Everything happened quickly.

JD saw The Doctor set up his lab, humming and smiling as if he were getting ready to have a party. When Sprout and the others came, the room was full of chairs and other equipment that hadn't been there before. Dale was with them, and JD couldn't help but feel disappointed. Until the conversation took a surprising turn.

"Nah," The Doctor said. "There is no catch because you owe me. You talk about force, and I remember you distinctly. Nervous, unsure, but you knew what you wanted when you came to me. Adventure and power, and I've given you both. Now you need to repay me with your service."

"I don't need to do anything," Dale spat before trying to leave the room.

Sprout moved to stop him, shooting a long vine from her arm that he easily batted away with a black, gooey-looking fist. The blow sent her stumbling backward into one of the lab tables, and she knocked a few supplies off.

The Doctor growled angrily and pulled out a gun. "Have you ever heard the phrase— I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it again? It's pretty applicable right now I think."

The unknown girl in the group began to glow and there was a soft hum. As the light grew stronger, so did the humming, and steam began to rise from her body.

"Please don't hurt him," she said.

"Tori, what are you doing?" Dale asked.

"Everyone, calm yourselves," Mondae said, and stepped in-between The Doctor's gun, and Dale's head.

She waited until The Doctor put it down again before continuing with a small smirk. "Good. Now, Doctor, I think you're being a bit unreasonable. We can simply brainwash the boy and make him do as we please. His powers are strong and useful. This is an opportunity we have to take."

"Brainwash?" Dale asked, swallowing.

JD glared at Alan. "So you're okay with just watching all of this and not doing something?" he whispered.

With a sigh, Alan shook his head. "We can make an attempt to get your peer, but I'm not sure if it's a wise decision."

"Helping someone out is never a bad idea," he grumbled and then jumped down from the ceiling compartment they were hiding in—placing him right in the center of the room. Alan followed his lead, and everyone else in the room was stunned to silence.

"Look, the guy said no, okay? What part of that didn't you understand? The N, or the O?" JD said angrily, trying to gain control of the situation.

"Alanmendiquixanimackle..." Mondae said, and shook her head. "Always playing hero."

"And Chihuahua Man," The Doctor said tersely. "Not a pleasure, as usual."

JD thought of a brilliant "your mom" joke to retaliate with, but bit his tongue. It wouldn't be a good time to be immature. Orlando was the snarky one, JD was the leader. He had to act like one.

"Sorry to ruin all of your fun, again, but I have issues with you forcing people into doing things they'd rather not be doing," he said instead.

"Blah. Blah. Blah," The Doctor muttered, pointed his gun at JD, and pulled the trigger.

The gun blast rang in JD's ears, and he readied himself for the sting of a bullet that never came.

Alan was able to put a shield around them both. The bullet hit the shield and fell to the floor. If JD hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. Everyone else but The Doctor had their ears covered.

JD had to take advantage of the confusion if he and Alan had any hope of getting Dale out of there unharmed. The other two he wouldn't worry about, not if they'd already made the decision to be loyal to the wrong side.

"Get Dale," JD shouted. His voice sounded loud and strange.

Alan was looking at him, but he frowned. His mouth was moving, but JD had a hard time figuring out the words. Everything was still muffled. JD waved for Alan to follow him and then went straight for Dale.

He pushed Sprout over and was greatly satisfied in watching her fall. She had a lot more coming to her still, but he'd save his revenge for later. They weren't there for an aggressive mission, so he wasn't prepared for a fight.

JD's hand wrapped around Dale's forearm, and he dragged the guy to Alan who seemed to know exactly what JD was thinking.

The alien put a hand on each of the teenagers and they left the room in a small puff of smoke, reappearing outside the school by the flagpole.

Dale wrenched his arm from JD, stumbled backward, and fell to the ground. "What did you do? How did we get...? Who are you?"

"I'm the guy who just saved your butt," JD shouted. "We can't talk here. I've got a car parked across the street. Let's get somewhere safe first."

"I don't know if I'm safer with you than I was with them!"

"Well, I didn't pull a gun on you when you didn't want to join the team." JD looked at Dale pointedly and then started to walk toward his car, shrugging. "If you wanna stay here and deal with them and the aftermath of that craziness, be my guest. Get brainwashed or whatever. At least I can say I tried. Come on Alan."

Dale let out a heavy sigh. "Wait. I'll come with you and listen to more of what you have to say."

Should have listened the first time, JD thought and unlocked his car.

Cadence and Jaes weren't there. Did they get out okay? Were they still in the tunnel? What about Angela? The first thing he did when he got into the car was check his cell phone. He kept it on him the whole time, leaving it silent, just in case. On it was one text message from Cadence.

"Walking to gas station on fifth. Will wait ten minutes then bus to Apartment."

He sighed with relief, glad that she had gotten out safe. JD thought about calling her, or using the communicator just to hear her voice so he could know for certain she was, in fact, okay. His instincts were telling him to just go and pick her up. Instead he used the communicator to check on his sister.

"Lucky Twelve, you there?" he asked as he started up his car, and hoped he was using the device right. Alturan technology could be a little confusing at times. She wasn't replying. "Lucky Twelve?"

"Hello? J...I mean, Chihuahua, I'm here. What's up?" Angela's voice came through loud and clear.

JD let out a sigh of relief. "Things got chaotic in the tunnels. Head back to The Apartment and we can compare notes."

"We'll be there soon. Gonna stay back for a few minutes," Orlando said, joining the conversation.

"Why?" JD asked.

"Well, we were kind of busy making out," he deadpanned. JD imagined he was rolling his eyes in true Orlando fashion. "We want to stay and see if they come out the same way they went in. Maybe we can get some more information. Got quite a bit to tell as it is. Ten more minutes. That's all."

JD glanced at Alan, who nodded then sighed. "Yeah fine."

He didn't like it, but if Alan thought it a good idea, he wasn't going to argue. They were quiet as he drove to the gas station to pick up Cadence and Jaes. He preferred it that way.

Did I really do that?

His own boldness stunned him. It wasn't the first time he'd put himself on the line to try and help someone in need since everything started.

Bean and Sprout had tried to euthanize one of the teenagers who had been experimented on. The poor guy didn't stand a chance at surviving, too sick to live longer than another ten minutes. At the time JD didn't understand what they were doing. Once he saw the deterioration of the guy's body, all of the pieces fit together. Unfortunately the teen hadn't lived, but JD stayed with him until the end.

That's what happened to whoever was injected and couldn't handle the changes being forced upon their body. In that moment, the war had become real for him.

I'm not going to let it happen to anyone else. That was his vow.

"Where are you taking me?" Dale asked quietly.

"Going to pick up some more good guys and then headquarters. We've got a lot to talk about, and a lot of decisions to make," JD said. "I'd say I could just take you home, but given everything that happened back there..."

"I've got about a million questions."

"That too." JD had been thinking more about the guy's safety.

His girlfriend, Tori? Was that her name? She had made her choice, and if she knew who he was, if all of the blue tribe knew, then that could only mean all sorts of bad things for Dale. There had to be some way to protect him.

Alan tapped his hands against the door as they drove. "I think we should change your name to Lucky because you are by far more lucky than your sister." He shook his head. "That was too close. Logically speaking, my shield should have been too late."

"But it wasn't, and that's all that matters," JD said.

The car pulled into the gas station lot, and he smiled when he saw Cadence and Jaes standing inside looking over the junk food. JD quickly sent her a text letting her know he was there and waiting.

"I suppose," was Alan's reply.

Cadence and Jaes left the gas station and got into the backseat of the car, sandwiching Dale in-between them. JD couldn't tell how those two were feeling. Cadence wouldn't look at JD, and Jaes continued to show the same calm demeanor he'd had since they met. It was like the guy couldn't feel anything but chill.

"Any problems?" JD asked casually, hoping to get some kind of read on what to expect from them when they got back to The Apartment.

Did he need to tread carefully? Prepare for a lecture? Relax and pat himself on the back for a job well-done? He especially hoped he hadn't gotten Alan into any kind of trouble.

"No." Cadence shook her head.

She didn't say anything else. In the past that was a good sign she was mad at him. She'd changed so much over the last month, so he couldn't be too sure anymore.

Either way, JD had no regrets.