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?"