Late March
Face to Face
An absolute Masterpiece. DJ Stones has crafted one of the greatest albums in recent memory. The music takes you through an emotional journey from joy and elation, through the darkest pits of grief, and manages to pull you out into a hopeful conclusion.
Aelita read the review with a small grin. It wasn't the first of its kind either. Her album had started gaining a small, but devoted following, and she was just on the cusp of recouping the cost of publishing! She checked the album statistics one last time and closed the lid on the laptop.
With her last minute diversion coming to an end, Aelita sighed as reality set back in.
"You ready?" Asked Jeremy, who had just come out of the bedroom.
"As ready as I'll ever be," replied Aelita. "You've gotten hold of the the others?"
"Yep. If they don't hear from us in four hours, Yumi and Ulrich are going to the factory to Return to the Past."
"Ok, good. Thank you for setting that up."
The two of them sat quietly amidst the noisy bus ride, and when it pulled into the bus stop it was with some trepidation that the two of them got off.
"Ok. It's not like he can try to pull anything is such a public place," Jeremy said when they were standing at the restaurant door, though it was for his own reassurance as much as his wife's.
"Yeah..." replied Aelita. "I guess it's time." With that they entered, though neither one could shake the sense of foreboding permeating the air.
After entering, they found Dr. Schmidt after a short scan of the small cafe. He was sitting with an elegantly dressed woman. She looked to be about his age with shoulder length graying hair.
"I'm not sure if it that's better that him being alone or not," muttered Jeremy.
"Yeah, me neither," replied Aelita. "Let's go get this over with," she added as a knot started growing in her stomach.
The two of them made their way over to the table with Jeremy keeping a sharp eye out for anything amiss.
The professor's eyes lit up at first when he saw Aelita, but when he noticed Jeremy he almost looked worried. However, by the time the young couple made it to the table Dr. Schmidt had regained his composure.
"Good Afternoon!" He greeted. "I'm so very glad you could make it, Dr. Stones." Aelita almost winced at the increasingly resented name. He stood up and they shook hands. Aelita held it for as little time as was polite before quickly pulling it away.
"Good Afternoon," replied Aelita before gesturing to Jeremy. "This is my husband, Dr. Jeremy Belpois." The elderly doctor raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't know you were married…" he said quietly. Aelita wasn't sure what to make of his reaction. He recovered quickly enough and motioned toward his companion, who's expression was unreadable. "This is my wife Marie." It was Jeremy and Aelita's turn to be surprised. Neither of them anticipated his wife to be part of the meeting. "In any case, sit, please!" The three of them sat, and for the next couple minutes the four of them looked at the menus in awkward silence. The knot in Aelita's stomach continued to grow with each passing moment and she took Jeremy's hand under the table for support.
The quiet was only broken by a waitress coming to take Jeremy and Aelita's drink orders, but after the relapsed into the silence once more.
A minute later Aelita couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.
"Dr. Schmidt, you said that you wanted to meet me on about a business matter…" she blurted. Dr. Schmidt twitched as if startled.
"Yes, that's correct…" he was cut off as the waitress had just come up to take their meal orders. The delay practically had Aelita trembling with a mixture of dread and anticipation, but she had to know what the old man's proposition was.
Not soon enough, the server left and Aelita stared intently at Dr. Schmidt. His lips tightened over his teeth for a moment before speaking.
"Officially, I'm here to offer you a job." Aelita's mouth fell open with a gasp. "The work displayed in your dissertation was nothing short of brilliant," he continued. "I also understand that you are between employment, and having you on our team would be a great asset." It felt like a massive weight had lifted off Aelita shoulder! She opened her mouth to ask what sort of research he had in mind, but Jeremy spoke up first.
"You said that's your official reason for asking Aelita here…" Aelita glanced at her husband, who was looking at Dr. Schmidt discerningly. "Does that mean there's an unofficial reason?" He asked pointedly. Aelita was suddenly very glad for Jeremy's presence, as well as his paranoia. In the face of finally getting a job offer she had actually forgotten about everything that had gone on with Dr. Schmidt. Jeremy clearly hadn't. Dr Schmidt gulped. It seemed like there was definitely more he wanted to say, but seemed very wary of Jeremy. The two of them stared at each other with eyes locked, as if daring the other to move.
"Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of my husband. We don't keep secrets from each other," Aelita said definitively. After the unexpected job offer, her feelings of dread were slowly being replaced by curiosity. Dr. Schmidt sighed.
"Very well then," he said in a resigned tone. "Off the record, I came to offer you the position personally because you remind me of two people I was once very close to…" he paused for a moment. "An old colleague and his wife…" Aelita renewed her grip on Jeremy's hand, but tried to not otherwise react, despite her heart feeling like it was about to beat right out of her chest!
"Who were they?" Jeremy asked calmly, apparently trying to probe for more information without incriminating himself or Aelita. Dr. Schmidt looked away and looked like he was about to start trembling.
"I told you that I'd seen work like yours before… but that I didn't remember his name. That was not true… because the truth is…" the old doctor was clearly as nervous as Aelita. He glanced at his wife and she took his hand for support before looking back at Aelita. "You look so much like your mother," he whispered. Aelita's breath hitched in her throat. She knew from pictures that what he said was true. "I knew her well. We were once quite close." All the hints and teases were starting to drive Aelita crazy, and she wished the old man would just say what was on his mind!
"I think you've stalled enough," interrupted Marie with a chuckle, surprising Aelita. Dr. Schmidt glanced at his wife for a second before taking her hand jn his.
"I suppose so." He turned back to Aelita with another gulp. "Felix Schmidt is a name I took shortly after I arrived in the States." Jeremy and Aelita nodded, though they already knew that. "The name my parents gave me was… Dietrich Schaeffer…" Aelita gasped. "Anthea Schaeffer was my Sister-in-Law, and Waldo Schaeffer was my older brother…" he stared directly into Aelita's eyes as he continued. "Their daughter, Aelita Schaeffer, is my niece... though I am under the impression that she goes by a different surname now."
Several moments passed until anyone said anything. It was Dr. Schmidt who spoke.
"I know that my niece should be around ten years older that you are, but knowing my brother's brilliance, and the sort of work he was doing, some sort of suspended animation doesn't seem out of the question... or even unlikely, for that matter."
"So… You think I'm your long, lost niece..." Aelita murmured.
"Yes, I do," replied Dr. Schmidt. Aelita's mind reeled at the possibility, but Jeremy wanted to probe a little more.
"Why didn't you just bring this up in the first place, instead of sneaking around as if spying on us?" He asked.
"The circumstances of my brother and his family disappearing is… troubling…" he pursed his lips together for a moment. "My brother got involved with… something, I don't know the details, but when he tried to leave his wife was abducted. I don't really know why. I've never had the courage to look into the matter. The last time I heard from him he told me to go into hiding, then disappeared with his daughter. I believed him, so I came here to America. I made a life for myself here, and never looked back... until I saw you."
"I can't blame you for hiding," said Jeremy.
"I've told you what I think," Dr. Schmidt said with a trembling jaw. "What do you think?" Tears started welling up in Aelita's eyes.
"I think you might be right…" she said quietly with a sniff.
"Me too," said Jeremy. Aelita looked at her husband and was rather surprised that his expression had softened considerably. He gave a reassuring smile. "I think we're good," he said quietly before looking at Dr. Schmidt. "I'm sorry for the hostility, but I think you, of all people understand the importance of being careful."
"Yes, I certainly do, and I'm terribly sorry if you thought I had something more nefarious in mind." Aelita and her uncle beamed at each other, but a moment later Aelita started nibbling her bottom lip nervously.
"Do I... have cousins?" She asked hesitantly. Dr. Schmidt pulled a photograph out of his wallet and showed it to Aelita and Jeremy. It was a wedding photo showing Dr. Schmidt and Marie, the couple getting married, and another man who looked remarkably like Marie. He was giving bunny ears to the groom, and the goofy grin on his face strongly reminded Jeremy and Aelita of Odd.
"That's our Daughter, Sara, with her husband Peter. They got married two years ago," he said with a smile. "And that's our son, John," he added, beaming with pride as he point to the other young man. "He just finished graduate school, and is starting work as an aerospace engineer!" After Dr. Schmidt put the picture away, him and Aelita spent a moment grinning each other until his face fell.
"What is it?" Asked Aelita.
"I have to ask... do you know what happened to my brother?" Aelita suddenly felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. Aelita glanced at Jeremy questioningly. He gave her a supportive look that implied that it was her call. Aelita took a moment to compose her thoughts before turning back to her uncle.
"He's gone," she said with a sniff. Dr. Schmidt took his glasses off and rubbed his face for a moment while Molly rubbed his back comfortingly.
"I've wondered for so long," he said quietly. "Now I know..." he sighed. "Thank you for telling me." A heavy silence filled the table.
"I really don't want to talk about it here," Aelita said after a minute.
"I understand," said Dr. Schmidt. "We can talk about something else."
"How about the particulars of the job offer?" Suggested Jeremy.
"Yeah, that works," Aelita said quietly.
As Dr. Schmidt and Aelita discussed the research that he was doing, and what he was hoping Aelita would be able to work on, the mood lifted considerably.
Soon enough, though, lunch was over and Aelita had a pretty good idea of what the position would entail, and was excited to get started! Aelita and Dr. Schmidt, as well as the others gave their goodbyes and left.
"How are you feeling?" Asked Jeremy on the ride home.
"Good," replied Aelita. "I'm feeling a lot of things, but overall it's good!"
"I'm happy to hear that," Jeremy said with a smile, pulling Aelita into his side.
When they got back to their apartment, they immediately flopped on the couch and Emotionally exhausted, Aelita nestled herself in Jeremy's arms and he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly.
After a little while, Jeremy's phone buzzed with a message from Yumi.
"I suppose we should let the others know we're alright," he said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, probably should," replied Aelita, not moving as Jeremy typed up a message saying they were fine, and they'd talk about the encounter later.
After it was sent and he got replies of acknowledgment, Jeremy continued holding Aelita close. She was overjoyed to have found more of her family, and was glad to have Jeremy's support through it all.
A/N: Sorry about the lengthy delay on this one. I've had bits and pieces of this encounter in my head for a shockingly long time, but I struggled to make them fit together! I'm not sure this is my best work, certainly not better than Aelita finding her grandparents, but I hope you enjoyed the reveal anyway! I think there's really only one more chapter in this story before it's over.
I've got some ideas for a final installment if there's interest (focus characters will be a surprise!). Let me know!