"So how exactly does all of this work?" Tyler asked, sitting across from Alex as they ate lunch. "How does being a part of the Fifth Column happen? Like…what do we do?"

"Well people you and I, we wait." He bit his lip. "You see, we get our instructions from people like Jack Landry, your mother, my father, people who are leaders in the group. Sometimes we go on little missions to retrieve something, sometimes we're assigned to go protect someone or pick them up, sometimes we're supposed to try and sneak on to the V ship using one of the tour shuttles and just look around, though you probably won't be doing any of that, seeing as Anna knows you too well." He shrugged. "There are Vs on the ship who are loyal to us, and they give us a lot of the heads up that we need."

"So what you're saying is that we spend a whole lot of time doing nothing?" Tyler asked.

"Essentially, yes, but when we do something, it's really important." He bit his lip. "You see, recently the Vs have been taking people, and we have a list of who we think are the targets and we're supposed to go out and track them down, protect them, let them know what they're really up against."

"Wow…" Tyler bit his lip. "God these aliens are evil."

"They really are." Alex nodded, shoveling a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. "We don't totally know what they want from us yet, but with the things they've done…they definitely want something, they're just getting us ready. We don't know when it's gonna hit or what it's gonna be, but it'll be big."

"Hey Alex." A girl with tan skin and dark hair slid down into the seat next to Alex. "Tyler." She nodded at Tyler, and he frowned. He had never seen her before in his life, at least as far as he knew.

"Tyler, this is Luciana Rodriguez, she's one of the good guys." Alex smiled at the girl before looking back at Tyler. "You two are friends too, I guess you'll have to relearn that one."

"Oh, cool." Tyler held his hand out for Luciana to shake. "It's nice to meet you again, I'm sorry that I didn't remember…"

"Hey, no harm, no foul, it's not like it's your fault." She shrugged, shaking his hand amiably. "Also, I go by Lucy, none of this Luciana business."

"Lucy it is then." Tyler nodded, turning to Alex. "Is she your girlfriend?" he asked.

"What?" Alex and Lucy both began to laugh. "Definitely not." Alex shook his head.

"I bat for the other team, if you know what I mean." Lucy shot Tyler a wink before settling in to eat her meal.

"Oh." Tyler nodded in understanding. He had had a couple of friends before who were bisexual, but he had never been friends with a full on lesbian…at least not that he could remember.

"So, the old memory is failing you, eh?" Lucy asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, pretty much." Tyler nodded. "Is there anything important that I should know?"

"Aside from the fact that I can kick your butt in sparring?" She shook her head. "Nah."

"I don't think I can beat anyone in sparring." Tyler laughed.

"It's weird," Alex supplemented. "He doesn't remember anything that happens, but his body remembers how to fight."

"Actually I think that's pretty normal." Lucy shrugged. 'Then again, I'm a college drop-out, so what would I know?"

"Nothing," Alex teased. "Nothing at all."

"How did you get involved with the Fifth Column?" Tyler asked Lucy, tilting his head to the side. He was curious to know how people found about the Vs being evil, how people knew.

"Well, long story short, my stepdad was a sleeper," she explained. "He'd been here for years, and when he married my mom I had no idea, but one day shortly after the mother ship arrived, he cut himself cooking, we saw what they truly look like, at least a part of him, and he went ape shit. He killed my mom and I barely escaped."

"Oh." Tyler looked down. "I'm really sorry, Lucy…"

"They got your dad, so I know you know what it's like." She reached out, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, okay? We're all fighting because we've lost people."

"Oh?" Tyler looked across the table at Alex. "Who did you lose?"

"I have to go." Alex grabbed his tray and got up, his tone harsh. He walked away quickly, leaving Lucy and Tyler.

"What…" Tyler frowned. "What did I do?" Tyler asked.

"Alex is very sensitive about that," Lucy stated. "I guess I just assumed that he'd told you, I know he told you the first time around, or at least someone else did."

"Tell me what?" Tyler asked.

"His younger brother ran away two years ago," she explained. "He had a huge fight with the family, he had gotten into drugs and he wasn't willing to go to rehab or get the help that he needed. He and Alex had always been close, and when he left, it took Alex apart." Lucy let out a deep sigh. "I don't know if anyone told you, but the Vs have been going around taking people, and they've kept records of when they took them…he found his brother's name on that list."

"Oh my god." Tyler gulped, no longer feeling the urge to finish his food. "What do they want with the people they take?"

"We don't know," Lucy admitted. "At least not yet, but we're working on it. All that we know is most of the people they have targeted are people that aren't going to be missed, or if they are, investigations as to their whereabouts are not going to go on for very long."

"Shit." Tyler sighed, looking down at the table. "So he doesn't know what they're doing to his brother?"

"Not a clue." She shook her head. "That's why he's here, that's why he's fighting. He wants to find John." She looked away, not making eye contact with Tyler.

"What is it?" Tyler asked. "You're keeping something from me."

"He was taken almost six months ago, according to the list we have," Lucy explained. "I don't think that there's much of a chance that John's still alive. Even if we do find out what happened to him, I think that it's really unlikely we'll find John alive."

"Does Alex know?" Tyler asked.

"People keep telling him, you know, preparing him for the worst, but he won't listen to them, he won't believe that his brother is dead."

"Well maybe he's not," Tyler reasoned. "I mean, I was on the V ship as a prisoner, they didn't kill me."

"They needed you for something," Lucy countered.

"Yeah, well maybe they need John for something too."

"Maybe."

"I guess the most we can do is hope, right?" Tyler bit his lip.

"I pray for it every night." Lucy sighed. "But the more and more I hear about the things the Vs are doing, the less I believe that anyone's hearing my prayers."

"Yeah." Tyler reached across the table, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "I know what you mean."

A/N Alright, so two things! 1. I received an anonymous review from someone requesting that I introduce a female HUMAN love interest for Tyler. Now I don't know what the rest of you think, but I DO want your opinions on this. I wasn't going to do that because I think that, at this point, with everything that Tyler's been through, a relationship is the last thing that he needs. However, if a majority of responders wants him to have a love interest, I can work on trying to create one that isn't a mary sue.

2. I DID introduce Lucy this chapter because I wanted to have a kind of tough-as-nails female character. I made her a lesbian because I promised that I wouldn't introduce any female mary sues that were headed for Tyler's affections, but I think this story needed a girl close to their age, and lesbians can be really fun to write. Let me know what you think of Lucy so far! I can keep her in the background or make her a more prominent character.