Without a word, Cassie opened the door labeled P-209. But, before Slade could step through, Cassie held her arm out, blocking his path. Slade turned to look at her, curiosity evident in his gaze. "Before you go in there, Slade, there's something you should know about the acquiring process."

"What's that?"

"When you start to acquire, the animal will go into a kind of trance. The trance will last for about ten seconds after you break contact," Cassie informed Slade. "That should give you enough time to run for it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Slade smiled. "Thanks Cassie."

Slade walked into the enclosure that held the panthers. It was set up almost identically as the Siberian Tiger habitat, but there was no way for Slade to know this fact. Though Slade probably wouldn't have cared if he knew anyway. Ducking behind a row of bushes, Slade studied his surroundings. There wasn't much cover to work with, so Slade knew he would have a harder time sneaking through this place than he'd had going through the hallways.

Okay, so this is the real test, Slade thought to himself. Getting through those corridors was just a warm-up. Scanning the area around him one more time, Slade finally spotted what he was looking for. One of the panthers was sunning himself on a flat rock near the far edge of the enclosure. Better still, the rock was itself near the bushes that Slade now saw encircled the outer perimeter of the habitat.

Crouching, Slade ducked out from the bush he was currently hidden in and into one almost right next to it. Slade could see his target, sitting on the rock and seemingly completely oblivious to everything that was going on around it. Slade's trek wasn't going to be as easy as he'd first thought, he now saw. The bushes ringed the edges of the habitat, yes, but Slade could now see that there were quite a few gaps in the circle. And not small ones, either.

Slade huffed, mildly annoyed. Nothing's ever simple. I hate that. Slade thought as he slunk into the next bush over. There was a fairly big gap between him and the next bush, and Slade ducked low to the ground and ran into it. Looking out at the thin crowd gathered around the rim of the pit. Wait, pit? I didn't think we went underground.

Slade looked at the edges of the pit. Since he hadn't felt as if they had gone down any inclines steep enough to have led this far down, the only conclusion that Slade could come to was that whoever had made this zoo had deliberately built high, sloped walls to this habitat. Slade shook himself, turning back to the task at hand.

Thinking about how someone built this cat bowl is not what I came in here for. Breathing deeply and letting it out slowly, Slade ran into the next bush. He was now more than halfway to the rock with the panther on it, and Slade thought that something was finally going his way. He liked that thought.

Slade made it through two more bushes before it happened; the feeling that someone was watching him. Slade cocked his head. There's no one here, so why do I feel like I'm being followed? Seconds later, Slade received the answer to his question in the form of a panther leaping out at him.

Had Slade been a normal human, that lunge would have likely knocked him out, leaving the panther free to feast on his insensate form. As he was, Slade turned and punched the attacking cat in the right side of its head. Dazed, the panther stumbled backwards. Well, one cat's as good as another, I guess.

With that thought, Slade dodged a swinging paw and grabbed hold of the panther's neck. The panther bucked, clawing at Slade's chest and legs, so Slade hoisted himself up onto the animal's back. With the big cat bucking like a rodeo bronco, Slade was hard-pressed just to keep his seat. Grabbing the cat's ears, Slade noticed that they were getting too close to the bush that hid them from the watching crowds.

When the panther crouched, preparing either to spring or to start running – neither of which would have been very good for Slade – Slade braced his right foot against the ground and kicked off hard, upsetting the panther's balance and nearly causing the cat to topple over on top of him. Gotta remember to use less force next time, Slade reminded himself.

Steadying himself, Slade focused on the panther. It wasn't an easy thing to do, what with the cat bucking and clawing at his legs, but once he set his mind to do something, Slade would do it no matter what it cost him in the end. The panther calmed slowly as the acquiring trance started to take effect. Slade knew some of what to expect but, like Jake before him, Slade wasn't truly prepared for the mental aftermath.

Since Slade's own thought processes were already subtly different than a normal human's, the change wasn't as drastic as it had been for Jake. Stepping off the panther's back, Slade looked back at the animal. Forgetting for a moment that he was in a rather precarious position, Slade stood up and dusted himself off.

"Thanks," Slade said to the panther, either unaware or uncaring of the fact that the cat probably didn't understand a word he said.

Slade started to walk out, forgetting still that there were people who could see him. It was one of the spectators that saw him; telling a nearby member of the security staff that there was someone wandering around in the panther habitat.

It was that same feeling again; the sense that someone was following him. Slade had long since learned that his senses were not to be taken lightly. Slade quickly turned to look over his shoulder, catching the Gardens' security worker with his sharp green gaze. Dammit! I should have been more careful! Turning away from the worker, Slade broke into a run.

Oh no, Cassie! Slade remembered that his friend was still standing out in the hallway. Slade didn't know what would happen to her if his pursuer found her out there, and he wasn't at all eager to find out. Slade dove forward, slipping out of the door and sweeping Cassie up onto his back before she could make even a slight noise of either protest or assent.

"Slade, where are we going?!" Cassie shrilled, confused by him suddenly rushing out of the door, and startled by being abruptly picked up and swung onto his back.

Out, Slade said tightly. Someone saw me.

Slade dashed through the corridors of The Gardens, expertly retracing his steps even at his currant high speed.

Once the two of them were safely outside again, Slade set Cassie down and caught his breath.

"Who saw you, Slade?" Cassie asked, knowing that though Slade tended to overreact sometimes, he had always seemed to have her safety foremost in mind.

Some guy in a uniform. I didn't see the exact color. I guess I should have looked.

"Hmm. I don't know for sure, but you might have just run into one of The Gardens' security guards. It's good that you didn't hang around, but you could have warned me a little sooner about what you were going to do."

"Yeah. Sorry about that, Cassie," Slade said, lowering his eyes.

"It's all right Slade. Let's just morph and get out of here before they decide to come looking for us."

The two of them started morphing, and soon an Osprey and a raven stood in their places. Cassie took off first, followed quickly by Slade.