Title: Never A Hero

Rating: T (For Language and Violence)

Summary: Section 10 of ADE (Alien Defenders of Earth) defends a small suburban town in Illinois where nothing ever happens. They take care of the random aliens that come through, often they are not a threat and the team is finds itself idling the time away tinkering with alien tech and messing with each other's heads. Though, when thrown a real challenge that not only threatens the safety of their lives and the lives of all the people in the town, and no way of getting back-up, will the team be able to save the town? Even when the price may be their lives?

Copyright: All characters, places, and plot belong to me. Any similarities to actual people or places is mere coincidence.

Alright, now enjoy the story! :D

Running...All he did was running. Feet pounding across the concrete as he sprinted down the dark street; his hand was quivering at his waist. Fingers delicately skimmed the end of a dark handle of a pistol. He had no desire to use the deadly weapon but he knew that if he had to, he would. Breathing hard, he had been at this for a long while, trying desperately to shake off his pursuer. He had been at this game of chase for much longer than he had been expecting. That thing had more stamina than he had originally thought.

He took a sharp turn down a driveway, breaking into a sprint as he reached the inside of someone’s backyard. Fenced in on three sides, he would have to jump a fence at some point; it was to his advantage actually. If he cleared it, he has won this game; his pursuer would not be able to jump the fence. Gray wisps of smoke erupted from his mouth as snow started to drift down from the sky. The boy quickly pushed his glasses back up to his face, making his vision clearer as stepped into the grass.

His foot slipped slightly on the frozen grass as he stopped abruptly to change directions, taking a sharp turn. The crunch of frost –covered grass sounded like a gun-shot through the silent night. Giving a quick look over his shoulder, he could see the silhouette of his attacker. He had forgotten, even despite its injury, quick turns were its specialty. Without faltering, the figure bolted after him, running swiftly. Slim and well-built, he knew that in a matter of seconds it would catch up with him, this was his only chance.

At that moment, he launched himself upwards over the fence, landing with his right foot on the ground on the other side. He felt his foot slide across the grass, losing his balance; he tumbled forward, his face hitting the earth hard. His whole body racked with pain as his entire body tumbled across the hard floor. He could feel the ripping of skin on his cheek and his head suffer a blow for it had hit first, his mouth filling with dirt and grass. He managed to stop his tumble by landing his shoulder into the ground, stopping him from sliding through the grass, plunging the bone in awkwardly to his shoulder.

A fierce, barking laugh echoed as he pulled himself awkwardly from the ground and shot a glare across the fence. The dark figure was leaning against the chain-link fence and even through the dark; he could see the amused glimmer in her blue eyes. She still continued to laugh as he pulled himself to his feet. “Damn it Claire, you aren’t one to laugh. I’m not the only one with horrible coordination.” He swore toward the figure. Pulling a mini-flashlight from his pocket, he shined it in the direction of a young woman. She was tall and muscular but looking uncomfortable as she climbed the fence. An obvious bulge in her pant-leg brushed against the chain-link as she managed to hop over.

“Well, you usually don’t do face plants into the grass, David. That’s my job.” She muttered as she finally landed on the other side with a plop. She winced though when all her weight went to her right knee. Through the tight jeans she wore, the large bulge of a brace was visible on her knee. Brushing a lock of short blonde hair out of her face and placing it behind an ear, she smiled as she approached him. Slamming a hard hand down on his shoulder, she praised him on the good work. Still, the glimmer of amusement was apparent in her eyes for she probably found the fact that someone else besides her fell to be some sort of an accomplishment.

This game of chase started earlier in the day. Claire had been complaining that David wasn’t as fast as he should be while they were working out. David, a bit peeved by that comment, challenged her and said that he could easily outrun her. Which, in the end, turned out to be true, to Claire’s great disappointment and David had won many gloating rights. The only other person who ever managed that was Zane but he was Claire’s twin and not crippled to boot.

“You know, it isn’t much of a win though if you win against a cripple.” Claire glowered, taking her hand off his shoulder and shoving both into her red sweatshirt pocket. The girl shivered fiercely while she forced her hands farther down into her sweater and crossed her arms. It seemed impossible at first but somehow Claire managed it. A cry of an owl overhead made both of the figures flinch and look at each other. It was unbelievable how jumpy the two of them could be at times.

“Yeah, whatever, I’m still proud. I join the running hall of fame with Zane.” David gave his partner a dismissive wave and turned toward the direction of the house that stood tall over the backyard. A light flickered on in the upper-level, signaling to the two that they should better leave before they were spotted. Nodding toward Claire, David took a light jog out of the yard and down the drive toward the street. Out of the corner of his eye, David watched Claire follow him at a slight limp.

As they stood on the curb, Claire looked down the street, tapping her foot. “Man, we got pretty far.” She muttered. About two and a half miles away, the rest of their team was starting the van to come and get them.

“No kidding. I didn’t know you would last so long with your knee like that.” He motioned toward the swollen mass under her jeans. The brace underneath was clamped tight to the girl’s knee. “How did you manage to injure yourself like that?” He couldn’t help but ask. Everyone knew not to ask but she had been wearing the brace since he had met her and it was starting to bother him that he didn’t know how bad she was injured.

“It’s none of your business.” She sounded like an upset preschooler as she turned away from David, burrowing deeper into her sweatshirt. The snow was getting harder as is flurried around them. Suddenly though, a warm hand swiped its way across David’s cheek and he saw Claire pull away her fingers. “You’re bleeding.” Claire’s voice was distant as he saw her sniff the red on her fingers before flicking it off into the snow and wiping the remainder on her jeans. Claire wasn’t much of a clean freak. She left most of that to Zane, who actually enjoyed cleaning and other chores.

“You can fix it up when we get back to Headquarters.” He muttered, looking over at the medic. They all had a specific job on the team, David usually dealt with the technology but like every member, he was trained in combat and firearms. Claire doubled up as the medic for the team as well as their leader. Others wondered how she managed it, giving them direction while trying to heal them at the same time. Somehow though, she did it with grace and confidence.

With a screech, a black van stopped and pulled up to the curb, back door and the passenger door swung open, inviting the two inside. David pushed into the back, coming shoulder to shoulder with another woman, shorter than Claire with dark brown, curly hair. She was tinkering with a small, round piece of machinery, pressing random buttons, making it light up and beep. Next to her was a lanky looking man with long, shocking ginger hair, his bangs hung far over his eyes, shadowing them from sight. He was busy pressing buttons on a brightly lit Nintendo DS. Claire climbed into the passenger seat, next to a tense-looking man with blonde hair and a matching pair of blue eyes to Claire’s.

As the driver stepped on the gas pedal, the car rushed down the street. The only sounds were the occasional blast of music from the DS and a swear from the red-head and the beeping from the machine. Finally, David cleared his throat. “What is that Kaile?” He managed to ask of the curly-haired girl.

Slowly, Kaile held up the circular orb as lights flashed in a distinct pattern and her head tilted slightly to the side. Green eyes observed it quickly, noticing every little detail she could, Kaile was like that. She noticed everything and anything on a piece of technology but he had long since learned that she could not read people. She lowered it after just a few seconds and looked toward David. “I have no idea.” She admitted with a smile. She then continued to press buttons and as her fingers landed on a rather large red button, a large flash of light erupted from it, right into the face of her neighbor.

After a few seconds of stunned silence from him, a slow growl erupted from his mouth, as the ginger looked down at his game. “You made me lose the battle!” He muttered before flicking the console closed and leaning back in his seat.

“Like I care Matthew...” She said slowly, as she turned over the orb to find a small piece of paper hanging out of the bottom. Taking it, she looked at the image on it. It was of Matthew and he looked utterly horrified as he looked into the light. “It’s a camera!” Kaile squealed happily, pressing the big button again, this time at David.

He had no time to respond before the flash of bright light nearly blinded David. He had to blink several times to clear the lights that had popped in front of his eyes. Kaile handed the photograph to David and he squinted his eyes to clear up his vision. It was definitely him, the clearest picture of he had ever seen. It was like a high-resolution digital camera on steroids took it. The clarity of the photograph was phenomenal; David couldn’t help but get geeky about it. “This is amazing!” He cried, snatching the camera from Kaile.

“And you say most of the space junk we get is useless.” She sneered, grabbing her toy back from David.

“That’s because it usually is.” Claire’s voice erupted from the front seat. She hadn’t spoken since she got in the car. Her brother, Zane, beside her nodded, not letting his eyes leave the road, and he swerved down a street suddenly, jerking everyone in their seats. It was a sharp turn since he was only a few seconds away from missing the right street.

“Watch it Zane, you are going to give us concussions!” Matthew called, narrowing his eyes. The dark brown had turned black in the darkness of the car and the night outside. He squirmed uneasily in his seat as he looked out the window as the snow that swirled by.

David reached across Kaile to give a quick punch to Matthew’s arm. “You won’t be the one to make that call. That would be Claire.” Claire gave a grunt from the front seat in agreement, reaching her hand back for a high-five from David, which he gratefully slapped. David was never sure what Claire would react to and what she would not. The entire team knew that their leader could be a bit unpredictable. They never knew what they were about to say would be a compliment or an insult. Maybe it was a tactic to make them fear her or she truly was the most unpredictable person on the planet.

The black van quietly pulled up at headquarters, it seemed like nothing more than your regular office building. One floor but oddly barren and plain looking, it seemed empty and unused from the outside but on the inside…

Shoving a key into a lock and swinging open the dirty, dusty glass doors, Claire flicked on some of the lights, illuminating a sitting room. Full of plush chairs and a tiny television, this was the place they could relax. Their bedrooms and bathrooms were in back and their workspace, which was chock-full of buzzing computers and other devices. Also, some containment cells that were rarely used when they did catch something were just beyond the work room.

This was the home of the tenth section of ADE. Short for Alien Defenders for the Earth...Yes they were alien hunters. Though, in this small town in the corner of Illinois, there were never any aliens. It was the bigger cities like Chicago that got all the fun. They got stuck with all the petty aliens that would bother attacking such a small suburban town before trying to tackle the big cities.

So, for the most part, they were sent objects and equipment to look over and get the occasional call about a squid, even though harmless, was threatening to destroy all human kind or just an alien dog running around the city. A nudge in David’s leg as he entered the building reminded him of the fact that they had kept one of those said canines. Even though on the outside, it looked like a normal dog, white-blonde fur with brown eyes and two perky ears, when it opened its mouth, two, very long tongues were apparent. She could also hear her name being called from up to two miles away. Her nose could also track scents up to a month old if given the right trail. They took her out only for missions of recovery, which wasn’t often, so the hyperactive mutt was kept more as a pet.

Breaking away from David, he watched Daisy rush over to Claire, her white tail wagging furiously. She slammed so hard into the leader’s knees that the girl fell to the ground, laughing. The dog enthusiastically licked her face as she laughed hysterically. She was the only one who ever wanted that thing licking her face.

David smiled as he made his way over to one of the many overstuffed armchairs, sinking into it. His now aching legs seemed to give a sigh of relief as his muscles relaxed. He had forgotten how sore running made him. He did most of the tech-work for the group; he didn’t get many chances to go out alien chasing. Well...neither did the rest of the team, he just got to significantly less. Even if he was second in command, he rarely got to go alien hunting and he was always jealous of his teammates.

“Release me...” A voice, cold and eerie, echoed around the room as he glanced toward the coffee table. “Release me...” The voice called again and David caught sight of what was speaking. It was a jar with a grayish-purple lump looked out at him with one bored looking eye.

“Claire!” Matthew called before David could. “Put your squid-thing away, he is starting to freak me out.” Matthew was never comfortable in the first place with Claire keeping the alien.

Claire came into the room from the hallway, already half-dressed in pajamas. Her black t-shirt and jacket were still on but dark flannel pajama pants hung loosely on her thin waist and legs. David could never understand how Claire stayed so thin. Compared to what she eats over the course of a day, she had to have the metabolism of a shrew. Her knee was no longer a bulge, for she had taken off the brace.

“He is not a squid-thing. His name is Joshua and he is a Ghainx.” She huffed, puffing out her chest in a desperate attempt to make herself look stronger but David could tell she was tired. She easily swung the jar into her arms, her eyes not leaving Matthew.

Joshua was a grayish-purple, lumpy looking squid. One half-closed red eye was in the middle of its head/body, no one was quite sure where each started. Eight long tentacles came out on all sides, large suckers on the bottom that often got stuck on the sides of the jar. Claire kept Joshua as a pet in a jar ever since they got a call about him around a year ago. He didn’t need to eat or drink anything, he just seemed to exist. Supposedly, he was dangerous enough to kill whole populations on many planets but on Earth, he was harmless. He was quite smart though, and knows quite a bit about humans since Claire always leaves him in front of the television.

And so, Claire disappeared into the hallway with the jar and Zane yawned, going down the hall after his sister. Kaile had long since disappeared, having gone to her room immediately after they entered the building. She was probably still going to pull an all–nighter playing with the camera. She would be an absolute joy in the morning. All who remained was Matthew, who was curled up in one of the chairs, returning to the DS and David, who just sat there thinking.

David was never able to sleep after being wound up like this. It was rare he ever experience the adrenaline his teammates were so used to. Just the thought of being chased was brilliant but the actual running; it was quite something, even if it was just one of his teammates chasing him. Even though his entire body screamed with exhaustion, the gears that were running inside his head was going so fast, you could practically hear them.

As he sat there, the rush of energy was starting to wear off as the time ticked away and his eyelids were growing heavy, David couldn’t help but give into the sleep.

He woke up, his neck stiff from sleeping in the chair and his feet warm. His glasses were askew on his face, he could barely see. Matthew had been long gone, his DS resting on the coffee table. The white, heavy, breathing mass of Daisy had sprawled across David’s feet, snoring deeply. The animal probably decided that his huge feet were more comfortable and warmer than her bed.

As David attempted to stand, disturbing the sleeping beast so that it bolted upright. Looking at him with a displeased glare, the large dog lumbered off, in the direction of the workroom. That’s where they kept most of Daisy’s things such as her bed and her toys. She spent most of her time there except for some nights when Claire let the alien dog up on her bed.

Padding silently down the hall, David glanced at one of the many clocks that hung on the walls. It was two in the morning. Running a hand through his dark brown hair, he slowly started to turn the doorknob to his room when there was a creak on the wood floor. Turning, he spotted Claire coming out of the bathroom. Her blonde hair was a mess, sticking up at every angle. Though, her blue eyes were alert as they turned on him. A lop-sided smile appeared on her face as she approached him slowly, her feet silent as if she were just floating. She came within inches of his face.

“Finally decided to go to bed?” She asked in a low whisper, a glimmer of amusement was apparent in her tired voice. David nodded as he already started to pull off his t-shirt, which now reeked from the sweat that had long dried. “Good boy.” She muttered sleepily, patting the side of his face.

Without another word, Claire turned and slammed open her bedroom door, it hit the wall next to it hard and slammed it closed. She was always so loud with cabinets and doors. It drove the rest of them nuts, especially when trying to sleep. Even with car doors, Zane was always scolding her for that.

Claire was such a funny, and quite odd person, David found himself thinking of her a lot. Not in a stalker sense but more that he was fascinated by the kind of person she was. It was like God had decided one day that he was bored and decided to pile as many personalities he could find and put them in one person.

She could be called calm and easy-going but at other times, she could be talking a million miles an hour and expect you to follow. She could be as quiet as a mouse and scare the crap out of you when she came up behind without giving herself away. While she could get up at five in the morning and manage to slam every door and cabinet her hands came in contact with. Some days she was energetic and ready for anything but other days, she would just lie around and do nothing. The team never had any idea what she would be like day to day.

David shook his head, not wanting to think anymore. Finally opening his door, he landed on his bed with careless abandon, letting his head sink into his pillow. He had only four hours of sleep until Claire awoke the whole house with her path of morning destruction so he might as well use them wisely.

Sort of a boring chapter just to get you introduced to everyone. :D The next chapter is when the plot starts and the real story gets going. Please review and tell me anything you want, questions, suggestions, or just the general nice comment. :3 Please just no flames. D: Flames make me sad.

-Twilla