Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated, I know. Here's the second part to the cliffhanger in the last chapter. This chapter also sets up some conversations the next one. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!


"No!" Ben yelled. He barreled towards Weaver, not waiting for Lourdes.

Jimmy's mouth was open, his body tense with fright. He didn't seem to be able to move. Blood was splattered across him, dripping down his face.

Ben reached the door and stood breathless, peering around Weaver. Looking up at the ceiling.

The girl took aim again.

"Jimmy, move!" Ben dashed into the room, not thinking about what he was doing. He grabbed the boy by the arm and pushed, pulled, and dragged him to the wall. His hands felt slippery, covered with blood. The red liquid disgusted him, but he paid little attention.

"Ben!" Lourdes started to run in after him but skidded to a halt in the doorway as she looked up. Her scream rang though the room and Ben cringed at the sound.

A Skitter was clinging to the ceiling, red blood pouring out of a wound in its body. There was a noise as the girl fired again. The Skitter squealed angrily and turned in a circle. Weaver shot at it once, twice, three times. The Skitter was clearly in pain now, but also extremely angry. It fell to the floor and righted itself, spinning on Weaver and Lourdes. Weaver retreated, pushing Lourdes with him. He fired off a round when the Skitter turned around and made a beeline for the wall. Ben and Jimmy were huddled against it watching with huge eyes. The girl was trying to get away, but her back was still healing. As she twisted and pulled against the chain, fresh blood was staining her shirt. The Skitter was advancing on the children and Weaver was trying to get a good aim but, if he missed or it went though the Skitter, it could hit Ben or Jimmy.

"Boys, get out of the way!" he shouted.

Lourdes suddenly rushed past Weaver, into the room, coming up behind the Skitter. She was holding a large metal pipe that she swung at the alien. The force of the blow knocked the Skitter to its side. It got up and turned around, hissing at her. Without taking his eyes from the Skitter, Ben reached beside him and pulled up a brick. While the Skitter was focused on Lourdes, he slammed the brick into the Skitter's head. Stunned, the Skitter froze and Lourdes took another swing, bashing it again and again until it was barely moving.

"Lourdes, that's enough," came Weaver's quiet voice from the doorway.

Lourdes's eyes were glued on the dying Skitter, her arms now by her side and her breaths coming raggedly. Ben's eyes were wide, clearly shocked at the events that had taken place. The girl had an unreadable expression on her face, possibly fear, possibly anger, possibly pain.

The Skitter let out a noise, clearly in agony.

"Put him out of his misery," came a tiny voice.

Jimmy was sitting next to Ben, his eyes large and slowly filling with tears.

"It'll die in a minute," said Weaver gruffly.

"Please," begged Jimmy, his tears threatening to spill over.

"It was going to kill you. I'm not wasting a bullet on that."

"He doesn't deserve to die like this. In that much pain," insisted Jimmy.

A shot suddenly rang out. The Skitter took one last shuttering breath and was finally still. Weaver looked up, his gun idle by his side. The girl had hers out pointing at the now dead Skitter. Her face was stony and she looked at Jimmy with steely eyes.

"Thank you," whispered Jimmy.

But Ben had seen something in her expression that made him doubt she'd done it for Jimmy's sake. Something else had led her to deliver the coup de grĂ¢ce but whether it be revenge or sympathy, Ben didn't know.

"What is going on in here?" a new voice demanded from the door.

Ben recognized his father's voice as the man himself ran into the room with his gun outstretched. Hal, Maggie, Anthony, Pope, and a few other men were close behind.

"Ben, are you alright?" asked Hal, making his way over to his brother and bending down to help him up.

"I'm fine," Ben managed.

"Come on, Jimmy," said Maggie with an encouraging smile to the still shell-shocked young boy. "Up and at 'em, right?"

"Yeah," he said, a ghost of a smile in return.

"Ben, what in the world were you doing down here?" chastised Tom.

"Nothing," said Ben, not daring to look at Lourdes or his older brother.

"You were supposed to evacuate!"

"I know!" said Ben. "I was just looking for Matt's ripstick." He made himself look up and meet his father's eyes. "It meant so much to him and I just wanted him to have one thing, one sense of normality in his life."

Tom's face softened and Hal could tell he was struggling whether or not to continue rebuking his son or let it go.

As it turned out, he didn't have to make the decision because all of a sudden the girl slid to the ground. Hal immediately tried to catch her but she was already unconscious by the time she hit the floor.

"Somebody find Anne!" he shouted over his shoulder.

He looked down at his hands. They were soaked with blood. Too much to have been from the Skitter.

"Oh no," he muttered.

No one seemed to be moving and Hal turned around in frustration. "We need help, go and find Dr. Glass!"

Anthony stepped forward. "Dr. Glass isn't here, she evacuated with the others. It'll take hours to get her back."

"But we need a doctor!"

"Lourdes can do the job," said Weaver.

All eyes turned to the young medical student. Hal frowned slightly. She seemed oblivious to their conversation. Her eyes were still on the mangled body of the dead Skitter, her face frozen and her eyes frightened.

"Lourdes," said Hal, getting up. "Ben, hold on to her," he directed his younger brother.

Ben took his brother's place, looking at a loss for what to do. Hal walked over to Lourdes and grabbed her shoulders.

"Lourdes, listen to me," he said firmly. "That girl needs your help. I know the Skitter was frightening, but right now you need to forget about it and do your job."

"You don't understand," she said, not looking away. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You don't know what I did."

"Lourdes, we can talk about this later," interjected Hal. "Right now, she needs your help and you are her only hope. Please."

Lourdes blinked and took a couple of deep breaths. "Okay," she said, finally tearing her gaze away and starting to sound like her old self. She looked around. "Is it safe for us to go back to the medical trailer?"

"Everyone evacuated so the Skitters should be gone. We hid most of our raw materials before we left so there's not much they'd stick around for. Hal, Anthony, Maggie- go canvass the area. Make sure there are no Skitters lurking around and report back as soon as possible."

Maggie and Anthony nodded, moving towards the door. Hal hesitated, glancing at the girl, wanting to help. But under Weaver's gaze, he too nodded and moved to follow his friends.

Not at all sure what he was supposed to be doing, Ben was awkwardly holding the girl's shoulders. Staring at her, he again felt the emptiness that came when she had cut off the connection between them. He still didn't understand their "connection" or why she wouldn't speak to him or his brother.

Suddenly he could feel something happening. He lost focus on what was happening around him, but it wasn't because he was disoriented. On the contrary, he felt extremely focused. Focused on the girl in front of him and on what he could suddenly hear.

He could hear voices, but they sounded far away and they were intermittent. He knew what was happening: she was unconscious and losing control of the barrier. It was coming down and connecting them again. And he dreaded the moment she put it back up. He dreaded it like he feared hearing a bone crack or the screams of his brothers: it wouldn't be painful, not physically, but it would shake him to his core.

The voices were growing louder, but they were still echoes. He reached up to touch her face. She was so peaceful and he needed to know more about her. He wanted to be her friend but he didn't know how to get her to let him in. Hal would know, but she wasn't talking to even Hal.

His fingertips brushed her skin with the lightness of a feather. Suddenly he felt like he'd been shocked. He gasped and jerked backwards. Her eyes opened and they made eye contact for a brief moment. Ben didn't know what was happening, but the shared eye contact made him feel like he'd been shocked a second time. Her eyes were wide and he wondered if she was really seeing him or what was inside her head. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. She slumped back against the wall, her eyes closed once more.

Ben leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, more out of panic than exhaustion.

"Ben. Ben, what happened? Are you alright?" Tom was kneeling by his son's side, concerned.

"I- I don't know," said Ben, a hand on his head. He could feel it again, that emptiness. He shook his head, feeling strange. "I need to go," he said.

"Where are you going?" asked Tom.

"Anywhere."

Before he could leave, Hal, Maggie, and Anthony came back into the room.

"We've searched around the medical trailer," said Anthony. "The rest of the grounds seem to be clean from what we can tell."

"That's good enough for me," said Weaver. "We'll do a more thorough search before we bring the rest of the civilians back." He looked at the group assembled in the room. "As you've just heard, this was only a preliminary search. There might be Skitters still around. I'm not going to ask you to unnecessarily risk your lives. Those that would rather wait with the civilians until we give the all clear are welcome to and will not be looked down upon in any way. Those who wish to stay may do so at their own risk."

"Ben," said Tom pointedly, with a raised eyebrow.

Ben looked too exhausted to argue. He simply nodded his head, somewhat surprising Tom with the readiness of his agreement.

"Jimmy, are you hurt?" asked Weaver.

The boy shook his head. "You should go with Ben," said the captain. Jimmy opened his mouth but he closed it when Weaver raised his eyebrow in a move reminiscent of Tom.

"Lourdes?"

Lourdes looked hesitant. "I need to treat her," she said, looking at the unconscious girl.

"We can take her to the civilians if you wish," offered Weaver. "You can treat her there."

Lourdes shook her head. "There isn't time for that," she said. She swallowed. "I'll stay. I'll be easier to treat her here. I know where Dr. Glass kept the emergency supplies."

"I'll stay too," volunteered Hal. "I can make sure nothing harms Lourdes and the girl."

"I'll stay to keep watch and do a more thorough search of the grounds," offered Anthony. A few other men voiced their agreement.

"I'll go where you need me to," said Tom, looking to Weaver.

"To be honest, I could use you here. We need to plan our next move, in case something like this happens again."

"Of course. But what about…?" he nodded slightly towards Ben and Jimmy, who were watching the adults closely.

"Margaret," said Weaver. "Would you escort Ben and Jimmy here to the evacuees and inform them of our situation?"

"But Captain, I can help here-"

"And while you're out," continued Weaver as if he hadn't heard her. "Scout the surrounding areas for signs of the Skitters. We need to know how close they are and what their next move is."

Now looking slightly happier, Maggie nodded. "Let's go, boys," she said, nodding to them and walking to the door. Ben and Jimmy followed, Tom watching them nervously.

"We need to take her to the medical trailer," reminded Lourdes.

Hal undid the lock and unwound her hand. He lifted her up onto his shoulder and followed Lourdes out of the room and up the stairs.

"Anthony, you and Pope take care of this," he said, gesturing to the dead body. "The rest of you, let's move."


So what did you guys think?

I wanted Lourdes to get in on the action because I really feel like she was underused in the TV series. I think she's capable of a lot more than they allowed her to do. Same with Ben. He can do more than stand there, look bewildered, and feel ostracized. But Lourdes's actions will take their toll on her...

Also, I almost didn't want to put this up because explaining myself makes me feel like I didn't achieve what I wanted to with the story. But this will not be a story where Hal and Ben are fighting over the "new girl." I have nothing against those, there are some really well written ones that I've read, but I don't want to go in that direction. And like I said in a past chapter, she will not be head over heels for the boys in a heartbeat. She has to be able to trust them and enjoy being with them before even a friendship can develop.

I also don't want this to be where they're all intrigued by her because she's "mysterious." The mystery is part of it, but I think there would be more reason than that. Personally, I feel like Ben is intrigued because of his personal connection. He wants to find out more about himself though her. He also wants a friend and he's clinging to the idea that she's the only one who would understand him. He wants to help her because he's desperate for something other than the loneliness he can't escape. If it were simply the mystery, I think Hal wouldn't hesitate to throw her in a jail cell, just to be on the safe side. But Hal is an older brother, and I think he sees Ben in her. He can't stop his older brother-ness coming out when he sees her. Plus, I feel like Hal would always look out for the other children and despite knowing she could be dangerous, I think the reminder of his brother is what keeps him empathetic.

Thanks for reading!

Let me know what you think :)

~moviegal101~