Four months ago, the Visitors arrived in their ships, hovering above Earth. Three months ago, Lisa began questioning her Mother's plan, began feeling the stirring of Human emotions. 2.5 months ago, she failed the emotion screening test and Joshua had lied to protect her. 2.25 months ago, she realized Joshua was Fifth Column and an unfamiliar feeling of hope and affection swelled in her chest.

Two months ago, she'd thought Joshua gave his life to preserve the secrets of the Fifth Column and she felt grief. 1 month and 26 days ago, Mother admitted that Joshua had been revived. Lisa had rushed to him, but had been crestfallen when he seemed to have no memory of the Fifth Column or his previous rebel inclinations. 1 month and 23 days ago, she found out that, while he was confused, some of his memories were intact and Marcus and Mother were trying to take advantage of his state to force him to reveal all he knew about the Fifth Column.

One month and Twenty days ago, Lisa had managed to smuggle Joshua off of the mother ship and down into the hands of the Fifth Column.

Since that day, Lisa had been working to get as much information as possible about her Mother's plans and pass it along to the rebels. Usually, she only saw Erica, with whom she had regular contact with through Tyler.

But today was different. As far as Mother knew, Lisa was going to spend a 'girl's day' with Erica. Mother thought it was an excellent idea, that by keeping Erica close, Lisa would be able to keep an even tighter leash on Tyler.

Lisa just wished she knew why Mother was so adamant that Tyler was 'special'. He was nice to her, but she didn't see anything in him that differentiated him from billions of other boys his age on the planet Earth.

Dressed in a Human outfit she had come to favor, jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie, Lisa followed Erica down a rickety looking, but quite solid, flight of stairs into a rather dismal space. This was the headquarters of the Earth bound contingent of the Fifth Column. There was some tech scattered about, some papers and pictures tacked to a wall and she could see a few simple cots off to the side of the room.

A group of men were gathered by one of the computers. She recognized Chad Decker, the reporter Mother had been using as a mouthpiece since their arrival. Then there was Ryan, the rebel whose baby Mother still held aboard the ship, and Kyle Hobbes, whom Mother had framed for an attack on Lisa and a bombing. Two others she didn't know, but the last….

"Joshua," she breathed, stepping quickly towards him and taking in his appearance. His hair was a bit longer than she remembered, a bit ruffled and he wore Human clothes, jeans, boots, a long sleeved t-shirt, the latter of which looked a bit loose on him. For a moment, the thought that, aboard the ship, his medical jacket had always been too large flitted through her mind, but she continued on. "You are looking well."

He no longer looked vaguely haunted and confused, but seemed his usual serene self. His brown eyes met hers and she was thrilled to see warmth there again.

When his eyes closed, lashes fluttering against his cheeks, she nearly frowned, but then he inclined his head slightly and, when he straightened again, he met her gaze and said, "As are you, My Queen."

In that moment, she didn't give a damn about acting like a proper young woman and future queen. Ignoring the others in the room, she stepped boldly into his personal space and flung her arms around his shoulders. She'd never before felt such a desire to embrace another being and she reveled in the heat his body threw off. His large, graceful hands came up to rest on her back and she let out a breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding.

"How are you?" she asked as she drew back slightly, still standing in his space, reluctant to step away just yet.

He smiled softly. "Vastly improved since our last encounter," he said, then cocked his head in the direction of their companions. "Living amongst humans is…interesting. Very liberating."

She often wondered how he had kept up his implacable façade for so long. It was extremely difficult to do and Lisa fought the urge to react emotionally to things every single day. Here, she supposed, there was no need to be so controlled.

"I've missed you," she said honestly. Though she'd only known Joshua as an ally for a series of weeks, he had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember. Unlike soldiers, trackers and low level workers, certain individuals among their society were born as clean slates, babies, much like human young. They had to be raised, educated and spent time learning their crafts, inherited from their own parents. Military leaders, doctors,, scientists…and, occasionally, a queen were amongst those members of V society.

Over the past several generations, fewer and fewer members of that tier of society had been born. It was a concern and that was why they had come to Earth…at least that was the part of Anna's plan for humanity that they had uncovered.

Joshua had been several years older than Lisa, but with the limited number of peers, he had always been a part of her world. She'd never really known how aware of him she had become until he wasn't there.

His eyes were on hers as he said, "I've missed you as well…and worried for you."

From behind them she heard the sound of a throat being cleared and an accented male voice said, "Right, now that the alien princess has been reunited with Mr. Clean, can we get down to business?"

"Be nice," Erica chided, then motioned to the men, whom had scattered from their cluster. "Meet the rest of the team. Ryan…" the tall, bald V rebel was leaning against a wall and nodded to her, "Hobbes…."

"Let's not go framing me for any crimes for at least a few month, all right, princess?" The man with the beard said sarcastically and Lisa glanced away, feeling her cheeks redden in shame. Caving in to Mother's wishes and pointing a finger at two innocent men had not been her proudest moment.

Joshua's hand rested supportively on her back as Erica said, "Hobbes, enough. That's Sidney…" The younger man scrambled to shake her hand, then Erica motioned to the blond man, whom had drifted to her side, "…and Jack Landry."

"Welcome," Jack said, taking the hand she offered in a gentle grip. The rough skin was a little startling, as the only people she could ever recall touching her, Mother, Tyler, Joshua, Erica and, just moments earlier, Sidney, had soft hands.

Strange.

Humans were a diverse group, she reflected. When they'd first had human skin grafted atop their own, Lisa had marveled at the array of different appearances. Almost all V's had a uniform appearance and similarly colored scales. Minute differences and scent were the chief ways they told each other apart.

She remembered that Joshua had a small patch of nearly opalescent scales on the back of his forearm. When she was little, she'd thought it was pretty. They'd both been very young when they'd received their second skin, had grown into them and become accustomed to the soft, pinkish flesh.

More than half their lives had passed since either of them saw the visage they had been born to. This made Lisa wonder if perhaps her human face had become her true face over the years. It was the one she best remembered.

"So, we're thinking Anna has some plan for the event the UN is hosting to promote V/Human relations," Erica began and Lisa nodded.

"Yes, she won't discuss the event, but I believe her focus is on this man." Lisa laid a finger on one of the pictures Hobbes had laid on the table. She didn't know who the man was, but Marcus had a large file on him.

"That's Pribuit Chima, the UN's Secretary General," Erica said, sounding rather upset. From what Lisa understood about the way things worked on Earth, the UN was an international organization whose stated aims were facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights and achievement of world peace. She wasn't sure how much actual power they wielded, or if they were a figurehead of some sort.

Erica had shifted, raising one hand to bite down on the thumb nail. "The UN has its own security detail," she said frowning. "I won't be able to get in on that on such short notice."

"I'll convince Tyler that inviting you was his idea, then pass along 'his' wishes to Mother. She will invite you," Lisa said with some confidence. Sometimes Tyler's gullibility and easily manipulated nature came in handy. She looked at the others. "I don't know any way for the rest of you to get in."

"Perhaps someone could escort Agent Evans," Joshua offered from his spot behind Lisa's shoulder and she nodded. That was doable.

"Well, that leaves me out," Hobbes said with a smirk. "Being that I'm on both the FBI and V's most wanted lists."

Lisa thought it odd that he sounded rather proud as he made that statement.

Ryan rubbed his head and sighed. "Joshua and I aren't an option either. Anna knows our faces."

From his perch on a swivel chair, Sidney shook his head. "Um, yeah, count me out. I'm a strictly behind the scenes sort of guy. No playing James Bond spy games at a fancy dress party with the potential, evil alien overlord in attendance. Besides, me and parties…never work out well, I always say the wrong thing. Bring up the time I got food poisoning from…."

"Sidney, that's fine. But cut down on the coffee. Please," Erica interrupted him before he could ramble any longer. Instead she turned to Jack. "So, Father, you wouldn't happen to own a suit without the white collar, would you?"

Lisa wondered why she called him Father, as he was clearly not her father, but no one else seemed confused. She would have to ask Joshua about it later.

A small smile on his lips, Jack gave Erica wry look and said, "I think I can manage to find something appropriate."

For some reason, Hobbes chose that moment to let out a loud snort, while Sidney's eyebrows migrated towards his hairline. Erica and Jack were both shooting annoyed looks at their fellow humans and Ryan rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Confused, Lisa looked at Joshua, who shrugged, seemingly equally baffled. Apparently, it took more than a few months of exposure to learn all the nuances of Human behavior.

They were an interesting race, but very odd.

TBC…..

Comments, pretty please?