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There are some things that, no matter what, Marco can't help but notice. Like whether his dad is wearing the same shirt for four days in a row. Or who Chapman calls into his office. Or the way Rachel's hair falls over her shoulders when she turns back to look at him, like a shampoo commercial model. But that's something he's trying hard not to notice as he passes her in the hall. Instead, he looks down at the books in his hands and tries to remember what class he's going to.
He thinks it's weird that Chapman keeps pulling students out of class. He keeps track of Chapman almost out of habit. Just in case. You can never be too careful, after all. Besides, what else is Marco doing if not being paranoid?
But, nonetheless, it's weird.
Most of the time, Vice Principal Chapman spends all day in his office and Marco can rest easy. Today, however, he's roaming the halls, pulling kids aside, taking kids out of class. It's very suspicious behavior and he can't help but wonder … does Chapman know? Does Chapman suspect that the Andalite Bandits are really middle school kids? Is he sniffing out students for morphing powers or alien knowledge?
By third period, he's beginning to feel itchy. He needs to do something, tell someone. He looks for Jake between classes before remembering that he has science on the other side of the school. Instead, he spots Rachel at her locker and is walking over to her before he even makes the conscious decision to do so.
"What?" she asks, voice flat. She doesn't even turn to look at him.
"Chapman's being weird."
She doesn't respond as she pulls a book from the locker but does look at him through the mirror she keeps on the door, eyebrows raised.
"Weirder than normal." Marco leans in, skin still itchy with paranoia, making him less smooth than he normally would be. His movements are jerky and unnatural.
"You're being weirder than normal," she says and slams her locker shut. "Why don't you tell our fearless leader?"
"He's headed towards Mr. Radnor's class."
She sighs, her shoulders lifting and falling dramatically, before turning to face him, books to her chest. Marco can't help but wonder if she's putting on an act for anyone walking by – the beautiful girl being annoyed by the short nerd.
"And what do you expect me to do about it?"
"I just needed to tell someone," he says with a shrug. "I'll see you later, I guess."
—
By the end of the day, he's on high alert. Rachel's dismissal of his concerns makes Marco think he really is just being paranoid. But he did clock Chapman talking to three additional students and pulling a fourth into his office in a very sinister way. It's only Tuesday and with no mission planned, Marco decides to just go home instead of bothering the others. He hikes his backpack full of homework he will not complete up on his shoulders and runs smack into Rachel's back. She whips around, hair flying out in a fan before settling pin-straight against her cheeks.
"Aren't we supposed to avoid each other at school?" she asks.
"Maybe I have a huge crush on you," Marco shoots back, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. This earns him a laugh, bright and sharp. It's so different from the thought speech laughs he normally hears from her – radical and a little unhinged – that it throws him off guard for a second.
"I guess technically we are outside of school so it's fine if you want to walk together." She doesn't wait for a response. Marco lets her walk six paces before hurrying to catch up. When he falls into step next to her, she continues. "Any news on the Chapman front?"
He shrugs. So much for not talking about it. "Maybe."
"Just maybe? Marco the Great Detective hasn't come to any wild conclusions? Conspiracy theories? Nothing?" Her smile is mischievous in that dangerous way. If anyone was watching them, they might think she was ready to eat him for lunch. Little would they know that she was perfectly capable of doing so.
"Rachel, I just want to go home, eat some mac and cheese, and take a nap. I don't want to worry about saving the world today."
"That doesn't sound like you at all."
"Doesn't it?" Truthfully, Marco is deadbeat tired. She only hums in response, eyes forward and feet steady on the sidewalk. Then, without warning, she tilts her chin up.
<What're you guys doing?> Tobias asks from somewhere above them.
"Literally just trying to get home in one piece," Marco mutters, knowing full well that Tobias's hawk ears will probably still pick it up. Before Bird-boy can respond, he gives a little wave and speeds up. "See you later."
"I still want to talk about this!" Rachel calls after him. Marco just puts up a hand in acknowledgement and keeps his eyes on the concrete. He definitely doesn't think about the length and power of her legs or the light in her eyes when she looked into the sky or how she seemed to actually care about what he thought.
Or, at least, he tries really, really hard not to.
—
The rest of the week is more of the same. Marco catalogs everyone he sees speaking with the Vice Principal in a small notebook. For names he doesn't know, he writes descriptions and then tries to find them later in his old yearbooks. By Friday, he breaks down the info with Jake at lunch. Always a good leader, Jake takes in all the information before saying anything. At the end of the 26 minute lunch period, the decision is made to have a team meeting. Jake's decision, that is.
"And say what?" Marco asks, throwing his hands up in annoyance. Going in, he should have guessed at the end result.
"Maybe one of the others has some more information," he says with a shrug.
"Unlikely," he argues and ticks off the members on his fingers. "Ax and Tobias aren't in school. Rachel had no insights when I talked to her about it. Cassie will say it's nothing and just actual school stuff."
Jake raises his eyebrows. "So what would you propose we do?"
"Continue to gather information?" He doesn't sound convincing even to his own ears. They can't just sit around waiting for something to happen. So, they plan a meeting at Cassie's barn. Jake tells Rachel who will in turn tell Cassie. Jake and Marco walk to his house after school because his dad won't be there. They enter the front door as middle school boys and leave through the bedroom window as birds of prey.
Marco arrives last, demorphing outside the barn. There's a little chill in the air and he manages to step on a particularly sharp pebble so his entrance is full of cursing and hopping.
"Nice," Rachel says sarcastically. "Next time just demorph inside like the rest of us."
He doesn't comment and Jake thankfully starts the meeting.
They spend a couple hours discussing the situation. This saving the world business has been 80% planning and only 20% risking their lives. Marco, for one, would be much happier with an even higher planning percentage. There's no such thing as too prepared. More planning means less risking their lives. It's a win-win for everyone, no matter how boring talking in circles can become.
Rachel provides the breakthrough.
"I saw him talking with Matty Yazinski?" She's met with silence. "That guy who's really into chess?" Marco has no idea who that is and looks around the group. "Head of the chess club?" She searches the eyes of the others but is met with no reaction. Clearly, no one else knows who he is either. "Anyway, I asked him what Chapman was bothering him about and Matty told me he's doing a special after school meeting for a new honors society. I don't remember what it's called. But he's personally inviting students. And it's Monday after school."
Again silence but this is more of the stunned kind. Monday doesn't give them a lot of time to make a plan. Especially with such little information. But one thing is clear and Tobias voices it for all of them.
<He's trying to turn the smart kids into controllers.>
—
So much for a lazy Saturday with mac and cheese and video games. Marco can't remember the last time that actually was his life but a kid can dream. Again they are in Cassie's barn but at least today he's wearing clothes. He biked here like a normal kid meeting a classmate to work on a history project (the lie he told his dad) and now is lounging on a bale of hay that he set up specifically for lounging.
"You could try to help," Jake snaps, slicing his hand through the air in frustration.
"This is the process," Marco argues, eyes tracing the framework of the barn's ceiling. "I say no to everything until the perfect plan comes to me."
"And how's that going?"
He glances out of the corner of his eye. "Amazing."
<Why doesn't one of you get invited to this special society?> Ax wonders.
"Well Ax-man, none of us are good students."
"If it's right after school, we can sneak in as bugs or something," Cassie continues, playing her role of ignoring Marco's witty comments.
"And do what?" Rachel asks. "Just watch as he infests the best and brightest?"
"Have some of us recon as bugs and have the others break down the doors in battle morph if infestation becomes imminent?" she suggests with a shrug. The group stares for a moment.
"Is this really the best idea we have?" Jake asks, but it's rhetorical. They all know, for better or worse, it's what they're going with.
—
If Marco were the leader, he might have the team draw straws for recon. Or he might take into consideration how much someone really hates being a bug. Or, since he was leader, he might just assign himself to the role he wanted. But Marco isn't the leader, Jake is. And Jake is more concerned with whose battle morph is best for a small, enclosed space and who is better in a fight. He's sure Rachel's bear wins over his gorilla because, well, it's Rachel.
So Marco and Tobias are doing recon as crickets of all things. There was a whole discussion on the best morph to use but he hadn't really been paying attention. It didn't matter. A bug was a bug was a bug and here he is, hopping and chirping along as Ax counts down their minutes in his head, waiting for the meeting to start.
Even with all the lead up to this mission, he half thinks nothing is going to happen. He almost believes Chapman will give a speech about academia and give everyone a super secret robe and make them repeat a mantra and then they can be on their way. Almost.
But it's not a shock when a door opens and a human with a Dracon beam enters. It's not a shock when Chapman pulls a sheet off a table to reveal a miniature Yeerk pool. It's not a shock when it becomes clear to the students that the infestation is not optional.
<It's happening,> Marco warns the others, who should be hiding in an abandoned classroom and already morphing. Ax will stop keeping track of the recon team's time and start counting the battle team. Tobias will demorph discreetly and create a distraction. Marco is supposed to hop off and demorph in the hall behind a locker, then lead any students away from the school. They will decide what to do about them later. There was some discussion about it but it was eventually regulated to a "later" problem. Get in, save some kids, get out. That's the plan, at least.
When does anything ever go according to plan?
Matty Yazinski, of all people, rushes the Controller with the Dracon beam, causing her to fire in alarm.
TSEEEW! TSEEEW!
<It's happening!> Marco yells to the rest of the team again as chaos ensues. Another human enters the room. The rug is smoking from where the Dracon beam created a burn mark. At least the phaser was set to stun. Chapman is standing with the sheet in his hands looking angry. Tobias is gone. Marco is hopping his little cricket butt to the doorway when BAM, a door is created in the middle of the wall. He flings his insect body through the new opening, ricocheting off of the drywall that was no match for Rachel's bear morph.
TSEEEW!
He hears the laser fire behind him. He doesn't stop, though. He doesn't make it to the end of the hall, either, to hide behind the row of lockers. Even in his cricket morph it's evident that no one is exiting the room. His role as a shepherd feels pretty pointless. Marco demorphs, right there in the hall, as quickly as he can. It's not nearly fast enough as the battle roars on. How did this get so out of hand?, he wonders as he begins his next morph before the adrenaline gives out.
He doesn't bother using either existing door. What's done is done and Marco creates a third entrance into the small conference room. He finds too many animals and too many humans, too many Dracon beam holes and too much blood. He tunes it all out, trying to read the room and decide the best course of action. With one giant gorilla hand, he picks a girl off the floor and flings her onto his shoulder. Truthfully, he knows he can't really save these kids. The Yeerks will find them at home and the Animorphs can't offer them any safe haven. But he has to try. He has to try. Maybe they can figure something out. Live with Ax in the woods. Become their Oracle or something.
<We're getting nowhere!> Jake yells. <Time to retreat!>
Marco sees the brave Matty Yazinski picking himself up off the floor. He reaches out to assist when Matty looks up, eyes burning with hatred. Turns out the Yeerk inside his head is pretty brave too because he tries to claw at the gorilla's thick fur. Matty comes away with bloody fingers and Marco knocks him back with one ham-sized palm as gently as possible.
<Marco!> Jake again. <You gotta leave her, man.>
Marco barely feels the weight of the girl on his shoulder. The others are retreating down the hall and Jake looks out at him from the doorway. If Marco were the leader, maybe he would fight back.
But he's not.
And he knows Jake is right.
He lays her down gently on the carpet full well knowing he could save her, full well knowing they are going to shove a Yeerk in her head, full well knowing that this will eat him up for the rest of his life. With only a little singeing around the fur to show for his participation, Marco lumbers out of the conference room after the others.
—
His body is aching. Not his muscles, really, just his whole being. He feels empty and that if he tried to stand, he would melt into a puddle of goo. The back-to-back morphing really takes it out of him, followed by flying out to Cassie's barn with very little thermal assistance. His wings are sore except he's human now and doesn't have wings. Marco flexes his fingers to remind himself what body he's in.
"Okay," Jake says once everyone is demorphed and in their usual spots in the barn. "I think we play it extra careful for a couple weeks." Marco looks up to see Jake standing in the center of Cassie's barn, hands on his hips. He doesn't look like he's about to melt into a puddle. He looks calm and confident. Marco knows that's fake. He's getting better at faking it. "No interacting in school except me and Marco and Rachel and Cassie. No skipping classes. Nothing unusual." He pauses and looks at the rest of them. "And no one talk to any of the students we saw in that room." His gaze lingers on Marco. "For any reason. Don't even ask to borrow a pen."
"Aye-aye, Captain," Marco says, sarcastically saluting. Rachel rolls her eyes. Cassie holds her hand out and Jake walks over to take it. That's enough for him and Marco stands, despite the lack of faith in his legs, and strides out of the barn.
He's still in his morphing suit, spandex clinging to his chest and thighs and it's beginning to feel suffocating. He bends over, hands on his knees and head hanging, and takes deep breaths like that will do anything other than lead to hyperventilating. Suddenly, he feels a hand on his back and his entire body tenses.
"You okay?" Rachel asks, her hand sliding away from him at his reaction. Marco straightens and takes a step away from her.
"Clearly," he responds automatically.
Rachel crosses her arms over her chest and glares at him. "Sorry for caring."
Marco blows out a breath to keep back his snarky response. They stand in silence, staring at each other.
"Just," Rachel says, looking away. "I know that was hard."
He can't help but notice the way the muscles in her neck move as she swallows, her hands balled into fists, the tips of her hair, still straight as anything, skimming over her collarbones as she shifts. Wearing a leotard, barefoot in the grass outside of Cassie's barn, Rachel still looks like a model waiting for the next take.
"I'm fine," he tells her. What else is he supposed to say? He doesn't want to do this any more? He's still thinking about the kids in that room? He's still thinking about the smell of burning flesh? He's still flexing his fingers to make sure he's human? That won't help anyone. And he doesn't need her caring about him. He needs her to go back into the barn, go talk to her bird-boyfriend, leave him the hell alone.
But she's still standing there, looking how she looks, caring enough about him to follow him into the night while the rest of his friends debrief or whatever.
"I know you think I'm an emotionless superhero," she says to him, her voice quiet. He scoffs at her choice of words half because he knows she expects him to. "But I'm pretty good at listening. And I'm pretty good at distracting. So," she shrugs, like this is no big deal. "If you want to work on homework or go to the mall or argue over if Xena could beat Spiderman in a fight, I'm your girl." She turns then, not waiting for a response.
"Spiderman would obviously win!" he calls after her, even as she disappears into the barn. He runs his hands over the slick material of his bike shorts and sighs. He's too tired to dissect any of this crap.
There's nothing else left to do but morph osprey and fly home.