Tony unlocked the door to his home and saw Rhonda lying on the couch, asleep. As he covered her with a blanket, she stirred. "Tony? Hi babe, what time is it?" she said.

"About 2:30 in the morning," he said softly. "Everyone else asleep?"

"Yeah, what took you so long to get home?"

Tony thought for a moment and decided to hold off telling Rhonda about his visit to the spaceship. He didn't want to start an argument with her accusing him of spending an evening in the bar. "Well, I was on a case at Whitney High School when there was a gunfight. In the course of the fight, one of the teachers was injured and had to go to the hospital."

"Oh no, who?" said Rhonda.

"Aidan Hinkley, Mr. H's daughter..."

"His daughter? Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine..."

"I gotta call Mr. and Mrs. H to see if they're all right too," said Rhonda as she got up and headed toward the phone. "I mean that's got to be scary for them."

"No, Rhonda, I'm sure. They're all fine," said Tony, gently taking the receiver out of her hands and placing it on its hook. He then headed over to the couch, stretching out across the seats. "I talked to them at the hospital. Aidan was grazed by a bullet and knocked out. She also had a gash in her leg. The doctors had to put a few stitches in both wounds, but the doctors cleared her to go home with Mr. and Mrs. H. If you call them now, I think they'd try to put us in detention."

Rhonda chuckled softly, realizing it wasn't that bad if he was telling jokes. "Well, given how many times we gave them grief, you're right. I might still call tomorrow just to say hi anyway and that we hope she feels better."

Tony nodded. "All right, so long as you don't go flirtin' with Mr. H again," he said in mock jealousy.

"Oh, Tony, I got over that years ago and you know that" said Rhonda, giving him a playful shove as she headed out the room to the kitchen.

Tony put his head on the armrest of the couch and, closing his eyes, started thinking about the day. He remembered searching the area for the second kidnapper when he heard Aidan scream and the round of gunshots. Tony ran back to the area and found Bill handcuffing the unconscious gunman and Ralph next to Aidan, turning her over and checking her vitals and injuries. Realizing from the look on Ralph's face that she was in bad shape, Tony ran over to the man to see what he could do to help. He stared at the sight of his teacher in the funny outfit, snapping out of it when Ralph ordered him to take off his shirt to make bandages so he could staunch the bleeding.

When Bill came up and, after looking at her wounds, said Aidan needed the tourniquet on her leg, Tony knew it was very serious. He cringed when he remembered going inside to tell Pam, who had just come around from being pistol whipped, that Aidan was shot and being tended to. Despite relaying what Ralph told him, Pam practically ordered Tony to take her outside so she could see Aidan. Fortunately for all concerned, Bill had put on the tourniquet by the time they got to the door and Pam only saw Ralph carrying Aidan in his arms.

Though he was glad for Pam's sake that she ended up not seeing it, as he painfully remembered having one put on him, Tony couldn't help but admire her request. 'Mrs. H sure had a lot of guts,' Tony thought to himself, opening his eyes briefly and seeing the picture of his family on the fireplace mantle. 'So did Mr. H for having to see Maxwell put that tourniquet on Aidan. I don't how I'd handle it if it were Rhonda or the kids.'

While the next few minutes were scary, with Aidan going into arrest and Ralph yelling at her for "not fighting" before beginning CPR, it was nothing until the van stopped and then drove itself. The events got weirder when Ralph started to glow, the suit turning gray and not getting straight answers as they continued to Palmdale. He remembered when it finally stopped in the desert and he saw the ship for the first time. The sight creeped him out, and he could have sworn he was going to pass out. The feeling grew more when they were standing under it. Tony remembered seeing Ralph hold Aidan tighter in his arms before there was flash of light ... and then waking up lying on a bed in a white room on the ship.

Scared at what he'd find if he opened his eyes, he decided he'd try to play possum, but Bill caught on to his idea, so he had to join them. The next few minutes were tough for him to swallow when he met green guy, and especially when they saw Aidan lying in the crypt-like cubby in the wall. Even though she was glowing, Tony wasn't sure if it was a good thing or just to let Ralph and Pam pay last respects before they took her to heaven, especially when she disappeared. It wasn't until he and the others heard the door open and saw a healed but obviously semiconscious Aidan rambling about a fund-raiser idea that he knew she was alive. Tony had to admit that seeing the three Hinkleys hugging made the visit on the ship just a little more tolerable. 'Those two sure do love Aidan, and aren't afraid to show it,' he thought with a soft smile. 'After seeing everything that happened, I'd probably hugged her too, though I'd probably been laughed at. ...'

Later on, when green guy was talking to them about the suit being handed over to someone else, Tony started to worry that it would be him. He was worried not just because of how silly he'd feel wearing it, but also because he didn't want anything to change. When he found out it was Aidan, he started chuckling to himself... until he heard the green guy say that he was to be her partner. 'Yeah, some partner,' he thought remembering the arguments they had tonight. 'I don't care what she thinks, there's something about her way of thinking that will only cause me problems,' he thought with a frown. 'I mean, Mr. H gave me hell when I was at Whitney, but it was for the better. Aidan probably will try to use the suit to work on her class projects and not to stop bad guys.'

Then there was the book. He didn't want to be her partner, and was going to tell those green guys off for partnering him with "the ditzy artist," and figured the best way was through that book. When it blew up, he realized that his one chance to stay solo was ashes as well. The looks on the other four's faces said that he was to blame for blowing up the instruction book. 'Wasn't just my fault, it was hers too,' he thought indignantly. 'She didn't even admit she was a part of it until Mrs. H pointed that out. At least with my family, if someone screws up, they admit it. What if something like that happens during a case? All that could do is put me in the hospital, or worse. I don't think the FBI would like to be paying medical bills for injuries caused by a girl in a set of pajamas.'

Even this started to make him think about Rhonda and the kids: How was he going to hide these from them? He wondered how he was going to explain his sudden interest in getting to know the Hinkleys in depth, especially Aidan, without revealing why. 'Rhonda would put me in the doghouse for sure if I mention being alone with Aidan on cases and the funny underwear,' he thought, then grimaced. 'Especially if I called the suit that. Never mind, I'll figure out something if I haveta work with her, at least for right now. ..."

Sighing, he turned over and within moments, he was asleep, exhausted from the day's events. Rhonda returned, and finding Tony was asleep, covered him with a blanket and kissed him softly on the lips before heading up to the bedroom. As she left, Tony started to dream about what could happen with him and his new partner, ultimately making him bolt upright on the couch. Shaking, he went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of beer. Drinking it, he tried to find a way to forget about what happened tonight, and found one. He decided he'd go to Bill and tell him he not only didn't want a partner, he didn't want this new job.