"Shit, cat… What the hell did you get yourself into now? Goddamnit…"

A string of words spoken from a tired, hoarse throat belonging to a canine on his absolute last legs. His voice was laced with astonishment but he was too tired to express his emotions in any other significant way. Many hours had passed since leaving the dilapidated office complex behind and each proved substantially more grueling than the last. Wolf felt like he'd aged twenty years in just one day, muscles sapped of anything resembling strength and now operating on pure stubbornness alone. Now encumbered with the burden of lugging a second body with him he wasn't able to get around as quickly and unlike the first crash site he'd visited, the second and third he'd run across didn't have anything of comparable value. One was just a Cornerian fighter with a certainly dead pilot and the other a Venomian ship too buried in rubble to bother investigating.

Concerningly, despite all of the time they'd been out in the sun for Leon hadn't shown any signs of consciousness. But his heart still beat and he felt warmer to the touch than he was earlier, some of the color had returned to his paled scales too. So perhaps it would just be a matter of time, might even be better for him this way – spared of the humiliation of being stuck out here like helpless animals. By this point the daylight was all but gone, streets coated in elongated shadows as the last few rays set under the horizon. There was still enough one to see their way around, but not for long. Wolf estimated another fifteen minutes before he'd have to bunker down for the night somewhere. Fortunately, fifteen minutes would be more than enough for him to piece together what transpired here.

Before his tired form lay the remnants of the third and final Wolfen, the last missing member of Team Star Wolf. With such impeccable timing Wolf should have been more excited… But he wasn't. The ominous state the crash site was left in was going to be a lot for him to process. Cars had been tossed asunder as a large gash was left in the pavement from where the ship bottomed out and skidded to a full stop, its nose having met with the ground floor of some building and pushed the brick inwards. Looking on the bright side there weren't any stairs to conquer or heavy lifting to struggle through, but this was something far worse. Panther was nowhere to be found.

The Wolfen's cockpit lid was turned all of the way upright and the inside of the glass was bespattered with old, dried up blood. Blood that had also run down the side of the ship's armor paneling as well in worryingly wide trails. Accompanying that were various scorch marks left around the immediate area in starburst patterns. Without a doubt a firefight had taken place here, but there weren't any corpses that he could see that would help clue him in on who was involved or who came out of top. Wolf let out a deep sigh as he finished his cursory glance around, he wanted to dive deeper but first something had to be done about this chameleon he'd been ferrying around on his back.

The canine poked his head around the surroundings, getting a good feel for his location before deciding on a sufficiently safe spot Leon could be placed in for the short term. Behind an askew dumpster were some mostly empty old bags of trash, it wasn't exactly a throne and it certainly didn't smell nice, but after unpacking his space blanket and tossing it down as bedding it was more than habitable - this would have to work for now. Heaven forbid it came down to it but in the event of a stray passerby or Wolf's capture, this was out of the way and obscured enough that it wouldn't be easily found. Gently and carefully Wolf lowered the reptile off of his back and settled him into the crinkly metallic fabric, using whatever was left over to wrap over his side and legs to keep him warm. During which he prayed that he was just being overly cautious.

Relieved of some of his physical burden, the investigative hound returned to the scene of the action intent on assessing the extent of the fight and where any survivors might've gone, lighting up a cigarette first to aid in his focus. There was no question that at least some of the blood here was Panther's, but if he did get taken down then he definitely didn't resign to his fate quietly - this place was a complete mess. Wolf executed a sharp leap up onto the body of the Wolfen so he could get a closer look at the inside; while the glass up top was painted over with speckles of blood, he was a bit surprised to see that outside of a stray droplet here and there, the pilot's cabin itself was almost entirely clean. Adding that with the side paneling being stained down with red streaks, it was a good indicator that this injury wasn't sustained until Panther had opened up to disembark. Whoever the attacker was might've been lurking outside for the right opportunity to strike, but that was only the beginning of untangling this web.

Infrequent dots of blood trailed away from the Wolfen in a hurried, haphazard pattern that Wolf honed in on. As he tracked it across the barren street it became obvious that whoever got shot, probably Panther, definitely wasn't taken down after that first hit. In fact, they might've even been running at this time. But before the trail crossed all of the way to the other side of the road it took a detour that led to the next major clue. Not dissimilar to the one encountered at the ship itself, there was another large splattering of blood here decorating the concrete in a blooming pattern. There must have been a second impact right here, and it was angled in a way that whoever was responsible for it was behind the victim, standing in the area around the Wolfen. Whether it was a countering shot from the cat or another attack on him from his assailants was up in the air, but Wolf prayed for the former as he continued on. Now the trail grew in its potency, the blood ran thicker and was easier to follow. It finished traversing the street and mounted up over the curb before finally disappearing into a nearby alleyway.

Normally Wolf would be quick to pursue, but he felt some hesitation now. What little was left of the sunlight was deep orange and while he was still capable of seeing on the large, open street this alleyway was a different story. It was pitch black, the small amount of light that seeped in was quickly consumed by the darkness and not only that, but it smelled disgusting to boot. The closer he drew the more his scent glands informed him that something was off; this was different than the anticipated aroma of forgotten, decaying garbage. It stank like iron, sharp against the nose and setting off the part of the brain that warned against impending danger. Not entirely sure what he was getting himself into, Wolf flicked his lit cigarette out of his mouth and unholstered his gun. The cautious dog did a double take back to eyeball Leon's hiding place, making sure he was safe before venturing forth into the awaiting unknown.

Two-handing the pistol's grip Wolf took one careful step after another as he walked, moving slowly so he could feel with his boots. It was dead silent, to a point where he could hear his heart beating in his ears and each tap of his foot against the concrete. Each breath came with difficulties due to the overpowering stench dominating the air but with his vision reduced to nothingness, he had to take it in deep and follow his nose regardless. Before long the steel toe of his boot kicked against something soft on the ground, it didn't crinkle like a trash bag would. In fact it felt like a solid lump, a lump that was clearly out of place here in the middle of the cold pavement.

"Please, please don't be what I think you are…" Wolf mumbled to himself as he pulled his lighter out of his pocket. With the bloodstains out there and now this mysterious object here, it wasn't adding up to being something he wanted to see. With great hesitation he flicked his zip lighter open and snapped his fingers to ignite the wick. It produced a dim flame, not enough to carry further than a foot from the source so Wolf had to squat down to see what lay beneath him. The features of a body gradually came into view, proving that the warnings from his nose were not unfounded. But to his bewilderment it wasn't the feline he was expecting he'd see; it was a dog, a Cornerian dog not unlike those he'd seen earlier, laid out limp on the floor. He was crumpled into himself in a pool of his own semi-coagulated blood, a pain expression frozen on his poorly-lit face while the emblem of his home planet gallantly refracted back up into Wolf's single red eye.

"Goddamn, look at you." Wolf spoke to the dead as he mounted up over him, slipping his handgun back into its holster and placing the lighter down. Not sure of how much time he had to dwell on details he got straight to business, hands now free the canine proceeded to give him a thorough frisking. "Somebody messed you up big time, didn't they?" He patted him down all over, anywhere were something useful might be found; jacket, pockets, hip, thighs, etc and investigating each lump until finally finding what he was searching for. It was a small, albeit functional, LED flashlight. Most military carried them just in case and having passed up on the opportunity to steal one earlier, Wolf wasn't planning on making that mistake again, especially not now. Having been replaced in his hand by the newly acquired flashlight he flicked his lighter back closed and stuffed it into his pocket, drawing his pistol out again with the opposite paw as he stood back up. It was hard not to feel a little perturbed after being surprised by a corpse like that, so the canine took a moment to mentally re-center himself before flicking the light on and aiming the beam down the rest of the alley.

"Holy shit-" Finding himself startled at what lay before him Wolf couldn't help as his reaction was vocalized. The mystery of the stale, repugnant iron stench was uncovered and it definitely wasn't pretty. From wall to wall this place looked like it had been sloppily converted into a slaughterhouse, bricks that were already naturally colored red had been painted over with a chunky mixture of blood, viscera and fur. The same streaked over the trash that littered the area as well, painting a sickening picture and to cap it all off lying only a few meters from where Wolf currently stood was another body. This second body was dressed similarly to the first, with the sigil of his home planet valiantly reflecting the light off of his jacket as well.

It's not that Wolf was unfamiliar with the sight of a corpse, he'd certainly seen more than his fair share in his days, but this one… This was particularly gruesome. He tried not to let his gaze linger on the details as he walked past but the entire right-half of this man's head appeared to be what was now on the walls, to put it gently. There wasn't really any question as to how this happened, however, as spent shotgun shells lining the cracks in the pavement told the story. He was well aware of how much the cat liked his shotguns. Passing through the carnage, the trail Wolf had been eyeing on his way in here picked up again and continued to lead him forwards for another dozen or so meters before ultimately bringing him face-to-face with a closed metal door. The push bar on which was adorned with a large, bloody handprint.

There wasn't a doubt in the lupine's mind now that he was on the trail of exactly who he wanted and if his intuitions were right, he could have escaped to this building and be hiding within. Friendly or no, a cornered animal was a dangerous thing to surprise. He considered yelling out first as an alert that he was here, but decided against it in the off-chance that the two of them weren't alone. Being slow and cautious would be the best approach to avoiding any accidents. Wolf posted up on the side of the entrance with his back against the wall, still with his gun drawn but not anticipating the need to use it his finger was far from the trigger. His second hand was freed up by holding the flashlight in between his teeth instead of in his grasp, putting his palm on the bar handle.

One…

Two…

Wolf's tail flicked side-to-side anticipatorily and his tall grey canine ears were perked in high attention, taking a deep breath before the next count.

Three.

Gently and quietly he depressed the bar inwards to unlatch the door, proceeding to creep it open inch-by-inch in an effort to avoid any unnecessary noise when suddenly, without any warning, the fog of tension was pierced. Wolf was sent reeling backwards on his heels as an ear-shattering blast rang out; the center of the door he'd been so careful to handle was blown through and buckshot bored into the wall opposite, showering the surrounding area in a hail of brick and metal fragments. Wolf's arms instinctively covered his bandaged head for protection as he doubled over and without even a second to breathe the next shot followed up. This time it targeted the handle and completely obliterated the entire locking mechanism in the process, taking a huge chunk of the wall off with it.

"I KILLED YOUR FRIENDS YOU FILTHY MUTTS!" A raspy voice shouted out, Wolf's ears were ringing but he could still vaguely make it out. This taunt was accompanied by number three and this time the hinges were next to go, the top of the door completely removed from its mounting. It was loose now and swung wildly, ripped asunder and bent from the relentless onslaught taking place against it. "YOU'RE LIKE LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER!" Overbearing as it was this voice still sounded particularly desperate and even through his deafness, was one that Wolf knew far too well.

"PANTHER?!" He shouted back as he clutched helplessly at his pained ears, "PANTHER STOP, IT'S ME." He was concerned that his words would fall short amidst the chaos, but as the next moment passed without incurring any additional damage to his hearing he realized he might've actually been heard. Wolf gave it a minute before following up again. "Panther?"

"…Boss..?" This single utterance was spoken in a much different tone than was had before, meekness and uncertainty starkly contrasting against the fear-inducing shouting. "I… That can't be you."

"It is, cat." The canine affronted as he recovered his posture, believing the worst might be over. After that it didn't sound like number four would be on its way anytime soon. He rubbed at his ears some more with a paw, picking up the handgun he'd dropped in alarm. "I'd show myself to you but I didn't come all this way to get my head blown apart. Just – put the gun on the floor, okay?" He felt like that was a fair request but it was immediately obvious that the other party didn't agree, the sound of the next shell being manually racked proved it.

"I'm not a fool, I'll-" The next few words were interrupted by a particularly brutal sounding cough, lasting for an unhealthy couple of seconds. "I'll come over there… I'll come and kill you for trying to fool me."

"I'm not trying to fool you, you ingrate! It's-"

"Shut your FILTHY MOUTH." Wolf flinched at his booming voice, a low growl building in his throat. "Wolf is dead and don't you DARE impersonate him."

"Goddamnit cat you need to calm down, you're delirious-"

"ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL COME SHOW YOU WHERE YOUR TEAMMATES WENT."

He sounded dead serious about that and the last thing Wolf wanted was the extent of his efforts culminating in a firefight with the individual he'd come to rescue. He had to prove himself in some way that wouldn't result in Panther's gun ventilating his chest and there was only one way that came to mind. So the dog did what he did best. Without hesitation his maw opened wide and bellowed out the loudest, most attention-commanding bark he could muster from his exhausted lungs. He bayed out, announcing his overbearing presence and letting it reverberate off of the walls into the night. To the unexpecting such a raw, feral sound coming from a single man like that was prone to instill shock, this time was no exception. Like a verbal slap to the face Panther was quieted in an instant and remained such for minutes. Wolf waited.

"…I can't… You weren't fooling me, were you?" The cat's voice cracked as he spoke again, "Wolf… I don't- I don't believe it."

"I know you don't, now put your gun on the ground before I come wrestle it out of those big mitts of yours." This time his demand was met with immediate obedience, resulting in a heavy metallic object clattering against the concrete somewhere inside. Wolf fulfilled his end of things too, stuffing his gun back into its holster. "Am I safe to come in now?"

"Please, please…" These words came across as earnest but Wolf still intended on playing it safe, his partner wasn't exactly in a lucid state of mind and not much out there was more dangerous than a close to seven foot tall, over three hundred pound jungle cat when he's scared and has nowhere to run. Cautiously the captain walked around the corner with a calm demeanor, holding his hands up high to demonstrate that he was unarmed. But with his light off he couldn't see a thing, it was pitch black inside and Panther himself being pitch black didn't exactly help either.

"Alright cat, I know you can see in here but I can't. I don't wanna startle you but I got a flashlight here and I'm gunna turn it on to help me, okay?"

"I understand."

With that out of the way Wolf flicked his stolen Cornerian flashlight back on again and held it up in his hand. Newly illuminated, he found himself standing in the entrance to what looked to be some kind of storage room that one might find in the back of a warehouse. It was decorated with sheet-metal shelves with piles of boxes stacked up here and there, and right in the middle of it all… There he was. Front and center the cat lay on the floor, upper back propped up against some of the left-out merchandise. His yellow eyes were vibrant in the light with pupils as wide as dinner plates, one could see the wild desperation in his face. The feline spent his life living stoically and withholding emotion, this was the first time Wolf had seen something resembling real anguish reflected in him. It was sad. Blood he'd been tracking was streaked from the doorway all of the way over to where he now rested, not all of it was old.

"You really came for me, Boss…" His voice was weak now, having put away the tough façade intended for those who opposed him. Any pretenses of safety were dropped now as Wolf hurried over to his teammate's side, noting the shotgun and spent shell shells smoking on the floor nearby.

"Well I wouldn't be much of a boss if I didn't…" He spoke as he dropped down to his knees over the cat's incapacitated frame, his bag tossed off to the side. There was no time to get emotional, Wolf needed to assess the cat's status as quickly as possible so he could try and treat him. He swallowed any feelings he had about this and immediately started running through a field examination, looking his partner up and down with the light to check for open wounds and bleeding. It wasn't easy, there was blood everywhere. "Shit Panther, what did they do to you? Where are you hurt? Point for me." This request was met with a labored sigh from the feline's quivering chest, his unfocused vision trailed off of his rescuer's face. A smile still graced his lips, however.

"I… It doesn't matter. I hoped I would live long enough to see you again, but I'm afraid… I'm afraid that's the most I could've hoped for. Just look at me, this… This is the end of the line." But Wolf wasn't about to tolerate that kind of nonsense. He grabbed Panther's chin with two of his fingers and made the cat look him directly into his single red eye, demonstrating his intense fervor.

"I didn't ask for a goddamn sob story. Show me where they hurt you, now. That's an order." Panther's eyes had a touch of water in them, his words met with the silence of contemplation. Eventually the lumbering feline did as instructed. A claw was used to point out two different spots on his body.

"Here…" He said, gesturing first towards the right leg of his pilot's suit. It had a wide tear in the thigh, surrounding fabric soaked straight through with cat blood. "And here." While his first injury was certainly concerning on its own this one made it look like a scratch in comparison. Right in the gut, and it had been freely bleeding this entire time. Without intervention those kinds of wounds won't close on their own, there's so much flow to the area that blood refuses to coagulate. It doesn't kill you immediately, but after a few minutes even the strongest of men would probably wish they were dead. Lord knows how long he'd been here like this and even now it puddled up on him, soaking all of his fur and clothing to an unrecognizable degree. Wolf tried not to let the concern show in his face.

"…You look like hell but I've seen you worse. I'm here now, so you're going to be okay." He tried to inspire confidence but wasn't certain if he himself believed his own words, either way he was going to give it his all. Wolf put the small flashlight in his jaws and started to rummage around his gear, trying to throw together a makeshift way he could stop this torrent of blood. Gut wounds couldn't exactly be isolated with a tourniquet and a bandage alone would be soaked through in seconds. Panther coughed.

"I look like hell?" He spoke, even now managing to express himself with a coy smirk. "You're one to talk… I can smell you from here."

"Yeah?" Wolf replied, he was hurriedly fidgeting with something just outside of his teammate's view. "Maybe the smell will motivate you to learn how to stand again, so you can get the hell away from me." The cat gave off an absent chuckle.

"I'm… I'm not so sure about that captain."

"Well you're gunna need some kind of motivator because I sure as shit can't lug your big ass out of here all on my own. What do you want, tuna? Gin? Pussy? Pretend it's right outside that door you blew to pieces."

"Hah… I appreciate the brevity but… My body, it disobeys me."

"Well it's not going to disobey me." As he spoke he started to feel up the first injury on his teammate's leg, it would be the easier one to patch up so might as well get that out of the way. It appeared that Panther had already attempted to stifle the circulation as well, his belt removed and tied around his upper-thigh in a bid for just a bit more time. This one would be quick. He tried to keep the cat distracted as he got to work cutting a large enough hole in the surrounding pant leg. "What the hell happened to you anyways? Talk to me."

"Firearms, Cornerian firearms." Panther grumbled as he mentally recounted the events, one of his paws balling into a loose fist. "I… Don't know how long I was out for after crash landing, but it must have been a significant amount of time. When I awoke I wasn't thinking clearly… I tried to disembark without checking all of my surroundings and... Got taken advantage of." His eyes closed, "They were already there and when I stepped from the cockpit I was shot to the ground. There were two of them and when they came over to secure me, I toppled both over and ran. That's when I was shot a second time… Down there. But it was too late, I was already to my feet and it wasn't enough to put me down. I kept moving until I was down the alleyway and by the time they'd collected themselves and pursued me, my shotgun was out the scabbard." A stressed breath came out of the cat's nostrils, "I'm sure you saw what became of them after that." He opened his eyes again only to realize that Wolf had taken his own belt off and was offering it up to him, folded over a few times. The leather was unmistakably thick. "…What's this?"

"Bite it, cat." Wolf's words were muffled by the flashlight he held in his maw. "If you know what's good for you."

"Captain, I'd hate for my last gift to you to be a ruined belt."

"Your loss." Wolf dropped it in his lap and didn't waste another second; immediately afterwards a sharp, searing pain burned into the cat's exposed leg wound, causing him to caterwaul in surprise.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Panther swore loudly, face wincing and body shivering as he reeled from the shock. Looking down he saw his captain holding a knife in his hand, it was smoldering at the tip and coated in a mixture of burnt fur and blood.

"I thought you were a big man, Panther. Stop mewling like a kitten." Wolf spoke. He quickly tossed the knife aside and secured the freshly cauterized wound with gauze and a wrapping of bandage tape. The makeshift tourniquet was left on, just in case. "You've been bleeding here for how long now?"

"I don't know, the time… I've mostly lost track of it." Either way his answer was moot, Wolf just wanted to keep him distracted with talking as he moved on to the next task. A bigger job required a bigger tool so the canine pulled out a different knife, one with a wide, broad tip to it intended for slicing. He started to cut the clothing off around Panther's stomach injury.

"Look, I'm going to go in for round two on your gut here. I know you've got big balls but unless they've grown three sizes since the last round, you might want to bite down this time."

If anybody else talked to him in this way they'd be eating mush out of a straw for the rest of their lives, but Wolf was Wolf and despite his rock-hard demeanor Panther knew he was only trying to make him laugh. Having learned his lesson the first time around he nodded his head in agreement at his captain's assessment and did as he was told. Prior to stuffing the belt in between his razor-sharp teeth he folder it back over itself a handful of times, getting the leather nice and thick so it'd fill out his maw. Panther observed as his captain got to work wiping away as much blood as he could from the area with some spare cloth. Eventually, Wolf noticed his gaze.

"No, no you look away." The disheveled lupine instructed, "If you watch it'll just make things hurt more. Put your hand over your eyes." Panther wanted to retort but his voice was stifled by the garment, so instead he just sighed and did exactly that. It was humiliating, but there was no point in arguing with the Boss. This time he could hear as the lighter was snapped on.

"When I'm ready here I'm gunna count up to three and when I hit three, I'm gunna do it. Understand?" Wolf looked down at the wound, he'd just wiped away whatever he could but it was quickly flooding with blood all over again, each breath the cat took welled up more. It was astounding how much loss the big guy was able to suffer and still be hanging in here like this, any smaller man would most assuredly be dead by now. He'd have to get this done quickly, fortunately being exposed so closely to the open flame meant the blade was already beginning to glow. Panther couldn't see or speak, but he nodded in bitter agreement.

"Alright… I'm gunna start counting down now."

But that was a lie. As soon as he'd finished his sentence the canine jammed the red-hot flat of the knife against the walls of the open abdominal wound to burn the damaged vessels sealed. While the leg injury was a one-and-done situation this was significantly larger and wetter, so it took more to finish the job. He had to pull the blade back a couple times to reheat it before reapplying to make sure it all got done evenly. Wolf hated to say that any part of this was a positive, but at the very least Panther's dense ab muscles looked to have absorbed a lot of the shock that would have otherwise done far more damage to his organs. That might've explained how he was left alive here for so long.

Panther squirmed and strained as the process dragged on, feet scratching at the concrete floor while his incisors made short work of Wolf's expensive belt. He wanted to wail out his agony but his muzzle being stuffed meant that he was saved from that embarrassment, as only heavily muffled whines could bleed through. But after an agonizing minute or two, it was over. Wolf had cauterized it to the best of his ability out here in the field and moved to wrap packing gauze in it next, having to use what little was left of their bandages in the process.

"There, there. Stop your sobbing and relax - you're all done. What, do you want me to kiss it and make the pain go away too?" He tried to inject some brevity into their grave situation as it was finished off, using a pin from the medical kit to hold the tape to itself. With his face still contorted in anguish Panther spat the chewed-up remains of the belt out onto his lap.

"That… That's what I think of that idea." The feline replied as he motioned towards the damage he'd done. Wolf's belt was completely ruined, shredded to bits and wholly unusable. His captain snickered.

"I needed a new one anyways. Look-" Wolf lifting himself up to his knees and leaned in close to his teammate until their noses were only about an inch apart, placing a hand on the back of the cat's head to keep him focused. Any air of jovialness he'd tried to maintain to this point was out the window, the look on his face turning grim. "You're going to live, but only if we can get out of here together. I know you want to try and be a hero who sacrifices himself or whatever, but I'm not moving an inch without you at my side. If you want to save me, and by extension Leon, you need to get to your feet." Panther sighed a deep breath, he was ashamed of his vulnerable state and did whatever he could to avoid looking Wolf in the eye. "Even on my best day I couldn't carry you, so I know damn well I can't do it now."

"O'Donnell…" The jungle cat's words came out softly, "That… That's not happening right now. I'm sorry, it can't be stated enough how sorry I am. But I'm too fatigued to go on my own." Panther was never one to reject a direct command before, it sounded like he was speaking from a genuine place. Wolf stroked a thumb-claw over the back of his teammate's neck fur sympathetically. Maybe… Maybe there was a compromise that could be made. He took a moment to review his personal situation, something that had been neglected in the sake of getting here; Wolf was covered from head to toe in sweat, smoke, dirt and a copious amount of blood – both his own and that from many others. His formerly black tank top was not much more than stained, tattered ruins now and if he wasn't careful the rest of him might be soon to follow. He was itchy all over, matted, hungry and some of his muscles were so strained that focusing on them for even a couple of seconds was unbearably painful. Staying here would be a risk, especially with everything that had been left outside, but maybe that was a risk they could incur just for a short while.

"Yeah… I'm tired too cat, believe me. I've been tired for hours now." He slumped down off of his knees and onto his tail-end, sitting opposite from where Panther rested. "We need to get you out of here and find some real medical help, but… I guess, maybe we can catch our breath. Just for a minute. Maybe, maybe we've earned that much…"

"I'd never ask for it, but thank you Boss. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about all of this."

"That's the last time I want to hear you apologize to me."

"…Yes captain."

The next minute was spent in silence as the two looked to their feet, unsure of what was to come next. Both sat in agony – but agony that was lessened by the presence of the other.

"Where's the chameleon? You've found him, correct? Is he okay?"

"He's alive. That's about the most I can say about him. He's been unconscious since I picked him up, it's been hours now. I think it's just whiplash but… Skinny little reptile must have gotten shaken bad. I hid him in a safe spot outside before coming in, you going to be okay if I go grab him?"

"I… I think so."

Wolf knew that the decision he'd made wasn't the smartest one for the sake of the team's safety, but after a grueling day of forcing his body and mind far beyond any reasonable limits compounded against a lifetime spent doing the same, maybe it would be okay to sit down. Just for the night. Before long Wolf came back inside carrying Leon in tow, cradling his chameleon in his arms. For once in his life, Panther felt elation at the sight of him. He and Leon would argue and squabble all of the time when aboard their ship, sometimes it even felt like the runt would do it on purpose just to get under his skin. But out here like this… He realized how much he still appreciated his presence.

While Powalski never woke up in this span of time his presence was still felt as the two other teammates bonded, Wolf orally recounting his exploits he had to partake in to get here in one piece. Leon rested silently in between them, nested on a bedding of spare clothing with both a cat and dog tail draped over him for warmth. Rations were split amongst them to be eagerly consumed and while Panther wasn't a smoker by any means, he made an exception to partake in Wolf's indulgence to whittle away the long hours before the sun would break in a new day. As the evening grew older he eventually fell asleep. Wolf looked on almost in envy; as much as he wanted to, as much as his body begged him to, his resolve was too strong. So he stayed up through the night, silently guarding that which was his. These two animals were the only things in this entire godforsaken galaxy that he loved and he planned to keep them safe no matter what. Even if it killed him.