Sorry for the wait and sorry for the shortness of the chapter. Writer's block has been threatening to overcome me for this and Nightmares, but I am valiently battling my way through it. Please read the short chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Secret Saturdays

Chapter 4

"Uncle Doyle!" Zak exclaimed happily from his place in the airships' infirmary. Brittany cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Uncle… Doyle?" She said, staring at the man with red hair and mullet, trying to figure out how in the world Zak was related to him. She could see none.

"Yeah!" Zak said with a smile on his face, turning his head to be facing the girl on the bed. "He's mom's brother. We're all family!"

"Whoa, whoa mini man," Doyle said. "I don't know about you, but I'm definitely not related to that freak." Brittany tried her hardest to hide the hurt look on her face, but it was to no avail- Zak had already spotted it and was coming to her defense.

"Brittany's not a freak!" He protested. "She's just… misunderstood!" Brittany wheezed a laugh.

"It's alright Zak, I don't mind," She lied easily. Brittany looked Doyle in the eye, staring him down as if daring him to call her a freak again.

"Doyle right?" She asked, but didn't get a response. "Name's Brittany. It's nice to meet." Doyle looked at her and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right," He said, and walked over to Zak and messed up Zak's hair.

"I gotta go mini man." He told Zak. "Your Dad's mad at me and I don't think it'd help my case if I stuck around. See ya." And Doyle was gone. Brittany blinked once before looking at Zak.

"Well, he seems real nice," She said sarcastically, shrugging her shoulders.

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Brittany was padding around as quietly as she could throughout the airship. She wasn't supposed to be on her feet yet because they'd supposedly break out and start bleeding again, but that hadn't happened yet and she highly doubted that it would happen.

The only reason she was up was because she couldn't take sitting down for long periods of time. She needed to be constantly in motion, unless she was asleep.

Hearing footsteps coming down the hall her way, she froze. She knew she wasn't supposed to be up, and she knew that she was going to get into a lot of trouble if she was found out. Looking around the corner she was by, she and Zak both nearly jumped a foot in the air as they saw the other.

"You're up?! Why?!" They whispered to the other, surprised that the other was up. After a second, they started laughing quietly. It was like they were twins, except that Brittany's hair was blonde and crimson instead of white and black.

Fingering her hair gently with one hand, she allowed Zak to drag her back to the infirmary with the other where they'd be in private.

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"So why were you up?" Zak and Brittany asked together again, and ended up in a glaring match until Zak caved and went first.

"I couldn't sleep." Zak admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just taking a walk. What about you Brittany? I thought you weren't allowed on your feet?" Brittany laughed nervously.

"Heh heh," She laughed. "Well… I couldn't sleep either, so I wanted to take a walk too. I don't really like sitting for long periods of time, I like to be constantly in motion." Brittany smiled as she lied, making it seem real. Zak bought it.

"Well," Zak yawned, throwing his hands behind his head. "I think I'm going to go back to bed." Brittany smiled and leaned her head to the side.

"Alright," She smiled. "I'll see you in the morning Zak."

"Goodnight," Zak said as he left the infirmary, and he was gone. Once Brittany was sure Zak was out of hearing range and wouldn't come back, she let her smile drop.

She hadn't wanted to lie to him. She didn't like lying to him. But she had to, whether she liked to or not. Keeping him away from her was what was keeping her safe.

With an uneasy stomach, Brittany fell asleep.

She hated lying.

Especially when she was the one doing it.

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~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~