Falling Skies 1. Encounter

**_Sage:_**

The cold air hit me in waves, rippling through my dark shoulder length hair. For a moment I just stood there and let the cool air soak into my skin, creating a tingling sensation that made me feel alive and focused.I cleared my mind and exiled all emotion aside into a dark corner and concentrated on what I came here for.

My machine gun was slung over my back securely and a razor sharp knife was held in between my teeth by the blade as I lowered myself over the edge of the building that had once been a storage warehouse. The metal was frigid to the touch as I lowered myself down the side of the roof, to just below a skylight that was just barely big enough to fit my slim frame.

I placed my feet in their tough leather lace up boots at strategic locations on metal beams under the skylight to keep my balance as I pulled the knife from my mouth to my hands, working quickly. I didn't have much time before the sun rose. And when it did, I wanted to be as far away from here as possible. I stuck the knife under the edges of the wooden frame of the skylight, digging into it forcefully. I could feel the old wood surrounding the skylight start to give away. Pulling the window out toward me slowly, as to not cause any unnecessary commotion, I balanced it carefully on two metal beams on the outside of the building before slipping the knife into a special flap on the inside of my right boot.

I lowered myself feet first into the opening I'd just created, fully conscious that I was at least eighty feet in the air. I gripped the edges of the opening as my feet searched for something to balance on.

It didn't take me long before my feet found a stable enough base to stand on. I let go of the opening and found my balance on the beams, satisfied I'd gotten in without making a sound and attracting any attention.

I began to make my way toward the lower beams, swinging from beam to beam without so much as a sound. Suddenly the sound of someone, or something, approaching made me press myself against the beams, trying to decrease the chance of being seen, despite being well above eye level.

The alien walked by, it's spider-like body clickety-clacking on the linoleum floor as it made its way to some unknown destination at the other side of the warehouse, completely oblivious to my presence. Hatred coursed through my veins, infecting my entire body as I watched it go by under me. I lost everything because of them. And now I'm going to make them pay. Pay for everything they took and destroyed with their arrival more than a year ago.

Once the Spider, the alien, was out of sight, I continued downward. I climbed down to the lowest possible beam. I lowered myself off of it, until nothing solid was under me for at least sixty feet or so. I hung there from the beam for a second, looking up at my hands gripping the metal before I let go and dropped down to the dusty floor.

I landed softly without a sound at a crouch. I straightened up. Maybe what they did to me has some benefits. Ever since the transformation, as I call it, happened, I found myself able to do things no human could possibly do. Things people have only dreamed of doing. But even though I could fall seventy feet and land unharmed, I would still take back what they did.

I allowed myself a small smile at my stellar landing as I continued on, removing my pistol from its holster at my waist. I held it up, close to my face as I moved onward.

I slunk through dank passageways that the Spiders had created. For a while I didn't come across another living thing. It was all too quiet. Then, past a giant stack of boxes, that were stacked in a way that resembled a wall, I came upon a group of harnessed kids sleeping peacefully, exactly where I knew they would be. One of the Spiders was on top of them, and I could tell from the rhythm of its breathing that it was asleep as well. It's green spindly legs were spread out over the kids whose harnesses glowed like the night lights my father used to put in my room when I was a child.

It was strange how they slept, but I'd seen it too many times now to be bothered to react anymore. I slowly made my way toward them, circling around the group, so I could get a good look at the kids, searching for a specific face. The only face that mattered.

A shock of bright brown hair caught my attention and my heart fluttered, but another step forward and all the hope and excitement that had ignited in my chest diminished as I saw that it wasn't him. Again. Another miss.

I walked over to the Spider, until I faced it, a mere three feet from its face. My footsteps were nonexistent. They wouldn't hear me until I wanted to be heard. I held my pistol out and aimed it straight at the Spiders' mouth, where I knew it would make the biggest impact.

The boom of the pistol filled the air, as the spider fell, making an awful gurgling sound as blood began to fill its mouth, spewing out as a deep red, almost black, as it lay dying. The harnessed kids had woken up as soon as the bullet pierced the Spider and looked dazed as they tried to help it. Before they could turn on me, I fled, no longer caring that they'd hear me now. All that mattered was getting out and getting on with the plan.

All was set. If Plan A didn't work out and I didn't find him here, then Plan B would be put into action. The bombs were in place, and all I had to do was set the trigger manually and then the place goes boom and Spiders straight to hell.

I felt a pang of guilt as I left the harnessed kids behind. I wanted to stay and help them somehow but a part of me knew that it wasn't logical. The harness was too powerful for them to overcome, and I didn't know how to free them, let alone have the equipment needed to get it off. The best I could do was place the bombs as far away from them as possible. Anyway, they'd be the first to be evacuated by the Spiders, now that they knew I was here.

I pulled my machine gun from its place strapped to my back and fired shots at the Spiders who appeared suddenly and gave chase. Sprinting through the dark corridors I evaded attacks from the Spiders until I reached a sidewall of the warehouse. Shooting at the dirty glass of the window in the middle, I jumped through, scratching my arm and drawing blood through the thin fabric of my long sleeved shirt on broken glass. I barely felt it.

Once I landed on the other side, I turned on the bomb placed right under the window I'd just burst through. There would be a six second delay. More than enough time for me to get away.

The bomb exploded as the first few Spiders burst through. Blood, wood, and burning flesh flew in all directions, but I wasn't there to see it. I had already turned the corner of the warehouse, kicking up clouds of dust as I raced toward the other side to flip on the second and final bomb.

The sun had risen by now, its heat warming my pale skin. When I turned the final corner I stopped cold. In the morning light, I found a group of three Spiders examining the bomb I had hid under a loose window frame. I cursed myself silently, for not hiding it better yesterday, when I scouted the area.

They looked up and saw me. They rushed toward me with amazing speed as more Spiders came in behind them. If the bomb had exploded as planned, I could have handled any remaining Spiders on my own, but now, now I'm not so sure. I turned on my heel to run back the direction I came from, but skidded to an abrupt stop once again. More spiders were approaching. A group of fifteen Spiders surrounded me. Damn.

* * *

**_Ben:_**

I woke up with a start. My spikes were glowing, illuminating the area around me an electric blue. An intense feeling of urgency filled me. I heard a distant explosion and jumped to my feet and grabbed my gun without hesitation. Exiting through the first floor window of an apartment building I had broken into the night before to rest, I followed the connection I was receiving through my spikes barely thinking about what I was doing.

I knew that I had to go and find who or what had filled me with this indescribable emotion. A connection to someone was filling my mind and body, penetrating my very core. It was like the connection I feel when I'm near a Skitter, only in a better and much more overpowering way. All I could tell was that this feeling wasn't from a Skitter. If it was from a Skitter, I would feel and hear something like static at first. All I felt now was a clear, intense signal for help. As I ran in the direction that the signal seemed to get stronger, I began hear the sounds of battle.

Even though my harness had been removed, I still could hear and see exceptionally well for a human. Again that unknown connection filled me and grew stronger. I began to grow frantic and edgy looking for its source. I turned a corner just in time to see a body fly through the air and smash into the bare wall of a building right in front of me.

I could sense that the Skitters were not friends. They were not Rebels. I aimed my gun and fired at them, getting closer with each shot as bodies fell or scattered away from me. When I came close enough, I grabbed my knife and began to stick them in the skitters body, shoving it into them hard with no mercy.

The Skitters sensed I was deharnessed and dangerous. If they wanted a fight, I won't stop. The cold hard glint in my eyes was evident. They made a quick decision and began to retreat with what few of them were left. I wanted to follow and finish them off, but the body that lay in a crumpled heap drew me closer.

The connection was growing stronger. There was no doubt now, that it was the girl who I felt connected to, not the Skitters. I kneeled down, to get a better look at her. She was dressed in dark clothing. Black jeans and boots with a thin, long sleeved navy colored shirt. A silver, heart-shaped locket hung delicately from her neck. A tear in the fabric on her right arm exposed a fresh long cut. Other than that she seemed unhurt.

Wisps of thick, dark, curly hair covered her face that was turned on its side, facing away from me. I gently touched her cheek, instantly feeling the connection strengthen and lock. Carefully I shifted her face to where I could see it. Brushing back hair as dark as the night sky to the side, I stared in awe at her face.

My hand rested lightly where it had brushed her hair to side. What was revealed was a very pale face adorned with a bloody cut down the left side, near the ear, with rosy pink lips. Her features were beautiful, with a dramatic contrast between hair and skin, even as she lay unconscious.

Suddenly she jerked awake, gasping as she grabbed a fistful of my shirt, her eyes opening for the briefest of seconds. I caught a glimpse of pale blue-grey eyes framed by thick eyelashes, before she fell limp in my arms again.

The connection went dead. Something tugged at the bottom of my heart as intrigue filled me. I knew I couldn't leave her here like this. I grabbed a gun lying a few feet from her head, assuming it was hers, from the looks of the pistol strapped to her small waist. Picking the girl up, I quickly made my way back to the building I'd been staying in.

I didn't want to be sitting out in the open with an injured girl when the Skitters come back and bring friends with them this time.


	2. Deal or No Deal

_**Sage:**_

There was a fierce pounding in my head. I concentrated on the pain, forcing myself to suppress it. After a few seconds the pain subsided and disappeared, yet I remained motionless, feigning unconsciousness. Someone else was in the room with me.

The last thing I remember was one of the Spiders charging at me. The next second I was flying through the air, and I hit a wall hard and darkness enveloped me before I could even feel myself fall to the ground.

Whoever was in the room with me, he or she was definitely not a Spider. I could definitely sense it was a human. Through a lot of practice I've learned the difference between a human's heart beat and a Spider's. Whatever he or she was doing, they were doing it with such a softness that only a human could achieve. It was as if they were trying hard not to wake me.

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring at a ceiling that must definitely have been white at one point in time. Now a thick coat of grime and soot covered it in uneven layers, revealing patches of what used to be.

Moving my head noiselessly, I turned to face the other person in the room. What I saw was the back of a boy in a dark sweater with short, brown hair, loading ammo into my gun and pistol. He looked young, about my age. Suspicion instantly fell upon me. I observed him carefully.

People rarely help each other out now. They're more concerned with keeping only themselves alive, than having to deal with the responsibility of looking over someone elses life, despite the population being as diminished as it would think that the continuation of the species should be motivation enough, but no. Chivalry was obviously dead.

Especially teenagers. The several I'd come across before were rash, and mostly had no concern for anyone outside of their group. The absence of adults or rules make them dangerous. I you have something they want, like weapons or food. They'd happily rob you blind or use you as a human shield when the going got rough.

The boy was not far from me, only a few feet away. I decided what I'd do. I threw myself at him in one fluid movement, slamming into his back, grabbing his hands and twisting them behind him. We hit the floor hard, or actually he hit the floor hard, and I hit him hard. The gun he was holding flew across the wooden floor, until it hit the opposite wall.

I pressed one of my knees into his back while I used the other one to stabilize myself by planting it firmly on the ground. Something felt odd about his back. At the top of his shirt, I saw something metallic poking out, they looked liked spikes...only they were connected to his body, like they were a part of him.

"Who are you! What do you want!" I was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Calm down! I was just helping!" I hoped he wouldn't try to throw me off. I might be strategically smart, but when it comes to strength, I'm toast.

I pulled the knife out of my boot and flipped him around at the same time in one fluid motion, so he faced me. I pressed my arm sideways into his throat, forcing him to stay still as I held the knife right under his adams apple, where I knew he'd feel it.

"Just answer the question. Where am I?" I pressed the knife in closer for emphasis.

"I heard an explosion. I went to check it out and the next thing I see is you hitting the wall hard and collapsing. If anything I saved your butt, by getting you out of there. So can you get that knife off my throat!" He made a move to get up.

I slammed my arm down harder.

"Okay! I won't try anything!" He dropped his hands back down.

I relaxed some, but didn't back off. The next few seconds were filled with him staring at me, and me glaring at him. I was trying to figure him out. Why did he save me?

Out of the blue he tentatively reached a hand up and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. It caught me off guard as I tore my gaze away from his face for a second and followed his hand. That's all he needed.

He knocked my knife out of my hand, and suddenly the roles were reversed. Now I was on my back, staring up at his dark eyes. My arms were pinned on either side of my head. The boy grinned down at me, his face mere inches from mine.

I struggled to get up, but he was much heavier and stronger than I was.

"Okay. Let's try this again. Look, without me, you'd probably have been dead, or harnessed. So if I wanted to hurt you I would have done it by now. Do I really look like that type of guy?"

No he didn't. But looks can deceive. If there's one thing I learned in the past year, it's to never trust anyone completely. Ever.

But he did help me. I owe him that much. That's more than anyone else has ever done. Everyone else has either abandoned me or used me as a getaway distraction.

"Just trust me." A year ago I wouldn't have hesitated to do that.

"Let's make a deal." he began.

The gears in my head instantly began to grind. There was something about him, something I can't quite put my finger on, but I knew I had to take a chance. Just for a little while at least. He could help me find Shane.

* * *

**_Ben:_**

"Just trust me. Let's make a deal."

The girl grew quiet and stopped struggling. I could tell she was debating about whether to trust me or not.

One thing I couldn't get of my mind though were her eyes. I could have sworn they were pale blue-grey. But now... they were a light brown. Was it a trick of the mind, or is something off here?

"Okay, fine. But get off me first."

"If I do, will you kick me in the head?"

"No." I smiled.

"Will you run away?"

"No."

"Will you-"

"I won't! okay?" I could tell she was getting agitated.

I didn't move. "How do I know you won't."

The girl's gaze intensified.

"Because I know you need help with something. And I need help with something. And both of the things we need are important. Something we can't do alone."

"Okay, you help me get to where I need to go and I'll help you with whatever you need. I promise."

The girl's expression changed right after I promised to help her.

"Okay," she said softly.

I got off her slowly and watched her sit up. I picked up her knife and handed it to her, to show her that I meant what I said.

I got to my feet, and reached a hand out to help her up. She ignored it and got up on her own, surprising well for our little skirmish and that hit she took earlier.

I held my hand out again. "Ben Mason."

* * *

**_Sage:_**

"Mason?"

"Yeah, What's wrong?" His eyes were questioning as I repeated his name.

"Nothing."

-X-

_"Hey! You need help with those?" I called out to the man struggling with his handcuffs. He instantly grew wary of me._

_"Don't worry I'm not one of them." I turned around so he could see that I didn't have a harness on._

_"Yeah. I could use some help."_

_I walked over to the man, and helped him take the cuffs off. His hands were tied together at the base with thin black rope. in a way that made it impossible for him to free himself without any help._

_"I was watching you know." He looked at me questioningly. "I watched them release you and all those other people from the ship."_

_I watched his expression as I continued on. "They're trying to manipulate you, to give you the impression that they can be forgiving. And that if you just give in, you will be spared."_

_"I know. How did you see us."_

_" I was watching from a tree. With binoculars."_

_"Why?" The curiosity on his face was evident, though I could tell he was trying to hide it. It was none of his business and he knew it._

_"I have my reasons." I continued to work my knife through the thin, yet amazingly strong rope, not offering any explanation. He didn't ask, so I won't tell._

_I stopped and looked up at him directly._

_"You're Tom Mason aren't you?"_

_I gave a little laugh at his quizzical expression._

_"Yeah, you're the closest thing to a legend we have here." I looked back up at him. "Those aliens that look like spiders are awful chatty. And quite worried about you actually. You're a problem to them. A hero to the rest of us."_

_"You can understand them?" I nodded a response. "Did you used to be harnessed?"_

_I concentrated on freeing him, trying not to think about why I can understand them too much._

_"Something like that."_

_After a moment's hesitation, "What's your name?"_

_"Sage." I cut through the last remaining knot. "You're probably looking for the Second Mass."_

_"Yeah. You know where they are?"_

_I took a sort of crinkled map out of my back pocket. I opened it up._

_"Here, I'll draw it out for you. But I can't be exact, they might have moved since the last time I spotted them." I took my pen out of my pocket and drew a thick line on the roads he should follow. There were already hundreds of lines on the map, from what I've drawn earlier. "Ignore the other lines."_

_I knew he was wondering what I was doing. He eyed all the circles and x's I had placed over certain areas, reading my notes on where certain alien patrols were. I could tell he was dying to ask, but courteous enough to leave my business alone._

_"I have another copy, so you can have this one."_

_I handed him my knife as well._

_"You'll probably need this more than I do."_

_Tom looked up at me with a smile as he took a good look at the map and folded it into the inside pocket of his coat. The knife went into the belt at his pants._

_"Thank you." He gave me a long look before he turned to go._

_"Tom?" I called out hesitantly. He turned around. "When you were in there, did you see any harnessed kids... a boy about my age by any chance?"_

_His expression grew sad. Like he knew about all the pain I was feeling._

_"I'm sorry, Sage. I didn't." He took in my forlorn expression. "You know you could come with me, to the Second Mass. We could use someone as talented as you. You don't have to be alone."_

_"I can't. Maybe someday..." Tom nodded his understanding._

_"I hope you find him."_

-X-

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I am." I looked at his outstretched hand. I reached out.

"I'm Sage." When I slipped my hand into his, a jolt of electricity surged through us. We both were startled and didn't pull our hands away immediately. The electricity disappeared and I was only left with questions and a slight tingling on the skin on my hand.

"What-"

"I don't know." I pulled my hand away and looked at him. He was only about two inches taller than me.

"Where do you need to go." I tried to change the topic. He didn't need to know my past. As soon as we're done, I won't ever need to see him again.

"I'm trying to find the Rebel skitters."

"Are the skitters what you call the green aliens that look like spiders?"

"Yeah."

"And the skitter rebellion is a real thing?"

"How do you know about that?" His expression changed, he began to look excited. "Are you also deharnessed? That's the only way you could have known about them. You can understand them."

"You were harnessed? And you got it off? How?"

"I was. They burn through the metal spikes and counterbalance the effects with really strong drugs, to prevent the process from killing you."

My mind raced. Even if I did find Shane eventually, I wouldn't be able to get the harness off of him. I didn't have anything as strong as what the boy is telling me. I shook my mind of that thought. No, I'll figure that out later. I need to concentrate on finding Shane first, then how I'm going to get that thing off.

"So you want to join the Rebels, who are apparently real, and not a myth, but you have no idea where they are." I looked at him incredulously. "Sounds like a great idea."

"I know the general direction they are in. They have to keep moving, if they don't want to be caught. If I can just get close enough, I can sense them, and follow my spikes there."

He observed me for a few seconds, until I began to grow uneasy under his gaze.

"You know, if you join them too..."

"Forget it. You know what, this is a waste of time. Deal's off." I turned to leave, I've wasted so much time already. I could've already been on my way to the closest armory restocking my supplies or already building a new plan for another ambush.

"What you said before, how we can't do this alone. I might be able to...but you can't." He called out to me in one last attempt.

I froze. He was right.

I was at crossroads. My brain was struggling to make a decision. I'd always been bad at this. What if he was my only shot? He's deharnessed, and from what he's said, about a connection through his spikes, what if he might be able to sense Shane. I might actually find him. It takes me days to scout out Spider hideouts and then days to research and come up with a foolproof plan, which didn't turn out so well today. I could cut my time in half if Ben helped. I let out a deep breath. I know I'm going to regret this one day.

"Okay I'm in."


	3. Proposition

_**Ben:**_

We walked through abandoned twisted streets with Sage leading the way. At least half the buildings in this area were in irreparable ruins. Every once in a while, there'd be something, a house, or a store that would be still be intact amazingly.

Sage seemed comfortable walking right out in the open. She didn't seemed concerned with running into any Skitters. My mind always turns back to her. Who is she really? There's something about her that I can't quite put my finger on, something abnormal. I didn't want to say anything yet, she already seems suspicious of me for some reason, other than the fact I have glowing metal spikes on my back. Throwing questions at her, no matter how subtle, could ruin my chances.

True, I could find the Rebels on my own, it might take a little longer, not by a whole lot, but still. For some reason I want to help her. And if I could just convince her to join the rebels...

I heard that explosion. It meant she had weapons, especially bombs. Whatever she was trying to do, she obviously knows her way around. We need all the help we can get. This was my job, I'm supposed to recruit for the Rebel Skitters, and Sage, if she can hear the Skitters, that means she has a connection, she's deharnessed whether she wants to admit it or not.

We came upon a church that was still mostly standing. Sage led the way around the back of the building, holding a faded blue door open for me, I went in and immediately came upon a row a stairs, winding up to the top. After walking up for a while, I came across a large spacious room.

Maps of all shapes and sizes littered the floor, with multi-colored sharpies lying around next to them. Other miscellaneous stuff, like clothing, food and weapons lay around as well. My eyes instantly fell on a sparkling silver bow with matching silver arrows. Seemed quite old fashioned and gaudy for a practical weapon. I made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"Wow, this is amazing." I crouched down to study the maps. "Did you really figure out where all the Skitters and their patrols are? Even the rotation timings?" I was in awe as I looked up at Sage. She definitely kept herself busy.

Most of the maps had huge X's on skitter hideouts, some in red and some in black. For some reason this didn't seem like a coincidence to me.

"What are you really doing Sage? This can't just be about killing every Skitter in sight." I got up and faced her.

She looked at me for a moment, before she walked toward a window behind me. She picked up the backpack under it and pulled out a handful of pictures.

She sorted through them as she walked toward me. She handed me one of the pictures, without saying a word. I took the photo from her hand.

It was a picture of her and boy. Only in this picture, Sage's skin was different, it was a tan brown. The boy had light brown hair and eyes. He was sitting on a railing, with his arms around her waist and his chin resting on her shoulder. Sage was glancing directly at the camera, while the boy was looking sideways, down at her. Both them were smiling like they were having a good time.

"What's his name?"

"Shane." She was fingering a golden ring on her left hand. She caught me looking, and held up her hand so I could see the engraved name over the top, Shane.

I could feel her gazing intently at me.

"We were captured and sent to a harness facility. I was able to escape, but..."

"How long have you been looking for him?"

"Two and a half months." I reached my hand out for the other pictures. She hesitated, then sighed in surrender, handing the rest to me.

All of the pictures were of her and the other guy, Shane. There were a lot, at least ten or so, of them at the beach building a sandcastle, walking down the street holding hands, making silly faces at the camera, them sitting on a sofa with Sage's head on his shoulder.

I felt an odd pang of jealously for some reason. How stupid is that, I just met Sage. I barely know anything about her, how is it possible that I might feel something for her. It didn't matter anyway, she had a boyfriend. I shook these thoughts from my mind and focused on the task at hand.

"I know the general direction he is in though."

"How do you know that?" I was confused, how would she know that?

"Let's just say someone I trust was able to find out for me."

I didn't ask anymore questions. She will tell me when she's ready. I'm not going to rush it.

"Okay. Let's do this. I'll help you find him first. Then you help me. But there's a condition..."

If there was a world record for the fastest change in expression, it would be given to Sage. Even before the words left my mouth, her expression morphed from passive to aggressive.

* * *

**_Sage:_**

"What do you mean conditions?" I can't believe this. I'm closer than ever to finding Shane, and I could lose everything I'd worked so hard to build. What could he possibly want?

"After we find Shane, and I promise we will find him, I want you to consider joining the Rebel Skitters. Just consider it." I opened my mouth to say something rude, but shut it promptly, thinking about his proposition.

After I find Shane, what else do I have to do? Sit around and wait for someone to win the war? Whether it be the aliens or the humans?

"Okay." I saw the grin beginning to spread on his face. "I will consider it. No guarantees."

"That's all I want." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's get to work."

I lead him over to a pile of maps in the center of the room, and showed him the area I was going to move onto next.

"So the next place is over here," I pointed to the indicated area. "But, we need to restock on ammo and weapons. The nearest armory is over here, I pointed to a location at least 50 miles from where we were sitting.

"How do you know there's an armory over there?"

"My dad was a weapons specialist in the military. He labeled a map of every weapons storage facility in the east coast for me."

"Okay, good." I was slightly relieved he didn't ask more about my father or where he is now.

"Next is transportation. That location is too far to walk in a short period of time. And I'm assuming time is of the essence here."

"A while ago I hotwired this truck, which I've been using to lug all my equipment." I answered him.

"That won't work anymore, we need to travel light."

"Then I've got just the thing." I had to smile a little at his curious expression. I had a feeling he'd like what I'm about to show him, what boy wouldn't.

* * *

**_Ben:_**

She led me back outside, and down the street, towards this desolate looking little house. In front was a pickup truck, probably the one Sage was talking about. Walking around to the back, we came across the garage. I stopped in the driveway, confused.

She went up to the garage door, and manually pulled it up, by the rusty handle at the bottom.

As the door lifted upward, I couldn't help but grin.

"I've been lugging them with me in the truck ever since I stumbled upon them in some rich guy's house. Thought it might come in handy someday."

Parked neatly, just inside were two shiny motorcycles. They weren't like the old-fashioned ones we used in the Second Mass. They were the kind people pay a lot of money for and show off. They were both sport bikes, both of them were the same model, only no body work. One was hot rod red, while the other was a metallic blue.

"I call the blue one." I grinned and walked over to it, Running my hand through the smooth metal.

"We're only taking one." I looked at her confused, we had two, why not use them both?

"I don't know how to ride one."

"It's similar to riding a bicycle. I can teach you. It won't take-"

"No. I am not driving one. Ever." She cut me off abruptly. That was odd too. My head was beginning to spin. It felt like she was keeping things from me, a lot of things. All the unspoken secrets formed into a buzzing cloud around my head, too thick to see through. When will she learn that she can trust me?


	4. Follow the Map

_**Ben:**_

We walked back to the church and inventoried the vast multitude of maps on the floor. The map of the armories and several detailed maps that contained the areas we were going to were inserted into my backpack. Most of Sage's weapons needed to be replenished. She was out of ammo. We took two of her machine guns, and of course she kept her pistol and knives, which she keeps within arms reach in her boots. Deadly. I wouldn't want to fight her. Who knows what other hazardous objects she could be concealing.

"About that bow and arrow...did you want to bring it along?" I threw a sidelong glance at her direction, trying to figure her out. Which was next to impossible, she was good at concealing facial expressions.

"No. It's too shiny and sparkly. It would just be a distraction, not to mention easy to spot." She looked at me like she was going to give me an explanation why, but then suddenly turned her back to me, cutting off whatever moment we could have had. I sighed. Every time I was so close to finding something, anything, about her, something like this happens.

We finished packing up in a few minutes. "Okay let's go." I slid my backpack and gun on, all ready to go.

"Okay, give me a minute, I'll meet you outside."

"It's okay, I'll wait for you." I dropped my backpack right back down.

"Yeah, I don't think so." She looked at me with a hint of bemusement. "I'm gonna change, I'm kinda covered in dirt. Will you like to pull up a chair and watch or something?" I could feel myself turning red.

"Oh, uh...um- ." Someone shut me up now. "Yeah, meet you outside." I hurried out, cursing at myself silently.

* * *

**_Sage:_**

Ben left, flustered, looking quite red in the face. Normally that would bring a smile on my face, but not today. I sighed, as I pulled my dirty shirt and jeans off, slipping into a clean pair of lighter colored jeans and a blue and white tank top. I slipped on a thin black jacket on top of that as I pulled my hair into a ponytail.

I gazed at my reflection in a cracked full length mirror. The area under my eyes were beginning to look darker. I haven't gotten much sleep in the past few weeks. Only a couple of hours every two or three days. Not a healthy habit, but I didn't have a choice. It was either waste time and sleep, or get one step closer to finding Shane.

There was a cut on the left side on my face. It aligned perfectly with the top of my ear, and went down, to under my jaw. It wasn't very deep though. I placed my right hand over it, and concentrated all my energy on that area, just like I've practiced a million times before. I began to feel a slight tingling sensation, like little zaps of electricity, on the left side of my face. After a few seconds, it stopped and I removed my hand.

The cut was gone, not even a faint scar. It was as if the cut never existed, like a figment of my imagination, only I knew it used to be there. I felt slightly drained. Normally I wouldn't have felt it, since it was just a small cut, but I was already so tired that even the simplest of actions exhausted me.

I went over to my backpack, and pulled out a picture. One Ben didn't see. I stared at the picture of my mother and father taken a few weeks before my mom died.

"I'm sorry mom." I whispered to the picture as I fingered my locket. I wiped my eyes, as if tears were streaming down my face, even though my face was dry as could be.

I just guess old habits die hard. It used to be so easy for me to burst into tears, a sad movie, a bad grade, a cut on my finger, but now, after everything, I've realized how pointless and stupid it is to cry. It doesn't bring the dead back to life, it doesn't magically create a foolproof solution for you. It just plain weakens you.

Ben was outside, waiting on the motorcycle, with his backpack between him and the handlebars of the bike. I took a deep breath. I told myself I could do this, yet still silently panicked as I grew closer to the motorcycle. I'd actually rather walk all fifty miles than be near a motorcycle.

No, I shook my head clear. For Shane.

I walked around the back of the motorcycle, and swung one foot over and slid in behind Ben, careful to leave at least a half a foot gap between us.

He turned back around and looked at me, amused.

"You're gonna have to hold on you know."

I made a face at him. "I'm fine, let's go."

"Okay then." He seemed unconvinced. He turned the key, and the engine leapt to life, with a slight hum. It was much quieter than most motorcycles are. Must have been the model, or it was custom made to be quieter. I don't know. I don't speak motorcycle.

I didn't expect us to start moving so fast and quickly. Honestly, it scared the hell out of me. I literally threw myself at Ben's back and dug both my hands into his waist. He tried to glance at me other his shoulder.

"Don't turn around! Watch where you're going!"

I was fully conscious that I was pressing myself up against him, but that didn't matter as much as being alive at the end of this trip. The only thing that kept me from completely disappearing into him, were the ever so present metal spikes on his back. They were hard to miss.

* * *

_**Ben:**_

The sun was setting, in a few minutes it will be completely dark.

"Hey Sage, we're almost-" I tried to turn my head around to look at her, while keeping an eye on the road at the same time. "Sage?"

I smiled. She fell asleep, especially after being so terrified of getting on the bike. I could feel her head, on the back of my shoulder, her forehead, brushing up lightly against my spikes. One hand was curled securely around my waist, while the other hand, was horizontal up my back and on my shoulder. I guess when you're tired enough, you can fall asleep anywhere.

I decided not to wake her, as I continued on.

Suddenly my head was filled with static and different toned pitch's began to fill my head. Skitters-no wait, mechs. And they were headed this way.

I jerked the bike up onto the sidewalk and skidded to an abrupt stop. Sage woke and started to ask questions. I just grabbed her arm, and started pulling her down the street.

The ground began to vibrate softly, increasing a little more with each passing second. This street once must have been downtown. Shops and stores lined the asphalt road. By now, I knew Sage sensed the mechs as well, for she fell silent and allowed me to drag her towards a diner with broken glass windows.

I motioned that we should climb inside. I jumped in a reached a hand out to Sage, and surprisingly, she took it. I was a little startled. I was expecting her to ignore me like last time. I lost my footing a little and fell backwards, pulling her with me. We landed on the padded seat in a booth awkwardly.

Sage slipped under the table and yanked me down by my foot. I scrambled into a somewhat comfortable position quickly, with my back pressed against the wall as lights suddenly illuminated the area.

The ground began to shake harder, as I controlled my breathing and quieted it down, by taking in deep, even breaths. Sage on the other hand, was absolutely still. She wasn't moving and it felt like she was barely breathing. The only thing that told me that she was still alive was that she occasionally blinked.

She turned to face me. I had nowhere to look, I was caught staring. Our faces were mere inches from each others. A flash of light illuminated her face, startling me when I saw her eyes.

The first time I saw, her, when she was unconscious and had woken up for a second, I'd thought her eyes were blue. But then later, her eyes were a light brown. Now, now they were unmistakably rimmed in gold. They were shining, as the light from the passing mechs lit her face up and then plunged it into shadows in a repeating cycle.

She realized something wrong. Must of been because of my startled deer in the headlights expression. She shifted her weight, so she was looking straight ahead, away from me.

The mechs were gone, but we waited a few more minutes before exiting from the diner.

I was bursting to ask about her eyes. Something was unusual about her. Maybe her harness had different effects on her for some reason? But I kept my silence. For now.

Out of unspoken agreement, we headed straight towards the armory, even though it was well into the night. It would be better if we broke in at night, when it was harder to see, than broad daylight.

We followed the map by foot, the bike we had left behind a few blocks ago, so as not to attract any accidental attention. I was a little confused. Armory's were usually isolated. We were in a shabby part of town, shabby even before the invasion. Small stores filled the streets. I looked up and frowned.

A sign hung up on a store advertising the sale of guns and bullets.

"This is an armory?" I glanced incredulously at Sage.

"I never said they were all military-based." She grumbled. "Some of them are gun shops or galleries. Any place that sells or has guns. How unrealistic would it be if only armories had weapons."

"Okay then. This is a whole lot easier than I thought it would be."

We walked through and instantly came upon splintered wood lying all around. The shelves behind the counters were ransacked and the store was in disarray. It looked like a stampede of wild elephants had ran through.

"Looks like we're a little late."

"Don't give up just yet." Sage motioned for me to follow her. I followed her to the back room.

"Sage, I really doubt anything would be left in here. Everyone before us probably plundered it all when the invasion first started. I think this is-"

I stopped mid-sentence as Sage ran her hand along a wall and suddenly kicked a seemingly random space on the wall. The wall, or so it seems, a thin plywood decoy, fell outwards and landed at my feet. My mouth hung open.

I stepped inward. It was a storage room, filled with ammunition and a few very deadly guns. I looked back at Sage, asking her how she knew this. Before I could get a word out, she replied as if she could read my mind.

"My dad told me about shops like this. The shop keepers store most of their ammunition and a couple of the really damaging guns in here, you know for safety reasons. So if there's like a riot, people won't have unlimited ammunition supplies... I wasn't really sure it would be there, but it must be our lucky day."

I was speechless for once. I turned around and searched the racks for the types of bullets we needed and stuffed them into our backpacks.

Before leaving, we put the thin slab of plywood back up, just in case.

We were, I guess you can say, camped out in what used to be someones living room. The house was the least damaged, meaning it was still standing, and all its windows were intact. Also on the plus side, it was completely abandoned and way on the other side of from where the mechs were heading towards.

We closed all the curtains, to make it harder for anyone on the outside to see us.

We were both sitting on the sofa, completely exhausted and silent.

This was it. I needed to start finding out more about her. I am helping her, so I have the right to know her story. And if she's going to join the rebels, than I need to know that I can trust her and that she can trust me.

"Sage?" She turned to look at me, from the opposite end of the couch.

"Can I ask you a question?" She hesitated before answering.

"What?"

"Earlier, when you first showed me the bikes, why did you react like that?" I paused before continuing. "Something happened, didn't it? Something that made you terrified of motorcycles?"

She continued to stare at me silent. "You can trust me you know."

For a while it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything. We sat there for a full minute or so, just staring at each other. I sighed and tore my gaze from her.

"It happened about four years ago..." She began softly.


	5. Trust in You

_**Sage:**_

When he asked me if he could ask a question, I grew wary. I didn't want anyone to know anything about me. If he finds out what the Skitters did me, he'd never look at me the same. All I'd be is a freak, a mutant.

But I understood why he wanted to ask me the question. He wanted to see if I trust him. Truthfully, I don't really know if I do. I have every reason to trust him, he is going out of his way to help me, a stranger, a person who is not personally tied to him in any way. But at the same time, his going out of his way is suspicious and the instinct and habit I had built up on the past year are telling me to not fully commit.

I don't know why, but I feel like we have some sort of connection,a very intense and present connection. As stupid as that might sound, there was something about him that drew me in.

"It happened about four years ago." I began and then paused again. I removed my boots and lined them neatly up next to the sofa. Drawing my knees up toward my chest I fixed my gaze on the mahogany coffee table in front of the plush green sofa we were sitting on.

The memory of the day overtook me as I continued on.

-X-

_"Mommy! Hurry up! I'm freezing! An almost twelve year old me jumped impatiently from foot to foot trying to keep warm in the cold night. I was standing just outside the doorway of my house. It was almost midnight. In just a few minutes, it'd be my birthday and I'd be twelve years old._

_I was especially excited for this birthday. Part of the reason why was because I wasn't able to find my presents. My parents always hide them until my birthday, but I always find them. But not this year. Mom was getting pretty good at this._

_The tradition in my family was that birthday presents were opened when the clock strikes midnight, only sixteen minutes away. We've done this for as long as I could remember._

_I was excited. I was waiting for my mother to get my well-hid gift from the car._

_"I got it!" my mom held up a small aquamarine gift bag, my favorite color. It was covered in glitter. I grinned when I saw it._

_I took a few steps forward in excitement but stopped, for the stone tiles on the porch were frigidly cold. My thin t-shirt and shorts were no match for the cold late-January weather. I longed to go back inside where everything was toasty warm. I was the one person in my entire family who dreaded feeling even a little cold._

_"Come on mom! It's almost twelve! Hurry up!"_

_"I'm coming!" Mom closed the door and locked the car. Just as she began walking toward me, she stopped with a thoughtful look on her face. "You know what? I think I forgot to check the mail this afternoon!" She feigned surprise and started walking impossibly slow down the driveway towards the mailbox._

_"What? No! Mom! Dad already got the mail!" Mom turned around and grinned at me, her long,_  
_dark hair and bright blue scarf fluttering around her lightly. "Stop stalling!"_

_"I have to check the mail Sage! What if some important letter was delivered by hand?" I moaned. If I wasn't so cold, I would've just ran over and gotten it myself, but it wasn't worth it to run back inside and grab a jacket and some shoes._

_In the distance a faint roar of a motorcycle was becoming increasing audible as it began to grow closer. But I wasn't worried about it. I was too busy trying to guess what was in that bag._

_Mom was at the mailbox by now. She made a big show of opening the mailbox and peering in._

_"You know what? I think your father really did pick up the mail this afternoon." She grinned as she closed the mailbox. Walking up to sidewalk from the paved road, she stumbled a little, but caught herself before she fell, but dropped the bag._

_"Are you ok mom?" I called out._

_"Yeah I'm fine." She bent down to pick the bag up._

_Our house was the last one on the street, on the corner where you have to turn either right or left. A boy on a skateboard rode by and was about to turn the corner of the street, when the motorcycle I'd heard earlier turned as well._

_Everything happened in slow motion._

_The motorcycle swerved to miss the boy, as the boy jumped to the other side, hitting the asphalt hard. The bike hiked the curb. I swung my head over to my mom to scream at her to run, but it was too late. She was bending back up from picking up the bag when the motorcycle hit her. They both flew a few more feet, hitting the neighbor's car parked on the sidewalk, before coming to an abrupt stop. The whole thing took less than five seconds to play out._

_I screamed for my father as I ran out to the crash site. It was a mess. My mom was half crushed between the car and motorcycle. She was lying out in between them on the cold cement, as a pool of crimson began to spread out around her._

_"Oh my god! Mom!" I pressed my hands down on a deep cut over her stomach, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. My legs were drenched with her blood as I knelt next to her. I untangled the scarf from around her neck and put in on the wound, trying to use it to staunch the bleeding._

_I heard a moaning sound coming from the rider of the motorcycle. He was lying a foot away and struggling to get out from under the motorcycle in a very uncomfortable position. I turned around and pulled his helmet off, revealing a shock of blond hair. I yanked him out by the arm a bit, so he lay on flat ground._

_"Stop struggling! You're making it worse!" He stopped and clutched his arm, from which blood was pouring down profusely. I turned back to my mom, telling her it was going to be all right, through flowing tears. Her eyes weren't open, and I couldn't see her chest rise and fall anymore._

_Strong arms pulled me from my mother as I struggled to stay next to her._

_"Sage, let go!" It was Dad. The flashes of light from ambulances were illuminating the night. People were coming out of their houses in their bathrobes with their telephones clutched in their hands._

_"Oh my god! Savannah!" My aunt emerged from our house as well and ran over to kneel down beside my mother and continued pressing down on the scarf I'd lain over the wound._

_The ambulances arrived with police cars not far behind. Medics with stretchers came out._

_I was struggling against my dad, trying to get closer to mom, but he pulled me back, I vaguely remember him talking softly to me, telling me it will be all right, like I told mom. The stench of blood was intoxicating. It was all over me, thickly coating my legs and hands. It was getting on my face as I kept struggling free._

_They were loaded into ambulances._

_"Shane take her!" My Dad lifted me up and handed me over to Shane, who had followed my Aunt out. I knocked us both over and we fell on the grass. I melted in his arms, and cried into neck as he tried not to break down and cry along with me. He was trying to be strong just for my sake._

_"Shane, Lisa, meet us at the hospital." Dad called out to my Aunt and Shane, before climbing into the ambulance with mom._

-X-

I let out a deep breath. I'd never told anyone the entire story before. Well, almost the entire the entire story. I left out the part where I needed a hearing aide turned on to the max, just to be able to hear like everybody else.

Ben was silent, I wondered what he was thinking. I didn't tear my eyes from the coffee table though. One look at what would probably be a horrified expression on his face, and I'd be in tears.

I heard him get up, and sit right next to me, our arms were touching. I dropped my feet back down to the floor. He picked up my hand, and held it. At first I stiffened, but relaxed and welcomed the gesture. I looked up at him to meet his green eyes.

"I am really sorry." I could tell he really meant it. That he really cared. Your heartbeat doesn't lie and his was beating at a smooth rhythmic pace. " I hate to ask, but..."

"She died that day. I never got to say goodbye." We sat there for a minute staring at each other.

Suddenly it all became too much, and I abruptly got up.

"I'm gonna just...check and make sure there are no Skitters around." I couldn't look at him anymore. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

It took every ounce of control I had to not run up the stairs. I opened the first door I came across, it was someone's bedroom. A young girl's, obviously,since the walls were painted pink and dolls littered the floor. I closed the door softly and walked over to the windows. Moving the ruffled lace curtains aside, I peered out into the darkness.

I moved the curtain back into place, and rested with my back against the window. Then I completely broke down, sliding to the ground as tears streamed down my face. My whole body racked with silent sobs. My bangs were getting into my eyes and were becoming plastered to my face, yet I didn't stop. I haven't broken down like this in months. Not since the Skitters injected me with their experimental drug. Not since Shane disappeared. Not since I lost Dad and was completely alone for the first time in my life.

I know how stupid it is to sit around and feel sorry for myself. Crying won't change anything. It won't make my parents magically reappear from the dead, it won't find Shane for me. It won't end the invasion.

I wiped my tears from my face with my sleeve and sat there under the window for a while more. I took off my jacket, crying always makes me feel like I'm burning up. I fingered the neat, little scars lined up on the underside of my left arm, starting from my wrist from right over the vein, all the way up, past my elbow.

-X-

_"Sage. Are you listening to me? Sage?" Shane shook my arm. "Sage, is your hearing aid on?" I slowly looked up at him fixing my gaze on his mouth, as he formed my name with it. I moved my gaze from Shane to the person sitting across the table from me. The doctor. Or more precisely, the psychologist._

_"You're doing good Sage." He smiled. My fingers began to twitch. They've been doing that lately. Shane saw and put one of his hands over them and gave me a reassuring squeeze. I began to feel slightly better._

_I even managed to give Dr. Bowan a small smile. The only reason I'm here sitting through yet another appointment was on the compromise that Shane came with me. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be a wreck, or a bigger wreck than I am now._

_"You really are doing well Sage." I began to grow agitated. Isn't that what he just said? He consulted his papers for a second. "You haven't cut yourself in almost two months. You won't need me anymore." He signed everything he said. But I've pointedly refused to use ASL for a while now. It's not like I'm completely deaf, only partially. With a hearing aid, I can hear exactly the same as a normal non deaf person._

_I shook my head no to the doctors' statement. He still looked to Shane for confirmation though. A person like me wasn't to be trusted just yet._

_Who would've thought that one hard hit to a certain part of the head could cause partial hearing loss? I haven't played baseball since then. Years ago, when I was eight another kid batted the baseball and it knocked me unconscious. When I woke up in the hospital, I could barely hear._

_Little kids can be cruel, sometimes even more so than teenagers. They pick on people who are different. And that's when the cutting started. I didn't really feel like going through with my life. It seemed pointless. But I see it differently now. As much as I hate to admit it, seeing Dr. Bowan every week really did help. It was nice to talk to someone who didn't judge you. After everyone found out about the cutting it seemed like everybody judged. Even my parents. They just didn't understand why I had to resort to something like that, instead of just talking to someone. And honestly, neither did I._

_"I'm proud of you Sage. Everyone is. You've overcome it. Just remember, when you feel down, there are better ways to make yourself feel better."_

_"Yes I know."_

_"The archery is going good then?" He raised an eyebrow, as if for me to elaborate._

_"Yes. When I pick up the bow, I forget. It makes me feel better."_

_"It's nice to hear that. Keep it up." He shuffled through his papers again. "Okay your mom is waiting outside. I'll see you next week." He stood up and shook my hand, as well as Shane's._

-X-

__

**_Sage:_**

I got up from my perch under the window and sat on the bed. Soft purple sheets neatly covered the mattress. I ran my hand over it before I lay down, with my head at the foot of the bed. My eyes were still wet with tears.

I began to hiccup. It reminded me of what life used to be like. Every time I got sad and the tears began to subside, I got the hiccups. Shane used to make me feel better by telling a joke or doing something funny. And then I'd feel better and the hiccups would go away. But I don't have Shane anymore.

A memory of the time Shane juggled five eggs drifted into my mind. He kept it up for four whole minutes, and then Dad came in and slammed the door, startling Shane. They broke on his head and the floor turning everything into a sticky yolky mess.

I began to laugh, but choked on my tears again. I wish everything would go back to when our biggest problem would be my parents getting mad at us for getting egg yolk all over the wooden floor. I'd even give up being able to hear perfectly well if I could just have the past back.

* * *

**_Ben:_**

Sage left abruptly, and honestly, I couldn't blame her for doing so. It's one thing to lose your mother and a completely other thing to see her get killed mere feet from you.

It's been over an hour and Sage hadn't come down yet. I began to grow worried-not that I doubted that she could take care of herself. But I wanted to make sure she was okay.

I climbed up the stairs in the dark. My eyes had adjusted to the dark by now and I could make out objects, unlike when we first got here and all I could see were fuzzy outlines.

I opened the first door I came across and found Sage, asleep, on the purple sheeted bed. I walked over to her softly so as not to wake her. She was lying on her back, with her right hand over her stomach. I removed a pillow from the head of the bed and gently lifted her head up and slid the pillow under.

I pulled off her boots and settled them under the window, next to her discarded jacket.

Wisps of dark curly hair covered the corner of one of her eyes. I brushed it aside softly. She moved her head slightly at my touch. It was then that I noticed the scars on her left hand.

They were precisely the same length and perfectly straight, going up the length of her arm. It made me a little sad to think of what she might have been through, both before and after the invasion. I wish I could make things better.

I found a blanket in the closest, it was also purple. I spread it out over Sage. I didn't really want to go back downstairs.

I took the other pillow from the bed and settled myself on the floor next to the bed, parallel to Sage.

Within a few minutes I was asleep as well.

**_Sage:_**

I woke up with a start and promptly fell off the side of the bed in a tangle of blankets I don't remember having before I fell asleep.

I expected to hit the carpeted floor, but instead I fell on something much softer. And by something I mean Ben. I definitely startled him awake.

"I'm sorry!" I was less than two inches from his face. He stared at me bewildered.

"For someone who looks so thin, you sure do fall hard."

I tried to scramble up, but I'd hopelessly entangled myself in the blanket during my sleep. When I finally got myself up, I sat down next to him. He sat up and looked at his watch.

"It's five in the morning." He questioned me with his eyes.

"Yeah. Let's get going. Better to go in while it's still dark."

**_Ben:_**

The map was in my hands. I followed the appropriate streets to the Skitter hideout. Sage was standing next to me.

"Umm... right on this street." Sage looked at me amused.

"Are you sure about that Benny."

I moaned. "You finally say my name and you call me Benny?" I looked at her incredulously. "It's like you know I hate being called that!"

"Is it really the first time I've ever said your name?" She looked at me amused, like she didn't believe it.

I couldn't help feeling a little bit giddy inside, like her acknowledgement meant that she might finally be starting to like me. Then I remembered her ring. And Shane.

There's no way something other than friendship could happen between us. Its just not meant to be. When we find Shane, I'd be all but forgotten.

Hopefully she'll join the Rebels. Just being near her makes me feel better.

Sage signaled me to follow her. We'd left our backpacks behind, well hidden. All we were carrying now were our guns. I followed on Sage's heels as we entered the building from above. It was a hotel, not those fancy kinds that are like fifty stories tall, but also not a motel. It was somewhere in the middle. About ten or so stories tall with a flat terraced roof.

We'd climbed from roof to roof until we had reached the building. It was amazing to watch Sage in action. She jumped at least ten feet from the edge of a building, landing perfectly on a narrow window sill of the hotel. I kept watch as she pried the window up and disappeared inside before following her example.

It was dark inside and smelled musky. I took the lead from here. We exited the empty room and cautiously moved down the deserted hall. I could feel the presence of Skitters. As long as there's not an overlord roaming around downstairs I'd be fine. They won't be able to detect me on my their own.

The plan was that we keep a low profile. We just wanted to see if Shane was here. It'd be better if we just slipped in and out undetected. Worst case scenario, we'd just shoot every hostile living thing in sight and get out as fast as we could.

It was almost six in the morning. The clock was ticking. It wasn't until we got down to the second floor that things started to heat up.

Just as I was about to push the metal door open to exit from the emergency staircase, Sage dragged me down by grabbing a fistful of front of my shirt. Just as I was about to hiss at her for doing so, I heard the familiar clicking of a Skitter's feet on the worn wooden floor.

We waited a minute until the Skitter passed before we looked through the small window on the door before cautiously stepping out.

We split up from there. I went right and Sage went left. We'd meet at the other side, when our paths cross.

The walls were oddly moist, and so was the thin wood under my feet. I lifted my gun up, pressing it against my chest ready, just in case I get seen.

I was cautious about opening any doors, but it was a necessary risk.

The first door I came upon opened easily. I didn't expect it to locked, the electricity is shut off, so of course you don't need those key cards to unlock suites.

Inside it was completely empty, all the furniture had been thrown out, the sofas, the tables, the tv, even the beds. Exposed patches and holes on the walls told that lamps used to hang there at one point in time.

I moved on, the next few rooms were also stripped bare. Confusion engulfed me. What was going on?

I kept walking down the corridor. Suddenly I sensed a Skitter approaching. It caught me off guard. This is the first time in half an hour or so that I sensed one.

There was nowhere to hide. If I wanted to disappear into a hotel room, I'd have to run back where I came and that was several yards away.

Suddenly something yanked me back by the fabric of my sweater. I swung my gun around to shoot whatever it was. A scream was building up in my throat.

I was swung around, just as a hand clamped over my mouth. I was face to face with Sage. I relaxed. We were wedged in a fold in the wall where, according to a dark ring in the carpet at our feet, a potted plant used to sit.

The Skitter was approaching. I prayed it would just walk by and not see us. And walk by and not see us it did.

I could feel Sage relax physically. That's how close we were. I was inhaling in her scent. She smelled faintly like roses. It was present in a soothing way.

She went out first, adjusting her holster on her waist as she did so.

"Did you see anything?" She questioned me.

"No. All the rooms were stripped bare."

"Yeah same here. Maybe better luck on the first floor."

We continued back to the staircase and went down a level. And it was definitely swarming with activity.

Just from the little window on the door, we could see shadows of moving Skitters.

I nudged Sage to the side and opened the door slowly, leaving only enough gap for me to fit my body through. Immediately we came upon a row of discarded furniture, stacked on and next to each other.

I motioned for Sage to follow me. At a crouch we covered the few feet to the pile and collapsed behind it. It wasn't very high. We had to slouch down to not be seen.

I peeked over the top, the small room had become deserted, the Skitters had exited through the only other doorway in the room, located on the other side from where we were sitting.

"What's the plan?" I questioned Sage at a hoarse whisper.

"The plan? Just run through and if you see anything that wants to kill you, shoot it!" She whispered back to me.

"That's the worst plan I've ever heard!"

"It'll work, just trust me!"

"I think we should just move through slowly and try not to be seen!"

"Are you kidding me! This place is crawling with Skitters. We don't have an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter! We are so gonna be seen you moron!"

Suddenly I was flying through the air. An undetected Skitter had grabbed onto the strap of my gun and was dragging me away. I pulled my knife out from the waistband of my jeans and stabbed blindly upward. Gunshots were fired, and with a huge ear-piercing scream, the Skitter fell dead.

I got up and saw Sage lowering her gun.

"Okay. Your plan it is." No point in arguing now that we were caught.

We ran out of the room in unison, and faced a group of advancing Skitters. The noise of automatic rifles firing filled the air, along with the angry clicks from the Skitters. I moved up ahead of Sage. Using my knife now, I aimed directly for their weakest points, their mouths.

One of the Skitters nicked me in the arm and I could feel blood begin to pour out in a hot trickly stream. Ignoring it, I threw open the first door I came across and entered. The room was huge, not to mention filled with harnessed kids. Sage stumbled in behind me.

Everyone froze-me, Sage, the harnessed kids, and the Skitters that looked over them. For three complete seconds everything was still and quiet. Then as if an unseen command was fired, the kids began to look angry and at once, they charged at as in unison.

Sage dragged me backwards.

"We need to go back upstairs!" I didn't hesitate. I'm putting my full trust in her this time. And hopefully it wouldn't get us killed like my genius plans.

We raced up the stairs with the harnessed kids close behind. Someone grabbed me by the ankle and I tumbled down a few steps, knocking my chin hard on the metal steps. The kid who had grabbed me couldn't have been much older than six years old with short blond hair, and light eyes. I couldn't shake him off. The other kids began to catch up and swarmed around me, yanking and pulling. A hot searing pain was felt from my upper right thigh downwards. Someone had slashed me with a knife.

All of a sudden they all flew off me and slammed into the opposite wall, like some unseen supernatural force knocked them away from me at once. There was only one other person with me. I stared at Sage as I got up.

She shrugged. "I hit them at the right angle." No time for talk now, but I'm definitely not letting this slide later. We kept running up the stairs, and soon were ahead of the kids. We came upon the rooftop terrace, the sun had risen, and I had to squint to see in the bright light.

"Come on!" Sage turned and headed toward the closest of the surrounding buildings. And promptly jumped over the edge of the roof. I stared in shock, that was quite a jump. I don't think I'd make it with my injured leg.

"Come on! I'll catch you!" I glanced behind me, as the harnessed kids saw us and began running at a full on sprint. "Trust me!" Without hesitation I continued after her, ignoring the pain in my leg.

I misjudged the distance and fell short. I landed on the very edge of the building and my feet couldn't register a good grip, I began to tumble downward. Sage grabbed my arm as I was going down.

I sighed. Thank god. I used my other arm and legs to push myself up the side of the building while Sage yanked me over the top.

"Keep moving!" We kept going. The distance between buildings were a lot closer now, we just had to stretch our legs and we were over easily. But the pain in my leg caused me to stagger, blood was flowing freely down my leg and I couldn't stop it.

Two minutes later, while still on the run, I blacked out at probably the worst possible moment.


	6. The Power of Healing

_**Sage:**_

I caught Ben sideways as he fell unconscious, staggering under his sudden weight. We collapsed on the ground. Fearful, I checked his pulse, and thankfully, I could still feel it. He was alive. The cut on his leg was nasty, it was deep and the flesh was torn jaggedly. And the blood. There was so much blood.

Screams filled the air, and snapped my neck to look over at the harnessed kids and saw then gaining on us. I didn't have the heart to shoot them, but I wasn't going to let Ben die now either. I knew what I had to do.

I stepped away from Ben and concentrated. I cleared my mind of the harnessed kids, of Ben's injury, of my fear, until I reached a state of calm. Leveling my hands out over Ben, I clenched my teeth and concentrated hard. Within a second, Ben's body began to rise in the air, levitating over the roof of the building I was standing on.

Once I knew I had a good mental grasp on him, I levitated him in front of me and began to continue running, careful to make sure my concentration didn't waver.

If someone told me being able to levitate something with your mind was possible a year ago, I would have scoffed at them and called them stupid. It wasn't possible. yet here I am, a year later, injected with that stupid drug by the Skitters and now that's exactly what I can do. Truth is, I stumbled upon this power a few months ago, and its proved to be very useful.

I came to the edge of a building, there was no where to go now. The next building was too far to jump. The only way was down. I turned around, the harnessed kids were slowing down, they we starting to realize they were pursuing a lost cause.

I took a deep breath, and levitated Ben down, so I could have a physical grasp on him before I stepped off the edge of the building.

I clenched my eyes shut, I hate the feeling of falling. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense how far down the ground was. A foot before we would have splattered onto the asphalt, I slowed our descent down. But I miscalculated. I didn't take Ben's weight into account. I landed hard on my feet, that jarred my knees, but that didn't stop me.

The harnessed kids had completely given up on us now. I half dragged, half levitated Ben back to our hideout, picking up our backpacks along the way.

I couldn't levitate him completely anymore, I was mentally exhausted from using so much power at once.

I made it to our hideout in record time, given the disadvantages, and settled Ben on the couch in the living room.

I shuffled through my backpack for medical supplies. I pulled out a small bottle labeled morphine and a package of needles. Yanking the plastic and paper cover off of one of the needles, I attached it to a syringe. I wasn't sure how much morphine I should give Ben. I don't want to overdose him, but I also don't want to give him too little.

Ben began to moan, as he started to wake up, but the pain dragged him under again. I settled quickly on filling half the syringe. I tapped the needle to get the air bubbles out and rolled up his sleeve. I injected the morphine into him slowly and pulled the needle out quickly while pressing down on the area where I injected the needle.

His leg, it looked even worse than before. The only thing I could do now was to try to heal it. But the levitation and the walk off the building took a lot out of me. I was tried and it was dangerous to use the power when I was exhausted. I pulled the rip in his jeans apart, so I could clearly see the cut on his leg, giving myself enough space to work with. I placed my hand gently on the worst part of the wound and concentrated.

I visualized the energy flowing from my body to his. The thing about healing with your mind is that to close and heal the wound, you need energy, and the energy needs to come from something living, in this case, me. Basically, I'm giving up part of my energy to him, so that his body can accelerate the healing process. I'm not exactly sure how it's accelerating, but then again I won't ever know. The drug I was given was experimental, the Skitters weren't even sure I'd live at the end of it, much less exactly what I can and cannot do if it somehow works. But I'd more than lived. Their research had worked phenomenally. But like all great untested breakthroughs-there are side effects.

My vision began to blur as I could feel the life being sucked out of me. I knew I had to stop, or I'd damage myself, but I pushed on, just for a little while more. Right before I blacked out, I caught a glance of Ben's wound, the flesh around the cut had begin to grow back, the blood vessels had repaired themselves, but there were still a few jagged openings. For now that'd be fine, I thought, right before my head hit the ground.

* * *

_**Ben:**_

I woke with a jolt, confused as to where I was. The surroundings looked familiar, but my mind felt muddled. Then I realized I was back at the place I stayed the night before. Suddenly the past came rushing back at me, the harnessed kids, my leg- a harnessed kid had tore through it with a knife.

I felt around the cut, it was mostly healed. How is that possible? It looked horrible before, but now, a new layer of skin was unevenly forming over my wound, though the part of my wound that was deeper, was still a sticky mess of blood and ragged flesh. Then I remembered Sage.

I started to panic but then I caught sight of her on the floor, her hands covered in blood. She looked even paler than before, if that's even possible. I swung myself off the couch and knelt down beside her, cradling her head in my arms.

Her body felt cold, like really cold. It was unnatural. I leaned down closer to her and checked her pulse on her wrist. She jerked awake so suddenly then, that I didn't have time to move out of the way. Her head banged into mine, and I started to see stars.

"God, Benny!, What the hell are you doing?" Sage rubbed her head.

She lifted her gaze up to me and I saw her eyes, glinting gold.

"How did you do that?" I watched her get up slowly to her feet and wipe her bloody hands on her jeans, before getting up myself.

"Do what?" She rubbed her head, grimacing.

"My leg, how did you heal it?" She froze, before giving me an unreadable stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop messing around Sage, I know you did it. Tell me how? How is that even possible? And when we were on the stairs, with the harnessed kids, how did you knock them all away at the exact same time without even touching them! And your eyes! What aren't you telling-"

"Stop it! Okay? Just stop! You don't know what you're saying! You must have hit your head on those stairs harder than I thought." She began to walk away, but I grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

"What is going on Sage?"

"Let go of me." Her voice was low and full of danger but I'm not letting this go so easily. I tightened my grip on her wrist.

"Why won't you tell me Sage!"

"Why won't I? Because you don't need to know!"

"I can't help you if you won't let me in!"

"So I can let you in and then you end up disappointing me? Or hurting me? Not a chance! I've had enough hurt to last a lifetime!" Both our voices were steadily rising.

"Sage! Listen to me-"

"That's all I've ever had! Everything good in my life has disappeared. Everytime someone like you has come along promising that they'll always be there for me, they just run away when they find out the truth! That's not happening again!"

"I'm not like the rest Sage! Just trust me!" Her face lost some of its anger. I pulled  
her closer. "Just trust me Sage," I said softly into her hair as I wrapped my arms around her. "I promise, I won't do that." I wanted to add, because I think I'm falling for you, but I didn't. " I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and find Shane. But to do that, I need to know what's going on. Maybe I can help. Whatever it is, I'll be here for you."

Everything was quiet for a while as we stood there. I could tell Sage was pondering over what I said. I took that as a good sign. That means she's considering it at least.

She pulled herself free from my grasp and looked me straight in the eyes. Her eyes were blue again, like the first time I saw her.

"I don't want to tell you...yet. I haven't decided if I want to tell you now. Give me some more time." I nodded my understanding. I can wait, for a while at least. Now that the tension was over, the pain in my leg began to escalate again. I grimaced.

Sage caught sight of my face and sighed. She went over to the couch and sat down. She patted the seat next to her. I walked over and sat down heavily.

"You want to know how I healed you right?" I nodded. My curiosity was bursting.

She adjusted the rip in my jeans, opening them as wide as possible. She placed her right hand over my wound and closed her eyes, I could see the concentration furrowing on her eyebrows. She opened her eyes and glanced at me before looking back down at her hand over my cut. Her eyes were metallic gold.

A slight tingling sensation began to the fill the area she was touching. It felt like a thousand little zaps of electricity though it didn't hurt. She moved her hand, farther down along the cut, and the little zaps followed her hand. When she lifted her hand, my skin was seamless. I wouldn't have believed there used to be a long jagged wound there if I hadn't experienced the knife cutting through me.

"How did you..." I stared up at her in awe.

"It's complicated." She sighed when she saw my expression and continued. "It has to do with energy. It's your own body that's healing you, but it's my energy it's using to sort of fast forward the process."

"So, can I also learn how to do this?"

"No, its not that easy. You can't just learn how to do it..." She stopped, making it clear she didn't want to talk about it any more.

"We should get some sleep, we're heading off to the next target tomorrow." She nodded and walked upstairs, leaving me behind to run my hand over my leg again, to make sure that what happened to my leg wasn't an illusion.

* * *

_**Sage:**_

-X-

_"Shane! Shane!" I screamed as the harnessed boy grabbed me. He was taller than me, but looked to be about the same age as me. He had my arms pinned behind me, and was trying to drag me away. I dug my heels into the ground to try to make it harder for him to yank me along._

_I was struggling hard against his grip. That's probably why I didn't see Dad charge the kid, knocking all three of us over. I hit the ground hard, and my hearing aides fell out. All of a sudden, the world was drenched in silence. I could barely hear what was going around me. I could only hear the loudest of screams. I grabbed the hearing aides and shoved them into my pocket. My head began to spin and I lost my balance trying to get up._

_Someone grabbed me from behind. I screamed and threw a blind punch backward, only to realize it was just Shane. Luckily he ducked, and my punch skimmed him by. He picked me up and started pulling me away from the commotion. A second harnessed boy came up from behind and kicked Shane in the head. He collapsed unconscious and the harnessed boy began to drag Shane away._

_I tried to yank him back, but the first harnessed kid grabbed me from behind by my waist and started yanking me away with him. Dad grabbed onto my elbow trying to pull me from the kids grip, but I could feel his hands begin to slip away. All of a sudden I was loose, and me and the kid flew backwards. My ring finger on my left hand began to burn slightly. In Dad's hand I could see the glint of something gold, my ring, engraved with my name over on the top._

_The kid who'd started to drag Shane away dropped him and ran over behind Dad, knocking him unconscious with a blow to the head. I watched helplessly as Dad fell into a crumpled heap onto the ground._

_The last thing I remember was looking up at the sky, thinking how the light looked, glancing off the trees. There wasn't a cloud in sight. And then darkness._

_My head was pounding. I tried to move my hands and feet but something was restraining them. I opened my eyes slowly. I was staring up at a ceiling. There were wires crossing over everything and very weak lights shined overhead._

_"Sage! Sage are you awake?" It sounded like Shane. Suddenly everything came to sharp focus. I tried to get up, but my hands and feet were held down with metal clasps. I turned my head towards the person calling my name._

_Lying strapped to a gurney, like the ones they use in hospitals, was Shane. Wait I could hear him. Last thing I remembered was my hearing aides being knocked out of my ear. Someone had put them on me again._

_There was a clicking noise to my right. I snapped my head over to it and promptly choked on a scream. Standing mere few inches from me was one of those aliens that looked like spiders._

_I jerked around trying to move away from it, but the metal clasps were too secure. I only succeeding in chaffing my wrists and ankles._

_The Spider took a good look at me before moving away, out of the room._

_I watched it leave, lifting my head up as high as possible. The room we were in was pretty big. It looked like it might once have been a hospital. There was a partition to my left, with a big glass window and door, separating the room in two. The room was filled with monitors._

_"Sage! Don't worry, we're gonna get out of here. Okay? I'm gonna get us out of here." I looked over at Shane. He was giving me a weak smile, trying to reassure me. Though I could see the panic in his eyes._

_"Are they going to harness us?" I asked him in a fearful whisper._

_"I don't think so. If they were, we'd be lying on our stomachs, so they can put it on our backs."_

_Suddenly the door opened again and a boy walked into the room. He had dark hair and handsome features. A sense of familiarity filled me, yet I couldn't quite place where I saw him. He was smiling eerily as he stood in between the foot of Shane's bed and mine's._

_"I see you're both awake." His smile grew a little wider. His voice sounded weird. Almost passive and extremely calm._

_"What the hell do you want from us!" Shane glared at the kid._

_"You're a little rude don't you think." I heard more noises as the door opened once again and followed by two Spiders with an odd long stick was a tall, thin man. He had dark hair as well, and seemed to be in his mid-forties. Once again that feeling of familiarity filled me._

_The man gasped when he saw us. "Shane? Sage?"_

_"Wait, Dr. Cage?" Shane stared at the man with wide eyes._

_I realized who the man was now. He was a good friend of Dad's. Dr. Cage is a neurologist. I have a vague recollection of meeting him a few years ago a some Christmas party. I haven't seen him since before the invasion started. What is he doing here?_

_"Well, now that we are all acquainted, it's time to get to work." The kid spoke in an odd way. It sent shivers down my neck._

_Dr. Cage looked from the boy to Shane and me with a pained expression on his face._

_"Mitchell, please. Don't do this-" The Spider's behind him leapt to action, they stuck the large stick to his back and blue electricity filled the air as Dr. Cage screamed and fell to his knees._

_A new feeling of fear began to fill me. The sticks were tasers._

_"We are not entirely barbaric," the harnessed kid, Mitchell, began. He said 'we'...like he was including himself with the Spiders. Like he wasn't a human like me and Shane, or Dr. Cage. "I'm going to tell you what we are going to do to you two." He gave us another one of his signature smiles._

_"We have this new drug and we need test subjects. And lucky for us, we have you two." He paused letting it sink in before continuing. He began to pace at the foot of our beds. "You see, this drug is a combination of our research and your research, that is human research. We need a new weapon. And this drug is going to give it to us-"_

_"What the hell! You are not doing that to us!" The Spiders began to move toward Shane, who was struggling hard against his restraints._

_"Shane don't." My warning came too late. One of the Spiders tasered him. Blue electricity filled my vision as Shane screamed. I began to cry and scream at the same time. "Stop!"_

_The Spiders moved back to their place behind Dr. Cage, who had gotten shakily to his feet._

_"As I was saying. A human uses only a fraction of his or her brain. The rest is just unknown potential. If we find a way of unlocking that potential, who knows what humans shall be capable of doing. Of course, we are not going to give you that gift. No. We are going to use that against you. All those people who formed armies and think they can beat us. The Resistance they call themselves. Well they can't beat us. Especially not if we unleash our own army of harnessed human kids, who have the power to move objects without touching them, or incredible sight and hearing."_

_Mitchell paused, letting this sink in. "Of course, like any good scientist, we need to carry out tests. Unfortunately the first few tests ended badly. All the test subjects died." He shrugged, like he didn't care that he had killed innocent kids. "But we have improved the drug. And hopefully it won't kill this time."_

_Fear was building in chest. My heartbeat was increasing rapidly and my breathing became shallow._

_"Oh, and we'll have to harness one of you. So we can compare the results. It's just a matter of choosing which one..." He gave me a dry smile._

_"Take the boy." He commanded with his eyes still trained on me. One of the Spiders moved forward and began to unclasp Shane from the bed._

_I pulled at my restraint, but it was no use. I could only watch now. Shane struggled to get away from the Spider's grip, but it was much stronger than he was._

_"Sage! Everything will be fine! I promise!" Shane reassured me as he was dragged out of the room, leaving me behind with a tear-stained face. "I Promise!"_

-X-  



	7. The Unexpected

_**Ben:**_

"Okay we need a new tactic. The last one didn't go so well." My gaze was glued on Sage, who sat on the floor in front of me, analyzing the maps spread out around her. I couldn't stop staring at her. Her dark hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail in which curly wisps of hair had escaped here and there, framing her pale face. And almost as if she could tell I was staring at her she said, "Stop staring at me like that Benny," without even looking up.

I snapped myself out of the trance, face flushing as she just calmly continued tracing the maps with her finger.

"So we should scope out the area before we barge in like lunatics again and set up some bombs around a few key areas-"

"Whoa, whoa. Wait. Bombs? Where the hell are we gonna get stuff like that? Last time I checked we only have a few guns."

"We make them." She raised an eyebrow at me, like I just asked the most obvious question ever. I just stared at her, having no idea how to respond to that, lest I sound even stupider.

"That wasn't a stupid question Benny." I must have had a startled expression on my face, for she let out a small chuckle.

"Wait you can read minds?" I started to panic now, what if she heard all the stuff I've been thinking about her lately?

"Don't worry about it. I can't. Lucky guess?" She gave me a reassuring half smile before continuing. "You just had that kind of look on your face. Anyway, I do know how to make bombs, specifically pipe bombs. They're the easiest kind to make, besides it's not like someones advertising free dynamite on every street corner. My dad showed my how to make them few months back."

I looked at her astonished. That explosion I had heard the day I found her... She will never cease to surprise me will she?

"Got any more surprises?" I asked shaking my head and grinning.

"A few. Stay tuned." She gave me a small pained smile before she started explaining the plan.

Twenty four hours later, everything was set. I followed Sage up the escalators from an underground parking site up into what appeared to be a mall. Of course the escalators had long ago stopped working. The place had a dead sort of feel to it now that there aren't hundreds of carefree people happily shopping.

I waited until Sage signaled the all clear sign before I took the lead. A tingling sensation filled me, the kind of feeling I only get when Skitters are near. Walking past trashed stores with broken windows whose goods have long ago been plundered, the fear of the unknown began to creep upon us silently.

My finger twitched slightly on the trigger of my gun remembering what happened two days ago. The memory was burned into my mind, the searing hot pain of the knife digging through my flesh, the horrifyingly detached looks of the harnessed children who did everything that was commanded of them. Did I look like that when I was with them?

Memories from when I was harnessed were sometimes crystal clear and when I thought back to those times, it felt like I was living through them again. But other times, the picture's blurry. No matter how hard I try, I just can't make out what exactly happened. And that's what scares me.

But most of all, that feeling, that connection I felt when I was with them, it was overpowering. I actually enjoyed that feeling then, like the Skitter who was with me, my guardian, cared and in some odd, freaky way loved me.

In the beginning, right after my harness was detached, I used to feel empty, like some part of me was ripped out with the harness. But now, it all seems like madness. Only hatred is left. I had no choice in what they made me do. All the people I helped hurt, all the kids I helped them harness.

I get it now that my thoughts are my own. I was only a pawn in their game, someone they could wear down till the end and dispose of when I became useless. They didn't really care what happened. I was just a means to an end. And the worst part is that all I can think about now was how I wasn't strong enough to resist. I wasn't strong enough back then, and I'm not strong enough now. I wonder if I'll ever be.

* * *

**_Sage:_**

Ben lifted a finger to his lips signalling for me to stay quiet. I stretched my neck to peer over the edge of the tile floor.. We were on the second floor of the mall, behind what used to be a glass and metal barrier to keep people from falling off. Now all that was left was metal railing in a few select spots, the glass had entirely disappeared. The harnessed kids were right were we knew they would be. They were congregated in the center of the mall walkway, sitting down in a perfect circle facing inwards, toward the skitter who sat in the center.

I scan the faces of the kids quickly, understanding that time was of the essence, searching for a boy with light brown hair and eyes. I've done this so many times that I've stopped expecting exactly what I want to happen, but each time no matter how hard I try not to get my hopes up, I always end up feeling like I'm slowly dying inside when I don't see him yet another time.

I've never liked being alone. I've always found a calm sense of safety when I was around others. And the past few months, I've been utterly alone except for the occasional nutjob I come across randomly.

When I first came across Ben, I had mixed feelings. He gave off this sense of safety and trust, but I just couldn't. And when he said he'd help me I grew suspicious. People just don't help each other out anymore. For the past few days I've just been waiting for him to just disappear. That's what everybody else had done. But he didn't. I'm starting to think that he really did mean what he said.

And now I find myself slowly starting to warm up on him. But how long will he stick around?

I focused back on the task at hand, pushing my thoughts aside.

"He's not here. Let's move out. They didn't see us so let's just get outta here." Ben nodded and began to silently shuffle backwards, keeping his head low to keep from being seen. Just as I was starting to do the same, an explosion rocked the building.

Bright orange flames licked the small boutique on the first floor to our left, showering debris among the Skitters and harnessed kids. Chaos broke loose as more Skitters ran toward the explosion sight.

"What happened? Why did it go off?" Ben whispered furiously at me.

"Someone must have triggered it!" And sure enough, running out of the burning boutique from the street outside followed by a group of Skitters, was a man in leather motorcycle jacket and a baseball cap hung low, blocking his face from view. And he was armed.

The Skitters began to attack him as he tried to fend them off as best as he could. The man was vicious, getting up close and personal with the skitters as he rammed them with a combination of martial arts techniques and fire power. Realizing fighting them was a lost cause, the man began to run up the stairs-straight toward us.

Ben yanked me up by the arm. We began to sprint back down the way we came. Just as we turned a corner, we skidded to an abrupt stop as we came face to face with a group of three Skitters.

Flipping the safety off my gun I shot the first two quickly as Ben took down the third one by pushing it through what was left of the metal railing down to the first floor, where it hit the tile floor with a loud, echoing thud.

"This way!" I grabbed his arm as we ran through the nearest department store, and lucky for us there were windows. Jumping through the broken windows, we fell two stories down, slowing to a halt a foot above the concrete. I let gravity take care of the rest, as we hit the pavement like we just jumped a foot in the air, not from the second story window of a department store.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that." Ben grinned as he grabbed my hand and we began to run around the building.

The escape was going well, until we turned a corner and crashed into the man with the motorcycle jacket.

Ben shuffled backwards quickly, knocking my gun from my hand. The man raised his gun quickly, aiming straight at Ben's chest. Ben's gun was raised defensively as well. And yet, I remained as I was, hidden behind Ben, with my gun lying a few feet to my left. A sense of familiarity filled me for some reason.

"Put down the gun!" Ben said loudly through clenched teeth.

"You first man." The man said equally strained with a slight British accent. The mans voice jogged my memory.

I shoved my way forward, pushing Ben's gun down toward the floor, silencing his angry protests with a look. I turned to the face the man.

He slowly lowered his gun. I could hear his heart begin to speed up as he began to recognize me.

"Sage?" He said in awe. He pulled off his baseball hat, revealing a shock of bright blond hair and blue eyes.

He stretched his arms open just as I threw myself into them.


	8. Competition

**Ben:**

What the hell? Who is this guy?

The guy in the motorcycle jacket that we crashed into looked to be in his late teens. He was tall, taller than me by at least three inches. His bright blond hair was disheveled and blinding in the sunlight.

I didn't move as I watched them hug.

"Yeah, can we speed this up? We're kinda in the middle of a situation." So I was a little agitated, for more than one reason, can you really blame me?

The blond guy looked at me as if he was truly noticing me for the first time.

"Right, uh...let's go." Sage's gaze lingered on me for a moment before she led our group of threesome back toward our hideout.

I held the window with peeling blue paint open as first Sage, then the blond guy climbed in, into a mostly intact shabby one story house.

The guy in the motorcycle jacket was looking at Sage with such an expression of excitement and happiness that I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. And Sage was actually smiling, like really smiling, not the half smile half glares she gives me. He looked so perky, it's amazing he's not on a sugar high and bouncing off the walls like a little kid.

"So how do you two know each other." I asked in what hopefully did not seem like a suspicious way.

"I'm Landon." He stretched out a hand toward me to shake. How charming.

I reluctantly shook his hand quickly before pulling pack, and stuffing both my hands into the front pockets of my jeans.

"Um... I'm Sage's..." He looked to Sage as if he didn't know whether whatever he was going to say was something she would approve of.

"He's a friend." Sage answered the question for him. Landon looked at Sage with a surprised smile.

Sage slipped her hand in his, giving him a slight squeeze, before pulling away and sitting on worn couch. I couldn't help but feel envious.

He had a look on his face, the wistful kind that said he wanted to be more than just friends. Sage, however, was completely oblivious to Landon's lovestruck expression.

If one thing was clear, it was that Sage didn't think of him that way. Which means more hope for me, but there's another factor as well. Shane...

"Where's...everybody else?" Sage asked tentatively.

Landon's shoulders slumped and his eyes grew sad and lost their sparkle.

I lost my edge for a moment. I know what it feels like to lose people who are close to you. When the Skitters first caught me and I was going to be harnessed, I was convinced I'd never see Dad, Hal, or Matt again. Or Mom.

That's what hurts me the most. That they killed her, and I wasn't even there to protect her. The last time I saw her was when I raced out the door, barely paying her any attention, yelling that I was going to spend the night at Nick's house.

If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have left like that.

"My parents are gone. It was during the first few months of the invasion." He ran a hand through his hair, making it look even messier than it already was.

"What about Kassie?"

He looked up to meet Sage's green eyes.

"She's gone... Definitely gone."

Sage edged closer to Landon on the sofa and gently laid her head down on his shoulder, and held her hand in his. A slight smile formed on Landon's lips as he turned slightly to gaze at her out of the corner of his eyes.

It was like I wasn't even there. I let out a noiseless sigh, grabbed Sages' discarded backpack on the floor and disappeared into the closest open doorway, the kitchen, feeling like a third wheel. An intruder in their past lives.

I probably had like a five percent chance of being something with Sage, both because I'm not really sure she likes me, but mostly because of Shane. And now, with Landon, a dangerous love triangle, or I guess square, if you want to look at it technically, is rapidly forming. It's better if I just delete myself from that picture. Less attachment equals less hurt when things don't go how I want it to.

I settled myself into the wooden chair and pulled out the neat, organized pile of maps from Sage's backpack. Spreading them out on the small round table, I got to work, scoping out the best next targets that were circled in faded red sharpie.

I jolted awake, not realizing I'd fallen asleep until I woke up. A high pitched scream filled the air, I was at my feet at once, already hurling myself at the sliding glass doors that led me out of the kitchen and into the driveway before it ended. Only one thought crossed my mind. Sage.

Just as soon as I yanked the door open by the grimy handle and stepped outside, a burst of giggles filled the air. My heart dropped. Sage was fine. More than fine actually.

I watched as Landon spun her around by the waist as she giggled happily. A basketball was at their feet, slowly rolling away from them.

I'd told myself to delete myself from this, but watching them, I can't. I want to be the one who's holding Sage, not lurking on the side watching, hoping, that someway, somehow, that would be me with her.

Landon stopped spinning her, his back was to me. Sage, still in his arms, looked up at him and said something.

And this is where the superhuman hearing from being harnessed comes in handy.

"I'm glad you're here, Lan."

"Me too." He brushed her bangs to the side, his fingers lingering a little longer than necessary.

I could sense Sage stiffening a bit. She never did seem comfortable with others touching her like that.

Sage caught sight of me, and with a look of relief waved me over.

"Hey, how was your little nap?"

"Just great." I said, with probably a bit more resentment than intended, but Sage seemingly preoccupied, wasn't up to her usual twenty four seven surveillance of my every facial twitch.

"So Sage tells me you're helping her find Shane?"

"Yeah, it was part of our deal. I help her, and she helps me find the Rebel Skitters." His eyebrows lifted a little and an unreadable change came across his face.

"Rebel Skitters, huh?"

Everybody's a skeptic. Is is really that hard to believe? The Skitters were harnessed just as we were. They were forced to do as the Overlords told them, just like me and all the other harnessed kids.

I'm not defending all the Skitters for their actions, but I think that some of them deserve some slack. The few that have learned to overcome the harness and genuinely want to end this war don't deserve to be treated as the same scum as the others.

There are others however, just like some humans, that are beyond mortal influence and will never choose to do the right thing. As long as there is someone opposing them, some people will fight for what they believe in, no matter what it is that they believe in. And that's exactly what I plan on doing.

"Yeah." I only offered a one word answer.

I lifted my gaze up to the basketball hoop above the garage door, studying it, so I wouldn't have to make eye contact with Mr. Perky Blond Guy.

The net on the metal hoop had long ago been removed, and the painted blue metal rim of the hoop itself was peeling and rusted.

When I looked back at Landon and Sage, I found Landon staring at Sage intently, like he was inspecting her. Sage, knew he was staring at her, but instead she was staring straight at me, with a pained expression on her face.

"Sage, what happened to your hearing aides?" Landon turned her around by the shoulders, so he could see the other side of her face. "Wait. How is that you can hear me, without your hearing aides?"

"What is he talking about Sage?" I was confused. Hearing aides? Why would he be talking about hearing aides?

Sage looked back and forth from me to Landon. She let out an exasperated sigh before she began to explain.

"I don't need them anymore, Lan." I wanted to interject. Those two obviously knew something I didn't, but I kept my shout for now.

"How is that even possible?" Confusion etched his face. Sage stared at him for a long time, before she glanced at me, then back again at him.

"Let's just say, something happened...the Skitters, the aliens...they did something...and now well I can hear just fine." Landon opened his mouth to say something, probably to bombard her with questions. That's not going to happen. If she didn't tell me, she's definitely not going to tell him...right?

Sage put a hand up, cutting him off.

"Don't ask what happened. I'm not going to say anything now. You don't want to know. Just leave it at that." Landon looked like he didn't want to leave it at that, but didn't comment further.

"So what else has been magically fixed as well?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Her eyes." Sage shot me a glare. I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Your eyes... So they were green when we were inside! I remembered them as brown..."

"Okay, so my eye color changes too. Don't ask me how or why, I don't know." An expression of fascination appeared on Landon's face.

"Does it just randomly change color? Can you just change it whenever you want? What colors-" Sage cut his fast montage of questions off.

"No, it's not random."

"So you can control it?" I added in a question. I was feeling left out of the conversation and I was just as curious as the other guy.

"If I could control it, you two would never have found out would ya?" She said sharply, then looked apologetic, like she regretting snapping.

"So does it like correspond with something?" Landon continued on, trying to get Sage to say more.

"The color depends... on my mood I guess." Our confused stares prompted her to continue.

"Purple is when-"

"Purple's not an eye color." Landon interjected and earned himself a slightly irritated glance from Sage.

"It's probably a mixture of pigments of more 'natural' color." She stared at him, waiting for him to argue, but he didn't. "Purple is for happiness or excitement. Green is for emotional pain or sadness and so is blue, but that's mostly for physical pain. Grey is for... I guess you can say near-death experiences. That's pretty much the main ones." She ended the conversation abruptly, obviously evasive to the topic.

Then what's gold for? I distinctly remember seeing that color several times. Especially when Sage is doing something supernatural, like knocking things over without touching them.

Sage excused herself and walked back inside, leaving me alone with the blond guy.

A deafening silence hung between us. Just as I was about to leave as well, he started to talk to me.

"What's going on with her, Ben?"

"What do you mean what's going on?"

"What did they do to her?" He looked at me with questioning eyes.

The expression on my face must have given something away. I could see it reflected in his clear eyes. He knew that I knew something more.

"Come on Ben, tell me. I know you know."

"Sorry, I know pretty much the same stuff you do. And besides, she can hear you, you know. Superhuman hearing." His face turned slightly red and I couldn't help but smirk. One point for me, I thought smugly.

"Oh." The next few seconds were filled with an awkward silence.

"Okay, then, I'll see you guys in about ten days, okay?" Wait what?

"What do you mean by you'll see us in ten days?" I asked suspiciously.

"I'm joining you guys. I'm gonna help you find Shane. But I have to meet up with the people I was with, before we got separated. Our meeting spot if we ever got separated is a little far from here. I'm gonna let them know I won't be with them anymore. To tell you the truth, I felt more like a little kid tagging along than anything else." He gave me grin.

And just when I thought I wouldn't have to see this guy again. But I should have known better, Sage isn't going to want to leave behind someone she knows.

"So I'll see you later." Right on cue, Sage stepped out.

She walked up to us, and handed blondie a map, undoubtedly where we'll be in ten days, before giving him a hug. Landon brushed a light kiss on her cheek, under which she visibly stiffened, before he let go and walked away.

Envy bubbled up inside me, but at least I won't have to see him again for a while.

"So... You used to be deaf?" I looked at Sage expectantly. She let out a long sigh before talking.

"I wasn't deaf. I got hit in the head with a baseball as a kid, and had partial hearing loss. I could hear loud noises and with my hearing aides I could hear just the same as everybody else. But now..."

"You don't need them." I left it at that.

I picked up the basketball and threw it at Sage, who caught it.

"Up for one last game before the sun sets?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to see you cry when I cream you."

"Oh really." I raise my eyebrows and grinned. "I was pretty good."

I threw the ball at the hoop, but it bounced off the rim.

"Yeah the key word is was. " Sage grinned and jogged over to the basketball, picked it up and walked back to me. She threw the ball over her shoulder without looking back. The ball flew smoothly through the air and fell through the hoop in a perfect arc.

"You were saying?"

"Lucky shot."

"Really?" Sage looked amused as she passed the ball over to me.

**_Sage:_**

-X-

_There was a pounding in my head. My eyelids were heavy and I couldn't open my eyes._

_I could feel that I was stilled tied up though. Someone was calling my name, but everything sounded like I was in a tunnel, echoing in my head._

Sage. Sage.

_The ache in my head started to grow worse._

Sage.

I felt cold. It was so cold. Why is it so freaking cold?

Sage.

_I felt fingers on my left shoulder, and then there was a prick._

_I jolted back to reality as soon as the needle pierced my skin._

_"Sage! It's okay! Stop struggling."_

_My vision was partially blocked due to the hair in my eyes. I shook my head, shifting the strands of hair on my face so I could see Dr Cages' sorrowful eyes gazing down at me._

_"What...what did you just give me?" My eyes followed the large, now empty, syringe in his hands as he walked a few steps to a table and put the syringe down._

_"It's something to thin your blood."_

_"Why would you want to thin my blood?"_

_"It makes it easier for the chemical to travel through your bloodstream."_

_He didn't look at me as he told me this._

_"Why? Why are you helping them!" Anger swelled through me._

_"I have no choice!" He snapped and slammed the syringe against the wall. I watched as it hit the wall, and fell to the floor with a clang. Regretting what he had done, he turned apologetically toward me._

_"I knew I was going to regret it, but I had too," he said in a soft voice. ""You don't understand. I had to."_

_Suddenly, there were footsteps and clicking sounds coming from the other side of door._

_Dr. Cage moved away quickly, and disappeared behind a second door, into an observatory room with a large glass wall._

_The metal door opened, and Mitchell walked in, trailed by two Skitters with tasers, like before._

_"I see you're finally awake Sage." He gave me a smile as he walked over and sat down on the gurney, only mere centimeters away from my hands._

_He lightly brushed a strand of hair away from my eyes. I cringed at his touch, but he didn't notice._

_Gathering up what courage I had, I questioned in a slightly wavering voice, "Where's Shane?"_

_He sat back and looked at me for a moment, like he was examining me. It was then that I noticed for the first time, why he seemed odd to me, other than the effects of the harness._

_His eyes, his eyes were empty. Empty as in I couldn't detect even the slightest bit of humanity left in them. Like the harness had sucked away everything there was to the person he was before, leaving behind a zombie that could be puppeteered to do whatever they told him to do._

_He leaned down towards my face, his lips brushing my ear. "You'll see him very soon," he whispered in my ear._

-X-


	9. Purple Liquid

_**Sage:**_

"How do you that the rebel Skitters are really on our side? They could just be pretending, a strategy designed to worm their way into the Resistance and take us down from the inside."  
I was skeptical. Is the Skitter rebellion really a real thing? Or is it just a cleverly thought out tactic by the Overlords, as Ben called them, the aliens that have fish-like heads.

"Believe me, it's real. The connection that the harness gave me doesn't lie. I have complete access into their thoughts. I can tell when they're lying and when they're not."

I leaned back on the couch and put my feet up on the dark mahogany coffee table. I was starting to have second thoughts on taking up Ben's offer and joining the Rebel Skitters. After I find Shane, and I know I will, what else do I have to do? Sit back and wait while everybody else fights this war?

My mind was struggling to grasp the idea that some of the other Skitters were on my side. But that was hard to do. Especially after everything I've seen them do.

-X-

_I struggled to return to consciousness. For the past few hours I'd drift off as my eyelids grew heavy, but wake up again after a few minutes. The constant switching back and forth of consciousness was making my head hurt terribly. _

_I moaned as I began to fully wake up. My hands were still tied when I pulled at them. Slowly, my blurry vision began to clear and I could begin to see the individual tiles that made up the ceiling._

_I turned my stiff head to left to see if Dr. Cage was in his little glass room, sealed off from me and the beeping heart rate monitor._

_Something felt odd. I felt like I was being watched, but I couldn't spot Dr. Cage in his room no matter how far I craned my neck. _

_Exhausted from that effort, I dropped my head back down heavily and sighed. Then, out of the corner of my vision I saw someone. _

_I turned my head quickly to the right and gasped. _

_Shane was sitting on the gurney next to me. He wasn't strapped down like me. He was just sitting there, facing me with his feet dangling over the edge of the gurney. His eyes trained to the ground, seemed dull and unfocused. _

_"Shane?" His eyes rose up to meet mines as his eyes sharpened and registered me. I called out his name again, but he just stared at me._

_"Shane! Stop staring at me and untie me!" He remained as he was, perfectly still, ignoring my pleas. _

_The door opened them and Mitchell came in, trailed by Spiders as always. _

_"Good morning, Sage." He said in his dead voice. "I see you two are reunited again." _

_"He won't even answer me! What did you do to him you bastard!" My voice was rising in both fury and fear. _

_Mitchell calmly walked over to me, ignoring what I had said._

_"Don't tell me you already forgot Sage." He looked at me expectantly before sighing. He nodded at Shane who turned around. I gasped when I saw the harness hanging from his back. They really did mean it. They harnessed him. _

_Dr. Cage walked in then, escorted by a Spider with a taser in its hand. _

_"Look, my father, the good doctor, is here." Mitchell smiled as I stared in shock. No wonder he seemed familiar! I met him before when I was introduced to Dr. Cage-all those years ago. Dr. Cage cast his eyes downward when Mitchell said father. "It's time to begin." Those four words struck a new kind of fear into my very core. _

_The metal clasps that so far were used to hold me down were replaced by velcro straps around my waist, ankles, and just above my elbow. Shane was strapped down as well. Why would they need to do that? He was under their control now. He wouldn't try to escape. Confusion engulfed me, but not for long. An IV was inserted into the vein at my wrist held in place with surgical tape. A couple of other wires whose functions I could not even guess at were attached to the temples on both sides of my head and other areas on my body by little stickers that were a lot sturdier than they looked. _

_Dr. Cage wouldn't meet my eyes as he made the final preparations. Reaching under the bed I was on, he pulled a metal contraption up that was attached to the bed. He swung it around and onto my upper arm, gently pushing it down to make sure it was secure. He did the same for my other arm and both my legs. _

_I clenched my teeth to keep them from chattering as Dr. Cage repeated what he did to me to Shane. Mitchell walked over and stood next to my bed, studying the monitor that was placed there. I craned my neck to try to see what was on it. _

_'It's tracking your brain waves." Mitchell answered the question for me, without looking up from his examination of the screen._

_I looked over at Shane, wishing he would look at me, but he didn't. He continued to stare absently at the ceiling, not objecting or resisting to anything Dr. Cage was doing to him. Having no other option other than waiting for my fate to be decided, I watched Dr. Cage load in glass vials of purple colored serum into the contraptions on Shane's arms and legs. Two vials for each arm and leg, a total of eight. _

_Dr. Cage walked over to me, his footsteps sounding painfully loud on the linoleum floor. My heart rate elevated; I could hear the beeping of the monitors go off quickly, keeping time with me. _

_I stared at the ceiling. This is it. The end. There is no way I'm going to live through this. Mitchell said it himself. Nobody had lived through this yet. What was going to make me different? I would never see Dad again. I felt a sharp pang in my chest. I hope he was still out there. I hope he's not looking for us still. It would be in vain. I thought about Shane last. He promised to get us out. Doesn't look like that's going to happen. _

_I took one last look at him as a slight humming sound began to fill the air as the vials rose vertically, creating a direct streamline into my body. I just wish he'd look back at me. One last time, whether he recognized me or not. _

_And then the pain hit all at once. It felt like my skin was being ripped out. My body was on fire as the pain swelled from where the serum was injected to the rest of the body. I knew the chemical had reached my heart when I couldn't breathe anymore. I kept trying to inhale, but nothing went it. My screams were silenced by the lack of air. My body writhed in pain as multiple throbs of pain all over my body hit me at different intensities. _

_The heat was crawling up. Up my chest. Up to my neck. Up to my mouth. Up to my eyes. Then the mother of all migraines began to hit. My vision clouded over. I couldn't hear Shane's screams anymore. _

_And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pain began to subside as the world slowly began to grow dark. I welcomed it, thankful for the end. _

-X-

We both collapsed on the floor, the soft carpet welcoming us. We were both exhausted beyond belief. We have been at it for three days now and each time has turned out more disappointing than the last.

"Are you sure that...that he's..."

"I know he's still alive." Ben let the topic rest at that. I was thankful that he did.

Truth is, I don't really know if he's still alive or not. Last I heard, he was alive, but now, months after he disappeared, I was starting to get doubtful. And I hated myself for it. He had to be alive. I want to believe that he's still out there, but each day that goes by plants a seed of doubt in my head.

I frowned at myself for thinking like that. I had to stay positive. If the roles were reversed, Shane would not stop until he found me, dead or alive. And that's what I plan to do now. Whatever happened to him, whether it is good news or bad news, I'm going to find him.

I shook my thoughts from that. I got up from the floor and sat with Ben on the couch.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow," he asked with a yawn. His yawn prompted me to yawn as well.

"I think we should just rest tomorrow. No more ambushes. We look like the living dead. If our guns don't scare the Skitters, our appearances might." That brought a smile to Ben's face.

"Yeah you do look horrible." I slapped his arm.

"Thanks a lot." He grinned.

"I'm definitely up for some R and R. You don't have to tell me twice."

I couldn't help it, but I'm starting to see Ben more as a person I could trust than a stranger, which completely baffles me. I don't know the first thing about him, other than his complete and utter willingness to help people he comes randomly across.

*****  
I woke up slowly. My mind was groggy. There was a steady warmth on my back that made me want to stay lying on the couch forever. A slight pressure on my waist piqued my curiosity. I looked down to see Ben's hand curled around my waist securely. I was instantly on alert.

We both had fallen asleep on the couch, but I don't remember when. I tried to move his hand up so I could wiggle under it, but it was locked on me steadily. I sighed in defeat and stayed where I was. I could feel his breath lightly on my neck. I was all too conscious of him.

I still haven't decided what's going on between us. I've caught him staring at me more than a few times. Every time he always looks away looking slightly flustered. No doubt he's trying to figure me out. He wants to know what happened, but I doubt I'll ever tell him.

He always finds an excuse to be right next to or behind so in a way that our arms are touching. And now, we both fell asleep on the same couch! But I can't really blame him for that. He was probably too exhausted to know what he was doing.

My mind's playing tricks on me. He doesn't see me like that. There's nothing between us. It's all just a coincidence. Besides, it's in both our best interests to stick together, hence the close proximity.

Yes, that's all it is. A coincidence. He's definitely not interested in me. He seems like the kind of guy who would tell me if he liked me...Right?

I shifted my position on the couch slowly so that I could face him. He was less than four inches away from me. He looks different when he sleeps. The hardness in his face is gone. His tough guy act disappears, leaving behind a more honest, innocent Ben. He looks just like a regular teenager who didn't have to grow up so fast. Someone who didn't have to deal with an alien invasion. Someone who wasn't surrounded by death at every corner. Someone who doesn't know how to lock and load an Ak-47.

I found myself wishing that I knew him before the invasion. I caught myself after that thought. What was I thinking? Ben is just a passing cloud in my life. Once I find Shane, and help him find the Rebel Skitters I'd probably never see him again. He'll probably leave and never look back. Who's to say he won't leave earlier than that?

Whether I wanted to acknowledge it or not, deep down I knew he wouldn't leave me.


	10. Playing for the Other Side

**Author's Note: Okay, I know I've been active for like forever, but I'm working on it, and this time I swear I'm going to update every Sunday :)  
**

**Hope you like this chapter, it's a shocker :O**

* * *

Ben:

I woke up mere inches from Sage's face. I could tell she was still sleeping from her rhythmic breathing. It brought a smile to my face. I gently removed my arm from her waist and brushed her hair aside. She moved at my touch, shifting her body so that she lay on her back. As creepy as it sounds, I enjoyed watching her sleep.

I can tell she's starting to trust me more. She doesn't contradict my every move anymore. She's starting to smile more and the glares are less intense and fewer in between. I reached out with the back of my hand, lightly brushing against her cheek.

She started to wake up. Turning her head towards me, her eyes opened. For a moment she lay there, her large light brown eyes staring up at me as she shook the stupor of sleep. It didn't last long. She shot up startled.

"What are you doing?" I sat up as well.

"Nothing, I was just...trying to wake you up." I answered. I hope I didn't sound flustered.

"Well, mission accomplished." She got up and walked away, through the door leading into the kitchen and out of sight.

I lay back down on the sofa and groaned. Nothing more embarrassing than being caught in the act. Though it's not as if I did anything...

*****

I looked up to see Sage in a pink v-neck picking her way across the tiles on roof towards me. A smile lit up my face as I saw her, realizing than any effort to suppress my joy would only make me look constipated.

"What're you doing on the roof?"

"Nothing. You wanna play poker?" I nodded my head at the little metal box next to me.

"Sure." she sat down in front of me, though I wished she would have sat a little closer.

I began to deal out the cards. "You may be good at basketball, but let me just warn you, I'm great at poker."

"We'll see about that." She smirked at me from above the tops of her cards.

Ten hands later, I was losing miserably. So she was good at poker too. What wasn't she good at? I threw my cards down in defeat.

"I definitely think you're cheating! There's no way you're winning!" I shook my head in frustration. I don't like losing. "You must be counting cards or something!"

"You count cards for blackjack dofus, not poker." She looked at me with her light brown eyes and I nearly melted. "You're not that bad actually. You just bet too much." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" I asked, stretching my arms.

"My Dad taught me how to play. I used to play with Shane all the time. He was the only person who could beat me." A sad smile crossed her face. She turned to look at me, "What about you?"

"My brother, Hal taught me. Dad wasn't a big poker player." Sage grew quiet for a while. I wondered what she was thinking.

"Is your dad Tom Mason." It came out more like a statement rather than a question. A question she already knew the answer too. I shot up from my reclined position, startled.

"How did you know that?"

"I was camped outside this mothership and out of nowhere its doors open and all these people come out running. Then the mech's came out and starting shooting them as they ran. Your father was the only one who survived. They let him go. I helped him find the Second Mass." She glanced over at me. "The Skitters and Overlords are really worried about him. They're not as confident as they were before, when they first attacked. They're losing the war and they know it."

"That's where you come in right? That's why they needed you." I watched her carefully, searching for the slightest twitch of the face.

She stared back at me. Her gaze unnerved me, but I wasn't about to be the first to look away.

* * *

_**Landon:**_

I crossed my arms tighter over my chest, hugging my leather jacket to me. It wasn't that I was cold. No that wasn't it.

The handle of the door needed to be jiggled, years of rust will do that to a door. Sliding into the building, I quietly shut the door after me. The closing door took with it all the light in the room. I was left standing in a dark room. I waited a minute for my eyes to adjust before I proceeded up the metal staircase all the way up to the fifth floor, never stopping once.

I pushed open the heavy door with the shattered glass that led into the hallway of the apartment building. It was a shabby place, even when it had been inhabited. It was the kind of place you could imagine drug deals taking place in broad daylight.

Walking into the hallway I immediately crashed into a figure that was almost as tall as I was. It's large beady eyes glared into mines as its spider like body turned to face me. The staff in its arms buzzed and electric blue as it held it threateningly close to me.

I could feel the heat radiating from the staff, but I knew better than to react. The reaction is what makes them tick and strike out. After a second, recognition passed over its expression, and it backed away from me, its staff lowered to the ground, as it made way for me to pass. I gave it a nod, recognizing it as well from before.

It followed me down the hall, it's legs clicking on the worn out linoleum flooring. I knew exactly where to go. I had made sure I committed it to memory. Walking to the end of the hallway, I turned right, stopping in front of the door numbered 231.

Turning the brass knob, I entered the room, not bothering to knock. Knocking was useless when the person you were going to meet already knew you had arrived. And sure enough, he was sitting inside, waiting for me. Walking in, I closed the door softly behind me, leaving the Spider out in the hallway. It had nothing to fear from me.

Show no fear. Show no emotion. They must not think I am weak. It is essential that they don't think I'm weak.

He got up from his perch on the old rocking chair by the boarded up window and walked up to me slowly, stopping a few feet away.

"Do you have good news for me?"

"I think you'll be very pleased when you hear what I've got to say."

"It better be worth my time."

"I'm not worth your time anymore?" I can him a wry smile.

"I hope I haven't offended you with that phrase. I'm always very delighted to hear from you."

"Good. Then I haven't wasted my time coming out here."

"Cut to the chase Landon. I've got things to do."

"What kind of things."

"Things of importance." He gave me a warning look, telling me that I was pushing my luck.

"So the matter comes down to this..." I walked over to rocking chair he had recently vacated and sat down confidently, crossing my legs.

"I found what you're looking for." His eyebrow raised and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Interesting." He walked over to the crooked table that was pushed to the far edge of the room, and dragged a chair over to me. His movements were brisk and precise.

He leaned in towards me. "Where is she." I uncrossed my legs and leaned in closer to him as well, our conversation growing quieter with each sentence.

"I know exactly where she is. I could go and get her for you." He studied me for a moment, his dark hair hanging slightly into his eyes. He was young, younger than me by at least a few years.

"She didn't suspect a thing when she saw you." I leaned back in my chair and shook my head.

"Not even a little." He smiled a smile that did not reach his dead-looking eyes. "There is one thing though...there's a deharnessed boy with her. But he won't prove to be difficult to get rid off."

"Then go and get her."

"Of course...I have what you want, but do you have what I want?"

"Yes. But I need to her first to give you what you want."

"Agreed. I'll bring her over. It might take awhile though. I have to go along with her plan, make it seem like I'm on her side. Only then can I manipulate her into walking straight into your arms."

"You have a week." I gave him a nod before I stood up. I walked towards the door with a spring in my step that hadn't existed when I had walked in.

"Don't disappoint me Landon. Sage is crucial to our plan."

I turned around and gave him a big grin before I responded. "When have I ever let you down Mitchell?"


	11. Parting Ways

_**Ben:**_

"Okay, stop laughing. It's not funny." She ignored me of course.

Her giggles filled the air even though she tried hard to stifle them with her hands. Eventually she realized that that wasn't going to work and fully gave herself up to the hysterics. She fell to her knees, still laughing as if possessed as I stared at her.

As I watched her, I slowly began to have the same urge to laugh. "So it's a _little _funny." I didn't mean for the hose to nearly explode when I turned on the tap. I wasn't even expecting it to work, so you could much to my surprise when the water turned on and the hose went crazy as it flew all over the place, soaking me clean through.

"You can stop laughing now." I tried to wipe my face with my sleeve, but that only spread the water around.

"That is hands down _the_ funniest thing I have EVER seen." She grinned at me, her eyes a light happy brown,

"I'm glad you're amused." I nonchalantly picked the hose up. "You know, you're right. It's actually kind of funny….You know what would make it funnier?" My fingers edged towards the tap.

"Wait, What are you d-" Water gushed out, spraying Sage as she screamed in surprise.

"You are so dead Benny!" She tried to wrestle the hose out of my hands, and succeeded at turning the nozzle towards me, causing me to swallow stale water. I twisted her around and held her securely with the hose raining down water over her head.

For the first time in months-no in almost a year and a half- I felt….happy. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to be out here with Sage.

I caught her hand as she tried to bat me away. All of a sudden it felt like we were too close. Her body was pressed against mine, and I couldn't help but notice how perfect it was. The water dripping from her hair traced a wet path down her neck. Her lips, just inches from mine. It was so easy, if I just leaned in…. She pulled away, just moments before the touch.

I can't remember the last time when I felt like a normal kid. But that happiness came at a cost. Guilt was beginning to set in as I watched her walk away. Water from the discarded hose running into the ground.

It was becoming so easy. Just looking into her eyes made me lose myself. Every day that passes, we get closer and closer. Every day that passes, I start to forget-to forget what I was supposed to be doing-what I was meant to do.

* * *

_**Ben:**_

"What are we doing Sage."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." I turned to gaze at her. She didn't respond. I sighed before I continued on. " are we doing." Before she could cut in with a smart comment I interjected, " And don't say sitting on the roof of a rundown building watching birds take off."

"We're looking for Shane."She had to say his name. Now the guilt came down harder.

We sat in silence for a long time, neither of us turning to look at the other.

"Tell me what happened." Sage stared at me in surprise. "Tell me what _really_ happened."

"I-I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I mean. It's been awhile since I first met you. How is it that you still can't trust me."

"It's not about trust."

I laughed sharply. "Then what is it about?" She didn't answer. I knew she wouldn't.

* * *

_**Sage:**_

"Why do you keep pushing this?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I can tell you're keeping something important from me. Something that if you just tell me, I could help."

"Can't you just trust me when I say that the truth wouldn't affect anything?"

"You still don't understand do you."

"What does that mean?" I snapped at him, anger starting to bubble over. I clenched my hands, trying to control it. If I got too angry, I wouldn't be able to control what happens next.

"I'm here out of my way trying to help you find your boyfriend, and you still don't trust me! It's like you're waiting for me to hand you over to the Overlords or something!" He was agitated. Something else other than me not telling him what happened was bothering him.

"This is all so stupid. Everything." He was mumbling under his breath, but I still heard. I heard every word.

"So that's what you really think don't you." His head jerked up.

"That's not what I meant." His face morphed into shock, but I heard the tone in his voice when he said it.

"What's stopping you then," I asked in a soft voice, barely audible.

The surprise was evident in his face.

"What's stopping you from leaving then. If you really want to leave, why don't you just go. You said it yourself, you're going out of your way to help me. I was doing just fine on my own before you decided to tag along."

I stood up and walked to the edge of the roof and stated at the ground nearly thirty feet away for a moment before I turned to face him again.

"You chose to help me. You can choose to leave. Nothing's holding you back."

He reminded quiet with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I hope you get where you need to go."

As he looked down into his lap, I took a step backwards and dropped down onto the thinning grass on the lawn silently. Stepping in through the first floor window, I grabbed my backpack and left through the backyard.

I was already down the street by the time he realized I was gone.

* * *

_**Ben:**_

She was wrong. There is something holding me back.

But it's too late to say that now, she was already gone.

Even though she didn't show it, I could tell that she was hurt by what I had said. But I didn't mean it, any of it. And now she's gone.

And knowing her, I probably won't find her again. She would have made sure of that.

As if right on cue, raindrops began to fall and darken my clothing bit by bit with little dashes.

I sighed as I sat there as the rain poured down harder and drenched me. Hal had always been better with stuff like this.

I only have myself to blame for losing her so easily.

My footsteps on the pale beige tiles created puddles of water as I walked into the kitchen. Her backpack was gone. I guess this is the point where I stop being surprised that she's really gone.

I dragged the chair next to the table towards me, ignoring the horrible screeching sound and sat down heavily.

All I could do now was continue with my original plan. Find the Rebel Skitters and join them.

I mean, that's what I wanted right? That's the guilt that made me say those things.

I'd like to think it was luck when I spotted the folded piece of paper stuck on the fridge with a Mickey Mouse magnet. It could only have been from her; the paper wasn't there this morning.

Pulling the paper out from under the magnet, I fingered it in my hands for a moment, wondering what I should do.

* * *

_**Sage:**_

The rain was pounding fiercely outside as I lay spread out on the cold tile floor of what used to be daycare. Toys were littered all over the floor like a haunting memory from the past. A glimpse of what life used to be like.

When I close my eyes I could imagine what this place uses to be like a year ago. Toddlers laughing and building towers of wooden blocks that would tumble to ground almost as quickly as they built them. Little kids spilling orange juice all over their laps and getting their hands sticky from honey graham crackers.

The bell ringing at the high school signaling the beginning of another day. Teenagers yelling and playfully shoving each other in the hallways as they walked to class, not worrying about being late. Being able to see Shane during third period calculus and fourth period biology every single day.

That's the life I want to go back to-the life that seems so carefree now.

I found myself unable to concentrate. The reds and blues of the sharpie blurred together with the green and browns of the map. Ben was creeping into my mind. A small part of me felt like I might have made mistake leaving him behind like that.

He doesn't understand why I didn't tell him. I was trying to protect him. I told myself that again-I left him behind to protect him from danger. The danger that surrounds me and keeps me fearful of what might happen if they find me. The danger that might get him killed. I was doing him a favor by letting him go.

But then again, a part of me wondered why I left that note for him. It was like a part of me, no matter how small, wanted him to find me. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday.

* * *

_**Ben:**_

I shoved my backpack onto my shoulders and grabbed my gun and slung it over my shoulder.

As I was about to head out the door, I hesitated and turned around going into the kitchen. Grabbing the unopened note from the table where I had left it, I carefully placed it in my pocket and gave it a light pat before I headed out.

The rain was still going strong, but it didn't bother me.

For a while now I had been getting a fuzzy tingling in my spikes. I could feel that they were close, but when I was with Sage I ignored it.

I realize now how foolish I had been. I had followed her around thinking that I had a chance with foolish puppy love and ignored my job. Finding the Rebel Skitters and ending this war was much more important than my feelings for a girl who probably hated my guts right now.

That's why I didn't read the note, partly because I was afraid of what it might say, and partly because of guilt. Guilt that I hadn't been doing what I was supposed to do. I tried to not think about what the consequences might be for me not finding the Skitters earlier. How many people died because I wasn't there to help? How many kids were not saved and deharnessed because I didn't do what I was supposed to do?

The guilt ride on my shoulders burdeningly enough that I didn't read the note and that I didn't follow after her. Instead I followed my spikes as the static intensified with each step, not stopping until the incomprehensible static slowly cleared until I heard the words I'd been waiting to hear for weeks.


	12. A Trip Down Memory Lane

_**Landon:**_

As I walked alone down the street, my baseball cap low over my head, hands shoved deep into the pockets of my jeans, I formulated my plan-what I would say, what I would do to get Sage to follow me unwaveringly.

I came across a park. The kind of park I used to live near before the invasion. Walking down the cobblestone path, I couldn't help but get a bout of nostalgia. A park bench, with it's wooden seat and metal armrest stood at the side of the path. I stopped in front of it, unable to tear my eyes from it.

-X-

_I straightened my tie as well as I could with the bandage wound tightly around my right arm. I felt uncomfortable in the suit, it was much too formal for me-someone who spent his days in baseball caps and ripped jeans._

_And if the formality of the suit hadn't made me nervous enough, the thought of walking into the church made me feel like throwing up. Facing all those people, some of their eyes sympathetic, some accusing and hostile was an unthinkable horror. _

_All around me people were talking softly as they approached the church, all of them were dressed dominantly in black. I stood a ways off, at the side of the road, just past the bend, deciding whether I should continue and follow the throng of people heading inside or just turn around and bolt. Option two was sounding better by the minute. _

_I took a deep breath. I couldn't leave. I had to go inside. I had to, no matter how people look at me, whether they wanted me there or not, I had to._

_It's easy, I told myself. All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other and head towards the entrance._

_Walking up the steps to the large stained glass doors of the church, I hesitated before I stepped inside._

_The church was the kind that looked simple on the outside, but was filled with extraordinary detail on the inside. Details I would have noticed if it was not for the glimpse I caught of three people, a man, a young boy and girl._

_She looked beautiful in a plain black satin dress that reached almost to her knees, but her face was so empty, like nothing could be worse than this._

_The people who entered before me, a couple, walked up to them and shook hands giving them their condolences, their hands lingering for a moment in a heartfelt exchange._

_The man and boy greeted them with a sad smile, while the girl just stared straight ahead, her eyes empty. _

_I couldn't do it. I swerved away from them, and picked a seat at the back of the church, hiding myself in a cluster of people. I had to face them sometime, I told myself. I can't hide forever. _

_The sermon began. The preacher stood up and talked, talked for a long time it seemed, his words sliding over me, filling me with a sense of dread that only increased when the man stepped up to the podium and began his speech. People in the room began to cry, his words were so moving and sad. I didn't cry. It was my fault, but I couldn't cry. For some reason the tears refused to fall. I wasn't that kind of person. _

_More people got up and gave their condolences and shared little stories, some were funny, some were sad, but all of them made me feel worse._

_I was running out of time, people were getting up to head outside, leaving me still sitting on wooden bench. I raised my head, finding the boy and girl easily. _

_I got up, ignoring the pain that shot up my leg and walked with my head down towards them. _

_She was sitting on a chair, staring emptily in front of her. The boy was holding her hand in his as he kneeled in front of her, talking to her in a quiet voice. _

_Their names... I forgot their names. I remember hearing their names hundreds of times. And here I am facing them, unable to recall it. _

"_Sage, please talk to me. How long are you going to do this. You haven't said one word in a week." They say she's traumatized. Who wouldn't be, after seeing their mother killed right before their very eyes. _

_This is a bad idea, they won't want to see me. They must blame me. They think it's my fault. It is my fault though isn't it? I didn't mean to. The boy on the skateboard...if he wasn't there...if he wasn't...i wouldn't have...she wouldn't have..._

_The thoughts in my head were picking up speed, getting tossed and jumbled around, confusing me. _

_The man had come up right behind me without me hearing him. he laid a light hand on my arm, startled a stared at him bewildered. _

"_It's okay. It's not your fault." He smiled at me kindly. I breathed in relief. He didn't blame me._

"_I just want you to know, " My voice cracked, "how sorry I am."_

"_I know." His smile grew sad. "I'm glad you came. Savannah would have liked that." Flashes of her face filled my mind. She used to volunteer at the library. She always gave me a list of books I had to read and she always asked me how I liked them when i came back to return them. I knew she had kids, but I had never met them before. _

_He held onto my shoulder for a moment and glanced at the boy and girl before he left. He understood that I needed to talk to them. _

_I watched him leave, feeling slightly better. Turning around to face them, I froze once again. They hadn't seen me. I cleared my throat, the sound causing the boy to glance behind him. For a moment it seemed like he didn't know who I was, but recognition filled his face as he stood up. The girl glanced over at me, but her eyes saw right through me. I couldn't tell if she didn't know who I was, or just didn't care to acknowledge it. _

"_I just-just wanted to apolog-" The surprise literally hit me in the face. His fist came out of nowhere and clubbed me at the side of my jaw. I straightened up, ignoring the throbbing of the left side of my face. I had been hit harder. _

"_I'm sorry." His eyes clouded over with anger as he punched me again harder. Blood began to drip from my nose, but i wiped it away with the back of my hand and picked myself up. He was angry. I understood that. _

_He swung his arm back to punch me again, but the man came running back in the building and grabbed him, restraining him. _

"_Shane! Stop it right now!" The boy, Shane, he struggled hard in the man's grip and broke himself free, his fist collided into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me. The man, was joined by another man a they tried to restrain him. That didn't stop him though. _

_I let him hit me. I deserve it, don't I? _

"_STOP!" A voice screamed, everybody in the church froze, even Shane. The girl, Sage walked up to Shane and yanked him free from the man's grip. Her voice soft and trembling said, " Please stop Shane." Shane's face immediately melted as he brought her into a hug. "Can we go home?" He nodded, and held her hand as he led her out. _

_I settled myself down on the bench, wincing as I tried to settle myself in a way that didn't cause me any pain. I hung my jacket on the armrest and rolled the sleeves of my shirt up. The blood was still dripping from my nose. It splattered and stained my white shirt. _

_It hurt so much. And not just from the bruises and cuts on my body. I don't know why, but the tears came them. I wrestled my tie off and threw it as far as I could. With my head in in my hands I let go of all the frustration of the past week. _

_I didn't notice that somebody was walking towards me until two feet in black sandals came to a stop in front me. They turned and sat on the bench next to me. I picked my head out of my hands and stared straight ahead. I looked anywhere but at the person next to me. _

_Small hands placed the tie I had just thrown in my lap. I picked it up, fingering it before I looked at the person sitting next to me. _

_I was surprised, but at the same time I wasn't. Somehow I had known it was her. _

_She pulled out a light lavender colored handkerchief and pressed it lightly to my face. I watched her as she calmly wiped the blood from my face. _

_When she was done, she picked up my hand and pressed the handkerchief in my palm. Without one word she got up and walked the way she had come. Leaving me once again, alone on a park bench. _

_I was alone, yet I still smiled. because I knew she didn't blame me. She didn't say it, but all the same, I knew. _

_-X-_

* * *

_**Sage:**_

-X-

"_Well, isn't that fascinating?" His grin was sickening, but I had no choice but to put up with it. "It seems as though you were the only one whom the serum worked on." He sat down next to me. _

"_Thank you Sage." _

_I scoffed at him. "What for." _

"_For being the first to survive our little experiment. Your powers are developing nicely. A week, maybe even less with your development and we'll be all ready."_

"_Ready for what?" He grinned at me diabolically. _

"_Oh did I forget to tell you?" He chuckled to himself. "Now that we have a successful test subject we're going to wipe out your brain and basically make you a mindless minion that hails to our every call."_

"_What are you going to do about Shane?" He shrugged his shoulders. _

"_We don't need him anymore, the serum didn't kill him, but it didn't work on him either. We'll probably just use him as leverage. I have a feeling you're going to be very uncooperative."_

_I sighed. Of course. It never ends. _

_I hit the wall hard enough to see stars. I crumpled into a heap on the floor, coughing up blood. _

"_Are you going to get up or what?" Mitchell called out to me. My body ached. It felt as if somebody had used me as their punching bag. Well actually they did. _

_I tried to push myself up onto my hands and knees, but vertigo overtook me and I collapsed back onto the floor. I could feel my body beginning to shut itself down, my eyelids grew heavy and dark spots danced all over my vision. _

"_This is not going to work." Footsteps strided towards me and yanked me up by the arm. I screamed in pain. It felt like my arm was going to be torn out of my socket. Mitchell pulled me up into a sitting position. _

_He grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. "You are going to have to try much, much harder if you want him to live." He pushed me, knocking me down again, before he got up and walked to the other side of the room. _

_I pulled myself up just in time to see if tugging Shane along by the arm. He made him kneel, ten feet in front of me. He didn't resist. His eyes were empty. I knew they didn't see me. He was under their power now. A toy for their own amusement. _

"_You see Sage, this is what happens when you disobey." The staff in his hand lit up, electric blue danced around the top as it became charged. My eyes grew wide, when I realized what he was going to do. _

_Mitchell thrust the staff into Shane's back. Our screams filled the room in unison. Pain was still pain, no matter under whose control you were in. Shane's screams pulled me to my feet and hurled me into Mitchell. Grabbing the staff from his hand, I swung it around at him like a baseball bat, catching him in the side. _

_I stood there heaving as he picked himself up. He clapped his hands slowly as he walked towards me. 'Now that's more like it." _

_He came at me faster, knocking the staff out of my hand before I knew what was happening. But this time, I was ready. I caught his foot mid kick and flipped him over using his own momentum. He jumped back to his feet quickly, swinging his arm back in a wide arc. I ducked and swiped his foot out from under him. _

_His jabs kept coming, but I was always there to receive it and find some clever way to use it against him. _

_I didn't know what I was doing, or how I was doing it, but for the first time in days, I was actually able to match Mitchell in hand to hand combat. _

"_Jump." I was shaking all over. "I said jump." I clenched my fists, but the shaking continued. My feet edged forward another inch. "How many times do I have to tell you to jump." _

_I looked over at Mitchell. "I can't. I can't do it." _

"_Don't be silly Sage, you _can _do it." I shook my head. Is he crazy? He can't expect me to already be able to jump off buildings and survive. _

"_Are you going to jump or what?" I edged another inch closer, my tips of my feet were over the edge of the building. I could see all the way to the ground from here. The building was at least twenty stories tall. I braced my legs, but at the last moment I panicked and pulled back. I walked away from the edge and tried to catch my breath and stop my shaking. _

"_What are you doing Sage?" I turned around and looked at Mitchell. ' i can't do it. I'm not ready yet." _

"_Hmmm..." Mitchell looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think I know what the problem is Sage." I turned away from him and tried to calm my racing heart. "You don't have the proper motivation." The maliciousness in his voice stopped my heart. I turned around just in time to see Mitchell push Shane off the edge of building. _

_-X- _

I woke up screaming. The darkness surrounded me, making me forget where I was. Someone wrapped his arms around me, and I screamed louder and struggled against his grip. I threw a blind punch backward and felt my knuckles connect with soft flesh, but the hands only tightened around me.

A voice whispered to me that it was alright, and bit by bit I began to calm down and let the arms hold me. I dug my head deeper into his embrace.

I looked up at his clear blue eyes. "Thank you, Landon."

He smiled, "I'll always be right here when you need me."


	13. Fear

ONE MONTH LATER

_**BEN:**_

I watched them carefully, following them with my eyes. They didn't know I was watching them from up above-just the way I wanted it. I waited until they congregated in the open space in the middle of the courtyard before I gave out the signal. And then everything happened quickly-just like it was supposed to. The other skitters led by Red Eye, as I call him, charged the group with tasers.

A battle of a sorts broke out, but I didn't stay long enough to watch it. Moving quickly I slid down the side of the building with one hand trailing behind me on the smooth metal of the pipe vertical to the building. I didn't think about whether it would hold my weight or whether it was too damaged by rust. I had learned long ago that stopping to think gets you killed ninety percent of the time. Sometimes you just have to do it and not think about it. Fear holds you back. Or more precisely, fear of death is what holds people back.

I sprinted across the courtyard past the battle, avoiding the tasers by ducking to the side. Slamming my body onto a door, it easily gave way letting me run inside. All I had to do was follow my spikes now. The spikes were like a sixth sense that had been embedded into me. It made the world clearer; I no longer needed just my eyes to see.

I took a couple of turns before I made it to where I wanted to be. Slamming open a door, I came face to face with a group of harnessed kids. At first their faces turned aggressive, their mouths curled into a vicious snarl, but one by one their faces went slack and their glazed over eyes began to grow more alert and bewildered. I let out a small smile, which wasn't really a smile, but at least it was a step up from the frown I now wore all the time. The last time I really smiled was when...

I shook my head clear and called out the kids with my spikes, telling them what to do. Without waiting to see if they understood, I turned around and ran back the way I came; I knew they would follow me. They were like puppies really. They were weak in their harnessed state and so used to be told what to do and when to do it that when their connection failed, they immediately pounced upon the first opportunity to follow someone who held even a wisp of authority and command.

Instead of going back in the exiting from where I had entered from, I led them to the back of the building where a rusted pickup truck was parked and ready to be used. Mentally I barked at them to get in the back, as I ran over and turned the keys that were already in the ignition.

Pretty soon, we were already racing down the street, far far away.

"Hey Ben." Scott smiled wildly-his usual greeting, but I just nodded at him. He didn't seem to mind that I barely acknowledged him, but then again, I think he's gotten used to me. It has been almost a month since I showed up here anyway.

Scott was already here, helping the Rebel Skitters when I got here on that cold rainy day nearly a month ago. He was deharnssed like me. Red Eye said that he had found him on one of the raids. He was free to leave when his harness was removed, but for some reason he never left. Which is odd, since he doesn't look like the kind of guy who'd risk his life fighting for an almost dead cause with a bunch of skitters that constantly remind him of what had happened to him. He wasn't the fastest, or the strongest either. He was on the scrawny side, with long dirty blond hair that hung over his eyebrows.

He helped in the medical department, assisting with the removal of harnesses. He was the closest thing to a friend that I have here, not counting Red Eye of course. But even that was different. The skitters here all know who I am, but sometimes I feel like it is more out of fear of my impulsiveness than respect for my skills that kept them at a distance. But all in all, they knew they couldn't risk losing me. I had carried out more successful raids and exterminations than many of them here. And they all knew I'd die trying-if it ever came to that.

"So what have we got here?" Scott came over to peer at the back of the pickup truck, where all the deharnessed lay unconscious from a heavy sedative I had given them before I pulled into headquarters.

"Three males, two females. They seem to be between the ages of 13 and 15." Scott nodded.

"That's good, they'll be useful if they decide to stay." We always gave them a choice after we deharnessed them. They can choose to stay and fight, and most of them did, or they can choose to leave and find a save home. It wouldn't help us if we forced those who didn't want to be here to stay and fight.

Scott turned around and waved madly at a tall man in a white lab coat and thin framed spectacles. Catching sight of Scott's signal-which was kind of hard to miss- the man walked over, nodding to us briefly before he called out to a group of nearby Skitters to help unload the deharnessed into the rooms. Scott followed behind him, waving to me as he left to help.

I sighed silently as I walked away. My job was done for now. It should feel rewarding, but something's preventing me from feeling that. I was wallowing in depression in which nothing felt right or good or happy anymore. A deep dark bottomless pit. It was times like this, right after a mission, when all was done and I was left alone with my thoughts that I started to miss my family. Dad and Hal and Matt. And Mom.

My mind burned at my last memory of her. I had just ran out the door yelling behind me that I was spending the night at Nick's house. I had barely even glanced at her as I ran out the door and down the street.

If only I hadn't decided to go to Nick's house. If only I had known what would have happened. I would never have left like that.

I climbed up the fire escape to the top, all the way up to the roof. My secret spot.

The building was in pretty good condition, considering what was happening, with the whole war and everything. It was about four stories tall. Probably an apartment building of some sorts. Not that it really matters now.

All it was now, was a place I could think. A place away from the staring eyes of Skitters and away from everyone else. For a while at least.

* * *

_**SCOTT:**_

I don't like rats. If I made a list of things I don't like, rats would be at the top of it. It all started in second grade when Danny and his friends surrounded me and took the class pet, which happened to be a white rat, and shoved him down my shirt. It was probably a bad idea to tuck in my shirt that day.

And now all I see are rats as I climb up the fire escape. How Ben does it everyday beats me. He's like this super ninja that's not afraid of anything. Well, he can't be not afraid of everything. He just hides what he is afraid of well.

When I get to the top, I spot him sitting on the ledge on the other side of the building, his legs dangling over the edge.

As I approach him, he doesn't look up. Which is odd, 'cause he always knows when I'm coming. The whole harness sense thing.

When I get closer to him, I understand why he didn't see me coming. He was focused on this folded piece of stationery paper in his hands. He kept turning it over and over in his hands, running his fingers over his name written on one side.

"What's that?" He jumped at the sound of my voice, nearly dropping the paper over the side of the building. So I'm a bit tactless. And have bad timing. Not the best combination I realize.

"What're you doing up here Scott?" He asked me wryly.

I settled myself next to him on the ledge, trying not to look down as I did so.

"I asked the question first didn't I?" Ben stared at me before sighing.

"It's nothing." He shrugged his shoulders and put the paper into his jacket pocket.

"Okay fine. Don't tell me." I sighed melodramatically. "I can tell when I'm not wanted...I'll just sit here...quietly." Ben smiled slightly.

"It's a note from a...friend."

"A...friend." I looked at him curiously as he nodded slowly at me. "Why do I get the feeling that this 'friend' is not really a friend." We sat in silence for a few moments.

"It's complicated."

"Yeah I figured it was. We got time." Ben turned to look at me. He was contemplating it. It couldn't be easy being him. I could tell he's been through a lot-who hasn't, but somehow I could tell there's more to his story. He looks so lonely sometimes. Maybe all he really needs is a friend.

For a while it seemed like he wasn't even going to look at me, just continue staring off into the distance. When he did start speaking though, it took me by surprise.

"It all started with an explosion so loud, it woke me from my sleep..."

* * *

_**LANDON:**_

"I thought we agreed that I was to observe and monitor her instead of bringing her over to you immediately."

"Yes, well, that was a temporary arrangement. Now our priority is replicating the experiment."

"She's not stupid. I can't just be like 'hey, why don't you just follow me blindly to this remote little area so I can hand you off to your worst nightmare.' It doesn't work like that."

"It's been almost a month Landon. We cannot wait any longer. The experiment needs to be finished."

"I know, but we have to make sure she doesn't suspect anything."

"Tell me about her abilities. Has it developed any further?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything new that had developed, but the skills she's had have increased since I first saw her. She's faster, though not necessarily stronger. It's easy to spot her emotions. They are literally painted across her face. They can change color based on what she feels: happiness, grief, confusion, anger, pain."

"Interesting..." He smiled faintly as he looked up at me. "This will be much easier than we have thought. Though it would have been much easier if we had _him."_

"Shane?"

"Yes. He was important to her. Using him as leverage the first time had worked wonders. But oh well, we thought she was dead, so we disposed of him...But now we have you..."

He smiled more fully at me and this time I smiled back. Things were starting to get back on track again.

* * *

_**SCOTT: **_

"So..." I raised my hands in a question. "Then what?" Ben sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"There's nothing after that. That's it. The end."

"What do you mean that's 'the end.' That can't be the end. Tell me you did not just let her go."

Ben sighed heavily.

"Why don't you just read what it says. What's the worst it could say?" The silence that followed was heavy and thick.

"I don't want to read it because," he paused for a second. "Because I'm afraid of what it might say." I stared at Ben with a bit of shock. In all the time I had known him, he hasn't shown the slightest fear of anything. And now, the fearless Ben was afraid of what a little note said. That only shows how important this girl, Sage, is to him.

"Let me tell you something Scott; you can't choose who you like. It just happens. And when it does happen, you have a choice to make. And I made the wrong one."


End file.

Falling Skies, Adventure, Suspense