At this point, I'd lost track of just how many times I'd been in and out of that abandoned construction site over the past week. I was starting to think we should just convert one of the half-finished buildings into a hotel room. And we still weren't any more used to morphing - it was still just as horrifying and disturbing as it had been the last dozen times.

There weren't any good thermals next to our hiding spot, so it took a while to get properly airborne. Not that it's impossible - hawks and eagles are designed to fly, after all - we just had to put in a little extra effort to defy gravity. Honestly, I don't think Lee and Rachel could even tell the difference. But I'd done this morph a dozen times now, with about 20 hours worth of flying experience, and I was starting to understand the mechanics of flying a little more.

Up in the air, we spread out in a loose formation about 500 yards apart from each other, staggered at different altitudes to avoid looking like a group to anyone watching from the ground. Of course, with the amazing eyesight of the hawk, we could see each other from a mile away just as well as if we were five feet apart. And with Thought-Speech, we coud hear each other just fine as long as we stayed within half a mile of each other.

(So, you remember that cop we ran into at the beach?) Lee said.

(Yeah, what about him?) Rachel answered.

(Well, I don't want you to worry, but he turned up again yesterday.)

(Where?) I asked.

(At Cassie's place. When I went over to get my eagle morph, he was already there, arguing with Cassie's dad in the driveway. From what I overheard, he's still looking for those meddling kids who set off fireworks at the construction site.)

(I'm sure Marco would be pleased to know he made such a lasting impression,) I said.

(Anyway, the cop wanted to talk to me, once he saw I was there. But Cassie's dad told him to get lost unless he had a search warrant.)

(Jeez, why didn't you tell us that sooner?) Rachel demanded.

(Because I don't think he's onto us yet. He never actually saw Cassie when he was at the farm, so it might just be a coincidence. And the only other place he saw ME was at the construction site, at night. I don't think he even recognized me yesterday. But, you know, just keep an eye out for him.)

We'd reached the Esplin Building by circled around it twice, looking for anything intersting or unusual while Lee tested his new eagle eyes.

(We guessed right,) he finally said, (I can see right through that window now.)

He swooped down to land on the roof of an office tower across the street.

(Looks like it's mostly office space and conference rooms upstairs,) he said, (Nothing that screams 'brain parasites live here'.)

(I guess quick results were too much to hope for, then,) Rachel said, (How about we just sit and watch this place for a while, then? Check the faces coming in and out, see if anyone looks familiar, that sort of thing.)

(So, a stakeout,) I said.

(Yeah, a stakeout. We'll just have to do without the coffee and donuts,) she replied, (Besides, I don't even know how hawks drink.)

While Lee watched through the windows, Rachel and I kept an eye on the traffic coming and going from the building. There wasn't much: only two cars in the first half hour, a silver Honda sedan and a blue utility van with a corporate logo on the side. After a while, I started trying to count the cars on the parking ramp. Lee must have been getting bored, too.

(So, are you and Rachel a couple now, or something?) he asked.

(What are you talking about?)

I hadn't told anyone about my date with Rachel, and I was quite confident that she hadn't, either. Not with Lee, anyway.

(Oh, I just couldn't help but notice the way you two were looking at each other at lunch,) Lee said with a tone that sounded like it should have been accompanied with a smug grin.

(And how were we looking at each other?)

(Oh, you know... you kept sneaking short glances at each other and blushing every time you made eye contact and then looking away again, then doing it all over again barely a minute later. You did the same thing at school yesterday, too.)

(Oh my god, I didn't think anybody even noticed that. How did you-)

(Girls know how to look for details like that.)

(All right, girls do that. But you-)

(As far as the rest of the world knows, I'm a girl. I may not have enjoyed it, but I still grew up wearing dresses and playing with dolls. And since most of the people I hung out with were also girls, well, I listened to a LOT of gossip about who's dating who, which boy is completely oblivious... basically, I got to learn all the trade secrets.)

(We've only been on one date,) I said, (There's not really much to keep secret there. Still, I'm not in a big hurry to tell anyone. Right now, it's just something between Rachel and me.)

(Hey, if you don't want to tell anyone, I'll keep quiet about you and Rachel. Just don't be surprised when somebody else figures out that you two have a mutual crush.)

I could've just let the whole subject end there. But I was getting bored, and well... idle gossip just helped pass the time.

(Hey, Rachel? You haven't told anyone about us, have you?)

(No. Why?)

(Oh, Lee just now went into detail about how obvious our relationship is.)

(LEE said that? Wow. She didn't strike me as the kind of girl who'd actually care about mushy stuff like that.)

(Yeah, I was surprised, too.)

Rachel addressed her next Thought-Speech message to both of us.

(Lee, did any other girl ever let you know that you're not supposed to go around sharing our secrets with boys? Tobias says you just told him about how-)

(Too late now,) Lee interrupted, (But I wouldn't worry too much. Tobias seems like the kind of boy who can keep a secret.)

(Hopefully a lot better than you can,) Rachel teased. (It's all right, though. I'm not too worried if anyone knows about us. I just don't want to deal with any questions about what we did on our first date because there's no way to answer that honestly without revealing any Animorph stuff.)

We kept watch over the building for another hour - an hour during which nothing interesting happened. A handful of cars came and went, the blue utility van returned from whatever errand it had been sent on, and Lee gave us a few small updates about the interior of the building. But we never saw any evidence that the place was a Yeerk operation. Maybe the whole thing was legitimate after all. Or maybe they just knew to keep anything incriminating away from the windows. Either way, we were running out of time in morph, and running out of patience. Finally, we gave up and flew back to the construction site.

There was a small flock of crows gathered around the building where we'd left our things.

(I think they might be following me,) Lee said, (There was a flock of ravens hanging around outside my house this morning. I swear, they were watching me all the way down to the bus stop.)

(And they probably think it's weird when they keep running into the same humans all over town,) Rachel commented.

One by one, we swooped down into the half-finished building, and started demorphing. I guess the ravens could still see us, because they started croaking and cackling like crazy. Maybe they understood just what kind of freak show they were witnessing - Lee had told us more than once that those birds were smart.

Gravity had me trapped within its iron grip once more. If I hadn't already been standing, I don't think I'd have been able to get off the ground for a while. As it was, I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over.

"You all right?" Lee asked. He didn't look much better than I felt: his face was pale and dripping sweat. He hurried to pull the hood of his jacket over his head before Rachel noticed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, "It's just... you know how when you've been swimming for a while, you feel really heavy when you finally climb out of the pool? I get the same feeling when I demorph after being a hawk." I was careful not to say that it kept taking longer and longer for that feeling to go away.

"I know what you mean," Rachel commented, "I kind of get the same feeling at the end of my gymnastics class."

Lee shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't know," he said, "I never learned how to swim."

"You sure you're OK, though?" Rachel asked, with a concerned look on her face. I smiled back at her, felt my face getting warm, and looked away.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I said as I looked back at her.

"Still, maybe you should take a break from flying."

My heart leapt into my throat, and I took in a sharp breath of air.

"Just for a day or two," she added upon seeing my look of distress, "If it's causing problems for you... I mean, I like you. I don't want you to get sick or hurt doing this."

"Well, I appreciate the concern. Fine, I'll take a break from flying... after our mission to the Yeerk Pool."

Rachel seemed fine with that answer.

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow, then." She waved goodbye, and walked away.

"See you later," Lee said, and turned towards the door.

"No. Wait up a minute."

"What's up?" he said, as he pulled his hood back down.

"There's something I've been thinking about over the last week. If morphing is based on acquiring DNA, then we should be able to morph humans, right?"

"I guess so. And you want to test that theory out, then?"

"Well, I thought you might be interested. You want to be a boy, right? Well... here's your chance to see what it's like."

I held my hand out, palm up. I couldn't see Lee's face well enough to read his expression, but I could tell he was thinking very hard about this.

"I know this wouldn't be a permanent solution," I said, "It's just an experiment. It's totally up to you if you want-"

"Just once. Maybe. And what about you?

"Well, I've morphed a cat and a hawk, and now I can morph a leopard and an elephant, too... morphing a girl actually sounds pretty tame in comparison."

"With any luck, you'll enjoy the experience more than I ever have."

Lee reached out to grab my hand. He hesitated, took a deep breath...

Suddenly, I was very calm and relaxed. My vision went blurry, but I didn't care. I felt the same way I did when I was in hawk morph and lazily drifting through the air, held aloft by a warm thermal. So... this was what the acquisition trance felt like. It took me a while to realize that Lee was talking to me.

"What?"

"I said, it's your turn." He waved his hand in front of me. "Go ahead."

I took hold of his hand, focused, felt the electric tingle as I took on his DNA.

"Woah. That felt weird."

"Well, let's do it," I said. "You first."

Lee closed his eyes, and after a few seconds, the changes started. His hair grew shorter as it started turning yellow, skin went a few shades paler... suddenly, the changes stopped, then reversed.

"I can't do it," he said, as he started shaking and trembling. "I mean... well... I can't." He took a few deep breaths. "You can still go ahead if you want."

"No," I said, shaking my head, "That wouldn't... the important thing is that we know it's possible."

Lee threw up the hood of his jacket once again.

"I'm going home," he said, "I need to be alone for a while. See you at the..." his voice trailed off, and he quietly walked out, leaving me alone.