Both Richard and Kyle looked at the unconscious form and then at each other. Neither spoke. They were still coming to grips with what they had just witnessed. They looked back at Kiera’s limp form and watched as she slowly turned human again. Kyle quickly turned around as Richard grabbed a blanket off the sofa and went to cover her.

Kyle shifted back to human. Panting while sweat dripped down his body, he looked at his grandfather. “Just what was that, Pops? Just what is she?”

Richard reverted as well, his eyes still locked on Kiera. “I don’t know, Kyle,” His voice trembled. “I don’t know what scares me most: The power we just saw or the answer to your question.” He shook himself and took a deep breath. “Regardless, we don’t have time to wonder about it though. Call the hospital, tell them what happened. Then help me try to save these people!”

The rest of the night was a time of frantic activity.  The ambulance drivers broke a few local speed records getting to St. Christopher’s but they were able to get both Alex and Carl stabilized enough to rush them into immediate surgery. The initial prognosis for both, however, was far from optimistic. Marcy was still in shock.  Between the attack and finding out some of her friends were really the Big Bad Wolf had almost sent her over the edge. She was currently being attended to by some of the best therapists the hospital had available, with a couple being either a wolf’s spouse or a wolf themselves. Finding out that bedtime stories were true wasn’t something that could be just readily accepted by a normal human. Couple that with the trauma her husband had just experienced and it was a wonder she wasn’t catatonic. It would take time but she would be able to recover. 

Richard and Kyle were given disposable scrubs to wear since they refused to go home and change until they had news one way or another about their friends. So, now they sat in a waiting room, praying for any good news.

Well, hotshot. Tonight’s been a hell of a night. His wolf softly chuckled. God knows I thought it would have been tomorrow night that our world exploded.

Do you have to make jokes right now?

Hey, you do the same thing to cope with stress. Where do you think I got it? 

Whatever. All I want to know is just what the hell happened and why, whoever they were, took Becca’s body. It’s bad enough that they…

I know.

But why take her?! It doesn’t make sense!

I don’t know. Honestly, I really don’t care. I just want to find them and start using organs for chew toys.

For once, I’m in complete agreement with you.

Good. Kyle felt his wolf retreat to the back of his mind. While his presence diminished, Kyle still felt him pacing back and forth, occasionally snapping at the “air”. A predator just aching to find the scent of his prey and begin his hunt. While the feeling was strange, Kyle didn’t mind the sentiment a single bit. 

As the hours passed, the two men were joined by more and more visitors. First, the police came to ask their questions. For once, they could be truthful as most of the force, hospital staff, and other various civil services were part of the pack or related to it in some way. That’s the unusual thing of Derrick’s Falls, for a small-town, it boasted one of the largest wolf populations in the United States.  Kyle could smell the anger that bubbled out of everyone they talked to. The Daniels were some of the most respected people in the town and Becca was an emergency worker, one of their own. The Wolves would have been ticked off enough as it was, but, add in a direct assault on their Alpha and the bloodlust was almost overwhelming. As more came into the waiting room, either to investigate or just offer support to their Alpha and his grandson, the Wolves just couldn’t sit still. They would drum their fingers, softly stamp their feet, glance around the room constantly. They all wanted a target, something to sink their teeth into.

The night turned into dawn and then into mid-day with still no word on either of the two men. Kyle hadn’t moved from his chair. He might as well have been a statue. Finally, around mid-afternoon, Dr. Hooper entered the room. All the muted conversations stopped instantly as over two dozen heads turned to the haggard doctor. 

“They’re both alive.” A collective sigh reverberated around the room. “Carl’s in bad shape. A bullet shattered his left shoulder blade and the connecting tissue. I doubt he’ll ever be able to have a full range of motion in it again.  Another severed his spinal cord. We tried to repair the damage and, though we won’t know for sure until we run some tests when he regains consciousness, I doubt he’ll be able to walk again. I’ve already informed Marcy, of course. Then I administered a tranquilizer to help her rest. God knows she needs it.”

Richard, as the Alpha, spoke for everyone. “What about Alex?”

The middle-aged man gripped his clipboard tightly. “Honestly, Richard? As bad as Carl is, Alex is worse. In fact, he should be dead.”

Kyle growled softly.

“Easy son,” Dr. Hooper replied. “I don’t know how he did it but he’s alive. The bullet tore through his right lung, bounced off the shoulder blade, then wedged itself into his intestine. Between the damage and hemorrhaging, he should have been dead on arrival. arrived. There is literally no medical reason for him to be alive.”
Everyone in the room paused as the information sunk in.

“What’s the prognosis, Harry?” 

“He’s in a coma right now Richard. His vitals are barely registering but they’re stable. All I can say is that we will continue to monitor and pray that they show signs of improvement. Other than that, it’s too early to tell.” 

“Thanks, Harry.” The Alpha placed his hand on his old friend’s shoulder. “I know you are doing all you can. How’s your third patient?”

“Apart from a massive case of exhaustion, she seems to be fine, physically at least. What is scaring me is that she isn’t grieving. She is remarkably calm and collected considering the events of the previous eighteen hours. I’m worried she’s become detached from reality but I’m not a psychiatrist. If I were in her shoes and it was Samantha and Roger,” he shrugged. “Well, there wouldn’t be a bottle left at Barry’s. I’ll tell you that much.” 

“I understand Harry. Anything else?”

“She asked to speak to Kyle..”

Richard nodded and waved to the young man. “Come on son. Let’s see what she wants.”

Dr. Hooper raised a placating hand. “I’m sorry Richard. She insisted on speaking to Kyle first alone and then you. She knows you have questions but she wants to talk to him first.  As her physician, I’m going to insist that you follow her wishes. I don’t want to upset her any more than necessary. Please, Richard.”

The older man nodded. “Of course. Lord knows she went through enough last night, no matter what she might be.” He looked around the room. “Until I say otherwise, Kiera Daniels has been and will always be a friend of this pack. She’s one of our own. I want round-the-clock security on this floor. But keep it low-key. Rotate pack members. Say they’re here for checkups, visiting family, whatever, you all know the drill. We have the advantage over human cops. We can hide in plain sight and have some of the deadliest weapons on earth that won’t set off a metal detector. While we can assume the Daniels were the targets, it could also have been myself, Kyle, or the Bakers. Whoever tried this might be back to finish the job and now they know that wolves were involved so expect them to be prepared with countermeasures.” 

“With that in mind, I’m asking for volunteers only.  Also, no one with a family. I’ve had to tell one wolf that his parents wouldn’t be coming home and I’ll be damned if I have to give that speech a second time.” He turned to his Beta, “David, start putting out the calls and set up a rotation. Also, put me on it.” Before David could even protest, Richard’s amber eyes blazed. “These bastards hurt my family. Do not make me repeat myself.” The other man nodded and bowed in submission to the Alpha.  Richard turned to Kyle. “Now get going, son. We’ll handle things out here.”

The younger man nodded and followed Dr. Hopper down the hall.

***

 

The room’s door closed with a soft click and Kyle stood just in front of it. Kiera was dressed in a hospital gown and sat upright in her bed, the back raised to support her. Still, her head was bowed, her auburn-and-grey streaked hair falling over her like a mourning shroud.  Kyle stood perfectly still. He didn’t know where to begin, let alone say. He was having so much trouble reconciling the creature he saw last night being the same kind woman he had known his entire life. 

Kiera took a deep breath and raised her head. She exhaled as she brushed the few errant strands over her left ear. Just like Becca. Kyle’s heart ached again at the thought that he wouldn’t see his beloved do that again. 

“So…”

“Are you....”

Both exhaled and chuckled as they spoke over one another. Kyle slightly grinned and waved at her. “Ladies first.”

Kiera nodded and a slight smile returned as well. “Dr. Hopper told me about the others but wouldn’t go into details. Are you and Richard ok?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. We are. We’re going to be crapping and puking out bullets for the next couple days but we’re ok. None of the bastards seemed to be expecting Wolves so they were armed with standard ammunition, not silver-based. They seemed to only be expecting normal humans.” He paused a moment. “Guess I can give Pops some credit then. When you consider the size of the pack in town, any attacker should have considered the probability of running into a Wolf if they knew we were here. This is proof he’s done a great job keeping us secret.” Kierra nodded. 

“With what we saw, I’m guessing you knew what we were long before now?”
Kierra nodded again. “I might not be as sensitive as I once was but I knew.” She sighed heavily. “You’d be very surprised as to just what I know about Wolves but that’s not really relevant at this moment. Close the door, please.”

Kyle did as she asked and then shrugged. “Ok, fair enough. But, what I don’t understand is why. What possible reason could a bunch of heavily-armed commandos want with any of us?” A soft growl escaped his throat as he slammed a fist against the doorframe. “Why steal Becca’s body?”

Kiera looked back down at her chest and softly whispered. “Because of me.”

Kyle waited for her to continue but her only reply was the sounds of her softly sobbing. He walked over to a nearby tissue box on a countertop and handed her one. Kiera nodded her thanks and wiped away the falling moisture.  She then took a deep, steadying breath and squared herself. Her sea-green eyes met his with a soft intensity that surprised him. He almost kneeled out of sheer reflex.

“First, I need to tell you exactly what I am for you to understand what happened last night.” Her tone grew more confident with each word. “Despite what you might think, I’m not a demon. Though I’ve been called that in the past, I’m not. Not in the Biblical sense at least. I’m a dragon.” Kyle’s eyes just about shot out of his head and he stumbled back against the room’s small dresser. He couldn’t believe it. The woman who always snuck him a fresh cookie from her latest batch, the one who suffered all those stomped-on feet as she taught him to dance for the wedding, that woman was something out of his fantasy book collection? 

Kiera actually managed a short laugh at his reaction. Then she nodded. “That’s right. A dragon, just like the storybooks say. All sixty-five feet long, massive winged creatures that breathe fire and were the terror of knights and heroes all over the world.” She laughed again. “Well, not quite like the storybooks. We tended to leave farmers and virgin princesses alone. I mean pitchforks against armor that a modern tank couldn’t penetrate seems a bit one-sided doesn’t it?” She sighed and patted the chair next to her bed. “Come, please sit down Kyle. You look like a scared puppy who just wet the carpet. I won’t bite. I’m still the same woman you’ve known. And, just like any woman,  I’m entitled to a few secrets of my own.” She patted the cheap plastic seat again. “Now, come on. We have a lot to talk about.”

Kyle slowly nodded and gingerly sat down. He half expected the chair to either melt or suddenly catch fire. Kiera’s smirk was back in place and she actually laughed out loud when Kyle just about missed the edge of the seat and almost slid off. Once he settled himself, Kiera took his hand and clasped it with hers. “What you saw last night was my hybrid form, based roughly on the same principles as your own hybrid form actually. Though, just as you have a full wolf fprm available, I have a full dragon as well. Trust me, we’d need a much bigger room if that happened, something stadium-sized at the least.. Are you with me so far?” Kyle nodded. “Good boy. I knew you were as smart as you were handsome.” Her voice softened a bit. “But what happened to me last night Kyle. That shouldn’t have been possible. Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh. Where do I begin?” She shook her head. “I could spend the next month rewriting everything you ever knew about world history but where would that get us?” She paused momentarily.  “I suppose this might be a good place to start. What do you know about the appendix, Kyle? The organ, not the ones in books.”

“Not much. From what little I remember in my health class back in school, the textbook said that scientists don’t really know what it does. That it's some cast-off piece of evolutionary development.”

Kiera chuckled. “Well, there’s a very good reason for that, Kyle. Certain individuals both past and present have made it a point that humans were to never discover just what exactly that little organ really is and what it actually does. You see, my kind, dragons dear, and yes there are quite a few of us out there, call that little organ a Source.  You have one too. All of you Wolves do, the same as any shifter race. It’s what allows you to shift into your more canine personalities as well as give you all those other handy benefits you’re used to. In fact, every intelligent being on the planet has one. Humans have them too but they’re rarely used, if ever. As a result, the energy it generates eventually overloads if the body can’t absorb the build-up any longer. Think of it like a boiler with too much steam pressure built up. That’s actually what “appendicitis” really is. That energy build-up is on its way to detonation. That’s why it has to be removed as quickly as possible. The whole cause being “sepsis” is only a cover story. With me so far?”
Kyle slowly nodded. “I think so. But plenty of people still have their appendices and aren’t special. How come theirs haven’t exploded?”

Kiera grinned. “You know what they say about a person having a “gut feeling”? That’s the Source giving them extremely mild precognition. It’s just enough to let the pressure out without causing them harm. There are other ways as well, mostly found in athletes, gifted artists, the scientific community, extremely charismatic people, and so on. Just that little extra something that makes a particular ability extraordinary.”

“Ok,” Kyle replied. “I get it.”

“Now, a Source is a little different from say a heart or kidney. There’s a limit to not only how much energy it can generate, but how much damage or stress it can take before it burns out completely. For shifters like our species, when a Source burns out, we’re trapped in whatever form we’re currently in at the time. It’s actually one of our greatest fears, truth be told. I had severely injured mine some time ago and refused to heal it to full strength for personal reasons.  Later, I used up what little energy I had left. Thus, I was to remain a simple normal human woman for the rest of my life.

“But, how do you explain last night?”

Kiera looked him straight in the eye. “Becca.”

“What?” Kyle lept out of the chair so hard it tumbled backward and stared down at her in shock. “What do you mean Becca? Is she a dragon too?!”

“No,” Kiera replied firmly.  “No, she’s not. That’s what I spent the last of my energy on, Kyle.” She fixed her gaze on him. “I spent it on her.” A few moments passed and Kiera waved to the fallen chair. “Now, please take your seat and try to relax dear. I’ll explain everything but it’s a little unnerving seeing you stare down at me like that.”

As Kyle picked up the chair and sat, he muttered, “I’m unnerving? She’s the one who turned her front yard into the tenth circle of Hell.”

A light chuckle filled the air as Kiera’s cheeks flushed a bit. “Ah. Yes. I did go a little overboard in hindsight. But, I don’t regret it. Not one small bit. Those men deserved that and much worse for their actions.”

“I’m sorry, Kiera. I’m still just coming to grips with this and you know what I do to cope. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He picked up her hand again. “For the record, I think what you did was amazing. Terrifying but amazing. I just planned on eating them alive. You were much more…uh… inventive.”

Kiera’s trademark smirk was back in place. “Well,” she huffed. “I don’t know if I should accept your praise young man or be worried that my daughter was going to marry a psychopath.” The smirk took any sting out of her words. “Now that you've calmed down, dear, please let me continue.”

Kyle nodded and Kiera resumed. “What I meant about Becca is that dragon genetics are quite…dominant, dear. If I hadn’t used my remaining energy to seal away Becca’s other half, well...” She looked around the hospital room. “St. Christopher’s might be used to the unusual considering who most of its staff and patients are, but, even they would have trouble explaining a bright-red baby girl with horns, wings, and a tail. Eventually, the story would get out. We’d be lucky if it just stuck to the grocery store rags but with how everyone now has a camera and their own social media feed?” She shook her head.  “Humanity isn’t ready to accept that they aren’t the only intelligent species on the planet.” Her gaze drifted off into the haze of memory. “If they ever were,” she whispered.

“What?”

Kiera waved his question dismissively. “For another time dear, trust me, you aren’t ready for all I have to tell. Anyway, to keep Becca human without damaging her development, I sacrificed any chance of shifting again.” She sighed heavily. “I could think of worse bargains a parent could make for their child’s safety. But last night, well, I found enough energy to shift one more time. I guess what they say about mothers being able to do amazing things when their child is in danger isn’t without merit. In fact, I can actually feel my Source beginning to replenish. It’ll take a long time before I can do anything more than lift something a bit out of my weight class let alone assume another form. But, I do know who attacked us and, when I’m back to full strength, she and I are going to have a nice little chat,” Kiera spat the last word out as a curse. 

Kyle felt his wolf immediately perk up at Kiera’s last statement. The possibility of finding their attacker suddenly had both Kyle and his wolf at full alertness. “Who was it, Kiera?”

Kiera sighed once more and leaned back on her pillows for a moment. “Someone with a very good reason to attack me.” She raised herself back up. “ Still, she crossed the line when she attacked my family and friends. She should have never involved innocents in our feud. Her name is Lilith. I’m not sure what she’s currently going by. Dragons have very long lives, even in comparison to you, Kyle. If I hadn’t altered Becca, I’m afraid she would have out-lived you by a significant margin, even as a half-blood. We’re straying off-topic though. You see Kyle, every seventy or eighty years, we have to reinvent ourselves if we want to keep ourselves in the general public. Oh, It was so much easier before the camera was invented, Kyle. At least then you could disappear to another country, wait a decade or two, then return later after everyone-who-knew-you’s children had died a thousand miles away from your current home. Now you have to worry about leaving your face where someone could see it in a history book or museum and wonder why they look like your next-door neighbor. At least with art, we could get away with it easier since it was centuries old.”

Kyle nodded as he followed her logic. “Makes sense. But why did this Lilith want to kill you?”

“Because I killed the man she loved.”

Kyle’s jaw dropped. If he hadn’t seen Kiera turn four men into living charcoal briquettes, he would never have imagined her hurting a fly let alone killing a man.  She actually put spiders in glasses and took them outside instead of stepping on them! 

“I know what you’re thinking Kyle. It’s something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. This happened during the Second World War in Austria. Dragons had long, long ago made a pact of non-interference with humanity. All we would do is watch over them. Try to keep them from exterminating each other. The only times we would directly intervene would be in the case of an extinction-level event. Even then, there had to be unanimous agreement among the various clan leaders. Remember the Cuban Missile Crisis? There’s a reason it lasted two weeks but ended peacefully. World leaders tend to get pretty agreeable when they’re staring down the gullet of a giant reptile if they don’t back down and never mention why they did. On the plus side though, John was a rather charming gentleman afterward. I can see how he earned his reputation. The country truly lost a great man that day in Dallas. But we need to get back to Austria.

“There had been persistent rumors that the Regent of the Violet clan was openly assisting the Nazi war effort since the late 30s.” She paused at Kyle’s quizzical expression. “Think of a Regent as an Alpha and you’d be in the ballpark, dear.” Kyle nodded. “I was sent to investigate and the reality was much, much worse than any of us could have imagined.  This was early 1943, mind you. The Regent, his Consort, and Firstborn were not only helping the Nazis in active combat, but they were also helping them develop hydrogen bombs. Intercontinental ballistic hydrogen missiles. Decades before anyone succeeded.” She winced. “Sometimes, I do regret that strict non-interference but I do support it and the reasons why.” She shook her head. “I’m getting off-topic. Remember that scene from that one superhero movie where the hero with those stunning biceps crashes that plane full of atomic bombs into the ocean? Picture that but multiply the amount to hit every major city the Allies had. Simultaneously. This was unforgivable treason and there was only one punishment for their crimes.” 

“Wait. Kiera. You took on three dragons by yourself?” Kyle’s face was as white as Kiera’s bedsheets as he contemplated the sheer power the woman possessed to be able to do such a thing.

Her laugh nearly startled Kyle back out of his chair. “Oh heavens no. I’m strong but nowhere that strong. I’m still pretty young for a dragon.”

“Wait, how young?”

“If I was fully human, I’d be about twenty-eight.”

“And in dragon years?”
Kiera’s smirk grew wider. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day. But to give you a hint? Poor Alexandros definitely got the nose wrong when I posed for that statue. You know, the one with the missing arms?” Kyle’s mouth gaped open like a gasping fish as Kiera’s grin split her face.  “Regardless, compared to the Violets’ three most powerful members, if I had fought them alone, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So, there were four of us that night. The Regents of the Blue and Yellow clans and the Violet Regent’s second-born daughter.”

“Lilith?”

Kiera nodded. “She was unaware of her families’ activities. In fact, she was quite livid when their treachery came to light. Considering she had been in the States since the 1880s and was treating Allied wounded at the time, she was cleared of any suspicion. Three days after my discovery, we launched our assault. One of the advantages of Austria is all those lovely mountains make it impossible for regular humans to stumble across us on foot and no aircraft would have dared approach the lightning that “unexpected storm” unleashed.  By the end of it, the Violets and the Blue Regent were dead. Yellow’s was severely injured and Lilith and I were the only two left conscious.” She paused a moment. “Then it happened.”

“Dragons can get lost in our blood rage on occasion and, to my shame, it happened to me that night. I was still running on the adrenaline high of combat and not thinking clearly. A human, a doctor actually, wanted to check on both of us. He touched me from behind and, to my eternal shame, I struck him in reflex. He went flying and struck a tree. He was killed on impact. Lilith went berserk and attacked. I didn’t blame her. I had murdered an innocent man, a good man, in cold blood. So, I didn’t defend myself. She turned acres of woodlands into barren wastes as I writhed in pain. Then she pounced and began slashing and tearing. I blacked out from the pain, fully expecting to never wake again. When I awoke later in the Yellow Regent’s home, she told me the rest. Once I was unconscious, Lilith thought she had finished the deed as I bled out and left to bury her beloved Michael. Rochelle, the Yellow Regent, helped stabilize me. Then, for the next decade or so, I slowly healed but vowed never to shift again. As far as I was concerned, Kiera the Red Regent was dead and buried in that forest. I’d pay my penance as a normal human. I don’t know how she found out I was still alive but she came back to finish the job.”

“But why send the commandos? Why not do it herself?”

“The answer Kyle is Becca again. Knowing Lilith, she did her homework long before last night occurred. If she knew who I was, she’d know who my family was as well. She’s probably had us under surveillance for a while. So, when it was reported that I could no longer bench-press a semi-truck or that strange silhouettes were seen at night; coupled with my daughter seeming to be a perfectly, normal, everyday human and not a half-blood fire-breathing dragon, I’m sure she surmised that I had burnt out my Source during our last battle or by altering Becca. In this form, Kyle, I’m as frail as a regular human. I just won’t have any wrinkles for quite a very long time.”

“Ok. I follow that. But, even so, why take her body? Why not just kill…” Kyle swallowed hard. “Why not just kill all of us and be done with it?”

“Trophies.” Kiera snorted derisively. “You’ve read enough fantasy books to know that dragons love their hordes. Well, what could be a greater treasure than the destruction of your greatest enemies that you could put on display as a warning to others? Its worked as an effective deterrent through the centuries for a very good reason.” She gripped the sheets so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “I shudder to think what desecrations she’s going to inflict on my baby. If I could, I’d be tearing through the skies searching for her, the human world be damned. Lilith took her from me and I will move heaven and earth to find her. You have no idea what my race is truly capable of Kyle.”

“Try me.”

“A meteor didn’t kill the dinosaurs. We did.”

Kyle’s eyes bulged. “Oh. Ok.” He lightly cleared his throat.  “Well, I think I might have peed a little just now.” 

“Make sure to tell the nurse to send the custodian in when you leave please.”

Kyle nodded. “You know I was joking.”

“Of course dear. Of course.”

“Still, you don’t have to worry about getting your strength back Kiera. I’m going to bring her back home.” His voice dropped into a soft growl, similar to his grandfather’s. “No matter what or who I have to kill. She’s coming home. I swear it.”

Kiera gasped and grabbed his arm with both her hands. “No, Kyle. Please don’t!” Her voice trembled as she pleaded to him.  “You could barely handle a few humans with guns. If you went up against Lilith, your grandfather would be burying an empty casket next to his son and daughter-in-law. I beg you. Please! This is my mess. I’ll clean it up.”

Kyle stared at her as the minutes ticked by. Finally, he nodded. “Ok, Kiera. Ok. You’re right. I’m not ready for that kind of foe.” 

“Thank you, Kyle.” She sighed in relief. “Now, if you could send in your grandfather please? I’m sure he’s anxious to hear the whole story as well.”

Kyle rose. “Yeah, I’ll get him.” He went to the door handle and paused for a moment. “There’s just one last thing I have to ask Kiera.”

“Yes, Kyle?”

“Sorry if I offend you but there’s been something bothering me for a while now.. If you’re really that young for your species, where’d the gray hair come from?”

“A truly marvelous magic spell Kyle. One called hair dye.”

“Oh.” Kyle deflated somewhat. “I thought it was some super dragon power or something.”

Kiera laughed. “Nope. A ten-dollar box from the drugstore and a single afternoon while Alex is at work. Now about your grandfather?”

“Right.” He opened the door. “See you soon, Kiera.”

“Goodbye Kyle.”

 

***

So, hotshot, we’re totally hitting the road tonight, aren’t we?

As soon as I get a bag packed and some cash together.

Do you even know where we would go to start looking?

Doesn’t matter. 

His wolf snapped his teeth in annoyance. You’re not thinking straight. We have to be smart about this!

Look, the more we argue, the further away they get! Besides, when have I started listening to you anyway? You should be used to being ignored. Now, shut up. I’ve got a job to do. 

This isn’t going to go the way you think.

Trust me, this is where the fun begins.

I have a very bad feeling about this.