Alana's eyes began to open when she felt Midnight begin to slow down.

She couldn't tell if she had fallen asleep, or if she had just been lost in thought. Either way, Midnight was slowing to a trot as she made her way across the long mushroom-tree trunk that led to the hideout.

It was only late afternoon- Alana winced as she looked around the bright forest. It felt like it should be night. Waking up in her sleeping bag that morning felt like it had been weeks ago.

Alana sat up and gasped, sharp pain shooting up her side.

Right. I forgot.

She looked down at the wound. The skin felt just barely healed over beneath the Arachnet webs. It would make quite the scar. Mage sat next to it on Alana's once-blue-now-stained-red shirt, fast asleep. Healing already tired her, and added with the crazy day the little Boon Doc had, Alana couldn't blame her.

"Let's go get cleaned up," Alana mumbled as Midnight finished crossing the mushroom-tree. The Mecha continued to walk down to the launch bay door, but instead of automatically opening like it always did when Midnight sent out the signal, it remained shut. Midnight stopped in her tracks and tilted her head, confused.

Groaning, Alana gently picked up Mage and set the healer on her left shoulder. Then, slowly and painfully, she slid down off her Mecha.

"Stupid door..." Alana mumbled as she carefully walked up to the control panel on the side of the door.

Numerical passcode, the control panel read. Alana punched in 2-4-1-10.

Alphabetical passcode. S-u-r-f-a-c-e.

Alphanumerical passcode. S-h-a-n-e-9-3.

Passcodes accepted.

"Excessive," Alana sighed as the bay door began to open. "Well, you knew how to keep a place safe, Wi-"

She froze as the door opened wide enough to reveal the inside of the garage. There were four Mechas, and one of them was hung from the maintenance stand, being worked on by a cave troll.

Will's Mecha. The only time Alana had touched it in the last five years was to bring it home and keep it under a tarp.

Alana scowled and immediately grabbed her blaster, Ash jumping in, as the cave troll dropped his wrench and sprung to his feet.

"What the- who are you?" he asked, starting to move for his own blaster next to him.

"Don't," Alana said, stepping forward, but faltering as more pain ebbed from her wound. For a second, the world swayed. "What are you doing here? This is private property..." her voice trailed off as everything tipped sideways again.

She was still in pain from her side wound, and exhausted from the fight and chase with the workers. And she hadn't felt it until now, trying to move so quickly after a long Mecha ride, but Alana still felt chilled from the monster slug.

She lowered her blaster and then suddenly she was on her hands and knees, trying to stabilize herself.

"Uh..." the cave troll said, taking a step toward Alana, then deciding it was best to keep his distance.

One by one, Alana's senses clicked back into place. She got to her feet, pressing her hand to her side. She'd tear open the newly healed skin if she wasn't more careful.

The cave troll scratched the back of his head, trying to make sense of the situation. Then his eyes wandered to Midnight, who was still standing outside the launch bay. His gaze trailed down to the Shane star painted on her side.

"Hey, Eli?" he called out. "I think this one's for you."

Alana felt her blaster slip from her hands and clatter to the ground.

Eli. I forgot.

All worries of the mysterious cave troll in her garage disappeared.

"What's up, Kord?" a voice called out. A second later, the door leading into the hideout swung open.

The first time Alana had ever seen Eli Shane, it had been in a photo he had sent down with Will. Alana had marveled at how much Eli looked like Will, and had been a little jealous of it. It was easy to tell they were father and son. She couldn't help but wonder- did she look like her father? Her mother? The next few weeks she kept her eyes peeled for anyone with blue streaks in their hair, or the same light blue eyes. Then she gave up.

Now, as Eli Shane walked into the garage, Alana was feeling the same mix of awe and jealousy. He had the same colored raven hair, although it had always been messier than Will's. He also already looked like your average Slugterran, with a black-and-white shirt under a bandoleer that had the Shane star. And his eyes- his eyes were exactly like Will's.

Eli stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening when he saw Alana. Then he crossed his arms and grinned.

"Hey."

Alana smiled and gave a little wave.

"Hey."

~~~~~~~~

There was an initial shock when Eli saw the blood stains on Alana's shirt. Once she convinced him that she wasn't in danger of bleeding out, he lead her into the living room, where a red-headed girl with pigtails was on the couch and a molenoid was attempting to cook something on the stove.

The hideout was much neater than it had been when Alana left it, although it was more crowded.

Alana collapsed on the bean-bag chair and Eli sat on the couch next to the red-head. The cave troll- Kord, Eli had called him?- sat down on a chair next to the couch. The molenoid stayed at the kitchen, but was turned so he could listen.

"So... who's this?" the girl next to Eli asked.

"I'm Alana. I live here," Alana said, reaching forward and shaking the girl's hand. "I lived here with Will Shane for a few years, and I've been keeping an eye on the place since then."

"Trixie Sting," the girl said. "Slugslinger and camerawoman." Trixie leaned back and glanced at Eli. "You lived with Will Shane? Are you and Eli siblings?"

"No," Eli and Alana said in unison.

"I'm... I wasn't actually related to Will. It's just that some things happened and he was the one who took me in," Alana explained.

It probably sounded like she was keeping the details away for privacy, but in reality, Alana had never learned why specifically Will took specifically her in. There were plenty of kids without parents in Slugterra, but she had been the one he looked after. He never told her, and she never asked. She always dismissed it as a "when you're older" kind of thing, but she never would have imagined there would be a time limit.

"That's pretty cool," the cave troll said. "Kord Zane. Slinger and, well, I don't mean to toot my  own horn, but I'm pretty good with mechanics."

Alana opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by the molenoid, who abandoned whatever he was making at the oven to join the conversation.

"Greetings, Miss Alana!" he exclaimed, bowing. "I am Pronto the Magnificent!"

Alana frowned and peered at the molenoid.

"Don't I know you?" Her eyes widened as she remembered. "Yeah, I saw you snooping around on the security cameras a week ago!"

Pronto ignored her, clearing his throat.

"I am a brilliant molenoid of many talents! Tracking, slugslinging, looking fantastic-"

"Being humble?" Trixie asked. Alana tried her hardest not to laugh.

"Of course!" Pronto said. "Not to mention my superior cooking abilities!"

As he spoke, whatever was on the stovetop burst into flames. Pronto shrieked and ran back to the kitchen area.

"The oven was not even on!" Pronto yelled as he blew out the flames. But half a second later, they reappeared. "What?!"

An orange slug hopped out from behind the pot on the stove, chirping at Pronto before hopping across the room to Eli. Alana's face lit up.

"Burpy?" she laughed. The Infurnus looked up and realized Alana was there. He squeaked happily and leapt from Eli's shoulder to Alana's lap, chirping happily.

"I haven't seen you in years, buddy!" Alana exclaimed, rubbing Burpy's head. She pushed away the memories of the last time she'd seen him.

Ash jumped down from Alana's shoulder and the two hopped to the coffee table to begin catching up. Ash had always been a little more energetic than Burpy, but it was impossible for the only two Infurnus slugs in the 99 Caverns not to get along well.

Pronto sighed and walked back over to the group.

"Two Infurnus slugs?!" he groaned. "Now I have two nasty tricksters to deal with! Say, how did you even get an Infurnus? And what exactly are you if you are not a Shane?" Pronto asked suspiciously.

Alana felt her face grow red. She didn't know- Ash had always been with her. She knew Infurnus slugs were rarer than rare, and that Will was easy to identify with the orange slug in his arsenal. And as far as what she was, she didn't really know. She was just Alana.

"I've just always had him. And, um, well," Alana stammered, not sure how to answer the second question. Luckily, Eli came in to change the subject.

"Actually, I've got a more important question. How did you get that?" Eli asked, nodding toward the webbed-up wound on Alana's side.

"Ah. Well, I've been out in the Jungle Cavern for the last few days," Alana began. "I'd heard that some of Blakk's men had been hunting slugs. That place is huge, so it took ages to find them. Once I did, I released the slugs, but I got into a fight with the workers I found. They took Mage," Alana continued, gesturing to the white Boon Doc sleeping on the bean bag chair next to her. "And we got into a big chase. Then..."

Alana paused, remembering the monster slug and how it had made her entire body feel like it had been dunked in ice water.

"I'm not sure what exactly it was, but I got hit with a weird slug. It was corrupted somehow, and it was way more powerful than any slug I've ever seen," she finished. Trixie and Eli exchanged a glance.

"We know all about Blakk's ghouls," Trixie said.

"Yeah! That's what the worker called them!" Alana exclaimed. "How do you know about them?"

"I faced one, in a slugslinging tournament," Eli scowled. "John Bull used it in the finals. And Blakk himself tried to get me to use them."

Alana tensed up, and her hands curled into fists.

"You've met Blakk?" she asked. Eli nodded.

"And it was about as unpleasant as you'd think," he said.

Alana shook her head.

"Already getting into trouble. It sounds like you all have had an interesting few days," Alana chuckled as she got up from the bean bag chair and stretched. "And I've had at least a very interesting morning. I think I'm gonna go shower, get the webs of my side and get some actual bandages on it."

As Alana passed the couch, Trixie held up her hand to stop her.

"Wait- so, you're on board, right?" Trixie asked. Alana frowned and glanced at Eli.

"On board for what?"

"Being in the Shane Gang. You're gonna stay here, right?" Trixie asked, glancing at Eli.

Alana smiled and crossed her arms.

"You think I'd pass up the chance to stick it to Doctor Blakk?" she laughed. "Of course I'm in."

~~~~~~~~~

Taking a shower after spending a few days in the jungle was, Alana decided, one of the best things in Slugterra.

Camping out in the Jungle Caverns had been fun, sure, but not as fun as shampoo and conditioner. Although she almost used the wrong product- the shower rack now held Trixie's shampoo, too. It seemed the upstairs bathroom had been claimed by the ladies.

Alana wasn't sure how to feel about her living situations going from one to five. After years of living alone (except for her slugs, of course), living with so many people was intimidating. But she was also happy for the company, and how could she be upset when the company included the new Shane?

As she let her conditioner sit, Alana called Webs in to bite off the webs on her side. Her slugs were busy making a bubblebath in the sink. Even Ash, who one would think would dislike water, didn't avoid the fun. He kept heating up the water to make it more of a hot tub.

As she rinsed her hair off, Alana's gaze kept wandering back to the wound. The barely healed-over skin was an angry pink, and was still giving off a dull pain. She tried not to let the memory of the corrupted slug- the ghoul- haunt her thoughts.

She failed.

~~~~~~~~~

After getting cleaned up, Alana slipped into her room to get a new change of clothes. She tossed her ripped and stained shirt into the trash bin and her pants in a laundry basket. Then she dug through her closet to find some replacements.

As she leaned back out of the closet, now with a light cyan shirt with a black stripe down the sides and dark gray pants, the inside of the closet door caught her eye.

She had taped up pictures from over the years up there. The blue-themed ones Eli sent her years ago were next to some of her and Will.

She kept those pictures, the ones of the surface that should be hidden for safety and the ones of Will that were too hard to look at every day, on the inside of the door. A few others were covered up by them. Slivers of brown hair and young smiles that Alana didn't want to see but was too sentimental to forget.

Alana sighed and carefully shut it, directing her attention instead to the ones she kept on the outside. Selfies with her slugs, scenery around Slugterra. The things she'd rather think about.

She wrapped her side before putting on her new shirt. Once she was all dressed, she went back downstairs, to where the Shane Gang was setting up plates on the coffee table for dinner.

"I assume you guys went shopping?" Alana asked as she walked up to the kitchen area. "Because I'm pretty sure all I had were eggs, some bread, peanut butter, and jelly. Maybe some apples?"

"Yes, your taste in food was in very much need of some variety!" Pronto exclaimed as he lifted the pot from the oven and set it on the counter. "We got some actual food, and the vendor even gave us this free cave rat with our purchase!"

Trixie groaned and looked in the pot.

"Is that what this is, Pronto? Cave rat stew?" she asked. Kord, who had apparently retreated back into the launch bay to toy with the Mechas, sighed.

"There's a reason those things are free, Pronto!" he called. Alana laughed and took some silverware over to the table, where Eli was setting out glasses.

"And what say you about cave rat for dinner?" Alana asked quietly. Eli laughed nervously.

"It's something new, I guess," he said quietly. "The diet is definitely a big change. A lot of the food is the same, but let's just say people up top tend to avoid eating any kind of rat."

Alana laughed and nudged his arm on the way back to the kitchen area. "Wimp."

The cave rat stew was partnered with some apples and oranges. It was surprisingly decent (not the best, but from how Trixie poked at her bowl hesitantly, Alana was expecting something awful). However, all questions were answered when Kord passed out the bowls while Pronto was turning off the oven.

"I may have added some extra spices and turned the oven down about fifty degrees," Kord quietly explained. "Just go with it."

The gang's snickers were quickly silenced when Pronto approached, but knowing glances were exchanged for the rest of the night as the gang told stories. If an outsider were to watch the dinner conversations, it would be impossible to tell that a week ago, the five slingers couldn't have led more separate lives.

~~~~~~~~

It got dark and the gang dispersed to get ready for bed. Alana climbed the staircase to the second floor, then continued up a few more steps that led to her room. Once she swung the door shut, she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

The gang was great. She got along great with them, and she liked having more people in the house. Living with her slugs was great, but it didn't provide a lot of conversations.

That being said, talking with so many people after being alone for so long was absolutely exhausting. And Alana was already tired from the long day, and having Eli here in Slugterra was wrecking her emotions.

She sighed and pulled at a string dangling from the ceiling. It pulled down a trap door and released a small ladder that lead to the roof of the hideout. Alana climbed up the ladder and the second both feet were on the roof, tears began to form in her eyes.

They silently streamed down her face as she sat as close to the edge of the rounded roof as she could without falling. The dark mushroom-tree forest was spread out in front of her. The bioluminescent plants gave the cavern a pale blue glow. In the distance, slugs chirped and Alana could even hear some of the cave bats on the cavern ceiling.

Ash and Mage chirped quietly, each pressing up against their slinger's cheek in attempt to comfort her. Alana continued to cry in silence- for what? Sadness for Will, relief that Eli was here. The two were definitely related.

Alana looked up at the cavern ceiling, remembering the stormy portal that had taken Will who-knows-where.

"Now that Eli's here, we're going to be going all-out against Blakk," Alana whispered, to someone who wasn't around to hear. "It's gonna be pretty nice to be with a Shane again. But not the same. I miss you."

She stayed silent for a few minutes, wiping away her tears. That was enough of that. She knew that Will wouldn't want her to still be upset so many years later.

He knew what he was risking every time he left. And he knew his job would help to better Slugterra. He would want you to carry on with that.

Alana took one more deep breath, letting her grief go. Focus on the positive.

"Nice view, huh?" a voice asked behind her.

Alana gasped and grabbed her blaster, spinning around to aim at the person behind her. Eli gasped and jumped back, and Alana immediately lowered her weapon, sighing.

"Guardian slugs, Eli, don't sneak up on someone like that!" she gasped. "I almost slugged you!"

"Sorry. I forget that just about everyone down here is armed, like, all the time," Eli admitted as Alana got to her feet. "I just wanted to see if you were good. Going from being alone to so many people must be rough. And... I dunno, I kinda want to apologize. You were probably okay now, 'cause it's been so long, and now I'm here and I'm probably just making you sad again, and... yeah."

Alana smiled and opened her arms. Eli laughed and hugged her, and Alana couldn't help but wonder if this is what it felt like to have a brother.

"Don't apologize. It's just hard. And I know it's been hard for you, too," Alana added. She sighed as the two pulled away. "I just miss him."

Eli smiled sadly, looking out over the dark forest.

"Yeah. I miss him, too."

They sat up on the roof for a while. Eli had plenty of questions about Slugterra- questions about the blasters and slugs and caverns that may have been too much of a giveaway to the others that he wasn't from Slugterra.

Alana asked a few questions about Eli's life on the surface the last few years, but he didn't seem to want to talk about it, so she tried not the push.

Finally, Alana must have yawned one too many times, because Eli insisted they both go to sleep.

"You've had a heck of a day," Eli said as he climbed down the ladder and walked back into the hallway of the hideout. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya," Alana said, leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs leading to the rest of the second floor. She jumped as the door to her left swung open.

Trixie poked her head out, glancing at Eli, who was walking down the stairs to the first floor.

"Are you two something?" she asked tentatively.

She gets straight to the point, Alana thought as she laughed.

"No. We're just close," Alana assured. Trixie laughed and nodded.

"Okay. I was just a little curious. Goodnight."

"'Night," Alana responded, before going back up into her own room.

That night, she dreamt of ghouled slugs, and a world on fire. But she still felt safe. There were four other people standing beside her now.

~~~~~~~~

"You did what?"

"I-it was a last resort. I thought-"

"No. You didn't think. That's the problem. You were under strict orders not to use ghouls against the girl with the blue streaks in her hair. And you did the opposite."

"I-I'm sorry."

"You should be. You'll find yourself assigned to the Deadweed mines by morning."

"What?"

"And you should be lucky it isn't more than that. Now leave. I have your mess to think about."

~~~~~~~~

ayyy Wattpad Wednesday

Not a lot happened here, but got some good interactions in. I'm so happy to be writing the gang again! Character-wise Pronto is not my favorite but man is he fun to write

Also Alana was telling the truth...Alana and Eli are brotp 👀

Please vote and always keep hitting me with those crazy comments xD

Cyan out!