The Truth Behind Lies

Pulling Isabel along with him, they walked to where Max hid the jeep. Using his powers he uncovered the vehicle from its disguise and climbed in driving off towards the hospital. Kyle and Michael climbed into the Mustang and headed out towards the cabin, while Maria and Jim started working on ideas that would make good cover.

As the jeep flew down the street towards the hospital Max felt himself getting nervous. His fears of being inadequate were once again surfacing. He only prayed that for Alex's sake it had been Tess preventing them from healing him completely and not his inability to control his powers. Casting a glance at his sister, he realized just how nervous she was as well. "Is, there is something I want to talk to you about. I think I was able to connect to Liz earlier while I was in the shower. I don't know how but I heard her in my mind and I know it was not my imagination. It feels like my alien side is getting stronger, merging with my human side. It sounds crazy I know."

Isabel sat quietly in the jeep as she listened to Max. Her heart went out to him as he tried to grasp onto anything that would bring him comfort. She was not about to break his happy bubble for anything. "Maybe something has awakened inside of you? You know put you in touch with the side of us that makes us alien? If you really can communicate with her perhaps she can tell us how to help get her home?" Isabel mused as she placed a comforting hand on Max's shoulder.

"I know you probably don't believe me Is. The connection that I share with Liz is so different than anything I have ever felt." Max looked contemplative for a moment as he pulled into a parking space at Roswell Memorial Hospital. He could feel fear, sadness, and anger coming through his connection, knowing they had to be from Liz. He tried to send calming emotions to her hoping it would allow her to relax and him to focus. "Izzy I can feel her even now. She feels so scared and surprised, I just wish I knew what was going on."

Grabbing her brothers hand Isabel walked them from the jeep to the hospital. "Let's focus on Alex right now Max and tonight I will see if I can reach Liz for you ok?"

"Sure you guard the door for me Is, while I work my magic." He said with a light laugh.

As they approached the room they were stopped by a nurse who forced them to fill out a visitor's log. Looking at each other for a moment they signed their names as 'Rob Roy and Brandy Alexander' before handing the log back to the nurse. Smirking slightly at each other, they both headed off towards Alex's room. Isabel opened the door and let them both in before locking the door with her powers. Pulling the blinds closed to keep people from viewing inside the room, Isabel then walked over to Alex and took his left hand in hers.

Max took his position on the right of Alex, placing on hand on Alex' chest as he took a deep breath. He needed to focus right now on healing Alex and letting everything else fall away. Breathing deeply he allowed his powers to flow into Alex and heal the damage. There was something different this time, almost like the barrier that had prevented him before was gone. He could feel the damage being reversed and smiled when he saw Alex's eyes open. Pulling away he stared at his friend for a moment before looking over at Isabel.

Alex had felt himself being pulled from the darkness after what seemed like forever. The darkness kept him scared, afraid but the warmth and light that invaded his consciousness was comforting. He didn't fight it as he allowed himself to open his eyes, a small smile playing over him as he saw Isabel and Max standing there. "That's some good Alien mojo there Max" he rasped out slowly.

Isabel let out a small squeal as she hugged Alex's neck and placed a kiss on his cheek. "We have a lot to talk about but we need to get you out of here first. Max and I are going to go, pretend to get the doctor to tell us how you are and try to get them in here to see you." She said as she waived her hand to remove the silver hand print from sight. "We need to get you out of here soon."

Max nodded at Isabel as they both snuck out of the room and out of the hospital. Changing their appearances they pretended to be cousins and came back into the door. Walking over to the nurse's station, Isabel, who now had short spiky red hair spoke first, "Yo, can yous tell me how my cuz is doin' ?" Inside her head she was laughing hysterically at the way the nurses were reacting to her.

Annabeth, the nurse forced to work the station, glared at the young woman who was speaking. Shaking her head she sighed in frustration as she thought They will let anyone in here these days won't they? Putting on a sugary sweet falsetto tone she spoke, "Well if you can be a dear and tell me who your cousin is I would be happy to find out for you"

It was Max's turn to speak now, his hair falling down his back in a long blond ponytail, " 's no reason to speak to us like that. We's just here to check on our old cuz Alex Whitman. Wanna see how he's doin' 's all " Why Isabel had decided to act like this was beyond him but he was finding it hard not to laugh.

Annabeth looked over at the young man and woman with indignation on her face. "Let me see if I can get one of the doctors to tell me anything. Who should I tell him is asking?"

Isabel snorted a moment, looking perturbed, "Yo, My name's Brandy Alexander and this here is my bro Rob Roy. We jus wanna know whats up with our cuz. Now chop, chop." She said in her best ice princess tone. They were both being loud and obnoxious in hopes it would get someone to assist them.

Annabeth glared at them both before flouncing away from the desk to find the doctor. Doctor Stuart was only happy to go check on Alex and was shocked to see he was awake and talking. "Can I go home yet doc? I have been in here an awfully long time. I just wanna go home."

Doctor Stuart smiled at Alex a moment before leaving the room. Walking over to the two teens he motioned for them to follow him. "Mr. Whitman you have a couple of guests, a Ms. Brandy Alexander and a Mr. Rob Roy. It is good to see that your family is here to support you. I need to have a few tests run but once I get the results back you are free to go."

Isabel, Alex and Max waited for the doctor to leave before bursting out into peels of laughter. "I so knew those cover id's Michael gave us in Vegas would come in handy. No one will suspect a thing." Max spoke softly as he moved to stand next to Alex's bed. "I am sorry to say that your parents will not be coming to see you anytime soon. They moved out of Roswell a couple of months after you went into a coma. Michael has a few of your things at his house, your house is still there if you want to live in it."

Isabel leaned over and kissed Alex's cheek as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "It's good to see you again Izzy. I was so scared, I could feel Max trying to heal me all that time ago but something was stopping it, but today that thing was gone."

His conversation was interrupted when the doctor returned with two nurses who did some blood work and took him off for a scan. Alex was only gone twenty minutes before he was returned to his room and to his friends. "Where is everyone else?"

"They can't come, we will explain later but right now we need to get you out of here and fast. Did the doctor say how long it would be for the test results?" Isabel asked.

Just as Isabel finished her question the doctor came in with a shocked look in his face. "Well Mr. Whitman it appears that you are fine. There is no residual damage and as far as we can tell no reason to keep you here any longer. I will have a nurse draw up your release papers it shouldn't take more than ten minutes, but I want to leave you with a prescription for some medication. You may experience some headaches after being in a coma for as long as you were but the medication should help. Are your cousins going to be around to take you home?"

Alex smiled as he looked at Doctor Stuart, "Yeah. As soon as I am free to go they are gonna take me for some food. I am starving."

His reaction had them all chuckling softly as they waited for the doctor to leave again. "So who's idea was it for the disguises? Pretty original but still funny as heck."

"That would be me." Isabel said with a beaming smile. "We figured if anyone got suspicious they would never figure it out. The only one outside of our group that knows those names is the sheriff. So it was a safer bet than trying to use our own."

Alex reached out and took Isabel's hand in his squeezing it hard. Time seemed to crawl as they waited for the discharge papers to come. As soon as the nurse appeared he quickly signed the papers and pulled himself from the bed. Before they had left his parents had manged to bring him a set of pajamas he could use. Standing on shaky legs he made his way to the bathroom for a moment. "Let me use the bathroom then I am ready to go. Do you mind swinging by my house for a bit so I can shower and grab a few things?"

Max nodded that it would be fine and they left Alex for a few moments. When he came out of the bathroom he was still a bit shaky walking and Isabel put her arm around him to steady him as they walked him out of the hospital and to the jeep. Climbing in, she sat in the back with Alex as they drove away.

Arriving at Alex's house, Max used his powers to let them all in. They all headed for Alex's bedroom, Max sitting in the chair at his desk while Isabel took the bed. Once they knew it was safe they dropped their disguises. They told Alex everything that had happened after he had been put in a coma and how they were trying to find a way to get Liz back. His heart broke for Max as he watched the pain and guilt flood his friends face.

"Max stop blaming yourself. You know Liz wouldn't, and I won't allow you to wallow in guilt. Tess tricked us all but we will get Liz back. Let me hop in the shower and change then I will grab my computer and the files I have hidden even from Tess and we can head to Micheal's ok?" Alex looked at Max waiting to see his reaction.

Nodding his head Max smiled at Alex. "Take your time. I will run out and grab some food for us to take with to Micheal's I am sure the others are hungry too." With that said he left, returning in twenty minutes to find Isabel and Alex waiting for him with a bag of Alex's things and his computer. Piling into the jeep they made their way back to the apartment that would be their meeting place. It was only 2pm they still had an hour before the others were due to arrive.

~~

Michael and Kyle reluctantly climbed into the Mustang and headed out on the highway towards the cabin. It had been many years since Kyle had set foot there but he knew the way like the back of his hand. The trip took them an hour from Roswell to the deserted desert road that led to the secluded cabin. Michael took note that it seemed hidden enough that they would not get caught if they had to use their powers.

As the car came to a stop just outside the cabin Michael climbed out while speaking to Kyle. "I am going to do a perimeter search. Why don't you go inside and check to make sure that the electricity and water work and when I get inside we can check the food levels me make lists of what we will need."

Kyle nodded and headed to the front door, using the key and unlocking it. Flipping the switch just to the right of the door he was glad to see that the place still had electricity. Making a cursory walk around he took down notes of the rooms that would need light bulbs replaced. Walking into the kitchen he turned on the faucets, his face frowning when only the cold water came on. They would have to see what had happened to the hot water and so he made a note of that as he waited in the kitchen for Michael.

Michael made a thorough walk around the outside of the house. He took note of several things that could be used as potential cover. Stopping when he saw the small lake out behind the house he made a note to ask Kyle about it. If the lake had fish, they could use some of them for food instead of having to buy so much. Taking a second trip around he noticed that someone or something had taken residence in the shed but he didn't have much time to think about it now. They would worry about when they came back. Walking back into the house he took in the floor plan, drawing a quick sketch so they could plot out who got what room. Approaching the kitchen he looked up to see Kyle waiting. "Let's get this done and get back to my place."

Together they spent the next three hours cataloging the food and making a list of what they would need for their three month stay. They wanted to have to go into town as little as possible as they figured out what to do, so they made sure they would have what they need. Taking their lists with them both men locked up and drove the hour back to Micheal's apartment. They arrived at 2:15 and were suprised to see Max, Isabel and Alex laughing and having a good time without them.

"Hey this is my house. No parties allowed without me." Michael said in a laughing tone as he took a seat on the couch next to Alex. "It's good to see you back with us Alex. I know Maria will be happy to see you."

~~

Maria and Jim had spent a good hour working on a plausible cover story. Jim was going to tell the Evans' that Isabel and Max were going to be working at a summer camp in Marathon for three months. It was a camp to help foster and adopted children adjust to a normal life. Michael was going to be working there as well. They also decided to tell the Parker's that Liz was going to be working at the same camp instead of the one previous. They wanted it to look like these kids were working to get extra credit.

After coming up with their idea Jim and Maria left for the sheriff station first. He had some forms from the camp they were speaking about and he made photocopies and had written statements from all the kids that he managed to forge their handwriting. Signing them with the fake name of Zylar Plath, M.D., Ph.D to make it look official. He would bring the copies with them.

Their first stop was at the Evans' where the sheriff explained about the camp and how their kids were forced to leave right way. "With them both being adopted and they way Michael was treated as a foster child they all thought it would be good to show these young children that people do really care, that things can be better." He had been able to convince Philip and Diane that this was the best thing their children could do for the summer so they had accepted it.

The Evans' were the easiest to convince, next came Jeff and Nancy Parker. They were angry that Liz had not told them but Maria had explained that it was really short notice. "I was told at the same time and I will be joining them but my mom wasn't home when I had to have the paperwork turned in because my aunt was sick. So they are allowing me to get it signed and come in later."

Nancy regarded her daughter's best friend for a moment. "Just make sure she sends us a post card once a month at least. If we don't hear from here we will go pick her up is that clear."

Maria nodded her head, realizing that they were only agreeing with it because Maria was going to be there. So she smiled and hugged them both and promised that they would keep in touch.

The last stop was at her house for her to deal with her mother. Amy had not been entirely happy to hear that Maria was going to be away for three whole months but she was willing to let her daughter go. Her fear turned to exasperation when she learned that Michael was going to be there as well.

"I understand your concern's Amy, but all of her friends will be there including my son. I know if anyone would make sure nothing happened it would be Kyle. I think this is a great way for your daughter to make an impact on someone's life, and who knows these children might just change all of their lives for the better." Jim smiled as he watched Amy's acquiesce.

When all of their covers had been made and the parents had been given the proper paperwork, Maria packed up the rest of her things and they snuck back over for more of Liz's things. She knew that Max and Isabel would need to sneak more clothes if they were to be gone three whole months. Once everything was gathered they headed back to Micheal's apartment. They were the last to arrive; at 2:30 they came bounding through the door.

Maria stopped in her tracks as she saw Alex, dropping her things she ran and hugged him. She was crying softly at having her other best friend back, now they just needed to bring Liz home.

~~

"Now that everyone is here, we need to fill Alex in on what's going and and give a status report." Max spoke with authority in his voice.

Everyone gathered around as they explained the last few months to Alex who was angry about what Tess had done. Once that had been taken care of Kyle and Michael discussed what needed to be done about the cabin and food. They divided the task amongst themselves on who was to do what. Maria explained their cover stories and was surprised to see the shock and adoration on everyone's face about the type of camp they would be helping at.

The teens sat around for the rest of the afternoon looking over the rough map of the house and deciding who was going to stay where. As night time came they all said their good nights and curled up in their sleeping bags around the apartment, knowing that tomorrow they would get up before dawn and get the supplies they needed before heading out.