Children of Krina

Chapter Forty-Two

Sean's POV

I couldn't put my finger on it, but Owen was acting different since he returned from North Carolina. It was nothing overt, only something someone who knew him intimately would notice. I'm a doctor, I know these things. His eyes, they were clearer, the usual blankness was fading more each day. I had tried to question him; he claimed that his trip had been no different from the others. I wisely said no more, especially when he contacted Agatha soon after.

I have never understood his relationship with her or why he would want one. I have never been able to bring myself to like her and I have tried repeatedly, to make him happy. He was my best friend and had been since we were ten and the Academy had us perform a mission together. That had been over fourteen years ago and I liked to think our friendship had grown stronger over the years.

I refused to believe that the sweet and loving woman he claimed his mother to be would have a friend like Agatha, she was more suited to his father, the bastard. They called her the Ball Breaker at the Academy; even her own team abandoned her quick enough. No one had met her husband, although she is supposedly on a couple's team with him. Personally, I figured that she had killed him long ago and has kept it well hidden from the world. She reminded me of a predator, those dark, beady eyes, the hawkish nose and thin lips. Yes, a vulture, always watching, waiting to pick your bones clean when you least expect it. As for Alma, while she wasn't a predator like her mother, she was spoiled and demanded to be given everything she wanted. She wasn't what I considered stunning, she wasn't ugly either. She wasn't my type, I didn't go for the tall, slender women with little to no curves. Alma was as tall as I was and she wore those god-awful heels, the ones that destroyed a woman's back, making her taller than Owen and me. A man liked to feel protective of his woman, that wasn't possible when she was taller than he was. Then there was the greedy gleam in her eyes whenever she looked at me, clung to my arm. It was enough to make me shudder just thinking about it.

That brought me to our AWOL brothers. I didn't blame for wanting to be with Victor, I think Gabe was starting to wish he had gone with them. I admit to feeling envious of the adventures they were most likely enjoying without us. It had to be spectacular. I mean, look, Phil, Uncle, and Charly went with them. Even my parents were joining them. Living in Costa Rica in one of their Centers, using their technology, it had to be living the dream. Instead of burying their heads in the sand and pretending that the Krinar don't exist, the boys were welcoming the aliens into their life.

I brushed the rebel curl that always made a beeline to my right eye away from my face. They weren't boys any longer, even Gabriel was twenty-one. To say otherwise means Owen and I were children when we were running the team. I refuse to believe that, not with how smart we have always been and how..." Huh, I couldn't find the word I wanted to use. Oh well, I agreed with Owen, we were the best team the Academy ever had. As for the boys leaving us to live with the Krinar, I didn't hate them for it. Luke and North, they wanted to remain with their uncle and both were fascinated with Outer Space. The aliens were their chance to see it for themselves; Victor would make sure of that. Silas was always going to follow where North led, they were brothers in their own way. Nathan wasn't a surprise either, he was our most determined brother. He believed in doing his best and helping others, of watching out for our future generations. Then there was Kota, our former Team Lead, our nerd. He loved Science of any kind and he wouldn't be able to resist learning what the Krinar could teach him.

I rather wanted to join them but that would mean leaving Owen to fend for himself and I couldn't do that. Something told me that you weren't permitted to leave once you joined the Krinar and that they would consider Owen a risk to take in. Not that Owen would want to join them he hated them. He was determined to get the boys back once he could figure out how; he refused to believe they would choose to leave us. I wasn't as blind. Learning about the plans he had made with Agatha, sharing Alma, they lost trust in him. He didn't understand that there were lines you didn't cross, not even with family. He wasn't their father and this wasn't the old days when father knew best. Relationships were not for one person to decide, it was between the individuals. If he truly thought that a polyandrous relationship was the best way to go, he should have discussed it with us first, not Agatha. It wasn't a familiar rapport in our country and it was hard work to have it succeed. It was popular in India and it had a growing following in China, who had more males than females due to their one-child laws. I wasn't saying it wouldn't work or that we couldn't find one girl we could all love. The girl would never be Alma Enders and it wasn't Owen's place to select whom we are allowed to be attracted to. We all had different tastes, from personality to looks. North, Silas, and Nathan liked them buxom and from there, their taste diverged. Nathan likes them to be athletic and to share his training and interests while North wanted his to be small and cuddly, someone he could protect. Silas liked them quiet and talkative at the same time. He didn't believe in useless chatter, but he did like deep discussions. Gabe liked meek beauties he could control, he liked to dress them and fuss with their hair. He wanted a doll to play with, one who would be devoted to him. Kota liked them to be smart, Luke wanted someone who was as playful as he was and Victor, well Victor wanted a girl from his own species. That was another thing, Victor had the girl he wanted and something told me he resented Owen for thinking he could control whom Victor loved. His girlfriend was a pretty-little thing, smaller than most Krinar, but just as beautiful, if not more so. It was hard to believe she was an alien, she was different than most of her people. Now if Owen had chosen her, the boys and I would be lining up in support of his idea.

The problem with that is she has been with Victor for over five years, it wouldn't be very brotherly to hit on a brother's girlfriend when they have been exclusive for so long. We also didn't know Vic as well as we used to, he has changed more than we expected. Something told me that his generosity did not extend to his girl's company. A real pity, that, I would have enjoyed getting to know her better. She would be the one alien who could prove to Owen that the Krinar meant us no harm. I smacked myself on the forehead, bad Sean; get that thought out of your head. I ordered myself. That would turn Victor from us for good.

Gabriel's POV

I missed my brothers, especially Luke. I was about to die of boredom. Owen was more of a stick in the mud than he had been before and Sean was always at the hospital. I longed to go shopping, but my budget couldn't cover even a small shopping spree of sale items. I missed the days that Victor would follow behind me at the mall and pull out his black credit card to pay at every store we visited. I wasn't stupid, those days were over. According to Uncle, they should never have happened that I took advantage of Vic's generous nature. I put the full blame on Owen; he was the one who started it by wearing those expensive suits. As his brothers, we couldn't wear anything less than designer clothes to equal the high standards he was setting. If I would have had more time, I could have gotten Vic and Kota to wear suits like Owen, maybe even Doc.

I missed the days before the Krinar invaded Earth. Luke had been more fun then, playing pranks and leaving star watching to North. We had kept busy with missions, practically lived in each other's pocket. Now I didn't know if my brothers were even alive. I haven't heard from most of them since they left to live among the aliens. I was still having trouble believing that Kota had left Erica and Jessica behind. I expected him to live with his mom until the day she died. I wasn't saying he was a mama's boy, he wasn't, he loved his family and was determined to take care of them. I could respect that.

What I found hard to accept was that Luke could abandon me so easily. We were best friends, have been since we were five-years-old. How could he turn his back on me like that? What happened to friends for life? Let us not forget his new closeness to North; what the fuck was with that? That was downright stupid on his part, they would never have anything in common and North preferred to hang with Silas over Luke. Did he forget how North refused to speak to him for several months after he arrived to live with them. See, Luke needed me, he was a dreamer and it was my duty to keep his feet on the ground. North blocked me so I couldn't talk to him, make him see that joining with the enemy was stupid. I also blamed Victor; he should have never sent us the documentary he made on Space. Luke had never cared about Space until he watched that video. After watching it, his dreams reached towards the stars and North encouraged him.

That was another thing, I knew that the Krinar did something to Victor, maybe even replaced him with one of their own. Our Vic was gay; he wouldn't hook up with some girl and turn his back on us. I wasn't blind, I knew he had been in love with me. Why else would he rush to pay for anything I wanted? I confided in Luke once and he got angry with me, he claimed that Owen had ordered Vic to buy us whatever we wanted. That it had been one of his duties to the team. He had been jealous, I know that now, but it had still hurt when he said it. I knew Victor had only gone with the Krinar that day because he felt it was the best way to gain Intel on them. Once the Krinar knew who he was, they used him to help destroy the Academy.

I was sticking with Owen; he would never let the aliens outsmart him. He understood the games they were playing and mastered them long before the Krinar knew Earth existed. We hadn't needed to hide in the bunker. The attack on Uncle's house was staged; the Krinar had dressed up like humans and had raided it themselves. It removed us from the fight and made sure the Academy lost without its top team. Owen told me all about it and he would never lie about something so important. He also shared how Uncle and Dr. Roberts had forced him to step down as head of our family, that the Krinar had compromised them somehow. Doc had it all wrong, he always had. Agatha had never brainwashed Owen, she was helping him to gain information on the Krinar so they could send the aliens packing. I've been trying to help him, that is why he made me the new team lead and it is a good thing, what with Kota defecting to them.