The Missing Piece (CC, MATURE/ADULT accepted)

[isabelle]

*Max*

As Liz sits down and uses her own powers to mix her tea, suddenly I’m feeling a lot more comfortable. It was like a silent acknowledgement of what and who we are. I exhale slowly, relaxing a bit more. We still have a lot to discuss and some heavy expectations to deal with, but it seems more feasible now that we’re on the same page.

“…you know who I am, so what do you want…?” she says, stating verbally what she’d already said with her minor display of powers, followed by the obvious question. I can only imagine what she must be thinking. Why have I come now? Where’s Nacedo? I get the feeling she doesn’t really want to leave yet, but hopefully I can allay those concerns.

I put my hand over my own tea and give it a little re-heat also, while I concider again where to start. Best to come right out and say it straight, I decide.

“Well,” I say slowly and gently, “First, I guess I should tell you Nacedo’s dead. He died two years ago in a car accident and that’s why you haven’t seen him lately. Unfortunately, he never told the three of us what your Earth name was or where you were, exactly. So, we've been spending the last two years trying to find you, and now we finally have.” I give her a warm smile of welcome although, in fact, that last part is already rather obvious.

I know I should tell her about the message from Antar and all and I will in a moment. I just want to give her a little bit of a chance to absorb the news about Nacedo first.

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

Max seems to think a moment, presumably considering how to start, and then finally he speaks. “Well…” His voice is gentle and soft. “First I should tell you Nacedo’s dead. He died two years ago in a car accident and that’s why you haven’t seen him lately… Unfortunately he never told the three of us what your Earth name was or where you were. So we’ve been spending the last two years trying to find you, and now we finally have.”

He smiles at me, but I barely register it. His words are running over in my head. It’s as though he expects me to know what he’s talking about, but in truth, I haven’t got a clue. Someone’s dead – presumably someone important to him, but I’m sure I don’t know anyone who goes by such a strange name. I look back at him. “Who’s Nacedo…”

“Our protector. The shape-shifter. Maybe you called him by another name…?”

Shape-shifter – ok now that really sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi movie… It’s the sort of thing those UFO nuts would go crazy about, and it’s completely without scientific basis…

This Max certainly seems to believe it though, and the way he’s speaking…it just doesn’t make sense… I shake my head. “Excuse me…our what?” I really don’t understand what he’s saying. At first I thought he was being evasive, but now I think he just thinks I know a whole lot more than I apparently do… I look at him pushing my hair back from my face slightly before lifting my drink to take another sip. Swallowing slowly, I allow the warm liquid to slip down my throat and then look up again. “I’m sorry, I know that you seem to think I should know who you are talking about, but I honestly don’t have a clue…” I admit awkwardly.

This whole encounter is very strange…its just as though I’m missing part of the puzzle – and a vital part at that…

[isabelle]

*Max*

Liz’s face is a picture of confusion and compassion, but no sorrow or even surprise. She asks who he is and I think I understand. Obviously, Nacedo must have been using one of his other aliases. I briefly explain, but it doesn’t seem to help her at all. She shakes her head, “Excuse me…our what? I’m sorry, I know that you seem to think I should know who you are talking about, but I honestly don’t have a clue…”

Now it’s my turn to stare at her in shock and amazement as my jaw drops. Blinking, I shut my mouth and try to make sense of it. “You don’t know?”

“No, I don’t know anything.” she says, starting to look a little fearful.

Suddenly, I realize how confusing my unannounced arrival on her doorstep must really be. She doesn’t know anything about the four of us or the plans that have been made. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be and it was already going to be hard enough given her age and the urgency we now face. I immediately want to contact Isabel and Michael and tell them, but I think I need to know more about what happened first.

“I’m so sorry. I assumed you knew. Here I’ve just barged in without any explanation. You must have thought I was insane!” I apologize and then shake my head in amazement, not only for Nacedo’s omissions, but also for Liz. She’s been so poised, even considering her age. I had no idea she was so much in the dark.

“Nacedo was the one who raised me and my sister and our friend Michael. He would come to see you two or three times a year and always reported that you were well. I never imagined that he didn’t tell you…

“I guess I should start from the top. You know about your abilities. You've used them,” I say, thinking not just of her tea, but also the furniture. “Do you know why you can do these things? Have you figured out what you are?”

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

The look on Max’s face confirms what I suspected t anyway… He hasn’t been trying purposely to be vague or mysterious… He obviously thought that I knew a whole lot more than I do…

“You don’t know…?”

I shake my head, beginning to worry a little about what all this means. His words, protector, my Earth name…they just don’t make sense, and I can’t lie, they do un-nerve me a little. It’s like something out of a movie, yet I know it’s happening right here, right now… “No, I don’t know anything…” I tell him in a small voice.

The look on his face now is strange…I’m not quite sure how to read it… Surprise, apprehension…guilt maybe even…

“I’m so sorry, I just assumed that you knew…” He apologises in that warm, deep voice. “Here I’ve just barged in without any explanation. You must have thought I was insane…”

Insane…well not quite, but I was wondering what he was doing here that’s for sure… Maybe now that he realises I’ll actually begin to get some answers…

He shakes his head and I assume he’s trying to work out where to start. “Nacedo was the one who raised me and my sister and our friend Michael.”

I nod and look at him. “I’m sorry for your loss…” I tell him sincerely but start suddenly as he says the next.

“He would come to see you two or three times a year and always reported that you were well. I never imagined that he didn’t tell you…”

Someone’s been watching me…visiting… I didn’t know it, but maybe he had something to do with the social services…I mean they visited often enough didn’t they…? I bite my lip and shake my head slightly. “I never met him…that I know of anyway…” I respond softly.

“I guess I should start from the top. You know about your abilities. You've used them…Do you know why you can do these things? Have you figured out what you are?”

What I am…? Other than a freak…? I shake my head again. “N-no…I mean I can do things that make no sense, but why…?” I trail off a moment and shrug. “Honestly – it took me long enough to get to grips with them, but when I did…I was more interested in keeping them secret than finding out where they came from…” I try to explain before looking back at him carefully. “You say ‘what’ I am…please…I don’t know, but I want to understand what you mean…won’t you explain…?”

[isabelle]

I haven't heard from you, Kat. I hope this is okay...
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*Max*

Liz’s confusion is so intense, it’s almost painful to watch. She’s afraid and she has every reason to be. I can’t even imagine it – growing up alone, with nobody to tell her why she could do these things, how it all worked. What possible reason did Nacedo have for not telling her? It doesn’t make any sense…

“You say ‘what’ I am…please…I don’t know, but I want to understand what you mean…won’t you explain…?”

“Of course,” I tell her, reaching to put my hand over hers. “I’m trying to explain it all. I want to answer all your questions. You need to know the truth. I’ll help you any way I can.”

She nods, accepting my support for the moment. She looks at me swallowing hard, straining to hold back her emotions. I know what I’m going to say will be a tremendous shock, but I can’t let her wait any longer. She deserves to know.

Still, there’s so very much to tell. I’ll have to take it slow, but not too slow. I can’t beat around the bush. I need to tell her as directly as possible, and then wait. Let her ask as many questions as she needs before I go on to the next part. This may take quite a while.

Keeping my voice calm, level and gentle, I look into her eyes and tell her, “What you are, what I am – we’re not from around here, Liz. We’re from another world. A place called Antar.”

“What?” she asks, sharply. Her eyes are wide with disbelief as she pulls her hand out from under mine.. She takes a deep breath and I can guess she’s struggling to stay calm. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” I tell her. “That crash out in the desert in 1947? – It was real.”

[isabelle]

Okay - here's a Liz part from KatnotKath. I meant to post a Max post with it but I haven't had a chance to write it yet. Hopefully very soon....
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~Liz~

"Of course..." He looks back at me and reaches out, slipping his hand over mine. "I'm trying to explain it all. I want to answer all your questions. You need to know the truth..."

The truth... When I was younger I wondered about that so much...where my parents are...why they left me like this... I cried myself to sleep so many nights when I was younger...answers are all I have ever wanted. To know who I really am...

I stopped thinking about that a long time ago though...I had to... I had to live my life in the present and now, not in the past. I didn't have the best time, passed from one family to another, but I concentrated clinging onto the persona that I had developed. Liz Parker, teenage girl... No real family, but one great friend... I tried to make my life as normal as possible, getting a part time job, working hard for school...I had girly chats with other girls from school, I went out on dates...

When I had been informed that when I was sixteen I would be able to apply for emancipation, I jumped at the chance, pursuing the possibility as quickly as I could. I concentrated on finally putting all ghosts behind me, looking on it as a new start, and a chance to simply be the person I was, and forget about what had come before.

Still, those questions still hang in the back of my mind if I am honest I know, and the idea that I might get some answers...I just don't know what to think... From the way that he is talking, there's obviously something that I'm not understanding... What might he be about to tell me...?

"I'll help you any way I can..."

Help...why would I need help...? His words do nothing to calm me, and I nod slowly, swallowing and trying to rid myself of the lump in my throat. What else can I do except accept what he is offering...it's not like I seem to have much choice... I look up at him hesitantly and wait for him to continue.

For a moment he doesn't speak, and then comes his soft, warm, deep voice once more. He looks down at me and I feel myself falling into his eyes. What you are, what I am - we're not from around here, Liz...."

Not from around here...I don't understand... I don't think he's meaning from Roswell, but then what could he be meaning...? Going over what he's already said, I now almost miss the last part of his sentence...Almost, but not quite...

"We're from another world..."

"What?" I feel my heart start to beat faster, and while his hand sat on top of mine until now seemed comforting, now it seems restrictive, tight and rigid... I pull my hand away quickly and take a deep breath, biting down on the inside of my lip as I battle for the control of my emotions.

Aliens...I never heard anything so silly in my life... I mean I grew up in Roswell for goodness sake...I know full well all the stunts that people pull to draw in the tourists and UFO freaks... There's never been anything found scientifically to support the theory of other life-forms... It's all just a con...isn't it...?

I look back at Max almost feeling as though I'm struggling for air. "Y-you can't be serious..." I tell him, wincing inwardly as I hear the shake in my voice.

Max nods slightly. "I am..." He tells me again. "That crash out in the desert in 1947 - It was real..."

There's something in his voice that tells me that at the very least he must believe this....

I shake my head in denial. "There's never been any proof of alien life found...and as far as Roswell goes, it's a tourist town, pure and simple..." I'm a scientist, I deal in fact not fiction...so why does it sound as though I'm trying to convince myself...?

I swallow nervously, lifting my mug but soon setting it back down as I see my hand shaking. I try to reason this out in my head, but I keep coming back to the same conclusion...this doesn't make sense...but then, neither do I anyway... I mean I have these strange abilities the like of which I've never seen or heard...well until I met Max today that is... I have no idea who I am really or where I come from... Is the idea of being an alien really all that much of a leap...?

I shake my head, it feels like it's going to explode... It can't be though...aliens aren't real...

Taking one breath after another, I look back up at Max. "Okay, say that I believe you for a moment...say that I accept that we're a-aliens..." I struggle a little over the word. "...however crazy it sounds...so what are you saying, that our parents were in the 1947 crash...or even our grandparents...?"

[isabelle]

*Max*

I nod slowly as Liz agrees to consider being an alien in a theoretical mode only. It’s not unexpected. Common wisdom says that aliens aren’t real, even in Roswell, New Mexico. Sure, the believers are here and they’re a lot louder than at other places, but those who scoff at the idea are just as loud. Liz is intelligent and logical. It’s easy to see why she would have dismissed the factoids and anecdotes that pass for evidence. Nacedo and the other survivor had been able to hide most of the evidence and the United States Air Force very helpfully hid the rest.

If Liz hadn't been thinking of herself as an alien, then maybe that explains her ability to work in a restaurant that makes money off of the crash that nearly killed all of us. Maybe it's a good thing. If she identified herself with the aliens whose images she sees here every day, it would be a lot more stressful for her, I'm sure.

Still, Liz is trying to accept it for the moment, no doubt in part because of her own abilities for which there are also no explanations. She probably couldn’t even look for explanations there, since she couldn’t reveal what she could do to anyone. Again, I’m struck by how hard it must have been, to be going through all this completely alone.

“Not quite,” I tell her, gently. “We were there ourselves, in a manner-of-speaking.”

“No.” She shakes her head and gets to her feet, and I know she’s about to tell me how impossible it all is.

“Please, Liz. Hear me out. I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s all true,” I pleaded with her. I considered going back and talking about our parents first, but then decided it was better to answer the question she actually asked. One question at a time…

“We were all babies, not even born yet. We were in incubation pods that kept us in stasis for the journey and after, allowing us to slowly mature until we emerged as children, about forty years later, although you were there four years longer than the rest of us. Do you remember coming out of the pod ten years ago? If you do, you'll know what I'm saying is true.”

I can remember it, so I'm hoping she does, too. Of course, maybe that has to do with having Isabel and Michael with me and how we can help each other remember different details. Nacedo was there for us, giving us clothes and taking us away to teach us all about the world. But Nacedo mis-judged the day she would emerge. He missed her. She was 'born' all alone...

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

I sit there waiting for an answer, and I’m not really sure what I expected…but I know it isn’t what comes…

“Not quite,” He says gently when he speaks again. “We were there ourselves, in a manner-of-speaking.”

To have him laugh and tell me he was joking… To tell me that we were the decendents of aliens that I’m pretty sure never existed even, but this…

I shake my head. “No…” It’s just not possible…I mean even saying that I believe him about the crash for a moment, whatever age Max is, and I’m guessing he must be at least four years older than me, the crash was over fifty years ago, which leaves a discrepancy of about thirty years…

This is so crazy… I stand up, ready to tell Max that if he doesn’t want to tell me the truth that’s fine, but to stop expecting me to believe something so ridiculous, but he looks up at me, and his eyes and tone…he really believes all this…

“Please, Liz. Hear me out. I know it’s hard to accept, but it’s all true,”

Slowly, I nod slightly, to indicate that he should continue.

“We were all babies, not even born yet. We were in incubation pods that kept us in stasis for the journey and after, allowing us to slowly mature until we emerged as children, about forty years later, although you were there four years longer than the rest of us. Do you remember coming out of the pod ten years ago? If you do, you'll know what I'm saying is true.”

For the first time, it sinks in that Max isn’t just talking in terms of me and him when he says ‘we’. There are more… I’m not completely sure how many, but I seem to remember him talking about a sister and a friend…maybe they’re the people he means… Still, before I have a chance to ask about this, his next question for me comes and I forget about what I was about to ask for the moment. Do I remember coming out of a pod – uh…no… Since I am saying I don’t believe him about this stuff I would have thought that would be pretty obvious… Still, he looks hopeful, and I hesitate before speaking, knowing that what I’m about to say is probably not going to go down well.

Taking a breath, I look up at him. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember anything… The first thing I remember was when they say I was about six… I remember is coming to in the desert, I was cold – which was hardly surprising given that I was naked apparently…” I trail off for a moment, reluctant to speak about this. As much as I try to put it behind me, it still hurts when I think about the way I was left, the fact that my parents apparently didn’t want me… “They say that I might have passed out…but whatever happened, I don’t remember, and I don’t know how long I’d been out there. I was found wandering near the roadside eventually…” I shake my head, unwilling to continue. The fact is that I have heard more than once that I had been left for dead…who would do that to their child…?

[isabelle]

*Max*

My heart falls as Liz tells me that she doesn’t remember emerging from the pod. That’s going to make things so much more difficult. I can hear the heartbreak in her voice as she describes what she remembers of her first day. She honestly doesn’t remember. She must be thinking that some human parents abandoned her on purpose because of her odd abilities. I want to take her in my arms and just hold her, comfort her, until she feels wanted and loved. But I doubt she’d accept such from someone she doesn’t really know at all, no matter that we do share abilities. We share so much more than that, if she could only accept it.

“Liz,” I say, ever more gently, once again putting my hand over hers as I look into her eyes. “You weren’t abandoned. You were lost. We wanted you more than anything, but we didn’t know where you were. That day, when you were six ... that was the day you were born … you only looked like you were six. That’s why you can’t remember anything from before that. It’s why you were naked. Nacedo came for you, but you were already gone. When he realized where you were, you already had a foster family and he said it was best for you to stay there. Isabel, Michael and I begged him to get you for us. To bring you home, but he wouldn’t. He said you were safer there. He said you were happy…”

I can see Liz is fighting to contain her emotions again. The things we’ve learned while searching for her belie what Nacedo said. All the foster homes, the social services reports. They don’t paint the picture of a happy child, a happy life. I can’t imagine why Nacedo would have left her there, would have refused to bring her to us. I reach for her face, brushing her cheek with a curled index finger and she raises her eyes to meet mine again. “I know things have been hard for you. You’ve been alone and lost with nobody to give you the answers you need. I don’t know why he never told you. Why he left you in the dark, but maybe we can make it better. We’re here for you now, Liz. And we still want you. We always have.”

[StormWolfstone]

~Isabel~




“I’m not bothered, you choose…” Alex tells me in response to the food. “Just don’t forget that two of us here do not share your unusual tastebuds…”

I smiled as I nodded, "How could I forget?" I motioned to the waitress as I simply leaned against Alex. When he began pushing my hair back and nuzzling my face I couldn't help but laugh softly.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look…?” He asks and I grin.

"Just about every hour." I teased before adding, "But, I will never tire of hearing it." I turned to face him as I told him. "I love you, Alex. Nothing will change that." I still couldn't believe that I had finally gotten past my inhibitions and allowed myself to love someone. I'd always been afraid of getting close to a human, afraid of coming to care for one that might be taken away. But, now I was prepared to do everything possible to have Alex in my life always.

When the waitress made her way over, I ordered a double batch of O'rings and two plates. Michael ended up ordering the same thing for him and Maria. I smiled, "See, I do have a plan." I told Alex. "A plate for you and one for me so I can simply add my favorite condiment to my portion."

Michael shook his head and muttered something beneath his breath and suddenly got a look on his face that told me he was considering contacting Max again. "Don't do it, Michael." I warned him as I looked at him. Despite the force in my words, I was relaxed with Alex beside me. He had helped keep me centered many times.