"Yep they're just fine, the damned FBI came snoopin 'round is all. John's an old hand at handlin' those assholes. He'll play em like a fiddle, hav' 'em jumpin'f through so many hoops thay won' have a clue what day it is." Tim said. " 'Sides John gets his jollies makein' them chace thay're tail."

"Well I figured it din't make no never mind, that he thought we were a couple. An might give him second thoughts 'bout tryin' ta thow his rope 'round ya. I hope ya din' mind" Tim said " 'Sides ya did say ya had a hankerin' ta come ta the ranch fur a spell."

"I ain't got no right ta be layin' a claim, but I am sayin' I am gettin' ta like ya more everyday. I ain't makin' no promises but I'm a thinkin' we make a purdy good pair." Tim sadi a bit nervously

"Nope, not too bold, I'm right glad ya feel safe with me Morgan, I ain't gonna let nuthin' happen ta ya." Tim said

In the tree, Grey's head lulled, his consciousness beginning to fade. The world spun around him and the burger he hadn't finished earlier threatened to return again. As his head dipped towards the cops, however, his gray eyes widened as he recognized the stun gun, even in his drugged stupor. With one quick thought, there was a crack giving a mild shock to the cop holding it before smoke began to fizzle from its broken charger. Giving no hint that he was even aware of the gun's existence, Grey leaned against the tree and struggled against unconsciousness a little longer.

Tyrone averted his eyes from the taser when it overloaded. "Dammit, Jimmy! The bloody taser just crapped out me!" he announced.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Jimmy, keeping his gun trained on the treed felon. "We gotta get this monkey down somehow. Anyone got any bright ideas?" He then looked back to the guy above them, pondering what to do. He wished he wouldn't have dropped his gun at least then they could have shot his ass out down, now they had come up with a peaceable approach.

The female cop, officer Coates, suggested they call in a negotiator and Jimmy just wouldn't calling him in some shrink-cop, to deal with some freak in a tree. As far he was concerned the guy was like a wild animal that needed to be tranquilized and relocated, unfortunately they only had the one taser.

Jimmy then looked at Tyrone, who knew exactly what his partner was thinking. "Awww, shit man! You're kiddin'." Whined the large black cop.

Jimmy had to laugh. "Com'on, you owe me pal. Time to pay up."

Tyrone shook his head and scowled. "This is payback and then some. I want my change." He said as he grabbed hold of one of the lower branches and started to climb the tree. Pulling himself up so that he was able to stand on one of the large lower boughs he was below Grey and just out of striking distance. "Com'on, boy, it's time to come down now." he told him as he reached out his big hand to get a grip on a branch that would allow him to get closer. "Com'on down, and we'll set you up in a nice cell, where you can sleep it off."

Jimmy and the officer kept their guns aimed at the irate man, just waiting him for him to lash out against Tyrone. Once he attacked the officer they would well be within their right to open fire on the hostile perpetrator.

Tim, glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a silver Chevrolete pickup truck in the distance. Tim policeman brain went immediately to work, he had seen the pickup before, but where, then it clicked at the gas station. It had been parked by the dumpster behind the gas station. The small hairs on the back of Tim's neck began to tingle and Tim's policeman insticts told him to keep a close eye on the truck.

"Yep I reckon we ar a kinda family, the only family most of us hav' left. really. I'm right sure they'll take ya right in at first time they clap eyes on ya, Morgan." Tim said as he kept an eye on the pickup behind them.

As the entered West Camp, New York on New York State Highway 9W Tim turned left onto West Camp Road, then right on Kolar Road and right again onto Quarry Road. Tim looked in the rearview mirror and the pickup truck was still behind them. He followed Quarry Road back to Kolar, turned right to West Camp Rd. He followed that under Interstate 87 to old Kings Rd. Turned right on Old Kings Road then followed Old Kings Rd. to State Route 23A trurning right, following 23A to US9W turning left just south of Cauterskill, New York.

The silver Chevrolete pickup was still behind them. Tim glanced at Morgan as she listened to the CD, her eyes closed, tapping her foot.

[/quote]

As the alarms went off in the detention center, Yelena startled slightly and looked around like crazy. Zoe didn’t seem to be the least bit fazed by it all but when the young woman let a hissed curse slip from her lips, Yelena knew she was not all that happy. Even as Yelena looked the part of Cassius, she wasn’t sure how to portray him in this situation so she did the best she could relying on what she’d seen form the young man when all hell broke loose at the hospital.

As the alarms grew to an almost deafening decibel, the fake Cassius stepped closer to Zoe in the stolen uniform and quickly spoke to the young woman she would hopefully understand and do what was needed to be done. Knowing that what ever would be said would not be heard over the sound of the alarms, Yelena grabbed the opportunity she was looking for. Using her own voice and keeping it as quiet as she could, she grabbed a hold of Zoe to make it look like Cassius was protecting her from something, she spoke into the young woman’s ear.

“Zoe…leave now. If you want to live go before they have chance to get hands a hold of you. Do not come back here. Ever. No matter what. Find way of getting out of here as fast as you can. I will do all I can to protect Cassius but is you they want. Do not give them victory. If you let them get hold of you, you will never see light of day again. I will become you and open cell, do what ever you can to leave. We will have precious few seconds to do this. Please…is only way.”

To make sure Zoe knew it was really Yelena, the fake Cassius pulled back so Zoe could look into her face and see her eyes flash that metallic gold color for a brief second as Zoe’s confused gaze settled on Yelena’s. When she saw the recognition in Zoe’s eyes, she nodded and pointed to the door and once more became Cassius again.

“Ready, baby?”

Barely hearing Toril’s voice over the alarms, the fake Cassius yelled back to his fellow detainee.

“I have no friggin clue, dude! All I know is there’s this guard in my cell and she’s being a real hard ass about things!”

Yelena knew if she didn’t change forms soon, she would start having difficulties she really didn’t need to be having right now. Hopefully, with any luck, Zoe could use the surveillance cameras to make her escape if nothing else.

Walking over to the door, Yelena waited by the door for Zoe to make her move. As soon as Zoe left the room, Yelena would shape shift to look like Zoe in her current disguise and take what ever consequences came with it. It was extremely dangerous, yes, and Cassius was being held over her head, but she hoped Vacily would never kill an innocent victim just to get what he wanted. Yelena was hoping that deep down, there was still SOME compassion within him and that he had not lost his humanity over the years. It was a gamble, yes. A HUGE gamble. But the dice had to be rolled in order to play the game.

The drugs were pounding Grey’s system. His eyelids fluttered and his vision was taking longer and longer to clear out of the haze over it. Unaware of the cop below him, the man’s voice only white noise in Grey’s ears, he lay still, struggling to keep his food down. As the cop reached up, however, Grey lost the fight and his head rolled towards the cop where he vomited all over him. If the drugged man was aware that he had even thrown up let alone done so all over someone , he showed no sign of it as he sat staring into nothingness in the tree. It was as though throwing up had ended his battle with unconsciousness and he seemed to give up right there, staring slack-jawed and heavy lidded straight ahead. For a moment, he didn’t move save for shouting “SHIT” uncontrollably, his voice now rasped with grogginess.

When tics began to shake through him, Grey’s body inched precariously along the trunk of the tree, yet he somehow managed to maintain his position.
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Zoe had no choice but to leave her question unanswered. When the tiny window of opportunity cracked open, she took off in the opposite direction from Yelena. As much as she hated it, her only choices now were to either trust Yelena to save Cassius, or fall back on the mutual understanding held between herself and her lover—the understanding that either of them could die at any point.

Gritting her teeth, gun at her side, Zoe ducked into an enclave beside a door and looked up at one of the cameras hooked up to a computer. Once she disabled the visual part of it, she melted into her strange, liquid binary form and oozed up into the camera, almost immediately dumping out into Beacon’s computers. Once there, she paused, unable to keep from attempting to search a little deeper for Cassius’ location. The records, however, for well protected and it would take more time than she was sure she had to crack through them. There was no way for Zoe to know exactly what their plans were with her, but she had already learned not to linger in these situations. Angrily, she took off heading straight for her own computer in the secret basement back at the cottage.