"We are so not doing your plan." Alex sternly told Gert who was standing beside Karolina in his room. Gert and Alex were discussing what to do at the dig site as you and Nico headed down the stairs. Gert proposed Karolina's plan on saving the ship, but Alex didn't want to do it.

"We're totally doing our plan," Gert argued.

"No."

"Yes."

Nico stayed back, silently listening as you approached Gert and Karolina. Alex sighed. "The risk is too great. We already worked this out. I destroy the infrastructure with my computer, and you guys bury the ship so that it can't get out, ever. It's done."

"Alex, there's a moral imperative here now." Gert implied. "There are lives at the bottom of that hole."

"Who could be more versions of Jonah," Alex argued. "Why would we help them?"

"Could be more versions of her." You replied, pointing at Karolina with your head tilted.

Karolina nodded. "If you bury them, you bury me."

Alex frowned as he considered the situation. "That's not fair." He muttered.

"I've touched them," Karolina stated. "They're alive like we're alive, and they're suffering. Dying."

While Gert was talking, Alex shook his head. "We can't think of the creatures as 'them'. That's the same thinking that led our parents to put teenagers in a murder box."

"And we swore we weren't going to be like those assholes," Nico spoke up from behind causing you, Gert, and Karolina to turn around. Karolina locked her gaze on Nico, who had her hands on her hips. "How long have you been standing there?" Karolina asked.

"Long enough," Nico replied as she walked toward you, Gert, and Karolina, nodding at Alex. "I'm with them."

Alex huffed as he looked away. "I guess this just turned into a rescue mission." He declared earning smiles from you, Gert, Karolina, and Nico. Gert patted you on the back. "I'm gonna go tell Molly."

Nico nodded. "I'll tell Chase. Karolina, wait for Jonah to text you." You were left alone with Alex as the three girls walked away. You turned to him and smiled while he pressed his lips together, a bit hesitant with the plan. "Come on, rescuing a bunch of extraterrestrial beings isn't that bad of a plan." You reassured him as you walked toward him.

"Well, let's just hope they're not a bunch of Jonah and instead, they're more like Karolina." Alex sighed and looked up at you while placing his hands on his lap. "Can't believe we have aliens on this planet."

Your smile grew bigger as you leaned your head to the side. "Really? Remember when the Avengers fought the Chitauri and that Norse god Loki back in 2012? They're aliens and that didn't seem to faze you?"

Alex stifled a laugh. "I mean, I didn't expect LA to have aliens. It's generally New York that gets to experience both scary and exciting events."

"So, you're saying this mission sort of excites you now?"

"Well..." Alex tilted his head as he wondered. "Maybe? I don't know, I just really want this mission to be over, and hopefully, we get out alive."

You agreed with Alex's statement and nodded. You turned around to leave, but you felt Alex taking your hand and pulling you towards him. You looked down at him with a shocked expression as he looked up at you. "Yeah?" You asked, trying to not make your voice higher from surprise because of how close you two were.

"I..." Alex glanced away as he took a deep breath. "If we ever make it out alive, I'm going to tell you something."

As he looked up to stare into your eyes, he softly brushed his thumb on the top of your hand. He slowly leaned up until your noses brushed against each other. You briefly closed your eyes until you snapped them open when you heard someone speak up. "Jonah texted me," Karolina announced as she looked at you and Alex. You diverted your gaze while Alex blinked twice, attempting not to appear irritated by Karolina's interruption. "Great." He replied. "I'm gonna talk to someone real quick and then let's gather everyone."

Karolina slowly nodded as she eyed suspiciously you and Alex before walking away to meet everyone in the main hall. Alex got out of his chair while still holding your hand. "Come on." You kept your head down low as you and Alex came out of his room to see the rest of the group.

While you and your friends waited, Alex walked upstairs for a little moment. Karolina locked her eyes on you, and you hastily averted your gaze. "What?" You grumbled.

"What was that all about?" Karolina whispered. "You know, with you and Alex back in his room."

You shrugged as you crossed your arms. "Honestly, I have no idea." You admitted. "I have no idea what was going on and I don't even want to know."

Alex walked down the stairs after a few minutes, and you all formed a circle with him. Karolina took her phone from her pocket. "Jonah thinks he's picking me up from our spot. He's headed there now." She stated as she showed Jonah's message to everyone.

Jonah:
Meet you at the lookout?

As he stepped past Karolina to stand next to you, Alex nodded. "Okay, tell him you're running late and to wait for you." He instructed. "That should keep him busy long enough for us to do our jobs."

"Which seem to be changing," Chase remarked.

"Evolving." Gert corrected. "Into something inclusive and enlightened."

"And dangerous," Alex added. "We gotta go inside now."

"Which means we need a better plan," Molly replied.

Nico nodded as she faced Alex. "Luckily, that's your area of expertise."

Alex nodded along. "True, but with this much at stake, there's no margin for error, so I reached out to someone with more experience." He explained. "But we have to keep our objective to ourselves. If he knows what we're doing, he won't go along with it."

As you understood what Alex had done, you let out a faint gasp. "You talked to him?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Follow me." With you and the others trailing behind, he headed towards the dining room. You noticed a restrained Geoffrey seated alone in a chair as soon as you reached the dining area. You glanced upstairs in confusion. "How did you even manage to bring him here?"

"And you can't be serious." Gert furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Alex.

"We have a common enemy," Alex said. "He knows everything about the site, and more about Jonah than any of us."

"But he's on their side." Molly hissed and pinned her glare on Alex's father.

"We have to let that go for now."

Geoffrey faced his son. "I want to keep you alive." He argued.

"Something else we share," Karolina remarked.

Geoffrey glanced at Karolina and sighed. "Look, whatever you intend yo do, we gotta get there ahead of PRIDE. So we need to move."

"Which means we need a blindfold," Nico stated.

Geoffrey turned his head to Nico, shocked. "A what?"

"Secret hideouts need to stay secret," Chase replied as he grabbed a red cloth, stretching it a bit as he approached Alex's father. "No offense, Mr. Wilder." He went behind the older Wilder and wrapped the cloth around his eyes, keeping him sightless temporarily.

°•○●○•°

You and your friends arrived at a Korean restaurant and brought Geoffrey Wilder along with you. You flicked your fingers and removed Geoffrey's blindfold away, allowing him to see again while Alex opened his small laptop. "All right, so what are we lookin' at?"

"There's gonna be a lot of security tonight," Geoffrey stated. "Armed Gibborim guards. That was Leslie's job."

"A lot like?" Gert asked for more information.

"A fleet of vans should be en route as we speak," Geoffrey answered as he looked at Gert beside him.

As he settled into his seat, Alex took a glance around. "Well, they're not here yet, which means we still have time." He shoved his glasses back in his face and returned his attention to the screen, where he began typing. "If we know the Gibb army is coming in vans, that's all I need."

As Alex continued to speak, you, Nico, and Karolina all looked at him with interest. "I can get into the church records and then trace the VIN numbers. If anyone uses a traffic app, plugs in their phone, or anything using Wi-Fi, we got 'em."

Geoffrey narrowed his eyes as he looked at his son. "Where'd you learn that?" He questioned.

"Remember that family trip we took to Vegas? You and Mom went to go see Cirque du Soleil?"

"Yeah, you said you wanted to watch How to Train Your Dragon 2 in the hotel room."

"Yeah, I did, for like five minutes, and then I snuck into Def Con 23, where I say in the back of a seminar on how to hack a call."

You broke into a grin, Geoffrey blinked his eyes incredulously, Chase nodded as he was impressed, and Molly smiled. Karolina then spoke up. "So what does that mean?" She asked.

"It means, I hope the Gibbs packed sunscreen, 'cause they're goin' to the desert." You got closer to Alex to see what was on his screen, and you noted he had changed the destination of the Church of Gibborim members. You looked at Alex as you leaned your head on your shoulder. "Nice job, Alex."

Alex smiled down at you, his smile growing bigger whenever he looks at you. Geoffrey and your friends exchanged a few glances at each other.

-•-°-•-°-☆

I feel better now, so double update <3