It was two in the morning when he came in. The buttery light from the hallway spilled in through the open door. “You are still awake,” he greeted as he closed the door.

I shrugged my shoulders in answer.

After I demolished my pizza, I opened the curtains and turned off all the lights. I sat on the edge of the bed, staring out at the lights of the city. At one point I thought of closing the curtains in case there was another sniper, but then I tossed that thought aside. Stretching my senses out, the only supernatural beings I found were the ones that belonged to my lover. Rashid and the rest of the Maguanacs were covering my hotel and the one Howard and Hilde were staying in. Anyone that tried anything would be killed on the spot. I had nothing to fear.

Wufei came to stand just beside me. We gazed at each other through our reflections in the window. There were times like this that I wished I could read his mind. Staring at me as he was, I wondered what he was thinking. Knowing how far and wide his thoughts could roam, I couldn’t begin to guess. I knew what he could read from my thoughts though. It was obvious in my eyes: weariness, exhaustion and confusion. The feeling of being stretched and spent. All of this seemed to have toppled on all of our heads at once, and I knew I wasn’t the only one walking around with a sense of bewilderment as to what the hell was going on.

After a long, long while Wufei walked around to stand before me. Gently, he lifted my face up to see it in its entirety. His thumb carefully outlined the bruise that extended from just below my left temple to my jaw. He gave an angry hiss, but I only shrugged again. I considered myself lucky. Had I been standing an inch further back, I probably would’ve been hit in the eye. He turned my head side to side to take note of the other bruises, cuts and scratches, before he framed my face with both hands. “Are you in any pain?”

“No.” He scrunched his eyebrows. I snorted. He rolled his eyes. Every time he scrunched his eyebrows, I was immediately reminded of Angry Birds.

“You must feel okay if you are able to laugh at me.”

“I’m okay, really. I’m just...” I couldn’t finish my sentence. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t think I could put my feelings into words just then.

I didn’t think I would ever be able to explain the terror I felt when Quatre screamed for me to get down. I understood instinctively that it was a matter of life and death. I couldn’t scream my frustration loud enough, how even though Quinze’s blood still flowed through my veins I would never be able to compete with the brute strength of these beings. If it wasn’t for the healing ability it also gave me, I would’ve thought it useless... and useless was how I felt as I hid underneath that frig, cowering like a frightened child instead of standing on my own two feet and leading like Wufei would have done.

“You are angry.”

“Yes.”

His head tilted to the side. “At yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” He kneeled in front of me, moving his hands to my knees. “Why?”

“Because I always have to be spirited away like some damn kid.” I threw a hand up in frustration. “My sixty-five year old uncle had to save my ass last week, as did Heero. Quatre had to save my ass today. My enemies have even pulled my balls out of the fire! If it wasn’t for my clairvoyance, I wouldn’t even register on the radar! I... I feel like a god damn princess.”

Wufei squeezed my knees. “You found out that Darlian was the killer. You found out that Oburi was alive and had Noin.” I started shaking my head. “You gave life back to the Prince’s cub.”

“Those are all things you all would have done eventually,” I told him. “I mean, really. You are not stupid, Wufei. You would eventually have figured out that Darlian was your murderer. No, wait. The murders happened in the first place because of me, remember? They were protesting?” Wufei didn’t respond to that. “The Prince is no fool either. Eventually, G would have realized that Oburi was... animated, and he would’ve fixed that quick, fast and in a hurry. You,” I leaned towards him, “would not have even been involved because I would not have been requested. You would’ve been left completely out of it. And the baby... I know for certain it would have only been a matter of time before G figured it out and transferred the soul to where it belonged. Hell, he’s a fuckin’ necromancer.” I shrugged, palms held up. “It’s what he does!”

Wufei sighed. “There is no talking to you when you are like this.” He stood up. “I am going to take a shower.” Without another word he walked off to do just that. He quietly closed the door, and seconds later I heard the soft spray of water.

I continued to stare out into the night, my thoughts in total chaos. I thought about the fact that Mooney, Luna and Harvest would still be alive if it weren’t for mine and Wufei’s... association. So would Mrs. Darlian. Mr. Darlian would not be in jail, either. That reindeer Pack would still be alive, as would many other shape-shifting Packs of Siberia. Yes, I would still be moaning about how boring my life was, but at least Howard, Hilde and I wouldn’t be hiding out in hotels due to numerous attempts on my life. There were still times that Meizer wouldn’t leave his house at night because of that warning I gave him so long ago. Neither did he allow his family to do so. As I put more thought into it, it blew me away how much my meeting Wufei affected the lives of so many people. In fact, it was downright horrifying.

I jumped from the bed when I felt it dip, and grabbed the letter opener from the desk. When I spun around, I realized that it was only Wufei. He was sitting naked on the bed, eyebrow raised. I sighed, and tossed the letter opener back on the table. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t hear him leave the bathroom. “Sorry.”

“You are very jumpy.”

“Wouldn’t you be?” I shot back. “For the past few months, someone’s been trying to kill me! Today, they very nearly succeeded. I-I I am not some all-powerful werewolf, Wufei!”

“Then become stronger!” he shot back at me. “You complain that everyone is stronger than you and that you feel useless, but you are not doing anything to change that!” He took a deep breath and released it, but he didn’t seem to have calmed down from the move. “I was not born knowing martial arts, Duo. I trained. For centuries! Quatre trained in hand-to-hand combat and weaponry of all types. He could kill using a gun or a stapler remover!” He huffed. “I am not even sure I am aware of all that Trowa and Catherine can do, and Heero has never let his samurai training wan.” He took a deep breath but didn’t release it. “You can shoot well, but there are many better than you. You fistfight well enough, but you lack skillful moves and combinations.” His anger drained out of him, as he released how much I really couldn’t do. I didn’t realize either until he laid it out. I was somewhat helpless, not useless. “I will make arrangements,” he said at last, “but Pike Creek is limited in such things. The others can teach you themselves, or you may have to go to places outside the city to learn what you need to.”

His course of action calmed me. I have done well the few times I have gone up against a supernatural baddie, but I also remember the times I didn’t, and that far outnumbered the former. Many of the times I did do well I couldn’t say it wasn’t because of luck, and luck was an unreliable bitch at best. “Okay.”

He didn’t say anything else. Slipping under the covers, he turned down my side of the bed. With another sigh I stripped down to my boxers and crawled in. Wufei immediately brought the blankets up to my chin, but being wrapped up in his arms provided more than enough warmth. Breathing in the clean scent of his skin and pressing against his massive form, I finally felt safe and at peace. I was out cold in seconds.

***

The great thing about having construction workers in your Pack was that shit got done fast.

When Wufei and I came home the following day, the house was perfect. It didn’t have a trace of the gun battle or executions that took place the day before. I thought I would feel nervousness or terror at coming back, but the condition of the house did not bring up those feelings. Quatre really, really outdid himself this time with the cleanup.

I skipped up the stairs with a giggling Mariemaia and into the house to take a look around. Just like outside, it was perfect. I got her a glass of apple juice and a beer for myself, and we sat at the kitchen table to chitchat and enjoy the sunlight that came through the windows. The super strong, bullet-resistant windows. Awesome.

The rest of the day passed in some sort of happy high that I couldn’t really explain. Everyone laughed too hard, smiled too wide, sang too loud... and had sex. Now, that in and of itself wasn’t bad. On the contrary. I just never saw the other members of the Pack going at it where ever they were without a care. Bloody hell. It was embarrassing that damn near every time I turned around I saw a hairy ass with legs wrapped around it on some surface. Or carpet. Or doorway. Or closet.

Still, there seemed to be a bit more intensity to our movements and words that at the back of my mind gave me a deep sense of foreboding. It was too much for what the situation would warrant.

The joy didn’t seem manufactured though, which confused me. The werewolves were truly elated, and despite all the sniffing I made Trowa do I didn’t find any drugs in the food or water. I couldn’t sense any wizards or other supernatural beings that could be doing this to us. Finally, Wufei explained to me that after a vicious fight such as the one yesterday, the victors could be... excited, over the victory and subsequent slaughter. That I completely understood. The times I got an one-up on Alex and Mueller really made me feel like I could shit lightening.

I continued to chew over my thoughts even as I choked so hard on my beer that I farted, Tommy Gun style. Damn, that was really loud. Ouch. Kind of stung too. Didn’t seem to bother Trowa and Quatre though. In fact, I didn’t think they even noticed me.

Oh well. Might as well get what I came for.

I reached in between and past Trowa’s and Quatre’s bodies to snag a bag of popcorn. Slipping out as quickly as I could without touching them (which was one hell of a feat considering their... vigorous movements), I closed the pantry door and rushed back to the couch before someone started fornicating in my spot.

If they did, well... I guess I’d eat the popcorn and watch them.

***

“Oh... my... gddd...” I groaned as I tried to wake up. Wow. I felt like complete shit.

Apparently, Wufei wasn’t as unaffected by all the flying hormones as he appeared to be. I had barely stepped one foot through the door to our room before I was snatched off my feet. I spent last night on the roof, being shagged six different ways from Sunday. I was sure the entire state of Texas heard my howling. I was especially loud as I got pounded while Wufei held me upside down by my ankles. Holy fuck, his strength was endless. He was such a beast... and I declared as much. Loudly. Ecstatically. And repeatedly.

Unfortunately, that left me feeling as if I had gotten beaten by a two by four and then had it shoved up my ass where I was paraded around like a puppet. So yes, ibuprofen was definitely on the menu today.

I slowly reached out to poke Wufei. Since this was all his fault, I felt that he would have to be the one to drag his ass out of a warm bed and get me my drugs. I felt even worse when I realized that his side of the bed was empty, and that I would have to get my own shit. Rather than get up and do so, I decided it would be better for me to lay there like a bump on a log and mentally whine about my predicament.

I spent the next half hour or so dozing. When I woke again, I realized that it was foggy outside. Nothing but gray was all the eye could see--well--gray, and a large black spot on the window. A spot that kept moving. And glowing. As I stared at it, I realized that it was a lightening bug. Now, was that serious? No. But I couldn’t recall ever seeing a lightening bug out in such weather, and I also knew that it was the wrong season for them. I also noticed that it didn’t glow sporadically. It was tapping out a regular rhythm that I recognized as a S.O.S.

Shit. I wanted to scream. There was no way in hell that that was a regular lightening bug. Add in that it was also asking for help, and that last nail was in my coffin.

Knowing that I was about to be sorry, I sat up. Using my toes I grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor. Thankfully they were mine. It took a short eternity before I could get them on. I repeated the process and got a white tee shirt on. Taking a few deep breaths, I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled to the window. I was half blinded since I had my hair down and it was flying all over the place. Stupidly, I opened the window, thinking that I could let the bug rest on the windowsill or something. Instead, the damn thing raced in, grabbed the front of my shirt with its little legs, and yanked me out the window. I was so taken by surprise I didn’t even scream. With a gasp I grabbed onto my shirt, trying to make sure that I wouldn’t fall through it. Because of the speed at which I was kidnapped we didn’t make a sound, and because of the denseness of the fog we vanished within seconds.

***

Thankfully we didn’t go far. Instead, he took me to the roof of my house. He placed me down quietly on my feet. That made me feel better. If he was being cautious then odds were Howard and Hilde were home, alive and well. After all, there was no point in being cautious around a corpse.

The shape-shifter had placed me down on the slanting side of the roof, so I had to dig in somewhat with my hands and bare feet to feel secure. I was afraid that the fog would make the roof slick, and that I would tumble down like Humpty Dumpty. It wasn’t painful thankfully, but it wasn’t the nicest feeling in the world.

When he Shifted into his human form I was so not surprised to see that he was gorgeous, but I was surprised at the familiarity I felt with him. “Do I know you?” I blurted out as soon as he looked at me. My eyes raked over his long, black hair that he held away from his face with a red headband. His skin wasn’t so much olive as it was a beautiful brown born from generations of ancestors living in a land with constant sunlight. He was long and lean, which made my short and stubby ass jealous. He wore a dark red tank with dark pants and brown ankle boots. Around his neck was a leather thong with six large, thick gold circles hanging on it. I found his fingerless gloves an odd addition, and his dark eyes and warm smile reminded me of a dream I had after the fight with the Hai-Uri.

A word popped into my head as our eyes met: Adze.

He crouched easily on the roof, as if being at a thirty degree angle was no hardship for him. Bastard. “We have met, but we have never been introduced.”

I was taken in by his voice. It was warm and inviting, and his accent made him almost seem flirtatious. Then I thought about what he said and gave him a confused look. That didn’t make sense... oh. That was why he felt familiar. “You were following us last week. You were that shape-shifter.”

He didn’t seem surprised I made the connection. In fact, he seemed to be studying me very closely. “You appear human, but I smell the magic in you. What are you? I have never smelt anything like you before.”

I shrugged and tried to be appear nonchalant, then decided the hell with it. It was obvious I was afraid and anxious, and he could probably hear my heart beating all over the place. Instead, I shifted onto the balls of my feet. The instant I got an opening, I was going to jump and haul ass like I’ve never hauled ass before. “I’m human. I’ve had vampire blood though.”

“Hmmm... no.” He leaned toward me, sniffing. “That is not it. Vampires smell foul, like an infection. You smell like twilight, and blossoming flowers.”

I couldn’t help feeling... offended. A grown-ass man did not want to go around smelling like flowers. And twilight? I couldn’t even begin to guess what the hell that smelled like. Then I thought about what he said about the vampires and became intrigued. It took a second but I had to shake some sense into myself. Now was not the time.

During my lapse, the shape-shifter continued to study me intensely. I became annoyed by his staring. “Believe what you want,” I told him, this time with genuine nonchalance. “That’s not my problem.”

He wriggled his body in a manner that reminded me of his bug form. He seemed... puzzled. “You are not a wizard.”

Somehow, someway, the way in which he said that finally made something click. All at once, I understood what had been happening. “No, I am not a wizard,” I told him, relaxing. “I... I am not under anyone’s control, and no one is under mine. I have no wish to harm anyone,” I thought about the Hai-Uri, “unless they mean to harm me.” I held my hands up, palms out. “I’m just a guy. A regular guy.” I was completely bewildered. “What on earth is making y’all think I am worth having power over? Or that I have power over someone else?”

“Because you lie,” he told me flatly.

I jerked back as if slapped. “Excuse me?”

“You are many things,” he told me with a smile, “but ‘just a guy’ is not one of them.” He bowed slightly towards me. “Take care of yourself.”

He Shifted back to his firefly form and flew away. I watched as he glowed faintly in the fog until he wasn’t visible anymore.

Sighing to myself, I carefully made my way down the roof until I reached the gutter. Hands firmly around the gutter and elbows planted on the roof, I slid my lower body off to dangle. When that went well, I slowly lowered the rest of my body down. When I was hanging only by my hands, I let go and easily landed on my feet... which made my knees buckle and I landed on my ass. In pain, I rolled onto my hands and knees and took deep breaths. I could feel my eyes involuntarily crossing. Every stiff and sore muscle cried out for my attention at once. I just wanted to cry. Considering last night’s activities, I would have rather landed on my head than on my backside. Owwww...

Once I was done being a baby, I limped to the back porch and pulled up one of the loose floorboards for the spare key. Unlocking the back door, I put the key back into its hidey-hole. Going into the kitchen, I stepped on the spot where I shot the Hunter and felt a jolt as her final thoughts went through me. I remembered her lack of fear and apathy, so thankfully I wasn’t held prisoner by her thoughts and emotions. It also helped that I read her thoughts that evening and knew what she thought. Pushing the ghost of her essence away, I entered the kitchen. Even though it couldn’t have been past eight in the morning, I reached into the frig to get a beer and sat down at the kitchen table.

I spent the next half hour drinking my beer and trying not to think. I was actually doing a good job of it. I stared out of the kitchen window at the fog. Thinking about the properties of fog, I tried to make my thoughts ‘foggy’ so that I could get some mental rest. It worked. I could feel my face relaxing. I didn’t realize my eyebrows were tense until I felt them rise. My neck and shoulders loosened, and the faint headache that was coming on went away.

After a while I got up, got another beer and decided to go back to Wufei’s. Howard and Hilde wouldn’t be up for some time, and I wanted to go back to bed myself. Stepping out the back door (avoiding the spot where the Hunter fell) I got the spare key, locked the door, and replaced it. Taking a healthy gulp, I started making my way to Wufei’s. The fog was still there, but it had lightened so that now I could make out the ground a few feet in front of me.

I quietly made my way past the pet cemetery and the Honey Locust tree. When I got to the house, it didn’t occur to me until I reached the door that I didn’t have my keys. Sighing, I calmly went back down the steps and walked around to the back of the house. I thought about banging on the back window but then decided against it. I could wait. Hell, I still had half a beer left and it wouldn’t be long before someone would be downstairs and could let me in.

As I stepped onto the grass, I felt the deep, tumultuous feelings of the shape-shifters. Quatre’s words from months ago echoed in my ears.

/ Nothing can remove an emotional stain, Duo. /

I walked up and down the yard, going down one row and coming up the next like I was mowing. I figured going about it that way would decrease the chance of missing a spot and possibly missing a clue. It was working. The information I was picking up was so unexpected that I completely forgot about my abduction-by-bug.

The shape-shifters had a hunger for knowledge that was frightening; knowledge that they felt Quatre had. I didn’t find what made them think this, but it was clearly an obsession. They were willing to do anything for that knowledge too. They were going to kill me without question, but what they were willing to do to the others... me being killed outright would’ve made me the lucky one.

As I walked, I could ‘see’ that they felt Quatre had done the impossible. They thought that he had made me, a ‘wizard,’ his servant. A bound servant. Unfortunately, the significance of that escaped me.

They pinned all their hopes and dreams on it however. I could tell the moment Quatre revealed that that wasn’t true. The despair they felt was so deep I was able to taste it on my tongue. I felt a smile stretch across my face. Rashid had it right. Their agony brought me great joy too.

Their. They. He..cate. They called themselves... no. They were known as the Hecate.

The patio door opened. Quatre looked at me in great confusion. “Duo? What are you doing out here?” He jerked back as if slapped. “Why are you smiling like that? You look psychotic.” He leaned forward this time, eyebrows so high they disappeared into his hair. “Is that beer?” His mouth dropped open. “Are you drunk?”

I laughed. “No, no I’m not drunk.” I held up my drink. “This is only my second beer.”

“Your second? Dude, it is barely past eight thirty.”

I shrugged. “It’s two o’clock somewhere on this planet.”

“Yes. Somewhere. Not here,” he said with a smile, stepping out to join me. He looked out at the fog and smiled. Quatre loved foggy days and rain. I guessed growing up in the desert made him appreciate moisture. I knew that was how we felt in Texas. When it rained, we damn near had a parade. He turned his attention back to me. “Duo, really.” He tilted his head and looked into my eyes, pinning me in place in with his gaze. “What are you doing?”

I sighed. “I never realized that I could... you know... read thoughts or emotions with my feet.”

Quatre was confused. He looked down at my bare feet, looked at the grass, and then jumped when it clicked. “Oh!” He smiled. “Oh.” He frowned. “Ugh.” He grimaced, turning back to me. “You feeling okay?” He was concerned, especially since with some of the killings Quatre was... overzealous. Yeah, we’ll go with that.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

The blue of his eyes grew large in his face, reminding me of his lion. “Have you been able to do that before?”

Have I? “I... I don’t know. I mean, I walk around barefoot all the time. I don’t get why this is happening now.”

Quatre blew out a breath. “So... you decided to get up this morning, grab a few beers and go strolling in the yard?” He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “After the night you had?”

I stared into the fog. The lightening bug could wait. “They thought I was your... bound servant.”

“Yes.”

I shook my head to myself. “What does that mean?”

Quatre sighed. I could tell he didn’t like this. “It is like saying you are my slave. That you are,” he sighed again, “‘bound’ to me, that I own you. Your purpose would be to do whatever I want you to do. You would not refuse me because you would be unable to do so. It is completely involuntary.”

I thought about that. “Like the zombies? They are bound servants of G’s?”

He was frowning but nodded anyway. “Yes. Exactly like that.”

I shrugged, shaking my head. “But they hate it.”

He scoffed. “Of course. They would rather be at peace and safe in the Earth, not walking upon Her even as She aches for them to rest in her bosom.”

When put like that, it made me almost want to lay down and die. “Why is this worth killing over?”

He gently grabbed my wrist. “Inside.”

Taking the hint, Quatre and I went back inside. It was as he was closing the door that I noticed a large brown envelop on the kitchen table. I learned my lesson from having a head in a box taped onto my car. I wasn’t touching shit. “Quatre? What’s that?”

“Hm?” He turned to where I was facing. “Huh. That wasn’t there earlier.” Without preamble, Quatre picked up the envelope and opened it with an elongated nail on a claw. Pulling the items out, his face displayed great confusion. “What the hell?”

I could tell by the sheen of the paper that it wasn’t ‘paper’ paper. It was the type of paper used for photographs. Unable to stop my curiosity, I sat my beer down and walked around the table to see what it was. I was sure my face displayed my confusion too. “Wha--that’s us!”

Quatre, shaking his head to himself, splayed all of the photographs out on the table. They were huge (10x8's if I had to guess), and showed every detail with horrifying clarity. The one furthest to the left showed Quatre and I dressed in heavy red cloaks with our hoods up, being escorted by Otto. The next one was one I was familiar with. It showed G and I out on the balcony, with me looking towards the viewer. That was the same photo they used in the Creature Catalog. The next one was where I was on a werewolf with G behind me. Quatre was flying away in hawk form after I had thrown the Prince’s map to him. From the angle of the photo, it couldn’t be seen that I was holding the infant prince.

The next two made me choke up a little. The first was where Quatre had been shot and was laying on the ground with me over him. I was trying to stop the bleeding with the caftan I was wearing. Quatre was in pain, but the agony on my face from his injury was so desperate... I didn’t know I could make such an expression. The next one was where I had my face pressed into the ground. I remembered that. I was pleading with the gnomes. Whoever took that picture didn’t know that. They probably thought I was casting a spell.

The one closest to me was of Wufei, the Prince and I. Quatre had already been taken underground, but I was halfway in. The Prince had his meaty hand in my hair, and Wufei had his hand around my neck. I pushed away from the table. There were others but I didn’t want to look. Each photo was painful, and I was in no mood to reminisce.

“I... how...” I wanted to scream, but I didn’t know who to scream to. I was at a loss.

Quatre dropped his face into his hands. “Ugh.”

I dropped my face into my hands too.

Wufei was going to have a fuckin’ cow. An epic one.

(tbc)