As Rodney and Xero walked through the woods, they heard a stick break behind them. "Stay close," Rodney said, pushing the paw of his necklace. He began sniffing the air, perking his ears every now and then, as they continued walking. He could hear Xero begin shivering, his teeth chattering. "You should shift too."
"A panther in these woods? What if it's a person?"
"What if it's not?" Rodney didn't get a response. "Xero?" He turned around and he was gone. There was no trace of him, no scent to follow. A growl emerged from behind him. As he turned around, he was smacked in the muzzle and sent flying into the base of a tree. Growling, he shook off the pain and stood his ground, snarling at whatever threat was nearby.
"Rodney," a voice said. "It's me." A man stood in front of him with outstretched arms.
"D-Dad?" Rodney whined. "Dad!" He ran towards him, whining and tears forming in his eyes. He never bothered shifting back. A gunshot rang out, stopping him in his tracks. His dads eyes rolled back as he collapsed to the ground. "No!" Rodney howled, trotting up to the body. With his ears pinned back, he nuzzled the cold heap of flesh that was his father.
His ears perked, hearing the cocking of a gun. He looked up to see Xander aiming a gun at him. "Sorry, kid."
*BANG*
"Dad!" Rodney sat up, his arms covering his face. The pain never came. He could hear laughter all around him. Lowering his arms, he saw his classmates laughing at him and slowly sank in his seat, feeling his body warm as his cheeks flushed.
"See me after class," his teacher said with a stern look. He lifted a textbook off of his desk, walking back to the front of the class.
"Yes, Mr. Barry," Rodney said, looking at his hands in shame. Xero watched him from a few desks away, shaking his head. Amazing how we were chosen to save an entire species, he thought. He can't even stay awake in class! He saw the blush on his friends face, the bags under his eyes. He hasn't been the same since he found out how his dad died. That was weeks ago, though. A break in this case would really help.
"Class," Mr. Barry said. "Don't start packing up until the bell rings. As you know, a speaker from the CIA will be coming in tomorrow to give us a brief lecture on national security and how it affects each and everyone of us. You will be expected to take notes," he said, glaring at Rodney. He sank further in his chair. Quit torturing him, Xero thought. It's been a rough couple of weeks for both of us. The bell finally rung, signifying the end of another school day. "Rodney," Mr. Barry called out. Rodney gathered his bag and slowly proceeded to the front. "Class dismissed."
Xero was the last person out of the room. He knew it wouldn't be right to eavesdrop, but couldn't help himself. Using his watch, he activated the microphone in Rodney's necklace and used his wireless headphones to listen in. "You and I both know you don't have to be here tomorrow." What? Xero thought. "I know it's hard for you, especially during this time of year. Losing a father is devastating for anyone, believe me." He knows? "If you want, I can get you excused from my class."
"Thank you," Rodney said, his voice sounding broken, not like normal. "But I should be here. There are still a lot of things I don't know about him and I'd love to ask the guest tomorrow."
"I'll see what I can arrange." Some shuffling was heard, registering as feedback in Xero's ears. "Hang in there, kid."
Rodney sniffled. Is he crying? I better get- The door to the classroom opened and Rodney walked out. "Xero?"
"Oh, hey Rodney!" he said nervously, pulling the earbuds out of his ears. "What's up?"
Rodney glared and him and grabbed his friends arm, half dragging him down the hall. Once they were outside, he shoved him aggressively. "Were you eavesdropping on me?" he growled.
"What? No! Why would you think that?" Xero shuffled his feet nervously.
"One, I have better hearing than you. I heard the feedback. Two, you won't look me in the eyes. And three," Rodney grabbed Xero's jacket, pulling him close."You're going to disable your little remote activator, or I swear I will tear you limb from limb," he whispered.
"Whoa, hey, hey, down boy!" Xero chuckled. "Easy, no need to go feral on me."
"Oh, you'll regret that," Rodney growled. Xero started running. He knew better than to mess with Rodney, but the little techie couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. He knew it was wrong, but funny to him, nonetheless. "You're dead!" he heard Rodney say. You wouldn't dare shift during the day. As long as I stick to public areas, I'll be fine. Hopefully.
The two boys ran all the way to Xero's house. His parents were off on another honeymoon, leaving Xero alone for once. He slammed the door, making sure it was locked. His phone began vibrating. "H-Hello?" he panted.
"Unlock the door," Rodney said. "We've got work to do."
"Use the doggy door," Xero grinned.
"Dude, I'm serious." A piece of paper slipped through the crack of Xero's door. As he read it's contents, his eyes grew wide. He quickly unlocked the door, worry stricken on Rodney's face. The boys dropped everything and raced upstairs. Falling to the ground was the paper. Painted in red ink were three words:
Xander is dead.
After analyzing the letter, Xero sighed, wiping nervous sweat from his face. "Well?" Rodney asked.
"There's no fingerprints, other than ours." Rodney slammed his fist against the desk. "Calm down."
"Calm down? Dude, our informant was murdered!"
"We don't even know if it's true!" Xero yelled. Let's just sit down and think about this for a second. Who would send this and why? How did they get my address?"
"How do we know it's not Xander tricking us?" Rodney growled. "I knew we couldn't trust him."
"Hey, we don't know that either. He knew your dad was CIA, so he has to be telling the truth." The two sat in silence for a while, staring off into space.
"I'm going to talk to that agent tomorrow," Rodney suddenly said. "I need to ask him about my dad."
"He'll probably say some crap like 'It's classified.'. How are you going to get anything out of him?"
Rodney reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a credit card. "This," he said. "This was his badge."
"Where did you get it?"
"His funeral. One of his 'co-worker's' gave it to me. I bet if I show the agent this, he'll be more than willing to talk."
Xero sat there silently. He didn't always do well with sensitive conversations. "Th-that's great. I hope you get the answers you need."
"I need you to record it," Rodney blurted out."
"What?"
"If he mentions anything about shifters, we need proof. Maybe it'll give us a clue as to where they are."
"Are you nuts?" Xero stood up and began pacing. Rodney rolled his eyes, preparing himself for a rant. "This is the CIA we're talking about! They're gonna be sweeping the school for bugs all day! Before, during and after! We can't just waltz right in with mics and stuff!"
Rodney smirked. "You put a bug proof plate in my necklace and your watch already."
"Well duh!" Xero said. "You know I don't trust anyone."
"Not even me?" Rodney tried his best to pull off puppy dog eyes without shifting.
"Cut it out, Rod. Of course I trust you," Xero said with a smile.
"I trust you too," Rodney said, returning the smile. "Let's get something to eat, my treat."
"Great job, Xander," the agent said. "You've got them right where we want them."
"Thanks. Incredible, aren't they?" They watched recordings of Rodney shifting, Xero hacking and other activities.
"Incredibly smart and dangerous. They're getting too close to the truth." He shut the laptop, turning to Rodney. "They think you're dead. Let's keep it that way. Tomorrow, I infiltrate the school, tell them what they want to hear. If all goes to plan, we should have them within a week or so."
"Perfect," Xander said. "Let's hope you humans know what you're doing."
"Relax, foxy. You'll get you're revenge."454Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTxPjdmyoX
