Title: Kingdom of fools
Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell, I am just borrowing it for a while but I promise to give it back. Within in this Fanfic I have used speech/scenes from the episode Riverdog and could not have written it without doing so.
Pairing: CC M/L
Rating: TEEN/MATURE, contains some strong language and will have mild violence later on.
Summary: When Liz goes to meet Riverdog she doesn't return.
Author Notes: Err...well, this steamed from a oneshot I wrote a while ago and then lost because I deleted my entire writing folder by accident. (I still hate myself for that) So I was rewriting it when it just became...gigantic. So, I hope you enjoy it but just beware that I have no beta ^^
Prologue
Liz started back towards the jetta, disappointment flooding through her. She hadn't found anything. And now she had to go and tell Max that, something she was most definitely not looking forward too - he hadn't even wanted her to come out here in the first place.
Liz sighed; she'd wanted to do this for him, for them. Guilt had been welling up inside her for the past month as she'd watched the events unfold. Max saved her life and this was what he got.
A sudden noise from behind caused Liz to spin around, her eyes looking wildly at her surroundings.
"Hello?" She called out instinctively, not at all surprised when she received no answer. Turning back to the car, Liz hurried the last few steps and opened the door only to be stopped by a hand gripping her wrist.
"Give me that."
Liz looked up from the hand holding her wrist and stared at the man in front of her, the same man the peddler had told her to say away from.
"Who are you?" Liz asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice and failing miserably.
"Please." The stranger said, releasing her wrist.
Slowly, Liz held her hand up for him the take the necklace.
"Where did you get this?" He asked her but his eyes never left the necklace.
"We just found it." She replied, excitement building up inside her. He recognised it!
"We!" The man questioned, his eyes snapping up to meet hers.
"No." Liz denied nervously, taking a small step back at his harsh demeanour. "I found it."
"Who else knows? How many know? Tell me!"
"No one else knows."
"How did you know to come here? Were you followed?"
"No, I wasn't." Liz said in a rush, she need to find out what he knew. "I...what does this mean to you? Please tell me."
The stranger looked at her closely, considering her plea.
"No." He said almost absently, and before Liz could think of a response he grabbed her wrist again and a blinding light surrounded her.
"But I can show you."
--
ROSWELL GIRL MISSING, LOCALS FEARING THE WORST
November 4th, 1999
The alarm was raised early yesterday morning when the parents of missing teen Elizabeth Parker (pictured left) failed to appear for her morning shift at the busy Crashdown Cafe. Nancy Parker is reported to have gone upstairs, thinking her daughter had just slept in, to wake her. But instead she found every parents worst nightmare - her daughter was not there. A report from the Sheriffs office claims young Elizabeth's bed had not been slept in and that there was no sign of a struggle.
In an interview late last night, Sheriff Valenti has said he believes the young girl might have, like a lot of teens today, snuck out to meet a friend/boyfriend. The sheriff is currently questioning Elizabeth's close friends and family but so far there are reportedly no leads. When pressed by reporters the Sheriff admitted to have ruled out the possibility that the teen had run away.
"Liz is a straight A student, she's a smart girl with a good life. There is no evidence to suggest she would run away, there's just no reason for her to do so."
Meanwhile the local residents of Roswell have been visibly shaken by the current news.
"We're in the Crashdown every Sunday," Local woman Jo McLean said about her and her husband in an interview with us yesterday, "Liz was always there, she's been working there as long as we've been going. I...I can't imagine going in there now. Not until she's back with us again."
"Liz is a sweet, well spoken girl...I just don't want to believe she might not come back..."
"This is our town, and the people in it are our Family," Congressman Jim Dale told us, "And we, the people of Roswell, will do anything and everything to help this girl get home." He said speaking of the communities plans to mount a search party.
The neighbouring county's have been alerted to the situation and are now working closely with the Sheriffs department.
Continued on pg 9...
Max stared unseeingly at the paper as he absorbed the information, or lack there of. The article didn't tell him anything he didn't already know. And he didn't know anything which meant the Sheriff didn't know anything which meant they were getting absolutely nowhere.
"Damnit!"
He needed to get out there, to the reservation. The Sheriff didn't know she'd been out there, so they wouldn't even think to look. Liz could be there, hurt, lost and he was just sitting at home! Doing nothing but reading Newspapers!
When they had first realised Liz hadn't come back Max was already half way to the Jeep by the time Michael had caught up with him. An argument had ensued that had at least half the school gaping in shock and Max had been forced to stay by Michael's reminder. They're watching us.
Max didn't care about that; he didn't care if the entirety of Roswell followed him out there, as long as he got Liz back. But Isabel and Michael did care. It was their lives on the line as well. So they waited. It was second period when, one by one, they had been taken to the offices to be questioned by the Sheriff and if Max had thought Valenti was tough with him before he hadn't seen anything yet. The minute he walked into the room he had been slammed against the wall, accusations thrown in his face.
He was the Sheriffs number one suspect, even if no one else knew it.
Any form of plan they might have been able to come up with went out the window because now, not only had the FBI tightened their watch on them but they had the Sheriffs department tailing them as well.
And Liz was still missing.
"Damnit!" Max cursed again, his frustration growing. He needed to do something, anything.
"Max?"
Jerking his head up at the sound, Max's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Maria standing at his window.
"Maria, hey..." Hurrying over, Max helped the shorthaired girl through the window. "How are you?" He asked hesitantly.
"Ha...good question, I'll be sure to let you know, when I know." She said, somewhat bitterly.
"I...I'm so-"
"Don't apologise, Max." Maria said, cutting him off. "You've been doing that for the past two days and I've been telling you that it's not your fault. Liz would've gone out there anyway." She finished, a wary smile on her face.
"Yeah." Max agreed, even though he didn't believe it. This was his fault. No one could convince him otherwise.
"Listen, Max...I, I think we should tell the Sheriff where she was," Maria started cautiously and when it looked like Max was about to object she continued onwards, "The sheriff knows she had my Moms car, they're going to find it eventually and maybe they'll find Liz with it...I just, I just want her back Max." She said, her voice trembling slightly.
"I know." Max said through the lump in his throat, he wanted her back to, more than anything.
"I...I understand that we can't explain why Liz was there, but - but it'll give them a place to start, you know? And-"
"Okay." Max said suddenly, walking to sit at his desk.
"Okay?" Maria echoed back, her expression clearly showing her shock. "Just...okay?"
Max smiled lightly, "Yeah. I, I've been thinking the same thing but Michael...well, you know."
"Yeah, I do."
--
"You do realise that you're screwing us completely, right?" Michael all but yelled as soon as Max sat down.
"Michael, shut up." Isabel snapped, her own anger at the situation coming through. "This doesn't screw us, its just adding yet another suspicion and hey? What's one more?" She said sarcastically, pacing back and forth in front of the kitchen table.
Max had called a meeting to fill them in on what he and Maria had discussed the night before and so far, things were going about as well as he had expected.
"I know what I'm asking, but all we have to say is that Liz was there. Not why, just that we know she was." He said, looking between the two of them, trying to gauge their reactions.
"Maxwell, have you been outside lately?" Michael bit out, "They're not even trying to hide themselves anymore! They're letting us know that they're here, that they're watching us and that one wrong move and we're..." He made a slicing movement over his throat. "Gone."
"Look, Michael-"
"Who would tell him?" Isabel questioned suddenly, her expression anxious. "One of us? Or Maria?"
"Maria..." Max answered as he turned to look at her, staring at her as if she were his lifeline but before he could explain the details Michael interrupted him.
"Wait, so you're saying Maria's just going to suddenly remember why Liz borrowed her car? She told Valenti she didn't know, she can't just suddenly remember!"
Max rubbed his eyes tiredly, he didn't care if Maria had to say she'd seen it in a dream, he just wanted to get on with it - they were wasting time. Lucky for him though, Maria had thought of that.
"She's going to give him a list of where she thinks Liz might have gone, she made up some story that they sometimes go out to the reservation to get away."
Silence.
"Well..? Are we doing this or not?" Max said after a moment, his voice urgent.
"Okay, Maxwell. Let's just get this over with."
--
A day later, they found the jetta but there was no sign of Liz. Max had heard, via Maria, that the driver's door was open when they found it but nothing indicating a struggle. The Sheriff had cornered off a large part of the reservation and this morning the search parties would be scouring the area. The article in the paper had made it clear that they were not looking for a body, but for anything that could lead to the possible whereabouts of Liz, unlike the News report that morning had said.
Max's jaw clenched at the thought. No. Liz was alive, they just needed to look in the right places and finally, Max had a viable reason to be out there.
--
"Alright, listen up!" Deputy Hanson called out over the chattering crowd. "We're heading out now, what you are looking for, apart from the obvious, is clothing, tracks of any kind--if you see something you think needs looking into just call over one of the officers." He said, pointing them out unnecessarily. "Okay, let's head out!"
The lines they had formed moved as one as they made their way across the landscape, moving slowly. Max, Michael and Isabel were in the back row and waited to be pointed in the right direction.
"Are you sure we should be here Max?" Isabel asked quietly as their group began to move, "I'm worried about Liz as much as you are, but don't you think this is a little-"
"We're concerned Friends, Isabel. Nothing more."
Max and Isabel paused and stared at Michael.
"What?"
"Nothing." Max and Isabel said in unison.
Half an hour later the search was still underway though nothing had been found. Max's gaze stayed glued to the ground as he took everything in, his eyes so intense it was almost as if he were willing the earth to somehow open up and give Liz back. Every now and then he would hear a quiet sniffle and it hadn't taken him long to pin point it's origin. Nancy Parker was walking with the group to his right and Max wondered briefly what she was doing out here; the older woman shouldn't be putting herself though this but then again, Max realised he could say the same thing about himself. She was here because she wanted to do something, not just sit at home wondering.
Another hour and a half later the search parties gathered back at the starting point after marking where they'd left off.
"We'll take a break, refuel and then head back out." Hanson started, "We've had people turning up through the morning so we'll swap those people who need to leave out, just let Officer Owen know and he'll sort it..."
--
The search had found nothing, they had been going out there everyday for the past week and every time they came back empty handed. Michael and Isabel had stopped going on the third day, while Max had stayed, needing to be out there. Alex too had been there since day one and today the Sheriff had announced that they were calling the search off, that they hadn't found a single lead and were going to peruse other options. Aerial searches were going to continue though; not that that made any difference. The town's people had all but given up the thought that they would ever see Liz again. It was as if a dark cloud had settled itself over Roswell and was making no indications it was moving anytime soon. They rumour mill hadn't exactly been helping the situation either.
A soft tap at his door brought Max back to the present. "Yeah?"
"I thought you might be asleep..." Isabel whispered as she entered his room, closing the door quietly behind her. "I should have known better." She smiled but Max noticed the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Iz? What's up?" Max asked worriedly, sitting up as his sister sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Have you spoken to Maria lately?" Isabel asked, chewing her lower lip lightly.
"No, not since she told me about the Sheriff finding the car...why?"
"Neither has Michael," She began; bring her legs up underneath her. "In fact he said he tried talking to her today when the search was called off but she just avoided him."
"She's bound to be upset, Iz."
"I know that." The blonde said, nodding her head absently. "But...this afternoon at school, I was leaving when I saw Alex out on the field. I thought I'd go and, you know, see how he was doing but when I got closer I saw that Maria was with him." She took a breath and looked at Max. "They were fighting, Max. And not the kinds of fights best friends have, this wasn't just a disagreement - Alex was yelling at her to tell him what was going on, accusing her of hiding something from him."
Comprehension dawned on Max's face, "Do you think he's-"
"Talking about us?" Isabel finished for him. "Yeah, I do. Not that he knows it..."
"What is it?" Max asked carefully, knowing there was something his sister wasn't telling him.
"It's...you didn't see Maria Max, she looked...she looked defeated. One of her best friends is missing and she has to lie to the other one constantly. I didn't even think...all this time I've just been thinking that Liz would turn up and then we'd just have to think of a way to cover our asses again but..."
"Isabel, what are you trying to say?"
"I..." Isabel turned and slowly stood, her arms crossed over her chest. "I think about how hard this must be on Maria, and then I think about Alex. All he knows is that his two best friends were lying to him about god knows what and then one of them goes missing and the other..." She stopped, looking Max directly in to eye. "I think he deserves to know the truth, Max." She said almost pleadingly, "I just...I want to at least give him one of his best friends back."
--
ABDUCTED? STILL NO SIGN OF MISSING TEEN
November 19th, 1999
As the story of missing teen Elizabeth Parker draws out the local residents of Roswell, New Mexico have begun to speculate the possibility that the young girl was 'abducted' in the night. The story has stemmed from the leaked Sheriffs report printed in yesterday's Newspaper (recalled earlier yesterday morning by request of the Sheriffs department) that, as of right now, there are still no leads to the girls' whereabouts. The report noted that there were tracks they believe to have been made by Elizabeth as she made her way back to the borrowed jetta (owned by family friend Amy Deluca and found at the Mescalero reservation earlier this month) but that's as far as they went. The Sheriffs Deputy has also been quoted as saying: "It was like she just disappeared, the tracks lead right up to the car and then...nothing."
Yesterday the Sheriff dismissed the rumours as "local -expletive deleted-." And also commented on the throng of "Alien groupies" that have been flocking to Roswell.
"...None of this nonsense is going to help us find Miss Parker. These people are not here to help and have proved this by badgering not only the local community but also the Parker family themselves, causing them to close down their business yet again. I strongly recommend that these people move on; there is nothing for them here."
Cracks have begun to show in the faces of the Roswell Sheriffs department as the search continues to kick up nothing but dust.
UFO abduct-y claims to have seen missing teen...pg 5
--
"You're serious?" Alex said slowly, not quite believing what he was hearing. "You...you actually think she might have been...abducted[/i]?"
Maria stared back at Alex, her face clearly showing that yes, she knew exactly how crazy she sounded. "I know it's..."
"About as unlikely as Max, Michael and Isabel being aliens? Yeah, and how wrong was I about that!"
Maria laughed, her first real laugh for the past few weeks. "Yeah, yeah..." She agreed, nodding. Once the blonde had gotten the ok from Max she had immediately headed over to Alex's house to tell him the truth, finally. She knew it was hard to believe, sometimes she still didn't believe but Alex...Alex had gone into shrink mode as soon as she had finished talking - thinking she was under too much stress. Maria laughed again as she remembered, in the end she had had to call Isabel over so she could prove it.
"The look on your face," She giggled suddenly, "when Isabel changed your guitar pink!"
"Hey! That was not funny! It was a threat to my masculinity!" Alex cried indignantly, though he couldn't quite keep the smile off his face.
"I'm sorry for, you know, everything." Maria said softly, her smile gone. "I wanted to tell you, we wanted to tell you..."
"I know and hey, I understand. Now, anyway..." He replied, shrugging. "Just you wait," Alex smiled again, "till Liz finds out I've been accepted into the 'I know an alien club'!"
They both laughed.
--
By the end of November everyone's hope that they would find Liz alive and well had faded even though the Sheriff continued his search. The complete lack of substantiated leads had discouraged the towns' people and they were now slowly going back to their lives.
All but a select few.
Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Alex had continued to meet at least twice every week, poring over stolen reports and re-following up on leads that had yet to actually lead them anywhere. Only one person claimed to have seen Liz that night and so far no other witnesses had come forward and it didn't look like any more would.
Isabel had been trying to dreamwalk Liz since the first night she'd been missing and the blond still hadn't gotten through and she only continued out of habit - not hope.
The group of teens still refused to believe Liz was dead because surely, if she were dead, the Sheriff would have found something. But as his reports showed, Liz had, to all accounts, simply disappeared.
"Maybe," Alex said into the silence that had fallen over the group, "you could dreamwalk the lady from the reservation? She might have, like, blocked out clues or, or simply not thought they were relevant to the case." He finished, speaking directly to Isabel.
"That could work, right?" Maria said before Isabel had a chance to respond, her expression hopeful.
Isabel looked uncomfortable as everyone's eyes were suddenly focused on her. "I'm not sure..." She started hesitantly, "She would have to be dreaming of it at the time...I can't, I can't make her dream it..."
"But, you can go in and just, I don't know...look around?" Alex said, at a loss.
Isabel glanced at Max and Michael before looking back at Alex. "Yeah. I can try."
--
Isabel settled down on her bed, the newspaper clipping Alex had supplied laid out in front of her.
She wasn't sure if she would find anything in the dream but for the first time in a long time, she felt a glimmer of hope. She just hoped the Native American woman was a) asleep and b) dreaming of the night Liz went missing.
As it turned out, she didn't need to worry about whether or not the lady was dreaming of that night because as soon as Isabel entered the dream she knew that it was precisely what she was seeing.
Liz slowly walked onto the porch-like set up, looking over the stalls display and Isabel fought the urge to run over and hug her. They weren't exactly friends but they had been getting there.
"A beautiful bracelet for a beautiful Lady." The woman appeared before Liz, holding up the bracelet in question.
"Oh." Liz said in surprise and Isabel took a few steps forward till she was standing in front of the porch. "Yes, it is really lovely. But I was actually..." The brunette took the necklace out of her pocket, holding it up for the woman to see, "looking for something like this. I was just wondering if you've seen this symbol before or if you know what it means."
She studied it for a moment, "It means 'tree of knowledge'."
"Really?" Liz asked, clearly disappointed.
"Actually," The older woman said, smiling. "I have no idea what it means, but it looks old." She said helpfully.
"Right." Liz laughed lightly, "Yeah. Do you know what-"
Isabel took a step back as the scene before her seemed to blur suddenly, her eyes widening as the outlines of the woman and Liz became indistinguishable from each other.
"What's going on?" She asked, not sure who she was talking to but needing to ask the question anyway.
"Who was that?" Isabel heard Liz ask and the blonde franticly looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of whom Liz was talking about but everything surrounding her was nothing but a mess of colour.
"Stay away from him." The woman replied and Isabel heard the warning in her voice.
"Stay way from who?!" Isabel questioned loudly as the scene began to clear before her. "Who was it? Who did you tell her to stay away from?" She cried, rushing to stand in front of the older woman as dream-Liz walked away. "Tell me, please."
The woman looked at her, her eyes wide. "W-who are you?"
"Please! You told her to stay away from someone, who was it?!" Isabel said urgently, feeling the pull. The woman was waking up.
"I need you to tell me!"
The woman opened her mouth to reply and-
-Isabel woke up.
--
The blonde was still shaking by the time Alex and Maria turned up, Max having called them at her behest. Michael had already been there.
Both boys had attempted to get her to talk while they waited but she had silently refused, she was still trying to put it together in her head and she wanted the others to be here before she tried explaining it.
"Isabel?" Maria said uncertainly, worry etched on her face. "What...did you see Liz?" She asked, her voice hitching slightly.
She nodded. "I, I did."
Everybody stayed quiet as they waited for Isabel to elaborate.
"She was dreaming about it as soon as I entered," She started quietly, picturing it in her mind as she spoke. "Liz was looking at the display of jewellery when the woman tried to sell her a bracelet. She declined and asked about the necklace and the woman made something up about it meaning 'tree of knowledge'," Isabel smiled. "But then said she didn't know, but that it looked old. Liz was asking something and then..." She stopped as she tried to find a way to describe what she had seen.
"And then..?" Max asked, his expression showing her he was expecting the worst.
"And then the dream, it...it was almost as if it...glitched. Everything blurred and even though I could still hear them, I couldn't see what was happening. I couldn't see Liz or the woman, or even the site around them - it was just a mess of colour." Isabel looked up, her eyes tearing slightly. "Liz asked who someone was and the woman warned her off, telling her to 'stay away from him." The blonde repeated. "And then everything cleared. I tried to ask the woman who it was but before she could answer I woke up...she woke up."
The group was silent as they took the new information in, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
"So," Michael said, a little louder than necessary, "there was someone else there? Another witness?"
"Or a potential suspect." Max said, his voice hard.
"But...I mean, what can we even do with this information?" Alex asked, "It's not like we can take it to the Sheriff."
"He's right Max," Isabel said regrettably, "we can't take this to him and there isn't much we can do either. I didn't even see the mans face..."
"We can't just do nothing!" Max exclaimed, rising to his feet. "We finally have something and I can't...I can't jus-"
"Maxwell, I know what you're thinking and the answer is no fucking way!" Michael barked out, "We can't and you know why."
"I will do everything I have to Michael! Liz's life is at stake because of me, because of what I am! She went out to the reservation to find answers to our questions and now..." Max stared at Michael who glared right back. "I'm going to Valenti." He said after a moment, his voice unwavering.
"What?!"
"Max!"
"He's the only one with the resources," Max said over the objections, "I'm doing this."
Michael stood up, his expression furious. "You can’t make this decision by yourself, Max. Not this time!"
"He's right Max, we all have to agree." Isabel put in, staring at the two boys as they squared off. "If we tell Valenti, he'll know everything."
"Thank you." Michael told Isabel, backing off slightly.
"Maybe that's a good thing...if Valenti knows," Max clarified, his voice somewhat calmer. "He needs all the facts, at the moment he's looking for a needle in a haystack."
"All you're going to do is expand the haystack Max, we don't even have anything concrete."
Max ran his hand through his hair, his frustration growing. He just wanted her back! And he was willing to pay any cost, as long as Liz was safe. "I'm not putting this up for a vote, this is Liz's life, I won't do that." Max looked around the group, noting for the first time that Alex and Maria had stay silent during their clash. "What do you guys think?" He asked quietly, ignoring Michael's muttered, 'like you care'.
Maria was the first to answer. "I agree with both sides," She stated, shrugging. "I want Valenti to know all the facts but at the same time I don't want to endanger you guys, I just...I don't know."
"Neither." Alex said after Maria had finished, "This is...its Liz's life versus yours, there's no way to choose."
"It doesn't have to be that way, Valenti isn't necessarily-"
"Maxwell, wake up!" Michael cut in, "Valenti would turn us over without a seconds thought!"
Isabel stood up suddenly, walking to stand between the two boys. "This is getting us nowhere!" She announced, glaring at Max and Michael. "We're not going to agree anytime soon so, seeing as it's" She paused to look at the clock, "quarter to midnight, I think we should get some sleep and talk about this in the morning." Isabel glanced around meaningfully. "Okay?"
"Whatever." Was Michael's reply and with one last glare at Max, he let himself out.
"Right." Alex said awkwardly and glanced at Maria, "We're off then."
"Thanks for coming over so late." Isabel said softly while Max simply nodded to them as they left.
"I'm not going to change my mind, Iz." Max said as soon as the door closed behind Alex, "I'm doing whatever it takes."
"Max," Isabel stressed, "you can't make this decision for us. We'll think of another way...just, just give it time."
"Time?" The dark-haired boy said with a humourless laugh. "Time is the one thing we don't have!"
"I know. We're all worried in-case you hadn't noticed!"
"Really?" Max questioned, "Because from where I'm sitting it sure doesn't look like it." He said accusingly.
"Max! Wh-"
"Don't." Max interrupted her, his voice tried suddenly. "Forget it...I'm, I'm gonna go for a walk." He said, striding towards the door.
"Max..."
But he didn't look back as his sister called for him.
--
Max kicked a stray rock out of his path as he all but stormed through the park, his mind working overtime. He knew it was wrong of him to have said what he said but his frustrations at their circumstances were beginning to get the better of him. They couldn't do anything themselves and no one would agree to tell the people who could do something! Even though he was the last person the Sheriff could or would trust he didn't think the man would turn them over to the feds so easily. Valenti was, if nothing else, a man of strong moral values.
Cursing quietly to himself Max continued his stomp through the park, needing to walk off his anger.
If they didn't act soon they could lose Liz forever. He didn't know how, but he knew she was alive...somewhere. What he didn't know was how long he could go on with just a feeling. He needed to find her.
Halting suddenly, Max turned his head to the side slightly straining his ears.
Oh. Right.
Of course he was being followed, he thought dourly. The sheriff had let up a week ago; putting his full resources into finding Liz but the FBI were nothing if not persistent. The group weren't sure why but a day before the search began Topolsky had left Roswell, not even brothering to tie up loose ends.
Sighing, Max continued his way along the path, his pace faster. He didn't think they would risk grabbing him with all that'd been going on but it would sure make him feel better if he were in a less secluded area.
As soon as Max was out of the park, he slowed again, still not ready to return home. It's not like he'd get any sleep tonight anyway, he hadn't slept a full night since Liz had disappeared and he wouldn't again until he knew she was safe.
The streets of Roswell were quite, as they should be for this time of night and Max found himself walking towards the Sheriffs station almost unconsciously. As the dark haired boy came closer he noticed the light in the sheriffs office was, unsurprisingly, still on. He knew the Sheriff had been burning the midnight oil ever since he'd become aware of the situation and he'd heard Kyle talk about his Father's work habits often enough at school not to know.
The closer he got, the more Max wished he could just go up and tell the Sheriff everything. They knew now that there had been someone else at the reservation that night but knowing didn't get them anywhere and even if they could find the woman, she wouldn't have any inclination to actually talk to them. Max couldn't even go and just tell the Sheriff that he knew there had been someone else there...what would he say? The woman obviously didn't remember it. If he wanted the Sheriff to take him seriously he'd have to tell him the truth. The whole truth.
Now Max stood directly in front of the main entrance, his eyes trained on the doors but his feet stayed rooted to the pavement. Isabel was right. They all needed to agree; if he were to go in there now and share all their secrets...Michael and Isabel would never forgive him.
"Guilty conscience?" Said an all to familiar voice from behind him and Max slowly turned to face the Sheriff.
"I can't imagine why else you'd be out here...especially at this time of night."
Max swallowed hard, his eyes not quite meeting the other mans. "Couldn't sleep." Was all he said.
"Yeah, that's been doing the rounds lately." Valenti replied, "Glad you're here actually, I just got some new equipment in today," He said, pointing to where his car was parked. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"
As Max put the last box down he turned to find the Sheriff studying him and he shifted uncomfortably. "That was the last one." He said, indicating to the box on the floor.
Valenti nodded, "Thanks for the hand," He said and motioned to the cup he was holding. "Drink?"
"No, I...I should probably head home." Max said and was almost at the door when Valenti's voice stopped him.
"You know something." It wasn't a question so Max didn't answer; instead he turned slowly to face the Sheriff again.
"Listen," The other man started, stepping closer. "I've had you watched since the minute I found out about Miss Parker and I knew after the first week that you had nothing to do with it." He said, looking Max straight in the eye. "I know I've never done anything to make you think you can trust me, I'm not proud of what I've done but... If you know something, anything, you have to tell me."
Max stayed silent, conflicting emotions running through him at full force. On one hand he wanted so desperately to acknowledge everything the Sheriff had said, to tell him what he knew. He wanted to trust him. But on the other hand the Sheriff had been right. He had never done anything to deserve Max's trust and could easily turn on him. On them.
"What's it going to be, Max?"
But Liz...Liz was everything to him. He could turn away now and wait for another opportunity to find out about the mystery suspect or he could share his biggest secret with the one person he never thought he would and maybe, just maybe, be closer to finding Liz.
As if in slow motion, Max nodded.
--
SIGHTING IN FRAZIER WOODS CONFIRMS SUSPICIONS
December 2nd 1999
The reported sighting in Frazier woods has only been adding flue to the fire in the case of missing teen Elizabeth Parker. Last month certain groups in Roswell claimed the girl had been abducted and with the young girl still missing this latest incident has done nothing to disprove them. The sighting, which was first reported in by local hiker 'Buzz' was also seen by five other witnesses. Sheriff Valenti has made no statement yet but has cornered off a four square mile area in Frazier woods close to where the young girl was last seen.
The newly formed 'True Believers' club (formed last month after these rumours first began) have been protesting outside the Sheriff's station after being forcefully removed from the perimeter of the recently placed barricades in Frazier woods.
"We have rights!" Screamed one protester early last night and after our field reporter managed to calm him down he had this to say: "Sheriff Valenti is a fine Sheriff but as of now, he is out of his league. This is a sign, they're trying to tell us something." When asked what he thought the aliens were attempting to say he replied, "That she's (in reference to Miss Parker) safe. That they have her."
Whether or not you're a 'true believer', the people of Roswell require a resolution in the Elizabeth Parker case and, it would seem, some of them have found it.
Sheriff under fire...pg 3
--
They had found the symbol left by the 'sighting' with the help of Valenti, something Michael had yet to acknowledge and they were still none the wiser to what it could possibly mean but at least it had gotten Michael talking to Max again. After he had learned what Max had done, Michael had refused to be in the same room as him...well, that's after he'd given Max the shiner of the century. Max took it all; he didn't regret a single thing. The information he had passed on to the Sheriff had given the case its first real lead and Valenti had instantly put his full resources into finding the man. He had re-questioned the woman from the reservation and it seemed all she needed was a little push in the right direction, so to say and then she had supplied them with his description and name. There had been a week where Max was sure, really sure, that they were on the right track and then, out of nowhere the leads went cold. They hadn't found anything new for the past two weeks and anyone who'd had contact with Max in those weeks knew without a shadow of doubt that he was at the end of his rope. He didn't sleep, hardly ever ate and none of his teacher's could tell you the last time they had seen him on school property. His quest to find Liz had taken over his life and Max knew it. He refused to stop, refused to just sit back and wait for someone else to do all the work. The Sheriff had been given warning from the council that if Liz was not found by the new year then his funding for the search would be cut off. They had given him an extension when he got the new leads but now they were back to nothing and the resources would be better put somewhere else.
Max had never been so angry in his life.
There was nothing Valenti could do now; his hands were tied. The Council had already gone over and above for this case and they could do no more but that didn't change the fact that they were putting someone's life on a deadline. The Sheriff said he wouldn't close the case, no matter what happened, he would keep the case open for anything that may come out in the future and now it was less than two weeks till Christmas and Max still refused to give up. Isabel and Michael had stopped trying to get him to as well, they helped when they could but more often then not Max didn't ask them to. They were slowly moving on and Max didn't want to stop them from living. He'd watched with more than a little jealously as Michael and Maria had found solace in each other, the same Isabel had found in her friendship with Alex. In the old days their relationships would have caused a hailstorm of discrepancy between the aliens but now, now it was something they needed. The rulebook had been well and truly thrown out the window and Max envied what they had.
--
Christmas was fast approaching when Max got the phone call he'd been dreading since day one.
"Hello?" Max said into the receiver as soon as his Mother left the room.
"Max. It's Jim."
"Sheriff?" Max said sending Isabel a worried glance, "What's going on? Did you find something?" He asked, his voice half hopeful and half anxious.
"I got a phone call this afternoon from the Sheriff in Albuquerque..." Max felt his heart speed up and his breath became slightly shallow.
"Sheriff?" He said, a touch more urgently this time.
"I'm sorry Max. They found her body early this morning..."
"No." Max denied, his voice barely above whisper. "No."
"I know it's hard to hear," Valenti continued, his own voice sounding pained. "They've done the tests Max. It's her..."
"No. I-it can't be. She's alive." He rambled, "You've made a mistake." He said, his voice getting louder. "I, they can't know for sure...she's..."
"I'm sorry."
"NO!" Max screamed suddenly, gripping the phone hard. "You've made a mistake! She's-"
"She's dead, Max."
"LIZ IS NOT DEAD!" He roared and the phone exploded in his hand, shards flying everywhere.
"Max!" Isabel yelled and ducked as stray fragments of the phone flew her way. "Max! You have to calm down...Max!" But she wasn't getting through to him. The right side of his head was bleeding from when the phone had exploded but he didn't seem to notice. Both his hands clenched at his sides as he continued to rage, lashing out at the room around him and Isabel was for the first time in her entire life afraid of her brother. Before she could blink Isabel felt a stab of pain at her side and she barely moved in time to avoid being hit by the various things now flying around the room. She watched as Max unknowingly created what looked like a small whirlwind with his belongings, her horror at the situation reflected in her gaze. She didn't know what to do, didn't know how to help him.
"She's not dead! She's out there and...and she needs me. I have to find her!" Tears streamed down his face as he spoke and he slowly sank to his knees, the wind around him dying down slightly. "She needs me." He repeated, his voice hoarse with emotion.
"Max..." Isabel lowered herself onto the floor; carefully not to twinge her bruised side. "Max?" Her voice came out shaky and Isabel cleared her throat. She needed to be stronger than this. For Max. If this were anything to go by Max would need her, would need everybody to get through this. Oh god, Liz was dead...
"Kids? Is everything ok in there?"
"Max?" The blonde repeated and ignoring their Mother's call made her way over to him. Reaching out, Isabel gently laid her hand on his shoulder and almost flinched when his eyes met hers. The wind died out completely but she didn't notice. There was so much pain in Max's eyes that she had to fight not to look away and was relieved when Max finally looked down.
"Max..."
"She's gone." He whispered brokenly, more tears spilling down his face. "She's gone." And before Isabel knew it her brother was sobbing in her arms, his howls of anguish muffled only slightly.
"I..." Her voice broke as she tried to comfort him and her own tears fell, she didn't have any words of comfort because she knew nothing would ever take this pain away. So instead, she let her own grieve through, clinging to her brother as he was clinging to her.
And that's how their Mother found them only minutes later.
--
TRAGIC END TO A YOUNG LIFE
December 15th 1999
The story of missing teen Elizabeth Parker has flummoxed local law enforcement for the past two months and caused speculation from the public of abduction but early Wednesday morning the case was brought to a close when officers from the neighbouring city of Albuquerque found a body they believed to be young Elizabeth. The body was found in a rural hunting area alleged to be the murder sight and after the correct tests were completed it was proven to be Miss Parker. A post-mortem was carried out and the authorities have concluded that she was killed by means of strangulation.
The announcement made early Thursday morning sent shock waves through the community, many of who still believed the teen would be found alive.
Meanwhile, in the same announcement Sheriff Valenti has vowed to catch the person or persons responsible for this horrific crime.
"We will find who did this and they will be held accountable. Miss Parker didn't deserve what has happened to her and neither does her family."
The Crashdown Café, owned by Elizabeth's parents has been left in the hands of family friends and has now become a place of mourning, flowers and wreaths covering the pavement. The reservation has also been inundated with flowers and candles alike, people from as far away as Florida having sent their condolences. Life in Roswell has been turned on its head and is now grieving for a girl taken before her time. A private funeral for close friends and family will be held later this week while a memorial ceremony will take place tomorrow at the Mescalero reservation near where the young girl was last seen. Congressman Jim Dale is encouraging the community to attend the service.
"Nothing could have prepared us for this outcome, we knew it as a possibility but I certainly never thought it would come to this. I strongly encourage the people of Roswell to come tomorrow in the hopes that we, as a community, can move passed this."
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Parker family in the wake of this tragedy and we wish them a safe, if not a happy, Christmas.
--
The funeral was a quite affair in all senses of the word, the people gathered still in shock and not ready to believe Liz was gone. Jeff and Nancy Parker had only stayed for the traditional parts and then they had fled to a place unknown. Max couldn't imagine what it must be like for them, to lose their only daughter. Maria, expectedly, was a complete and utter wreck, holding on to Alex for dear life as if afraid he too would leave her. As Max sat at the table he watched the people around him wondering, not for the first time, if this ache, this loss would ever fade. If he would continue to ask himself everyday what he could have done differently, what he could have done to stop this. The Sheriff insisted that the murderer was human, that Liz had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time yet no one could explain how the person had covered his or her tracks so well.
As soon as the news had spread Max had half expected Alex or Maria to turn up at his door, to hold him responsible for their friends death but they had only done one of those things and it wasn't the one Max was expecting. They came over late, offering comfort even when they had nothing to comfort themselves with. They really were true friends; they forgave him when he couldn't forgive himself.
"Maxwell." Michael acknowledged as he sat down beside him. "You want something to drink?" He asked in a would be causal voice.
The spiky-haired boy had also been a surprising form of support, he didn't sugar coat anything and he didn't try to coddle him. He was just there, being normal Michael and that was comfort enough for Max.
"No, but thanks."
The other boy nodded and they fell into a comfortable silence.
"It'll be okay you know." Michael said unexpectedly, glancing at Max out of the corner of his eye. "It sucks, it's painful but it'll...it'll get better." He finished with a shrug.
Max smiled slightly and nodded.
Maybe it would. Maybe it wouldn't. He'd just have to wait and find out.
--
TBC
--