Disclaimer - None of the Big Guy characters are mine. Czarina, the Oleaftars and the Liaperians are mine.

Summary - With his new abilities and secrets to contend with, Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter now has a choice to make: to make use of what he knows to help save Earth from an even more dangerous threat or to delve deeper into his own personal hell.

00000

Illicit Affairs

Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter awoke with a jolt of pain ripping through his abdomen. He clenched his teeth as he crawled out of his bed, wrapping his arms around his waist as he tried to make it to the washroom. Barely standing on his legs, he glanced at himself in the mirror and tried to hold back the bile at the back of his throat.

'Not again!' his mind screamed at him.

Dwayne still didn't know how he did it, but he managed not verbalize that scream that was again growing within him, even though his voice desperately wanted to do so. He crawled over to the door and slowly made his way into the empty hallway. Inwardly, he was happy that it was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep for he really did not want to explain what was happening to him.

'I haven't wanted to confront anyone about this for the past few months. It's a miracle no one's discovered my little secret yet,' he thought.

He broke through the door to be greeted by the bitter wind on the deck of the Dark Horse. He glanced up at the full moon sitting within the sky's confines and took a deep breath. The pain ripped through him yet again, his entire body shaking from the transformation before he jumped over the side.

00000

A loud knock came to the door as the light filtered through the porthole. Dwayne squint his eyes as a soft groan escaped his lips. His head was pounding with a massive headache as he heard voices filtering in through the door.

"Dwayne, are you alright?"

His foggy mind recognized the voice as Garth's and he could hear the soft voices of the others behind him. Dwayne pulled himself up to a sitting position as the knocking became more intense.

"Dwayne, are you in there? Dwayne! Can you hear me?" Garth called in to him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm here Garth! Just give me a minute!" the lieutenant finally called back out.

"Okay. We were getting worried there. Hurry up for we're leaving in a few for the mainland."

"Sure, no problem," Dwayne replied.

As he listened to the footsteps quietly leave the hallway, butterflies began to swirl around in his stomach as he thought about the reasoning behind their departure off the Dark Horse. It was to discuss with Doctor Slate and Rusty about the appearance of a new pterodactyl in the area. Since no one knew that it was really him, he frequently played the charade of knowing nothing despite his recent lengthy stay with the two cats. Climbing to his feet, he glanced over to the mirror and stared at his reflection. Part of him didn't even see the man that was before the incident with the Liaperians months before. The experience had certainly left him changed in more ways than one. With inheriting the ability to transform into a pterodactyl from the now deceased Czarina Mills, he found his life a drastically more complicated than before; and that was complicated enough as it was already.

"Well, time to hear what they have to say about me. I guess I'll have to hear it sooner or later. I only hope they don't ask me too many hard questions. The conversation will have to come to me eventually since they'll no doubt ask about the cats. I am still not looking forward to this," he muttered before he pulled on his clothes.

00000

Dwayne uncomfortably sat in his seat as he quietly listened to the other debate back and forth. It felt like it was going on forever and all he wanted to do right then was slink off by himself: he was still uncomfortable with his transformations even though he was gaining more control over them as time had went on. In the back of his mind, he listened to what the others were saying.

"It would be impossible for a pterodactyl to survive this long before someone noticing it! Besides, wouldn't it have surfaced long before the Oleaftars even arrived in their bid to dominate this planet?" posed Garth.

"Not necessarily. Like Czarina, it could have possibly been only reawakened due to some recent occurrence. It's hard to say where this one even came from, whether it was another alien experiment like Czarina or if it was indeed a real life dinosaur. Not without getting closer at least," Slate offered.

"And how do you propose that now Doctor? Every time there's a sighting, no one's close enough to get a good look at it and by the time we get word of it, it's long gone before we can get the Big Guy out to investigate. At this rate, it'll be a snowstorm in hell before we can get close enough to see it," Mack protested.

Slate gave a deep sigh as she flicked through the pages of notes she had gathered ever since the first reported sighting. All were hoping to find some answers to the recent mystery of the apparent dinosaur still roaming the earth. Carefully, Slate turned to her attention to the lieutenant, realizing at that moment that he was oddly silent the entire time. She had known him to speak up a few times at meetings, whether it was to give some input or to clarify something. An uneasy feeling landed in her gut, uncertain whether she should be worried or not.

"Lieutenant Hunter?" she cautiously asked.

Instantly, his attention was on her with his head up and back straightened. It almost surprised her how alert he became so quickly.

"Lieutenant, I was wondering if either Justin or Jennifer mentioned anything while you were under their care about this creature?" she posed.

He appeared to think about it for a moment before he finally shook his head. Dwayne almost felt like he was perspiring under the scrutiny of everyone else present before he finally found the courage to speak.

"No, I'm afraid not. Considering I was either unconscious or sleeping for a good portion of my time there and they were more worried about making certain I survived, the subject never came up. Sorry, but I can't tell you anything," he replied.

"We could always inquire about it the next time they come to see you Lieutenant. I don't suppose you have any idea when they're coming?" Thorton said.

Dwayne shook his head, not realizing that he was holding his hat in a death grip. He gulped as he inwardly terrified that someone was going to see through his bold-faced lie. His stare turned away from the general and around to everyone else at the table before landing on Doctor Slate who was sitting directly to him. Jo leaned in forward, an elbow on the table and placed her curled fingers up to her mouth.

"Anyone think we could try and lure this thing out? Only problem is finding out what we could use as bait, so to speak," she posed.

"Nice idea but I'm afraid I don't think it would work. Thing's already eluded everyone so far for months now, I doubt it would be taken in so easily," Garth argued.

Dwayne's stomach churned as he continued to listen to everyone's theories about how to catch the new creature. He soon felt something tingle at the back of his neck. Without being too obvious, he glanced around the room at everyone before he finally rested his eyes on Czarina standing behind Doctor Slate, unseen by everyone except him. A sad smile crept onto her face, as if wanting to tell them something but unable to do so.

'If they only knew,' he thought.

00000

High above the Earth, a grand spaceship hovered in place over the United States of America. Two creatures were on board, staring down at the green and blue globe beneath them. One stood staring through the glass window, his arms crossed and pondering what to do next. The other was pacing the floor behind him, all the while ranting and raving various obscenities. Tane quietly ignored him all the while before his comrade finally stood still behind him.

"Those cats will pay for this! We had spent weeks planning for that extraction and they destroyed them! We have to get whomever we can back here, make them talk! We have to get them all here to talk!" Shzar roared.

"It won't be that easy. Now that they know we're here, the two Oleaftars who keep an eye on this planet will be keeping a closer eye out for us. The moment they know we're back, they will no doubt send for reinforcements," Tane replied. "We have to tread carefully now."

Shzar snorted before he resumed his pacing. Tane continued to watch the planet's orbit before a soft beeping came from the console a few feet from him. He silently strode over to the machine and pressed a few buttons. Shzar ceased his pacing once again and joined his fellow Liaperian next to the console as his fingers ran across the buttons.

"What is it? Don't tell me they've spotted us already?" Shzar wondered.

"We have a ship approaching this location. It is Oleaftar in origin and I am detecting several life signs on board but their weapon system is currently not active. I'm not going to worry about an attack just yet," Tane replied. "Let's see who it is first."

A small red light began to pulsate, indicating that they were being hailed. Tane gently pressed a nearby button, uncertain who was going to appear on the other end. He was mildly surprised to Hapar stare back at him, his crew milling about around him.

"Hapar, this is a surprise. What could you possibly want with us?" Tane inquired.

"Believe it or not, I'm not here to fight. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I've heard about your recent - excursion - with these humans. I was hoping we could talk about it," Hapar explained.

Shzar snorted at the request, to which Tane gently lifted a hand towards him, indicating that he should be quiet. Tane scrutinized the alien's face, narrowing his eyes slightly, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Why should we believe you? We have been at war for centuries. Your crew and mine have even engaged in battle several times over the years. Why should we start talking now, especially about a defeat which you could easily gloat about in our faces?" Tane posed him.

"You misunderstand what I say Tane. You should remember well enough that we also have a terrible defeat hanging over our heads by these people," Hapar started. "I do wish to talk but it was to hopefully call a truce long enough to defeat these humans once and for all."

Shzar appeared shocked as he glanced over to Tane, whose eyes widened in great surprise as he returned his comrade's stare. After a few seconds, the two returned their attention back to the humanoid beetle appearing before them.

"We're listening."

TBC...