Author's Note: Bleh. Evil, evil computer….It refused to function for the last couple of days. My brother finally figured out the cable thingie wasn't working, though. *sniff* Four days that I could have been typing…Oh, well. Here's 19, anyhow.

SD: They're right after 24, I think…Somewhere between 24 and 25, anyway. Yeah, it is funny….Although it's also kinda of sad. ^_~

Liaranne: Well, maybe you'll know this one…And thankies! I agree, I like the Marco crushness. ^_~

Sharina: Yeah, Sam has delayed shyness. Ooo. Thankies!

bionicle0727: lol…I love Finding Nemo, too. It's such a great movie, and Dori is hilarious. Seriously? Wow, thankies muchly!! *^_^*

dragontamer: Ax is hard, but he's fun…I dunno how much I'm going to be able to do him, though. Glad you think I write him okay! ^_^ Thankies lots!

HermyPenguin: Thankies! And I'll try to create a sense of tension…Dunno how good I'll do, though.

Dslguy14: I knooowww….Sorry about the evil cliffie, I didn't mean to make y'all wait this long! Stupid not functioning computer. .

Incensio Lady: Eeee! Thankies!

Disclaimer: "That's the last time I play with matches."

Chapter Nineteen – Sam

a.ka. Maybe I Should Have Just Kept My Mouth Shut….

"So…which one's their leader dude?" Reese asked me in a whisper.

"Jake. That one." I replied, tilting my head in his direction.

No, I was not nervous. I don't know what would make anyone say that. Okay, so, maybe I was. But just a little. I mean, come on, I'm waltzing up to people who I know a whole bunch about but who only know me as some insane girl who might be the person to bring about their deaths. Yeah, that'll make things go smoothly. I was debating on how to approach them when my brilliant cousin called, "Yo, Jake! Over here!"

I elbowed her, but they had already turned to look at us. I took a deep breath, hoped no one noticed, and continued forward. Reese followed me closely, muttering various complaints under her breath. I slowed to a stop in front of Jake and managed to smile at his suspicious gaze.

"Hi." I greeted.

"Hey." He replied carefully, then glanced over at the boy I didn't recognize. "Erek?" He asked.

Erek nodded and Rachel, Ax, Marco, and Cassie wavered, then became a bear, Andalite, gorilla, and wolf.

I could feel Reese jump beside me.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed, then glanced wildly around her.

The crowd kept walking as if they saw nothing out of the ordinary and she blinked, looking utterly confused.

"Anyone who looks at us will see and hear only our human selves talking about school work." Erek said, bringing my gaze back to him. He looked like his android self, now.

Reese must have turned to look at him, too, for she gave a slight twitch again. She shook her head. "The things I get myself into…"

Everyone was looking at me now, probably waiting for me to say something. "Uhh…I'm not a Controller?" I offered, then nearly smacked myself in the forehead.

Smooth, Sam. Tobias informed me.

"I thought so." I replied instinctively, then decided to just be blunt. I set the backpack on the floor and carefully drew Tobias out, trying hard not to upset his wing. Rachel's eyes narrowed, but everyone else seemed to be waiting for me to explain. "I found him at Graham's place….His wing was broken. When I couldn't talk to him, I knew he wasn't a normal bird, so…." I trailed off because I realized exactly how bad that sounded.

So, let me get this straight. Marco thought. You can, apparently, speak with animals like Doctor Dolittle. So, of course, when you picked him up from this Graham's place, whatever that is, you figured he had to be a human that had turned into a bird because he couldn't talk to you?

Yup. This was bad. "Graham has this traveling circus thing that mistreats animals…I…uh…Well, okay, I don't like them, so we broke into the place and took the animals, all right?"

"Yes, let's confess to several felonies, Sammie, it makes us sound so much sane." Reese commented.

"Oh, shut up." I replied.

Jake looked at me. "All right. I'll buy that you broke into Graham's circus thing and found him there. But how do you know about us."

He made it a statement, not a question. I frowned. "Fine, I'll tell you. But remember I warned you it would sound insane." Their relative silence was unnerving…They were probably talking behind my back. Not that I could blame them, but still…. "Look, I read the books, okay? Reese and I are from a place…A world or dimension or something that has a book series called The Animorphs."

"Which, I want to say right now, I disliked very, very, very much. Just to set the record straight." Reese commented.

I ignored her, because, well, she was obviously lying. Once again, I expected a reaction, but didn't get one. "I swear, I'm not insane…Hear me out. How else would I know all about you?"

"Just what do you know about us?" Jake asked.

"I know all your names…And I know your families. I know that your brother, Tom, is a Controller." I said to Jake. Yes, I was being blunt. Yes, I had ceased to care whether or not I was upsetting some time balance thing or even anyone's feelings. Now that I think about it….I plead brief heartlessness due to lack of reaction. Yes, that's it. "I know Cassie's mom works for the Garden and her dad runs the Rehabilitation Clinic. I know Rachel has two younger sisters and they all live with her mom 'cause her dad took a better job somewhere else. I know Marco lives with his dad and…" There I stopped. Even when being blunt I'm not that bad. "I know about Elfangor, and how Visser Three /murdered/ him. I know how you found Ax in what was left of his dome ship at the bottom of the ocean. I know about David and how he was the biggest asshole ever and almost killed…"

"Can she stop now? Please? I'm sick of hearing about this." Reese commented. "I didn't like it in the books and I don't like it now. Aliens invading people's brains. Who thought up this stuff?"

No one thought up the Yeerks, they simply are. Ax snapped.

I had to smile. "Yay, a reaction. Come on, give me something. This is unnerving as hell."

Marco laughed, dripping with sarcasm. You're unnerved? We just had some strange girl spit out the events of our recent lives that we've worked ourselves sleepless trying to keep secret.

"What did you expect us to do?" Jake asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Scream at me. Freak out. Call me a liar or insane. Something."

Jake nodded. "Well, I can't call you a liar because everything you've said is true. I can't call you insane because I have no idea how you know all this stuff unless you're being truthful."

"I am. I can tell you more, if you want…Rachel's allergic to crocodile morphs, Tobias got his morphing powers back from the Ellimist when he helped free some Hork Bajir…"

No, no, that's enough. I don't want to hear what else you know about me. Rachel interrupted.

I stopped. It occurred to me, just then, that maybe they wouldn't like having a stranger know everything about them and maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. Damn it, I hate it when Reese's right.

Jake was looking at me again, so I shrugged. "What?"

"About this talking to animals thing…." He said.

"Oh, that. Well, that I can prove." Oh, good, something easy. I stepped over to the bears. Until now, I had been shielding so the bears wouldn't come over to greet me, but I now I stopped. "Hello there, Rosie, Jeff." I called, both mentally and out loud. "Want to come over and say hi to some friends?"

The two bears I had called glanced over at hearing me.

*Good afternoon, Sammie!* Rosie greeted and headed over.

Jeff was reluctant to leave his food, but at the insistence of his mate, he came over as well. *Hello, Sammie.* He said.

"These are some friends of mine….They wanna see some tricks. In the mood to show off?" I asked.

Rosie agreed and Jeff perked up. *Sure!* He said cheerfully.

I smiled. "Jeff likes to show off." I told the others, to which I got silence. "Anything you'd like me to ask them to do?"

Anything I'd….Oh, boy. My life is insane. Marco muttered.

"I hear you." Reese agreed instinctively. This time, she didn't realize what she had said.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. Someone?"

Could you ask one of them to go pick up the red rubber chew toy, bring it over here, and toss it to Jake? Cassie asked me quietly.

I nodded. "Sure. Jeff'll be willing. One thing, though…That's gonna look odd."

"Erek's covering it." Jake replied.

"All right, then. Jeff, Rosie, could one of you go pick up that red chew toy over there? The one by the water tub? Then bring it back here, if you would?" I asked, being careful not to point out where it was.

*I'll do it, Sammie.* Jeff offered, then trundled over to the said chew toy and picked it up in his mouth. He brought it back over and asked, *What should I do with it?*

"Toss it to Jake? He's the male human." I told him.

Jeff swung the toy at Jake, who caught it with a surprised expression on his face.

"Anything else?" I asked, somehow managing to suppress my grin.

"Uhh…No. No, that should be okay." Jake replied.

I think I surprised him.