Maximus

“Nobody can ever find out about this. Ever. Understand?”

Haley snorted softly from next to him, and he was sure she also rolled her eyes.

He was thankful that she didn’t do anything else, like bursting out into uncontrollable laughter at the way Maximus was trying to make his way down the brightly lit hallway, dressed from head to toe in neon-orange felt cut and sewn to resemble a giant chicken. They had found the rest of the costume amongst the pile, and now the two of them were equipped with the perfect disguise to escape. Even if he looked ridiculous.

“Find out about what?” she asked innocently, marching alongside him in her purple dinosaur outfit—at least, he thought it was a dinosaur.

It kind of looked like one, though obviously one that had been altered to include some human characteristics. Her tail banged against the wall yet again as she turned slightly to look at him, forgetting about that part of her new attire.

“Dammit,” she cursed, looking straight ahead.

“Game face,” he muttered, hoping she would stop making so much noise.

Dead ahead of them was another officer, positioned at the end of the hallway. He wasn’t doing anything besides leaning against the wall, looking back and forth slowly, though not in their direction. He seemed more concerned with what was going on in the other studio.

According to Haley, the children’s studio section was at least twice as big as her side was. That was a large area for them to have to cross without being stopped by the police. Truth be told though, that wasn’t even his biggest worry. Maximus was more worried that they would be corralled by someone who worked on the children’s show, and then forced to actually participate. Then not only would someone have this on video, but he would have to try and play along, acting like he belonged. His face burned just thinking about it.

He glanced down at her once again, for what seemed like the millionth time. She hadn’t been overly eager to follow him, even after the business with the corrupt cops. Even now she was reluctant, and he thought that only the fact he was dressed up as an oversized chicken—and how the costume fit him he still didn’t know!—was keeping her by his side, where he could keep her safe.

The officer turned to look at them as they approached, his eyes roaming them both up and down once. Maximus watched the mirth spread on his face as he watched the massive chicken bear down on him, head bobbing, stubby wings flapping slightly as Maximus’s arms moved while he walked.

“Those look fun,” the cop remarked.

“Better than the pig costume,” he responded, his voice muffled and barely audible through the material.

But the officer heard him anyway. Haley elbowed him hard in the side as the policeman drew himself up to full height—he might have come up to Maximus’s chin at that point—and stepped into their path. Dammit. His mouth had gotten him in trouble. It was far from the first time in his life, and likely wouldn’t be the last.

“He’s sorry,” Haley said, darting in between them. “He’s just cranky because…well, look at what he has to wear.”

The officer looked down at her, just realizing that she was female. “Did he say what I think he did?”

“I hope not,” Haley admitted, her voice sounding…different. She was altering it, he supposed, so that the officer didn’t recognize it. “But you should see the dance he’ll have to do on his own in about an hour. Reruns tonight at five if you’re off. Trust me, that’s revenge more than anything you can do.”

The cop looked back at Maximus.

“I hate my life,” he said, as if to confirm her statement.

“Just stay away from me,” he snarled, then returned back to his leaning position.

Maximus almost failed to restrain himself from making another comment, but an urgent jab from Haley brought him around and heading toward the exit once more.

“What the fuck was that all about?” she hissed, slapping him with her tail.

“Instinct. I’m sorry,” he replied, clearly not sounding apologetic at all. They were almost at the door. Then it was just down a few flights of stairs, out through the back, and then he could be rid of this godawful costume, and perhaps get some air circulating through him again. It was hot inside.

“Hey!”

The pair froze as if they were one. Neither turned around as footsteps came closer to them.

“Hey, what are you two doing over here?”

They had no choice. Maximus turned around, avoiding another slap from Haley’s tail as she did as well. Approaching them was an officious, older man who should have given up the fight against his balding head some years earlier. He had a headset that had an earplug in one ear and came down across his mouth with a microphone as well. It was hooked into a contraption at his waist that blinked with several red lights.

It seemed overkill to Maximus, but he didn’t really know much about what it took to direct a children’s show. And this was the director, there was no mistaking the big white lettering on his chest that read Director in bold strokes.

“Uhh, where do you want us?” He responded to the question with another question, since he really didn’t have an answer that would satisfy the headsetted man. I’m sure going “Oh you know, just dressing up in these ridiculous outfits to try and sneak past all the police. Oh, by the way, there are two of them unconscious in the room back there” will work. It has to work.

“On set!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled in reply. “It’s just, all the police and everything…it’s really overwhelming. We were just talking, and then walking, and you know.”

“We start shooting in ten minutes,” the director said, pointing off to his left. “You had better be there.”

Maximus bobbed his huge orange head up and down. “Of course. We’ll be there.” He sighed in relief, thinking the whole ordeal over.

That died swiftly though as the old man pulled out a clipboard hanging from his waist—seriously, was it that much work to direct this stupid show?—and began scanning it. A frown creased his forehead, and then it thickened as he flipped to the next page. And the next.

“Who are you people?” he muttered, looking up and down the clipboard, then back at them. “Who told you to get in these costumes?”

Maximus froze. Shit. They were busted. He tensed, preparing to rip the costume off and fight his way to safety. Brain receptors were forewarned that it was likely to get painful. These cops had real guns, not tranquilizers. If he was shot by one of them, it was going to hurt. He would survive. His bones were too dense for the bullets to say, pierce his skull, and his internal organs could heal with astounding speed. It would take something like a shot directly to his eye, perhaps, to kill him. Even then, shifters were pretty tough creatures.

Haley waddled up to the old man, pretending to peer down at the sheet. “I think it was…umm.”

He listened as she hesitated. Was that faked, or real? His eyes scanned the room. Shit. The cop was looking at them now. The director calling them earlier must have attracted his attention.

Don’t come over here. Don’t come…oh come on. Really? You’re not supposed to do the opposite of what I say!

The officer had pushed himself up off his wall post and was sauntering over to them as Haley tried to reason with the director.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to be here,” the director was saying. “You need…wait , we have all our actors. Everyone is checked in already.” He looked up. “So you two can’t be here. There’s nobody else.”

“Is there a problem?” the officer said, entering the circle.

Haley shifted suddenly, and Maximus saw the director jerk slightly. What the hell was she doing? Her costume was between the office and the director, so he couldn’t see what was going on, but the expression on the old man’s face had changed.

“Just trying to figure out where we belong,” Maximus said sheepishly. “We’re new here, and apparently we might have gotten some incorrect instructions.”

“We’re just going over the papers together,” Haley said cheerfully, nodding her purple head toward the director.

“Is that correct, sir?” the officer said.

Maximus held his breath. Whatever Haley was doing, he hoped it would work. He had spotted three more officers searching around the big open area, and he suspected there were more downstairs as well. Although he would probably escape, he doubted that Haley would be able to make it through the hail of gunfire that was sure to come if he revealed himself.

His first priority was protecting her. She was…important. To him. He couldn’t admit it, not to her at least, not yet. They needed more time. Of that, Maximus was acutely aware. But she wasn’t just some new woman. No, her soul spoke to his, and Maximus would be a fool to ignore it. Even now, he had to fight the urge to take her somewhere alone, confess the truth to her, and hope that she agreed.

That was his bear speaking though, and he was quite thankful that for many years now it had been his human side in control, and not the animal. Humans simply didn’t work the same way as his kind. If Haley was a shifter, well…

But she wasn’t, and if he didn’t want to scare her away, Maximus would have to do things differently. Which was going to be difficult, considering how he’d ruined her life by hijacking her show, and was now helping her escape from the people she’d always considered to be those “in charge.” They were going to have one interesting conversation once they finally found shelter and a moment of peace and quiet. Part of him looked forward to it.

The rest of him dreaded it.

“Yes,” the director said, his voice coming with a distinct squeak to it that Maximus didn’t remember it having before.

Clearly Haley was exerting some sort of influence over him. But what? There was a slight motion around his waist, and Maximus suddenly realized what was happening.

Damn, girl. That takes some real balls to pull that off. Just don’t overdo it!

“We’re good,” the director said. “Everyone is just on edge with all of you officers here, that’s all. We’re not used to it.”

The cop looked back and forth at everyone, and for a long moment Maximus thought he was going to demand that they remove their masks. Again he prepared himself to fight. His eyes scanned the room, identifying the positions of the various officers he could see, trying to dictate how he would take them out.

First he would crush the gun of this cop. It was on Maximus’s side of his waist. It would be done before anyone else reacted. Then he’d pick the officer up and toss him at the next nearest officer. All of that would happen before anyone noticed what was going on. But after that, he and Haley would have to make a run for it. The other two cops were just too far away for him to do anything about. They might be able to make it to the stairwell before bullets started flying, but he wasn’t sure. It was a long way for Haley to go, and on top of that, she was in costume.

“All right,” the officer said at long last, shrugging his shoulders as if bored, and heading back the way he came.

Maximus sagged visibly. So did the director.

“Sorry about that,” Haley said, not sounding apologetic at all. “But we’re not here to hurt anyone, nor are we here to screw up your production. We’re leaving.”

“Got it,” the man squeaked, looking like he’d say anything to get away just then.

“Leave,” Maximus growled.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen someone flee so fast.

“Was that really necessary?” he asked Haley.

The purple dinosaur—they really needed to get out of the damn costumes!—turned to look at him. He would have sworn up and down that a costume couldn’t show innocence. But somehow Haley made it do that.

“Was what necessary?”

He just shook his massive neon-orange head. “Never mind. Just…wash your hands.”