Fortified (3 page)

“I got stuff to do, but I'm listening,” she assured him. “What's going on?”

He watched her awfully close. Stapling paper together must have been fascinating for some reason, because he didn't take his eyes off of her. “I've been tasked with finding the leak on my ship.”

“This is your chance to show your boss what you can really do,” she said. “Isn't that a good thing? Or do you think he's trying to set you up for failure again? What does Jaes think? I'm sure he's got a good read on your boss's motivations by now.” Jaes gave off the impression of being in the know about a lot of things when it came to the ship; then again, he was like her and had the gift of knowledge as one of his powers.

“Sir Oriol is not trying to ruin me. In fact, he stopped doing that not too long ago. After we got the Ilotus, he's been a lot more…civil. Granted, he won't acknowledge my work to the rest of the ship, but he's at least wanting my help and not giving me silly jobs for the sake of keeping me busy.” Alan rubbed at his forehead. “At my last visit, however, Sir Oriol seemed rather vulnerable, and it concerns me that he would let such an emotion come out in my presence. Dare I say it, he was desperate, and I'm not sure what to think. I haven't talked to Jaes about it because he might be part of the problem, so getting his insight is out of the question for the time being.”

Cadence paused mid-staple and gazed at him with wide eyes. “There's no way Jaes is the leak. I don't believe it. He's too devoted to the cause.”
And there's too much goodness, innocence even, inside of him.

“I've asked Jaes, and he told me no. You know he cannot tell a lie. It's one of his abilities. But my superior has raised some interesting thoughts on the matter. One of them being that Jaes might sympathize with the leak and is helping them gain information. I'm sure over time he's learned how to work around his gift to keep from saying things he's not supposed to.”

Shaking his head, Alan decided to sit instead of stand. The movement made him seem much more broken rather than the strong, stoic persona he usually presented. He folded his hands in front of him. “I don't think this is true. He's told me how he's witnessed conversations in the cargo hold of our ship between the leak and their contact on Earth. How he tried to catch them in the act and failed. At the same time, my boss does raise an interesting point. The night Sprout was taken for rehabilitation she was able to escape quickly and without being seen. Few people can teleport. It's not a common ability.”

“Must feel nice to know he's positive it's not you,” she said, grasping for some kind of silver lining to lighten his spirits.

He scoffed quietly. “He knows because he already tested and observed me for long periods of time to make sure I was trustworthy. I was the first person he suspected. That's hardly something to be proud of. My dilemma isn't about how I'm going to find the leak. I know I will. I refuse to fail at this mission. The future of the war depends on us keeping our actions secret from the enemy.”

“You don't know how to approach Jaes about the subject.” Her gaze softened with sadness as she put the pieces together. “He's your friend and your roommate. Insulting him could create a huge wedge between you two.”

“Yes, and all we have is one another. Our families are back on Altura, and we both have the same bad luck with making friends.” He chuckled. “If I ask him, I'll get a straight and honest answer. When I asked him if he was the leak, he seemed so...crushed. I'd prefer to find a better way of figuring it out. But I need to know if I can trust him because if I can have his help, then the task will be significantly easier. So obviously, the sooner, the better.”

Cadence put together a few packets, thinking his predicament over. “The way I see it is you have two options. Ask him what he thinks about the leak having help on the ship and see what he says, or you can test him. Tell him something the leak would need to know and follow him. Can you be invisible to him like you can to all of us?”

“No, it doesn't work on my shipmates,” he mumbled. “I know I should just talk to him about all of this. It's the right way to do things.”

“If he's your friend, he'll understand, especially if he's innocent. Only someone who has something to hide would get mad,” she said, feeling a little like a hypocrite. After all, wasn't she doing the exact same thing to JD? Only she did have something to hide. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched his forearm with her hand. “Well, mad enough to end a friendship. Given the nature of your work, I'm sure he'd realize you're only asking because your boss wants you to be certain.”

He took in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “The same thoughts came across my mind as well. I wanted your reassurance anyway. It helps me feel stronger when I know you're supporting my decisions.”

“We're a team, it's what we do.” She had to will herself not to blush. It was by far the best compliment she'd ever received.
I can't read too much into it.

His next words didn't help with that much. “We are, but I'm talking specifically and only about you.” Alan lowered his gaze to his hands, or more specifically, her hand still resting on his arm. “I'm not sure why I feel so calm when we're together. It's good to be around someone who understands, that's probably why. The others can't see past my being from another planet. I like how you see me as the same. We are, you know. The same, I mean. Genetically speaking, there aren't any differences in our basic DNA composition. We're the exact same species with minor evolutionary changes. My home is just farther away.”

She nodded, letting him know she'd absorbed every word and tried to not think about the implications of such a statement.
We're the same. That means we could be together, have kids, the works. Not like I want any of those things
now
, of course. But a future isn't some kind of crazy impossibility
. She cleared her throat. “The others will come around once it stops feeling so surreal that there is other life beyond our planet.”

“I know, but thank you for making this transition easier on me. When I can just be me, Earth starts to feel like home. Like I never left. Having even a few moments where I can enjoy such a sensation helps.”

She wasn't sure how to respond. Going out of state for a few days made her homesick, she couldn't imagine going to a whole other planet.

Alan pulled his arm away from her grasp, gently. She noticed the absence of his warmth right away all the same—the absence of
him.
“Please don't think less of me for needing your validation.”

“Never,” she whispered. “It's good to have every so often.”

“Yes, I should leave you to your work.”

“It's not hard,” she mumbled. “So if you wanted to stay and keep me company until I have to go back, you can.”

He cracked a tiny smile. “For a few more minutes.”

“Right, duh, you probably have way more important things to do.” Cadence shook her head and focused her gaze on the packet she was putting together, silently praying he didn't think too much of her idiocy.

“I still have a little time to spare,” he insisted.

When she noticed how hard her heart was beating, she realized that was the something missing when she was with JD.
Perhaps my lip-lock with Alan wasn't as much of an accident as I thought. No, I can't get involved with him. It'll only end badly. Once all of this is over with, he's going to be on the first ship back to Altura, and I'm never going to see him again. He makes for a convenient rebound crush.
But for the rest of the day, she entertained the thought anyway.

A
ngela settled
into her usual spot on the couch in the “War Room” of the Apartment while the rest of the group mingled about before their meeting began.

Group meetings had been few and far apart, lately. Normally, Angela wouldn't mind. Meetings meant there was work to be done. If they had nothing to do, that hypothetically meant the war was winding down, right? The problem was, she knew that wasn't the case. Last she'd checked the other tribes were getting ready to start expanding their teams by tapping more Earth teens for super powers. The goal was to grow their teams to the point where the Alturan presence on Earth couldn't be kept a secret any longer, and then begin the real fight. Alan had once told her the war had already decimated another planet in a far off solar system.

To have the war end in the span of a year was a pipe dream. She knew better. It wasn't going to be so simple. Even more so if there was any hope to having the repercussions of the Alturans' visit be minimal.

That meant she was being left in the dark. During the last mission, Alan purposefully left her and JD at home. Since the mission, she'd heard nothing.

Why don't they trust me all of a sudden?

It bugged her. She was devoted to the cause, and she didn't get devoted to much. The red tribe's main goal was to push their enemies off of Earth, leaving it as untouched as possible. She believed in that goal more strongly than anything in her entire life and Alan wasn't using her to achieve it. Whatever was going on, the rest of the team was in the know. Cadence kept glancing at her in ways she must have thought were subtle. Every time Alan looked her way he pressed his lips together for a second, and Orlando avoided her all of the time. They used to do everything together. He was the closest friend she'd ever had. Almost more. Almost, except for the evil ex-girlfriend factor. And Tait, aka Sprout, was definitely evil, and that was saying a lot coming from Angela. They'd been best friends up until Tait tied her down and let The Doctor force his super power inducing injection into her.

Any guy who knew all of that about Tait and still chose to date her was either stupid or that deeply in love. Orlando didn't come across as stupid, but Angela had a hard time believing it was love. Not with the way he looked at
her.
Every moment they were together felt special—to Angela, at least. Maybe she was misinterpreting him completely. He was difficult to figure out as it was. Just when she thought she'd gotten a handle on how he communicated, he threw another wrench in her way. She was positive he was doing it on purpose, too. Orlando liked to watch people squirm.

Their gazes briefly met from across the table before Orlando averted his to the miniature figurines in front of him. He brushed paint across one as the rest of the group settled in around the table. For the time being, they all met inside of a comic book shop. The place was almost always void of business, so outsiders never bothered them. They pretended to play a game while they talked. Some kind of dorky role-playing game with action figures for the boys to goof off with. It was about space warfare even, so it worked for a nice cover until they could get their old headquarters back.

“Your BFF Dallas have a move-out date?” Angela asked, eager to know when they'd be able to return to The Apartment, which was attached to Orlando's mansion.

Orlando didn't look up at her. He continued to focus on his painting. “This weekend. Can't wait. It's been a pain trying to get him food without my parents asking me a million questions. If I take anything from the pantry outside of my designated snack time, they treat me like I'm smuggling illegal drugs into the country. I tried to go to the grocery store instead and got a lecture about how I shouldn't buy things I don't need and if I do it again they're freezing my account. It's a nightmare. For one, I don't need a designated snack time. Hello? I'm eighteen. I'm pretty sure I know how to eat properly. And two, I'm also a teenager. I'm pretty sure I was given the gift of a bottomless pit of a stomach so I can comfort eat through all of the drama of high school. It's not like I'm going to over stuff my poor, poor, tummy.”

She let him rant. He tended to need to get things off of his chest a lot.

“Comfort eat?” JD asked. “Please tell me you're joking.”

“There is nothing funny about comfort eating,” Angela stated. “Don't think I don't notice when you order from Ho Ting. You always do it when you're stressed out.”

“And it's a whole lot better for you than meth.” Orlando waved a hand in front of his face. “But I was being facetious. Point is, they shouldn't care so much. The food is getting eaten. Shouldn't that be all that matters?”

JD nodded. “Surprised they haven't put diapers on you yet with the way you describe them.”

“They should just start over with another kid if that's the way they feel,” Orlando mumbled. His blue eyes narrowed as he painted.

Angela wasn't sure what to say then. His home life was far from ideal. Normally, his parents were never home. Ever since they came back from wherever it was they'd gone, they decided to rule the family with an iron fist and Orlando suffered from it the most. If they were trying to make up for lost time, they were going about it in the worst way possible.

“Do you think we can go back to The Apartment without them asking all of those questions too?” JD asked quietly.

Shrugging, Orlando looked at him. Of course he would. It was only Angela he seemed to want to avoid. “I don't have to feed you all every time you come over. Even if I did, you don't eat enough to satisfy a small army. Dallas intakes about ten thousand calories a day.” He shook his head. “I wish I was kidding. We sat down and calculated it last weekend.”

“Yikes. Being a reanimated corpse must take a lot energy,” JD said.

“I don't know what it is. He's been playing catch up fast with puberty. Guy has grown about five inches. He has more facial hair than I do and that is really upsetting, not to mention unfair.” Orlando let out a huff, gazed at Angela again, and then down once more. “But it's still good to have him back.”

She nodded. “He was dead for a while. It's got to be nice that he's regenerating back to his original age instead of being behind. Then you can do more together. Plus, it'll be easier for him to get a job and not get in trouble for skipping school. All kinds of stuff.”

“Yeah, but if my parents catch him living in The Apartment...It's going to get complicated fast.” Orlando twirled a figurine in between his fingers. “I found a condo; he's going to be my renter. Nia got him a legitimate ID with a fake name, or rather, her tribe helped her do all of that. We'll be moving him on Saturday. Unless Alan has something more important for me to do.” He gazed pointedly at their alien boss.

“No, this meeting is to touch base. I've been given work to do, but it is a project I have to do on my own,” Alan stated. “I thought you'd appreciate knowing what was going on, why there is a lull.”

Angela nodded, glad someone was thinking about keeping the communication channels open.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid.
“What kind of a project?”

“Research on my ship,” Alan said flatly, though he also shifted in his chair and she wasn't sure why he was acting so…nervous.

The new guy, Gideon, coughed quietly. “If you want, I can do some snooping through people's stuff. Try to gain some more information on who we're dealing with exactly. I know we don't have a lot of names of who is still working with the other tribes, but I might be able to find out?”

“Like get inside people's personal property?” Cadence asked, scrunching up her nose. “I want to make progress, but does it have to happen in a way that's so unethical?”

“It's war,” Orlando countered. “Sometimes you have to do things that are bad for the greater good.” Again, he looked at Angela. This time he blushed before shifting his gaze.

What was
that
about?
She exhaled sharply, more annoyed than ever. “They need to be taken down, end of story. I'm all for it, Giddy.”

“At the moment, I'd feel more comfortable with you hacking into more official databases. Perhaps your school surveillance, as well as a few other businesses I'd like for you to check out,” Alan said, all at once drawing boundaries and keeping the peace within the group. He was so good at being diplomatic and an adult even though he wasn't much older than them. She'd peg him at about twenty, but he acted a lot like he was forty and full of wisdom beyond his years. She should just ask him to end her curiosity.

Gideon gave a sheepish shrug. “You can give me the details later. I need to talk to you about something, anyway.”

“Can't share it with the rest of the class?” Orlando quipped. “Secrets always hurt someone.”

You're one to talk.
Angela almost said it out loud, but she held her tongue. Even if she was bitter, she wouldn't betray his trust. He was right; secrets did hurt. A lot. She brushed aside a stray, dark curl from out of her eyes. “I'm curious too, Giddy, but I'm guessing this is more of a business only sort of thing.”

With a small blush, Gideon nodded. “Just new guy questions.”

“I'm all about helping the new guy out!” JD said, his enthusiasm oozing out.

“Thanks,” Gideon mumbled.

“Anyway,” Alan said, “As you know, our last mission was...interesting. The rehabilitation went awry and The Doctor's meeting with his investors went on as planned. Which was what we wanted. We were able to gain a bit of information from observing this meeting, though not much. What I know for certain is that the rift between his tribe and the blue tribe is something we can take advantage of. They're a lot weaker divided than they were united. Just like we'll be doing more work with the yellow tribe, Nia's group. Strength in numbers.”

Great...
Angela couldn't stand Nia. The girl was blunt, annoying, and she'd tried to kill Orlando. That last part alone made Angela want to hate her guts.
Okay, technically he volunteered to die. She wanted his life force to raise Dallas from the dead again. They're best friends. Not to mention how guilty he felt for Dallas dying in the first place. I get it, but still! She's so mean and selfish.

On this matter, Angela was in the minority, though. Everyone else leaned forward with great interest, ready for Alan to elaborate.

“We need more from the Ilotus first,” Alan said. “I wish I had more for you to do. Hopefully soon.”

“It's cool,” JD said.

Cadence gave a soft smile. “Yeah, don't worry about it. We've had an eventful six months as it is. Seven, it's been seven months!”

“Wow,” Orlando said. “Feels a lot longer, and I mean that in the best way possible.” He sighed and pulled out his cellphone. “I was hoping this would last a lot longer. Don't want to go home yet. Guess I'll see what everyone else is up to.”

Ugh, does he have to rub it in like that?
Angela squeezed her eyes shut to keep her tears at bay. She could feel them beginning to well up from frustration. Up until a week ago, he'd invite
her
to hang out with him. Movies, food, local events, whatever was going on nearby, they'd do it.
What am I doing wrong? Even before he broke up with Tait, he still wanted to do stuff with me, so if he's talking about hanging out with her…what gives?

“Guess it's time to call it a night then,” JD said. “Mom will be happy we're back in time for dinner for a change. She giving you grief about doing things on school nights, too?”

Shaking her head, Angela stood, her eyes still closed. “No, she's used to me having other activities. Plus, my grades don't suck like yours do.”

“Weird,” he mumbled. “Come on.”

Orlando stood up and moved away, his ear pressed to his phone. “Hey, Tait. Busy?”

“I'll meet you outside in a minute,” Angela managed, heading back toward the bathroom before she burst. Her emotions were getting too overwhelming: her chest hurt, her stomach felt sick, her head was dizzy. Classic symptoms of a broken heart, but it wasn't like she was in love with Orlando.
Okay, I am. I think. This crush is a lot stronger than any other I've had.
Boys are awful for being able to do this to me.

JD groaned. “I'm hungry.”

“And I need to pee,” she snapped. “It won't kill you to wait!” And before she could hear his reply, she slammed the bathroom door shut and locked it. She sat down on the closed toilet lid and took in a deep breath.

Get a grip. You should have known this was going to happen. From the first moment you met, he was attached to Tait. When they broke up, he was still emotionally bonded with her. You brought this on yourself. It's time to move on. Save the dating thing for after high school. Hopefully by then, all of this will be over.
She dabbed at her eyes with a piece of toilet paper.
But it still hurts. Because she's bad. So. Bad. I just don't get it. He knows all of the bad things she's done. The people she's hurt. The fact that she hurt
me.
It's like he doesn't care, unless he's only spending time with her for the sake of the mission. Why wouldn't he say so, though?

She took longer than a minute to use the bathroom. JD could deal. No way was she going to head out of there without a smile, even if it was fake. By the time she opened the door, everyone but Alan and Gideon had left. Just as she was about to head out Gideon said something that caught her attention.

“I know I shouldn't have gone through Sprout's phone like that, but I was bored and I want to show you all how committed I am to this.” He sighed and kicked at the floor with his feet. Shaggy, dirty blond, hair fell over his green eyes. “I almost mentioned what I found to everyone, but Cadence's disapproval made me nervous. Don't want to cause waves.”