"Sso what hass been the point of all thiss?" Connors demanded while they trudged through the thick foliage, their earlier run slowed from his growing tired.

"I've already told you. It'sss to help you underssstand yourssself better." Stegron grunted in annoyance.

"And how doess thiss help?!" Connors snapped, stopping. "Sso far it'ss been nothing but running around thiss placce! Eating with my handss! And doing all of it naked! Sso how iss thiss ssuppossed to help me!?"

Stegron turned to face him, becoming exasperated himself at Connors complaints when he noted the state he was in. His hunched stance, ragged breathing, a shaking hand on the tree next to him while trying to scrape a bit of the mud that had collected between his toes loose. Taking deep steadying breaths, he worked to calm himself down and think of the best way to approach the matter.

"Connorsss." Stegron began once he worked out the words. "There'sss been more to thisss than jussst wearing you down. Thessse passst three daysss I've alssso been watching you. Not jusst what you've been doing, but how you've gone about it."

"What? What do you mean?"

"When you've been running through thisss placcce, and the weight lifting, and everything elssse, you tend to ssstop and try to think it through, rather than jussst doing it."

"It'ss the way I am." Connors cut in.

"I know, but that'sss been the problem ssso far. You're ssstill not lissstening to your inssstinctsss, ssstill trying to use consscciousss thought all the time." Stegron explained as carefully as he could manage. "Jussst yesssterday, I watched you run into the foressst from the roof." This revelation did make Connors start, less at realising that Stegron had actually seen him acting on his dream when he made his run through the forest, and more that he never noticed that he'd been watched.

"You could have usssed your tongue to tell where I wasss. A Lizard'sss meansss of detecting sssmellsss and ssccentsss isss with their tonguesss, not their nossstrilsss. Even to the point of molecular precccisssion and direction. That would have told you exxxactly where I wasss, yet you never usssed thossse sssensssesss." Stegron, satisfied that Connors understood from his expression moved to the point of his training regime. "Thisss iss why I've been sssubjecting you to thisss. Wearing you down ssso your mind isss forccced to act more on inssstinct rather than rational thought. To allow you to become usssed to them, to learn to let them guide you and sshhow you what you are truly capable of."

A deep growl sounded from behind Stegron which he immediately spun on the spot to face it's source. A large alligator native to the area mere feet away, and making threatening noises towards the two bipedal reptiles. As Stegron shifted to face it side-on, his tail swaying, the Thagomizers that tipped it brushing against the lower-hanging branches, Connors had leapt up the nearest tree, out of its reach.

'What are you doing!?' Connors furiously processed the scene before him from the relative safety of the tree he clung to.

Didn't Stegron know about the strength held in an alligator's jaws, that the largest alligators and crocodiles had enough power in the muscles controlling them to clamp down on their prey with over a ton? That the best way to avoid this was to keep it shut since they had far less strength to open them? To the point that an average human could keep it shut? It certainly didn't appear to be the case since Stegron currently had his side to it, swinging his spiked tail, aiming for the head.

When Stegron made his next swing, seemingly intending to punch a hole through it, it swung its head and caught the incoming attack, pinning Stegron where he was. Then made its own move to claim its meal.

"Vinccent!"

During the tussle, the gator had been backing away, towards the body of water. Now with a series of flaps of its own tail, spinning, dragging Stegron beneath the water with it.

'No!' Stegron thrashed underwater, desperately trying to orient himself even as he was spun around, the reptile trying to tear off a piece of him.

The gator wouldn't be able to, even with its powerful jaws, but the kay threat to him was the diminishing oxygen in his lungs. If he didn't surface for a breath soon he would lose consciousness, death would follow soon if he wasn't pulled out.

Acting on instinct, he twisted himself in the opposing direction to halt the spinning while striking out with his still-free feet, more often than not missing his target, though the few that did were cutting into his assailant, leaving deep gashes across its jaw and head that would be slow to heal. The last one dangerously close to its eye, forcing it to release its prey and back off.

One threat taken care of, now Stegron fought to find the surface. It was fortunate for him that the water was still relatively clear and shallow, making sighting the sun through it easy enough for him to get a fix on which way he was facing. With his tail pressing down on the river floor, he could get enough of his head clear to release the staled air and take in a deep nourishing breath through his nostrils.

Without his lungs stinging, Stegron could look around properly and find the bank a little over an arm's length from him. Twisting to face it, he allowed himself to drop beneath the surface once more, toppling forwards to secure a grip on the bank under the water, and from there, dig into it with his claws to pull himself to safety.

"That'll teach him who's Top of the Food Chain around here." Stegron hissed once he was firmly on dry land. "So how are you feeling Curt?" He asked Connors, only to realised he wasn't on the ground.

He was actually above him, tail wrapped around the truck and holding onto the nearest branches.

"That'sss more like it." Stegron approvingly nodded with what had to be a grin on his face.

"Exxcusse me?" Connors asked, not moving from where he clung on.

"Thisss time you acted. You didn't wassste time thinking and jussst acted on inssstinct." Stegron explained. "In thisss cassse, you leapt out of the immediate danger having recognisssed that gator asss a threat. That inssstinct isss what'sss allowed you to keep your grip by picking the bessst holdsss for you to take."

Thinking about it now, Stegron made a good point. Without even thinking about it his tail had secured a solid grip on the trunk to hold him up, clawed feet dug into the bark to help, while his hands held the branches to keep him steady.

"Thisss isss only the firssst ssstep, but you're beginning to learn about them now, your inssstinctsss." Stegron added. "We'll take sssome ressst for now, then get back to it."

[+]

"Ssso." Stegron hissed, standing tall with his arms crossed and tail swaying slowly behind him, his expression stern. "What have you learned?"

"That I fail ass both a human and a lizard?" Connors laughed. "No, sserioussly. I am sstarting to ssee thingss that I never knew were there, it iss like a whole different world! I do feel much better too, even if a little tired right now. All thiss tenssion and sstress, gone! And all thankss to you! Although when I told you to have ssome fun, thiss wass not quite what I had in mind…" he rubbed his aching arms from the last weight lifting "But I ssure learned a lot. About the world. About mysself. About you too, I ssuposse."

"And now we come a full cccircle back to your quesssstion." Stegron's eyes narrowed. "The way you behaved, were your inssstinctssss at fault? What do you think now?"

"I guesss… not?" Connors replied a little cautiously. Only now had he noticed that for the entirety of their stay never once in these seven days had he experienced anything akin to what was torturing him back in New York. He couldn't say that he didn't feel angry at Stegron, nor that he didn't feel scared of that alligator, but yet his reaction was completely different to what he'd expect.

"Sstrangely, I never felt like doing any of what I told you about while I wass here, if that'ss what you are assking. Truth be told, I undersstand even lesss now what wass that whole deal back then. I sseem… fine! It iss all very confussing." he admitted.

"Your inssstinctsss are toolsss." Stegron explained. "A bad wielder usssesss hisss toolsss for bad thingsss, the toolsss do not define the wielder. Although, to sssome extent they direct usss towardsss sssome thingsss and away from otherssss. They are neither good, nor bad, they are jussst a part of you. You, are the one who decccidesss what to do. Did I make you angry at any point?"

Connors raised a thick brow. Was this a provocative question?

"Did you attack me then?" Stegron pressed on.

"I would never…!" Connors cut fiercely in defense.

"Exxxactly" Stegron grinned. "You had all the reasssonssss, yet you did not. And don't tell me your human consssioussssnesss held you back, becaussse I jusssst told you how I wasss limiting it. How do you explain that? Did you ssstop thinking of me asss your friend?"

"No, of coursse not." Connors sighed, but the point was taken. It made him think. Perhaps, in his bizarre way, Stegron wanted to show him that he had nothing to fear, that he could just be himself, his whole self, and nobody would have to suffer from that.

"I don't know…" the Lizard continued with some doubt. "With other people it isss different"

"Why sssso?" Stegron looked honestly surprised. "Only, you, make it different. If you don't think of me asss an enemy, you will not attack, inssstinctsss or not. That isss becaussse you know we are friendssss, don't you? It mattersss not what you are. How isss that different from everyone elssse?"

"Oh."

If there was a moment of enlightenment in Connor's life, this must have been the closest to it. Finally everything was falling in place, all the unanswered questions, all the doubts and fears he had. They all started to make sense.

"You mean to ssay… if I do not think of ssomething ass harmful to me… I will not bite or anything?"

"Well, that'sss the gissst of it, yessss." Stegron nodded. "Your clothesss irritated you, sssso you ssshred them. You were uncomfortable with forksss, ssso you bent them. It isss natural, after all, and wasss cryssstal clear to me, but you do not accept even that. I wanted you to put your human idealsss away, if only for a ssshort time. All of it wasss for thisss sssole purposssse. But it goesss deeper. Most of all, you feared yourssself. Your inssstinctsss do not know what that isss though, it isss a very human way of thinking, and with no outlet you had nothing but 'fear' inssside. Not of the otherssss, but of yourssself. You acted like that becaussse you felt threatened. That wasss why I wanted you to feel more comfortable with who and what you are."

"I ssee…" Connors said with a smile. "Sso that wass the problem. I guess, that meanss my family wass never in danger then? I love them deeply, you know. I have nothing more important in life and I wass afraid the Lizard, I, wass going to ruin it all, again."

"Ssstop worrying and everything will be fine. They are sssafe with you."

The Lizard smiled back with relief. It was something he always wanted to hear deep in his heart, but now those words held some serious weight behind them, the weight he put himself with all his hard work. He was a different creature now, but he would always remain the same person, was what his friend wanted to say. With this he could finally be at peace even with the occasional quirks. Curt smiled wider and more sincerely, unafraid to show his rows of sharp teeth. He really was a Lizard after all. But he was also Curt Connors.