Old Friends and Old Scars (By Invitation)

[beachbeagle]

The ship touched down at the Animorphs Academy in Antarctica. Matt stared out the window as they landed. First there was ice and snow, then metal which meant they were inside the blade ship that served as the Academy. A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he turned to face his twin sister. He'd hoped when he'd taken this job that they'd see more of each other, though at least he'd see her at all. It was better than when they'd had an entire country separating them.

"Ethan and I will need to leave with Zach and Adamo again. We've got some recruiting to do, but I promise I'll be careful," Sara said as her brother turned to her.

Ethan was 20, two years older than the twins, but Matt didn't mind him too much. His biggest beef with the guy was that Ethan was in love with Sara, but that was an overprotective brother thing that he was sure was natural. In all Matt knew the guy wasn't bad and after seeing him fight, even without being able to morph, Matt trusted Ethan to watch Sara's back.

Speak of the devil, he came into view. The bleached-blond male was a decent six inches taller than Matt and had a build something like a football player.

"Zach and Adamo have the ship down. There are people waiting to see Matt and we have a bit before we need to take off again." Matt was pretty sure the whole thing had been directed at Sara, but he didn't care.

They let Ethan lead them to the exit of the bugfighter. It wasn't built for huge groups, but fortunately there were only six on board now and Matt was fairly sure Sara and Ethan's recruiting process would be slow with the fact that it was hard to know where the free humans were. Tess was waiting there for them, and together the four walked down the ramp to satisfy Matt's curiosity about who was waiting for his arrival.

[Jullian]

Jullian was sitting on the railing that surrounded the hangar bay, letting his feet hang through the bars. They'd had a long day and it had just started. They'd just finished construction on the training room and they'd gotten their first recruits late last night. Now everyone was just taking a breather before the real work began. They were pretty much as ready for new recruits as they were going to get and the only thing missing were the teachers.

As he thought that the doors of the hangar bay opened, letting in the Antarctic weather. The wind that blew through the large, open area was beyond cold and Jullian immediately pulled his legs to his body, regretting his choice of clothing immediately. He was only wearing a light t-shirt and a pair of tight fitting jeans.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the doors closed and the atmospheric control of the ship returned the hangar bay to a normal temperature. He got up, still rubbing his arms to get rid of the goosebumps, and walked down the stairs to the lower level as the side of the Bug Fighter opened.

The first two people out of the door were people he didn't recognize but the next two were blessedly familiar. Ember's death and Jullian's part in it had aged the young teen beyond his years. He had used to wear a smile wherever he went but these days he tended to sport a slightly sad and solemn expression and was often caught staring off into space as if he were trying to find the times he'd lost. But when he saw Matt walk down the ramp a smile returned to his face and his eyes lit up leaving no doubt that he was in the present moment.

"Matt," he said, walking towards the group.

[beachbeagle]

Matt couldn't see anything at first, and since they could only fit in twos down the ramp they'd split up and ended up going in couples. Sara and Ethan led, both wearing grubby clothes that Matt had to wonder if they were parts of disguises or what they were. Sara's consisted of a tank top with a button-down flannel open over the top and jeans with ripped knees. Ethan's was a greasy wife beater that had once been white and jeans with several rips and holes in odd places.

Finally he was able to see past, thankful that the ship had climate control since he was wearing his sleeveless, black, L.A. morph top and a pair of Hawaiian-flower-print shorts in white and navy blue. When he saw the first of the two waiting for him there he nearly flew down the ramp, Ethan and Sara moving out of his way to let him pass.

"Jules!" He said, wrapping the younger boy in a quick hug. Matthew was smiling now, an expression that even reached to his eyes. It was an honest expression of happiness that his face hadn't worn in a while now. He also spotted another figure standing further back in the room, someone else Matt had recruited in his earlier days leading L.A.

"Good to see you too, Kovu." Matt could still remember the day he'd caught Kovu pick-pocketing a controller and recruited him to the faction. His face was another welcome sight in a time when Matt had lost several close friends to the war.

[Kovu]

Kovu had been standing behind Jullian he knew new teachers were coming, and he was a bit uncertain about that. Kovu took awhile tp get comfortable with people, and frankly, he didn't like strangers. As the door opened he gazed on in anticipation and dread. He felt the sudden temperature change, and folded his arms into his jacket. He had never liked the cold, during the winter he would sneak into hotels.

Finnally the door closed, and the temperature returned to relatively normal. Kovu looked at the new people, and immediately his heart lifted. Before him stood 2 very familiar faces, and 2 unfamiliar ones, butonly the first two mattered. Kovu approached, and raised an eyebrow at Matts greeting. "Oh I'm an after thought now?" Hey said as he shook Matts hand. "I'll remember that next time a Hork-Bajir is about to slice you into ribbons." Kovu smiled, "So what are you guys doing here?" Kovu smiled, waiting for a response.

[beachbeagle]

Matt gave Kovu a slightly annoyed look that held some of his sarcastic humor, something that hadn't shown in Matt for a long time. He'd never had much of a reason to be funny or to laugh. This felt..... different. That was really the only word for it.

"You're not an afterthought, I just saw Jullian first." But it was obvious as he shook Kovu's hand that he wasn't as annoyed as he tried to sound. "Cassie wants me to train potential leaders, show them the ropes of leading a faction. And Tess is here to teach them all they need to know about the Yeerk Empire and the YPM."

He realized, after a moment, that neither would have any clue who Sara and Ethan were. "These two are the Academy's new official recruiters. I'd like you both meet my twin sister, Sara, and her....."

"My boyfriend, Ethan Hardy," Sara said, coming up behind Matt as she stopped him from searching for another way to explain her relationship to Ethan. "It's nice to meet both of you. Can I assume you were both in Los Angeles faction at some point?"

Tess came over to the group at well, but Ethan kept his distance for a bit. He had his proof that the Animorphs were the genuine thing, the good guys, but he was still wary of anyone aside from Sara and the new recruits who he'd be watching for any sign of alien slugs inhabiting their brains. Old habits died hard in these times.

[Jullian]

Jullian hugged Matt and then turned and hugged Tess too. It wasn't his usual, overly enthusiastic hug. It was more restrained and, if anything, showed how much Jullian had grown up in the past couple of weeks and for all the wrong reasons. He stepped back to stand next to Kovu as Matt introduced the other two people.

"It's nice to meet another Blaine," Jullian said, shaking Sara's hand. "I'm glad Cassie got us all here. Maybe it's selfish, and I know we are going to be doing something important here," he said looking around the hangar bay of the Bladeship, "but I like not being on the front lines for now. I half feel like I'm hiding but," Jullian shrugged sadly, thinking of Ember. He never did finish his thought, instead jumping to another one. "You guys want to get some food? The mess hall isn't very far away."

[beachbeagle]

Matt had to agree. The front lines in the US were especially tough and he'd had about all he could take for now. Though the mention of meeting Blaines did bring a certain individual who was probably still on the front lines to mind for him, and apparently for Sara too.

"Well.... there is one Blaine people have yet to meet," she said.

"Sara, I'd really rather not think about that fact that my sixteen-year-old brother is a controller who could potentially get killed if he takes on the wrong people. It makes me feel like I failed Joel by not being able to protect him from this," There was a moment of sadness on Matt's face as his mind went to Joel who was still in Chicago. Sara put an arm around him though and they shared a look somehow seemed like they were holding a conversation with their eyes.

All of this went on in the brief time while Jullian was thinking about Ember. By the time he'd mentioned food the moment was over. Matt was about to say no when he heard another person reply.

"Food sounds good." Ethan's voice was a deep baritone, especially compared with Matt who was more of a tenor, but somehow it fit the rather large man. Matt glanced back to see Ethan had suddenly joined the group, his eyes looking like those of a small child at Christmastime.

Despite that Sara elbowed Ethan, saying, "You'd eat them out of any food for the recruits you bottomless pit," Matt decided that anything that made his sister's six foot, bulky, gun wielding boyfriend stop acting like he thought one of them was going to maul him was probably good.

"Food sounds like a great idea. We didn't exactly have much between L.A. and here. It's not exactly like that ship gives you much option on what you can take with you." Dried food. Matt was pretty sure that was about all he'd seen.

[Kovu]

Kovu smiled, "You know I am always up for food, and since I'm the best chef here, that means the ood is totally awesome." Kovu smirked fiegning some of his sarcasam. He led the way down the hall and into the cafeteria. Long white tables were lined horozontally along the walls. The white benches were higher than normal, and some parts were missing, perfect for Hork-Bajir.

Kovu mingled in small conversations, smiling the whole while, it had been too long since he had talked to Matt, they would have to catch up tomorrow, maybe they had a teachers lounge or something where they could all hang out. He took a tray and filled it with food, he sat down and waitd for the others, not sure what news this visit would bring.

[Jullian]

Jullian filled up his own tray with food. It wasn't the finest food around but it was certainly edible. Everyone on the blade ship enjoyed cooking to some extent so they'd taken turns making meals for each other. Since there weren't many of them here it worked out well enough.

He sat down next to Kovu and looked over at Matt. His and Sarah's comments about their brother had bothered him. It made him think of his own family and wonder if they were ok. He knew Helena was, or at least he knew that if she wasn't he'd hear about it in a timely fashion. But what about everyone else? What if his mother had gotten captured or hurt? He'd never know.

"I guess we all have family out there, I just wish we could do something about it," Jullian said a little bitter. He wasn't angry at Cassie or Seiya, he understood the reasons why they couldn't just go haring off after family members. Too often missions like that had gone badly. Just looked at what had happened when they'd tried to rescue Aubrey's mother. Or even when they'd gone after Kovu's sister. It had worked but it had been dangerous.

Jullian was only upset because he felt a little useless down here in the middle of nowhere. Or maybe just useless in general. He'd been an animorph for over a year, he was one of the best morphers or so Cassie had told him. And what good had it done? Had he been able to do anything for Ember? No.

"So how did Cassie pull you guys into this," he asked instead, changing the subject.

[Kovu]

As Jullian spoke, it automatically pulled Kovu back to the scene with Julia. It was him, Jullian, Aubrey and Tess, they had gone in formation ater Julia. Tess was walking beside her pretending to be just a freindly Controller, Kovu was behind, waiting for an oppurtunity to steal the draon beam from Julia's pocket.

After he had done so, Kovu slunk back and morphed into a blackbuck, then, he and Jullian waited for Julia to appear, then, they would jump her. Aubrey was flying overheadkeeping lookout. Kovu remembered his sister appearing, and him and Jullian jumping out at her, pushing her into an alleyway, where they restrained her.

They took here to an old warehouse, where they would have to keep her for 3 days. Kovu stayed there with her, as she cursed and spat. He fed her, and slept there, making sure she didn't escape, the others would check in on them every now and again. At the end of it, she stood, crying, overwhelmed with being free.

Kovu came back to reality, and sighed. He hadn't heard from his sister, he wondered how she was doing, whether she was ok, and ow she was adapting to life as an animorph. As Jullian finished his scentence, Kovu noticed the bitterness in his voice. Kovu reachedand squeezed Jules hand, the small sign of comort he could offer. They were close enough for the others not to notice, which was good Kovu thought. Jules wouldn't want me to make a scene of this. He looked up and waited for Matt or one of the others to say something.

[beachbeagle]

So food it was, and even Ethan seemed more amiable at the idea. They got food and sat down, but talk of family reminded Matt of too many things. He'd let members of his own faction try to rescue their family, so why hadn't he found the chance to save his brother? Still, Jullian was right that they all had family out there. Kovu's sister Julia was an Animorph, and so was Jullian's sister Helena. Plus they had other family out there somewhere.

Jules asked how Cassie had roped them into this, and Matt's face unintentionally dropped from his smile for a moment. "I've basically hit an emotional rock bottom," he said after a moment. "I heard about Ember dying..... and she's not the only person I know who's ended up losing their life for this war. In fact I know far too many people who have."

Sara picked up here. "Cassie thought it would be good for Matt to have a change of pace, and she thought being around you two might make him feel better. Bringing me and Tess in was part of her agreement. She'd give us positions that would make us safer so Matt wouldn't worry about losing us. Also so Tess could be right here with him."

Ethan had a mouth full of food and tried to talk around it before Sara covered his mouth with her hand. "Manners please. Ethan here.... well, I met him while in DC. He stumbled onto our hideout and Layla and I captured and held him for three days. He left later because he didn't want to morph, and Cassie agreed to let me track him down and rope him into helping. He's kind of wary of the whole situation and which side he should be on, but he nearly ended up a controller himself so he's a lot more willing to trust our side now."

Ethan put an arm around Sara, and Matt seemed to momentarily react to the contact before resigning to it as Tess slid an arm around him.

Sara continued, "How did she get the two of you to do this?" Tess had put a spoonful of food in Matt's mouth when he'd opened it which earned her a slightly pissed expression, but Sara knew her brother well enough to know what he'd been about to ask.

[Jullian]

"Basically the same story," Jullian said quietly, looking over at Kovu for a moment, his eyes sad. He turned back to look at the other animorphs across the table. "We were both there when Ember died...It was my fault actually," Jullian said quietly, looking down at the table. Kovu and Cassie had both told him it wasn't his fault but he still couldn't believe it. When the milk spilled and you were too far away to catch it, that wasn't your fault. But when a friend died because you hadn't done enough to save them how did you just say it wasn't your fault and move on?

"I was a Second in Boston but I couldn't stay there. Everything just reminded me of what had happened. I stayed in New York with Helena for a while but I felt pretty useless. I wanted to help but I didn't know how. Then she told me about this so," Jullian shrugged. "I guess I needed to get away as much as you did and Kovu agreed to come with me so," he looked over at Kovu, "I wasn't leaving anyone behind. It seemed like the right thing to do," he said, turning to look back at Matt and the others.

[Kovu]

Kovu gratefully took the recognition, it was odd, being there with all of them, but it had been such a long time, surely everyone had some stories to tell. "So what has happened in L.A. since we left? We haven't heard much honestly." Kovu waited, Matt did look very different, but then, didn't they all, they had aged so much in the past few months, it was scary.

"Boston wasn't very exciting to be honest, not much went on, a few yeerk gatherings, a 0few scouting jobs, not much to do." Kovu almost stunned himself when he said that, it was odd to think of alien activity as boring, but it ws true. They ust sat around the headquarters most days, he was sure Matt had more exiciting things to say.

[beachbeagle]

Sara looked at Jullian when he said Ember's death was his fault. "Unless you lit the building on fire, don't go saying it's you're fault. At least not around me. I've gotten on Matt's case too for blaming the deaths of several people he knew on himself." She shook her head. "It's not anyone's fault. Maybe things could have been different if you'd done more, but that difference could have just as easily been your death as it could have been Ember living."

It only bugged her so much because there was a death in this war that actually had been partly her fault. She felt an arm go around her and looked up at Ethan, who was holding her. Despite his dislike of yeerks, he was sympathetic towards Sara's loss of Esor. While he'd never understand her caring for Esor, he knew she did and that was all that mattered.

"Enough talk of deaths and whose fault they are," Matt said. Instead he changed topic to Kovu's question about what had happened in L.A. "We found out the yeerks were using some of the rides in Disneyland for target practice, though we weren't sure how to deal with that. Also, we found a basement beyond that door in the mansion that had been locked when we moved in. Turnes out the mansion's former owner was spying on the yeerks until his operation was discovered. We were trying to figure out what happened to him, but hadn't figured much out because we didn't have a lot of leads. And we had an earthquake, which was actually a good thing because it freed a lot of hosts who are now either in Union or the refugee camp in Mexico."

"What's Union?" Ethan looked a little confused.

Matt grinned a little at that. Union was something he'd discovered around the time Kovu and Jullian had been in L.A. faction. Even just mentioning it brought back memories. "Union is city of free humans and YPM controllers located in what was Los Angeles' Union Station, in the subway. Tess used to live there and Jullian and I were part of the group of Animorphs that first made contact with the people who lived there."

Ethan nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. Still, he seemed to have more questions. "So.... so, can both of you do the whole turning into animals like Sara and Matt?" He'd been really curious on the ride, and he'd had Matt turn into his whole arsenal of morphs including several Sara hadn't known he had. To be fair, until she'd found him again Ethan hadn't known what morphs Sara had aside from her panda and he'd done the same thing with her. While he didn't want to morph himself, Ethan was curious about the ability the Animorphs had gained through the andalite technology.

[Jullian]

Jullian wanted to disagree with Sara. He could have done more to stop Alora from the beginning. If he just hadn't hesitated...he had let the fact that she looked human, had a human host get in the way. And he'd let her get the best of him and she'd gone on to kill Ember. His fault as far as he could see. But he knew the futility of continuing the conversation. No one here wanted to focus on the bad times or listen to his guilt. It would have been wrong of him to try to force it on them.

"A secret room in the mansion? Really? That is interesting. And I was going to ask if the earthquake hurt Union but I guess not if there are refugees living there." Jullian's voice just kind of faded away. He cared about the people of Union but they seemed so far away and it wasn't just distance that separated them but time and bad memories.

He looked up in surprise when Ethan asked if he could morph. "You mean you can't?" He had just assumed the man was some sort of animorph from another faction. They had mentioned something about rescuing him but weren't they all animorphs down here?