Kat wasn't sure which was more damning. The fact that he had basically just been sold off by two humans or that he was going to let it happen.

At first, as soon as he heard the deal Membrane had been offering, he had planned to take his sister and run as far away as possible. It was only through some stroke of clarity that he remembered how pointless that would be. They have literally no where they could go, and with Coop and Dennis' help, Membrane and his partner could find them by the end of the day.

The final reason he decided not to run came down to resources. He didn't have a way to contact the empire or keep his sister safe if they were to go off on their own. Membrane, on the other hand, not only had the damaged equipment from Megan's ship, but also had ways to track energy outputs. If he was going to get his new plans for this planet into motion, he'd need as many resources as he could get.

So, with a great deal of reluctance, he convinced Megan to go along with the boys' deal. They're backs were to the wall and this was the only opportunity they had to not only get their bodies back, but to get access to any other materials Membrane might be hiding.

That didn't mean he had to like it though…

After Coop had agreed to Membrane's deal, the man gave him a formal written agreement for both him and Dennis to sign. It was only a page of writing and consisted of everything you would expect- promises of secrecy, the sharing of resources, etc. The long and short of it was that everything spoken between them was to be kept in confidence, and any new alien information was supposed to be shared with them ASAP for the safety of everyone involved.

After that, Membrane drove them home. The ride there felt… tense. Not because of the people in the car, but because of what was waiting for them at home. He had tried to get the cats to answer them on the walkie talkie, but it just came back as static. He was half expecting to come home and find an attack waiting for them. The other half was expecting them to have run as soon as they heard him agree to the deal.

To his surprise, neither were true.

Instead, when Membrane pulled up into Coop's driveway, the only one waiting for them was Coop's dad.

"Hello, Mr. Burtonburger!" Dr. Membrane said, stepping out from the driver's side to give Coop's dad a firm handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mr. Burtonburger returned the sentiment with a smile.

"We're sorry we held Coop up for so long, but we really liked his and Dennis' initiative" Dr. Abebe said, moving to shake Burt's hand as well.

"I'm just surprised Coop wanted to do extra credit so soon after the break." Mr. Burtonburger said, moving to ruffle Coop's hair fondly.

Coop had almost forgotten that that was their cover story. As far as Coop and Dennis' parents were concerned, they were both taking part in an extra credit project that would last until the end of the school year. It wasn't surprising news that he and Dennis had B's and C's in most of their classes. With Kat giving them problems at least once a week, it didn't leave them a lot of time to study. So, the excuse that they were both helping Dr. Membrane for extra credit worked out in their favor.

Plus he really was going to give them extra credit, so there was that too…

"I'm pretty surprised myself, Mr. Burtonburger" Membrane said with a smile. "It's not everyday I get two kids so dedicated to their studies. I'm sure they'll make excellent lab assistants."

Membrane pulled out a file from his car and handed it to Coop's dad.

"I just need to go over some details with you about the lab work Coop will be helping me with. After that you can sign off and we can start working during Coop's free time. Provided you agree, of course."

Mr. Burtonburger nodded and led them into the house.

"Oh, hey dad, do you mind if me and Dennis show Dr. Abebe the research we've been working on? We had planned to show it to them but we'd left it at home." Coop said, pointing his thumb at the treehouse in the backyard

"Research?"

"Yeah, that's why we had been out in the forest at the beginning of spring break. We had wanted to take notes on some of the invasive species living out there, and some of them were nocturnal." Dennis said.

That was the second part of their cover story. They had come clean to Membrane about how and when the accident had happened and came up with the excuse after Membrane had suggested using an extra credit assignment for their cover up.

"Neither of you boys said anything about doing a research project."

"Well, after we got caught out so late we figured you'd be too mad to let us continue. So we just kept watch over the animals from the tree house" Coop said, not meeting his eyes.

"Well, I wish one of you had said something." Burt said with a sigh. "If I'd known you were out there doing school work I'd have taken you to the forest myself."

Yeah, well if I could have come up with this lie maybe I wouldn't have been grounded.

"Sorry dad…" Coop said, being completely truthful. He genuinely did feel sorry lying to his dad like this, but it was the only way they were going to get through this peacefully.

Well, until they tried dragging the cats away...

"Alright." Mr. Burtonburger said, giving them a fond smile. "Go ahead and show off your work."

The pride shining in his eyes made Coop's guilt spike further, so he avoided looking back as he guided Dr. Abebe towards the backyard.

"I doubt they're still up there…" Coop said, his stomach sinking further with dread.

"Only one way to find out!" Dr. Abebe said joyfully as she walked to the tree house ladder. Coop ran ahead of her and grabbed onto it before she could start climbing.

"Me and Dennis should go first. I doubt they'll be happy seeing a stranger. No offense, Dr. Abebe." Coop said.

I doubt they'll be happy to see any of us…

Dr. Abebe chuckled at him and patted his shoulder.

"I'm sure I could handle anything they throw at me, but I appreciate your concern."

In any case, Coop was happy that she let them go up before her. Well, happy for her safety. As for seeing the cats…

Well, to say Coop felt nervous was an understatement. If the cats were still up there then they were definitely setting up for a trap. He wasn't sure what they could have cooked up in the 10 minutes it had taken Membrane to drive them home, but you couldn't be too careful.

Both of them climbed the ladder and immediately moved to stand on either side of the doorway, hidden from view. With a nod to Dennis they both turned to stand in the doorway, fighting stances at the ready.

And…!

Nothing…

They both stood in shock as both of the cats sat, in what looked to be complaisance, in the middle of the floor. Neither of them made a single move to attack them, or even look up from the floor where they sat.

They were both dressed in the old clothes he and Dennis had brought them. A thankful change, given how awkward it would be to fight two naked aliens, and between them sat a big bundle of- what Coop had to assume was their makeshift equipment- wrapped up in the blanket they had given them like some giant bindle.

The strained silence was cut by Dr. Abebe, who gently pushed past Coop and Dennis to stand in front of the cats.

"Wait!" Coop said, trying to grab her arm, but she sidestepped him. She waved his hand away with a smile.

"Hello." She said, crouching down to sit in front of them.

Neither of the cats responded.

"I see you're already packed…" She said, gesturing to the makeshift sack behind them.

Nothing.

"I figured you knew we were coming. My PAK could sense the static off the walkie talkie Coop was using."

Kat flinched violently but stared resolutely at the floor. Megan tensed up instantly and Coop could see her claws digging into the floorboards. Her hands were trembling, and Coop wondered just what could have shifted the mood so much. What had originally felt tense suddenly increased tenfold in the span of two sentences.

There's no way they're afraid of Abebe, right?

The woman couldn't be much taller than Megan, and she was definitely shorter than Kat. On top of that they both had actual claws and fangs to defend themselves with. Did they think she was hiding a weapon on her? To be fair, neither Coop or Dennis had asked and he was sure the cats had more experience with space weapons then he did…

"Come on. My partner is keeping Mr. Burtonburger busy. We'll just get all of this into the car and we'll be off." She said cheerfully. She tried to give them a reassuring smile as she extended her hand to them, but they both flinched back like her hand was poisonous.

Whatever the reason was, it was apparently effective in making them listen. Neither of them tried to fight, or even look at her, as they grabbed their things and were escorted to the car. Coop and Dennis stayed closely behind them and kept watch to make sure Coop's dad and sister didn't see them. Thankfully, neither of Coop's family members had been looking out into the backyard at the time, so they made it to the car with little fanfare.

As Dr. Abebe moved to put their things in the trunk, Coop felt a sort of awkward tenseness. Just casually standing next to the cats, out in the open, after literally giving them up to two strangers, felt like it should have been a lot more… antagonistic? Aggressive? Definitely aggressive. Instead of the big fight he had expected, he got what looked to be a surrender. It felt like they were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and from the way Dennis stood stiffly at his side, he felt it too.

There was also this undercurrent of… well Coop wasn't sure what the emotion was, but it felt tight somewhere in the bottom of his stomach. Like something was pinching his insides, and it was making it harder and harder to look the cats in the eye. Not that either of them were willing to look at them.

As Abebe herded both of the cats into the back seat of the car, he caught a glimpse of Kat's expression.

Blank.

Blank was the only word that came to mind.

And for a moment Coop was confused about just who he was looking at. Kat always had some sort of look on his face. Not that Coop had tried documenting them or anything, but after having to look the rat in the (annoyingly human) face, he got used to a handful of certain expressions.

Mostly different levels of annoyance, sneering, contempt, a victorious smirk, but never blank.

This was the first time he had ever seen Kat just shut down all visual emotions.

It was unnerving.

He was so focused on this feeling of unease that he didn't even notice his dad was heading their way until he heard the front door click shut.

"Coop!" He said, jogging to them and the car. For a split second Coop panicked as he realized just who his dad was going to see sitting in the back, but as he glanced between his dad and the back seats, he saw that the back windows had completely tinted black.

"You okay there, son?" Mr. Burtonburger said as he moved to stand in front of him. Membrane stood behind him, also looking concerned.

"I-I'm fine dad. Just a bit nervous after showing off our research." Coop said.

"Yeah," Dennis added. "It's a bit nerve racking to have someone looking through all your work."

Neither of them dared glance at the car again.

"Well, all that hard work was definitely worth it! I'm so proud of you kids. I had no idea you had such an interest in science, but I should have guessed with all your talk about aliens and spaceships." He said, chuckled to himself. Coop smiled awkwardly in response.

"That's how it all started for me." Membrane said, grabbing Mr. Burtonburger's attention. "I used to talk about aliens and spaceships all the time as a kid. Now I get to study space for real."

Membrane patted both of the boys on the pack.

"And don't you boys worry. Everything's gonna work out. Your research is safe with us." Membrane said.

Coop nodded to him, understanding the message. He saw Dennis do the same. Unfortunately it did little to put him at ease.

"Great!" Coop's dad said as he moved to shake Membrane's hand again. "Thanks so much for giving Coop this opportunity. I'm glad he's got such proactive teachers."

"It's our pleasure, Mr. Burtonburger."

"Please, call me Burt."

"Burt." Membrane said in agreement. "Well, we still need to swing by Dennis' house tomorrow to get his dad's permission."

Membrane looked to Dennis in inquiry.

"Yeah, dad said he can talk to you guys tomorrow about it. He was too busy with work today."

"Well, we look forward to seeing him tomorrow! Burt, you mind putting in a good word for us until then? We'd hate to split up this dynamic duo" He said, gesturing to both of the boys.

Mr. Burtonburger chuckled and nodded his head.

"Sure thing!"

And with a final wave, Membrane hopped into his car, and the boys could only stand there in silence as he drove off...