Over the next week or so, as the Great Wolf crept along to their hiding spot to avoid picking up unwanted attention, Wolf and Zack formed a rich friendship. To avoid notice from Leon, Wolf had to shorten their meal-time meetings. To make up for this, Wolf would visit Zack after Panther and Leon had gone to bed. This cut slightly into Wolf's sleep schedule, but he spent most of his free time in his room anyway, so no real harm was done.
Wolf and Zack talked about everything: from flying, current events, to music, to sports, to food, to their childhood, and everything in between. Zack and Wolf had a bit of trouble relating to one another, not because of their age difference of about 12 years, but mainly because many of the bands, events, TV shows, important figures of the time, etc. all were around/occurred when Wolf was either very young or not even born yet. As a result, much of their time spent together was Zack describing to Wolf the times back when he was young and Wolf catching Zack up on everything that had happened while he was in suspended animation.
Zack's uniform had since been removed from the room, as Wolf had provided him with old clothes from his own closet to prevent him from wearing the same clothes for too long. The clothes were now too small for Wolf, but they were still a little big on the younger male, who was a bit smaller himself. Zack was a little embarrassed to be wearing someone else's clothing, especially since they did not fit, but he was very glad to not have to wear his hot uniform in the heat of the brig (which was not as temperature controlled as the rest of the ship), and was grateful to Wolf for providing him with lighter clothing to help keep him cool.
At first, Zack looked forward to Wolf's visits because they were the only break in the monotony of the life of a prisoner, but as time went on, Zack realized the bond that was forming between the two. He was sure that if they were in any other situation, they still would have formed the friendship they held now, and that it wasn't just a result of the circumstances. The one question lingering on his mind, however, was if Wolf was visiting him for the same reason, or only because he felt sorry for him. He decided the only way to know for sure was to ask him.
Zack heard the telltale muffled beeping of a keypad the let him know Wolf was outside his door. He looked up to see Wolf's smiling face as the door slid open. "Hey!" Wolf said as he stepped in, carrying a music player and a set of speakers which he set down on the bench. "I decided to smuggle these in" he pointed to the player and speakers "so you could hear that band I was talking about. You might like them!"
Zack returned Wolf's smile. "That's really cool…" his expression hardened a bit as he looked down. "But…" he glanced up at wolf "there's something I have to ask you first."
Wolf looked back over at Zack, his excited, friendly expression turning to one of concern. "Of course, fire away."
Zack returned his glance to the floor. "I really like talking with you, and I'm glad that you keep coming back to talk with me. You've really become a good friend to me lately. The only thing is, I dunno if you keep coming back because you feel the same way, or if you just feel like you have to…"
Wolf abandoned the music player and went over to sit next to Zack on the bed. He looked over at Zack, who was still looking at the floor, with a kind and caring look. When Zack brought his gaze back up to Wolf, Wolf smiled and asked "Is that it? Yeah, at first I was visiting because I felt sorry for ya, but I really do fell the same way. Hell, you're the best friend I have 'round this dump. I can talk to you ten times as easily as I could talk to Panther, let alone that crazy bastard Leon."
Zack perked up significantly. "Really?" he asked.
"Really." Wolf stated.
Zack slid over and brought his head to rest on Wolf's shoulder. Wolf was a bit surprised at the gesture at first, but then put his arm around the younger male in a friendly hug. "Thanks" Zack said, "That means a lot."
After they sat there a while, Wolf shifted a little bit to right, slightly away from Zack. Zack sat up, and saw that Wolf was wearing a bit of a confused expression. "What's wrong Wolf?" Zack asked.
Wolf looked over at Zack and smiled, and leaned a bit closer towards him. As he looked into Zack's worried eyes, he knew what he had to do. He continued to lean forward and said "Nothing at all."
Wolf and Zack's lips made contact. Zack was so taken aback, he was almost paralyzed. His wide eyes glanced at the gray lupine who was currently kissing him to find his eyes closed and his expression sincere and passionate. After a while, Zack realized nothing felt more right to him than that moment in time, and began to return the kiss. After what seemed like hours, Wolf broke away and began to speak.
"Zack, I-" but it was Zack's turn to take hold of the situation. He put his arms around the larger male and pulled Wolf towards him, their lips connecting once more. This time, Zack opened his mouth a bit and allowed the kiss to become even more passionate-more intimate. Soon Wolf put his hands on Zack's shoulders, and gently pushed him down, so that Zack was lying on the bed and Wolf was on top of him, straddling his hips and increasing the intensity of their kiss, breaking away only twice to pull Zack's shirt over his head and to remove his own. The contact of Wolf's fur on his bare skin made Zack blush hard, as his hands roamed over his toned body. Before Zack knew what was happening, the two males were completely unclothed…
Zack woke up to find himself in his prison bed, as usual. This time there was something very unusual though. When Zack became aware of the situation, he discovered that Wolf was in his bed, and that not only was his head resting on Wolf's furry chest, but also that they were locked in a tight embrace-and both were completely naked. It was then that the events of last night all came back to him at once. Zack panicked for a moment, but when Wolf shifted slightly and pulled Zack even closer to himself, he closed his eyes and found himself wishing the moment would never end. After a while however, the gravity of the situation came crashing down like a ton of bricks. Zack nudged Wolf until he began to stir.
"Wha…whassagoinon?" Wolf muttered incomprehensively. When he opened his eyes and realized where he was, instead of panicking like Zack expected, he just pulled Zack in for a quick kiss, and hugged him tighter. He put his hand on the back of Zack's head and gently pushed his head down into the crook of his neck. "I dunno if you picked up on this yet, but…I love you. I really do. It took me a while to figure out but, I know it for sure. In fact, I've never been more sure of something in my entire life."
"Wolf…" Zack began, returning the embrace. "I love you too. But you have to get up, what if Leon finds us?"
Wolf growled slightly, but he knew Zack was right. After a while, he let Zack go and sat up, showing obvious disappointment. He sat there for another moment before he finally said something. "Zack, I'm so sorry."
Zack was confused, and a bit worried that at any moment he might wake up from the best dream he ever had. "Why's that?"
There was another period of silence before Wolf replied "Because, this whole situation is terrible. You're our prisoner, our hostage. Even if you weren't, the only thing I can promise you is a criminal's life of stealing and running, and a team that would never accept our love. I finally found the one person I would do anything for and I can't do anything for you!" A few tears began to form in Wolf's eyes. Wolf's eyes shot open when he felt Zack put his arms around Wolf's chest from behind him, his head resting on Wolf's shoulder.
"It's okay" Zack said softly. "I understand. But you don't need to give me anything. You're enough for me. As long as you're here, everything's fine. But you have to get going now, otherwise it might be too late for both of us."
Wolf got up, gathering up his clothes. Zack watched him move, silently marveling at the beauty of Wolf's body. When he had returned to a fully clothed state, he moved back towards the bed. He bent down and gave him one more parting kiss. When they finally broke part, Wolf whispered in Zack's ear "I promise I'll come up with something." He then hurried out the door, back toward his quarters, re-locking the brig as he left. He had a sad look on his face, but he flashed Zack a smile through the tiny brig window before.
Zack gathered up his own clothes-well, the clothes that Wolf had lent him-and returned to his bed, feeling a mixture of elation and disappointment.