A/N: Realized there were reviewers that posted on different chapters and I never replied to. Sorry! Clicked on just the reviews for last chapters.

Anyhow, thank you to all the reviewers who popped in last week, you guys are awesome.

And a big thank you to Greg. He got the edits to me early on Saturday, that hasn't happened in awhile, turned out he thought it was Sunday morning, which would be a bad time to get my edits to me. He's all kinds of frazzled right now, life does that to you. Thanks for making time, Greg!


LIV.

Outside of guarding during moves and taking a shift patrolling the perimeter every few days during camps, there wasn't much for a fighter to do in those recent days. Most of the other fighters spent their off time relaxing with friends, drinking, eating, smoking if they were smokers – sometimes even if they weren't, exchanging stories about 'before' and laughing at the good memories long gone.

For Jimmy, the lull was made all the more mind-numbingly boring because of his avoiding Ben. On occasion he spent time with Maggie, but she and Hal hung out often, and Jimmy had been avoiding the older Mason brother since their last encounter, partly because of the conversation, mostly because of the book. Jimmy found it hard to as much as look at Hal without blushing from head to toe, burning with embarrassment at how far Hal probably thought Jimmy and Ben had gotten sexually, let alone the fact Hal could possibly be thinking about Jimmy and Ben having sexual encounters together. As for the book, Jimmy stashed it in the side-paneling of one of the car trunks. He could retrieve it later when he had a place to put it. He'd lost his bag and what little personal items he had during the attack on the community center, the great disadvantage of having no one but yourself to rely on. Ben's brothers had ensured that their family tent was broken down and items packed away before the first assaults, Dr. Glass letting them stow it on her medic van. They were lucky enough to lose nothing. All Jimmy had in that bag anyhow was a change of clothes and a few basic hygiene products that could be replaced from the unit's stock after a lot of pleading and some minor bartering with the civilian in charge. He ended up trading away his best lighter for toothpaste and deodorant, one of the last things he had left from before the war. He figured Ben was always nagging him to quit smoking anyways.

Jimmy couldn't spend much time with Anthony, as Anthony had taken to spending time with his new unit and Jimmy had gotten himself in enough trouble with Pope to last a few lifetimes, he didn't want to push it with the older man any farther. Dai was constantly busy with official business, still acting as second while Tom recovered and debate blazed through camp as to whether Tom should even be allowed to take over his former responsibilities. Jimmy had gathered that the majority of the 2nd Mass was against such a decision, but he also knew that Captain Weaver looked forward to having his original second back and rarely listened to majority opinion.

Beyond hiding from Ben, and searching for something to occupy his attention, Jimmy had absolutely nothing to do. He attempted a game of kickball or soccer or something, no one was ever entirely sure what they were playing, with a group of kids but it grew increasingly difficult to ignore the whispers behind his back and the pointed stares. A few parents called their kids from the game, and he decided to give up. Part of it, he knew, had to be the rumors about his relationship with Ben; while the other part of it, he was certain, were the roles he had played in recent battles. People could be publicly grateful of the things he'd done to help keep the 2nd Mass moving, but in private, no one wanted their children playing with an invasion orphan that killed Skitters and built bombs. Too many naïve parents interested in preserving as much of their children's youth as possible, which didn't include exposing them to the walking embodiment of every horrible thing the aliens had inflicted on the world.

Eventually, Jimmy found himself hiding from the whole of the 2nd Mass on the fringe of camp, leaning against some old office building, smoking with a bitter resent. He almost wished the aliens would attack just to give him something to do. Ben jumped to the forefront of his mind and he shook that thought instantly away. Ben wasn't a conversation he was ready to have just yet. He knew it wasn't fair, leaving the other boy wondering where they stood, or even if they stood anywhere at all anymore, but if life was fair, the aliens never would've invaded and Jimmy would've passed his English class last semester. Like his essay on The Great Gatsby, life sucked.

"You know, smoking does not make you look cool," a voice piped from nearby and Jimmy straightened, tilting his head to one side, glaring at Gia in response as she sauntered over and leaned against the wall beside him.

"Maybe not, but it calms my addiction," he said plaintively, placing his cigarette on his lip and taking a long drawl, blowing the smoke out Gia's direction She swatted at the air and made a show of coughing, "What do you want and where are your 'brothers'?"

"Rome and Dougie are around. I saw you standing here, thought I might say 'hi'. Is that such a problem?" Gia answered.

"Not if you'd actually said 'hi' instead of giving me shit about this," Jimmy muttered, wagging the cigarette at Gia. She pushed his hand away and perked a brow at him.

"You really do think you're some kind of tough kid, huh? Cussing and smoking, I bet you spit and scrap in the yard, too," she jeered, "Act like you're some thug. Before the war you were probably some mouth breathing, prep school brat that wet his bed if his mommy forgot to turn his nightlight on."

"Wow. Amazing. That is exactly what I was before the war. Bonus points if you can guess what superhero I had on my bed sheets," Jimmy returned sharply. Gia smirked, a little taken aback.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood today. Guessing it has to do with the fact you and Mason haven't breathed the same air for more than five seconds these past couple days," Gia noted wistfully, gently asking, "You want to talk about it?"

"No. And what is with you, anyway? With this overbearing mother routine all the time?" Jimmy demanded, taking another hard hit off his cigarette and pushing the smoke from his lungs with a vengeance, "I can't say shit, fuck, crap…damn? I mean, what the hell is your deal with cuss words?"

"I don't see the point of using that kind of language is all," Gia said quietly, shrugging and slumping against the wall.

"Seriously, what is it?" Jimmy wondered, his tone softening as he eyed the suddenly sullen girl. He sighed, and carefully questioned, "Before the war, what was your family like?"

"Normal, I guess," Gia shrugged, remaining silent. Jimmy smiled distantly, set his cigarette on his lip and then removed it without taking a hit. Speaking of walking embodiments of the horrors inflicted by the alien invasion. He recognized that faraway sorrow in Gia's expression; he saw it in his own every time he looked in a mirror.

"You were part right. About me. I went to a prep school, before," he admitted.

"I know," Gia remarked, grinning at his curious gape, explaining, "You've just got that look of a rich boy with daddy issues."

Jimmy straightened, heart skipping in sudden panic, "Did Roman tell you…" he faltered at Gia's obvious puzzlement. She smiled then, a sly smirk perking the corner of her lip.

"Oh, and what secret does Roman know about you that's so personal you get that riled up it might've leaked out?" she teased.

"Nothing," Jimmy grumbled, shrinking against the wall and sucking on his cigarette agitatedly. Gia was thoughtful a moment and Jimmy glanced at her, a little unnerved by her quiet.

"I know Rome comes off strong," she commented.

"That's one word for it."

"You have to understand," she began, trailed off, shook her head and said, "His life was pretty rough before the war, you know, he's told us bits and pieces but I don't know everything. I guess to survive that kind of life, you have to become sort of closed off, sort of…cruel to counter the cruelty. Fire with fire, that sort of thing. He doesn't know how to love, how to properly care for another person, he never really learned it."

Jimmy said nothing, nibbling the cigarette filter absently.

"Before the aliens took us, he was really quiet, you know. Kind of shy, I guess," Gia went on, shifting slightly, her voice growing softer with every word, as though becoming increasingly aware that she was confessing things she probably shouldn't be, "He didn't really seem to trust anyone, kept to himself and his family. Even then, he seemed a little apart from them. He always seemed on edge, like he was afraid, but not of the aliens. Later, after our harnesses were removed, he was different. Like it changed him."

"It's not surprising. Everyone seems to be changed by the harness," Jimmy said.

"Some more than others," Gia mumbled, "Dougie and I have talked about it before, how much he's changed, and how we didn't really change as much as him. We feel the changes, the physical stuff, but we're still the same people, mostly. It's different with Roman, it's like he's become someone else entirely."

"Ben's changed a lot too, I guess," Jimmy put in, "His brothers talk about it. It bothers Ben's older brother, Hal, the most. I guess, maybe, everyone experiences the harness differently."

"I guess," Gia agreed, "What Roman said, about your boy Mason…"

Jimmy perked somewhat, bracing himself.

"It wasn't a lie, you know," Gia insisted, "He came into our camp, acted scared and lost, claimed he escaped the aliens, like Roman told you. It's the truth, Jimmy."

"If it is, it's only part of it," Jimmy argued, "There's more to the story, things you guys don't know. I know there is. There has to be. Because Ben wouldn't…"

"Roman, I think, kind of felt he connected with Mason, that fear and helplessness," Gia continued, and Jimmy furrowed his brow, startled at that new revelation, "He got his family to let Mason stay in their tent that night. The person Rome saw Mason murder, I guess, that was his grandmother."

Jimmy caught his breath, as he tapped the ash off the tip of his cigarette, the motion almost automated. He recalled what Roman had revealed, about the abuse he'd suffered from his grandmother. Jimmy couldn't see the other boy caring so much that the old woman was killed, not enough to want retribution, but then again, he hadn't thought he'd feel anything for his father's death, and those charred remains continued to haunt every dark recess in his mind.

"I know you won't believe this, but he only lays it on so thick with you, about trusting Mason, because he worries about you. He doesn't want you to get hurt, to be betrayed, like he was," Gia persisted, twisting a bit of her hair nervously round her finger, "He's not that bad a guy, you know. He's just really protective."

"But I don't need or want his protection," Jimmy pointed out.

"He can't help it though. He likes you," Gia said. Jimmy quickly darted her a surprised glance, and she covered a laugh, saying, "You know, sometimes I wonder if he only has such a crush on you because you're with Mason, and sometimes I think he only hates Mason so much because he has such a crush on you."

"So he…um…really does…?" Jimmy stammered question and Gia nodded.

"You had to of noticed. Big lug actually thinks he's subtle about it, as if finding a way to bring you into every conversation he has is being subtle. And I mean, he's real bad about it, like 'I wonder what's for breakfast' gets a 'I wonder if that brat's had breakfast yet' kind of reply, that kind of bad."

Jimmy flustered, swallowing back the rush of confused emotion, and twist in his gut.

"Great," he groaned, grinding the keel of his palm into his face, attempting to rub away the heat and unrest, "What is it about me? Do I like…have a smell…or something that like, I don't know, turns on half-alien super soldiers or something?"

"No. At least, whatever it is don't work on me," Gia replied, then folded her arms over her chest and half-jokingly stated, "But just in case, stay away from Dougie. He's mine; you can have the other two."

"I don't want them both. I can barely handle the one," Jimmy complained, "I don't know what I would do with two."

"What's the matter? You don't want a little coffee to go with your sugar, eh, cream?" Gia chuckled and Jimmy felt certain he was starting to resemble a tomato or apple of some sort in color, burying his face in his hand to hide the flush.

"Congratulations. You are no longer an overbearing mother, but now the creepy aunt."

"Aw, should I pinch your cheeks and slobber you with the kind of cheap red lipstick that stains?"

"You would actually enjoy that, wouldn't you?" Jimmy realized and Gia slapped on a grin that would make the Cheshire cat envious. He shook his head at her and she let the smile fade away, falling into another melancholy as he smoked a bit.

"I have to confess something to you," Gia said.

"What is it?" Jimmy prompted easily, blowing a few smoke rings skyward.

"Um…it was me," Gia murmured, taking a deep breath and letting it out slow, "I was the one that wanted you to come with us from the community center…out to the alien structure."

"What do you mean by that?" Jimmy pressed, his brow stitching tightly together.

Gia fidgeted, "I just…the others, when they wanted to go out there…you weren't supposed to come with us, but then I…I wanted you to come. So I convinced them we needed you. I wanted you there. Because of Ben, I wanted…"

"Me to see that Ben couldn't be trusted," Jimmy finished scathingly, glaring in the distance. He couldn't wrap his head around what the deal was with the other unharnessed teenagers hating Ben so much. They had to understand that what happened with their original camp and their getting caught and harnessed wasn't him, it was the aliens controlling him.

"No," Gia hurriedly denied, "Roman thought that maybe…but that's not why."

Gia tugged at her hair and leaned her head back to stare at the blue of the heavens a moment.

"Before the invasion, there was one man I knew I could always trust and rely on, no matter what, he'd always be there for me. My daddy. After the invasion, now there's still only one man I know I can trust and rely on, no matter what, and that's Dougie," Gia said, and Jimmy watched her talking, uncertain where she was going with it, "And that's the same for you, isn't it? Ben's the one that you trust and rely on. And that's why, that's the reason I wanted you there."

"Not following," Jimmy said.

"We don't trust him. We look at him, and we see the bad, that he could be a traitor."

"Yeah, I know. You, and everyone else," Jimmy grumbled.

"But that's not what you see," Gia noted.

Jimmy fell silent, eyes falling to the ground and heart hammering away in his chest. It wasn't entirely true. He did see the bad things when he looked at Ben, same as everyone else, but he saw the good too, and in the end, it didn't really matter what he saw one way or the other, he would take it all because it was all Ben, and he cared about Ben, plain and simple.

"I wanted you there because…I guess, because, I want to see in him what you see," Gia went on, "At the grocery store, I saw what he could do, what he was capable of, and I feel like, maybe for a moment, I caught it, a glimpse, I saw it in him…the reasons why you believe in him so much. And, Jimmy, I want to believe in him too. I do. Because I think, and I want to believe, that when it comes down to it, it's going to be him. He's the one - the only one - that can save us all."

The conviction in Gia's words burrowed into Jimmy, and he held her gaze, captivated for a few passing seconds, her confession seeping into him like flesh being ripped away to expose the blood pulsing beneath, until the crunch of approaching footsteps startled them both out of the trance. Roman and Doug appeared, Roman's eyes instantly finding Jimmy's and striking hot like lightening through Jimmy's veins, sending him searching for something, anything not that older boy, to look at, as Gia's earlier statement reverberated in his ears: he likes you.

"Everyone's buzzing around camp, Tom Mason is awake," Doug spoke first.

Jimmy's eyes fled instinctively to the medic van at the moment it's door flung open and Ben stumbled out. The other boy looked clearly distraught, and momentarily, Jimmy felt rapt with panic at what possible conversation Ben had with his father that sent him tearing from the medic van. A thousand possibilities flitted into mind, and each more horrible than the last, accusations and assaulted admissions. Jimmy wanted to go to Ben, his legs itched to move forward and his feet threatened to walk of their own accord, but those damned words, that dropped careless off Ben's tongue and caught thick and tacky in Jimmy's limbs, weighed him down and cemented him to the spot. Ben caught Jimmy's stare, a silent beckoning plea in his expression, and just as Jimmy felt entirely compelled to be with Ben – to hell with the words – a strange emotion touched Ben's features, a sort of shock lit with rage. He ripped his eyes away and stalked with a hasty gait out of sight.

"Guess things didn't go well with the old man," Roman commented, bemused.

"Shut up, Rome," Jimmy muttered, taking a last hit off his cigarette before tossing it and stamping it out in passing as he shuffled resignedly away.


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A/N: A bit of a spotlight on Gia in this chapter, she hasn't gotten much one-on-one face time I think. I should clarify, because it's not ever made obvious, at this point Doug and Gia are not technically in a romantic relationship. They both have feelings for one another, and their friends know it, and they both are kind of aware of the others' feelings, but neither one has actually made the first move yet. Not that it matters all that much. Also, last chapter Ben saw Jimmy and Rome and thought they'd been hanging out together, this chapter we learn that Jimmy was actually talking to Gia and Rome came over last minute at just the right time.

Let me know what you think!

Reviewers: WhisperMaw, I was so glad to see a couple reviews from you, I don't know how I missed replying. School went well, three A's and B, and yeah, I interned in the Zooarch lab at school, got three shiny credits for that too. I'm two semesters away from a Bachelors in Anthropology. It's not stupid to wait for chapters so you can read a marathon. I do feel bad that I haven't been able to update more frequently. I know, I suck. And yes, I know you've been eagerly anticipating Ryan. He will be in the story. And, if I make it far enough, he may even get a love interest. But it won't be who or how you expect. Caswiee, I'm glad to see you still reading also, though sorry to hear that your story hasn't progressed more. Writings harder than it looks, eh? It was a good idea, but good ideas are only a very, very small part of the process. Hopefully, you'll get inspiration some where. Maben00, hehe, yeah, Ben and Jimmy are in dire straits at the moment, poor boys. All hurting and sad, I wonder how I could possibly make things so much worse for them? I'll do my best! Sassysavanna190, I'm so happy to hear from you. Yes, hurting and pain all around, but it's good you're still enjoying. Holy hell, the gloves, I never connected those dots! That is a really good catch. I wonder if that was a director choice, or the actor...hm...Dee, my, my, yeah, I agree, Tom's a bit of a dreamer. Honestly, I never much liked how they executed his relationship with Ben, and maybe you'll see what I mean in later chapters when I delve more into the harness and how it affected his perception of his father. And also, don't be too mad at Jimmy, Roman kind of snuck up on him! See! But yes, Ben is definitely having those kinds of terrible thoughts. Yes, the vision/dream/flashback things are important. Hal sucked. And yes, be afraid, always be afraid. But keep reading, because it's never over until this fat lady sings. No wait, I sing all the time, scratch that. Just have faith in me. RemedyRay, well, I'm glad my story was one of the ones you checked in on in your return! We really are getting a lot of poor everyone in this story. Would you believe this isn't even half-way near the angst-iest thing I've ever written?

Thanks for stopping by you guys. See you all next Sunday!