Alien

Chapter Ten

Ten

The two of them stared at each other in shock. "Kane?" Tia breathed.

After a moment the pieces started to lock together in her head. Sometime during her sob story she must have gone back to the present. But... when? How much had he heard? She studied his stunned expression. Quite a lot from the look of him. Wait, that meant she'd...cried? In front of him?

She cursed as she scrubbed at the tearstains that had splattered her body and her face. Her nose was running and everything... god she must look a right state. She sniffed, looking around for a tissue. Having not found one she started to cry more in frustration. Then she cried more about the fact that she was crying in frustration. After a while she was a sobbing wreck on the bed, her head collapsing onto her hands with a whimper.

When she felt his touch on her shoulder, she jumped a foot in the air in shock. Somehow he had switched beds during her weeping and was now only a few inches away from her, his pitying blue eyes clashing with hers.

"Sorry," he murmured.

Tia sniffed, her lip trembling. "No. I'm s-sorry you had to see me like this." She bit her lip. "It's stupid, I mean it happened over a century ago for christ's sake."

Kane stared at her. "Wait, what? A century ago? How is that even-" Tia gave him a look that told him she didn't want to go into the mathematics of her age in that moment. "Sorry." He said.

Tia wiped her eyes for what seemed the tenth time in five minutes, and sniffed again. Kane looked down at his feet, she did the same, and silence suffocated them.

"I really am sorry," he said, "I didn't realize. I mean, of course I realized there was something unusual about you but not..."

"Me being that unusual." Tia finished with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess." He muttered.

Tia looked up at him. "You believe me then?"

"I wouldn't go as far as to say I believe you as such, more that I don't disbelieve you." He said, scratching at the stubble on his chin.

She blinked. "Well, I suppose that's a start."

He sighed. "So let me get this straight: you're an alien princess that escaped to earth to escape some bad guys, right?"

She sniffed. "Right."

"And I'm guessing the thug is of your," he appeared to search for the word for a moment, "species?"

She nodded.

He rubbed his temples. "And you have superpowers."

"Well," Tia bit her lip, "if that's how you want to phrase it I...well, I suppose yes, I do."

Kane looked at her, his eyes wide as he struggled even believing that the conversation he was having right now was actually real. "And what would those powers be, other than freezing innocent policemen?"

"Um," she sniffed, "well, I can...I can fly."

"Fly?"

"Yes."

He gave her a confounded look, and blinked. "Do you... do you have wings?"

Tia gave a small chuckle. "No, I don't. I can also hide parts of myself from the human eye, and control some forms of energy such as light. Once or twice I've even controlled some people, but that was completely accidental."

"Right. Do you want to show me any of that, uh, stuff?" Kane said with a half-hopeful, half-terrified stare.

"Well, that's the problem." Tia said, looking down at her hand as she fiddled with the end of her sleeve. "I can't really control it, my power. I only ever seem to use it when I'm angry or upset."