A/N: I admit that I've seen more of Ultimate Alien lately, and these later chapters are more recent. Perhaps my vision of Kevin is skewed by the later, more mature Kevin (as one reviewer pointed out). I don't really envision him as the jealous type: I think of him and Gwen as partners, and he knows she can take care of herself. He wants to do what he can to protect her, but he's not going to baby her or get jealous of some guy she'll certainly blast for touching her. Kevin is, I admit now, a very difficult character to write! I guess I didn't even realize how difficult until now. I will certainly remember these points when writing future fics, so thanks for the input!

Sujibay: because you asked nicely…. Here's chap 26 a little early! . I only release things slowly for two reasons: 1. If I dumped this fic all at once, I wouldn't get any reviews. 2. I like to double and triple check my editing,be cause I tend to miss things pretty often. Plus, I switch between computers and sometimes I have format problems, like words squishing together for no freaking reason! Lol.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Dangerous game

"Wake up!" Charmcaster yelled, throwing on the light switch on the wall of the living room as she ran down the staircase. "We have a problem!"

Kevin jerked his body up off the couch, feeling a little dizzy from waking up so fast. "Wha…?"

Ben ran down the stairs after Charmcaster. "What's happening..?"

"She's gone. I woke up to find the bathroom, and she was gone."

"What!? What kind of bodyguard are you?" Ben yelled.

"Bodyguard!? What were you two doing while she left the house? How am I the only one at fault?"

"You were sharing a bed with her- we kinda thought you would notice if she left."

"Quit arguing- we need to search the house." Kevin called as he ran through the kitchen. It was worth a try, but somehow they all suspected they wouldn't find her nearby…

After giving Ben's house a once-over they regrouped in the garage. "Can you get a lock on her?" Kevin growled at Charmcaster.

The blond shook her head. "I'm not very good at tracking life-forces, and her Mana is so faint… if we drive around, maybe I can pick up on something. I need to be closer…"

"Well, she couldn't have gotten far." Ben said, walking towards the car he had borrowed from his parents for the weekend. He got about two steps before he stopped, abruptly.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Kevin muttered, as they all noticed the empty spot where Ben's car had been parked. "I'm Guessing you hang up your keys by the door?"

"Uh… maybe."

"Well, let's get in the Mystery Machine and get on her trail." Charmcaster said, running towards the green car parked on the street, ignoring the soft rain that was beginning to fall.

"Don't call it that!" Kevin replied, chasing her.

….

Three days. That was when the next scheduled flight out of Habitat was for Jari, the alien who had saved her from wandering the streets and getting caught. And from what she had gathered, flights always had to be scheduled.

She chewed on the vegetable she had been handed thoughtfully. It was magenta and leafy, but it tasted pretty good. More importantly, it wasn't drugged like the other foods in Habitat. Jari had said that if she ate normal food, she'd feel better in no time.

Good. She was sick of being weak, and she was sick of not thinking clearly.

"How did you get your chip out without the Council finding out?" Jari asked, running a scanner over her arm again as she ate, as if he expected to find he had made a mistake before.

She shrugged, trying to avoid the question. She didn't know this guy well enough to fill him in on what was going on with her, but she couldn't think of good enough lies, either.

"Well, either way, if you're not logged into onscreen, then they can't track you. They must be frantic, by now. If we can sneak you out of here, they won't be able to tell you're onboard my ship. Once we're past the dome, you're free.

Gwen listened patiently, trying to collect her thoughts. She did feel better after eating, she found, and she was pretty sure she could feel her Mana again. "Will I be able to hide for three days?"

Jari frowned, looking down at her as he continued to work with the small chip-scanner. "We're going to try. You'll have to stay here- don't talk to anyone, and don't leave the room. I'll bring you food and take care of you, but stay here where it's safe." He said, slowly.

He was talking to her like she was slow. Until moments ago, she had felt a little slow.

"I get it. Don't worry- I'll bunker down."

"Good." He backed up, putting the instrument away. He sat down again in his chair, the gigantic size fitting him perfectly. "Now, as long as were waiting…" he smiled, "…why not play our usual games?"

….

"I, uh… I think… TURN LEFT!" Charmcaster yelled. That's how the whole trip had gone, their back-up Mana-user picking up and losing the trail periodically.

"Why would she run away?" Kevin asked, confused. It's not like she had been scared of them…

"Maybe she was just… bored? Maybe she didn't actually run- maybe she was just going for a drive?" Ben tried.

"Maybe. The girl does have the attention span of a gnat." Kevin agreed.

"STOP!" Charmcaster yelled, and Kevin hit the brakes hard. The car skidded a bit on the slick wet roads as it ground to a stop, and through the rapidly worsening rain they saw a car on the side of the road.

Ben's car.

….

"Go fish." Gwen said, holding her cards high in front of her face to hide her smile. She wasn't much of a card player, so kiddie games were about all she knew. Go fish was the first resort that came to mind to answer the Tetramand's obviously suggestive question.

She was pretty proud of her ability to play dumb, even though she was now back to her usual self. She needed to avoid capture, death, and come-on's for the length of her stay in this terrible dimension, and she thought she was doing a good job so far.

Jari grabbed a card from the table, grumbling as he did so. "This game is horrible."

"You're just saying that because you're losing."

He grumbled some more, taking his turn.

Gwen wondered if she would even be stuck in this dimension for three days. Either way, she felt confident that working towards getting her other-self off this horrible prison-planet was a good idea.

Humans were drugged, kept weak and complacent, and put into involuntary breeding programs masquerading as marriages. She had managed to gather that the whole place was run by some corporation, and that she should be very, very afraid of being found out.

"What's the worst that could happen…" She asked as she checked her deck for the card Jari asked for. "If they find me, that is?"

"They won't tolerate open defiance. They might try upping your dose in your food… or they might just sell you to a private collector to get rid of you, after harvesting your eggs, of course."

Ew. Yeah, escape was definitely her only option.

"And, if I go with you… what would that mean?"

"What? Why do you ask?"

It was hard getting a gauge on the situation while still pretending she was someone else. "I mean… how is it different from having me be sold off? Would you let me go, if I wanted to?"

He grimaced, and she wasn't sure if it was at her or his terrible hand of cards. "Of course! What kind of person do you think I am? …You don't sound like yourself, Gwen. I know you're not on the drugged food anymore, but you seem like, well..."

Her heart was thumping, nervous. Did he guess that she wasn't who she appeared to be? But he seemed like a nice guy… maybe she should tell him, anyways? No. She had to play it safe, no matter what. He might not help her if he thought she was some girl he didn't know.

"…like you've changed your mind about us. I know you have other boyfriends, but I always thought we had something special… is it the Beluinen? Driel? Cause I'll have you know, he's a punk."

Gwen cleared her throat. "Uh, no… I don't know. How do I feel about you?" That was weird, phrasing it as a question at him. But she felt this was something she should know- if the other her didn't want to run off with this guy, was it presumptuous of her to do so? Even to save her from the horrors of Habitat?

Her confusion was increasing at an exponential rate, and she just wasn't sure how to handle herself. She wanted to make sure she was safe, but she also didn't want to cheat the other her out of decisions that should be hers. She would expect the same, when she got back to her world.

How would she feel if she found the other her had run off with some guy?

Not good.

"How do you feel? Why are you asking me?"

"I want to know what you think I feel for you." Gwen asked, slick as could be. That could work.

"I think… I think you always knew that us being together in any real way was against the rules, so you never let yourself think about it and just had fun. I think that if you had had a choice in a life-mate, you would have picked me, but since you didn't…" he shrugged. "We just have sex."

Gwen kept her face down, using her cards as a shield for her bright red face. She couldn't help but wonder how sex with someone as huge as a Tetramand was even physically possible… course, she didn't exactly have any experience herself on the subject, so she tried to stop thinking about it. Other than that part, what he said had sounded kinda sweet. Gwen had a feeling that he was in love with the other-Gwen, and that was enough for her to trust him to look out for her.

Yes, she was definitely going to go through with this escape plan.

….

Jari had left to take care of business, signing orders and having booths restocked. Apparently, he owned a good deal of the booths outside, which made it a lot easier for him to change things up to prepare for their escape plan. Originally, he wasn't planning on being on the outgoing cargo shuttle… now he would be, along with a little extra secret cargo: Gwen.

She was getting tired, now, but she had no way of telling what time it was in this place. The room didn't have windows (which actually added to the whole "hide-out space" thing), so she couldn't even look at the artificial sun. In any case, she knew she needed sleep… and she'd rather do so while Jari was out. Not that she didn't trust him, but his feelings for other-Gwen were more than platonic.

She laid down in the big gray bed. There were no sheets, no blankets- just a squishy gray slab, and she sank into it the moment she plopped down. Just a little nap. She was exhausted, and ready for a few hours of down-time…

She had no idea how long she slept on the squishy gray lump of a bed, but all the lights in the room were off when she finally opened her eyes. Did she turn them off? She didn't think so.

She rolled over, attempting to get off the bed… and smacked right into a warm body. A large, warm body.

Oh, this could get very awkward very quickly.

She laid back, scooting over towards the wall as much as she could. She was fairly certain he was asleep, but she couldn't get past him on the bed without climbing over him.

And she didn't want to do that.

Bang!

She sat back up, fast. What was that noise? It had come from outside the living space, which she knew was a warehouse of sorts… maybe someone had dropped a box?

But if Jari was asleep, wouldn't that make it the middle of the night? Did they have an overnight crew?

She frowned, listening. She was just being jumpy…

"Bang!" The door to the living space burst open, and a small sphere of light was thrown in.

Gwen jumped, and as the light expanded to fill the room she shook the large red alien beside her violently. "Get up!" She yelled, though of course the blinding light had already done that. He stirred, swiveling around to face the door.

Four men, dressed head-to-toe in militaristic helmets and bodysuits hurried through into the well-lit room. Well, not men, exactly… some kind of alien with green skin that seemed as though it were pulled too tight over their faces, giving them a permanent grimace.

"Freeze!" One of them yelled, holding a weapon out towards the bed. Gwen put her hands up, cautiously, already feeling for her Mana and making sure she was ready to fight her way out.

"Whoa, fellas."Jari said, wiping sleepily at his face. "What's the problem?" He looked over his shoulder at her, and she thought he was trying to communicate something to her through his many eyes.

She gulped, hoping she was reading the situation right. "Like, we can't even get privacy in, like, the middle of the night?" She said, doing her best impression of a stupid human. Jari put an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, and she tried to look comfortable with it.

"Gwen, identity number 280?" The alien in front asked, lowering his weapon with a frown.

"Yes?" Gwen answered quickly, trying to make her voice high and perky.

"You've been missing for twenty-four hours, since there was a disturbance in your cube."

"Oh, uh… my husband was, like, being all trippy on buzzers, and he fell and hurt himself, so I was, like, scared and left and stuff." Did that sound ok? Did they know she was lying?

"Says here you two fought…"

"What? Guh, fighting? He fell on me, and maybe I hurt him… oh, did I hurt him!? That would be, like…uh, glarp!"

All the uniformed aliens looked at each other, and finally holstered their weapons. "You have been here, the whole time?"

"Of course she's been here! Is that so unusual?" Jari yelled. "Now tell me why you're breaking into my private residence!? I'm a citizen of the galactic alliance! I have rights!"

"Uh… right you are, sir. Sorry, we had probably cause to expect that number 280 was in danger of abduction."

"What!? How dare you accuse me…?"

"Sorry, Mr. Jari, sir, but her chip has malfunctioned. Gwen? Onscreen is broken for you." He was talking slowly, now, to Gwen, trying to use simple words. "We will fix it, so come with us."

Gwen's mind was working on overtime. If she went along with them, they would implant a chip in her, and she wouldn't escape. Plus… she really didn't like the idea of having something inside her for the rest of her life that she couldn't get out. It probably wouldn't do anything in her world, but it would still bother her.

Then again, if she fought them, she wouldn't be able to hide for the next two days. They would send more men, and possibly harm Jari to boot.

"I've been wondering why, like, onscreen wasn't on! Of course, I'll, like, come!"

She stood up, and quick as a flash, Jari grabbed her arm. He was scowling, one corner of his mouth up in a snarl as he looked at the officers. Gwen put a hand on his over her arm, squeezing for him to let her go. She raised an eyebrow when he looked down at her. She had this. No problem.

She walked forward towards the officers, who were giving Jari rather nervous looks. Once she reached the green men she smiled, friendly. "So, I once had a guy tell me that Narbarian pistols are cheap and have terrible aim." Something sparked in the eye of the alien closest to her, as he realized just what she said. Before he could so much as reach for his weapon Gwen had a string of Mana wrapped around him, pulling him instantly off his feet and hanging him from the ceiling.

The other three went for their guns, and Gwen was able to knock two of them to the ground with glowing balls of Mana. She was aiming for the third when, with a great war-cry, Jari plowed into him, sending him flying into the opposite wall.

"YOU!" He yelled, pointing at her once all the officers were tied up with Mana or knocked out, "Are not Gwen, and you have some explaining to do!"

"Oh." She said, moving the men to a closet with a wave of her hand. "Is it obvious?"