Here's the next three chapters before my current writer's block came along for this fic. I'm still in that writer's block. So I'll continue to write that out until I get SOME inspiration.

Chapter 7

I wasn't happy with Tobias or Laura at all that afternoon. They both said some really nasty words to each other and got upset from them. I decided to give them the whole afternoon to think, or whatever it was they had to do. Through the anger, I worried about them both. With the family I have, I couldn't have imagined to be in any of their places if I tried. It scared me.

I went inside my room, and did some stuff. Checked my email, played tug-of-war with Homer. It's been good today. No Yeerk activity to worry about. Just plain, and boring, normal life.

Time drifted to a crawl by the hours. Marco came for a short visit and kicked each other's butts on my Sega console, then he left to go eat dinner with his dad. I knew how much of importance that was. Marco's mom is Visser One. Laura, Erek, myself, and him are the only ones that know. Marco's allergic to pity or something, so he doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for him over it.

By late into the night, I wondered if I could give Laura a call, at least, although she said she would reach me. Or I could fly to the woods to check on Tobias. The phone was closer, so I found the card, idly sitting in my pocket and dialed. Brrrring, brrrring… The dial tone rang two more times after that. Was she even at her home, wherever that was? I waited for one more minute, then hung up. She wasn't at home. Where could she be? Erek. I called up Erek. Maybe she could be over there.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Erek?"

"Oh, hi Jake. What's up?"

"Is…Laura there?"

It turned out that I was right, only… "You just missed her," Erek said. "She told me all about what happened with you and Tobias. She was pretty upset, and then went down below to spend time with the dogs, then left. Uh, hey, why don't you stop by? It would be easier if…" "Yeah, I'll be right over," I said. Befriending with the Chee is cool, isn't it, I heard Laura's voice say in my memory. So, Erek really did know about her.

I was told to be back by ten when I asked my dad if I could go to Marco's. That was the cover up, of course. Before I left, I called the others. I felt everyone needed to know what Erek had to say about Laura. So, I got into my morphing suit, morphed to owl, and went to the Kings' residence. The secret hideout of the Chee. I wondered what he had to say about her. I knocked on the door, and Erek smiled and let me walk in. "The others should be here soon," I said. "I let them all know." Erek was showing a grim and serious look on his human hologram. That's what he and the other Chee do to hide among us. They form holograms that would age and be allowed to die, only to produce another human hologram. Underneath, the Chee look like robotic dogs that walk upright. They were built by the Pemalites, which is a really long story. To shorten it, they were their companions, and all of them had been wiped out by the time the Chee had made it to Earth. They merged the essence of their peace and fun loving masters with wolves to form dogs. They help us defend Earth mostly because of the dogs.

"Would you like anything, while we wait? Soda? Chips? Anything?" Erek offered. "Uh, that's okay. Thanks." Even though I had eaten a while ago, I wasn't in the mood.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait very long. Marco, Cassie, Ax in human form, Rachel, and Tobias had come. Tobias was in his hawk form, perched on Rachel's shoulder. "So, what's the call? Something going on? Where's the next Yeerk Pool going to be?" That was Rachel. Whenever it involves the Yeerks, she's always up first to volunteer. Whenever there's danger, there's my cousin. "No, not about the Yeerks this time. It's about our friend Laura," Erek informed. I looked to Tobias. -(What about her,)- he asked. -(Something she's not telling us…again?)- That got everyone else's attention. "What? What happened," Cassie asked. "Did something happen to her?" "Erek," I said, and everyone looked to him. Erek looked back, raising an eyebrow. "You told them on what happened earlier this afternoon, right?" That got looks from everyone, not counting Tobias, who always had the same bird of prey expression. "Did something happen, man?" Marco said, looking at me suspiciously. "Though, earlier, before noon, you told me nothing was wrong." -(Jake, it's got something to do with the argument I had with Laura earlier, doesn't it,)- Tobias said. "Argument," Rachel barged, turning her head and watched Tobias flutter over to the arm of the couch we stood around. "What argument!" It wasn't a surprise to see Rachel go to his defense. Cassie and I kind of agreed that they have feelings for each other. Cassie thinks it's sweet, but I feel kind of sad. Tobias will always be a hawk, as long as he decides to fight along with us.

"If she said something towards you…" began Rachel, a flame of anger rising from within. -(I saw Laura helping Jake cleaning the backyard, and I…was a bit moody around her,)- Tobias said in guilt, preventing her to go any farther. "And…" I pressed. Everyone but Tobias looked from me to him. -(I was feeling ticked off on why she had to follow the Ellimist's ways, and I was being selfish… Okay, okay. I was acting like a jerk. I thought about getting her to fix what I wanted, but she told my the reason why I have to be like I am.)- Tobias turned toward me again. -(I…really got carried away. As all of you know, I really dislike Ellimist, and thought that maybe I could…)- "Well, you had a right to get yourself back to being a normal human again," Rachel said to agree with him, figuring it out. This wasn't like Tobias. If he had something to say, he would say it. "Why didn't she? Where is she? I'll pound her if she talked back at you." -(Rachel, no,)- Tobias told her. I listened as he repeated what Laura had told him. No one objected, because that was the truth. All of it.

Erek joined the conversation now. "Laura 'cannot play God', as she would say, or else everything would fall apart. According to her, there could be worse things that could happen if she did too much. Entire universes could be wiped. Entire sentient species would fall in jeopardy. Worst of all, her life would be in danger."

Crayak, I thought. If she did too much, then maybe Crayak would notice. That had to be it. Erek must have known about him too, right? He sure didn't show it.

"What," Rachel barked. "Danger? To someone who's got Ellimist powers?" "One cannot do everything," Erek said simply. "One cannot know everything." So, he did know about Crayak. He just wasn't admitting it. Has Laura told him about our secret? …I got the feeling that she did. "But that's not the point," Erek continued. "For a long time, she's thought about helping you, but the whole time she's been ever so cautious."

"She's doing all she can to join the fight." He gave us a sad smile. "She's a very wonderful human being, and it's not just about her abilities." He raised his holographic human hands, palms upward. "Laura's been trying all she could to fit in on Earth… I see her struggle at times. Ever since she witnessed her parents vaporized by Dracon Beam fire at a very young age, she's been trying all she could to avenge them. To avenge other people who would be in her position." Erek relaxed his arms. "I've been close friends with her for quite some time, and she sometimes shares her problems with me. She's a very open person. I do all I can to be of moral support."