Hey people! Just another quick little one-shot, this time written with the lovely characters of the Darkest Powers trilogy. Hope you enjoy it! Remember, I own nothing! Kelley owns all!

I was sitting on the bed in the motel room, reading a copy of Entertainment Weekly. I had snagged it a week or so ago when I accompanied Mr. Bae to the store for some food. It was just before noon.

The latest motel we were staying in wasn't exactly high quality, unless you count cockroaches in the bathroom as a favorable amenity. I tossed the magazine down, with even its contents unable to retract the boredom that was filling my mind.

"Ugh!" I moaned as I buried my head in the rather musty pillows.

"What's your issue?" Derek asked, walking in to the room from the attached kitchenette, a plastic sleeve of crackers in his hands.

"Share," I demanded, and he obliged, handing over a couple. I munched one before sharing my problem with him.

"I'm so freaking bored! Since I haven't called my dad yet, I can't go anywhere! And Simon and Tori just went out 'grocery shopping', when in reality I just know they went somewhere fun, like bowling or something." I knew I was exaggerating, but I couldn't help it- I was really bored.

"Can you honestly imagine Tori bowling?" Derek asked me quietly, and I had to bark a laugh at that one.

"Oh, in those ugly shoes and using those nasty, used bowling balls!" I snickered before looking up at Derek

"So what have you been doing to stave off boredom?" I asked him, leaning back in to my pillows.

"Oh, nothing," he said, his innocent tone catching my attention.

"Define 'nothing'," I told him, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, okay. So you know how, after a while, my dad told me that I'd be able to control when I Changed?" I nodded, ready to hear whatever it was he was working on if it involved this.

"So, earlier today, I went out to try out Changing by myself," he said. I cocked an eyebrow, questioning him even attempting Changing without me. He shook his head in response.

"I was almost positive it wasn't going to work," he said.

"So? What happened?" I asked.

"Well, I was right. Nothing happened. But I did feel something, almost like if I pushed just a little bit harder, tried a little more, then something might happen." I looked up, intrigued.

"And you stopped because…" I prompted him.

"Well, I really didn't want to break tradition by Changing without you," he told me, smiling slyly.

"Well then, what are we sitting around here for? Lead the way, good sir!" I nearly shouted, springing off the bed and grabbing my jacket. This was freaking interesting, and it sure beat the hell out of sitting around doing nothing. As I checked myself in the mirror on the way out, making a slight face at my ugly-as-ever black dye job (they wouldn't let me wash it out until I talked to my dad), a sudden idea for a joke sprang in to my mind. I clapped a hand over my mouth to silence the sudden onslaught of giggles as I turned it over in my mind, considering how much Derek would hate me if I did it.

"What's so funny?" Derek asked, eyeing me suspiciously as he turned the handle on the front door.

"Nothing, nothing. But can we, uh, stop at the corner store or something on our way out? I, uh, need some, uh, products rather urgently," I lied quickly, grabbing at the slight chance since we were going out. I was going to pull my little joke, whether he made it easy for me or not. I mean, who could pass up a chance like this? Thankfully, he was going to make it easy. He just got this weird look on his face and immediately agreed, though I could see that he wondered why I didn't just tell the others to get me some.

"And have your dad get them for me? Uh, thanks, but no." He got a look on his face like he was about to argue my walking blatantly in to a store, but I held up a hand to shush him.

"No problem. Check this out." I snatched my pair of sunglasses from the bathroom counter, put them on, and then went over to the closet. I had gotten some hats and stuff, courtesy of Tori, a few days ago. I selected a black beanie and slipped it over my head, and turned to Derek.

"See? I'm not Chloe, I'm… uh, Gina." He snorted, and then guided me out the door. I turned back, grabbed my wallet from my bedside table, and then went back out the door. We walked over to the corner store, and I told him that he could just wait outside. He agreed, standing against the wall of the building and looking like one of those hardcore punk guys. I chuckled inwardly at my own joke and then hurried inside the store. Once there, I headed straight over to the hair products section, not wasting a second of my time. I figured I had about 5 to 7 minutes before Derek started to get antsy, including checkout time.

I browsed the shelves, looking for what I needed. I finally came upon the temporary hair dye section, grinning when I saw the wide array that seemed to be laid out just for me. I had a twenty in my pocket, and the smaller ones were about $10 apiece. I figured I could get two and make it out fine. I selected two packages of bright, bubblegum pink dye, and grinned at my own evilness. Derek was so going to hate me after this.

I walked up to the register and paid for my purchases. I wrapped the bag in close to the boxes and stuffed it in my inside jacket pocket.

Outside, I greeted Derek, who looked at me in my absence of bags.

"It's in my jacket, it can wait. We don't have to go home to drop them off, I wanna see this!" He nodded, and then started walking to the other side of the street. You know, screw crosswalks! Those things were for weenies!

Once we successfully hopped the fence separating the forest from the road, Derek led the way, having been in here already. He led me to a clearing, and then sat down in the middle of it.

"I warn you now, the process is even more tiring when I'm trying to initiate it myself, so, yeah, just be warned," he told me with a slight smile. I smiled back; this was going to work perfectly!

He stripped off his t-shirt and jeans, with me, admittedly, looking away and blushing a little. He kept his shorts on, though. Ooh, going commando afterwards, apparently. Chloe likey. Derek leaned over on all fours and closed his eyes, a look of intense concentration on his face. After five minutes, I noticed a change: he started breathing harder than what he had been, and he started sweating. I scooted a little closer, making sure he felt that I was there. For some unfathomable reason, he could only really Change when I was there. He knew that he could do it on his own, and that he was totally fine, but I guess it was just some subconscious thing, telling him to Change only when I was there.

"You good?" I asked him, carefully extending my hand and placing it on his back. To my surprise, I could actually feel the fur growing and retracting, over and over. Wow, he was actually willing himself to do this. Amazing.

He grunted a response, keeping his focus on what he was doing. I murmured encouragements softly, and rubbed his back between his shoulder blades, doing what I could to help him through the process. After quite a while, longer than what Changing was normally doing right then, he plopped down, now a wolf.

"Hey, you did it!" I told him quietly, and Derek chuffed and flicked his tail. I took that to mean, yeah, what did you expect?

"Well, pardon me for doubting you for a little while there!" I laughed, and got a face full of tail in response.

"Watch where you swing that thing!" I exclaimed, and he snorted. Then, I heard him give sigh, and I rubbed his side.

"You can rest now, if you want," I told him, and he looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't worry, I got it. I'll wake you if anything happens, if you don't wake up first," I reassured him, and he gave an awkward nod. A moment later, I heard the deeper breathing that told me he was asleep. Time to put my prank in to action!

I carefully removed the bag from my jacket, being sure not to crumple the plastic and make a huge noise. I took out the boxes and opened the first one up. I read the instructions, and then took out the packet and little brush thing. I looked at his coat, and then rubbed my chin, thinking.

If his fur retracted in to him, then would the dye show up on his body? I didn't think so, because though skin wounds and such showed, I think the fur was, like, not actually on his human body. I would know, wink wink. But I was pretty sure the stuff on his head was similar, if not the same stuff, to what was normally on it. I was just going to go with that theory, and if it didn't work, fine, because he'd still have to go around in wolf form with pink racing stripes on his sides. If they didn't show in his hair, then phooey.

I set to work, putting the chemical in his fur and letting it sit for a little while, as it said. When it came time to rinse it out, I figured it was time Derek woke up. I put away the evidence of my work, and hid it in my jacket again. I nudged him lightly, taking care not to touch the dye.

"Hey, sleepyhead. You've had enough time lights out. Wake up!" I told him, and he opened his eyes, blinking sleepily. He yawned hugely (who knew a wolf could do that?) and then got to his feet. I prayed that he wouldn't smell the dye, and by some miracle, he didn't. thank the heavens!

"Hey, you wanna go check out this awesome, like, lake thing over here?" I asked him, pointing in the direction. I had snooped around a little when he was out, and found the water source to rinse it out in. It was a lake, albeit a small one, but it'd do the trick.

He started heading that way, in response to my question. I followed him, and when we got there, the sun was directly overhead. I shrugged out of my jacket almost immediately, and set my hat down with it. I had taken off my sunglasses once we got in to the forest.

"See? Isn't it amazing?" I asked him, pointing. The lake actually was really pretty, spanning the length of the clearing and sparkling in the sunlight.

"Why don't you go test the water, it looks plenty warm," I told him. I could tell that he was starting to get a bit suspicious, but he did so anyways. I heard his content growl once he stepped in. He ducked under the water, holding his breath for a moment before coming back up. He shook out his fur like a wet dog. Perfect, I thought as I noticed the color starting to appear. He apparently didn't notice the slight pink tinge left behind him as he continued tramping on towards the center.

Once it got too deep, he started to go a bit more cautiously, trying to swim. I had never actually seen a wolf swim, hell I'd never seen a normal wolf outside the zoo, so I watched interestedly. He was doing a kind of demented doggy paddle, but after a while he got the hang of it so he started looking better.

"Is it warm?" I called, and heard his affirmative growl as his reply. I shucked my shoes and waded in too, since I was wearing shorts. I splashed him, trying to help the process of the dye rinsing out. He spun and snorted out through his nose, and then made his attempt at splashing me. He kind of ducked his head in to the water and splashed it towards me, but it was pretty weak. I laughed at him.

"Sorry, but you kind of need hands and arms to do this," I told him, splashing him again. He gave me a look as if to say, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I must admit, after a few failed first tries, and even more suckish attempts, Derek had the idea of wolf splashing down. It was actually more of a half belly flop, with him raising the front part of his body and bringing it down hard, but it was plenty effective. And the last of the dye was out!

I started heading back to the shore, and he followed me. On dry land, he shook out his coat. I combed through it with my fingers, unable to stop smirking as I took in the hugely contrasting streaks all down his body. He gave me another look, asking me why I was smiling again, and I pointed him to the edge of the water.

"Why don't you take a look yourself?" I asked him, unable to contain my laughter now. He did, and took in the reflection. I must say, the first look I detected on his face was "whoa that color looks good against my coat". The second, more appropriate look was "ohmigod what have I been rolling in!" The third was "Chloe did this I just know it and now she will pay". Quite an interesting array, don't you agree?

He turned slowly, letting me see the anger in his eyes, mixed in with amusement.

"Oh my, someone has acquired a hair do, quite sexy!" I said, literally rolling on the floor, clutching my sides. He growled loudly, and then pounced on me. He chewed me out with grunts, snarls, and snaps, but I couldn't stop laughing the whole way through.

"Oh, hold on just a second! Simon'll want to see this!" Quick as a flash, I had my phone in my hand and was snapping picture after picture of his new look, before he leapt again and knocked me over.

"Oh jeez, that's one for the yearbook!" I yelled, still laughing. Derek sat back, snorted, and then trotted briskly back to the other clearing. I gathered up my stuff and walked back too. When I came back, he was already beginning his Change back.

When he was done, he gave me such a look that I instinctively cowered in fear.

"Please don't eat me!" I cried, smirking. He sighed loudly.

"You do realize this calls for vengeance, right?" he asked me, a dangerous look coming in to his eyes.

"Oh crap," I said in response, my eyes going wide. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.

Eh? Eh? Joo like? Well, even if you don't, I INSIST you review, lovely little dumpling :) Thanks for reading!

PS want a follow-up chapter? Wanna see Chloe get a taste of her own medicine? Then review!