Finding out that Cassie's parents owned and operated a clinic that took care of sick or injured wild animals hadn't come as so much of a shock to him, once he'd had a chance to think about things. Really, it made a lot of sense that a kind, compassionate, understanding person like Cassie had been raised by those same kind of people. Looking around at all of the younger kids gathered around him in the barn where so many animals had been put up while they recovered from the injuries that had brought them to the attention of Cassie's parents in the first place, Tommy turned his attention back to the discussion that seemed poised on the edge of turning into an argument.

All of them were making good points, even Marco, whose reasons for not wanting to involve himself in what might all too easily prove to be a long, protracted battle against the Yeerks and whatever forces they had brought to Earth when they'd decided they wanted to take it over. He was thinking about his father, and what the man's reaction would have been if something happened to him. Tommy hadn't known that Marco shared so many of his own circumstances; the same way Tobias seemed to share more than a few.

He wonders, even as he and Tobias firmly state their own resolve to continue the fight against the Yeerks even if they were forced to do it on their own, what it would have been like to be forced into the role of caretaker for a man who seemed to have given up on life completely; it couldn't have been easy for him, and Tommy makes sure to let the younger boy know that if he needs any help dealing with things, Tommy would be there for him. Even through the ensuing sarcasm, he can tell that Marco's grateful for the consideration.

After their encounter with the Yeerk-enslaved police officer – who'd expressed a particular interest in him, citing his well-known background as a martial artist and trying to use that to entice him into joining up with some kind of group called the Sharing – Marco had been quick to pounce on the opportunity, telling all of them once again to just forget about what was going on, forget about what they had learned, and focus their attention on keeping their families away from everything that was going on.

Those of them who had families to speak of, anyway.

In the end, he and Tobias acquire a pair of bird morphs – a bald eagle and a red-tailed hawk, respectively – and leave to run surveillance; even if it ended up being just the two of them, Tommy was determined to do everything he could to make sure that no one else was forced to suffer as a slave of the Yeerks.