Daniel stared for a long time as the Peregryphon walked away, trying to wrap his head around what he just saw: Alex unveiled in less than 5 seconds, and there wasn't a hint of pain in his expression or demeanor during or after the change. This was getting stranger and stranger. Except for Claire, he'd never seen a Mystic that could shapeshift at will. Was Alex even a Peregryphon at all? Was this just one of his forms he used? That would explain why he didn't bring those veils with him.

Suddenly, something occurred to him. ~DA,~ he called out with his mind. ~What is it he's hiding? You said you know.~

~You'll have to ask him,~ the Vordr responded. ~It's not my place-~

~You already said that,~ Daniel snapped, cutting it off. ~if you won't just tell me, then at least answer me this: is he a shapeshifter?~

The entity remained silent for a long time, then said simply, ~Ankle.~

On reflex, Daniel's eyes instantly went to Alex's ankles, raised up in the air…and paused. He had never noticed it before, but the Peregryphon was wearing some kind of band around his left ankle, made of a stretchy fabric like nylon so that it wouldn't break as he changed forms. It looked cheap and simple, nothing fancy or obvious, and blended with his fur. If DA hadn't pointed it out, he probably would've never noticed it. ~What is that?~

~Ask Alex,~ DA answered flatly, then severed the connection.

"Alex," he called out to the small Gryphon. "What is that around your ankle?"

This stopped him dead in his tracks, eyes widening in shock. He looked away for a moment, then shook his head, nodding north towards the police station. Then he looked back at Daniel and squawked, 'later.'

"We're willing to discuss terms when your commanding officer is ready to talk," Shorak said behind them. "We have a few…things we're willing to offer as collateral, substantial things too."

"I'm sure Jack will agree to help," Daniel said assuredly, looking back at the old Royal. "We need all the help we can get right now. We'll be back soon." The 2 of them took off and headed north.

Upon returning to the police station, they were instantly greeted by a line of firearms, all raised and safeties off. Daniel's heart caught in his throat and he took a step back, not understating this unexpected show of aggression. The police here didn't like them, that was pretty obvious the second they first arrived in this city, but this…

He paused, realization finally hitting him: the battle with that Cernunnos. A LOT of officers died there.

He stepped forward carefully, raising a talon in a hopefully-peaceful manner. "I…" He stumbled backwards as a bullet flew through the air. He could FEEL the projectile pass by him, missing his head by less than an inch.

"Leave or-" one of the officers began, but another voice immediately cut him off.

"They're with me!" Jack stepped forward between the cops, turning to face the group. "They had nothing to do with what happened!"

"A Peregryphon and an enormous blue Gryphon were there right before that THING started killing people," one of the officers shouted. "How do you explain THAT?" Jack hesitated, unsure of how to respond.

"We need to talk, Jack," Daniel called out to him. "It's EXTREMELY important. That thing was a Cernunnos! In fact, there's TWO of those things in the city! We don't have time for this, Jack!"

Jack's face paled, but he shook his head, swearing under his breath. "Officers, you are ordered to stand down." Not a single gun was lowered. "These 2 are witnesses to what happened last night, not suspects. They'll remain with the convoy, not in the station, but they are NOT to be fired upon. Anyone who disobeys that order will be dismissed from the force, permanently." This time they hesitated, and finally the group dispersed, though Daniel and Alex earned numerous glares.

Finally, Daniel started to relax, his racing heart slowing. He lowered himself to the ground, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Daniel…Alex…you'd better have one helluva story to tell after what happened last night. I remember specifically ordering you to stay out of trouble, Daniel."

"If I hadn't been there, Alex would be dead right now," he growled in response. "And yeah, we have a LOT to tell you. Shorak is extending an olive branch, for starters. He wants to help us deal with that Cernunnos O'Ryan and his brother."

Daniel and Alex were silent for a long time as Jack walked off. Alex was sitting on the bumper of the semi in human form, looking off to the right, while Daniel was in his true form lying on the ground.

The explanation took a lot less time than they thought it would, and at the end of it Jack left to discuss their next move with the higher-ups. From the amount of shouting into the phone Jack was doing, the conversation wasn't going well.

Alex's mind was troubled. Shorak seemed like his old self on the surface, but there was a hardness to his demeanor that wasn't there before, a detachment so out of character he was virtually unrecognizable because of it.

Daniel's gaze wandered for a while, but numerous times it once again found the anklet Alex was wearing. He had been hoping to keep the anklet a secret just a little longer, at least until he knew how to explain his having it to Jack, but now that Daniel saw him shapeshift, he WASN'T going to get out of an explanation this time. He was usually more careful than this; he got sloppy. What he couldn't figure out, however, was how Daniel figured out its connection to him shapeshifting without knowing what it was.

"So…how do you know Shorak?" Daniel suddenly asked unexpectedly, catching Alex off-guard.

Alex quickly recovered, shaking his head. "He's an old friend. He saved my life a while back," he answered. "I don't know why he's doing these things, but he's NOT a bad person."

"How did you meet him?"

Alex hesitated, looking away for a moment. "It was a little over 8 months ago, roughly a week after my own transformation into a Gryphon. It was long before the Emergence…"

iAlex's stomach growled incessantly as he wolfed down the pizza crust. The stuff was old and stale, but it was edible and didn't have anything growing on it yet. He pushed around in the box with his beak, hoping for something more and finding nothing. He took a step back, staring broken-hearted at the mess he had made of the pile of trash. Yet again he'd be going to sleep hungry. People threw out an amazing amount of still-edible food, but it wasn't enough to fill his stomach – not even close. He was getting thinner, losing muscle mass. He didn't know anything about this race, but even he could see he was emaciated.

A week…it'd been a week now since this happened, since he turned into…whatever this thing was. He didn't know where to go, staying only a few blocks from his house in Boston. He'd tried and failed to communicate numerous times, usually got a scream and the person running away in response, other times a boot and foul words. Once, someone even pulled a pistol. That was the last time he'd tried to find help, when he had a gun drawn on him. He wasn't even all that big, barely bigger than his pet dog Buddy back home. People were afraid of him – and he couldn't really blame them, to be honest. His own visage scared him whenever he saw his reflection in a puddle or a window.

Suddenly, he saw a beam of light hit the trash pile and he immediately felt fear. He turned and tried to run, tripping over his own mismatched feet. He was still clumsy and couldn't move very fast, even when in danger. Right as he rose back to his feet, however, a voice suddenly called out, "Hey, relax! I won't hurt you!"

This gave him pause, at least long enough for him to look at the speaker. It was an older man, maybe in his seventies. There was a warm smile on his face, the first Alex had received since the transformation. He was down on one knee, holding a flashlight in one hand and gazing curiously at him. "So…YOU'RE that Peregryphon people keep seeing in the area." He clicked off the flashlight and set it aside. "You look starved, so you either have had a very bad run of luck or weren't born this way. You used to be human, didn't you?"

This last statement caught Alex by surprise and he immediately vigorously nodded. He didn't know how, but finally SOMEONE figured out what he was.

The man's smile deepened. "Ah, a Hybrid…though of course, you have no clue what that is, do you? I remember when it happened to me, all those years ago, how terrifying it was for me. Descendants like us have it even worse off than the natural-born Mystics, who understand perfectly what they are and don't have to figure it all out on the fly." He reached up to his left wrist and quickly pulled a stretchy band off of his arm. It was a simple strip of nylon with a small black pebble attached to it, nothing fancy. "This is what's called a Miracle Stone. It looks like a plain rock, but it'll allow you to shapeshift at will. It'll be easier to talk with you if you can too. Hold it in your talon and concentrate on who you used to be, what you looked like as a human. You still remember what you looked like, don't you?"

Alex hesitated, staring down at the armband. He didn't even know this guy's name…but in all truthfulness, what did he have to lose? He closed his eyes and envisioned his human self. Within only a second, he felt pain, the same pain that overwhelmed him when he first changed. He was scared at first, but then the changes started and before he knew it it stopped. He blinked, looking around. It took a moment for it to set in that he was human again, a fact evidenced by the beak missing from his vision. Rather than celebrating, however, he immediately shivered, realizing for the first time just how cold out it was. The man draped his own jacket around the young Peregryphon's shoulders and Alex looked up at him gratefully. He quickly lifted the bracelet to hand it back, but the man shook his head, still smiling. "Keep it. They're pretty rare, but I always have a spare just in case. Plus, you're gonna need it in the future. These Miracle Stones are solidified dragon's blood, pure and concentrated magical energy. It provides the energy we need to shapeshift, plus it's easy for people to mistake it for a rock."

Alex nodded and slipped it onto his arm, unsure of what to say. "Actually, I recommend keeping it around your ankle. Technically it doesn't matter as long as it's in contact with your skin, feathers, or fur, but it won't get in the way if it's on your ankle." He nodded and transferred it down to his ankle, slipping it over his foot.

"I…" he began, his words halting and uncertain. He hadn't used his vocal chords to talk for a week. "I'm really cold…"

The man nodded understandingly. "I have an apartment not far from here. My name's Shorak, by the way."

"Alex."/i

Daniel remained silent for a long time as Alex finished. He was once again staring at the anklet, the Miracle Stone. "A Miracle Stone? Those let us shapeshift?"

Alex nodded. "How in the world did you figure it out without knowing what it is? Miracle Stones aren't exactly little-known, but not many people know they let us shapeshift."

"DA told me."

"Who?"

Daniel shook his head. "The Vordr. It insisted I give it a name and wouldn't drop the subject until I had. It hates being called 'The Vordr,' apparently."

Alex nodded, deep in thought. "Well, they're ether beings, pure energy. Come to think of it, it probably could sense the concentration of magic, even if it didn't know what a Miracle Stone is. That actually makes perfect sense."

Another long pause. "So…he called you a 'Hybrid'…what is that?"

Alex shook his head. "Just another word for 'Descendant'. We're called that because we're half Mystic and half human, genetic hybrids. It's also why we can shapeshift, change which half of our DNA is more dominant and change forms. Very different from a glamour, though the results are very similar."

"You wouldn't…happen to have another one, would you?"

Alex chuckled at this, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, no. And I'd rather Jack doesn't know about it. Dragon's blood is extremely valuable, but Miracle Stones cost millions. They take centuries to create, compressing and concentrating a dragon's essence into a solid mass. If you ever happen to find one or get one, don't tell anyone you have it. I'm trusting you with this knowledge, Daniel."

Daniel nodded but didn't say anything at first. "Shorak really ISN'T a bad person…this must be really hard for you…"

"You have no idea. He taught me everything from how to hunt to how to fight, literally saving my life. I would've been dead in a week, if not sooner, from starvation."

They looked up as Jack suddenly returned, looking infuriated. "Bad news?" Daniel queried.

"Very," the Kitsune growled. "The National Guard is on its way, plus a full detachment from the military base in Boston. They'll arrive in a few days."

"That doesn't SOUND like bad news." Alex frowned in confusion.

"The brass has officially refused Shorak's offer and instead are giving him an ultimatum: leave the city before the military arrives or face imprisonment for a laundry list of charges, including numerous counts of terrorism. Apparently, Shorak has a criminal record a mile long and the CIA has been looking for him for a VERY long time. He's lucky he's being given this chance to leave."

Alex's face drained of all color at this revelation. "That's impossible!"

"I don't know how you know Shorak, Alex," Jack growled, "but that man really IS dangerous. We believe he's a monster hunter, which would make him a Class 5 Mystic if it's true."

The silence was deafening and Alex's mind raced. "I…" He hesitated, then shook his head. "Look…just let me talk to him, make him see reason. He'll listen to me; he and I are good friends."

Jack stared at him for a long time. Then: "One chance, that's it."

"The answer is no," Jack said flatly, hand subtly falling to the handle of his pistol. "The US Government doesn't want your help. They've agreed to allow you to leave in peace, but-"

"Leave?!" Wes scoffed, cutting him off. "And exactly where the hell do you expect us to go? Camp Cambridge was our only home and you monsters burnt it to the ground!"

Daniel was tensed, fearing the worst. This was a fight waiting to happen, and they WEREN'T going to win it: they were outnumbered 10 to one. He was also torn: this was wrong, forcing them to leave like this. He didn't know what to think of that revelation, of what Jack said about Shorak, but there HAD TO be more to the story than that.

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's not my call to make. Camp Boston should-"

"We're not leaving," one of the Nagas hissed. "If you want us gone, human, then you'll have to MAKE US leave."

There was a dangerous silence after that, but rather than drawing his sidearm, Jack released his grip on it. "Who ever said I was human?" His form began to shimmer and after a moment he had taken on his 7-tailed Kitsune form.

The silence was deafening. The confusion, however, quickly turned to anger and outrage. "You sided with THEM?! You fucking traitor!" the Naga yelled at him, fuming.

"Wait," Shorak suddenly said, speaking up for the first time in a long time. His eyes were locked on to Jack. "If you won't accept our help…well, we do have one other bartering chip to offer."

"We're not interested."

"Oh, I wouldn't refuse before seeing what it is, if I were you." The Royal turned to walk away. "Follow me. I guarantee this little jewel will change your minds."

"Whatever hoard you have hidden around here, I don't take bribes, Shorak," Jack growled, still in his true form.

"Just wait and see, Kitsune," Shorak answered, looking over his shoulder. "After all, we all know what they say about REAL treasure: All that glitters is not gold. Let's just say…it's an offer you can't refuse." He turned and continued walking. Jack swore under his breath, then trotted to catch up with him.

Daniel hesitated for only a moment, then followed. The assembled Mystics were shooting them daggers but made no move to block their path.

The trip was short and ended outside a small shack, much smaller than the other buildings but guarded by an armed Naga with a rifle. The snake-man gripped the gun nervously but nodded to the group. "It's ready, as per your orders, Boss." Then the man slithered aside.

Jack hesitated at the closed door, tensed. "I'll go first," Daniel volunteered, pushing past him. If it was a trap, he'd be more likely to be able to deal with whatever came at them.

He pushed open the door to the shack, not surprised to find the building empty. He tensed for an ambush, turning back towards the...

"Danny…?"

He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening in shock as he heard that familiar voice, the absolute LAST thing he expected to find in there. He slowly turned back towards the room, staring dumbstruck as a young female Kitsune stepped out of the shadows. She was thin and shivering, almost cowering before him. There was, however, hope in her eyes as she looked up at him. Behind her, a green, 6-legged lizard and another Kitsune remained in the darkness, watching. The lizard's eyes flashed bright green.

He stared down at the girl, flabbergasted as he immediately knew who she was. "Claire…? What the hell are you doing in Cambridge…?"

She shook her head, looking away. "That Blue Dragon," she whispered. "That Blue Dragon tortured me and kidnapped us."

Daniel's stomach bottomed out. The horrible truth was starting to dawn on him, about the 'an offer you can't refuse' Shorak mentioned, but something still didn't make sense: Wes would NEVER do that…would he…?