Bruuugghhhhh…my brain. It is filled with two things: angst and smut. Unfortunately, it does not provide much in the way of plot, so this chapter took a while to write. I did really enjoy writing Tania, though. She's gone all feminist, proactive, "down-with-the-bad-guys". I like it, but some of you may not. I dunno. Let me know what you think!

The house they pulled up to was bigger than the one Wikus and Tania had owned together, and looked twice as expensive. It had a long driveway lined with shrubs and trees, making it more secluded and safer from casual observers.

"How did you…pay for this place?" Wikus asked as they climbed out of the sleek black car.

"My father." Tania half-smiled at his look of surprise. "He died last year. Left me everything. I invested some, saved some, and still had enough to buy this place and a house in the Isle of Wight. I started 'volunteering' for MNU a few months ago. I've been sneaking food and medicine in to help out some of the prawn families. They're the ones that helped me to find out if you were alive and where you were. Of course, everyone else figures you were killed by the prawns, so they assumed I joined MNU for revenge."

Wikus gaped. Oliver ran excitedly over to a tree which held weaver-birds' nests, his father following him watchfully.

"C'mon, now, let's go inside. I don't know about you lot, but I'm exhausted." Tania scaled the steps onto the veranda and held the door open for her guests. Christopher entered cautiously, followed by his ecstatic child. Wikus trailed behind, still processing everything he'd just been told.

The house's interior was just as tastefully wealthy-looking as its exterior was, with plush carpets and various paintings and pictures on the white walls. Tania led her entourage past a stainless steel and marble kitchen and up a flight of stairs to the second floor. A long hallway extended to either side, lined with doors and handsome Blackwood paneling.

"Well, I've got rooms set up for each of you," their hostess said, brushing back her short-cropped blonde hair. "Mine's at the far end on the right, next to the bathroom, if you need anything. Wikus, yours is the first door on the left. Mr. Johnson-"

"I think," Wikus interrupted, glancing sideways at Chris, "I think he'd prefer it if you called him Christopher." The prawn nodded and Tania smiled again.

"Christopher, then. Your room is just next to Wikus'. And if Oliver wants, the room at the end of the hall was originally meant as a nursery, so-"

"I could have my own room?" Oliver trilled excitedly, bouncing in place.

"That may not be a good idea," Chris began hesitantly, and the child's antennae drooped.

"Ah, come on, Chris, let the kid have his own room," Wikus wheedled. The alien relented, and Oliver darted down the hallway to inspect his new chambers. Christopher followed, ducking to avoid a collision with the light fixture that hung from the ceiling.

Wikus and Tania stood in the hall, carefully examining their shoes or the walls. After a long moment, he managed to clear his throat and speak.

"Tania, I- thanks for doing this. I know that it can't have been easy on you."

She regarded him with calm, cool eyes, and shrugged. "It wasn't, at first. I was an absolute wreck for a while. Then…" She looked away, remembering. "Then I got tired of being lied to. By my father. By the police. By the company. By you."

"Me? But I-" He started to protest, and she turned back to him, gaze level.

"Wikus, you told me you were helping the prawns. Trying to keep them safe and healthy. I looked up the tapes of your field operations. You set fire to houses full of babies, Wikus. You laughed about it." She scoffed and folded her arms. "There was so much I didn't know about you."

Wikus cringed at her bitter tone, her words biting deep. "I…yes. I did sick shit. I didn't realize what I was doing then. I didn't understand."

"Neither did I," Tania said softly. "That's why I joined MNU. I wanted to know what they were like. The prawns, I mean. I expected to learn that they'd, I don't know, eaten you like Koobus or burned you to death or something. They all knew about the stuff you'd done; they all knew who you were. And guess what I learned? Not only were you still alive, but one of them had taken you in. Protected you from MNU. They'd forgiven you."

This time it was Wikus who looked away in memory. No, not just forgiven. It was more than that, with Christopher. The other prawns tolerated him, but Chris…the way the alien had looked at him sometimes, even before that night- there was something other than simple forgiveness in his tawny eyes.

Tania continued. "That was when I decided to help you escape. They forgave you; so could I, even if I- couldn't really be in love with you again." She sighed and let her arms drop. "So, there it is."

Wikus met her gaze and nodded. "Thank you, Tania. So…what do we do now?"

Christopher came back at that moment, having finally gotten Oliver to settle down and go to sleep in the nursery. Wikus couldn't help the faint tremor that shot down his spine when the prawn accidentally brushed against his left arm, the smooth, sharp edges of carapace making goosebumps along his skin.

The rasp of that shell against his belly, his thighs, as Christopher's hands mapped his fragile body with tender care, running soothing fingers down his sides and back. Soft, untranslatable words of comfort flowed steadily in clicks and taps, endearments that clashed with the filth and hateful curses pouring from the human's mouth.

"Well," Tania said in response to Wikus' question, "I'll go over the plan in greater detail tomorrow, but basically there's a group of scientists in New Zealand that I'm close with; they're offering you sanctuary and equipment in the hopes that you can get in contact with your home world, Christopher."

The prawn's antennae swiveled back in surprise.

"This is… wonderful news," he clicked. "When could we leave?"

"In a few days," she replied after translating. "I have a private jet and a trustworthy pilot."

"We can go home," Christopher said, a distant look in his eyes. "I had almost…I had given up hope that I would ever be able to make contact again." He blinked and looked at Tania. "Thank you."

She smiled. "I hope it works. Right now, we all need a good night's sleep. I'll see you in the morning." She turned and walked away down the hall into her room.

Wikus glanced up at Chris, who was still awestruck.

A thought struck him like an electric volt. Chris and Oliver…going home. Gone. Probably forever. The idea made something in him twist painfully, and he was filled with the urge to press himself against that tall, lanky, foreign-yet-familiar body. To lose the rest of the world one last time. Maybe…maybe he could convince them to stay…No, that wouldn't happen. Not after twenty-two years of torture, violence and repression. Humanity would be lucky if the prawns didn't blow up Earth as they left. Christopher wouldn't be persuaded to give up on his dream for the sake of one lonely, desperate human with no one else to turn to. Wikus blinked rapidly as he realized that his eyes had begun to tear up. Great, fucking great, gonna cry in the middle of the hallway, in front of Chris, and just when everything's looking up. I should be fucking happy that they're leaving. Fucking prawns.

His thoughts were interrupted by warm pressure on his cheek. He looked up blearily and Christopher pulled his hand away, looking ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he clicked quietly. "You- your cheek was wet."

"I-I'm just tired," Wikus said sullenly. Chris didn't ask what kind of correlation there was between tiredness and wet cheeks; he had seen the human cry before and had learned not to ask.

The prawn stepped back, looking down. "Well. We, uh, we should-"

"Yeah," Wikus rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. "Yeah, off to bed and all. Been a busy day."

Christopher nodded and stood still for another instant, his eyes flicking across Wikus' face and form, his secondary arms twitching in and out restlessly, before he abruptly turned away. "Good night, Wikus."

"Yeah."

It was going to be a long night.