Tobias and Lindsey walked out of the pet store with a couple different sized mice and rats, so they could decide which would be best. Lindsey turned to Tobias, "So, does everyone hate me, or is it just Rachel?"
"Rachel doesn't..." Tobias began, as Lindsey raised her eyebrows, giving Tobias an incredulous look. "Rachel just needs time to get used to you. But everyone else likes you just fine."
"I just don't really know what I did to her..." Lindsey said, looking off in the distance.
"It's not anything you did to her, she's incredibly protective of our group, and just needs time to adjust to a new member." Tobias said carefully. "You ready for tomorrow night?" He asked, changing the subject.
Lindsey sighed, looking at him grimly. "Honestly? No."
"Yeah, me either."
SATURDAY
The group gathered in Marco, Jake and Tobias's townhouse as they finalized plans. "So Rachel and Tobias will be at the student center, Cassie and I at the library, Lindsey and Marco at the gym. Ax will do aerial sweeps of the clinic to make sure things are still going as planned. At 9 pm we all leave our areas, find the closest private place and morph into our mice and rats. Keep out of sight, and get to our meeting spot at the back of the clinic. We know the new 'wellness center' that they are debuting Monday is in the southwest portion of the building. We get in, get to the first exam room, morph out, then morph into our firepower. From there it will touch and go, we'll need to rely on our sense of smell to figure out where they have the slugs held. Everyone know their part?" Jake gave orders comfortably, looking up at his team.
They all nodded, looking at each other warily. He sighed running his hand through his short brown hair. "I'm hoping that after the delivery at 730 they will leave the building and we can do this with no casualties, but I'm pretty sure that's a pipe dream. Watch out for each other, and yourselves. If I tell you to bail, do it." He looked at Rachel as he emphasized the last part.
The group got up and left, going to their respective starting points. They realized they could never be too careful when it came to who was watching them, and got in the habit long ago of being seen at other places the night of attacks, and not in one large group. Marco and Lindsey walked slowly towards the gym, as if walking to the executioner. "Well if I die tonight, at least I'll have totally ripped abs." Marco joked as they walked.
Lindsey looked at him and cocked her head. "You're full of jokes aren't you Marco?" She said with a small smile.
He shrugged. "Everyone's got their coping mechanisms, it's either this or pot, and I think Jake would frown upon that."
She laughed. "I think it's good you can joke. This shit's serious enough, laughing is important."
He perked up at her semi compliment. "Baby, I'll be your clown any day." he said in a deep suave voice.
She rolled her eyes at him, and they went their seperate ways when they reached the gym, keeping careful eyes on their watches.
No one on campus noticed the rats and mice running through the darkened campus. *You all smell very good, my hawk brain wants to eat you.* Ax told them as they got close to the building.
*That's comforting Ax. Seriously.* Marco replied.
*Anyone else really want to just gather a bunch of stuff and hide out somewhere warm?* Tobias asked. The others agreed.
*Everyone in control?* Jake asked as they waited for Ax to morph. *Cassie, time?*
*We have about 45 minutes left before our 15 minute window.* Cassie replied.
Once Ax was in mouse form, they crawled into a broken air duct, and ran through it, to a piece of torn insulation. Once they had gnawed through that they were in the clinic waiting room. Jake led them to the wellness area, hugging the walls and staying in the shadows. they approached a exam room in the wellness clinic that's door was cracked. Going in and making sure there was noone in the darkened room, they all changed back to human form, looking at each other silently, they focused and changed again. Lindsey into a llynx, Rachel a cougar, Cassie a panther, Jake a snow leopard, Marco a chimp, Tobias and Ax, wolves. They stalked through the darkened hallways quietly, stopping when they heard someone talking.
"Hurry up, Vissir Three wanted this set up and ready for Monday!"
"It's done, they're regenerating, its the perfect temperature."
"Yes but we have to prepare the holding area downstairs."
*Hide.* Cassie said, noticing the stairwell beside her. The Animorphs spread out, hiding amongst the shadows and under the sparce funiture in the halls. Two human controllers walked down the stairwell. The animorphs stopped at the corner and Jake peered around the corner. *Two Hork Bajir inside the room that I can see. Rachel, can you cause a distraction?* If a cougar could smile, Rachel would have. She slinked down the hallway in the opposite direction of the room. Once she rounded the corner, a large crash filled the silence.
*Oh clumsy me, I just wanted a pamphlet about what to if I start itching in my no no parts, and the whole bookcase just fell over.* Rachel said as the Hork Bajir ran towards the noise.
*Cassie, back up Rachel, the rest of you with me.* Jake ordered as they ran towards the room they thought was now unguarded. Jake and Ax went in first, jumping on two humans they didn't plan on, holding them down, trying to carefully to not kill them, but making both pass out in pain, or fear. Lindsay and Marco went over to the hot tub of muck that already had yeerks swimming in it.
*Shit, what do we do now?* Marco exclaimed. He had hoped to dump the barrel and play whack a yeerk before they were in a more permanent home.
Lindsay looked around for something, then noticed the hot tub was set to the lowest setting. *Marco, our friends look a little chilly don't you think?*
Marco tilted his head before the metaphorical light bulb went off. *Oh yeah, well we would just be bad friends if we didn't help them out.* He replied as he turned the temperature gauge all the way up, and the copper colored water began to boil.
*The Bajir were sleepy. Don't worry Cassie and I put them down for a nap... what is that smell?* Rachel asked as she and Cassie slunk into the room.
* We're making yeerk stew!* Marco exclaimed happily.
*Marco add some of those bottles of alcohol and hydrogen peroxide for good measure, and then lets get the hell out of here.* Jake said.
Marco obliged, singing a terrible song about cooking yeerks that he made up as he went along.
*I hear something, we need to go now.* Tobias said anxiously.
*Alright Animorphs, we're out of here.* Jake said, and as quickly as they struck the Animorphs were gone.
AN: Sorry it's been a million years! If anyone is still reading this, please review!
