Chapter 13

It was about what Wild expected. They sat in the car, watching and waiting for someone to come out of that big, stupidly tall building. Wild munched slowly on the burrito he'd been given as he stared down the rotating doors of this giant, clearly expensive apartment complex. He was scared to look away. He didn't want to miss out on the director and lose him and any chance of finding the other hybrids. "Don't look so obvious, kid. We have to look casual, or the target will know something is up." Jon warned Wild. "Hard to act casual, being victim to his crimes."

"I'm sure, but you have to. Please don't make me regret taking you along..." Jon looked pointedly at Wild, who leaned back and tore his eyes away from the doors.

The hours passed slowly and endlessly. Wild tried to keep himself distracted with the idea and freeing the others, them all going home to their families. This was the best case scenario. Wild knew from the books he read that nothing ever went as planned. There were going to be very difficult bumps in the road that they would come across. "Hey Wild?" He snapped out of his thoughts and looked to Jon. "It says here on G****e that wolves can see only yellows and blues. Is that true in your case?" Wild had gotten a question like this once. The scientists wanted to know the extent of the colors he could see. "I can see lighter shades of green and darker shades of purple. Otherwise, yes, I am, for the most part, protanopic. I can't see red and orange, and I can't see green and purple properly." The colors were there. They were just more blue or yellow than purple and green. "That kinda sucks. I'm sorry." Wild chuckled. "It makes choosing a favorite color a lot easier. Blue is superior." Jon snorted in amusement.

That little conversation on colors paved the way to small chatter. Mostly on the superior color. "Purple is better. You can see purple." Jon pointed out, firm on his stance. "Elaine would agree." Wild gave a wolfish grin. "I can hardly see purple. It's more blue than purple." He retorted to Jon. "But you still see it, that's the point." Wild's tail thumped against the dashboard and the door as he fully faced his "opponent". "Blue still overshadows purple. Therefore, blue is still superior." Jon smiled back. "Fine, what about shades. Can you see shades?" Wild nodded immediately. "Black, white, grey, the whole shady spectrum." Jon raised a brow. "Really? Great! Black or white?" Wild didn't hesitate for a second in his response. "Grey. Light grey."

"Why..?" Jon asked curiously. "One, grey is a very underrated shade in-between black and white. Two, this is how the world is. There is no black and white." Jon nodded slowly. "Well said."

Wild was a realist. Jon could respect that.

Eventually, the topic changed from colors and shades to other things. Wild's was debatable depending on the time of day. Waffles for breakfast, brats for lunch, and spaghetti for dinner. Wild was neither a cat person nor a dog person because he'd never met either animal. He was an introvert. He was a bookworm. He didn't know anime or manga. He was a pessimist but tried to be optimistic. He used to have friends, but they both died. He didn't remember what he looked like before the experiments. He was the fastest and most agile in the W Series before he was rescued. "Wait, they actually removed your-" Wild nodded, a bit self conscious about the topic. "So I could not reproduce with another, yes." Jon felt bad. Sure, men do get a vasectomy, but to have your testacles removed and without your permission? Damn.

The subject was dropped almost immediately into something a little more harmless. Taking Wild to a park and letting him be a kid for a little while longer before he actually turned 18. That was coming up fast. "I don't think my tail could take going down a slide. It's just skin. It can burn easily as anywhere else on the body." Jon's gaze traveled to Wild's thin tail. "I've been meaning to ask..." Wild tilted his head before following Jon's gaze. "You want to touch it?"

"I didn't want to make things awkward, but yes." Wild chuckled and shifted his tail for Jon to feel. "I don't really like when others touch it, but for curiosities sake, just this once." Jon ran his fingers along the pale skin of Wild's tail. "It's like petting a hairless cat -" Wild huffed and crossed his arms. "Gee, thanks." He loved being compared to a hairless animal. "Shit, sorry, man!" He pulled away immediately. "I'm not salty, don't worry." Jon sighed in relief.

Conversations continued for a good, long while. Eventually, it got dark, and they took turns watching the building. The night was uneventful, with the world seemingly fast asleep. It made Wild wonder if he was even here. Around six in the morning, Wild finally detected movement. There was no stopping the low growl that scared Jon awake as Wild watched Michael Jonah step out into the pre-dawn and to a fancy white car. From there, he drove off, and Wild quieted, looking immediately to Jon. "I know, I know." He started his own car, and they followed behind.

They were finally getting somewhere.

Wild didn't really like how slow they were going. He wanted to chase, to hunt, to make Michael Jonah know that he wasn't in charge, and Wild knew that that wasn't him that wanted that. It was the wolf within. No, he was the part that wanted to cower in fear and keep as far away from Michael Jonah as he could. Find another way to free the other hybrids that didn't involve interacting with the director ever again. He followed on both parallel opposites, working to keep him brave, yet cautious. This is what kept him from telling Jon to go faster or telling him to stop all together. Jon knew what they were doing.

Jon stopped at a gas station when Michael Jonah stopped somewhere else. Wild kept a sharp eye on the director and his car to make sure he wasn't pulling anything to get them off his tail. Wild was terrified that Michael knew he was being followed, and it was driving him crazy. Unfortunately, his movements were restricted in a car. His claws dug into the sides of the seats as his teeth clenched uncomfortably. Michael showed no signs of knowing, though. He seemed blissfully ignorant to Wild's prescence across the street from him. Jon opened the car door, tossing a bag into Wild's lap. "Relax, kid, have some ice cream and a slice of gas station pizza." Wild blinked, slowly removing his grip on the seat to dig through the bag.

Jon took over the lookout with Wild thoroughly distracted. He debated on whether it was a good idea to bring the traumatized hybrid along or not. He supposed it was a little too late to drop him off now. The real mission had started, and Jonah had to lead them somewhere important eventually. Jon watched as the target went back to his car and left whatever business he was conducting in that lot. Jon followed after Jonah not too long after he left, taking a glance at Wild to see how he was doing. The kid had certainly been hungry. He was going crazy on the pint of ice cream Jon had gotten him. "Careful you don't get a brain freeze there, bud." As if on que, Wild yelped and held his head with a small whimper. Jon chuckled at Wild's misfortune.

It was nice to have a rookie around. Someone he could teach.