With my elbow on the kitchen table, I rested my cheek in my hand and sat there in bored exasperation. I couldn’t even dredge up any irritation over all of the hairy asses on display. I just pushed my plate of bacon and eggs to the side and chose to remain seated until the insanity dialed down to a tolerable level.

Quatre hadn’t wasted any time. After a few deep breaths he contacted all of the Privileged about the breach and the photos. I had gone room to room with my shields lowered, even going so far as to check inside light fixtures and window sills to make sure that Quatre and I were the only ones in the house. When I had gotten to mine and Wufei’s room, I saw that the window was still open. I knew that was how whoever it was got in to leave the photos. I couldn’t have been sure, but I had a hunch it was the firefly.

When I had gotten back downstairs, Quatre had already hung up and was scrambling eggs like the end was nigh. I spent a few minutes doing a broad mental sweep to confirm that we were still alone, before a plate of food and juice was shoved under my nose with a distinct order of, “Eat this now or you will be sorry.”

Unfortunately, Quatre was right.

The entire Pack arrived very shortly thereafter. In their panic that someone had gotten in the house, they simply Changed and hauled ass all the way home. Angered, they traipsed all over the property to find whoever got past us, not caring about their nudity. After the second ass that was more hair than skin crossed my line of sight, I lost my appetite. After the thirty-third, I started losing my vision. After the seventy-first, I was completely numb to it all. The bushes on the women did not help matters at all either.

Quatre sat beside me, blowing on a cup of hot tea. He was not bothered one whit by the activity around us, as if this nuttiness was an everyday thing. Actually, this nuttiness was an everyday thing. I just wasn’t adapting. Howard tolerated many things when we were growing up, but stupidity and nonsense was not one of them. “So, that’s why they think I’m your bound servant. Those pictures.”

Quatre shrugged, taking a sip. “Not completely. Those pictures seemed... edited.” Quatre stared off in thought. “If they got a picture of me after I was shot, then they certainly got a picture of me carrying you out before I was shot.” His head tilted to the side. “Why were those not in the bunch?” He sat his cup down and turned towards me. I remained blind to the three asses and bush that passed behind him. “It is almost like the ones showing mostly you and I in... situations that can be misconstrued were used.” He sighed. “I am thinking that the rumor is that you are my servant, and these photographs are being used to back that up.”

Two hairy somethings passed quickly behind me. I didn’t look. I didn’t want to know. “Okay. But why?” I remembered my earlier question. “Why is this worth killing over?”

He snorted. “When has someone not killed for power?”

I dropped my face into my hands. “Christ. Not this again.” Then I remembered what I felt in the backyard. The hunger for knowledge. ‘Knowledge is power.’ Holy hell, we were in for it now. “Shit.” I rubbed my hand over my face. “Okay. You’re gonna have to explain this to me. I get it, but I don’t get it.”

Quatre crossed his legs. “The shape-shifter world is not organized like the werewolf one. As I have told you before, it is more of a ‘every Shifter for himself’ mentally. There are exceptions, of course. There are pockets that are organized, but it takes a very, very strong ruler to keep control of all of the different types of beasts under his rule. Werewolves have a natural pack mentally. We, not so much.” He grimaced. “That mentality makes it easier to conquer shape-shifters, and harder to conquer werewolves. Attack a Shifter, others will run to save themselves, sacrificing that Shifter. Attack a werewolf, and its packmates will destroy you for touching something of theirs.”

Quatre started to explain something, then seemed to switch tracks. “Wizards are feared because they can manipulate the magic of magical beings. Shape-shifters are more susceptible to this. It is possible with werewolves, but more difficult unless the wizard is particularly strong or the werewolf particularly weak.”

I remembered G forcing Sedici to hurt himself. That was terrifying. To be at someone’s mercy like that just because they could... oh my god. “They want to even the score,” I said out loud, reaching out to grab Quatre by the elbows. “That’s what they thought, isn’t it? What if you had found a way to ‘bind’ a wizard to you.” I stood up, excited. “Instead of them fearing a wizard, they could control them, make them their servants.” I became horrified. “Hell, they could have the upper hand on everyone! Werewolves, vampires, trolls, unicorns...”

Quatre snorted at my unicorn comment as I turned away from the table. Immediately, I spotted a handful of hairy bodies. Perfect. “Abdul!”

Even nude, he had the fez and sunglasses. “Primus?”

“Get Wufei. I know he’s walking the perimeter but we need to talk. Now.”

He changed over and immediately raced out to do my bidding. I turned to Quatre and gestured him up to the antechamber.

This was not going to go well.

***

“...so that is the conclusion we have been led to. Somehow,” Quatre held his hands up in true bewilderment, “the idea has come about that Duo is a wizard and that he is under my control.”

All of the Privileged were in the antechamber. As Quatre and I took turns explaining what we thought was going on, the photos were passed around. They all made their way to Wufei, whom looked at each one with such intensity that it was a surprise that they didn’t burst into flame.

Rashid was shaking his head. “How did we not know we were being watched?”

“Who wasn’t watching us?” I said in our defense. “We were in enemy territory. There were not only those spying on us for the Prince, but I bet there were others spying on the Prince. They were probably only watching us in an attempt to understand what the hell was going on.” I thought of the reindeer Pack. “There were traitors as well, if what I saw was anything to go by.” I shrugged. “How was anyone able to pick out one set of an enemy’s eyes from another?” I turned to the others. “And honestly, would it have mattered?” I made a chopping motion with my hand as I hammered home my point. “If I had to choose between being concerned about who was taking a picture of me against fighting for my life, I’m fighting for my life. The asshole with the Nikon would be the least of my problems.”

“Duo is right,” Trowa said with a nod as a few others snorted in humor. “If we had known, what would it have changed?”

“Nothing,” Heero said decisively.

I nodded. “I wouldn’t have acted any differently.”

“Neither would have I.” Catherine said. A few others murmured the same.

“If these attacks by the shape-shifters are because they believe Duo is bound to Quatre, why did they attack when he was with Heero?”

I groaned as Quatre spoke out. “I was supposed to guard Duo that night, but I switched with Heero at the last second.”

Heero nodded. “Someone has ears in our lair.”

Silence.

“This could not have been prevented,” Wufei summed up, settling the last photo down. We all turned to him. We knew that tone of voice. We were prepared to do our Packmaster’s bidding. “We will move forward, and destroy the ones that have orchestrated this with the rest of our enemies. Rashid, Abdul and Auda, continue to find out who is feeding the Hunters information about the Primus and annihilate them.” They nodded sharply. “Heero, you are responsible for Duo’s safety. Protect him at all costs.” A curt nod. “Duo, Quatre, find how far this rumor spreads and who knows of it.” We bowed. “Trowa, annihilate all those who know of this rumor.” Another curt nod. “Catherine, find these ears and plug them.” A pleased growl met this order. “Mariemaia, listen for grumblings. If there is discord within the Shenlong, bring it to my attention. I will handle it.” A small bark affirmed his orders.

Holding up the photos again, a fierce expression crossed his face. Wufei did not like to remember our time in Siberia, either. Especially since it was his fault. “I will find the photographer and deal with him.”

We all bowed, then stood to leave to do what we were told to do.

Once again, the Adze completely slipped my mind.

***

The next week passed by in a stalemate. We could only confirm the information that we knew, but we didn’t get any further than that. It was as though now that we were prepared, we weren’t being attacked. It frustrated me to no end. I wanted to get all of this handled so that we could get on with our lives. I hated being on pause.

Quatre had left for Austin an hour ago at dusk, in an effort to broaden our information network. He thought that we were perhaps limiting ourselves sticking to Pipe Creek, and I agreed.

I worried about him though. The day started out cloudy, which was unusual in Texas. It was even more unusual that as the day wore on, it became darker and windier. The forecast reflected what I guessed: we were going to have a thunderstorm during the night. Thunderstorms in Texas, when they happened, were always wild and terrifying.

Flying to Austin was not something I wanted my friend to do, but he assured me that he would be fine. Going as a bat, his leather wings and small body would cope well against the wind and rain. He and I had stood in the backyard as he tried to comfort me, patting my shoulder and giving me a small smile. “It will be fine,” he told me before he Changed.

I grimaced as his blond, round, furry body took to the sky, heading north. I stood there and watched until I couldn’t see his speck against the horizon. When that happened, I made my way back inside the house. Knowing that there were other shape-shifters out there that would harm him, especially to obtain information that we knew to be wrong, made me anxious. I wanted all of us together. Plus, something felt... staged. Whether it was the atmosphere, the mood, the stars out of alignment, I didn’t know. Just... everything seemed to scream of a setup: Dark, dangerous weather... enemies around us on different fronts... the group separating to cover more ground... No. No, I didn’t like this. Not one bit.

There was nothing that could be done for it, though. So I grabbed a beer, kissed Mariemaia on the cheek to hear her giggle, kissed Heero on the cheek to hear him bitch, then made my way up to our room. Wufei was out with a client, so I had already resigned myself to another sleepless night. Trowa and Catherine were at Sea World, getting the animals situated to protect them from the weather. I doubted they would make it back tonight. Everyone else was out as well, but I expected them back soon.

Up in our room, I sat at the desk and got to work on the laptop. I sent out emails and flipped through the Creature Catalog, stopping every once in a while when something caught my fancy. Other than that, nothing I read or did was of any use. It increased my frustration all over again. Whoever created this thing needed a swift kick in the ass. It was completely unmanageable. The Creature Catalog didn’t have a table of contents, an index, a bibliography, nothing. You just had to know where to look for shit. I was no longer turning pages, but slapping passed them in anger. How the hell did Haru know I had been added, or on what page?

“Duo!” Mariemaia called through the door before pushing it open. In her hands was a tray, which had a ham and cheese sandwich, potato chips and another beer. “Dinner!”

“Thank you baby,” I said gratefully, pushing stuff to the side so that I could eat. I didn’t realize until then how hungry I was. “What time is it?”

“A little after eight.”

“Holy crap!” Marie giggled. I snorted. “I didn’t realize it was that late.”

“Yep!” she chirped. “Quatre just called too. He is at the Marriot, downtown.”

I blew out a breath. “Thank goodness.”

Just then a large lightening bolt streaked across the sky, followed by a resounding boom of thunder. The house shook and the lights flickered, but that was all. “That’s Texas for ya,” I said to myself, Mariemaia giggling at the despondency in my voice. “Ah well.” Dismissing what I couldn’t control, I focused on what I could, which was shoving as much of the sandwich into my mouth as I could. With another giggle, Mariemaia scampered off to do what little girls did. I ate my dinner, listening off and on to the sounds of whatever cartoon Mariemaia was watching, thunder, and Heero’s voice, as he was streaming live with his fellow Call of Duty-ers. I felt so warm, full and peaceful that it was inevitable that I would fall asleep. Stumbling to the bed, I barely managed to roll into the comforter before I was out cold.

***

I didn’t know how long I was asleep before I found myself in someone else’s living nightmare.

He was not staring into a sea of desert. He did not have an invisible weight on his shoulders. He did not have a hip cocked in attitude. Instead, he was being dragged through the desert by a group of four men. I didn’t recognize them. They wore gray combat uniforms with combat boots. They were shape-shifters, but they didn’t have the same feel to them as they ones that attacked us. Whereas our attackers were wild animals, these guys held themselves tightly in control.

The lone man yelled, screamed and kicked. The terror in his voice seized my heart. I found myself furiously trying to fight: I punched, kicked, tripped, and strangled to no avail. I tried to grab the one I’ve become attached to, in some insane effort to shield him. I even tried to call the gnomes for help, but nothing I did worked.

We peaked at a large sand dune, where a helicopter rested at its base. I realized that they were most likely kidnapping him, and relaxed when I thought that I would be able to follow him and help him in some other way. My hopes were crushed when they neared the helicopter. I knew right away from their body language that this was the end of the road. They had no intentions of taking him anywhere.

The group of four paused, and I finally took a moment to study their features. I swore. They were nondescript to the point where if I saw them standing apart, I wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. They were just that plain.

What concerned me wasn’t them, however; it was the one that approached them from the helicopter. A shiver of recognition ran up my spine. From my exposure to Oburi, I could practically smell the stench of mixing powers radiating off of this guy.

I could tell he had not been successful. His mind was too intact. His power seemed stable. In fact, even for a wizard he seemed... ordinary. He didn’t have power that leaked out of him like G did. His power didn’t bowl over those around him like Oburi. Hell, toss this guy in some khakis and a polo, and you wouldn’t even notice him on the street... and THAT was what made him so dangerous to me. His disarming appearance would make him disappear in front of your eyes.

Thankfully, he wasn’t wearing khakis and a polo. He also had on a gray combat uniform and combat boots, but with a black bullet-proof vest. He had a holster dangling from both hips, but I couldn’t tell what type of guns he had. His brown hair was shaggy around his face, but his circle beard was neat and trimmed. Brown eyes were hidden behind his rectangular glasses at certain angles when they reflected the sunlight. He had a healthy gut, and his facial structure was made hard by his pronounced cheekbones and jaw. Overall, he had the impression of a stern grandfather.

The shape-shifters threw my lone man to the ground, where he laid for a moment before crawling up to his hands and knees. The wizard, enraged, grabbed at the clothe surrounding his head and ripped it off. Gasping, I stared, completely hypnotized. He was absolutely beautiful.

I was blown away by the fact that he had lavender hair. It was pale, but noticeable. It was also short, down to the back of his neck, but long enough to put into a pony tail. He had narrow ice blue eyes, and white skin that did not even hint at living in the desert. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

“Some decoy you are,” the wizard snarled, and I gasped again. Hearing English spoken shocked me as much as the sight of the beautiful man. “You could at least act like him, traitor.”

I was surprised again by the accent. Thanks to the wonderful BBC America, I knew a British accent when I heard one. At least, I thought I did.

“I had to tell him,” the man defended, hands held up beseechingly. Yes. This one’s accent was African, and just as beautiful as his face. “He was going to torture me if I didn’t! Or kill me!”

“Then you should have died!” the wizard screamed, backhanding the shape-shifter. My eyebrows jumped in surprise when the shape-shifter’s head snapped back. Strange... The wizard didn’t put any real power behind the hit. The Shifter shouldn’t have even flinched. “Now, both of them are in danger as well as everyone in Chimaera. Do you have any idea what kind of position you put him in?” Slowly, regretfully, he pulled one of the guns out of his holster. A shaky breath rushed out of me. I didn’t want to see this. I did not want to see this!

There was something in the wizard’s eyes though, that bothered me. It wasn’t jealousy per se, but something similar. I wasn’t sure what to call it. It felt like he wished for another role in life. “You fool,” he sighed. “Do you know how many would have loved to have been in your position, who would have been glad to die for him?” He threw his empty hand up. “Hundreds!” He took menacing steps towards the fallen Shifter as he spoke. The Shifter crab-walked backwards until he ran into the wall of shape-shifters behind him. “Yet you were deeply loved by him. You! Who was so weak as to be pathetic! He has done everything for you, and the one time you could have protected him,” he backhanded him again. The Shifter fell to the ground this time with a sharp cry, “you betrayed him! He would have had to punish you for your treachery, which he would not have been able to do! This... this would have killed him.” He leveled what looked like a two-barreled handgun at the Shifter’s head. The wall of shape-shifters jumped out of the way. “I could at least spare him this.”

“Stop!” I screamed, running to the wizard and trying to grab his arm. It was no use. My hands went right through him. I could feel the tears run down my face. “Don’t!”

The shape-shifter jumped up and tried to run. He chanced a glance back, eyes wild as he screamed, “THOR!”

It happened too fast. I heard the gunshot. His chest imploded as his body was spun around by the impact, to land on his back. We all stood there a moment, staring down at the fresh corpse. I was horrified. The other Shifters were indifferent. The wizard seemed exasperated.

“Move out.”

The shape-shifters immediately ran to the helicopter. One of them started it up. The wizard walked forward to stand over the body, his face lined with anger and frustration. I came to stand over the body as well, sighing sadly as the most incredible pair of blue eyes I had ever seen gazed sightlessly upwards. Lavender hair and porcelain skin were blood-splattered, arms and legs were thrown akimbo. Even though I did not know him, I felt his loss keenly.

“This was necessary.” I looked up, and realized that the wizard was looking directly at me. It took everything I had for my jaw not to drop. “I did this to spare a loved-one. Do not cast judgement on me yet, Clairvoyant. There is much you do not understand.”

I snorted with as much derision as I could. “Understand or not, I will see to your end, Earth Wizard.” I could feel myself dissolving away. “And I will enjoy it.”

With my words ringing in the air, I blew away with the wind.

***

I woke with a start, flying straight up in bed. I sat there for a moment, trying to calm myself the hell down. I was enraged. I was sick. I wanted to rip something, anything, apart. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream and shout and blow shit up. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill something, and I wanted to die.

The storm outside didn’t help. The thunder and lightening were severe, stirring me up even more. Unable to take it, I threw the sheets off myself and jumped out of bed. Running downstairs, I went to the patio door and yanked it open so hard I knocked it off its track. Standing in the middle of the backyard, I let the rain drench me to the bone as I panted.

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. It felt as if it was clawing up my throat, begging, demanding to be released. It felt as if hands had forced my jaw open, even though I knew no such thing happened. My mouth was opened nonetheless, and the scream escaped.

I couldn’t stop.

I knew tears came to my eyes, but with the rain splashing me in the face they may as well not have been there. I pulled on my hair, making the wet strands more tangled and getting my fingers caught in them. The screams were so long, I had to bend my knees or risk them buckling and me crashing face first into the ground. Just when I thought that would happen, I was wrapped up in Heero’s arms. He brought us both down to our knees, and held onto me as I screamed my insides out.

I didn’t know how long I had screamed for, but when I finally stopped I tasted blood inside of my throat. Heero still held me, and I could feel his bewilderment radiating off of him. Mariemaia was standing in the doorway. I could sense her fear, and knew that I was the cause of it. “Shit Marie,” I croaked, and spat out some phlegm. It was tinged pink. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you done?” Heero asked, and I turned to face him. His hair was drenched and plastered to his face, and his white tee shirt and boxers were plastered to his body. “Are you done?” he asked again, and when I looked into his eyes I only saw concern. He wasn’t being a smartass; he was genuinely asking.

“Yeah,” I croaked.

“All right.” Tightening his hold, he lifted me to my feet. I limped beside him as Mariemaia backed out of the way. As soon as we made it passed the threshold, she set the door back on the track and closed it. Then she dashed off to parts unknown as Heero grabbed a hand towel from the sink and began to dry my face. While he was doing so, Mariemaia returned with towels and clothes. Heero swiftly dried and dressed me, then dried and dressed himself. Mariemaia was warming up hot chocolate in the microwave, and in a manner of four minutes the three of us were seated at the kitchen table. The werewolves waited patiently for me to begin as I sat there in a daze. Finally, after a long, long time, I stirred. I faced Mariemaia. “I’m so, so sorry baby.”

Her eyes were big and watery. “You really scared me.”

“I know.” I held my arms out. Immediately, she jumped from her chair and crawled into my lap. I held her for a long time after that, her breaths deepening as she fell asleep in my arms. Her warmth and weight comforted me, and I was finally able to meet Heero’s eyes. “In a minute,” I mouthed and carried Mariemaia to her bed. When I had her tucked in, I came back out to the kitchen, stopping by the fridge to grab a beer. Once I was seated and took a healthy swallow, I blurted out, “I saw a shape-shifter murdered in the desert in a... vision of sorts.”

Heero gave a sharp nod, accepting my statement without question. “Who?”

That stopped me cold. “I... I don’t know.”

(tbc)