"How are we supposed to get out?" Courtney whispered. She wasn't usually scared of battle, but the prospect of having to fight her own former teammates while injured was a scary one.

"We'll have to wait for Gypsy. With any luck, she can get us a vine up there or something."

"A vine…?"

After Michael had quickly explained Gypsy's powers, the she-cat herself came barrelling around the corner. Without hesitating, she made a vine grow up from the ground and through the grate opening. She climbed up it, then Michael fastened Courtney to it and scaled the vine himself. Finally, both agents pulled Courtney up into the vent, managing to replace the grate just as the corridor below them started to fill up with various animals and scientists.

"We have to get to the roof, quickly," whispered Michael. "Courtney, can you crawl?"

"I… I think so."

"Michael, you go in front," Gypsy said, matching her boyfriend's volume. "I'll go behind Courtney."

The three animals crawled through the vents. Michael was aware that the two of them were counting on him to remember the way back up to the roof but he wasn't sure exactly if he did or not. Thankfully, the route came back to him the further they got, and finally, they found themselves facing the vertical grate that covered the vent on the roof.

Michael squeezed through the gap first, then he helped Courtney through. Gypsy was last, but as she dropped lightly to the ground, she felt a stabbing pain in her side. Her paw automatically flew to cover it, and when she brought it away, she found it sticky and red. For the first time, she noticed the three bright-red claw marks scored down her side, and that was when the pain hit her properly.

She dropped to her knees, hand clasped over her wound. She heard Courtney gasp, "Michael!", then the platypus himself appeared at her side, a scared expression on his face. "Gypsy, what happened? Did he get you?"

"Y-Yes." Gypsy took in a shaky breath, the stinging pain almost overwhelming her. "I need to g-get home; my mom's a medic. She can h-help me."

"Can you walk?"

Gypsy nodded, reaching out instinctively for Michael's hand. He clasped her paw and helped her stand, before glancing back over at Courtney. "Are you okay?"

"I can walk," responded Courtney, worry visible in her eyes. "Will she be okay?"

"We'll all be fine. We just need to find a way off this roof."

"Call...hovercar," Gypsy croaked, digging out the remote from her fedora and handing it to Michael. "Autopilot will bring it here."

Michael pressed the button and put the remote back in Gypsy's fedora.

As they were waiting, however, they heard the sound of a door crashing open. Spinning round, Michael saw that the iron door to the roof was wide open and a by-now familiar figure had appeared.

"Rissa…?" Gypsy murmured, unsure whether she was hallucinating or not.

Michael lowered into a fighting stance-the best one he could manage with Gypsy hanging onto him. But Rissa simply approached the two nonthreateningly, a conflicted expression on her face. "There's something I need to know before you go."

Gypsy stared up into the face of her sister. "W-What is it?"

"What's…" Rissa cleared her throat, shooting an uneasy glance back towards the door she had entered through. "What are their names?"

"Our mom's name is Wendy," said Gypsy quietly. "We have a sister called Cassie and a brother called Raziel. And my name is Gypsy."

"What happened to our dad?"

Gypsy finally tore her eyes away from Rissa and stared down at the ground. "He died before I was born. That's the only thing Mom ever told me about it."

In the pause that followed, yelling and thundering footsteps could be heard through the doorway. Thankfully, Michael could now see the hovercar making its way towards them. As they piled into it, Gypsy reached out and grasped Rissa's paw. "Come with us," she pleaded again. "Come home."

For one single moment, it looked like Rissa was considering Gypsy's offer. Then, she abruptly pulled her hand out of Gypsy's and rushed towards the door, ignoring Gypsy yelling her name. She slammed the door shut and pressed against it with her body, flinching when she felt it rock under her as someone on the other side began attempting to break it down.

"Rissa!"cried Gypsy weakly.

"Just go, all of you!" Rissa shouted back. "I can't hold them back forever!"

Michael grabbed Gypsy's arm as the she-cat made a desperate lunge for her sister. "Rissa, no!"

Rissa's sad eyes met Gypsy's desperate gaze. "Tell Wendy I'm alive, Gypsy. That's all I ask."

Gypsy hoarsely screamed her sister's name, but there was nothing she could do. She could only sit there as the hovercar rose quickly up and started on its course back towards OWCA headquarters. Michael, who was driving, could only spare an occasional sad glance back at her and Courtney, the latter of whom was trying her hardest to stop Gypsy's wound from getting any worse.

Tears slid down the she-cat's cheeks, not from the pain of her injury but from the pain of finding her sister after all these years, only to lose her again.