Jake gasped for breath, choking on the cold, salty sea water that had suddenly washed over his face. He pushed himself up as another strong wave assaulted him and sucked his body forward. "Fuck," he coughed. Had he passed out? His head was foggy, and he struggled to remember the last thing he'd been doing. It took another icy wave to get him moving.

Jake stumbled to his feet and staggered around clumsily while he searched for his bag. With trembling paws, he picked it up and scrambled away from the cold ocean water. He pressed a button on his watch, and the screen glowed weakly. It was nearly two in the morning. His stomach growled loudly, and Jake moaned. "Maybe Chance won't even notice if I just spend a little bit..."

The teen trudged along the beach until he reached the brightly lit boardwalk. Surely there was an all-night diner or a fast food joint. As he walked, he spotted an ATM, and decided it would be best if he just took out some cash to pay for what he needed. He wasn't far from the subway. That ran 24 hours a day. With a plan, Jake fished the card out of his wallet. He paused before swiping it. If he got on the subway, where was he going to go? He was already in an unfamiliar place. The train didn't go to Pawline. Jake frowned. He wasn't sure if he was ready to go back to the city yet.

His stomach rumbled again. Jake whimpered. He couldn't remember ever being this hungry. He could decide where he was going after he had something to eat.

Chance was jittery from coffee and nerves when his text message tone startled him. He fumbled the phone as he struggled to pull it out of his pocket. It clattered to the floor, dislodging the battery. "Son of a bitch," he swore, waking his girlfriend.

"You find him?" Callie stretched.

"I hope so," Chance replied while restarting his phone. "Come on!"

It finally finished restarting, and he opened the unread message. His shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Just an alert from the bank," he sighed, sitting back down.

"At 3 in the morning?" Callie's ears perked up and she snatched the phone. "Chance... This is the alert you set up for when Jake uses the card you gave him."

"Yeah. So?" Chance was so disappointed that it wasn't Jake that he wasn't connecting the dots.

"So all you have to do is log into your banking app and see just where Jake withdrew..." She looked back down at the message. "Two hundred dollars."

Chance stared at his girlfriend for several long moments before her words sank in. "You're a genius!" He snatched his phone back.

Jake ate the first cheeseburger in two bites. "Oh my god," he moaned around the mouthful of food. "This is the best ever." He quickly ate the second one while he searched for somewhere secluded for a smoke.

Chance pressed the "end call" button and dragged a paw through his hair. "Feral has a patrol on it's way to Sandy Pier Beach now." He sighed. "He will be gone by the time they get there."

"Well, maybe not." Callie lowered her voice. "Isn't that where you traced his phone to?"

Chance nodded.

"So, he's been there for hours now. He's probably starving, so he's going to find something to eat before he does anything else." Callie looked thoughtful. "And I know he left without a jacket this morning, so he's going to find some place warm."

Chance pulled out his phone again. When Feral answered, he tossed out some ideas for where Jake could be.

The subway wasn't as warm as Jake had hoped, but it was warmer than the bus stop. He'd purchased a ticket, and sat down against a pillar to wait. There was no one else there, and he had another hour to kill before the train was even supposed to be there. He fished the last blunt out of his bag and lit it up. He was just starting to come down from the last one, and it would help him keep his mind off the chill from his still damp clothing and cool air.

At some point, he must have dozed off with the smouldering drug between his claws.

"Hey kid, wake up."

Jake lazily opened his eyes. "What's up, kat?" He purred.

"You got any I.D. on ya?"

Jake stared blankly at the tom speaking to him until he came into focus. "Fuck," he whispered. "Enforcer?"

"Uh huh." The Enforcer looked down. "You know possession is a crime, right? I'm gonna have to take you in."

Jake couldn't help it. As he was gently pulled to his feet, laughter bubbled out of his mouth in restrained giggles. He felt the Enforcer's paws on him as he was searched. His wallet was removed from his back pocket, along with a couple pills he forgot he had. "How old are you, kid?"

"Fi-fifteen," Jake choked out. His eyes were starting to water. Was he crying? He felt numb.

"Name?"

"Clawson... No. Furlong... I'm not a Clawson anymore."

The Enforcer looked at the student ID and sighed. "You got some worried kats looking for you."

Jake felt the cuffs against his wrists. "I.. I know.." He whispered.

"They found him." Chance felt his knees go weak as he sank into the chair next to Callie. His body trembled from worry and exhaustion.

"Thank God," Callie hugged him. "Is he alright?"

"Cold, a little wet..." Chance squeezed his eyes shut. "He was smoking marijuana in the subway. The Enforcer smelled it and found him asleep on the floor."

Callie was silent.

"I don't know what I'm going to do about this, Cal. I'm sure there is no avoiding jail time at this point. It's like he wants to be locked up. He knows the law."

"I know the juvenile judge. Maybe I can work out something. Let's just be glad he's safe for now."

"So tell me something, kid," the Enforcer could hear the teen sniffling in the back seat. "You seem like a good kid. You got family that cares, your future is pretty much guaranteed. So what are doing?"

With his paws behind his back, Jake couldn't wipe his nose, and it was taking all of his will power to keep his pathetic crying to a quiet whimper. "If it's all the same to you, sir," Jake let out a shaky breath. "I'm just going to stick with my right to remain silent."

The Enforcer studied Jake for a moment in the mirror before looking at the road. "Fair enough," he replied.

Chance was on his feet and halfway to Jake when he was escorted in. His head was down, and the Enforcer jacket draped over his shoulders practically swallowed him. The teen looked up long enough to see Chance storming towards him and flinched. The large tabby's blue eyes were bloodshot and teary. Jake didn't think anyone had ever given him such a look before. It was a mix of intense worry and tremendous relief. It was the unexpected lack of hatred and anger, though, that caused the guilt to well up in Jake's chest.

"Christ," Chance choked out as he pulled the cuffed teen into a tight embrace. He could feel Jake shaking, or maybe it was him.

"Chance," Jake's voice was gravely and low, but it was the best thing the tabby had heard all day. "Chance... I can't breathe.."

Chance quickly loosened his hold. "Sorry," he wiped his eyes with the back of his paw.

"No.." Jake shook his head. "Chance..." The tabby meet Jake's pleading eyes, and turned to the waiting Enforcer. "Can I have a minute with him? I know you're going to book him and there's paperwork and stuff, but if there's an interrogation room or somewhere we can just talk..."

"I don't know..."

"You can talk in the conference room," Commander Feral interrupted the young Enforcer.

"Thanks," Chance said.

By the time the door closed, leaving the two alone in the large room, Jake's facial fur was completely sodden. Chance guided him into a chair and pulled another one close. He sat so that he was facing Jake. "You don't really want this, do you? You don't really want to be put into the DSS system, right?" Chance was nearly pleading.

Jake quickly shook his head.

Chance grabbed a tissue and wiped Jakes nose and mouth clean. "Thanks," the teen choked out.

"What is it that you want?"

"A choice," Jake choked out. "I don't wanna be forced into my dad's business."

"Okay. That's fine. That's more than fine." Chance was still trembling. "You had me pretty worried."

"Why?" Jake asked.

"W... Why?! Jesus... Jake I don't have a clue how to make you see it." Chance gripped Jake's shoulders. "I feel like we've had this conversation a hundred times, but if we have to have it every single day to make it clear, I'm up for it. Jake, when we couldn't find you, I felt..."

"Sick..."

"Yeah.."

"No. Chance," Jake looked pained. "I'm feeling kind of queasy."

Chance quickly scanned the room and found a wastebasket. He dutifully held it while Jake voided his greasy, late night meal. Chance sighed. "At some point we have to talk about the drugs and the alcohol."

"Uh huh..." Jake panted. The nausea had come almost out of nowhere, but he was sure it was from the combination of drugs in his system, unhealthy food, and trying to fight back his emotions.

"What do I need to do, Jake?" Chance sat down the trash can when he was certain Jake was finished.

"You're asking me?" Jake's eyes widened.

"It seems like every thing I do to either fix things or get you to understand that you're like a son to me just doesn't work. So I'm asking you, how do we fix this?"

Jake looked lost. He'd always been told what he needed to do, what he was supposed to do. Now Chance was giving him what he wanted, a choice, but he wasn't sure what the answer was.

He looked down at his lap. He was quiet for several minutes before looking back up. Chance was waiting expectantly. "I want..." Jake bit his lip. "I want to start over."

Chance chuckled. "I'm afraid life doesn't have a 'restart' button, kiddo."

"Not literally." Jake rolled his eyes. "I mean... Like..." He sighed. "Just forget it. It would never work. It's stupid."

"No offense, Jake, but your decision making skills as of late need some work. So, let me hear it, and I will decide if it's 'stupid.'" Chance tilted Jake's head up. "Okay?"

"What if we left? What if we moved somewhere that doesn't care about ClawTech Enterprises or Jake Clawson? Somewhere that there's no Miranda and no one giving me dirty looks about Becky, and nobody knows about Jason and Suri. No ten story monsters or Pumadyne... We could just start over."

Chance sighed.

"See," Jake huffed. "It's stupid and selfish, and would never work."

"No. It..." Chance stood up and walked away for w minute. "It would work. It just can't happen over night. There's a lot that has to go into a decision like this, and we need to really think it over before we just load up our stuff and get out of dodge." There was a knock at the door. "And then there's whatever comes out of this."

The arresting Enforcer opened the door and gave the teen a sympathetic look. "Ready to get this moving?"

"I'm sorry, Chance." Jake whispered. "I really screwed everything up."

"We'll figure it out." Chance offered a reassuring smile.