"Tyler?" Tyler slowly opened his eyes as he felt a cold cloth on his cheek. He looked up to see his mother standing over him, gently dabbing his cheek with the moist towel.

"Mom?" Tyler asked, his voice shaky as he looked up at her. He hadn't believed that they would actually be able to prove that his mother was part of the Fifth Column, and he was surprised to see that she was actually here. "Mom, what's going on."

"Everything that Gregory and Alex told you is true," she said softly. "Everything that they showed you was true."

"How…how long have you known," he whispered, allowing his mother to help him to sit up. "How long have you know that Anna was going to do things like this? Things like killing her own daughter?"

"Since the first day they arrived," Erica said softly, sitting down on the bed next to her son.

"And you kept that from me?"

"I didn't want to." She shook her head. "Tyler, I tried to tell you several times. A couple of times you were wearing your ambassador's uniform, I couldn't tell you anything with that around, it would have been caught on film, the other times…" she sighed, looking down. "You wouldn't listen to me, Tyler. You said that I was against the Vs."

"Yeah." Tyler leaned back, letting out a deep sigh. "I guess…I guess I did." He sat there, trying to keep back the lump that was rising in his throat. This was hard to come to terms with, but if his mother was here, if she was telling him that it was real, well, she had been there for him, even when he hadn't been there for her. "I'm sorry," he said finally, turning to look at her.

"Why are you sorry, Tyler?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm sorry that I chose her over you, I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention to the things that you were trying to tell me, I'm sorry that I let a pretty girl cloud my judgment…" he sighed. "I'm sorry that I was stupid enough not to know that she was lying to me."

"Lisa loved you, Ty," Erica stated.

"I know." He nodded. "But it didn't start out that way, I started out as an assignment, just a project for her."

"And you gave her feelings, human emotions," Erica stated. "You turned her against Anna, she was helping us, Tyler, right up until she died."

"She died for me, mom," Tyler whispered. "I was there."

"I know." Erica nodded. "I saw the video."

"Why?" Tyler asked, looking at his mother. "Why am I so important to them? Why did they need her to seduce me, why did they need to pull me away from my earthly ties and be with them? Why did they need to have me on that ship? There's nothing special about me, there never was, so why now?"

"Tyler, you've always been special," Erica stated.

"Cut the crap, mom," Tyler shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. All mothers think their kids are special, I know why I matter to you, I want to know why I matter so much to them."

"I don't know," Erica said honestly. "Lisa never got around to telling me that, but there's a reason they didn't kill you when they killed Lisa, a reason why they took you prisoner instead of ending your life, and that's what we've been trying to find out." She sighed. "Ty, I promise that I'm going to do everything that I can to protect you from them, okay?" Erica reached out, placing her hand on Tyler's cheek. "I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore."

"Okay." Tyler nodded, not really sure what else to say. He still had a million questions going on in his brain, like why the Vs were here at all, how he had escaped from their prison, how he had gotten injured the way he was now – none of it made sense, at least not yet.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked softly.

"I need answers," Tyler stated.

"Answers to what?"

"Who are the Pike's?" Tyler asked. "Alex and Gregory, who are they? Alex said that he and I are friends, but I don't know if I believe him, I don't know if I can believe anyone."

"You can believe me," Erica said. "And you can trust them, they're good people. They saved you from the Vs, Tyler. They were working with a V on the ship who's in the Fifth Column and that V got them on board, got them to you and got them the videos from your jacket." She bit her lip. "Alex carried you out of there, and you two have been friends ever since."

"Oh." Tyler bit his lip. "I…I don't remember any of that."

"That's what Gregory told me." Erica nodded. "But it's okay, Tyler, it is."

"No, it's not." He shook his head. "They're killing everyone, they took dad, they took Lisa…"

"That's why we're fighting them, Ty." Erica sighed, handing Tyler a glass of water and the painkillers that Gregory had left. "They're trying to destroy us, we're just hoping to get to them before they succeed in their plan."

"And…and I've been on your side?" Tyler asked, biting his lip.

"Once Lisa's death sank in the first time you demanded to join the fight." Erica nodded. "I tried to stop because I didn't want to put you in danger, but you're 18, you made your choice and I respected that."

"So I'm Fifth Column," Tyler asked slowly.

"Yes." Erica nodded.

"And…you're Fifth Column?"

"Yes." Erica looked down, away from her son. "I'm the leader. The job was passed down to me the night your father died."

"Oh." Tyler gulped, a few tears stinging at his eyes. "The night…the night I left you for them."

"That's in the past, Ty," Erica whispered. "You're here now, you know the truth, and that's what matters."

"I have another question."

"Anything, I'll do my best to give you an answer."

"What happened to me?" Tyler looked his mother directly in the eyes. "How did I get here? Why am I all banged up and why don't I remember anything?"

"You were with Gregory, Alex and a few other members of our team, you were ambushed by a couple of trackers. There was a fight and you were injured in the fight." She looked at Tyler. "You were struck on the head with a pipe, you were almost killed, but Father Jack saved your life."

"Father Jack?" Tyler frowned. "No…he's part of this, I knew it!"

"Yes." Erica nodded.

"And…I destroyed him." Tyler gulped. "He saved my life, and I destroyed his parish."

"He lost his collar shortly after that." Erica nodded. "He's not a father anymore, just a soldier like the rest of us."

"And you?" Tyler asked. "Are you still in the FBI?"

"I am." She nodded. "I need to be for the connections it gives me. Anna knows that you're a part of the Fifth Column, but she doesn't know about me. I don't go on the raids, I don't go into the fights, I run everything from the back burner. Everyone believes that I think you're dead, Tyler, and they have to keep thinking that." She bit her lip.

"Why would you think I'm dead?"

"Because." Erica sighed. "That's how Anna covered up Lisa's death. She said that the two of you went into space on one of the V shuttles and that it malfunctioned and you were both killed. Only the Fifth Column knows your alive, and I'm not supposed to know anything."

"Oh." Tyler bit his lip. "So I have to play dead?"

"You're better at it then you'd think." Erica nodded.

"I'm…a soldier now." Tyler gulped.

"You were." Erica nodded. "Whether you still are is up to you." She looked at her son. "You have a choice, Tyler, you can stay here and fight this or you can run, relocate somewhere safe. My people can make you fake documents, perfectly believable, you can run away from all of this."

"No." Tyler shook his head. "They've taken enough from me already, I'm not letting them take my identity too. I'm staying, and once I'm healed, I want back in the ranks. I'll do whatever it takes to bring them down, if what you're telling me is true, it needs to be done."

"I would never lie to you, Tyler," Erica said softly.

"Yeah." Tyler nodded. "I know."

A/N Hey, so here's the next chapter! I'm sick, so I'm a little out of it, no idea if this chapter is any good, but I'm hoping that you guys will let me know! I'm curious to know what you guys think of Tyler, what you think of the way that the story is going, but more importantly, and I know he wasn't in this chapter, what do you guys think of Alex?