Sadly, XJ9's extra bit of sleep didn't seem like enough for her. She groggily rubbed her eyes and leaned back on the couch. She had been dragged out of bed and now had to listen to the Skyway Officer go on about something. She didn't know why she was even here, really; the man was only speaking to her mom. She looked at her mom, who looked like she was ready to pass out if not from a little bit of annoyance keeping her awake.

The man was going about something involving regulations and some other stuff, she guessed. She didn't care. As he droned on, she let her eyes wander around the room. She felt the new feeling of 'disappointment' roll over her as she looked around the room at the few other officers there. Lilian and Will, the only friendly officers, sadly hadn't come with them this time. She wondered where they were and what they were up to since she last saw. If they were here at least, there would be one smiling face and one face trying not to smile.

Another feeling came over her and her eyebrow furrowed at the idea of it. She had felt it before in small portions but never for too long, and when she did, it was only because her mom wasn't around. Even so, her mother was always just down the hall or the stairs. She didn't even know that she could 'miss' people until this point. She rubbed her eyes to try and stay awake, that's all. Not because she suddenly felt like crying. No, she was just tired, and not missing them.

She crossed her arms and sat up straighter. No way in heck was she going to cry in front of these Skyway jerks. She noticed that as she had sat up, so had the other cadets. The ones who sat nearby and were watching her tensed up, and she could feel all of their eyes on her. Her mom and the loud officer were still talking and paying no mind to anything else, but oh did she notice it.

She leaned back in her chair and pretended not to pay attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the guy relax a little. After a minute, she sat up straight and watched him tense up at her moving. She repeated this for a few more times, sitting back for him to relax and sitting up directly to watch him tense up. She would've laughed at how much his expressions shifted back and forth, but something kept her from it.

That something it seemed was his hand, his right hand that hung by his side. What made it catch her attention was where that hand fell and what was close to. She was betting that no one else in that room had noticed it. Heck, she didn't even think he noticed that he was doing it. But when he tensed up his finger would twitch, not all of his fingers, just one particular one. His hand fell beside his belt, where a gun holster was clipped on with the weapon inside, and the finger that twitched was his trigger finger.

XJ9 had to keep her arm from shifting into a blaster at the realization. Her trigger finger started to twitch, and she quickly held her hands together to keep it from doing so. Her brain was running to connect the dots and racing through code, and for some reason, red lines of code made her trigger finger twitch more. All she could figure out was when it all stopped; the actions had flashed THREAT LEVEL: LOW -keep an eye on. Threat level? Why was the man a threat? He wasn't doing anything.

Still, his trigger finger twitched, and so did hers. What was going on in her head? She rubbed it to distract herself from it all. Now more than ever did want to shoot down targets, and she let out a little grumble. She could feel her mother's eyes on her then, so she stopped looking at the man and shot her mom a smile. The woman seemed to study her for a second before nodding the XJ9 and going back to listening to whatever else the officer was saying.

She leaned back into the couch and let a breath of air that she didn't need. She could feel his eye glaring into her head. She didn't understand this; really, she didn't. There weren't any targets up or around, so what was the man planning on shooting? Something in her guts started to sink, and suddenly she was feeling something entirely new. Her hands suddenly felt cold and clammy like when she had held those popsicles until they melted. Her eyes twitched around a little as she watched the man out of the corner of her eyes.

XJ9 didn't notice it, but she had started tapping her foot as nervous energy flowed through her. She had felt something similar to this when she lost her duck under the bed, but this was different. Every bit of her screamed at her to move. Her eyes zoomed in on the cadet's hand. His finger was no longer flinching because it was now on the trigger. His intense stare bore into her. Her body felt like it was being wound up too tight, and she was ready to burst.

"XJ9."

Her head cracked over to look at her mom, and a loud cracking sound could be heard. Everyone jumped back at the sudden neck snap, and her head tilted off to the left. Everything in her vision was now titled, and her head started to swing around as it's controlling piece barely kept it attached. She was shaking now horribly. Wakeman, after snapping out of her shock at the break, immediately noticed it.

"Are you okay?"

Her mom slowly moved closer to her on the couch and reached out towards her. A sudden little click though ripped XJ9's eyes away from her mom, and her head spun around to look at the man. He had unfastened his gun from the holster, and his hand was holding it. One quick pull and the weapon would be aimed and ready to shoot. A sudden hand on her shoulder caught her attention. She didn't need to look over to know it was her mom's, and that was good because she didn't bother too.

XJ9 and the cadet locked eyes. His glare grew harsher, but fear flicked in his eyes. He swallowed hard but didn't bend or break away from her eyes. Her mom's hand drifted from her shoulder and moved to rub her back.

"Sir, I suggest you tell your cadet to loosen his grip on his weapon."

The cadet with the weapon replied instead,

"With all due respect Mrs. Wakeman, your robot should be the one to back down."

"Back down from what exactly? Making eye contact with you? Officer, please take your men and leave."

"Mrs. Wakeman, we have yet to discuss-"

"XJ9 requires repair, and considering the tension building in this room involving a weapon, and I highly suggest we continue this another time. Before something happens that we all regret."

"Are you saying your robot would harm us, Mrs. Wakeman."

"My XJ9 isn't a threat to anyone, but if you keep talking, I can guarantee you that I'll have some things to say that'll threaten your career."

XJ9 and the cadet finally broke off their stare off as the rest of the Skyway Patrol cadets started to leave the house. She didn't move from her spot on the couch as she watched her mom show the men out. After the door closed and the only sound of feet left in the room where her mom's, she leaned back into the couch and closed her eyes. Only then did she realize how tense she was, and her whole body hurt. A few little tears streamed down her face, and a second later, a hand was on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and felt some tears fall as she stared at the lady.

"Common, let's get you fixed up."

Author's Note- Things have been busy as heck, so sorry that it took me a while to get this chapter out. With the hurricane about to hit my area to things have been tense and crazy. So I wrote a tense chapter. Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.