"Take her up, Mister Jackson—slowly though."

"Right-O, sir."

"Let's hope this works."  Carbon clutched a pair of binoculars in his paw and leaned out the side of one of his Hueys as is started directly upward.  "If you go slow enough I'm hoping they won't notice us this far out."

"Well I'm not counting on being that lucky."  Gary pulled his M-16 up to his chest and pulled the priming bar, a satisfying clack following as the weapon loaded a round.  "Are we fire free, sir?"

"Nope.  Only return fire still, Mister Bloom.  If we're getting in there alive, it's by silent approach."  Once the helicopter was high enough, Carbon brought his borrowed binoculars to the face of his mask.  "Hmm...  Not getting what I expected."  He lowered the spectacles and flipped them around, grunting a sigh as he was nearly blinded by the coating on the lenses.  "I can't work with this treated glass crap.  Anyone got some ~plain~ binos?"

"Nah, only type we got."  Gary checked around the cabin and them pointed to one of the other Privates.  "Hey Manning, you still got that GI scope or you ditch it after the upgrade?"

The Private pulled out his backpack and rummaged through it, producing a cheap rifle scope.  "Yeah, in case the other breaks.  Think this weak-ass thing will do?"

"Better than nothing."  Gary relayed the item to his commanding officer and took back his binoculars.  "See if these do the trick, sir."

Carbon brought the low-magnification scope up to one eye, then flipped it around after peering through the forward end.  "Not much zoom, but now we're in business."  He found the target location quickly and smiled when the enemies' unfiltered infrared signatures showed up in his expanded range of vision.  "Bastards light up like fireflies.  Looks like we've only got the one anti-air cannon to deal with and it's faced where we were earlier.  Perfect."

"Orders, sir?"

"Take this bird down."  Carbon gave back the scope and then made a lowering motion with his paw.  "Sun's setting.  We're storming these bastards from behind."

Gary beamed out a smile at the mention of some action.  "Yes, sir!"

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"You sure you're ready for something like this?"  Carbon reached up to Adrian's shoulder and gripped it lightly, waiting for a confident nod.  "Alright.  Everyone move up."

Darkness shrouded a dozen men as they carefully sulked through the jungle.  The Major gave a set of paw signals and the men fanned out into a line, mainly to reduce the enemy's ability to pinpoint odd sounds.  Once the attack group reached the bottom of the hill leading to the target, they received another set of signals that propagated down the ranks.  The line split two ways, aiming again to reduce potential casualties by way of a pincer maneuver.

"Anything seem off to you?"

Carbon looked to Mycroft and then to the brush ahead.  "Eve, anything?"

"There's no signs of larger wildlife in the area.  If the enemy holds training fire exercises that might have scared them off though."  The plant girl floated about ahead, looking closely at anything that even remotely warranted suspicion.  "I don't know.  Seems like our plan is just working out."

The hybrid moved closer to Adrian and again tapped his shoulder.  "Keep an eye out, and if things get too heavy I want you to run for the choppers.  You got—"

Click.

Suddenly Evelyn took control of her host's lower body and lunged him into Adrian's side.  "Mines!!"

"Fuck!  Adrian!"  Merely a second after throwing the husky from the trigger and flat on the ground, an anti-personnel explosive popped upward and exploded at their previous waist-level.  "Damn.  Adrian?!"

The husky groaned and held onto his chest, but thankfully revealed that it was his camera that took a hit rather than himself.  "Ah, shit.  Not Maxie..."

Carbon stared at his friend in disbelief, only shaken back into action as a second and third explosion reverberated through the trees.  "We'll get you a new one later.  Just ~run~!"

"Carbon, the other explosions were further back and there's less distance to the camp."  Eve appeared full size with her hands stretched out to block the path back.  "More of a chance he'll trigger another going backward."

Carbon stood and pulled Adrian to his hindpaws as well.  "Change of plan.  You're following me so you don't—"  a burst of bullets zipped nearby, forcing Carbon into a crouch.  "Just watch my back!  Guys, ~CHARGE 'EM~!!"

Those not incapacitated by the trip mines rushed forward, returning fire without a second thought.  Carbon checked behind himself for Adrian and then lunged into a sprint, readying the shotgun he borrowed from his previous battle.  Bullets sprayed all around him but with a little help from Evelyn he didn't flinch, being able to predict trajectories by the angles of the weapons themselves.  The hybrid bode his time, taking a moment to hop to the side every few hundred feet to dodge a round or two.  Then after Adrian caught up behind a tree, he made his final charge.  One clean shot from the hip sent an enemy onto the flat of his back, followed by a shouldered pair of shots in rapid succession to drop another.

A small hole now opened in the enemy's haphazardly-built defenses gave Carbon enough room to break through and hide inside a small trench.  "Adri, get in here and keep your head down."  As the husky complied with the order Carbon took a look around the base, finding the large heat signature of the anti-air system in seconds.  "That huge thing is the gun?"

"What is?"  Adrian peeked his head out only to have Carbon's paw shove him back down again.  "Wait, that thing looks like a giant person."

Carbon checked again, this time with Evelyn adjusting his visible bands of light for a more full view.  "It's a humanoid machine.  I don't know what that is, but I don't know how to take it out."

"It's facing away still, so we just need some explosives.  Right?"

"We need a soldier ~with~ explosives first."  The mustelid checked back towards the other men and spotted another group huddling further down the trench.  "Mike!  Get over here!"

The Sergeant kept low and led three of his men over, with Carbon laying down covering fire.  "What the blazing hells is that?"

"Not the reaction I was hoping for."  Carbon checked over the other soldiers and reached out for a grenade launcher he found.  "That's what I need right there.  We need to blow that thing up ~pronto~ so the rest of the men can fly in."

"That's no anti-tank platform, sir."

"Better than a shotgun at least."  The Major quickly aimed and fired the loaded shell, landing a direct hit on the walking tank's back.  "Good hit, but no secondaries..."

"Bloody hell."

The tank's only reaction was to stand upright, unscathed, and turn to face the attackers.  "Not safe here!  Displace and regroup by that stockpile!"

Carbon once again had to yank Adrian to action as the hulking tank readied its shoulder-steadied weapon.  The resulting crater they previously occupied thankfully contained no dead bodies, but the shockwave of the weapon set everyone off balance.  One of Mycroft's men took a stray round to the leg as they parted ways, the soldier being left in the open until the heavy fire was disrupted.  Carbon had to act fast if he'd have a chance at a rescue.  There was a small issue however; there were no connecting trenches or pieces of cover between the hybrid and the stockpile of enemy weapons.

"You did ~not~ just shoot that green shit at me..."  Carbon bunkered down behind a set of sandbags and issued a new set of orders with a yell.  "New plan!  Find something big to hit that fucker and I'll get closer.  Might be able to disable it by paw."

Mycroft scrambled across the dirt and hid behind a stack of wooden crates.  "Oi!  Might reckless of ya'."  The wolf helped one of his men find cover as well before checking into the contents of his light cover.  "Rockets!  We found the mother lode, mate!"

The Major shoved Adrian down against the sandbags when he tried to stand and follow.  "Stay here and keep your head down."  He then bolted toward a shanty shack and hugged his back against it.  "On your mark, Mike!"

Mycroft bashed the side of a crate open with the stock of his rifle and one of his men pulled out a type-five rocket propelled grenade launcher.  The soldier readied the weapon and launched away a rocket, the hyper-velocity grenade slamming into the front of the bipedal tank in the blink of an eye.  Even before the smoke cleared, the monstrous vehicle pushed forward with only a few scratches and readied another salvo of its own massive weapon.  Carbon didn't let the temporary distraction go to waste, slipping around the backside of the building he was against and flanking the odd tank.

The metal beast raised it's weapon up, but Carbon's actions didn't go unnoticed.  It turned to bat the hybrid back with the large cannon, yet Carbon slid beneath the attack and grabbed onto the tank's leg.  The beast dropped its gun in favor of swatting randomly towards the hybrid with its large metal hands.  Carbon didn't let the tank earn its defense, slipping around behind it and climbing onto its back.  The hulk frantically shook its arms about and tried to wrestle the mustelid free but found no purchase.

"Oh, so you don't like me on you?  Must be a weak spot then!"  Carbon found a great way to lock his legs down tight then started fiddling with an armored back plate, reaching his paw into a small vent slit.  "What you got?  Critical wiring?  Hydraulics?"

"Get back, filthy Terran!"

Carbon started to smile as the pilot inside showed his frustration, but a sudden shock of raw confusion jolted through his arm.  "Ack!  Eve?!"

"Well that's not possible..."

"~Eve~?!"

"That feels like...  your father.  Something else, too.  Familiar."  The plant fairy appeared before her host, shrunken down and sitting on the manifold.  "I'll need a few seconds."

The robotic beast nearly toppled over trying to throw the attacker off.  "Faster!  Must go faster!"

"Oh, that was simple.  Got it."  Evelyn stood up and pointed at the machine below her.  "Just think about it holding still."

"Think about it?"  Carbon nearly flew away from the tank in a particularly bad rock of its back.  "Will you fucking stop that shit?!"

Suddenly the tank stopped moving, soon followed by a harsh pounding noise from inside the cockpit in the chest.  "Curse you!  How can a measly Terran like you stop my mighty fir?!"

"Fir?"  Carbon looked to Eve for approval as he shifted around to the front of the machine, her only answer being to pin down Carbon's paw to the chassis the whole time.  "I have to keep touching it?  Why?"

"Because your touch can control it.  This fir was made by your father, so his overrides are genetically part of you too."  The cockpit hatch started opening, only to resist and hiss closed again.  "The pilot will just fight your commands the minute you surrender control.  Ultimately you can call the shots though."

"Ha!  I've got control of this thing now, bastard!"  Carbon tried pulling the machine down to a kneeling posture but nothing happened.  "Hey, what gives?"

"Imagine talking to it, sort of like you talk to me."

"Oh.  Um..."  Slowly the hulk shifted its weight and fell to a knee, the cockpit creaking open soon after.  "Sweet goddess, it works."

"How can you...?!"  As the chest compartment finished opening, a smooth-skinned person lashed out with what appeared to be three tentacles with pointed spines on their tips.  "Get away from my fir!"

Adrian suddenly ran up and tackled Carbon to the dirt, saving him from being eviscerated by a vine.  "Fuck, mate..."

"Adrian!"  The Major scrambled until his paw touched the foot of the machine, his paw pad glowing a deep indigo as he sent a few commands.  "That was close.  Someone secure that guy!"

"Got him!"  Mycroft ran up to the cockpit with his pistol drawn, ready to kill if the pilot didn't stand down.  "That's him.  Hey murderer, lose the vines!  Now!"

"I'll never..."  The green-skinned person slowly lowered his defenses, and soon his head as well.  "...never...  surr-..."

Carbon stood up and boldly went for the pilot, leaning into the cockpit to inspect him.  "He's suffocating."

Eve fluttered into view and sat on the odd person's head.  "He's like you, Carbon.  He needs different air than this world provides."

"He needs my air!"  Carbon reached for the pilot and was forced to pull his paw back when a surge of memories hurt his head.  "Gah!  Shit.  Someone grab this guy."

"Alive, he can tell us about what he was doing here... and about your father.  Something links them together if he's got this fir."  Evelyn disappeared and then reappeared full size next to the titanic machine.  "Not sure we can get what we need if he dies."

"Someone help me!  I can't touch him and we need him ~alive~ for questioning!"

Adrian stepped up and began pulling the pilot free of the robotic frame.  "So we hook him up to the chopper?  What's the plan?"

"He can share my air...  uh... until we get the backup..."  Carbon slid off the metal beast and barely held himself up on his paws and knees.  "Helicopters...  plastic mask...  thingy..."

"Oh...  shit.  Carbon?"  Evelyn knelt down over her host as he rolled onto his back in the mud.  "I didn't expect this for another few days, but then you touched that guy..."

"Eve?"

"Don't fight it.  Just breathe.  You're about to go to sleep..."

"Sleep...?"

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"...Carbon..."

The hybrid groggily opened his eyes, finding himself in a hazy version of his old containment cell back home.  "Evelyn?  Hey, what's going on?"

"There you are.  Finally."  The plant girl pushed away from the corner near the airlock and stood in the middle of the cell.  "I was worried you'd stay unconscious the whole time since it's your first cycle.  Lost most of our time already."

"First cycle?  Eve..."  Before he could finish his inquiry, Carbon gawked at a figure on the other side of the observation window.  "M-Mom?"

Eve stood between Carbon and his mother, arms stretched wide to block his view.  "She's not real, Carbon."

"What?!  But she's right there!  After that nightmare I just want to hug her!"  Carbon went for the airlock, but was beaten by the more determined plant girl.  "Eve!  What the hell are you—?!"

"~This~ is the dream, Carbon.  A memory, actually."  Eve fought her host a bit longer until he eventually relented.  "I'm sorry, but that's just how it is.  If you try to calm down I can change this to something...  less painful..."

Carbon took another look at his mother, then realized her face simply didn't have any definition.  "That's normally a mirror.  Of course...  I couldn't see her face."

Suddenly the room swirled and blended into a a starlit field outside the same military base, with Evelyn walking over to a tree.  "This was a nice one.  Remember the sky that night?"

The Major slumped to the grass and rolled on his back, staring up at the sky.  "It ended up being more than I hoped for if I remember."

"You're right.  Don't need some fancy angle for a meteor shower, so we--?!"

Carbon looked up to find Adrian tripping over him just as expected, only the husky was frozen in place and smiling down to him.  "Why couldn't we just stay back home?  It scares me to death every time Adrian gets into the line of fire."

"Well you forgot the mines too..."

"Not helping me feel any better, Eve."

Evelyn laid down right next to her host, but unlike all other times before Carbon could truly feel her as she snuggled close.  "Don't worry too much.  He's a tougher guy than you think."

"Tough or not, I don't want to see him get hurt."

"Wow..."  Eve smiled contently and gave her host a tender kiss on the cheek.  "You really do like the guy.  You're growing up fast."

Carbon stared back blankly as the new sensations finally got under his fur.  "So what if I do?  All I get to worry about is keeping everyone alive these days.  I couldn't focus on ~that~ sort of thing right now."

"Your mother would have approved of him."

"You sure?  I'm thinking she'd want me to pair up with a fur of the opposite gender."  Carbon reached out, playing with one of Eve's petals on her head.  "You know, evolution and genetics: all her science stuff."

"Well...  I'm not sure about that..."  The fairy ducked her head into Carbon's shoulder to hide her face as she admitted something.  "I sort of changed your gender...  when you were twelve days old.  You're technically a girl.  You mother was even going to call you 'Fibre' until she was forced to reconsider."

"What?!"  Carbon sat upright and quirked his head when Eve was shoved back by his movement.  "You've been keeping ~that~ from me?  What else don't I know?"

"That's it!  I swear!"

"Really?"

"Really."

Carbon huffed out a sigh of frustration and offered a paw to Evelyn so she could sit up.  "Well what happened happened.  I've always been a guy since I can remember so it's not a big deal.  You can always change me anyway."  Eve loosened up once she was upright and rubbed her face as if there was a bit of discomfort there.  "So what exactly is this place?  And how can I...  touch you?  For ~real~."

Evelyn smiled as her host forgave her, or at least let things slide for the moment.  "Well that's a bit harder to explain.  You know why Johnny started making you sleep with those lamps?"

"Yeah, I remember that.  It's sort of fuzzy though.  I didn't feel too great those days."

"Exactly."  The flower scooted closer to her host and leaned against him for warmth, the memory being just as chilly as they remembered.  "Your father's side of you requires a sort of extended sleep cycle every so often, and it's triggered by the cold and dark.  I tried to keep you from needing it as long as possible, and it was sort of easy with your sedentary life in that cell.  But now that you're actually exerting yourself these days..."

"So I'm sleeping?  But I sleep every night.  How's this supposed to be different?"

"You sleep a few hours a night, Carbon.  A normal fur goes for about nine naturally."  Eve rolled over, using her weight to press Carbon flat against the ground beneath her.  "But in any case, this is more like a coma.  Your vital functions slow to a near halt and your body focuses on repair and replenishment of cells.  Terran furs do that every night in short bursts, but you require an uninterrupted ten hours minimum plus padding."

"So I'm making up for lost time?"

"Yes.  In more ways than one, too."  Eve lowered her head and gave Carbon another smooch on his forehead.  "When we're like this, I don't need to work so hard.  I can make your memories into places for us to get along, in a real sense.  It's my domain.  No more mental tricks."

"So I noticed."  Carbon smiled and slowly shook his head as another kiss landed on his nose.  "Been wanting to try that, huh?  I'll admit it's a nice change.  We have hours though, so no need to get all grabby."

"Actually, you were out flat most of our time this cycle.  We'll get another chance in about nine or ten days though."  Eve placed yet another kiss and then fell flat to hug her host.  "I'm not sure how long is natural for you yet, but i hope we get more time next go round."

"Aw, so we're almost done?  Well maybe that's for the best.  We were in the middle of a mission, after all."

"Maybe.  I'll focus on getting info from that pilot's genetic memory.  With any luck he won't resist and we can find out his plans."

"And find out more about dad."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, but maybe."  Eve raised herself back up and then pulled lightly on Carbon to sit up as well.  "But for now I have to be a little greedy.  I need you to kiss me with everything you've got.  I've always wanted to feel that...  and there's something in it for you too.  Promise."

Carbon hesitated for a moment, then sat up into Eve's embrace with his snout nuzzling her nose.  "That's a bit strange coming from you but...  I guess you've earned that after so long."

"Thank you, Carbon."

The hybrid nuzzled a bit longer until the whole world started feeling warm and tingly.  He knew something must have been changing in his real self, so he didn't delay any further.  Carbon tilted his head to the side and sealed his lips to Evelyn's.  Then with a light suckle he opened his mouth, hers following suit.  Their tongues intertwined gracefully as the world lost all color, then faded away to white...

Then Carbon opened his eyes to find Adrian's mere inches away.

Adrian parted his lips from Carbon's and just blinked back as his cheeks started flushing with blood.  "Mate..."

More for his feelings than a need to breathe, Carbon latched back onto Adrian and sucked in some of his gasping exhaust with surprisingly fruitful effect.  "Mmm...  Works better than I thought..."

The husky lost his nerve and pulled the same tactic, though with nowhere near enough oxygen returning as necessary for his respiratory needs.  "Haah...  Damn."  He spied Carbon struggling for air and finished switching the chopper's medical breathing mask over his snout.  "That could have been more romantic..."

Carbon took a few good breaths to stabilize his breathing rhythm before taking the mask off for a moment to talk.  "I...  I enjoyed it.  But I probably shouldn't have—"

A paw came from behind and forced the mask against the hybrid's mouth.  "We won't blame you for waking up like that, Carbon.  Coma patients do strange things."

Carbon fought against the mask and eventually wiggled free.  "No, Johnny.  I really wanted to do that...  even if it was Eve that set it up."

Adrian eased the mask out of Johnny's control and gently gave it back to Carbon.  "Well I'm not sure what to make of that, lad."

"I think I love you, Adrian."

"You...?"

Carbon took another few breaths, looking over Adrian's shoulder towards a grinning Evelyn.  "I didn't really understand it until now, but I've been thinking about you ever since we met.  And after what we've been through I realize now that ~you're~ what I want to protect the most in this war."

"Don't get too sappy on me, now."  Eve gave her host a nod and then disappeared to let him work on his own.  "Just be true to yourself and you'll be fine, Carbon."

"I don't expect you to feel the same..."  The Major sat back and finally realized they were sitting in the Chinook's rear cabin, likely so Carbon could swap air systems.  "I'm just being selfish too, but I'm not afraid to admit what I want."

"No..."  Adrian checked out the side doors before pulling Carbon into an embrace.  "That's not wrong at all, mate.  And just as long as we don't make any rash actions in front of the boys...  Uh..."

"You...  like me too?"

"I've become accustomed to your presence, lad.  I can't say I'm not interested."  The husky loosened up and gave his new love a bit of room to recuperate.  "Let's give it the good old go."

"Really?"

Johnny shook his head at the budding relationship and brought a syringe to Carbon's arm.  "I'm not gonna judge.  Your mother would want to see you happy at any rate.  But for now, can we focus on your health?"

"Just take the blood already..."  Carbon winced as the needle breached his skin.  "So what did I miss?  How long's it been?"

"Well you've been out cold for about a day and a half."  Adrian sat back in another seat and stared at the floor.  "You needed more air when your pack ran out so we had to hook you up to the chopper a few times..."

"Which means..."  Carbon checked around the cabin and then broke free of Johnny's grasp to check the windows.  "Shit!  What happened to the green guy?!"

Johnny pulled back the syringe and stowed it away, then gawked a moment as he didn't need to stop any bleeding on Carbon's arm.  "Interesting.  Oh, uh...  We couldn't save him, Carbon.  I had to prioritize you when your air ran dry.  Besides, he wasn't reacting too well to your kind of air anyway."

"Fuck.  Fuck!"

"At least we stopped whatever he was doing."  Adrian sighed as he finally revealed the location of the body for Carbon, right next to three others outside.  "Not that we could save everyone."

"It's a shame they had to go, but that's not my point."  Carbon peeped out the window and grunted, turning to his side toward the newly-formed body of Evelyn.  "What the hell do we do now?  We can't get anything from a dead guy, can we?"

"I'm more concerned with ~what~ he was.  Might have to chop him up later and see."

Carbon and Evelyn both stared down Johnny's comment, even if half of the effect was lost on him.  "Carbon, ignore him for now.  The sooner you can get me to that body, the better.  I can still make this work if you get me in contact with blood that's not coagulated yet."

"Get you in contact?  How?  You don't have a body."

"You've got your queii all over you.  The ones in your paws would work well enough."  Eve took control of something awkward to Carbon, his queoo vines bending from around behind him.  "These might be only a few feet long right now but they'd work better.  Just need to touch his blood with them somehow."

"Just how fast do those grow?!  And how long—?"

"You repair and grow during your sleep cycles, Carbon.  They'll get a few meters eventually, and all three should stretch to at least double that if need be."

"Three?"  Carbon closed his shirt and hid the queoo from sight.  "I thought there were only two on my back.  There's three?"

"With your dad's genes, everything comes in threes instead of pairs.  Third one's coming out slower just above your tail, though."

Carbon placed his face in his palms and sighed.  "Fine.  I'll get used to it."

"I've always wondered," Adrian interrupted ponderously, "why exactly do you have to speak to her out loud?  To Evelyn, I mean."

"We don't share thoughts, but she has my senses...  and I can hear myself talking."

"Huh.  Always wondered that myself."  Johnny took his blood kit and opened the side door.  "Good answer.  I'll go check this outside.  Cheap microscope needs good sunlight.  What'll you two do?"

"Just snogging all day."  The foreign lingo was lost on the others, leaving Adrian jokeless.  "Uh...  Never mind."

"Autopsy.  We're taking a closer look at that pilot."  Carbon stood just long enough to reposition next to Adrian on the bench seat with a drawn out yawn.  "But first I need to wake up fully.  I'm not used to sleeping that much."

"Right.  I'll grab some coffee when I return."

Adrian threw an arm around the mustelid and held him closer.  "You sure you don't feel bad in any way?  Better safe than sorry."

"Actually, I feel...  better than ever.  Literally.  That's some magic sleep."  Carbon rested his head against Adrian's chest.  "I might just have enough energy to 'snog' all day after all."

Adrian couldn't hold himself back, bursting out in full-blown laughter as his joke flipped on him.