(Say hello to my new dog... cause I don't already have enough pets. Pulled her on her euthanasia day. Heartworm positive and very sick, but she's already doing better after a few days of meds. Her name is Erma, after my late grandmother) 

Literal flying might have been a bit of an exaggeration for what Palace was able to accomplish on such short notice. They had, indeed, gotten above the ground in a wing-flapping manner, but had they stayed that way for very long? Definitely not. 

Jamie, especially, had found himself landing hard when Palace ungracefully snagged a branch with his front talons, halting their forward motion too abruptly for Jamie to be able to hold on. The drop from the large tree was thankfully cushioned by some sharp thorn bushes, followed by a finishing tumble onto a small area of overgrown, damp weeds. 

I told you to hold on, lion. Came Palace's grumble in his mind as he looked up just in time to see the giant wolf glide nonchalantly to the forest floor a few feet away from him. 

Instead of replying right away, Jamie just groaned and flopped back on the tall grass, closing his eyes to try and stem the headache he felt right behind them. He could hear Palace approach after a few moments of listening to his panting. There was then was a bout sniffing, followed by a nudge against his head and a lick there. 

"The hell are you doing?" He complained, wincing slightly as an injury there made itself known with a flare of pain. 

Ah, right. I think I was grazed by a bullet right there. 

"I'm fine, Pal. It missed me, mostly." He said, lifting one arm to run his fingers through Palace's thick, dirty coat. 

When Palace didn't stop bothering the painful spot, Jamie nudged him away, only to get a snarl in response and a snap of Palace's jaws. 

"Don't give me that. I know that you're just worried, weather you're good at showing it or not." He said as he reached over and gently closed Palace's jaw before tugging it slightly, getting him to move forward so that he could press a kiss on the fuzzy spot between his eyes. 

"You're a good wolf, and I guess your other half isn't bad when he doesn't want to be, either." He noted, earning a snort from the giant animal. 

"Thank you for the save, by the way." Jamie said as he scratched behind one of Palace's ears. "So, what do you say we head back for now and maybe just order delivery?" He said, laughing a little as he used Palace's huge body to help get himself to his feet. 

He was still a bit shaken up, but at least he didn't have any serious injuries. "I'm feeling Chinese for dinner." He said as he started walking, brushing off dirt and a few thorny twigs from his clothing. 

Jamie continued walking for a few moments before realizing that Palace had stopped several yards back. Turning, he raised an eyebrow at the wolf, but it seemed distracted by something, because he didn't get any kind of response with the eye contact. 

"What is it, Pal?" He asked as he looked around, trying to hear what was obviously distracting Palace. When he couldn't he walked over and gently touched Palace's coat. 

He was about to shift to see if he could pick up the sound better as a lion when he saw Palace jerk his head abruptly, slamming his skull into Jamie's chest faster than he could even consider dodging. The hit blurred his vision instantly as he staggered, barely staying upright, and the second slam, this time against his head, knocked him out like a light. 

Wake up, bro. 

His head hurt like hell. 

No. He sent back through their connection. Jamie blacked out again, for how long, he wasn't sure. When he finally came around again, he could smell barbecue being cooked somewhere, along with a few other foods that made his stomach growl loudly. 

I knew this would eventually get you back. What happened? Where's Palace? 

He was missing? 

Blinking open his eyes, Jamie frowned at the darkness that greeted him. 

"You probably have a concussion. Something hit you seriously hard." Jared said as he walked into the room, his footsteps easily audible, even through the throbbing pulse in Jamie's ears. 

He stayed still for a few minutes and just focused on calming down and blinking away the darkness. When he could see somewhat better he sighed and moved his head side to side on the pillow it rested on. 

"I don't know. He changed all of a sudden. We had just gotten away from the supermarket, where we were being shot at. I thought that we'd just head back here since we'd gotten away, but he suddenly paused, then ignored me when I tried to get his attention." 

Jared sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed a cool cloth to Jamie's forehead, making him close his eyes. 

"I walked back over to him to try and get him to tell me what was wrong, and that's when he swung his head and hit me right in my ribs, hard. I stumbled back, having been too shocked to dodge. He then headbutted me, knocking me out as his head hit my forehead." Jamie whispered just loud enough to be heard. 

Jared was deep in thought for a few moments, giving Jamie a chance to process what had really happened. He'd never expected Palace to just attack him like that again. He'd thought that they had managed to get past his sudden bursts of aggression, but apparently not. 

"I think there might be a reason for what he did, bro. He might have saved your life by knocking you on your ass." Jared finally said, making Jamie push himself up with a wince as his head throbbed harder. 

Knight walked in at that moment, his face blurry as he approached. 

"My brother was trying to get a clear connection with me right before he lost his focus. He seemed panicked and worried about you." He said, sounding upset. 

Can't blame you. Your brother could have gotten hurt because of me. 

"You two were attacked, that much I could figure out. He got you away, but how far away?" He asked, making Jamie's eyes widen suddenly in realization. 

They hadn't flown for very long, at all. 

"Oh god." He rasped as he tried to get up, only for Jared to push him back down. 

Knight turned toward the door, looking back over his shoulder for a moment at the threshold. "Don't do anything stupid. My brother got himself caught to save your ass. You better not take that lightly." 

He was gone a second later, leaving Jamie with a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach. 

"He's going to go see if he can pinpoint where his brother was taken. We've already reported it to the police, but you can guess how useful they'll be." Jared said as he reached back over and rested his palm against Jamie's left cheek. 

"Don't take it too hard, bro. He made the decision, and there was nothing you could do about it." He said, not really making Jamie feel any better. 

Jared got up after pinching Jamie's cheek, inciting a frustrated growl from his lion. 

"I'll bring up some food for you. You're going to be useless to him if you don't have your strength back, so eat." He said before disappearing to head downstairs. 

Dammit, Pal. Why didn't you just tell me we needed to run? He thought as he lifted his arm to settle over his eyes to keep the tears from running down his cheeks. 

He didn't want to think about what was possibly happening to the poor guy. He'd already been through hell and back, he didn't deserve to be mistreated again. 

As soon as his brother was back with the food he wiped his eyes and sat back up, stuffing his face with the delicious-smelling barbecue. He couldn't taste any of it from the stress that was causing his hands to shake, but he refused to be useless. 

"Knight says that he feels like he's getting closer to him and not further, so hopefully within the next hour we'll at least know where he's been taken." Jared said, making Jamie's heart fidget with uneasy happiness. 

"Just make sure that he doesn't get hurt while looking, they had a lot of guns." He said quietly before taking another bite from the rib he held. 

Jared paused for a minute, seemingly distracted, before he smiled and nodded. "I just told him. Don't worry, bro." He said as he reached over and pet his head like he was a puppy and not a ferocious lion. 

"We'll get your wolf back." 

Jamie blinked at that, pausing mid-bite of his rib. 

"He's not mine..." He mumbled, only to get a quiet snort from his brother. 

"Yeah, right. The only thing that guy hasn't done to show that you belong to him is pee on you, and I'm sure that that's coming at some point." He said before laughing outright, making Jamie growl as he tore into the remaining meat on the rib. 

He wanted to argue, but knew that it would be useless. Once his brother made up his mind on something, it was nearly impossible to change. 

"At least he's a wolf... you have a chicken pining after you." He said as he grabbed another rib and began eating quickly. 

The look on his brother's face made it hard for him to not snicker. He probably would have gotten hit if he wasn't already injured. 

"He's not after me!" Jared growled, earning a raised eyebrow from Jamie. 

There was an awkward silence after that little outburst, followed by a strong blush on his brother's cheeks. 

"Guess he thinks otherwise, hm?" Jamie said with a smirk. 

Jared clenched his jaw and threw a fork at him before turning and stomping out the room, slamming the door shut to the sound of Jamie's light laughter. He was still terribly worried about Palace, but Knight and Jared were both right that he would be useless if he didn't take care of himself and be patient. Their best bet was Knight at that moment, so he'd just do as told until Jared's future lover returned with some, hopefully good, information.