The Missing Piece (CC, MATURE/ADULT accepted)

[isabelle]

*Kyle*

"Uh -huh," I say, thoughtfully as I try to decipher Max's reaction. I would have been sure he'd be moving in before she had a chance to change her mind. Instead, he's asking her to think it over? Is this some sort of reverse-psychology thing, making her think she wants it when it's really what he wants? Or is it possible he really is as unsure about this as Liz keeps saying he is? He's supposed to be saving his whole stupid planet. How could he be unsure about that?

"Well, that's something, I guess," I say slowly. "When does he expect your answer?" And will he accept it if you change your mind?

No, actually, I'm sure he will accept it. But it will always be there at the back of her mind. Everytime she's not sure, she'll be wondering if she should have gone that way, and eventually, she probably will try it.

I shake my head at the thought. This is her choice. I hate the way Max has come in here and thrown her life into turmoil this way... but I have to believe in Liz.

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

It seems that Kyle’s surprised by my answer, and for a moment, it’s almost as though he has nothing to say… Maybe I can make him see that Max isn’t the commanding figure he seems to have pegged him as…

If only I could make him see how gentle and patient Max has been, maybe the two of them would get on a little better, and that can only be a good thing for me considering that I’m right in the middle of most of their disputes…

When Max is talking about Kyle, I want to back him up, and the same with Kyle talking about Max… I just wish each would realise that the other really isn’t so bad…

“Well, that’s something I guess…”

Kyle’s response is slow and thought-out, and I know that he’s still doubting Max although it is, however little, an improvement on a few minutes ago…

“When does he expect your answer?”

He looks at me questioningly, and I shake my head slightly. “He didn’t give me a deadline Kyle… He said think about it overnight, or longer…to contact him and tell me when if I decided it was what I wanted…” I trail off and pause a moment. “I said maybe I’d call later to talk about it, but I didn’t say when…”

I want to plead with Kyle to understand, that this isn’t about Max making me do something, that he’s not trying to force the issue, but I suppose I can understand his thoughts. He’s trying to protect me from getting hurt, and he’s concerned about a situation which is far from normal…

Sighing, I shake my head and look over at him, as we near his house. “Kyle please, try and understand… This wasn’t Max’s idea, in any shape or form…and although he’s said he’s willing to do it, he’s left the decision up to me…”

[isabelle]

*Kyle*

Liz is still standing up for Max. I push myself past my resentment of what he's doing to her -- the incredible choice he's forceing her to make -- and I try to hear what Liz is saying. Max is waiting and he said he's willing to accept a 'no' answer. Good. That means I won't have to be fighting the urge to put him through a wall next time I see him. Not that it would ever happen but it's not always easy to fight the feelings...

"Well, that's great. I hope you do think about it. A lot," I tell Liz as I pull into the driveway at my house. I turn off the engine but I don't get out or even remove my seatbelt yet. "I know that you have thought about it. You're not a reckless person. I know that. But this whole situation..." I reach over and put my hand on hers again.

"It's just so ... out there. I don't know how you can do this. There's so many fringe issues that we can't even begin to understand. But I'm here for you. If there's anything I can do to help..."

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

I smile softly as Kyle puts his hand over mine, trying to work past the obvious doubt he feels about the whole situation and showing me that he’s there as always. “Thank you…” I whisper softly, turning my hand over to squeeze his gently. “It means a lot to hear you say that…”

I know of course that he doesn’t like the idea, and I know it’s been a big shock hearing me say all this, but then it came as something of a shock to myself when I made the suggestion anyway…

I sigh and shake my head as we continue to sit in the car, not quite ready to go in and face Jim just yet. “And yes…I promise I’ll think about it…” I assure him in a low voice, although deep down I think we both know what my answer is going to be. In some ways, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but then in others, I can’t help thinking that I need to know whether this will work just as much as him, and Kyle’s right in one thing – we’re never going to be able to do that with our conflicting schedules always getting in the way.

I’m not saying that this is going to free up a lot of time, because quite frankly I don’t have a lot of time to myself, but it should give a good amount of unstructured quality time to spend with one another.

But rushing into it isn’t something that I intend to do – even if I have pretty much made up my mind, I’m going to continue to think about it, give it some time. I’m going to try and forget about it for this afternoon while I’m here, and just enjoy myself, and then tomorrow, I’ll see how I feel… If I say yes, there are various things we’ll need to discuss and work out, but that’s for later… Right now, I think I’ve said all I can on the subject at the moment, and I think I’m ready to let it go.

Looking over at Kyle, I offer a small smile. “So…are we going to get inside before your dad decides to send a search party…?”

[isabelle]

*Kyle*

"Sounds like a good idea," I say smiling at her. Frankly, I'd rather deal with my dad than Max right now. I hope she's not making a mistake. I hope she really can trust him to keep his distance.

I get out of the car and lead the way to the front door. "We tried out a new recipe last week and it came out really well so we're doing it tonight for you. I hope you like it," I say. Most of the time, Dad and I stick to the really simple and quick stuff but occassionally we try something a little different. It's nice.

But what's even nicer, is having Liz here. Dad really is fond of her. I know he means it when he says he would have been happy to take her in before she was emancipated, but we're both glad to see her doing so well on her own.

[KatnotKath]

*JP in third person between Storm and I for Alex and Isabel*

Isabel smiled as she hung up with Alex, feeling better about the fact that he was coming to the shop. She would have contacted Max telepathically, but she wanted to make certain he had plenty of time to be away from Liz. At the moment she felt that the more time he had with Liz, the better and she'd do everything she could to make sure her brother didn't have the interruptions. While she waited for Alex, she walked around the store and straightened up a few pieces, nervously.

It had always been one of her habits, when she got nervous or emotional she'd move things around, straighten things or something to keep her hands busy and try to occupy her mind. When she heard the sound by the entry she turned with a smile. Seeing Alex stepping inside and waving, she returned the wave and walked out from behind the counter towards him. He had his cell phone open, so instead of saying anything as she reached him, she simply leaned over and gave him a brief kiss.

As the line on the other end switched to answer phone, Alex frowned, a little surprised to find Max wasn't answering. He didn't usually leave his phone off, and keeping a phone with them at all times was a fairly common practice for the whole group... If it wasn't for the last call he had received, he would have thought that maybe it meant he didn't want to be interrupted with Liz, or something, but that didn't quite seem to ring through, and he wasn't really sure what to think about it...

Still, if there was something wrong he could always have contacted Isabel telepathically, and she from the kiss she had just given him she didn't seem to upset, so deciding there would be a good explanation, he shrugged and simply spoke into the phone. "Hey Max, it's Alex... Sorry I didn't call back sooner, didn't get the message until a few minutes ago cos I was on the phone with Isabel... Do you want to give me a call if you get this...?" He kept it simple, not wanting to cause unneccessary worry and yet feeling that if this was something 'alien' related, Max should most definitely be involved...

When he was done, he folded up the phone and shoved it in his pocket, before leaning over to return the kiss that Isabel had given. "Hey sorry about that...how about you let me greet you properly now...?" He pulled away slightly and suggested with a wink, before leaning back towards her and pressing his lips back against hers, deepening the kiss slightly.

Isabel listened as he left a message on her brothers voice mail and smiled as he kissed her and when he drew back questioning, giving her the wink that she had come to see as sexy. She smiled as he drew closer and kissed her again, she wrapped her arms around his neck as she responded. She would have loved to let the kiss linger longer but after a couple of minutes, she drew back slightly and looked in his eyes, "I'm so glad you came. It's just... I didn't want to interupt my brother when he could be with Liz and I wanted to make certain I had the chance to talk about this with someone. Especially if this item I found isn't something I can show the others, I know with your brilliant computer knowledge, you'd be able to create an image of it to show them."

Isabel realized that she might have been confusing him she smiled, taking the pendant out of her pocket and holding it up. "I don't know why but I recognize it. According to what my boss said, it came from the reservation. The guy that's coming here is picking up some items and he's from there. I want to ask him about it. It might be a mistake, but it could be a clue to what we've been looking for."

Alex looked at her and nodded, although she was losing him a little with the talk of being able to create an image of whatever it was she had found. "Actually Max just left Liz a while ago - she had plans for this afternoon I think..." He responded as she said about not interrupting. "So I don't know if you want to contact him or not, but doesn't look like he has his phone with him whatever he's doing..." He paused a moment as she produced the pendant, studying it for a moment. Certainly the decoration was interesting, but alien...? He didn't know, but as Isabel said that she recognised it, he nodded slightly. "That symbol on it is interesting..." Alex commented, reaching out and trailing his finger along the surface. "As for it being a mistake, well, we've followed lots of trails and clues...some good, some bad... The one which led us to Liz was cosha though, and maybe this is too..." He trailed off looking at her. "I can certainly make up some sort of image on the computer if neccessary anyway...although maybe it would be good to take an impression of the marking, then we have a more accurate record...?" He suggested, thinking about it carefully.

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

I’m kinda relieved to find that Kyle doesn’t fight my obvious attempt to move the subject on. I think I’m just about talked out about it at the moment, there’s a lot going on in my head, but whether I’m ready to talk about it and voice what I’m thinking is something of another matter…

I smile back at him and climb out of the car, closing the door behind me and then walking over to join Kyle as he heads over to the door. I give a nod as he mentions a new recipe, and smile. “Sounds great, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful…” I smile again as he opens the door and steps inside.

It’s strange how somewhere I spent only a few months can make me feel so comfortable, but the time I spent living here earlier this year was some without a doubt some of the best months I’ve spent anywhere… I’ve lived in a lot of foster homes, as well as the general group homes too of course. There’s only one or two that have really felt like a home though, and this was one of them.

Kyle and Jim really made me feel like one of the family – which I don’t suppose is too difficult since Kyle’s almost like a brother to me anyway… If I hadn’t been able to get emancipation though, I think I actually would have been pretty happy to stay here.

Given the choice of course, the life I have now is the one I would choose… Not that I’m not grateful to Jim, and I don’t enjoy seeing him when I come round like this, but after everything that I’ve been through in my life, to be creating my own home, to have somewhere to come back to at night actually call my own, that means more than I can ever explain. It was the right thing for me at the time…

It’s not easy no, and particularly the last month or so it’s been somewhat crazy, but that apartment is a part of me, I chose it, I found the contents, I ‘dressed it up as such’. It’s all mine, as long as I can pay the rent, and as I knew when Max was talking about moving out of there and into somewhere else, I’m really not ready to let that go yet.

Pausing a moment just inside the door, I look up at Kyle hesitating a moment. “Thank you…for…you know…” I trail off awkwardly, unsure exactly how to phrase it and yet wanting to say something before fixing a smile on my face and continuing into the room, waving to Kyle’s dad as he comes into view. “Hi Jim, thanks for having me to dinner today…”

[isabelle]

*bump*

[isabelle]

*bump* again

[StormWolfstone]

I'm going to be trying to get something out here this week... being ill has really screwed up everything the last few weeks... still don't know what's wrong even after having a CAT scan.