I don't own E.T.

Please let me know what you think - My first E.T story.

Aliens Exist.

She had only been a kid when it happened, but Gertie was sometimes still amazed by how boring real life was. She had lost count of how many times she had claimed to her classmates at school she'd lived with an alien. She'd simply been too young to accept the reality many people didn't believe in aliens, and it took her years before she realised why everyone bullied her mercilessly, why it happened.

Her brothers and her mother had urged her to say nothing, but Gertie had the excuse of being a child at the time E.T had stayed at her house after being stranded when his spaceship had left Earth.

Since then she had been telling everyone who'd listen aliens existed and one had been at her house, and they'd helped him return home. Unfortunately, nobody had believed her. When E.T had been stranded on Earth, Gertie clearly remembered how the US government had taken over her home, warding half of it off, and subjecting Elliot and E.T to medical experiments. At the time, she had guessed they were sick or something - an idea that made sense given how E.T and Elliot had both been rather sick, but now she knew E.T had been away from his own planet for a while, and he had been forced to adapt to Earth for a short time, and it had taken its toll.

But, anyway, there had been crowds outside their house; the US government had sent in people wearing spacesuits, for God's sake. Why had everyone forgotten it? How could they have forgotten it?

As she sat opposite her mother in the little coffee bar - Starbucks was a nice place, Gertie studied her mother closely. Her mother was still a beautiful woman. Age suited her well, even before that divorce with dad.

"Are you still telling people about….you know?" Mary asked softly.

"No."

Mary sighed.

"I don't get it, though," Gertie shook her head, "I don't understand how the crowds outside just forgot it."

"They just did, sweetie. Accept it. Nothing will change."

Gertie was disgusted by her mother's lack of interest; she remembered only too well her mother's hope and wonder that things would change now they knew aliens existed, but she also recalled her mother's visible disgust when everything remained how it was. "I won't accept that," she hissed heatedly; everyone in town saw her as crazy anyway, no need to make it worse. "It can't be denied forever-."

"And it won't. One day, we'll be going out into space. Why do you think they were out there, waiting to capture that ship, waiting to capture him? They ran those experiments on him for a reason, they knew he would likely die after being on Earth. They wanted to experiment on him, learn more about his species; if necessary, use his own biology as a weapon."

Gertie licked her lips. She knew that already. She had figured it out as she had grown older, and it had sickened her that in such a supposed civilised age even if she was old enough to know her mother had been sheltering her from the cruelties of the world. But what disgusted her the most was how the government had been so paranoid about an alien who had shown no signs of malevolence.

All E.T had wanted was to return home.

That was why E.T had spent so much time rooting through the house, finding little bits to build the communicator. The very fact the alien had managed to cobble it all together from household bits and pieces was a testament to his people's technical abilities and skills.

That was why Elliot and Michael had gone out of their way to help E.T. It was why Elliot had returned after Halloween, exhausted and on the point of falling sick. It was the reason for Michael heading out into the woods to check on the communicator and find the alien and found him lying in that stream.

It was the reason why Michael and Elliot had both worked out that insane and mad dash through the streets on their bikes, risking being shot at by the police. E.T was no threat to anyone, and yet she remembered how her brother had been questioned ruthlessly for days afterwards, them and their friends.

"Nobody knows what we're gonna find when we get out there, Gertie. Believe me, I was scared out of my mind when I first saw him, lying on the floor with Elliot, both sick," Mary's voice hitched in horror as she remembered seeing the aliens her children were trying to help and protect, and she recalled how she'd tried to get them away from it only to be stopped at the door. "I didn't know if he was a scout for a battle fleet who wanted to tear Earth to pieces for minerals or simple water. So many scientists and authors have spent years imagining an alien invasion, Gertie. They spend so much of their time trying to work out if we'd live through it all in one piece."

"I know, but Elliot's not one of them, mum. He's an author himself now, and he's spent so long writing books about aliens being friendly."

"I know, and truthfully I hope he's right sweetie," Mary sighed.

For a moment Gertie tried to imagine what first contact, the actual first contact between humanity and an alien race would be. She had to admit, while her own experience with aliens was limited to just one individual, E.T had shown no kind of anger or malice towards them. He had been truly gentle, and he had learnt so much about humans in a short span of time even if he had been likely terrified by the fact he was alone, with few resources to go on.

She only prayed other aliens were the same.

Gertie, unlike her mother, had faith.