I took off and flew up to the guard. I couldn't make out everything he was saying, but I distinctly heard the words "two kids" as I approached him. I flapped my wings and went straight for his radio.

He swore loudly and backed away from me, but I was coming in too fast for him to dodge. I flared my wings, reached out with my talons, and grabbed for the radio. My crow talons weren't big enough to actually grip the radio, but I did manage to knock it out of his hand. It smashed to pieces on the concrete.

Problem solved, I flapped away and turned back towards the enclosure. The guard looked down at the radio and then back up at me. He seemed confused about what had just happened.

Below me, Cassie and Marco backed away from Big Jim as quickly and quietly as they could. I saw Cassie point somewhere around the side of the mountain, and Marco followed her behind it. I landed on the railing above the enclosure, doing my best to look like a crow that had just randomly decided to cause trouble. Jake flapped up and joined me. The guard watched us.

[I thought you were supposed to be keeping watch!] I hissed at him.

[I was,] he replied calmly. [And you were watching the gorilla. We're all good. Chill.]

The gorilla in question didn't seem to be alarmed in the slightest. Big Jim was lazily watching Cassie and Marco book it. Apparently two naked kids running around his house weren't worth the effort to deal with. He rolled over on his back and scratched at his belly, yawning wide as he did.

[What happened?] Cassie called up to us.

[Relax,] I told her. [I handled it.]

[Handled what?] Marco asked nervously.

[You were seen,] Jake explained. [A guard saw Marco acquiring Jim and radioed it in.]

[I handled it,] I said again. [Radio's busted.]

[But he saw us?] Cassie asked. Two crows erupted from her and Marco's hiding place and flapped their way up to Jake and I.

[Yep,] Jake said. [Odds are they'll never ID us, so I'm not worried. But they'll be looking for us, now. We should leave.]

[What? No!] Cassie and Marco landed on the railing next to us. I felt my feathers puff up. [We came all the way down here for morphs,] I said to Jake. We can't just leave now!]

[Rachel, that guard is already reporting us. Look.]

Jake was right. While Cassie and Marco were morphing, another security guard had joined the first. I couldn't make out everything that was being said, but the one I attacked was pointing down at the exhibit and talking. As I watched them, the second guard pointed down at the shattered radio, and the first guard jerked his thumb towards us.

[Someone's not having a good night,] Marco remarked with a laugh.

[Regardless,] I continued, [they're looking for two kids running around a gorilla exhibit. We're up here, so they won't find two kids running around a gorilla exhibit.]

[Actually,] Cassie corrected me, [the guards will decide we fled into the tunnels the keepers use to navigate the zoo. There's a huge network of hallways hidden under all those fake rocks and backdrops. They'll spend the rest of the night searching the exhibits one by one to make sure we're not harassing the animals.]

[Exactly,] Jake said. [We got caught, so we're leaving. We can always come back later.]

[Finally, some common sense!] Marco took off. [I'll meet you guys at the van. I can't wait to take Big Jim to the…big gym.]

Jake let out an exasperated sigh. [Did that sound better in your head?]

[It did.] Marco disappeared into the night sky. [I'm sorry you all had to hear that.]

Cassie chuckled and followed Marco. [Apology accepted,] Jake dryly said.

I took off too. But not towards them. I dropped into the gorilla enclosure, caught some air under my wings, and soared back towards the center of the zoo.

[Rachel!] Jake called after me, but I ignored him and glided down into the street.

I found a stand full of brochures and snatched one as I flew by. For a folded piece of paper, it was heavy. I let it drag me down to the pavement and managed some semblance of a happy landing, dropping the brochure right before my talons touched the ground. Once I got my bearings, I went back to the brochure and, with some difficulty, managed to unfold it with my beak. It showed a much-more detailed map than the one at the welcome center, listing the animals found in each habitat.

Jake landed on top of the map. I locked my birdy eyes with his and patiently waited for him to say something. But he didn't. He just stared at me.

[What?] I finally asked him.

He looked down at the map, then back up at me. [Find anything interesting?]

[I would if you moved.]

He didn't move. [What's going on with you, Rachel?] he asked me.

[Nothing,] I lied.

Again, he didn't say anything. But he did move off the map. I started reading animal names. Or acting like I was.

[Rachel - ]

[Don't.]

[No,] Jake continued. [No. You don't get to do that. Not with me. Talk.]

I ignored him. Jake sighed. [Rachel, you can tell me what your problem is, or Ican tell you what your problem is.]

[This should be good.]

[You got hurt,] Jake said bluntly. [Cassie and Tobias told me what happened to you at the mall. Aximili almost took your head clean off, and then a Controller blew you in half. You almost died. Twice.]

I ignored him some more. I was getting good at ignoring people. I told myself that was a good thing. I started reading my map.

[And we both know those weren't the first few times you cheated death,] Jake continued. [Or even the second or third times. Because - ]

[Stop.]

[We were - ]

I turned around and pecked him in the face. Hard. [Stop!]

Jake backed away, but he was still talking. [Rachel, First of Her Name, Khaleesi of the Great Sea of Kicking Ass, figured out she's actually not that great and can't deal with it.]

[There's nothing wrong with me!] Now I was mad. I flapped off the ground and went for him, but Jake nimbly hopped aside and let me shoot past him. I banked right and brought my claws forward, intending to bowl him over and peck him until he shut up. But he just dodged again.

[Admit it, Rachel,] Jake said coldly. [You always imagined that if something happened, you'd be the hero who stepped up and cleaned house. And you did, with that Controller. But you haven't been lately.] He dodged again, a different direction this time, as I came back around for a second pass and missed. [You tried overpowering Aximili and he nearly killed you. You tried fighting a SWAT team all by yourself, as a snake, with predictable results.]

[What do you want from me, Jake?] I demanded angrily. [Is this your idea of therapy or something? Tell me how terrible I am and get me good and mad?]

I hit him on my third pass. Jake squawked as I hit him and went rolling across the pavement. He stopped in front of the map, and I landed on top of him.

[No,] Jake said with irritating patience. [I just want you to admit it to yourself. You're scared.]

[Of what?!]

[Dying.]

I hopped off him. Jake got back on his feet and shook himself. [Rachel,] he continued. [We've known each other all our lives. Be honest. Before we found Elfangor, before we got powers, before an alien kidnapped and tried to kill us, when was the last time you actually felt threatened?]

I didn't even have to think about it. Nothing ever scared me. Even after Elfangor told us about the Yeerks, I wasn't scared. He wanted to give us superpowers. I was more excited than anything.

[We're all scared, Rachel,] Jake said, gently this time. [Marco's scared of being killed and leaving his father alone. Tobias acts like we've been handed some sort of sacred duty, but he's as scared for his life as you are. Cassie, too. And I'm – ]

[Jake. I get it.] I closed my eyes and took a calming, mental breath. [I get it.]

[No. I don't think you do,] Jake replied. [What I'm trying to say is, if any of us are going to get through this thing unscathed, it's going to be you. You've always been a fighter. Any time anybody tries to control you, you resist just to resist. And you always win, somehow. Your immediate response to being grounded was to ignore it.]

[So Cassie did tell you.]

[Why wouldn't she?]

[I don't know. But you're wrong,] I told him. [I'm not afraid of dying.]

[Oh?]

[I mean, that's part of it. I think.] I took a moment to collect my thoughts. [But part of it is also that…we don't know how to deal with this. We're just reacting. It's been weeks since the Yeerks landed and we have nothing. We know nothing about their overall strategy. We don't know who's a Controller and who's not. We can be attacked at any time. Like…]

Jake nodded, like an old, wise crow. [Like we were. Like we have been.]

[Yeah. We have no plan. No defenses. And no information.] I pecked at a twig on the ground. [And Ax wigs me out.]

Jake laughed without humor. [He should. He's perfectly capable of killing us all and we probably couldn't stop him if he tried, morphed or not.]

[Then why are we helping him?] I asked angrily. [Why not tell him to get lost, if you don't trust him?]

[Because there's nothing indicating he plans to,] Jake explained. [Yeah, Aximili could have killed you. And Cassie and Tobias. But once you stopped threatening him, he didn't. He's stranded on an alien world and needs help getting off. So he took a chance and reached out. And we're taking a chance by helping him. I'm hoping that, if we give Ax what he wants, he'll unlock Elfangor's disk for us.]

[Do you really think he will?]

[I don't know.] Jake stretched his wings. [But it's still a plan. Do you have a better one? I'm all ears if you do.]

I did not. I started reading the map again, but more to avoid talking to Jake than anything else. [You know,] Jake said, [the night we were taken, the night Tom died, I thought we were done for. And then you morphed and fought back, and showed me that I have to start doing that. You all decided I should be the leader, and that means taking chances, doing what I can, and hoping for the best.]

[I voted for myself,] I reminded him.

[And between you and me, you'd probably be better for the job. You think on your feet and never hesitate to take charge.] Jake hopped up alongside me. [But you can't do anything if you can't handle a lack of control.]

[You sound like Dad.]

[Good. Maybe that means I'm being a good leader.] Jake leaned over and started reading over my shoulder. After a long moment, he asked, [What in the world is a harpy eagle?]

[No clue,] I answered. [Cassie would know, I bet.]

[Probably.] Jake looked at me. [Wanna go see?]

[Sure. Maybe we can use it.]

We left the map on the ground and took flight. The guide said the harpy eagle was located in the Amazing Amazon area, in its own enclosure, so that's where we went. It didn't take long to find the exhibit. The eagles were housed under a chainlink dome supported by thick, fake trees. Under the zoo lights, Jake and I could make out the eagles roosting in the upper branches. The enclosure itself was a pit, similar to the gorilla exhibit, so that the eagles' perches were only a few feet overlooking the viewing area.

I learned about harpies during some lessons on Greek mythology in middle school. They were ugly women with bird wings and clawed feet, so I imagined a harpy eagle as massive and ugly. I was not disappointed. Compared to my crow body, it was like sizing up a hang glider compared to a B-52.

And they were beautiful. They each had pure white bodies shrouded in jet-black wings, with a silver head and eyes and beaks just as dark as their wings. One of them was awake and looking around, with tufts of feathers sticking up from the back of its head like a pair of ears. Small, black stripes went around their white feathered legs, legs ending in some truly vicious-looking talons. And did I mention how big the birds were? If they weren't the size of me as a person, they were making their best attempts to look like it.

[The sign says they eat monkeys and sloths,] Jake helpfully mentioned as I landed next to him in the viewing area. [And since Marco isn't here to say it, I will. They could probably eat us, too.]

I laughed, and after a quick look around, I demorphed. Jake politely looked away. [How are you getting in?] he asked me.

[Snake.]

[Oh, good,] Jake quipped sarcastically. [Sign says they eat snakes, too. 'Juvenile anacondas.']

At least he'd stopped sounding like Dad. [No, it doesn't. Keep watch.] I started my rattlesnake morph. [And this time, tell me about the guard before he reports me.]

[Sure.] But Jake kept reading the sign. [Okay, this you'll like. It also says that the females are generally larger and more powerful than the males. Enjoy.]

I managed to get into the enclosure and make my way down into the pit without incident. It wasn't a straight drop, thankfully. I wasn't interested in seeing how well rattlesnakes can climb. With Jake's guidance, I found the tree the eagles were roosting in, demorphed, and spent several minutes climbing it. If the eagles noticed me, they didn't consider me worth eating. I idly wondered what the zoo fed them. Live rabbits? Actual monkeys? Dumb kids who break in?

I was lucky. The largest of the eagles was roosting within arm's reach of the tree trunk. I decided to come at it from below. I moved further up the branches, feeling all too much like a monkey. The eagle had a head buried in its wing, passed out and apparently sleeping too deeply to hear me coming. I stretched out my right arm and put two fingers on one of its feet. She awoke with a start and glared down at me, but her eyes closed as I took her DNA and added it to my own.

With that done, I made my way back down the tree, remorphed my snake, and left the enclosure. Jake was perched exactly where I left him. I demorphed and went crow.

[Happy now?] He asked me.

[Yes.] To be honest, as impressive as they were, I wasn't sure how useful a harpy eagle morph would be in a fight. But I was interested in finding out. [You ready to head back?]

[In a minute.] Jake was looking down the path into another enclosure. [I think I found a morph I want.]

I helped Jake grab his morph. It took some doing, but we managed it. When Jake was done, we flew back towards the parking lot.

[Hey Jake?] I said after a while. [I want to apologize. I should have asked you something a while ago, but I didn't think to. Can I ask you now?]

[Sure. What's up?]

[How are you doing? Are you okay?]