necklace he had in his hand she reached up and kissed him gently.

"Thank you for coming back. I hated being on my own. Alex and Isabel..were so happy, I think I was beginning to resent them because of it. I wasn't very nice to Izzy while you were away, she probably thought that I hated her...maybe I did a little..."

"Well, I sincerely doubt Isabel would have cared. As long as it didn't mess up her own little world, where she has nothing more to worry about than what colour of nail polish to put on or how to up Diane's school report to a more acceptable level. She is and always will be self absorbed and selfish..."

"Don't say that Michael she's your frie..."

She reached for his arm to calm him down and he pulled away sharply.

"No she's not! She cost us 2 years Maria! If she had put aside her own selfishness we would have been home 2 years ago! Hell, Liz and Kyle went and they didn't even have powers! Don't tell me she's my friend...if she was any of our friend she would have helped us when we needed it. Kyle wouldn't have been a prisoner for a month of torture..the twins wouldn't have to readapt to a different planet and Liz wouldn't have to find some excuse to tell her parents. Don't kid yourself Maria, she is a princess...don't expect her to get her hands dirty or to mingle with the commoners!"

Maria looked at him with shock; he looked like he hated her. This wasn't like him. Isabel had always looked after him and he thought of her as his sister. They were protective of each other and he would never let anyone talk about her like he was now talking about her. He would never say such hurtful things about her. This wasn't like him.

"Michael, stop this! It wasn't her fault! She had a family that needed her here!"

"Yeah? Well guess what Maria? She had a family there that needed her as well!"

With that he walked out the door and walked towards the garden. Maria could only look on; she didn't know what else she could say to him. He'd have to work it out himself. He and Isabel would have to work it out together.

The Whitman house was full to bursting. Inside was everyone else that had met in the desert the previous night. It had been easier on everyone with the one house, they wouldn't have to explain to anybody what had happened straight away. The Evans' twins were sleeping in Alex and Isabel's bed while their parents sat with their friends...whom they hadn't seen in years. Kyle, Tess and Jim Valenti sat in the kitchen...the father just glad that his family had made it back to him.

"Thanks, for understanding why I didn't want to go to yours tonight dad. A screaming Amy should definitely be a daytime thing."

"Well, she's looking after Diane and Phil anyway so.."

"Yeah..."

"So Tess, how are you doing? You look really tired."

"Ok, just really happy to be home..and for us all to be together...at last."

Tess smiled at Kyle making sure he understood what she meant. Making sure he knew how glad she was that they had made it home together. Despite everything. He responded by taking her hand in his and gently squeezing it. If anything, the time they had been away had made them stronger as a couple...and in a way it relieved Jim to see that. His son had never been the greatest "alien lover" since he had found out. He had been a little worried what being away from all human life would have done to him. He shouldn't have worried.

"Listen, I want to go and catch a little shuteye before we go and see Amy ok? You two talk."

With that Tess got up and kissed Kyle gently and gave Jim a hug before walking out the kitchen towards the bedroom. She knew they needed to be alone. She would say everything she needed to later but just now it needed to be just them.

"Well..just us now. So how've you been dad?"

Kyle looked nervously at his hands as he talked.

"Great, Amy's been keeping me real busy with everything.."

"Good..."

Jim looked at his son as he talked, he never made eye contact with him and he was really interested in his hands.

"You want to tell me what happened with you all?"

"Not a lot, we went up. We fought the bad guys, we won and we got to come home..your typical war."

"Ah...just a "typical war" then. You got messed up pretty badly. How'd that happen?"

"Umm, I just um, I was in a kinda..prison I guess and..and..it happened then."

Jim's heart fell; he knew the kind of inhuman things humans did to the prisoners of the opposition. He had no idea what kind of atrocities his son would have endured by alien captors. He tried to keep his voice level.

"How..how long? What..what did..they do?"

"About...about a month, I guess. They um..they umm..they..."

Kyle began cry, a sob escaped his lips before he could finish the sentence. Jim was beside him in an instant and wrapped his arms around him as he began to cry into his arms.

"I'm..I'm sorry dad..I'm..I'm so sorry...It just...hurt..they..they wouldn't st..stop...I..missed..you..I'm..sorry dad..I'm sorry..."

Jim could do nothing but gently soothe him as his own tears silently fell. His son had been hurt, and tortured and he couldn't save him. He didn't even know about it. He wanted to kill whatever had done it to him, he wanted to demand Max take him there and he'd do it. He knew it was impossible, he knew that all he could do was to be there for him. All he could do was to be there for them all. And this time he'd protect them.

Max and Liz were sitting in the lounge area talking to Alex and Isabel.

"So, what have my parents been saying?"

"You mean other than "get a phone..call us!" and "get a camera..lets see your kids" and "if you don't come home soon we will come and see you." and "If Max Evans doesn't get you and the kids home I swear to God I will get him thrown in prison for kidnapping you.”. Other than that..they haven't been saying much."

Isabel tried to surpress a giggle at her husbands imatation of the Parkers' unfortunately when she heard Liz's worried tone and saw the look of dread on Max's face she had to let it out.

"Oh god, what am I going to say to them?"

"You should blame Max, they already hate him. I was in the Crashdown and they told me to tell my brother he better bring their daughter home sometime in the near future or else! Your father doesn't own a gun does he Liz?"

"We said you were doing travelling aid work..which was why you were never in the same place that long. You probably should have mentioned something to them."

"Will you two please stop laughing..this could be tragic! I've survived a war only to be killed by my in-laws. They'll give us a break I'm sure, they'll be that glad to see you and the kids that I'm sure they'll only want to kill me later...right? "

"Sure Max...you can believe that if you want."

"Thanks Alex, you sure know how to make a person feel good."

"Hey, I'm not the one that dragged their daughter off "around the world" you know?"

Liz smiled at the banter; it had been so long since she had heard Alex's voice..she had missed it so much. She looked at Isabel; sometimes she had felt resentment towards her. Not so much resentment but envy. She wished that it could have been her and Max living the perfect life. But now, seeing how happy Alex and her had been it was hard to feel that way. She wouldn't rob them of it for anything. It had been a long time since any of them had seen each other and she knew that Max and Isabel needed to talk to each other. Alone.

"Well I'm going to go and wake the kids up, come on Alex..you can join me instead of scaring my husband."

"I wasn't scaring him...I was INFORMING him of a sure thing. Your parents will kill him."

Max smiled as they walked off leaving the siblings sitting alone in the lounge.

"It's great to be home! Although I think Alex has got more sarcastic since I've been away. It's really good to see you all Isabel."

"Well, it's great to see you Max. How've you been?"

"Fine, it was hard but we all came through it."

"Good, I’m glad." she paused before beginning again. " I'm..I'm sorry Max.."

"Why?"

"I didn't go and becau..because I didn't you all were hurt.." Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she quickly moved to wipe them away.

"You didn't cause this. It would have happened anyway Isabel.."

"Michael.."

"Michael needs something to blame, it doesn't mean anything. You know what like he is."

"He's never hated me before..."

"He doesn't hate you now..he just see's you with everything he wants and he's jealous. Maybe jealous is the wrong word. He's envyous..deep down I know he wishes that he had stayed here. Like we all wished. We had to do a lot of things up there, and a lot of them were wrong. But we still did them anyway. We were at war but none of us wanted to be there. Michael just finds it easier to blame you for it. He'll get over it eventually."

"Eventually?"

"I promise. Besides even if he did hate you would you have changed your mind? Would you have left here to go and fight?"

"No...never. I couldn't. I'd rather have Michael hate me than not have Alex here at all. My family is too important to me. Alex, the kids..and you all! Max…I..I've missed you all so much.."

With that she went and wrapped her arms around her brother’s neck. She had missed him so much…things weren’t the same without him. She had always been able to rely on him being there for her…no matter what. It hadn’t been the same since he had been gone. Max quietly comforted his sister, he had always done this, since they had come out of the pods when they were 6. He had missed being able to look after and comfort her.

“We missed you too, shh, it’s ok. We’ll all get through this Izzy. Things will be fine…I promise…”

He gently stroked her hair and looked in the kitchen to see Kyle crying into his father's shoulder. It would take a while, but things would get better for them all. He’d make sure of it. They had to get better.

TBC

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