Disclaimer – Still own nothing.

AN – So this chapter and last chapter were originally only one chapter, but I had to split it otherwise it would've been too long. So here is chapter 11, where you will get some more answers. Please review and

Enjoy!

It was over an hour before Tom, Ben, and Matt came back. Anne was waiting for them, sitting in one of the chairs in the hallway

"How did it go?" She asked when she saw them approach.

"Good, though we lost three people, and another five were injured. How did it go here? Where's Hal and Maggie?" Tom wondered.

"Hal and Maggie went to their room. Come on, I have to show what I found." Anne told the family and went back into the x-ray room with Tom, Ben, and Matt behind her.

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"They cut into his skull, into his brain?" Tom asked with complete shock and disbelief looking at Anne. Ben and Matt stared at the scan on the board, horror filled expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, I'm still not exactly sure what they did though. All I can really tell is that this part of his brain appears to be far more active than it should be, this one looks as though there's a different chemical or something in it, and I have no idea what is going on in this section." Anne told them while pointing to different parts of the scan.

"And there's something else. Hal told me that he remembers them making this incision four times, not three." Anne added as she turned to face them.

"What does that mean?" Ben asked.

"It means, that they never finished whatever they were trying to do." Anne explained.

"So, Karen's going to come after him again." Tom concluded.

"I'd say that's a safe bet." Anne agreed. Tom was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. It opened, revealing Lourdes on the other side.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Deni's here. She says that the rebel skitter leader wants to talk to Tom and Ben." The young doctor informed them.

"Ben, you go with Deni, tell her and the rebel leader I'll be right there. I'm just gonna check on Hal first." Tom told his middle son. Ben nodded and followed Lourdes out of the room, while Tom turned to his youngest boy.

"Matt, why don't you go find Lexi? Jeanne's been looking after her all day." Tom suggested, but Matt had a different idea.

"But I want to see Hal." He protested.

"Matt, please." Tom asked again. Matt looked as though he wanted to argue, but ultimately nodded, and left the room.

"So, there's nothing we can do about this, is there? We can't fix or reverse this." Tom asked, though he knew the answer.

"No, it's a human brain. Even before the invasion, our information on the brain was very limited, and doing any sort of operation on it was very risky. We can't reverse it. The best we can do, is find out what he can apparently do now, and try to control it." Anne confirmed. Tom nodded, then headed to the door when Anne called out.

"Tom? I know you're freaked out, and beyond ticked off about what Karen did, but Hal is feeling the same thing, times ten. He needs his family to be there for him more than he needs someone to go on a vengeance trip." Anne told him, knowing how much Tom wanted Karen to pay for everything she had done. Tom didn't say anything, and continued out of the room.

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Maggie sat on the bed beside Hal. He was lying on his back, head by her leg, as she ran her fingers through his hair. He hadn't said a word since they entered the room almost two hours ago. He just laid down and closed his eyes, though she knew he wasn't sleeping. He kept opening his eyes to look at her, as though he was trying to make sure this was all real. She couldn't imagine what he kept seeing behind his closed eyelids.

Then, she noticed that he was staring to shake, but no tears slipped through his eyelids. He was trying to hold it in, though was failing. It was then that she started running her through his hair, pushing it away from his face. She wanted him to know that she was there, that he was safe. Slowly, he seemed to calm down, but not enough to go to sleep.

A knock on the door caused Hal to open his eyes. His brown irises found hers, then went to the door. Neither Hal or Maggie had time to do or say anything before it opened slowly and Tom Mason peaked inside.

"It's okay. You stay here." Maggie told the young man before she got up from the bed and headed to the door, closing it behind her.

"How is he?" Tom asked.

"Well, after Anne told us what she found, he ran to the nearest washroom and threw up. Since then, he's barely said a word. He's pretty freaked out." Maggie informed the father, "Though he was curious if you needed to do more tests."

"Not at the moment. Anne told me that Hal said he remembers that they cut into him four times?" Tom confirmed.

"Yeah. He said that it was just after the fourth time did he escape. They never finished. The minute Karen realizes he's here, she's going to try and take him again, isn't she?" Tom nodded.

"I'm starting to wonder if she already knows. Two skitter attacks in less than 24 hours, that's never happened before." Tom revealed.

"We have to kill her. She needs to pay for what she's done, and it's the only way to keep Hal safe." Maggie decided.

"I agree. Keep an eye on him, will you? I had Matt go take care of Lexi, and I have to go with Ben and Deni. The rebel leader wants to talk to us, so Hal shouldn't have to deal with anyone smothering him." Tom told the soldier.

"Rebel skitter wants to talk about what happened last night?" Maggie wondered.

"That would be my guess. I'll come by later." Maggie nodded and watched Tom head down the hallway and turn the corner before she went back into the bedroom.

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Hal couldn't really hear what his father and Maggie were saying, but he had a pretty good idea. Shifting over to his side, with his back to the door, he closed his eyes. His entire body was exhausted. It was as though it settled deep into his bones, yet he couldn't sleep. His mind wouldn't stop racing.

Soon enough, he heard the door open again, and light footsteps coming over to the bed. Maggie's footsteps. The end of the mattress dipped as she sat down on the edge before moving to sit right behind him. Then he felt her hand on his arm.

"You still awake?" Maggie asked, her voice quiet as she didn't want to wake him if he was. Slowly, Hal nodded.

"My brain doesn't seem to have an off switch." Hal said.

"I could go see if Anne has something to help you sleep." The blonde suggested, and instantly Hal shook his head.

"No. No drugs." Hal responded.

"Hal, please, tell me what happened. Let me help you." Maggie pleaded. Hal turned to lie on his back again, and looked up at her. After several minutes, he opened his mouth.

"Once I walked onto the ship, Karen led me to this room and locked me inside. I could feel the ship take off. I don't know how long I was there until she came back. She told me to follow her, but I told her that I wanted answers first. She said that she'll tell me everything I need to know if I went with her, so I did. We ended up on another side of the ship, the only part that seemed to have a window. We were in space. She said that she wanted the war to end as much as we did, and that there was a way to do it. We humans just had to surrender and the Overlords wouldn't kill us." Hal revealed.

"If she thought we would just surrender and live as their slaves, she's insane." Maggie commented.

"And I told her as such. She said the only other option was to fight and die for nothing, because we were going to lose. I then said that we would rather die than live like that. She told me she wanted me to help her get the humans on her side. I told her there was no way. After I said that, she walked towards me and said she was sorry, and before I could figure out what she meant, she stabbed a needle, into my neck." Once Hal finished, he looked down, away from Maggie's eyes.

"Then what happened?" Maggie questioned, moving her hand to push back his dark hair. Hal didn't say anything, and he didn't look back up at her. Slowly, she lowered her hand so her palm was resting on his cheek.

"Hal?"

"I went with her, on my own free will. But, that didn't mean she had the right to," Hal broke off, feeling his throat catch.

"No, Karen didn't have any right to do this to you. You only went with her to save Anne and Lexi." Maggie pointed out.

"And she knew I would. She had this planned, and knew exactly what I would do, how I would respond. It was like, I didn't even have a choice. I had to save Anne and Lexi, and while I did, I ended up being a subject to Karen. There never was a choice, no decision, and Karen knew that." Hal said miserably.

"Hal, baby, look at me." Maggie said. Slowly, his brown eyes met hers.

"I know, what it's like, to not have a choice. It feels like you have no control, like you're nothing more than a puppet. But trust me when I say this, we will get payback. She is not going to get away with this." Maggie told him, her voice left little room for argument.

"What if she goes after you? Or Matt, Ben, Dad? I can't let anything happen to you." Hal responded.

"Nothing is going to happen to us, or you, because she's not going to get that far. We'll stop her. As a team, remember?" Hal gave her a small smile hearing those words, which Maggie returned and he nodded, though she could see he was still struggling with all he learned.

"Tell me how I can help." Maggie wanted to know. Hal lifted his head and kissed her. As he pulled away, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Lie here with me?" Hal asked, as Maggie placed her head on his chest, and wrapped her arms around him.

"Anytime."

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Tom entered the boardroom to see the rebel leader standing beside Deni, while Ben stood in front of them. Ben looked over to the door when he heard it open.

"How's Hal?" He asked as Tom came to stand beside him.

"Still trying to figure that out. Rebel Leader, what can I do for you?" Tom wondered, looking at the skitter.

"Actually, I am here to help you." The skitter responded, using Deni to talk instead of Ben, "Last night, your eldest son killed many Espheni and almost killed one of ours."

"Yes, and I apologize for that. As you well know, he was held captive by Karen for five months, and we are still trying to find out what she did to him." Tom told the alien.

"We already know." Deni's voice answered.

"Wait, what?" Ben questioned, confusion on both his and Tom's face.

"The skitter told me he felt another presence inside his mind, and realized it was your son, Hal. It was very subtle, but when he determined what was happening, he opened his mind up to your son to show that he was not a threat, and your son stopped. It has not been the first time that something like this has happened. I noticed it myself a few times when I came to talk to you about destroying the new Espheni army they were planning to unleash on Charleston. I merely thought though that is was either Deni or Ben." The rebel leader explained.

"Your saying, that Karen cut into my son's brain, and changed it so he could enter into the Espheni's mind?" Tom tried to understand.

"The simple act of doing such a surgery would only be part of it, but yes. And if what you said is true, that he was not aware of what he was doing, that he was doing it subconsciously, then he is very powerful. And I highly doubt that the Overlord Karen meant to do that." The skitter informed him.

"Is that going to make him more of a target?" Ben asked, now terrified for his older brother's safety. He remembered when the Overlords were coming after him, and did not want Hal to go through that either.

"Yes, but most likely not in the way you are thinking." The skitter answered. The alien took Tom and Ben's silence as the waiting for him to explain, so he did.

"While the Overlord Karen might have had a plan, a reason to do such a thing, if Hal is able to enter an Espheni's mind the way he has without knowing it, then he would have no problem entering an Overlord's mind as well. He would be able to do it with far more ease than your other son has, and the Overlords will fear this. If Karen is not able to finish her plan,"

"They'll try to kill Hal." Tom finished the sentence.

"Yes. They will."