Dwayne sat uncomfortably in his chair as he looked over the Big Guy. Jo, Mack and Garth were all working on repairing the robot and Dwayne wished he could. But he obviously couldn't because of his broken leg. Jo stopped working and carefully stepped up to him, seeing how upset he was in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it Dwayne. It's not your fault nor hers. If Tera did anything, she ended up saving your life," Jo told him.

"I've already told you that I'm not blaming her for this. I never will. I just wish that things could have turned out differently. That's all," Dwayne replied.

"And so you've told me that several times but I wish you could tell me what she told you," Jo said.

"She trusted me enough to tell me what happened to her and that's where I'm going to leave it at that for now," Dwayne explained.

"Why? Don't you trust us?" Jo smirked

"I do trust you. I wouldn't be here, being Big Guy's pilot if I didn't," Dwayne smirked.

"I know exactly where you'd be," Mack called over to them.

"Oh really Mack? Where would I be?" Dwayne wanted to know.

"In the circus and they'd introduce you as a joker," Mack replied. "A joker in the sense that everyone thought the Big Guy was a real robot and you helped fool them for years. Everyone would think the Big Guy was a joke and that you fooled them for so long."

Dwayne gave a disbelievng look at the older mechanic before a laugh began to escape his lips. The lieutenant couldn't help but laugh at the statement.

"I doubt that," Dwayne told him.

"You never know Lieutenant," Mack simply replied.

Jo had to give a smile at that. She gave a look up at the Big Guy. The holes that were in the hull was completely repaired as were the systems right behind them. All that needed to be done now was a few minor adjustments to the inner mechanisms.

"Now that you're out of commision for a few weeks Lieutenant, things should get interesting around here," Garth told him.

"Now why would you say that?" asked Dwayne, raising an eyebrow.

"I get to pilot the Big Guy until you're better and you have to be on the sidelines. Can't imagine what you're going to start telling me," Garth replied.

"Garth, you do know how to pilot him. There's nothing I need to tell you about how to handle him. I can't believe that you would think something like that," Dwayne said.

Garth quietly laughed as he shook his head before aiming his wrench in the chief mechanic's direction.

"And I can't believe that you would think something like that," Garth told him.

Dwayne shook his head as he and the others began to hear footsteps heading towards them. They turned to see General Thorton walking towards them.

"So are things coming along with the Big Guy. Is he close to being repaired yet?" the general wanted to know.

"He almost is. Just a few more adjustments and he should be ready to hit the skies again," Jo told him.

"Good. Once you're done, I want the four of you to take the next few days off. You've earned it," the general told them.

Dwayne had to give a small snicker and Thorton noticed this reaction.

"What's so funny Lieutenant?" he asked.

"Nothing, General. Don't want to state the obvious that I'll be out of commision for the next few weeks because of my broken leg," replied the lieutenant.

"You'd still be around to keep an eye on things, I assure you. Just because you're not going to be piloting the Big Guy doesn't mean you can't help," Thorton told him.

The four watched the general leave the room. Mack soon crossed his arms as he turned his attention to the others

"Personally, I think this Hapar fellow has gone out of his way to make our lives miserable. After all, he was the one to break the lieutenant's leg in the first place," Mack snorted.

"Don't worry about it Mack. We need the rest anyway and so does the Big Guy believe it or not. He's been through a lot lately, as have I," Dwayne replied.

His attention remained in the direction the general disappeared into as Jo and Garth nodded in agreement. Garth soon rapped his knuckles on the Big Guy's outer

"Biggest difference is that this guy can be healed faster," Garth put in.

"Yeah. Now that we've got some time on our hands, what else could go wrong?" wondered Mack.

"I hope nothing," Dwayne replied. "But one can never tell. At least not lately. Hapar's been attacking a lot lately. He really wants to get a hold of this planet and Tera."

Jo narrowed her eyes at the lieutenant. The possibilities swirled through her mind as to what they talked about during his time with her.

'Whyis he protecting her so? What is it that he won't tell us? Even better, why is she so scared of us and not Dwayne?' she wondered before they headed out.

00000

"Hey Czarina! Never thought you'd be here," Jo called out.

She waved her hand towards the brunette, who smiled back at her.

"Jo, you should know that we used to hang out here. You still did after all these years," Czarina replied.

Garth and Mack both followed her in and they sat down at the table. Czarina gasped, standing up as she saw Dwayne hobbling in on crutches.

"Lieutenant Hunter, what happened? Here, let me help you," she told him.

She got out of her chair and offered it to Dwayne, who slowly accepted it. He watched as Czarina grabbed another chair and sat down beside him, a concerned look sitting upon her face.

"Care to talk about it?" she asked.

"Well..." started the lieutenant, diverting his eyes away from her.

"Lieutenant Hunter was involved with a training exercise recently. Some of the equipment was faulty and broke, causing the lieutenant to fall and break his leg," Jo broke in.

"That sounds awful. Hope it gets better soon," she told them.

"Not for several more weeks unfortunately," Dwayne told her.

"If you need any help with anything, please let me know," Czarina smiled.

Dwayne couldn't help but give a smile back at her. He turned his face away, not showing the slight confusion on his face.

'What is this feeling I'm getting from her? It's as if I should know her more than what I do,' he thought to himself.

He shook off the feeling as he faced the others again.

"IS everything okay Dwayne? You seemed distant there for a minute" wondered Garth.

"No, there's nothing wrong," lied Dwayne.

But the group could tell something was on his mind, despite his attempts to hide it. Jo swallowed hard, knowing it had to deal with Tera and it worried her greatly.

00000

Doctor Slate walked down the hallway, with Rusty following close behind her.

"Is Lieutenant Dwayne going to be alright?" Rusty asked yet again.

"Yes, he is. He needs some time to rest. I've already told you many times that humans can't be fixed the same way as robots can. They need time to heal," Slate replied.

They continued to walk down the hallway until Slate heard something and stopped. She looked from side to side, wondering what could be causing it. Rusty heard it as well and was curious on what it could be. Slate couldn't help but give a scream as the wall burst into many tiny pieces , causing her to fall to the floor. Her eyes widened as Hapar walked through the wall and hovered above her.

"You! You are one of the two robots that defend this planet! Tell me where your friends is!" demanded the alien.

"Why? So you can go and destroy him? Never!" cried Rusty.

He lunged towards the alien, who managed to step out of the way. No matter how fast Rusty went, Hapar moved more quickly and he caught the boy robot by the foot.

"Hey! No fair! The Big Guy and I will defeat you! You will not take control over her or take over this planet!" protested Rusty.

Hapar looked over the small robot and something triggered an old memory.

'Where have I seen him before? He seems familiar! Why is that?' he thought to himself. 'It couldn't be that, could it?'

Slate noticed the look of realization on the alien's face as his stare twirled from the boy robot to the doctor and back again.

"It can't be that! It couldn't possibly be that! I'm letting my imagination run wild!" Hapar suddenly cried out. "And it's a good thing that I can easily figure out how machines work."

He pulled out a rod from behind his wing and pressed it against Rusty's chest, causing an electrical charge to go through the robot. Rusty's eyes became blank and his body began to fall to the ground.

"Rusty!" Slate cried out, heading towards them.

Hapar grabbed and threw the robot to one side before grabbing Slate by the arm.

"I think you're going to be joining me on a little trip," he smiled at her.

00000

The group began to laugh at the stories Jo and Czarina were remembering from school.

"It was crazy. So crazy it's not even funny," Czarina replied.

"Sounds like you the two of you were terrorizers back in school," Dwayne said.

"So what? So are a lot of other people," Mack grunted.

"So are a lot of other people, yes, but each group or individuals are different. We happened to take a different approach than most people," Jo protested.

"Whatever," Mack said in a huff.

Dwayne shook his head with a laugh before looking out the window to see a commotion outside. People were running away from something in the distance.

"Look out! It's a giant bug!" someone cried.

The bug turned around to see where the voice came from and snarled. He lifted up a weapon and it appeared he was about to fire. The group of five were surprised and Czarina seemed to be in a trance.

"Is that who I think it is?" Garth wondered.

"It is him. He's back looking for Tera," Dwayne quietly said.

"Oh crap!" cried Mack. "The alien's aimed right for here!"

Jo, Mack, Garth and Czarina all climbed to their feet and headed for cover. Czarina stopped at the last second for she realized about the lieutenant and remembered that he could not move fast as he normally would. With that, she turned back towards the direction of the lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Hunter!" she cried out.

She saw that he was hobbling to get away from the window as quickly as possible but he wasn't fast enough to get away. She lunged for him just as Hapar fired his energy weapon at the window.

TBC...