A/N: Ugh. I will write a one-part fic of choice for anyone who gives me a title I like better than this one. I'd also like to know where you guys would like me to go with this- is there anything you'd like to see?

I woke up, very groggy the next morning. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I wondered *Oh, gods, was that a dream last night? Please tell me that was a dream last night. Please tell me that is _not_ a bird tapping on the window.*
It apparently was. I wondered if that was what had woken me up, but I doubted it, since I could sleep through a hurricane. "That can't be good," I muttered to myself, opening the window.
Andy! Hi Again with the voices in my mind. Maybe I'm actually going crazy and they have me locked up in a padded cell somewhere. Do crazy people ever wonder if they're crazy? I start giggling hysterically.
"Tala? You sound like Tala."
That's my name, don't wear it out the bird, specifically a pigeon, agreed. Isn't this cool? She ruffled her wings.
"Pigeons? Pigeons are not cool. Now a hawk would have been cool."
Well, I couldn't get a hawk.
I sighed. "Did you really have to come here? I wanted to remain in denial as long as possible."
Why? This is great! I feel so free- away from everything that binds me to this horrible earth.
I sighed. "Fine, whatever. Could you just- change back now? How did you figure out how to do that, anyway?"
She started to change, and I must say, it was disturbing. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to watch, but I could still hear her body making weird noises as she changed.
"It's OK, I'm done," she said. I slowly opened my eyes. "Ack! You're naked!" I whirled around, embarrassed.
"Sorry, haven't figured out how to morph clothes yet," she said sheepishly.
"Um…let's see…you're too tall to fit into most of my clothes…" However, I did find a dress in my closet that was too big for me. (And I never wore dresses anyway, unless someone forced me.
"Yellow?" Tala protested from behind me when I handed her the dress.
"Wear it! You're not wandering around my bedroom naked! What if my little brother comes in?"
"Fine," she sighed. "OK, you can look now. What's the problem, anyway? We're both girls."
I ignored her. "So how did you figure out how to do that?" I asked, heading for my dresser drawer and picking out a pair of black shorts and a green tank for me and pulling them on.
"I dunno, I was wondering how I could do it, but it apparently just takes concentration. A little trial and error and I was flying. So, we need to call a meeting, discuss what we're gonna do-"
"I don't want to," I groaned, grabbing my hairbrush and jerking it through my hair.
"You have to!" Tala protested.
"Why?" I asked dryly, pausing in my brushing.
"Because you're our leader!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Can't you see it?" she went on. "You are the one who can lead us, bring us all together. You're a natural leader- we all respect you, you make good strategic decisions- we _need_ you!"
I hadn't intended to give in, but what can you do when someone says they need you? "All right," I said reluctantly. "Let me think of someplace we can meet in private. Then I'll call the others."
"We can meet at my place," Tala replied instantly.
"There'll be no one to disturb us or possibly overhear?" I asked, resuming my brushing, and picking out a bandana to hold back my spiky dark red locks.
"No, I'm positive." She looked bemused. "Do you always have some random hairpiece in your hair?
"Yeah," I replied. "So half an hour at your place? What's your address?"
She gave it to me, before starting to morph the other way, back to pigeon. I looked away again, and when I looked back she was out the window.
I called the others and told them simply that we were having a "meeting" at Tala's house, and gave them the address. Then I hopped on my bike and took off.
I knocked on the door a few minutes later, studying the slightly rundown house. After a couple seconds (and a lot of barking from inside the house), Tala opened the door.
"Whoah," I said getting a glimpse of the menagerie inside.
"I take care of hurt or homeless animals," Tala said by explanation. "The pigeon is here healing from a broken wing. I like animals…"
"Wow," I replied. "And your parents let you keep all these animals?"
There was a pause, and I could see hurt flash through her eyes. "I don't have any."
There was a long uncomfortable silence, during which I mentally kicked myself. Just my style, insert foot "A" into mouth "B"…"I'm sorry," I said after a minute.
"It's OK," Tala replied softly. "I just live here by myself- I have connections, so I don't get caught."
"Oh, OK," I said, awkwardly. Just then a knock came at the door, and Tala went to answer it. I was relieved when it turned out to be Ari- my best friend is much more sensitive than I am.
"Hi," Tala said. "Come in and meet the animals. We'll have some good morphs to start with."
"I brought the disk," Ari replied cheerfully.
*Disk…? Oh, right, the disk.*
"Can I see?" I asked.
"Here," Ari replied, handing it to me.
"Cool," I replied, holding it up. "So is it for a computer? How does it work? Can I-"
"Be careful!" Kali yelped, from where she'd let herself in. "You're going to scratch it, idiot," she snapped, taking the disc away from me. She had her laptop with her, and Jenny followed in close behind. "She probably scratched it," she moaned. "And now we won't know anything, and we'll all die, and-"
"Stop whining," Kali replied. "It's fine." She was putting the disk onto her laptop and going through files too fast for me to be able to tell what she was doing.
"What? What's it say?" I asked impatiently. Kali grunted in response, continuing her typing.
A few minutes later, she grinned triumphantly. "Seems our alien friend left us quite a bit of information." She rapidly began reading off information about nothlits, Taxxons, Hork-Bajir, and a dozen other terms I wasn't familiar with. Bored and listening with one ear, I wandered off to the kitchen table, where Tala had the newspaper sitting.
"Crap!" I yelled suddenly.
Kali jerked, and glared at me. "_What_?" she asked, obviously irritated.
"Come look," I said. "They're looking for five kids that were in the construction sight, setting off fireworks…"
"Oh, no, we're all going to die," Jenny said morosely. "How did they know we were there?"
"I don't know," Kali said. "Perhaps they saw our footprints, or perhaps they had a video camera, or…"
I frowned. "Well, in any event, we're going to have to be really careful. Everyone keep in mind that these Yeerks could be anyone…someone you trust."
I looked around to make sure everyone understood. "They've probably got my whole family," Jenny sighed. "And all my friends, and…"
I rolled my eyes. "Jenny. Shut up. If you want to help, you can, but we can't have you whining constantly. Are you a part of this or not?"
Ari stepped on my foot. Oops, I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth again.
Jenny looked abashed. "Sorry," she said in a small voice.
I sighed. I guess I had to apologize…"No…it's my fault. I shouldn't have snapped."
"It's all right," Jenny said. "I have to go, my parents will worry."
"Hang on just a second," Tala said. "Get some morph- I have enough animals here."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Something that flies. And let's meet at the zoo later to acquire some more…dangerous animals." I grinned, already imagining all the cool animals I'd be able to morph. "What do you say…eleven thirty? That way it will have been closed long enough for all the cleanup crews to be gone."
"I'm not sure I can sneak out," Jenny said, putting the pigeon back in its cage after she and Kali had acquired it. I had to resist snapping again. "I'll get a horse morph from my uncle's ranch."
"OK," I agreed reluctantly. At the very least, she could…kick some bad guys.
"Later, guys," she said, taking off. Kali folded up her laptop and followed close behind.
"So, what have you got that flies other that pigeons?" I asked Tala.
"A mourning dove," she replied.
"Sounds better than a pigeon," I replied. "Where is it?"
"Here," she replied, leading me over to another bird cage. "Just concentrate on it," she instructed. "Ari?"
"Sure, I'll acquire that one too," she said agreeably, placing her hand on it. Tala took it back when we were done and replaced it in its cage.
"Come on, let's go do something," Ari said, tugging on my arm.
"All right," I agreed, smiling. "Later, Tala!" I yelled, just as I was pulled out of the house.