Again thank you to all that reviewed, including freak show, The Shang Kudarung, Skyflight Erek's Loyalty, Darth Taegous, and metamorphstorm. I love all the reviews I get and they really help with inspiration. And just so you know, I do know what the gun is called, but Tobias doesn't.

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Chapter #4: Grab Them!

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Eventually, the storeowner was threatening to throw us out if we didn't leave so that they could close shop and Rachel decided that it was probably safe to go outside. Following me out of the boutique dressing room, she ignored the storeowner's irritated looks and walked with me back out onto the sidewalk. It was actually just starting to get dark; it being around the time people would be going home to eat dinner. Undoubtedly Elfangor had returned home and found me missing by this point and I wondered what he would think about my disappearance. Would he think I had been taken? I hoped not. I didn't really want to worry him.

"You still need to go to the hospital," Rachel immediately said after we got outside as she turned to look at me critically.

My hand on my head, I was trying to focus past the headache that hadn't gone any better in the last few hours and, hearing this, I groaned, "Rachel . . ."

"I mean it," Rachel said, looking determined. "You don't look good."

"I can't," I managed to say. "More people will just come after me. I need to get home."

That successfully distracted her, but with something I really couldn't talk about. "Why are there people after you?" Rachel asked, looking curious.

I couldn't think of anything good to say to that. "They just . . . they just are," I said lamely, a bit more concerned with making sure my brain didn't beat out of my skull. The headache had concentrated to a fine point in the back of my skull where the bump was and it throbbed with the beating of my heart. On the plus side though, my vision was clearing up and I could now see more than blurry shapes. I could actually pick out some details in things. Like I noticed that my lame remark had started to make Rachel look somewhat bothered.

"You didn't kill anybody, did you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me suspiciously.

I hadn't expected that. My head jerked and I stared at her in surprise. "No!" But that outburst had really hurt and I put my hand back on my head and tried not to groan out loud. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I attempted to try out a well-known strategy. I had practiced this strategy almost every time my uncle got a bit too drunk and started taking his anger out on me. The idea was: If I thought that it didn't hurt then it wouldn't hurt. And so I took my hand off my head and tried to look completely fine. "Right," I said firmly, pushing past the pain, "I need to get home."

"Oh no you aren't," Rachel said, in a way that made it clear that I was going to listen to her or regret the consequences. "You're going to see a doctor."

"Rachel!" I said, turning to her to try and get her to see sense. "I just told you. I can't. It's too dangerous."

But Rachel wasn't going to let me out of her sight without me doing as she said in some way. "Then at least come with me to Cassie's," she said, trying for a compromise. "She can take a look at you."

I frowned slightly and tried to remember what I knew of Cassie. "Aren't her parents vets?"

"So? She can still look at you. And nobody will have to know. You can go back to wherever you're hiding without anybody even knowing you were gone."

"I think they know I 'm gone by now." I sighed, but had to admit I was beat. "Alright. I'll go with you to Cassie's." I looked up to give Rachel a narrow look. "But only to Cassie's, okay? I really need to get home."

"Relax," Rachel said, giving me a trust-me smile. "I'm not the one out to kidnap you or whatever, remember?"

--

It was a long walk to Cassie's and my headache was still not going away. I was hoping that, even if she couldn't do anything else, Cassie could at least give me some aspirin. But eventually we made it to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and Rachel knocked on the door. I quickly hid off to the side in the bushes, not wanting anybody but Rachel and, I guess, Cassie to see me. Just as a safety precaution. I didn't really want to be chased by any more people today. Two was enough.

Cassie's dad answered the door. "Rachel," he said, opening the door with a smile. "How are you?"

"Hey, Mr. Martin," Rachel replied, smiling back at the older man. "I'm good. Is Cassie home?"

"She is," Cassie's dad said. "I'll go get her for you." And then he disappeared to go do just that.

A minute later Cassie was at the door. "Rachel?" she said, looking a little confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you went shopping."

"And I thought you had chores," Rachel replied, apparently deciding not to mention that she had finished shopping hours ago. "That's why you didn't come with me, remember?" She indicated Cassie's slightly too small overalls pointedly. "I don't see any bird poop on those jeans."

"I finished up about an hour ago," Cassie explained easily. "And I was really dirty so I decided to change."

Rachel looked suspicious. "And since when have you cared about wearing poop-less jeans?"

Cassie blushed slightly, obviously a bit embarrassed. "Jake's actually supposed to come by in a bit. To study," she hurried to add, as if to ward off any thoughts of what she and Jake might actually be doing.

"Ohhhh," Rachel said, drawing out the word and looking amused. "Jake. Well that explains everything."

"Rachel . . ." Cassie said warningly.

Rachel just smiled and looked like she was about to make another comment when Cassie interrupted.

"Rachel, was there something you needed?" Cassie asked a little too patiently, obviously not wanting to be teased any further. "You don't usually just drop by for no reason."

Obviously remembering the point of this visit, Rachel got serious. "You're right. I don't," she said with a nod. "And there is." She turned to look back in my direction and called out, "Tobias! You can come out now."

I stood up from behind the bush I was hiding behind and tried to brush the dirt off my pants as I approached the door.

"You remember Tobias, right?" Rachel asked, turning back to Cassie. "He was in my Chemistry class?"

Cassie stared at me for a second, wide-eyed in surprised recognition, but then turned back to Rachel and nodded. "Yeah I remember." She glanced at me again. "Isn't he supposed to be missing?"

"Yeah, well guess what?" Rachel said, "I found him. I literally ran into him on the street. Thing is, he's a little stupid and he tried to run away from me. All I want to do is talk and he runs right out into traffic and gets hit by a car." She turned to me to give me an annoyed look. "I don't think I've told you yet how stupid that was."

And don't think I haven't been berating myself for doing it ever since. But I didn't say that. All I said was, "I know."

Cassie was looking back at me in concern. "Are you okay?"

Rachel answered for me. "I think he has a concussion. He's been acting weird ever since he got hit even though he's been trying to hide it. So we were wondering if you could maybe take a look at him."

"Oh, I don't know," Cassie said, looking a little alarmed at the request. "I'm not a doctor."

"Yeah, but you're the closest thing we have," Rachel told her. "He doesn't want to go to the hospital because he thinks people are going to start chasing him again."

Now Cassie looked confused. "Again?"

I nodded, but Rachel answered. "Yeah. The guy who almost ran him over turned out to be this major weirdo. He tried to kidnap us and then chased us when we got away."

Cassie still looked concerned, and now a little weirded out, but she put on a wary smile and said, "Well you've certainly had an eventful day."

Rachel sighed and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, pushing it out of her eyes. "Yeah. Too eventful."

"Yeah. Huh." Cassie shook her head at the strangeness of life. "Well then," Cassie said, getting down to business as she stepped out of the door. "Let's go to the barn and I'll take a look at you."

--

A minute later we were in Cassie's barn and Cassie was pointing a small flashlight into my eyes. First the left and then the right and then back again. Finally, apparently getting what she was looking for, Cassie stepped back and turned off the flashlight.

"You were right," she said to Rachel. "He does have a concussion."

Rachel looked as if all of her suspicions had been confirmed, which they kind of had. "I knew it. Can you do anything about it?"

Cassie shook her head. "Not really. With concussions you just have to kind of wait for them to go away on their own.' She turned to address me now. "I can give you some aspirin, but that's about it."

"Anything," I said, just wanting the headache to go away.

"Alright then I'll go get it." And Cassie left to go do just that, coming back a minute later with a couple pills and a glass of water. "Here, you go."

I took them gratefully but, before I could stick them in my mouth, I stopped and looked at the pills. They were longer than any Advil I'd ever seen and white on top of that. "These don't look like aspirin."

"They're a special kind," Cassie explained, "They're extra strength. We give them to the animals, but they should be just fine for a human."

"Oh, okay." I was really in too much pain to be suspicious of her motives, especially when she had been nothing but nice to me so far. So I quickly downed the pills and drained the glass of water she gave me along with them. It may have just been my imagination, but by the time I put the glass down I was already feeling better.

"Why don't I get you a bandage for your head too?" Cassie offered. "You've got some blood back there."

"I do?" I said, not having realized this.

"He does?" Rachel echoed. "I didn't notice anything."

Reaching back to touch the bump at the back of my head, I drew my fingers back dry. No blood in sight. I looked at Cassie in question.

"Well it's dry now, of course," she said, "but you never know. And a bandage couldn't hurt anything."

That made sense, though I wasn't so sure about the whole my head is bleeding thing. Still, Cassie had been nothing but nice to me so far and Rachel did trust her so . . . "Well, okay, I guess," I said then shrugged. "I mean, why not?"

Cassie smiled. "Great. I'll be just a minute. I need to go find the tape." And then she quickly left to apparently go do this.

And as she left Rachel came closer to try and see the back of my head. Bending my head forward so that her fingers could probe the large bump, I tried not to complain out loud at the touch though I did wince.

"I don't see any blood," Rachel finally said, her inspection of my head thankfully over. She sounded slightly troubled. "But why would Cassie lie about something like that?"

Not really knowing Cassie all that well, I just shrugged. Then I yawned though I tried to cover it up. I was starting to get tired which was weird since it couldn't have been any later than seven o'clock.

Rachel and I didn't talk while Cassie was gone so it was silent for a long while. Cassie was apparently having some trouble trying to find the tape, because she was taking a long time. And as the minutes passed, I grew more and more tired. My body felt weighed down and heavy and my eyes were struggling to stay open.

Shaking my head, I tried to stay awake, my eyelids growing heavy and falling closed of their own accord only for me to snap awake again and begin the cycle anew.

It was strange. I hadn't been this tired minutes ago. It was like it was coming on all of a sudden out of nowhere. I yawned again and blinked hard, trying to keep my eyes open.

A few minutes later, Cassie still hadn't returned.

"What's taking her so long?" Rachel asked, obviously starting to get concerned though she masked it with irritation.

"I dunno," I kind of mumbled and then yawned again. I really just wanted to go to sleep. It was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open and I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me because I don't normally become this tired out of nowhere.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, finally turning away from watching the door of the barn to notice me.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I mumbled, waving a hand sleepily. "I'm just really tired all of a sudden." I blinked heavy eyelids and tried to focus on Rachel's figure, but I couldn't do it. "I think something's wrong," I mumbled, almost to myself, eyes sliding half-closed.

Watching me carefully, Rachel started to look even more concerned. "Tobias?"

"Something's wrong," I mumbled again, a little louder this time as I was a little more sure of my suspicion, and then I tried to stand up. Pushing myself off the bale of hay I had been sitting on, I was overcome by dizziness and fell right back down onto my seat. Too tired to feel even the littlest bit startled by my inability to stand, I just blinked drowsily. My thoughts were basically: "Wha--?

Cassie still hadn't come back.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked me again, becoming even more concerned.

"Tired . . ." I mumbled and my eyes almost drifted closed only for me to snap awake at the last moment.

This obviously didn't make Rachel feel all that secure and she started to look around herself warily. "You know what? You might be right. Maybe we should leave. C'mon." And she came closer to try to help me stand. We got halfway there before Cassie finally came back.

Stepping back into the barn, Cassie was now holding a copy of the weird gun the driver from that afternoon had had and was pointing it at us. "Oh no. You're not going anywhere."

Rachel let go of my arm, her immediate attention focused on Cassie, and I fell back onto the bale of hay, blinking drowsily but too tired to feel any alarm.

"Cassie?" Rachel tried hesitantly, like she was wondering if her friend was playing a trick on her. But I knew this was no trick. Cassie was a Controller. She'd probably recognized me the minute I'd arrived and this whole thing had been a set up. Those aspirin hadn't been aspirin. They'd been sleeping pills. And God only knows what Cassie had been doing when she'd said she was looking for a bandage.

I tried to stand up my own and, after two or three tries, I finally managed to get to my feet though I swayed unsteadily.

"Cassie, what are you doing?" Rachel asked warily, like Cassie was some wild animal that could at any second pounce.

"What do you think I'm doing, Rachel?" "Cassie" responded, turning the gun on Rachel with an evil smirk. "I'm capturing the Andalite bastard child. When Visser Three sees what I've done I'll be promoted for sure."

Obviously none of this meant anything to Rachel, who continued to try and get through to her friend. "Cassie, put down the gun. This isn't like you."

"Cassie" scoffed, not something her body was meant to do, and looked at Rachel in disdain. "Of course this isn't like me. I'm so much better than the Cassie that you know. That Cassie was a spineless, tree-hugging, weakling. Do you know how disgusting it is having to pretend to care about these filthy animals and your pathetic species?" Here "Cassie" smiled slightly. "You should have heard her screams when I first took her body. Now she barely even whimpers."

All of this just confused Rachel and Rachel evidently didn't like being confused. "What?"

"Rachel . . ." I tried to warn her.

"What do you mean 'when I first took her body'? What the hell are you?" Rachel demanded angrily.

"Cassie" just laughed. "What I am doesn't matter. You'll be getting much better acquainted with us very soon." She indicated with her gun for us to move out of the barn. "Now get moving. Follow my orders or . . ." She pointed the gun at a bare patch of floor and pulled the trigger. A laser beam of all things shot out and burned a neat little hole in the wood flooring. "Or that's you," she finished.

By now I was a little bit more awake, just enough that I wasn't falling over where I stood, and I reached out to grab Rachel and pull her closer. We obediently moved out of the barn, "Cassie" following us closely with her gun trained at our backs. Rachel was obviously getting pissed, but she thankfully knew better than to try anything. That is until we got outside where we found Jake waiting in front of a minivan. Obviously that was how they were going to stow us away until we could get to the Yeerk Pool.

Seeing her cousin, Rachel faltered for a moment, obviously still confused, but then she seemed to make a decision that seeing Jake wasn't going to change. I could tell the minute before what she was going to do and I would have stopped her, but she was too quick.

Swinging around before "Cassie" could react, Rachel knocked "Cassie's" gun right out of her hands. Then, grabbing me by the hand, she shouted, "Run!" and we were off. Well I sort of stumbled at the beginning, but then I picked up the pace and we were really off.

"Jake" and "Cassie" immediately came after us. "Cassie" had to take a moment to retrieve her gun, but she was small enough to be really fast and "Jake" was, of course, naturally athletic so they quickly gained on us and soon we had laser beams being shot at our backs and feet.

In a unanimous decision made without talking, we ran for the forest across the meadow behind Cassie's house. I was just hoping that the trees might slow "Jake" and "Cassie" down and give us some added protection from the lasers.

"Tobias! What the hell is going on? Why is Cassie chasing us?" Rachel demanded as we ran frantically through the woods. "This is Cassie!"

"I know. I know. Keep running," I said and helped Rachel steady herself after she almost tripped over a tree root. Then we kept running.

We raced through the trees and underbrush, scraping past bushes and scaring the squirrels. Our feet crunched the dead leaves and we climbed over a fallen log.

By now I was acting on pure adrenaline and knew I would collapse at any minute. Already I was stumbling, forcing Rachel to wrap an arm around my waist and help me run. It was slowing us both down, but Rachel wouldn't let go.

"They're after me," I had said, after I had tripped for the third time and Rachel had been forced to stop and help drag me back to my feet.

"Don't be stupid," Rachel had replied. "They're after me just as much as you. I've seen too much now. You're just being an idiot again."

She still didn't understand completely what was happening, but she knew that something bad would happen if "Jake" and "Cassie" were to catch up to us and she wasn't going to let me go into that alone.

If you asked me, she was the one being the idiot. This wasn't even her problem. She just hadn't wanted to let me go until she was sure I wasn't going to die and now she was going to be infested because she had shown she cared.

Still we ran. I was slowing with every step, dizziness starting to overwhelm me. My head was swimming. But I didn't want to be infested and Rachel still had a strong grip on my waist so I stumbled on. "Jake" and "Cassie" had been lost for the moment, but they were coming closer with each second.

We stumbled on. Branches cracking under our feet, we were almost walking now and I heard "Jake" and "Cassie" quickly approaching behind us. A laser beam flash fried a leaf inches from my foot and I flinched away.

"Alright, the show's over," "Jake" said, coming into the scene and training his own laser gun at my head. "Now come back with us to the van."

Not letting go of my waist, Rachel stood in front of "Jake", defiant to the end. "And if I say no?"

"Jake" smiled evilly as he turned his gun from my head to hers as "Cassie" finally entered the scene. "Then I'd have to tell you that we really only need the Andalite's bastard. You're just a chance left-over."

"Rachel . . ." I murmured warningly, wishing I didn't have to say this, but worried for Rachel's well being if she were to continue like this. "Just let it go."

"What?" Rachel turned to me, a little shocked. "But Tobias!"

"Let it go," I murmured so that only she could hear. "We can get free later. Sometime when they don't have those guns, I promise."

Looking at me, I was afraid she'd ignore my words, but then Rachel slowly nodded in understanding and made a show of giving up.

"Good," "Jake" said and then passed the rope to "Cassie" so that she could come behind us and tie our arms. With that done, they separated us and turned us around so that they could lead us back to the minivan parked just outside Cassie's house.

Now I only had to worry about keeping my promise. Just how did a person escape from the Yeerk Pool?

--

TBC?