Edited: Aug. 1, 2011

A red-tailed hawk soared through the night air, reveling in the cool wind that brushed through his feathers. Spotting the roof he was looking for, the bird of prey angled down for a window that was partly open to help cool down from the heat of summer air.

Landing gracefully on a branch of the tree just outside the room, golden eyes looked in and alighted on the figure sprawled in the bed. One arm was bent at the hip, the other hand up at the level of the shoulder.

Chuckling in his mind, the bird contemplated on how it looked like the figure was playing an air guitar. The blanket had been kicked off, probably fairly early on in the night, and the sheet had pooled at the teen's waist, showing his well-defined chest and abs to the world. Messy brown hair fell across closed eyes, mouth only slightly open, no snores permeated the room.

The bird cocked his head to the side.

Jake. Meeting tomorrow morning in Cassie's barn. Rachel called it.

The teen on the bed, Jake, had woken up as soon as he heard his name being called. Battle instincts that had been honed over the past three years kept him still in case anyone else was watching.

Not allowing any notice that he was awake, he quickly morphed his teeth to those of a predator, but kept it relatively small so as not to change the form of his mouth.

Any particular time?

The automatic response, almost as soon as he had finished his own thought-words slightly startled the hawk. He should be used to Jake's freakish ability to sleep/pretend to be asleep/military habits, yet he was caught off guard all the time. The only thing that made him feel better was the fact that it happened to all the others of their group, with maybe the exception of Ax. Though there was that one time…

No, but early morning. A little after sunrise I would guess..

Any idea as to what Rachel wants to talk about Tobias?

Not really, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it had something to do with finding out about the Yeerk plot for the mall.

A snort echoed through the link. It was Jake's.

Is she bothered because it's the mall, or because she knows that a lot of people will get taken in?

Tobias stared at his leader and thought on what the war had done to him. Done to them all. Jake never used to be this cynical. And yet, it seemed that he was the single being to notice it. Even Cassie wasn't aware of Jake's darker half. He wondered if Jake only showed it to him because he didn't particularly like the tag-along boy who'd become a part of his group of friends or if the older teen thought that maybe Tobias would understand it more.

Shaking his head Tobias answered as he took flight.

Probably a bit of both, more of the latter. You should know that Jake.

It was the first time he'd ever reprimanded the older teen. The brunet had after all saved him from numerous swirlies via the, very public, school toilets, and graciously allowed a non-entity to 'join' his group.

Feeling a little awkward about what he'd just done, Tobias-the-human handed the reins to Tobias-the-hawk and gave over to the night winds that lifted him higher than any human could naturally go and let the pleasure of that freedom take control of his mind.

.x.

…You should know that Jake.

Wanting to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration, mostly with himself, Jake heaved a mental sigh and set his internal clock to wake him at sunrise. Giving over to what rest he could get before the battle plan, for that is surely what would be happening, the titled leader of the Animorphs closed off his mind.

.x.

Leaving a note on the kitchen table that he had plans with Marco and the girls, Jake jogged his way over to Cassie's barn. It'd be faster to fly, but he wanted the time to think and doing it the human way gave him that time.

He reached the barn door 45 minutes later. The only others there were Ax, Tobias and Cassie, who was feeding some of the animals that were healing in cages or the barn stables.

"Mornin' all." He received various replies, including the title Prince from Ax. Grinning the tiniest bit he settled in to wait for the last two members of their group.

Ten minutes later he was bored and so went to help Cassie. She gave him fairly simple things to do, for which he was grateful. She could handle the larger animals with sharp teeth. He would deal with the smaller, cuter and infinitely more friendly animals.

Another half hour passed before the door opened and Rachel walked in, Marco not five steps behind her.

"Sorry I'm late guys!"

"Yeah, cause, ya know, being the one to call a meeting, you should definitely be here last, making everyone else wait."

A glare sent his way made Marco take a step back to avoid the wrath of Xena: Warrior Princess.

"Shut it Marco. It's not like you were on time either!"

Raising his hands in a 'don't-shoot-the-messenger' kind of way, he slunk around hay bales to sit behind and slightly to the right of his best friend Jake, who would surely help defend him from the crazy blonde.

"Okay, so here's the deal. We know that the Yeerks want to set up a base in the mall as tons of people go there and they would get thousands of new recruits. We are going to stop that plan. Today. So! Let's get going!"

The gorgeous blonde turned away and walked through the barn doors. Everyone else stared at her retreating figure in shock.

"That's it?" Marco looked around at everyone. "'We're gonna stop them let's go'? Does she have some kind of plan? And if she does, does she realize it's 6:30 in the friggin' am? Nothing will be open!"

Cassie shrugged and followed her best friend's path out the door. Tobias flew out a barn window and Ax looked to Jake for instructions.

When Jake got up and followed the girls, Marco sighed. "Man, I am so very glad we chose Jake as our leader instead of his hot-but-psychotic cousin."

.x.

For the next three hours, the teens stayed at a park that was at the edge of town. Tobias stayed in a tree just in case someone did come by, and Rachel and Cassie were off talking amongst themselves, so the remaining members chilled, and chatted about guy stuff. Which often led to frustration on Marco's part as he tried to explain things to Ax.

Jake laughed at Marco's frustration, who would then turn and tackle his friend and they would mock-wrestle on the grass. Nine times out of ten, Jake won. The tenth time, Marco had gotten Ax to join him and together they pulled Jake to the ground.

"What are you guys doing?" Rachel and Cassie had come over, apparently done with their conversation, and were standing over the boys, arms crossed, head tilted in odd synchronicity.

The three teen males on the ground shrugged and sat up. Their clothes were mussed and all three has grass in their hair. Cassie kindly pointed that out to them.

"Anyway, if you're done being male, we need to get to the mall. The plan is worked out."

The blonde turned and walked off side by side with Cassie, the two of them once again deep in conversation.

"You gonna tell us what the plan is Rach?" The two girls didn't falter. Marco looked at his best friend.

"Apparently not. Maybe it's need-to-know only."

Jake scoffed. Tobias agreed with Jake, though he kept that to himself. "Marco, if it was a need-to-know mission, and we weren't going to be told anything, she wouldn't have bothered to tell us she had a plan period. She would have just done it herself, or included whoever else she needed."

Marco nodded, "Point." Then stood and offered a hand to the two brunets still on the ground. Tobias flew on ahead, high above the group as they made their way to the mall.

Reaching the building a few minutes before the rest of the Animorphs did, the boy-turned-hawk landed by the dumpsters and morphed to his human body. Rachel had told him the night before that she would leave a bag of clothing there for him.

Trying his very best to look aimless and like a normal teen hanging out at the mall, he walked up the stairs to the front doors. He stopped just shy of entering as Jake called out his name.

"Tobias? Hey Tobias! Man, wait up!" He stood calmly, nonchalantly, and hoped his face wasn't completely blank like Marco so frequently accused him of.

Jake held out his hand and Tobias was pulled into a 'man hug'.

"Your face is blank." Damn. Well so much for that. He shrugged. "Sorry. Not used to human expression."

Jake smirked. "Despite being human for the formative part of your life?" Tobias' grey eyes narrowed and Jake chuckled. "Sorry Tobias. Just jerking your chain."

It was Tobias' turn to smirk. "Yeah, you're doing a good job of the jerk half."

Jake ruffled his hair in retaliation. Marco hopped up to them and slung an arm around both their shoulders, the one around Jake being considerably higher than his own head.

"Damn Jake! You wanna shrink a couple inches?"

Jake squatted for all of 5 steps before groaning and saying how he couldn't stay that short for even a few seconds. Tobias had the tiniest upwards tilt to his lips as he chuckled over the easy camaraderie the two teens shared.

Grabbing food from the various favorite branches in the food court before sitting down, the boys scarfed their meals down. Rachel raised a delicate blonde eyebrow before sighing.

She shared a suffering glance with Cassie before smacking the boys' heads to get their attention.

"Okay, so the plan is to distract the mall security while we destroy the little nest they've set up at the mall. Cassie and I have been scouting these guys out for weeks so we know what to do and where everyone needs to go alright?"

Jake raised a hand. "What exactly are you looking for as a distraction?"

"Despite the fact that the guards are Yeerk-controlled, they still work at a mall and can't yet afford any unusual movements garnering attention. So if, say, there were two teens rather heavily making out in the middle of the mall, they'd be forced to give chase. And if those same two teens ran around and evaded capture, they'd have to call in other guards, hopefully taking away any and all attention on their prime directive enough for us to break in and destroy it!"

Four sets of (male) eyes stared at the beautiful blonde. Not a word was said. However a few looks were traded and one elbow was jammed into another's side.

Jake coughed. "And who exactly do you have in mind for this diversion? You and Tobias?"

Tobias flushed a pretty pink at Jake's suggestion that he, Tobias, (publicly) make out with his, Jake's, cousin.

"No actually, not Tobias and myself. This has to be dramatic, over-the-top make out session."

Tobias felt a vague sense of disappointment when Rachel dismissed him so easily like that. And then a greater sense of relief at not having to do the distraction.

"Then who? Marco? Ax? Cassie?"

"I wouldn't trust Marco with a ten-foot pole, Ax wouldn't know what to do and Cassie and I are the ones who are doing the destroying."

The silence after her statement seemed to be saying something but Jake did his very best to not listen. Rachel huffed.

"That leaves you and Tobias."

Tobias' blush came back even stronger. Jake crossed his arms and raised a brow.

"How exactly does Ax not knowing what to do and you not trusting Marco leave me and Tobias as the only ones available to create a distraction?"

"Well Cassie and I are the one destroying stuff. Marco and Ax will run interference for us, since Ax is good at fighting in his natural form and Marco, do NOT let this go to your head! has a pretty strong fighting form in his gorilla. You also have a strong fighter in the tiger, but Marco and Tobias don't get along well enough to pull this off, so that won't happen and Ax still wouldn't have a clue what to do or how to act. Meaning you and Tobias are creating a distraction. Understand Lover-boy?"

Jake's brown eyes narrowed but eventually, and grudgingly, nodded his acquiescence to the plan. As soon as he did, Rachel had grabbed his arm, one of Tobias', a few bags and dragged them all off.

Marco called out after them, but Cassie stalled him with an explanation. Jake glared at his best friend when the dark haired teen left him to his cousin.

.x.

Jake stared at the bathroom door, down to a bag of clothes and back to the bathroom door.

"…Why exactly do I need to change clothes again? And where did Tobias disappear to?"

"Well, no offense to your mom, or you I suppose, but you need really nice clothes for this distraction. Ones that show off your body and make you look super hot."

As the blonde took another breath to start talking again Jake covered her mouth with his hand.

"Rach, I swear to god, if you bought me leather clothes I will leave right now!"

A roll of her greeny-brown eyes was his reply. His hand was yanked off.

"I didn't get you leather, relax. Even I know you wouldn't do anything if it included leather. Jeez you're almost as bad as Cassie… I've given Tobias his clothes and instructions. You can't see each other until you meet up. It's part of the surprise and distraction."

"Surprise?"

"For each other. As I was saying, you change, and in fifteen minutes you'll head down to the water fountain at the main entrance. It's a super popular area for teens hanging out, so you should get plenty of observers for your distraction.

You are going to be the dominant role in this relational farce, give Tobias some leeway, but for the most part, you take control. Understand?"

Jake looked at his cousin and understood the gleam in her eye. She'd been dying to dress him up for a couple years. Probably her whole reason behind the 'destroy-the-Yeerks' thing. He just didn't have a clue as to what it was.

He grabbed the bag from her hand and opened the bathroom door.

"How long of a distraction do you need?"

"An hour and a half should be sufficient enough. Cassie helped rework it so everything should be done in under 2 hours. All good?"

Jake sighed, "All good."

A brilliant smile lit her face. "Great! Thanks a lot 'Cuz!"

He stared at her figure until she turned the corner. May as well get this over with. Choosing a larger stall, Jake shucked off his current clothes, carefully folded them and switched them in the bag for the new clothes.

He left his old clothes under the sink and stepped out into the mall area. It had been ten minutes already. Rachel had also left instructions on how to wear the clothing. And if that didn't undermine his manly pride, then nothing could.

Originally he'd tried it her way…Didn't like it, so tried his own style…Found it looked even worse and went back to Rachel's idea but tweaked it the tiniest bit. It wasn't like she'd ever find out about it in any case. And if she did, so what? They were in the midst of fighting, and if he and Tobias really got into the… distraction…the arrangement of his clothing would probably change anyway.

Aimlessly walking about the mall, glancing into stores every so often, Jake slowly made his way to the area he'd meet up with Tobias. He was caught deeply in his thoughts and therefore unaware of the attention he was attracting.

.x.

Tobias let out a huff, one human emotive expression he (frequently) allowed himself, as Rachel handed him the bag with whispered instructions before leaving with Jake in tow.

Pushing the door open, the blonde nothlit looked into his bag and decided he could have been given worse.

After changing and stowing his 'regular' human clothes, Tobias left for the fountain and took some small enjoyment out of watching human interactions in the mall. In some way, he could totally understand why humans still confused Ax, even after mimicking them for just over 3 years.

Upon reaching the fountain, he found himself unsure of where to sit and so walked around in circles. A few people came up to ask him if he was lost and he quickly brushed them, saying he was waiting for his…someone.

.x.

Without looking at his watch, Jake knew that fifteen minutes passed. After three years of always keeping time by two hours, sometimes less just in case, most of the group had developed internal clocks. Though none of them had the precise timing that Ax possessed.

Lost in his thoughts, he stopped in the hall as it opened into a wide circle. Scanning for a blonde figure with slightly baggy jeans, a black t-shirt, a hemp necklace and shaggy blonde hair, Jake found no one of that description.

He did however find a very well dressed figure with shaggy blonde hair. Guessing that the good looking blonde was Tobias, who had undergone something similar to what he himself had, he waited until he got a profile, just to make sure.

Tobias looked around at that moment, glancing down at the new watch on his wrist, no doubt impatient and wondering where Jake was. Jake smirked and waited until the other teen was facing away from him.

Sauntering up behind the unsuspecting adolescent, Jake slipped his arms around the slight figure, pulled him close and whispered a hello before brushing a gentle kiss along the pale neck.

Tobias started when arms wrapped around him and pulled him back into a body much more solid than his. He relaxed slightly when he heard the hello, having been on enough missions with Jake to recognize his whisper. The kiss however threw him completely off guard.

Deciding to react to the rising panic later, Tobias tilted his head up and into Jake's neck, his lips almost brushing against skin as he demanded, politely, to know where the hell the older teen had been.

"Oh you know, here and there. Mostly wandering around the mall on my way over. Rachel gave me explicit instruction to arrive in fifteen minutes."

Tobias scowled. "Damn. She told me to be here in five." Jake chuckled at the pout Tobias was unknowingly showing off to the world. He heard the faint squeal of a girl as she watched them.

Deciding they had wasted enough time he pulled away slightly and really looked at the younger teen.

He was wearing a pair of medium blue jeans that were slim cut and showed off Tobias' narrow hips very nicely. A white button shirt with a dark grey tie, loose about his neck. Over top of the white shirt was a thin grey sweater, lighter in colour than the tie, with buttons undone halfway down his chest. The sleeves had been rolled up to just past his elbows and showed off his forearms.

Not bad really, Jake thought. Not bad at all. He was completely oblivious to Tobias checking him out as well.

Jake was wearing dark blue, almost black jeans, fitted, but not so tight that he looked like one of those emo punks that walked around with hair falling across one eye. A thin, light slate coloured t-shirt, a black button up with only a few buttons done up and a medium grey summer jacket that was open. He also had a chain on which two dog tags were hanging.

Tobias had never seen the dog tags before and was curious as to what they read. Reaching a hand up he turned them in his hand.

Jake, Forever Yours.

Tobias

He blushed and quickly tucked the tags under Jake's shirt. Jake trapped the smaller hand on his chest and pulled out the tags to read them. Smiling at the words he looked at Tobias, who was vainly trying to hide his blush and take his hand back.

"I think this is meant for you to wear." Tobias looked up in surprise. A tag was in front of his face, a little too close to read.

Tobias, Call and I will answer. Always.

Eternally Yours, Jake

The blush came back even stronger so the blonde ducked his head in hopes Jake wouldn't see.

"Never knew I was such a sap." Jake smirked before dropping a kiss on Tobias' still flaming cheek.

"Damn, Rachel must have been planning this for some time! This isn't just a spur of the moment thing. She went all out for this distraction bit. Do you think she's using the Yeerk plot to get some kind of revenge on one of us?"

Tobias looked at Jake. "Well since I'm in love with her, I'm hoping she's not mad at me. Since you're her cousin, it's far more likely she's doing this to annoy you. Though I still don't have a fucking clue why I'm involved."

Jake slung an arm around thin shoulders. "Didn't you know Tobias? I'm secretly in love with you and blackmailed Rachel into setting me up with you."

Tobias hid a smirk by pushing the bigger teen away. It didn't quite work when Jake grabbed his hand and pulled him close. Strong arms wrapped around him and despite his proclaimed love for Rachel, he felt warm and protected in those toned arms.

A husky voice whispered in his ear. "Ready to get the show on? I think we've delayed enough. You're going to have to push me okay?"

Tobias started to open his mouth to ask why when it was covered by Jake's lips. A small noise of surprise flew out his throat and was swallowed by the dark haired teen.

Warm hands pulled him closer to an even warmer body. Pushing himself closer Tobias unintentionally moved them closer to the fountain. Jake broke the kiss and moved to the smooth jaw line and kissed a trail over to the soft lobe of Tobias' ear.

Nibbling gently on the lobe and relishing the gasp it brought forth from the younger teen, Jake suckled the skin just beneath enjoying what he was causing Tobias to feel.

Tobias, while nervous from the new sensations, enjoyed the pleasure that flew threw his body at such a small contact. He was placing soft, close-mouthed kisses on Jake's collarbone when said guy began to nibble on his ear.

Gasping at the strange, but not unpleasant touch, Tobias was just a tad overwhelmed from everything he was feeling and gently pulled away. Jake didn't seem to agree with that action and moved closer. Tobias pushed away with a bit more force.

Jake had maneuvered himself so that he was precariously close to the edge of the fountain. When Tobias pushed him, despite there not being much force behind it, the shove forced him off balance. In an attempt to regain said balance, Jake stumbled against the short, stone wall and tumbled into the fountain.

He let out a surprised cry at the shocking coldness of an indoor fountain. Internally he had a wry grin on his face. If they hadn't had lots of people's attention before, they certainly did now. A devious smirk crossed his mental mouth. And it was up to him to get more.

Tobias, eyes wide with surprise, called out an apology and held out a hand to help Jake up. The dripping wet teen grabbed the proffered hand and half pulled, half lifted the younger blonde into the water. He didn't want to bang Tobias' legs on the stone edge and then force him to run later.

It was Tobias' turn to let out a startled squawk as he fell into the water and on top of Jake's sitting form. Perched on his knees, one leg between Jake's and his hands on broad shoulders, with water raining down on him, Tobias looked into laughing brown eyes and glared.

Jake knew that the glare he was getting was the infamous hawk-glare, but mentally shrugged it off and began to chuckle. He let it grow until it was a full-bellied laugh, Tobias still glaring at him.

Everyone in the near vicinity now had their eyes on them. One young woman came over to ask if the were okay. Jake ignored her in favour of pulling Tobias even closer and kissing him soundly on the mouth.

Tobias, mildly irritated with being pulled into the water and on top of Jake, which wasn't that bad really, was tugged into a deep kiss that shocked him out of his irritation.

Catcalls erupted around them and Tobias pulled away, a blush painting his cheeks a delightful pink. Jake grinned up at him and got a mild glare in return. Running a hand through his soaked hair, he stood up and hoisted Tobias with him.

Someone had called security and an older gentleman, in his mid-fifties, with a fair bit of belly and a hideous mustache strolled up to them and asked them what they though they were doing.

Tobias had frozen in his arms so Jake took the lead. "Well sir, I was meeting up with my boyfriend and because I was late, and ultimately made him wait, he pushed me away and I fell into the fountain. As I felt revenge is best served cold, and believe me sir, the water is cold! I pulled him in and then we had make up sex."

Wolf whistles and catcalls echoed the falsified statement and Tobias entire face turned cherry red. He jabbed an elbow into Jake's side, and the Animorphs' leader quickly amended the story.

"Okay it wasn't actually make up sex, but we did make out. I'm sorry sir, but it is possible for us to get some towels? My boyfriend gets sick easily and I don't want him to sick for tonight. It's our 6-month anniversary and I had special plans, if you know what I mean sir. "

Jake did his very best to keep the smirk from his face. Every time he said boyfriend, the older man twitched. He might not have been a controller, but either way seemed to be quite bothered by homosexuality.

"You know how it is with young teenage males, sir, can barely keep our hands to ourselves. Hormones raging, blood pumping. It's just so damn easy to get aroused at this age. Especially when one has a boyfriend as adorably sexy as my boyfriend."

His voice was fairly loud and he knew everyone in the immediate area could hear him. Tobias was astonished that his fairly quiet in public leader was being so forthcoming and obvious. He wasn't entirely sure the blush was ever going to fade from his skin.

It only got darker when Jake's hands positioned themselves on his hips and pulled him tight against the older teen's body. He could feel wet hair tickling his skin as Jake kissed his neck, looking up at the security guard defiantly, a smirk hinting at his lips.

"It's passion sir, and everyone knows you can't deny passion. I imagine you've experienced it with your wife sir; could you really deny the younger generation our turn at having such an intoxicating thing? Can't you just imagine trailing fingers over soft, smooth skin, kissing exquisite lips and thrusting hard into a soft body? I mean look at him!"

Jake pulled away and stood an arm's length from Tobias, eyes slowly raking over the form in front of him.

"Wouldn't you just love to fuck him senseless? How can you deny me a pleasure you yourself enjoy every night?"

The guard was trembling now and they had a captive audience. "Because my wife is a female you little brat! Men are meant to be with women, and vice versa. This homosexuality nonsense is disgusting and against God! You'll burn in hell for what you're doing!"

Cries of outrage surrounded them and a few people started calling out to the guard. A few others moved into his vision sight and some started making out, in homosexual pairs, or threesomes.

Tobias stared in vague awe at the scene around them. The blush had mostly, but not entirely faded from his cheeks.

"You just turned this area of the mall into a giant orgy…!"

It was whispered and only Jake seemed to hear him. Instead of replying, the brunet just winked at him before yanking him close and kissing him hard. Tobias gasped and Jake took advantage. He only pulled away when the security guard took a swipe at him.

People from surrounding stores were pouring in and choosing their sides. The older generations seemed to take the guard's stance, though a select few joined the younger group.

Mall goers and those who worked in retail were slowly leaving their daily routines and coming out to see what was happening. A crowd was even gathering around the upper level railings.

Jake and Tobias stood at the front of a crowd of about 40 people, aged anywhere from thirteen to fifty.

Opposite them was a group of mothers, fathers, young children they dragged along, and the more traditional people that grew up during or just after the second war.

Jake looked straight into the guard's eyes. "Are we gonna let them tell us who we can and can't love? Who we're allowed to kiss and fuck? What gender we have to spend the rest of our lives with?"

A resounding no! with a couple of hell no!s rang out. Jake jumped onto the fountain edge, dragged Tobias up with him and kissed him, inciting others to do the same. Several people really got into it, shirts thrown off, hands shoved into pants, or up skirts, moans and gasps of pleasure echoing loudly throughout the surrounding silence.

Jake had his own hands sliding up under Tobias' shirt as the blonde melted against him when the guard bellowed in rage and charged them. Jake grabbed Tobias' hand and dragged him through the crowd.

"Don't let them win! Don't allow them to force us into something we don't want! Never give up!"

The parents had run after the guard and were now trying to separate groups of teens frantically making out, one couple was even in the act of fucking like rabbits. The guard chased after the two Animorphs who had dodged through the crowd and escaped up an escalator.

Tobias gleefully called out about how he needed to get in shape. Unfortunately, that meant the guard, who had lost them in the crowd, found them once more and chugged his way to the moving staircase.

"Nice one Tobias." Jake grabbed his hand and they ran again.

"It's not my fault!" Jake glanced back as they ran, one eyebrow raised. "Okay, fine, it was my fault. I didn't know he'd lost us. Or that he would hear me."

"Tobe you practically yelled it out."

Tobias stopped short, jerking Jake to a halt. Feeling his shoulder wrench, Jake cringed at the pain and switched hands with Tobias. Pushing the blonde's shoulder to get him running again Jake asked him why he stopped.

"You called me Tobe."

"Sorry. If it's a nickname your aunt or uncle gave and you don't like it, I wasn't aware."

"Not that, just, no one's ever given me a nickname before."

"Tobias not to ruin this lovely movement, but can you please run! That guard is catching up!"

Jake looked around, trying to find a crowd they could get lost in. Tobias was the one who spotted the crowd at the new store. Quickly he ran to the store and dragged Jake after him.

Slipping through the crowds, Tobias made for the door at the back. He could hear the guard demanding that people move out of his way. Jake slipped through the door behind the smaller teen and paused. He looked through the crack of the door, saw the guard struggling and turned back to Tobias.

"We need to get out! He'll think to look for us in the back when he doesn't find us in the main part of the store!"

Tobias grinned and pulled Jake through the storage area to another door and they slipped out.

"Tobias, where are we going?"

The blonde nothlit grinned. "There are back hallways all through out the mall! We can follow them along until we find a clothing store, get some new clothes and that fat security guard won't know we've gone the other way."

Jake looked admiringly at the smaller teen. "How exactly do you know about this kind of stuff?"

A shadow passed through grey eyes. "You learn a lot when hiding from people who don't want you and aren't afraid to let you know it."

His hand was gently squeezed and he gave a slight nod to acknowledge the action. They made their way through the back hallways and eventually emerged on the opposite side of the mall.

Jake looked around and found the bathroom he had left his clothes in.

"Seeing as we're stilling dripping wet and leaving a trail, why don't we head over to that bathroom and dry off a bit?'

Tobias nodded in agreement, so they walked over, unaware that they were still holding each other's hand.

Jake found the bag of clothes he had left behind and smiled at his fortune. Tobias didn't have the luxury of a second outfit to change into and so worked on wringing off as much water as he could from individual articles of clothing.

Jake popped up behind him and started scrubbing his head with paper towels in an attempt to dry the blonde's hair, which startled Tobias so bad he twisted and fell into the counter, banging his hip.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you. You okay?"

A mild glare came with words. "Well my hip will be sore until I morph, but otherwise I'm fine. I really hate being human sometimes. My reflexes are nil and spatial awareness is pretty much dead."

Jake smirked. "You're pouting."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are." Jake was getting too much amusement out of this Tobias decided. He stomped over to the taller teen and jabbed his finger into his leader's chest.

"Don't you have something else to do besides scare me? Maybe something like changing, so we can get out here without being noticed?"

Jake looked down at the blonde teen, who was apparently unaware of how close he really was. A dark brown eyebrow was raised, a half-smirk crossing his face.

A blonde eyebrow went up in response, and a glare raised the stakes. The older male conceded.

"Alright, I'll go change. But I want you to demorph and remorph before I do."

Tobias opened his mouth to protest, but Jake cut him off.

"We've been out for almost an hour and a half. Rach and the others should be done but we haven't gotten word yet and I don't know how much longer we'll need to cause a distraction. And I don't want you stuck as a nothlit." The again was implied and both knew that the second time would be far worse than the first.

"It wasn't bad the first time around, but you're far more useful to us as you currently are then as a human. No offense."

"None taken." His voice was dry. His sweater was already off, so Tobias shucked off his jeans and shirt. Quickly demorphing to his hawk form and he morphed back to his, considerably weaker, human form. At least he was dry now. His clothes weren't though. Damn.

Jake nodded and went into the handicap stall with a handful of paper towels.

The Animorph leader did his best to dry himself with the towels before pulling on his regular pair of jeans and his favorite t-shirt. He dumped the wet outfit back into the bag and walked out of the stall. Tobias was just buttoning his shirt back up, so Jake went over to the dryer and tipped his head under the spout, hot air screaming out onto his hair.

With the air roaring past his ears, Jake didn't hear the door open. Nor was he aware of the security guard grabbing Tobias. Only when Tobias yelled his name did he look up. And promptly smack his head on the dryer, the edge of the metal air-funnel digging into his scalp.

Jake grabbed his head in pain and looked up to see Tobias in a strangle hold by the security guard. The moustached face was smug, beady eyes daring Jake to make a move.

And Jake dared, oh did he dare. Lunging at the bigger man, arms out to pry Tobias from the beefy arm around his neck, Jake was blind sided by the baton that swung into the side of his head and he crumpled to the floor.

Tobias cried out and struggled to get to Jake, but the guard was stronger and hauled him out the door.

Jake forced himself up, his head and vision still swimming, pushed the fuzziness and pain aside and stumbled through the door. Going as fast as he could without overexerting himself Jake looked around to find and follow the stupid guard who had taken Tobias.

He found them, ten stores away heading down an escalator. The guard's hand was now on Tobias' upper arm, his hands in cuffs behind his back. Jake made his way, staggering as he went, using the rail to help him stand.

"Tobias!"

Tobias whirled around, relief evident on his face. "Jake!" He renewed his efforts to escape, but they were now at the bottom and the heavy-set guard shoved him forward into the waiting hands of a group of security guards.

A younger guard, probably only a few yews older than Jake himself, caught the blonde as he stumbled and roughly hauled him to his feet as he sneered as the miscreant.

"Thought you'd get away, huh punk?"

Jake immediately disliked the pimply, rat-faced guard. Not just because he was manhandling Tobias, but because he could see the lust in mud-brown eyes as they looked over the smaller blonde. And it was easy to tell he was the sort to lord any power he thought he had over everyone he came across.

As a group, the guards walked away, Jake still on the upper floor, blood dripping from the back of his head and his temple. They were once again drawing attention. Jake ran with what he had.

"Let him go, he didn't do anything! I'm the one you want!"

He was ignored, but more and more people were coming to see what was happening.

Jake lurched down the escalator, Tobias still calling for him and ran after them. He was regaining his equilibrium and continued to run faster. Oddly enough, they stopped where it had all begun, the fountain. Apparently the mall's security station was nearby. Jake snorted in ironic appreciation. Well, weren't they just lucky.

The mall security spread out in a line, an intimidation tactic that Jake knew and pointedly ignored. Crowds were lining the upper rails and surrounding the fringes of the open fountain area.

The guard who had grabbed Tobias stood in front, his baton held in both hands. Another pitiful attempt to look intimidating. Another attempt that Jake ignored, though he stood where he was and decided caution would suit him better for the moment.

"What are you going to do with him?" His eyes had darkened, his face set in fierce determination, blood dripping down the side of his face, hair mussed from the run and beginning to clump with sticky blood.

Strong shoulders were squared, his back ram-rod straight. Legs slightly set apart, hands clenched at his sides.

Tobias admired the figure he cut right then. In that moment he wasn't just a teenager fighting authority, he wasn't just a guy fighting because his boyfriend had been abducted. He was a leader, a leader whose team member had been taken by the enemy. And he was prepared to do anything to get him back.

The guard didn't notice the change in the teen he was confronting. And Tobias felt mild pity for the man. Then he looked at the blood on Jake's face and decided that no, he didn't feel pity for the idiot who had riled his leader. The fucker deserved anything he got coming to him. A small, dark smiled crossed his face.

"We've already called the police and he will be arrested for public indecency. So will you, but I think I'll enjoy taking you down before they come."

Nothing on Jake's face gave him away. His voice was tightly controlled and almost monotonous. Only an elusive hint of anger was present.

"Will you now? And what makes you think you can do that?"

The guard smirked. "I'm bigger than you, boy. And I have assistance from various sources."

"You mean your back-up? Sad that a grown man needs back-up against a child."

While he normally hated being called a child, because he wasn't and he hadn't been since he'd been given the Cube, he felt in this particular instance, it was valuable to debase himself in front of his enemy.

A red tinge crossed the man's face. "I meant my weapons you insolent brat! You only have your fists. I have the advantage of reach with my baton!"

A dark smirk flashed across a stone face before disappearing.

"So you admit they're weapons?" He hmmm'd. "Bad choice in words, but since it benefits me, I don't really care."

The red flush deepened, the head guard getting angrier the more Jake spoke.

"You're just a petty mall security guard. You're here because you can't make it in the real world. You got stuck here because you fell so far below the cut for being a real police officer that this was the only option. You're pathetic in your old age, thinking you're superior to everyone here because you have a fucking baton. Something you consider a symbol of power.

But what have you used it for? You rarely catch any of the thieves in the mall. You're too fat! You can't catch them."

"I caught you, you little punk!"

Jake's voiced darkened and the guard felt the first flicker of fear.

"No. You happened upon us and grabbed us when we were unaware. And when faced with me, you struck out with your baton. I was just trying to free my boyfriend. Nothing wrong with that, anyone would do the same. I had no weapons, and as you said, I'm no threat to you. So why use such force? Especially enough to make me bleed?"

Anger, from having this kid show him up and even more at the fact that this kid was making him fearful, overloaded the guard's mind and he roared in anger before rushing the boy. His arm was up, ready to swing his baton and connect it with the body in front of him.

Jake shifted to the side and slid under the beefy arm. The guard stumbled past. Two other guards joined in and lunged at Jake. His focus narrowed and he moved in front of the guy on the left, pushing an arm aside and sweeping past him, one leg extended to make the guy fall.

He whirled to face the second but faltered when a baton crashed into his shoulder and wrenched him around.

"JAKE!"

A quick glance to his right confirmed that the tall skinny guard was still holding Tobias, wrenching his arms and shoulders as he forced the blond back from his attempted escape. He would be dealt with.

Without a doubt, Jake knew that there was a crowd gathering. It wasn't everyday that a fight broke out between a single teen and squad of security guards.

The baton hit him a second time, his ribs bursting in pain as the carbon fibre cudgel connected. Gasping for breath, Jake lurched to his feet, grabbing the damn thing as it swung for a third hit.

He yanked hard and the strap wrapped around a feeble wrist caused a weak shoulder to dislocate while the sharp snap of a broken wrist left the guard immobilized.

Two more joined in. There was only two guys left after them, and one had his arm around Tobias' neck, pulling him backwards.

The two guards circled, more wary of the kid than they had first been. Straps were tightened around wrists and hands clenched batons tightly. They would not be used against them.

"Hit him! Do it already! Knock him out!"

The guard holding Tobias was afraid and desperately hoping the others would take the brown haired teen out so he wouldn't have to deal with him. Jake spared the man a glance and sneered at the pathetic exclamations.

One guard took advantage of his distraction and smashed the baton into his knee, forcing him to stumble. The second guy caught on and hit Jake's left shoulder. He was now on the ground and both men jumped him, wrestling his arms behind his back.

He wasn't handcuffed, but that was only because there was no chance to. The rat-faced guard held a small contraption to Tobias' neck.

Jake froze as it was pushed farther into pale skin.

"Don't make any sudden moves, or I'll send 10 000 volts through your precious little Blondie."

Jake didn't move. Tobias did. He stomped very hard on Rat-face's foot. Rat-face yelped in pain and his finger twitched, pushing the button on the stun gun.

Tobias screamed in pain as his body arched, 10 000 volts coursing through his flesh before he collapsed, his unconscious body twitching with aftershocks.

.x.

Jake watched as the world slowed. He could see the pain flash across Rat-face's features, the leg bringing up the stomped foot, and his finger jerking on a hair-trigger mechanism.

Horror filled him as he saw Tobias jerk as the volts entered his body, sparking into the air, his screams filling Jake's ears.

He forcefully shoved the guys away, though their grip had slackened when Tobias screamed in pain. He ran forward and slammed the hardest punch he could imagine into the Rat-face's nose. It crumpled like wet paper and a satisfying crunch was heard all around.

Rat-face cried out in pain, though it wasn't in the slightest comparable to what Tobias had endured, as blood dribbled down his face. Eyes wide in terror of the teen standing above him, Rat-face scrambled away as Jake carefully cradled Tobias in his arms.

Police pushed through the crowds and made their way over to the security guards. Some on-looker must have called them to tell them about the fight. Jake ignored them and slipped away, Tobias nestled in his arms, like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold. They had to get out of there before the police held them up. It could be serious damage if Tobias was taken to a hospital and Jake to the police station.

Jake carefully partially morphed his eyes to Homer's and as he passed people were cowed by the reflective glow of his eyes. He sent a quick message via telepathy to Marco and left the mall as police officers took statements from bystanders and handcuffed the security guards.

.x.

Walking as fast as he could, Jake made his way back to his house. He didn't have money for a bus, let alone a cab, so walking was the best he could do. Running had made Tobias whimper in unconsciousness, so that was out. Finally he was able to push his way past the front door and up to his room, where he laid the prone form on the bed.

It had been an hour since the blond had morphed so Jake could let him rest for half an hour on his own before trying to wake him.

The next half hour was spent restlessly, constantly worrying over the younger teen, going to his side when he made sounds of pain, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

And then the rest of the gang came upstairs, the mission finished. It had gone well, the enemy forces were depleted and no major injuries on their side. Marco and Ax asked how the nothlit was doing before heading down to the kitchen to get some food, Cassie looked over Tobias before putting her hand on Jake's shoulder and leaving as well. He hoped she was going to protect his mom's kitchen from the two idiots his friends were.

"You can try and wake him up if you want. It's been an hour and a half since he changed. You'll probably have the most luck since you're the one he's crushing on. I'll be downstairs if you need me. Or any of us."

Rachel nodded and sat on the bed by the unconscious teen. Jake touched her shoulder comfortingly and left the room, shutting the door quietly.

A deceptively soft hand stroked a pale cheek, concern filling brown eyes.

"You need to wake up Tobias. You have another half hour before you'll be stuck again. Which I wouldn't mind, but you seem to have issues with that. Anyway, if you morph to your hawk form you'll heal the injuries, so you should wake up and change."

The unconscious teen stayed as he was, no big change, not even a little one. She stayed for another five minutes, encouraging him to wake up before sighing and heading downstairs.

It was Cassie who noticed her first and drew her outside to chat and worry in the way only girls could. With Marco and Ax still chowing down on whatever the mess they had made was, Jake went back up stairs.

He stared at the prone form for a few minutes before locking the door and standing beside the bed.

The blond teen looked small and frail lying limply in the rather large bed. The fact that he was injured only made him seem more fragile and small. Jake sat on the edge of the bed, but immediately stood at the discomfort of that position.

For a few minutes, the room stood silent, a leader, a protector, standing guard over a fallen ally. Serious brown eyes gazing at a broken body, watching for any new discomfort that they could ease. Thoughts flew through Jake's mind like a fast-flowing river, forceful, heavy, and swift. Finally he spoke aloud to the younger teen.

"You should have woken up when Rachel was in here Tobias. It would be extremely fairy-tale if you had; the fallen knight waking upon the sound of his queen's voice…" He trailed off then as the past three years flashed through his mind.

"You've never really been a part of our group, you've always been on the outside. Partly I think because the four of us were already friends and then later because you could relate to life more as a hawk than a human.

"Some of that alienation is my fault, I think. Should have tried harder to make you part of the group. I enjoyed today, spending a couple hours with you, without outside influence, getting to know you," He smirked here, "You're a lot of fun to tease ya know."

His feet shuffled, showing his anxiety about the unresponsive teen.

"I don't want you stuck as a human, not because you'll lose your morphing power and would be kind of useless in the war," A strong hand scratched a tanned neck, "Though I guess that's part of it… But mostly because you're not a human Tobias. You're a hawk, that's who you are. You're free in that form as you are in no other, and I can't let you give that up."

And he was done, no more words came to him, everything that needed to be said had been said. Except maybe one.

"There ten minutes left until you get stuck as a nothlit again. And morphing would rid you of the shocks and pain; you might as well wake up."

But nothing happened. He turned to leave the room, steadying himself to tell everyone else.

"Our Fearless….Leader…inspiring…..aren't you?"

The voice was soft and hoarse, heavily punctuated by raspy gasps of air. Jake smiled to himself before changing it to a smirk and turning around.

"Yeah well, that's what Ax gets for calling me Prince. Besides, even if you only do it to rid yourself of pain, everything else I said still holds true."

Smooth flesh slowly melted into a feather pattern before popping from the skin as the owner moved from a human's body to that of a hawk.

I feel much better now. The dry quality of his comment brought a low chuckle from Jake's mouth.

"I'll go tell everyone you're up and about."

Neither had to communicate that Tobias would leave once Jake passed through the door, it was something they both just knew.

Jake walked down the stairs, taking his time, letting the voices of his friends waft up to him as visions from the past day danced through his mind. A good day really, despite the shitty ending.

Hopefully he could keep this day as a reminder when the future one weren't quite so good.

.x.

A/N: So...I -do- actually have an epilogue planned out for this. I apologize for the first posting and the morph-words, I did have them done in Word, but apparently stuff like that gets deleted when transferring here. Kind of annoying, but I've fixed it now and done a bit of editing. I'll try and have the epilogue/chapter 2 up by this Saturday (but that's not a promise, just an effort).

August