Shara didn't know just how Slade was going to find his way though the winding maze of mildly dank corridors, but she was willing to trust her brother. After they had gone though enough twists and turns to make Shara certain that she wouldn't be able to find her way back out without Slade to help her, they finally made it to what Shara got the feeling was their destination.

(We're here,) Slade said.

(Great. Where's here?)

(This is where I got my first combat morph,) Slade said, gesturing to the doors that they were now standing in front of.

Shara was a little surprised to note that she could still see Slade, though she got the feeling that no one else would be able to see either of them. Shara figured that the reason she could still see Slade, and herself when she had held up her right arm to check, was that she was also able to turn invisible at will.

(So, what was your first combat morph?)

(Black panther,) Slade answered easily.

(Oh.) Unseen, Shara smiled. He may have been changed beyond casual recognition, but under it all Slade was still her brother.

(Okay, so what do you want to have?)

(Well, what's here?) Shara asked practically.

Slade tilted his head, seeming to be trying to recall just what was behind the doors that they now stood in front of. (Cassie told me that this is where they keep the big cats. I just thought that you might want to get yours from the same place that I got mine. You seem like that kind of person.)

Changed or not, he's still my brother, Shara thought, smiling. (I think I would like that, thanks. What do they have here, besides the panther that you got?)

(Lots of things,) Slade said, pointing to a door that had P-203 written on it in stenciled black letters. (They have a bunch of tigers behind that door, or so Cassie tells me. Besides, Jake uses a tiger for his combat morph.)

(Oh, that's interesting.) Shara considered for a moment. (Why is that so important?)

(Well, I just thought that you might want to get a different kind of combat morph than Jake. I know I did, anyway. But, if you really want to have a tiger, I could help you get one,) Slade said.

Shara thought about her brother's offer. (Thanks for thinking of that, Slade. I guess it would be pretty strange if we all had the same morph,) she laughed silently. (How could you tell who was who?)

(Yeah, that's just what I was thinking,) Slade laughed, too.

As they moved away from the door marked P-203, Shara again wished she had been able to bring along some clothes. And again she wondered just how her brother had managed to do just that. Once they stood in front of a door marked P-205, Slade started to speak again.

(Cassie said that there were some leopards behind this door.)

(Leopards? Really?) Shara grinned. Leopards had always been her favorite kind of big cat. (Well, since you already took my first choice, I guess I'll go with this one,) Shara teased, ribbing her big brother the way she had always done.

Slade, however, didn't know Shara well enough to know that she was just kidding around with him. (I'm sorry, Shara. I didn't know that you would want one of the panthers.)

Shara shook her head, sighing. Apparently some things had changed. (It's okay, Slade. You didn't know that I would be coming along. and anyway, I was only kidding.)

(You were?)

(Yeah. I do that a lot,) Shara said.

(Oh.)

It was obvious to Shara that Slade didn't know just how to react to the new information that she had just presented to him. (Just forget I said anything, okay? It's not really that important.)

(If you say so, Shara.)

Standing behind him as she was, Shara saw Slade shrug. A second later, he had opened the door to the leopard habitat. As they made their way into the habitat itself, Shara couldn't help wondering what they were going to do when they actually found one of the leopards. Sure, Shara did feel a lot stronger than she ever had in her life, but there was still the fact that they were about to go up against a vicious jungle cat with nothing but their own bodies to protect them.

This is going to get ugly, really ugly. I just hope Slade knows what he's doing, because I sure don't. Breathing deeply to try and steady her nerves, Shara continued to follow her brother into the leopard habitat. The grass felt cool and soft under her feet, and it was a welcome relief after the hard concrete. Moving deeper into the leopards' habitat, Shara had to wonder just when the leopards themselves were going to show up.

That was when she spotted one; an adult male that was lounging under the shade of a tree.

(That's probably the easiest mark we're going to find,) Shara said, pointing to the resting leopard.

(Probably is,) Slade allowed. (Do you want my help catching it, or would you like to handle this alone?)

(I can probably do this without your help,) Shara said, wanting to test the limits of her newly enhanced body. (But, if I do end up needing help, I'll know who to call.)

(All right, that's good. I'll wait for you here.)

(You do that,) Shara nodded.

Once the exchange was over, Shara hurried over to where the leopard was resting. The leopard lifted its head, catching Shara's scent even though no one but another Teknoman would have been able to see her. Climbing back to its four feet, the leopard waited for this new creature to make a move. He didn't have very long to wait.

Shara, taking another deep breath to steady herself and prepare for what she was about to do, jumped over one of the large bushes that stood in her way and moved to confront the leopard. The leopard, by now, was getting a little bit agitated. Before the cat could make up its mind about what to do, Shara had lunged forward and placed her hand on its head.

Blocking out all external distractions as she had been taught to do, Shara focussed with all her mind on the leopard that she was going to acquire. It was a strange sensation, not made any less so by the fact that Shara had already done it once before. Once she was sure she had fully absorbed the DNA of the leopard, though Shara didn't know exactly how she knew this, she took her hand off the leopard's head and stepped back.

Walking quickly away from the leopard before he could make up his mind to chase her, Shara made it back to where Slade was waiting for her.

(You done already?)

(Yeah, I am.)

(Well, that didn't take very long,) Slade said appreciatively. (Let's head back out.)

(Right behind you, Slade,) Shara said happily.

The two siblings made their way back out of the interior of The Gardens, skirting around the security patrols that they encountered. Slade couldn't help thinking of how much easier his first trip into The Gardens would have been if he had known about this power that he had. But that was the past, and there was no changing it.

As the siblings made their way out of the hallways at last, Slade looked again for a good place to hide them as they morphed, since he got the feeling that they wouldn't be able to stay invisible while they morphed. Ducking behind another Dumpster, Slade willed himself to fade slowly back into visibility. Sensing that Shara was doing the same, Slade turned to look at his sister.

(We should start morphing again,) he said.

(You're right,) Shara said calmly.

Before she had finished her sentence, Shara had started morphing again. Slade was just behind her in starting his own morph. Once all of the physical and mental changes were complete, Slade and Shara flew off into the sky. Shara let Slade lead her back to that barn she had woken up in.

It wasn't home for her yet, but given enough time it just might become that way.