Falling Skies 1. The Beginning

My name is Alexi-Glass Mason.

But others rarely address me by my real name, it's usually "freak." or "Alien hybrid."

I was born a six short months ago, but already look and think like a fifteen year old. My mother and father say they have no idea what caused it, but I wasn't born stupid.

I am even more well-known and despised than my half-brother Benjamin Mason. Like him, I have no understanding why all of this is happening to me.

What did I do to deserve this? I offered nothing but shy smiles as I walked down the hallways, but received stony glares and cruel whispers in return.

Being the daughter of the President of Charleston has its disadvantages.

Sometimes, I ponder what will happen in the future. My own parents are wary around me.

Even my other half-siblings Hal and Matthew Mason shirk back in trepidation as I walk past them.

As I traipsed across the walkway towards the medical bus where my mother worked, I noticed the parents around me subtly tightening their arms around their children.

A rueful smile spread across my lips as I swept past, listening to all of the whispers about me, courtesy of my enhanced hearing.

My parents don't know about that. They didn't know anything about me and wouldn't for a long time.

Ben is the only one who relates. Dad, Mom, Hal and Matt were all the same.

High in social precedence. Nothing but kind words and praise reserved for them by most people. Loved. Admired. Trusted no matter what.

Me and Ben? That was a different story. My father once told me that Ben singlehandedly found a Skitter weakness in the Battle of Fitchburg and saved the entire Second Mass from annihilation.

And what did he receive in turn? Hate. Neglect.

How ungrateful. They take him and his abilities for granted. You'd think people would be more empathetic after an alien invasion, but no.

A tear rolled down my cheek in pity for what he has gone through. It makes the others seem empty in comparison.

Yet he took it in stride, never even mentioning it. His emotionless mask was worn at all times.

I flicked my gaze around the mountains of rubble that stood like skyscrapers, hanging in the distance.

My cerulean orbs then settled on a man standing tall with a slight beard, a scowl upon his features.

John Pope. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, well, well." Pope jeered "If it isn't Mason's hybrid daughter."

I steadfastly kept my eyes affixed on the ground, hearing the Bezerkers burst into raucous laughter.

Taunts came left and right, so fast that I couldn't make out what was actually being said.

I blocked them out, like Ben had taught me to do a month ago.

_"They only affect you if you let them."_

His words rang true in my head like a mantra, filling me with comfort like a warm blanket draping over.

Suddenly, the jeers didn't seem as loud or overbearing. They faded back into my ears like static.

I inclined my head to the radiant moon, looking for something else to place my focus.

At that moment, someone came up behind me and I turned.

I relaxed as I saw the pair of emerald eyes staring back at me. Concern swam through them and was written all over his face.

"Hey, Lexie." Ben smiled warmly down at her. "Is everything alright?"

I felt a real smile spread across my face, not that fake smile I would put on for my parents or when being cordial with Hal and Matt.

He held a special place in my heart. To me, he was not only a sibling, but a friend and confidant as well.

"Yeah. What about you?"

"Fine. We have patrol in twenty minutes, ok?"

_Figures. Pair the half-breeds together so they won't kill anyone. What ever happened to equality of all people in the Constitution of Old America?_

"Oh, yeah. Thank you. I'll meet you there."

He smiled at me once more, before slipping into the shadows.


	2. On Patrol

The pale radiance of the moon alighted the soft ground. Trees swayed in the slight wind and leaves fell freely down to the soil.

There was a soft crunching sound as Ben and I walked at an even pace through the wilderness. Only I wasn't given a rifle. They didn't trust me yet.

I shivered when a gust of wind caught under my coat.

"Ben?"

He turned his head over to me, emerald orbs capturing my brown ones.

"What is it, Lexi?"

I chewed my lip nervously, hoping the subject wasn't too sensitive for him.

"Do they still judge you? Give you weird looks? Whispers?"

Ben seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"Yes. It's just done more discreetly now. People still don't trust us fully yet."

"Do you ever think about leaving the Second Mass?"

"I did, almost two years ago. I had to find the rebel skitters' leader, named Red Eye."

"What happened to him? Is he still here with us?"

Ben's expression got indefinitely darker and something flickered in his eyes. She wondered if she had just touched a nerve within him.

His emerald eyes instead shifted back to their emotionless candor, as quickly as they had changed.

"He died. About a year and a half ago." Ben pressed his lips together and turned away, subtly sending her a message not to press the issue.

And so they walked in silence for the next few minutes.

She was just about to say something else when she felt a…_tingling._

Ben's spikes on his neck glowed like cerulean Christmas lights right after and he halted.

"Skitters." He whispered, bringing his rifle up. "Close."

Second after second dragged torturously by as they waited, listened for the slightest sound or movement.

Then all hell broke loose.

A high pitched chorus of skitter shrieks rang out from the right as a pack of four scuttled through the brush and flung themselves forward.

Ben sprang into action like a machine, aiming and firing with deadly accuracy. Three of the skitters fell beneath the onslaught, crimson blood gushing from several holes in their chests and heads.

The fourth one managed to dodge the barrage, only to be met with Ben's knife to his throat.

I saw a fifth skitter sneaking up behind him and instinctively jumped forward, grabbing the unlucky creature and ripping his head off with inhuman strength.

Ben's sharp gasp of surprise reached my ears from behind and I slowly turned to face him.

"Y-you…can do that?" He sputtered "Do you have abilities like me?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I wanted them to be kept secret."

"How? Wh-when did you find out?"

"I could hear things that Mom and Dad couldn't when I was little. Then…the rest just kind of revealed itself on its own."

"You could be an excellent asset to us, Lexi. If you want to fight that is. Weaver would definitely let you if you told him about your abilities."

"You think?" I had always wanted to do something to help. Maybe the others would trust me if I used my abilities to aid them.

"I know. That's how I started."

"Alright. I'll do it."

We emerged out of the treeline on the edge of the camp, making a beeline for the greyish hued tent in the distance.

The imperious, slightly bearded man turned to face us as we entered with a stoic face.

"Ben." He nodded, then eyed me with barely disguised wariness. "Alexie. How are you both?"

"Good, by the way, I was just thinking about-

"Thinking about what?" Tom entered the tent and greeted the three of us.

"Making Lexi a fighter for the Second Mass."

"Wait just a minute!" Tom almost went into full-blown parent mode on the spot.

Ben kept his voice calm and even, trying to assuage Tom's doubts. "She has abilities like me. Enhanced strength…hearing…pretty much everything I have, maybe more. She would be a great asset to have on the battlefield."

Weaver stroked his beard in contemplation, silencing an angry rebuttal from Tom with a glare.

"Tom." The gruff voice rings clear in the expanse of the tent. "I understand this is hard for-

"Hard for me!?" Tom's face contorted in rage. "Three out of my four kids are fighting and the other wants to right away!? They could be gone the next day! I could see them be blown to bits! That isn't just _hard, _Dan."

"You're thinking like a parent and not like a commander." He retorted with a cool countenance. "Which you need to in this new world, I've told you this many times. You can't let your emotion get in the way! If Alexie were to save dozens of lives in battle…what would you say to that? We need all of the help we can get."

Tom's gaze softened and he cast his gaze down to the floor, like a chastised child.

"Fine." He went over and embraced me tightly. "Be safe, Lexi."

"I will, Dad." Another of those fake smiles popped up to my lips, just to appease him. "Thanks."

_Although you have no idea what I go through already…fighting skitters will be the easier half of life here._

"Then it's settled." Weaver nodded tersely. "Alexie, you'll be given a rifle and gear in the morning. Get some rest."

I nodded in assent and walked with Ben outside to my tent, resolving to get some sleep.

_Not that I need it much. _

"Goodnight, Ben."

"Goodnight, Lexie." With one last murmur, he disappeared out the tent flap into the inky blackness.

I crumpled back on the soft mattress, my mind filling with nervous and excited thoughts to come.

After a while, my eyes eventually fluttered shut.


End file.

Falling Skies, Adventure, Friendship