Sharing secrets with another world,
Rubbing shoulders with some unknown lover,
Making waves through the universe,
Staring wars with anonymous brothers,
Trip switch, Trip switch.
Make a wish and I'll count to three,
Press the button and we'll both be happy,
Sending signals is a dirty trick,
I get my love in a digital packet,
Trip switch, Trip Switch.

Nothing but Thieves, Trip Switch

21

"Damn, I need to take a break."

Fury glanced over her shoulder, partially surprised to find Zakee slipping his bag from his shoulders and throwing himself down onto the ground with a loud thump like a young child who was having a bad day and had given up. She paused, calling out to Carina, who was somewhere in front of her in the sea of grass, and cautiously approached him. Taking in his exhausted form as he hung his head and ran his hands through his short sandy colored hair, Fury asked him, "Zakee, are you alright? That's the fifth break you've taken in the past two hours."

Instead of responding, the large man grunted and only pressed his face even more into his palms.

Frowning, Fury ran her hands along the straps of her own backpack, checking to see if Carina had made it to them yet. She hadn't known the man long enough to comfort him and feel comfortable doing so. She knew some things about him; he liked working out, he was quite the gentleman, and he acted like a big, tough man when he was really a big softy. How many guys had she met like Zakee who spent the majority of his time with the children in Andrew's group, somehow managing to play tag and fitting himself into insanely small spaces during hide-and-seek for someone like him? She could probably count on her fingers. However, the Black Horsewoman had noticed how stressful that he had become the last few days. The majority of his injuries had began to heal -his black eye from the beating in the cave had managed to turn into a sickly light yellow in color and the cuts along his arms had scabbed over- but she could tell that his mental state had yet to recover. Loud noises frightened him still; one child had screeched once and he had straightened, hand dropping to the knife he always kept as he had whipped around to stare at the child in surprise. He wasn't sleeping; he was always on one of the watches at night, leaning against a building with a dull gaze. And he was always scratching at his bandaged chest as if it still bothered him.

When Fury had mentioned Zakee's current state to Shel, the other woman had just shrugged. "He's going through a lot right now," Shel had explained. "We lost plenty of good people on that battlefield, many that were his good friends. It's the anniversary of the death in his family, too. Just give him a break and try to take it easy on him. He'll be over it in a few days." While Fury secretly doubted that it was grief effecting Zakee like this, she made sure to always smile and make sure that he was doing okay when she saw him. The camp, though surprisingly large, made sure that they crossed paths a lot more than what she liked, truthfully.

The only reason why she was even out of the camp at the time was because Andrew had assigned her to scouting duty with Carina as leader, her, Zakee, and Anin as the back. His active role in the camp had shocked her at first; despite having several Commanders (as they called themselves), Andrew choose a job for everyone to do each week, even giving himself something to do. She had been disappointed when she hadn't been placed with him in the same scouting group. He had been rather flirtatious with her the other day, saying that her pale yellow eyes were beautiful to look at, and she had been hoping to spend more alone time with him. Besides from extremely handsome, which was definitely a plus, Fury was curious to how a human warlock could gain as much power as he had.

Glancing around to check to process of the others catching up or trailing back to them, Fury let her bag fall from her shoulders softly, rolling them back slightly to loosen her tight muscles. Andrew had suggested the bag before they had left; "Helps build muscles and plus you can take weapons and food if you stay out longer than expected." Fury had seen Carina and Zakee training one day and she seriously doubted that they could get cornered outside of camp. There wasn't even much around for them to get lost in with golden grass surrounding them. Just standing where she was, she could see easily for a mile about. The grass hardly reached her waist and, when she sat about an arm's distance away from Zakee, her head just barely stuck out. Zakee's shoulders were more than tall enough to clear the height of the grass even with his hunched appearance.

"Are you okay?" Fury asked out loud after a few silent seconds after thinking for a little bit about what to say.

Zakee grunted, his palms pressing into his forehead. She watched him sympathetically until he finally pulled his hands away from his face, turning his gaze away from her so she couldn't see his countenance as one of his hands began to scratch at the scar that she knew rested on his chest. His cross, silver in color and shining in the fading light as clouds darkened overhead with the promise of rain, stuck out against his white muscle shirt. "Yeah, just lemme catch my breath and I'll be good."

"You said that last time."

"Yeah, so?" His short, annoyed answer surprised her and she knew that her shock was still in her eyes when he glanced at her. Her expression caused Zakee's sharp gaze to soften and he turned away again, this time in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Fury. I don't know what's gotten into me today. I feel awful."

"As in how?" Curiosity burned through her and she wondered briefly if he knew that she treated him like an experiment sometimes. He was the only one who didn't give her funny looks if she asked stupid questions about humans.

He reached up to scratch at the scar again. "My chest is burning, I'm burning up with a fever, I've been having shivers all day, my energy has been shot since I got up this morning, and I can't even drink water without feeling like hurling. The crazy part is I've been having these dreams ever since those damned demons got me and now I'm hearing voices in my head." In frustration, the man pulled up a few pieces of grass and threw them. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

One part of the man's problems stuck out the most to her. "You're hearing... voices? Like in your head?" Going through his possible conditions in her head, she leaned toward him as she propped her chin in her hands.

"Gavin already told me I was imagining things. I'm not crazy, don't you say it," Zakee growled out. He turned an accusing gaze to her.

"I wasn't." Someone called out to them and Fury lifted her head to see that Anin was approaching them, swinging his spear side-to-side as he batted aside the grass childishly. When she looked in the opposite direction, she found Carina was also coming with Soren perched on her backpack and nestled against her head comfortably. She turned her focus back to Zakee. "What do the voices say?"

"You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Why would I think that?"

Zakee trained a suspicious look on her. After a moment of studying as if to see if she was telling the truth, he jerked his backpack closer to him and began digging through it. "Because everyone else thinks so."

"I'm not like everyone else. I'm one of the Horsemen. I can help you if you tell me what's happening to you." Her eyes flickered to either side, seeing how close the others had gotten. Something told her that Zakee wasn't going to tell her the truth if either one of them were within hearing distance; he wanted everyone to see him as the tough, unbreakable character.

He spent another couple of seconds searching through his bag before grunting, "Fine." A piece of paper was flung her way and she snatched it out of the air. She crinkled it to see it better and looked up at him in surprise when she saw what was on it. Zakee snorted at her reaction. "Yeah, imagine my surprise when I woke up to see that I had wrote that when I was asleep."

"You were asleep when you did this..." Fury raked her brain for what could possibly be wrong with him. The paper was so disturbing to her that she shook her head, handing it back to him. The words were shockingly clear;

Kill the Horsewoman.

But what could make Zakee do that? The writing didn't appear to even be his; it looked like he had been high when he wrote it the way that the letters were scribbled and the word kill almost looked like it had been attempted to be written in blood. A shiver ran through her as she looked at him once again. Did that mean that he would randomly attack her? Or grab her right at this moment while Carina and Anin were still a distance away, killing her while he had a chance? It wasn't like he definitely couldn't do it in just a couple of seconds. His solid looking arms with the popping veins and rock-hard muscles seemed like they could snap her in half if he tried. Her eyes briefly met hers and she glanced away before she thought about it.

"Great. Now you think that I'm going to kill you," he growled. "Do you really think that I would do that?"

"Not really..."

"Zakee? Fury? You two alright?" Fury looked up to see that Carina had finally reached them, her brilliant sky blue eyes studying the two curiously. A small flicker of jealously flickered through the Horsewoman; even after two hours  of hiking, Carina looked like she could run for another eighteen hours without any problems. She knew that Auralins were almost superhuman in a way, but Carina's normal breathing made Fury frown. Fury had been sweating after the first half hour they had been our her and had been regretting her choice of the black jacket for a while now but was thankful that one of the woman, named Katherine, had braided her hair. 

Gesturing toward Zakee, Fury nodded to show that she was okay and not completely frightened. "He just needed a little breather." Zakee's head snapped in her direction, surprise lingering in his gaze. She gave him a small reassuring smile.

Nodding, Carina turned her concerned gaze to the man. "Sure you're okay? We could always head back to camp, Zakee. There's no shame in it."

"I'm up for some lunch," Anin beamed as he caught up to them, placing his spear on his shoulder as he rubbed his stomach. "Skinny people need much more food than what fat people do. Don't mess with a skinny person's food."

Fury rolled her eyes as she fought down a smile.

"I'm okay, Carina, I promise," Zakee spoke up before Anin could continue. "I'm just a little... disorientated, is all. I'm sure that it's nothing."

Writing about how you want to murder me isn't exactly normal, Fury thought to herself as Carina nodded, announcing that they should take a lunch break anyways, which caused Anin to cheer. As the small group pulled out their lunches that had been prepared earlier, which was mostly protein and other healthy food, Fury glanced at Zakee again, trying to determine why he was acting like this. She knew that she should know what was causing to be like this -his voices were trying to kill him. She could cross possession off her list like she had originally thought when he had said voices; no demonic possession just caused silly little writings while the victim was asleep. Several other illness that lined up with insanity crossed her mind and she shook them off as she bit into a ham sandwich. Zakee was perfectly sane, that much was sure. She doubted that he had a parasite, which could cause his normal brain functions to go hang wire, but it seemed possible. The only problem was that she didn't know how to tell him that. Hey, Zakee, you might have a parasite. Want me to help you get rid of it?

Soren clanking his beak broke Fury of her thoughts and she looked up to see the raven glaring at Zakee. At first she figured that maybe Zakee had tried to steal some of its food; the bird had its feathers puffed up in a protective stance and was hissing slightly- like he did at her the other day when she tried to get a book and she had ended up almost slapping him away. However, it was when Soren dove at Zakee that she knew it wasn't the case.

"Hey! Soren! What the hell?" Carina scooped the bird up into her arms before he could attack Zakee. While the Auralin struggled to get the pissed raven under control, the man just sat there, staring at the bird as he held one ridiculously small potato chip in his hand almost uncertainly. "I'm sorry, don't know what's gotten underneath his feathers," Carina apologized as she shoved the bird away. Soren took flight, flapping his wings furiously and losing feathers along the way, and began to circle them overhead, cawing occasionally. "Wonder what his problem is..."

"Zakee, did you take his favorite potato chip or something?" Anin asked curiously around his mouthful of some chicken sandwich.

The larger man shrugged. "I just looked at him and he just freaked out."

"Maybe your face scared the hell... outta..." Anin trailed off and the remains of his sandwich slipped through his fingers as he stared at Zakee with large eyes. Narrowing her own eyes, Fury exchanged a look with Carina. "Dude. Have your eyes always been a gold color?"

The question caught Fury off guard and she was bewildered to see that Anin was right; Zakee jerked back at Anin's question and turned to face Carina and Fury in surprise and Fury found that the other man was right. Carina stiffen beside her and Fury froze. Gold, so brilliant in color that it was like looking into two golden liquid pools, had replaced his normally light green eyes. It was then that Fury also noticed that his hair had turned a shade lighter than what it had been a moment ago and he almost seemed... hairier.

"What? Did they really change color?" Panic had seeped into Zakee's voice and he nervously began to stand.

"Whoa! Hold on there!" Carina dove forward to catch Zakee as he leaned slightly to the side from standing too quickly; she grunted, eyes bulging, when she found that she wasn't strong enough to hold him up and Fury darted to help her. When her hands made contact with his arms, she jerked away in shock. He was so warm. So warm, that she felt like she had been burnt. Ignoring it, Fury grunted as she dug a shoulder into his side and the two women managed to get Zakee standing flat on his feet once more, Anin still too shocked to do much besides from watch. Carina looked at Fury, her sky blue eyes wide. "What's wrong with him?" she whispered.

Fury was in the middle of shrugging when Zakee growled, whipping around and ripping himself away from the two women to glare at Carina. His movements were careless and uncontrolled, a wildness in them. The sudden change in the man caused Fury to take an unsure step back, the thought of his letter that he wrote in his sleep fresh on her mind, Carina the only standing her ground with her chin lifted defiantly as Zakee pointed an accusing finger at her. "I heard that, bitch," he snarled. Carina straightened and snarled right back, Soren calling out in anger somewhere up in the skies.

"Whoa, Zakee, what's wrong man?" Anin spoke up, standing as he placed a hand upon his spear, confusion and fear beginning to spread through his dark eyes.

Zakee simply growled at him too as he backed up a couple of steps, flinging his burning gold gaze upon the Horsewoman, wildness and anger swimming in them. Fury, concerned with where this was going, glanced for her bag in search of the knife that she had been given to protect herself. It was too bad that her bag was closer to Zakee now. Instead, Fury studied him, watching as he hunched his back almost animalistic and snarled, baring his teeth at her. She noticed that his canines were sharper than usual and suddenly it all clicked.

Rising a hand and opening her mouth to reveal it to the others, Zakee jerked frantically as if someone had just shoved a knife through his side. A howl of pain escaped him and he began scratching at the scar that he had gained. It wasn't long before the muscle shirt was being torn to shreds, his nails having grown in length and darker in color, and his torso was exposed. Fury jumped in front of Carina and Anin, both of whom appeared to be very confused, and pushed them back as Andrew's right hand man threw his head up toward the sky, releasing a massive roar of pain. His own blood was dripping from his chest and claws as he howled. Knowing what was going to happen, Fury shoved Carina down face-first onto the ground and then tripped Anin backwards, throwing herself down into a half crouch at the same time.

It was then that the breaking and reshaping of bones began snapping around them, Zakee's howl becoming less and less human as the painful seconds passed. She watched the transformation with wide eyes as she clutched at the dirt below her for some sort of safety. It wasn't long before he fell to the ground, grunting and whimpering as his body jerked and bulged, struggling to take on the new form that it was being made into. White and gold fur was sprouting all over like a infestation of quick growing weeds; a tail, fluffy and wide, swung side-to-side after it had appeared. Even when he got closer than what she would have liked, Fury remained where she was, watching as his hands grew into paws about the width of her chest, their claws looking like it could cut right through her. Every muscle grew and stretched and tail popped out, quickly disappearing in fright. Only once he opened his pained eyes and she stared as the last of the humanistic quality that made him part of the Kingdom of Man was swallowed by a brilliant gold.

And then she was staring at a massive white and tan wolf.

Whimpering, Zakee flopped on the ground, panting furiously now that he had finished shifting. A pink tongue lolled from his mouth and his gold eyes remained locked upon her as if he expected her to do something. Remaining on her knees to show respect to the newly transformed wolf, Fury watched as the pain began to disappear from his gold eyes. When she pulled her arm up to reach out and touch him, his snarl made her freeze. Suddenly, the letter he had wrote earlier seemed frighteningly more realistic. Becoming much more guarded, Fury's eyes darted to the closest bag. Anin's laid nearby, almost within reaching distance. She was starting to reach out toward it again when the wolf noticed what she was doing and snarled at her once more as it shakily got to its feet.

It was like watching a newborn animal stand for the first time. The wolf dropped to the ground more times than not and Fury immediately jumped on the chance of getting to the bag when it became clear that he wasn't faking it. A massive growl tore through the air as she dove for the bag and she glanced up in time to see the wolf scrambling to try and get to her. She dove through the bag, searching for sort of weapon that she could use in defense. The only thing that her hand grasped was a container still full of food -roast beef to be exact- and she ripped it open.

When the smell hit the wolf, it stopped, nostrils flaring as its eyes widened. Its tan nose twitched as she waved the container through the air to attract its attention even more. While it wasn't growling anymore, a smooth rumble had taken over. Fury examined the beast as she crouched down to place the container on the grounds. Definitely a wolf, the animal was massive, standing almost five feet at its shoulder, and its chest was a good three feet wide. White and tan fur fluffed up across the beast, bristled slightly along its back, and it went beautifully with the golden eyes that were locked on the meat in her hands. All and all, the animal was gorgeous. She was more than curious if Zakee was actually there or if the voices in his head, who she was assuming had been Fenrir, the wolf demon, was now in control.

"Don't give it my roast beef!" Anin wailed from behind her. "I want to eat that!"

"Anin! Get down!" Carina hissed from behind her and the loud thump suggested that Carina had threw down Anin.

Slowly, Fury bent back down, watching Zakee the wolf carefully. She had messed with things like this before. Werewolves were everywhere in the universe. Pretty much any person/thing that was cursed to shift or transform into any other creature besides from itself was technically a werewolf. There were countless of those that wandered the universe; the Black Horsewoman had shared her fair time taking care of the more... adventurous ones that liked to threaten the Balance. Earth's cursed beings -which was a more general classification- were on the weaker side. Fury had personally only met two or three. However, she did not want to kill Zakee. It wasn't a full moon, so Fury had no idea why he was changing, but she doubted that he could be but so strong. Right?

The container was placed on the ground carefully and slowly. Anin was still whining; Fury was hoping that the two others behind her were still on the ground -the only reason why Fury was encouraging it was because lower pack members took a submissive position by being close to the ground. Zakee glanced up at her a couple times as if to make sure that she wasn't going to do anything to him. Slowly, with her hands up, she backed up until she was beside Carina, who was literally sitting on Anin's back. Zakee looked up at her curiously, golden eyes sparkling. And, for a split second, Fury thought that she saw a little bit of human in them.

The second that the wolf dove forward at the container, Fury was standing, motioning for Carina to get to her feet. The Auralin needed no further encouragement; she forced Anin to his feet as she began to run in the direction that Fury was heading, blonde hair escaping its ponytail. Noting the panic expression in her friend's eyes, Fury shouted at them to go faster as the sounds of the wolf behind them tearing apart the container to get to the remains of the roast beef filled the air. Done already. The grass almost seemed to beat at them, willing to slow them down and see their fate. She pushed harder when Carina pulled ahead of her. Anin appeared beside her too, practically galloping with his long stride, and was surprised when he outstretched his hand to the side, face devoid of emotion. When his spear shot into his hand, landing perfectly in it, Fury made sure to take a mental note to ask him about it later.

If they survived this.

Heavy panting and footfalls from the massive wolf as it began to chase after them matched her heartbeat as the three of them sprinted. Nothing had yet to truly threatened her before now with her mortal life -flying through the air in the claws of a demon had been surprisingly different. Things seemed more realistic when her pace decided if she should live or not. Or how hungry the wolf was after it ate that roast beef. Who packs slices of roast beef for their lunch anyways?

A shadow flashed overhead. Fury had half a mind to follow it; it was painfully obvious as whatever it was zipped above them, shooting by in a blast of speed so strong that the grass whipped in the same direction. Before she could process the creature after seeing a brief glimpse of a feathered tail, she tripped.

How cliché is that?

She landed hard on her hands, so hard in fact that she skidded forward slightly and her head continued down in momentum. Dirt smeared across her face and, without thinking, she took a breath, only ending up sucking up clay that tasted awful and triggered her gag reflex. It was almost as if someone had stolen her breath away and she hardly paid any attention to the animal that leaped over her in a bout of panic. The red clay underneath her hands seemed to be everywhere and, when she glanced up as an after thought, she wasn't prepared to meet the golden eyes of the wolf.

"Shit," she muttered under her breath as the wolf snarled to give her a fabulous view of its fangs, white and tan fur bristling. Gathering herself, Fury pushed herself up to her feet and jerked her hands up in sight of the beast as it began to approach her threateningly, massive shoulders moving solidly as it growled. "Zakee, I know you're there! Listen to me!"

When the wolf's golden eyes darted up, she realized that it wasn't stalking her.

A weight slammed into her back as a blast of air swished by on either side of her, causing a scream to pass through her lips as something seized the back of her jacket's collar and she was jerked off the ground. Still screaming, she watched as she was lifted into the air as quick as a bird. Her hands flew up to the thing grasping her jacket as she continued to scream; she faltered when she felt claws, sharp enough to prick zzz her skin, ripping holes through her black jacket like it was nothing. The ground pulled further away every time that she blinked and soon she was struggling to breathe at the speed that they were moving at. Barking, Zakee followed the bird-like shadow that had her, white form bounding through the golden grass. Hands struggling to find the source that held her, she finally managed to get a strong grip and she pulled herself up to relieve some of the pressure from her neck.

Seconds later she was surprised to find a feathery bending down to look at her, yellow beak opening to release a shriek that sounded just like a predatory bird. Orange eyes framed by black feathers flickered over her and she had one simple thought before she burst into another panicked scream.

A griffin.

"Holy freakin' shit! I'm actually flying guys!" Anin's voice came above her and she glanced up, only managing to catch sight of the griffon's chest as it contracted in the rhythm of its flapping wings. "Guys! We're on the back of a flippin' griffin!"

Dipping down, Fury choked out another scream as the griffin headed down toward the ground with lightning speed. Not wanting to see the descent, Fury squeezed her eyes closed. When the creature settled out, the Horsewoman found that her feet were dangling just above the tops of the golden grass as they zoomed by at an insane speed. She screamed again and jerked her legs up in surprise. Another shriek sounded her from the griffin as it suddenly leaned to the side, turning to the left so sharply that Fury's body was slung around like a toy. She watched, terrified, as a white blur zipper by them, golden eyes flashing as the owner's snarl reached her ears for only a few mere seconds. Zakee had just tried to kill her.

With one massive flap that caused Fury's jaw to chatter, they darted forward with incredible speed. The ground came up way too fast for her liking and, before she realized what was happening, they were literally smashing into it. The hold on the back of her jacket was gone and she was rolling across the ground, her head spinning as she struggled to gain her composure. She hadn't come close to stopping when a black and white blue met together with snapping jaws, growling, and a shriek that came from the griffin occasionally.

A rock stopped her rolling and she moaned, only allowing herself a few seconds to gather herself before she was climbing back onto her feet to see where the two animals had gone. The griffin's black tail swung over the top for the grass; barking and growls followed as a few screams began to sound out. Figuring that Carina and Anin were there too, Fury began sprinting toward the spot, her heart up in her throat as she silently hoped that they were okay. Time was way too slow for her liking as she burst out of the grass.

Her eyes landed upon the fighting griffin and wolf first, the griffin having the upper hand as she held Zakee down by his throat as the wolf struggled against her grip, jaws snapping dangerously close to the griffin's throat. With its beak opened wide, the griffin leaned back, wings opening wide, and -for just a brief second- Fury thought that the griffin was going to spew fire onto Zakee. She shouted as she raced forward, stumbling along the way, and the griffin glanced over, momentarily distracted as its black ears lifted in Fury's direction. Zakee growled and suddenly he was above the griffin, jaws closed about its neck and his paws on its wings to make sure it couldn't move. A pitiful shriek escaped the animal as Zakee began pulling away, his teeth ripping through its flesh, black feathers flying as blood began to spray.

"Zakee! Zakee! Stop it! You're killing it!" Fury grabbed at his back leg, trying to get his attention. "Zakee! Stop!"

"Whoa! La stupida! You're going to get yourself killed!"

Hands grabbed at her shoulders and she turned long enough to send a massive right hook into the owner's jaw. He yelled in pain and she shoved them away, calling out the werewolf once again. And that was when someone big came in, scooping her up in their arms like she weighed nothing, and held her out purposely so she couldn't hit them. It was like they knew her every move; when she threw her head back to head butt them, they simply moved their head, backing away from the commotion quickly. Their hand slung around, grasping her shoulder, and she gasped when she recognized it.

"War?" she blurted, struggling to turn in his arms.

He placed her on the ground away from the fighting, rewarding her with a rare smile. He looked the same, maybe just a little happier with some color to his normally stern face, and she gladly threw her arms around him. "We thought that you might be dead," he said, referring to him and his brothers.

"It takes more than stupid demons to kill me, brother," Fury smiled. A growl erupted their reunion, and she looked around War to find that the griffin had the advantage once more, standing over Zakee as he whined, sporting a small injury to his left leg. "Zakee!"

She began running toward him when War caught her, pulling her back to him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that other people had Carina and Anin in their care and was making sure that they too stayed clear of the fight. "Let Abbygail take care of this."

"Who's Abbygail?"

The black griffin suddenly jerked, its wings bending awkwardly, and Fury narrowed her eyes as she jerked her arm away from War's grasp. Soon, she found herself staring at a dark haired woman standing where the griffin had once been, hand outstretched toward the whimpering Zakee as she spoke softly to her. Fury took in the woman cautiously -an ancient power radiated off her as she gently muttered to the werewolf, her braided hair losing strands as her brown eyes focused solely on the wolf. She was near Fury's height and had a similarly muscular but womanly body like hers. And she most certainly didn't miss her younger brother's eyes on this woman.

Zakee let loose a soft whimper as he suddenly collapse to the ground. His eyes seemed hazy and, for a brief second, Fury thought that he was dying, which caused her to run toward him in fear. War lunged for her, but missed. As she was running, Zakee began transforming once again, the white fur disappearing slowly as his golden eyes slowly returned to their normal green. He bent down, moaning in pain, and eventually his bare back, slick in perspiration and decorated with scars, became extremely noticeable against the grass. Soon he was human once more, his blond hair back to normal and the scruff there along his chin, his panting loud against the strangely suddenly grassland.

Pained green eyes found hers as she crouched beside him, laying a hand upon his shoulder to hopefully comfort him. His hands were shaking furiously as they held him up. "What the hell just happened?" he croaked, voice hoarse.

"You're... uh... You're naked." It was the only thing that crossed through Fury's mind when she noticed and her face blazed red with embarrassment like she was a teenager. It wasn't like she hadn't seen a male body naked before, but it seemed different after Zakee had just transformed.

The muscular man glanced at his hands and then further down almost curiously. He was slowly recovering; the muscles in his shoulders weren't twitching randomly in confusion anymore as he calmed himself. "Yeah, I am..." He trailed off. "Why'd you point it out? Like it or something?"

Her face turned redder. "No." She yanked her hand away. "Of course not."

"Sure." A smirk grew across his lips and she frowned, suddenly feeling the urge to slap it off his smug face. He became serious though as someone approached them. "We need to figure out why the hell I changed, Fury. I don't want to risk hurting anyone ever again and if I have to kill myself to keep myself from doing it, I will."

Someone tossed him a jacket to cover himself as Fury pulled her hand away, struck by the Zakee's comment. She didn't know why it bothered her so much, considering that she had just only met the man a few days ago too, and that she felt nothing toward him anymore than simple friendship. He was good companionship and someone who seemed to know when to listen, when to pick, when to tease, and when to talk. But his little comment had bothered her, mostly because it had reflected in his eyes just how true those words were.

Because she knew he wouldn't be afraid to consider the option if all else failed.