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: The Roswellians and the Creekers start to realize something's wrong.

Max walks in, ready for work. Of course, no work that he remembers.

Inside Evans' Fresh Fish, he looks around…searching for a sign of anyone he knows. Finally, he sees someone.

"Oh my god" a hyper-sounding voice hollers. "Max…you're here. Thankyouthankyouthankyou…please tell me you remember where we live."

Maria De Luca runs up to him, dressed in the same type of work uniform that he is.

"Roswell, New Mexico" he replies.

"Yes" she says. "Which, may I add, is very strange since this looks nothing like Roswell. I'd keep your voice down, by the way. We seem to be okay, but no one else seems to remember that.This is an 'alien' thing, right?"

Max nods his head. Maria sighs.

"Why me…why does this always happen to me?" she asks herself. "Is anybody else we know aware?"

"Just Isabel" Max answers. "But she's not exactly in a position to do anything about it. And it gets worse."

"Worse?" she asks. "How could this possibly get any worse?"

"My powers aren't working" he replies.

Maria freezes for a moment.

"We are sooo screwed."

*****

Pacey walks streets he doesn't recognize, in a city he doesn't recognize. It's something he's gotten used to in the past few weeks. Sailing from city to city, waking up in a different place every day. However, he was still on the boat, last he remembered.

That's it, he thinks. That's the last time I ever drink anything that was made in the boiler room. If it ain't bottled, I'm not interested.

He continues walking for a moment until he sees someone walking out of a nearby building.

Naw, he thinks. It couldn't be. The odds are...

"Pacey?" the other person hollers, walking up to him.

"I don't believe this." Pacey answers. "You're telling me I'm in LA? Somehow, I thought it'd look…different. Boy, Joss Whedon sure pulled a fast one, didn't he?"

Dawson rolls his eyes.

"This isn't LA, Pacey." Dawson informs him. "It's New Mexico."

"What the hell am I doing in New Mexico?" he asks. "Furthermore, what are you doing here."

"I don't know" Dawson responds. "I just woke up this morning, and found myself here. Well, and my parents, and my sister, and Joey is here too apparently."

"Come again?" he asks. "Where?"

"Apparently I'm supposed to meet her at some place called the 'Crashdown'" Dawson tells him. "Although, I have absolutely no recollection of making these plans."

"You don't remember?" he asks. "And just what is a 'Crashdown' anyway?"

"That, I think," Dawson suggests, and points behind Pacey.

They both look up to a nearby building. It looks like some sort of 'theme restaurant', with a spacecraft motif.

*****

Dawson and Pacey slowly enter the Crashdown, taking in their surroundings.

"Uh, Dawson?" Pacey asks. "Where exactly in New Mexico are we?"

"Take a guess," Dawson replies.

Pacey sighs.

"Roswell," Pacey comments. "Naturally. The conspiracy theory and 'alien abduction' capital of the world. Ah well, it beats Capeside."

Pacey looks at the various 'alien momentoes' hanging on the walls.

"Ok, this place is creepy," he comments. "Do these people have a life?"

Without warning, someone walks up to them.

"Of course," they hear a woman's voice say in front of them. "The two of you would have to show up once the world's gone screwy."

Pacey and Dawson look in her direction. There, they see Joey Potter and Jen Lindley standing in front of them.

They are both wearing the aqua green 'Crashdown' waitress' uniform. Complete with the silver antennae headpiece.

The boys start to chuckle under their breaths.

"Not one word," Jen tells them both.

At that moment, both guys start to laugh hysterically.

*****

Back in Capeside, Liz walks into Evans' Fresh Fish, with Alex following close behind her. She notices a table nearby with familiar people sitting there.

Michael is sitting at the table with Max and Maria, still in uniform. Liz walks up to them and sits down.

"Liz?" Max greets her. "Hey."

"Hey," she responds. "Does anybody else notice anything really strange happening around here."

All three nod. Alex pulls up a chair and sits down.

"Hey, did you guys know I work at a yacht club?" Michael asks them.

"No," Max responds.

"Me neither," he replies, with a harsh tone. "Who's the pipsqueak, Parker?"

"Michael…" Max warns him.

"Promise you won't overreact?" Liz asks them.

She receives nods.

"This may be a little hard to believe…" she begins. "…but he's Alex."

All three do double takes, and then stare at Alex.

"That's…that's impossible…" Maria stutters up. "We've got a dead person, a real live dead person…no…a real dead dead person, and he's sitting at this table looking like a toddler, and we're talking to him, and…"

"Maria, you're babbling," Alex tells her.

"I think I deserve the right to babble, Mr. Dead person," she responds. "Don't take this the wrong way, but why aren't you dead?"

"I don't know," he responds. "The last thing I remember is dancing with Isabel."

"At the prom?" Liz asks.

"No," he answers. "In the graveyard…over my own grave. I thought I was dreaming or something. I thought Tess put me to sleep, or maybe a coma."

Max gets a solemn look.

"She killed you," he informs him. "People don't just come back from the dead."

"Says the space alien," Maria quips. "Maybe you actually did something when you tried to heal him, and it was just delayed."

"Can't you use your powers to find out what happened?" Liz asks him.

"One problem with that," Max tells her. "My powers don't seem to be working at present…"

He turns to Michael.

"Michael?"

Michael puts his hand around a ketchup bottle and starts to concentrate.

"Mine either" he tells Max. "What about Isabel?"

"She's been regressed, too." Max tells them. "Only she's a baby now."

They all become silent for a moment.

"Any ideas as to why we're in a town we've never seen before?" Michael asks him. "I've never heard of a 'Capeside' in my life."

"I have," Max announces.

The other four immediately focus their attention towards Max.

"There was someone I met in LA yesterday," Max tells them. "Dawson Leery…he told me he grew up in Capeside. I was trying to connect with the meteorite when he grabbed me. I was right…it was Antarian, and the museum started to collapse when I came near it. He thought I was in danger."

"So what you're saying is that it must have switched the two of you places?" Liz asks. "Like altering the space time continuum?"

"You've been watching too much Star Trek," Maria tells her.

"I think she's right," Alex comments. "It's the only thing that would make any sense. But why all of us? Why not only Max?"

"That's something we'll have to figure out." Liz responds. "Anyone know where Kyle is?"

Suddenly, they hear a ringing sound coming from Max's pocket. Max pulls a cell phone out and answers it.

"Hello?" Max speaks into the phone.

"Max?" Kyle asks from the other end. "Guess where I am?"

"Where?" Max asks.

"IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, THAT'S WHERE!!!" Kyle yells into the phone, causing Max to flinch.

"Calm down, Kyle" Max tells him.

"What did you do to me this time, Evans?" Kyle asks into the phone.

"I'm not sure, Kyle," he says. "Just get to Capeside as soon as you can."

"What the heck's a 'Capeside'?" Kyle asks.

"It's a coastal town, it's somewhere in New England." Max informs him. "Just be careful, no one but us seems to know something's wrong. Don't rouse any suspicions."

Max hangs up the phone.

"It was Kyle," he tells everyone. "He'll be a few days."

"In the meantime, we should try to find out what's happened." Liz suggests. "Try to find out as much as you can about the people you've been switched with. Journals, letters, report card…anything that can give us insight as to who these people are. I'll try to find out why your powers aren't working."

They all stand up and start to leave.

"Max?" Liz asks, before Max leaves.

"Yeah?" he responds, turning around to face her.

"Nothing," she whispers.

He looks at her with emotion-filled eyes for a moment, then turns and leaves.

*****

Back in Roswell, the former Capeside dwellers are sitting down at a table in the Crashdown. A few minutes before, Drue Valentine had arrived, and was now sitting with Dawson, Joey, Pacey, and Jen.

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you guys," Pacey reassures them. "It's just that, well, I didn't expect it to be so soon."

"Me neither…I don't even remember arriving here," Dawson informs them. "I think it's safe to say that something weird's going on here."

"You don't know the half of it, Dawson" Joey mutters under her breath.

Suddenly, they see Mr. Potter walk by, and go talk to one of the waiters.

Stunned, Pacey turns to Dawson and Joey.

"When did he get out?" he asks. He just receives confused glances as responses.

At that moment, they notice Drue pouring the entire bottle of Tabasco sauce on his burger.

"Are you insane?" Jen asks him.

"What?" Drue asks, innocently. "It tastes dull, okay? Hey, Potter, tell your old man not to skimp on the seasoning."

Joey rolls her eyes.

"Fine," Jen responds. "Just don't come crying to me when you need a fire extinguisher rammed down your throat."

Drue takes a bit out of his burger. He pauses for a moment, letting the taste sink in.

"Not bad," he remarks. "Not bad at all…this stuff is mild at best."

"He's faking it," Pacey concludes.

Curious, Dawson grabs another bottle from the table and starts to pour it on his own burger.

"Dawson, don't…" Joey tells him. "You're not actually going to believe…"

Dawson takes a bite, and he feels fine.

"Hmm," he ponders. "Either this is low-quality Tabasco, or our sense of taste is heightened somehow."

Pacey grabs the bottle.

"Let me try it," he says, and pours it on his own burger.

Pacey takes a bite, and immediately gasps in pain. He grabs the water picture and starts drinking straight from it. The others begin to laugh.

"Not funny," Pacey says, gasping for air. "How come you two could do it, but I couldn't?"

"I don't really know," Dawson replies. "The last thing I remember is being in LA, and then I woke up here. And that's not the weirdest part."

Just then, Lily walks in and sits next to them.

"Hey Dawson," she greets her brother.

"Hey Lily," Dawson replies, then gives the others a 'keep quiet' look. The others just stare at her.

"Well," she says. "Since we're all here, you might as well tell us what you found out in LA."

"It's not really that important," Dawson tells her.

Lily looks confused, almost concerned.

"Not that important?" she asks. "You didn't find anything? Great. Just great. That means your whole trip was for nothing. We still have no way of going after Gretchen."

The whole group looks at her, confused.

"Why would we want to go after Gretchen?" Joey asks.

"Are you kidding me, Joey?" she asks. "You of all people should remember what she did."

"It wasn't that bad, Lily," Dawson tells her.

She looks at her brother, shocked.

"Besides, it's wouldn't be that hard to track her down," Pacey comments. "I mean, she just went back where she came from, right?"

"She went home, Pacey," Lily reminds him. "That's a little farther than we can get to."

"Home?" Jen asks.

"Yeah, you know…home." Lily answers, and points upwards.

"Up north?" Joey asks, confused.

Lily shakes her head, then looks around to make sure no one else is watching.

Then she points up again…higher.

Dawson, Joey, Pacey, Jen, and Drue look up towards the ceiling. They grow silent when they realize what she means.

"Oh…home" Dawson says, imitating an ET voice.

"Oh…my…god.." he whispers.