"But...but that's not..." My hands were shaking; so were my legs, I could barely stand. The picture of my mother's smiling face stared up at me like in my dreams. The day I had tried so hard to forget came flooding into my mind. The perfect morning, spent in the flower field with my mom. The delicious breakfast that had followed. And then watching my mother suffocate on the floor of our kitchen and being able to do nothing about it.

Strong hands held me up by my shoulders. They led me towards the couch where I collapsed like my legs couldn't hold me anymore. Tears were running down my cheeks. When had I started crying? I didn't remember crying. Kam sat down beside me but he didn't touch me, although he looked like he wanted to. His eyes held their own unshed tears in them.

"We know, TJ. We've gone through security tape footage and bank statements and everything else we could get our hands on. We have footage of someone getting into your house while you and your mom were out. They poisoned that nasty cheese your mom liked so much." He turned away from my face, looking instead at the messy table in front of us. "They knew she would eat it and you wouldn't...that's how they gained control of your dad. They took her from you both and threatened to do the same to you if he ever tried to expose them again."

Everything I knew about the world came crashing down on me. The last five years of my life a blur of believing the man I had worshiped as a child had killed my mother. And now, I was told the truth and my brain couldn't wrap around it. How do I change the way I thought - how I felt - about my father after this?

"He's been trying to find you and protect you ever since." Kam's eyes looked back up, searching my tear-stained face. "He realized, pretty quickly, that you didn't want to be found. So he stopped trying to find you and just keep you safe the best he could from a distance. We were doing okay...until you decided to poke your nose into everything we've been working against." He chuckled, a little light returned to his eyes, "I gotta say, I'm not surprised at all. Always knew you would try to help, if you ever found out about it."

I put my head in my hands, shaking it as much as I could in the position. "How? How did you know? Because I didn't." I looked back at him, "I'm no hero, Kam. I was perfectly happy being a smuggler until all of this."

"But you could've turned your back on those people and ran. But you didn't." He put a hand on my shoulder, "You've got your mother's heart and your father's determination, you always have."

I lifted my gaze towards the table on the other side of the room. I knew the picture of my mother was still sitting there, her smiling face looking out at us; at what they were trying to do here. She would've been a part of it, if she was still here, I had no doubt in that. I sighed heavily, my shoulders sagging as my body finally stopped shaking. "I need to show the others this."

Kam nodded and jumped to his feet, "I'll bring them here."

A smile broke out on my face. Rising from the couch, I headed for the door. "No, they won't come with you. They don't trust that easily." Picking up the helmet I had worn into the hide-out, I looked back at Kam. He was still standing by the couch, "Well, come on. Let's get back. I need to see if Kade is up to the journey."

Sitting in on the bed beside Kade, I kept chewing my bottom lip. I had told them the story of my little getaway with Kam over five minutes ago and none of them had said a word since. Kam, thankfully, had decided to wait downstairs. I wondered if he was getting the VIP treatment to the first show of the night.

Kade sighed, his hand running down his face. His color was almost back to normal, although you could still see the dark circles under his eyes. The meds and patches from Zed's doctor had done wonders. I owed him for it, big time. "I don't know about all of this, TJ...you're sure he's not lying to you?"

Letting go of my lip, I shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know, honestly...but all I do know if what I saw in those files. And if he is lying, then they've gone to quit the extent to make me believe him." There was a worn spot on the comforter, I started to pick at it. "I don't know what to believe anymore, Kade...all I know is I won't do this without you guys. Either we're all in or we're not."

Looking at Lenna and Axon on the other side of the bed, I hoped they understood where I was coming from. Axon, leaning against the bed frame at the foot of the bed, shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm in. I think we at least owe it all a look. We can always change are minds after."

Lenna nodded, "Agreed. And besides...what more can we do alone? This fight just got a whole lot bigger than our little family."

Kade nodded, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth in thought. While he likely worked through every scenario this could get us into, my eyes traveled up his bare arms and to the bandage just above his heart. If it hadn't been for Zed's doctor, we never would've been able to stop the bleeding. The shot had gone straight through from back to front. He'd have one nasty scar. Not that it would take away from his looks at all.

"Alright, I agree. We need to see this for ourselves."

My eyes snapped back up to his face, "You're in?" I was shocked. I had not thought even in the slightest that he would agree to this.

He smiled at me, his hand absentmindedly rubbing at the bandage. "Yeah, I'm in. You're right - we're either all in or none of us are." Pushing himself up a bit more, cringing slightly at the motion, he pulled his legs out from under the blankets.

Lenna and I both jumped up, reaching for blankets or an arm. Something to help him get up. But he raised a hand to stop us, his brows pulled slightly, "I've got it, I can do it." His face softened a bit, "Thank you, but I'm fine. I promise."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to remind him that he hadn't seen what I had dragged out of the debris that day. But he wouldn't listen to it anyway. I may or may not have said the exact thing once or twice already.

Once he was up, and pulling a shirt on without any assistance, the color of his face wasn't looking so good. I bite my lip again, "Kade, maybe this was a bad idea. We can wait a few more days-."

"No. The Maji can't wait any longer. If this is all true then we could actually have a chance at stopping this." His jaw was set as he put his favorite leather bomber coat over his shoulder. "Now, let's go see this secret base of your boyfriend's."

My mouth hung open for a moment before I snapped it shut. I could hear Lenna and Axon laughing behind me as I followed Kade to the stairs. "He is not my boyfriend, thank you very much."

"Uh huh. I'm sure he was your first kiss on Earth."

The smirk he tossed over his shoulder did nothing for the color rising on my cheeks. Damn, him.