Disclaimer: Do I have to? *makes pouty face* Yeah, you get the drill. It doesn't belong to me. *sobs*

This chapter kinda wrote itself, and all I had to do was watch my fingers do the typing. Fascinating.

Not bad, not bad. Explanations chapter, and a bit of pointless humor at the end, so it's all good.

That being said: Read! And review.

Chapter Eleven:

"What. Happened." Jake asked.

Marco squirmed, obviously not happy with the way Jake's gaze landed directly on him. "The good news is we found the Yeerk pool."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you always start with the bad news?"

"Well, thanks a load for telling me now." Marco snarled back.

We were in the barn, Cassie feeding a particularly unwilling bird she called a goose. Rachel leaned against a wall, glaring at the council held in the middle. The group of victims was Marco, Ax, and I. Jake was pacing, looking rather….unpleasant.

"And the bad news?" Jake looked at Marco, but I answered.

"We wandered into the Yeerk pool and were nearly killed." I replied flatly. Marco sent me an angry look, but I shrugged. No use avoiding the truth.

Jake set his gaze on me. I met it head-on. It wasn't probably the smartest thing.

"Didn't Tobias tell you to stay outside?" He asked slowly.

Oh, yeah. I had forgotten. "Yes he did." My mind whirled, trying to think of sizable excuses.

"So why didn't you?"

"I was worried that Marco and Aximili might encounter trouble. I knew that they didn't know they were heading into a Yeerk pool, and that an early warning might help." I said with a straight face.

Now it wasn't just Jake. It was Cassie and Rachel as well. And Tobias, but he couldn't help his stare; he had hawk eyes after all.

I felt like an experiment. I set my jaw and waited for the scrutinizing to be over. Honestly, these children could've been in The Council of Thirteen. They certainly had the knack of making people nervous.

It made me wonder why I was so nervous in front of these children. They were simply that-children. The Council of Thirteen was known for torturing and maiming and killing people. They were experts at causing pain.

That's where I stopped. What about the Animorphs then? They had tortured and maimed and killed and caused pain. In the heat of a battle, anything could be justified. And that boy David who wasn't here any longer…the boy they wouldn't tell me anything else about other than the fact that he existed…

Jake sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "You really should've stayed outside."

"I'm sorry." I murmured, bowing my head in defeat. I had to stay low. I couldn't cause so many discrepancies, for who knew what Jake's limit was?

But then my mouth ran away. "What about Marco and Ax?" I found myself saying. "They went in the first place. If they hadn't, true, we wouldn't have found the Yeerk pool. But they caused unnecessary trouble because of it."

Where had that come from? For a moment, I thought there was something controlling my mouth. Something making me say that. But no, I must've imagined it.

My heart thudded at the look on Jake's face. Uh-

"They got yelled at earlier." Rachel smirked. "While we were heading here, in bird morph. Jake used private thought-speak."

I should've relaxed. But I couldn't. My gut instincts were yelling something at me, but I couldn't make it out.

"It wasn't really my fault." Marco grumbled. "Ax's never gone on a roller coaster, and earlier he was going after the cotton candy. I had to do something."

(The pink cloud was full of strange chemical reactions.) Ax defended himself. (I was only trying-)

"Denial. It's not just a river in Egypt." Rachel sang.

Marco added. "Dude, you knocked over Mr. Chapman, nearly strangled the guy at the booth, and scared away the two chicks I was chatting up."

"Marco, have you ever thought about the fact that they might've been scared away by you and your fat mouth?"

"They weren't. HAH!" He waved around a small piece of paper as if it were the key to the universe. Well, maybe it was. In a Marco-sized universe.

Rachel eyed the slip warily. "You've finally discovered the use for paper? Congrats Marco, you're only two thousand years behind the evolution of humans. What's next? Toilet paper?"

"Nope. It's got the blonde chick's number."

We blinked.

Rachel finally muttered, "Well. Didn't see that one coming."

Marco grinned in her face, looking smug. Jake stepped in before Rachel could hit him. "You do know that there's a good chance she's a Controller."

Marco dropped the smile. "It's just one date. I mean, you can check. Actually, I'll check her out as well." He grinned wolfishly.

They were organized, they were smart, and they knew what to do. They were cautious and prepared.

And that's when I realized.

"Ax." I suddenly said. "And Marco. They should've known something was wrong."

I closed my eyes, remembering those moments. "The minute they walked in. They should've known. The maze, Ax would've remembered. The cameras, Ax should've recognized. The crowd they saw…they would've seen well-known Controllers in the crowd. Ax could've contacted us, all through the maze. They didn't have to go ahead to the tunnel. If they were taken unawares, if they realized the danger…they would've gotten out first. They wouldn't have gone ahead without telling us. Marco wouldn't have. Ax wouldn't have. But they did. Why?"

I opened my eyes, and stared accusingly at the Andalite and Marco. Ax's face was the customarily blank face of an Andalite. I was used to reading Visser Three's host's expressive face, not this young Andalite's closed look. I turned to Marco.

He was clapping. He was the only one. "Bravo, bravo." He slapped a stiffened Jake on the back. "Who would've known? She figured it out."

Cassie stepped towards me. I stepped away. "Madi-" She started.

"I don't want to know." I said quietly. "I changed my mind."

I turned away from Cassie's worried look, and started walking for the doors. I felt like I already knew enough. I felt like I would explode inside.

Marco's hand fell on my shoulder. "Hold up. You can't honestly say you don't want to know."

"Yes, I can." I didn't turn to look at him. Knowing Marco, he was smirking. "I really don't want to know."

His hand dropped from my shoulder. "I'm telling you anyways." He seemed less certain. A bit taken-aback. Like I had said something strange.

I turned around. "Ok." And I didn't say anything more.

"We were testing you. We wanted to know if we could trust you, how you would react in that kind of a situation, and if you would betray us." He said matter-of-factly. "We wanted to know if you were David."

I hadn't felt so many emotions at once in my life. I thought I had blocked all of them out. I thought I was safe if I couldn't let them get in.

"See," Jake said, looking apologetic. "We already knew about this Yeerk pool beforehand. We were prepared to use it as a test. So Marco and Ax went in as bait, and Tobias told you to stay out, and we watched to see what you would do. Tobias, Rachel and I were the Hork-Bajir. Cassie was a flea on you."

"We had to, Madi." Cassie smiled sadly. "We didn't mean for it to go that far. We didn't want to hurt you, just see what you would do."

My head was spinning with this new information. They had fooled me. These…children… had utterly fooled me out. I was shocked.

It was all a fake. The battle didn't have to happen. I didn't really help out, because no one was in trouble in the first place. And to think that I honestly thought…

I didn't know what I thought. I didn't know what I hoped for. A place to belong? What a joke. Friends? Friends were weak. To do something good for once? Good…impossible.

"I think you did well, considering what Marco and Ax said." Rachel smiled grudgingly. "You didn't run away or give us away. You acquired another morph, too, and you totally kicked butt against the Yeerks. Good work."

"She nearly got us all killed." Marco countered. "She did well, but let's face it: She's a kid. She should've stayed out of the whole thing. If she can't listen to Jake here…"

Rachel exploded. "You know what? I'm sick of you and your stupid hypocrisy! She's nine and she did really well, and who cares if she didn't follow that direction? We don't listen to Jake half the time, and she has even less obligation to, because she doesn't even know Jake all that well-"

Marco snorted. "Just because she doesn't know Jake doesn't mean she doesn't need to listen to him. Are you forgetting David so easily? You remember how it all started? He didn't listen. Not because he couldn't fight well or anything, but because he was working for himself. He had his own agenda, and where did that get us? Either she listens or we drop her for good-"

Before he could finish the word, I was out the doors and was running.

I had failed. My emotions got the better of me. Don't go soft on me.

I was wrong. I don't think I've ever understood those words until now.

It hurt. Marco's accusations hurt something deep inside of me that had never been hurt before. It reminded me that I would never be part of their group, never be like the rest of them who were allowed to joke around and laugh. Laughing….I couldn't remember the last time I had heard myself laughing.

But it came so naturally to them. How?

But Rachel had defended me. I had pegged her for the most loyal to her group, but I managed to win her over against Marco. Of course, she probably had hated Marco from before, so it wasn't much.

That moment where I headed into the maze…why didn't I listen to Tobias? Why hadn't I stayed outside?

I knew. I had wanted to prove myself. I had thought that Tobias had said those words because he was afraid of a betrayal. And I wanted to prove that I was no David. Don't do anything without us.

And where had that gotten me? I was still called David.

I panted, stopping by a tree. I was a good ways from the barn, though not far enough for my tastes. "What do I have to do?" I whispered.

Hold on. Did trees-?

I looked up. Nope. Tree wasn't attacking. I was safe.

I dropped down and sat underneath the tree. No way was I climbing up the tree again and risking my wellbeing.

The sky was growing rather dark. I remembered how much I had wanted to see the sun set. I remembered how I failed.

I didn't want another failure today, so I didn't try climbing. My ego had taken all the bashing it could take.

I curled up next to the tree's body, sharing my body heat with the tree. I still couldn't tell whether the thing was alive or not, but if it was, it seemed to have forgiven me. No doubt I would've been batted away if it didn't like me.

In any case, it was good to have one thing on Earth that didn't try to take me down.

I fell asleep.

I woke up, my vision blurry. I was still cuddled up to the tree, I could tell. I sighed comfortably, not willing to open my eyes, and rubbed my head against its soft, warm fur.

What the-? Fur?

I opened my eyes and focused. Blue fur?

"Aaaahhhh!" I yelped, purely in shock.

(Aaaahhhh!) came a distinctly male thought-speak above me.

And suddenly the thing disappeared, and I was falling to the hard ground. "Aaaaahhhhhh!"

(Aaaaahhhhhh!) Another male voice. Different from the first. I recognized it as Tobias.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!" I yelled back, and straightened myself out.

I knelt on the ground, my hair falling into my eyes. I brushed it away impatiently and looked up for the danger.

"….."

(……)

(…….)

(You-ah- dropped her, Ax.) Tobias state quite obviously.

(She screamed.) Ax accused. Also, quite obviously.

"Someone was carrying me." I said, quite obviously. We really needed to get away from the obvious.

(You were asleep.) Tobias replied. (It was dark and Cassie got worried when you didn't come back. We spent all night looking for you.)

"It's still night." I pointed out.

(Whatever. What were you doing out there?)

"I was sharing body warmth with a tree." I stood up coolly.

Ax and Tobias shared looks. (Right.) Tobias managed finally. (We'll just tell Cassie she was out here for a good cause.)

I blinked uncertainly, and then regained my confidence. "The Andalite is not carrying me." I stated firmly, trying to cover my mistake, and started walking.

And hit a tree. Hard. Huh. The trees still didn't forgive me? After I had shared body warmth?

I bounced back and landed on the ground. My rear muscles screamed in pain.

(Madi. The barn is to the northwest, not the northeast. Surely you can do something as simple as finding the northwest?) Stupid Andalite seemed pleasantly amused.

"Of course I can." I gritted my teeth, disorientated, but looked up and mapped out the stars. "Northwest. That way." I pointed, and we walked there, the Andalite flanking me, and Tobias flying overhead.

(How- how do you do that?) Tobias asked, shocked. (I mean, Ax is an Andalite, he would know directions. But, you've never been in Girls Scouts or anything so-)

"The stars lead the way." I replied. "You mean to tell me humans can't find directions? On their own planet? That's pathetic."

The Andalite chuckled, to my surprise. (It is rather strange.)

"You know what is stranger? Waking up in the arms of an Andalite. Don't Andalites have weak arms? I'm surprise he could hold up my body weight-"

Tobias snorted. (That's because you're way too light. What have you been eating- grass?)

"And an ant-"

(Yes, we know.)

We walked back in silence, and I found myself glancing up at the two creatures next to me. Both clearly loners, I had never really taken a good look at them.

I was a loner, too. Big difference though: They belonged in the group. They had found comfort with each other, as different as they were.

How? I wondered. One was a nothlit, and the other was the only one of his species for light-years away. And me? I was the nine-year old former Controller. Someone they still couldn't trust, and wouldn't trust. Not that I could blame them much, now that I thought on it. The boy Marco, I thought grudgingly, deserved more credit than I gave him. His paranoia might've been the only thing that kept them from being killed at one time.

Actually, if you thought about it, he acted kinda like me. That was a disturbing thought.

I sighed. The rush of feelings was over. I felt more like myself, the emotions all locked up and safe.

And I couldn't care less if they hated me or not, now. I could face it. Whatever it was. It was just another argument with Marco. Idiot boy.

He wouldn't slow me down. He wouldn't stop me from going on and being a part of this group.

And in the barn, later, sleeping on the stack of hay, remembering the look Cassie had given me, and the way she nodded her head, made me realize that the argument with Marco had been another test. A way to see if I would break down, if I would be unable to handle the emotions that came with the battle.

Ingenious. It was brilliant.

So when Cassie came back to check on me, I nodded to her. And I knew she understood, that I understood what she did.

For once, I felt like I belonged. I didn't understand much, but I understood enough to know that I was in the group.

Coulda been better, coulda been worse. Go figure.

Notes for the next chapter: Marco is shutting up because the Animorphs hammered him, Jake is being more involved because I'm hammering myself for his lack of involvement, and Cassie is talking more because she's just cool like that.

metamorphstorm: Oh! Smart idea. I usually don't think that way. Gah. Anyways, when I was new to this whole thing, I had no idea about answering to reviews and stuff, so I was completely and utterly clueless about that. Took me a while to figure out what those words on the bottom of the page were for. lol.

wordcrafter: Ooh! New reviewer. Thanks for your review. Yeah, I'm glad I was able to think of a non-Mary Sue character. And the animal? Hah. Good luck figuring that one out. It's not some creature most people are familiar with. I doubt Marco even knew. And until Madra morphs it again (which won't be soon) the creature won't really be brought up. I'll give you a hint, though: It's a reptile. Kudos to you if you get it.

Thanks for all your reviews and everything because you're all awesome like that. Remember to review/flame/criticize for this chapter too!