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![]() The following storyline is not an actual transcript of an actual episode of Roswell. It is merely a possible storyline built on the characters. This particular story is a sequel to the previous storyline: A Separate Destiny.
If you have not read the Fate: Part I, you need to read it first.
It's shift change at the Crashdown. Liz and Maria dress in the bathroom, back into street clothes. Maria tells Liz what Brody said about the signals.
"Does Max know?" asks Liz.
"He was there when I brought Brody his lunch."
"Did he say anything?"
"No, but he did have a funny look on his face."
"Funny, how?"
"I don't know. It's like that pained look that Angel gets when he's getting ready to sing at the karaoke bar."
"Maria, you're watching way too much TV."
But Liz knew what it meant. Brody was getting too close.
Liz's mom enters.
"Honey," she says, "have you seen Rose?"
Liz shakes her head.
"Why?"
"She's gone."
Liz eyes widen.
"Gone?"
Liz rushes upstairs to her room. Maria follows. There is no trace of Rose, except for the clothes she had worn when they arrived. They lay crumpled on the bed. Liz picks up Rose's shirt. A piece of skin falls out. It disintegrates when Liz lifts it.
"OMG," says Maria.
Deep in the bowels of the Eagle Rock, Nicholas addresses Rose who is handcuffed to the same chair Max had been. He doesn't realize his mistake. They are in the White Room.
"Well, Liz," he says, "do you know why you're here?"
Rose feels herself starting to slip away. She doesn't miss the irony.
"Max."
"Give the lady a gold star. They said you were smart." He circles her. She doesn't move. "Are you smarter than Max?"
A Skin wheels in a table. There's an object on it, covered by a sheet.
"Do you know what's under here?" he asks, raising a corner of the sheet, careful not to reveal the object.
Rose knows it's a body.
He pulls the sheet off dramatically.
It looks like Max, thinks Rose. She had seen Max's picture in Liz's room, but it isn't Max. This is someone important to her, to Rose.
"Amazing, isn't it? You're not surprised."
Rose stares at him.
"You've already met Lonnie, Rath, and Ava. Well, this is Zan."
"Is he dead?"
"No, but you know that. I see it in your eyes. Zan is special. You see, Zan is 20-50 years ahead of your medical science. Zan regenerates body parts. ... It means that once he reaches maturity, he'll never age. He'll continually recreate organs that are dying and make new ones. ... He becomes practically immortal! Unlike us."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He had a little run in with a truck. He's okay, but regeneration takes time. It doesn't happen overnight."
"I'm not Liz," says Rose.
"And I thought you weren't a fool. Don't make me change my mind."
"I'm Rose."
"Where's the Granilith?"
Rose shakes her head.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. ... For Max's sake. You can save him."
"I'm NOT Liz," Rose reaffirms.
"Oh, well, I tried to be nice."
Nicholas performs a mind-rape. There is a great deal of darkness. What IS this? He reaches deeper into Rose's psyche and there's still nothing there ... wait, some images from infancy, two girls, Liz and Rose. This is Rose. Not Liz.
He releases Rose from the mind-rape, but it's too late. There's only a shell of a person swallowed into a deep black hole. Well, that was a joke, he thinks, duped by a dupe.
Max and Brody are still at the computers when Liz and Maria enter. The signal Brody had been tracking abruptly disappeared. He is frantically trying to find it again. He is totally unaware of Liz and Maria, but Max looks up. He sees the distressed look on Liz's face. He walks over to her while Maria goes to Brody to keep his attention occupied.
"Max, I need your help."
He looks at her, perplexed.
"The Skins have Rose. I think they may have mistaken her for me."
Max is visibly upset.
"This is my fault," he said.
"No, Max ..."
"Nicholas, he must have seen ..."
"What are you talking about?"
"... you."
"He thinks you're with Tess. You went to the summit with her."
"No. At the school, when he captured us," Max said, "he did a mind-rape. He saw you. He knows what you mean to me. I tried to protect you, but I couldn't."
"So, you're saying he meant to use me as bait."
"Yes."
"To get to you."
"Yes."
"I can't lose her, Max."
"I know. I'll call Michael, Isabel, and Tess. We'll find her."
Zan awakens. It's very still and the room is very bright. He sits bolt upright. He remembers the truck. How Rath pushed him, how Lonnie watched and smiled. He should be dead, but he's not. He looks at his hands, flips them. He touches his chest. No blood, no broken bones, no nothing. He smiles and thinks I AM THE MAN.
He gets up from the table. He sees the young woman slumped in the chair. He looks around furtively, sensing a trap. But he's intrigued. There's something oddly familiar. He looks around again and steps forward, touches the arm of this unconscious woman. It's warm to the touch and oddly thrilling. Who IS she, he thought, and pushes her hair from her face.
He whispers aloud, "it's ..."
The door opens and Nicholas walks in.
"If it isn't Lazarus!"
"The signal stopped here," said Max, pointing to a map. Isabel, Michael, Tess, Liz, Maria, Alex, Kyle and Valenti look at the map. They are at Michael's apartment.
"What's your point, Maxwell?" says Michael.
"It's only a mile from Eagle Rock."
"The White Room. ...You're saying they have Rose at The White Room."
"It's secure. ... The FBI moved out after the Senate Hearings."
Liz nods.
"I have to go there," says Liz.
"No."
"Max, you can't stop me. This is my sister."
"I can't risk you being caught." Isabel looks from Max to Liz to Max again.
"I'm going," insists Liz.
"Okay," Max gives in, "but you need to be with one of us at all times. You can't be alone."
Liz nods in agreement.
"Good."
"You set me up," accuses Zan.
"Why would I do that?" says Nicholas.
"I'm the number 1."
"Right ... and dumb enough to get yourself killed."
"Hey, I'm here."
"I'm so impressed. You don't even have the support of your sister or Rath. You have nothing without Kivar. Deal and you will sit on the throne. Don't and well ..."
"I am the man. It's my deal or no deal."
"Oh, please ..."
Zan throws a force field around Nicholas.
Nicholas laughs, but he's contained within a shell. He's unable to get out. He's getting annoyed. Zan looks at Nicholas. "I AM the man. Don't you forget it."
He goes back to Rose and removes the cuffs.
"You and me," says Zan, "we're gone."
He lifts Rose in his arms and exits.
The gang has infiltrated Eagle Rock.
"Isabel, can you dreamwalk Rose? Can you find out where she is?" asks Max.
"I don't have a photo," says Liz.
"I don't know," says Isabel, "I've never done it without a picture before."
"Try," says Max.
Isabel tries, but gets nothing.
"She's not here."
"Are you sure?" asks Max.
"There's nothing."
"Maybe we should break up into groups and search," says Michael impatiently. "We don't know what state of mind she's in."
Liz looks alarmed.
"I mean, she's not all there, is she?"
"Michael," says Isabel.
"Well, it's true."
"This is getting us nowhere," says Maria.
"Okay," says Max. "We'll split in two groups. Liz, I want you to stay with me. They want you and I need to know where you are."
Liz nods.
"I'll come with you, too," says Isabel. Alex brings up the rear. "Me, too."
"Okay," agrees Max.
"We'll check out The White Room and this end of the corridor," says Max. "You can check the morgue and that end of the corridor."
The groups split.
"Find them!" screams Nicholas at the security detail. He's really angry. Zan has given them the slip and he wants them found. "Does anyone here have brains? How could they get out of this building? I can't believe this! This planet sucks!"
Max, Liz, Isabel, and Alex hide around the corner. They watch as the detail hurries out the guarded gate. For Max, his heart is racing as he remembers how he was wheeled down the corridor through that very gate, how frightened he had been when he heard the gate slam behind him. Now he had to go through that gate again and he wasn't sure if he could.
"Are you okay?" asked Liz, sensing Max's hesitation.
"I'm fine," he lies, but Liz takes his hand anyway. It makes him feel better.
"How are we going to get through the door," says Isabel. "The locks are Uranium. Nasedo says we can't unlock those."
"They've probably changed the scanners," says Alex. "They probably don't read any human hand now."
"Then we're stuck," says Max.
"No," says Isabel, turning to Liz.
"Maybe you can distract them. If the guards see you, maybe they'll unlock the doors and we can slip in when they follow you?"
Max is genuinely alarmed.
"No!" says Max, emphatically.
"You mean, like what we did, to reach Max in NY," says Liz.
"Yes," says Isabel.
"What are you talking about?" says Alex, unaware of Liz's newfound abilities.
"Can you do it?" says Isabel. "I can help."
"Yeah," says Liz, nodding, "I can." Anything, she thinks, if it gets Rose back.
Isabel takes Liz's hand, helps her get started, then let's go as Liz finds that place in her mind. Suddenly, she's in front of the gate.
Max looks from Liz to Liz's astral body at the gate. This is what he saw in New York, but beside him was the real Liz ... but who is the real Liz?
"Amazing," says Alex. "How's she doing that?"
"Ssshhh," whispers Isabel, "don't, break her concentration."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry."
A Skin spots Liz's form.
"There she is," he says and sounds the alarm. Several Skins appear and the open the gate. Liz's form turns and runs down the corridor, followed by the Skins. They turn at the end of the corridor.
"Okay," says Max, "let's go." He touches Liz's shoulder and breaks her concentration.
"We don't have much time," she says.
They rush through the gate.
At the other end of the corridor, Michael, Maria, Kyle and Tess have just about finished their search.
"There's nothing here," says Maria.
"If she were here," says Tess, "she's gone now."
They hear a commotion outside the door. Kyle looks out the window and sees Liz's form. It's stopped only feet from him. Her back is toward him and he sees the Skins facing her.
"OMG, it's Liz," he says. "The Skins ... we've got to get her."
"No," says Tess. "That's not Liz," holding Kyle back.
Maria runs to the door.
"Yes, it is. She's standing right there," says Maria, and as soon as she says it, the form disappears.
"What the ...," begins Kyle, then realizes they've been made. "I think we're in BIG trouble."
They are in The White Room. Max is very quiet. Isabel and Liz, who have seen what Pierce and the FBI did to Max, watch him carefully as he walks about the room. He looks at the table where they had drugged him and where they had cut his chest open; at the chair he had been cuffed in and the virtual reality program ... of Liz, dead before his eyes. He looks at Liz to make sure she is really there ... alive. She looks back and thinly smiles, aching in the knowledge of what he suffered there.
"She's not here," says Isabel. "If she ever was."
"She was," says Alex. "This is yours, Liz, isn't it?" says Alex, holding up Liz's sweater.
Liz takes the sweater, holds it close.
"I told her she could borrow my clothes," says Liz, regretting that she had.
"Where is she?" says Isabel.
"They've moved her," said Max.
"Isabel," says Liz, pointing the sweater. "Can you dreamwalk Rose with this? I know it's not a photograph, but if she were wearing it ..." her voice trailing off in desperation.
"I don't know," she says, taking the sweater from Liz's hands.
"You have to try," says Alex.
Isabel sits in the chair Max had been strapped in. Max wants to stop her, but she's already in it. Liz sees his discomfort and goes to give him a hug ... to reassure him.
"It'll be okay, Max" she says. He knows she is referring to him, not her sister. He wanted it to be "okay" for her. He put his arms around her.
"Does the Buddha keep score?" says Tess, as the Skins come rushing in the room. One pushes Maria out of the way to get to Kyle. Kyle tackles him and Tess stomps on his value. Michael throws out a power burst and knocks several Skins to the ground. A rip-roaring brawl ensues. Maria bashes a Skin with a specimen jar. Solution gets into his eyes and he writhes in pain as Kyle breaks his seal. Though outnumbered, the gang overcomes the odds and there is husk dust everywhere. Maria is fanning in front of her face.
"What is that smell?"
"I think that's the intestinal goo you're wearing," remarks Kyle, pointing to Maria's chest.
"OMG, GROSS!" says Maria, pulling off bits of the specimen jar.
"I feel better," says Michael, looking at Maria. "Come on, they'll be back."
Isabel is having a hard time trying to connect with Rose. It's very faint and she seems very far away. Liz is holding her breath. She knows this might be the only way they find Rose, if she were there at all. She remembers again when she first she saw Rose, the shock of her unresponsiveness. Liz silently prays ... please, find her.
Suddenly, Isabel jumps with such force. It's as if a surge of current has gone through her body. It breaks her concentration and throws her out of the dreamwalk.
"Iz," says Max, rushing to her side. "Are you okay?" Liz kneels by the chair and Alex stands next to her.
"I'm fine," says Isabel, taken aback by the jolt, but trying to disguise the fact.
"What happened?" asks Max.
"I'm not sure," she returns. "I was inside her head," she continues, turning to Liz, "and she was barely there but I felt you there and there was this sudden burst of energy ..."
Isabel turns back to Max.
"Max, she's going to the Granilith."
"The Granilith? She doesn't know anything about the Granilith? How is that possible?"
"And she's with Zan."
They all exchange looks as Michael, Maria, Kyle and Tess walk in.
At the Granilith, Zan has lain Rose on the floor. When she had opened her eyes for the first time, he knew. This is the person he had been waiting for all his life. The way her eyes lit up when she saw him, it set him on fire. But she's slipping away, slowly and he wasn't sure how to stop it. When he first touched her, he had this flash of this place, but what is this ... this Granilith he had heard so much about from Nicholas, this object of veneration.
He tries to heal Rose, but it's not working. It's as if a slow poison seeps through her frail body and there is no cure. He's the man, but he can't save the woman. He feels his frustration greatly.
The gang arrives and they rush into the Granilith room. Zan hovers over Rose. Liz is horrified.
Rose looks dead and Zan ... well, he looks like Max, but he's DIFFERENT.
"I'm the man," says Zan, "I need to save her."
Max steps up to him, Liz by his side. She kneels beside Rose.
"Rose," she says, tears in her eyes, "are you there? Rose?"
Max kneels beside her. Liz looks at him. He tries to heal her, but it doesn't work. He shakes his head. A tear slides down Liz's cheek. Isabel pushes the others out of the room.
"Help us," Zan says. "I can save her ... here." Zan touches the Granilith with his hand.
Max and Liz exchange looks.
"How?" says Max.
"Turn it on," says Zan, to Liz.
She doesn't understand how that is going to work.
"Turn it on," Zan insists.
"I don't have the crystal," says Liz.
"I have the crystal," says Serena, as she walks into the room.
Max and Liz are surprised. They hadn't seen her enter or from where.
Serena puts the crystal in the Granilith and it bursts to life.
"Take her," Serena says to Zan.
Zan lifts Rose in his arms.
To Max and Liz, she says, "Take her hand." They look at each other.
"It's okay," says Serena. "Take each other's hand and stand by me."
A brilliant flash of light appears. It's so blinding that Max and Liz cannot even see each other, but can only feel each other's hand. Max draws Liz closer to him. A moment later, their eyes clear. Serena is gone. Zan and Rose appear in the machine. Zan is smiling.
"I AM THE MAN!" he says triumphantly and disappears to an unknown fate with his lovely Rose.
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