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Instead of having four lanes on a freshly paved highway, they had a two-lane and bumpy but peaceful road. They needed to drive through that sort of condition for around an hour before turning onto a more recently renovated provincial road, which led to the Angle Inlet border crossing. The border was near an Indian reservation by the name of Red Lake, so there was some risk in taking the route, but it would have definitely been the safest bit of their trip.

Xavier and Julia had already declared they would not have attempted anything illegal in fear of getting caught, so they decided not to cross the border when they arrived, but rather drop the passengers off near the poles marking it. This obviously posed a few problems for Eric and Matt, who were in a clear need of a drive in order to make it to Fargo. Walking would have been much too long for them to endure, so Matt improvised by planning to sneak into the Indian reservation in order to see if there was an easy car to steal. With the security in the area being very low, he knew escaping would turn out to be like shooting fish in a barrel.

It was only nine in the morning, but the kids were already growing tired of the amount of driving they had completed so far that day. In view of this, Julia set up their portable Blu-Ray player in order for them to watch an episode of the Bubble-Buddies, which was a popular children's television show at the time. This would fortunately keep them entertained for the remainder of the trip. However, when the only sounds they heard came from the television show, it was only a matter of time before someone grew irritated. Xavier was the one to suggest turning on the radio, but unfortunately, there was no consensus on what channel to play. The only choice which satisfied the whole group's interest was CBC Radio One's news channel, which they did not mind listening to.

The bulletin spoke of many subjects including worldwide presidential elections, and the deaths of important figures in the entertainment industry, but the story which sparked interest inside the whole vehicle was the announcement of the car chase which Matt and Eric had escaped from. This shocked the both of them, who knew their biased story was indeed spreading across the whole country.

"Damn, I hope you guys don't get caught over there in the US", Xavier commented. "That would be hell compared to what they would do to you here. A life sentence in prison probably wouldn't be enough for them, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, thanks for the reassurance", Matt scorned. "All we need is more worries."

"No problem", he returned, sarcastically.

Eric ignored both of the two adult's comments, and requested for them to conclude. "Come on, guys. I want to hear the rest of this."

"...with the police beginning a thorough investigation. Representatives of the case have also told the CBC that US foreign officials are 'looking into the matter', and are on high alert for any developments involving their country. Our chief correspondent, Chris Mitchell, reports to us from Thunder Bay, Ontario, with more on the story."

"It was a day like any other, here at John Adams High. Nothing was out of the ordinary other than complaints from local students of a fight in one of the bathrooms three days ago. The suspect, simply identified as 'Eric', was confirmed to have started this fight against another student, who has officially been reported in the hospital for severe injuries. Expulsion of the student was not the solution taken into action, which posed a problem the following day during lunch hour, when word spread of the incident. Two students took the initiative of confronting the suspect after he had revealed himself to being a dragon TFR, chasing him into a classroom, where he barricaded himself along with a teacher who worked at the school. The teacher, Matt Renault, is confirmed to be a wolf TFR, and was reported to have helped Eric avoid police capture. While escaping the school, the suspect struck two innocent children in the head, fatally injuring them, and a day later, the duo was spotted at a local Wal-Mart here in Thunder Bay, where after fleeing, killed another innocent woman, robbing her of her car in the act. Police attempted to pursue the suspects after reports of gun shots broke out, and are now wanted for two counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, evasion, and theft. Opinions are mixed over the dragon:"

A female voice was heard. "I had no idea such a monster could exist. It's terrible! I hope they catch him very soon, because I do _not want my children growing up around such a species._"

A male spoke next. "I don't think that the fact he's a dragon surprises me very much. We've heard a lot of rumors over the years and I suppose it was about time we had some sort of confirmation. Although, that's definitely not an excuse for savagely attacking people like he did."

Another female spoke subsequently, possibly of African origin thanks to her accent. "Not to be racist, but I hardly like those TFRs. I don't see why they have to go and mess up our world like this."

"The CBC will continue reporting on this matter as information develops. Chris Mitchell, CBC news, Thunder Bay."

"That's all for this Tuesday May 23rd, 203..."

There was a profound silence as Julia tuned down the radio. Eric seemed frustrated at the lies he had just heard.

"What the...", he exclaimed, refraining from cursing in front of the kids. "They make me look like a complete criminal! Murderer? Monster?! Hell, they even make it seem like the fights at the school were my entire fault... Why would they do such a thing?"

"It's just their technique, Eric", Matt reposted. "They spread rumors and lie about the situation in order to control people. It's called deception, and you can't control it. Just let it roll off your back and leave it be."

It only took another 15 minutes before reaching the crossing to Angle Inlet. The whole period between the news bulletin and the arrival was filled with complete silence. No one said a word - only the Blu-Ray player made a noise. When the drivers decided to stop the van, the duo in the back seats got up, tried to look as thankful as possible, exited the van and bid their farewells.

"Thanks a lot for everything, guys", Matt pronounced. "We really appreciate it."

"It's no problem at all", Julia returned. "Good luck on your trip."

Xavier did not speak. He made a rapid U-turn and drove off, back into the direction they came from. "Finally", Xavier exclaimed. "I thought we'd never get rid of them. I'd bet everything they said on the radio were true. I'm just surprised they didn't steal our car or something."

"Xavier!", she shot back in dismay. "That's horrible for you to say. You know they were in need, and we did the right thing. Now, we can just go back home and hope they'll make it safely."

"I certainly won't. If he didn't have that gun, I'd probably have killed Matt easily back home. Jesus Christ, that TFR is a _disgrace_for helping that dragon."

Julia's jaw dropped. "Why do you have to be so close-minded? Maybe Eric would be a nice, successful adult if it wasn't for his dragon side. How could you judge him by his cover like that?"

Xavier did not reply. Julia shrugged and crossed her arms in disappointment, looking out her window. "How could he be so ignorant?", she thought. For all they knew nothing but good would come out of it for them once it was all over. However, it was clearly far from that.

...

The alert sent by Benson proved to be a very good move on their part. Only an hour after it was issued, a tip from a construction site near the border to Manitoba came in, where they claimed to have seen the van they were searching for. This was a very lucky break in Tom's eyes.

The Echo squad was considered by Tom to be one of the CIA's finest, which is why they were sent to the site first. Each member of the team had been assigned a worker who had seen the van, but Markus was assigned the one who had inspected it. Questioning needed to be as informal as possible in order to convince him there was no tension, and no pressure.

"Hello there", he greeted as he approached the man. "My name is Markus, and I hear you're the one who inspected our suspect's car, is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Alright, I just want to make sure we have the right people. Could you describe them physically for me?"

"Well, there was a man in the front. He had brown hair and looked pretty tough. I think he had glasses too, but I'm not sure. Another woman was in the passenger seat, brown hair too. They were both pretty young, definitely not more than 35, and they had two children."

"Perfect. That's them. You didn't see anyone else, by any chance?"

"Uhh, no. No one else."

"That's what I thought. Did you check the trunk? Back seat? Anything unusual?"

"Well, they had a blanket in the back and I asked what was under it. They told me it was food and supplies, but, now that I think about it, it was a bit big."

"Okay, and how long has it been since you've seen them?"

"Uhh... definitely not more than two hours, not less than... an hour, quarter-hour. Yeah, something like that."

"Was there anything else we might find useful?"

"No, not really. They didn't seem very out of the ordinary really. I've seen worse today, trust me." He let out a laugh, but Markus did not return it; his conversation was over.

"Alright, thanks for your time."

He walked away calmly and brought the team back to his position with a hand signal. No one else had found anything solid to say about them, but at least they could confirm they had been there. The only thing left to do was to have searched where they could have gone, and block off where they could have been heading. Markus reported everything back to his boss, who had already begun moving towards Winnipeg by air. Immediately after confirming their suspects' location, Benson ordered every squad available to search areas 200 kilometers from the site, to see if they had tried to access roads or highways which could have helped them escape. Another high alert was sent to the borders of Manitoba and nearby Saskatchewan as well, in order to make sure they remained in the province.

Tom Benson was travelling in his private plane, accompanied by all of his analysts to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where there would be yet another temporary building with all of their computers ready. It had only been five hours since he had woken up that morning, and he was already seeing signs of fatigue. His assistant walked into his first class compartment to check up on him, and quickly noticed this.

"You look tired, Benson", she noted with concern. "You should probably take the day off. I'm sure your team will have things covered for you."

"Yeah, I've been working my ass off for weeks now, and this dragon business is pushing me over the limit." He looked out the window, watching the trees pass by under him. "But I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing Alan was in charge."

She let out a giggle. "Oh, well, I just hate seeing you like this. You'd probably be much happier with your wife in front of you."

"I know, but I really can't afford the break. Thanks for the concern."

She walked away through the doors she came in through, and Benson tried to relax. He knew the minute he would arrive in Winnipeg, he would have been right back in front of his team of analysts, bossing them around until he would drop to the floor in exhaustion. With that in mind, he tried to get as much sleep as he possibly could, knowing he only had a mere 45 minutes before landing. Things were getting very rough for him, and he was not sure how long he would be able to sustain it.

...

Xavier and Julia did not talk to each other very much after leaving Angle Inlet. She did not see anything wrong with the two boys they had drove nine hours to help, and to her, they seemed to have revealed the complete truth. She could not understand how her husband could be as ignorant as he was over the situation. He, on the other hand, was in a good mood. He was glad to have seen them exit his vehicle. The way their story was formulated did not flow, and did not make sense to him. He knew they would get caught in the United States, and he knew the dragon would be caught and killed, eventually.

Xavier made the turn from the provincial road onto the Trans-Canada highway, in order to get back en route to their home in Thunder Bay. He could not wait to get home and relax, while Julia got quite tired from the drive. With this in mind, the bear TFR increased the car's speed a little until he reached the speed limit, but Julia noticed him go a little too fast to her liking.

"Honey, what are you doing?", she asked. "Slow down would you?"

Xavier tried to calm her down. "I'm doing fine. It's not like there are any--"

Out of the blue, a siren quickly interrupted his small discourse. He sighed and grunted in frustration as he pulled over, enabling the cop to get out and come up to Xavier's window. The kids in the back were silently playing with their toys, and Julia had her head in her hands, frustrated and ashamed.

"I just clocked you at over 125 kilometers per hour in a 110 zone", the policeman stated. "Care to explain what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, officer", Xavier answered. "Just had a rough day and couldn't wait to get home to T-Bay."

There was an awkward pause. "You're from Thunder Bay?"

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

The cop took a quick look at the car, and, satisfied with his findings, turned his head towards the driver and the passenger. "License and registration please."

Xavier did what he was told, asking Julia to get the vehicle's registration form out of the glove box in front of her. He took his driver's license out of his wallet and placed the two documents in one hand, passing it over to the officer. Both were beginning to suspect something was up. The policeman looked at the vehicle's registration and the driver's license, before returning to the occupants of the car.

"Alright, sir. Could you please step out of the car?" Xavier once again loyally did as he was told. "Please turn around for me. You're under arrest for helping a murderer escape a crime scene." The police officer took out some handcuffs. Xavier was stunned. "Anything you say can and will be used against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one may be appointed to you."

"What? What the hell did I do?!"

"Sir, please remain silent."

He let a grumble escape his throat as he let the cop take him and place him into the police car. Julia was beginning to panic. "How did we get into a mess this big?", she wondered. "How did the cops find out we helped Eric and Matt escape? Why are they arresting my husband on such a stupid charge?" Suddenly, she noticed the same cop come over to her side of the van.

"Madam, please step out of the car as well."

Suddenly, she realized something. "Wait, how are my babies going to get home?"

"We'll take care of that ma'am", he replied as calmly as possible. "Please step out of the car." He then proceeded to give her the same charge, as well as her Miranda rights, but before he could place her in the cop car, she blurted out one final thing.

"You know I'm not going to reveal anything, don't you?"

The cop sent his partner from the passenger's seat to go drive the van before he responded. "Did you want obstruction of justice as well?"