"I thought you managed to lose him," David said, tense with concern.

"Actually," Tasha confessed, "I returned to the lab with him."

Sarah half-stood, clenching her fists at her sides. "Was this another of your tricks, then?" She was starting to get more than a trace of that feral look.

"Take it easy, Sarah." David placed a hand on her shoulder. "Remember," he added more softly near her ear, "we are in a public place." She sank back into her end of the seat after a moment's hesitation. David eyed her for a moment longer, noting the way she sank back and folded her arms with a scowl, but as long as that's all she was going to do…

"He figured out I was leading him in circles," Tasha continued. "I told him about my son. He said he didn't approve of the way Esben is using a child to coerce me, and that he would return to the facility with me and allow me to spin a story about how we tried our best but you both managed to elude us."

"So you're a double-crosser all around…" Sarah grated through clenched teeth.

David shot her another glance, but still saw nothing to get concerned about. "What happened then?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. The last I heard, he was going to confront Esben about his… way of doing things."

"Then what is the hunter doing here?"

Tasha shrugged and shook her head simultaneously. "I would think that if he had something to say to me, he would have come inside."

"Do you think he could be… uncertain about approaching you while he sees you with us?" David suggested.

"I don't know, it could be possible." Tasha frowned.

David's head tilted to one side slightly. "Tasha, what is it?"

Tasha's brow furrowed. She hated how easily her expression could be read at times. "There were just some… strange things that Hunter said to me." She gave it to him in a brief synopsis.

David processed what he heard, leaning forward as Tasha spoke softly. It sounded almost as though Esben had somehow discovered something, and merely utilized and repurposed it for his own design, at least that was his intention… through immoral human experimentation. It wasn't a… complete surprise to him, considering he had seen another Hulk first-hand, and then there had been one who existed thousands of years ago, the remains having been discovered in an archaeological dig.

His condition was not entirely unique… and apparently, neither was Sarah's, at least in some way.

"We have to assume Hunter's intentions may not be favorable for us," David finally said. "We should leave."

When the waitress finally brought Tasha's coffee, David quickly requested the check and handled paying for everything, including the tip. Then he motioned Sarah and Tasha to come with him.

"Do we go for the car?" Tasha asked.

"Let me."

"Sarah!" David reached for her arm, but she was a bit too quick. He shot a frustrated glance toward Tasha, and the two of them followed Sarah as she went out the door.

"Maybe we ought to get a leash," Tasha muttered, to which Sarah cast the briefest of annoyed looks in her direction.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" David demanded when they could finally catch up to the younger woman as she stopped. He then realized that they were standing on the exact spot where Hunter had been looking at them through the window minutes ago.

"He wasn't here, but he was! " Sarah looked agitated. She glanced around in every direction, as though trying to catch some glimpse of the man, then she stamped her foot on the spot where they had seen their pursuer previously.

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"I don't smell him, but there is this weird smell."

"I think I know what that is," Tasha chimed in. "Esben provides Hunter with something that masks his scent. He does that so werewolves can't detect him until it's too late."

"So I won't know he's there until he's about to kill me?"

"Hold on," David held up a hand. "Sarah, you just said there is a 'weird smell'. What do you mean?"

"I don't know. It's like this funny plastic smell."

"Well, you just let us know if your nose picks up that 'funny plastic smell' again, kay?" David requested.

"Um, okay."

"Should we head to the car?" Tasha asked indicatively.

"Yes, quickly," David said.

Tasha, who still had her keys, quickly got into the driver's side while Sarah unceremoniously crawled into the back. David cast a glance through the back window, but promptly took his position in the 'shotgun' position up front.

Tires screeched shrilly against the parking lot pavement as Tasha began to speed out of the parking lot and onto the main road. What nobody saw was the gleam of a sniper rifle trained on one of the front wheels, waiting until the car picked up just a little more speed before getting out of range…

There was a terrible noise, and then the car began to careen out of control after one of the front wheels had a chunk blown out of it. Tasha shrieked and the car swerved, but David immediately grabbed the wheel and managed to help prevent them from going off the road into a deep ditch.

Tasha's foot finally hit the brakes, just as David helped guide the car into a driveway in front of what appeared to be an old, abandoned house.

Sarah, who was apparently in full-panic-mode now, launched herself out of the vehicle before it came to a complete halt. She grunted and sort of rolled awkwardly due to the impact; it stung a bit.

"The hell is she doing-?" Tasha was the first to notice.

David's head spun around just in time to see her half-sprawled outside, on the ground. Just as he quickly opened the car door and began to step out, however, he stopped dead in his tracks when she suddenly exploded out of her clothes, skin rippling into fur and a tail sprouting out of nowhere. It was impossible to tell if the transformation was deliberate or triggered by fear and stress.

"DAVID!" Tasha shrieked, pointing.

Hunter had appeared, running in plain sight along the side of the road, from the direction from which they had just driven. He carried a large and menacing rifle in his hands.

David could already feel his stress levels rising more and more. The next thing he knew, a shot was fired that caused the silvery-white wolf to jolt and twitch so hard that he knew she had been hit, even if he couldn't tell where the bullet had penetrated from this distance.

In the next instant, Tasha screamed as a bullet barely missed David and shattered the window on the passenger side. David half-stumbled against the front of the car, just in time to feel his body tense and to catch the slightest glimpse of his reflection in the windshield, of his already-white eyes...