I had hoped to be more productive before I left...but it wasn't meant to be.

So that last chapter started the decent into madness...needless to say Lilly's going to be out of it for a little while.

Miley's trying to get it together...but as we well know, she never handles it well when her family is in danger. And Lilly is usually the one that steers her in the right direction. How will Miley do on her own? Let's find out.

Happy reading.

Chapter 11 - Tell Me Why

Knoxville, Tennessee; January 1, 2011

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY?" Alex screamed at the top of her lungs at the short blonde surfer sitting in front of her.

Alex slapped Lilly hard across the face in frustration then recoiled quickly and grabbed her hand as a sharp pain ran through it. Hitting Lilly was like slamming your hand against a concrete wall. It hurt like fucking hell.

The vengeful Latina was going out of her mind. She had been trying to kill Lilly Truscott for almost an hour now and making absolutely no progress. Never in a million years would she have dreamed it would be so damn difficult to kill a single teenage girl.

For Alex's first attempt, she tried simple blunt force trauma. The Latina sat Lilly down on a folding chair and grabbed a wooden baseball bat. As the brunette brought the bat crashing into the back of the blonde's skull, the bat shattered into splinters, covering Alex with the small wooden particles and pissing her off even more.

Still wanting to try and keep Lilly's execution more personal, Alex next tried to make the blonde bleed to death. Unfortunately for the sergeant, every knife and sharp instrument she used, did not even mar the blonde's skin. Several knives and daggers snapped at the hilt when the Latina tried to stab her with them, and anything Alex had used to try a cutting motion with was now dull and useless.

In a fit of rage the Latina had tried stabbing the blonde in the eye with a scalpel, but on her forward thrust, she passed harmlessly through Lilly's entire body and fell to the floor in a heap.

At this point, Alex stood up and ordered Lilly NOT to use her abilities. Lilly agreed to comply with the sergeant's wishes but when Alex tried once again to stab the surfer, the blade of the scalpel snapped off after coming into contact with the blonde's incredibly dense body.

Alex saw a handgun sitting on the end table that one of the attendants had left in the living room of the safe house. Foregoing her desire to make Lilly's death personal, Alex grabbed the handgun and unloaded the entire clip into various parts of the blonde's torso and head.

After the clip was emptied, Alex stared disbelievingly at the blonde sitting in the chair...unharmed...just staring blankly back at her.

Every single bullet passed directly through Lilly's body, leaving the wall and window behind her riddled with bullet holes.

Alex tossed the gun aside and sat down heavily on the couch, dropping her head into her hands. Apparently, Lilly's power worked on some unconscious level, which even she couldn't consciously turn off. There was apparently just no way to kill her.

Was it any wonder why the girl scared the shit out of the fucking government?

Alex lifted her face, which was streaked with tears of frustration, to glare at the blonde sitting directly across from her. "Why can't I fucking kill you?" she demanded.

Lilly just stared back blankly at the Latina.

The Latina remembered that she had to specifically tell Lilly to answer her question. The blonde was no longer capable of independent thought. "Answer me!" Alex growled.

Lilly's response was short and simple. "I'm invulnerable." she said, as if those two words explained all the mysteries of the universe.

"Thanks, I've figured that out for myself you fucking bitch!" she growled as she stood up from the couch ready to strike the blonde again, but thought better of it. It wouldn't bother the blonde in the slightest and Alex might accidentally break her hand this time.

Instead, the Latina began pacing the floor in front of Lilly as she thought about her situation. 'Fine. Maybe I can't kill her, but I can still completely destroy her life the way she did mine.' Alex thought, then she stopped in front of Lilly and looked down at the girl. "What is the one thing in this life you would never do willingly? Answer me."

The surfer's tone was flat and emotionless. "Hurt Miley." the blonde responded.

Alex examined Lilly's face. As the surfer gave her answer, it almost looked as if her eyes were tearing up for a second, but no water escaped her hazy looking blue eyes. Alex dismissed the observation as her frazzled mind playing tricks on her.

Now Alex had to decide what to do. She only had one neural transmitter…and Heather and Miley both had powers of their own. Alex was hesitant to take on Miley directly, knowing that she stood a minimal chance against the singer's telekinetic abilities. Her invisibility gave her the element of surprise, but once she lost that...she would be dead in the water. And if Miley's abilities worked at the unconscious level that Lilly's did, she probably had absolutely no chance of surprising her anyway.

But maybe there was a different way to hurt Miley.

"Do you have your cell phone with you?" the sergeant asked, holding out her hand. "Give it to me." she ordered.

Lilly reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone then handed it to her captor.

It took Heather over a half hour to calm down Miley enough to discuss their situation. Once the singer was finally relaxed enough to speak coherently, she and Heather decided that the only lead they had was their neighbors, the Jacobs.

After the quick drive from the University of Tennessee campus, Heather and Miley arrived at the Jacobs farm just before 1 am on New Year's Day.

Normally, it would be considered rude as hell to show up on someone's doorstep at this hour of the morning, but this situation was anything but normal.

Heather and Miley quickly made their way to the porch and Heather frantically pounded her fist against the front door. "George! Miranda! Open this door!" she screamed.

After a few seconds, the porch light came on and the front door slowly opened, revealing Miranda and George both in their bath robes. Miranda looked wearily at the disgruntled pair on their porch. "Heather, Miley. What are you doing here so late?" she questioned curiously.

Miley narrowed her eyes at the older woman. "Where is your grand daughter?" she demanded.

Miranda's eyes went wide with shock. "S-she's in Europe." the older woman stuttered.

Miley just stood there and stared at the older woman. "What did you just say?" she said with a touch of disbelief in her voice.

Heather put an arm around Miley's shoulders trying to keep her calm. Having Miley make a scene by using her powers would only give them one more problem to worry about. "Isn't your grand daughter here right now, staying with you?" she reiterated.

Miranda looked to her husband for help. Miranda thought these people were crazy the last time she encountered them and they certainly weren't doing anything right now to change that opinion for her.

George shook his head. "No, she has classes until February." he explained. "They have trimesters in Europe, not semesters, so their breaks work differently over there."

Heather tried to grasp what she was being told. So, either the woman that took off with Lilly lied about who she was or the two people standing in front of her were trying to protect their grand daughter. "Do you have a picture of your grand daughter?" the blonde inquired.

Miranda couldn't understand what was going on, but the two women in front of her were clearly upset and she didn't wish to do anything to anger them. "Well, of course." she said, then gestured to her husband to grab a picture frame from the other room.

George returned with a picture of a rather heavy set, tall blonde woman with straight hair and glasses. Miley took one look at the picture and then turned to her mother. "That's not her." she informed the older blonde with a shake of her head.

George was becoming irritated. "Yes, that is my grand daughter!" the older man insisted. "What the hell is this all about?" he demanded.

Miley decided that she needed to find real answers. Now, not later. She squeezed her mother's hand. I'm going to read their minds. Answer their questions. Heather slightly nodded her head in understanding.

Miley read George's mind first. This is the last time I ever do a favor for that no good brother of mine. This girl is obviously some kind of lunatic.

"Someone showed up at a party this evening claiming to be your grand daughter and kidnapped my daughter." Heather explained.

George shook his head. "That's absurd." he said.

My goodness, what has my brother in law gotten us into this time. I should have known that planting that listening device wasn't going to bring us anything but trouble. Miranda thought.

Miley had heard all she needed to hear. "Alright. I want some answers." she said, stepping closer to the older couple and clenching her fists tightly against her sides. "Who is your brother?" the singer demanded.

George and Miranda looked at each other uncomfortably. They were told that no one would ever figure out who they were related to. Yet here was this little high school drop out who just seemed to know things.

Miley was losing her patience. The singer's voice dropped to a lower register as she narrowed her eyes at the older couple. "Tell me right now, or I swear to God I'll find out for myself." she warned threateningly. "And you don't want me to do that."

Heather reached out and clasped a hand on Miley's shoulder, silently begging her to remain under control.

Miranda had no idea what the young girl's threat meant, but she wasn't willing to risk her life over her brother-in-law's identity. "General George McClintok." she said quietly.

"Miranda!" George hissed.

Miley's facial expressions and body language changed in the blink of an eye. The singer went from tigress on the prowl to a scared kitten instantly. Miley's eyes widened, her hands opened, and she began cowering away from the Jacobs as effectively as if they had snapped a whip at her face.

"No." Miley quickly connected the dots in her head. General. Army. The Shop. Miley turned to her mother and grabbed the older blonde's arm They've come back for us. She fearfully told her mother mentally.

It was Miley's worst nightmare come to life.

Heather nodded her head and pulled Miley away from the door. Things had just gotten ten times worse. "Thank you both for your time, you've been very helpful." she said as she turned and steered her daughter back to their car.

After Miranda closed the door, George grabbed her upper arms and shook her violently. "Are you out of fucking mind woman? Jack will have us killed!" he hollered, obviously aggitated with his wife's loose lips. "Why the hell did you do that?" he demanded.

Miranda slapped her husband's hands away. "It's not like I told her what we did." she shot back. "Besides, did you not see the look on that girl's face? I think SHE was willing to kill us at one point! And the only reason she didn't is because her mother was keeping her under control!" she shouted back, gesturing towards the door.

George grunted. "Would've thought the mother would have been more upset about the daughter than the sister." he mumbled to himself, then glared at his wife of over forty years. "You better hope this doesn't come back to bite us in the ass." he growled and stomped off to bed.

Miranda sighed, but didn't regret her decision. Something wasn't normal about the Stewart's. And Miranda was determined that they were not the kind of people you mess with…for any reason.

And with that, she turned off the porch light and followed her husband to bed.

As Heather pulled out of the Jacobs driveway and turned to head towards Casa de Stewart, Miley's phone rang.

"It's Lilly." she said to her mother in a hopeful voice.

Miley hit the answer button and flipped open the phone to put it on speaker. "Baby, where are you?" she asked.

"Currently enjoying myself in the afterglow of the greatest sex I have ever had in my entire life." Lilly responded in a complete monotone.

Miley heard what her lover said, but once again, she just couldn't believe it. "Lost insane love of my life say what?" the singer demanded.

"She was amazing." Lilly cooed. "And she tastes so good, I could eat her out for hours." the blonde added for good measure.

Heather couldn't stand to listen to this conversation any longer. Something wasn't right, she could hear it in her daughter's voice. "Lillian! Where are you now?" she yelled from the driver's seat.

"With the person I love." Lilly replied.

Heather almost never got belligerent with her children, but the fire starter decided maybe it was time to try the unconventional. "The fuck you are young lady. Now answer me god damnit!"

There was only silence on the other end of the line.

"Lilly?" Miley asked, then looked down at the phone in her hand. It read...call ended. "Shit." she muttered.

Heather took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. "Okay, well she's definitely awake right now. Do you think you can find her?" she asked her daughter as she pulled through the gate to head up the private driveway to their house.

Miley nodded her head in agreement. She would try, but Lilly was wide awake at the dance and standing right in front of the singer and she couldn't read her mind then.

Lilly?

Nothing.

LILLY!

And just like before, Miley couldn't feel her lover or read her mind. It was almost as if she was… Miley growled in frustration before finishing her thought. "ARGH! Mom, why can't I find her?" she asked as the tears started to roll down her face once again.

Heather reached the house and put the car in park, then leaned over and wrapped her daughter in her arms again while the singer cried.

Once they finished their phone call to Miley, Alex kept Lilly's phone. The Latina had kept Lilly's phone on speaker and whispered into Lilly's ear everything she wanted the blonde to say during the conversation. She was relatively pleased with the results. The singer and her mother obviously seemed freaked out beyond belief.

While it was amusing, causing a rift between Lilly and her girlfriend, it was hardly enough to balance the scales between them.

Once again Alex paced in front of the seated blonde. "Well, I've made your girlfriend think you've cheated on her and you broke your brother's arm…what shall we do next?" she asked the surfer, not at all surprised that no answer was forthcoming.

What Alex had done so far seemed so minor in comparison to what the blonde bitch had done to her. But she couldn't kill the blonde and trying to kill the girlfriend was an extremely risky proposition at best.

'Maybe I should just let her do to her own family what she did to mine?' thought the Latina.

Alex looked carefully at the blonde. "Can your mother's flames hurt you?" she asked curiously, wondering if maybe there was something unusual about the genetic bond between the two of them that affected their powers. "Answer me."

"No."

Alex nodded. "Does your father have any abilities?" she had never been briefed on the father having abilities, but then again apparently no one knew about her girlfriend's powers until it was too late. "Answer me."

"No."

Alex nodded her head satisfactorily. "Fine. After I get some sleep, we're going to go kill your parents." the Latina sneered menacingly. The sergeant pointed at the couch. "Go lay on the couch and sleep. Don't move until I wake you up."

Lilly mindlessly stood from the chair and walked over to the couch. The blonde laid down and within seconds was sound asleep.

Alex walked into the other room where one of the safe house attendants was sitting on night watch. "If she moves from that couch, come get me immediately."

The private nodded his head in understanding. "Yes sergeant."

Alex gave the man a small salute and headed to the bedroom to grab a couple hours of much needed sleep.

Robbie was at home pacing the floor. He checked his watch. It was only 1 am. She would just be boarding the plane now. There was no way she would make it to their house before 9 am. And that was the best case scenario. He just hoped his family could afford to wait that long.

Robbie's cell phone started ringing and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket. "Jackson." he sighed read the screen then lifted the receiver to his ear. "Son, you alright?" he asked, finally happy to hear one of his kid's voices.

"I'm okay dad." Jackson reported. "The doctor's said is was a clean break." the engineer said matter-of-factly.

Jordan glared at her fiance from the chair she was sitting on next to his bed. "You're lucky she didn't shatter your arm." she growled.

Jackson pulled the phone from his ear and covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "Jordan, would you back off already." he hissed at his future wife.

Jordan just couldn't understand how her lover could keep defending what his sister had done. "Jackson, she hurt you!" she said, pointing at the bloody bandages on his arm.

Jackson laid back against his pillows and sighed. He was sick of this conversation. "And I am telling you, something made her do that. Lilly would never hurt me. Never!" he stated adamantly. "Why won't you believe that?"

Jordan stood up and started frantically pacing next to the bed. "God, how can you ignore what's right in front of your damn face?" the hockey player fired back.

Jackson closed his eyes. He had been telling her the exact same thing for the past hour and she just wasn't hearing him. "Because, I know my sister." he said for at least the tenth time since they left the dance hall.

"UGH!" she shouted, then walked out of the room to try and calm herself before she said something she really might regret.

Jackson picked the phone back up to his ear. "Sorry dad." he said awkwardly, hoping his father hadn't heard him fighting with Jordan.

Despite Jackson's efforts, Robbie had heard the entire conversation between the younger couple. "Son? Did Lilly actually hurt you?" he asked carefully, wanting to understand exactly what had happened.

"Dad, she didn't do it." he said, but thought about how that sounded. "I mean she did, but it wasn't her, ya know?" he said, then thought about how he could explain it better to his father. "Yes, my sister put her hands on my arm and snapped it like a twig after the girl she was dancing with told her to, but she never said a single word and had this totally blank look on her face like she was out of it or something. Then she walked out with that same girl I've never seen before in my life."

"Jordan won't believe you though?" Robbie asked carefully. He hated the idea that Lilly might become the wedge that would split Jackson and Jordan apart.

"Dad, you know Lilly. She would die herself before she let someone in the family get hurt." he reminded his father, then he glanced around the room to make sure he was alone. "She's killed for our family." he added in a hushed whispered.

Robbie smiled sadly at his son's statement. Jackson was right. Lilly had done several things over the years to other people, but it had always been in the name of protecting their family. Always. "I know son. And I hope your right."

"I gotta go dad. The doctor's here, they're gonna set my arm. We'll be home when we get there." Jackson told his dad.

"I love you son. And so does your mom. And I know if your sisters were here, they'd tell you the same thing too." Robbie told his son and meaning every word of it. "Both of them." he added.

"Thanks dad." the young boy said, his voice cracking slightly. "Love you too big guy. Later." he said, then hung up the phone.

Within a few minutes of Robbie's phone call with Jackson, Heather and Miley came flying through the front door.

Miley walked straight past her father, not giving him a second glance.

"Miles?" he asked questioningly as he watched her start tearing apart the living room.

When his daughter was not forthcoming with any answers, he turned to his wife. "Heather? What's going on?"

Heather walked over and hugged her husband. "Robbie, something huge is happening."

Robbie pointed at his daughter who was currently levitating the couch in the air. "What's Miley doing?" he asked quietly. He knew that Miley didn't just use her powers to use them.

"She's looking for a…" the blonde said as she watched her daughter pulled a small flat disk from beneath the couch.

"Found it." Miley said triumphantly.

Robbie looked on in utter confusion. "What is that?" he asked.

Heather eyes hardened at the thought of their privacy being invaded. "It's a listening device that's apparently been in our home for almost two months." she spat.

Miley nodded as she used her power to destroy the small device. "The Jacobs did it."

Robbie's eyes widened in surprise. "That sweet old couple down the road?"

Miley tipped her head to the side and gave her father an annoyed look. "Who are apparently related to General George McClintok."

Robbie furrowed his brows in concentration. That name didn't mean anything to him. "Do we know who that is?" he asked.

Now Miley seemed a little less sure of herself in the face of her father's question. She thought she had figured out what was going on, but she couldn't be absolutely positive. "Lilly once told me that Captain Wells told her there was an overall General in charge of the Shop, but we were never told his name. We just knew he wasn't there when the installation went down." she told her father.

Robbie nodded as his grip tightened on his wife. "Do you think that's who's running the show now?" he asked, horrified at the idea of facing the Shop again. Last time, it cost them Oliver and Joannie, what would the price be this time?

The country singer was suddenly very proud of himself for calling in reinforcements.

Again, Miley didn't know for sure, but who else would want to kidnap the love of her life. "It's possible."

Robbie nodded. "So, what do we do about the neighbors then?" he asked, not realizing that Heather and Miley had just come from there.

"They're harmless." Miley said. "The General set them up with the farm and all they had to do was put the bug in our house to repay him." she explained, sharing the information the singer had removed from their heads. "They don't seem know a thing about our family." she added. "The General used them."

Robbie nodded his head. "Alright." At least that was one less thing to worry about.

Heather piped up. "It's this girl we have to find." she pointed out.

His wife must be refering to the same woman Jackson had mentioned to him on the phone. "Who is she?"

Miley got an idea. She had used her power once to connect her mind with Lilly's to share her memories...she wondered if she could do it again? "Let me try something…" she said as she walked over and reached out to take her parents' hands.

After linking her mind to her parents, Miley focused her power on replaying this evening's events, so that her parents could see the woman in question. After a moment, both adults gasped slightly.

Miley thought that meant that her plan had worked. "Did you see her?" she asked hesitantly.

Robbie nodded. "She kinda looks like Mikayla almost." he commented.

Miley glared slightly as the mention of her old rival's name. "It's definitely not Mikayla." she replied. "Lils and I had a mental conversation about her while I was on stage, but she never told me a name, just that she was the Jacobs' grand daughter."

Heather sighed. "Which of course, as we now know, is a lie."

"So, did you try contacting Lilly?" he asked, knowing that his girls shared a much closer bond than anyone else did in the family.

Miley dropped her eyes to the floor. "That's the crazy thing." she said, shaking her head. "I can't."

Robbie couldn't understand how that was possible. His girls could always communicate with each other, no matter what the distance was between them. "What do you mean you can't?" he asked, not understanding the problem. "Why not?"

Miley sighed. "Dad, she stood right in front of me and her mind was completely blank."

Robbie was perplexed by his daughter's answer. "I thought that only happened when people were unconscious or…" he said, unwilling to finish his thought, not wanting to mention the possibility of Lilly being dead.

Miley closed her eyes. "So did I." she said softly.

Things weren't looking good for the Stewart family.

Back at the safehouse, one of the attendants, who was a private, sat in the kitchen on night watch. Aside from guarding the door, tonight his duties also included keeping an eye on a sleeping Lilly, and monitoring the listening device in the Stewart's house and recording any vital conversations.

The private listened closely as Robbie talked on the phone to his son. He hardly felt that was very important. But not long after the phone call, the private recorded the following conversation:

R - "Heather? What's going on?"

H - "Robbie, something huge is going down."

R - "What's Miley doing?"

H - "She's looking for a…"

M - "Found it." .

R - "What is that?"

H - "It's a listening device that's apparently been in our home for almost two months."

Suddenly, the private ripped the head phones off his ears and threw them to the floor. He had just received an incredible amount of feedback and his ears were ringing. From the way the family was talking before it happened, they probably discovered the device...and destroyed it.

As he picked the headphones back up and held it carefully back up to his ear, he heard nothing but dead air. The private checked his equipment but everything seemed to be in working order on his end.

The private set the headphones on the table and rubbed his face with his hands. He glanced down the hall where the young sergeant had disappeared. He was pretty sure this was going to piss her the fuck off.

He decided that rather than waking her up, it might be better to tell her first thing in the morning.

Ok, so they have a connection to the General. Dude is just beggin to get his ass kicked.

Seems like things just aren't going in Alex's favor...I don't think Ms. Russo has any idea what she's up against...

Next chapter we'll have a visit from an old friend, which I'm sure you've already guessed who it is...even though I tried to keep it on the DL. And Lilly and Alex...well, you'll have to wait and see...

And how's Jordan going to deal with seeing Lilly again? She's definately not happy with the surfer...hmm, rough roads ahead I think.

As always, love to read your thoughts and commments. Peace & Love - Jessan