Beginnings:

By: Taralynn Wakelin

The grandfather clock chimed eight, echoing throughout the huge, quiet mansion. The house was dark, except for one room lit by the soft glow of a fireplace, and a single reading lamp on the large, oak desk. The lone man, with short, brown hair and intense green eyes sat at the desk a smile on his face as he looked at the many newspaper clippings laid out in front of him. The articles all were of the same two men, and all the work they've been doing with animals. He began to bite his nails, a habit he had whenever he was distracted or impatient. He put all the clippings into a file folder, before he put them back into his desk and got up going to the window. He looked out into the darkness and thought about the men, he had never met them before, but he was drawn to them, almost to the point of obsession. He had been that way since he saw a news report on the men three months earlier. He wanted to befriend them, lure them into a false sense of friendship, when in reality he was going to use them for his own plans. He wasn't stupid; far from it actually, in fact he was a genius, he knew that he couldn't walk up to them and expect them to accept him and welcome him with open arms. No, he'd have to do more research on them, find out every little thing about both of them and then use that as his way into their lives. The thought of finally getting what he wanted made his nerves tingle with anticipation, he would start tonight. The sooner he got to work, the sooner he could put his plan into action. So, he returned to his desk and turned on his computer and began his search, his smile never leaving his lips.

Meanwhile:

The afternoon sun shone in the sky over the African Savannah, he hid in the tall grass watching the large animal in front of him as it grazed. He had been watching the Rhino for the last 10 minutes waiting for the right moment. The sweat from the intense heat dripped into his blue eyes, he wiped it away before he ran a hand through his short, blond hair. Finally the Rhino went to a mud hole and lay down in it; this was it, the moment! He got up and snuck around behind the Rhino staying hidden in the grass, trying to stay as quiet as he could knowing Rhino's can't see very well, but their hearing was very good in compensation. He took the tag out of his pocket, as he took a deep breath and began sneaking up to the still oblivious animal. He was just steps away, he just needed to get the tag onto the Rhino's ear and he could get out of there. He crept closer counting the steps in his head, until finally he reached the Rhino who thankfully was still oblivious to him. He held his breath as he slowly reached out and in one, quick movement attached the tag securely to the Rhino's ear. As soon as it locked the Rhino turned and saw him it stood quickly, the Rhino grunted once before it charged. He turned and ran as fast as he could knowing he'd never out run the beast on foot. His only hopes were finding either a tree or a vehicle, so he ran towards some trees in the distance, when suddenly his radio came to life.

"It works! We've picked up the tag!" Came the voice of his best friend and younger brother from his pocket, he quickly took out his radio.

"That's great bro!" He answered still running. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way to our meeting spot, why?" His brother asked.

"Well, there's been a slight problem with the tagging!" He answered.

"What? Is the Rhino okay?" His brother asked concerned.

"The Rhino's fine, so am I by the way thanks for asking!" He answered.

"Sorry bro, but if the Rhino's fine and your fine…then the problem is with tag? No…the data says it's working well! Are you sure there's a problem?"

"Pretty sure!" He answered as he looked behind him and saw the Rhino still behind him as he neared the group of trees.

"What's the problem?"

"Well, I made a new friend, the only problem is she doesn't like her new jewellery!" He answered as he reached a tree and quickly climbed it.

"What? That means…crap! Where are you I'll come get you now!" His brother asked, he gave him the co-ordinates before they ended the call.

Minutes later the Rhino finally gave up and left, he decided to stay in the tree until his brother came. Not long after the Rhino left his brother arrived, he climbed down and got into the jeep his brother smiled at him.

"What?" He asked as they drove back to camp.

"Nothing Martin, really!" His brother answered trying not to laugh.

"Chris, just tell me!" Martin demanded, too tired for games.

"It's just that this is the third time this trip that you've gotten into trouble!" Chris answered as he laughed. "It's like you attract trouble!"

"Yeah, that's me Martin Kratt Trouble Magnet!" Martin agreed laughing too.

"Well, Trouble Magnet that's another successful mission for the Kratt Brothers Animal Rescue team!" Chris said patting his brother on the back.

"Let's go celebrate bro!" Martin said smiling.

Two Months Later:

He pulled up to a small house, and took out the piece of paper he had written the address on and double checked it making sure he had the right place. After realizing he did he shook his head in disgust before he got out and went to the front door and knocked. Seconds later a brown-haired man wearing a green shirt answered, the man smiled at him before he spoke greeting him.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"I hope so, my name is Sebastian Fox. I'm looking for the Kratt Brothers Animal Rescue." Sebastian said already disliking the dopey looking man in front of him with a stupid grin on his face. He already knew this was the younger Kratt, Chris, but he kept his act of not knowing up.

"You found it, I'm Chris Kratt. What can I help you with Mr. Fox?"

"Please call me Sebastian."

"Only if you call me Chris?"

"You got it, and I was actually hoping I'd be able to talk to you and your brother?"

"Oh, okay come on in, Martin's in our office." Chris said letting Sebastian in.

"Is…is this your home?" Sebastian asked trying to hide his disgust and amusement.

"Yeah, we just started our company so, we work out of our home for now." Chris explained. "Martin?"

"Yeah?" Martin called back from their office.

"We have a guest." Chris answered as Martin wearing a blue shirt joined them a few seconds later.

"Hey, I'm Martin." Martin greeted him smiling holding out his hand.

"Sebastian." He added shaking Martin's hand.

"So, Sebastian what can we do for you?" Chris asked as they went into the living room.

"Well, you see I'm actually here to help you!" Sebastian answered as they sat down.

"You are?" Martin asked as the brothers looked at each other before back at him.

"I've seen you on the local news, and in the newspaper and there's no disputing you two are the best at what you do. The fact is though, that there are only two of you and that makes your jobs difficult."

"So, how can you help us exactly?" Martin asked.

"Well, I have my Bachelor of Arts in Biology, and my Bachelor of Science in Zoology, and I'd like to offer my services and join you!" Sebastian answered smiling.

"Sebastian, look we…"

"If it's about proof of my education, here I brought everything." Sebastian said cutting Martin off as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his papers. He handed them to Martin and they looked at the papers together before Chris spoke.

"These are impressive Sebastian!" Chris said smiling, Martin agreed.

"Thank you." Sebastian said smiling. 'Those papers better be impressive for the amount of money they cost me!' Sebastian thought to himself.

"Sebastian, look you're a really nice guy and your education is the same as ours, but we aren't looking to add to our team." Chris said handing him back his papers. "Martin and I decided to do this on our own, sorry." He explained.

"No offence Sebastian, but it's always been our dream to do this with just us the Kratt brothers you know." Martin added.

"Look, before you make a decision think about it? Then let me take you guys to lunch this week and we can discuss it further, my treat?" Sebastian continued to push.

"Okay, why not. How about Thursday?" Martin agreed.

"Sounds good, here's my number. Call me Wednesday and we'll figure out where we're going." Sebastian said smiling as he took a piece of paper and a pen out of his pocket and wrote his number down before giving it to Chris.

"I'll walk you out." Chris said as they all stood.

"It was nice meeting you Sebastian, see you Thursday." Martin said shaking his hand.

"You too Martin, night." Sebastian said following Chris to the front door.

"See you Thursday Sebastian, it was nice meeting you." Chris said shaking his hand.

"Same here Chris, see you then. Night." Sebastian said as he opened the door and left.

A Month Later:

A month after Sebastian's first meeting with the brothers he spent his time trying to win them both over. When he was with them he'd continue pushing, without making it obvious to join them, he'd tell them of past experiences he's had with animals; each and every one of them, like his education were lies! He'd spend his nights planning what he was going to tell them the next day using his constant research about them to help. Every day Sebastian got closer to his goal, but he grew more impatient with each passing minute he wasn't part of the team. He needed to convince the brothers that he could be a valuable part of their team if they let him join. He was a selfish, arrogant man who only thought of himself, not caring what he had to do or who he had to hurt to get what he wanted, he had no desire to be friends with those…tree huggers! To be honest he despised both of them, especially that little green brat Chris, Martin though wasn't as annoying and he could at least put up with him. He could tell Martin would be the easiest to convince, he might be the older brother, but he was the easiest to fool, he wasn't as suspicious as Chris. Tonight he was going to the brother's house for dinner, he had been surprised to get the invite from Chris especially. He spent the day getting ready, going over everything he was going to say, today he was sure that they'd offer him a spot on the team, he just had to wait, be patient and remember to act surprised.

With The Brothers:

It had been one month since they had met Sebastian, and Chris found himself liking Sebastian, but for some reason he didn't trust him. It was odd to Chris though, he really did like Sebastian and considered him a friend, but yet he couldn't trust him, he wasn't sure how that was possible. So, despite liking him and considering him a friend Chris kept himself guarded, only letting Sebastian into his life, not his heart. He was suspicious that Sebastian never talked about himself much, and neither brother had been to his house, despite him being to their's numerous times. Then there was the whole pushing to join them, that's what really made Chris suspicious, but yet he still didn't know why it did. He didn't want to think badly of Sebastian, but he couldn't stop; he didn't tell Martin though knowing how much his brother liked Sebastian.

Martin on the other hand never noticed his brother's reaction to Sebastian, and he really liked Sebastian. He loved his brother, and loved working with Chris, but Sebastian had been right when he said their job was too big for just two people. Yeah they had managed to do it up until now by themselves, but they wanted to do more rescuing around the world, and to do that they'd need more help. It had always been their dream to save animals around the world together, just the two of them, but things and dreams change. Besides Sebastian was a really nice guy, he wasn't one for talking about his past, but maybe once he was closer to the brothers he might? The only problem now would be to convince Chris to allow him to become part of their dream.

"Martin?" Chris called to him from the living room.

"Yeah Chris?" Martin answered from the kitchen.

"What ya doing?" Chris asked coming into the kitchen, joining him at the counter.

"Making a sandwich duh!" Martin said smiling as he hit Chris lightly in the face with a piece of bread. "You want one?"

"Sure, thanks." Chris answered smiling. "I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?" Martin said as he made their sandwiches. "About what?" He asked as he finished lunch and handed Chris his plate and they sat at the table.

"Thanks." Chris said. "I've been thinking…a lot actually about what you said yesterday."

"Really? And what did you decide?" Martin asked taking a bite of his food.

"Martin, I like Sebastian as much as you do." Chris answered playing with his food.

"But?" Martin questioned.

"But…something about him just doesn't feel right! I…I don't know what it is, but I can't get rid of the feeling!" Chris answered.

"Chris, I understand…I really do! But he's a good guy, and he's become our friend, he's offered to help us accomplish our dream!" Martin said.

"I know." Chris said quietly avoiding Martin's eyes.

"But it's our dream, and if you don't want Sebastian to join us…then I'll tell him today after lunch." Martin said smiling as he patted Chris' back.

"Thanks bro, but I already called Sebastian to come over for dinner tonight." Chris said.

"Okay, I'll tell him after dinner then."

"No, it's my idea Martin, I'll tell him." Chris said taking a bite of his sandwich. "It's going to be weird though."

"Uhh…what will?" Martin asked confused.

"It's going to be weird having another person with us on missions." Chris answered.

"Yeah, but I'm sure he'll under…wait! What?" Martin asked. "Does this mean you want him to…"

"Join our team?" Chris asked cutting Martin off, Martin nodded smiling. "Yeah, I do! You're right Martin, he's a good guy, our friend and we do need help if we want our dream to succeed!"

"It's a hard decision Chris, but I think we made the right choice!" Martin said smiling.

"I know, come on let's finish lunch and get some work done before dinner!" Chris answered smiling too.

TBC…

A/N:

Hello again to all my wonderful readers! I wanted to take a minute and talk about this story; I received a message from a reader asking me if I had ever considered doing a prequel to my two stories Forgotten Enemies, and its sequel Arctic Escape. I hadn't, and since I have never done something like that before I thought why not give it a try? Now, this story unlike my others didn't seem to come to me as easily for some reason. This story was a lot more tricky then I thought it would be, so I hope it doesn't suck too badly. Thanks again to The-Seven-Eeveelutions, for the idea! I hope you all like the story, and if anyone else has a story idea, comment or suggestion they are all welcome so go ahead and let me know what you think and I'll try my best! Thanks always for reading my stories!

TW.