Falling Skies Invasion Alone

Cocoon

I rested my elbows on my knees, slouching forward, sitting on one of the steps straight across from Lexi's...cocoon. Kadar stood in front of me, explaining the situation, as best he could anyway. And then Tom spoke to Shaq about whether the Volm had seen anything like that before. The situation seemed familiar, but I think what was familiar was the fact that as soon as we felt safe, relaxed; something would come and knock the air out of us.

"Wait a minute, if you know anything, you have to tell us." I could see Tom narrow his eyes at the alien even from my seated position.

"I'm sorry, I have nothing more to say." Shaq spoke emotionlessly. "I must return to my men."

And then he left. Tom turned to me, and I knew what he was going to ask.

"You know anything about this? They ever tell you about something like it?" He looked down at me, as did everyone else.

I pursed my lips and shook my head honestly. "I don't think so. But it does seem familiar, like maybe I've seen something like it before, or heard about it? But it could just be that I'm getting used to the bizarre."

"Well, I have." Tom sighed. Anne and Lexi had been held in something similar by Karen apparently. This revelation led to Anne questioning how she got out of it, and somehow that rocketed to them agreeing to do some psychotic repressed memory technique.

"What is happening?" I groaned into my hands as Tom and Anne left to go with Kadar. "Why is everything getting confusing again?"

"When did it ever stop, Cass?" Maggie dragged her fingers through her matted blonde hair.

She had a point.

"We should keep this between us." Ben sighed. "People are freaked enough, they don't need another reason to hate her."

Hal glanced at his little brother. "What if they're right? What if she's like-"

"Karen." Maggie finished for him, twitching her eyebrow in comment and glanced to me for my input.

"I guess... we gotta give her parents a chance to save her. Doesn't look like anything's happening right this second, no need to freak everyone out." I shrugged, looking up at her. The grinding of her teeth told me that wasn't exactly the support she wanted. I couldn't lie though.

"We should take a lap, get some air." Hal surmised.

"We can't leave Lexi unprotected." Ben insisted.

"I'll stay." I told him. "I'm not gonna hurt her, and to be honest I haven't got much else to do. Lourdes is back on her doctor-ing. Everyone's good."

They all nodded, guessing that I was probably the best choice to stay. I wasn't as invested as the Mason's, I wasn't as angry as Maggie, and I wasn't as tired as the rest of them. So they left and I stayed. For a while.

When I was alone with Lexi, I just stared. But my mind wasn't trying to work out how to get her out, it was trying to work out how the hell I felt like I had seen it before. I could only put it down to déjà vu. There was no other logical reason.

Tom wandered in, at first not noticing me, and stood up close to the cocoon.

"Uh...d'you know I'm here?" I got up from my step.

Startled, Tom turned. "Now I do."

"How's Anne?" I asked.

"Strong." He answered vaguely. "How are you, Cassidy? I mean...Anne told me, briefly, that you were missing or something."