CHAPTER 19

1st Note: I know, I know I know! It's been over a year and I'm sure you people who are still reading my writing are thinking… "Whatever Happened After the War? What story is that? What the heck is this about?" :D And I feel very hypocritical about the fact that I get mad at people who haven't updated in a week… because I want to read more of their stories! :D So anyway put down your pitchforks and torches and put on your reading glasses. I have several stories in the works besides this one BUT I have like four more chapters written and should be updating again soon.

2nd Note: So I didn't think I would do a mini story because I've been getting some comments about it taking away from the story, but because of popular demand I will do an AnimorphLand short with the next chapter, which I'm already writing.

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BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Jake's head came up at the sound of the buzzer that meant the end of class. His mind came into focus just in time to hear his assignment that was to be due on Monday; it would be a long weekend.

"We will have the final test for this chapter on Monday. The test will cover battle tactics, ship models; their engines and other defining features. We may have, as a special treat, and perhaps some extra credit for you who don't study, a battle simulation. So study over the weekend! I can't stress that enough! Class dismissed."

The room exploded as the college student shoved books, pencils, and laptops into their bags and exited the classroom. As Jake was cleaning up his study books, Brad Kentler stopped and dropped a note on his desk.

Jake,

I'll email you my notes. ;)

-Brad

Jake sighed and finished gathering up everything, dumping it in his book bag. Did everyone know he had dozed? Did Mr. Gorman? Mr. Gorman motioned Jake over to his desk in front of the blackboard filled with the classifications of spaceships. Jake snapped to attention. "You wanted to speak to me, sir?" Mr. Gorman kept his eyes focused on turning off the projector.

"Yes, Berenson, I did. It has to do with attention." Jake refused to blink.

"What does that mean, sir?" He hoped he wouldn't get demerits for sleeping.

"I was looking through your application to our college and in that application you expressed you wish to become a captain in the developing space navy, for lack of a better name so far, America's Star Fleet." He glanced up and looked Jake in the eyes.

"Is that still your goal, Berenson?" Jake glanced around the room, he was alone, and was therefore going to be home late, certainly without enough time to get some school done before he got dressed for dinner with Cassie, Rachel and Tobias.

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Gorman smiled and leaned closer to Jake, "Then my next question is, do you have someone that you can borrow notes from?" The twinkle in his teacher's eyes, and the smile that went with it, put Jake at ease. He grinned in return.

"Yes, sir. Kentler has offered to assist me with my studying for the test."

"Good, we will need strong men like you. You're dismissed, Berenson." Mr. Gorman turned back to his desk and the papers spread haphazardly on it. Jake snapped his heels and walked out of the room heading out of the college building.

Jake took a deep breath, breathing in the clean smell that usually comes after a rain. The rain had indeed stopped, leaving the sun to dry out the remaining puddles. There was not a cloud in the sky. Jake quickly sidestepped on of the said puddles and shifted his book bag to his other shoulder trying to relieve some of the soreness left in his shoulders from his physical training.

Jake looked through his pockets for the keys to his silver Tesla Model S. Cassie had asked him to get it when he took her car shopping with him. She wanted him to help the environment. Sighing, he put his bag on the ground and searched through that. Hearing the noise of shifting gravel, Jake looked at the long black limousine that had pulled up. It had tinted windows and looked very official. Going back to his search, Jake was stopped by the voice of his best friend coming from inside the limo.

"Jake, do you have some free time right now?"

The tone Marco used as well as the lack of opening teasing caused Jake to pay seriousness attention to his friend. The back door opened and Jake grabbing his book bag ducked inside, closing the door behind him. The window that Marco had called out of was closed by a push of the button in the front with the driver, Mr. Jameston Bond. Mr. Bond had told Jake many times that he was in no way related to James Bond but he and Marco didn't believe it. The name was the only reason Marco hired him on the spot, but his service had kept him on the job.

Jake waited patiently for his eyes to adjust from the bright afternoon sunlight to the semi-bright lights that were in the limousine. When they did he looked around quickly taking in every detail but deciding to focus on the two other people in the back cab.

Michelle was staring blankly into her glass of a clear bubbling liquid, Sprite, Jake guessed. Marco had his arm around her shoulders and occasionally would look at her face worriedly. Eventually Marco leaned over and pressed the intercom button. "Jameston, take us to my place, and take the back roads just in case we're being tailed." A clear, 'yes, sir' was the response and the car pulling off the college campus swung left taking a road that lead in the general direction of Marco's mansion of a house.

Marco rubbed his face with his hands ending the motion by running his fingers through his hair, mussing it up from the nice look if had been for his date. Marco turned his body toward Jake and gave him a wan smile, "So how was school today? Are your grades as bad as they were in high school, because frankly they stunk back then." Jake grinned and went along with Marco.

"I was trying to save the world. Is it really my fault that my B grade dropped to a D?" He sobered. "Yes, my school is going fine, but what about you. What's wrong? What's happened? Not to be rude but you don't usually pick me up in your limo." Marco chuckled already in a better mood now that his best friend was there, and he knew that Jake would know what to do.

"You see through everything, Jake. Are you hiding a superpower from me? A superpower other than the fact that you can change into animals, of course. Can you read minds? You know I still really think we should have had uniforms, maybe black leather like Batman that repels Dracon beams. That would have been cool, and probably would have protected us better than-" Marco was cut off when Michelle laid a hand gently over his mouth.

"Marco. You're rambling. Jake asked you a question, and please answer it without talking too loud; I have the beginnings of a headache." Marco nodded and whispered an apology to her and Jake. Michelle just smiled softly and placed a hand to her head, which could have meant she was exasperated or was meant to further prove her headache. "Right. Just answer the question. I can do that, Jake. Don't worry, buddy, friend, compadre…" Marco trailed off at as he received a look from both Jake and Michelle. "Riiight." He drew the word out slowly.

"Marco. Just answer the question, or I will seriously look into an institute for the mentally unstable. You'll certainly qualify for one by the time I'm through with you, IF you don't get to the point." Marco's jaw that was open to retort, stopped open, and closed again with an audible snap.

"Man, someone was on the wrong side of the classroom all day, wasn't he. All that I was doing was trying to cope with an attack on my life. You know I cope better with humor, and rambling, than with depression, Jake. 'You gotta stop with all these negative waves, man.'" He looked expectantly at his girlfriend and his best friend. Getting no response, but blank looks, he sighed. "Really? Oddball from Kelly's Heroes? Oh, come on." Jake raised his fist and made a motion to pound Marco's face but punched his shoulder brotherly instead.

"Nobody knows movies like you, Marco." Marco sighed again with a pouting melancholy expression on his olive-toned features.

"I thought one of you might know it because it's a war movie. I guess I was wrong. Well, enough stalling! The reason that I picked you up is that Michelle and I were attacked by a mutant lionrhinophantion." Remember the creature that was part mountain lion, rhinoceros, elephant, and scorpion. 'Lion-rhino-phant-ion.

Marco looked at Michelle who shook her head slightly. "We were attacked when we were on our date today. I had taken Michelle someplace where I thought no one could find us, you know all the paparazzi that follow me around and dig into my personal life. So I didn't want out date to be ruined by it showing up on the newest episode of Entertainment Tonight. Jake I know that no one knows about this place but just before the scorplionephantino tried to kill us I saw someone with black hair and they ran off." Michelle looked at Marco sharply.

"You didn't tell me that."

"Well, I thought that right then wasn't the time to explain that I don't think it was a freak twist of fate. Besides, Michelle, I didn't want you any more upset."

"More upset?! Marco, I almost died! That thing was going to kill me and I froze! I couldn't fight or run. If you hadn't acted as fast as you did I would not be here. More upset!?"

"Yeah, more upset. You have an amazing head in a crisis, Michelle. Like when our plane malfunctioned over the middle of the Atlantic. You didn't even blink. I, on the other hand, freaked in the back as the gravity of our falling was making my seat belt strain to keep me on my seat, and you calmly searched for somewhere, in the middle of nowhere, to land.You were the one who landed us safely on the navy aircraft carrier and then justified your actions to the mean, scary, buff officer that yelled in your face. But I knew that you had never been in the type of situation we were earlier, I had. But, obviously I shouldn't have tried to keep my girlfriend from being more worried that the attack wasn't some freak experiment that got loose and randomly attacked. Maybe I didn't want you to think about the fact that that event was planned and that the thingy was supposed to kill us on purpose. Kill me on purpose." Marco glared daggers to deflect the dagger that Michelle was glaring at him. She took a breath to argue back.

"Well, maybe, that girlfriend cares too much about her boyfriend and so cares if some freak experiment was sent to murder her boyfriend. Maybe she doesn't care that by dating him she puts herself under the influence of people who want him dead, or the fact that she can be criticized, ridiculed and not have any privacy because he's famous. Maybe she wants to know anything that might help find the person trying to kill her boyfriend so no more attacks will happen again. Maybe, just maybe, she thinks it's dumb that he keeps information from her to protect her when she feels he needs physical protection more than she need emotional protection."

"Michelle, I have had my life threatened on more occasions than I can count. You haven't. I just didn't want you to be worried about me when you need to get over first-timers shock. I think this is serious but not so serious that you needed to know. That animal was after me, not you. I'm almost certain about that. You need to stay away from me until we figure this out which means you'll just worry yourself sick because I won't let you endanger yourself trying to help. That's why I didn't tell you before. In fact I wasn't going to share my opinions with Jake until after I had dropped you off. But I just remembered Jake has a special dinner tonight and we needed to talk."

Michelle looked angrier than she did before. Her face was actually turning red and her hands were in fist. Jake closed his eyes and plugged his ears in anticipation of her immediate explosion.

"You won't let me help with any of this, and you have the nerve to think that not telling me would keep me from being scared and worried? I would have found out what you and your Animorph friends were doing sooner or later. And I understand that they do better under pressure and probably would be a lot more helpful, but if you keep me from helping, even if I didn't know about what you saw, I'll just stay worried and scared for you. Helping or at least thinking that I'm helping you will keep my mind busy so I won't become so scared that I can't do anything!" Marco started to try to calm her down but she was gathering momentum and could no more be stopped than a raging waterfall with a pebble.

"Of course I would be worried; someone has to take care of you because you don't seem to care about yourself. That and everywhere you go you get in trouble. Worry about you the second after I can't see you. Someone tried to kill you! What would I do if you died?!"

Marco opened his mouth to answer her, but got his sentence cut off by the ranting female. "Uh—"

"It was a rhetorical question, you idiot! But I honestly don't know what I would do if that happened. Okay, you know what, I get that you're the strong confident, humorous Marco. Member of the famous Animorphs, I get that you somehow survived a whole war about four years all on you own. But I am still really upset that you wouldn't trust me to stay calm, rational and able to not be an ultimate female! In case you haven't noticed I'm not a normal squeamish girl, I don't squeal at bugs and worms. Heights don't scare me, I don't faint dead away at blood. And horror movie graphics honestly make me laugh. Yes, I get scared at some things but I also know that by being scared I can grow stronger. My fear for you proves to myself and other that I really do care for you. Would you take that opportunity from me, the strength of fearing for those I love? Let me stay with you and help you." Michelle had calmed down a bit. Marco saw his chance.

"Michelle, that's not what I mean, but—"

"Marco if you expect me to just leave then I think that you'll be in for a world of hurt. Because if I go home crying," She did look like she was going to cry, "I can assure you Andrew will not be happy especially when he finds out it was you who made me cry. I'm sure you can imagine how he would deal with his anger." Michelle crossed her arms, her tears and anger seemed to have disappeared, only to be replaced by a scarier smug expression on her face and a grin that Marco could have sworn he'd seen in an old vampire movie the past Halloween. Jake motioned Marco closer then whispered, "I'll bet she's bluffing. You let her win this and she will hold this over you. Believe me I saw Rachel pull out this trick. She threatened an older classmate, except she was only bluffing. All women do it." Marco shook his head emphatically.

"No, Jake. I might sound insane but I've met her brother and for that matter her dad. She's not bluffing." Marco frowned suddenly as a thought hit him. His frown turned to a triumphant grin. "Does that include Cassie? What did she threaten you with? Why? Jake, I want to know all the juicy details! Did you give in?" Jake realized his mistake and you could tell when the light-bulb flipped on by his deer-in-the-headlights look.

"No! I mean… I didn't—she, she…" He sputtered a little more and ended with a grumbled, "you're such a girl, Marco." Marco's only reply was to grin; until his eyes flicked back at Michelle who was now angry again at being ignored. He decided to try one more time.

"Michelle. You love me, right?" Michelle nodded suspiciously, wondering where he was going. Jake tried to section himself out of his best friend's and his best friend's girlfriend's 'talk.' If they started fighting again he didn't want to attract their anger. Of course he should have wanted to get involved and break the two up should a fight start. Unfortunately the last time he had gotten involved in an argument if had gotten him a black eye from Rachel and a goose egg courtesy of a shove from Marco. This wasn't exactly the same, ad it ad been nice that Cassie had made him stay at her house for a while to make sure he didn't have a concussion but… now Jake reconsidered whether he wanted to break-up fights anymore.

"So you love me and I hope you know that I love you." Marco paused again, and at Michelle's nod continued. "So, if we love each other that means we also respect each other's opinion, right? And if we get married you would accept decisions I made as head of the household." Michelle's brow furrowed wondering if he was being fair in the leadership roles, she decided to ask him about it later.

"Marco, just get to the point."

"Anyway, if you're going to have to listen to me when we're married; I think we should practice it right now." He moved on quickly. "I think it's a great idea. So, as your "husband" I believe it is my role to protect you. Since I don't want to break that important role I say that you have to stay out of this!" Marco crossed his arms, defiantly staring Michelle down. She looked angry at first; but then her face crumbled into a hurt expression, then submissive, of sorts.

"Fine, Marco. You win. What do I care if you die anyway It doesn't matter to me." She knocked on the glass partition window that separated the driver from the passengers. The window rolled down.

"Yes, miss?" Mr. Bond asked while keeping his eyes on the road. He turned into Marco's long gravel driveway.

"You can drop me off here. My motorcycle is right there by that tree." In the rearview mirror you could see Jameston raise an eyebrow. His gaze flickered to Marco's face.

"If you say so, Miss." He placed the parking brake and made to get out.

"No, Mr. Bond; its ok, I can let myself out." Michelle picked up her purse and climbed over Jake and Marco on her way out. "Bye, guys." She still sounded hurt and sad. Michelle opened the door, dropped out and jogged over to her royal blue Harley Davidson. Strapped on her helmet and drove off. Jake seemed to shake his head to dispel his apprehension over getting involved in arguments. He looked at Marco who was calmly texting, coming to a decision Jake asked a rather obvious question.

"You're just gonna let her go?"

Marco barely looked up, "Yep."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Marco, do you think that's wise?" Jake asked, trying a different approach. Marco looked at Jake with a cocked eyebrow.

"Are you really asking me that? After stating that my girlfriend was gong to hold her will over mine? You want me to go after her? I don't think so. Besides, she'll be back." He continued to text. Jake looked at Michelle's motorcycle, it was most definitely moving away from them.

"Marco, I don't think she's coming back. I made the mistake at letting Cassie go, even pushing her away; it was the worst mistake I ever made. I let my anger push her so far away that she didn't come back and because of that she got hurt." Marco decided to argue with Jake's confession.

"But she did come back, you two are together now." Jake shook his head.

"She didn't. I did. I went to her and apologized about my actions. It took me being sorry and going to her to get us back together again. It took a while to build up trust between us, too. A relationship is a two-person thing, Marco."

Marco closed his phone with a snap, "you know what? I was just trying to protect her. So if she doesn't understand where I stand, then it's her problem, she has to come apologize to me. Not the other way around. I didn't do anything wrong. So why should I go after her?" Mr. Bond entered the car, having stepped out to better watch Michelle as she flew down the road.

"Do you want me to continue to the house, Mr. Hunt?" Marco shook his head.

"No, I'll walk the rest of the way. I want you to take Jake wherever he needs to go. Then you can take the rest of the day off. I won't be going anywhere." He climbed out of the limousine, then poked his head back inside. "Thanks, Jake. I'll talk to you later."

Jake nodded, "okay. We still need to figure out something to do about this attack on you and Michelle." Marco smiled wanly and stuck out his hand.

"Thanks buddy." After shaking Jake's hand he removed himself from the doorway and shut the limo door, slapping the frame a couple of times. The limo backed slowly out into the road, Jameston straightened the car and drove off. Marco stared into the distance, sighed and trudged uphill along the long twisting driveway to his quiet, lonely, mansion.

Jake sat back into the seat and scrubbed his eyes with his palms. He felt old and tired again, it was a feeling from back in the 'old days.' Jake laughed dryly. Old days, he sounded like his grandfather spinning tales about his WWII days.

Now he had to figure out something to do about the aggressive act on his best friend and still balance regular life. Back in the saddle again. Jake sighed exasperatedly. "Why is it that problems always come up when I need to get school done?" Jake wondered aloud. A persistent buzzing filled the silence after the rhetorical question. Jake pulled out his cell to reveal that he had a new text message. It was from Rachel.

Where r u?

U r missing/going to miss the 2ble d8!

Get down here!

Jake groaned and looked at the clock on his phone. 6:00 pm. His double dat with Cassie, Tobias and Rachel was beginning at 6, now he was going to be late. Scooting around the 'L' of seats, Jake rapped hi sknuckles on the tinted partition getting Mr. Bond's attention. The partition rolled down and a "Sir?" followed.

"I know I said I wanted to go home but, do you know where Tibby's on Brooklyn St. is?"

"Yes, sir."

"I need to go there after I go home. I have a date tonight."

"Yes, sir."

Jake gave a distracted 'thanks,' trying to decide what would be appropriate for the dinner.

Having changed into a nice red polo and jeans, Jake was back in the limo. Deciding to apologize for his lateness in person, the test he sent back to Rachel only stated her was on his way. Leaning back into the seat Jake rested his fingers on his temples, rubbing them gently. 'Now all I have left to do is figure out what was with the attack on Marco and Michelle. Who would want them dead?'

Jake ran a hand through his hair then let it fall to his lap, and stared out of the tinted window, thinking. After a few silent minutes Jake sighed. He figured he'd talk about it to Cassie, preferably alone. There was no real reason to include Rachel and Tobias yet and Ax had enough on his plate with the Princess Anidoria. Besides, who knew? It could have just been a freak accident.

But something in his gut told him it wasn't. Maybe he was over thinking it though? Yep, talking to Cassie was a definite must.