Surrounded by armor and dead emotionless faces, Julian kept close to Skipper. He didn't know who these people were or where they were going, all he knew was that Skipper knew what was going on so they had to be safe…for now. He just didn't know how long 'for now' was. It was starting to make him nervous.

Skipper didn't talk. He didn't feel like talking, he had too many things on his mind. First of all was where they were going to go after Unit nine's base. They had to go somewhere. One thing he knew for sure was that they'd have to travel under the cover of darkness. If there was enough natural cover they'd travel during the day too. Where they went was another thing all together. They couldn't stay at the base, it was too close. Manfredi and Johnson were too close. They had been and Nagario yesterday so they couldn't be too far off. For the next few days darkness would be their allies. Humans too. They had to travel through human homes and buildings during the day and in the shadows at night if they were ever going to get out of Canada alive. How they were going to survive after that would have to wait. How long they'd be in hiding would be undiscovered for a while too. He wished he had a way of contacting the zoo though. That would really help.

He worried about them. He had ever since they left, although he had tried to push them to the back of his mind the thought of them and if they were ok nagged at the corner of his conscious. What happened after he left the zoo? Johnson and Manfredi were stronger than they were. Sure they had come a long way from when they first met but they were still weaker than the two Gentoo's. The more experienced birds could lay waste to them if they really wanted to. Skipper hoped that wasn't the case. He hoped that they were still ok. He really did. It had been nagging him all day. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost them. Well he did, but he didn't like thinking about it. He'd probably go on a rampage kill Manfredi and Johnson and sit in a ditch until he starved to death. Not a happy thought. He didn't like to think of them as dead.

They walked in the cover of the small army that George had brought. It was now late in the afternoon and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of the native birds and the leaves crunching under their feet. It was early autumn and the leaves had just begun to fall from the trees. The woods around them were like an inferno, bright colors of red orange and yellow all around them. Beautiful really. If only they had time and leisure to enjoy it. But they didn't. They followed the small army of silent men through the woods to Unit Nines base, where they would be safe for hopefully a little while.

Finally George spoke. "How did you get yourself into this?" he asked Skipper.

Looking straight ahead Skipper answered in an emotionless voice, "I didn't. They showed up and explained everything, and then I was running for my life."

"What exactly happened at that little zoo of yours?" George asked.

"Well no one had shown up that morning, that's not normal. And just when everyone had calmed down a bomb exploded. Johnson told me I was supposed to become an assassin and when I refused he said he had to hunt me down. He and my friend. Kowalski, Rico, and Private distracted them, and I took Julian and fled," Skipper explained.

"Ah so that's what's bugging you then," George said as they continued to walk.

"What?" Skipper asked. He knew exactly what George was talking about though. And he was right, it was bothering him. It had been ever since it happened.

"You're worried about them, and I don't blame you," George replied. "Johnson, I never trusted him, not from the day I found him did I truly trust him."

"How did you find him?" Skipper asked. Johnson never told him anything about George or how they met. He was curious. And it took his mind off being hunted.

"He was lost, just like you was," George explained. "Lying in the woods asleep and in danger. He was in the dangerous parts. A battle was about to happen there if I remember correctly. He being there wasn't good. So I took him back to the base and trained him. Like he did you. And when we went out on operations a taught him how to fight a true man's fight. Not with weapons but with a more flowing type of fighting. Martial arts I think it's called now, karate, or kongfu or whatever. The way of the true man it was called in my time."

"A forgotten style of martial arts," Skipper said.

"Yes, that it is. He learned how to fight like a member of a unit, and like a true, man, and he did very well. There was just always a feeling I had about him. He was never like the other young men, always quick to kill, angry about something it always seemed. A hard case. And that's coming from a fellow hard case. You know when he found you I trusted you before I ever heard a word from your mouth. You just seemed like such an innocent boy evil could never touch. Manfredi joined the unit a few years before you came along. He I had always trusted. When he and Johnson became buddies I was relieved, confused but relieved. Manfredi gave Johnson a softer side in my opinion. And when the two said they'd train you together I didn't worry much. They left the unit a short while after that, if you remember. I always had a worry about you. The feeling I had about Johnson when I found him, a feeling of distrust never left. And so when we started monitoring you I found great relief in that you turned out the way you did. Johnson always seemed sick to me. The only thing of him that rubbed off on you was being a real hard case. That I rubbed onto him." George paused and looked over at Skipper. "You know what most people don't see in us."

"Feelings," Skipper answered. "They see a hard case and think that there isn't a heart behind it."

"Yes, but you know what I've found?" George asked.

"What?" Skipper replied. He had no idea what George was talking about.

"I found, and you boy are proof, Hard cased have the best hearts. Because they save them for when they're really needed. You have that talent. You hide away everything and when it's needed it bursts out. The sad part is you don't see it."

"And I didn't learn what love was from Johnson," Skipper stated.

"Who did you them?"

Skipper stopped for a moment. "Private."

"Ah, yes," George replied. He stopped and with him his men. "That boy has a big heart. Too big for the rest of him. Naïve it's made him."

"Yeah, but it's always needed," Skipper said. Private always had too big a heart to fit the situation. With that came hope, a factor needed no matter what happened. And no matter what Private always had hope. He just forgot sometimes. Skipper smiled. He was naïve, but not dangerously so. He hides from danger if it approached. Most of the time anyway. He just didn't fully understand. He was you too though. Not to be used as an excuse. Private was relatively young. He was the only one who still had an ounce of innocence in him.

George patted Skipper on the back. "They're fine. If it's one thing I know about assassins and their jack ass ways it's that they only kill their targets. Any other deaths are punishable by death." He started walking.

Skipper watched him for a few seconds. "How do you know that?" he called after him. His heart started racing. Was George one of them too?

"Johnson, he came to me one day and told me that. Asked me if it was cool. When I scolded him he threw a fit and ran to his quarters. There was never an ounce of trust between after that," George replied glancing over his shoulder. "Johnson was a sick kid. When he joined the assassins I can't tell you. Come on we're almost there."

Skipper began to walk again. He was confused. He never knew the relationship between George and Johnson had been so bad. Johnson never cared much for George. The two were always fighting. But George always got the worst of hit. He always looked more stressed. More hurt. And the fight that made the three of them leave the unit demoted George. And yet, George still had a kind edge to him. Sara. Skipper thought. Sara gave him that. She gave everyone that. She was too young to give anyone that when Johnson was in the unit. She was a kid like he was. They were the only kids in the unit. Saved from a danger they didn't even know. She softened George like Private did to himself.

Everyone needs someone like them. Someone too keep them from completely cracking. Skipper wasn't sure all of a sudden, if he could really do without Private for however long this chase lasted. Or Rico and Kowalski for that matter. He hadn't realized how much he needed them. If for anything his sanity.

As he walked forward towards the Unit he hoped this chase wouldn't last too long. For his sanity. And for the sanity of everyone left at the zoo. More importantly for them. They sacrificed their lives for him.

He'd make sure it wasn't a wasted sarcafice.