Six was standing in a corner of the cell, fuming. Firstly, for being knocked out again. She couldn't believe that the Lorien charm had overlooked something like that! She always liked the idea that she was invincible with the charm. But now, she realised that it didn't protect her from a lot of things. There were ways for the Mogadorians to harm her indirectly. Like if they hired a man to kill her; the charm didn't protect against humans. Not that a human would be able to take her out, she smirked. She highly doubted that there was a human alive who could take her out.

Her train of thought soon turned to Sam. God, he was annoying. But she was worried. She'd woken up to find herself alone, and that had been awhile ago. She wondered if it was because of the 'plans' the leader had for him. She shivered. That hadn't sounded good. She probably should have told Sam, but she was worried he would freak out on her, and she did not need that. But still, she was worried.

She heard a familiar hiss, and gas started flowing into the room. Great, thought Six. She was never going to get out of here if they kept knocking her out every time they opened the door. But at least this meant that something was happening. Although she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to know what it was . . .

The boy entered the tent and stared at the man sitting inside. "So, what are you going to do?" asked the boy, walking over to the man and sitting cross-legged beside him.

The man didn't even hesitate. "I've got to go. There's no choice in the matter."

"Yes there is," said the boy. "I know it's a terrible decision. It was one I had to make when my Cepan told me to leave her."

"No," said the man, interrupting. "It's not the same." The man gazed fondly at the boy, with whom he had lived with for years. "Your decision was hard, yes, but mine is not a decision at all. I will go, there's no choice in the matter. And you will stay."

"Like hell I will," the boy said indignantly. "I'd come with you anywhere. But if you go, we may lose the one chance we have of uniting the others and beating the Mogadorians. If you don't go, well, there will be consequences, but when you weigh them against the fate of the world . . ."

The man sighed, and closed his laptop. He stood. "You don't understand. Maybe you will, later in life, but not now. I have to, no matter how much the world needs me."

"But why?"

"Because," answered the man. "I could never leave my son there."

Well, it's getting easier each time, thought Six, resuming consciousness. She was pretty sure that she's been knocked out only a half hour this time, a big difference from the last. If this keeps up, maybe I'll be able to withstand it fully next time. With this thought, a huge trail of escape plans and possibilities began to form. Happily, Six opened her eyes. And then saw the form lying next to her, grimacing and wincing in pain. Six put a hand to her mouth.

"Sam," she breathed.

"Crap!"

Bernie Kosar watched as John paced in front of a tree. They'd driven back up to the cabin a half an hour ago, to find it a smoking wreck. And now Sam and Six were gone.

"Crap!" John yelled again, hitting the tree, and wincing as splinters found their way into his hand. Groaning, he sank down next to Bernie Kosar and started picking them out.

"I don't believe this!" he said as he treated his hand. "I should never have left them alone! Sam can't defend himself, and if there were dozens of Mogs, Six would have a tough time looking out for them both. Crap!"

It was my fault. I suggested the race in the forest.

John leaned his head against the tree. "No, it's my fault. I was the one who wanted to get away from it all. I'm so stupid!"

So, what's your plan?

John got up and started pacing again. "That's just it, I don't know! That's Number Four for you, unable to make any decisions without someone to hold his hand," John said bitterly. "I don't know what to do. The Mogadorians left a really clear trail, which means they want me to follow, which means it's probably a trap. The thing is, Six and I might be far enough apart that the charm still holds and they can't touch her. I don't even want to think about what happened to Sam. But there's a chance Six is still alive, and I'll destroy that chance by going after them. What do I do?"

Bernie Kosar looked up at him. Why don't you use your Legacy?

"Oh, yeah, perfect, I can do a little light show for them and hope the Mogs die of laughter."

Actually, I wasn't really thinking of that, but if you think your Lumen would help, than go ahead.

John looked at Bernie Kosar. "Then what were you-" he broke off as he read Bernie Kosar's mind.

"Yeah," he said. "That could work."

Dark images were flashing past, memories, hundreds of them. The pain and fear intensified by whatever chemicals the alien thing had left in his brain. Sam saw his stepfather yelling, than he altered grotesquely and became Mark and his friends, laughing as the shoved him around. Then they became gross, slug like creatures, all advancing towards him, dripping poison as they came closer and closer . . .

The image overwhelmed and Sam jerked onto all fours and threw up. He opened his eyes to see black slime oozing around on the floor, and he tried to crawl away, but he was feeling numb all over. A hand reached down and helped pull him away.

"Sam, can you hear me?" The voice sounded like a distant echo, like his mom's voice. The image of his mother swam before his eyes, and he cried out for her, but she turned, and walked away from him, leaving him alone.

"No, mom, no!"

"Sam, can you hear me? Sam?"

"Mom!"

Sam gasped and jerked awake. Slowly, his eyes focused on the person in front of him. Sam shrunk away; just another image, something that would only hurt him. No, no it wasn't. It was real this time. It was over.

"Sam?"

"Six?" His voice came out hoarse and scratchy.

She closed her eyes. "Oh, thank God." Then she turned back to him. "I can't believe you scared me like that," she said, with some of her former attitude.

He tried to grin, but winced instead.

"Sorry," Six said quickly. "But I hate being afraid, and you had me pretty worried there. I've heard of creatures," she continued, "that live on the planet Mogadore. They enter your brain and secrete some sort of poison there. It causes . . . well, I guess you don't need to be told that."

Sam shuddered at the memory of the thing. But he was feeling better now. Looked like the poison had run its course. "Are we . . ." he began.

"Still in this godforsaken cell? Yes. I've checked at least three times for any weaknesses in the way it was built. Nada. And it doesn't help that the Mogadorians keep knocking me out before they open the door. So I'm still working on an escape plan." She lowered her voice, and spoke in a much kinder way than Sam had ever heard her talk before. "Are you going to be alright?"

Sam nodded. "I think so."

She opened her mouth to ask another question, but then closed her mouth and thought better of it. Sam was glad. He wasn't sure what she was going to ask, but he really didn't want to have to tell her what happened when he was in the white room. Then he remembered what the Mogadorian had said, and he gasped.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"Um, my dad," Sam said, wincing. Every word spoken felt like it was shooting daggers into his brain. "He-he's been here before. And, uh, they want him back." Sam broke off sharply and sucked in a breath to avoid groaning from the pain.

Six thought it over. "Makes sense," she began. "I mean, your dad was working on helping the nine of us to try and restore Lorien and save Earth. They would have wanted to use that to their advantage. But you said they want him back?"

"He escaped. I don't know how."

Six nodded, and thankfully refrained from asking more questions. Sam closed his eyes and tried to rest.

"I'm sorry." Her voice startled him back into consciousness. "About . . . yelling and threatening you and stuff."

"You don't need to-"

"Sam, you're only ever going to hear me say these words once, so shut up and listen." Six took a deep breath and continued, "It's just, my Cepan Katarina, she was always telling me to relax more. She said if I was always tense and expecting attack, the Mogadorians would pick me out right away. So I took her advice." Six sighed. "I went to school, made some friends. But, the Mogadorians found us eventually, and attacked. Katarina died defending me. I guess I've always been a little uptight since then, and nervous to get to know humans too well. I left some good friends behind, and I didn't want to have to deal with that again." She paused, remembering her times with Lily and Hannah in Australia. Hannah's birthday, where they'd accidentally left out the cake and her dog had gotten at it. Lily's excitement when the guy she'd liked forever finally asked her out. The time they'd all gone to the fair and Six had been the only one brave enough to go on the giant roller coaster. She sighed again and turned back to Sam, who was watching her intently. "Well I hope you're happy. That's the last time you'll ever hear me get mushy like that. Got it?"

Sam smiled. He felt a lot better than he had five minutes ago. And not just because the poison was leaving his system. "Yeah, I get it."

They relaxed into a comfortable silence. "Megan," Sam remembered suddenly.

Six glanced at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." But when Six continued to stare at him, he added. "See, me and John were talking about how Jane Doe was a fake name, and how we couldn't just call you Six. So I said I'd come up with a good name for you. You look like a Megan."

Six waved dismissively. "Names change. They don't mean anything." Then, out of curiosity, she asked. "Why Megan?"

Sam blushed and swallowed hard. "Uh, well, have you ever seen the movie, um, Transformers?" He tensed as though he expected her to hit him.

"No," Six said slowly, as he relaxed. "Why?"

"Oh, well, if you'd seen it, you'd know what I meant," Sam said vaguely.

"I don't like the sound of that."

Sam grinned. And for once, Six smiled back. Maybe he wasn't completely annoying, she thought to herself. Maybe he was more than just a nerd who was picked on by the football team. Maybe Six could actually like him.

Maybe.

"I feel like Snow White."

John slowly turned in a circle, staring at all the things in front of him. Bernie Kosar's plan had worked. John had sent out a mental plea for help using his Legacy. And now he was surrounded by dozens, maybe even hundreds of animals, all who had heard him and come to help. Tons of furry squirrels, deer, rabbits, wolves. The most unnerving was the family of black bears that had turned up. They were all standing at attention, waiting for him to tell them what to do. It was . . . amazing.

Or Dr Dolittle, added Bernie Kosar.

"How do you . . . never mind." John turned to address all the animals. "Uh, hi. So, the reason I've called you all here today is to help me fight some, um, bad guys. They're tall, with tattoos."

Some of the animals began pawing the ground angrily.

They know the Mogadorians, said Bernie Kosar. They've been cutting down trees in this forest and draining it's resources for themselves. All right everyone! He began addressing all the animals. Here's the plan…

I wish you could see this Sarah, thought John, watching as his small beagle marched around, not unlike an army general, giving out orders and commands. This is so crazy. But, he thought, as a smile began to grow on his face, it just might work.