Debra gave them a sad smile “what... what happened to my son?”
Theo choked down a sob and lowered her head farther. “Is she alright?” her Mom asked.
Beth looked at Theo “she's actually the reason we came.”

"Monolith"

Contacted

--------------------

The exploration team made their way out of the fold with the grace of a drunken man. As they were picking themselves off of the floor the alpha suit spoke.

“What was it like boys?” If a suit aficionado was in the room, they could quickly determine the hierarchy of everyone one present, and at top of the food chain was Director Farris. Standing about 5'9 and a gut nearly that long around, Farris had the look of a mustachioed beat cop.

“It was amazing, I've never been in zero gravity before.” The words left the soldier's mouth before he could stop himself.

Farris chuckled at the response “That's good but I was talking about the planet, son.”

The commander of the unit stood to attention “It was like it was described in the briefing; black sand and a group of settlements a little less than a klick from the fold. The climate was a little cooler than your typical earth desert. We actually saw some higher altitude clouds, so I'm thinking the desert must stop around 30 kilometers from the fold position.”

“Interesting...could we send an air reconnaissance drone thought the fold?” Farris asked the grunt.

“Certainly, sir”

“Good to hear, get rested up and get yourselves back through that thing as soon as you can.”

“Yes, sir!”

Farris turned back to his suit underlings and asked “What's the situation with our missing alien girl?”

“Um...still missing sir. We have lookouts posted at the homes of the civilians who discovered her, but most of our resources are combing the area around the lab. But I think we should expand our search grid, with her apparent ability to teleport she could be much farther away then we think.”

“if she could teleport then why did it take her an hour to get out of the facility we were keeping her in? No I think she's still bound by how fast she can run... tell me again why we didn't put a tracking device on her?”

The underling almost felt like his job depended on the tactfulness of his coming response. “a possible human extra-terrestrial incident? The White House wanted to play it safe.”

Farris reached back with some effort to scratch the back of his head “fucking hell, all they do is make my job harder... well I want some better surveillance on those civilians, they're our best bet right now.”

“Yes, sir” the underling stood there a bit confused as if he was relieved to go.

“Chop, Chop son, I want that done now.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the underling took off, Farris turned back to the monolith and stared into the opening. 'If only nothing came out of that hole' Farris thought. He didn't bear any hate towards the alien, more like a intense annoyance. Everyone was running around like headless chickens wondering what to do and Farris was the one they turned to. Everyday she is gone meant another report to fill out and another meeting to go to. All the alien had to be worried about was getting caught, she didn't have to worry about the president breathing down her neck. No sir.

--------------------

Beth squinted through her blinds looking for the stakeout car. They upgraded to a van sometime last night, she wondered if they were listening to them with directional mikes. Beth moved into the kitchen and got herself and Theo a bowl of oatmeal and walked back into her room. Theo was up staring at the mirror with an unreadable expression, Beth wondered if she went to sleep at all last night. She put down the bowls while Theo turned and opened her mouth to speak but Beth put her finger to her mouth. Theo's eyebrows raised as Beth rounded up some paper and pens.

Beth scratched on her piece of paper 'they have a spy van outside I think they’re watching us, they might be listening too'

Theo nodded her head then Beth wrote more 'we should meet up with the gang but I can’t drive out of here with you in the car.'

Another nod and more writing 'can you walk to the university while I round them up?'
Theo nervously nodded and beth wrote 'don't worry we'll get you a hoodie and a scarf and you can leave through the back alley'

Theo gave a resigned nod as Beth passed over the bowl of oatmeal. She picked at for a bit then put some in her mouth. The oatmeal stayed in her mouth for about 5 seconds before she let it fall back out into the bowl. Beth gave her a look that said what's the problem.

Theo reached over for the paper and wrote 'I'm not hungry... actually I haven't been hungry for a few days now.' Beth gave her a quick look of surprise followed by a one of concern. She placed her hand on Theo's knee and mouthed “it'll be OK”

Beth rummaged through her closet threw out a hooded sweatshirt and a knit cap and scarf. Theo zipped up the sweatshirt and pushed her ears into the cap with some discomfort. While she was wrapping the scarf around her neck Beth wrote out 'I'll give you some bus fare and my cell phone number just in case but don't use it unless it's an emergency they might be listening to my calls. I'll try to get everyone to Mr. Locke's class room in two hours'

Beth grabbed her keys and walked over to Theo and took her hand squeezed it reassuringly, Theo gave her a little smile. She pulled out her cell and dialed a number.

“Hey David...so hey we should meet up and talk about getting Theo out...I know it’s a long shot” She gave Theo a fun smile “But we should try anyways...good... now put some pants on and call Mr. Locke for me and I'll get Heather...two hours at Locke's class room...uh huh...” Beth gave the shoo gesture.

Theo gave a little wave and quietly as she could opened the door and walked out into the hallway. A flight of stairs and a door later Theo emerged in the brisk alleyway behind beth's.

It was half way through November so the many layers didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Theo pulled up the hood on her blue sweatshirt and walked out onto the windy street. She looked up and down the street looking out for any suspicious vehicles or people and started walking towards the bus stop Beth told her about. The people on the street gave her a feeling of dread, as if she'd be recognized as the alien. She kept her strangely colored eyes down as much as she could and when she needed to look around she squinted in case someone was close enough to see. Her view most of the time was of her short and skinny legs clad in tight black jeans. She found it amusing that even a with gender change nothing could keep a pair of Converses off of her feet.

She walked the 10 blocks to the bus stop and found a few people waiting. She found a lamp post to lean on and stuffed her thin hands into her sweatshirt and waited.

--------------------

Beth gave a quick few raps on Heather's door and made a few quick glances over her shoulder.

“Hey Beth, I'm still not ready yet, come on it.” Heather said as she walked away from the door. Beth surveyed the front room and found it far more geeky than what she thought Heather was capable of. Beth was considering telling Heather right now about Theo but she liked surprises too much.

“Do you want some coffee?” Heather asked from the other room.

“No thanks, I had some before coming here”

“Okay”

“Come on, I told David we'd meet him there in a half an hour.” Beth said brimming with excitement.

“Okay, okay, I'm ready” Heather responded.

--------------------

Beth and Heather walked down a quiet hallway, going towards Mr. Locke's classroom. As they turned the corner she spotted a girl wearing a blue sweatshirt, sitting on a bench with her head down. “Oh, Heather, I got to go to the restroom go on ahead.”

“Kay” Heather said as she walked past Theo without sparing a glance.

Beth waited for the classroom door to close and Heather went in before she spoke “I'm so glad you made it. Did you have any trouble?”

“Naw, no one looked at me twice...god, walking out there made me feel so tiny, I don't know how you can deal with it.”

“Ha, you make it sound like I'm differently-abled , yeah having to use a step stool to get the cereal is such a burden.” Beth said with mock anguish.”

“Well we normal people did have a special club that wouldn't let you short people into.”

“I shoulda known! Anyways wait a minute and then come in, I want to surprise them.” smiled Beth.

“Kay” Theo smiled back.

--------------------

“How do we go about this? Just call up the New York Times?” David asked scratching his small beard.

“We should plan out what we want to say to them first, we're going to get a lot more of media coverage than we already have.” Dr. Locke pointed out.

“I don't know about this, I want to get her out but I don't want to get locked up for treason.” Heather said glumly. They mused silently until Beth came through the door.

“We need to break Theo out.” Beth exclaimed

“WHAT?!” Dr. Locke said.

“You heard me, they might not let her out, if ever. If it was anyone of us, Theo would do the same.”

“We're not some kind of special force group here Beth, we'd be caught so quickly and we don't even know where she is.” David said

“I've got an ace up my sleeve, I got some from the inside, she knows the ins and outs and the location of where they're keeping her.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see this person.” David felt like he was slipping into a heist movie.

“Come on in!” Beth said over her shoulder.

A girl about the same height as Beth walked in and stood next to her. She started to remove her layers of clothes, when she pulled off her cap the group gasped. “Hi guys.”

They rushed up and started to rapid fire off questions. Theo smiled and laughed at their excitement “slow down guys...” they quieted “thanks...it's good to see you guys again.” Theo smiled

David cleared his throat “I hate to ask this but...You are Theo, right?” David looked miserable after asking the question.

“Yeah...well, at least I think I am Theo.” Theo said with down cast eyes.

“Theo think she might be an alien android with Theo's memories, She's read too much sci-fi, I don't think that’s true.” Beth said passing the idea off like it was childish.

“It’s possible, though” Dr. Locke said

“How did they treat you” Heather asked as she put her hand on Theo's shoulder.

“Fine, I suppose, Lots of embarrassing tests and being stuck in one room for a month was awful, but they didn't torture me or anything like that.” Theo shrugged.

“Thank God.” Heather breathed

“It's good to see too, but I've got to ask How did you escape” Dr. Locke asked as patted Theo's head.

“Uhh I...walked around the cell.”

“Walked around a sealed room how?!... What was it like?” Locke asked

“I couldn't say how and it’s hard to explain, I was stressed at the time...I just kinda saw that there were sides of the room that I could get through, extra sides.”

Dr. Locke turned away and did a few cookies on the carpet with a look of amazement. “You could be describing seeing a fourth spacial dimension or maybe even the time dimension...You could have walked through a time when the walls didn't exist... are you still seeing this way?”

“Not...all the time... I prefer to tune it out... I don't like seeing into peoples' guts.”

“What do my guts look like?” David asked smiling.

“More shit than a regular person” Theo quipped.

“I knew it.”

“Theo...can you see your insides?” Dr. Locke asked gently.

Theo's eyes twitched and she started to take in short breaths. “It's okay it's okay, you don't have to...I'm sorry I asked.” Locke apologized as he squeezed her shoulder. The rest gave each other worried glances and wondered what happened.

Beth put her arm over Theo's shoulder and took each arm in her hands and led Theo over to the nearest seat. David too, looked to the professor for some clarity but Locke shook his head and stayed silent. Heather joined Beth, knelt down and put her hand on Theo's knee to see if she was alright.

“So now that Theo is out, what are we going to do... they're looking for her right?... should we find somewhere for Theo to hole up in and maybe get a hold of the media...take it public so it's harder for the government to keep her locked up?” David asked the group.

Theo snap out of her state “My mom... she thinks I'm dead... I need to go tell her I'm alive.”

“Well, that's a plan.” David said.

--------------------

Barbra walked up to the observation glass that looked into the room where Theo had stayed. Director Farris stood a few paces away looking into the same room.

Farris turn to her “Nice to meet you again, Dr. Fleming”

“What brings you here, Director?” Barbra asked.

“Motivation” Farris grunted.

“Why she escaped you mean?”

“Yes... why? And why now?”

“No how?” Barbra said.

“I don't think I'll ever get an answer for that question.” Farris chuckled. “No, I realized we were in such a rush to find her we never got a full report of her escape.”

“I wasn't here when she broke out, I don't know what I could tell you” Barbra was getting a bit nervous that he would start asking her some hard questions.

“I had the techs pull up the footage from a few hours before she escaped... she threw quite a tantrum from the look of it.”

Barbra looked back to the room and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I saw you talking to her, what was she so upset about?” Farris asked.

Barbra stayed quiet “Look, doctor I'm not the bad guy... I gleaned enough to see you befriended her and you don't want to see her locked up again... but I have a job to do... the way I see it she's in more danger than we are from her... there are some nuts out there. Hell, some of them are calling her a demon, if one of them found her who knows what they're going to do.”

Barbra looked back to Farris with a downward turned mouth. “Fine... you win... She saw a news report... They reported Theo Holmes was dead or missing... she was very upset.”

“You think her story is true.” Farris said in a non-judgmental tone.

“Yes...”

“Don't worry Dr. Fleming, I'll find her and bring her back here unharmed.”

“Will they keep her here for the rest of her life?”

“Don't know ma’am, it's up to the White House.” Farris said walking away.

Barbra watched him leave. “I wish he was an asshole, why couldn't I get a real bad guy?”

--------------------

Theo was lying down, kicking it fetus style in the backseat of David's small car. The plan they devised was to sneak into the parking garage and drive out of the city, 'elegant' Theo thought. Heather and Dr. Locke offered to stay behind and try their best to make some contacts with the press. Beth and David stay quiet until they made it outside of the city.

“Do you have any music that isn't made with a Gameboy? Beth asked.

David looked to Beth with confusion on his face “how do they make music without a Gameboy? Have you heard of such a thing, Theo?”

“I think my grandpa mentioned something like that years ago.” Theo said.

“if you start to dodge around monkey thrown barrels I'm getting out of the car.” Beth said.

They merged onto 87 going north when David asked “How much farther dude?”

“An hour or so” Theo mumbled

Beth turned in her seat and looked back to Theo “Have you thought about how we going to do this?” she asked.

“I figured the same way you broke it to David here.”

“Yeah if we spill the news at the front door she'll probably slam it our face.”

“Yeah... we need to get into the house, she'll probably recognize you two from the news, she'll want to know what happened to me.”

“How do you think she'll react?” David asked.

“Well I don't think she'll call me a abomination against God.” The joke fell a little flat.

--------------------

The sun was close to setting at 6:30 when they pulled into the driveway of Theo's house. Theo saw the window curtains being pulled back by someone inside.

“It'll be okay” Beth said. She grabbed the knit cap and pulled it over Theo's head and gave Theo a smile.

They got out of the car and walked up a few steps to the door of a split level home. The porch railings were lined with planters filled with cold bare soil and damp leaves littered the lawn. When they neared the door it opened and Theo's Mom stood behind it giving them a curious look.

“Can I help you?” she asked. Towering over Theo at 5'8 she made Theo think back to her childhood when he was 8 or 9. At 50 years old she made most 40 year olds look bad, hardly a wrinkle in sight and no middle age weight gain. Theo remembered back to high school and hearing from all her friends how her mom was grade A Milf. As Theo noticed more details she saw the red eyes and crows feet from crying.

“Uhh yeah... we were released from quarantine a few days ago, you're Debra, right?” David asked

Her eyes widened “Yes! please Come in, please.” she choked.

Theo followed David and Beth in the house with her head down and tried to keep from making eye contact with her Mom.

“Thank you Ms. Holmes” Beth said.

Debra ushered them into the living room where there were boxes of pictures and memories strewn around the floor “No, thank you for coming... the government wouldn't tell me anything.”

They sat down on the couch that faced away from the window with Theo sandwiched in between Beth and David. Theo's eyes moved from box to box, identifying all the knickknacks in each box.

“You're Bethany and David right?” Debra asked.

“Yeah... you can call me Beth”

“Beth... David... again thank you for coming.”

“You’re welcome... I've bet you've got a million questions” David said.

“Yes, I've got a few.” Debra sighed

“Well that's why we came, you deserve more.” David responded.

Debra gave them a sad smile “what... what happened to my son?”

Theo choked down a sob and lowered her head farther. “Is she alright?” her Mom asked.

Beth looked at Theo “she's actually the reason we came.”

“Was she Theo's..?” Debra asked.

“No she... let me start at the beginning.” Beth said.

--------------------

“So I ended up stuck there for close to two days, thats when she...” Beth patted Theo's shoulder ”she showed up and dragged me out of that desert and back to the lab.”

“So brave of you.” Debra said.

“It's kinda funny, when she came and told me her name I thought I was hallucinating, I was thinking I was dead.” Beth said

“Wait... why? I thought you knew Heather before.” Debra asked.

“She's not Heather” David said.

Beth poked Theo in the side, so she started to take off her knit cap, Her Mom gasped in surprise.

“We she rescued me she said her name was Theo.” Beth said

Debra looked back and forth between the three of them in shock “What?...you...”

“It's me, Mom” Theo said with a shaky voice.

Debra shot up and rushed into the kitchen with anguish painted on her face. Theo scrabbled off the couch and chased after her.

“What is this?!” Debra moaned.

“We're telling the truth Mom, I got trapped in that portal when this alien who looks like I do now saved me... she said I wouldn't make it back alive without changing me... so I woke up looking like this.” Theo cried.

Her Mom shook her head and doubled her tears. “I can prove I'm Theo... let me prove it, please.”

Debra gave her a look of resignation. “Thank you...” Theo launched into every other memory she had: temper tantrums, family trips, awkward teenager moments, and her recent therapist visits.

“And our family password... remember that?... it was the name of our old dog Bear... remember how much I cried when he died?” Theo pleaded.

By that point Debra's eye were locked onto Theo in amazement. Once Theo stopped and took a breath she saw a look of revelation pass onto her Mom's face.

“Baby?” She sobbed.

Theo threw herself into her Mom's arms and hugged for dear life. “Why did they say you were dead, baby?”

“They didn't... don't believe me... They just think I'm a alien.” Theo cried.

“Shhh... shhh” her Mom soothed, stroking her hair, Theo almost felt sleepy in her mom's arms.

“They might be right though...I might just have Theo's memories... I might be fake...” Theo said into her Mom's chest.

“Shhh... Shhh...” she soothed again.

Debra continued to stroke Theo's head while she asked “So are you all girl now, honey?”

“I look it, but they said I was sterile... I don't have any ovaries.”

“Oh... are you hungry?” her Mom asked.

“No... I don't really get hungry anymore...”

“That doesn't mean you should stop.” She chided

“I suppose..”

“come on, I'll make your favorite.” Her Mom lead her to the kitchen table and sat her down. “Beth! David! Come on in, let eat something.”

They poked their heads in to make sure the coast was clear then walked in and grabbed seats next to Theo. They gave Theo a smile and a pat on her shoulders.

“Thank you so much for helping Theo” Debra told them.

“Not a problem Maam” David in cowboy mode said.

“You welcome.” Beth said “What are you making?”

“When Theo was 9 I think, I forced him to eat some Baklava, now it's his...” she turned from the counter and looked to Theo “HER favorite dessert, She'd ask for it breakfast, lunch and dinner. So now I make sure I'm always ready to make some for when she visits.” Debra paused and asked “Do you want me to call you him or her?”

“Uhh... I... I'm used to her now, so thats fine.” Theo said with embarrassment.

“Okay, honey”

Debra popped the dish into the oven, set the timer and took a seat at the table. They chit-chatted and talked about the events of the last few days and made jokes.

“So I never asked how did you guys Theo out of that lab?” Debra asked.

“We didn't... Theo got out herself.” David said.

“Really? How?”

“I think I... basically walked through the wall... I've got some strange ability now... I see weird stuff...I” Theo paused when she saw her Mom's attention wander to something behind her. She turned in her seat and saw a row of police lights blurred through the curtains.

“Oh no!” Beth yelled.

--------------------------

Thanks to DJKauf for editing.

Notes: LOL I wrote almost half of this tonight, most of my week was taken up by procrastination and a trip to the coast for fishing and oysters, tasty tasty oysters. Nothing really note worthy other than I listened to this song( http://www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=mmESmaLObVo ) looped for hours on end while writing.