"Max, honey, you need to hurry up, or you kids will be late," Liz warned, reaching for her bag as Max walked towards the front room, backpack slung over his shoulders. He looked tired to her. She walked towards him and cupped his face in her hands, lifting his chin to look up at her.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" Liz asked, her eyebrows knit in concern. Max’s eyes hesitated for a minute before he nodded his head. She saw the pause and tried not to worry. She knew she could pry it out of him if she really wanted to, but Liz didn’t want to force him to tell her anything he wasn’t ready for. She kissed his forehead gently and walked with him to the door. After locking the door, Liz looked up to see Beth and Mike running down the hall from their home.

"Hi kids," Liz said with a smile. They grinned back and as a group they rode the elevator down to the ground level. As they always did, Liz parted ways with the kids at the subway stop, she was heading north while they rode the subway to midtown where their school was. After his mother was out of sight and Mike was busy staring off into the dark tunnel Max turned to Beth.

"Did you get it?" he asked anxiously. She nodded, patting her backpack.

"I got it, and as long as I get it back later tonight Mom won’t notice," Beth replied with a grin. Mike turned a suspicious eye towards them.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked.

"Nothing," Beth and Max answered in unison. Max held his breath, Mike obviously didn’t buy it, but he let it go, for now. Max settled back in the hard plastic chair for the rest of the short trip, his eyes focused outside the subway car, but his thoughts trying to decide what he would say to his father later in the day. He spent the rest of the day during school trying to come up with a way to get away from Isabel, Mike and Belle during their meeting in the park that afternoon. He still hadn’t come up with anything as they walked towards the park after school. Beth and Belle were chattering on about something as he and Mike walked ahead of them and Mike bounced a ball against the pavement.

"You two don’t have that dumb dance class today, do you?" Mike called back to them. Beth glared at him.

"No Michael. We do not have our ballet class today," Beth retorted. Mike stuck his tongue out at her, she knew he didn’t like the use of his full name. They continued to walk towards the park until they came to the 59^th Street Columbus Circle subway stop where they got on and rode up to the 81^st Street stop. As they entered the park, Max caught Beth’s arm, pulling her back as Belle and Mike walked ahead of them.

"What is it Max?" she asked, her voice low.

"Look, I think I know how we can get away from them later on," he replied. Beth’s eyes lit up.

"How?"

"Simple, we’ll just say that we want to go off and explore," he replied. Beth looked at him dubiously.

"I don’t know Max, I don’t think she’ll buy it," she replied.

"She has to," Max replied, waving to Isabel as they got closer.

Isabel watched the children out of the corner of her eye. They’d been in the park over an hour and the kids were getting distracted. As they usually did, they found a secluded area, surrounded by trees and bush. There Isabel demonstrated her powers to the kids and explained to them how she kept them under control. Next, she gave them specific tasks, so she could try and figure out the extent of their powers. Isabel sighed, she had no idea if what she was doing was right, but it was the only thing she could think of.

"Aunt Isabel, Beth and I are going to explore a little," Max said, grabbing her attention. Isabel nodded.

"That’s fine, just stay together and stay close," she said, watching them run off into the park. Soon, Belle and Mike wanted to head off into the park and Isabel watched them go a little sadly. She constantly wondered about Max and Michael. She wished that they were there, that they could see their children.

Isabel recognized that it had been difficult for everyone when they had left, she’d gone into a state of depression that almost no one could break. When the sheriff had woken up and there had been some hope, Isabel had been able to rouse herself from the stupor she’d been in. Even the prospect of Maria and Liz carrying Michael and Max’s children had managed to bring a smile to her face.

Then Liz and Maria had left. Isabel knew why, she’d listened to Liz’s tearful explanation as she related how her parents wouldn’t accept or help her. But with Liz and Maria gone, and Max and Michael’s whereabouts unknown, Isabel had slipped back into depression. She’d taken to sleeping in Max’s room, just to be a little closer to him. She dreamwalked every night, hoping that she might find them somewhere. But she never did.

July 2002
Roswell

Isabel’s eyes focused on the picture on Max’s dresser. Her and Max in Snowmass, at the top of the ski slope. His arm was around her shoulder and the flakes of snow falling around them almost blurred the picture. Looking at that picture made her feel so alone.

She knew they had to be out there somewhere, but she couldn’t feel them. The others didn’t understand what that was like. Being different than everyone else had been bad enough growing up, but at least she’d had Max and Michael, who were as different as her. Liz and Maria had tried to hard to comfort her in her loss and Isabel had tried to do the same for them. But she’d failed them.

Even with all her powers she couldn’t bring them back, she couldn’t find them for the women who needed them so much. Alex tried so hard to be there for all of them, but it was too hard to do. Liz and Maria had left a week ago for New York City and Isabel had retreated to Max’s room. Alex called nearly every hour, but she never spoke to him.

She felt so alone, losing nearly everyone all in a few months. Alex was all she had left, but she was too afraid of losing him too. Three years ago when he’d been missing out in the snow she’d almost died thinking she would never see him again. She didn’t want to pick up the phone to hear him say he was leaving for college or a band tour and that she was completely alone. The phone began to ring again and Isabel started to cry at the sound, pulling the pillow over her head to drown it out.

She sobbed and her body shook at the shrill sound until it stopped after the tenth ring. The tears rolled down her face, making the pillow damp until she wiped her cheeks with the sheet, drying them. Her throat was raw from crying and her eyes were still wet when she heard a knocking sound. Looking at the door, she realized it wasn’t coming from there. She turned her eyes to the window as it cracked open.

"Isabel? It’s Alex, I’m coming in," he said, his voice carrying through the dark curtains. Isabel didn’t utter a sound as Alex climbed in and sat next to her on the bed. Silently, he picked up her limp body and pulled her into his lap. She settled against his warm chest, grasping the shirt her wore in her hand. He stroked her hair gently and rubbed her back in slow circles. She was still shaking, but she gradually stopped as Alex’s heartbeat under her ear calmed her.

"I am so sorry Isabel. I wish I’d come sooner, but I thought you needed space. I thought you needed to be alone," Alex said, his voice unhappy. She closed her eyes painfully. Being alone was the last thing she needed, but that was all she ever felt.

"I miss them so much."

"I know you do sweetheart. But they’ll come back someday, you have to believe that," Alex tried to reassure her. She shook her head.

"No, not Max and Michael. I mean, I do miss them, but I miss Liz and Maria. So much, I wish they were here," Isabel said, her voice soft. Alex stopped his movements, catching her attention. She looked up and met his playful eyes, knowing that he had some kind of surprise for her. It almost felt like things were back to normal, back when Alex would leave her presents and surprises in her locker, blindfold and kidnap her to some mysterious location.

"What is it?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. They’d played the game for years. Alex refused to give her any clues until she asked him, mostly because he knew her curiosity would win in the end. He shifted a little and pulled out a plane ticket. Her body froze for a second as every horrible thought floated through her head. He was leaving her, and she’d be all alone. Just as she was beginning to panic, her eyes settled on the ticket and she realized there were two.

"Two plane tickets to New York City. We leave on Saturday. I’d suggest you get packing," Alex said, a hint of a smile on his face. Feeling happy for the first time since Liz and Maria had left, Isabel kissed Alex gently. She pulled him down to the bed with her as his hands ran up her body to touch her face. The loneliness was still in the back of her mind, but it felt like she could deal with it better with her friends and family around her.

March 2013
New York

Isabel blinked her eyes, realizing she had been staring at a small bird perched on a tree nearby. She’d been thinking about the day that she and Alex had conceived their daughter. Isabel grinned to herself, wondering what her brother would think knowing his sister had had sex on his bed.

She and Alex had gone to New York, knowing they wouldn’t return to Roswell because the people they needed were in New York. For awhile they’d all lived together and they all celebrated Isabel’s pregnancy and the birth of Maria and Liz’s children. It had been almost eleven years since they’d all come to New York, and none of them had ever let.

Isabel’s parents came to visit often, they understood how hard it was for her to come back to Roswell. And they loved to see both their grandchildren, so they came to New York. Somehow, she and Alex had managed to start at the bottom level of their jobs at Virgin Records and Saks Fifth Avenue, but they’d both managed to reach the top.

They had a family, an even bigger family when she counted their extended family of Liz, Max, Maria, Beth and Michael. But still, even after all the years that had gone by, Isabel missed her brothers. She had a feeling they were still out there, but it frustrated her that she didn’t know where. And she worried that they might return to Roswell and find that they had all left. Alex calmed her during those moments, and he told her that Max and Michael would find them.

And she believed her husband. She did believe that her brothers would come back someday.

March 2013
Outskirts of Roswell

Michael drove the jeep under the cover of night, reassured by the darkness. The air was drier than he was used to and the breeze was light as he could feel the warmth of the spring night over the desert. He’d been traveling for over a day now. His plane had landed in Mexico near the border of the United States and he’d found Max’s old jeep, hidden and nearly forgotten for over ten years. A quick swipe of his hand brought the engine back to life and he’d grinned, pleased with himself. Fixing Maria’s car years ago had been too much of a challenge for him, but with a little fine tuning, he’d gotten his powers better under control.

It had been dusk as he’d crossed over the border into New Mexico and he’d driven north to Roswell. He kept the radio off and only the headlights on. He watched his speed and was careful when he passed other cars. He couldn’t get pulled over in a car with no registration and a driver without a license. Michael took a deep breath as he got closer to Roswell. He’d been contemplating actually going into town the entire trip up north. He wondered if she was still in Roswell, if they were all still there. The question was almost enough to get him to turn into town, but the possibility that anyone might see him drove him to turn away and head directly for the Indian Reservation.

Before he even drove past the entrance to the reservation, he ditched the jeep, covering it with the camouflage he and Max had hidden it with in Mexico. The jeep had remained undiscovered for years in the Mexican desert, he thought it would be safe for a few hours. Michael pulled his backpack from the jeep and he began the hike towards the cave.

It was almost like the cave was calling to him. It pulled him, gave him energy to hike faster to the entrance. He was careful to listen for anyone else before he entered the cave. The area was deserted and as Michael looked around the entrance, he didn’t notice any human footprints at the opening. No one had been up to the cave in a long time.

He entered, stooping his back to accommodate the low ceiling. Putting his hand in front of him, Michael lit the dark interior with just a thought that made a bright glow resonate over the walls. He trudged deeper into the cave and walked a path that he didn’t actually know, but he was guided by the pull he felt. Finally, he reached the cave drawings, which had held such mystery all those years ago when Max and Liz had first discovered them.

He traced them with his fingers and sighed. He still didn’t know what they said, or what they meant. Setting his backpack down, Michael retrieved his findings from the cave in Venezuela. Near Angel Falls he’d found a cave and deep inside was what he’d found.

Unwrapping them slowly, Michael carefully cradled the five stones in his hands. They were just like the stones that River Dog had been given by Nasedo when River Dog was a boy, the stones that they had used to heal Michael with during his struggle to balance his body. Except these stones were a midnight blue where the other stones were an amber color. They also had a round shape and rough edges, and Michael was almost certain that they would fit into the same spots that the other stones had.

He couldn’t even explain what had compelled him to find the stones in the first place. Just like he was being drawn to the cave in New Mexico, he’d felt that same pull in Venezuela. He’d thought about having Max meet him and they could figure it out together, but Michael couldn’t wait, whatever was calling him wouldn’t allow him to delay.

Carefully Michael placed one stone in each of the hollows on the cave wall. Somehow he knew which stone went where and how it fit in the scheme of the cave drawing. As he pushed the last stone into the remaining hole, he stepped back. His heart sped up as the stones began to glow and he heard a hum begin to build. The glowing increased until the cave became as light as day. Michael shielded his eyes from the glare until the light burst like a super nova. He could feel the light in his mind as it filled his entire being.

And then the world went black.