Disclaimer: I don't own Men in Black

Alright, chapter 4! We last left off with K being seriously wounded,…or worse! And J and Xarrex are caught up in a deadly battle. In this chapter, a special appearance.

Where Am I?

Kevin Brown's P.O.V

I don't know what made me do it. What made me go the extra length? What made me risk my life, for a man that was all but a stranger to me. I could only imagine what my wife would say if she knew I had held a gun, let alone shot one. But it wasn't just any kind of gun. It was a special technological kind. One I was sure no man outside J's field had seen before. Like one of those weapons used on a science fiction show, except it wasn't a thing of science fiction. The same went for Zarreck's weapon.

Still, it had the trigger, so I fired.

I never had experience handling a gun before, but for some reason, I felt like I knew just how to handle it. I wasn't scared. I was determined. I was even more determined when I decided to cover my supposed partner. But then it had all gone wrong.

Zarreck had been able to get the best of me. There was no reason why he shouldn't. He knew what he was doing more than I did. And if I'd been as good as they both seemed to think, I would have seen that shot coming. Instead I felt it. And quickly enough, I felt the floor.

My right shoulder was on fire. I had never experienced such a severe form of pain. At first, I thought I had received an electric shock. But once the pain spread, I was sure I was a dead man. The force had been strong enough to bring me down and cause a blood flow that nothing in my life had ever caused.

The best I could do was put the pressure on it. But touching it increased the fire. I was putting all my effort into focusing on the present. Right now the world was trying to spin on me. I couldn't afford to black out. Not now. I had been so close to the answer. So close to understanding who I really was.

I leaned against the counter and listened to the gun fire take place between J and Zarreck. All I could do was clamp onto my shoulder and wonder how such a normal day could turn into a day where I had been shot by the weapon of an extraterrestrial.

The door to the kitchen area slowly opened, and I was surprised to see Jo standing there. He was pale, clearly a sign of his terror. I could only imagine what he was thinking as he watched that alien J was fighting. I expected him to faint dead away. But the way he watched them, it was hard for me to tell if he was more shocked by what was happening to his café than the fact that he was seeing a real live creature from another world. I knew if he stood there any longer, he could end up injured, or worse.

"Jo." I was surprised by how weak I was suddenly feeling. "Jo! Get out of here now!"

He still had a chance, but I wasn't so sure the same went for myself and J. His eyes dropped down to me, and if anything he looked more alarmed than he did while he was watching the battle. He hurried over and dropped down by my side.

"K, you're hurt." It didn't register that he had called me K, rather than Mr. Brown. He never knew my first name, but at the moment, it didn't matter.

"Don't worry," I told him. "It's not too bad."

"Not too bad?" He wasn't fooled by my attempt to ease the situation. "You're bleeding."

His fingers hovered around the wound.

"And you will be too if you don't get out of here."

Jo took the opportunity to press down at the edge of the shot sight, causing me to cry out in pain.

"What are you—"

"That's no normal shot. If you don't get help soon…."

The sound of guttural choking stole his attention. Jo peeked over the edge of the counter.

"What's….happening?" I asked.

"That thing is trying to strangle your friend," he told me.

Without fully thinking about it, I reached down for J's weapon and started to push myself to get up. Jo ducked back down when he noticed.

"What are you doing?"

"I know this sounds crazy, but I have to help him."

"But you can't! You're injured. Look, I've already contacted MIB, so they should be here in no time."

"MIB?" I asked. I couldn't tell if it was a branch of law enforcement I may have heard of once, or some form of help Jo had for himself. "Look, I can't wait for them. My only hope in understanding what's going on is about to be killed, now you can either help me or stand aside."

He studied my serious expression for a moment, before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a silvery blue pistol.

"Then take this. It's an Apex-Mega 3000. It should be able to take out Xarrex."

I blinked, surprised to learn he was harboring another one of those unusual weapons, let alone hearing him use the alien's name. But before I could ask if he was somehow involved with the man in black, he had thrust the weapon into my hand. The guttural choking reached me again. I broke my gaze from Jo and worked my way to my feet. The fiery sting traveled all the way down my right side, but I did my best to ignore it. Right now, I needed to save the mysterious man.

He was lying on a table with that Zarreck fellow perched over him, strangling the life out of him. The weapon he had used was on the floor. I took careful aim for the back of the alien's head. It was hard to concentrate since he had all of his tentacles waving around himself. Still, I found and opening and fired.

The kick on the gun surprised me and knocked me back a few steps. I lowered the gun and stared at it. It was definitely not a normal weapon. So aside from J, I would have to have a talk with Jo. But right now, the focus was on one mystery. Zarreck didn't go down. Unfortunately the kick threw off my aim at the last second, so I had only managed to clip him. A gush of his black blood spurted out the side of his neck causing him to scream and release J. But he wasn't down yet. I fired again, but the gun was empty.

"Only one shot!" I shouted at Jo.

He waved his hands in surrender.

"My kind is more of a peaceful race," he explained.

"You're kind?" I questioned. I didn't have a lot of time to focus on what he meant. Zarreck had placed a tentacle on his neck and was turning to me.

"Give me something!" I ordered.

"Like what? This is not exactly a—"

A shot from Zarreck's weapon clipped Jo's cheek and knocked him down.

"JO!"

I didn't have time to check on him. Instead I looked around for something and spotted a pitch fork. I don't know what made me do it. What made me think that such creativity was wise, but I stuck it in the barrel and took aim at Zarreck's head. He moved his weapon to take aim at me, then he opened his mouth to scream. All his sharp teeth glittered black. His tentacles were shaking like a rattlesnake's tail. I fired.

This time, I had a better hold on the gun, now that I knew what to expect. The fork went hurtling at him, faster than a regular bullet. Faster than his weapon could fire. This time I was right on target. The fork went straight through his skull. His head was knocked back from the force, and within a minute, he fell to his knees, then onto his face. He was dead.

Agent J's P.O.V

There were times when a one on one didn't necessarily work out the way I wanted it to. Times where my opponent would get the better of me and manage to kick my ass from time to time. But no matter how many times it happened, I was still able to get the jump on him in the end, whether or not I had someone watching my back. The thing that helped was that I was more focused on the situation at hand. In cases like that, there were no other distractions. But this time there was a distraction. K was the distraction, and when he went down—I went down.

Xarrex was able to get the better of me. In the instant I'd seen my partner drop, Xarrex was able to get a good punch in the chaos. The next thing I knew, the odds were in his favor. His punches were coming at me a lot stronger than before, while I was doing my hardest to keep my mind focused. Then there was an intense trade of gunfire between us.

Even though K wasn't my partner, in this moment, I had been grateful that I wasn't alone. And when he was pretending to know what he was doing, like taking shots at Xarrex and covering for me, I felt, regardless of what he said, I had had my partner back. But then I had been on my own and Xarrex found the opportunity to take advantage of that.

I believed it was over. Xarrex had a tentacle wrapped around my neck, choking the life out of me. Xarrex was grinning at me, enjoying every minute of it.

"I believe this is it, Agent J," he whispered. I didn't want to admit it, but it looked like he was gonna be right for once.

Then out of no where I saw a splash of hope when Xarrex's blood shot out his neck. He screamed and let me go. I struggled to get air back into my lungs. Then I turned and saw K. The mailman hadn't been wiped out. He was standing, but he was shaky on his feet and his shoulder was bleeding pretty bad. In that moment I was thinking the slogan about mailmen was true. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor series 700 Thuro-Max was enough to stop him from making a special delivery to the slimy sea bastard. Of course, it would have been better if he'd gotten a shot in at his head. But that signaled for me to take part. I dropped to the floor in search of my gun. If Xarrex had another chance at him, it would be over for real. I heard a shot, and I froze when I heard something drop to the floor. I couldn't look up.

But then I heard K cry "JO!" so I knew it wasn't him. Xarrex was closing in on him though, but by the time I found my gun, it was too late. I heard the shot and looked up and saw a pitch fork coming through the back of Xarrex's head. I watched, shocked, as he dropped to his knees, then onto his face. It was over, but not for me. Xarrex was done, and K had delivered his best message to him yet.

I looked up at the mailman, expecting to see K in a black suit, instead of the light blue shirt and shorts. He still had his gun held out, and that determined, badass expression on his face.

In that second, K was back.

Behind me, I heard the screech of car tires. My back-up had just arrived. But they had been too late to witness an ex-MIB agent take down the bad guy. I turned back to K. His hands were shaking slightly as he continued to grip that weapon. He was staring right at me. Asking me with his eyes if what he had just done was real. I just gave him a quick nod.

"Good work partner. Knew you had it in you."

He didn't say anything for a minute. He didn't even blink.

"I'm not so…sure."

He stumbled back and the weapon slipped from his hand.

"K!"

I hurried over just as he sank to the floor. He was on the verge of blacking out on me. Jo pulled himself up from where he had landed and crawled over.

"He okay J? I was telling him that wasn't an ordinary shot."

I wanted to believe it was just a flesh wound, but from what Xarrex was packing, I couldn't trust that's all it was.

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine." But I felt like it was a lie. "What about you?"

Jo hissed when he rubbed his cheek, then he grabbed his face and yanked it off. The Zanderic's true face was revealed. A squashy yellowish squarish head with a couple of antenna coming from the middle of his face which had no nose.

"I am now. I'll have a better chance healing this way."

Then he froze and looked at K, and waved a few fingers at him. I looked at him too. He had managed to pull himself together enough to get a good look at Jo.

"You're…one of them…too?" he asked. I could hear just a little bit of fright there.

"Yeah, but he's a good alien," I said. "Kind of like E.T. Ever see that movie?"

"Good to have you back K," Jo told him.

"I don't…think so," K hissed. His head dropped back and his grip on his shoulder tightened.

"K! K!"

The agents were coming into the café, weapons drawn. I stood.

"Bout time you guys showed up," I told them.

"Your message didn't get through," one of the agents said. "Thanks to Jo, we were able to catch wind of what was happening."

"J, are you alright?"

Agent L came up to me, looking very concerned. I momentarily wondered what would have happened if she stayed being my partner, rather than stay behind to work in the lab. Apparently running the streets hadn't been good enough for her. She wanted to go back to doing something she knew. Something that involved some kind of science and search for answers. But lately, she'd been on the verge of wanting to leave MIB altogether and return to the morgue, though I couldn't imagine why. But I was glad she hadn't left yet. It was almost like a family reunion with the three of us there together. Only this time, neither K or myself was covered in bug slime.

"Oh my god, is that agent.."

"Yes, well, ex-agent K," I explained. She went over to his other side and moved his hand away from his shoulder. K moaned and pulled away from her a little.

"It's cool K, she's one of us," I told him.

"Oh…and that would be?"

"MIB," I said, flat out. I looked at L and she was giving me one of those looks I couldn't read. "What?" She just shook her head and looked back at K's injury.

"According to that Ocktoleptias lying in the center of the café, he used a series 700 Thuro-Max with an AK 7 Zyettozon Puller bullet."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," I told her. "He is going to be okay, right?"

"I told them that wasn't an ordinary shot," Jo added. "If he doesn't—"

"He'll be alright," L said matter of factly. "We have to get him back to headquarters, but there's just one thing standing in our way."

"What's that?"

"Protocol. This is agent K, the one who had been neuralyzed. The one you weren't suppose to have any contact with, am I right."

I sighed. That issue was coming up a lot faster than I wanted to hear.

"Don't you think saving the man's life is more important than worrying about protocol? I would have been dead if it weren't for him. He was the one that killed Xarrex."

"You're kidding right? K killed Xarrex?"

"That's right, and now I owe it to him."

She looked down at K. He was starting to shake, and he was gasping to breathe. L looked at me, then stood.

"I would never put protocols before someone's life." She turned her attention to the other agents in the room. "I need a stretcher and my medical case stat! We've got a severely wounded agent here."

"Right away!" someone called out. After that was settled, she knelt back down and placed a firm hand on his shoulder to control the bleeding. K hissed in pain again. "Sshhh, it's alright, it's alright."

"I appreciate it," I said without looking at her. The man was getting paler, causing my heartbeat to rise. "What made you come out here anyways? Got sick of studying alien viruses in the lab? Looking for a little action?"

I needed to say something to break the tension I was feeling.

"Something like that." I looked up at her, and she was smiling, just a little. "When Jo gave us the call, I got worried. Had to make sure you were alright."

"You know that protocol. Don't let your emotions control your decisions."

"That what happened here?"

Before I could answer, the agents with the stretcher and medical kit came hurrying over.

"Step aside J."

I did so reluctantly.

"It's alright K, you're gonna be fine. You hear me?"

Kevin Brown's P.O.V

I could hear him alright, but it didn't mean I believed him. Aside from the fiery sting in my shoulder, there was the matter of my eyesight blurring. Then came the chills, as if I had suddenly acquired a fever in a short amount of time. I no longer thought about what I had done. No longer thought about the fact that I had pulled the courage and the expertise of handling a weapon from some unknown source and possibly managed to save New York on top of that. I was sure no man in the postal services had managed to do that much. Elizabeth would never believe it. But now it was over. Where was the proof? No one, but the man in black would know what I had done. I wasn't stupid. They'd never place me before the cameras to explain the brave deed I'd accomplished. It didn't matter to me. I wasn't looking for fame. I was used to not existing for this long. But my search for the truth made me want to feel like I existed. After today, I wasn't sure how long that would last.

I could hear people moving about in the café. I could only assume they were people like J, and it was proven when the agent called L came around the counter. My only choice now was to decide if I could trust her or not.

If these people were really some kind of government agency, then I would be prevented from revealing the truth I had learned. There was only one way to make that happen. But considering the pain in my shoulder, I was sure they wouldn't have to bother or wait long. The shot alone would do the job for them.

It was hard to think about it now. It was so hard to breathe. I caught glimpses of L and J kneeling over me. I turned my head and saw two men coming up to me with a black stretcher.

"K, can you stand?"

L's voice seemed to be coming from very far away. Everything was dancing and swirling in a cruel way. I wanted to tell her I didn't need a stretcher, but from her look I could tell she knew that I needed one.

"Help me get him up."

I barely registered her hand, as well as J's, reaching behind my back to sit me up. The other two men were lowering the stretcher next to me. I had never experienced any type of medical emergency before. Especially not one delegated by men in black suits and black shades.

"Alright K, you're just going for a little ride. Free of charge."

"That what you call…an execution?" I asked with a frown. I didn't want him to beat around the bush. If they were going to execute me to keep their secret safe, I preferred that they didn't cover it behind innocent wordings.

"An execution?" J asked. He paused as he was helping me. "Who's getting executed?"

"Me," I told him. "I know too much. I know about you, about…aliens."

The man actually grinned like I had told a joke.

"Come on man, you're my partner. And right now, the plan is to get you some help."

"At a hospital? One that treats extraterrestrial…injuries?" I managed to ask.

"Not exactly," J admitted. "We're taking you back to headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

"MIB." He started helping me get settled onto the stretcher. I briefly watched as the men strapped me down. Then I looked back at J. I managed to give him my best questioning look, though I was sure it made me look frightened, which I was.

"What does that stand for? MIB?"

"Men In Black," he said simply enough.

After that, my vision faded to darkness.

The darkness didn't last long. It lifted quick enough for me the see the ceiling of my transportation. White ceiling, just like a normal medical van. Right away, I noticed there were tubes running under my nose. I wanted to pull them out, but I couldn't deny they weren't helping me to catch a breath. I turned my head to the left and was face to face with the man who had gotten me in so deep. I glared at the man, but he was looking at me like all hope was lost. His expression was…apologetic if I wasn't mistaken.

"This MIB of yours…is a hospital too?" I asked.

"When things get too rough on the job," he admitted. "But it was also yours, remember?"

I frowned at him, but then I considered what he'd been trying to tell me all along.

"I guess not," I admitted. "But it does explain why you're wearing black."

The corners of his mouth raised a little, then dropped just as quickly. His concern for me prevented his ability to try and make light of the situation. But I wasn't actually the kind of fellow to make light of anything. I frowned as I thought of Elizabeth. I didn't necessarily like the idea of them going to see her. I could imagine her reacting calmly, but at the same time, I could imagine all the questions it would surface in her mind. We were already having a troubling time, why make it more so, but she needed to know something.

"Listen, I need you to contact my wife."

"There's no need K," J said calmly, but I did catch a hint of bitterness there. "You won't be there that long."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I said.

"No, that's not what I meant…," he said quickly enough. I had really alarmed him. "I mean…that wound's not so bad you'll be there a while. She'll never have to know."

"What am I suppose to say when I get back home?"

He didn't seem upset by it. If anything, he looked troubled by the question. He bowed his head and rubbed his hands together, then he looked over at L. I glanced at her and caught the saddened expression.

"Don't worry about it." I looked around at J. "We'll think of something."

I wanted to question him further, but decided it was best to just catch a rest break. I leaned my head back against the stretcher.

"I'll let you…think of what to say to my wife…but there's also my job." I had never been late or missed a day of work in my life.

"We'll handle that too," J told me.

"You sound so sure," I noted. When he didn't answer, I looked over at him. He was looking right at me with a serious look.

"We are. We're everywhere K. And we can handle anything."

That answer, seemed to answer any further questions I may have possessed. Just looking at his face made me believe him. Made me believe that he, and the rest of his group, knew what they were doing. Right then, I tried my hardest to lift whatever haze was blocking my mind from remembering him. I tried recalling him in another moment. One in which I too was donning a black suit.

After much concentration, nothing came. I turned away from him, disappointed.

I didn't understand how I could forget a life like that. One where I was shooting alien creatures on a daily basis. The only thing I could figure, was that something had been done to me, possibly surgically. Something powerful enough to keep me from seeing the truth, and force me into believing a lie. I shut my eyes and tried to relax. Then out of no where I heard his voice.

"I'm sorry K." I opened my eyes and looked at my supposed partner. "Sorry," he whispered.

When the vehicle finally came to a stop, I opened my eyes. I didn't say anything as they unloaded me. I was starting to feel silly. I didn't believe a shot in the shoulder would be powerful enough to keep me down. I actually tested that thought, but then the fiery pain that had been partially subdued during the ride, started up. I groaned and grabbed my shoulder. L laid her hand on my chest and forced me down gently.

"Don't move K, just rest and you'll be fine."

I didn't argue. They knew more about my injury than I did. I laid back down and accepted whatever place they were wheeling me into. The street was getting farther and farther away from me, and my vision was beginning to swim again. J was walking alongside me and giving me worried glances. I wasn't so focused on him. I was attempting to create a map in my mind of the kind of place I had entered, from what I could see.

So far my surroundings were gray and dull, unlike a bright white hospital. I did catch a glimpse of what I assumed to be a guard who stood as I passed by. Next there were the doors to an elevator.

"Don't worry," J told me. "We're not taking you to the bat cave."

I frowned, but didn't comment.

When the elevator doors opened again, I found myself in a much brighter, and most unusual environment. If I hadn't already seen what the trench coated man really was, not to mention Jo, I might have gone on to think the group tending to me were nothing but show people. The passerby in the area were not just people in black suits. There was an odd assortment of creatures, or rather, beings.

It was hard to catch a good look at them all as we were on the move. But I did catch glimpses of bluish beings with long antenna with eyes at the end. There was some kind of slimy slug slinking about. Then there was a man, who looked like he was made of rocks.

I looked back at J, feeling more disturbed than I had when I found out Jo wasn't exactly normal.

"Real aliens?" I asked him tentatively.

"Real aliens," he confirmed.

They weren't people in Halloween masks. They were the real deal. And I was sure if I weren't receiving a partial view of the interior of this place, I would be seeing a lot more of them. I was in a serious place. One that no one had ever heard of, and according them, I had worked here once. I tried not to let my nervousness increase and alert the heart monitor attached to me. This was a new reality I was entering. One that required me to be most attentive. One that could either shatter or salvage the lost pieces of my life.

I closed my eyes as the whispers spread about me from strangers, or maybe forgotten friends. I could hear some people trying to calm others. Maybe they were just as confused as I was. Probably wondering why a postal worker had entered their territory, or maybe wondering why a certain postal worker was returning.

I opened my eyes and found myself being wheeled into another room. Not knowing where I was going made much of the difference.

"You're going to be alright K," L assured me. "Trust me."

I looked up at J who had not left my side the entire trip. If there was anyone I could trust, I believed it might have been him.

"Tell me," I started.

"Anything," he said.

"Just…what kind of… place…is this?"

I could see J starting to answer, but then he paused and frowned. Everything was starting to blur again, informing me that I was about to lose consciousness. As I faded away, I could hear J calling my name again. A name I had forgotten.

So the special appearance was Agent L from MIB 1. You know, the morgue lady. I know in MIB2, J mentioned earlier that she wanted to go back to the morgue, which meant she shouldn't be here if J had those other partners because she came before them. I kind of blended her reasoning with the cartoon series which has L still working with MIB, but mainly working in the lab rather than as a field agent. So that's the change here. She hasn't been J's partner for a while cause she's working at headquarters, but she's on the verge of leaving the MIB. I considered not having her here for that inaccuracy, but I wanted another familiar face in here. And in the next chapter, there will be yet another familiar face/faces. An appearance by a favored group both from the movies and the series. By then, I'll probably have seen MIB3, so I'll comment on that.

The next chapter will be the last chapter. It was suppose to end here, but I got very detailed, (which is what I like) and I was thinking of the best place to cut it off. Keep reading and reviewing!

Always review guys! It's like candy to me :)