Despite the late night supply run and stocking that followed, Ben was up with his brothers a few hours later. He followed them you the gym for breakfast, keeping an eye out for Jaden. Matt was focused on his food, but Hal noticed Ben's…amusing behavior. He chuckled to himself.

"So how was your date last night?" he asked

Ben looked up. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, do I really need to say it again?" Hal asked.

"It wasn't a date." Ben answered.

"Night time, missing curfew, just the two of you-"

"Date." Matt piped up.

Hal pointed to Matt. "See."

Ben rolled his eyes. He picked up his plate. "A supply run is not a date."

"Where're you going?" Hal asked.

Ben shrugged. "Made a run last night, but inventory still has to be taken."

"Jaden gonna help?" Hal asked.

"Yeah why wouldn't she?"

Hal shook his head. "No, no reason. Have fun."

Ben walked away from the table.

"Boys got it bad." Hal said.

"Yep, but Jaden's cool so I approve." Matt said.

Hal arched a brow. "You approve? Since when do you get a say?"

"That's one of the rules. You have to have the approval of your brothers and or sisters about your girlfriends." Matt explained.

"That is not a rule." Hal stated.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not you made it up!" Hal said.

"Made what up?" Tom asked, sitting down at the table.

"Matt's saying that before you start dating your siblings needs to approve." Hal explained.

"Sure they do. You don't wanna be dating someone your brothers don't like. That's gonna cause more problems." Tom explained.

"Told you." Matt said.

"Care to tell me why you guys are talking about it?" Tom asked.

Matt and Hal exchanged glances and looked back at their dad. "Ben."

Tom looked up from his plate. "Ben? You mean, Ben and Jaden?"

Hal nodded. "Spending a lot of time with her."

"And you spend a lot of time with Margaret, you don't see Ben turning on you." Tom explained.

"I already have a girlfriend." Hal reminded.

"True. So where's Ben off to?" Tom asked.

"Inventory with Jaden." Hal sad. He rose from the table. "I think he went looking for her."

Tom paused. "Jaden's with Doctor Glass. Maybe she can examine both of them before inventory?"

"Did something happen to Jaden last night?" Hal asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Then isn't it a little weird to see Doctor Glass if you're fine?" Hal asked.

Tom watched Hal. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Hal asled.

Tom got up from the table. He walked quickly toward the doors. Hal followed closely behind his dad.

"Dad what's going on?" Hal asked.

"You're telling me, you didn't know at all?"

"Didn't know what?"

Tom looked around and leaned toward Hal. "Jaden was harnessed."

Hal's brows rose. "Seriously?"

Tom nodded. "She was one of Harris' first successful cases."

"I had no idea." Hal explained.

"If you didn't what are the chances Ben does?" Tom asked.

Ben walked out into the hall. His cheeks and ears were still burning warm. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Why did everyone have to make a big deal about him and Jaden? They were just supply partners for the 2nd Mass. Nothing was going on between them.

Okay, so Jaden was a total badass, kickass girl who knows how to sneak through neighborhoods while mechs patrol without being seen. She flips over the barriers with complete grace, lands on her feet, and keeps lookout with a sniper rifle. She's at least three years older than him-probably four but he didn't really want to get technical- with the body of a dancer, the brains of a nerd, the manners of a loner, and the beauty of a prom queen.

Okay…so maybe Ben did have a crush on Jaden. A tiny crush. But she was older than him, so there was no way anything would ever happen. She was out of hit math geek, razor-back league.

Ben shook his head. No, he couldn't afford to think like that. There was a war going on. The last thing he needed was to get emotionally attached to someone who could die any second. And he wasn't about to admit defeat to the civilians who dawned him and the kids from his group with the derogative name razor-back.

"Looking for your girlfriend?"

Ben looked up. Maggie was making her way toward the gym. "Why does everyone think Jaden's my girlfriend?"

Maggie smirked. "Just for the reaction kid. Jaden needed to talk with the Doc; she said she'd meet you in the armory."

Ben nodded. "Thanks Maggie."

"Anytime Ben." Maggie called.

Ben continued down the hall. The armory and the medical room were located in the same hall. And unless he changed directions and took the long way around, he might as well meet Jaden before and walk to the armory together. Though, with all the speculation of him and Jaden, maybe he should take the long way?

He looked around the hall. There wasn't anyone anywhere near him. Ben stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept on walking toward the science room. If anyone asked, he was going to see Doctor Glass.

Ben walked into the science room and immediately spotted Doctor Glass at the far end of the room. She was standing just behind the cabinet that separated the large room. She hadn't noticed Ben yet, as her attention was focused on her patient, who was blocked by the cabinet. Ben walked further into the room. As he grew closer to Anne, he spotted Jaden on the other side. She was sitting on the stool while Anna examined her. Her shirt was off, covering her front as Anne examined her back. Ben was about to avert his gaze when his spotted something. On the lower left side of Jaden's back was a tattoo of a red bird. Inside its beak was a bar of music that wrapped around the bird. And just above the tattoo were the distinct severed barbs that had once belonged to the harness.

The words were out before Ben could stop himself. "You were harnessed?"

Both women turned their attention on Ben. Jaden met Ben's surprised gaze with her own. Her eyes weren't sharp, searching through him. No, they were wide, surprised she'd been caught. She opened her mouth to say something, but Ben turned away quickly and stormed out of the room.

Jaden cursed and launched herself off the stool. She pulled her shirt over her back, snagging it on her barbs. "Ben! Ben wait!" She sprinted down the hall.

Ben stopped shirt and turned on Jaden. "You know, you really had me going. All this time I thought that you were some gifted fighter. That your flips and endurance was just from the fighting. But now I find out you were harnessed just like me and it all makes since now. When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what? That I was kidnapped and enslaved by aliens?" Jaden asked. "Hey Ben, I was kidnapped and enslaved by aliens. Happy?"

"This isn't funny!" Ben snapped.

"You're right, it isn't. But it also doesn't matter."

"Yes it does!"

"What the hell are you so upset about, Ben? The fact that I was harnessed or the fact that I didn't tell you?" Jaden demanded.

"That you didn't tell me!" Ben answered. "That you didn't trust me enough to tell me, because just being harnessed isn't a problem for me."

Jaden blinked in surprise.

"We're supposed to be a team out there, watching each other's backs. How am I trust you to watch my back when you can trust me with this?" Ben asked. He turned and continued walking down the hall.

"Ben! Ben!" Jaden called. But Ben kept walking. She ran a hand through her braids. "Damnit!" She walked back to the science room.

"Jaden I am so sorry. I should've examined you out of sight." Anne explained.

Jaden shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Guess everyone was going to find out eventually. How'd it look? And please don't give me any bull."

Ann sighed. "It's not looking any better Jaden. In fact, it looks like it's getting worse."

"Jaden!" Tom and Hal entered the science room. "Where's Ben?"

Jaden turned from Tom and grabbed her gun. She slung it over her shoulder. "Today's just one massive screw up after another." She walked past Tom and Hal out into the hall.

Ben sat out of the school, along the back wall out sight of the scouts and anyone who would came looking for him. After his brief but vocal fight with Jaden, all Ben wanted to do was run…and not come back. But with the rain pouring down, skitters, and mechs, and unarmed the idea was quickly dismissed from his mind. Instead he walked around the school and found a secluded spot and sat in the rain. That was a good three hours ago.

Now drenched, Ben debated whether not to go back inside. He wasn't going to find Jaden, there was no chance. He was still mad with her for not telling him. It didn't matter that she had been harnessed. Well it did, but not the way everyone else thought it did. The point was that she hadn't been honest with him. And until she could be honest with him, Ben wasn't going to run with her.

The sound of footsteps in the wet ground caught Ben's attention. In the three hours no one had come close to this place. Ben stiffed up and listened. The footsteps were growing louder, closer, heading straight for him. His dad, maybe his brother, or some fighter searching for him?

Jaden walked around the corner of the school. She wore only her shoulder less top with her rifle strapped around her back. Her black boots and the hem of her jeans were soaked and caked in mud. She was just as soaked as Ben was. She walked in front of him and sat down beside him without a word. Jaden flicked her head, tossing her braids over her shoulder with a clatter.

"I used to be a Broadway performer growing up. I was an extra in musicals like Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, Wonderland, Lion King, things where I'd flip around, do acrobatics." Jaden said. "When I was seven I was diagnosed with the Becker form of muscular dystrophy. It usually effects boys but there is a small chance that girls can have it. At first I was just tired all the time, then I had trouble getting up from the floors, then by twelve I couldn't walk at all. By then my Broadway days had long been over.

"My parents were the family money, public picture, aristocracy type people. They didn't want a crippled child tarnishing their public image. If news spread about my condition...well their image would be ruined. They moved me to Boston, set me up in this beautiful house with private nurses and therapist, and left me there. In the six years I was there, they never once came to visit. They sent money, gifts, cards from around the world. But never came to see me.

"When the invasion began, my medical caregivers took off. They took whatever they could from the place and left me behind. I laid in my bed for three days before the skitters took me. Sadly, if it hadn't been for them, I would've been dead. Doctor Harris and Colonel Porter pulled me off the streets and took off the harness. I've been running for the resistance ever since." Jaden answered.

Ben looked at Jaden. "Why did you tell me?"

"I guess there was this voice in my head that said you'd leave, just like everyone else in my life." Jaden answered.

"Is that why you trained me? Because I was harnessed?"

"To be honest, the harness situation worked out for the better, but no. I do think you have what it takes to run supplies, and I know the need to prove yourself to everyone." Jaden explained.

"Did anyone know you were harnessed?" Ben asked.

Jaden nodded. "Captain Weaver, your dad, Harris, Anne, Maggie, and I'm pretty sure Dai figured it out. However after our very public disagreement, everyone knows I was harness."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. You were right. I should've been honest about being harnessed." Jaden said. She stood up from the ground. She pulled out her pistol and tossed it to Ben. "Armory's been taken care of. You shouldn't be outside without a weapon. I trained you better than that." Jaden turned and left Ben alone in the rain with his thoughts.

i think readers saw this coming, but i needed to explain her backstory. better late than never.