"Well, aren't you fetching, sitting there with your shirt off?" Laney said, smirking as she walked in.

"I... What?" was all I could manage as I tried to make sense of the situation. Jonathan and Emilie must have been plants for Laney to get to us. It was the only thing that made sense, what with Jake leaving blood on the hardwood floor of the apartment, face cut by a blow. He wasn't too bad, but I was a little worried. Laney had been following us like we were a ball of yarn.

Laney sat on my lap and licked my face seductively.

"I wonder what you taste like," she whispered as her hands reached down my pants.

"Oh God!" I yelled. "What are you doing?" I tried pulling away but she held me in place

"I'm showing you what I can offer you if you join us." I whimpered as she ran her paw along my spent member before grabbing my balls and squeezing so hard it hurt. "And what you could lose by refusing me."

I groaned in pain and she let me go. "You want me to join you to wipe out the humans, is that it? This isn't about freedom; this is about you wanting to be the only species left. You're terrorists with dreams of genocide."

She stood and growled.

"Is it terror if we're returning the terror they struck into us? Is it terror if we make them pay for creating us and enslaving us?"

"They didn't enslave us! We worked hard and were free. Yeah, things weren't great for a while but it's changing! We don't need to be fighting them as if they're enemies. They're us!"

"Shut up!" she screamed.

"Lady," Jake said. "I got a headache as it is. I don't need your voice to make it worse."

"Allow me take care of that for you," Jonathan said putting the gun against Jake's head.

"Now's probably not a good time to mention that you have a small dick then, is it?" Jake said.

Jonathan cocked the hammer.

"I mean, I know ferrets aren't the most well-endowed, but yikes. I wasn't sure if it was a penis or a Mike n Ike."

As funny as it was, I was refraining from laughing at the ever-irreverent, even in the face of death, words of my best friend. I guess a gun pointed to his head made it less funny.

Jonathan growled but it came out in a funny, garbled way. "Then maybe I should tell Brent here that you were moaning his name while I fucked you," Jonathan said with a sneer.

Jake's ears dropped and color filled his cheeks.

"I..." he trailed off and hung his head in shame.

I broke the silence.

"Laney, did you know that Emilie wasn't born a fur?" I said.

"What?!" they both screamed, looking at me.

"It's true. On the nape of her neck is a tell-tale scar. It's a small spot where no fur grows. It's where they inject the patient with the bone growth serum."

Laney grabbed Emilie's ear and twisted it, dropping her to her knees to see the scar.

"It's on Jake too. But there's also another scar by her tail. On the lower back. It's only there if you look closely."

"How do you know about these scars?" Emilie asked.

Now was my turn to blush. I looked down at my knees and then up at Jake.

"Because I noticed them on Jake first."

A smile crept across his face.

Laney hit Emilie's face and she went sprawling across the floor. Jonathan shoved Jake aside and was moving for Laney when I grabbed for the gun. I wrenched it free from his hands and hit him hard in the nose. He went back and started to come at me again when Jake grabbed him by the arm and swung him around, slamming him into the refrigerator face first. He went limp but I couldn't worry if he was alive or not because Laney tackled me and pinned me to the wall. He claws grew out from her paws and pressed against my throat.

She reached back with one paw to strike as I struggled uselessly. Jake came out of nowhere, swinging a frying pan and hit the back of Laney's head. Laney groaned and I followed with an elbow to the jaw. She fell on the ground and I smiled at Jake.

"You should cook more," I said.

He smiled. "I thought you told me cooking was for queers."

I dodged Emilie who came at me, swinging bloody claws. Jake tripped her as she ran past and she hit the wall. She went limp and slid to the ground.

"Jake, I said a lot of things that I regret, but we can talk about that later. Right now, we gotta get out of here."

He nodded in agreement and we left in a hurry, not wanting to be around when they came to. But for good measure we called the French Police and told them some of what happened.

With any luck, by the time our train pulled into Germany, there'd be a story on the news about Laney being behind bars.

* * *

We lay in our hotel room in Stuttgart trying to get some sleep. We had different beds that day as I didn't feel quite right, sharing a bed after the fight we had.

The train we booked last minute was in silence as we grasped what happened. The whole thing was hard to believe. Jake took it really hard, feeling like he'd been taken advantage of. We swore not to go seeking out a partner while on the trip. It'd been a mistake and we both knew it. But there was still an elephant in the room.

"Jake?" I asked that night.

"Yeah?" he said, voice sounding weak. I could tell he'd been crying. I knew him well enough.

"Did you really moan my name or was it a lie?"

There was a space of silence for a little bit while I waited.

"I... I did," he admitted with a sigh.

"Do you still like me?" I asked, ready to tell him the truth.

"Y-Yeah. I mean, I know you're straight, but... I can't help it. Brent, you're perfect. You're smart, funny and so cute."

I snorted.

"I am not cute."

"Bullshit. You're cute. Brent, have you ever looked in the mirror? You are the cutest person I know. Not to mention..."

I sat up a little.

"Not to mention what?" I asked.

"Not to mention... hot," he said.

I felt my stomach twist.

"You think I'm hot?"

"Yeah."

"But I'm fat and ugly and-"

A pillow hit me in the face.

"Shut up with that," he said.

"It's true," I said simply.

"Bull fucking shit. Dude, I have to refrain myself from not having my way with you whenever you change."

"Do you remember the night when we got super drunk?"

"Not really..."

"Well, you started to have your way with me."

"Oh, God. Brent I am so sorry. That must have been so awkward."

"I was too drunk to care."

He laughed.

I thought about telling him that I loved him, but I could wait to do that later. I needed us to heal first. I couldn't catch him on the rebound. But I gave him something.

"You know, Jake... If I were gay, I'd date you in a heartbeat."

"Really?" he asked, voice sounding full of life once more.

"Really."