A story that came to me. I only own Taylor, Sergeant Williams, and Rachel.

Love Heals Fast

The wind whizzed past her as she skateboarded down the sidewalk and through the park, pulling off a few tricks as she enjoyed some freedom before going home. She saw some of the school bullies coming up, and they moved out of her way, looking a bit afraid of her.

The reason was because she had put them in their place quite a few times and developed a reputation for being a tough girl who didn't back down, so as a result, no one dared to mess with her, unless they wanted to be a part of the school floor.

She then saw the football team up ahead and was going to go past them when they called out to her. Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at them.

"What do you want?" she asked, her grey-sneakered feet almost blending in with the sidewalk as she lightly stepped on her board to make it flip upwards so that she could catch it in her hand. Her blonde hair lightly whipped around her face in the light wind as she pulled her jean jacket off, revealing a black shirt that matched her black jeans.

"Hey, we don't want to fight," said the high school quarterback as he came closer and saw her eyes narrow. "Taylor, I just was wondering if you'd go with me to the movies tomorrow night, just the two of us."

Taylor let out a growl. "I don't hang around losers like you," she said before slipping her jacket back on and then taking off on her skateboard, leaving the boy stunned, but then he grew angry.

"We'll get her," he said to his buddies. "She'll regret saying no to me."

Taylor stopped at home and glanced inside, moving carefully as she saw both her mother and stepfather sound asleep. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, she quickly grabbed a bite to eat and then went upstairs to be alone for a bit, but an hour later, she headed out again to enjoy the night air.

One would think that she'd be in college about then, but after she finished high school, she stayed at home because her family had no money and they refused to allow her to have a job or go anywhere, so when she snuck out to skateboard, that was her taste of freedom that she savored.

The sun was just setting when she was about ready to go back home when the same quarterback came up to her. "You shouldn't have said no to me, Taylor," he said in a low, angry voice.

She gave him a bored look. "You think you can intimidate me?" she asked him. "Well, you don't."

He grabbed her and she immediately kicked him and slapped him, getting free and taking off as she heard him and his friends come after her.

"I need a strategy," she said to herself, but then saw a blue blur suddenly zip out of one of the alleyways and run past the boys, who were now holding their arms and crying out in pain like something had hit them. She looked around until she suddenly felt herself picked up in someone's arms, skateboard and all. Angry, she began struggling. "Let go!" she demanded.

"Sorry, I can't," said a strange voice as Taylor felt a pinch on her neck and darkness surrounded her.

She woke up wondering where she was and saw four faces looking at her, one human and three not human. A bit a fear flickered in her, but she then became angry.

"Who are you?" she asked, standing up, her stance angry and tense. "Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe," said the other human girl. "Calm down."

"You kidnappers think I'm going to calm down?" Taylor asked, her voice filled with venom.

A blue and white floating jellyfish came up to her and his green eyes pierced through her. "You're scared," he said bluntly.

She glared at him. "You don't scare me, you freak!" she said and lashed out a kick, but he caught it and let go, making her stagger a bit before catching her balance and glaring at him, not seeing a ghost coming closer until she felt tentacles grab her wrists, holding firm as she struggled to get free, but he lifted her with no problem and pinned her to the lab table. Taylor continued to struggle and felt something placed on the back of her hand. Fear spiked through her, but she punched it back and looked angry.

A Frankenstein-looking alien came up and she glared at him, ready for the question he was going to ask.

"Why do you cover your fear with anger?"

Taylor's face registered shock and now a bit more fear. She hadn't expected that question and it actually pierced her defenses a bit. She looked down and didn't answer, giving the others a hint that something was bothering her.

"I already know," Taylor heard a voice and jumped a bit and saw the jellyfish monster come closer and gently squeeze her hand with one of his tentacle hands. "Yes, I'm telepathic," he said.

"You can read my thoughts?" she asked in her mind.

"Yes, but I won't tell the others."

"Why?" Taylor asked, confused. If he knew and she wasn't going to say anything, why would he not?

"Because I respect your privacy," came the unexpected answer. "Even though I can see everyone's thoughts, I don't tell others of that person's darkest secrets unless necessary and in this situation, it's not necessary, but it might not hurt to perhaps tell us why you're afraid and pretend to be angry instead."

Taylor looked at him, the kind words hitting her defenses a lot harder. She felt tears come to her eyes and quickly hid her face, but the others had already seen and knew something was troubling her.

She felt gentle arms surround her and looked to see the three monsters and the girl hugging her gently. The hugs brought more tears to Taylor's eyes and she began to sob a bit, trying to keep quiet as she did so.

"Let it out," said the Frankenstein monster gently. "Don't hold it back."

That was all it took for Taylor to let her water works flow.

Three hours later, Taylor woke up again, having fallen asleep after her crying fest, and looked around, rubbing her face as it felt a bit stiff. She then felt a large hand gently cup her cheek and turn her head gently to see the Frankenstein person smiling gently as he lifted a washcloth from a bowl of cold water, holding it out for her to take. She did and washed her face off, breathing in the freshness of the cold water, which made her feel a bit better.

"Thank you," she said. "Who are you?"

"Frankenstrike," he said. "Feeling better, Taylor?"

She looked surprised. "How do you know my name?" she asked him.

He smiled. "XLR8 has been watching you for a while now," he said. "He's the one that saved you from the football players."

"The blue blur?" she asked.

Frankenstrike chuckled. "That's him," he said. "His specialty is speed."

That made Taylor curious. Then she saw the ghost and jellyfish ones come out. "Hello, Taylor," said the jellyfish one.

"These two are AmpFibian and Ghostfreak," said Frankenstrike. "You might remember they were here when you first woke up."

Taylor nodded. "I remember," she admitted. "But what is this place?"

"The Grant Mansion."

The new voice made the turn to the door and Taylor saw the same human girl smiling at her. "I am Rachel Jocklin, owner of the Grant Mansion," she said. "These aliens are my brothers."

"You have aliens for brothers?" asked Taylor.

Everyone chuckled lightly at the girl's statement. "All the aliens that live here are close friends," said Ghostfreak. "So we all consider ourselves brothers."

The younger girl couldn't believe it as she took in what they said and then looked away.

"What troubles you, Taylor?" asked Frankenstrike.

She looked up at him. "I…I don't think I should talk about it," she said quietly.

"We can help," said Rachel gently. "If you're in a bad situation, we can get you out of it."

Her words made Taylor look up at her and then the young girl took off her jean jacket, carefully lifting the left sleeve of her long-sleeved shirt, revealing large bruises as she began shaking a little.

"My stepfather is abusive," she said. "And my mom doesn't care."

That made the others look at each other grimly and Rachel placed her hands gently on Taylor's shoulders. "Taylor, I'm going to call a friend who is a policeman. He can help you to get away from them," she said. "If you show him what you just showed us, he'll have more than enough evidence to put them away on abuse charges."

The eighteen year old looked at her. "But that means I have to face them again," she said fearfully.

"Only if they come here," said AmpFibian. "You're safe here."

"AmpFibian's right," said Rachel. "You can stay with us, Taylor. Those creeps will never come near you, not with a whole mansion full of aliens protecting you."

Taylor looked at Rachel hopefully. "You mean it?" she asked hopefully.

"You bet we do."

The next day, Sergeant Williams came with good news that Taylor's mother and stepfather had been taken away on not only abuse charges but also parole violation on her stepfather's part. Overjoyed that she'd never have to see them again, Taylor hugged Rachel, thanking her over and over again. The older woman had only smiled and hugged Taylor warmly.

Later that day, Taylor found XLR8 outside in the basketball court, zipping around so fast she thought he might break the sound barrier and she giggled. "Hey, how about a race, fast boy?" she asked.

He stopped and his mask went up and she found herself looking into green eyes that seemed to smirk at her. "Is that a challenge?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah," she said, putting down her skateboard and pushing off, leaning with her skateboard to keep her balance.

XLR8 chuckled and took off after her, zipping back and forth as he first took it easy and was surprised Taylor kept up with him. They both looked at each other and then took off faster.

Suddenly, Taylor leaned to one side, not realizing how close the dinosaur alien was until she bumped into him, losing control of her skateboard and falling against XLR8, who caught her and tried to slow down, but ended up tumbling to the ground. Taylor hung onto him until they stopped and they stayed there for a moment, breathing a sigh of relief that they were safe. Then, they noticed their positions. She was underneath him, but surprisingly, she didn't mind as she placed her hands on his arms. XLR8 moved one claw-like hand behind her head and tilted her head up closer to his.

Taylor looked up at his green eyes that seemed to draw her into them, making her feel safe. "XLR8?" she breathed out, surprised that she was breathless.

"Yes, Taylor?" he asked, gently brushing her blonde hair away from her face with his claws.

"Will you…kiss me?"

He looked a bit surprised at that request, but then smiled. "Of course," he said and pressed his mouth to hers.

Taylor was at first unsure as this was her first kiss, something the alien realized and smiled into the kiss, gently tilted her head to one side as he continued to kiss her. Closing her eyes, she pressed her lips into his and felt him gently squeeze her shoulders in encouragement before he reached up and gently squeezed her cheeks together to make her open her mouth. Wondering what he was doing, she obeyed and felt his long tongue in her mouth and she suddenly moved her leg to flip them over as she lay on his chest, enjoying the French kiss as he rubbed her back.

Finally, they broke away for air and Taylor was breathing hard. "Well, for a first kiss, you were pretty good," he chuckled.

She blushed, which XLR8 thought made her look prettier as he kissed her again and she eagerly responded, enjoying her first make out.

After a while, they were laying on the grass, looking up into the sky. Taylor let out a sigh. "XLR8, Frankenstrike told me you had been watching me for a bit. Why?" she asked.

"Well, at first you looked very sad and then angry and I had a feeling something was wrong and decided to find out why. But I never would have expected you parents to be abusive," he said. "That's when I realized it. You felt love had hurt you."

"Yeah," she said. "And now?"

"I think it's still healing you now as you've been hurt for a long time."

He then held up something and put it in her hand. It was a blue sapphire ring set in gold and it looked very beautiful. She looked at him and then at the ring and he took her left hand, placing the ring on her left third finger. "You'll never have to worry about abuse again and I'll always protect you," he said. "Taylor, I know you've just met me, but I've been falling for you for a long time. So…,"

He didn't get a chance to finish as she suddenly tackled him, guessing what he was going to say. "YES! YES! YES!" she said excitedly, laughing at his stunned face.

"I didn't even finish what I was going to say," he said with a teasing smile.

"Well, hurry up, then!" she said, making him laugh.

"Taylor, will you marry me?" he asked with a few chuckles still lingering.

She kissed him. "Yes," she said happily. "But you know that from before."

He just shrugged as he playfully pinned her and kissed her again, feeling the love between them as she kissed him back.

Rachel, who had been watching from the window, smiled. "Why does that not surprise me?" she asked with a chuckle, as she had known love would blossom between Taylor and XLR8. It had been a gut feeling and she had been right.

"Well, better make that wedding list a little bigger," she chuckled to herself as she headed off to do so, leaving the new couple to enjoy their blossoming love.

Well, there's one speedy alien who's fallen in love. Don't worry, Fasttrack will fall in love soon!

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418