(Cover fanart by @BellaDeLacy :D)

The next day had everyone quite busy. While the wolf needed the collar removed from its neck soon, they wanted to give him some time to just relax by himself, so, after putting a staff member in the adjacent room to keep an eye on the monitors, Jared and Jamie made their way to the avian holding area. 

The hawk was in the first room, a thin rope dangling from its leg that had been cut to free it from the perch it had been fastened to where they'd rescued him. His head tilted slightly as they walked in, but it did little else then observe while they set up a small surgical table. 

"Loren should be here soon. Hopefully this shifter doesn't have any issues with anesthesia like the wolf did." Jared said, getting a chuckle from his brother as he spread a worn towel over the cold metal table. 

"We're going to have to figure out a way to knock him out long enough to do his collar, though. That thing can't stay on him much longer." Jamie added, getting a nod from Jared as he finished checking the anesthesia machine. 

Knocking out a bird was a lot more tricky than a dog or cat. It could be very dangerous if they didn't get things done quickly. 

Feeling eyes on him, Jared straightened up and looked over his shoulder at the hawk. It was watching him, it's unusual rust red eyes dashed with a bit of dark green flecks. 

"I'm sure once we get that band off of your leg, you'll be free to shift again." He said, giving the bird a smile which got him a simple tilt from the bird's head in response. 

"Sorry I'm a little late, guys. Late night." Loren said, drawing smirks from both the brothers. They knew that she'd been with them working on the wolf last night and had stayed extra late for it. 

"We'll cut you some slack today. Shall we?" Jared said as he walked over to the hawk. 

It didn't seem stressed by his presence much, if at all. It wasn't panting or fidgeting, or trying to get away from him at all. "You want that nasty thing off, don't you?" He said, getting an ear-piercing screech from the bird. 

"Right. I'll take that as a yes." He said, rubbing an ear as he turned to the vet, who was loading anesthetic into a syringe. 

When she walked over to the hawk, the bird actually tilted its head back, giving her easy access to wherever she wanted to give it the necessary shot. Loren was quick, and the drug was even quicker as the bird got sleepy in less than a three minutes. 

As soon as it was safe, Jared placed a rolled-up towel between the bird's sharp talons and then picked up, putting it on the blanket on top of the surgical table. 

Jamie grabbed the bird's injured leg and held it steady while Loren began cutting away the metal, spike-studded band. After a few careful snips with the small metal clippers she'd brought, the band practically broke apart. She easily tugged it out of the bird's leg a piece at a time, being careful not to cause anymore damage to it. 

"Almost done." She whispered, more to herself than to either of them. 

Jamie reached over and grabbed the bandages and handed them to Loren when she lifted her hand for them. "Thankfully, he seems like he wants to cooperate completely, so I'm not too worried that he'd take these bandages off. These are the ones made specifically for shifters that stretch a bit, so if he shifts, he should still be okay for a bit, too." She said as she examined the wound she'd scrubbed out and added medication to. 

When she seemed pleased, she wrapped a good portion of the bandaging around it, then quickly unhooked the anesthesia machine so that it could start waking up. 

"Just set him down on the floor." She said to Jared as he scooped the whole blanket off the table, gently carrying it and the bird a few feet away before leaning down and placing them on the floor. 

They got everything cleaned up and out of the room fast. The bird was already twitching slightly by the time they had the door shut and locked. 

"I think he'll be fine in a few days." Loren said as she slung her medical bag over her shoulder. "Now then, I'm going home to get some real sleep." 

"But you're supposed to be working today." Jamie said with a hint of humor to his voice. 

Loren glanced over her shoulder at him, already heading out the door. She raised an eyebrow and he smiled, making her flip them off before disappearing. 

"I knew we picked the right vet when we hired her." Jared said as he shoved his brother, then turned to head toward the locker room. 

"Go watch the wolf for a bit and give Mark a break." He said. 

Jamie saluted him before darting down the hall toward the quarantine holding area. Finally alone, Jared sighed, covering his mouth as a yawn slipped out. 

He walked into the employee restrooms, which doubled as a large locker room with showers in the back. After grabbing a spare outfit from his locker, Jared slipped into one of the showers. Neither him nor Jamie had bathed since the previous morning, and after dealing with the dirty wolf, he had felt quite in need of a hot shower. 

Tilting his head back into the spray, Jared felt his stress slowly dissolve and wash down the drain. He was a cat, but unlike most domestic cats, and lions, he absolutely loved water. Grudgingly, he made himself scrub his hair and body quickly, knowing that he still had more than enough work to get to. His brother also needed a shower, badly, though he absolutely hated water. That was the one thing that differed dramatically between them. 

After about ten minutes, Jared stepped out of the shower and reluctantly began drying himself off. He paused for a moment when he thought he'd something coming from the other end of the locker room, making him pull back the small curtain that separated one of the blocks of showers from the rest of the room. 

No one's there? I could have sworn I heard someone almost growling. 

They didn't have many shifters on staff, and it definitely hadn't sounded like his brother. He listened closely for another moment before backing into the shower and finishing drying off. Right as he fastened the towel around his waist to walk over to the bench where he'd left his clothing to change into, the sound was back. 

He realized that it was in his head when emotions began pulsing through his mind, forcing him to nearly double over from pain. A startled roar left his lips as he staggered backward, then dropped. His hand reached up to try and catch one of the shower knobs, but he only managed to turn on the hot water before it slipped from his fingers and his backside landed on the tile floor. 

Jamie? Is everything okay? He thought to his brother, using the mind link prides often had between each other. 

When all he got back was another pulse of anger, or possibly hatred, in the form of pain and static noise, he dropped his head into his hands and growled.

Stop this immediately! He snarled, baring his teeth at the wall across from him. 

The pain suddenly subsided, but he could still hear the faint grumbles through the static that accompanied them. Taking his chance, Jared stumbled to his feet and yanked on his pants, ignoring the rest of the outfit to turn off the water, fasten his keys to his belt loop, then run from the locker room. 

When he got to the hall, he somehow knew that he had to go back the way he'd come before. On shaky legs, he made his way toward the avian holding area, becoming more and more cautious as the noise in his mind began to grow again. 

By the time he got close to where they were keeping the hawk, his head was throbbing and the hallway was beginning to spin around him. 

Get out of my head! 

The pain stopped abruptly, making Jared stumble before he regained his balance by grabbing onto the handle to the door leading into the hawk's room. He panted hard for several moments, then looked through the small glass window. 

Wait. Where is it? 

Without thinking, he yanked the door open and darted inside. He looked over half the room before his gaze fell upon someone standing calmly in the far right corner. He didn't look familiar, at first, especially since they didn't allow personnel to wander around in their birthday suits, but the moment Jared raised his eyes to meet his, he knew who it was. 

"You're that hawk." He whispered as a cautious smile lifted his lips. 

He hesitantly took a step forward, offering his hand. The guy only cocked his head to the side and narrowed his dark eyes at him, immediately bringing back the storm of pain and anger inside Jared's head. 

His eyes unfocused with the sudden assault, but as quickly as it had come, it disappeared. Catching himself from falling, he staggered sideways into the wall, coughing a few times as his breath stuck in his throat. 

There was absolute silence, besides his breathing, until he raised his eyes slowly back up to meet the hawk shifter's. The dirty brown-haired young man, who had to be somewhere in his twenties, stared at him with his now-curious eyes. They watched each other for several seconds before the man tilted his head just-so, the gesture immediately bringing on a torrent of painful emotions strong enough to drop Jared right to the floor. 

He lay there gasping as the his vision swam, the sound of approaching limping footsteps nearly drowned out by the ringing in his ears. When he felt something gently brush against his jaw, his lion struggled forward, trying to break free, but only barely managed a weak roar that would have barely put a cub to shame. 

The pain in his mind shifted slightly, becoming less severe and more streamline as his consciousness began to slip away. He felt something along his waist being fooled with and realized through the haze of his thoughts, that the hawk was taking his keys. 

Jamie... 

Jared forced the thought to his brother, but only silence answered him. 

When the sound of footsteps began to drift away from where he lay, he could no longer hold on. His mind went blank, leaving him on the cold floor as darkness took over.