My name is Jake. I can't tell you my last name or where I live, because of the Yeerks. With the exception of a few of them, they're pretty much set on taking over our planet. Not by killing us. They want to make us their slaves. Crawl inside our ears, into our brains. Take over our bodies. Our minds. Once they've done that, you don't know who is a Controller (someone being controlled by a Yeerk) or who's a normal person.

I'd been infested before. Once. It had been for three days, maybe six months after we'd begun to fight the Yeerks. During a battle at this new hospital clinic, where Yeerks planned to infest patients against their will, we were boiling up the pool with the Yeerks inside, and we must have been loud enough to attract the attention of Controllers. Maybe, when the water became boiling, some signal got released, alerting the other Controllers. Whatever it was, it sent Controllers in, dracon beams in hand. During the fight, I was shot at a couple of times. I ended up falling into the Yeerk pool.

One of the dying Yeerks reached my ear. Crawled inside. Invaded my brain, took over my body.

That Yeerk had been Temrash 114. Tom's first Yeerk.

He'd been assigned to the governor, who'd been scheduled to go to the clinic for minor surgery. The most important host body on the planet. The beginning of their intended ascent into politics.

That would have been bad, but Temrash going to Visser Three as me would have been far worse. Because, as the morph capable leader of the only known resistance movement on Earth, Visser Three and Temrash would have destroyed us. Infested my friends, probably, or killed them. Until the Andalites returned, there'd be no more hope.

Fortunately, my friends figured out that I'd been infested. They starved Temrash out of my head. Our secret remained safe.

A year later, to pretty much everyone's horror, Cassie befriended a civilian Yeerk, Aftran 942. She convinced Aftran to free her child host and fight for peace. It ended up okay, even back then. Turns out, there were Yeerks who opposed using humans-and other aliens- like meat, and Aftran was going to join them.

Months later, Cassie got word that she'd been kidnapped by Visser Three. Found out. Saved her.

Since Aftran was now on our side, we figured if we could replace Tom's Yeerk with her, we'd be killing two birds with one stone. If-of course-Tom agreed.

It ended up being one of the best decisions we could have made. Because Tom, mentally, sustained a lot of damage from his two previous Yeerks. Even if he went to live with the free Hork-Bajir, I wasn't sure he would get much better. For us, for him, Aftran was the best option. Of course, it was his choice to make. Looking at him now, seeing him improve with Aftran there, I knew it was the right one. I could see that, when we were in private, he didn't look so haunted. Also, his motions had been sort of stiff at first, like he was having trouble with balance-or thought that he would. Now, he didn't seem to think about it. We joked around with each other, too. Like I said, he looked a lot better than that first night, and I knew that even though time had played a role, so did Aftran.

I might not have trusted her when Cassie met her, but I could see that she was on our side, now.

At any rate, he clearly liked her being there, and she wasn't hurting him, so that was good enough for me.

Honestly, a year ago, it was more than I could have hoped for, as long as Tom remained infested.

Now, he wasn't so much a slave as part of a Yeerk symbiotic partnership. At least, that's what some of them called themselves. He liked Aftran's companionship, I guessed.

We'd needed to leave Aftran with Cassie during the four days we were at Grandpa G's funeral. I could tell that this had been rough on Tom. He hadn't complained about it, even though I would have understood. Well, tried to understand. He mostly managed to get through it without acting too out of character, but I'd kept a close eye on him, and there were times when he'd stare off into space for periods of time, or he'd be slow to respond if someone asked him a question. Like he had been unsure of what to say or do, and wanted Aftran to either take control or tell him what to say. To be honest, though, I think I was the only one who noticed. We had been at a funeral, after all. Grief made people act in strange ways. If Mom or Dad noticed that anything was off, they didn't say anything to him, or to me. In the end, we'd made it through the weekend, and Tom was more than happy to have Aftran back in his head.

Thing was, over the weekend, I'd been dealing with another issue. Even though Tom had been infested/partnered with Aftran for over two months at this point, I hadn't exactly managed to work it into the conversation that I'd been a Controller for three days.

It felt like a lie to keep this information from him. At the same time, was there ever a good time to tell your big brother this? That not only had you been infested, but it had been with his first Yeerk?

I ended up asking Aftran for help. Well, kind of. After we'd collected her from Cassie, I could tell that Tom had been exhausted, and when I spoke, after he'd started the car, I'd guessed right away that I was talking to Aftran.

I'd hated the idea of talking to Aftran behind Tom's back, so to speak, but I hadn't thought I'd get another opportunity to talk to just her. Certainly, not any time soon, and my question was kind of pressing.

Especially since she knew what I was going to tell Tom, from Cassie, and I was sure that she hadn't told him.

"Hey...Aftran?"

"Yes, Jake?"

Her voice sounded like Tom's, even now. Still. The inflection was a little different. I watched as she took her eyes off the road, just for a second, to watch me.

I hesitated, just for a minute. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Aftran answered, with a smile.

"And, Cassie's okay, too?" I confirmed. Even though I still didn't get the whole sharing a Yeerk agreement she and Tom had, I wasn't about to argue about it. Especially since it meant that Aftran actually had a willing host for the four days we'd been away. Better than swimming around aimlessly.

"Yes," Aftran reassured me. "She's fine. She's very strong, Jake."

I managed a smile. Then, figuring I might not get another chance to talk to her about it, I plunged on ahead.

"I-I want to talk to him about something. Not now. You already know, though." I suddenly had to look away. I didn't want either of them to see my face.

"I do?" she asked, clearly confused.

She didn't know, but she might have been able to guess. Sighing, a little, I explained.

"About what happened to Temrash."

I turned back to her. She was nodding, taking my hand. I didn't stop her-didn't want to.

"If I can make a suggestion..." she offered, after a minute.

"Sure. Go ahead," I told her, nodding.

"Wait a few days."

I wasn't surprised to hear this, really. I hadn't wanted to tell Tom tonight, at any rate. Still. I wanted clarification.

"How long?" I pressed.

"That's up to you, Jake. Tomorrow, perhaps?" Aftran suggested. "Or the day after. Not Friday. I assume you want me there?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "I do."

She'd provide Tom with the support I was sure he'd need, upon hearing this.

Then, she spoke up again. "I could tell him, Jake. If you'd prefer."

While tempting, I knew I'd come off like a coward. If only to myself.

"No," I insisted. "Thanks, Aftran, really. But, no."

"All right," she answered.

That had been the end of the conversation. She hadn't told me much, but then again, I hadn't exactly asked for much in the way of advice. Just to wait a day or two. Of course, that made the next day seem unending. By the time school ended, I figured I couldn't wait much longer before going crazy.

Tom didn't react, at first. I wasn't sure if he was having trouble processing what I had just told him, or if he was trying to restrain himself from...or, if Aftran had needed to take over, and was talking him down. I just sat there, studying my other brother. He took a couple of deep breaths, then pulled me into a hug.

That was good. I'd needed that. I hugged him back. But then, he was squeezing me way too tightly, and even though I understood why, and wanted to let him hold me, I also needed air. Badly. I tried to move out of his grip, just enough to get him to loosen his hold around me.

Immediately, he let go.

"I'm sorry!" he blurted out, looking pained.

As for me? I felt awful. Like I was rejecting Tom's attempt to help me. When, really, I probably had never needed him more.

"Hey, no problem...it was just-I was having trouble breathing."

It would have been a half decent joke, except for the fact that it had been true.

I studied the couch cushion I was sitting on. Waited for Tom to say...something.

"Yeah," he acknowledged. Then, he added, "I'm sorry, Jake."

I just kind of shrugged, then moved myself a little closer to Tom. He sort of smiled at me, then, tentatively, wrapped an arm around my back. It was almost as good as a hug, and didn't have the danger of getting too tight to breathe. Relieved, and maybe a little tired, I sort of curled up against Tom.

"Guess this is better?" he teased me.

"Yeah," I assured Tom, managing a smile.

We just sat there for a little. A huge weight felt like it had been removed from me. Almost as big as freeing Tom had been. It was okay, now. We didn't have any more secrets. I'd never thought keeping this from my older brother would have been so hard, especially after living the last two years knowing that a parasitic alien was inside his head, and I had to live a lie, pretending everything was normal. It was okay, now. Well, things would be okay.

Tom was the first to speak. I would have been content staying on the couch for awhile longer, just being next to him.

I mean, we didn't have to talk about it. I wanted Tom to know, but if he couldn't talk about it yet, if he needed to process it with Aftran there, I could hardly blame him. What I'd told him-it had to be a major bombshell. Besides, I didn't want to force him to talk about it. Not before Tom was ready. If he'd ever be ready. As the silence dragged on, I'd done a pretty good job of convincing myself that this was fine. We wouldn't talk right now.

It was a lie. I was really relieved-but a little scared-when Tom spoke up.

"Jake, do you-want to talk about it? It's okay-either way."

His voice was a lot more gentle than normal. Not that Tom spoke harshly towards me, or anything. Before the Yeerks, we'd been way closer than most brothers. But now? Now, it felt almost like I was a little kid again, and had just woken up from this horrible nightmare, and my big brother was telling me that I could tell him about the dream, if I wanted to, but he understood if it was too scary to relive.

It felt like that. A little. Mostly, like I was the little brother, a kid, and he was the big brother protector.

It wasn't. Not entirely. But...it felt like it. Like Tom could make everything better, just by being there. By listening.

I hesitated. I wanted to talk, to tell Tom everything. At the same time, even with Aftran there, would it give him flashbacks? Nightmares? His second Yeerk had been worse than his first-I knew that much-but firsthand experience with Temrash had been awful. And I'd only had him for three days.

"Y-yeah," I managed, nodding. "If..."

I left the rest unsaid.

"If?" Tom prodded.

"If it won't hurt you to hear about it," I spelled out. "I mean, you know, flashbacks, and stuff."

That weight that had been lifted from me? It was back.

Tom just stared at me for a few seconds, and, suddenly, I couldn't help it. I knew that if I spoke again, I wouldn't be able to stop the tears. I swallowed, hard. Maybe, he sensed this, because he gave my shoulder a light squeeze.

"Midget." Tom spoke gently again, but I could also hear the certainty in his voice. "I can handle whatever you want to tell me. Besides, I have help. Which is why you waited, if I recall correctly."

He pointed to his head then, and I managed to smile. I realized that his other one was still wrapped around my back, and I was suddenly afraid that he would let go. I leaned against him, reassured by Tom's solid presence.

I began to tell him everything.

"So we were at the clinic, during the battle with the Controllers-I fell into the pool," I started, since he already knew about the clinic. "I think I was only half conscious. I don't remember him crawling into my ear, but there was definitely a pain in my head. For awhile, I think, I could still move. Still talk. But I heard his voice in my head, and it took me awhile to figure it out. Too long. He'd taken control by the time I'd known what had happened. Actually." Here, I turned to watch Tom, and couldn't avoid flinching when I admitted, "He told me what had happened."

"Jake, you couldn't have known," Tom murmured.

I sort of nodded, studying him as I spoke. Not wanting to hurt him. "I mean, Tom, it happened so quickly," I tried to explain, as though he'd blamed me for not realizing sooner.

I'd done that, more than once. Everything had more or less worked out, but what if it hadn't? I should have known better. I could have yelled out a warning before the slug had finishing seizing control. "Before I knew it, I couldn't do anything. Not move, not even blink. And his voice..." I stopped, just for a second. Then, rushed on. "He told me that he'd been your Yeerk. At first, I thought that meant you were free. But, then, he told me that you had been reassigned to another Yeerk."

Tom kind of sighed, then squeezed my shoulders again.

"So, um, how'd your friends figure it out?" he prodded, but gently.

"It was Ax," I explained, looking up at Tom, even managing to smile at the memory. "Somehow, he knew. And Temrash's reaction when he saw him-it was total hate. So, the others decided to keep me tied up until the Yeerk starved."

"That can't have been easy, since you could morph," Tom considered. "Not like when you rescued me, Midget."

I laughed, a little, at that. "Well, yeah. He morphed several times, but they always managed to stop him."

"What about Erek, or the other Chee? Did they try that, to lure him out?" Tom wondered.

I just shook his head. "That was a few months before we knew about the Chee. So, it was either escape or die, and they couldn't let Temrash escape."

Would Tom blame me for this? Call me a murderer? Yeerks were sentient, after all. Still. Temrash escaping would have meant the end of hope for everyone.

Tom looked...concerned. "Did he leave your head before he starved to death?"

"No." I shrugged again. "It's weird. I don't know why he didn't leave when he knew he was going to die. Maybe, he didn't have the strength to leave my head. Maybe, he thought that I'd suffer with him, and he wanted me to." Realizing what I'd just said, I quickly amended, "I didn't. Suffer, I mean. I was aware of his pain, but it was more like watching something on TV, or seeing someone dying of thirst, but you didn't know them, and you were too far away to help. The fugue didn't really affect me."

"Good." Tom's features seemed to relax.

I waited for him to say something else. To ask me questions. I didn't want to-I didn't want to make myself relive something that he hadn't thought to wonder about. To hurt him more.

The next question came fairly quickly. Like Tom had been thinking about this ever since I'd told him I'd been infested by Temrash.

"Jake, did he hurt you much?"

I wanted to say yes. That it had been three days of mental torture. While it had felt like that at the time, looking back, Temrash had been cruel, but he'd been fairly...controlled. Sure, he'd been a total jerk to me, but I was pretty sure, based on the memory he'd shown me of Tom, that the treatment he'd given me was probably gentle next to how he'd treated Tom.

Still, I wanted my answer to be honest. "Not a ton, at first. He gloated, mostly. Fantasied a lot about bringing my friends back to Visser Three, and how he'd be promoted."

Tom made a snorting sound. "Typical empire slug."

I had to look away from Tom when I told him the next part. "But, when I mocked him for that, he played one of my old fantasies. From before the war began."

"I'm sorry."

I looked up at Tom again. He seemed to understand.

"You don't have to tell me," he reassured me. "If you don't want to."

"No," I decided. "Like I said, it was stupid. I-I was older, and won a basketball game on a professional level. You and everyone else there congratulated me."

I kind of mumbled the last part. Hoped Tom wouldn't laugh. Or look at me with pity. Or, worse, point out that a Yeerk could do a lot worse to your mind than just that.

He didn't do any of that. "That's nothing compared to the honors you'll receive once you defeat the empire, Jake."

I had to roll my eyes at him. "Right."

"So, um, when'd he tell you that I was his host before you?" Tom urged, gently.

I sort of sighed. "Actually, that was pretty much the first thing he told me."

Tom studied me. "And did-did Temrash talk much about me?"

It took a lot not to turn away from Tom. I could lie, sure, but what good would that do? I'd never lied to Tom before. Not the real Tom, anyway. I wasn't about to start.

"Not a lot, but yeah. He showed me a conversation that he had with me, but from your side, Tom. I saw how broken you were. You kept beginning him to stop trying to get me to join The Sharing. You promised to stop fighting if he'd leave me alone." I paused, just for a second. "He told me that it was always like that. The host tries to fight, but they eventually give up and become broken."

Tom looked conflicted. Maybe even ashamed. I felt like I had to say something. "I don't blame you, Tom. I would have, too. If it had gone on as long as it had for you. Especially if he'd gotten Cassie and Marco and Rachel and Ax captured."

"I know," he sighed. "I hate that you had to see that, Midget

I just hugged him. "You're free, now, Tom."

He grinned. "Thanks to you, Midget."

I wanted to change the subject. Well, kind of.

"When he was dying," I began, "some of his memories got transferred to me. I saw all of his hosts."

Tom sort of perked up. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "A Gedd, then, there was a Hork-Bajir, who fought him every day. And you." I stopped, just for a minute, before adding, "And I saw why you joined The Sharing, and how you got taken. How hard you fought, Tom, even as they dragged you to the Yeerk Pool."

Tom gave me a sardonic smile. An almost Marco smile. "Didn't do me much good. Anyway, at the time, I thought they were going to drown me in that pool. Couldn't imagine that one of those brain slugs was going to take over my body and my life."

I shrugged. "Well, it made me proud. Anyway, you were still fighting when we invaded the Yeerk Pool the first time. How long was that after you were infested?"

Tom chewed on his lower lip, thinking about it. "Maybe, three months?"

"It made me so proud, Tom."

He grinned at me. "It was stupid to go up against Visser Three."

I returned the smile. "Yeah, well. You saved my life, even if you didn't know it was me. We're both alive, thanks to you. And free."

"That's thanks to you, Midget," Tom retorted.

I kind of shrugged. Tentatively, I curled up against Tom, who responded by wrapping both arms around me in a sort of backwards hug. We stayed like that for a good minute before Tom spoke up again.

"Hey, Midget?"

"Yeah, Tom?" I looked up at him. I could hear the smile in his face, and sure enough, when I looked at him, he was grinning.

"By any chance, did Ax get stuck with the role of morphing you and pretending to be you while you were...you know?"

I had to smile. "Yeah. Tobias was still a nothlit, then, and neither of the others could morph me for that long, since they had their own families. So, it had to be Ax. I heard later that he didn't quite pull it off."

Tom's look at me told me that this might be the underestimation of the century. "Yeah. Still, if he was your only option, I guess you had to do it that way."

Suddenly, there was something I needed to know. Or, I needed Tom to know. "Afterwards, when I knew what had happened to you, I wanted to give you hope, even if we couldn't figure out how to free you."

"That weird sounding message? Don't give up, Tom. Don't ever give up. That was you?" He sounded incredulous.

I nodded. "I morphed, partly, into wolf. Enough to change how my voice sounded. And we kept it short enough so that, according to Ax, it wouldn't be traced," I explained. "Did it-?"

To my relief, Tom nodded. "Yeah, Jake. It helped me."

I was glad. I'd helped Tom. Even before we could free him, I'd given him some hope that, one day, he'd be himself again.

"You ever get nightmares about him?" Tom asked me. "Because I still do."

"Sometimes, yeah. But, mostly, it's the tiger morph dream. You remember? The one I had at the cabin."

Tom nodded. "I remember."

I thought for a minute. "I guess that Aftran helps when you get nightmares?"

"Oh, definitely," he confirmed, even laughing a little. "Aftran's a huge help with that. She talks to me, tells me stories, sometimes plays a good memory to calm me down afterwards. I mean, after getting my consent and all. And, Midget, there are even time when all it takes for me to calm down is to hear her voice. To know that it's not like-before. I know that my nightmares aren't going away anytime soon, but...we have a good system in place for dealing with them."

I nodded. Relieved that Aftran could help him, there, even if the idea of a Yeerk helping felt...alien. Not that I was against that. Whatever helped Tom.

"You know, Midget, you can always wake me up, if you have one and need to talk," he spoke up. "Or, if you just need to talk."

"Really?" I shifted, a little uncomfortably. "I don't want to keep you and Aftran from sleeping." Then, I hesitated. "Does she sleep?"

"Yeah, but way less than I do. Like, a couple of hours every three days. If they can't get it in their host, they get it in the Pool," Tom reassured me. He added, "And I can sleep while she's awake, if necessary, so it's not like either one of us will be sleep deprived if you wake us up in the middle of the night. So, if you have a nightmare, or just can't sleep, and you want to talk, ever, wake me up, okay?"

"Okay."

I probably wouldn't. It felt too childish. Besides, I didn't think Tom would really appreciate me waking him up in the middle of the night, especially since he was still dealing with his own trauma.

Still. I appreciated the offer.

My stomach chose that moment to growl. I was almost glad. Tom grinned at me.

"So, Midget. Ready for pizza?"

"Always." I laughed. "Let's order from that place nearby."

Despite the vague description, he knew exactly what I was talking about. "On it."

We could have driven there. It would have been faster than waiting for a delivery. But, even with the conversation about Temrash more or less resolved, I didn't think either of us wanted to go outside and face the public.

Tom gave my shoulder a final squeeze, then headed to the kitchen. I remained on the couch.

"Fifteen to twenty minutes," he reported. "I got our usual."

I grinned. "Great. I'm starving."

"Same here." Tom wrapped an arm around my shoulders again. "Want to watch TV while we wait?"

"Sure."

Tom channel surfed for a few minutes, but aside from the news, nothing much was on now, so he turned it off.

"Hey, Tom?"

"Yeah, Jake?"

"You and Aftran? Do you talk a lot?"

They must have. But I hadn't given it much thought before now.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it depends on what's normal, especially for Peace Movement Yeerks. Or voluntary hosts." His eyes kind of darkened at that word. "I wouldn't say we talk all the time, but yeah, we probably talk a lot."

"About what?" I pressed. Then, quickly, I added, "I mean, if it's not too personal."

"It's not." His voice became extra gentle, the way it had when he had asked me about my infestation. "Besides, if anyone has the right to know about the personal stuff, it's you, Jake."

I wanted to stop him, to say that I didn't have a "right" to anything, but before I could form the words, Tom was talking again.

"Outside of the whole dealing with the aftermath of being an involuntary host, I guess it's stuff related to trying to live a regular life." Tom kind of shrugged. "We 'talk' in class when things get boring, because, you know, school is pretty boring."

I had to smile at that. "I can see why that part of having a Yeerk in your head wouldn't be too horrible."

"Definitely." Tom smiled back at me. "It's way better than just daydreaming. It's a little like-you know how you and Marco and Cassie and Rachel can only use thought speech when you're in morph?"

I nodded. "It'd come in handy if we could do it without morphing. So, you two just sort of talk about regular stuff when school's going on?"

"Pretty much. Sometimes, we talk about you guys. How you're coping with the war." He paused, maybe talking to Aftran, before telling me, "I mean, she cares about all of you, Jake."

I was sure my eyebrows nearly went off my head in surprise. Sure, Aftran and Cassie were close, and obviously, so were her and Tom. I kind of figured she tolerated the rest of us. Okay, maybe she liked me because I was Tom's kid brother. Still...

"Really?"

"Yeah. I know it may seem weird." Tom squeezed my shoulder again. "But, you know, we're all fighting this war together. You guys are on the front line, but me and Aftran and the other members of the Peace Movement, we're still in the war. We're like the secret spies, scouting out intel to sabotage the Yeerks. Same war, different methods of combat."

I just nodded, trying to process it all.

The doorbell rang, and we got up to pay for the pizza. We ate in silence for awhile and, finally, I told Tom I had homework. I didn't want to leave, but I couldn't put it off forever, and I had a ton that evening.

A/N: In a slight departure in my Alliance series pattern, I'm changing two things in this story.

1. Instead of Tom and Cassie telling their stories, it's Tom and Jake.

2. The stories will be posted separately, but each chapter consists of MOSTLY the same events, just from each character's perspective.

I would suggest that you read the Tom chapter first, and then the Jake chapter.

A thank you to YMP for reading other the first draft, and a huge thanks to Pupuni for reading over both versions, side by side, and commenting not only on the story, but where individual lines vary. Turns out, even when I'm trying very hard to write the same line from both character's perspectives, I still end up making mistakes. This is why we need beta readers!