Raven tensed at the man’s reptilian tongue on the skin of her neck. His sticky saliva left a trail up the soft flesh of her throat as she cringed. She focused on Bo. His eyes smoldered as he stared across at Damian. Her gaze shifted to the viper Hybrid. Damian’s dread locks moved slightly in the breeze. They hung down to his mid back, each that slight tint of tan that marked his coloring that all the reptilian Hybrids had. Her blue-green eyes widened as she saw the beginning of the movement. She wanted to shout, but Varanus’ grip on her tightened to the point that she could only whimper. Damian, she remembered had been good friends with Bo until they began the testing for the Next Phase students. Damian had been picked for Reptilians. Bo had been picked for Mammalians. It seemed the rift formed that day. Damian was across the street in the blink of an eye. His fangs flashed out as his hand landed on Bo’s wrist. Bo’s fist connected with Damian’s jaw, sending him sprawling in the trash and concrete. Damian was back up in an instant; to find Bo’s foot in his gut. He doubled over as he gripped it. His snow camouflage shorts swirled as he rolled over the leg, bringing Bo to the ground. Bo landed hard, wind rushing from his lungs as his claws came around on Damian’s chest. The memory was fast. The same image, only then they hadn’t been changed yet. They were still only Readers and were only trying to predict the other’s next move. It had always fascinated the scientists the way these two fought. Their style was always only a split second thought not a drawn out strategy. They reacted to each other rather than letting one or the other take a dominant role in the battle. It was something Bo had been taught in the army and Damian in his own resistance faction later on. Bo’s fist came back around as he rolled over. It connected and the image vanished as his claws bit into flesh. Blood spilled over the pavement as Damian’s wounds slowly closed. Raven felt Varanus’ grip loosen as she could feel him contemplating helping his cohort. She writhed in his grip again, until he hissed at her. It had been all she needed. Her hand wrapped around the hilt of one of her throwing daggers as she watched the two men continue to fight it out on the street. Her body pivoted as she buried the knife in the man’s arm and ripped her hand away as she ripped at his skin. The gash poured blood onto his clothes as he screamed in shock. His scream was cut short as the bullet screamed through the air and made its way through his skull, sending the contents spilling into the street behind him. Her eyes turned, following the path the bullet had taken from Bo’s 1911. Bo and Damian were tangled up on the ground with Damian’s fangs buried in his shoulder. With a wince Bo looked down and knocked Damian in the head with his pistol. “’Ey fucker! Let go.” He said as he knocked Damian over the head again. Damian wrenched his fangs out of Bo’s shoulder, looking apologetically at him as he stood and wiped the blood away from his mouth. He wiped the dirt off his clothes as his fangs shrank back into his eye teeth. Bo stood; looking at Raven as the holes from Damian’s teeth slowly shrank and disappeared. Raven looked between the two as they looked at her. “Well are you going to explain?” She said as she looked at Bo. “Explain what?” He asked, the look of genuine confusion on his face. “Why he showed up looking to capture you and you simply just told him to stop?!” “Oh, you mean Damian. Damian is my inside guy back at the Academy. He lets me know what’s going on. Who their looking for and who they catch. He’s a handler because the Gaboon Viper DNA took to him and they like handler’s to have venom so they can keep a hold over other Hybrids. Pretty solid explanation right?” He said turning to Damian. “Solid ‘nough to me. And you cracked a tooth or two on that hook too. Bugger you’ve got some swing on you now.” He said massaging his jaw. “Oh sorry about that.” Bo said as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Nah, it’ll gimme enough proof we tangled when we get back. I need that tech though.” He said indicating the scent machine Bo had gotten off Gila. Bo sighed, disappointed as he grabbed it. Holstering his gun, he tossed the device to Damian. Raven stepped over to them as Damian snatched the device out of the air. The katana hissed out of the sheath as she placed it to Bo’s neck. “Now I know. It’s about the brain right? Sever the brain and you can’t regenerate. Just like those Infection Waves we used to watch.” Bo looked down at the blade and sighed. “You’re right. And you win. Happy now, Kiri?” He said, with a slight growl. “Not even close.” She said as she whipped the blade back. The blade sliced through the air as the wind whipped around them. The metallic ringing didn’t stop until Bo looked down at Raven’s katana. The top three quarters of the blade was missing from the weapon. Opening his jaw he stuck the end of his pinky in his ear and wiggled it as he sent his mind down the path of the bullet. ‘Cutting it a little close little brother.’ Jacobs own thoughts were evident. ‘I left you like four inches of reaction. Not my fault you didn’t knock her out first.’ Bo looked down at Raven and grinned his fanged grin as Damian picked up the shattered parts of her sword. “And that’s why you never beat me after a certain point in training.” She glared up at him as she drove the shuriken in his gut. He winced as his hand came down on her collar. “Ow! I still feel it gorramit!” He yelled as he yanked out the knife and tossed it away. She glared up at him. “You don’t understand! I just can’t let this go. No matter what I do it’s always bothering me. You’re always taunting me in the back of my mind. Never leaving, every thought is of you being better than me,” ‘or just of you.’ The last part echoed from her own mind and he was sure it wasn’t supposed to. He grinned. Damian laughed in his head. ‘I thought that was why she was so vehement about taking your contract.’ The man’s accent was even thicker in his thoughts, Bo noticed. Bo shook his head as he kneeled down to her. “My offer still stands.” He said looking into her blue-green eyes. She looked at him incredulously. “I just tried to kill you. Twice. And you’re just going to sit there and say that?” “Sure am. Hell Nik tried to kill me, so did Jacob. Half the people I’ve run with have either shot at me, brought blades at me, or actually nearly killed me.” The statement made her green eyes flash through his mind again. He shook the thoughts of her away as he looked down at Raven. “So?” She sighed as she looked down at the pavement beneath them. “Fine.” She whispered. He nodded as he stood. His eyes met Damian’s as he turned to head back to the Valor. ‘Shoulda kissed her, mate.’ The man laughed in thought. ‘Shut it. She has a pretty good point. She just tried to remove my head. She’s got to work a bit before she gets any other kind of affection. First, she needs some lessons. Just like we did.’ Damian visibly shuddered at the memory of the two covered in blood and still fighting on. He held up his hand then he reached down and placed the pieces of Raven’s sword at her feet, and then reached over and pulled something out of Varanus’ gaping maw. Bo saw the chip and nodded. “Still tracking you. So I guess that means a few years before you join me then huh?” Shaking his head Damian answered. “At least.” “There’ll be a spot for you. You know that.” “I appreciate it.” Damian said as he hunched over Boomslang’s dead body and wrenched the chip from his jaw as well. Bo nodded as he turned again to Raven. “Meet me at the ship. With everything you’ll need. We take off in three hours.” ‘Same to you little brother.’ He cast out towards the young sniper. ‘One step ahead of you. Meet you there.’ Bo smiled as he turned and trudged towards the ship. It would be nice to have a full ship again, and he had something other than those green eyes to focus on now. He would enjoy training the two to become better than what they had thought possible. His mind reached for Damian’s. ‘Stay safe Gaboon.’ ‘Same to you Wolf.’