2 hours later, I turned off of the interstate and onto a dirt road that would hopefully take me all the way to the forest from my dream. I took my time, not wanting to risk scratching my Mustang. It was amazing how fast a desert could turn into a bunch of pure greenery! Before I knew it, I came to a clearing. From here on out, I'd have to make the rest of the journey on foot.

It didn't take long to find the warehouse. I pulled my binoculars out and spotted 2 guards outside of the front doors. That won't be hard, but once inside, who knows what will be waiting for me? I circled around to a blind spot and crossed, hoping I wasn't noticed. I held my breath and waited a minute; Nothing. I carefully peeked around the corner. If I could throw a few rocks to distract them, I could slip through the door without being noticed. I aimed to the best of my abilities and threw the rock. They landed in the bushes, the guards went running, and I slipped right through the door. I lit up my GPS screen and imputed Door 13. If all goes as planned, it should lead me out to a longer hallway. I backed up against the wall and waited for the patrol guard to pass by. I was right across from Door 7, which meant that Door 13 was up a little further than I thought. My heart started pounding really fast as I looked around, but the coast was clear. I ran and backed up against the next wall to see that Door 13 was directly across from me. I listened for footsteps, but it was dead silent. I took one step towards Door 13 and a hand suddenly covered my mouth to muffle my scream and an arm slung around my waist to keep me from breaking free. I squirmed and protested with all my might when I realized I was being dragged away behind a different wall. No! I wasn't going to be a weakling like I was in my dream! I gave it a last fight.

"Shsh!" a man's voice hushed me and I stopped. Not a second later, the patrol guard walked by. The man let me go and when I turned around, it just so happened to be Commander Howlett!? I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he covered my mouth with his hand and put a finger to his lip. "If we're going to get out of here, we need to be quiet and stay close to me," Commander Howlett whispered.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked surprised.

"I've been following you," he said as he checked the hallway.

"What? Why?" I asked angrily.

"You've been on surveillance since the moment you got here, boss's orders," Commander Howlett informed me. We were about to cross another hallway when Commander Howlett held my arm back as another patrol guard passed by in front of us.

"Well in case you haven't noticed, I was doing just fine without you!" I whispered sternly.

"Oh really? Because the last time I checked, breaking into enemy territory without any weapons on an unauthorized mission was against the rules!" Howlett quietly retorted.

"Maybe there's something here that I needed," I said as we snuck out the back exit.

"If you ask me, it's a good way to get yourself killed!" he shot back.

"What if I'm willing to get killed in the effort of trying to get what I need?" I asked as we climbed into the motorhome with my Mustang already hitched to the back.

"What do they have that you want so badly?" Commander Howlett asked.

"My brother. The aliens captured him from his research lab in Hawaii. His lab was completely destroyed," I said sadly. Commander Howlett looked at me as the sudden realization of what he had kept me from crossed his mind.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" he asked.

"Everybody seemed so shaken up from the war that I didn't want them to worry about me, I figured I could take care of it on my own," I said. Commander Howlett thought about this and we drove on in silence for a long time. I looked over at Commander Howlett. Something about him seemed all too familiar. I thought about it and then the memory of what happened the night before my rescue attempt came back to me. He glanced over at me and then looked right back at me.

"What? What is it?" he asked. I didn't want to ask in case it wasn't him, so I shrugged.

"It's nothing...nothing at all," I mumbled.

"Look, now that I know what you were trying to do, I might be able to help," Commander Howlett offered. How could he honestly expect me to trust him after today?

"No! I don't want your help after what you did to me!" I fumed.

"We will  get your brother back, just not today," he tried to tell me.

"Commander, you do realize that we have no idea what the aliens do to their prisoners and as long as my brother is in their hands, I will not  stop until I know that he's safe?" I pointed out. Howlett sighed.

"You don't know when to stop, do you?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and angrily looked away. An hour or so later, we pulled up to my house. I quickly unhitched my Mustang and got some car cleaner and a rag out. "Are you seriously going to wash your car?" Commander Howlett asked surprised.

"Yep," I said as I rolled up my jeans and filled a bucket.

"But there's hardly any dirt on it!" Howlett said.

"My car is my baby; I treat it like gold and take great pride in driving it around. After all, it is  a sport's car," I said. Dad came out to talk to Commander Howlett and soon, they disappeared into the house. Alice came out when she realized that I was back.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Alice asked excitedly.

"No exactly," I answered as I scrubbed off the bug guts.

"What do you mean not exactly ?"

"I found the place, broke in, and was feet away when I got caught by my Commander."

"He followed you?" Alice asked in disbelief. I nodded. "No!" she said, refusing to believe it.

"Oh yeah. He marched me back out of there, chewed me out, and drove me all the way back here," I said. Alice's jaw dropped, but it quickly turned into a smile.

"You got busted!" Alice teased. Just then, Commander Howlett came back around the corner.

"Hey, Cadet," Alice's jaw dropped again, "your Dad asked me to tell you that he made pizza and Italian bread for dinner," Commander Howlett informed me.

"Tell him I'll be inside in just a minute," I answered as I got the hose out to rinse off my Mustang. He nodded and went back inside.

"That  was your Commanding Officer?" Alice asked delighted.

"Yeah, what did you expect?" I asked.

"Do they all  look like that?"

"Pretty much," I said.

"You'd have to be blind to not see him like that." Flushed, I looked away. "You like him!" Alice accused.

"No I don't!" I said as I tried not to blush.

"Oh, just admit it! I know you do because you always  look away when you blush," Alice said I looked back at her and tried not to smile as I shot back defensively,

"And what if I did?"

"Sarah! Your pizza is getting cold," Dad called from the garage door, gesturing for me to come inside.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow before I leave," I said to Alice as I turned the hose off.

"I guess so. We wouldn't wanna keep your 'guests' waiting do we?" Alice teased as she winked.

I collected everyone's dishes and was about to put them in the dishwasher when Commander Howlett stopped me. "Here, let me," he offered.

"No, it's ok, I've got it," I said.

"Are you sure because I can do it," I looked at Dad for help, but he nodded. I guess I've been defeated, at least this time, so I went to pout in my room.

I sat down on my bed and looked around to take everything in. I brushed the dust off of my posters and sighed. I really miss waking up in my warm, cozy bed and seeing the splash of color on my walls. I sat down at my desk and leaned back, staring at the blank computer screen, suddenly remembering what had happened to my brother. It's still a little too much for me, so I swiveled away from the screen, not wanting to remember anymore, but the I let my eyes drift to to the picture of Peter. I picked it up as if it were something fragile and slowly blew the dust away. He was always talking about football and cracking jokes just to make me smile. I let a few tears fall on the glass covering of the picture. "I still love him, but we'll probably never get to see each other ever again," I thought to myself.

"Quite the room you got here," Commander Howlett said as he walked in. I looked at him and attempted to sniff up my tears.

"What can I say? I have a diverse personality," I said as I forced myself to smile and blinked the fresh tears away.

"Are you ok? Why are you crying?" Howlett asked concerned.

"I'm fine, really," I said as I wiped the tears on the back of my sleeve and put the picture down. Commander Howlett's eyes shifted curiously to the picture frame and then back to me. "Are you going to stay the night or are you going to run away again?" I asked quickly trying to change the subject.

"I haven't decided yet," he answered. We stared at each other and then, when it started to feel awkward, he looked away and studied my room instead, trying to figure out how a girl like me could have so many layers. His eyes lingered on my radio and the giant stack of CD's next to it.

"Oh, and for the record, Country music is my life," I said as I put in Taylor Swift's Fearless album. I turned the volume up and waited for the first verse to start and sang my heart out. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I was somewhere that I belonged, confident, strong, brave, and free. I finished the song and Commander Howlett applauded me, as well as Dad, who had come up when he heard me singing. 

"Can I talk to you for a minute Commander?" Dad asked when the song was over. I watched Commander Howlett follow my Dad down the stairs and heard part of their conversation on the way down.

"She has an amazing voice. Does she always sing like that?"

"Oh yes, music is how Sarah gets her emotions out. That's how I'm always able to tell what kind of mood she's in." My Commanding Officer just complimented me? I guess things just keep getting weirder and weirder.