Sloan frowned as she peered out from behind the curtain in the motel room. Walter had been gone for nearly six hours and she was starting to worry. "You know, that's like watching a pot," Ed muttered from his spot on the double bed furthest from the window.

"I know, I know…but I can't help it. I'm worried."

"Oh, and I'm not?"

"You don't look it. You look way too relaxed."

"Well, you know…I've got my surf movies, my Chow Fun, and my Dew. I'm in heaven," he said, sarcasm coloring his voice.

"Right." Sloan smiled indulgently and mussed his hair as she moved past on the way to the kitchenette to grab a Pepsi from the small refrigerator. "So tell me again, why are we eating Chinese?"

"Chinese food rules. Besides, I'm the invalid. When you're the invalid you can pick that crappy Tempura stuff you like."

"I'll have you know that Shrimp Tempura is the food of the gods," she said, dropping down on the end of the bed.

"Hey, I can't see the TV."

She snorted and stood up in time to hear a knock at the door. Sloan moved to peer through the peephole, sighing with relief as she recognized Walter. She flipped back the security bar and opened the door.

Walter stepped in followed by a very attractive young man with long dark hair. Ray was nowhere to be seen. "This is Charlie Grey Wolf," Walter began. "He's agreed to help us find Tom. Wolf, this is Dr. Sloan Parker and Dr. Ed Tate, our leading researchers from the project."

The man nodded. Sloan smiled and stood to greet him. As she stepped closer, she realized he was taller than she had first supposed, at least 6'2", and despite the obvious Native American heritage in his name and features, his skin tone was rather light and his eyes were a topaz gold rather than the deep brown she had expected. His eyebrows rose as he obviously noticed her curiosity. "Blackfoot on my mother's side," he said. "My father's people were mostly German."

"Ah, I…um, I'm sorry, it was none of my business."

"Not a problem. I don't mind honest curiosity." His voice was a breathy tenor; it matched the dancer's litheness of his body.

"Wolf is an ex-Ranger. Still works for our government, but on contract now," Walter informed them. "The CIA pulled a deal breaker on him, and he figures he owes them for the trouble."

"Wait, what does the CIA have to do with anything?"

"My contact is a high-level official in the CIA."

"Your boss, you mean."

Walter shifted, looking uncomfortable. "Technically speaking, for this project Ms. Burns was my superior. However, I do not work for the CIA, so she is not now and never has been my boss, despite her pretensions to the contrary."

Sloan shook her head. "Walter, just who do you work for? Don't you think it's about time you were up front with us at least?"

Wolf laughed. Sloan had forgotten for a moment that he was there. "Damn, Walter. Close-mouthed as ever. Never play poker with this man," Wolf said, directing his last statement to her and Ed. "My people have the reputation for stoic expressions but he outdoes even our stereotype."

"Thank you," Walter said sarcastically. "I work for John Maxwell, Sloan. Directly. I was the scientific liaison between him and the various agencies in the Intelligence Community. When we realized that we were dealing with a new species John arranged for me to join the team our Intel picked out as the one most likely to dig up the truth the soonest. He wanted the information contained as long as possible, to give the government time to develop a position."

"A position? Forcing a war is a position?"

"No, Sloan. I don't believe that's the official position. That's why we're investigating Alison Burns' contacts. I think this is the work of power brokers within our government, trying to get an edge over their competitors."

"That's disgusting."

"Yes, it is."

"Now that we're agreed on that," Wolf interjected. "Shall we get down to business?"

"What can we do?" she asked.

"You can stay safe until we locate your missing lab rat."

Sloan gasped. "Hey, man…" Ed spoke up.

"How dare you! Tom is our friend. He…he…" Sloan broke off, trembling with anger.

Ed was on his feet. "Take it back," he insisted.

Wolf shrugged. "You're the one who was testing experimental serums on him."

"Damn it," Ed grated. "That's not fair, he insisted."

"Whatever. You people stay safe until we find Daniels, then we bring you in."

... ...

Sloan was going to drive him insane, Ed decided. He watched from the bed as she rearranged their meager stash of belongings for what had to be the twentieth time that day. The craziest thing about it was that she was not normally anal. Neat, yes…but this? "Hey, you want to give it a rest, Sloan?" he suggested as she picked up the duffel bag that Ray had picked up from his apartment for him.

"What?" Sloan looked around the room, her expression a bit distracted. "Oh. I guess everything's already pretty much straightened up, huh?"

"You could say that. So, what, you tired of surf movies already? What about your promise?"

She smiled wanly. "Sorry. I haven't kept up my end of the bargain very well."

"It's okay. I understand, you're worried about Tom."

"It's been over a week, Ed! Anything could have happened to him…he could be…"

He unfolded his long legs, climbed to his feet and hugged Sloan close. "I know, Sloan. You've got to hang in there. Tom's pretty tough, he'll be okay."

"How tough can he be, drugged and under a scalpel?" she sniffed.

"We don't know that for sure. Maybe they'll be trying to get information out of him first. They don't know about the memory blocks, so they may be…"

"Torturing him for information he doesn't have? Jeez, Ed. That makes me feel SO much better. Oh God. What if they question him and his heart stops again? Will they even try to revive him?"

"Whoa, of course they will. He's worth a hell of a lot more to them alive. Take it easy." He rubbed her back soothingly, trying to get her to stop shaking. This was not going well, but then, his lack of people skills was the main reason he'd gone into research instead of practicing medicine. He'd give damn near anything for a decent 'bedside manner' right now though. "I'm sure Walter's contact will find him soon. You'll see, we'll have Tom safe in no time."

"That…that arrogant, vain, smart ass…ohhhh."

"Didn't like Wolf much, did you?"

She pulled back and looked up at him grimacing. "It shows, huh?"

"Just a bit."

"Sorry. He just rubbed me the wrong way; there's something about him that bothers me. He reminds me of someone or something…and I can't put my finger on it. That is so frustrating."

"I can imagine."

"No, really Ed. This thing he reminds me of is frightening. That much I can remember."

"You're serious. Something about him scares you? I mean, besides the fact that Walter pretty much confirmed the guy's a paid assassin."

"Yes. I don't…it's something I feel, on the edge of my…I don't know how to describe it, Ed, but it's almost like an itch. A creepy itch." She shivered.

... ...

A sound at the door startled them and they tensed until they heard Walter's voice. "It's me, Sloan, Ed. Let me in."

Sloan pulled away and dashed over to the door to open it. She checked through the peephole first. "Damn. The itch is back."

Ed chuckled. "Maybe he has good news."

"I'm an itch, Dr. Parker?" Wolf said, laughing as he slipped past Walter and through the door. "Well, you're welcome to scratch me, hey that might even be fun."

Sloan frowned up at him sourly, noting that his smile didn't reach his eyes. They were as expressionless as a statue's. "No thank you. Do you have news for us?"

He shook his head. "What? No, 'How are you, Wolf?''Were you in any danger, Wolf?''Take me to bed, Wolf.'…Ow!" He backed off, chuckled and picked up the VHS tape that had hit him in the shoulder. "Hmm, 'Surf Hawaii IV', now that could arouse violent tendencies in anyone."

"Wolf," Walter began. "This is no time for games."

"You people are no fun." He shrugged, the long braid that confined his hair swinging with the motion. "Fine. I know where Daniels is being held."

"Then we can get him out!"

"Hold on. No. We don't have the manpower, that place is guarded better than Fort Knox, and I'm speaking from experience."

"We've got to do something."

"And we will. But we need help; reinforcements."

"Wolf has specific reinforcements in mind…from an unusual source," Walter commented.

Sloan frowned. She hadn't been kidding about that itch, and she was itching like crazy right now. "Go on."

"Well, it seems the CIA is holding a few other members of your new species in a different facility. That one isn't nearly as secure, I don't know why. I propose to break them out, offering them their freedom in return for their help in retrieving Daniels."

"What if they don't care about Tom?"

"One of them cares, Sloan," Walter told her. "The group of dominants Wolf wants to release includes Lewis."

"What?" She stared at the ex-ranger in shock. "You've got to be kidding! He's a very dangerous man."

Wolf shrugged. "So am I. We should get along just fine."

"You don't understand…"

"I understand that you want Daniels out and that we don't have the personnel to accomplish the mission. This Lewis has access to resources we do not. He wants Daniels too. Now, the trick will be to keep Daniels free from Lewis once we've retrieved him from Burns." Wolf shrugged. "I'm willing to bet that we can manage that risk."

"Well, I'm n…"

"Ah, ah, ah…think about it. Your man will die, sooner or later, if we leave him in the CIA's hands. From what I understand, this Lewis has gone to a great deal of trouble, even sacrificing another of his people to keep Daniels alive. Which is the greater risk?"

"Damn it!"

Wolf grinned and draped an arm around her shoulders. "I knew you'd see it my way."