DISCLAIMER: I do not own Falling Skies or the characters... if I did, then I'd be rich. :D Anyway. No slash or other romance, just pure angst and possible violence. Actually, make that probable, because I write violence a lot. Season 2 ish I'd suppose. Anyway. Read & Review...

A/N: If you are squeamish, this chapter will bother you. Also. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Instead of updating once a day, from now on (until further notice) I will be updating only once every two days. I am getting really busy with college visits, interviews, etc, and need to spend some time on that. I also need to raise some scholarship money, because I am poor, therefore, cannot buy my way into 40k dollar per year colleges. :P

BEN POV

It burned. I woke to a blinding sensation in my skull, flames racing from my head to the base of my neck. I held as still as possible, trying to ignore the pain in hopes that it would go away. It didn't. Instead, it increased steadily until I was about to pass out. Only then did it begin to fade. I opened my eyes and found myself in a dark, small room. I couldn't see very well at first. Then my eyes began to adjust and I saw Maggie and Hal, their hands bound behind their backs. What the heck had happened? I couldn't remember a thing. Not since we had tried leaving the ambush. Had we gotten hit again? My vision swam for a moment. I squinted in the darkness, but other than my brother and Maggie, there was nothing else in the room. Without an idea of where we were or what whoever had taken us wanted, I rolled onto my side only to find that my own hands were bound behind me. Hah.

I twisted my wrists and pulled to the point the zip ties broke without much of a problem. Apparently whoever planned this hadn't done all their homework. I moved over to Hal and Maggie, easily snapping their zip tie cuff as well, and when neither of them woke, I felt a pang of alarm. Rolling my brother on his back I saw a deep bruising across his face just above his eye, and a similar mark on Maggie. I must have one too. Touching the area, I felt a sharp ripple of pain. Ouch.

"Hal, wake up," I hissed. Nothing. I heaved a sigh, closing my eyes and trying to think. Where were we? I had to listen. The silence in the cell would help me use my extrasensory abilities to pick up something else, farther away. Just as I began to circulate my hearing, a loud slamming from close by nearly deafened me, and I jumped back. Two skitters stared down at me, one hissing.

Without a weapon I felt useless. One of them reached for me and suddenly my world went black again.

I woke with a burning feeling in my chest and throat, being held down by several powerful arms, and all I could do was remember being at the harnessing facility, pinned to the table, forced to watch as other children were being harnessed before I felt it slide down on my back, a skitter trying to soothe my fear and then – I'm screaming. I stopped the moment I realized it, but fought back as hard as I could until I felt a prick in my arm and my body began to grow weak. My eyes were shut. I forced them open, and saw my dad and Anne looking flustered as they tried to stop my flailing. Immediately I stropped trying to break free, as the illusion of being re-harnessed was removed from my thoughts and imagination. Would it even work a second time, I wondered? My spikes remained. The bug wouldn't be able to latch on to those, would it? They aren't its own.

"What happened?" I asked, gasping for air, because the screaming had left me winded. I managed to turn my head and saw Maggie and Hal, each on their own cot, but something didn't seem right. I couldn't think, because my heart was racing violently.

"We got bombed by a mech, and you three disappeared. We found you in a warehouse, about to be brought to a harnessing facility," Tom explained quickly. "Or, that's what we thought. They did something to Hal."

HAL POV

I felt like crap. My head was pounding, my body weak, everything cold. Shivers ran down my spine, and every time I swallowed, it felt like a bucket of nails was being poured down my throat, making me cough, which sent daggers digging into my chest. I felt sick. Was I sick? I felt like I was missing something. How long had I been asleep? I began to open my eyes, but lights seared into them, blinding me, sending pain lancing through my head. I could hear voices but they were long and distorted, some place far away, yet loud at the same time. I didn't understand how or why. All I knew was that I felt like I was being torn apart, and I wondered if I should simply just... die. Right now, not later.

Eventually I dared to open my eyes again, and I could see my dad looking worriedly at me. I did my best to bite back a strong groan of pain, dragging in a suffocated breath and releasing it slowly, choppily. He laid his hand on my forehead and I was distinctly aware of how hot it was, and I flinched away.

"How are you feeling, Hal?" He asked, and suddenly I felt a horrible, sick feeling in the centre of my stomach. I couldn't fight it.

"I'm going to.." I didn't get to finish my sentence. My dad, perhaps reading the look in my eyes and expression on my face, grabbed a bucket and placed it next to me just as I leaned over and threw up, fire burning from my stomach and throat and mouth. When it was finally done, I gasped for air, then stared down at the contents of my stomach, and thought I was going to be sick again. Tiny red bugs were squirming around in the mix of usual things that came with being sick. I don't know what they were. All I knew was that I was coughing and choking, spiting out bile and another of the red bugs. Struggling for air, I was pretty sure I was going to pass out. I was shaking so hard I couldn't remind sitting up, and fell back limp against the cot. My vision blurred as I stared up at the ceiling, feeling sick and disgusted with myself? What were those things? My stomach throbbed violently. The feeling to be sick came suddenly and quickly again, and I was rolling onto one side, throwing up again, and this time I couldn't stop myself into the world went swirling black.