MIRRORS

Written By: Kal-El and LeeryAndPotter(yes, that's right...we're the same person. Just call me 'Peter', okay?)

Disclaimer: Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Kyle, and Isabel belong to Jason Katmis and UPN. Dawson, Joey, Pacey, and all the rest belong to Kevin Williamson and the WB. I don't own either of them, so don't sue me.

Classification: M/L and D/J, maybe I'll throw a bit of Jen/Drue and Michael/Maria in too.

Rating: PG-13, if you can watch the show(s), you can read this

Spoilers: After both 'Coda' and 'Departure'.

My name is Liz Parker.

Liz slowly gets out of bed and walks into the kitchen.

Have you ever woke up somewhere and forgot you were there? Like when sleeping over at a friend's house, or at a camping trip? Or maybe even after moving to a new home?

Liz opens the fridge and pulls out a container of orange juice. She pours herself a glass and drinks it.

"Mom?" she hollers. "Dad? Anyone home?"

Maybe you have? But with me, it's different. When I don't remember where I am, it usually means I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be.

Suddenly, Liz looks around her in surprise. Then she runs to the window and sees a sign that says 'Parker's B&B'.

Take this for example. I wake up and don't recognize anything. This doesn't look like my kitchen, and this is definitely not my yard.

She runs back to the table and notices a note addressed to herself. She starts reading it out loud.

"Liz. Sorry to do this on such short notice, but could you watch the kid for us? I'm sure Max won't mind. Thanks sis."

The weird thing is...I don't even have a sister.

Liz walks down the hallway and into a nearby room. She notices a young boy, no more than three, sitting on a bed...looking at her.

Liz sits down next to him.

"Whatever's happening is obviously Max related." she tells herself.

"You're a master of stating the obvious, you know that?" the little boy tells her.

She quickly turns to face the kid, surprised.

"Okay, you can talk...very well" she says to him.

The boy chuckles.

"Okay, um...this is embarrassing" he admits. "You don't recognize me like this, do you Liz? Which is understandable. I mean, I don't recognize me like this..."

"Do I...know you?" she asks, confused.

"This may come as sort of a shock, but..." he tells her, with a nervous look. "...it's me. Alex."

Joey Potter's eyes slowly drifted open, hearing her alarm clock going off.

She shut it off, and reluctantly climbed out of bed.

Well, this is one day I wish I could just stay in bed she thought. Dawson's a couple of hundreds of miles away, and I won't even see him again for six months. Wait a second, this isn't my room.

Indeed it wasn't. Joey looked around her, and did not recognize her surroundings.

"Bessie?" she called out, but didn't receive any answer. "Jen? Jack?...Drue?"

Again, no answer.

She slowly walked towards the window and looked out.

The creek wasn't there, no dock, no grass either. She was in some sort of apartment building.

One thing was for sure, she wasn't in Capeside.

Max looked out his bedroom window, and didn't recognize where he was.

There was a lake or something in his yard, along with a dock, and a boat tied up at the end.

He wasn't in LA anymore, or in Roswell.

The last thing I remember is passing out he thought. Dawson must have came to and brought me here, or something?

At that moment, Mr. Evens walks in the room.

"Max?" he says. "You're awake."

Max turns around, surprised.

"Dad?" he asks. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here" his father answers. "I could ask you the same thing if I wasn't so glad to see you. Decided to wait until September, huh?"

For what? Max thinks.

"Uh, yeah" he answers, unsure.

"For some reason, I think you had another reason besides wanting to spend time with your family" he says, suggestively. "A reason that starts with an 'L' and ends with a 'Z'."

Max sighs.

"Liz" he mutters.

"Something happened between the two of you before you left, didn't it?" he asks.

"We had an...um...intense conversation." Max admits.

"Don't worry about it, son" his father reassures him. "You two will sort it out."

I'm not so sure about that. Max thinks. There's so much hurt feelings between the two of us. God, she can't even trust me with the truth.

His father starts to leave, but Max stops him.

"Um, dad? Where's Isabel?"

"In her room, down the hall" Mr. Evens says. "Why?"

"Just wondering." he answers. Once his dad his down the stairs, Max heads over to Isabel's room.

"Iz, do you have any idea why dad isn't wierded out by..."

Max stops in his tracks. It didn't look like Isabel's room at all. For instance, there was a baby crib in the middle.

He walks up to it and sees a blonde baby girl lying in it.

A baby girl who looks at him with familiar eyes.

"Isabel?" he asks, his voice almost a whisper. "What happened to you?"

Isabel just starts to cry.

"Okay" he says, trying to calm her. "Quiet down, I'll try to help."

Max puts his hand over her forehead and begins to concentrate. When nothing happens, he becomes confused.

Wait a minute he thinks.

Max grabs and nearby lamp and tries to use his power to change it.

Again, nothing.

In horror, he stares at his hand.

My powers...they're gone!

"Dawson, you up?" Mitch Leery asks his son.

Dawson walks into his room, a little groggy.

"Dad?" he asks.

"You look a little worn down." he answers. "Must be jet lag from your trip to LA."

Dawson gets a surprised look.

"I don't even remember coming home" Dawson admits.

"You were sort of 'out of it' when you came in last night" his father answers. "You just stumbled into your room without saying a word."

Gale walks into the room at that moment.

"I'm just glad you're okay, sweetheart." she tells him. "When we heard about what happened to the museum...well, we're glad you made it out okay."

Must have hit my head on something Dawson thinks. How did I get back here so fast. Oh well, I guess a few months before heading off the college is good enough.

Dawson looks at his surroundings.

"Did some remodeling while I was gone, huh?" he asks.

"What do you mean?" Gale asks.

"The kitchen. It looks good." he compliments her.

"Thanks, Dawson." she says. "But it looks the same as when you left."

No it doesn't. Dawson thinks.

"Hey." Mitch interrupts. "Have you talked to Joey yet? She called here yesterday asking if you left okay."

"Not yet, but I plan to." Dawson says. "I'll drive over there later."

"With what?" Gale asks. "Don't tell me you forgot how Drue wrecked your car?"

Dawson's eyes almost bulge out of his head.

"WHAT?!!" he exclaims. "Okay, how did he do that?"

"It fell over a cliff, remember?" Mitch asks. "You told me about it yourself, and about how you'd never let him drive again."

"Good advice." Dawson comments. "I should have thought of that before I let him drive it."

I don't even remember letting him drive it.

At that moment the door opens, and a 18-year-old, dark-haired girls walks inside. At first, Dawson thought it was Joey, but her features were a lot different.

"Hey, you're back." the girl greets him. "So, how was LA? Bring me back anything?"

"Hi Lily." Gale says to her.

Wait a minute, Dawson thinks. Did she just call her...?

"Hi mom." the girl says, and hugs her. "What's that look for, Dawson? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Dawson is speechless.

TO BE CONTINUED...

What's happening? Alex Whitman is ALIVE? And as a 3-year-old? What happened to Max's powers? Why is Isabel a baby? And why is baby Lillian a teenager?

Plus, while all this is happening, where are Michael, Maria, Kyle, Pacey, Jen, and Drue?

Stay tuned for the answers.