Chapter 4, part 2.

She had not packed anything suitable for a party and so the next morning had to run to the nearby mall to buy a dress. The invitation, which was still on the desk in her room from where she had put it weeks ago (and promptly forgotten of its existence) specified evening attire, whatever that might have meant. She considered borrowing something from her mom, but every suitable dress in mom's closet hung on Alice like a potato sack. She had always been slim, but she didn't realize how skinny she'd really gotten until she actually tried the same dress she had previously borrowed from her mom for a date a few years ago, and saw that it was now at least two inches too wide for her; previously it had been maybe a quarter of an inch too big at the most, and used to lay on her quite smoothly; now it looked awkward and ill-fitting. Maybe there was something in mom's haranguing after all.

At the store, she settled on the first dress that fitted her well: black, lace, knee-length and long-sleeved, with a boat neckline, it hid almost all of her scars—the only visible ones were a shallow cut on her left collarbone, made by a Wraith claw at the end of the previous year, and the bullet wound on her calf, inflicted by Karim when he was under Jareth's influence. Nothing but ankle-length skirt and a turtleneck could've hidden those, though, and she didn't think those would check the box for "evening attire". Fortunately, the black stilettos she had worn to Jodie's engagement party and wedding were still in her closet, and they fitted her fine—even if she felt very unsure walking in them, used as she was to combat boots and low pumps at best.

Mom lent her some silver jewelry to go along the ensemble and insisted on styling her hair—which now went down a little lower than her chin and irritated her all the time, being too short to fully get caught in a ponytail or a bun, a few locks always falling into her eyes and becoming a mess whenever there was a bit of wind. Still, she had to admit that the fanciful waves mom managed to create looked kind of nice, and they framed her face in a way that made it look a little less thin. A touch of makeup completed the look.

Mom insisted also on driving Alice to the event, even though the school was less than half an hour walk from home.

"You can't walk all this way in these heels," Eileen had said and Alice had to give in to that argument.

The low, sand-colored buildings of the school were exactly like Alice had remembered them. The reunion was being held in one of the gymnasiums, as was usual. It was the third such event organized for their class, but Alice hadn't attended the fifth and tenth anniversaries of graduation.

There was a table with a huge sign saying CHECK IN at the entrance, so that's where Alice headed first. She was a couple minutes late, and there was a line, so she stood quietly to the side, taking the sight in: the red, white and blue draping that decorated the walls (very patriotic, she thought with sarcasm), little tables with blue tablecloths and mounds of buffet-style foods, a makeshift bar with a big sign listing all the drinks available (no Martini, she noted with amused disappointment), and even a professional-looking DJ station, though no one seemed to be manning it; there was music issuing from speakers, but it wasn't very loud yet, and seemed to be rather subdued. There was also a raised stage on one side of the room, which Alice didn't remember from her time at school; it was either a new addition, or maybe erected especially for today's entertainment.

"Hi! And who are you?" A woman sitting at the table asked Alice, making her start. She hadn't noticed that the line ahead of her had dissipated.

"Uhm, hi. Alice Boyd," she answered, feeling out of place, but the woman's returning smile looked so brilliant and genuine that it actually put her at ease a little.

"So great that you could make it, Alice!" She marked something on a clipboard, and then shuffled through the heap of stickers she had in a little box to the side. "Here's yours, wear it somewhere visible and have fun!"

"Thanks, you too, Kaycee." Alice smiled, reading the woman's own sticker. So this was the one who had convinced Aaron to come—looking at her, Alice would have never recognized the erstwhile captain of the cheerleading squad.

Stepping further in and looking around, she realized she didn't recognize most of the people crowding in the room. How could they all have changed so much in fifteen years? She didn't think she did so much, and neither did Aaron or Jake. But, she realized, it was probably because she saw them so often—incremental changes didn't seem like much, but seeing a jump from eighteen-year-olds to thirty-three-year-olds was significant enough to put all the differences in sharp relief.

"Allie!" A familiar voice called from her right and she turned around and beheld Aaron, looking very dapper in a navy blue suit, white shirt opened at the neck, and white sneakers; he was surrounded by people and waving at her to come closer.

She took a deep breath and walked over to his group, noting that all of the band—minus Jeffrey, who did not go to this school with all of them—were there among the throng already.

"Hi," she said, feeling a little awkward, because everybody seemed to be gawking at her.

"Hey." Aaron smiled at her and then his eyes went up and down on her frame, taxing and measuring. It made her even more uncomfortable. "You look… amazing."

"Thanks." She felt a treacherous blush growing on her cheeks and decided she needed to redirect everyone's attention from herself. "So, how's this gonna go? When are you going on?"

"Oh, not for another hour or so," Aaron waved his hand dismissively. "There's still people coming in. I'm glad you made it." And he grinned at her with a twinkle in his eye.

"I said I'd come, right?" She rolled her eyes. "I keep my promises."

"I know, I know…"

"Alice!" Zach Newman, the band's drummer, squeezed through the group and unceremoniously lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. "So good to see you!"

She had to laugh. "Put me down, you doofus!" He did and she teetered a little, trying to straighten and smooth her dress on herself. "Fifteen years on, and you're still a humongous goof." She shook her head.

He smiled brightly at her and then gestured at her to follow him. "Come, there's someone I want you to meet."

They came to a halt in front of a smaller group of three people: one of them looked vaguely familiar, though Alice only realized who it was after reading the name on the sticker—Annie Brown—but she didn't recognize the other two, and they only had their first names hand-written on their stickers, making her think they must have been plus-ones.

"Alice, this is Chiyo Ishikawa, my fiancée," Zach said proudly, wrapping his arm around a medium-height woman with beautiful brown eyes and long flowing hair. "Dove, this is Alice Boyd, a very old friend and honorary band member."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Hardly." She shook hands with the Asian woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

Chiyo smiled and nodded. "And so did I about you." Her English bore no trace of any foreign accents.

"And you remember Annie?" Zach prompted, waving at the other woman in the circle. Alice remembered her as a freckled brunette teenager who was always cruising the corridors looking for juicy gossip; she bore little resemblance to the adult woman with bleached blonde hair, fuller figure and an elegant, off-the-shoulder red dress.

"Of course, how are you doing, Annie?" Alice extended her hand again.

"I'm doing great, Alice, and how about you?" Annie smiled and pointed at the last person in the group: a man, older by at least a decade, with black hair interspersed with silver, a handsome face and a bit of a beer belly. "This is my husband, George."

"How do you do, Ms. Boyd?" He said in a familiar posh British accent, and Alice felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her; his voice was a bit higher and smoother than Karim's had been, but this accent…

She smiled to cover her internal struggle and shook hands with him, too. "How do you do, sir?" She answered, her voice almost steady. "Please call me Alice."

"George." He nodded solemnly.

Alice quickly turned back to Chiyo. "I hear that you're working at the Keck Institute?"

"Well, I am part of the team there that looks at ways we can—or should—be doing research into CMB polarization, but my primary job is still as a researcher at CalTech."

"Of course, makes sense, Keck is only a think-tank, I should've guessed you'd be officially employed at CalTech." Alice shook her head. "Still, that's a pretty cool thing. Is CMB your area of research at the university, too?"

"What's CMB?" Annie interrupted. She looked a little lost—and a bit bored, too, Alice thought.

"Cosmic Microwave Background," Alice explained patiently. "It's a form of radiation left over from the beginning of our universe. It's the oldest kind of radiation we know of, and therefore an important source of data regarding those early days after the Big Bang."

"Sounds fascinating, and very complex," George noted, and, to Alice's relief, she discovered that the cadences of his speech were, after all, slightly different than Karim's had been.

"Oh, it is," Chiyo assured him. Alice smiled, nodding along, thinking how unfair it was to scientists such as Chiyo that she, Alice, who never specialized in CMB, probably knew more about it just by the virtue of being part of the Stargate Program. Her smile faded as she thought about the Destiny—the ship the Ancients had built more than fifty million years ago for the purpose of gathering information on Cosmic Microwave Background—and its unknown fate. "And, answering your question, Alice—yes, I focus mainly on CMB in my research. But Zach told me you're a scientist, too—what is it that you specialize in?"

"I should've realized you'd also be a scientist from the way you were excited about this whole CMB thing," Annie noted with a bit of annoyance mixed in with amusement.

Alice smirked. "Guilty as charged. I did my PhD in Computer Engineering, with focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning—but really, I dabble with all kinds of science a little bit." She shrugged. "I don't have the kind of time to dedicate myself to one area of research so I do a little of everything on the side."

"Really? Isn't that unusual?" George asked; he looked to be more interested than his wife.

"Not for me." Alice spread her arms in a whatever gesture, but then decided to continue, to redirect their attention: "I actually touched upon Cosmic Microwave Background radiation research a bit a while back, too. I was merely a research assistant then—it was, what? Seven years ago, I think? By no means am I an expert," she rushed to add, bowing her head a little towards Chiyo. "I was just helping Doctor Carter in her research."

To her surprise, Chiyo cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. "You worked with Samantha Carter?"

"You know her?" It was Alice's turn to arch her eyebrows.

"Not personally, but I think I read the study you are referring to—unless she did more of them on the subject of CMB?"

"Not that I am aware." Alice's expression changed into a deep frown. "But I could've sworn all of her work in the past fifteen years had been classified."

"It is, or at least that paper was—I had to be officially vetted and obtained a limited clearance to read it, back when I worked at the University of Tokyo. It was a truly groundbreaking research—I wish I knew how she got her data!"

Alice grinned brightly, amused at how small the world really was—especially the world of professional scientists. "I wish I could tell you."

Chiyo shook her head. "And to think you not only know it all—you were actually helping to do it!"

"I had a very limited role in it," Alice acknowledged. "Like I said—I was merely Carter's research assistant for a few weeks. Though I learned a lot then," she added musingly.

"So, what is she up to these days? Still working on CMB?" Chiyo asked eagerly.

Alice chuckled. "Goodness, no. I'm afraid she has very limited time for research nowadays—she's moved up the ranks and now has her own command."

"Command?" George repeated. "What do you mean?"

"She's in your military, isn't she?" Chiyo remembered. "I wanna say Army…"

"Air Force, actually." Alice snickered and caught an amused look from Zach. "In the rank of a full-bird colonel by now." And about to be promoted to brigadier general, she didn't add.

Chiyo didn't reply; instead, she looked at something behind Alice's back. A couple seconds later someone's hand touched Alice's shoulder and she looked over it to see Aaron.

"How are you kids doing?" He asked with a smile. "Making friends, I see?"

"Yeah, we're discovering that the world is very small, indeed," Alice answered, slithering out of his grip; light as it was, it made her feel a bit uncomfortable. "Where's your retinue?"

He laughed. "I evaded them for a moment, hoping to find some sanity with you wonderful folks." And he winked at them.

"Well, you haven't changed a bit, Aaron," Annie opined, giving him a thorough look, head to toe. "Still handsome as ever. If I weren't married, I'd jump your bones, you know."

The entire group laughed at that; Alice joined in, thought she thought the comment more than a little inappropriate.

"I should feel jealous," George added good-naturedly. "But to be honest, I'm a little star-struck myself." And then he extended his hand to Aaron. "George Troy, I'm Annie's husband."

Aaron shook with him, smiling pleasantly. "No need to feel star-struck, we're all very old friends here."

"What's your set list for tonight?" Alice asked curiously. The band didn't play a concert together in a while, she knew—not since Ike was born.

"Oh, we'll just gonna play some old favorites," Aaron answered, exchanging a look with Zach. "Things that were popular back when we were in school, a couple newer songs by some artists we admire, one or two really old ones, that's all."

"Covers? Nothing from your own repertoire?"

"Nah. They'd have to actually pay us for that," he quipped, eliciting another bout of laughter from the group. "Speaking of which, Zach, it's almost time—we need to go get ready."

Zach looked at his watch and nodded. "Alright, let's go then. You'll be alright, dove?" He asked Chiyo, and the warmth in his voice—and in his eyes as he gazed at her—pulled at some strings in Alice's heart that made her both happy and sad at the same time.

"Of course, silly," she replied and then quickly kissed him on his bearded cheek. "For luck," she added with a smile.

"We don't need luck, we're professionals, aren't we, Zach?" Aaron joked, clapping his hand on his bandmate's shoulder.

"Yeah, who hadn't played together live in nearly two years." Zach rolled his eyes. "It will be a success if we don't trip over ourselves tonight."

"The bar is not that low," Aaron laughed as they both started moving away from the group, towards the stage at the other side of the room. "We'll try to rise to the occasion…"

"Boys," Chiyo sighed, shaking her head, but she was smiling.

"So you kept in touch with the band after graduation, didn't you, Alice?" Annie prompted after a few seconds of an awkward pause.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I only see Zach and the rest of them every few months—but Aaron and I are in touch all the time." Alice shrugged dismissively.

"That must be quite an interesting feeling," George mused. "To see someone you've always known become such a celebrity."

"Yeah, it is odd—I still see him as a normal guy, though. There are weird moments—like when his fans approach asking for pictures or autographs—but mostly, to me at least, he's still the same goof he's always been." Alice turned to Chiyo. "But you've met Zach when the band was already big—how did you two even intersect? If you don't mind me asking," she added quickly.

"Not at all. Honestly, it's such a cliché!" Chiyo laughed. "A friend of mine was the band's fan—like, a psycho-fan, you know—and she dragged me to their concert in Tokyo, and afterwards she pulled me with her backstage. She went on sneaking around, trying to find them, while I simply sat down in the first chair I could find and was looking at my phone when Zach came out of the room nearby. He spotted me, said hello, and that's how it all started."

"I'm curious, did you move here to be with him?" Annie interrogated; Alice found the question a bit too prying, but Chiyo didn't look offended.

"Yes, and no. I wanted to give us a chance, but I wasn't going to give up my research, so I only considered moving if I could get a position at a research facility of similar stature to UTokyo. Turned out CalTech wanted me, so here I am. The Keck fellowship was a nice bonus, too—now I get to work with the best minds from CalTech and JPL."

"Excuse me, JPL?" George asked.

"Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It's a NASA research center, managed by CalTech," Chiyo explained. "It's pretty exciting—Japan has its own space program, but it's not as advanced," she admitted.

Annie sighed audibly, a bored expression on her face again, and her husband must have noticed. "Alright, ladies, I think we should all grab a drink before the show starts—what would you like?"

"Aw, you're sweet," Annie perked right up. "A Margarita for me, please."

"Ladies?" He asked Alice and Chiyo.

"White wine for me, thank you." Chiyo answered with a smile and a little bow.

"Same for me, thanks." Alice nodded, too.

"Will be right there," George promised and walked away. Alice wondered how he was going to bring four drinks at once—and five minutes later she got her response as he came back, with four more people in tow, all with glasses in their hands, and some with two. "Here we go, Margarita for Annie, and wine for Chiyo and Alice."

Alice's wine was held by a short man with dark brown hair and a goatee who was smiling at her.

"Stephen!" She exclaimed, both delighted and a little embarrassed. The last time she had seen him—seven years ago—they ended up hooking up for a night.

"Hi, Alice, so good to see you!" He replied with a grin. "I had lost hope that you'd come to one of those things!"

"I was manipulated by Aaron," she quipped, looking at the woman who stood at Stephen's side; she had a handwritten sticker saying Aga Foster. She was taller than Stephen, blonde, and very pretty.

"This is my wife, Aga," he said, putting his arm on the woman's shoulder and giving it a little squeeze. He pronounced it Ah-gah, with a G like in gather. "Aga, this is Alice, we were in AP French together."

"Stephen was the only reason I passed that AP exam," Alice added, smiling, too, Stephen's easy attitude quickly dispelling any awkwardness she could feel. "It's nice to meet you—Aga, do I pronounce that right?"

"Yes, quite fine," she replied, and there was just a hint of a foreign accent in her voice. "Don't worry about it, I'm used to people mispronouncing my name, especially its longer form."

"And this is Kaycee Parker-Stack, and her husband Alden Stack," George added, mostly for Chiyo's benefit; it was clear that they'd met before.

"Kaycee, it's been so long," Annie said, leaning over and giving the air next to Kaycee's cheek a kiss.

Kaycee laughed. "Exactly five years since the last one of these things. And you're little Alice—I can't believe you've actually come. I don't think I've seen your RSVP."

"That's because I didn't send one", Alice admitted contritely. "To be honest I completely forgot about it, and I wasn't gonna come anyway, but I got some unexpected free time and decided to come home for the weekend—which is when Aaron ambushed me and made me promise I'd come."

"Good boy, that Aaron." Kaycee smirked. "I had to employ all my feminine wiles to get him and the band to perform tonight."

"Speaking of which—folks, this is Chiyo Ishikawa, Zach Newman's fiancée." Alice did the introduction because nobody else seemed to remember Chiyo. She caught the fellow scientist's grateful little smile.

"Nice to meet you all."

"Kaycee, I gotta say, this event looks amazing—congratulations," Annie put in, waving her hand around to encompass the room.

"Thanks, Annie. It took some doing." Kaycee grinned. "I actually have a little event organizing business, if any of you ever wants help in catering or planning a wedding or something…"

"Oh, that's cool," Stephen enthused. Alice had forgotten how optimistic and energetic he was. "Do you, like, do corporate events?"

"Not really, it's a little side business for me." Kaycee shrugged and then laughed. "I'm mostly a soccer mom." And, unbidden, she launched into a speech about her two children, and their house in Phoenix, Arizona, and how lucky she was that she didn't need to work, but merely wanted to. Alice's focus drifted away a little, and she looked at Stephen, his hand now wrapped around his wife's midriff. She thought back to those few days in summer, so many years ago, when she took him for a fly-over in a Cessna, and later they went on a date, and had a one-night-stand. That young, inexperienced, insecure Alice did no longer exist; instead, this older, bitter and morose Alice took her place—she was more confident and capable, perhaps, but she had lost something important on the way, and she had no idea how to get it back. The 2005 Alice believed her future would be bright; the 2012 Alice knew she had no future, really.

"And all of this thanks to Alden!" Kaycee finished her tirade, putting a hand on her husband's chest. "He takes such good care of us!"

"And what is it that you do, Alden?" Stephen asked curiously.

"I'm the CFO of MSST Incorporated," Alden replied in a deep bass voice.

"Ohh, you manufacture parts for JPL!" Chiyo spoke up excitedly.

Alden nodded. "Among other things."

Stephen started saying something, but at that moment most of the lights in the gymnasium went off, and a couple reflectors hanging from the special rails at the ceiling went on, the beams directed at the stage.

"Oh, it's starting! I gotta go and check if everything is ready!" Kaycee squealed and quickly disappeared in the throng of people.

"Shall we get closer to the stage?" Stephen suggested and everyone agreed. They shuffled closer and stood sipping their drinks for a moment, before the band appeared on the stage and the crowd exploded with cheers around them.

"Hi everyone," Aaron said to the microphone planted center-stage, a guitar in his hands. "You all know us and heard us play when we were dumb teenagers, and we're coming to prove to you now that nothing has changed since then." A wave of laughter went through the audience. "The only difference is that we don't have our fifth member who up and joined the Marines to fulfill his patriotic duty, the treacherous git." This caused even more laughter. Aaron grinned and then added: "Tonight we're gonna get a little nostalgic, and then a little crazy, so without further ado—Zach, give it to us!" He stepped back from the mike, turning to the drum set, and then the music started.

Aaron wasn't kidding—the majority of the setlist was consumed with rock songs from the nineties: Green Day, U2, The Offspring, Foo Fighters, Radiohead. They interspersed it with a few newer songs, but only a couple were real punk songs, most were rock, pop-rock or even simply pop. Every couple songs Aaron would say something to rally the crowd—an amusing anecdote or some joke at the band's own expense. At one point, almost at the end of the show, he even name-checked Alice, making a joke about how she had always followed them around like a loyal puppy.

"Alice, where're you at?" He asked from the stage, squinting under the beams of light that fell onto his face, making it hard to see the crowd before him.

"Here, she's here!" Stephen and Annie both screamed, waving their hands at Alice. She rolled her eyes, feeling very awkward, as people around them turned to look at her.

"There you are!" Aaron grinned at her. "You're an honorary band member, so the next song is for you!" And immediately he started with a familiar riff on his guitar.

Alice shook her head, momentarily amused—the song he chose to dedicate to her was Smells Like Teen Spirit. After that they did American Idiot and finally said goodbye and went off the stage. By then, it was nine in the evening, and most people around were at least a little drunk. Alice's little group seemed to be pacing themselves, if one discounted George and Alden, who seemed to be getting along very well—maybe because they were closer to each others' age than the rest of them—and who made frequent trips to the bar during the concert.

"That was awesome!" Stephen proclaimed as the lights came back on—though more subdued now than before—and normal, pre-recorded music filled the air. "I didn't remember them being so good fifteen years ago."

"Oh, they weren't," Alice agreed, playing with her empty wine glass. "I still remember the time when they mostly sucked. They got progressively better with time, though, and by the time we all graduated, they were not half-bad," she admitted.

"Who was the fifth member? I can't remember," Kaycee, who'd come back to their group during the concert, wanted to know.

"Wasn't that your brother, Alice?" Annie nodded at her.

"Yep, Jake was in the band all through school." Alice shrugged. "After he left, they added Jeffrey Sharp and that's been the team ever since."

"Did he really leave to join the Marines?" Kaycee asked.

"Yep, he's Gunnery Sergeant Boyd now." Alice smiled.

"Is that why he didn't come today? Is he in Iraq or somewhere?" Annie continued the interrogation.

"Yeah, he's on deployment, though not in Iraq. He was there, though, a while back."

"Oof, that must be hard—to have a family member put their life in danger like that…" Kaycee shook her head. "But what I am saying—your dad was in the Army, too, wasn't he?"

"Navy," Alice corrected. "My uncle is in the Army. And yes, it is hard, knowing that people close to me are putting their lives on the line… Jake was hurt in Iraq—got caught in an IED blast—and it was very touch-and-go for a moment there, took him over a year to heal properly."

"Oh, that's horrible!" Kaycee exclaimed. "I hope he's looking after himself better nowadays—where did you say he is?"

Alice sighed, thinking she would have to start lying now, but at that moment they were joined by Aaron and Zach, both still a little sweaty from the effort, but both holding beers and smiling happily.

"Hey, guys, how did you like it?" Aaron asked good-naturedly and immediately was inundated with the oohs and aahs from the group, minus Chiyo and Alice, who only exchanged amused looks, being already somewhat used to it—and very familiar with Aaron's and Zach's egos. It was some time before the excitement ebbed enough for them to get back to an actual conversation.

"Smells Like Teen Spirit, really, Aaron?" Alice asked, amused, a while later. They were standing a bit aside from the group—which had grown considerably, as more and more people were drawn to the celebs.

Aaron laughed. "What, you didn't enjoy my dedication? Wonder why?"

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of wine, her second glass of the evening. Aaron was also pacing himself, but around them most people were becoming progressively more drunk. Some were dancing, others raided the buffet, but the majority just stood around, talking about anything and everything. Alice was quite surprised that the attendance was so high—not only it seemed that the majority of their class made it, but most of them brought plus ones. But, then again, she reasoned, they'd probably heard that the band would be playing, and who would say no to a private concert?

"Oh, crap, Jessica Gartner is coming this way," Aaron muttered. "Act natural."

"Hey, Aaron!" A woman in a very short mini dress and very tall stilettos stopped by them. She was tall, slim, and looked like a fashion model. "Remember me? Jess, we dated when we were in school?"

"Yeah, I remember, two weeks, junior year." Aaron nodded, and his expression could only be described as pained, though he was trying to smile. "How you've been?"

"Oh, just splendid. Listen, I wondered if you wouldn't care to dance with me?"

Alice raised her eyebrows—it was pretty forward of the woman. You're such a prude, Boyd, she mocked herself in her head. You should admire her self-confidence. It's great when a woman knows what she wants and is not afraid to ask for it.

And what is it that you want?

"Uhhh…" Aaron glanced at Alice, and his eyes were intense and pleading. "Actually, I promised Allie a dance, we were just going to go now. Good song to dance. So, maybe later, Jess."

Fuck. Dancing was categorically not the answer to that question, but it was clear that Aaron, for whatever reason, was in distress, so she only rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "Sure, great, let's go."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the edge of the dancing crowd with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," he breathed, looking around his shoulder—to make sure Jessica wasn't following him? Alice threw her a quick look and the woman's expression was crushed—but she stood there and continued to gape at them, so there was nothing else to do but start dancing. Except as she turned back to Aaron, the previous song ended, and Richard Marx's Right Here Waiting came on—a slow song.

"I'm not really one for dancing, especially in these heels," Alice said, but quietly enough so that Jessica—who was only a few steps away—couldn't hear.

"I know, but she's watching," he replied equally softly, and raised his hand, which was still holding on to hers. "Please?"

"Fine." She sighed, putting her left hand on his shoulder while he wrapped his right around her waist. He stepped a little closer and they began swaying gently to the rhythm. He was good—leading her with push and pull of his arms on hers, spinning them gently around, and getting them a bit farther away from Jess, still watching.

"I kinda like this song," Aaron said in a low voice. "Is that lame?"

She looked up at him, and suddenly she was struck at how close he was—she could see his eyelashes, and the tiny specks of amber in his otherwise dark brown eyes.

"No, it's not lame," she said, looking back down, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, and scrambled for a subject to talk about. "So, what's the deal with Jessica?"

"She's a stalker." He shrugged, and the movement rippled through to his arms and hands, joined with hers. "A digital one—she stalks all my social media, sends tons of messages, and gets angry when I don't respond, which I never do, but it doesn't discourage her."

"That's awful." Alice threw another look at Jessica, who was still rooted to the spot and observing them carefully. "She does look a little unhinged," she admitted.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I have little luck with the fair sex." He paused for a moment, and then sighed deeply. "It's over with me and Sarah."

Alice stopped dancing and stepped back a little, pulling her left hand down and looking back up at his face. She expected to see him crushed—and his expression betrayed sadness, yes, but there was also something else, too—something like relief?

"What happened?"

"We had a fight." He shrugged. His right hand slipped back to his side and he lowered the other one, but without letting go of Alice's right. "Just another fight in an endless row of fights. Except this time Ike was there, and we woke him up with our screaming, and he cried. And I knew then it was over. She did, too. I've slept in the guest room last night."

"Oh, Aaron, I'm so sorry." She squeezed his hand, but he shook his head.

"Don't be. It's been a long time coming. We should have broken up years ago, but we tried to make it work for Ike's sake… or at least I did."

"I know you did everything you could." They stood there, quietly, for a long moment, as the song came to a close and Take My Breath Away began. They both ignored it. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know." He looked into the ceiling. "Thank God we didn't get married?"

She huffed. "But what about Ike?"

"I don't know what's gonna happen." Aaron shook his head again. "I don't. But one thing is sure—Ike stays with me."

Alice nodded. "Obviously."

"What would you do?" He asked, his eyes leveling with hers once more.

"I don't know. Try to come to some kind of arrangement, I guess?" She smiled encouragingly at him. "I know you'll do whatever is best for Ike. Just remember to take your own needs into consideration, too."

"I'm not there yet, I think." He inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly. "I'll figure it out."

"I know you will. But if you need anything—ever—I'm just a short flight away."

He smiled, too, and for a moment they were quiet—no words were necessary to communicate at this point. Then Aaron lifted their hands—fingers still interlocked—and raised his eyebrows. She smirked, rolled her eyes and then nodded, stepping closer and putting her hand on his shoulder again, his arm wrapping around her.

They began swaying gently again, and as they did, they came a bit closer to the group they'd been talking to previously; Alice didn't even notice it until a deep bass voice floated into her consciousness, speaking a familiar name. She then focused on it, trying to figure out the contents.

"—Alec Coulson," the voice said, and she determined it was Alden Stack, Kaycee's husband. "Really fascinating stuff… cutting-edge technology… what NASA's doing seems a child's play in comparison…" Only parts of his sentences came to her, but it was enough to put her on alert.

She stopped dancing again and looked at the group crowding around Alden, her head cocked to listen better.

"Allie?" Aaron called, his tone surprised and a little alarmed now, too.

"The military space program… Much more advanced… Alloys we have never even seen before…" Alden continued.

"Son of a bitch," Alice said loudly, looked at Aaron and added: "Excuse me, I have to go kill someone." And she extricated herself from his grip and strode purposefully towards Alden. Aaron followed suit.

With the few steps it took to get closer to the group—she noticed, relieved, that without Aaron to generate interest, it shrank back to the original eight people—she gathered her wits about her and decided on a tactic. She couldn't simply accuse Alden of revealing state secrets, it would lend legitimacy to his claims. Instead, she had to do what Carter had done to Coulson after he had shown an Asgard clone to the world all those years ago: discredit him.

"…the parts that we manufacture, like the ablative plates for the exterior of a space vehicle, except I've never seen anything made out of anything that strong, NASA don't have it, so why would Air Force need it if they haven't got their own rockets and shuttles?" Alden was saying as she came back and stood opposite him in the little circle.

She chuckled, inwardly hoping that by then everybody was too drunk to see through her mediocre acting skills.

"Seriously, guys? Don't tell me he's got you believing this stuff," she declared, rolling her eyes.

"Are you calling me a liar?" He huffed; he was more than a little drunk, she noted, though he enunciated exceptionally well for the state he was in.

"No, just gullible." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Someone told you a story and you believed it—nothing wrong with that."

"I'm talking about things I've seen with my own eyes!" He raised his voice a little in anger. His wife put a restraining hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off. "My company makes those plates for the Air Force, I've seen them, and I was told that they are made with the strongest alloy ever made in the world!"

Alice nodded, trying to keep her cool, but his outburst and the entire situation were playing on her own nerves, too. "I'm sure that it's very strong, and the Air Force could have a number of uses for such a material, from vehicle armor to aircraft hulls—but I'm quite certain there's no military space shuttles." She had to choose her words carefully—everything she said so far was completely true, and she wanted to avoid lying if it was at all possible.

"Oh, of course, and y'all gonna believe this nobody over the CFO of the damn company that makes them plates?" He waved his hands indignantly. "The government doesn't want you to know about their space program, and if you think you know better than you're just stupid!"

Alice smirked, thanking him in her head for going there, because it allowed her to downplay his words even further. "Ooooh, you're into conspiracy theories, I see. Well, you go on believing what you want, and we'll see who's the stupid one."

This riled him up even more, it seemed, but before he could sputter any more irate claims, Chiyo chimed into the conversation.

"To be fair, there is plenty of chatter in the scientific community about the American military coming into the game strongly in the past decade or so—like in my area, astronomy, every time there's any kind of breakthrough, the military seems to have been involved in some way or another. It's like they have a leg up on all of us mere mortals."

"Ha! See, and she is a real scientist, she knows what she's talking about!" Alden triumphed, shaking his finger at Alice.

"Well, she's right about that, we have been investing a lot into science lately," Alice agreed. "And I'm sure the super-strong alloy that your company uses for the plating is a result of that—but I am also 100% sure that the Air Force does not possess any space shuttles."

"Wait, we?" It was Aga, Stephen's wife, who caught onto the word. "You said we have been investing. You work for the Air Force?"

"Yeah, she's a pilot, didn't I mention it?" Stephen put in before Alice could answer.

"Yes, but I've recently added the Space and Missile badge to my pilot wings, though," she clarified. It was true—back when she had been on Atlantis, her official cover story was that she was posted in Misawa Air Base in Japan; however, with the move to Colorado Springs' Peterson Air Base, she qualified for the new occupational badge in addition to her Senior Pilot wings.

"You? In the Air Force? And a pilot to boot?" Alden mocked. "Kinda hard to believe."

Alice cocked her head to the side and held his gaze for a moment, not saying anything.

"Well, I can attest to that, I've just witnessed her getting promoted to major and awarded—what was it? A Bronze Star?" Aaron confirmed. Alice only nodded, so he continued: "And the one for wounds, Purple Heart, wasn't it?"

"Yep." Alice finally moved her eyes away from Alden's to look at the others. "So you see, when I say that the Air Force is not in possession of a space shuttle, I know what I'm saying."

"Maybe they just didn't tell you, something like that would be a secret, wouldn't it?" George asked; he looked even more drunk than Alden, and his words were all slurry, which coupled with his British accent made him sound rather funny.

Alice smiled leniently. "I have the highest clearance known to man. Trust me, I'd know." And she shrugged. "And even if not—something like this would be a subject of gossip among my colleagues. We're good at keeping secrets from the world, not from each other, and I've heard nothing."

"And did I understand correctly? You were injured?" Aga asked curiously.

Alice nodded and shrugged noncommittally.

"So does that mean you crashed your plane or…?" Aga pressed, and for once Alice didn't mind; it took the spotlight away from Alden and his claims.

"No, I never crashed. I don't get to fly much anymore, I'm afraid, I do a lot of other things, though."

"Like what?"

"Mostly I sit on my butt in a lab and work on science or engineering projects," she explained. "That goes hand in hand with admin tasks, you know, managing a team requires a lot of paperwork."

"That sounds like a desk job." Aga raised her eyebrows.

"That sounds like my job," Chiyo added, amused.

"My point is, I fail to see how any of this could have led to injuries."

Alice shrugged again, but they kept drilling her with their eyes—at least Chiyo and Aga were sober enough to be able to keep their focus—so she sighed. "I get deployed sometimes, too. I am not at liberty to discuss it, though."

"That's a convenient thing to say," Aga noted. "Deployed where? In what capacity?"

"Sorry." Alice smiled apologetically. "Like I said, not at liberty to discuss it. Most of my job is highly classified."

"Ooo, that sounds deliciously mysterious," George opined. His wife looked bored again, and so did Kaycee. Alice was hoping they would soon find an excuse to get away, or better yet, go home.

"Alright, then what about your injury? What was it?" Aga demanded.

Alice suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Just roll with it, it's better than the alternative, she told herself and then she stuck out her left leg to bring attention to it. "See the scar?" She asked.

The lights were dimmed, so it was hard to see, but the little darker dip in her calf was still visible.

"That looks like a gunshot wound," Aga concluded. "You were shot?"

"Occupational hazard." She smirked.

"Does it still hurt?"

"This one? No. It was a flesh wound, went in and out, clean."

Aga picked up on her words again. "This one? Meaning there's another one?"

"Two more, I think," Aaron declared. Traitor, Alice thought moodily. "At least that's what I surmise from the number of Purple Hearts she's got."

Alice put her right hand on her left shoulder. "Before the gunshot, there was a piece of shrapnel that lodged itself in here, cost me months of physical therapy—that's when I went for my PhD, so that I could use the time I was desk-bound for something useful. And again the same place, a laceration with a sharp object, just two months ago, which is why I was getting a device on my Purple Heart a week ago." She had more scars than that—the bullet wound on her right upper arm, a companion injury to the one on the calf, both shots fired by Karim; a square inch by inch tear where Jareth had cut away a patch of her skin to take as a sample to be experimented upon; a knife wound on her thigh; and a shallow cut across her collarbone. That last one was visible above the boat neckline of her dress and it caught Aga's attention, apparently.

"What about that one?" She asked, pointing with her finger.

"That's a shallow one, I keep forgetting about it." Alice shrugged again. "Didn't merit a Purple Heart, that one," she quipped, but no one laughed. "Anyway, like I said—occupational hazard. And anyway, enough about me. I feel like I'm in the spotlight here, and I don't like it," she said, which was completely true, but this time served a purpose. "What do you do for a living, Aga?"

The woman smiled sweetly. "Oh, I'm an investigative journalist for the New York Times."

Fuck. Bad enough that all these people heard Alden's outrageous—and mostly true—claims, but in order to redirect the group's attention from them, Alice opened herself to scrutiny from a damn journalist. Just fucking perfect.

Aga laughed, possibly seeing something of Alice's dismay on her face. "Don't worry, we're all off the record here."

Alice tried to smile confidently, but wasn't sure how it came out. "That sounds fascinating—what story are you working on right now?"

"We just filed one the other day," Aga replied lightly. "You'll see it in print soon enough. Now looking for a new subject."

"I see. And how's living in New York? Are you originally from there?" Alice decided to change tack.

"Oh, goodness, no. I've immigrated to America after college—I was twenty-four. I always intended to go back, but then I got this great job opportunity, and then met Stephen, and, well, here we are!" Aga laughed. "It's the first time I'm in L.A., actually. Very different from NYC!"

"No argument there," Stephen added, and then they launched into descriptions of those differences; and after them, Chiyo chimed in with her observations on moving from Japan to America. Only then Alice felt safe enough to leave the conversation; she excused herself and went to the restroom. She didn't feel like coming back to the group, though; she was tired and conflicted. She went outside and stood near the entrance, cell phone in hand, looking at the night sky—it was never completely black here, the glow of thousands of lights from the City of Angels brightening it up to a very dark blue. She was thinking of what had transpired, how she handled it, and what consequences any further action would have. Should she call it in? MSST had to sign a pretty stringent contract when it was awarded the deal to manufacture BC-304's hull plating, and one of the stipulations was maintaining absolute secrecy; Alden Stack violated that condition pretty egregiously that night. On the other hand, he knew little, and hopefully with Alice's intervention the others got the impression that what little he did tell them was either grandiose self-puffing up, or a silly conspiracy theory. Chiyo and Aga posed the biggest problem; they were both relatively sober, and also smart enough to discern if not the truth, then at least an idea of an underlying truth. In itself, it wouldn't give them much, but if they decided to poke around—well, Alice could remember very well the last time someone did that; it ended up with her laying down the truth to four congressmen who otherwise had no business knowing it. The consequences could be dire; on the other hand, they could be negligent, as well—even if they did decide to ask around, they might not find anything and, in time, give up. And calling it in would mean potentially destroying a man's life—and that of his wife and kids, too. Every choice had its risks, and they weighed heavily on Alice's consciousness, even as she still deliberated on her decision.

"That's her!" She heard suddenly from the direction of the door to the gymnasium. She turned and saw no other than Alden and his wife, her hands wrapped around his arm as if she tried to stop him. He barely noticed as he strode towards Alice, leaving Kaycee behind. "Hey, you!" He stopped just short of charging her with his body. "How dare you question my words, you cunt! You made me a fool to them!"

Alice's anger—previously momentarily quashed by the struggle of her moral dilemma—shot up again, instantly bringing her to near-boiling. "If anyone made a fool out of you, it was yourself," she replied heatedly. "You brought this upon yourself! You're lucky I was there to intervene!"

"Bitch, what the fuck are you talking about?!" He towered over her menacingly, but she felt nothing but fury at the moment.

"I'm talking about you revealing classified information, you dickhead!" Alice hissed with rage. "Information you shouldn't even have in the first place! How do you even know what you know?!"

"I'm the CFO of my company, I have to know everything about it!" He replied, but with a little less zeal.

"Financially, yes, but your company signed a contract that categorically prohibits dissemination of confidential information to those without a clear need-to-know!" She seethed. "You don't have it, so you shouldn't've known it, and now I'm standing here trying to decide if I should report you now or let you sober up a little so you realize what you've done!"

He looked taken aback, but their shouting finally brought his wife to them.

"I don't know what's going on, but…"

Alice raised her hand in the zip it gesture. "Take him home Kaycee, let him sober up. And pray that you don't see me again." She turned around and walked away, still boiling inside and teetering a little on her stilettos, as fast as she was going. It wasn't until she was out of bounds of the school that she pulled up her phone and texted Aaron to let him know she was on her way home. He immediately texted back, asking if she was OK and if she didn't want a ride or company, but she replied she needed to cool off and wanted a stroll. And indeed she did—walking through the quiet, empty streets at night was exactly what she needed to calm down enough to stop fuming. She didn't even know why it all riled her up so much—Alden was just an angry drunk dude, she dealt with enough of those in her life already, so why did it affect her so much now?