Chapter by LilManiac

Robert

12.12am

Ithiell and I managed to get into the sewer drain one last time before they found that's where we'd come from. We managed to destroy the girls clothing, and grab whatever else we thought they could identify us with. We didn't destroy Fred or Erik's clothing for a reason; after all, they were looking for Andalites, and all Andalites they ran across could only be male. So, we made sure they drew their own conclusions about us. We got out of there just before they found us. Then, we headed back to Ian's house. We landed inside, with Amanda shifting back to human first and checking each room carefully before she gave us the all clear, and the rest of us demorphed or shifted back.

We went downstairs, and I could see Fred looked furious with a now human Ian. Ian however, just seemed to ignore it. But when we got into the lounge room, none of us expected what happened next.

"You jerk!" Amanda snapped, going up to Erik and giving him a nasty slap on the cheek. He fell back a little, shocked.

"Amanda?" Jade looked worried. I saw Karen start to move towards them, but Jade stopped her gently. Amanda looked way beyond furious.

"He… I know what he did! Robert… that gun! I know what you… you… you asshole!" She reached to slap him again, but Fred grabbed her arm.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing you little prissy…"

"Let go of her"

"What?!" He turned to me.

"I said let go of her"

"And why would I…"

"She couldn't do him serious harm. She doesn't kill people in cold blood" I said calmly as I went over and unlatched his hand from around her wrist. She started to cry, and Jade grabbed her gently and guided her away. I backed off as well.

"Kill me! Come on, kill me!" She screamed back at him. Jade managed to get her to the stairs and pulled her up it.

"I don't think anyone's killing anybody right now" Ian said, his mouth set in a grim line, his eyes now on Erik. Karen had gone over to check if he was all right or not, and his actions assured her he was fine. I wasn't. Amanda had seen it before Ian did. Not even Jade had thought of it. And Jade sees what no one else seems to.

"I want to die! I want to die!!" Amanda screamed from upstairs. I heard Jade trying to calm her down, but it didn't seem to be helping.

"She… oh my god…" Becky looked shocked. Her gaze met my own, and I turned away from her, a little flushed.

"She's already lost her mother. She doesn't want to loose anyone else" Ian explained, looking at the stairs and biting his lip, before turning his attention back to Erik.

"Oh poor baby" Becky said softly.

"Maybe… you girls could help her" I suggested, looking at Karen, then Becky.

"And leave you to beat up Erik? No way" Karen shook her head.

"I'll go" Becky said, turning around and taking the stairs two at a time. I turned back to the others. Ian was staring at Erik again. Erik only now had caught Ian's expression.

"You decided one of my team was expendable, did you not?" Ian said, sounding almost like his old self.

"I… we needed…" Erik seemed at a loss what to say.

"Well, I've got news for you. The Black Angels are not expendable, is that clear?"

"Black what??" Fred seemed annoyed. No, make that pissed.

"The name of our team. Black Angels" I explained, although I was really beginning to dislike his attitude towards us. He made us feel like we were something stuck to his shoe. And I did not like being thought of as crud on someone's shoe.

"Look, we needed the information, and if one of us…"

"That's not the point!!" Ian roared, cutting Karen off. Ian never yells, but this time… he looked like he could kill.

"The point is that you thought since we weren't part of your group, you could just use us and throw us away! We'll I've got news for you, we're not. And we've survived nine fucking years. All four of us. And do you want to know why?" Ian sneered, daring them to talk. None of them did.

"Because we watched each others backs. We treated one another like family. We believe all life is precious, unlike your snivelling little bunch! I was ready to defend and protect you. But now… now…" Ian was clenching his teeth, and I saw his hands were balled into fists. He was glaring at each one of them in turn.

"I think he means that if you treat us like fucking shit, you can just get the fuck out of here and go your own way. We'll deal with this" I said, going to stand beside him, putting a hand on his arm that he couldn't shake off. If he didn't calm down now, neither would I, and we'd both be in a fight neither side could win.

"Are you threatening us?? Are you??" Fred challenged, ready to step forward and tear me a new one.

"No, they're right Fred. We used them" Erik looked up at Ian, sadly almost. Then he looked at me.

"Look, I'm sorry for… you know, but in a war-"

"You do what it takes to win. Yeah, we know" I replied. I turned to look at Ian. He seemed to be calming down, but I could tell… his eyes had a murderous look in them. Very rare for Ian, of all people. He was taught focus and calmness. He never even got mad at Jake when he took command of us the first time we all met. He respected Jake, and he knew that the Yeerk war was the Animorphs war. But this… he looked deadly. And I could feel through the shirt under my hand, that he was extremely tense.

"I didn't mean to… we fight differently… I'm so sorry" Erik apologised, looking at Ian. After a few minutes I felt him relax a little, and his face became less murderous. He looked down, sighed, then looked up at Erik again as he pulled my hand off. I let it slide.

"It's… it's ok. It's just… we watch out for one another. And we need to trust each other from now on. No more secrets, ok? For either side" Ian held out a hand to Erik, and he in turn stepped forward and took Ian's hand.

"I'll trust you from now on. You seem to know a lot of ways to keep everyone alive"

Ian nodded, smiling "You've got quite a few interesting skills yourself. Now, I say we split up and meet again in the morning. I think we can work from there on"

"And we all need some sleep" I added, rubbing my temple, looking at each face from the Glass Dagger team. With the exception of Becky.

"Robert's right. For once" Jade suddenly appeared on the stairs, smiling a little at me.

"You want to start something?" I asked, smiling back. I didn't know why, but for tonight, she and I seemed to be… friendly. On the same side. I didn't mind it either.

"Oh no, not at all"

"All right you two, let's just get some sleep. I think by the morning we'll all have our heads straight" Ian said.

"I agree" Erik sighed, nodding. And so, we all went our separate ways, with me going back to my dorm room, unable to sleep for a long time.

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7.33am

I woke up in a cold sweat. For a second I thought I was still trapped in a dream, but seeing the soft light of the desk lamp on, and the figure sitting there, I knew where I was.

"Oh, hey. Didn't know you'd be back so soon" I said in my sleep-clogged voice struggling to sit up. Peter turned in his chair to look at me. Peter and I shared a dorm room, but I thought he'd gone home for the holidays. I guess I'd been wrong.

"Oh. My parents decided last night was the night they'd start… uh… so I decided to come back here for a little. What about you?"

My anger flared for a moment as I remembered my father and mother.

"My parents are in Australia. They're divorced" I replied, getting up and out of bed. I brushed the wild tangles of black hair away from my face, considering getting a hair cut. My black curls could not be tamed, not even with hair products I'd borrowed from Marco once. And I emphasise, once.

"Oh, lucky you" he returned back to his work. That was Pete for you. He worked his ass into the ground to get into this college. And he was one of those guys that really got into it too. Strange guy, but trustworthy.

I looked at my alarm clock beside my bed. It read seven thirty.

"Oh man, I've been out a while" I moved around the room, finding some clean jeans and a top to wear, then a towel so I could go shower before I left.

"Uh…" he hadn't stopped looking at me.

"What?"

"You… what does 'madhouse' mean?"

"Madhouse??" I echoed.

"You were having a dream… or a nightmare or something. You shouted 'madhouse!' a couple of times"

"Oh. Bad dream I guess. I don't know" I honestly said, before I went and had a shower, changing into my clean clothes before I left the dorm. I went to where I'd parked my motorcycle, shoving my helmet on my head before getting on and revving it a few times. The engine sounded good, and I positioned my weight on the bike, ready, and sped off to the house.

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8.34am

When I got there, I noticed no one from the Glass Dagger team, besides Erik, was there yet.

"Erik's asleep" Jade explained as she led me in, then joined Amanda on the floor near the coffee table. There was what looked like a roadmap splayed across it, and Ian's laptop sat on the edge, where Ian himself was tapping the keys furiously.

"Why the heck are you on the floor?" I asked rolling my eyes but joining them.

"Easier to see it. And it feels better when I can move without having to get off a nice comfy chair" Amanda smiled at me. I noticed she seemed ok. But I was careful not to ask her about it. Only heaven knew what made her loose it the night before.

Amanda was not the one to give up to that extent. I knew, because she was the only one that knew the truth about me… and I knew her secrets too. At least, the ones she was willing to tell me. One thing she said was she would never give up as long as her father and brothers were in danger. Or us. But… maybe… it was just her time to snap.

"Okay, so… what are we looking at?" I asked, trailing my hands over the map, then over an area that I knew, trailing my index finger over it and seeing which way it connected to the next highway.

"We're finding where this Georges Banks is. We think it might be near where that old abandoned cottage motel used to be. You know, the one by the lake? But since the motel wasn't on any maps, we can't be sure" Jade explained.

"We're trying to remember which roads use to lead up to it. You know, when-"

"Yes, I remember that adventure. How could I forget?" I rolled my eyes. Amanda laughed at me.

"Yeah, well, we were wondering if maybe you could help us. If we could find that motel, we might just have a place to hide while we pull this off"

"And what…. in gods name… is Ian doing to help you?"

"I'm taking a look at a fragment of the data I was able to pull off the main computer drive. For the most part, I can't understand how they could have gotten this far, Yeerks or not. Chanaibens have studied our DNA structure for centuries trying to find out why we can do what we do. We're only partly sure of it, but this… to be able to latch onto the DNA strands like this…"

"I think it's there!" Amanda suddenly exclaimed, pointing to an area of what seemed like a dense forest.

"Mand, I think that's a nature preserve. I doubt we've been there. And look at the roads? Don't you remember? One went off to the right, and the other two intersected and…"

"Well at least it was a good try!" Amanda pouted, and Jade laughed.

"Yeah, it was. I think we're close though" She hugged her, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Girls, please. No fighting over me" Ian said, smiling over the computer screen, and the three of us laughed at him. For now, it felt good. Just the four of us. Ian soon gave up the data file and helped us look at the map. Finally, we were able to find what we were looking for. Amanda had been closer than we'd thought.

"Uh, do we have any transportation there?" I asked, knowing Ian still had something else in mind.

"Well, we can't risk taking Jade's car, or your bike, even though I know you treasure it like a baby" he smirked at me, and I punched him on the shoulder. After all, he was right. I did love my bike. Although, it was the only kind of 'baby' I know I'd ever have. After all, I'd sworn to myself I'd never put a child through what I'd been through. No child was going to have my bad blood. Never.

"So what then?" I asked.

"Well… I was thinking…" he said, then started humming a song we all knew.

"Not da bus!" Jade cried hysterically, covering her face with her hands, falling back on the floor, finally laughing in spite of herself. We laughed too.

"Yes da bus Jade. Da bus is a good choice, unless it's several…" Amanda cocked an eyebrow at Ian.

"No no no, coach all the way. I'd never have it any other way" Ian said, pulling her in for a quick kiss. I felt a little wierded out, but I just tried to ignore it.

"What about… the Glass Dagger team?" I asked, knowing the minute they were out of my mouth the words were wrong somehow.

"Well… we need everyone we can get" Ian turned serious now, his arm still around Amanda "And we need to show them we trust them as well-"

"And if we don't?"

"Look, we have to trust them Robert. They might not know about…about that secret-"

"Which we will never tell them"

"Right. But if we can show them two very different teams can work together, we might just make it through this all right"

"And if they decide we're expendable?"

"They won't. If they do… well, it's their loss then"

I heard the hesitation in Ian's voice, and I knew he meant to say something else. But he was right; we needed to trust them. And they needed to trust us. It all came down to that.

"Wait a sec, if they're moving down to this underwater thing, doesn't that mean…"

"It means we have to be there beforehand. Most likely, to stop an underwater ship from going down there, or a…"

"It means we'll need to stop try and stop them from going down there if we can" A new voice said. A familiar voice. We all turned to the stairway, where Erik stood. How much had he heard? We couldn't be sure. Whatever he heard, I knew it didn't incriminate us in any way. Hopefully.

Ian nodded at him. The fire from last night had vanished from his eyes, and now it was a deep understanding.

"You're right of course. We'll leave on Friday evening, since I need to get to work in about half an hour anyway. After all, we don't want anyone to get suspicious" Ian replied, giving Amanda a quick (and nauseating) kiss on the lips, before heading upstairs.

"He's right. We've got work. I don't know about you Robert…" Jade trailed off.

"No, I'm cool" I said, smiling. Two days before we left… what was I going to kill before then?

"All right. We'll probably discuss it later anyway" Jade said before she got up too. I looked at Erik. He seemed suspicious. Trust. That was the key. Trust.

Too bad that didn't seem to be working too well recently.